Reuniting With The Rangers (Antar)

[Cai Sanis]

The pirates did well in concealing themselves within the rocky terrain around the mines. this automatically sent up flags. "Don't get too close to the mine entrance," he called after the other Jedi.

Five more pirates materialized from an outcropping of rocks nearby. They had attempted to flank the Jedi team cutting them. It was coordination not often found in the ranks of pirates. This told Cai instantly that one or more of the members of this group were military. He blocked with his lightsaber as several blaster bolts came in towards him. "They want to suck us in toward that gave entrance, surround us." With his chin he pointed to two high hills, "If I had to guess they have more men up there, hiding in the rocks waiting to catch us in a crossfire."

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jaxton continued blocking shots, putting effort into redirecting the bolts at the attackers. He could block fairly easily, but redirection was a harder art he had begun putting to effect. He covered Cai's flank, not directly attacking anyone, until Cai spoke of some more men hiding behind the rocks.

"Cover me." Jaxton said and swung around the echani, and took four big swoops at the rock, then pushing it forward, using the Force to minimally increase his natural strength. He heard people squish, bone's bruise, and a few grunts as the pirates behind the rocks were assaulted by their cover.

"You said something about hostages?" Jaxton asked as he went back into a deflective stance and began providing cover for Cai once again.

 

[Cai Sanis]

Cai nodded at the Jedi master. "In the caves most like. A secure location inside." There was more to deal with though. The threat to their flanks and the risk of them being surrounded now nullified Cai charged at the group of pirates. He worked with Echani precision slicing blasters and striking at the pirates. One pirate, through luck or cunning, managed to get a burst of blaster fire off which splashed against the echani shield. Cai let out a heavy sigh. It was a good thing he had always worn the thing, lightsaber or not.

The pirates on the hill, what few of them were left, jumped from cover and started firing. "You take left, I'll take right." Cai said jumping up to one hill and neutralizing it. He could see now from the elevated position. It was a good spot for an ambush, his suspicions were confirmed. There was a military officer amongst this rabble. Blood thirsty pirates led by an efficient minded commander was a deadly combination. The mission parameters changed, this officer would need to be captured.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jaxton ran left and the the Echani took the left side. Jaxton was beginning to think that the pirates were too well organized. One ambush was one thing, but these pirates had ambushes stacked one after another, and effectively used higher ground. Using the Force to enhance his speed he stormed up slashing pirates as he went. There had to be a military commander or some sort of experienced mercenary leading them. As he went from group to group slashing and deflecting he didn't see hide or hair of anyone who looked like they had acquired such training. Deflecting bolts now instead of storming Jaxton exerted his senses and tried to find the emotions of those around him. He felt fear and worry in the pirates, calm distantly in the echani, but after focusing finally felt pride, seemingly inside the hill. Their military leader had to be in there somewhere.

Buzzt A blasterbolt hit Jaxton's shoulder and he remembered he was being fired upon. He began focusing on deflecting and attacked more of the pirates, and began looking for a nearby mineshaft.

 

[Cai Sanis]

Cai rallied with Jaxton below between the two small hills. The pirates were trying to lure them in and ambush them which meant that, "The entrance is somewhere around here. Otherwise why set up this ambush? Also the fact we didn't find their leader means this was prearranged. They couldn't have known where we would land, meaning that they assumed we would come this way." Cai bit his lower lip and looked around. Times like this frustrated him, there was a mystery and an enemy that was potentially deadly for the two of them. "I don't like this one bit..."

 

[Marcus Tritum]

Lysander and Hion moved forward using the leap frogging tactic. One man shot, the other moved swiftly forward. Simple, but effective. Lysander's DeathHammer barked again and again, splintering rock and burning slag and mostly just keeping the pirates on the retreat. The two veteran soldiers moved in at an opposite angle from the two Jedi. They'd deployed from opposite ends of the battlefield and were now moving toward the mouth of a large cave where the pirates were retreating to. Occasionally Lysander hit something and a pirate would go down screaming beneath the DeathHammers firepower.

However, the Merchant of Suarbi was nothing beside Hion and his twin T-21s. The repeaters kept up a steady stream of blasterfire, basically mowing down anything caught in their path, chewing through rock to slag the being hiding behind.

"Onward Hion, we have them on the retreat!"

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jaxton didn't like this either, it seemed planted. But there could have been hostages, and Jaxton couldn't take the chance of hostages not being there.

"Let's find the hostages then. They should be in panic." Jaxton said and began meditating, searching for panic. He found it to the east, a few hundred meters east and several hundred meters down. "They're too the east." Jaxton said as he broke out of his stance. "Do you want to make a door or find one?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Meanwhile, in the hostage pen, far below the ground, Boolon Murr awoke to a gigantic pain in his hammerhead. His thoughts were slow, his ears were full of panic -- in short, he was a hostage with a concussion. The Force whispered to him, and he attempted to self-heal. It didn't go so well. Lack of focus. He yawned with both throats and curled up in a ball, insensate. People were talking to him.

He would wait for the Jedi. The Jedi would come for him.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

The two veterans thundered forward. Hion spotted @[member="Cai Sanis"] and Jaxton Ravos nearby, battling against a group of pirates. They had laid a trap of sorts. Not the Jedi, but the pirates. From behind two rock outcroppings they were firing on the Jedi. Hion planted his feet and leveled both T-21s. Hion's flippers squeezed down on the triggers and didn't stop. The light repeaters began to unleash hell and devastation upon them. Pirates began to die.

When Hion finally stopped firing, the rock outcroppings were splintered and shot to shards. As were the pirates. Dead or dying. Shredded to bits. Big black eyes blinked slowly. The horrors of war. How could Hion be such a render of lives? It went against everything he believed in. And yet, he was good at it. And sometimes, he even enjoyed it. That scared him. Together, Lysander and Hion sprinted forward and joined up with Cai and Jaxton.

"Hauum! Hail, friends. We join you in battle this day."

 

[Cai Sanis]

Cai looked at the rocky wall and frowned. "Making one could take a long time. We don't know how deep this rock is." he kicked his foot into the stone. "We can't risk a collapse either, and we need to be quick, lets try and find an entrance."

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jaxton was joined up by a whale who has just eliminated a horde of pirates with a minigun.

"Hey there Herglic." Jaxton said in an odd stance, not accustomed to looking up at people. "We need to find a cave, I can sense hostages to east." Jaxton said and began running towards the east.

 

[Cai Sanis]

Cai nodded in agreement. "East is it then," he said and then ran off after Jaxton looking back hoping the bulky Herglic could keep up...

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Meanwhile, deep below the eastern ground, Boolon's head began to clear a little. Blood had grown clammy and coagulated under him; a very bad sign. Perhaps none of the other prisoners knew that he was injured. Slowly, very slowly, he began to heal himself of his injuries. Knives, blaster bolts, boots, fists. Someone had worked him over and he couldn't quite remember who.

But no...no, those weren't blaster burns or knife cuts.

Someone had beat him to a pulp using a lightsabre.

He healed faster.

 

[Marcus Tritum]

Lysander and the group moved forward, dashing into the entrance of a cave mouth. The blackness swallowed them. In the darkness, death waited. Blasterfire screamed from the corners. The pirates had been expecting the Jedi. Hion and Lysander hit the deck, both opening up their abilities in Force Sight and using it to cut through the darkness, illuminating the auras of the living beings. And promptly extinguishing those auras in a hail of blasterfire. Lysander's DeathHammer barked, kicking back and sending a shot into the chest of a pirate. The splattering of blood and bone could be heard if one strained their ears through the firefight. A simple sound denoting death.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jaxton dashed into the cave mouth, deflecting blaster fire as he went inside.

"Do neither of you have lightsabers?" Jaxton asked at the whale and blonde man as he pressed forward. "We need to fix that." he screamed.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

"Hauum. I believe I am fine for the moment," Hion hummed. His T-21s opened up on the darkness. The powerpack on his back began to heat up as lancets of red energy sped incessantly forward, eliminating remaining hostiles. Hion clambered to his feet, causing the cave to rumble, then began to move forward. "They fall back in retreat. We have them on the run. Pirates always run. This Lysander and I know."

 

[Cai Sanis]

Cai ran after the group and darted forward. He deflected blaster bolts as he ran pushing his way to the head of the group. "Do yiu guys feel that?" he asked as he moved through the dark caverns. In the old days he'd have night vision and various scanners, but now his body had become that equipment through the miracle of the force. "There is a dark presence up ahead... darker than..." his mind went to Velok the old Whiphid. Certainly it wasn't him? He would hate to fight his pseudofriend...

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Jaxton laughed as the herglic opened fire with this t-21's.

"Of course they always run. You're a whale with two t-21's" He joked, before Cai implied feeling a darker presence. Jaxton extended his mind in a moment of peace. He felt it, a strong presence, but another one, peaceful, almost pacifist in the Force. A jedi, perhaps a healer.

"There's a jedi here. We gotta move."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

His body half-healed, Boolon sat bolt upright.

He remembered.

Fear was the enemy, and he had faced it before, defied its grip. He shunted it aside as he continued to heal, attempting to calm the people around him. An aura of calm was a beautiful thing.

It slipped. He didn't feel calm in the slightest.

 

[Marcus Tritum]

"I feel it as well. An old presence, I think. It feels... humorous?" Lysander cocked his head in confusion. "I feel another presence, farther down. Lightsider, but I cannot recognize the aura. We must hurry, my brothers."

Hion, for his part, could sense no such thing. He held little skill with the Force, this both Lysander and the Herglic knew. Hion simply followed Lysander's lead, trusting his old friend.