Recon Mission on Conscio

[Dread]

Radzkie and the three other men he had chosen were crammed into a small transport, one of the smallest the half-zabrak half-Sephi could get a hold of. If they had to go stealth, he would utilize all advantages(such as having access to a small sized ship) in all aspects of the trip, uncomfortable or not. Punching the coordinates into the computer, the ship landed in a jungle in a small open clearing, barely stable enough ground for a ship, but it was a good distance away from any building structures. Their entrance would go unnoticed both from land and air, further being hidden by the near mountains.

The engines cut out once the ship settled and the exit ramp descended. Radzkie pushed his way to the front of the group, more then happy to get out of the ship himself. His boots merely made a soft 'clinking' along the exit ramp before they hit dirt and jagged rock, forcing him to plod through it till he reached the nearest tree trunk to stand on large protruding roots.

Far ahead, to the very limits his sight could reach, he saw nothing but thick, darkness engulfed wild life. Though his prior scans showed structures Northeast from their current location.

"Listen up," The hunched over young man hissed through his sharp teeth, once he sensed each of his members make their way off the transport. "Northeast of here is a city...we will explore the outside perimeter, splitting up, then slowly make our way closer. Each of you should be able too keep track of one another, at lest through your Comlinks. If you are unable to reach me, listen to Libertine, as I plan to do some solo recon deep within the city. Don't get in over your head, stay as far away as you need...Got it? Good." He said without caring to hear any answers. Radzkie was practiced in using the force to hide himself, and his force signature, making stealth slightly easier for him then he assumed the rest of the group.

"What we are watching for? Everything and anything you can take note of; the wildlife, natives, artifacts, tools, structures, weapons, layout, culture. etc" Radzkie added, pretty much having a conversation with himself.

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

Stepping to, Libertine was the next to softly step down the exit ramp; quietly stretching each step that led toe first. Lifted and upright as always, this masked human seemed to almost be more focused on their surroundings before settling out in the start of a line before Radzkie as the last mission had assembled upon landing to receive orders. Yet, as soon as Radzkie began speaking, Libertine's head was face front and proper as always; unwilling to speak unless spoken to.

Northeast... Libertine noticed a grey particle float down, drifting and swaying closer to him as he listened to Radzkie. Slowly, the particle settled onto his midnight black suit. Dirt... It seemed the planet welcomed him and the mission to come.

Then, when his name was spoken, Libertine lifted his chin with acknowledgment and willingness to the task. However, when Radzkie finished... Libertine lifted a flat right hand, fingers tightened together with the most crisp of straight-edge. The hand crept up his torso, finally making it to his front shoulder and ...released to brush off the speck that had fallen onto him most intrusively.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Sniiv was third to step off the transport, his posture stooped to minimize his rather sizeable silhouette. He kept his arms folded over his chest, elbows tucked in tightly. It may have seemed uncomfortable but he was used to it, even enjoyed it. From this stance he could appear less threatening and still be able to lash out with the Force or his lightsaber if need be.

His multifaceted eyes took in the lush forestry surrounding their landing area. Sniiv was alert for any wildlife that could pose a threat to the group. He knew very little about the planet but if the mission succeeded they would know plenty more. The rodian acolyte stepped lightly down the ramp and moved to stand behind and to the right of Radzkie, still looming over the hybrid still.

So they would be operating around the outlying perimeter of a nearby city, a welcome challenge. Depending on the technology of Conscio's inhabitants things could either be very smooth or as bumpy as his scaly skin.

 

[Wit]

Lyra was the last member of the team to disembark from the tiny craft, stepping out slowly even as Radzkie began outlining their mission. She heard all that he said, but at the same observed their surroundings, looking here and there, picking up small details. When the city's direction was mentioned her head turned in that direction, looking into the sky to observe any tell-tale signs of settlement which might be visible from this distance. Much as she had thought there wasn't really anything much there to give away its location, no skyline kissing the clouds, no smoke rising into the air, almost nothing. On such an isolated planet such as this she had not expected to find a mighty utopia, but neither was the city completely hidden from her. Through the Force she could sense where it was, sense the high concentration of life there, joy, pain, sorrow, loss, a ball of emotions lying in the midst of the relatively calm forest. As the four of them got ready to move out and do their bit for the Bogan, she was calm and centered, in control of herself, at least for now.

 

[Dread]

Radzkie looked back at his 'shadow', his apprentice that followed so closely. Bringing up his hand he waved it to dismiss him. "Go. When I said split up I mean, split up! Now!" He spat, though when he 'shouted' it would sound the same as a loud whisper, being barely noticed. Having limitations due to his disabilities sometimes proved to be a disadvantage.

He would wait till they cleared out before moving himself. Expecting he didn't need to guide all their moves like babies. As his group would weave their way through the thick jungle, the first structures they may come across would be defensive, the city being protected by large outer walls.

Though just ahead of them Radzkie could hear loud ruffling in the bushes; the wind was not strong enough to cause the sound, so he stood up straight and reached out with the force. Feeling many life signs, it was hard to depict the main cause of it. Knowing that there was a chance the natives where outside the city itself, Radzkie waved his hand in the air, a sign for his group to move out quickly.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Sniiv broke off from the group as soon as it became clear that Radzkie was done speaking. Without word he strode across the clearing and disappeared into a thick copse of trees. He did not think about the other two who joined them as he made his own way towards the city, moving quietly. They were completely unknown to him but he didn't doubt their capabilities in the least. Setting off alone he would need to be ever alert.

Though he was quite large Sniiv's experience on the Rodian homeworld taught him to know where to step, which branches to grasp for support. His senses were working diligently. The sounds of the forest itself were enhanced by a few gusts of wind that produced a whistling howl up above. Sniiv glanced up towards the canopy for a moment as he reached out with the Force. He touched upon several small lifeforms clinging to the trunk of a nearby tree.

The acolyte studied them for a time, guaging their size, weight, noting their movements. From what he could tell they were creatures of flight and mammalian. After a few moments he filed the little discovery away in the back of his head and resumed his journey to the outskirts of the city.

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

The Rodian seemed most eager, having darted off out on his own. Libertine payed no attention to him or the others with sight, but rather took to the pressing of his comms deeper into place along the clipping of his ear. Comprehending in full detail what their commanding officer had planned to do, as Libertine would only guess that those of a perfect mind as he would perform no less, Libertine would take to his task of babysitting to its extreme. No one would falter under his fist, or so the consequences would fall to him; just as their missteps would fall to Radzkie's responsibility.

After pressing in the small device further at the side of his mask, Libertine looked at his fingertips and rubbed off the indigenous taint upon his gloves. As usual, he'd have to put aside wants of neatness and structure to substitute the absolution of their goals by any means. And so, in this distance from the city limits, Libertine sought to instill some ground rules over the comms to each separated individual.

"This.. eh..." Libertine there sighed in conjuction with his action of looking at his fingertips, so heard by the others but not seen. "...This is Libertine. ...The orders stand. Do not enter the city. Gather what information you can with sight, smell, and sense. Avoid the means of touch. Again! Do not enter the city until further orders are given. The orders stand, or you don't..." Libertine was most serious, as he trusted his own skills over the others' considerably and would take advantage of this to end their failures in life should they ask for it. "...From here on, radio silence." As his soft yet stern human voice left the comms dead, Libertine made it quite clear that there would be no back-chatter; but rather, his word was law unless otherwise corrected by Radzkie.

Swiftly, yet strategically, Libertine melted away into the jungle-like perimeter. The masked human made sure to take the center-most route towards the city, as to intercept any stray beings wandering away from the city limits. No one would get passed him to find their ship or any of his tracks, as Libertine would take the most time in reaching the city; or at leaast he assumed so as no one else would be tasked with this burden. Should the others take so long, he would assume their ineffective uses at their end.

Looking as the very shadows of the forest, Libertine was unnoticed by any; feeling what could not be seen to be sure of any sizable beings approaching. Crouching behind some folliage to take a precise look around, Libertine took note of some insects along its leaves. Moving again, and keeping track of time with the passing sun, Libertine sometimes hovered in short distances so as to leave no trace of footprints. Being able to hear the animals' sounds of the forest was a most clear sign of their success in stealth, as if their were to be any stillness in silence should spell out fear in their knowing instincts better than invaders of this team's likeness. Still, Libertine had yet found nothing of any importance.

 

[Wit]

They had dispersed almost as one, moving out in separate directions, Lyra choosing an easterly path, intending to move along the perimeter of the city before turning northwards to approach it from its southern face. She had been moving for some time now, quite some time had passed since Libertine's comm message. But she was still to encounter something of significance, something worth taking note of. Suddenly she heard a slight rumbling sound coming from ahead of her, steadily increasing in volume. Pretty soon it became clear enough for her to identify it as the distinctive sound of a roaring river rumbling and roaring through the forest. Proceeding with caution, she slowly made her way forwards, well aware that the river might be haven for thirsty animals, and if any lived close by, sentient beings. Reaching out through the Force she scanned the are in front of her, detecting only small animals and birds. Stepping forwards she emerged from the foliage to step up into the clearing which ran parallel to the river's path on both its banks.

Finally, something good. Making note of her location and the direction in which the river was flowing she moved back into the cover of the forest, staying within sight of the river, and began walking up along the flowing river.

 

[Dread]

Outside the City​

As the group made their way around the outside of the city, they may come across a few things.

A group of ten young native men stood in a circle around another young man who seemed to be in a conflict with a older one. All of the group were armed with either double-edged swords or spears. The two in conflict in the middle waved around swords; the older male leaped forward, landing before turning on his heels to put his body weight into a slash at the younger boys throat. Quickly, the younger boy stepped back and brought out his blade, pointing it outwards to catch the older males blade in a clash of metal. It seemed that the natives were training in a original fighting style. If one of the scouts would stay to watch, they may get to know if the natives knew any other styles.

Far away from the group of men, in another clearing much smaller then the one their transport landed in, there were odd artifacts hanging on trees with a few placed on the ground. They were between strange writings in the native language, painted in some type of white ink. In the very middle a small shrine looking structure carved out of stone stood off the ground. It all strangely represented a spiritual or religious dedication of some kind. The area seemed to be unvisited for months as dust/rust/mold/moss had settled on everything from the shrine to the artifacts. It was not a elaborate set up so it seemed more like a single person, or a few peoples, work. It could show that some of the natives may linger on spiritual beliefs.

In another area much further out from the city walls then the shrine there were five unguarded racks of weapons both melee and ranged. The racks were located on the outskirts of a small encampment that belonged to the group of training young men and their older teacher. Between two tents sat a movable table with maps, drawn out figures of people and what looked like specs to defensive structures. If one of the scouts studied this they might figure out that the group staying here were learning about and practicing battle tactics. The campers could simply be children on some kind of trip, or they could be more. Whatever the significance the group and their camp had would be left up to interpretation of the alien scouts; all information gathered around or in the city could be mistaken for something more then it was.

Radzkie​

A few shrubs floated in the air, Radzkie's hands moved in unison of the direction they moved. Radzkie took time to use the force to guide some shrubbery to blend in the ship by placing some on certain areas of the smaller sized transport. He had landed far away from the city to prevent anyone from discovering the ship, but that was not enough for him to be alright with just leaving the ship out in the open. He was making sure to take extra precautions despite the damage it may cause the area around; it was a risk to cover a greater risk.

When he was done he took as much time as he needed to make his way to the city walls. Taking extra care to not leave a obvious trail behind him; jumping on large rocks, walking along roots or simply choosing areas less thick with vines and bushes to walk around in. At some points he came across some odd wild beasts in small packs of ten, they resembled Banthas in looks but not in color as they had a brighter colored coat. He choose to avoid them by giving them a wide berth(walking around them).

Before he came to the city walls his left hand came up above his chest with his elbow parallel to his hand height. His hand gripped what seemed to be nothing, but as he made a 'pulling' action from right to left he vanished in that direction - as if he was dirt, and water washed over him to clean him away. He would no longer be visible to the natives and his team through both the force and sight.

He had to now find his way inside the city without tripping any further defense system they may have. When he found a opening to get in the city he stared at two guards who had dulled expressions plastered on their faces. A female looking citizen dressed in loose black garb stopped a few inches away from a male guard speaking in a language unknown to Radzkie. After the female approached the second guards attention switched to her. This was a perfect moment to move as their distraction lowered the risk of bumping into one of them by mistake. Radzkie strode past the two into the city.

The first thing he noticed was that the streets were lined with a dug in sewer system. The buildings and homes looked old - not too old - seemly primitive yet not completely in their designs. The city itself felt and looked Aztec as Radzkie made his way up the city he noticed a improvement of the streets and buildings conditions. As he moved even further he spotted a large looking building resembling a temple located in the middle of the city itself.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Sniiv had carefully made his way through the dense forest, taking precautions to avoid notice and eliminate evidence of his presence. He secured the loose fabric of his robe via multiple knots at baggy portions. His hood was drawn tight around his thickly muscled neck. The rodian kept to heavily foliaged areas, using the Force to avoid creatures. Certain that if there were no creatures to startle then he would go unnoticed.

Crawling into a heavily shaded bush, slowly and quietly, he was concealed by darkness. Twenty meters away ten men stood together at what appeared to be a fighting ring. Eight of the men stood around in a circle watching as two, an older and younger man, dueled in the center.

Wielding an assortment of double-bladed swords and spears they seemed to be engaging in some sort of training. Metallic clangs rang out as the pair exchanged swipes and slashes with the weapons, both keeping up against the other with parries and blocks. Sniiv watched for several minutes as neither man refused to give ground to the other.

For a while it seemed to be a simple weapons exercise until the older man used the weapon as a fulcrum for his body. He dug one edge of the weapon into the ground with surprising strength and swung his legs into the younger man's side. There was no sound aside from his body hitting the dirt with a scuffling thud.

Things became more interesting when the victor took his opponent's spear. Sniiv witnessed the older man take the weapon and drive the point of the spear deep into the fallen man's throat. The acolyte could only imagine the sound of a death gurgle as the executed grasped at the spear's shaft, a futile gesture of resistance.

The ceremony seemed to conclude as half of the spectators took the remains and carried them off in the direction of the town while the other half bowed before the winner in awed reverence to his martial prowess. Sniiv remained to see the process begin again with another pair of men.

 

[Lyeric Ubbal Arathilion]

Frozen, Libertine had heard the chatter of nearby men. He had remained completely out of sight and mind up to this point, and would keep to remaining such standards. As Libertine's head ever so slowly turned a degree, to catch a better look, a leaf that had caught on his face-mask flailed off the catching etch of his carved in visor; dangling after becoming released from his entangling mask.

The men quieted. They must have seen the bush's twinge of movement, and Libertine would make no move to worsen the situation; yet he could still not see where they were coming from. Concentrating on the local's precise location, Libertine was interrupted by a foot stepping inches away from his face; snapping a twig as it did so. So... they were not the most stealthy of creatures, Libertine assumed from this. Lifting up his eyes, Libertine lightly circled a motion of two fingers and the single man spun around cursing the noise he had heard behind him just then. Spouting off some language foreign to Libertine, the man darted into a sprint off in the opposing direction; but only half followed by the other. The second male stepped out behind but did not run with the same hearing of that sound that had not occurred. Instead, he turned back around. Stepping much quieter than the first, it could be assumed that not all locals were as loud or incapable as the first; and as he crept closer to where Libertine was hiding, he violently struck away the bush with his long weapon ...but nothing was there!

Taking to return on their path, the two men had found nothing; as Libertine had used the opportunity of his Force Persuasion and their turned backs to move. But now, this masked human would follow the two men as they made their way away from the city.

After some time of trailing close behind and avoiding their looks back behind them, Libertine began to make out their destination. There was a small clearing of a variety of weapons hanging from racks just behind what clearer eyes made out to be a table in between two tents. Following in closer, one of the men sat at the table and the other crouched into the left tent. Soon Libertine could make out some papers on the table, possibly important.

Circling around, Liberinte made his approach on the far side coming up behind the rack of weapons. Seemed there were some very well crafted spears, halberds, swords, and small axes. It was clear that this people was dedicated to battle.

Further, Libertine eyed the documents on the table. He could now see the markings upon them, being a drawn out pattern of some maps perhaps. Libertine would have to get a closer look...

 

[Wit]

Lyra had followed the river for some time until it had started to move away from the city, possibly taking a meandering path to pass by the city again at some point. After all it would be logical if the river passed close by the city, the original builders ought to have had the common sense to build their new home next to the source of water and food. Leaving the river as it bent away she began cutting in towards the city once more, moving through denser and denser parts of the forest.

So used to was she getting to almost pushing her way through the steadily thickening foliage, that she almost stumbled as she stepped into a small clearing. As she steadied herself and took measure of her surroundings, she realized that she had stumbled upon something important. Straight in front of her was a small structure carved out of rock, resembling more than anything a simple shrine. As she looked around she noticed other items, smaller and varied in size and shape, but all of the same style and similar theme. Small tokens hanging from the trees, broken artifacts lying here and there, white markings on the surrounding trees and on some of the stones lying around the edges. A place of worship for the locals maybe, of spiritual transcendence.

But soon she noticed something else, the layer of fine dust that lay everywhere, the mold and fungus growing within the small shrine. This place hasn't been visited for months. Intrigued, she stepped up to the shrine, eager to examine it in more detail.

 

[Dread]

Readzkie had spent hours within the walls of the town. Studying it's peoples, the seemly obvious hierarchy. At first he thought they were a lot more primitive then most, before, that was, he came across a ship. The ships design no doubt was far behind the technology that they had used to get here. But, no doubt, this species, or whatever they were, were more advanced then he had first thought.

Time had slipped away from his mind during his exploration, and so Radzkie hadn't noticed how tired he was getting. Drawing on a cloak, even if he had rested a good handful of times in between, became tiresome. He decided he had all the information he needed from the town itself. It was time to move back to the ship and hope that his men had collected useful information themselves. If not...well, Radzkie had his ideas.

It was just about as simple to leave the town as it had been to enter. He returned back to the same gate, noting the easily distracted guardsmen before slipping out.

The soft patter of his boots around the forest increased as his speed did. He didn't draw on the force to do so, as he was tired, but he relied on what little muscles his thin body had instead. As he ran his cloak melted away the same as he had casted it. He'd keep a sharp eye and his senses out for trouble now that it was down.

It wasn't long before he had made it back to the ship. A few of the shrubs had fallen over, likely by the wind. Radzkie took little note of that and started to pluck each one from the ship and place it into the woods.

He'd wait awhile to see if anyone else returned, otherwise, he'd have to risk using the comlink or finding someone else to go fetch the others.

 

[Wit]

After having spent almost an hour in the shrine, Lyra had started to make her way back towards the ship. She had not learnt much in the ways of military strength or fighting capabilities of these people, but she had gained knowledge into something just as important. These people seemed to have been worshipers of a deity of some type, that much was evident from the shrine. But the state of the shrine suggested that it had not been visited in some time. Maybe a result of a change in belief, or maybe a change in leadership that forced this change upon the masses. Either way there were bound to be those who still believed in those old ways, beings who could be used for the growth of the Bogan.

As she stepped back into the clearing where their ship lay waiting, she found only one member of the squad to have returned before her. Patting away some dust which still lay on her robes she gave the crusader a nod before walking up to the ship and helping him in clearing it of shrubbery.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Sniiv remained hidden as he continued watching as the group trained. A few women had joined them, and displayed combat skills equal to the men. Throughout his time observing, Sniiv only witnessed a few deaths and all were young in relation to their opponents. Could it be that they were fledgling warriors and the matches were their final tests? Like his discovery earlier he filed the theory away for when he returned to the ship.

The Rodian slinked back quietly as another match began and quietly departed the scene. Making his way back to the ship he kept his senses sharp through the Force. The chirping of wildlife was magnified as well as the rustling of branches. He could smell the musk of other predators and avoided them with care. Tracing his path back to the ship he found that the small creatures in the trees had disappeared. He didn't care why and kept moving on until he reached the landing site.

There he noticed Radzkie and Lyra removing foliage from the ship, and joined them wordlessly.

 

[Dread]

((OOC: Since Lyeric is gone...sigh...I'll just npc him here so we can finish))

As Libertine arrived, the last of the group, Radzkie tossed off the remaining shrubbery form the side of the ship. He waved his hand in the air for the rest to go on board before going ahead himself. Being the first to walk up the ramp, into the ship.

When he found himself infront of the captains chair he plopped down accordingly and started up the ship again. Once the other boarded the ramp would shut behind them immediately.

The small sized-transports engines purred as the ship ascended, lifting off the jungle floor. Soon they would be back on the main ship to put together their findings for a report.

 

[Wit]

As the last two members of their group arrived, the group was ready to leave. They had accomplished what they had set out to do, had taken the first steps in successfully establishing the heart of the Bogan empire here. It was now time to return to their brothers and sisters and share with them the knowledge they had gained here, use that knowledge to plan their conquest of this world. Strapped into her seat, Lyra could still see the planet below on a small display panel in front of her. As the ship rose into the air, Lyra switched off her display monitor, closed her eyes and relaxed, savoring what was to come next.

 

[FallenKeeper]

Sniiv threw off several leafy branches as the final member of their team arrived. Shortly afterwards they finished clearing the shrubbery from the craft. Follow Radzkie, Sniiv boarded the ship and took a seat. His sucker-tipped fingers began to work on unknotting his robe and then pulling straight. The information he had gathered seemed to be worth bringing back, and he had learned a couple things from watching the inhabitants.

When the ship took off he drifted to sleep.

 

[Dread]

Libertine's boots clicked along the ramp as he walked back into the ship. He had discovered that the inhabitance seemly knew the art of war, in their own way, and had several defensive structures designed for it. Along with studying their various weapons throughout the camp once it was empty again.

Once on board he simply stood, hating to get his clothing dirty from a seat, and drew upon the force as the ship moved to stay in place. Libertine was truly a unique fellow. One Radzkie had always admired for his skills to follow orders so perfectly...

((OOC: End thread))