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Dalair Solus

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Today was several kinds of bewildering so far as Dalair was concerned. Tund was a planet of strange sorcerers that kept to their own tiny corner of the galaxy for all of time. Not only were the newly-spurred Mando'ade interested in the planet, so were the Sith. So they'd decided to... Work together? Even after recent developments- or maybe because of them- that wasn't something the armorer would've expected.

Yet here he was, geared up in his
beskar'gam and polishing his carbine's barrel for probably the fifth time today. They'dset up a staging camp beneath and spread out from the Ca'tra Guroa and other ships. Dalair didn't really know what the Sith could possibly want with a citiless planet like Tund other than something sorcerous. As if the galaxy needed more of that kind of thing. He clicked his tongue and finally put the blaster down, resting it against his legs.

The native sorcerers had a tower or something of their own. Somewhere. No one knew where the damn thing was because, apparently, they hid it with sorcery. They couldn't have put down some kind of yellow brick road right to it or something, naturally, so they only had a vague grid section of the planet and a certain degree of stubbornness. Their mixed group would have to go find it if they wanted to get rid of them and take the planet for themselves. While it certainly didn't show on Dalair's face the idea of Sith and Mandalorians banding together for the sole purpose of wiping out a group of sorcerers was equally as amusing as frustrating. Not to mention a Solus and Vizla. Times were weird.

Well, so long as everyone was competent and they didn't devolve into a self-destructive blender of pirouettes and explosions. That was about as low as the bar could go, but here we are. Bringing a full planet under their influence would be extremely valuable and was, with any luck, worth the teeth-grit collaboration. He was also curious as to what sort of people these Sith ended up being, given he'd never actually met one in person before now. He was wary, to say the least.

The problem was they couldn't decide where to actually start. A map was spread out on a fold-out table, taken using ship scanners to get a rough topography of the huge area. Dalair brushed aside his curiosity and looked up toward the others.
"We need a basic heading at least," he said, vaguely gesturing toward the forest outside the clearing. His visor glanced toward the Sith involved. "Can magic track magic?" Dal really didn't know how the 'Force' worked outside of stories, combat training, and holonet reports.

Their only other idea so far had been checking if the local Toong could narrow things down.


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Gett'se Vizsla

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Gett'se Vizsla was... well to say annoyed was putting it lightly. Orders were to take the planet of Tund, which apparently was inhabited by an order of Sorcerers, as well as by the munchkin like all face and no torso Toong. The local sentients were inherently meek and docile, something that Gett'se could find little respect for in his heart. The world would quickly fall to the might of the Mand'alor's armies once they finished the job of slaughtering the local witches.

They were, by the luck of Hod Ha'ran, accompanied by a pair of sorcerers of their own. Sith red blades whom Gett'se didn't trust wasn't sure which side of the trickster gods coin they would fall on, ill or good luck. Whatever their interest with the planet and the local sorcerers, Gett'se was not happy to have them along, a memory flashing through his mind from his early childhood whenever he glanced at the pair from beneath the concealing visor of his buyce.

Gett'se was clad in his beskar'gam, blue helmed with a faded and weathered chestpiece. An assortment of weapons covered his person, from the peacemaker blaster at his hip, the beskad over his left shoulder, and the vibrodagger strapped sheathed to his left chest. All reliable weapons that had carried him through many hunts and battles, that he had once and would continue to trust his life to. The only new pieces this day were the lightsaber that hung from his left belt and the Jedi gloves, both taken as trophies on Lothal.

He eyed the map that lay on the table, sitting near it as he reassembled his rifle, having checked the newly replaced trigger mechanism. The rifle was reliable like all his other weapons, but on Lothal it had acted up and he was beginning to grow skeptical of it. The last thing he needed was for it to double fire again or otherwise malfunction in the middle of a pitched firefight.

Standing to join the others around the map, he eyed it and the Solus warrior that accompanied them in equal measures. Shale had said he could trust Nox, and insisted that the old clan grudges that plagued their people weren't worth the space in between his helmet. Still he couldn't help but be weary of the red and black clad warrior, the colors burned into his mind as ones to distrust. Whether they were worn by Mandalorian or Sith.

"Mhi narir va ne'waadas kadir." He commented off hand to the Solus, taking a glance at the Sith sorcerers through his visor with his eyes, without moving his head from looking at the map. He wondered if either of them spoke Mando'a but found it unlikely. "There's a village here." He planted a finger on the spot where he had seen the almost cartoonish looking village of the local Toong, nestled in a valley near a river. He had done a flyover of the region in his Y-wing which was now parked near the Solus and other Mandalorian and Sith ships.

"Thats our best start, these Sorcerers will need supplies and they don't seem to be the traveling type, I'd wager that's where they get their food." He spoke in basic of course, for the benefit of their Sith allies. Glancing at them with his full helmet, he posed the question. "You sorcerers... do eat, right?" He supposed he knew little about them other than their light blades and magic powers. That was enough to know that he would prefer any sorcerers dead though if it were his choice.

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Aadya Rasheer

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The Sith diet primarily consists of unborn children and the still beating hearts of our enemies, Aadya responded to Gett'se, her tone dead-pan and her expression varying shades of "this dude can't be serious."

Looking at where he pointed on the map, Aadya nodded her head a bit in agreement. Seems like our best bet, I'd agree. It's likely the Sorcerers stay hole up in their tower, but they're masters of illusion so it wouldn't surprise me if they were able to conceal themselves from ship scanners.

Running her finger along the map, past the Toong village and towards a large dead-zone that the scanners only picked up as trees, Aadya drew a circle around it and tapped the map. Don't see any other pockets like this in the topography. Villagers might be able to confirm my suspicion or at the very least, point us in the right direction.

Aayda had never worked with Mandalorians before, but already she got the impression that they at least knew what they were doing. At least more-so than the average acolyte she'd encountered, most of them probably couldn't even read a map let alone formulate a coherent plan of action.

She knew that the warriors likely held both her and Ashla with great wariness if not thinly concealed contempt, though she couldn't really blame them. Aadya was aware of the history the Mandalorian people held with the Sith and found it somewhat surprising they'd even agreed to work together to begin with.

Might as well get going, village isn't too far. She said with a shrug.

If no one continued to protest, Aadya would head for the treeline and into the jungle


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Ashla Ti

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Ashla was trying to make sense of what Gett'se had said to Dalair, something about not needing magic? Or not feeding magic, her mando'a was still a little iffy, so could have been either, or maybe something else altogether. With Mandalorians you could never know.

Thinking on such vital matters kept her from answering the question, but thankfully Aadya stepped up, and Ashla followed suit by not reacting to her reply, let them make of that what they would. Letting Aadya study the man with Gett'se, she instead kept her attention on their surroundings, trying to sense anything through the Force. After all, to a degree at least, magic could track magic. But she couldn't sense anything, it seemed that the intel that had made them use as their LZ had been sound.

"The village then," she finally spoke up, and began making after Aadya, "no point in dallying."

Moving through the jungle, she kept most of her focus on filtering out the surroundings noise. Unlike most beings with simple ears, her montrals allowed her to hear things around her, a sort of echolocation that sometimes came in handy. But in situations like this, in the middle of a forest, there could sometimes be a little too much information, so much so that it became a distraction. But while she was ignoring most of what she heard, something caught her attention, something big heading their way, and her head snapped to the side as the rustle started getting close enough for even the others to hear. Her hand went to her side, about to reach for her lightsaber when a large dear like creature suddenly burst out from behind some foliage and dashed right past them, ignoring them as it slipped out of sight on the other side just as a bear showed up, similarly ignoring them and rushing straight for its prey.

"Well," she said into the silence once the beasts were gone, "at least we know we can hunt in a pinch. They might not be quite as good as infant hearts, but then what does?"

With that she continued walking, now listening a little more carefully, in case more surprise bears lay waiting.

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Dalair Solus

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It was with a certain degree of wry humour that Dalair took in the back and forth between groups that he could barely imagine all being together. Well, maybe not the Vizla, considering they'd done it before. Still though.

His helm turned to glance toward Gett'se and replied in Mando'a.
"If it's going to be here, may as well be useful." As much as he didn't trust the stuff Dalair leaned toward pragmatism over zealotry. Which was why he didn't expect the question about eating nor the answer so dryly spoken it could've been the root cause of Tatooine becoming a desert planet.

He had to keep himself from chuckling and limited it to a grin beneath the helmet. It quickly faded back as the group returned to the task at hand, quickly deciding the village of all-face-no-body people was the way to go.
"Agreed," he spoke simply in response to Aadya's suggestion of a possible location, standing up from his seat and slipping his carbine into a relaxed grip.

Dalair's suspicion was subtle, mostly keeping an eye on the two sorcerers and his ears to the trees. His helm tilted toward the trees a little before the animals broke through, rifle raising as Ashla went for her weapon. The visor followed one as it chased the other like a choppily animated Saturday morning cartoon rendered in real life. And with fewer doors. Dal's visor moved back again to settle on Ashla.
"I thought they were unborn?" he questioned in the same smoothly sonorous tone as most everything else, effortlessly deadpan.

Apparently, the Sith had jokes. Didn't mean he was going to watch them any less, though. His carbine settled back to neutral as they continued their journey. Somewhere in the distance, there was the sound of a bear mauling a deer, and, very excitingly, they passed a frog on a bump on a log on the way toward the village. Other than that, for all the excitement the four of them may as well have been taking a pleasant stroll through the park.

Right up until a deer burst again through the foliage to the other side of the path, shortly after followed by the same kind of bear as the last one. The exact same kind, in fact. Dalair stared at the place the two animals had come from.

"Are we on a holomovie set, or..?"

Somewhere up ahead, a frog on a bump on a log croaked mournfully.


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Gett'se Vizsla

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Gett'se smirked under his helmet as the Sith deadpanned a mock response. Two could play at that game, and Gett'se had a perfect Mandalorian deadpan. "Its Mandalorians who eat the hearts of our enemies. We stab a straw in their chest and drink them." He said, completely serious as he tapped a small button on the underside of his helmet and a short metal straw flicked down from inside with a click. "You can keep your unborn children." He finished with a serious tone as he reached up and pushed the straw back up with a click.

The trek through the jungle began with a startle and Gett'se raised his weapon with everyone else as the deer and the bear launched themselves across the path. He narrowed his eyes, and they scanned the ground as he walked over the animals path. The itch of paranoia dug a whole in his brain, and he was extra observant from then on, his eyes taking in everything. The trees, the plants and foliage. The tracks of his companions, the heavy bootprints of the Solus and the light steps of the Sith. A frogs croak.

His eyes slid off the details as a deer and a bear crashed across the path in front of them, half raising his rifle, he stopped. He shook his head as Dalir made his comment. "What's a holomovie?" He deadpanned before glancing at the Sith to see their reaction, head immobile as he looked at the details of the ground. The details, they were the same. He took a few more steps, looking ahead. "The path, its the same as before." He took another step, and a frog croaked.

"We are on a set." Gett'se warned his comrades, raising his rifle as he turned his attention to the surrounding jungle. He wasn't sure if they were going in a loop, or if the path was one that the damned sorcerers were magicking up, but he didn't trust any of it. "None of this is real." He continued to walk as his rifle swept the forest until it came to a clearing in the forest. A path appeared in front of the group, yellow cobblestones lining the forest floor.

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Ashla Ti

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Ashla smiled absentmindedly at the banter between the two sides, because seeing Gett'se pull out the straw to drink with his helmet on had just made her realize something. She had never actually seen her master eat or drink anything, not outside of that ill-fated ball on Serenno all those years ago. What did he do when he got thirsty or felt the itch for a bight while in his armor? Or for that matter, what if he felt an itch somewhere that was hidden under layers of cloth and armor? Intriguing questions as they were, she couldn't answer them right now, or likely ever, so she pushed the thoughts away and brought her attention back to the mission at hand.

Gett'se's warning about them being on a set, besides giving her a brief flashback of Zakuul, made her pause. "You'd think with them being such mighty illusionists they'd just cook up any story they want on the spot instead of needing movies." She didn't have the opportunity to say more as just a little ways down the yellow path she spotted a glint that caught her eyes. As she bent to take a look a sudden loud snap made her jump back, instinctively dropping into a defensive stance, pulling her blade out in front of her. But it was just a holo-cam, hidden inside a sign post, a somewhat old looking model that had probably gotten triggered by her approaching it. But just as she let her guard down, another snap rang out and she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder as she barely managed to get out of the way in time. The camera had been bait, and after she had let her guard down the real trap had been triggered, probably a blaster hidden behind the camera lens. She could see it now, a hole in the center of the lens, smoke trailing from it.

"That's clever." She said mostly to herself, before raising her voice to warn the others, just in case they had somehow missed her getting shot. "What's that thing? Looks like a trap, smells like a trap, hurts like a trap? We might be walking into one of those."

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Aadya Rasheer

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Good thing you weren't looking directly into it or we'd have to have left your one-eyed body in the middle of the jungle, Ashla. Aadya said, placing her lightsaber back onto her belt.

When the first loud noise had broken the other wise silent jungle, Aadya had instinctively reached for her weapon though she didn't ignite the blade. Her senses still on alert, Aadya approached the camera from the side and gave it a closer look.

Looks like standard surveillance equipment, She said before ripping the camera from its housing and tossing it onto the ground. Pretty old, but old stuff still works well enough. Looking over at the two Mandalorians, Aadya chuckled a bit. If you needed more proof that these Sorcerers are nothing more than charlatans, these camera would be it. If they were what they claim to be, they wouldn't need trash tech like this.

Looking around, Aadya reached out with the force, letting her senses touch everything around them. What she was looking for she wasn't quite sure, but the Champion would know when she found it. After a few moments, Aadya's attention was pulled off the trail they had been walking and into the more dense undergrowth. Hidden beneath loose underbrush was a generator of some sort, its engine straining from constant use but otherwise humming along.

Activating her saber, Aadya cut the generator into two clean pieces. After a second or two, the area around them would shimmer and fade away, revealing the village they were seeking through a break in the trees.

An interesting deterrent. I wonder how many have wandered in circles behind the fake illusion until they died from exposure.

Looking towards the village, Aadya shrugged. The Sorcerers will know we have arrived. It's likely they have eyes in many places. Something to keep in mind.

Heading for the village, Aadya couldn't help but hope they weren't walking into a clear and obvious death trap. It would be a shame if everyone died.


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Dalair Solus

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Dalair scanned around, trying to catch any obvious discrepancies in their surroundings. Some things did look a little odd to his sharp eyes but that didn't actually tell him something helpful. It could be anything, really. His attention snapped back forward the same moment a camera snapped, staring at the really, really old device.

Wow, it was old. It was also a blaster that struck Ashla in the shoulder, getting Dal to raise his carbine toward it. Judging from the sheer amount of smoke and sparking, it was a one-off trap. Aadya appeared to agree with that since she walked right up and tossed what was left of it.

"Charlatans or not, the trap worked," Dal pointed out, helmet tilting slightly toward the Togruta now sporting a smoking shoulder-hole. There wasn't any judgment in the statement, just fact. Best to be careful over foolhardy with tricky prey.

After the generator was cut, a very high-quality holo-overlay completely vanished. That wasn't nearly as old as the holocam and raised some questions that Dal didn't bother asking out loud. Only a few places in the galaxy had projectors like that. How'd they get to this possibly-magical backwater?

Dalair sped up a little, long strides taking him up closer to the front where Aadya was walking toward the village.


"How'd you know where to look?" A hint of curiosity crept into the man's voice, although he still kept an eye on the Sith woman as well as what could fairly be described as "sword distance" away. The potential of learning some new bit of information was calling him, though, all the same.

As for Ashla's injury, Dal assumed, like any warrior, she'd slap a bacta patch on it. Sith did have those, right? Medpacks?


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