Ask Coocoo for Klatooine

[Arla]

Arla forced herself up, as Altair chased after the man, half-stumbling out of the room and over to the entrance ramp to the ship. By the time she reached it, the stranger was pointing his gun lazily in the general direction of the two of them.

For a long moment, Arla could almost tell that the man was considering just shooting them. He weighed the skills he had seen from the two and then lowered his gun slightly. His foot tapped several times as if giving things a further thought and relented.

Arla could feel a wave of relief as he lowered it and she took a deeper breath, glancing back toward the city in the not-so-far distance. The sun was starting to peek over the horizon, glowing against the background of the mountains in the distance.

What's your interest in all this anyway? I'm not splitting any of the profits with you, he said. So what are you, thrill seekers? Scavengers? he asked. He assumed there was no way they were just curious kids who stumbled on it. Not with the supernatural inclinations he had seen.

Were you with the Association? he asked suspiciously. He didn't recognize either of them.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair stood his ground as the gun was pointed at him. In truth, he was afraid. He had a feeling even with the Force the man could move quicker than him. There was something about the figure - as if he had seen unimaginable things - that suggested he was not to be trifled with. The tiefling sighed in relief as the gun was lowered, also noting the sun coming up over the horizon. He recalled what Arla had said about the mare not being as powerful during daylight.

“We came here to remove Gorbagg from power,” Altair stated flatly. He wasn’t going to beat around the bush. This figure seemed like he could smell bullshit from a mile away and he wasn’t going to bother, “We don’t want any profits or anything from you beyond your assistance,” Altair said quickly in case the man changed his mind about shooting them, “If you need troops, I can bring more but…I have a feeling more bodies isn’t what’s needed.”

Altair sighed as he stared at him, “You need the help. We got reasons for killing Garbogg. Does it gotta be more complicated than that? I don’t think you give a fuck about our life story here.”

 

[Arla]

The man seemed to snicker ever so slightly in that way of a strong exhalation from your nose. I don't give a bantha's backside about the Hutt, he said. And I've got no clue how hunting down Scrapbeak's going to give you anything on killing that Hutt, he said.

Scrapbeak? That's what you call the Mare? she said, perking up slightly as she listened to what was going on. And what's the Association? she asked, pressing forward and seemingly forgetting both that he'd threatened to kill them and the fact that she was exhausted.

The stranger seemed to appreciate Altair cutting down to business and he seemed to respect Arla's knowledge of what exactly they were hunting.

The Arcane Hunter's Association, now dissolved. Several former-members are here to hunt kill Scrapbeak, and they'll kill all three of us if they get the opportunity, he said, slinging his rifle over his shoulder and heading back into Arla's ship without being invited.

Arla glanced over at Altair and shrugged, following the man inside the ship.

 

[Altair Din]

Scrapbeak? The more the man spoke, the more his original point made sense. But it also brought the unpleasant thought of the buck not stopping at the mare. Altair paused for a moment to consider the variables so far.

“Honestly, if y’all got the means to kill Scrapbeak…be my guest,” He shrugged, “But does that thing work for anyone? Is it conjured or controlled by someone or somethin’?” Altair pointed back behind them, “There’s rumors of an obelisk or a spire out in the desert where people have been disappearin’. Do you know anything about that?”

If Altair didn’t have to fight the bird thing, he wasn’t going to lose sleep over it. He glanced over at Arla to see how she would take it. Altair’s interests were on the greater picture and now he found out that Scrapbeak was likely only a miniboss instead of the crux of the issue. The realization left a bad taste in his mouth.

 

[Arla]

Arla piped up at the answer to Altair's question. She already could guess the truth even if the stranger hadn't said it yet.

I doubt anyone is in control of it, she said. But someone might have summoned it here, she said.

The hunter, however, perked up when Altair mentioned the obelisk. Where is it? he asked. Arla put the pieces together from his reaction and from the things she new about mares.

You want to burn its lair out, don't you? Find a way to kill it, banish it, and destroy its tether to this side of the Veil, she said. It was all coming together in her mind.

So we're all heading in the same direction, she said before realizing something that caused her to turn to Altair.

I don't think we're going to find any of the people from this town alive, she said. But we could find evidence there to discredit the slimebag and show he's covered up the deaths of an entire town under his control, she said. She also knew it would click in his mind that he had very nearly become another victim of this mind-control and likely brutal death.

 

[Altair Din]

A chill ran down his spine as Arla stated they wouldn’t find anyone alive. This impacted him more than she would realize. He recalled all those pictures he saw in the houses - those smiling faces and the families. To think that they were all dead without explanation bothered him. Altair shifted uncomfortably.

“This is where it’s guessed to be,” Altair brought up a datapad to show to the figure, “This is where the disappearances were reported. Garbogg’s been sending people repeatedly to keep up appearances that he’s doing something,” Altair said, “It sounds like instead of facing Scrapbeak head on, we need to…find a way to follow it back where it comes from.”

Altair looked back towards Arla. He stepped closer to her and looked into her eyes, “Arla, I know you’re gonna be pissed at me for sayin’ this and fight me on it…but you need to sleep,” He said, his face serious and his tone stern, “You never let me take night shift and then you fixed my tail. You’re barely standin’. Can you…trust me to try and figure out a plan?”

He could have simply ordered her to do what was needed. He outranked her. However, none of that mattered right now. She was invaluable for this mission and she was barely put together at this point.

 

[Arla]

Arla completely missed how impacted he was by the deaths of the people, and it didn't even seem to connect as more than a nuisance to her that they were dead. It wasn't that she didn't care about others, but she cared about specific people.

There's one more thing: some Mares can hold the dead in their thrall. We could be facing a full town worth of necromantic thralls, she warned. She could only hope it wouldn't be true, but she wasn't holding her breath.

As they started to wrap up the conversation, Altair pulled her aside and told her she needed to sleep. She glanced first at him and then at the stranger. He would be able to see her jaw moving slightly as her teeth clicked together in thought.

And then she did something he wouldn't expect. You're right, she said with a nod. There was no argument or anger in her response. He was simply correct, she felt drained, and she'd be one step away from useless when they needed her at her prime.

But if you need me, come and get me, she said. She was putting a surprising amount of trust in him for someone she really didn't know that well, but she felt that what they'd already been through was forming a bond more quickly than she had expected.

She turned her attention to the bedroom and turned in for some sleep as Altair would be left to deal with the stranger by himself.

The man still seemed uncertain about the two, but he also seemed to understand that sharing information could be vital for success.

There're several other hunters in the area. At least two other teams, probably more, he warned Altair as they returned to the planning.

Like the Nightsister said, we're going to need to burn out the lair, he said. He was guessing that Altair had never confronted, let alone killed a mare before.

They're particularly vulnerable to fire, which'll make you particularly useful, too, he said. It was clear the man knew a thing or two about Devaronians and their immunity to fire.

And light in general for that matter. It won't move in the sun, but the inside of its lair will still be dark. And its thrall won't care about the light, he said.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair nodded along with everything the stranger said, but he paused at some point. He looked at the other man, brows furrowing a bit, “How did you know she’s a Nightsister?” In his normally blazed state, Altair likely would have missed that, but he was rather alert right now. Not only that, but he was surprised the figure even knew about tiefling biology. The man knew a suspicious amount about Force users and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

“You said teams,” He said, “Does that mean you got a team or are you operating alone?” He wanted to suggest making the other teams do the heavy lifting and killing Scrapbeak while the three of them went right for the nest, “Who put out the reward?” He had heard of monster hunting bounties, but this seemed to be on a whole new level. Did the guy across him do this as a profession?

“Are you….from this village?” It was a hit or miss whether the man would answer his questions, but Altair had a better sense of people once he understood their motivation. It was how he had come to have the loyalty of his Imperials.

 

[Reaper]

I make my living hunting monstrosities and arcane creatures. It pays to know who you might run into, he said, but offered no other real explanation beyond that. He seemed to do that: answer questions directly and as asked, but not always with the details or information the asker might really be seeking.

No, I normally hunt alone. Partners tend to be more a hinderance than a help, he said, his masked face locking directly with Altair's and seeming to imply a "don't fall into that category" weight behind it that went unspoken.

Instead of continuing to ask about me, you should probably focus on what we're actually here to banish, he said.

He paused for a moment, fingers tapping on the tabletop in annoyance. I don't know how to perform the profane ritual, and I'm not interested in doing it even if I did, so we're going to have blood two of the other hunters to obtain their extracts, he said.

He unhelpfully offered no explanation as to what any of this meant, but Altair would certainly get a mental picture of draining blood out of two other people for harvesting the "extract" from them. It wasn't the most pleasant idea.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair was surprised he got even the answers that he did. He was unfazed by the abrupt change of topics, but he was uneasy at the idea of ‘blooding’. Arla wouldn’t have blinked at this, but Altair was queasy. He wasn’t a fan of rituals or alchemy or other uses of the Force he found profane. It was all unnatural even in the sense of the Force and made his stomach turn.

“Well Imma guess you need fresh blood for this to work, because why wouldn’t you?” He rolled his eyes, his uneasiness painfully obvious. By now, his clothes were thankfully drying out. Altair glanced over in the direction where Arla was sleeping. He didn’t feel great leaving her here, but he had a thought. He whistled to get Belleza’s attention, the pup wandering over eagerly. Altair crouched down next to her, petting and nuzzling her.

“I need you to guard Arla, all right?” Altair said very seriously to the pup, knowing she was intelligent enough to decipher what he meant, “I’ll be back, but you protect Arla.”

With that, he stood up to look at the man, “Let’s go hunt the hunters and bring them back here,” Altair declared. They would have to capture them instead of killing so Arla could do the rest from there.

 

[Reaper]

The man seemed to pause for a long moment, considering how best to go about the dirty deed they were about to perform. Once again, his fingers tapped against the table. He didn't like this at all because taking two of his fellow hunters alive was no small task.

Stealth is the most important part of this. Taking one of them alive is going to be hard, two is going to be almost impossible, he warned before grabbing the barrel of the rifle he had leaned up against the table and hoisted it up, tossing it in the air slightly and catching it at the handle.

The hunter looked at Altair, then the dog, then back in the direction of the Nightsister's room. There was a low rumble in his throat, but he turned without another word and headed out of the ship. The sun was already rising in the sky, and the hunter paused, breathing in deeply and reaching out a hand in front of him.

After a moment, he lowered his hand and gripped his rifle in both hands again.

This way, he said, leading the way back through the town as if following an invisible trail that only he could see. There was never a moment's hesitation in the man's step as he went, however, until his pace began to slow.

He crouched lower and raised his rifle. After a handful more steps, Altair would begin to hear quiet voices of someone else.

 

[Altair Din]

“Damn..” Altair mused, “I suck at stealth..” He had no qualms with admitting his weaknesses, “I gotta get up close to take someone down,” He explained to the other man, “If you can provide distraction, I can probably easily subdue them though,” Altair said, his gaze flicking down to the man’s rifle. Slugthrowers like that weren’t exactly good for capture missions.

Nonetheless, he followed the other guy, “So… what should I call you?” He asked as they walked. He figured the man would rather jump off a cliff than reveal his real name, and that was fine with Altair. The tiefling looked a little ridiculous attempting to crouch down and be discreet with his horns. He went down extra low, knowing he couldn’t exactly disguise himself for some sort of local animal….maybe a baby bantha?

He could hear voices, and he drew the Force to himself, unsure what else to do. Altair wasn’t going to jeopardize anything by acting first. He glanced over to the man to see his strategy.

 

[Reaper]

They call me the Reaper, the man said. It was an appropriately cryptic title for the man he was fighting alongside given the stranger's garb.

The man crouched low as he came to a corner, glancing back at the Tiefling as he tried to keep his horns down somewhat unsuccessfully. Fortunately, no one seemed to be looking their direction, and they had a moment's opportunity to get into position.

Stay here, I'm going to swing around the other side and try to drive them into you, he said.

He started moving at a brisk pace, dropping into some of the lower sands and around the base of another building before slipping out of sight. A few seconds ticked by into a couple of minutes before Altair would be able to catch sight of him on one of the opposite roofs and then all chaos broke loose.

The Reaper tossed a grenade down into the midst of the other three hunters and the explosive detonated in the air above them, showering them in shrapnel and fragments. The Reaper didn't wait to begin opening fire on them.

The grenade outright killed one of the three, knocking him to the ground and turning him into a meaty pulp while the others scrambled away, injured.

The Reaper opened fire, shooting for the other hunters legs. The two men opened up with slugthrowers, their rounds zipping dangerously close to the Reaper as he took return fire.

True to the Reaper's predictions, one of the men scrambled for cover in the opposite direction of the assailant, and almost without looking, backed directly toward Altair, two slugthrowers in either hand.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair snorted at the name. It sounded just as cheesy as he expected, but the guy freaked him out too much for Altair to scoff at it openly. He simply nodded when Reaper took off, keeping his sights ahead. He knew there wouldn’t be second chances and Reaper was just as likely to shoot him as any of the other hunters if things didn’t go as planned.

Chaos erupted with the explosion and slugthrowers were fired in all directions. Seriously?! Altair was expected to pop up in all this?? He grimaced to himself, looking at the action in front of him. He knew how to block against blasters, but slugthrowers were terrifying in their own right. They were considered backwards but somehow managed to cut through sabers and cause bleeding damage.

One of the hunters began to back up towards Altair and the tiefling prepared accordingly. The man was almost right atop him when Altair abruptly sprang up and put him in a chokehold. His aim was to press down till the man passed out in his arms. The tiefling attempted to yank him behind the cover where he was hiding originally to knock him out and leave him out of sight.

 

[Reaper]

The Reaper could see the Tiefling take down one of the men, which only left the other one as an outstanding problem in need of capture. The Reaper raised his rifle and fired, missing low before racking his rifle and firing again. The second shot tore into the man's leg and sent him to the ground howling in pain.

The Reaper didn't hesitate. Seeing his opportunity, he dropped down from the roof and covered the distance even as the other man sent more shots his way. He ducked low and reached into a pouch before appearing once again in a sprint as soon as he heard the "click" that betrayed his opponent's pistol was empty.

He had no hesitation as he leapt on the man, swinging his brass-knuckled fist down on his face. The crunch of bone could be heard as metal met bone several times and the man lost consciousness.

The Reaper did nothing but let out a quiet, guttural grunt and retrieve his rifle before checking in on Altair.

Tie him up and we'll get them back to the ship, he said, pulling out a small length of cord to tie his victim with. He took another moment to scrounge ammo, gear, and other useful items on the dead man before maneuvering the unconscious hunter into a fireman carry to head back to the ship.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair wasn’t thrilled about being ordered around, but his ego wasn’t that fragile to where he would complain. He kept his thoughts to himself and did as told, tying up the man he knocked down. Like Reaper, Altair hoisted the unconscious hunter up and walked with him back towards the ship. He wondered what Arla would make of all this and he hoped nothing had attacked there while they were gone. However, he knew he began to develop a sort of connection with Belleza that often gave him a feeling of anxiety when she was distressed.

“You ever think of doing something beyond this?” Altair asked Reaper when they had a moment of reprieve, “I can get you a lucrative military gig off planet if you’d be interested. Skills like yours?You’d be invaluable,” It wasn’t often that Altair met people as efficient as Reaper. The man worked with methodical precision and tact. Imperials lacked this perfect blend of improvising and ruthlessly finishing the job.

 

[Reaper]

Reaper grunted with the man over his shoulders, more lean and thin than outright muscular the way that Altair was. Still, he made no complaint as he pressed on, somewhat surprised at Altair's offer of a job. Still, one particular thing had always stood out the most about Reaper.

I like to work alone, he said. He chafed under the command of others - particularly when those "others" were incompetent or held his life in their hands - and often hated relying on others to stay alive, have his patience, or prefer his methods. It was likely the only reason he'd gotten along with this duo so far was because they didn't argue with him or his plans.

I've tried taking orders before. It didn't take, he said as they made it back to the ship and he dropped the wounded man onto the ground near the ship.

Go get the Nightsister, I'll get them prepped, he said, motioning toward the inside of the ship as he started maneuvering the two men into the position they needed to be in for this stage of the... procedure.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair smiled at his response, “I don’t like takin’ orders either,” He explained, “That’s why I’m doin’ my time till I’m the one in charge,” He stated simply, more to himself than Reaper. He didn’t know when he stopped thinking of things day by day and more towards the greater picture, but there was no looking back now. He was on an upward trajectory and only his own death would stop him at this point.

He dropped his man down like a sack of turnips, making his way back into the ship. Belleza barked and happily ran out to greet him. Altair crouched down to give her lots of pets and love, likely earning some side eyeing from Reaper for wasting time. The tiefling stood back up and walked towards where Arla was. He was big on respecting privacy, so he awkwardly paced for a moment before a grin appeared on his face.

Arla would suddenly have a wood carving tossed right at her to wake her up, the same one she had tossed at him. Altair’s voice called out, “Wake up! We need your spooky services!”

 

[Arla]

Arla was perfectly asleep when the carving came flying into the room and hit her. She woke with a start, clearing her throat and reaching up to rub her eyes.

She made her way out of the room and he would be able to see her hair popping out of her braid at some awkward angles with some bags under her eyes, but she was awake and slightly less worn down than before.

She looked down at the craving and smiled, finding herself quite happy to have it returned. Though it did settle in that it meant that he had gone back to the village without her. She couldn't decide if she should be angry that they had gone and done things without her when she thought they were only planning or if she should be happy to have her carving returned to her.

I thought you were going to wake me if you went out, she said, her voice with a hint of annoyance, but quite clearly tempered.

But thank you for bringing this back, she added, looking down at it with a slight, warm smile before setting it down and heading outside.

She stopped, looking at the two men who were now hanging from the ship, upside down. Umm... why are these men strapped to my ship? she asked as she reached down to pet the doggo like there weren't men just bleeding all over her ship.

 

[Altair Din]

Altair scoffed at Arla, “Like you would’ve woken me up..” He stated flatly, ending the argument there. He didn’t say anything to her expression of gratitude, but he did smile in response. He hadn’t realized the carving had much meaning, but he figured it was her belonging nonetheless. Altair had gotten a head start in meeting up with Reaper again.

By the time Arla emerged, she would not only be greeted by the sight of the two men hanging, but also Altair waving a granola bar at a very unamused Reaper.

“Come on, dude,” He said, brandishing a chocolate and almond nutty bar, “Even badasses like you gotta eat.”

Altair looked up at Arla when she remarked about the men being strapped to her ship. He quirked a brow, “Didn’t nobody tell you? This is a Jedi rescue,” He said deadpan.

He sincerely hoped Reaper wouldn’t attempt to beat him over the head with the butt of his rifle.