Hunting In the Void

[Verd Skirata]

Verd had recently accepted a contract from the beastmaster's guild. He had been assigned a partner, [member="Corruck Kazen"] ,to capture as many of the furry little lizard like creatures as he could. He needed to capture as many of these as they could for as big a profit as possible. The ysalamiri were creatures hunted by the vornskr of Myrkyr. They developed the ability to create a bubble void of the force because of the force sensitive predators that hunt them. Vornskyrs had hunted the ysalamir to the point where they had to adapt to survive. Ysalamiri from the moment they hatch to the moment they die , reside on an olibio tree in the same spot. This causes the tree to grow around their claws, which makes them almost impossible to take off of the trees without killing them. The other rthing he had to worry about was the ysalamir dying from lack of nutrients, which they get from their attachment to the tree. This is why the guild provided the nutrien frames, which were in the cargo portion of his Beskaad class patrolship. Those would keep his shipment alive for a while, he had even brought a speeder with storage space to haul the little mamal-lizards to his ship and back. And of course Mird'ika his strill, who was one of the most ferocious fighting beasts he had ever seen. He had the beastmaster's guild train her for him, but he treated her like an oversized puppy, which she certainly acted like one. "Come here Mird." He called holding out a raw nerf steak he had thawed out from his freezer. Just like she likes it, he thought. I wonder if I could get her a friend. He thought about getting a male strill for her to have companionship when he couldn't be with her, she might not have been trained for circumstances they would face, like with the vornskyrs. But he hoped they wouldn't be out later than night. though he had heard that the beasts could be tamed fairly easily and domesticated. He might have to try to catch one or two of them, though aware he would be doing so without aid from Kazen, who had clearly displayed his unwillingness to be out after nightfall. This would be one fun mission.He commed Corruck to find out when he would be arriving at Myrkyr, then laid in the course for his own ship, and hit the hyperdrives.

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Myrkr, once more Corruck would return to that planet. The first time had been quite the experience. It had left its share of scars, a number of Vornskr had attacked them during the night, leading to a lot of injuries and a few pets as well. The last time had been a quite profitable, financially and otherwise. He had four Vornskr hounds as pets now, after removing their tails and a few months of training they were very loyal and friendly most of the time. He had even taught them to not attack Karneth, who used to be a Jedi. Of course, it helped that he was the cook and on a regular basis gave them a few of the choice parts of the meat.

But that was unimportant at the moment. What did matter was that he had to study a little bit more for when they reached the planet. From what he remembered, night was one of the worst times to be in the forests as the Vornskr were mostly nocturnal. The next was that they would need to finish setting up the nutrient frame racks that were being built in the main hold of the Recalcitrant. He could still recall the method with which the Ysalamir could be removed from the trees, it was just a better idea to be more concerned with the nutrient frames. He hoped to return to the same forests that he had gone to before, hopefully the time away would mean that new Ysalamir could grow up on the trees.

He had planned for the racks to carry about forty on both sides leading to a total of eighty per one rack. They were quite large however and he could only fit two in the main hold, to give the Ysalamir comfortable room. He had set aside one auxiliary cargohold for one rack that was half the size of the others. If his numbers were correct, that would lead to a total of two hundred Ysalamir capacity, much more than his previous run. The grav sleds that he had used the first time had been repaired and prepared for more trouble. He also made sure to check the stun rifles that had been borrowed from the Guild's armory. He had no intention of being beaten up this time. If it came to a fist fight with the wild Vornskr, at least his right arm was metal now, rather than being one of flesh and bone.

This planet, with all its dangers, was actually quite a nice place. It struck him as a nice planet to maybe someday have an abode on. Probably build a small base and live the rest of his days in fair comfort. That was the future though, far future at that. He had to stay focused on the immediate future and the present. He heard the intercom crackle to life and Sheera's voice come over. "Corruck, have a communica from that friend of yours. He's asking when we will arrive."

Corruck picked himself up off his bed, knocking a few datapads off accidentally as he did so. He walked over to the comm and replied, "Alright, on my way."

He walked towards the exit to his room, when the door opened he almost jumped back with surprise. Waiting for him was the largest Vornskr of the lot that he had turned into to loyal pets, Norgorth. The canine like creature cackled, probably telling Corruck something. Corruck smiled and pet the Vornskr, which pushed its head appreciatively into his hand. Corruck continued walking, listening to the rhythmic tick-tick of Norgorth's claws hitting the floor as it followed.

It wasn't long before he found himself in the bridge of the ship. He nodded to Sheera, who was watching the console tick down the time before reversion to real space. He turned on the comm unit on his ship and sent a message to [member="Verd Skirata"] stating that he would arrive there within the next eight to ten hours.

Sheera spoke quietly, "Convenient that we were so close to that system anyways. That ship you keep having us meet with always ends up in a different position. What is it a smuggler?"

Corruck kept a straight face, that ship, the Destiny was a project of his that was intended for his plans in the near future. It was a secret and one that he would have to keep until he could begin his campaign. "Specifically an entrepreneur smuggler, one who collects rare and hard to obtain items. I've asked the captain to keep an eye out for a particularly exotic object."

Sheera laughed, "Alright then. Keep looking around."

 

[Verd Skirata]

Verd Heard the beep of his starhip, signaling the exit from hyperspace. He wasn't too worried, he had one of his Z-6 naval droids piloting his ship anyhow. He walked to the cockpit and sat in his seat. "Whats our eta gearbox?" He asked the droid, who wasn't too thrilled about his name.
"Fifteen seconds till orbit, but for you,I'll see that it takes as long as possible." The snarky droid replied back.
"Well let's hope the detour doesn't take too much time, we have a very relaxed schedule to keep." Verd replied just as the ship entered realspace. He hoped to hear from [member="Corruck Kazen"] soon. The other man had been to this planet before, and was said to know where some of the rare ysalamir were located. Some rumors even say that he was attacked by vornskyrs. He was told that they liked to eat force filled beings. He hoped not, because he recently discovered that he was very force sensitive, but he hadn't yet had the opportunity to receive any training. He would just have to keep his eyes and ears open at all times. It was days like these that made him glad to have his full body armor. Maybe he could capture and tame a few vornskyr himself. That would be a sight to see. A force using mandalorian, controlling a group of creatures that love to feed on force sensitive things. He laughed at the thought, and went to check his weapons. He wanted to grab something loud and intimidating, also something that could help him tranquilize these beasts. He picked up an IR-5 intimidator blaster pistol and holstered it in his right holster, and looked over his small armory once more picking up a tranq 25 HV pistol and holstering it in his other holster. The second weapon really only had a limited range of 20 meters, and had an ammo capacity of 5 darts, but the tranquilizer that was in the darts, were supposed to knock out a wookie in seconds. This would serve him well if he ran into any trouble with the local creatures. He put his JT-12 on his back, for a last resort option, and walked back to the cockpit. He always had his beskaad sheathed at his side, so he wasn't too worried about melee weapons. Sitting down in the cockpit, he waited for a response to his message.

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck left his room, feeling somewhat rested after the short sleep. Well, it was short in that it was only about seven and a half hours. It wasn't really the optimal amount of sleep and would probably need to be added to before he began his hunt. But he would first need to check on the position of the ship. He didn't feel the vibration of the ship in hyperspace, maybe they were already at Myrkr. Though, that could just be because he had gotten used to the distinct sensation thanks to the many jumps they had made in the last few years.

He took his time again, walking to the bridge, this time though there was no sound to listen aside from his own footsteps. It was definitely interesting, how his mind could make the situation suddenly eerie even though there was nothing to make him think that. Was it that lack of anything that allowed the human mind to fill the void with fearful things. He wasn't scared by any means, in fact he was far too confident in this ship to be safe more than likely. It was just an observation that he noted about most people, human and non human. He didn't know why the mind did that, but he had noticed that it did.

Ah, mindless thoughts, he needed something to intrigue his mind. For too long had he just worked his physical body. Maybe he should work on those logistics for the next stage in fads on Coruscant. No, it would be better to plan for things that can be useful for the Rebels.

That was when he reached the bridge. Sheera and Rathur were there and it seemed that they were once again playing some card game. It seemed that the two were always playing some card game when they were together. He smiled a little. They seemed to be playing some form of Sabaac, though he couldn't tell. Norgorth was there as well. The Vornskr seemed intent to just lie on the floor near the two people's feet. They would both pet it once in awhile. The creature looked over as Corruck entered the room. The nub where its tail used to be wagged back and forth, but it didn't look like it was going to move.

Sheera was the first to speak, "Finally awake I see! We're in system. I think that friend of yours should either already be here or here soon."

Corruck was surprised, Sheera did have a knack for that though. She was pretty good at cutting down travel times. He sent a message to [member="Verd Skirata"] just in case he had already arrived.

 

[Verd Skirata]

Verd got a message stating the arrival of [member="Corruck Kazen"]. "Verd here, Sorry it took so long to get back to you. But I am here In orbit, I'm ready here when you are." He thought for a second then added. "Just give me a location to head to, and I will be there."

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck replied in message, "Coordinates on their way. Should be enough landing room for both ships."

He nodded to Sheera who then began to direct the ship towards the location. Corruck had made sure that the spot was kept on the computers so that he could easily return if he ever needed to.

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

Corruck was prepared by the time they landed, he had the grav sleds float out of the hold and rechecked his tranquilizer rifle. He also slid his pistol into its holster, he knew now that it would be necessary at some point more than likely. He also made sure that there were extra magazines in the grav sleds' storage compartments, just in case.

He pet Norgorth, who appeared to be ecstatic at being on his home again. All the Vornskr were playing around, wrestling each other and having a good time while Corruck set up and prepared to go. He knew this region, he knew the local animal life, and he knew the local plant life. There was little to fear for him. So he believed at least.

[member="Verd Skirata"]

 

[Verd Skirata]

Verd landed his ship near [member="Corruck Kazen"]'s and exited his ship. He had brought a speeder out with a small repulsor sled attatched to it, looking at Corruck's setup his eyes swelled up. It was a good thing he had his helmet on. "Dang, you have quite the rig." He said amusedly. He knows his stuff. His own rig could only carry 12 nutrien frames. His friend seemed set for the mission. He looked at Mird, who snarled when she saw Corruck's 2 vornskyrs. They snarled at him as well. It must be his force sensitivity making them go crazy." I really hope those are your pets, or else the vornskyrs have stopped being nocturnal." Verd said hopefully, glad he had his armor on.

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck smiled at the comment about his Vornskr. "Then your very lucky. These are my pets, and they are less nocturnal than the ones we are likely to meet around here."

His Vornskr had spent much time on the Recalcitrant, now they were slightly less nocturnal, due to feeding times being during the day rather than night.

He motioned the creatures to move back to the ship, while not happy about it they complied and raced back to the side of his ship. AS they messed around Corruck walked over to [member="Verd Skirata"] and began, "So this region has two large forests nearby. Last time I was here, I chose the one that apparently had more Vornskr attention during the night. I would say that during the day we go to that forest and then if we need to collect more during the night we go to the other forest. Sound good?"

 

[Verd Skirata]

"Sounds good to me [member="Corruck Kazen"]." I hope we don't have to come back at night, he thought nervously, though he was fairly confident they could handle themselves. "There is one thing you need to know about me though, I am a force sensitive." He looked towards Corruck to make sure that wouldn't be a problem. He genuinely hoped it wouldn't be an issue, but here on this planet, he couldn't be too sure.

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck wasn't too surprised, it seemed he met more and more people who either didn't know they could use the Force or they tried to hide it. The only thing that [member="Verd Skirata"] would have to fear right now would be the wild Vornskr.

"Shouldn't be too much to worry about. Aside from the wild animals...and the Ysalamir's effects on the Force."

He turned back and began walking to the grav sleds, checking to make sure their driving mechanisms were slaved to his datapad. He found that they were so he sent in a command to begin moving out to the forest he had suggested. Then he sent a command to await further orders until there was confirmation. He jumped onto one of the sleds. That was how he intended on traveling, the same way he had the first time. It brought memories flooding back. He shook them aside, not now. He could be nostalgic when they were finished.

He looked over at Verd and asked, "You ready to go?"

 

[Verd Skirata]

"Definately." He said hopping back into his speeder and readied himself to follow [member="Corruck Kazen"] where he was going. He hadn't done anything like this before, so he would pay attention to the other, in hopes of learning what to do himself. He called to Mird'ika for her to hop into the seat next to him and she, having climbed to the top of a tree jumped, spreading her legs to stretch her skin and glide down to where he had directed her. He pet her head, and pulled a meaty treat from his belt and fed it to her. "Ready when you are Corruck."

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck deftly typed in the command and sent it to the sleds. They accelerated quickly until they reached the speed of a small land-speeder. It almost made Corruck fall over, but he held himself just enough that he didn't slip. He didn't turn to see if [member="Verd Skirata"] was keeping up, Corruck trusted that the fellow hunter and Rebel would be able to keep the pace. If not, then Corruck got a head start.

He checked the status of the grav sleds repulsor lift systems, they normally needed a longer time to reach the speed they had. Corruck had wanted to see just how quickly they could reach this velocity. He had spent some time working on them after the first visit and they had shown considerable wear, at least one of them had. The one he and Karneth had used had barely made it back functionally. As it were, it had taken a full year to repair and replace parts, then fine tune the different systems, make them more efficient, and finally put a new paint job on them. They now sported the colors of the Recalcitrant, darkish blue with light and dark grey highlights.

He slung his rifle around, keeping a firm grip on the rail in front of him. He looked down the sights to make sure they were still good. He didn't know why he kept rechecking things after he had done so already. He guessed it had something to do with his need to make sure that everything would work on its first try. He didn't know, so he didn't worry too much about it. Instead he turned his attention to the forest growing steadily clearer in the distance.

 

[Verd Skirata]

Verd easily kept up with his fellow hunter, looking at the strange repulsor sled rigged system It looked like it was completely controlled by a computer. He would have to ask about it later. He turned his eyes forward to the forest. It looked like a lightly wooded area, which would be excellent for moving through quickly. He just kept his main focus on following [member="Corruck Kazen"] ,though he glanced at his strill from time to time, who was obviously loving the feeling of the air blowing across her face. He smiled and continued driving till he and Corruck had reached their destination.

 

[Corruck Kazen]

The forest seemed much less imposing in the light of day. The last time he had come through had been duck going on night. That had been a truly painful lesson in not going around in the dark on this world. He had studied it at the time, he should have known better and he did. Yet for some reason, as silly as it seemed, he had gone in willingly. He would have done so again if it would give him the same result. It had taught him a lesson, always be prepared, no matter how much it seemed like an easy run.

Once he had set the grav sleds on a forward course into the forest, using built in sensors to avoid obstructions and to verify that it could fit in most spaces. The sleds moved slowly, almost a little faster than a walk. Corruck jumped off, taking a moment to catch his balance from the sudden change to a non-moving surface. He smiled at [member="Verd Skirata"] saying, "Well this is where the fun begins. Let's get the Ysalamirs first then get those tree saplings and soil."

He could remember collecting saplings and soil last time he was here as well. He had collected a few tons of the local dirt to see if it would help the trees survive off-planet. So far the one sapling he had kept for himself was back on Praesitlyn, growing quite nicely. It needed a lot more water than most of the plants on that planet, but it was well worth it. A few years in the future and he might have a spot to keep a Ysalamiri.

 

[Verd Skirata]

Verd nodded and hopped out of his speeder and went along with [member="Corruck Kazen"] and walked into the forest, It was strange, but now that he was in the trees, he felt tired for some reason, as if the extra energy he had had simply vanished. Must mean a Ysalamir is nearby. Verd thought, and looked around the forest, at eevery tree, swithching to thermal imaging, he easily spotted one of the targeted creatures, he hoped to find. "Corruck, I think I have found one of them." He motioned the other over to his position. "I don't know how you would go about taking them off of the tree though." Verd stated, not knowing what to expect from his partner.

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck turned as [member="Verd Skirata"] spoke. He saw the creature fairly quickly, its form and color standing out to him thanks to previous experience. He was somewhat disappointed, last time he had come through the forest there had been so many Ysalamirs on the trees that it had been easy to simply go up one and grab one of the creatures. He could remember last time, he and Karneth had had to take turns leaving the cover of the grav sled in order to climb a tree and grab a Ysalamiri and then let the other person do the same. If memory served, Karneth had broken a leg dropping from a tree onto the grav sled and Corruck had obtained a broken rib from a Vornskr landing on him, Norgorth if he wasn't mistaken. Oh what fun it had been...

He clambered up the tree, not quite as graceful as he would have liked, but then there weren't that many branches on the lower portion of the tree. He replied to Verd as he climbed, "I'm a bit rusty, but I think I still remember." He pulled out a long knife and worked his way towards the Ysalamiri. The creature, wild as it was, did not seem content to have a human coming close to it. It cried once or twice until Corruck was close enough to touch it. He gave it a reassuring pet on the head. The animal did not seem to know how to respond and simply fell silent and watched as Corruck got to work. The first thing Corruck did was carefully place large cuts around the claws of the Ysalamiri. He made sure not to harm the claws themselves and to leave some of the wood on them. He refined the cuts a few times to try, trying to get a portion of the center of the branch still attached to the claws.

A few minutes in and the creature was free from the tree and Corruck gently lifted the animal from its home. He worked himself back down to the ground and then brought the animal over to Verd. "The way to get this animal off the tree is mostly just very fine cuts to the wood around the claws. Only once we get them into a nutrient frame can the wood on the claws be removed." He placed the Ysalamiri on the grav sled, the creatures could survive for a little while without a tree of nutrients, it would be akin to starving.

(OOC: Sorry if the way of taking them off is too simple, I tried finding the actual method, however none of the books I read or sites I checked actually had a method that was explained.)

 

[Verd Skirata]

(ooc, Yeah I know what you mean. I think this works fine though )
"Alright, Well you take that one back, and I'll, what is that?" He asked looking at i glowing portion of forest, after stepping to the side of the tree, he counted at least 30 more on the other side of a small clearing, not too far into the woods. "I think we may have just found the Jackpot, he rushed over to the trees and unsheathing a knife worked the cuts in, staying away from the claws so as not to harm them, and carried it back to the sled. "If you want, I can cut down some trees with my sabers I found a while back, so that we can just drive right into the thicket.

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck frowned, cutting the trees themselves down was not a good idea, or so he believed. Even if it allowed them to drive further into the forest, the loss of trees would leave a mark and could possibly kill many of the Ysalamirs they were here to get. It would also remove the future homes of Ysalamirs. There were large spaces that the grav sleds could fit through, at least there had been last time he had been there.

He looked around, gauging the distance between trees, using his mind's eye to judge whether the transports would fit through. He noticed a suitable opening, just large enough to avoid scraping any of the trees. He pulled out his datapad, and sent the order for the sleds to move towards him, then to follow the route through the openings and into a clearing just a little beyond. In that clearing were mostly tree saplings, not yet tall enough to cause trouble with the repulsor coils on the sleds.

"Let's try to avoid cutting down as many trees as possible. Don't know when those trees may be homes to Ysalamirs right?"

He noted with hardly any emotion, that [member="Verd Skirata"] seemed a little more worn upon entering the forest. Maybe the sudden lack of Force was having an affect on him. Coldly Corruck smiled to himself. One more reason that he was glad not to be Force sensitive.

 

[Verd Skirata]

"Sounds good to me." Verd said, happy to avoid doing that much more labor. He decided that he had enough jetpack fuel to fly back to his speeder, and still have plenty to spare for emergancies. Besides, he liked to show off his gear. after grabbing another ysalamir, he activated his jetpack and launched himself to his speeder, putting the creature onto the nutrien frame, he worked on getting the wood off of the claws. after the creature looked content, or in shock, he drove the speeder back into the clearing to gather more.
[member="Corruck Kazen"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck had decided to grab a few Ysalamirs while he waited for the arrival of the larger grav sleds. He was constantly listening for some indication that there were Vornskr in the area. Above all else, he didn't want to have a repeat of his last visit. It was amusing to him, he was so concerned about an attack, even though it was almost midday, making it very unlikely that Vornskr would come out. But.... but he still had a feeling that there was going to be some excitement later... maybe excitement was the wrong word. It would probably be something more along the lines of danger and imminent death.

Those thoughts got some adrenaline pumping in his system. An interesting phenomenon, that fear, even the remotest possibility set his body off. When he thought about it, it was a natural tendency for most people... humans that was, he didn't know about other species. That adrenaline was a force more powerful than almost anything else in the galaxy. It ended more lives than any plague, in a moment of fear a person would strike down another without thought. It saved more lives than bacta ever could, people throwing aside personal safety for the sake of others. It had more profound an effect on this galaxy than even the Force.

Cutting his thoughts off, Corruck tried to stay focused on the Ysalamiri in front of him. The creature did not seem comfortable with Corruck working with its claws and made a number of cries. He wondered what it was like, to be helpless and at the mercy of a stranger, one who could kill him with the slightest miss intentional or otherwise... No. He knew how it was to live like that. He knew that many people throughout the galaxy could understand the feeling. Those who wielded the Force were the stranger who could and often would kill intentionally, and there was nothing that non-Force users could do.

Ah, but he had plans in place. Plans to begin the downfall of the Jedi, Sith, and others who bend the Force to their will. When he was done, they would be nothing more than those they had originally commanded and killed. He had no intention of killing them, no that would be to let them off easy. He intended on letting those that they had threatened deal with them as they please.

[member="Verd Skirata"]