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[ToKola Bakari]

A rather disgruntled sigh escaped Victor as he felt his ship shift out of hyperspace. The Silver Sunrise was a beautiful ship in it's own right. Somewhat aged for it's time but it still existed as one of the most elegant ships the galaxy had ever seen. He turned into the cockpit of the ship while digging in his lab coat, his hands browsing through the interior pocket searchingly. He produced a small metal container from the pocket, glancing down at it in confirmation before making his way over to the pilot's seat.

Tesla ran his hand over the rough stubble that coated his chin before tapping into the ship's main terminal. He looked over the ship's sensors to see if any other starships were in the planet's vicinity.

Nothing. Perfect...

His hand reached back out to the container he set on the console, popping the clasp on it and looking at the contents. Sitting inside of the container were three cigarra sticks, far too few for Tesla who was used to smoking at least twenty a day.

A soft groan erupted from him before he clamped the container shut, tossing it back on the console until he truly felt a need for one. The Doctor ran a hand through his unkempt hair before rotating away from the console and standing to his full height. He made his way out of the cockpit and turned back to the passenger area. It was not large but all of the furniture and seating had been removed from the small passageway. In it's place eight cages had been tightly inserted into the area, along with a thing metal wire that ran from cage to cage.

Tesla knew that these cages would not be strong enough to hold his "guests" unless they were heavily sedated. Now he had to figure out if the sedation he had cooked up would work on the nightmarish creatures known as Rakghouls.

Knowing he had time until the backup for his little mission arrived Tesla returned to the cockpit, only to stare at the small container he wished held more cigarra's than what he had verified.

[member="Thraxis"]

 

[Thraxis]

Thraxis won't lie, he had tried to sneak aboard one of the containers a few nights in advance, it saved him fuel and bringing along manpower. But alas, fate, the cruel mistress that it was dashed his hopes against the sand, mainly from drinking too much booze which in truth was already getting more and more difficult at this point, most bars didn't sell enough of the stuff anymore and the second was to reiterate the first, he was busy drinking rather than hiding. So with a somber mood, he had forced a squad of Gammorens to pack up and get to work preparing their own shuttle.

He wasn't the kind of man to lie, he wasn't here for money, he wasn't here out of the goodness of his heart, he was here to capture the beasts, enough to keep this Doctor Electro happy but also sneak one aboard his small cramped Pack Master. A few Gammoreans pranced back and forth, chains in hand as they prepared the cage. The strength of a Rakghoul was impressive to undersell it, and with powerful mandibles, it would make quite the pet. Though with all great pets there was the double-edged sword. The plague. He didn't want his comrades catching the damned thing if he caught it he was confident he could last long enough to have the medicine applied. His family, not so much and with a reluctant growl from the crew they backed off, leaving Thraxis to do the hard work, something he had grown fond of getting to do.

It started with a pulse, the gentle hum of circuitry cavorting through the ship as lights flashed on and off, before tearing itself from the confines of gravity, its metal form quickly rising in defiance before darting through the atmosphere, a red trail of light enveloping the ship before the ever expanding coldness of space took over. The stars parted from singular dots littering the sky sparingly to streaks extending far past his fingers as they flew towards the Doctor at mind-numbing speeds. Then it halted, the light that once flourished behind a thin veil of glass became single orbs floating precariously in the dark void of space.

A comm channel flicked to life, Thraxis sending a message over towards the good doctor dressed in blackened armor, Phirik to the discerning eye, though far odder than that was the choice of setup. In the middle of the room, a long strand of leather hanged, Thraxis body laying limply in it his arm perched up to support the weight of his head as it cocked to the side. A chair sat underneath, the rest of the ship looked worn out and used, but the chair looked to be in pristine condition. "Yo, you be the Doctor that Hired Thraxis?" he inquired with a jovial tone as if the idea of fighting Rakghouls was but a passing thought.
[member="Victor Tesla"]

 

[Nolan Detta]

Finally, a job worth taking. Taris, a planet that time tried to forget. But the good doctor, and his pocketbook, sought to go to the impoverished planet and find the beasts known as Rakghouls. The goal was to capture a few for his research, but he'd needed the aid of those far more experienced and expendable. Nolan was just that.

The jolt of the ship noted its exit from hyperspace, and the entrance into the Taris System. There were two ships on radar, one far less extravagant than the next. Nolan chose to hail the fancier of the two.

"This is Wreckingball One, I'm assuming you're the Doctor I'm looking for." Nolan keyed the comm and made his approach to the ship. His bucket sat on the passenger seat to him, waiting to get some use.

Dawned in his Darkside armor, the black and red reflected little light and produced a shadow upon his face. Flexing the Cybernetics in his arm, Nolan felt a twinge of excitement that hadn't been felt in quite some time.

[member="Thraxis"] [member="Victor Tesla"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

There never seemed to be a shortage on people willing to do insane things in the galaxy. Lucky for Tesla two of those individuals had made themselves known to him and offered their help in this task. Voices came over his comm channel and immediately the Doctor took a look at his ship's proximity sensors. Where once there was nothing but a dark chart there were now to small blue blips, slowly drifting towards his own indicator in the middle of the chart. He decided to handle the transmissions jointly rather than one at a time. Keying in his comm to an open channel he hailed both of the ships.

"This is Doctor Tesla. You're both here for a reason so let's get this underway. I'm beginning my descent to Taris. We'll be landing in zone 17, area 4. It's an old trading district that ran into a system of tunnels, we'll be landing about a mile from the tunnel entrance where we'll begin our search." Tesla deactivated the comm system before tapping into his console's landing procedures. Immediately his ship began a steady descent towards Taris, just as he said.

As the ship began to descend Tesla took hold of the steering mechanism, forcing the nose down towards the planet as he entered the atmosphere. He adjusted the glasses on his face as his vision was clouded by the clouds that were hosted above Taris, the white, smokey screen causing him to really want a drag from a cigarra right about now.

It wasn't long before Tesla's ship flew over the planet's surface, his eyes scanning it carefully as he passed by. He looked down, curious to whether there would be any of the creature's they hunted roaming the planet's surface. None. This did not come as a surprise, Taris had worked for years to exterminate what remained of the Rakghoul presence, and though most of it ended in success Tesla knew that the planet's lower levels and darkest areas were still inhabited by the murderous beasts. In time a rather large clearing came into view. It was surrounded by an odd structure that seemed to have collapsed long ago, creating a type of barrier between the clearing and the overgrown forest that laid outside of the area.

Bringing his ship around for a landing his eyes connected with the trees around the area, still nothing moved, nothing seemed to be there. While his ship set down on the planet's surface Tesla keyed into his comm once again, this time holding a bit more interest in his voice. "Once you have landed you can outfit yourselves for the mission. I have prepared a considerably powerful sedative for these beasts but for that they must first be effectively neutralized. So set your weapons to stun." Tesla deactivated the comm systems once again before powering down his ship, his hands running over the switches to idle the ship and eventually turn it off.

He stood from the Captain's chair, taking the metal container into his hands with a rather drawn-out sigh. "Well....time to see how luck we are." There was always a distinct chill that went up most individuals spines when they felt they were about to do something that could get them killed, for Tesla there was no exception. He knew the risks as well as the reward and for him there was no alternative. Glancing down to the set of blaster pistol's hidden underneath his lab coat he made his way to the loading ramp, lowering it as he pulled the large coat off.

[member="Nolan Detta"] [member="Thraxis"]

 

[Thraxis]

From the corner of the eye, a metal mass formed in the distance, the comm flicking open as Victor addressed the Duo, Thraxis getting the briefest of glimpses of the Armor. The sight was sickening, not from the Dark Side craftsmanship, but the sight of a Force User in general. Ever since Gratuities scarred his ego, ever since Joza tried to stun his body he was struggling to withstand their presence, the overreliance on the force, the cocky attitude. It was all an abomination to even see them develop confidence from such a weak and frail tool, though powerful it may be.

But the thought was pushed aside, he was here for a job to capture this doctor a couple Rakghouls and take one home for himself. Yes, this was to be a fun job if a dirty one. With the thoughts pushed aside his finger pointing towards the extravagant ship of Victor a sluggish speed was taken. It took them longer, it was a transport ship and they weren't known for being the fastest thing this side of the galaxy.
It took them longer, longer than Thraxis would care to admit but it gave him time to set up. His black armor was previously strapped on since he lacked much else in the department of Attire. Strapped to his sides was a Single Blade, its plain appearance hiding its malevolent nature. Strapped around his wrists were his vambraces, simply there in case he had to kill faster than the blade could and finally, tied with a single loose holding strap was his DEMP, a gun he rarely got to use but if Paralysation was needed, than it would do the job ten fold better than a blaster set to stun.

The ship landed with an initial roar, parts coated with red streams of heat from the atmosphere before finally cooling to a simmered yellow. The roar turned to a hushed cry as dirt and debris tore from beneath the ship, slowly descending before a jolt of movement made it clear it had landed on the ground. A twist of metal groaned as the back of the ship started to lower, a single man looking back and fourth as his limbs stretched out, a resounding crack echoing as he took his first few steps onto Taris, heading towards the good Doctor with a stroll as he took in the dilapidated scenery.
[member="Victor Tesla"] | [member="Nolan Detta"]

 

[Nolan Detta]

Nolan didn't feel the need to respond to either call, seeing as he'd meet the man in person soon enough anyway. The coordinates that the Doctor gave him had been entered into the autopilot and Nolan moved to the hold where his weapons were stored. On his hip lay his own creation of the Charging Rhyno revolver. The most trusted weapon in his arsenal.

Beyond that he grabbed his L3 River Rifle, Kath Hound Scatterblaster, and his beskad. His Beskar'gam had its own weaponry and then there was his ace in the hole...

Nolan moved to the ramp as the ship landed Meters from the Doctor and the other merc's ships. The trio of ships gave the last of their groans as they all settled into their temporary homes on Taris. L3 in hand, Nolan departed the ship and primed his rifle for any immediate trouble. His scanners didn't pick anything up, yet.

"I am Nolan Detta. At your service good doctor. Where shall we begin?" Nolan gave a kurt nod of acknowledgement to the other merc, yet his gaze never left the horizon.


[member="Thraxis"] [member="Victor Tesla"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

Tesla strode down his ramp, running a hand through his matted hair as he looked up to the two who were here to help him. He exhaled a bit before nodding to the both of them. He pulled one of his blaster pistol's from it's place on his hip before gesturing to the mixture of wreckage and trees before them. "We have a bit of a walk so let's get this over with."

The Doctor was in no ways an expert shot. Hell the only time he even needed a blaster pistol was in his time working with the Alliance, but that was a long time ago. Now his skills were most likely not as keen as they once had been. Normally Tesla would have used speeders to get them to their destination, but he wanted to attract as little attention as possible, beside's it was just a mile.

His eyes took to the barrier of wreckage that surrounded them with interest, but ultimately said nothing about it. As they made their way through the wooded wreckage this planet had to offer he finally began to break words. "Because of the Tarisians sloppy attempts at clearing Rakghouls from the planet it's difficult to find them roaming the surface in packs. The tunnels we're headed for are rumor to hold a small pack that is weak and malnourished. I'd rather find them before the Tarisians do."

He glanced back to the others with a rather nonchaleant tone. "Oh and the serum to counteract the disease is...limited. So try not to get bitten or scratched if you can help it." He offered a weak smile to them before continuing on the path before them.

[member="Nolan Detta"] [member="Thraxis"]

 

[Thraxis]

This group, it seemed serious, focused and somehow refined in this bleak wasteland that spread from one corner to the next. It wasn't a familiar sight, but the lack of life was filled with its own comforts, such as solidarity and peace of mind. Thraxis began his stroll, the soft print of dirt left behind as he made his way to the Doctor. A hand raised he didn't utter a word, rather letting Nolan and the Doctor have their little conversation. He was here for a pet and since such a formal tone was taken it was best he kept his mouth shut, lest he spoils the mood.

His attention was drawn to the carnage, the buildings toppled over one another forming into larger jagged shapes. They all looked like a Rakghoul could sneak and slither its way through its ranks, hidden from the Tarisians gaze. That was unless they had already made themselves comfortable, in which case it would be best their discussion was not heard aloud. Especially not the part about being sloppy, he doubted they would enjoy their attempts being tarnished in such a way. Genocide, after all, was a rather tricky thing to complete, no matter how thoroughly you wipe out a village there is always that one who survives and wants their revenge, thinking themselves the hero in the endless expanse of the universe.

Thraxis shrugged at the statement, the supply may be limited but the minimum time it took for its effect to be made was six hours, he was sure that if all they were dealing with where Malnourished Rakghouls that they could catch it, toss them in a bag and apply the antidote in enough time. How much trouble could they be anyway?
[member="Victor Tesla"] | [member="Nolan Detta"]

 

[Nolan Detta]

Nolan walked with a few paces in front of the Doctor. Gave him the viewpoint to maintain surveillance on the forefront of the group.

"A weak and malnourished foe is far more risky than a well fed one. They are more likely to be frenzied and reckless, not so harmless. Keep your eyes moving. Most likely there will be dead animals that they tried to use as a supplement to the real meal."

Nolan turned to [member="Thraxis"], "Keep your eyes up. I know you're good in a fight, if the Doctor gets bit, we don't get paid."

Nolan pulled up his infrared and scanned the area for signs of movement.

[member="Victor Tesla"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

It did not take long before the ruins that surrounded the group had turned into a thriving jungle. The Doctor's eyes fell over the large trees and dense foliage that they moved through, his eyes peeled for any Rakghoul that may yet be wandering aimlessly around the jungle's of Taris.

Rakghoul's never ceased to amaze the Doctor, ever since a child he had been very interested in studying the murderous creatures. Now, with the help of [member="Nolan Detta"] and [member="Thraxis"] he would have his chance. Tesla was not a warrior, so coming here without backup would have been the equivalent to suicide.

As time passed the hunters would find themselves approaching a rather large tunnel system. Tesla's advanced was paused as he looked to the mouth of this system. Now finding it appropriate his hand fell into his pocket, retrieving his cigarra container. The Doctor produced one of the small cylinders and set it in between his lips. After lighting the cigarra and giving it a few testing drags he exhaled a small cloud of smoke.

The image before them was not quite a welcoming one. There was a grouping of tunnel entrances before then, yet many of them had caved in on themselves. The rest that stood solid seemed to be holding on to their last years of formation as well.

Damn things must be hundreds of years old, at least. The Doctor mused before taking a long drag from his cigarra.

"Ok, Remember the goal is to capture them, not kill them." As he spoke the smoke spilled from his lips, floating towards the sky as it did. Without another word Tesla made his way to the nearest standing tunnel entrance. The mouth of the tunnel was at least four meters high but as he peered down the dark pathway he realized they seemed to get even wider as they went on. The interior was made from simple stonework, not yet transitioned to metals or plastic.

It was quiet as they entered, the only sounds being the quiet echoes of their footsteps as they moved into the dark abyss.

 

[Thraxis]

Thraxis head turned for less than a second. A force user that recognized any merit of Thraxis. Today was going to be a strange day, normally not even a force user would recognize him in any accord. Though it was more than likely idle flattery, it at least showed a level of merit to come with the man. His fingers drew out a long tune, running the length of his arm as he strolled along, his sight still focused on the desolate ruins that surrounded them. Though it didn't take too long before something strange started to grow in their folds of broken steel. Vines... He thought to himself, turning to see the culprit, a canopy of the forest, leaf litter infesting every corner. It was a strange change of pace, from eery desolation to life flourishing.

His feet kicked up a bushel of leaf, jungles had little dirt to sustain them, instead, it was mostly leaf litter decomposing and repeating the cycle rapidly. As the bushel of leaf litter kicked up nothing living was there only death, not a lizard not a bug, these Rakghouls were tearing this place apart. A dark foreboding scowl stretched across his face. "Perfect..." he softly muttered, falling back into the tiny pack they had gathered. They had stumbled across an old cave system, Tesla speaking the oh few words he spoke Thraxis was about to pipe up, but then the Doctor took his first step in. It would have been easier to just wait them out, let them come to them rather than fight in their home base. But hey, the home advantage only meant a better fight.

He pulled down his DEMP, pushing past the doctor, his gun aimed in the darkness as he let go for a second, a sharp movement of the hand as he activated the Motion Detection feature in his Helmet. He seldom used the thing, but in the Dark Abode of a Rakghoul, what harm was there in coming prepared.
[member="Nolan Detta"] | [member="Victor Tesla"]

 

[Nolan Detta]

Nolan walked up with [member="Thraxis"] and raised his rifle. His eyes trained for any sign of movement, then the infrared scanner picked up a few small signatures. They grew larger and more numerous by the second.

"Doc! Incoming! Thraxis, form in front of the doctor. Let's see if we can use the mouth of the cave to funnel them into a kill zone. Stun as many as you can before it becomes unsafe to do so. Kill the rest."

Nolan waited until he could see the first couple rushing the mouth of the cave. Starved and impulsive, they charged ahead without any regard for the chance of a counterattack by the three.

The stun rounds left in short bursts, aiming for quality shots rather than a overquantified spread of shots. The ugly creatures began to drop like flies, unconscious. There were dozens of them. It would be hard work, but it was doable.

[member="Victor Tesla"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

Tesla's steps were dragged to a halt when the tunnel, which had been drowning in silence, suddenly carried the sound of a viscous stampede to the mouth of the cave. The Doctor's grip tightened on his weapon as he adjusted his glasses, bringing some clarity to his vision. The darkness swallowed these sounds as they only grew louder and louder.

Cautiously, Victor stepped back beside the two men he hired to aid him. [member="Nolan Detta"] had called out to him and Tesla simply nodded as he stepped behind the two. As he did the Rakghouls burst from the darkness, as Tesla had guessed they were very malnourished. Their bodies practically sticking to their frame, yet he knew they still had a fight on their hands.

Pinching his right eye closed Victor aimed his blaster down the tunnel, towards the murderous creature's. He discharged his weapons several times, the wave of stun pulses flying towards one of the Rakghouls and bringing it crashing down onto the ground.

Tesla glanced over to [member="Thraxis"] as he took aim for another of the Rakghouls. "I thought there would be more." He simply stated, preparing to fire his weapon off once again.

 

[Thraxis]

Thraxis watched the ravines of starvation push what little sanity that might have infected their minds out of the way. His arm raised with little care, the sound of energy crackling through the gun as it let loose a large Ionic Pulse, striking the chest of a Rakghoul. "Neat." He stated flatly as their ranks quickly swarmed, another shot propelled at the closest as for a second their fangs delved against Phirik, his body dropping for all of a second as their ranks gorged at his armour, a vein attempt at fulfilling their hunger.

He sat still for a few seconds, their folds stripping and striking at the armour as nothing more than flakes fell from it, but from a distance, it was nothing short of carnage minus the bloodshed. Then came the flash, from beneath their feets an iridescent glow radiated from beneath before in a second their ranks stumbled back, snapping back to composure as a Black mass hovered above, coated in the black abyss of Darkness. "Hmmm... I think I was thinking of something... Larger." he stated, scratching his head as he fell down to the ground, an elbow extended as he came crashing down on one of their numbers, cracking bone as it fell with a disgusting guttural groan. "Oh wait no, no I was thinking of Rancor... Well, that's embarrassing," he said amongst the growls and grumbles of the inhabitants of the cave, his body hunched down as he uppercut straight at the jaw of one of the Rakghouls, knocking it out as he followed up with a leg sweep, knocking two more of them down.
[member="Victor Tesla"] | [member="Nolan Detta"]

 

[Nolan Detta]

Nolan put a few more Rakghouls down as one latched onto his bionic arm with its jaws, trying to tear away flesh that didn't exist. Rotating his arm so he could grasp the creature. He knew it wasn't quite necessary, but the doctor wasn't going to take them all back, and he activated the generator in his hand and pulverized the creature into a gooey paste.

"This feels like just the top of the iceberg Doc, what say we round up a few here and venture deeper inside to find stronger specimen?"

Nolan shook the pulverized flesh off his bionic arm and resumed mopping up the last few abominations with stun rounds. It was a good haul, but Nolan knew it wouldn't be this easy, they'd meet heavier attention soon enough.

[member="Thraxis"] [member="Victor Tesla"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

Tesla's blaster fell to his side before he brought his cigarra up to his lips once again. He glanced over to [member="Nolan Detta"] and [member="Thraxis"] before nodding. "Let me sedate these first. I don't think it would be nice for these things to wake up while we're away." The Doctor produced a small metallic case from his pocket, taking a syringe from the case before clamping it shut.

The Doctor clamped his cigarra in between his teeth as he made his way to the first Rakghoul. Grabbing the creature by it's scruff he jabbed the needle into the back of it's neck. He gave the creature a tenth of a dose, which was actually enough to slow down a Rancor if dosed properly.

"These sedatives should keep them down for hours. But I'll give them another tenth of a dose before we leave." He stated before standing to his full height. He turned his attention to Nolan before gesturing down the tunnel. "Lead the way, Hero."

 

[Thraxis]

Thraxis sat amongst the gathering of Rakghouls, his hand rushing over their bodies as he checked for any loose change, a simple pat down, rolling one to its side before pulling out a single near worthless Credit, "Ha Ha!" Thraxis exclaimed flicking the coin in the air and letting it ring a metal tune as it rolled over his Phirik glove. "A penny down, a lot more to go." he stated, flicking it once again and bouncing his bag into the air, the penny caught between the Zipper as Victor applied the doses. A tenth of a dose... He thought to himself, ejecting his own needle, looking it up and down, it's slimmer of green near black in the darkness of the cave. This thing is barely enough to make a Wookie dizzy but that stuff... He snapped back to reality as the hero was declared, taking a few steps back and letting Nolan take charge, he didn't care if he was number one this day, only for some prizes to be bagged.

The dankness of the cave only grew with each passing step, the dark muddy swamps of Taris not doing it much good. He drew a blade from his bag pressing it against the wall, scraping it across with a drawn unnerving scrape, echoing deeper and deeper down the caverns passage. His Helmet still lets him see any movement in the dark, not proper night vision but it would do the job. The sound of a babbling stream lingered at his footsteps, trailing down from above. If they were lucky it travelled all the way down to the darkest recess of the caves and could use it to travel back up.
[member="Victor Tesla"] | [member="Nolan Detta"]

 

[Nolan Detta]

Nolan shook off the title, hero was far from true. He took point, gaining a few paces between the doc and [member="Thraxis"]. The brute was scrapping his sword along the cavern wall, effectively calling anything within earshot to their location. Nolan was all about combat, but never suicide. He wasn't about to get into a pissing contest with this gorilla of a man over what seemed like a simple pleasure to him.

The HUD flickered as the motion sensor picked up some movement at the perimeter of its reaches. Nolan switched to infrared and was able to see the path before them.

"Doc, any clue as to how far down this cave goes? It may be a while before we're spotted again, unless our Rakghoul caller over here gets a bite."

Nolan kept his rifle at the ready, one never could be too careful when mindless beasts were the target.

[member="Victor Tesla"] [member="Thraxis"]

 

[ToKola Bakari]

Victor reloaded one of his blaster pistols while glancing over to [member="Nolan Detta"] from over his glasses. After readjusting the wide frames he let out a shallow cough before nodding. "Yea. Goes on for about twenty miles." He stated, matter-of-factually before looking down the dark cave.

The Doctor took a step forward but was halted by a loud, deep, blood-curling screech. It seemed to be given off by some form of Rakghoul but it sounded significantly....bigger. The Doctor paused in his step before letting out a few more shallow coughs. "That sounded....promising." He said before continuing down the cave system with a rather amused smirk.

[member="Thraxis"]

 

[Thraxis]

A curdled scream, the kind told of in ancient fairytales, only this one had a twist, they weren't on some noble adventure to save a princess from a Dragon, they were here to enslave zombies. So not really a fairytale at all. "Oh neat," Thraxis stated his pace quickened as he pressed his blade closer to the wall, the long drawn out grind echoing louder and louder as more force was applied. "Maybe there are some RakGhoul Rancors after all." he continued, the Doctor seemed happy to talk to himself and the Sith seemed happy to respond in kind so talking to himself seemed like the next leap in logic.

With a quickened step he descended further and further down to the Rakghouls pit. When a thought occurred to him, looking back up, the light had all but fleeted into a passing thought, Why does he need living Rakghouls.... Wouldn't tissue Samples be enough? He thought to himself, it seemed reasonable enough, there were enough either dead or alive Rakghouls back up at the entrance that could do the work well enough. Does he need to breed them? No... No that can't be it... He continued, looking to the blur that he assumed was the Doctor before shaking it all off. With a shrug that went unnoticed, he continued his stroll down, descending deeper and further into the pits below.
[member="Victor Tesla"] | [member="Nolan Detta"]