Ask Egg Hunt

[Arthos Vizsla]

The Challenge of Cunning.

Arthos wouldn't be the first to claim that he was cunning in a way that could be measured very highly. He had gotten rather good at tracking, all things considered, but he had always been told by his clan that it wasn't anything to be proud of. Tracking was to be as natural as breathing for a true Mandalorian and, like breathing, he should expect no praise for it.

You didn't get praised for remembering to breathe so why should you get praised for tracking?

Some distance and outside experience from his clan told him that they were being unreasonable. Even the giants of Mandallia seemed happy when he had mentioned some of his hunts in the past - that they had to ply him with alcohol before he could actually give them any of his stories was something he was less pleased about. But he had sobered up after a good night's sleep and been given a hearty pat on the back by a friendly giant, managing to catch himself before he face-planted in front of Kotii.

But now they were in the jungle, surrounded by greenery, and on the hunt for a Rancor's den to steal one of the nesting mother's eggs. Arthos didn't know much about Rancor mothers but he was reasonably certain they didn't mellow out after laying an egg.

"Alor - is this the first time you've visited Mandallia?"

@Darasuum

 

[Fenyang]

Having been raised outside the clans, on the peaceful world of New Mandalore, Fenyang had never visited the home of the Mandallian Giants. Frankly, he had thought the giants, and their whole series of challenges, were children's fables. He was eager to be proven wrong. Even more eager when he learned that the giants were willing to work with The Mandalorian clans, cowardly and weak-willed as they were.

He stepped through the jungle with his assassin's rifle in hand, the HUD of his helmet scanning for any signs of Rancor life. He...hadn't ever tracked a rancor. But he figured it was like racking any other beast or man. The latter, he had tracked numbers of - the Death's Watch was, itself, still too weak to do much more than the occasional targeted assassination or act of terrorism. Weakness. They were all surrounded by it. The Giants offered a test for them to prove their power - but what if they failed? What if this was the final death knell of the great Mandalorian song?

A worrisome thought. He waited to hear the Alor's response. Would those raised in the Clans have a better, closer relationship to the giants than he?

@Darasuum @Nefieslab

 

[Kotii Solus]

Kotii arrived in his scatterweave coated beskar'gam, armed with his Zok-10 sniper rifle slung behind his back safely beside his jetpack. The man had returned to using his Blackhand sidearm. The default setting for his sniper rifle was already set to stun, knowing full well they needed to take a rancor down without killing it. Lecapanine poison would have been great to have but then the badger would be concerned about penetrating the Rancor's thick hide. The stuff wasn't cheap or easy to come by but Kotii wished he had some just in case.

<"Yeah. First time."> The Alor of Clan Solus pushed a lush branch aside. He had expected combat on first contact with the Mandallian Giants but Arthos had made a decent first impression as he tended to do. A few devloping bruises later and the badger had learned more about the giant folk and their world.

Kotii had mainly grown up on the wintery world of Krownest along side the Wren clan. Stories of the old ways were still shared with accuracy and reverence which Kotii didn't take lightly. Their history showed them their mistakes and gaps that could be improved. Mandallia was a good place to reunite the people of Mandalorian space together. A good old hunt of a Rancor was one way to be heard.

Along for the mission was Hauron, Kotii's son. The foundling had come with Kotii to Arkania when hunting a dragon so a rancor was probably enough for the young mikkian to handle. <"I hear rancors are huge. But they don't have wings. Will I get to use my jetpack this time?"> The excitement was evident even with the teenager's expression hidden by his visor. His mind already switching its attention to the weapon in his hands. <"Set...to...stun."> He flipped the switch on his Galaar-15. Hauron's accent was not like Kotii's and his speech in Mando'a was a little less fluent but the kid was soaking things up like a sponge. <"Don't crash into any branches."> He cautioned the little badger. Just because he had fought larger prey, didn't mean this was any less dangerous.

Turning his head to Fenyang and Arthos, the man's jaig eye helm looked at each of them in turn. <"What about you two?"> He asked mostly to open up the chance to hear from the purple armored Mandalorian. His iconography told Kotii he was of clan Ordo but the color scheme had almost made him think he was of Clan Rook.

@Fine Dining Set @Nefieslab

 

[Arthos Vizsla]

Well.

Arthos shared a glance with Fenyang and Kotii both as they seemed to agree that this was the first time both of them had actually ever set foot on the planet of the Mandalorian Giants from the fables. It was... not a great starting point but it was probably for the best anyway, right? No preconceived notions that they knew what to expect coloring their vision of how things were?

Osik, that sounded like some mental gymnastics even to himself. The two older Mandos didn't know the area at all and that might be a bad thing - but their extra experience likely meant it would balance out.

Though Arthos had to admit that it was nice having Hauron around for the mission if only because it meant that he wasn't the youngest person here. It was not often the young man could say that honestly after all. He shrugged ever so slightly to Kotii's question.

"I got dropped off here by the clan about six years ago as part of my survival training."

He very carefully didn't mention how old he would have been at the time.

"Far as I remember, they used to almost patrol around a point close to that mountain." he said, gesturing to the mountain's peak they could see up ahead, "I avoided it like the rakghoul plague because of it - didn't think I'd go looking to return."

His memory seemed to be serving him well as it wasn't long before he was able to see evidence of heavy Rancor movement in the area. It looked like a clearing in the forest, entirely natural, but he could tell by the way the mud was compacted that they wandered this way often. He pointed it out to Kotii and Fenyang.

"Small herd I'd say... maybe three and a bull?"

@Fine Dining Set @Darasuum

 

[Fenyang]

As Arthos mentioned the tracks on the ground, Fenyang looked to the tree-line above. Rancor were large enough that, Athos could see their size in the mud, one could also see their path through the trees. He fired his grapple-shot into one such tree, a great, tall one with sturdy branches, rising to the height of the tree line. Through his scout visor, he scanned across the forest for unnaturally parted trees, knocked over or felled, that could be attributed to Rancor activity. He looked first to the mud pile that Arthos had attributed to their activity.

Rancors had their best eyesight at night, and in their dark cavernous homes. Their eyesight was, thus, weakest during the day. Having chosen to come at midday, precisely when the rancor herd would be gathered in their cave, showed either foolishness or a particular kind of valor. Fenyang feared it was a mix of both - small parts of an undeserved sense of pride towards himself and his fellows while Mandalore still suffered so greatly.

Regardless, this meant they had their work cut out for them. If they were lucky, the rancors would be sleeping, and they could do this stealthily. If they were unlucky, they would wake the pack, and provide a zesty Beskar meal for the creatures. If they were even unluckier, the forest would get so dense that it blotted out the sun. If that was the case, the whole forest would be their stomping ground - they could see at any point of day, hunt at their leisure.

"Good info, Vizla. I think we'll find the nest if we follow where the trees are parted." He paused. This was his first hunt with true, clan-born Mandalorians. He had fought with them, and shared the occasional bar fight, but something this deeply and culturally symbolic felt...important. He was proud to be a part of history. The restoration of the ancient ties between Mandillia and Mandalore. "Oya."

@Darasuum @Nefieslab

 

[Kotii Solus]

This was far from the first time the experienced hunter had tracked large and dangerous game. However he wasn't used to being tasked with returning such large prey back alive. As the small squad of Mandalorians delved deeper into the forested terrain, the badger kept his helmeted visor scanning the surroundings.

The man had yet to draw a weapon as they walked but his left hand would come up to tap a shortkey code on his right gauntlet. The blackened visor would shift subtly in color to any of the other Mandalorains looking at it to a dull red without giving away any sort of glow. The crimson eyes that looked at the surroundings, took in the sight of infrared radiation.

Small mammals and the grouping of warriors stood out in yellows, oranges and reds against the blue temperature of the surrounding forest. The Mandalorian craned his neck to watch Fenyang use his wrist gauntlet's grapple to elevate himself. Maybe he was trying to show off and felt bad about not having a jetpack. The man knew it was a one and one use so hopefully he wouldn't need it later. Either way, Kotii would keep walking through the forest floor beside his son, keeping on the look out for trees that weren't trees, but instead maybe Mandalorian eating rancors.

The badger walked along the edge of the trail left in the wake of the herd. His hands would unsling the heavy sniper rifle from his back and triple check that it was on stun. Being mindful of his steps, the man knew there was still more than rancors to worry about. With practiced ease, aided by the scatterweave, the Alor became a barely noticable shifting shadow, taking point and leading the way. This was a hunt after all, and some effort should be put into taking the greater prey.

Hauron seemed to notice this. It wasn't the first time his buir had seemed to disappear. It forced the young armored Mikkian to remain more aware of his surroundings and pick on on subtle queues. A bit delayed, the foundling tried to mirror Kotii and move into the verdant terrain. He lacked scatterweave but wondered if rancors would pick up on his smell. The kid scooped up some mud and smeared it on his chest plate while waking before wiping what was left on his thighs. The sound of Hauron's movements weren't nearly as deft or used to moving in armor either as his fellows but knew to move slower rather than clank about like a dinner bell.

@Fine Dining Set @Nefieslab

 

[Arthos Vizsla]

It went against what he had forced himself to learn during his brief time on the planet prior to this challenge but Fenyang was right. They needed to get a move on and follow every sign they could see that the Rancors were nearby. It sent a shiver through him to the base of his spine but he knew better than to heed that emotional response – he was a Mandalorian and he would be damned by all the Gods if he showed cowardice here.

Instead he trudged onward at a faster pace, drawing his blaster pistol just in case, as he ran along the forest floor. He might end up being the distraction at this rate but Arthos wasn’t a stranger to being used as bait by other Mandalorians during a hunt.

“Kotii, Fenyang – I can see a cave up ahead.”

His helmet had some vision modes but more of an overlay than any of the other types of vision modes. He wasn’t seeing anything in the dark or heat signatures or anything – he was able to enhance his vision and he did so by a factor of four… but the darkness deeper in the cave was just too deep.

He deactivated the zoom feature.

“I’m going to make some fire to use to blind and distract them.” He told the others as he moved over to some larger branches and started to prepare a fire, “Cover me – I don’t want them sneaking up on me before I’m ready.”

Rancor were a lot sneakier than anyone gave them credit for after all.

@Darasuum @Fine Dining Set

 

[Fenyang]

Rancor were, indeed, sneaky. In spite of their size, they could accomplish incredible feats of agility. It was likely akin to the Mandillian Giants themselves, who were much more wise and intelligent than much of the galaxy would give them credit for. Perhaps, it also served as a metaphor for the Mandalorian peoples - regarded among the galaxy as little more than bloodthirsty warriors. Not a people with a millennia-long culture. Not a people who have withstood the eons with strength, pride, and dignity. But just warriors.

<I've got your back, Vizla.> He turned his head towards the darkness of the interior of the forest. He felt the ground shake, briefly - leaves rustled from their resting place at the forest's floor. It could have been the wind, or a seismic phenomenon. It could have been Rancor steps. While Arthos began to make his fire, Fenyang began to search for tools that could assist them. He figured Arthos's plan - to blind them - would work best if they could also stun more of their senses. Eyes still keen for the signs of rancor activity, he stepped back towards the mudhole that Arthos had found.

He reached his hands deep into the pits of mud and dung, scooping out globs of it into his gauntlets. Then, he began to cover himself - his armor, his under layers, and his skin (where he could reach it) with it. The smell was horrendous, and Fenyang's Beskar'gam lacked a filter to get through it. But, covering the scent of the beskar and their weak, human flesh would help to infiltrate their caverns with ease.

He carried two handfuls of mud back to the pair, offering to them what he did to himself. Although the Vizla might end up as bait, there was no sense in taking unnecessary risks by giving away their scent so soon.

@Darasuum @Nefieslab

 

[Kotii Solus]

Few animals beasts wouldnt flinch in the face of fire. Arthos had a good idea and Kotii wondered how well his blaster rifle would work against such a large creature. He was already hidden among the treeline and nine meters away from Arthos as he worked. Hauron waited a bit closer and shook his head as he was offered more muck to add to the array of dirt already on the foundling's plates. <"I'm good."> He replied with a held up hand before he continued to keep his eyes out for any dangers.

The Alor of clan Solus on the other hand cradled his rifle in stillness. The wet sounds of the movement of booted feet on the jungle earth moved among the ferns. Tiny rodents skittering unseen dozens of meters away up the bark of a tree and other small sounds like these were taken in the the Hunter.

Easing his hands gentle but firmly around sniper blaster rifle, he would begin to pull it tighter against his shoulder. Tilting his head back he sighted down the scope and through the treeline. There was something approaching from the way they had come. The badger knew what it meant. His heart beat began to beat a little fast as he unfocused from the sight momentarily. Hauron was there, not far from Fenyang and Arthos. Beyond them they hadn't noticed the bull rancor. <"One dubbled back."> He said in a severe tone but with a measure of seasoned composure. The crosshairs of his rifle tried to find the center of the bull's eyes but it was too far away and there was too much in the way of foliage. There wasn't a clear shot.

No sooner had he said the words to the rest of the group over their closed helmet link had he felt the movement of something heavy move deeper inside the cave. The hard rock reverberated the thousands of pounds belonging to a rancor making its way towards the mouth of the cave. Kotii held his fire as he was perhaps one of the closest to the entrance. The rancor had yet to see him but if he fired a heavy blaster bolt, stun or otherwise, the man expected to get a crushing backhand.

Instead, the badger was as mad as one would expect. Slinging the sniper rifle back around to be carried, the Mandalorian burst from cover with his jetpack. The roar of his thrusters would maybe draw attention towards him from the arriving bull if it hadn't noticed the other Mandalorians yet. Perhaps it was just returning to its den unaware of the dangers that awaited. But Kotii was already in motion. In his hand he had switched his sniper rifle for something else. The oblong shape of a grenade was held in the man's gloved hand.

Landing on the scaly back of the rancor it knew something was wrong immediately. The head turned to look at the source of the noise but by then the jetpack had allowed Kotii to scale the hunched form of the animal. He held on trying to not be thrown off. Rearing back and trying to pull at the thing on its head, the toothy maw opened in a howl. The mandalorian chucked the primed grenade into the beast before he was successfully smacked and sent flying a dozen meters away. His body slammed into a tree trunk and rolled before becoming still.

Smoke and gas belched from the mouth of the rancor like a bad vape commercial. It's arms swung wildly, clawing at the ground at the disturbing sensations. Its groans would begin to slow but the large animal was not out of the fight yet. An echo of more roars and growls came from inside the cave. There was more.

@Fine Dining Set @Nefieslab

 

[Arthos Vizsla]

Preparing a fire out of living wood was harder than it probably had any right to be but he had practise with it so he didn’t see it as being too much of an issue. If it smoked so much the better – their helmets would stop it stinging their eyes too badly but the same could not be said for the Rancor.

Safe in the knowledge that both Kotii and Fenyang had his back, Arthos devoted his energy to his task without needing to keep his eyes on a swivel.

Cursing, he shook his head at Fenyang’s offer and grabbed one of the larger branches with thinner branches attached to it. He gestured to the save mouth as Kotii began his dance with the returning bull rancor.

“Solus – keep the bull busy.” He asked of both Kotii and his foundling, “Fenyang – follow me. I’ll distract them, you make the grab for the egg.”

Dumping the contents of a flask and a container from his belt onto the branch, he hefted it up onto his shoulder and took off toward the cave at a run. He didn’t know how many there were in there but he was willing to bet there would be enough that Fenyang running in alone would be a death sentence.

Reaching the cave, he drew out a lighter and set it to the leaves of the branch as vague dark shapes roared and reared up to attack him. All of a sudden the branch was on fire and there was a bright light and fire – the three rancors shied away, shielding their eyes as Arthos ran around in front of them, frantically waving his flaming branch.

They didn’t like it… good, he wasn’t about to die looking like a tit.

@Fine Dining Set @Darasuum

 

[Fenyang]

Fenyang nodded in response to Arthos' command. The boy had some confidence to him it seemed. In time, he would make a fine warrior, a valorous leader of Mandalorians. He couldn't just let himself be outdone. Sticking to the outskirts of the cave, Fenyang did not sprint the moment the stick was alight. With his armor and weapons, the noise alone would alert them to his presence. Instead, he walked cautiously yet confidently. He checked every step before he took it, to avoid any obvious spots of clamor, but he never stepped back. As Arthos continued to distract them, Fenyang swept behind the three.

The bright fire of Arthos served to distract them, but it would not work forever. They had to use the element of surprise while they had it. Fenyang spotted a particularly large rancor egg in the nest - assuming that to be a most fortuitous sign, he swept the egg into his hands.

They turned on him in an instant. It was as if they had sensed the moment he stole the egg. It was a harrowing moment - Fenyang had never taken on a single rancor, let alone three. His visor shot to Arthos direction - silently begging the younger Mando for aid as he backed to the wall. He pulled a single blaster pistol out in his free hand, flicking the setting to stun as the creatures closed in on him.

@Nefieslab @Darasuum

 

[Kotii Solus]

Hauron's helmet tilted to look up at the massive beast that had sent his buir flying. It's claws were as long as daggers or even swords which tore into the ground at the mouth of the cave. The Mikkian had seen the bull which his father had warned them about. Avoiding the bull, the young Mandalorian heard the Vizsla call out to his father to deal with the Bull. Was the Vizsla blind? Had they not realized he had warned them of the Bull while dealing with another Rancor of his own? Apparently not, and they weren't going to help.

Instead Arthos ran past the distracted Rancor while it choked on the stun gas grenade. His torch illuminated three more, smaller rancors. There were five to deal with then and four Mandalorians. Now they were outnumbered. "Shab!" The foundling swore.

Fenyang and Arthos were focused on the three smallest rancors inside the cave, leaving the Bull and its somewhat stunned mate to have at the badgers. A howl from within the cave said the two Mandalorians inside would potentially distract them. The fire of Arthos's torch and the approach of the nest would pull the attention away from the Solus clan members even as the frustrated Mikkian began the valiant attempt to empty his blaster carbine into the legs of the Bull. It's stride would thunder through the forest, knocking aside one tree and clawing another before launching feet first to close the distance.

Hauron was nearly knocked from his feet just from the mass of the creature and began backing up. He ignited his jetpack and drew the weapon across the face of the animal. It's toothy maw opened as it began to make a bit for the scared Mandalorian. Never before had he come so close to a monster of this size. But his buir had trained him well enough to know where to shoot.

One heavy stun bolt slammed and disperssed its energy across the left eye and face of the Bull rancor. Its face twitch along with bringing a clawed hand the size of an speeder bike to cover where the shot had landed. A smile broadened across the Mikkian's face only to leave as his back slammed into a tree branch. Now both of the badgers were laying on the ground, groaning in pain and struggling to right themselves. "shabla jungle!" Hauron weezed, hoping nobody had seen that. Kotii on the other hand was still seeing stars and was just now getting back to his feet. The taste of copper filled his mouth but he was glad to see his son had been evisterated.

@Fine Dining Set @Nefieslab
rolled a 18/100 for hauron, moderate fail

 

[Arthos Vizsla]

What the absolute kark was he doing?

He was waving a flaming branch around in the darkness of a rancor's den and he expected to not die? If someone had explained the same situation to him, Arthos would have assumed that the person in question was ready to die. That they had given up on their live and had decided that the best way to die was to die doing something suicidally brave. Even in his darkest moments, Arthos wanted to live... so this was really making him question the quality of his own decision making skills because seriously.

What the kark was he doing?

The creatures all turned, as one, to face Fenyang as he grabbed the egg and all but forgot about Arthos as they made a bee-line for the other Mando. Well... it could be going better, he decided to himself as he drew his heavy blaster pistol in his left hand, but it could barely be going worse. Taking a single breath, he roared out loud in the near silence of the cave before firing twice, catching two of the Rancor's in the side of their heads and smacking the third in the face with the flaming branch. He waved the branch like a red flag to a bull.

"COME ON YOU DIRTY KARKERS! COME GET ME!"

They obliged as they charged after him as he did his best to sprint clear out of the cave. Cursing, his instincts told him to turn to the left as he left the mouth of the cave and it was for the best - as two of them practically flew as they tried to belly-flop onto him. He just blinked underneath his helmet before shaking his head and firing at them again, aiming for their armoured areas to avoid risking a killshot.

"No wonder your parents left you! You're as fat as Hutts and half as smelly!"

Only half as smelly cus he wasn't really gonna lie outright like that.

15/20 distraction roll
14/20 surviving their attention roll

@Darasuum @Fine Dining Set

 

[Kotii Solus]

The rancor that continued to chock on the stun grenade was almost still. Heavy limbs dragging in the dirt and its rumbling roar turning to a deep groan. The direct ingestion did the trick on the large beast finally making it fall in a world shaking thump.

The now cylcopean Bull rancor could hear its offspring roar from inside the cave. Arthos and Fenyang needed the Solus's help or they were going to be torn to shreds. Kotii struggled to his feet as the lumbering form of the rancor reprioritized who it would take out its aggression on. Hauron was also just getting to his feet and still cursing.

The two badgers were covered in jungle dirt and mud. But the Alor of House Solus pulled free his one and only flashbang grenade and set it to trigger on impact. The device dinged, allowing the man to know it was ready without looking directly at it and then chucked it. A moment later the object landed in front of the Bull rancor and exploded in a flash of light and percussive intensity.

Kotii's right hand pulled out a thermal detonator. He knew that this was a hunt to get the rancors alive. Normally Kotii could just empty a blaster but for a Rancor that wouldn't do the trick and he was running out of options. Arthos was going to get killed for his recklessness. Thankfully he came running back out of the cave, avoiding getting clobbered by the Bull.

The rancor bull roared. One eye was stunned by Hauron still while the other would take a few moments to clear at best. The beast halted its advance towards the cave and waved its arms to try and feel where it was going. The animal ran into the side of the rock face beside the cave.

The thermal detonator switched over to his left hand and the man aimed it. His right arm pointing towards the cliff face just above the mouth of the cave. Hurling the ordnance at the impossible to miss surface, the device exploded, vaporising and causing a violent blast to send rocks and chucnks of stone falling ontop of the blinded rancor bull. One after another they would hit and make the rancor immobile.

That only left the three rancor babes that were chasing after Arthos. <"I've got the Vizsla."> Hauron said with a hint of pain in his voice. He began shooting stun bolts after the smaller rancors in the hopes to slow them down or also peel them off of the torch weilder. The Mikkian quickly ran out of blaster bolts as the heavy stun rounds had mostly been absorbed by one of the rancor parents earlier. But the foundling scrambled to reload his rifle as quickly as posisble.

@Fine Dining Set @Nefieslab

 

[Arthos Vizsla]

Being chased by three young Rancors was not something that Arthos wanted to experience ever again - especially since Fenyang was only able to get one of them to chase after him instead... at the cost of not being able to hold onto the egg. Instead, Arthos scooped up the egg as he ran, now pursued by two of them and with only one arm free to fight the fighting retreat.

Cursing up a storm in Huttese under his breath, Arthos spotted Hauron from the side as he started shooting stun bolts at the Rancor chasing him. Seeing them hesitate in the face of a second type of attack, Arthos decided that he wanted to get one of them well and truly off of his back.

He adjusted his grip on his flaming branch as he turned to face the Rancor young. Taking two steps closer to them, he grunted as he launched the flaming branch like a javelin. Through a mixture of luck, skill and yet more luck - it landed exactly where he had aimed.

One of the two young Rancor screamed and raged blindly, slashing and banging into its own sibling as the flaming branch pierced the creature's eyeball and burned it quickly into uselessness. As the two young Rancor started to rage against one another, Arthos decided that it was time to leave. He tapped his helmet comms as he immediately set off in a tired run from the site of the sibling fight.

"I've got the prize." he reported to the badgers, "Lets get the fuck out of here..."

He was too tired and too hopped up on adrenaline to be as shy as he typically was - he would be embarrassed about swearing to the Solus alor another time.

@Darasuum

 

[Kotii Solus]

Fenyang was dealing with his own young rancor and having a tough time. But the Mandalorian appeared to be fending well enough and the younger warrior, Arthos had twice the amount chasing him. Hauron was already in pursuit of the Vizsla but the warrior continued to wisely run and remain out of range of the young beast's slashes.

Hauron cursed and ignited his jetpack to catch up. The two young rancors roared and one took a hit from the flaming branch in Arthos's arm. The two rancors, one half blinded and the other half stunned, would get the rest of the badger's stun bolts placed in their heads and bodies. They didn't manage to wound one another too greatly either in their frantic flailing and allowed Arthos some respite.

The young Mikkian Solus continued on a few more meters before deactivating his jetpack. This time he was a lot better at controling it though was also using the open ground where the Rancor bull had practically torn the trees up from the roots. <"We should wait for the others."> He suggested but knew he was just a foundling. The confidence was not clearly projected in Hauron's voice and his helmeted head looked back towards the direction of the cave. At this point the two older warriors were out of sight and Hauron felt it was a bad idea to go running off assuming everyone would be following you. After all, it was that kind of thinking that had Arthos nearly kill himself via rancor a few moments ago. All the same, the young badger would keep the Vizsla in sight and support him even if that meant separating from his buir.

---​

Kotii on the other hand held an arcross his abdomen, feeling a bit of soreness where he had impacted against the tree. He was not going to be running anytime soon. Dust slowly settled around the entrance of the cave, both rancor parents were partially submerged in heavy rocks and completely knocked out.

Fenyang eventually seemed to manage to subdue his rancor pup. But like Arthos he was out of view of Kotii for the time being. The entrance to the cave had not been completely covered by the Alor's aimed detonator. It hadn't caused a complete cave in or compromised the mouth.

The internal communication link inside his helmet clicked on a moment before he heard Arthos's voice. The youth sounded panicked and had already made a questionable decision. If he felt like he was in danger he had Hauron to back him up. The Alor knew that the parent rancors were neutralized. If they needed help from Kotii further, he had taught Hauron well enough how to bait and switch predators. <"I've dealt with the mates, the cave is secure...for now.">

Kotii waited for a response but would continue into the mouth of the cave. Light shown after Kotii switched over to his lowlight and then infrared. Thuroughly searchign the area, he found mostly bones and the scraps one would expect in a rancor den. But if the number of young were any indication, there were two more oval objects, one slightly smaller than the other and each speckled differently. They each had signed of life and were of considerable size. Reaching into his pouch and double checking his personav, the Mandalorian would route a path back to the ship. If the others were separated from one another, than he would meet up with them back closer to civilization. Taking first one egg, he rigged some of his webbing to have it attached to his chest like a baby carrier. His arms would carry the other but with all the care of a parent, he cradled each of them delicately.


@Nefieslab end thread?