Ask Sullust WANTED: FIREWORM

[Wer Tracyn]

The serpent slithered through the lava flows, its body continuously and gently moving back and forth and propelling it forward down the volcano side. The hot magma crossed its crystalline scales gently as its glowing yellow eyes stared through the heat. Not that its eyes provided much use in the blinding moltan stuff. Down here in the lava flows, sight was ironically useless. It wasn't a problem of not enough light. There was just no way of piercing the magma to see anything, and thermal vision was just as useless.

Still, the monstrous beast slithered onwards through the magma. There were other senses than sight. For some creatures, there was sound. For others, there was smell. But for the Fireworm, there was the the movement of the magma flows itself. Like the currents of the ocean, the lava flows on Sullust had movements and vibrations. For most creatures and even sensors, such movements were all but impossible to detect. But for the beast...

Suddenly, the Fireworm propelled itself forward and upward rapidly. Something had fallen into the lava ahead somewhere and created ripples in the magma. Something large, and it was impeding the flow of molten rock ever so slightly still. Its belly gurgled in hunger. Perhaps what had fallen into the lava was a rock, but perhaps not. It had restrained itself to eating small vermin since it escaped that smuggler vessel and its pilot who wanted to keep it as a pet. While it was able to grow much more thanks to this unconstrained environment, food was a little more difficult to acquire. It would risk the surface to eat something delicious and nutritious.

The Fireworm peaked above the lava flows for a glimpse and then went back under. It had seen what it wanted. A transparent orb gently bobbing along the Lava River, filled with something moving inside. Perhaps this was a foolish errand, but hunger had driven it to desperation. It had to eat, and it had to eat now!

The Fireworm broke the surface in a fiery display of magnificance. The Sullustan couple inside the orb screamed in terror as the monster brought its triangular heard down, its jaws opening and gripping the transport vessel. The Worm and vessel disappeared under the lava again, out of sight. The couple continued to scream at the beast and the comm device. The beast clenched its jaw harder and harder. Cracks began to form in the orb, unable to withstand the pressure. Within moments, the bubble shattered and the couple were instantly swallowed.

Before the Worm could swim away, it felt its body seized by some unseen force. Frantically it began to shake and wriggle every which way, but to no avail. Being in danger, it opened its mouth again and began to inhale anything it could get into its gullets.

The transport ship flew backwards in the air as the tractor beam pulled the beast from the lava. The operator looked at the beast with shock.

"What the Kriff is that?" He asked.

The answer he received was a spew of magma from the worm's mouth. The vessel, and the Worm, crashed back into the lava again, disappearing beneath its magma surface.

---

3 weeks and several deaths later, @Xim Zhan and @Wer Tracyn would receive this message

ATTENTION
WANTED: FIREWORM DRAGON
CAUSING DESTRUCTION AND DEATH ON SULLUST
LAVARIDE ENTERPRISES OFFERRING BOUNTY ON WHOEVER CAPTURES OR KILLS WORM
HUNTERS MAY KEEP CARCASS IN EXCHANGE FOR LOWER CREDIT RETURN
LAVASKIFF WILL BE ISSUED ON REQUEST BUT DAMAGES COME OUT OF HUNTERS PAY
TIME SENSATIVE AS NEXT MONTH WILL BE BUSY SEASON.
INQUIRE AT LAVARIDE ENTERPRISES OFFICES ON SULLUST.

 

[Xim Zhan]

“Oye! Ner’vod” Xim hollered over his shoulder into the enclosed confines of the rear of the G1-A Manda Money. “Looks like we got us a job on Sullust.” Having just read the bounty that flashed across the display screen, the gold-clad Mandalorian smiled. Such a job looked less than thrilling, so obviously it was worth looking into. If one was not living life on the edge, then you probably were taking up too much room.

Xim gestured to the data readout on the dash. Sullust was not terribly far away, 3 parsecs if all went well. A worthy diversion to say the least; provided they survived… Anything biological with the word ‘dragon’ in it’s name was usually not a creature to trifle with lightly.

“We got any of those mining det packs left in the back there Wer? Or something that might put a credit-sized dent in the head of a mythical beast?” As he spoke, Xim was already maneuvering the small craft to the proper angle in preparation for a hyper jump.

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

Wer awoke with a start at the sound of Xim shouting from the front of the ship. Groggily he rubbed his eyes and stretched himself awake. He almost swore slightly as he did. He was having the best kind of dream. One filled with tunnels of treasure and a armored-woman just for him. And not the kind that could be found at any brothel either. No, she was one that had honor beneath those lovely assets…

Wer shook himself again. Xim was asking a question.

“What? Oh, uhhhh….” Wer stood and began rummeging around in the bowels of the ship “Ya we got a few detonators… Not the best kind honestly but… wait, what?”

Xim’s words suddenly caught up to the red-armored Mandalorian. Wer rushed to the cockpit “Did you say mythical beast? Like a Mythosaur mythical? Please don’t tell me I have to ride something that flies”

Keeping his eyes down to avoid seeing the emptiness of space, Wer finally read the message. Wer couldn’t help but whistle at the words that reflected on his visor. “I can’t say i’ve heard of those things, but Sullust is a Class-1 in pay outs. Merchants and families as far as each tunnel goes. If they are offering an official bounty, that means they are either desperate or… actually, i can’t think of anything else. They must be desperate.”

Wer made the mistake of looking up. The stars were moving with how Xim was positioning the ship. The vast emptiness of space was an imposing force all on its own. Each dot of light was billions and billions lightyears away, with nothing in between except the occasional asteroid belt or brown dwarf. It was an endless void that threatened to consume anyone unfortunate enough to be stranded with no means of propulsion.

Wer clutched his stomach and turned away just in time before the ship broke hyperspace. For the next few moments, Wer was doing his best to hold down his last meal. More than once he had to swallow what had begun to came up.

“Dank farrik” Wer cursed as he took a gulp of air. “Warn me next time you're about to do a jump”

Soon enough the ship broke space over the planet of Sullust. The obsidion and lava covered world appeared like a black gem of legend. The atmosphere itself was busy with space traffic. Traders and merchants, workers, shipwrights, transports and the like all crowded around the areas meant for parking to get inside the tunnels to the planet. However, even from above, it was apparent several places on the planet’s surface were being blocked off from casual traffic.

"If we need something bigger to pack a punch against that thing..." Wer stated, facing away from the cockpit to avoid looking out into open space again "I'm sure the traders down there have something we could buy"

 

[Xim Zhan]

Xim chuckled as Wer cursed somewhere behind him. “Hey, you clean up any chunks you blow back there.” he chortled as the ship leapt to hyperspace and began to level out, “and then it is into the airlock you go,” he whispered to himself with a smile.

A while later as the ship cleared hyperspace and began approaching the planet, Xim let out a low whistle. “Would you look at that ball of rock. No wonder they cut hair. There is nothing else to do!”

The comm array crackled to life as planetary security hailed them. “Hey Wer, come on up here. I need you to figure out this dragon thing, get us registered, . . .preferably online, and figure out where we need to go, while I handle docking protocols.”

“Yeah yeah, I heard you the first time.”

“No need to get short with me. I’m just here to do some shopping and boost the local economy.”

“Of course we’re armed!”

Its more of a religious thing dontchaknow.”

Before them the world of Sullust filled the viewscreen. Traffic darted to and fro, as would be expected for such a populace magma ball. As they came in lower, Xim pointed to a blank spot on the ship scanners, “Bet you anything thats where beasty is, ain’t nobody going there. Makes you wonder though doesn’t it? Why not just blast his shebs from low orbit?”

In due time, the Manda Money was docked in a bay planetside and Xim was strolling out alongside Wer to meet a delegation of rather nervous looking Sullustian businessmen. T-visored helmet in place, Xim’s gold-plated
Armor glinted beneath the glow-rods along the walls, his T-visored helmet and green cape complemented his holstered blaster and the protruding combat claws between his fingers so as to lend credence to the legend that was the myth of the Mandalorian. Their people were few and far between. For two of them to show up to claim a prize meant the situation seemed every bit as serious as the Sullustians feared.

And it showed, a mix of fear and relief on the worry-worn executives’ alien faces. Xim turned to look at Wer, “Double or nothing?”

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

Working the ship’s pads and consoles to get them registered was something that Wer could at least do well. As long as he didn’t look up, he could maintain an air of decency. The location of LavaRide Enterprises was almost too plentiful in fact. The company had offices all over the planet, and its central office was more difficult to locate than a flea in a wookie’s coat.

“I don’t know, maybe its a fragile ecosystem or something? I ain’t no scientist…”

As Wer walked alongside his fellow clan lieutenant, he couldn’t help but glance around at the structure of the walls and buildings nearby. He secretly wondered if he could acquire of a map of Sullust at some point, just for the point of having some study and reading material during long space treks when he was cooped up in the airlock to avoid another episode.

The delegates of Sullust businessmen were a colorful bunch. Their intricate, and rather wide ranging in colors, suits made Wer think of some of the politicians on Coruscant he had seen on the holofeed. The central Sullustan, a rather diminutive figure in a brown and white pinstripe suit, took a step in front of his colleagues.

“Greetings and salutations my friends…” He approached, hand out. Before Wer was aware of it, the Sullustan had already violently shaken his hand several times and was moving to Xim.

“I am Dev Dhul, one of the board members of LavaRide Enterprises. Normally we would have someone lower down meet with hunters, but under these circumstances, I believed it would be better if I met with you.”

“Uh, ya sure, thanks for the effort” Wer stammered, slightly off putted by the friendliness of the Sullustan. Despite his apparent friendly facade, the board member was clearly in distress as were the other businessmen.

“As you know, the bounty for our, shall we say, pest problem, is substantially high, though as common for you hunters, if you wish to take it home as some sort of trophy, you will be allowed in exchange for some of the bounty. After all, such a beast has never been spotted on Sullust before, and hopefully never will again…at least under these kinds of circumstances. We are willing to pay room and board for the next few days if you like. I know of a lovely place nearby that serves the best Nerf Flank steak you’ve ever tasted...”

“Ya sure Mr Dev Dev…” Wer interrupted, wanting to focus more on the task. “But uh, why haven’t you just blasted the thing from orbit? Much cheaper than hiring some specialists like us?”

“Well…we tried.” Dhul sheepishly replied. “We lured it out with one of our balls we let customers use on our rides, and when it showed itself several ships opened fire. But as quickly as it showed up, it quickly dived back into the lava and escaped with hardly a scratch. Darn thing is slippery. Several other locals tried to hunt it with their own methods but…well, there is a reason part of the planet is restricted at the moment. Tracking it has been a nightmare. Sensitive electronics just can’t function underneath the lava flow. The restricted airspace is our best guesses at its furthest points of travel. I’m sure in time it may find new hunting grounds. "

@Xim Zhan

 

[Xim Zhan]

Xim stepped forward. With a carefree wave of his clawed hand that made the Sullustians recoil in fright of the mono-edge blades, he made as if to shoo away the pleasantries. “We will not be needing any lodging or other accommodations. We would like to get to work right off. Dragons to slay and all, you understand. If you will direct us to the nearest market, we will gather what gear we may need and be on our way. My brother will take your skiff and any other expenses will be added to the bounty upon completion.”

“Of course,” he paused for dramatic effect. “I assume there will be other hunters in the area as well?”

Xim canted his head to await an answer. Once achieved, he set off toward the nearest grouping of merchant shops.

“First things first. Nerfy Jerky. Gotta have a snack for dragon hunting.” He mumbled as he pulled out a small data-counter to review their credit account. “Hmmmm. Not much left. Gonna need to start eating dragon meat if this bounty don’t come through….”

They might have had enough money between the two Mandos to afford a mining det-pack or a week’s worth of rations; but they sure wouldn’t be galavanting across the galaxy without some cold hard cash.

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

At the final question, Mr Dhul said nothing, but the other businessmen nodded and said that they had hired a few other people as well. After all, next month was when most of Sullust citizens were getting their vacations, and if one of their star rides was shut down because of a pest problem, that was millions of credits lost to the aether.

"Great, just great..." Wer griped slightly as the two walked away. "Dragons swimming in lava, other bounty hunters seeking out our prey...I bet 100 credits that we get attacked by hunters jealous of our shine"

Wey looked over the market area. It was busy to say the least. But someone here had to have a good deal.

"I bet..." Wer offered up "...that with news of the Dragon, someone is here from Rodia selling their old equipment. Might be a bit more costly, but I probably can barter my way with my natural charm. You go look for a mining det pack, I'll meet you back at the ship in about three hours."

With that, Wer turned to leave. Before he was out of sight, he called out "And get that spicy nerfy jerky! If you get something bland again I'll make sure to hurl all over the ship!"

OOC: Roll to see if Wer can find and purchase hunting supplies at decent deal

Spoiler: OOC

Result: 10: Major Fail

Wer didn't take too long to find someone. A spindly old Dug had set up shop in one of the corners of the market area. His table was a grab bag of hunting equipment and tools that would've made many bounty hunters drool over. Refined bowcasters with grappling hooks attached, several high grade explosives, shielding traps, the whole shebang. Even if Wer wasn't busy preparing to hunt down a mythical beast, he would've stopped to gaze over these wares for a degree of time.

"You like what you see?" The Dug asked.

"Oh ya, you bet i am, big time, big time..." Wer commented. He reached forward to pick up on of the grappling lines to inspect it further.

"Hey! Hands off merchandise!" the Dug quickly slapped away Wer' reaching hand. Under Wer's helmet, the Mandalorian glared at the merchant.

"No need to be rude ugly. How much for the grappling hook?"

The Dug sneered at the red armored man. "Normally 1000. But for you, double"

"What?!?" Wer exclaimed. The Dug crossed two arm legs in front of himself and nodded.

"You heard. Rude customers get rude deals, that's my policy."

"Aw c'mon man, that was just some casual inspection and then you got rude on my ass"

"You called me ugly. You ain't female enough to do that. Now get lost you stupid kriffa"

Wer's blood began to boil slightly. He reached over the counter and grabbed the Dug by his collar, lifting him slightly at the neck.

"Now listen here you mangy stupid piece of nerf flank, you are going to give me your best deal ever, or I swear I will..."

The Dug's eyes widened. Without a moment's hesitation, he screamed.

"Help! Help! I'm being mugged!"

Wer had a moment of realization. Not missing a beat, Wer dropped the Dug and took off in a random direction, knocking over several people in the process.

After some time, Wer was able to make it back to the ship, mostly unnoticed. However, local security had recieved holoimages of Wer's description. While the bounty for him wasn't terribly high, if Wer showed up again in civilized areas on Sullust, he would most likely be detained for a few days.

"Kriffing son-of-a..." Wer started to swear as he sat down in the ship, waiting

 

[Xim Zhan]

Xim nodded to Wer as he turned the opposite direction, “See you back at the ship.” And made his way down the crowded streets not entirely sure of where to even begin his search. Undoubtedly, most shops with anything worth anything would be cleared out long ago; all those would be vigilantes trying to make a name for themselves and all. Anything that was left would be exorbitantly prices. Nothing worthwhile a pair of down-on-their-luck Mandos could afford.

OOC: d100 role to acquire gear.
Result: 100

So when a steady trickle of miscreants seemed to be cautiously shuffling in and out of what otherwise would seem to be a nondescript shadowy alley, it caught the gold-plated Mandalorian’s attention.

Nonchalantly meandering in the general direction of the alley, Xim quietly slipped within once he drew near. Making his way down the twisting alley until he came to a seeming dead-end. There, a flurry of activity met him as an aged wagon with dozens of open doors and compartments shuddered and creaked. Shadowy figures dove for the inky black darkness while the owner of the wagon stood his ground, doing his best to feign innocent confusion. The odiferous grime-smeared Sullstuan approached the Mandalorian with questioning outstretched arms.

“Heeeey, can’t a vagabond live in peace?” He whined.

Xim gestured as if to dismiss the man. “I am not here on order of the government. I am looking for something.”

The Sullustian raised a questioning eyebrow. “Oh. And what is it you may be looking for Mandalorian? Hunting a wayward trinket are you?”

“Only if the trinket can slay a dragon.”

The Sullustian nearly toppled backward at the news as he reached for a hanging rope at the front of his wagon. “Of course you’ll be wanting something to protect you from the lava of the beast, but then again…nobody kills a Mando, do they? Perhaps you’re looking for something more explosive. Sadly, I have nothing of the sort. Such things are highly restricted.” The back panel of the wagon swung open revealing a number of loosely hanging suits, armorweave, enviro-suits, space-suits and more covering the wooden panel

Xim stepped forward and began to run his fingers over the merchandise. “You don’t you have anything that would stop a dragon in it’s tracks? Level the playing field as it were? Perhaps if I gave you my word that no one would know where I acquired such equipment, unless….” he paused, “unless, of course, whatever you sell me brings the terrible dragon down. Then thousands might come clattering for your wares.”

The Sullustian pondered this over for a moment. He seemed to hesitate, weighing the pros and cons of the thoughts that raced about his mind. He sighed before pulling another cord, a table ratcheted out from the base of the cart. On it lay an entirely different array of goods; goods no back alley merchant ought have. Explosives, concussion and grenade attachments, a thermal detonator, disruptors, and a small variety of heavy repeaters and other weapons of destruction. “Eh?” he gestured looking for aprroval.

Xim was taken aback, in part by the store of arms, a store that would carry a death sentence should it be found; but in part by what lay at the center. A pair of Mandalorian sabers crossed beneath a solitary Sen’tra nestled amongst the weapons, it’s rocket jutting upwards betwixt two heavy repeating rifles.

“Where did you get that?” Xim asked, his voice full of awe and dark with an aura of violence as he beheld the rare Mandalorian flight apparatus.

“What? The rocket pack? Kipped it off a feller when he wasn’t looking. Why you in . . . “

The Sullustian’s speech was cut short as he inhaled sharply trying to recoil as he ran into the cart. In an instant, Xim had plunged his hand to his belt and wrapped his fingers between his gold-plates vibro-claws, taking them free and grabbing the Sullustian across it’s chest with his free gauntleted hand, lushing the trader backwards as he held the claws to the weaselly back alley thief’s chin.

“That is not yours!” Xim snarled.

The Sullustian stammered, squirming and pleading. Slowly, Xim lessened his grip and lowered his claw. “What say I take those that belong to my people.” It was a statement more than a question. “And then maybe I do not tell my family you’ve been stealing from them?”

The merchant swallowed hard, the lump in his throat remaining. All he could do was nod furiously.

Xim let the man slide to the ground. He delivered a solitary swift to the being’s stomach causing him to double over, crumpled on the cobblestones. Spinning, Xim scooped up the Mandalorian sabers and jetpack along with a trio of replacement rockets for the Mandalorian rocket pack. Turning, he hurried back down the alley, pulling his heavy green armorweave cape around his shoulder and arm clutching the recovered Mandalorian gear.

With confident strides to allay any suspicion, Xim returned to port and the Manda Money.

“Oy! Brother, open the hatch and see what I have found!”

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

Wer perked up when he heard Xim's voice. Rushing over the the controls for the hatch, Wer pulled the lever as he began to talk about his 'incident'

"I'm coming, Ner'vod, I'm coming, cool your jets. Hey, just a head's up, when we collect the bounty and such, it might be better if you do it and I keep an eye on the ship. You know, people are going to be after us once we collect, and I may have had a run-in with the local yuppie-"

Wer stopped, as the hatch fully opened.

"Jatnese be te jatnese" Wer said with a whistle as he looked at the gear. "Where in the flying gundark's rear end did you find these? Actually, you know what, don't tell me, probably better if I don't know. Unless it was okay? Ah, don't tell me, we got one ori nerf-kissing dragon to kill."

Wer hurried Xim into the ship and closed the hatch behind him.

"From what I understand, the promised lava skiff should be near the exclusion area. One of their ships will be guarding it, so you drop me off there. Any idea how we want to find this thing?"

@Xim Zhan

 

[Xim Zhan]

Xim climbed aboard the Manda Money, pulling his helmet off and stowing it on the corner of the dash. Pulling the two heavy beskad blades out, he weighed them in his hands. “An Auretti decided they needed to be yaim’ol.” Looking from one blade to the other, Xim hefted one in the air. “If you’re hunting dragons, you better do it in style.” Xim looked around the ship. “You find anything useful?”

“The sen’tra is mine though. To the victor and all that, ya know?” Settling in the captain’s chair, Xim began to power up the ship. Within minutes they were taking off.

As to the question of a plan, that was simple enough. Xim smiled mischeviously, “Simple. Live bait.”

A short time later, the Manda Money touched down on the edge of an active lava flow, base camp for all sorts of hunters. Disembarking, Xim reaffixed his helmet, looking over his shoulder at the jetpack and missile that protruded from his back now. There were several bristling hunters moving about the camp, Master Rodian Huntsmen, Grizzled Spider-Hunters from Kessel, Big Game Hunters of all shapes and sizes. Closer to the shoreline, near a row of well worn and rundown lava skiffs a ramshackle shack with a loud generator powering a cooling unit stood guard.

Moving toward the check in, Xim looked around at all the sidelong glances. They seemed more than just because they were Mandalorian. “Is it just me, or do all these folks seem way to interested in us . . . er, you? What did you get into back in the city?”

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

At Xim’s question, Wer rolled his eyes and began to bullshit.

“Oh ya, I did, plenty of stuff but everyone on this planet are money grabbing fiends. Wouldn’t know a good hunter if they saw one. Nothing inside our budget range.”

At the comment to his own question, Wer smiled. “Ah, classic. Ya that’s how they hunt those big ol… wait… oh now wait a minute wait a minute…”

Wer held up a wagging finger at Xim, as if he could actually dissuade the elder mandalorian from the idea. “that’s why you told that classy yuck I was going to use the lava skiff isn’t it? Now theres no reason I have to be bait. Maybe we could bribe one of the other hunters… of course we don’t have much money and they would want a spoil of the kill. Well maybe we can drop the lava skiff into the lava and…. No that would be too much of a paycut. Ah fine. Kriff, I should’ve known. But at least its better than being up in the air puking my guts out. But if I get eaten, I’m holding you responsible, you hear? I better get a lovely eulogy.

As the two landed, Wer never took off his helmet. The air on Sullust’s surface was not as clean as the tunnels, and Wer had no intention of inhaling whatever cancer causing materials were on this world.

Wer felt the eyes of the bounty hunters, even before Xim mentioned them.

“Nothing! Just a bit of a disagreement with a shop owner, thats all. Here, let me handle this.”

Wer turned and faced the numerous individuals and without hesitation, fired a single shot of his blaster into the air to get everyone’s attention.

“Listen up you maggots!” Wer shouted as he held up his weapon for all to see. “That lovely noise you just heard was the sound of my baby and true love. The GALAAR-35 CARBINE: 35 Kg of durasteel and duraplast made by the Mandalorian’s finest at Concordian Crescent Technologies. With this baby I can clip a Gundark’s ear a mile away. Or rip off your head a few hundred meters away. No amount of armor aint gonna protect you from this, and my armor will protect me from you. Mess with me or my friend here, and you mess with this. You got that?!?”

At this final question, Wer shook his rifle suddenly to add emphasis.

Spoiler: OOC: Roll to see if bounty hunters are intimidated.

Result: 2
Since there are three other groups of hunters, Wer may be attacked up to three times by other hunters during the adventure. Higher results would’ve lowered this number, while a crit failure would’ve had them attack immediately.

Unfortunately, everyone saw Wer as what he was. A blabbering Mandalorian filled with more hot air than Sullust’s atmosphere. By drawing attention to himself, several of the hunters began to update their bounty pads, and noted how a red armored mandalorian was wanted.

Wer ignored them and turned to Xim.

“See, nothing to worry about. Let’s move” He stated as he moved towards one of the skiffs. The one in reserve for them had clearly seen better days. It was small, only about to carry three people at most, was equipped with repulsor technology to stay above the molten lava, as well as a weak enough shield to prevent some of the heat from overwhelming the driver. But beyond that, it was simply a boat for an ocean of lava.

“This shouldn’t be too hard to drive…” Wer jumped onto the skiff and began to punch the controls half-hazardly. “See? Purrs like a Lothalian cat”

 

[Xim Zhan]

Behind his T-visor, Xim rolled his eyes. “You know, just because one can, does not mean one should.”

Signing for the skiff, Xim handed the starter fob to Wer, “And as for that eulogy, maybe get one of those guys to follow you into the pits. With any luck, you dangle a piece of meat out there and the dragon shows herself. You just gotta be quicker and hide on some chunk of lavaflow.”

“Jate’kara.” Xim smiled beneath his helmet, the slight joy he took in hanging his hot-headed vod out as a snack for an unknown beasty. “Keep your sword handy and your wits about you. I’ll be watching from above.”

“If the damn scanners work,” he mumbled to himself.

Halfway back up the incline to their ship, Xim paused. “Oy Ner’vod!” To get Wer’s attention before he launched a prepackaged bag of Nerfy Jerky through the air toward him. “Fresh meat . . . for the road!”

Xim hiked the rest of the way toward the ship and climbed aboard. He had to swing him beskad to the side to sit, but given the situation, he’d rather be ready. For that same reason, he did not remove his buy’ce, helmet, either.

Powering up the ship, he took one look at the sensors and shook his head. The lava was going to make keeping tab of any lifeforms difficult at best. The good news was weapon systems all seemed to be online and functional and the shielding was humming like a lunar moth. In mere minutes, the fool air of the ship’s ventilation system began to creep in the Mandalorian’s suit.

Purring to life, the Manda Money lifted off and skirted off into the air.

OOC: d8 roll to determine # of rounds to hunt before finding said beasty
Result: 4

Below he could make out the lava field where the camp lay. He could also see that there were hunters already out and about, scattered like fishing boats across the surface of Dac. One thing was for sure, as few and far between as they were spread, there was still going to be competition when the wyrm finally showed itself.

Keying his comm, Xim spoke into his mic, directly to Wer. “Looks like the rabble ain’t getting no bites. Try to press deeper into the flow. Looks to be a canyon of sorts down the way. Might get a little tight for me up here, but you should manage it. Opens up on a wide plain dotted with rocky spires poking out.” And with that, Xim took off, low and slow, his eyes weeping back and forth. In a do or die, win at any cost hunt like this, he had to wonder why there were not more ships in the air.

“Too afraid of getting burned, I suppose.”

That or perhaps most hunters either came via transport or something bigger than a pinnacle . . .

@Narzen
Hunting Post 1a

 

[Wer Tracyn]

“Hukaat'kama ner vod!” Wer yelled back as he caught the piece of Nerfy Jerky. With his food in hand, Wer started up the lava skiff and began to ride it out over the glowing lava.

“Ret'urcye mhi, ye fair Ordo ladies…” Wer began to sing softly as the skiff hummed outwards. “Ret'urcye mhi, ye ladies so strong. We’ve received orders back to Manda'yaim, but don’t stress, oh don't stress, we won’t be gone long…”

Spoiler

OOC d4 roll to see if any hunters attack during this part. Result: 1-no one attacks…yet

Wer steered the lava skiff clear of the other hunters in the area, though he couldn’t help but note how they were trying to attract the great worm. Some were throwing barrels of heat resistant metal that bobbled gentle on the lava, others were literally dangling and cooking meat over the sides of their skiffs,

“Come on you old rancor, you know this song?” Wer radioed back to his eye in the sky while adjusting his course towards the specified canyon. Xim wasn’t lying when he said it could be a tight fit for the ship, but with that being the case, there would be little chance of other spaceships being in the area.

“So we’ll rant and we’ll roar, like true Rancor squadmates, we’ll rant and we’ll roar, like the heroes of old! All through the old space lanes to old mandalore,,and once again touch it with our own forged souls.”

As Wer began to weave the lava skiff through the canyon, avoiding dangerous outcroppings, he thought he saw something along the bend ahead. Was that a piece of metal from a wreck or perhaps another hunter in waiting?

Spoiler

OOC d20 Roll to see if found something.
Result 2

As Wer came closer to the bend, Wer couldn’t help but feel a slight hunger pang. Absentmindedly, and still humming his tune, Wer reached into the bag of meat and took out a piece and slipped it into his mouth.

“Oh! Oh he got the really spicy kind! Ach!” Wer began to cough and breathe deeply as his eyes welled up. “Drink, gotta wash it down, crap, where did I put the water! Uhhh, let's see…”

As Wer fumbled around, trying to multitask driving the skiff, finding wherever he had some liquid to quench the ever loving flame in his mouth as well as keeping his composure, Wer barely noticed in time that the bend came much faster than he expected. With a sudden push at the controls, Wer turned the skiff sideways, nearly falling off in the process. As the Skiff turned, it screeched loudly as its sides scratched an overhanging rock.

“That…might be coming out of my part of the paycheck…” Wer noted quietly, before radioing to Xim.

“Uh, everything is fine down here, no sign of the beastie yet, but everything fine. Good choice of meat by the way…”

 

[Xim Zhan]

“That is why I do not sing when flying. Hetikles.” He smiled as he reminded his brother of the Mandalorian list for life and the feeling of being alive brought on by spicy food. It was a subtle nod to Wer that Xim had, in fact, seen his little mishap with the skiff. He hoped that would not come back to haunt them later.

Looking ahead, Xim saw the narrow pass that Wer would be forces to navigate through up ahead. “You think you can handle being on your own for a bit? Not wreck in the straight? I’ve gotta go topside and circumvent the pass.” Xim did not wait for a response before angling the pinnacle skyward and accelerating over the looming cliffs that edged the flowing magna river. With any luck, their quarry would be on the other side. If not, he had an idea to try and draw the creature out. One that, if all went right, would not involve using Wer as live bait. Of course

Tapping his scanner, Xim sighed, grumbling under his breath. The radiation coming off the lava flows was throwing some heavy interference. It would take a bit of luck to lock onto a target if and when one presented itself. For now, however, Xim was content to relax for a moment as he scanned the skies around him and surface ahead. Clearing the jutting crags he saw in the distance several small landmasses that seemed to stand just above the surface of the boiling molten rock. Some looked to be big enough to set the Manda Money down on when it came time.

@Narzen
Hunting post 2a

 

[Wer Tracyn]

“Ya ya, everyone is the smart one” Wer mocked underneath his helmet while the comm was off. Casually he flipped it back on and radioed back “Like an old battle droid, roger roger”

The rest of the trip was thankfully uneventful and easy going. During the travel, Wer made careful note not to eat more of the Nerfy Jerky yet, since he didn’t need to be belching as much fire as the worm potentially could.

When Wer found the area that Xim had specified, he smiled under his helmet. The flow of lava he had followed was coming from a basin of lava, a practical lake of fire by all definition. A pooling mass of molten fury. Along its edges, Wer could spot several small volcano based creatures that had long adapted to Sullust’s hostile environment. Wer was also sure that further along, he would be able to follow another flow that would lead to one of the volcanoes of Sullust, But rather then continuing, Wer saw this place as a good place for potential combat with the beast. There were very few entrances and exists that he could tell, and provided Xim could find a decent landing spot or overlook with his ship, a good place to entrap the beast.

“Hey, Xim, take note of my current position, will you?” Wer radioed. “If we can get the beast here, we have a good place to entrap it. Hell, if we could lure it further into thye canyon, might even be able to get it to beach itself like some fattened Purrgil”

@Xim Zhan

 

[Xim Zhan]

OOC: d4 for malfunction due to radiation, etc.
1-no malfunction, 2-scanners, 3-weapons lock, 4-comms
RESULT: 4

Arcing skyward over the craggy magma-oozing peaks, Xim began to bring the G1-A Manda Money back down, slowly descending as he began to make a wide arc about the secluded sea of fire. If he was not so focused for any sign of the deadly beast, the entire expanse would have taken his breath away. “Hey Wer, does your suit have survival upgrades?” He commed, suddenly realizing that the sheer heat and ashy air would be less than pleasant on anyone who was not semi-properly equipped to withstand the extreme elements. Xim hoped that his flight suit’s deep space survival gear would help him here should he have to get up close and personal.

Xim scrunched his fac and cocked a questioning eyebrow. It was unusual for Wer to not have some quip in reply. Keying his comm again he spoke. “Ner’vod, what is your status?”

Nothing. No response, just the dull crackling buzz of an active but empty comm-line. Xim pulled the Manda Money into a sharp right turn, his eyes darting across the lava trying to find his clan brother. “Wer! Where you at?!” Xim cried loudly into his comm.”

The only response he received was a jolt of harsh static as Wer on the other end had tried to relay a plan. A plan Xim heard none of. Clearly the searing heat and radiation was interfering with the comm connection between Wer and the ship. Flying in fast and low, Xim’s eyes darted back and forth. The wash of his ship’s thrusters making slow rolling globule waves across the white-red-orange lava. “Where you at man?” He mumbled to himself, hoping the dragon had not ambushed Wer in the narrow straight.

Xim’s scanner finally dinged and the Mandalorian let out a sigh of relief. There on the leeward side of a jutting volcanic stone spit of stoney shore and not much more was Wer and his skiff. As his comrade came into view, Manda Money’s sensors chimed again. Xim’s body tensed, was this the beast come to hunt? And he could not warn Wer.

No, as he looked into the distance, another skiff materialized, scorched and smoking. Hunters returning from an encounter with the beast undoubtedly. Had they seen the Mandalorians? Had Wer seen them? Had they seen the beast? With his thumb, Xim flicked the safety cover off the weapons controls on the yoke of his craft, deactivating the safety as the heavy array of weapons came online, just in case.

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

“Hello? Xim, you hear me? Come in you old coot!” Wer shouted into his comm as he smacked his helmet a few times as if it was like an old engine having troubles starting up. All he received was static.

“Whoah!” Wer screamed slightly as the ship passed overhead, a little closer for comfort. He raised a fist at the ship. “You maniac, you’re too low!”

However, Wer’s anger was short lived, as he saw the missiles on the ship arm themselves as the safeties were turned off. Wer tilted his head slightly then looked in the direction where the ship was pointed. A skiff was approaching, and rapidly. The hunters on it looked worse for wear. The entire thing was smoldering and half-melted. Were they bringing the beast or was it some kind of ambush?

Wer hoisted his gun at the ready. If they were attackers, they would be taken down. If they were people fleeing the beast, then they found a good sanctuary: behind Mandalorian hunters.

“Come on, hurry up!” Wer shouted at the top of his lungs and waved the hunters towards himself and pointed towards the canyon where he came through.

Spoiler

OOC: D20 Roll: Since its unlikely these hunters are any of the three groups that heard Wer drew attention from, these hunters are either fleeing or will be helping. Highest degree of success means they help the two Mandalorians fight. Failure means they get caught by the beast.
Result: 3: Failure. I will let The Mad Hammer describe the hunter’s death, since his post involves the great beast arriving.

The hunters had seen and heard the red plated Mandalorian and started driving in his direction. They never had a chance in getting away however.

 

[Xim Zhan]

The skiff was trailing thin lines of oily smoke as it seemed to limp toward the Mandalorians. “Like I said, live bait,” Xim smiled darkly to himself. He did not hope death on these hunters; but if they could lure the monster their way, such was the way of the universe. Of they came from that direction, than logic would reason the beast was there as well. Still, he kept his weapons primed. In this particular race, there was no prize for second place, and their employers had not stipulated the terms of the hint beyond WANTED: DEAD, by any means necessary.

As the Manda Money hovered and bounced on the updratfs of heat, Xim scanned beyond the stranger’s skiff. If the dragon were to appear, undoubtedly, it would be there.

Then without warning a plume of magma erupted beneath the damaged skiff, slamming into the craft’s heat and magma shields and enveloping them completely. In an instant they collapsed and the bodies within were baked to a crisp and the skiff became nothing more than ateisted piece of metal as it bobbed on the waves of lava before sinking beneath the surface to become liquified, never to be seen again.

Xim’s eyes were wide. Whatever that was, was unexpected to say the least. Even the Manda Money would struggle to survive such an onslaught. Furiously, Xim began to work the scanners, his hands flying across the consoles as his eyes darted from his controls to the roiling magma field before them. Had that been the beast? If it had not, what in the nine hells was that? Magma geysers?

And then he saw it, just for a moment, a great scaly spine barely crested the surface of the fiery lake before vanishing once again. The Mandalorian did not even have time to think, to warn Wer, if he even could, Xim sent a single concussion missile streaking through the hot atmosphere toward the surface of the lava where the beast had surfaced.

The missile screamed through the air for a few seconds before it impacted the lava with such velocity that the crack of their collission could be heard outside; and then, in that moment, the battle began in earnest

OOC: d100 weapon deployment against beasty
RESULT: 56

An earsrum rupturing sonic boom erupted from the impact point sending great tidal blasts of lava in every direction. The shockwaves that accompanied it rippled outward like the portal of the damned as they crumbled stone and vaporized the molten rock. At such a range, the Manda Money even rocked with the retort of the weapon. Xim could not imagine what was happening to Wer; he only hoped, trusted, his fellow Mandalorian could brace and withstand the destructive force he had employed. If anything, Xim hoped to end the fight before it began. If such a beast could melt a skiff, he would rather not see what it could do in a prolonged battle.

His hope was in vain, however, as a great towering serpent, cloaked in heavy scales erupted with a shriek from the surface of the lake.

Staring eye level with the beast, every muscle in Xim’s body tensed. He could see where the missile had gouged out a large hunk of flesh from the armored wyrm. Even now, the heat of the lava that rolled down it’s body seemed to cauterize any bleeding there might have been.

Banking hard to the left, Xim accelerated. He was not about to get turned into a hunk of twisted beskar and scorched bone, at least not yet.

The beast roared definitely and the fight was on. The creature let loose a bout of lava toward the Manda Money.

OOC: d100 dodge
RESULT: 26

The blast barely missed the streaking starfighter. It’s heat rolled across the ship’s energy shields and sent the the sensor arrays of the Manda Money spinning for a moment as onboard systems scrambled to adjust. Xim yanked hard on the yoke, pulling the ship into a steep climb. He was suddenly flying all but blind, and he could not see if the beast behind him was in pursuit or not; but this dragon could not fly. Could it?

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

(music for scene)

Wer swore in surprise as the fire erupted and utterly consumed the unfortunate hunters. Though gruesome, Wer could not look away as flesh and bone were burned to utter ash like common kindling. It was so mesmerizing that Wer didn’t even see the serpent slither amongst the lava and brimstone.

Thankfully, his eye in the sky did, and had opened fire. The missile exploded and sent a wave of lava flowing in all directions.

“Oh Kriff!” Wer shouted as he slammed on the controls to get above the incoming lava wave.

Spoiler

OOC D20 roll for maneuvering the Lava Skiff: 18: Full Success

Reactions bred by instinct and training brought the skiff to life. Wer clutched onto the Skiff’s controls as he pulled up and over the wave of death-causing lava. Wer heard his people’s song in his ears as his heart began to pump blood and adrenaline.

The Lava skiff eventually settled to rest on even lava for a moment. Then the monster arose. A serpentine mountain of rage and fury. A predator through and through, bred to be the alpha and apex of its environment. A master of destruction and myth, second to none. All would fear its might and rage, and be consumed by its terrible maw.

Wer kicked the skiff into movement and raised his weapon and aimed at the massive thing’s head, even as it attacked his brother in the sky. He had to get its attention away from Xim, before it blasted again.

“Yo! Eel-Face! Let’s go!” Wer shouted as he fired a shot.

Spoiler

D100 Roll: 1: Critical fail.

The shot went up towards the beast’s head. It continued to fly further and further. It went wide and kept going. If continued onward past the monster’s head into the sky. Directly into one of the engines of the Manda Money.

Despite the burning temperatures of Sullust’s atmosphere, Wer’s blood froze colder than Hoth.

“Oops…” Wer breathed as his visor zoomed in to where the shot had struck.

Spoiler

OOC: D4 to see which hunters show up.
Result: 2- Rodians

A blaster shot in front of Wer drew his attention. The Mandalorian turned and saw that from where he had entered the place, the group of three Rodian Hunstman were hooting and hollering as they were opening fire at the lone warrior at the base of the beast. One had some sort of heavy rifle, another was arming some kind of harpoon cannon, and the third was driving.

“Oh come on, do we have to do this now?” Wer griped as he turned and aimed again. The Galaar-35 trigger clicked twice, as two more shots rang out. Perhaps if he could get the driver, he could mess up their shots from having any hope of hitting him.

Spoiler

D20 attack rolls against Rodians:
18 and 16

Unlike the shot against the beast, the shots sailed true and struck its target square in the chest. The first threw the Rodian backwards slightly, the second sent him flying off the skiff into the burning lava. The rodian’s transportation veered suddenly with its lack of pilot, sending a series of shots wide and inaccurate. Wer slammed on his own controls and began to try to move away from the beast before it noticed the two lava skiff’s below.

@Xim Zhan

 

[Xim Zhan]

The Manda Money climbed higher and higher. Xim was not able to look behind him to see what was happenings. Beneath the lava, he could not tell how massive the serpent truly was. He was not going to take any chances with their ship, their ticket off this planet.

And then, the ship shuddered and a red light flashed illuminating the cockpit as a klaxon whooped; an indication that they were taking fire. “What?!” Xim cried, shocked that this far up, the beast could still lash out and touch him, and with that level of pinpoint power so as to mimic a blaster cannon.

Xim went to activate the comms, maybe this far up they’d work after all and Xim could find out how the dragon was

OOC: flip. Heads-comms work. Tails-comms don’t work
RESULT: tails

Nope. Nothing but harsh static.

Whatever it was, Xim was keen on not letting that happen again.

OOC: survivability roll of @Wer Tracyn’s shot
RESULT: 59

Thankfully, the shields on the ship held. Hardly a blip in the radar; but a shock to be sure. Canting the fighter, Xim brought the Manda Money into a wide arc. Coming around, the massive beast coming into view first as it bobbed and weaved, her eyes focused on the b-lining ship as it streaked through the air. She never took her focus off Xim, intent on bringing down the buzzing bee that had stung it.

Xim gulped. “This does not bode well.” He muttered to himself. Concussion missiles were not exactly cheap. LAVARIDE ENTERPRISES would pay for each one used to bring down this beast.

As he arced wide, Xim suddenly slowed the craft and spun the controls. The ship expertly rotated midair, arcing sideways as the onboard dampeners struggled to keep up. Priming the laser cannons at the same time, Xim unleashed a torrent of 6 duel blasts from the medium blaster cannons aboard the Manda Money. As the ship streaked sideways across the sky it unleashed a rainfall of blasterfire.

OOC: 6 rolls for 6 moving double shots on the armored beasty with a medium cannon
RESULTS: 44, 88, 43, 38, 78, 33

Each and every shot found it’s mark raking the beast thick scaled body in cannon fire. The pounding of the guns into the dragon’s body caused it to recoil in pain; scorching her scales as she bellowed in anger.

Most of the shots sizzled painfully but harmlessly into the lava worm’s armored hide; but two of the shots rang even more true, burying themselves between her scales. Rearing up with an air-rending screech, the dragon’s body crashed backwards into the lava, into the island, and directly toward the lava skiff @Wer Tracyn was operating from.

Xim exhaled in relief. At least the medium cannons had some effect. Nothing like the concussion missile, but it was something he had worried about. Chancing a glance toward the surface, Xim saw Wer battling the bounty hunters.

@Narzen