Private Rocks and Sand

[Annrae Esspitt]

"No, but you do need a way off the planet, which means you need to get it from the Triarchy, which in turn means you need our help to get it from them. And down here, everyone is supposed to help everyone. You scratch our back, the we'll scratch yours. Help us in a few fights, and the first ship we get goes to you. At least, that's what the deal most likely will be, I cannot speak for the Master at Arms."

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic nodded. "Alright, and where would this 'Master at Arms' be located?" He asked, looking around at the villagers. "And on top of that, what kind of weapons are you guys using? Because all of your clothing and housing seems incredibly...primitive, and thats putting it lightly." Then he placed a hand on the handle of his blaster pistol and looked at Ann. "If you dont have much more than some outdated slugthrowers and a DC-15 blaster, then we might have a problem with fighting this Triacrchy."

 

[Annrae Esspitt]

"Gee, thanks." She deadpanned. "Most of our soldiers use these DC-15s, since that's also the standard weapon for Triarchy soldiers. Besides, you should be thankful that both sides are using such 'primitive' weapons, because it means you are much less likely to die." She said. "Besides, the primitive clothing is largely due to how scarce actual cloth is, and we need to conserve resources."

She lead him further into the caves and entered a particularly roomy one with a well-cut stone table in its centre. At this table was a man, clad in a white chest and backplate and with similarly coloured armour on his left arm. He had a black kilt that fell to his knees held on by a belt. His right arm and head was completely bare. Over his shoulder was a DC-15 just like Ann's. The black marking in the center of his backplate and chesplate was this.

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic held out his hands. "Hey, I didnt mean any offense by that. I was just pointing out the facts." He said. "And youll have to excuse me for not being used to older tech, I usually grab the newest stuff off the market for weaponry."

Once she began leading him towards the master at arms, he stopped speaking and followed her along. Once they got to the room Leenic studied the man, noting his armor and DC-15 carbine. "I assume youre the master at arms?" He asked. "Ann has told me a decent amount about you. Mentioned something about getting off this rock."

 

[Annrae Esspitt]

The Master at Arms, commander of a full Surt (group of four Tumes, or 4,000 men), was no joke. There were maybe five of them across the planet, each commanding Surts of soldiers who were meant to counter the Triarchy as best they could. This also meant that they had to be observant, smart, resourceful, reliable and expert fighters. As stated, he was no joke, perhaps the only one there that could potentially threaten the mandalorian.

Ann stepped in, saluting. "Sir."

"At ease. Now tell me Sergeant, who is this?"

"This is Leenic sir." She said standing now at parade rest. "He crashed out in the Vaail, I brought him here. He wants off the planet so I brought him here to arrange a meet with you sir, do that an arrangement might be made."

The Master at Arms turned to Leenic and stepped forward. "We don't have any ships, and in order to get one we'll need to take a Triarchy strongholds. That means cutting off supply, attacking scouts and heavy fire. Help us do that, and any one ship we manage to capture is yours. Yes or no do we have an agreement?"

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic listened to the conversation going on between the two in front of him, noting the fact that they followed a rigid military hierarchy similar to what he had experienced in the Zweihander Union. He got caught up in old memories from the missions he had run, causing him not to realize he had been spoken to for a couple seconds after the Master at Arms had asked him a question.

"Ship in exchange for firepower?" He asked, looking down at himself. "Well Im not carrying my usual armament, but I don't think that'll be a problem. I'm in."

 

[Annrae Esspitt]

"Good." Was his simple answer. Then he turned to Ann, "you know where to meet up with your unit. And you know what to do once there. Dismissed."

Ann saluted again and turned to leave the cave in which the Master at Arms strategized. She lead Leenic back through the labyrinth of tunnels, which explained why it was called The Labyrinth, until they approached the surface again. But the eight hour night had passed, and they had to stop and wait a few tunnels away from the exit.

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic sat down on the tunnel floor, taking a check of his pistol and lightsaber before looking up at Ann. "So, how long you been doing this?" He asked. "Being a soldier, I mean. He said your a Sergeant, so that usually takes a couple years to get to if I remember correctly. Unless they just hand out ranks in exchange for payment here, then I guess it would only take a matter of seconds."

He then turned his attention to the caves around them, rubbing the back of his neck lightly. "I hope you brought something to do this time, because I dont really feel like sleeping again."

 

[Annrae Esspitt]

She glared at him, "rank is one of the few things that can't be bought here. Doing so results in immediate execution. I've been doing this, as a full fledged soldier, ever since I was sixteen, before that was the training to be a soldier, and before that the profession tests. I was promoted two years ago."

She looked off into the caves, "well unless you feel like wrestling there isn't much we can do other than sleep."

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leeenic looked up at Ann as she talked, nodding slightly. “Yeah, I didn’t think you had bought your rank but it's always a base I have to cover when taking account of these things.” He said, then stood up at the mention of wrestling.

“Well, I could always go for some good sparring practice.” He chuckled, shaking out his arms. “That is, of course, if you aren't afraid of taking a couple hits. Because let me assure you, I don't pull my punches.”

 

[Annrae Esspitt]

“Fair enough.” She said.

“Don’t think me delicate.” She retorted as she began to set her weapons down. “If you think living for war is for the soft then I have no hope for you on this planet.”

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic laughed as he stood up, unclipping his gunbelt so that his pistol and lightsaber fell to the floor. "I have no doubt that you are as tough as they come." He said, shaking out his arms and getting into a fighting stance. "Ready whenever you are, and I promise not to use my vambrace weapons during the fight."

 

[Annrae Esspitt]

'Ready when you are' was the instant she took action, first she took a jab at his abdomen, then chin. Then a kick to his shin, followed by one to the side of his knee.

Her own defense comprised of catching his arm or leg and forcing it into a lock.

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Ann's initial hits did little more than bounce off of Leenic's beskar'gam, giving him time to study her fighting stance. He noted that she seemed to go mainly for weak areas of the body (all thankfully covered by his armor in this case) and figured that she would probably not hit him in any stronger areas on his body. Once she finished, he threw a low jab, but was caught by her defensive style. Before she had time to throw a punch, however, Leenic twisted himself out of her grip and attempted to sweep her legs out from under her with a low kick.​

 

[Annrae Esspitt]

She pressed her foot harder into the ground, making it too firmly planted to be swept while she went for a harder punch meant to knock him over while he still stood on one foot only.

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic stumbled back when the punch connected, but flipped backwards so that he still stayed on his feet. He quickly shook out his arms before attempting to tackle her, aiming to pin her down so that she yielded.

 

[Annrae Esspitt]

She was a good fighter, and she was a pretty good grappler too. But what she had in skill was counterbalanced by her smaller size. His tackle was met with proper form, planted feet and a strong resistance. But ultimately his bigger size and superior strength got her to the ground, she managed to wrest one of her wrists free from his grip and she used it to hit, hard, across his helmet, not to get him off, but an attempt to get her legs into his chest to throw him off.

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic barely flinched when the punch hit his helmet, placing his forearm across her neck, pressing down just enough to make her aware of its presence. "Im wearing beskar'gam, remember?" He chuckled, staring down at her through his visor. "Punches aint gonna do much to me." He then leaned forward a bit more, applying more pressure to her throat. "Now yield, or Ill wait until you're unconscious."

 

[Annrae Esspitt]

He wasn't bothered by the punch, there was a forearm against her throat, and he was too close to get her legs up. She was stubborn but she knew when she had lost. She stopped her struggling, except to push his arm off of her throat and let her say.

"Okay. I yield."

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic nodded and pushed himself up and off of her, extending a hand to help in case she needed it. "Nice try." He said, patting her back once she was up. "But we Mandalorians wear beskar'gam for protection, not show. So you really didn't stand much of a chance against me in a one-on-one sparring match."

Then he grabbed his gunbelt and clipped it back around his waist. "So, I assume we are just gonna be sitting around until nightfall again?" He asked, looking off into the tunnels. "Unless you think we can survive those tunnels, because I certainly would enjoy an adventure into the unknown."