Private A Reunion Shadowlands Hunt

[Darlyn Excron]

The thrill never left Darlyn, the thrill of an impending hunt. He was a hunter of people when he was younger, and in his heart perhaps he always would be to an extent. Tracking targets, planning the attack, finding the optimal time to strike swiftly. The hunt was forever burned into him, the only thing that ever changed was the prey. Nowadays, he only hunted criminals... and rarely at that. People who simply managed to evade law enforcement for extended periods of time, often not really worth all the time and planning. They weren't always dangerous, they rarely provided him a challenge.

Today's hunt would.

He'd been planning this for a while now, not letting a single twist in the path remain unplanned for. Finding the planet perfect for the hunt, hunting down rumours of the prey's presence, plotting a path through the shadowlands of Kashyyyk to their hunting grounds, it felt amazing. Equally, preparing the necessary ambush prep filled him with anticipation. Knowing his target, he had to be very careful to bring enough to take it down swiftly, knowing he wouldn't have the time to correct course if something went wrong. Rather than preparing for a firefight, or saber duel, he prepared a bag nearly filled to the brim with an overabundance of detpacks, dumping more credits into this than he needed. Once he'd packed enough explosives to kill a rancor twice over, came the last thing. He needed allies.

Mi'la Undari was a woman with a damaged force connection, but Darlyn felt she would not only prove useful, but she could find something of meaning in this endeavor. With a bit of work, he managed to send a message to the twi'lek, informing her of an opportunity and to meet him at a landing pad in Rwookrrorro, on the forest world Kashyyyk, armed with everything she felt comfortable bringing for a potential fight. Normally Darlyn would've informed her of more, but knowing the number of explosives he brought and the others he had in mind to invite, best to not have her bring thermal detonators or something worse.

Mig Gred was another ally, one Darlyn knew he could trust well. Though they hadn't been together on Concord Dawn, they had both fought in that battle against the Sith. More to the point, both of them could claim connection to the Force and the Manda, even if they had different emphasis on those connections. Sending him a message was a bit easier, since he could use Mandalorian channels to get it to him swiftly, informing him of a hunt and to come prepared. Darlyn felt Mig would respond, if nothing else than to physically meet the man who had saved a number of Clan Gred on Concord Dawn, almost at the cost of his own life.

Finally, he sent the last message to Adenn Kyramud , another Clan's Alor. And, by quirk of his messed up Mandalorian family tree, quite possibly his technical brother-in-law. Certainly related in some fashion at the least, though they would only have met in brief passing at a family reunion or two. Darlyn knew of the Alor mostly by reputation, and had the most doubts in his showing. The only two reasons he could see, would be if Adenn put any stock in their strange mutual family tree, or if Adenn would respect the call of the former Mand'alor's uncle to hunt with him. Knowing Adenn would be the only truly not sensitive to the force, his presence would be a great asset. Naturally both this and Mig's message would make note of anything they needed to land safely

Regardless, Darlyn got a light freighter, rented of course, and made his own way to the forest world. When he arrived at Rwookrrorro, he exited his craft and stretched, finding a nice spot where he could watch for the others. Everything had been arraigned properly for docking here, with any luck their hunt would only be at most a day or so if they were exceptionally unlucky. However he was certain their prey would be where he expected. But until they could gather there was no point worrying on time tables, so with a large pack of explosives securely strapped to his back, he calmly watched and waited.

The Terentateks would be hunted sooner or later regardless.

 

[Adenn Kyramud]

Hunting, Adenn hadn't even been anywhere but his clans home planet in some time, much less hunting with those outside of the clan. That said, he also had good reason to not head anywhere. He was a wanted man, by so many organizations, but then again, most Mandalorians were in this day in age. No, the real reason he hadn't left was that he didn't want his clan to go through more trauma, not yet. He didn't want more of his vode to die, just for some planet that they hadn't been on until the battle. But a hunt, especially one that involved at least one person Adenn had known, and one that only Adenn would be taking part in? Well, he was all for that, as it would be a good way to stretch his legs out again.

As such, when Darlyn had asked for Adenn to come on a hunt, he had agreed. Granted, they didn't know each other well, but vode was vode, plus there was little risk if only Adenn went, even if they were going into Jedi held space. Thus, Adenn took a stealth ship to Kashyyyk, making his way carefully through their territory before finally arriving at the given coordinates. Hovering in space, Adenn ran one final check over himself and his equipment, making sure one final time that his robotic arm was fully functional. Grinning in satisfaction once he was his usual walking arsenal, Adenn took the ship down into atmo, stealth active all the while. The trip was quick and peaceful, and before long Adenn was hovering some ways above the docking area by Rwookrorro.

Setting the ship to wait for him in space, just in case after all, Adenn exited the ship in one simple step. He fell quickly, even as his ship returned to space to wait on him, leaving him to fall through the unoccupied skies of Kashyyyk. Activating his jetpack when he was nearing the landing pad, Adenn landed with a dull thump. Straightening himself, Adenn allowed his gaze to sweep the area, even as he deftly unclipped his heavy slug thrower, the E'care. His eyes locked onto Darlyn soon enough, though he did make one last sweep before starting his march to Darlyn. After a moment of walking, Adenn found himself before Darlyn, E'care hung loosely in his arms.

Giving Darlyn a once over, Adenn then broke into a small grin. Offering his right arm out for a warriors greeting, Adenn spoke.
"Su'cuy gar Darlyn. It's been some time since we last met." Once the greeting was over, Adenn removed his helmet and clipped it to his belt. Turning to observe the forest, he continued. "So vode, terentateks. It's been some time since I was able to get my hand on their hides."

Darlyn Excron | Mig Gred | Mi'la Undari

 

[Mi'la Undari]

She wasn't much of a hunter. In fact, she never hunted a thing in her life. Mi'la was rather bland truth be told in that manner. She knew a bit of survival training, but as for marksmanship and other hunting related skills, she wasn't quite up to task. She had to wonder why Darlyn had reached out to her, other than try and get her out of her quarters now and again. She had a rather nice blaster rifle along for the road just in case, but she felt that if her vibro-blade couldn't help the situation, the rifle wasn't going to do much good. If nothing else, it would be nice to see Darlyn again. As the N-Wing touched down on the landing pad, Mi'la slowly exited her cockpit, collected her weapons, and proceeded on to meet with the man and his companions he had roped together.

With a Vibrosword over her back, rifle hanging from her hip, and pistol on her thigh, she seemed a bit ready to go on an adventure. She smiled to Darlyn first, then to his new friend who...seemed armed head to toe for this sort of ordeal. "Darlyn, it's good to see you again, and who might your friend be?" She inquired, feeling a bit better about the target they were supposed to be hunting today. Readjusting her posture, Mi'la fiddled with her blaster rifle, knowing she might not seem cut out for this sort of thing, but ready to follow through no matter what.

Darlyn Excron Adenn Kyramud Mig Gred

 

[Mig Gred]

Mig looked out from the old YV-freighter as R10 brought it in to land. This was really the first time he'd ever been to Kashyyyk, and it would to hunt something that, in all honesty, he was a bit worried about. The Mando decided to leave the freighter with his helmet on his belt, carrying his full kit of gear to add him in this fight. As Mig left the ship, he'd see three faces: One he knew, one he'd heard of, and a new one. Mig would nod to all three, speaking up with his Concord Daw accent.

"Adenn! It's been too long, Ner Vod. And I'll take it you're Darlyn. Still need to thank you for helping on Concord Dawn." He then turned to Mi'la, looking at her. He'd been working with... the Jedi would call him a Master, but the Mando'ade'jetii didn't have a title for it. All he knew was he'd been working on both some arcane skill, and his mental skills, and it was enough to tell... something. He smiled a bit at her, extending a hand. "Mig Gred, not sure I've heard of you before."

Darlyn Excron Adenn Kyramud Mi'la Undari

 

[Darlyn Excron]

It didn't really take long for the others to begin showing up, the first of whom was quite theatric, much to Darlyn's amusement. Adenn Kyramud chose to descend to the landing pad using his jetpack, both unnecessary and excessive and very much in line with what Darlyn loved to see. He watched the Alor walk up to him, and when offered an arm for a warrior's greeting, Darlyn was all too happy to respond in kind. Su'cuy gar Adenn, glad to see you really are still too stubborn to die, least that's how Taozi put it. Yeah, tarentateks. I could do it myself probably, but I've been too hopeful to see you in action."

Then, both Mi'la Undari and Mig Gred arrived, a bit later than Adenn seemed to have. He smiled at them both, and addressed Mi'la first. "It's good to see you too Mi'la. This is Adenn, a bit of a distant family member and somehow more magnetically attracted to danger than me. Good to see you brought enough weapons, You'll be getting some good use outta them trust me." He'd been concerned that Mi'la would bring only a sword, or somehow less. IF she hadn't brought a rifle or pistol, she'd be putting herself in extreme danger without quality armor... another thing he doubted she would bring. The blasters at least would let her play a bit safely.

Then he turned to Mig, and bowed his head to him. "I only wish I could've taken Joycelyn down with the city. Wish I could've gotten more of your clan away safely too. Past is the past, however, so let's just look forward to giving her what she's earned later and enjoy the now, yeah?" Mig wasn't someone Darlyn knew much about, but he respected him all the same. For one, to be a clan alor was no small thing, for two to do so in a clan of forcies spoke volumes beyond even the norm. Add to that some guilt over knowingly killed, or sentenced to death essentially, clan Gred members in the interrest of saving who he could and Darlyn was so far out of his comfort zone in feeling safe knowing how to speak to him.

"Well, we've all gotten together now, best get started yeah?" He motioned them to follow behind him as he moved out of the spaceport. While they would make their way through the Wookie capital, he'd give them a briefing. "Mi'la, Mig and Adenn. Mig and Adenn, Mi'la. These two are my brothers of a sort, and Mi'la is an good acquaintance I made relatively recently. Now just in case I didn't remember to give you all the heads up on what we're here to do, I recently caught rumours of some active Tarentateks in the Shadowlands, relatively sizable ones at that. Seeing as they're quite dangerous, especially to folks like me, I decided it'd be best to go at this with some folks I trusted."

"I've managed to get us a guide who's agreed to take us down to the shadowlands, and I've plotted a rough idea on our route to the beasts. Anyone got questions so far?" He hadn't tackled a battleplan yet, but the first concern was of course the idea where they were going, and how they were getting there.

 

[Adenn Kyramud]

Grinning at the greeting, Adenn responded rather cockily.
"Taozi would be right about that then. Only way I'm dying is if the planet goes with me."

He turned then to Mi'la, giving her an appraising eye before nodding in return to her. Darlyn beat him to the punch of introducing himself though. Laughing at the summary, Adenn expanded on it a bit himself.
"Brothers in law Darlyn. Or have you forgotten I married Aditya? Then again, we never had the chance to spend time together, the family is rather big. As for the danger bit, that's very true. If I weren't married to Aditya, it'd be to danger, death, and destruction."

Turning his attention away from Mi'la, he was greeted by the sight of Mig Gred. An old friend, and also family. Grin turning into a full blown smile, Adenn clapped Mig on the shoulder. It had indeed been too long, but that was often the way of the Mandalorians. Rather than respond vocally, Adenn simply squeezed Mig's shoulder once more before letting go. They could always talk later, right now it was time for introductions, something Darlyn was already doing.

At the mention of Concord Dawn, Adenn's thoughts flashed to Mandalore and the invasion there. His eyes grew distant, even as his smile became strained. Shaking himself free of those dark thoughts, Adenn wordlessly followed Darlyn. Keeping a careful ear on the conversation, Adenn allowed his gaze to travel around them, taking in the sights of the city. He'd been to Kashyyyk before, long, long ago. It hadn't changed all that much, and was still as beautiful as he could remember. As Darlyn explained their situation, Adenn simply continued on, having learned all this beforehand. Regardless, the mention of a guide had Adenn turn his attention back to Darlyn.
"Smart of you to get some of the best Mando's out there to go hunting with you. However, this guide, can we trust them?"

Darlyn Excron | Mig Gred | Mi'la Undari

 

[Mi'la Undari]

It was getting crowded, more so than Mi'la had planned on. Looking around at her fellow hunters, she couldn't help but realize how unprepared she was for this whole ordeal, yet she said nothing about it. Being told that they were going to hunt Tantentaks in the Shadowlands was...a daunting task to say the least, and her information on this place wasn't exactly positive. She'd probably just stick closer to Darlyn truth be told, but if these people were his friends than it seemed logical that she could trust them as well. The clarification of Adeen made things line up a bit better in her mind, being brother in law was as much as an alliance as one could ask for. She nodded towards Mig, forcing a smile as she wasn't sure what to really think of all this. Worst of all, there seemed to be some sort of dress code she missed out on, as everyone save for her had matching helmets, and here she was in an armored flight suit. Awkward.

"Tantentaks, dark side entities create with Sith magic. They exceptionally force resistant, often deployed by Sith forces during the time of Exar Kun to dispatch jedi. Their ferocity is legendary, with entire hunting teams being killed to the last man by a single creature. Even squads of jedis died in their pursuit of these creatures during the era of the Great Hunt, which reminds me, their hide is also resistant to lightsabers and blaster weapons; though I imagine high impact rifles could make a dent." She mused aloud, before realizing what it was she was doing. Biting her lip, Mi'la rubbed the back of her head, looking behind herself as if to downplay the information overload she had just given out. "You know, just so...we all know what we are doing." She muttered, her sabers clanking against the her hips as she lifted up the blaster rifle around her shoulder. "I know a thing or two about outdoors-manship, but I imagine this trek isn't exactly the 'beginner' sort, right? How long are we planning on staying there for?" She asked, turning back to face Darlyn, knowing that while she was certainly out of her element, she still had her education.

Darlyn Excron Mig Gred Adenn Kyramud

 

[Mig Gred]

Mig looked at Darlyn, giving a look before speaking up. “You did all you could, tat (brother in Concordian).” He sighed a little after saying that before looking over to Mi’la. He could tell she was nervous, and guessed it had something to do with everyone there. In particular everyone else was a Mando. He nodded to her, talking a little quieter this time. “Calm yourself, Mi’la. You’ll need to keep your wits for something like this.”

He would then stay quiet as he listened what they were hunting. He looked at Darlyn, then Mi’la, and finally Adenn as he slipped his helmet on. Tantentaks. Better than certain lizard, but still.

“So we’re hunting a monster basically. You sure know how to pick a mark Darlyn.”

Darlyn Excron Mi'la Undari Adenn Kyramud

 

[Darlyn Excron]

So many good questions! Darlyn was just giddy with anticipation, really! It was amazing to him to have others so invested already in his hunt from the sounds of it, he was worried they might back out or somehow find a tarentatek beneath them. The way he had a pep in his step as he lead them through and out of the city was almost like a small child excited to go on a family camping trip, and the tone of his voice almost matched. "Well Adenn, you won't have to worry about the guide. Like a good number of sentient people on this planet, he's a wookie, and pretty trustworthy when he gives you his word. Plus he owed me a favor before this, wookies are dutiful at paying off debts." With luck that would reassure Adenn Kyramud .

As to Mi'la Undari, he first addressed her little refresher course. "Mostly correct, though as my old Master would've put it Sith did not create them originally, they found them first. They are also near force immune in some cases and you forgot the venomous tusks and claws. But resistant to lightsabers or no, they ain't exactly lightsaber proof either, still easy to cut through with a bit of enhanced strength if you got the technique. Which is good for me since, eh I'll get there. But yes this is also not a 'beginner' trek, though with any luck it won't be more than a day or so barring any complications. Though I do mean 'a day' by that, this is an event you know, our own little Great Hunt." That also wasn't to mention the possibility of encountering Kinrath spiders, or worse, on their way across the bottom of the forest floor. More likely than not this was going to be at least two days if they were anything short of lucky.

"Two monsters, actually. Since there's four of us that should get us all enough of a prize to split, one for me and Mi'la and one for you and Adenn. I'm sure you know Vod, but their hide makes an excellent leather that retains a portion of its force resistance, and with a bit of alchemy you can be pretty sure no one's gonna be crushing your organs while you wear it. Though I'm not sure how much you two really will need all things considered, I'm sure they'd still make nice trophies." Hopefully he wasn't too forward with Mig Gred . True they were as much brothers as any Mandalorian would be, but being too formal could get him hurt, or stepping on toes unknowingly. Heck, stepping on toes accidentally got him choke slammed by the then Mand'alor, on his own desk, so maybe for once he ought to be careful.

Once they were all out of the city itself, he lead them to the place their guide would meet them. "Well we best know the plan before we go down there. I've picked out a few spots near the supposed den of these things, we're gonna pack them with a few det packs as an emergency plan. We blow them up we might not get enough hide, but it's better than finding ourselves lunch. That said, the plan to keep as much intact as possible is to get through their thick skulls and cut off their brain stem, or just get them to bleed out or what have you. To that end, the idea is to play around the fact these things can't resist a good force sensitive meal, and are pretty stupid. Since I generally hold my presence back a bit I'm going to let it leak out full force and play distraction, try to use my saber if I can otherwise get you guys a clean line of sight to the thing. Figure it'll be easier for you all to blast it if it's not trying to munch on your brain matter."

 

[Adenn Kyramud]

As they walked along, Adenn couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at Mi'la's explanation. It showed she did her research, and Adenn could appreciate that. Grinning and giving her a nod, Adenn responded.
"It's always best for everyone to know important information, and this shows you did your research. Good."

The answer wasn't quite what Adenn expected, but it made sense. On top of that, wookies were honorable in keeping their promises, so he nodded that he wouldn't worry. Unclipping his helmet from his belt, Adenn slipped it back on with ease. Cracking his knuckles, Adenn chuckled at Darlyns words to Mig. Their own little Great Hunt, contradictory and accurate.

Marching along as they were, Adenn made one final check over his heavy rifle before nodding with satisfaction. Smiling at the prospect of this hunt, Adenn remembered that his allies didn't know his full capabilities. While it was good that way, he did want clear communication on what they did need to know.
"Blow 'em up or stab 'em, doesn't matter much to me. We'll get those kills Darlyn, don't worry about that part. Hard part will be working together to bring it down, so might as well compare notes now." Motioning to his gun and then cloak, Adenn gave them a watered down version of both. "My gun's a slug thrower, can be a sniper or the way it is now. It should be good to punch into the Tarantentaks. Also got my sword and various other assorted weapons, too many to list. As for the cloak, well it's best if I just show you."

Grinning behind his helmet, Adenn pulled the cloak about himself. Instantly he vanished, blending into the background. After a few more steps, Adenn pulled it down again to reveal himself once more.
"Valath hide, can blend into any environment. That way I'll be good as a sniper or up close and the damned things won't know what hit them." Turning to face his allies, with a clear grin on his face, Adenn continued. "So then, what toys did you lot bring?"

Darlyn Excron | Mig Gred | Mi'la Undari

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Nodding to Mig Gred as the the man attempted to give her some words of advice, though it didn't do much to help her here. She was in a group with a bunch of trained military grade experts, and she was an amateur with a blaster rifle and no idea on what she was doing. Clearly Darlyn had been too lax in describing her abilities. At least Adenn approved of her info dump, though it didn't help that she felt like she was dead weight here. What use was a jedi that had no force powers? Well, not much if Mi'la was being honest. Her face visually dropped as Darlyn went further into the plan, stating that it would be the two of them going against one of the creatures, and the plan was...well, it wasn't much of a plan. The Twi'lek looked on in silent horror as the man continued, nodding slowly as if everything was fine in the world; even when it most certainly was not. "Darlyn...I..don't know about this." Mi'la confessed, though she had no idea where to even start with her feedback. Hearing Adenn inquire on the load out that the group had brought with them, Mi'la suppressed the desire to groan aloud, as she had no real idea on what her rifle was.

Looking to the rifle she had gotten, Mi'la paused awkwardly as she read off the name that had been printed onto the side of her rifle. She tried to be subtle, but there was only so much one could do in her position. "Oh, you know, just a erm....OS-110, pretty standard stuff you know." She realized then and there that she should probably take more into account when selecting a weapon for an unknown job. Chuckling awkwardly, she looked to the rest of her group, trying to put on the calm front when she just wanted to sit in the Jabberwocky and cry.

Darlyn Excron Mig Gred Adenn Kyramud

 

[Mig Gred]

Mig smiled a bit as the plan was explained. Him and Adenn would take one, and Darlyn and Mi’la would take the other. Seemed solid, even if the kid wasn’t so sure of herself. She’d be with a living tank against something that wanted the Force. She’d be ok. In face....

“Ad (kid),you’re going with a Force beacon so massive the thing won’t want to touch you. You’ll be fine, and trust me, he’ll be too.” He then looked at Adenn, smiling a bit.

“Well, Pops, I have my Trayc’kad, vibrosword, a couple of knives, and these new blade launchers.” If anything he was the underprepared one. Not really any good blasters.

Darlyn Excron Mi'la Undari Adenn Kyramud