A Light Within [UCM]

[Auburn Sioda]

Auburn smiled at the child, [member="Taru Cadera"], who traveled with the group, despite not understanding Mando'a. Although, from what [member="Adenn Kyramud"] responded with, she assumed the boy's armor could map their movements. She followed closely behind Adenn, with [member="Shoden Moz"], [member="Mig Gred"], and [member="Nicair Claden"] behind her. The sight of a fire ahead caused the Queen to go on high alert. Who was in the mountain? A grimace appeared on her face, as the flame in her hand intensified.

"Hold." Auburn commanded as she walked ahead of Adenn, an aura of authority around her. She knew not it would be [member="Talon Richwood"] in the shadows, even as she took command of the fire the man had built, causing it to burn bigger and brighter. "As Queen of the Anam, and ruler of Domhanda, I command you who hide yourself, to step into the light. There were none who were approved to explore these caves besides us. Tell us who you are, and your purpose here."

 

[Talon Aegis]

Talon was pissed off, this was suppose to be simple, no one was suppose to come and definitely not the group. Must’ve been bad intel, but he pondered over what he could do. Run? No, there is one way down and he would get lost, he left his pack by where he was siting. Fight? That was a fools move, against that many, he wouldn’t last a minute. The flames licked around him as he finally came to a conclusion.

Two blaster pistols landed on the ground from inside a dark shadow, no other weapons followed. Walking out with his hands outstretched, and was not going to make himself a nice target to shoot. While he did still have a knife it would be useless. Getting on one knee he answered her question, still skeptical of the group. “I am Talon Richwood, currently I am here working for someone, I don’t not know who, they used messengers. I am here to search for anything valuable, ruins, relics, crystals, anything worth more than nothing. I am not here to take, but to discover.” He remained on one knee. Currently they could just kill him and move on. Having no intention to harm the group, he just waited quietly.

[member="Auburn Sioda"] [member="Mig Gred"] [member="Adenn Kyramud"] [member="Taru Cadera"] [member="Nicair Claden"] [member="Shoden Moz"]

 

[Adenn Kyramud]

Continuing to march down the corridor, Adenn kept an eye out for anything suspicious and anything of note. So far, nothing was there yet, but there was plenty of light from both Mig and Auburn's little fires, not that Adenn needed it, what with his HUD and all. And so they continued to walk deeper into the cave systems before Auburn suddenly called for them to halt. Adenn did so, turning his head slightly to observe Auburn and silently asking why they were stopping. Then she proceeded to move in front of Adenn, something that he didn't appreciate, assuming that she was saying he couldn't defend himself. Then she spoke about someone being back in the shadows, now Adenn had seen the fire, but assumed that it was natural or the like, though it had set him on edge slightly. However, someone hiding back there? That wasn't all that good.

Sneering, Adenn snapped his gun up towards the shadows, even as he moved forward, positioning himself slightly in front and to the right of Auburn. That way he'd be able to jump in front of her if need be, but it wouldn't look like he was impeding her. Keeping his gun trained on the shadows, even as the fire grew, Adenn made sure that he was ready completely, of course he was. Then 2 objects sailed out of the receding darkness, at first Adenn feared they were grenades, but his battle computer quickly identified them as a pair of blaster pistols. Chuckling quietly, Adenn trained his gun on the man that emerged then, but before he could say anything, the man was down on a knee and giving information.

Raising an eyebrow behind his helmet, Adenn eased his gun down slightly, not directly pointing it at this 'Talon Richwood,' but having it ready to snap back up at a moments notice, less in fact. Turning his head slightly to face Auburn, Adenn made sure that Talon was still very visible to him. When Adenn spoke next, his voice was low, so that only Auburn would hear him
"It's up to you what we do with him. He is trespassing here though, keep that in mind."

[member="Talon Richwood"] [member="Auburn Sioda"] [member="Mig Gred"] [member="Taru Cadera"] [member="Shoden Moz"] [member="Nicair Claden"]

 

[Nicair Claden]

Nicair had been, to put it bluntly, daydreaming. It wasn't an activity he often allowed himself the privilege of doing nor one he could truly afford. The Sociph found enjoyment in it, like any other species, but their minds tended towards more practical matters while leaving the pleasurable experiences to the body or for their dreams, rare that they were among his kind. The Tarish spoke of what dreams were like, and what nightmares were as well. Nicair knew nightmares, those he understood. But genuine dreams were unusual, and to think of such things were stranger still. Something must have put him at ease here. The woman and her strange light, perhaps?

He could punish himself for it later as he responded to [member="Auburn Sioda"]'s command to halt. Those gathered knew what it meant, but Kheir was neither tall enough to see nor as well versed to understand, and as such he continued walking with confidence for a pace or two only to be stopped by Claden's reaching hand.

He should have considered bringing the leash.

Nicair's hand went to his disruptor on his hip during Auburn's command to the figure in the shadows. Unfortunately this was a reflexive move for his right hand, the one grasping Kheir who, upon seeing a threat, gave a shout of gusto and attempted to charge forward through the legs of [member="Adenn Kyramud"]. It took a lung and far grasp to prevent the vong child from rushing into the fray for the thrill of the kill. It didn't seem like this [member="Talon Richwood"] was malicious in his intent. At the very least he could tell when he was outdone. Still, Nicair knew what Kheir could do during his tantrums, rare that they were as the man didn't tolerate them. He pitied the individual the little lizard turned his rage on.

With a small row of his arm he pushed Kheir back and behind him, enough that he could get his leg in front of his adopted son.

The time for words wasn't now, but he was more than willing to send the vong-spawn back to the ship.

[member="Mig Gred"] | [member="Taru Cadera"]

 

[Bhaji Scorffa]

[member="Nicair Claden"] | [member="Taru Cadera"] | [member="Shoden Moz"] | [member="Mig Gred"] | [member="Talon Richwood"] | [member="Auburn Sioda"]​

(Here with Auburn's permission!)

The Mountain held the tears of the Gods, Grandfather used to say. The small Diathim girl had been inside the mountains long before Talon had even approached and made camp. Samthann had eventually gotten astray. She had gone back to the path to where she knew that the enterance of the cave. She had come there, in the hopes that she could get in contact with the gods themselves, or at very least some spiritual connection with Grandfather. The man was not her biological grandfather, but the elderly patriarch of the Aman family that had adopted her as their own. He had died from an illness, and she sought closure.

She paused as she got closer to the enterance. She heard many voices. A couple spoke in Basic accented by the native tongue of Domhanda. Potentially friendly. Yet she also heard other voices, foreign and speaking with alien speech. She curled her wings around herself, attempting to dim her natural luminescence. She listened carefully, moving her hands out in front of her. She closed her eyes, and began to incantate.

"Spirits of the fog and mists, I call upon thee." She spoke in a hushed voice, "Help me cloud the eyes of those who trespass on this hallowed ground."

She felt the magicks flowing through her. For the briefest of moments, she and the energy of Domhanda were one. The water in the cavern's air thickned, a meager fog starting to form. But....it was quite mediocre. She cursed under her teeth. She clearly needed more practice time. Hopefully it was enough to be discouraging.

 

[Mig Gred]

Mig looked at [member="Talon Richwood"] , glaring under his helmet and pulling out his weapon. He knew [member="Auburn Sioda"] may not approve, but he wasn't taking any chances. He wasn't too keen on this man's excuse either. He noticed [member="Adenn Kyramud"] say something to Auburn, but he decided to speak up to the person in front of him.

"You know, most aren't 'discovering' when the leader of the planet doesn't know about it. Sounds more like you're a looter."

@Samthann @Nicair Claden

((So sorry for the wait!!!))

 

[Taru Cadera]

Taru did not approve of this "looter" being here, and he fully understood why Auburn was angry. But as he watched Nicair barely stop the vong, who until then had stayed out of Taru's line of sight, from barreling into Talon, he noticed something was off. Really off. Arceus was nowhere nearby, and he was still only a cub, and had no tracker implants or the like, so he could be truly lost for good. This very thought caused Taru to freeze, and in that exact moment, from the shadows pounced a small shadow with teeth and claws in front of Taru, as if in an effort to proclaim that this was his friends and that he (Arceus) would protect them.

The little furball's growl caused Taru to smile, and then in less than ten seconds burst out into pure uncontrollable laughter. "Hahaha Vor entye Arceus, kirlar sru taba ni(Thank you Arceus, thank you for saving me)" He managed to say between laughs.

[member="Mig Gred"] | [member="Samthann"] | [member="Nicair Claden"] | [member="Adenn Kyramud"] | [member="Talon Richwood"] | [member="Auburn Sioda"]​

 

[Auburn Sioda]

Auburn stared [member="Talon Richwood"] down as he spoke with a coldness that betrayed the warm fire in her hand. She didn't even glance at [member="Adenn Kyramud"] when he spoke, or when [member="Nicair Claden"] struggled to keep his son under control. [member="Mig Gred"] spoke the truth of the man in front of the group being more like a looter, and her lips curved down into an annoyed frown. Messengers... The usurpers from the priesthood? Were they trying to undermine her power already? The queen's eyes narrowed as she closed her hand with the fire in it into a fist, extinguishing the ball. She then opened her hand and moved it into a circle, causing fire from Talon's bonfire to quickly form into a circle surrounding him.

"You will not be giving your employer anything this day, Talon Richwood. I will not have my power as Queen of the Anam and future High Priestess of the Creidiúnaithe Beannachtaí belittled by some off-worlder trespassing upon our sacred ground. You will hand over all of your weapons to my friend beside me, and walk with us as we explore. If you make any suspicious moves, I will let them do whatever they wish to you once you are taken off of Domhanda.

Do not waste my mercy upon you, child."

Once Talon would throw any other weapons he had on his person to Adenn, Auburn would draw the ring of fire to her hand, once again forming a ball of fire to light their way. Her ears twitched as she heard the smallest of whispers, but thinking it either [member="Shoden Moz"] or [member="Taru Cadera"] behind her, gave no inclination of paying attention to it.

[member="Samthann"]

 

[Talon Aegis]

Listening to her words he nodded, and didn't mind it, he still would be payed, for he could even explore the cave. Talon pulled his EE-3 carbine rifle off his black, pulled the clip out and through it to the ground. He withdrew a knife and tossed it down with it. Those were his weapons. Putting his hands behind his back he waited for them to move.

[member="Auburn Sioda"] | [member="Taru Cadera"] | [member="Mig Gred"] [member="Samthann"] | [member="Nicair Claden"] | [member="Adenn Kyramud"]

 

[Nicair Claden]

Whether those were indeed all the weapons this Talon individual had on them wasn't necessarily important. Should worst come to worst they were surrounding by at least three Mandalorians, a powerful force user, some form of animal Nicair was having trouble identifying in the darkness, and a vong child pulling at Nicair's arm to be free to fulfill the carnage of the small.

An intriguing bunch down in these caves, but Nicair had answers to find. As such he marched forward, half dragging Kheir alongside who was spitting whatever Socish curse or what in his small mind sounded like a curse came to him. Most of them weren't even words, they were an amalgamation of Basic, Socish, and Mando'a.

"*Kheir, stop it. It's unbecoming. If you act like an animal I'll get that leash I told you about.*"

At Nicair's words the child calmed down slightly, at the very least he stopped cursing and pulled less at Nicair's arm.

"*Who taught you those words, anyway?*"

"*Teurit, he said you wouldn't mind.*"

"*Did he now? Is Teurit your father?*"

"*Are you my dad?*" Such sarcasm, such spittle.

"*I am now, for better or worse.*"

"*Pap, do you like Teurit?*"

"*If by like you mean he is beneficial to me and it would please me he continue living, then yes.*"

"*Oh. Do you like Jack-ei? He says you.. love.. him.*"

"*I don't and neither should you."

"*Why not?*"

"*He's my brother.*"

[member="Talon Richwood"] | [member="Auburn Sioda"] | [member="Taru Cadera"] | [member="Mig Gred"] | [member="Samthann"] | [member="Adenn Kyramud"]

Spoiler

*translated from Socish

 

[Adenn Kyramud]

Adenn kept his weapon trained in the general direction of Talon, he knew the man didn't pose a threat to all of them combined. As such, when the Vong boy with Nicair caused a commotion, Adenn turned his head to look down at the boy by Nicair, tilting his head slightly in curiosity. Adenn moved his legs as the boy seemed to move to dive between his legs, preventing such a possibility, not that it was needed. Mig spoke as well then, making note of what Adenn had been starting to think, causing a slight grin to form on his face. Though when Taru started laughing, no doubt at the behavior of Arceus. Sighing at the behavior, Adenn remembered when he'd been so young. Then he spoke, voice soft compared to his behavior prior, though it held a hint of edge to his voice, but also mirth at the behavior of the cub.
"Sur'ar. Kaysh kapr va cuyir a ki'agr, a bic b ratiin jate'shya at cuyir tsikador bal sur'ar. (Focus. He may not be a threat, but it's always better to be ready and focused.)"

Tilting his head to the side, Adenn indicated that while he was being serious, he simply wanted to teach Taru. Once Auburn spoke once more, Adenn let his eyes linger on Taru for a few more moments, smiling beneath his helmet, before returning his gaze back to Talon. As Auburn laid down her rules even as her powers used the fires, Adenn kept his eyes focused on Talon. Then the weapons slid towards him, prompting Adenn to reach down with a hand and pick up both items, clipping them to his waist.

Nodding to Auburn, Adenn turned to face the tunnels once more, noting that there was more fog now than before, not by much it seemed though. Regardless, Adenn hardly payed it any attention, instead waiting for Auburn to lead the way. For now, Adenn would stick relatively close to her, keeping an eye on their surroundings. If these caves were a danger, well, they wouldn't last against a Mandalorian, of that Adenn was sure.

Talon Richwood | Taru Cadera | Auburn Sioda | Bhaji Scorffa | Nicair Claden | Shoden Moz | Mig Gred