[TEF MISSION] Bushwhack

[Xan]

It had always been a philosophy of the Assassins of Judicium that an idle body made for an idle mind, and that an idle mind made a breeding pit for ill circumstances. It was taught that one should always be busy in some fashion, whether that was actively training oneself or perhaps simply putting the mind to use on some small inner project. It did not matter the size of the thought or activity, as long as something was occurring that kept the mind and body from being overly inactive for too long. With this philosophy in mind, Xanthus had decided that he should keep himself rather busy on Tatooine, though there was also the rampant boredom that might set in if he allowed himself to laze about. Only a short time after returning from his previous task, before he could even set about anything else worth mentioning, the man known as Alexander Renelo volunteered for another task. Unlike the first, this mission had a one-hundred percent chance of an enemy encounter, for the task was the interception of a group of Tusken Raiders. They had something that the Expedition wanted: bantha steaks, as well as eliminated Tuskens.

Neither would be particularly difficult to provide, and the exercise would be entertaining to Xanthus; it would remind him of a time approximately fifteen years ago, a time during his training when he had come to Tatooine for an entirely different purpose than what had brought him here only a short time ago. 'Fifteen years ago. Damn. Where has the time gone? I'm already thirty years old.' The Assassin sighed to himself and placed a hand onto his head. Well, the hand touched his helm anyway. As per the usual, 'Alexander Renelo' was wearing a full armor set that covered every inch of his flesh from head to toe. The advanced armor set that he never seemed to remove was what had gotten him dubbed 'Desert Armor,' a name that was becoming more known than Alexander Renelo, though Xanthus did not particularly mind. After all, it would be much easier to maintain a decent cover with a moniker floating about than even his alias. Today had seen a special addition to the armor, in 'honor' of the fact that Xanthus knew that he was going into danger. An armorweave cloak was draped over the armor itself, also hiding the lightsabers were attached to the armor's shoulder areas and waist.

Wearing the hood of his armorweave cloak up out of habit moreso than out of any practical purpose, 'Alexander' beside a Rill Tank on the outskirts of Mos Esther. The assignment was simple: the vehicles (which included the Tank and two Half-tracks) would carry Xanthus and whoever else showed up towards the place where the Raiders were going to be within a certain amount of time. Once there, Xanthus and the team would eliminate the Raiders and steal their food. Easy enough. All that there was left to do was to wait for whoever was about to show up, hop onto the Tank for a ride and then move out into the desert sands. For a moment, Xanthus wondered which of the 'lucky' men had volunteered or been somehow chosen to come along for this task.

 

[The Derp of Hooves]

Yuunda was not in a particularly good mood as he headed off towards the meeting point in Mos Esther. While he had managed to move most of his family, his daughter had been taken from him and he felt a failure as a father and husband for letting such a thing happen. His original reason for joining the TEF was simple enough, to hide from the persistent sith mongrels that had hounded him ever since he had abandoned the empire. Now however, he had a new mission in mind, a new goal. To find his daughter and make sure she was safe. If there was one thing he had learned in all of his years it was that family was important and he would stop at nothing to protect his family. This was how he found himself with the Tatooine Expedition Force. He needed to make new contacts and new allies. While his daughter was stolen from him, he knew she would be ok. The training he had put her through since birth would make sure of it.

He walked through the deserted streets of Mos Esther, making sure his eye patch and all his gears were in working order, wondering who he’d be working with on this mission. He had taken this mission for a simple reason really, he had more reason than most to despise the Tusken Raiders. As he double checked his twin blasters and lightsabers, he calmed himself down with a few deep breaths. He needed a clear head for this. While it was a simple routine to take out a few dozen raiders, they shouldn’t be underestimated. He knew firsthand what they were capable of and if they were anywhere near Mos Esther, he would eliminate them without prejudice. Sure the TEF needed the bantha for food, but for Yuunda, that would be second priority.

The man waiting for him besides the Rill Tank, wore an armor weave cloak with the hood up and seemed vaguely familiar to him. Something about his presence, the way he stood and dressed reminded him of a time, quite a few years ago, when he dueled against a young sith in a similar getup. He pushed the thought aside however as he hadn’t met with the man for what was it now? Ten? Fifteen years? Whatever it had been it was too long for him to care much about it.

Walking up to the man he held out a hand and introduced himself, “The name’s Yuunda, you ready to go raider hunting?”

 

[Xan]

For a moment, there was complete and utter silence and the armored figure did not move. Then the moment passed as he lifted his hand slowly to grasp Yuunda's and give it a firm shake. On the outside, the man might have seemed slightly off from the exchange, but inside of the armor Xanthus was staring at Yuunda as though the other man had sprouted from the ground. This was unexpected, for lack of a better word. Honestly he should not have been surprised, considering the fact that Yuunda once lived on Tatooine and there was nothing to suggest that he had ever stopped doing so. It was still somewhat surprising however that he was apart of the Tatooine Expeditionary Force, and had coincidentally volunteered for this specific mission. The Force had a sense of humor indeed, to bring an old 'enemy back from the past at this point of Xanthus's life. It was fortunate for all involved that the former Sith (referring to Xanthus in this case) was under the effects of a constant Buried Presence ability, having ugrown so comfortably in the feeling of that state that he automatically assumed it during the day. Had Yuunda been able to sense his presence, the man might not have been quite so friendly. "Alexander. Ready when you are. I'm hoppin' on the tank for this ride. I kind of like riding on the tread covers. Hop on." With that, Xanthus climbed onto the tank behind him, intent on sitting outside of it as it maneuvered through the sands. When he had gotten somewhat comfortable, he looked at Yuunda again. "Huh, Yuunda was it? I heard that you had a rather largish pet. Is it coming along?" The Assassin recalled the large dragon that Yuunda called his animal companion, though the named escaped him at the moment. Chen? Something along that line. He had to admit that it would be entertaining to a dragon eating a couple of raiders, regardless of how strange that thought was.

 

[The Derp of Hooves]

The tension between the two as they shook hands was almost palpable, it didn't take a force user to sense it and it wasn't lost on Yuunda. That settled it, he was now positive he had met this person before, however, now was not the time for confrontations though he would ask about it later. He got on the tank with Alexander and they road into the sands, almost always a dangerous idea. Yuunda wasn't too worried however, he had been on high alert as soon as they were out of Mos Esther and would be able to sense if anything was afoot. However, he was brought out of his watch when Alex put forth his question. He didn't realize that his pet had become common knowledge now, not having previously discussed it with anyone before. However, back in Anchorhead it was known that he had a Krayt for a pet so he figured the man must've heard it second hand.

Shrugging, he said "Chen's not coming this time 'round. He was out hunting before I noticed this mission, a Krayt's gotta eat right?" then he fell back into silence as they neared their destination.

 

[Xan]

The 'disguised' Assassin shrugged and nodded affirmation to the thought that even massive reptilian engines of destruction required sustenance, and that was the end of the conversation for the moment. The desert sands passed by rather slowly, but with just enough speed that the destination was in sight just as Xanthus was beginning to grow somewhat bored. The tank and half-tracks drove into a valley in between two large rocky cliffs. The valley had already been checked by scouts and was confirmed to be lifeless in every sense of the word, which had allowed for this plan to even have a chance of lifting off of the ground. Desert Rats who had been watching this area for some time confirmed that this was a valley used by the Raiders as a path to lead their bantha along, and that if there was a perfect ambush point this was it. There were caverns along the rock face that were large enough for the vehicles to maneuver into and out of, the former of which they began to do now. The two smaller vehicles drove into caverns closer to the entrance of the valley and shut down to avoid detection, whereas the tank drove closer to the end. The plan was simple and yet hopefully effective, being such that the Expedition would wait until the Raiders were almost to the center of the valley before launching the ambush. The tank would be the first to reveal itself, as it had the capability to absorb the relatively light punishment that the Raiders could dish out. The tank would avoid firing as long as the Raiders were nearby to the Bantha however, though it would fire a few warning shots with the intent of scaring them into scattering among the rocks in the valley for cover. At that point, the members of the Expedition not inside of vehicles would begin to pick off singular Raiders with the aid of the tank. Any Raiders that attempted to escape the way that the came would find their way blocked by the two half-tracks and would be gunned down. At any rate, this was the way that Xanthus had explained the plan to Yuunda and the drivers of the vehicles when they had entered the valley, none of whom had objected thus far. "So, now that we're here, does anyone have anything that they'd like to add or subtract from the idea?"