Preying upon the Predator

[Zef Halo]

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The Shadowlands of Kashyyk​

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This time around the hunt was of a much different level than the previous one.

Terentatek.

A notorious beast known for its appetite for Force Users. An appetite that was always sated. That, along with its behavior and history, is what Varian knew about. A highly dangerous and lethal beast especially for the hunting party that had a majority of Force Users within it. At least they would be a beacon for it and tracking might be a second priority to surviving.

Actually, that would certainly be the main goal - survival.

Survival of the fittest.

Besides him the two figures of [member="Alexandra Feanor"], a Master of the Force with which he previously cooperated in the hunt for the Jakobeasts of Mygeeto. The other a man known as Lichbane. Mandalorians. They would be fit enough to survive, Varian always trusted his kind. The best warriors the galaxy has ever known.

The primitive turbolift finally stopped down and hit the floor of Kashyyk's surface. Varian stepped out of the wooden lift and looked around, he immediately activated the night vision on his helmet and focused on his enhanced senses. The other two probably had no problems with the darkness as it was not as dark to them as it was to Varian's naked eyes. The Mandalorian was half-Hapan, it came with the downside of having bad eyesight in the dark.

Now the thrill of the hunt began.

"Let's go. The Wookies spoke of a mysterious man looking for a terentatek. Force User most likely, human as well. If you see a rotting body of a human, then we would be close." Varian spoke calmly. "Be more wary of your surroundings and of your survival. The terentatek may be a big beast but it has unbelievable stealth and speed traits for such a creature."

Credits to the Sith Magic.

The hunt begins.

But who was the hunter and who was the hunted ?

[member="Thresco"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

This was a place she was more than familiar with, having been here more than a number of times and even having found her path here in the one time where she had fought with that young Jedi who she would like to slam against a wall and break his nose at this point. But that was another thought for another day as their current charge was the most important thing on her mind and for good reason, being that she had fought them before and knew just how dangerous this would be, as well as the fact that there was no getting out of this without her life being put on the line.

Atleast Terenteks were not Energy resistant, that was something most of the creatures that gave her a good challenge were. Her eyes shifted to look at [member="Varian of Myrkr"] with a wide grin, her hands itching to kill this thing and though she knew it would be easier with the slugthrower on her shoulders, a preferred weapon over blasters for its penetration power... well she wanted to kill this thing with a blade rater than with a blaster. There was less art in the fight when it came to using a blaster and that made the fights dull and without interest to her. She was not in charge of this hunt though, as needed as the leather was when it came to creating her more casual armor.

The other one was interesting enough, the visage of a skeleton something she didn't expect. "Stealth as well as the power to crush us if we break up..."

 

[Thresco]

Having landed the Jiriad Kadiilir in a nearby Wookiee village, he had started walking around the place to get a good idea of what the place had to offer. Luckily, not all of the people living in the outpost were Wookiees, as they spoke a language he himself did not understand nor speak. It was for that reason that he had Torgost recording everything, running entire sentences at a time while using specific software matched with the Holonet in order to figure out how the Wookiee languages, Thykarann, Xaczik and Shyriiwook. Not even trying to make sense out of it himself, he decided to go to some of the other people living in the small village in order to gauge the way they felt about the Shadowlands directly beneath them. Many interesting stories came up about how the place was tainted by an unnatural darkness, paired with the natural darkness caused by a complete lack of sunlight.

Taking the time out of his schedule to talk to a local hunting party of Trandoshans that seemed to have been accepted by the local Wookiees, which may have been because they hoped they would die in the Shadowlands, he discussed the things they had encountered. While at first not that willing to indulge him, he could tell that his skeletal appearance was intimidating them a bit, though he would not let up on his questioning. Pretending that they only spoke Dosh, Thresco knew better than to believe the scaly liars as he had heard them talk to a trader about selling some of their obtained merchandise. Eventually, one of the Trandoshan hunters spilled the beans and replied in the common tongue. Speaking of Katarns the size of speeder-rafts, large groups of the ape-like Tach and Terentatek that made Rancors look like a petting zoo pony.

Searching for all applicable data on Terentatek that could be found on the Holonet, the Trandoshan shared a bit of folklore about how the Terentatek were once Rancor, twisted by the Sith and released on Kashyyk to hunt down Jedi. It was their belief that the Terentatek had been able to thrive in the Shadowlands as it was claimed to be very strong with the dark side of the Force. Not really believing in such things, the Mandalorian warrior shrugged it off, yet kept in mind the fact that they supposedly "thrived" down where he was headed. Hired to aid members of the Mandalorian Empire again after assisting them in a smuggling run involving the capture of an otherworldly space-dwelling creature. This time, the goal was to take down a Terentatek or two, claiming their thick hides and other valuable parts. Once the deed was done, he was welcome to take his share of the cut.

With Torgost watching over the ship and all of his weapons thoroughly checked, locked and loaded, he headed down to ground level with a wooden elevator created by the Wookiees. With him were the two people he had been told to work with. One of them wore a Mandalorian armor that was only similar to his own in minuscule ways, the other being an armored female. Knowing little to nothing about either of them, he was going to study them just as much as the Terentatek he was going to hunt, just in case. After all, there was no telling when one of them might get a price on their head for a collect and earn kind of mission, or maybe even a dead or alive kind of deal. Both for the reason of maybe having to hunt them one day, as well as for the reason of knowing what he would be able to expect from them in the upcoming hunt, he was going to keep his eyes on them as often as possible.

"Hmm.. might catch one off-guard if it managed to kill the guy already. If it is feeding, it might not notice us as quickly as it would otherwise. That said, once it notices us, it will be a lot more angry at us for disturbing its meal..".

Speaking calmly in response to the Mandalorian male, Thresco switched on his visor, allowing it to pick up on heat signatures, a manner of vision that was very useful when in the heart of darkness. With his guns handy and within range, his two lightsabers were also ready, just not within sight. Thresco hated being called a Jedi or a Sith whenever someone saw his swords, as he was neither of two, and very happily so. He was not one of those nuts that believed in the Force to be a higher power, he believed that it was one's inner power that a select few were capable of tapping into. Heightening one's senses, increasing chances of survival, that was what the force was to him. Nothing more, nothing less. Now, he would wait for the elevator to reach the bottom and follow his temporary companions.

 

[Zef Halo]

The taint of the dark side was easily felt as Varian stepped forward and moved through the flora of the shadowlands. Tiny fissures on the ground could be seen if one looked long enough to seem, their source unknown. It was not the limited sunlight from above that gave the environment such gloomy features but the machinations of the dark side of the Force. Ancient usage of the Force, far older than when the Sith were named Sith had been at work here.

"Terentatek devour their prey fairly quickly, especially when their appetite grows bigger at the prospect of more food." The Mandalorian told the hunting companion with skeletal features. The man known as Lichbane. "Tread carefully."

Senses wide open.

There was no use in hiding their presence, might as well utilize that to not restrain his sensing powers. The moment they had stepped down here, Varian knew that the Terentatek had most likely felt their presence. In the end, that was the whole purpose behind its existence. Fighting the Terentatek with stealth was out of the question when their signature in the Force was not concealed. And even then, Varian would doubt that the terentatek's senses would not be able to track the concealed force user.

Tracks.

Fresh tracks.

Varian halted and gestured for the rest to do the same. Ducking down to inspect, a cold shiver ran down his spine. Fake tracks. Made to lead the inexperienced tracker into a trap. This was not the work of the terentatek. Someone else was here. Someone who wished not to be found, perhaps.

"Tracks." Varian stated silently, almost whispering. "Fake tracks."

Before he could continue the buzzing sound of a flying projectile was heard due to his enhanced senses.

A hail of spears rained down upon them from all sides.

Ambush.

[member="Thresco"] [member="Alexandra Feanor"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra watched the spears rain down, her body moving before her mind reacted itself as she pushed Varian down, or atleast attempted to. Her hands reaching up either way and out to her sides, projecting the force as best she could into a telekinetic sphere. Each strike reverberated on the barrier as she grunted and stared at Varian. Her arms shook as she tried to breathing more slowly but was obviously out of breath from having to react so fast, her body barely holding itself up from forcing the force out of her like that.

Thankfully the trap ended quickly, allowing her to drop the barrier around her and varian through her feet fell out from under her and she sighed as she sat there for a few moments. "L-lets be a bit more careful." Her smile came back as she said there and looked at the spears nearby out of curiosity. "Any idea what shot those at us or set up this neat little trap for use to trigger?" If she hadn't been there, those things probably would have come close to skewering him. She had some faith he would have reacted fast enough but as she looked at them, she could only wonder what other traps would be around them right now. Something that slightly frightened her.

 

[Thresco]

The moment he heard the clicking sound that matched the activating of a trap, Thresco drew one of his pistols in the blink of an eye. Pointing his right hand at one of the locations from which a rustling could be heard, he waited until he had a visual on whatever it was that would come at them. When several javelins came out of the treeline and at the one called Varian, he released a short burst of three ion bolts, making contact with one of the javelins and causing the points of impact to melt and greatly reduce their momentum to the point where they hardly moved at all. Being one of the two people rapidly responding to it, he watched as the woman moved forward in an attempt at covering the other Mandalorian. It was not until he saw her use the Force in order to deflect the large projectiles that he started taking a slight interest in the members of the hunting party. As she deflected the projectiles, one made an unforeseen bounce, coming straight for him. Slightly angling his body to the right, he snatched the spear from the sky with his free left hand. Bringing it into the visual range of his visor, both he and his AI got a chance to watch it up close.

"Trandoshan handiwork.. Durasteel javelins, sharp barbed edges, heavy impact, meant to take down large prey such as Katarn, possibly even Terentatek. Hmm... linked to a trap, likely activated by applying pressure. Only activates when a certain amount of pressure is applied to it, keeping Tach from ruining the traps. Smart..".

As he spoke, he wandered around his two temporary companions, checking the ground to get the information he than instantly relayed to the others. Finding it somewhat offensive that the Trandoshans had not told him anything about any traps they had placed this close to the lift when he spoke to them earlier, he knew that he would have to visit them again once this particular assignment was over. Applying pressure to his left hand, the crushgaunt covering it did exactly what it was meant to, applying so much pressure that the spear he held snapped in two. Dropping the pieces to the ground, he looked back over his shoulder to look at the pair while flicking his head, gesturing at them to come after him. Using his visor to get a good look at the tracks, he could tell by the shape that they were left by a humanoid that at least had the appropriate footwear for a hike into such a deep, dark place as the Shadowlands. He could also tell by the shape that it was not left by Trandoshan feet due to their reptilian features, leading him to the conclusion that they belonged to the man Varian had brought up earlier. Taking point, he used the special vision mode on his visor to check the heat remnants of the tracks, discerning that they themselves were fairly old, having been there for at least an hour.

"I'll take the lead, don't want any of you to get killed before we find one of those Terentatek. Letting healthy distractions get killed before even getting to use them is something I consider to be wasteful.".

Had it not been for the temperature and the moisture this deep down on the planet, the track might not have retained any heat for him to track, something he was quite thankful for. Following the slight heat signature of the tracks for a good ten meters, his visor picked up on what was even more faint trace. Moving closer to see what it might be, it was only by the time he got close that he could accurately tell by the shape that it was larger than a Katarn track, leaving him to assume that it could only belong to a Terentatek. Increasing the sensitivity of his visor, he could see the tracks of the larger creature being almost parallel to those of the humanoid. This only further strengthened his theory as he had just learned about Terentatek being attracted to force sensitive people, people like the one he was with now, the one that had just used the Force to protect one third of the group. Shaking his head in disappointment, he looked closer, watching the tracks starting to cover those of the humanoid. Shutting down his visor for a moment, there was as good as nothing along the lines of the tracks shown by the visor. This got him thinking that this breed of Terentatek was not the kind one wanted to be hunting due to the highly unpredictable factor they brought to the playing field.

"Our humanoid has been through here about an hour ago, a large creature stalking it from the cover of the shrubbery and thick roots. Judging by the heat signature, the creature was either there the entire time, or followed up on it at a later point. The likely assumption would be to say it came a few minutes after its prey. The tracks run almost parallel to one another, meaning a beast this large would have been seen already. This would mean the Terentatek in the Shadowlands have evolved differently from those on other planets, possessing lowered body temperature or maybe even the ability to adjust their body temperature when on the prowl. Generations of being hunted must have forced these particular Terentatek to distribute their body weight differently, leaving tracks that can barely be seen by the naked eye, rendering them completely invisible to an untrained version of the naked eye. This will not be easy...".

Thinking to himself as he moved forward, he remained weary. Not sharing any of his findings aside from the ones he had already shared with the members of his team until he was absolutely certain that they were not just mere assumptions, he was just about certain that they would not be seeing the beast for some time. Given their current travelling speed, he figured that they would need at least thirty minutes while maintaining their current pace until they would get close to the Terentatek. If it had already killed the man and was now feeding on his remains, his rough estimate would switch to a time period between forty-five minutes up to one hour.

 

[Zef Halo]

Varian still had crouched on the ground inspecting it. His senses wide open detecting the figures through the Force. A smirk appeared on his face. For a man who quickly judged the javelins that had taken over, Lichbane was too quick to come to conclusion.

"This was not a simple trap in the forest." The Mandalorian chuckled as he stood up. "It was an ambush. A semi-ambush. Testing us."

The hunter's senses reached out through the flora infested environment of the Shadowlands, the shuffling of the bushes and the breaking of branches far away from here. Their attackers were moving away fast. Were they going to another ambush point ? Were they retreating feeling that the trio was too strong ? Or could it possibly be something else.

There was only one way to find out. Go in further.

Following the tracks of what seemed to be another humanoid, perhaps the man coming for the Terentatek or someone completely else. There was never a death trail left after the terentatek. Varian remained silent and focused on what was at hand rather than responding to the skeleton looking man. He considered the options of why did the dead man have indeed marks of being shredded by the beast but not devoured. This was odd. Highly odd.

"This. I have never seen before." Varian muttered almost to himself as he kept his eyes on the corpse. "The terentatek murdered. Yet did not eat."

"Tread carefully, our previous attackers might soon welcome us again." The Mandalorian stated as he stood up and ventured forth after the recent tracks.

The closer and closer they would get, the more the taint of the darkness loomed over their heads.



[member="Thresco"] [member="Alexandra Feanor"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Varian of Myrkr"]

Alexandra nodded as her body relaxed after the short scare but she was in no way actually relaxed. Her movements were cautious and slow with every step and even the shift of her body. She was already on edge thanks to the very taint in the air and any more would simply drive her off the edge should it come to that point, her own hands clenching tighter as she looked at the spears that had been thrown at them seconds before. She had assumed it was some triggered trap considering the synchronization of the attack but as Zef said, she could see the traces of their being handled by sentient beings and not a contraption.

This worried her and as she clenched her hands, slivers of white light peeked out between her fingers as she held them withing the cloak portion of her robes, obscuring the white light itself. While she was sure that the man could see the shift in light under her cloak if he looked for it, the light would only be a subtle one, even if able to be seen considering how little was escaping. She didn't like that they were drawing ever closer and her hands were dragging the force into the as she waited to use the ability that was specifically designed to deal with Sithspawn, granted this was a unique case and she was unsure if it would even scratch the creature considering its nature when it came to the force.

"After you then 'hunter'. Im here to make sure you live through this hunt of ours."