~The Bear and the Mandalorian Fair~

[Darman]

::Ilum High Orbit::​

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The planet below - barren and cold - held the ruins of many ancient cities dating back many thousand years, perhaps even longer. Because of this point and largely due to the nature of the weather, regardless of the season - Ilum did not support any sort of population. The Jedi considered this planet theirs - however no more than a handful of them ever maintained residence on the planet and generally always in shifts rotating in and out with an even called the Gathering. Younglings coming to collect Kyber crystals for their first lightsabers. Though these crystals often drew the eye of other's... some of which of a more unsavory nature. And that is why the Jedi usually keep a guardian or two - to protect the ancient and sacred crystal caves from scavengers, poachers, or thieves.

The Rae Wynd had maintained a high orbit in the shadow of one of Ilum's moons for several days after exiting hyperspace. The Gunslinger had been maintaining a near constant scan of the planet below. He had found no signs of technology and no signatures from any ship entering or leaving the system. But seeing as to how he had never been to the planet below he had no indication of where to begin his search - without of course scouring the planet by eye for any sign of what he searched for. The heart, that is what he searched for - the heart of a lightsaber. Kyber Crystals.

The Gunslinger's eyes focused on the planet below - waiting he'd been waiting for days with no sign and no hope of one to come. It could be months before a ship made its way here for a Gathering - it could be years. A change of the guard is even less likely.

"The strongest stars have hearts of Kyber"

He repeated the old saying staring at the monitors. wondering just what it meant. It had been written down somewhere - he had read it once - heard it spoken... he was unsure, but it spoke to a common truth Kyber crystals held power - great power. Weapons, engines, no just sabers. He had also heard that Jedi were to be called to their crystals and that few appeared to them outside of such a calling. Nothing useful came to mind as he stared down at the planet.

"Screw it...Computer take us down!"

He cursed again in his own language before assisting in the boot up process and taking firm hold of the controls angling the ship downward and away from the protective shadow of the moon towards the planet.

[member="Calder Icehammer"]

 

[Viviana]

"Ah, this is almost like home." Outside of the crystal caverns sat the large ursine being. It was another frigid day, but for Calder who was born on Midvinter it was no different than being home. He was relaxed, leaning on a mound of snow with his hammer close by. He was lounging, for the first time in a long while not concerning himself with much of anything. "A shame there's no lake. I could get some large fish around here. The deeper and colder the water, the larger the fish after all!" He laughed heartily, peering up at the sky.

And saw the faint glimmer of a ship. He blinked slowly, tilting his head. "There was no announcement from the Jedi. Perhaps I missed it?"

[member="Darman"]

 

[Ra'a'mah]

The cat and the bear had been travelling and mission companions for a while now. They might seem like an odd pairing but they really got on well together. Her ever-present curiosity never wavered and Calder provided her with some sense of rationality in things. He was the calm to her wild and now they laid in the snow together staring up at the stars.

This was her first time to Ilum and luckily her fur kept her just as warm as it did him. There was no need for any additional clothing or protection. Though she wouldn't have minded some gloves to cover her paws, just the thought of putting anything on turned her away from covering any part of her body. In fact, the only item of clothing she had was a belt she almost always wore.

Something simple to hold her tools and weapons.

"Why would you want to go swimming now, Calder?"

His attention turned to an incoming ship and she stood up to stretch slightly.

"Want to go greet this visitor?"

[member="Calder Icehammer"] [member="Darman"]

 

[Darman]

The Rae Wynd slipped easily down into the atmosphere - scanners still moving, but now that he was closer to the planet he could scan more accurately for life signs. The Computer was coming back with several different readings - but he was looking for something more specific. The Jedi should have a ship on the planet, giving off some sort of reading that could be tracked - but nothing. He grew frustrated after a few moments of nothing, but the scanners moved wider and wider the closer he got to the planet and after about a half hour he locked onto a small cluster of life signs around an energy signature his computer couldn't identify.

"Better than nothing... Take us down computer."

He trusted the recently rebuilt computer to land the ship without incident while he went to outfit himself. Arctic great was easy enough for him - his body suit and boots were already insulated though he had planned for this mission and added a fur padding to his leather coat - making it a little thicker but it should keep him warm in the crystal caves. He didn't plan on spending much time outside. He armed himself with his usual gear but knew he would probably be climbing and so he took a grappling pack with compression gun and while he heard the engines power down he looked at the locked box sitting in the corner of his weapons locker. He moved over to it and lifted the lid - within lay his Mandalorian armor and weaponry, most of which he never wore. He moved through the armor pieces before finding what he was looking for - a pair of spiked Beskar Crushgaunts. He slipped them on with a grim look closing the trunk before pulling both his LL-30's from their holsters and twirling each in hand before slipping them effortlessly back into their holsters - like flying a jet pack. He smirked - humorless and dark before moving towards the landing ramp. He stepped off the landing ramp and looked towards the entrance of the crystal caves though two things stood in his way. A cat with wild and inquisitive eyes and a very... large... bear?

[member="Calder Icehammer"] [member="Ailuros"]

 

[Viviana]

"Not a swim. Fishing. Very different. I'm sure there'd be good food around here." He chuckled faintly to [member="Ailuros"] as they made their way to the landing ship. His hammer rested casually at his side as he shrugged to his friend. "I'm not sure who this person might be. There are no scheduled Jedi trips, so it's either a passerby or someone looking to loot the crystals. The later I might have to remove, so please. Stay back."

With that said the Beorni stepped forward to greet the newcomer.

"Hello stranger! What brings you to Ilum?"

[member="Darman"]

 

[Darman]

He thought the bear's size was a trick of the distance, but as he half limped closer to the pair that seemed to be the only thing standing in between him and the caves entrance he was quick realize that the bear only got bigger. The Gunslinger did not often come up against someone larger in stature than himself. Standing three inches over seven foot tall and weighing just over 300 pounds of raw corded muscle - he was always quite strong of body even after the injury that left one of his legs just above crippled. He continued stalking quietly towards the bear and when he grew close enough he realized that the smaller being wasn't wrapped in a cloak at all, it was fur. She had an elegant gate and hardly struggled in the snow. He reached deep into a pouch on his thigh and came away with a small blue injectors capsule that he shot directly into his thigh. His gate evened out a bit and he moved closer to the two until the mountain of a bear called out to him. The beast must be near 10 foot in height if not larger. He came to a halt looking for any sign of weapons only for his eyes to meet a rather massive hammer at the beast's side.

"I've been told by people all across the stars that Jedi can't be reasoned with..."

He called out pulling his coat back over the holsters on his belt - the fingers of his crushguants tapping lightly at the pommels of the LL-30's there. He stood a fair distance from the pair his other hand beneath his coat tucked behind his back out of sight. His eyes narrowed as he felt a surge of strength from the Stim he had injected himself with moments before - his heartbeat almost tripled against his ribs as the thrill of the fight to come already surged through his blood.

"I've come for Kyber Crystals... a set number of them. Once I have them I will be gone and your Sacred Temple will have hardly notice my presence. Please, prove all the people across the stars wrong... and simply stand aside and let me pass."

[member="Calder Icehammer"] [member="Ailuros"]

 

[Viviana]

"I am afraid I cannot allow the removal of any crystals without the Jedi's authorization. Which, I know you do not have." As the Beorni spoke the snow and ice around them began to whip up, a simple sign of the Jedi's strength. "I will only ask you to leave once, before I am forced to remove you. So please, go back onto your ship and leave." Calder casually rested his hand atop his hammer, making it as clear as day that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

[member="Darman"] [member="Ailuros"]

 

[Darman]

The gunslinger didn't move an inch for several moments waiting to see if the Jedi would follow tradition and attack first. He smirked a dry and humorless smirk when the bear threatened to remove him and rested his hand on the top of the very large hammer at his side. He looked at the weapon and there was something about it that drew his attention but he refused to allow the distraction and looked from the Bear to the feline creature at his side - searching her for any sign of weapons before slowly moving his hand to a wrist comm device and pressed a series of buttons. A few moments later the landing ramp to the Rae Wynd closed and the ships thrusters fired and the freighter lifted into the sky and slipped away. He shrugged feeling the strap of his rifle against his back nice and secured under his coat and then returned his hand to his blasters.

"There is no need for you or your friend to die..." His voice was soft but the sound carried across the wind. He shifted slightly his other hand grabbing one of the canisters upon his best as he thumbed off the safety on one LL-30 and charged the power bank - keen ears could hear the whine of the energy pack as the weapon overcharged itself - an effect that would cut his blaster's capacity and rate of fire but would his with greater power. He loved over the bears shoulder towards the arching gateway of the crystal cavern temple. The goal had remained the same. This was only added complication.

"Last chance... Stand aside."

He hoped the Jedi would be inclined to avoid violence giving his ship the time it needed to get into place - but if the bear made the first move - he believed himself to be ready.

 

[Viviana]

"You know I cannot. Call your ship back. There are crystals elsewhere in the galaxy. Where they are not a sacred Jedi site that must be protected." The Beorni removed his hammer then, the ice and snow flurry increasing in ferocity. Yet, it seemed to get smaller, closing in around [member="Darman"] as if it was isolating itself around the Mandalorian. Calder was preparing for the inevitable 'no' he had come to expect from mercenaries. Hopefully this would keep it as nonlethal as possible. He did not want to take a life.

 

[Darman]

"Foolish devotion to an ancient religion..."

The Gunfighter whispered possibly too low to be heard. He noticed the snow increasing and his eyes darted from place to place realizing it was a localized effect near him It must have been some trick the Jedi had - but something was different, usually when the force was in use around him he could tell - this was different. He shifted his weight and rolled his shoulder back turning on a heel to hide the motion, but also to sidestep enough to get a clear shot between the two towards the arching entry way to the temple. When his shoulder rolled the sling that held his sniper rifle slid as well causing the weapon to fall from his back under his arm and his free hand brought it up - his other hand came away with one of the small canisters and he pitched it through the growing snow fall towards the bear - the motion was in perfect time with the rifle coming up and he steadied it with the now empty hand and sighted as quickly as he could - after all the target was rather large. He pulled the trigger and the Sniper rifle made a small popping sound.

The weapon was not a regular rifle - It was an outfitted and modified orbital strike sniper rifle - and the popping sound was a homing beacon being shot from long barrel at a rather high velocity - but his target wasn't the bear - his target was the doors of the temple. 5 seconds after impact the homing beacon would signal the Rae Wynd which had taken position far enough from sight to not give away the plan and a salvo of turbo laser fire would reign from the ships cannons onto the door - hopefully the cannon fire was enough to punch a hole in the temple doors and ice.
The canister that had been thrown towards the bear was little more than a flash bang - meant to draw his attention and create a large enough distraction for the shot to be fired. With luck the bear would think he missed because of the light and loud explosion that would be caused by the exploding grenade.

 

[Ra'a'mah]

It was true in their travels, there had been very little opportunity for Ail to let her claws do the talking. She didn't possess a lightsaber yet but still had an old blaster from her imperial day and a sword in her belt.

Not being in practice, she almost resumed her position when Calder requested her to remain back from the stranger and allow him to talk to him. Besides too many non-human beings around might cause more issues. So she stayed back and kept her odd coloured eyes fixed on Darman.

His quiet voice carried over the distance and she shook her head. The bear might be a Jedi, but she was not. Still not having found where her strengths and weaknesses were, the cat did not have a calling yet.

Threats and warnings were given by each of them and her eyes flicked between the two as they spoke until the weather around Darman got active. When that happened, she decided it was best to observe her now almost master in action. Taking a seat on the ground, her fur covered body was fully protected from the snow and cold.

@Darman @Calder Icehammer

 

[Viviana]

At the first sign of hostility Calder activated the storm he had been brewing. As [member="Darman"] sidestepped out the whirling storm it suddenly stopped. Where he stood froze over, freezing solid as the grenade passed through. An icy tomb large enough to have consumed the Mandalorian remained, forming a barrier between the Jedi and he. Which did little for Calder's attempt to stop his shot.

Behind him the sudden rush of turbo laser sounded off, desecrating the very temple he had been here to protect. He turned his head to stare at the destruction as the flashbang detonated, blasting apart the icy tomb and pelting his fur with the shards. He roared in anger, his gaze turning back to Darman. "You desecrate our temples after being asked to leave!?" The ursine being surged forward, his Icehammer in hand as he brought it down, slamming for the armored form.

 

[Darman]

When the ice and snow surrounding the bear finally cleared giving him a straight view of the work his ship had done in creating an opening into the temple he smirked, but had little more time than that to appreciate the effectiveness of the rifle. He dropped it almost instantly and the sling tightened as if sensing the release in tension and the weapon swung back into place around his back. He shifted in the snow sensing the Jedi's approach - his reflexes already urging him to move, but he didn't right away.

He took a step forward as the Bear yelled out in rage. He flexed his fingers and closed them around each other feeling his muscles and bones crack and crunch as they tightened around the crushgaunts that felt so alien to him. He didn't reach for his weapon - though the bear might have been far enough away to hit at least once before he came into range - instead he shifted his weight and waited for the bear to commit to the attack. Everything passed in a matter of seconds - the Stim that sent chemical adrenaline and muscle stimulants through his body also heightening his already battle ready senses and the moment the hammer came down he lunged to the side, his great bulk seeming small so close to the bear. His dodge was by no means graceful but as he lunged to the side he threw out a punch at lumbering beasts arm right above where he assumed the elbow to be - hoping him to be slow in reaction.

He thought for a half moment about replying to the bear's rage - he had also asked them to let him pass in peace, but they had chosen combat - and so here they were...

[member="Calder Icehammer"] [member="Ailuros"]

 

[Ra'a'mah]

She wondered why Calder reacted the way he had, but it soon became clear. This alien had just blasted a hole in the temple they had been sitting outside of. Her tail swayed behind her as she stood up and walked over to investigate the damage done.

It could be repaired and that was something to do after this man was taken care of. Her claws came out and she turned around to look between the two combatants. Her companion might be using his weapon for this, but if it came to her getting involved, she would only use her body.

The cat had trained in unarmed combat and had knowledge in a few other areas. For once she was thankful they hadn't yet gotten into the conversation about codes and whatnot. Light or dark, it didn't matter to her and Ailuros sent a Push in the direction of Darman in an attempt to knock him off his feet before that hit might connect with Calder's arm.

@Darman @Calder Icehammer

 

[Viviana]

The massive hammer slammed into the snow where [member="Darman"] had been, unleashing a small blizzard of snow as the Force reacted to his desire to crush the mercenary. As expected of an ursine creature as large as he, he was incredibly strong. But as his head turned to stare down at the figure as he dodged to the side it became all too clear that he was just as fast. A massive hand reached out to catch his fist as it swung out, aiming to catch it in his meaty palm as he glared darkly.

"You have much to pay for now."

[member="Ailuros"]