Zoo Keepers

[Kane]

Kane smiled and gave the pup a scratch between the ears.

"Well, the Jedi are forbidden to marry. But the rules are a little fuzzy when it comes to pets. If anyone takes issue just tell them she's your seeing-eye....crystal wolf."

The old Crusader chuckled, he hoped the pup made it out of this alive.

"I am fine with this little thing tagging along, but know that the burden of protectimg her will falll solely on you Arador."

Now, Kane would obviously do what he could to protect the pup. But his teaching ways kicked in and he wanted to impress upon the young Jedi how much of a responsibility this pet would be.

 

[Arador Drakar]

Arador giggled as the pup sniffed the popcorn that was offered to her, the teenager shrugged, "I don't know if popcorn is good for her but it is something she can eat seeing that there is nothing else here to feed her." Arador watched the pup take the piece offered to her then hide away under his tunic.

He looked up at Tynian and nodded, "I can protect her.. Don't worry about that." He looked to Kane grinning as the two agreed that he can keep her, "Yes she will be my seeing crystal wolf. I don't think anyone will argue with that." He then nodded in understanding that protecting her will be his responsibility only, "Yes I understand she will be my responsibility, Master Kane. Sir." The boy said knowing that Tynian's father was just letting him know how responsible Arador will have to be protecting the pup as well as caring for her. The boy was excited as the pup will be his first pet. Hopefully Alek will not force him to get rid of it.

The boy perked as he heard noise coming from the corridor at the other side of the enclosure. It was a bit of a ways off. But the sounds echoing off the walls made whatever it was sound like it was closer. He could tell that what ever it is was big. Making sure the pup was secure and safe the boy glanced to the corridor, "Whatever it is down that corridor. It sounds like it is big." The boy is not as in tune as the other two but he can tell when it is something big or small. But he can't see what it is yet.

 

[Tynian]

The scream that came from that direction was unmistakable. The creature was well known to the Jedi from the records in the archives, that was required reading for every apprentice. Tynian set down the popcorn and drink and slowly took his lghtsaber off of his belt. He didn't even wait to see what was coming... he didn't have to. He instead ignited his twin blades and looked at Kane. They both knew that they were now in for a fight. "It's an Acklay."
To the Jedi's shock, he was right that it was Acklay… but wrong in thinking that there was only one of them. They came around the corner screaming and snapping at each other until they spotted the three Jedi. Then side by side, they came at them...
Tynian reactively stepped back one step. "Fan out. Don't get caught by their front claws. Go for the legs."

 

[Kane]

Kane was silent as they heard the beastly shriek, he knew exactly what was coming the second it began. But rather than Tynian's knowledge that stemmed from the archives, Kane's was a tad more first-hand. He thought back to a time when he was a young crusader on the front lines, when the Exiles unleashed a dozen of them on his unsuspecting platoon.

"These beasts are vicious, be on your guard."

He slung his carbine on his back and brought his lightsaber into a defensive position, taking a position several meters to Tynian's left.

He would wait for Arador to get into position before making any moves.

 

[Arador Drakar]

Arador was now able to see the two Ackley came around the corner. At first they appeared to be one freaky creature. Bit as they got closer the boy can see that there were two. He had heard of Ackley before from travellers who visited Alderaan while growing up. And maybe had seen a few rough sketches of the beasts. Seeing them in person was on a whole different level. Saying that Arador was scared is an understatement because he is terrified. But as the three jedi fanned out the teenager swallowed his fear of the beasts to clear his head. So he can focus on taking down the one that appeared to be coming straight for him. Well the one closest to him. Wondering if the beasts worked together or individually.

Extending his vibostaff the teenager flicked the switch to turn it on. Studying the Ackley the teenager started to think on how to take it down. The legs appeared to be an easy target. But appearances can be deceiving. The boy has never come across this beast before so he had no idea how he will deal with the Ackley coming for him.

 

[Tynian]

Tynian moves a few more meters away from Kane and Arador. In doing so, it would give them all space to maneuver, and it would make the two Acklay have to decide which of the Jedi to attack first.
An idea came to him as they all watched the huge creatures.
“Arador... you said you were in tune with the force a bit more? Then use the force to try to calm one of the Acklay... maybe it’ll hang back until we deal with the other one.”

The larger of the two Acklay, more than likely, the female... lifted up its head to the ceiling and let out a loud scream. Then it leveled its gaze at Kane and charged.
The male, which was a tad smaller, but still huge and deadly, echoed the cry of its mate and charged at Arador...

Tynian shook his head. Having Arador as a target was the last thing he wanted. He gathered the force around him and sent a push against the back legs of the male, and then a pull on its front legs, trying to trip the creature up.
Effectively it did slow the creature down, but it stayed upright. “These things are tougher than I thought against the force.”

 

[Kane]

As the larger Acklay charcged Kane ducked low and moved to the right, swinging his saber and loping off the creatures left front leg. It screeched and swung at Kane, but the old Crusader had already rolled out of it's reach.

As Kane rose to his feet he threw his left hand out to the side, extending the grip from his Vibro-claws into his palm before activating them. The three blades extending with an audible *Snikt* before beginning to quietly hum as the vibro motor kicked in.

"Careful boys, their teeth are just as dangerous as their legs."

 

[Arador Drakar]

Arador looked to Tynian as the older knight and nodded as he looked back to the smaller Ackley, "Yes I remember. Why?" The boy asked then got his answer as the other jedi told him what to do. He has never tried it on a beast as big as an Ackley but then as they say there is a first for everything, "Alright I will give it a try." He moved a bit more away from the other two jedi as the male beast came at him.

Holding a hand out the boy attempted to link his mind with the Ackley's at first it didn't appear to be working as it continued to come at him after Tynian tripped it up. But that changed when the beast stopped in it's tracks, screeching at Arador. But nothing more.

Arador glanced over to Tynian, "I got this one under control. Go ahead and help Master Kane with the other." He looked over to the other jedi, then back to the Ackley. He lead the male beast away from the female to give Kane and Tynian more space and less of a chance of the male attacking them if it broke the mind link. Arador is not sure how long the link can be maintained, and so hoped that he can give the other two jedi enough time.

 

[Tynian]

Tynian ran to help Kane while Arador struggled with keeping the other Acklay in check... His light saber flashed as he took out a leg opposite of what Kane had done. As the Acklay fell, Tynian jumped back and barely out of the way before getting crushed underneath of the creature.

The second Acklay shook it's head and effectively broke free of the affects of Arador's force power. It then saw the young Jedi and charged... Tynian was too far away from Arador to close the gap and to help his young friend, but he turned and ran at the creature anyway, yelling at the top of his lungs, in hopes to attract the attention of the beast so Arador could defend or attack as he needed to.

 

[Kane]

Kane grunted and quickly dispatched the downed Acklay by driving his saber through it's head, it twitched a few times and then lay still. Rather than pull the blade out he simply deactivated it opting to put it back on his belt and activate his right side vibro-claws.

Next, as Tynian distracted the second Acklay he ran full-tilt at it's back using the force to clear the distance quickly. Once he was about four feet from the beast he roared and jumped, launching himself into the air and at the Acklay. His arms out to either side he flew at the creature, roaring defiantly as he reached the creature and rammed both sets of claws deep into its back just below the base of it's neck.

The Acklay screeched horribly and reared up, trying to snap at the old Crusader but falling just short of being able to bend far enough.

"FINISH IT!"

He bellowed to his comrades as he kept driving the claws deeper into the Acklay's back.

Ooc reference to the jump attack:

 

[Arador Drakar]

Arador struggled to keep the Acklay in check as Tynian and Kane dealt with the other one. Just as Arador was steadily tiring out from trying to maintain the mind meld, the male Acklay was starting to break out. The decline continued until the beast broke out of the mind meld with a violent shake of it's head.

Now the teenager knew he was in big trouble as the beast charged at him. The Acklay raised one of it's front legs and just as quickly brought it down, Arador barely managed to get out of the way with a roll to his left.

Panting the exhausted teenager watched as it turned to attack him again, just barely getting out of the way of another attack. It then turned it's attention to Tynian just as Kane drove his claws into the creature's back. The beast rearing up with a horrible screech. Gripping his vibostaff the boy turned it on and threw it into the beasts chest cavity. It dropped to the ground dead where it stood. Gripping the exposed end of the staff, Arador ripped it out and walked away from the dead beast, trying to catch his breath after using the mind meld to control it for that short time.

 

[Tynian]

Tynian stopped and readied himself to help Arador, should the young Jedi be in need of help.
Then Kane came pretty much flying out of nowhere and landed on the creature's back. He drove his claws into the back of the beast and Arador finished it off...
As the two Acklay now lay dead around them, Tynian put his weapon away and placed a hand on Arador's shoulder. "Well done young Jedi." He then turned and looked at Kane with a sly smile, knowing how Kane would take his teasing. "Was the growl really necessary? You nearly made the entire galaxy shake in fear when you did that."

 

[Kane]

Kane chuckled as he retracted his Vibro-claws and dismounted the corpse of the Acklay.

"Apologies, I get a little over-zealous at times. Though perhaps the remaining beasts will think I am some sort of creature and be frightened."

He laughed at his own humor, because somebody had to and he was old damnit.

"Arador looks on the brink of exhaustion, perhaps we should rest a short spell."

 

[Arador Drakar]

Arador collapsed the vibostaff and put it away, looking up at the other jedi, "Thanks. You did a good job as well." He said with a hint of exhaustion in his voice.

The teenager looked to Kane, "Yeah maybe you have frightened them enough that they will go the other way when they see you coming." The boy bit his bottom lip. Yes he is on the brink of exhaustion after using mind control on that Acklay but he didm't want to slow them down. Not with people still trapped in the zoo.

 

[Tynian]

Tynian looked around. To their right was an empty cage with a pile of straw in one corner. “Let’s rest there. We can close the gate and not allow anything to get to us. I’ll late the first watch if you like?”
He helped Arador to his feet and also to the inside of the cage.
Once inside, he shut the gate and sat down.
His legs were a bit sore and his arm was hurting. Reaching up to his right bicep, he discovered a long gash. It was bleeding and making his sleeve wet with blood.
“Um Kane... I may need some help here.” He held up his bloody hand to show the older Jedi. “I must’ve got it from one of the wolves.”

 

[Kane]

Once they were all safely inside the enclosure Kane nodded at Tynian's suggestion that he take first watch, then rushed over when his son discovered the wound on his right arm.

The old Crusader looked over the wound, not too deep but it definitely needed immediate attention.

"Remind me to start bringing a medkit on these little adventures."

He grumped as he tore Tynian's ruined sleeve off and then cut it into several long strips with his Vibro-claws. First he used onenstrip to clean the wound up the best he could, then he placed his hands over the gash and channeled healing energies into the young Sentinel.

Through the pitiful amput of energy he had left to expend Kane managed to stop the bleeding from the wound, but little else.

"Alright then, we'll tourniquet it for now and try to heal you better after our rest."

Kane was a little dissapointed in himself, but he knew that he had just been through four relatively taxing battles. So he busied himself bandaging Tynians wound tightly enough that it wouldn't start bleeding again.

"Bit of a wait beats cauterizing it with a saber, trust me on that."

Kane said softly, thinking back to his own experiences with feild medicine. Sometimes there were no healers around and you had to make due.

Once his son was seen to Kane flopped down where he was beside the young man and took a moment to just breathe, this was turning out to be a real karkshow real fast. But at the pace they were going he figured they would get to the control room before the day was through.

 

[Arador Drakar]

Arador didn't realize exactly how exhausted he was until his legs somewhat gave out. Seating himself on the ground blind boy sighed softly when he didn't sense anything coming their way. But with having used so much energy to maintain the mind meld he now has to "switch off" his force sight so he didn't render himself unconsious. The teenager had no idea where the cage was that Tynian was talking about, but it sounded like a good place to get some rest before moving on, "It sounds like a good plan, Tynian." He put his arm around the jedi's waist as Tynian helped the teenager to his feet then over to the cage. Much too short to put his arm around the knight's shoulders.

Once everyone was inside and the cage door closed the boy sat down on the side next to the wall. So that he was sitting up, thinking that if he laid down that he will slip right into a deep sleep. The boy perked when Tynian mentioned something that hinted to the fact he is wounded, he frowned a bit remembering that he used what medical gear he had on that guy who was injured. But it sounded like Tynian's father had some experience.

Arador looked over to the two Jedi, "There should be a medical kit or two laying around somewhere or at least a medical wing. So if you can't heal his wound we can at least keep an eye out as we move through this place." The boy mentioned as the wolf pup hopped out from where he had hidden it under his tunic onto his lap. The boy ran his hand through the pup's crystalized fur, stubbornly trying not to lose the battle of falling asleep.

 

[Tynian]

Tynian reached up and used the force to stop the bleeding a bit more. Doing that actually tired him out a bit more than he planned on. So he laid on his back and closed his eyes for moment to allow the force to do its work on his wound.
“This has been quite the day so far.” He said it to the others, not really expecting a reply, but it was more of an observation. He also felt that the day was far from over. But if they could rest a few hours, that would help tremendously.

 

[Kane]

Kane kind of half grunted in response to Tynian as he fell into a meditative trance, as their watches passed and they all got some much needed rest many awful sounds could be heard. Even the occasional human shriek of terror, often cut short by the beasts that stalked the zoo.

Finally once they were all rested for as long as they had the time to, Kane readied himself again. Making sure his saber was secure and his vibro-claws were tightened, he waited for his companions to be prepared as well.

Nearby some awful reptilian roars could be heard.

"Oh I do not like the sound of that."

 

[Arador Drakar]

"It sure has been quite a day." Arador replied when Tynian spoke up. The teenager did his best to get some rest despite the horrible noises that they were hearing. While it was his turn to be on watch, Arador still didn't use force sight, deciding to use only his ears.

As the other two jedi started to get ready, Arador put the wolf pup back where he was previously hiding it during the encounter with the Acklay. The boy perked when he heard the reptilian roar at the same time as Kane. Hoping that whatever it is that there is only one to deal with.

He was not sure if he could handle using a mind meld again for as long as he did on the Acklay on whatever is coming their way. But if he has to then he will of course. Arador calmed the pup as it whimpered in fear, "I don't like the sound of that either.." He said quietly.