Ask Sullust WANTED: FIREWORM

[Wer Tracyn]

Wer had chosen the right time to move away from the beast. The cannon fire from Xim that erupted on the beast’s hide sent it crashing backwards and downwards. The monstrous form was enough to cause ripples in the lava already. It crashing down like a falling mountain would create another wave.

“Come on, come on, go go go gogogogog...!” Wer shouted at the skiff as he pushed it as fast as he could towards the Rodian bounty hunters. Perhaps, if he could do this right, he could both get over the wave and deal with the hunters at the same time. It would be tricky, but maybe…just maybe…

Spoiler

D100 roll to fly the skiff over the hunters, pushing them down and riding the lava over wave.
Result: 59: success

Wer’s adrenaline rushing through his body made him mostly immune to the rodian’s below him getting shoved downwards into the lava. The excitement of the entire situation, as well as the fact that the rodians shot at him first, made him happy to know they wouldn’t bother him again.

“YAAA BABY!” Wer cheered as he cleared the lava wave “I might be a natural at this! What do you think, Xim?”

Nothing but static greeted Wer’s comm.

“Ah, he’s probably jealous of my natural talents.”

OOC: D4 for next bounty hunters
Result 4-Trandoshan Big Game hunters

This time, Wer heard the sound of hooting and hollering. Wer turned his head and saw the Trandoshans riding closer and closer. Wer raised a hand and tried to wave them away.

“You guys crazy? The beast is around here! Don’t, you’re coming in too fa-”

Wer didn’t finish, for the Trandoshans rammed their own skiff into Wer’s. One of the hunters quickly hooked the two skiffs together as another jumped off and landed next to Wer. With large clawed fists, the Trandosian hunter entered a wrestling match with the unprepared mandalorian.

“Oh you want to play rough, do ya?” Wer growled as he took a step back on the precarious skiff. The Trandosian roared and charged.

"Let's go!" Wer roared back

Spoiler

D20: Hand-to-hand fighting with Trandoshan.
Result: 15

Unfortunately for the big game hunter, Wer had cut his teeth fighting pirates in his youth. The day he lost his parents, he killed an entire squad of them. And since that day, Wer had been honing his fighting skills. If there was anyone who could out-punch a two legged lizard, it was Wer.

The Trandosian brought out a vibroknife and swung with vicious intent. Wer stepped back just out of the way and threw a well aimed punch at the overgrown lizard’s neck, sending him staggering backwards. Without hesitating, Wer drew his blade and activated it. The teeth came to life, hungry for destruction and Wer was happy to oblige it. A swing with it met the trandosian’s exposed side and began to eat through him like a Gundark's feeding frenzy, splattering blood everywhere.

The Trandosian screamed as he fell off the side. The other three Trandoshans looked shocked but not shocked enough. One of them opened fire. Wer raised an arm and activated the gauntlet buckler just in time to deflect the shot.

“I told you idiots, you mess with me, you mess with all of me!” Wer shouted as he charged forward.

That was when the beast erupted from the lava once again.

Spoiler

OOC: Dice result to recover from the Worm’s attack
Result: 4

The Beast came up suddenly and without warning. Its horns clipped the back end of Wer’s skiff with its horns. Wer was thrown forward directly into another Trandoshan hunter. His weapon fell lifeless to the ground as both he and the hunter rolled over each other. The two tumbled off the Trandoshan's lava skiff. Wer’s outreached hand barely grabbed onto the skiff’s edge. Below him, the Trandoshan grabbed his leg and held on for dear life, inches away from burning magma..

“Gah! You gotta be kriffing kidding me!” Wer complained as both his hands held on for dear life. Thankfully, the other hunters weren’t as concerned about him and their partner as the beast that had risen and dove back into the lava before them.

@Xim Zhan

 

[Xim Zhan]

But what happened next made Xim inhale sharply. As he brought his ship around for another pass, being careful to never take his eyes from the battlefield evolving below, he watched as the beast erupted from the lavafield, knocking Wer and his attacker overboard and dangling out of sight, before the beast crashed into the lava once again, sending sprays of molten rock into the air. With an angry cry that reverberated as far as within the cockpit of the Manda Money, the great wyrm sunk back beneath the slowly sloshing magma.

Xim worried about Wer. He had no idea if his brother’s armor was lava-proof, most were not. Even if it were, how long could it withstand the raging inferno before baking it’s wearer alive?

The pilot did not even hesitate. There was little of a rescue mission that he could mount from within the ship; but, when the only tool one has is a hammer . . . or in this case, a bag of hammers; well, you started hammering. When it came to his own, Xim would use the biggest hammer he could muster. Price be damned. This dragon, these hunters, they would not vest the Mandalorians!

Coming around, Xim set loose a duo of missiles? One streaking out after the other. With the beast unseen, Xim targeted the only thing he could, the skiff of Trandoshan hunters.

And as the missiles flee freely, whistling through the hot air, the great beast showed itself again, her massive maw rising from the molten surface, a charging predator preparing to devour whatever was before it.

OOC: 2x d100 for each concussion missile
Results: 37 & 88

The first missiles screamed true, striking the big game hunters’ skiff smack in the middle of the deck. The core of the warhead erupted, expanding outward in a deafening sonic boom of fire, pressure, and displaced lava, skiff and goon. The hunters aboard were vaporized in an instant and their skiff torn assunder, the halves of what remained being blasted opposite directions. And none of this seemed to dissuade the beast as she continued her charge, intent on her prey;

Her prey, as it turned out, was Wer and his clinging combatant. Xim saw them now and he let loose a string of Mando’a explicatives as he watched the skiff containing Wer and his foe go spinning off out of control. His efforts to save his brother had made things worse, potentially catastrophically so.

And then the second missile struck, burying itself where the skiff had stood, into the molten lake and just before the charging open maw of the beast. It erupted with all the fury that had come to be expected of such a weapon. A third sonic boom echoed through the lava valley sending loose stones cascading into the lake and unleashing absolute destructive chaos about it’s area of impact. The destructive power of the second missile amplified that of the first, carving a temporary crater in the lake of lava

The eruption tore into the monster’s open jaws, shattering fangs and stopping the beast dead in her tracks as she began to thrash about violently.l plummeting downward into the pit with a screech before the walls of lava came crashing back down atop her.

Xim pulled the Manda Money upward to avoid the great spray of shrapnel and molten rock, hoping against hope that somehow Wer would be able to survive such a hellish delivery of destruction.

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

Wer held nothing against people who screamed in times of conflict. Battles were stressful situations, and the chaos could make even the most battle-hardened merc scream in terror as a way to release that terrible mind-breaking stress.

However, Wer hated it when he did it. As much of a man as he posed and poised to be, he knew that during terrible and stressful situations he would scream like a youngling at the possible monsters under the bed.

Usually those situations were few and far between. When Xim’s missile struck and vaporized the Trandoshans, it sent the skiff spinning out of control. The Trandoshan below also screamed as he clung onto Wer’s leg for life, but Wer couldn’t hear it. He was too busy struggling to hold on.

Wer glanced down. If he didn’t get the cling-on off, he was going to be dragged into the lava very soon. Not to mention, he was starting to feel a little sick.

Spoiler

D20 roll to shake off Trandoshan
Result: 18

Wer began to shake his entire body violently. The Trandoshan whimpered and shook his head. He was losing his grip and both he and Wer knew it.

“Get the kriffing kriff off of me!” Wer shouted as he violently brought himself up and then dropped back down. The result of the sudden weight shift on the skiff made the entire thing bend slightly over. It was just a foot or two, but it was enough for the Trandoshan to take a dip into the magma. The last thing Wer heard from the lizard was his screams as he lost his grip on Wer’s leg.

Wer struggled, but pulled himself onto the careening skiff. He wasn’t out of danger yet. Grabbing onto the vehicle’s railings, Wer pulled himself towards the controls, praying they weren’t damaged, while fighting the urge to hurl all over the inside of his helm. He didn’t even notice the second missile that had struck the Lava Worm.

Spoiler

D100 roll to regain control of skiff.
Result: 3 Major Fail

Sadly, where Wer was strong with physical strength, his mental willpower was always a little more lacking. Even as he got to the already damaged controls, the urge to puke had crescendoed. Unable to hold it back, Wer made a retching noise as he blindly punched the controls. His antics did not aid the skiff. If anything, it spun even more wildly out of control.

Wer lost his hold and fell backwards. His body crashed into the guard railings of the skiff as it veered completely out of control and crashed into the edge of the lava lake. Wer was thrown from the wreck forwards and upwards and landed face first into obsidian ground.

“Ooooowww” Wer groaned as he slowly picked himself up. He slung off his helmet and dry heaved as stomach acid and spicy nerfy Jerky drained from his helm. While the heat was intense enough to singe his hair, and the atmosphere was enough to nearly make Wer choke, Wer didn’t care.

Behind him, the Serpent’s head peaked from the lava at Wer, then at the ship above. Its animal instincts kicked in as it dived back below the surface. It was wounded but not destroyed. It needed to eliminate the prey in the sky. It would lure it down with the wounded prey on the ground. And when it would get close enough, it would strike.

 

[Xim Zhan]

Xim brought the ship around in a wife arc again. To his relief and chagrin, Wer was alive; careening out of control, yes, but alive.

Xim watched as the skiff slammed into the rocky outcropping. He winced as the craft violently smashed itself into a rocky outcropping and sent his brother flying through the air.

OOC: coin flip to see if comms are back:
H-Y T-N
RESULT: Heads-back online!

Trying his comms, Xim hoped against hope that they would manage to work. “Brother are you alright? Wer! Do you copy?” He cried into the comm unit, unsure if Wer could even hear him, or if he could physically respond armor was great and all; but kinetic energy was still kinetic energy and getting slapped by a mountain still hurt.

Bringing the Manda Money around, Xim’s eyes moved from Wer to their surroundings. Where had the great wyrm gone? She had plunged beneath the surface and for the moment, aside from the smoking wreckage of the skiff and the gently sloshing lava, all was, well, at peace, mostly.

Carefully, as if to test the weight of the ancient obsidian outcropping, Xim slowly and cautiously brought the Manda Money in to land; her gear gently touching down as he expertly shifted the craft’s weight from the thrusters to the ground. As it did not cry out or give way , the Mandalorian pilotnwas somewhat reassured; still, he kept the motor running and the shields up; just in case.

Throwing off his webbed seatbelt straps, Cim hurried to the back of the ship, opening the loading door as he stared down at Wer. “Hey!” He shouted from the ship, “Idiot! Why’d you have to to and crash the skiff How are you supposed to get home now?” He teased, half wanting to tell his brother that the cost of the skiff was coming out of his cut of the bill. He did not though, knowing he had just plugged three rather expensive missiles into the equation. Instead, Xim began the treacherous hike down the hillside toward where Wer lay, keeping his eyes peeled for the giant monster.

As he neared Wer, he remarked, noting the sweat on his brow even beneath his environmentally-shielded suit. “Its hot.”

“Lets wrap up our little vacation here shall we?” Xim offered a hand up to Wer before turning to surveil the peaceful lava plains. Putting on his best Nemoidian accept he chortled, “Dragons are no match for concussion missiles”

“But seriously, how do we know the thing is dead? If it sinks we get no prize. Those tricky bastards.”

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

“Har har, you are sooooooo funny” Wer sarcastically replied about the comment of crashing the skiff. Once helped up, Wer grabbed his helmet and, after wiping its insides with his hand and then wiping his hand on Xim’s shoulder, put it back on.

Wer thought a few moments about the final question and looked at his wrist.

“Ok, I got a terrible idea” Wer said and looked up at Xim from his wrist. The thought was obvious. Most Mandalorians loved the grapple line launcher that it was practically the standard equipment for Mandalorian warriors. He didn’t have to drag it out per say, just keep it from sinking long enough for Xim to use the ship to pull the beast out as much as possible. And out of the two, Wer had the best chances for not slipping back into the lava lake.

“Hey, I’d like to see you have a better idea…” Wer held his hands up, sensing that his Vod would think the idea stupid or crazy.

The beast, having seen the sky prey finally land on the ground, erupted from the lava at that very moment. It rose from the lake of fire like the beast of old it was: Terrible and magnificent to behold. The sound of fire and brimstone erupting around its body as it emerged was deafening. The waves of heat from its body were sweat inducing. Of all the beasts in the galaxy, the Lava Dragons of Eol Sha were amongst the most fearsome. Only those like the extinct Mythosaur, the ravenous Krayt Dragon, or the mysterious Sando Aqua Monsters of Naboo could rival its awe-inspiring presence.

Wer was awestruck himself for a brief moment. The beauty of the thing overwhelmed his entire body. It’s red and golden scales, its blackened horns, its translucent fins… it was borderline divine. A primitive man may have bent down and worshiped the monster. An advanced scientist would have fled the scene. But Wer could only stand in its presence momentarily. His memory would forever imprint this moment on the rest of his life.

The beast opened its mouth as if to speak. But instead of life-giving breath, out emerged death-causing fire and lava.

Spoiler

D20 to dodge the attack
Result: 6

Being awestruck as he was, Wer barely had the time to try to dash out of the way. Seeing the lava coming down at him, he activated his buckler on his arm and held it up. He doubted it would do much, but it and his armor were better than nothing.

The lava was intense. The ground sizzled behind him like acid. His buckler took the worst of the attack, and immediately shorted out. Some of the lava got through and hit the energy projector, completely ruining the equipment and giving Wer a nasty burn. Wer made a mental note to repair the device later, but first things were first.

Wer spun when the lava stopped and threw out his other arm. With a flick, the grapple line activated and shot out towards the beast's head. Wer hoped he had enough length to reach the thing.

Spoiler

D20 roll to grapple and restrain the beast
Result:1

Wer wasn’t sure if the beast was intelligent or not, and the next moment did not help him decide either. As the line went out, the dragon lurched forward towards the line and brought its teeth down.

Wer’s eyes widened.

“Oh no…” Wer was all he could let out before the beast swung its head back.

Wer flew through the air like a marionette on a string operated by an angry toddler. The beast shook its head back and forth as its prey screamed in terror. Wer tried to reach for the grapple launcher to reel himself in, but in the chaos and strenuous violant movement and jerkings of the beast, the thing jammed. The line was stuck and unable to be released or reeled in, and unlocking it from his arm was impossible..

“Heeeeeeeeeeelp!” Wer screamed into his now perfectly working comm. The Dragon tried to snap at the meal that was hanging from its mouth, to no avail. It swung Wer over and over, trying to get him into its jaws. If the beast died, it would sink into the lava and Wer with it. If left alone with the beast much longer, it would get lucky and snap its jaws shut on the very unlucky mandalorian. Wer could only just hang on for dear life.

@The Mad Hammer

 

[Xim Zhan]

Xim nodded. “You’ve got a jaro.” He muttered, shaking his head as he turned to make his way back toward the ship. “But I respect the shereshoy by,” he was unable to finish his comment as he heard the lava break behind him. He heard the ragged breathing of the beast as it reached into the sky.

“Nope!” He cried aloud before taking off at a dead sprint up the hill. Xim had seen the beasty from the cockpit of his ship and had less than zero desire to face the thing face-to-face.

The belch of lava Xim heard. He felt the heat rolling off of it. He did not even turn to see what it did to Wer. Someday that Mando’s luck would run out, Xim just hoped it was not today. Instead, the attack just spurred him to move faster. Depressing the newly installed button on the web of his hand, the Mandalorian jetpack on his back roared to life. In an instant, Xim was rocketing over the ground, his green armorweave cloak rippling from his right shoulder like a flag in a gale.

His landing was not a made-for-holofim event. Killing the pack, Xim tried to land gracefully, but ended up tumbling forward with his unforeseen extra momentum.

There was no time to contemplate the pain that wracked his arthritic body. Picking himself from the ground, Xim winced as pain coursed through his knees, his hands up and toward his shoulders. The cries of the beast behind him motivating him to action.

Thankfully, he had left the Manda Money running; all he needed to do was dash aboard and throw himself haphazardly into the pilot’s chair. With a few quick, albeit pained, keystrokes, Xim brought the medium cannons online and let them roar.

OOC: medium cannons shooting said beasty
RESULT: 45

The cannons ripped a path from just before the base of the ship down the row sending sprays of chunked obsidian into the air. The cannons traced a path to the great rising wyrm as she thrashed about with Wer hanging on for dear life. As the cannons angled upward they began to tear into the hardened scaled of the beast pelting them unrelentingly with each shot of the duel mounted cannons. Designed for starfighter combat, the weapons were unrelenting as they bore into the dragon’s gut as Each bolt sought to saw the great monster in half.

The dragon thrashed about, violently trying to engulf Wer in one single bite while also trying to remove itself from the biting pain of the bolts that tore into it’s elongated body. If anything, this only made the beast thrash harder as it flung itself for upward and further forward in her effort to escape, crashing forward on the crushed obsidian with a ground-shattering collapse that split the very island in two.

The only positive thing that may have come from this, as the island rapidly cracked and began to drift apart and break into pieces, was that @Wer Tracyn was thrown forward of the beast’s maw and right toward the Manda Money.

“Get in!!” Xim screamed into the comms as he frantically felt the ship lurch beneath him. Rapidly, he began to fire up the ship’s engines, hoping they could take off in time.

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

Wer was dazed to say the least when he finally was freed from the worm’s clutches. It took him a moment to process exactly what happened. There was so much going on. The thumping of blood in his ears. The screaming of the beast. The very ground quaking at the leviathan’s violent movements. The burning intense heat of the Sullust’s atmosphere. The smell of smoke and brimstone, as well as vomit inside his helmet.

Thankfully, he was able to focus on one thing. The sound of Xim shouting to get in. The command was enough to get the Mandalorian moving. With grapple line dragging behind him,

Wer stumbled with a stupified movement towards the ship starting up. Even as it began to rise, Wer could only hop onto the on ramp and fall forward. In the corner of his eye, he could see the worm thrashing and writhing in pain.

With his last strength at the moment, Wer upholstered his gun. He doubted it would do any damage against the beast, but he was ticked off and needed to show it that he was the last one standing. Shakily standing up as the ship took off, Wer looked at the beast straight in the eye.

“Death and taxes are for certain…” Wer grunted as he aimed the barrel of the Galaar-35 Carbine. His comm to Xim was still on.

“But i don’t pay taxes. Leaves only death for you ugly” he continued as he pulled the trigger. Perhaps he could hit its now exposed belly. Or he could get it in the eye. Either way, he was going to say he wasn’t dead yet.

Spoiler

D100 attack roll
Result:30 (Result will be highlighted)

The shot was mostly true. The bolt flew towards the beast’s head and struck it square in the thing’s forehead. The Beast felt it and as an act of defiance, it roared back with a deafening screech. One so loud that Wer fell backwards onto the ramp for the Manda Money.

“Augh, Xim, you may want to close the ramp...i may hurl again soon” Wer groaned through his comm.

The beast sunk into the lava that swamped the obsidian island. This was followed by the beast flailing in the lava in pain. Its scales had protected it from the lava for so long. But with all the damage done from Xim’s attacks, many of them had been broken. Now exposed to the death-causing heat of Sullust’s planet, the beast writhed in pain as it was slowly cooked alive. It tried to dive onto what remained of the obsidian island, but the island was already sinking.

The creature was in its death throes.

The roar it had shrieked at Wer’s shot had echoed practically across the planet. The roar had attracted the attention of one other hunting group. Even as Xim’s ship began to rise, three lava skiffs revealed themselves, each one bristled with harpoon cannons, slugthrowers, and explosives. Seizing on the opportunity of the dying beast, they began to swarm the monster and fire hooks into it, while spraying a flurry of slugs into its body.

The Kessel Spider hunters had arrived. And they intended to steal the kill.

@Xim Zhan

 

[Xim Zhan]

OOC: takeoff success
RESULTS: 99

As the ground rumbled, Xim heard as his clanmate clattered aboard and not a moment too soon. The island slipped beneath the molten surface just as the Manda Money lifted off. Xim punched the thrusters to max, leaving a radiating plume of energy in his wake; knocking askew the cables the hunters were even now trying to secure the downed beast.

“You throw up in this rig and you’re walking back to town,” Xim bellowed over his shoulder as Wer threatened to lose whatever Nerfy Jerky he had left in his gut. “Hold on tight” With the ramp open, the inertial dampeners were not functioning, well not well at any rate. Xim could feel the Gs as he expertly twisted the ship around to bring the hunters into view scurrying about the massive sinking beast.

“I’m open to ideas right about now,” he cried as he began to prime the ship’s various weapon systems before opening fire with the medium cannons.

OOC: pew pews
RESULTS: 80

How they were going to secure the beast before it sank, Xim had no idea; but he be damned it these spider hunters stole their kill. They needed the money too bad.

The cannons tore through the hot and heavy air ripping the first of the three skiffs in half in a plume of oily fire.

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

Wer finally stood up and stumbled towards the cockpit, crashing into a wall when the ship turned around. He didn’t even make it to the cockpit before having to lean against a wall to catch his breath and orientation. As long as he didn’t look outside, he could keep his stomach down

“Uhh…” Wer racked his brain for any harebrained schemes that could serve the two. Not many were coming up. These new hunters were more like pirates than anything: stealing someone else's work.

Maybe they could take a page out of their book. Nothing dishonerable in taking back what was taken from.

“Did I see hooks before you spun around?” Wer asked, unable to clearly recall. “Maybe we let them secure it and take it from them before they escape? I mean, we have the better firepower from up here, right?”

@Xim Zhan

 

[Xim Zhan]

Xim sighed audibly. “You do know how much each of those missiles cost right? And I wasted two saving your sorry hide.” But still, he had a point; even as the two remaining spider hunter skiffs, scrambled to recover their lost lines and return fire on the Manda Money. Even the spice-addled hunters would be hard pressed to fish the great beast from the burning lava before she was lost entirely. No sense waiting around to make them nervous. Of course if anykne saw them ‘steal’ their own kill back, that would accelerate the duo and their ship up the fast track on the local bounty lists.

“You did shut the hatch, right?” Xim asked with a smile as he tilted the ship into a hard spiraling climb to avoid the shots from below and with full intention of bouncing the unsecured Wer about the cabin.

OOC: dodging
Results: 55

The shots from the pirates below spun wide missing the Mandalorian craft as it vanished into the cloud cover overhead.

As he leveled the ship out in the cloud bank, Xim turned to Wer. “You ever stop to wonder why nobody else brought a starfighter to this hunting expedition?” he pondered fatefully.

 

[Wer Tracyn]

Wer bounced and banged around in the cabin more loudly and with just as much grace than a huttling in a zero gravity carnival ride.

“This is why I hate flying!” Wer yelled at Xim, instinctively knowing that the old man was taking a certain amount of joy from the situation. He would have to smack the his friend around later when everything was said and done. Preferably on solid ground.

“Ya, its cause they aren’t crazy idiots who like free falling” Wer replied sarcastically to Xim’s comment. He almost added the legit thought that such firepower like the ship meant that some of the goods on the dragon got damaged, not to mention the fact that the dragon had taken out a few other ships already when the company tried to take care of the problem itself.

Once Wer had settled, he made his way to the cockpit and, while trying not to look out the window, pointed at Xim’s console.

“Remember that canyon pass i nearly cra- i mean that canyon pass I had to come through? I’d bet my chainsword that that's where those hunters are going to go through to get back to camp. Now, dragging the body through there is going to be a pain for them, and slower than a minecart on uneven tracks. A prime opportunity for us, and with their two lava skiffs, it's doable for us to get the prize home. All we need to do is have a pair of hands on each skiff. “

Wer looked at Xim “A good ol’ kyr'am kom'rk (Death Gauntlet), am i right? Plus a good place for those blades of yours to test their mettle”
@Xim Zhan

 

[Xim Zhan]

Behind his T-shaped visor, Xim raised a furious eyebrow. The idea had merit. He’d much rather square up against a band of hunters than the beast in hand-to-hand combat. Not to mention, he had already blown a third of their number sky high already. “This hunt just keeps getting more and more complicated.” he grumbled. As long as they got pid at the end he supposed, and there were no complications there. He was about complicated out for the day.

Circling down toward the craggy precipice that separated the lake where they had found the beast from the camp, Xim took the ship in low and slow. Eventually he found a solid enough outcropping to set down on; one that was out of sight of the river of lava too. Disembarking, the gold-plates Mandalorian ensured the ship was secured before turning to Wer. “If someone has to walk back here to get the ship . . . “ he left the comment to hang in the air as he peered over the ledge. “C’mon, it is going to take them a whole to get the beast hooked up and drug this far; but it is going to take us as long to get down there.” Swinging his legs over the ledge, Xim turned so that his weight was supported by his arms as he faced the cleft where their ship sat and began to lower himself searching for his first toehold.

Carefully, Xim began his decent toward a makeshift path that wound closer to the edge of the pass. From there, the climb would get treacherous.

OOC: safe decent
RESULTS: 51

The climb was treacherous and at times treacherous; but through it all, Cim made his way down until he was just a good leap from the flowing lava. Even through his beskar’gam he could feel the heat this close. Crouching behind a boulder, Xim pulled his Westar out and adjusted the charging handle, transforming the sidearm into a light carbine.

Now all he need do was wait.

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

“If someone has to come back here for the ship, its definitely you” Wer chuckled as he looked away from any windows. “I don’t think you’d want me driving your ride. Last time i tried to fly a ship i blew out its cockpit windows in space. Not a good time”

With the hinting at his backstory complete, Wer led the way to the Canyon pass. Soon enough, the two had found it. Wer pointed out the section he had nearly crashed the lava skiff earlier. Such a place was where they could strike. The two skiffs would come by, and would struggle dragging the Fireworm there. Most of their focus would be on keeping their skiffs running.

"I'll take the one closest to us" Wer commented as he pulled out his chainsword again. In the chaos earlier, it was was a miracle Wer kept it strapped to his hip. "You focus on the other side. You've flown with that thing, right?" Wer gestured at Xim's jetpack.

"Once you can take that skiff over, then we are going to be rich men, er, richer than what we are now" Wer couldn't help but chuckle at his realization that the job probably was costing a lot of their profits. Still, for Wer, this was something more now, and he wasn't going to just sell the carcass to the people of Sullust. After seeing the beast up close, and witnessing its awe-inspiring majesty, the Mandalorian and ex-miner saw something of himself in that fiery beast. If most Mandalorians identified or bonded with the image of the Mythosaur, then Wer was the same way with the Fireworm.

"Here they come..." Wer hissed into the comm. Over the sound of lava bubbling and the hissing of toxic gases in the air, the sound of repulsars could be heard. Wer waited a few more moments, his eyes on the area directly at the turn. The noise became louder. Wer gripped his sword tighter and thumped his chest a few times, prepping himself. He was going to need as much adreneline as possible now.

The two skiffs rounded the turn, their grappling hooks trailing further back to the beast that was slowly being dragged in the lava. Wer wasted no time and charged. With a jump, Wer soared through the air like a rock thrown from a giant's hands.

"Let's go you a-holes!" Wer shouted at the three on the skiff he targeted as the blade activated.

Spoiler

D20 attack rolls
Results: 19, 2, 8

There is a reason why the chainsword is illegal on numerous civilized planets in the galaxy. That reason was the fact called 'excruciating dismemberment'. But on the rare occasion, the chainsword could cut a wound cleanly and quickly. as if it was more of a lightsaber than a chainsword, albeit one that still caused massive bleeding afterwards.

Such an occasion occurred when Wer landed on the skiff. Swinging wildly all around , Wer found his chainsword connect with the first Spider Hunter in range. The man didn't even fully process what happened before the teeth of the blade seperated the man's mental faculties and the rest of his body.

Wer did not stop to admire his worl. In a complete rage now, he charged towards the driver of the skiff. The driver, a blue Twilek, was more prepared however, and had a blaster at the ready.

The shot glanced Wer's head. The helm deflected ther worst of the blast, but enough of it was able to send Wer flying backwards onto the ground, stunning the Mandalorian for a moment. Thankfully, he was in reach distance of the other hunter, who foolishly believed the threat was down.

Wer's free hand grabbed the hunter by the leg and pulled. The man tripped and fell to the floor with him. Wer had to let go of his sword, but was able to get into a wrestling match with the alien.

"You messed up now ya bantha-licker!"

@Xim Zhan

 

[Xim Zhan]

Xim had used the jetpack to fly all of one time now. It couldn’t be that hard to conduct a controlled attack from the sky, could it? Now was the time to find out, he figured as the skiffs came into view dragging their quarry behind them.

OOC: jetpackering
RESULTS: 35

Depressing the activation switch, Xim launched himself into the air, a golden streak as he peppered a half dozen rounds at the secondary skiff. One sizzled into one of the hunters, while the remainder served to attract their attention.

Flying was one thing, aiming was another, and the third thing to remember when running a jetpack was landing. Xim flew well enough; his aim was sure, even with the moving skiff; it was the third thing where he stumbled. Literally.

As Xim came into land, he abruptly cut off the fuel supply to the pack. With his forward momentum, the Mandalorian tumbled to the deck, rolling less than gracefully toward the hunters.

“‘Ello love,” a green-skinned musclebound humanoid smiled wickedly through several missing teeth as Xim stared up at him from his side. The next thing Xim saw was stars as the hunter brought the heavy butt of his grapple launcher down on the Mandalorian’s bucketed cranium.

Xim’s ears rang and his head ached instantly. His vision swam before him as his body went limp for a moment and his rifle fell from his hands to clatter on the deck.

“Toss this trashcan overboard!”

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

Spoiler

Attack rolls: 8 and 6

Wer fought with a kind of brutality known only to a few enemies and a few more lovers who demanded it. Wer eventually got on top of his foe and began to mercilessly beat the human over and over again, trying to knock him unconscious. Before he could however, another shot rang out.

Wer looked up at the Twilek driver. The shot had been done over the controls of the skiff, and wildly inaccurate. Thinking fast, Wer looked down at the hunter he had been beating and grabbed what looked like a grenade strapped to the chest. Without thinking or even stopping to check the grenade's contents, Wer pulled the pin and hucked it at the driver. The thing struck the driver in the head, knocking him off balance, and tumbled to the floor.

"That may have been a bad idea..." Wer utterred as he just realized what he did.

Spoiler

D32 roll on Wookiepedia Grenade Page
Result: 3: Chemical Load Grenade
Cheapest gas noted on page: Agent T-238

As the grenade opened up, it began to release its thick, grey Agent T-238 gasses. The human hit by the grenade took a deep breath of the stuff and immediately began to double over in pain. Wer laughed outloud as he heard a familiar sound.

"Ha! Who's puking now?!?"

Wer was interrupted as the man he was on suckerkicked his left leg.

"Gah! Why can't you just die already?!" Wer said as he began to beat down the hunter. Thankfully for Wer, with the Skiff moving forward, the gas was trailing backwards and unable to reach Wer and his combatant. Unfortunately for Wer, no one was at the controls, and there was another bend coming up.

@Xim Zhan

 

[Xim Zhan]

Fortunately, or unfortunately, for Xim, the band of spider hunter’s hefted the dazed Mandalorian up by his thick flightsuit leggings. Shuffling toward the edge of the skiff, they intended to toss him over. Xim’s head, accompanied by the jostling which did not help, swam as the blood rushed to his head. He blinked several times as his mind struggled to reorient; but he was in trouble. He could see the edge of the skiff bobbing in and out of his blurred vision. Was this the end?

Suddenly, Xim unceremoniously clattered to the ground, another blow to his lightly armored head. At least his buyce took the brunt of the crash as Xim was englifed in his green armorweave cloak and topped unceremoniously into one of his captors who had suddenly dropped him. Both hunters were doubled over, retching uncontrollably as a cloud of gas washed over the skiff from the lead hovercraft. As his head swam, Xim had just enough wherewithal to activate his suit’s vacuum seal and envelope him in a sealed, albeit limited containment of breathable air.

Struggling to untangle himself from his cape, Xim rolled on his shoulders, haphazardly booting one of the hunters square in the buttocks. The doubled over man lurched forward and right off the edge of the skiff into the lava below. He barely knew what was coming as his stomach cramped and his exposed flesh and eyes burned.

Finding escape, Xim rolled to his back and took in the sight of his skiff lurching out of control. Struggling to his feet, the gold-plated Mandalorian, stumbled toward the helm of the craft, ignoring the second double-over hunter in favor of shoving the pilot out of the way and square into guardrail with a CLANG that dropped the pilot in a heap.

Pulling himself up on the console, Xim took in the controls in a moment and quickly and smoothly began to realign the skiff before it slammed into the rocky wall of the pass. Of course the sudden change in momentum caused the final hunter to tumble overboard with a gargled scream and hiss as he hit the boiling stone below.

@Narzen

 

[Wer Tracyn]

After several more blows to the face, the hunter under Wer fell unconscious. Breathing heavily, Wer had scare a moment to pause before he heard the noise of a rock scraping against the skiff's side.

"Kriff!" Wer cursed. The Mandalorian jumped up and raced to the controls, kicking the activated grenade off the skiff's aft. A small explosion occurred when the container hit the lava, but Wer did not notice.He was too busy fumbling at the controls again. Thankfully his experiences earlier with lava skiffs made him a bit better suited for the drive and was able to adjust the course easily.

Wer glanced over at his vod and smiled.

"That wasn't too bad now was it?" Wer joked through his comm. He glanced backwards and had to stop himself. The majesty of the beast they were dragging behind them was still awe-inspiring, despite being a corpse. Its lifeless body exuded power.

"Any plans what you'll do with your share Xim? I'm thinking something like this needs to be memorialized on the beskar'gam. Maybe use some of the scales for a gambeson or something. Let other Mandos know I have some legitimacy behind me, you know? Also would add some flare.

Wer glanced towards the two unconscious spider hunters on his skiff.

"Think I should just push them off? Nah, i'll just drop them off at the check-point."

@Xim Zhan

 

[Xim Zhan]

“Just dump ‘em off at the basecamp. If anything, it shows that Mandalorians are not merciless but are not to be trifled with.” Xim breathed into his comm. “<Oh my head.>”

Dragging the beast was slow going, but somehow the duo managed to make it back to the basecamp. They were met by a cacophony of cheers and shouts as they came into view and by the time they were pulling ashore, a rather large gathering of hunters, Sullustans, and offworld workers were there eager to haul the dead beast ashore. Bringing his skiff to an idle, Xim climbed gingerly down to the ground below using his tongue to switch over to clan comms, “Keep the people from running off with our prize, or our skiffs,” he pointed as the onlookers swarmed the beast and were already hacking away at it. “Anyone that wants an scales or bones, charge ‘em for my cut. I could use the cash. We can take the meat and feed the poor a feast like they’ve never seen before! I’ll go check in. Maybe we’ll get a bonus for bringing back TWO skiffs.” He chuckled as he walked toward the guard/boss’s shack, leaving Wer to not create a scene as Lavaride security forces tried in vain to keep excited revelers back.

Inside the tin shack, Xim looked on as the manager looked on in shock. “You…you did it? You Mandos are as tough as they say!” He said as he spun around and began a complex series to open the energized safe bolted into the floor and wall. “I suppose you’ll be wanting full payment for the monster?” He asked raising an eyebrow as his eyes darted to the window and the absolutely massive creature lying outside. “If I may ask, how’d you do it?” He asked, still somewhat in disbelief that the hunter stood before him victorious.

“Missiles work wonders,” Xim responded cooly, “and that is going to cost you extra. Took 3 concussions to bring the beast to reign. He took out several other hunting groups too. Those idiots,” he jerked a thumb at the unconscious Kesselian Spider Hunters outside, “are all thats left. We did bring back double the amount of skiffs you sent us with though, sage your bottom line a bit.”

The manager’s jaw dropped in shock as he slowly betan to nod, his bobbing head increasing in velocity and rhythm as what the Mandalorian said dawned on him. “Yes. Yes. Of course! Anything to be rid of the monster and get back to work!”

“And as for the creature. Her head is a little toasty, but I’d bet you want that for your boardroom wall am I right? If you keep that, we’ll keep the rest. I’d prefer my cut of meat to feed the masses. You have a hangar somewhere we could arrange that, yes?”

“What? Oh. Oh yes!! Absolutely! As generous as you are skilled. We shall arrange for it right away.” The Manager said as he programmed a credit chit from the secure port in the safe with their reward, “and a little extra for your troubles,” he smiled near giddy with the idea of getting off this camp and back to his plush office workspace. He offered the chit to Xim. “Thank you. We will see that it is done.”

Xim nodded. “See that you do. If you do not, Clan Getacerar will hear of it and return.” He let the veiled threat hang in the air as he took the chit and slid a datapad that was lying on the counter toward himself. Plugging the chit in, he confirmed the funds transfer before pocketing the chit. “It has been a pleasure doing business with you. If you have need of our services again, you have all but to ask.” Xim nodded curtly before turning to return outside.

Stepping outside, Xim would wave to get @Wer Tracyn ’s attention before comming him. “Lavaride gets the head, errr,” he paused smiling wide beneath his helmet before continuing, “what is left of it that is.”

“We get the scales and bones. The meat will be used to provide a victory feast for the poor and destitute of Sullust. Sell off my share. I’ll take the money. They were very generous; even paid for the extra skiff and my missiles YOU wasted. Set aside whatever you want to save and I’ll pick it and you up. Sell the rest. I’ve gotta go get MY ship.”

And with that, Xim clapped his right fist to his chest and activated his jetpack sailing back toward the rocky chasm and his long trek back to the Manda Money. He already had plans for his cut of the cash, upgrades to his beskar’gam and a swoop of some sort were at the top of his list. As much as he enjoyed space travel, the wind whipping by your body was where Xim truly felt alive. It was as close to the fields of his home as he could get while war still raged in the galaxy.

@Narzen

el fin (at least for me)

 

[Wer Tracyn]

No sooner had the Mandalorians brought in the beast did a crowd begin to form. Everyone wanted to see the mythical monster up close, as well as the hunters who had taken it down. Wer instantly began to love the attention, as well as the fact that no one would dare arrest him when he was possibly the second most popular being on Sullust for the moment.

Wer held up his gun and shouted at those coming too close to the monster.

"Hey hey! You want a piece of it, you gotta pay for it! And it ain't cheap, but then again, its a legend before your eyes! Ya, hail to the kings baby, come one come all and get your own piece of the Fire Worm! And hear this: If you want something killed right, Clan Getacerar is up for the fight!"

Wer had little trouble pushing the masses back once the firearm was shown. Still, people clamored forward, offering credits for a scale, a tooth, some blood, anything from the beast. As Xim said it was okay, Wer began to wheel and deal. Over and over again, Wer repeated the newly created advertising slogan of "In a fight? Clan Getacerar kills right" which seamed to become a decent catchphrase in his head.

"Hey you!" Wer pointed at one of the people who was attempting to cut off some scales. "Cut me off a nice long strip of scales and i'll give you some for free, alright?"

The man nodded and got to work. Wer smiled. These scales were going on his armor, that was for sure. Something this big needed to be memorialized.

@Xim Zhan
END THREAD//