Mandalorian Menace

Game Master Master of the Dark Forces

Axel just whistles. "Man. Somehow, I get the feeling, this wasn't part of our test..."

Anders shrugs once, backing up a bit. "If this kriffs up, my ghost will haunt you for eternity."

The pod hisses, and a vast amount of dust poofs up into the air when the code is entered. A seam opens along the length of the pod, and it opens, doors swinging up and to the sides. Inside is the rest of the man. After a few moments, his mouth heaves open, as he gasps for breath. A few moments of heavy breathing later, his eyes flutter open. His mouth opens and closes, as if trying to say something, but no sound comes out. His hand fumbles with a control inside the pod, and then collapses back into the pod. His steady breathing indicate that he has passed out. A panel on the back wall whisks open, revealing a small chamber with a ladder ascending skyward.

What.

Tarros leaves the others to work out the reprecussions and dashes over to the ladder and looks up.

"Shab," Anders mutters. "Anyone got a canteen of water?"

Anders leans forward, assessing the old man's condition.
TI: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

"Shab," Anders mutters. "Anyone got a canteen of water?"

"We got med packs, so close enough. Burn them if you have to, keeping this guy alive is our number one priority. Tarros, Axel make sure that ladder is our exit."

The ladder seems to be sturdy, being made of a highly durable metal that has not eroded or weakened while it has been here. Looking up, Tarros can see that there is a hatch at the top, with several holes rotted through that allow slivers of light to enter the shaft. A quick climb to the top reveals the exit to the complex, through a bush. A look around shows you that you are on the opposite side of the hill you were on, and a short distance to the south, you can see where you began the hunt. It looks to be about 2 kilometers away.

.................................................

Meanwhile, back in the room, a close examination of the man shows that he has no physical injuries to speak of, and that he is simply a very old man who passed out from exhaustion, and the effects of the stasis revival. There is no reason to expend medpacks on him, it will just be a matter of waiting for him to wake up.

'Vyr......' An animal roar is heard in the background of Ffon's response, 'Extract the man from wherever you are, and meet us back at the speeder. We will meet you there when we finish this beast off.'

"Sounds like they're having fun," Axel says. "Any chance you can get him on his feet?" Axel asks Anders. The subtle suggestion he leaves out is that, if the man won't respond, then he'll have to be carried, and Axel is not a man for standing around and waiting.

"As in wake him up? No, best to let the man get some actually sleep and not cryo sleep for now. Ffon, wants us to go back to the speeders so that is what we will do. Axel and Anders you guys are the strongest so you carry the man up the ladder and to the point. Me and Tarros will run point. We are still within potentially dangerous territory here. That man is the package and our job is to drop it off it so let's get going."
Vyr moves up the ladder and continuously scans the area to make sure that their route back is safe.
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

"Feh. Fine," Adners sighs. He picks up the old man and begins dragging him up the ladder.

Axel sees Anders pull the old man out by his armpits, and being rather unimpressed by his lack of care, grabs the old man around the waist, hoisting him up over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and says to Anders, "Bruh, do you even lift?" Holding the man with one arm, Axel begins climbing up the ladder behind Vyr.

Anders glares up at Axel, a dark scowl on his face.

"Copaani mirshmure'cye, vod? Ne shab'rud'ni." Anders grips his blaster rifle fiercely, angling the barrel slightly upwards.

Vyr just has a flat expression on his face. "Axel, don't be a dick and treat the old man with a little respect. Anders, don't shoot Axel yet or you are the one stuck lugging the old man and Axel back to the speeders."

Axel fails to see how carrying the unconscious man on his shoulder is less dignified than dragging him along the floor...

Anders grumbles up the ladder, continuing to give Axel stink eye.

"Um. Guys? If all that was in the hole was really old stuff, who cut the game trail right beside it? And shot the ronto? Maybe we should hurry."

"Shoot, Tarros you are right. You are the smart one and right now we need to follow your plan. Double time guys, we are running back to those speeders."

Upon your return to the speeders, you see that Ffon, Trask, Serena, and Gren have just arrived and are strapping the last of their kills to a hoversled behind a speeder. Ffon beckons you over, and invites you to take your seats on the speeder.

'Now, what did you lousy lumps find? Rather, who did you find? I don't see that you lot were too successful in your hunt.'

He begins chuckling while he clears an area on the back of the speeder for a place to lay the sleeping man upon.

"His name might be Murdoc. At least that is what the machine called him and that is all we know." Vyr will show Ffon the books he picked up and the meat that they collected. "Had a death trap set up for anyone that tried to get to him but the robot body guard was really old and the death crusher wall was slow."

"Um, yeah. There's an old bunker we found. Got lots of meat off of a ronto too. Were you following us at all? The ronto had blast marks on it."

'No young laddie. No members of Clan Revik hunt with anything other than traditional weaponry. Blasters spoil the meat, you see. Were they fresh burns? It could be that those poachers are back. Hmmmm, I'll have to ask Xin and Yarbe to check it out.'

Anders continues to sneak glances at Axel, mistrusting the tattooed ex-ganger.

Once everyone is piled upon the speeder, Trask takes off in the direction of the farm.

When you arrive back at the farm, Tryyk comes out to take charge of the unconscious man. The bring him into the house, and Gren gives you some mundane chores to do. Trask goes over to Xin and Yarbe, and speaks to them for several minutes, which prompts them to enter their homes, and exit several minutes later, outfitted in full armor and weaponry. They mount several swoop bikes, and roar off back in the direction you came from.

........ A short while later ...........

Serena approaches the group from the house, addressing you as a group. 'He's awake. He wishes to speak with the people who woke him. Follow.' She leads you to the house, and into a room, where the ancient man sits in a bed, being tended to by Tryyk.

Anders looks around, and noticing the hesitation on his comrades' faces, steps up to the challenge.

"That'd be me, then." He smirks a little, the goad clear in his tone. He waves a sloppy salute to Serena, and enters the room.

"How're you doing, ba'buir?"

"That'd be me, then."

"That would be us, then." Vyr corrects his hot-head friend. "We all had a part to play and wasn't it Axel who carried him out?" Vyr gives a playful little smirk at Anders as he pokes at a open wound. He turns to address the old man. "Anyways enough of our banter. I hope you are doing well, Sleeping One. 'Sleeping one' sound better in Nagaian, by the way. Translation issues."

Tarros follows along, not too upset that Vyr forgot to mention him. At least he didn't get yelled at again.

'Who is us?' The old man says slowly. 'I must meet those who have been chosen as worthy of carrying on my work.'

"Thank you for you compliment. I don't know what work you were doing we we will be honoured to continue it to the best of our ability. My name is Vyr Sol'rova, The man beside me is Anders Kelborn. The one behind me is Tarros Jek and last be certainly not least is the powerhouse name Axel... Stone, yeah Stone. What would you have us do, Wise one?"

"Babuir cuyir dini'la," Anders deadpans quietly.

Tarros waits while the others speak, pondering the old man's words.
Why can't Anders talk in Basic more often? I have no idea what he's saying. I gotta learn more Mando'a than just 'vod'.

Axel grins genially at the old man and gives a sloppish salute when Vyr says his name.

'Ur-Kaa Grotthu! Haa, neyo la yud masur kee, tah uhnah kahru lur shu.' He speaks several phrases in a gruff language unknown to all of you, though Trask, who has been standing just outside the door, flinches at hearing these menacing sounding words spoken out loud.

'I would be wary, young one, saying such things to someone you know nothing about, least of all a veteran of the Great Sith War, one of few to face the immortal Sith Emperor and survive.' He growls these words to Anders, while seeming to gain some strength, sitting higher up in the bed after mentioning his accomplishments.

'Now, you say you know nothing of my work. How is this? Were you not sent to test yourself, and find if you are worthy to take on my work? Were you not educated about the Outlander? Please, tell me you didn't stumble upon my resting place accidentally.' The last sentence is spoken in a annoyed, disappointed tone.

Tarros blinks.

And blinks again.

And waits for someone else to break the bad news.

"No one had any idea that you were down there, wise one. We stumbled upon it while we were hunting but pure accident. Your robot bodyguard feel apart before we even had to take a shot an your death wall was ineffective. We know nothing of your work during that war. The Great Sith War happened over 4,000 years ago and time is not a kind mistress. I am sorry but we have forgotten who you are and what great work you were doing. Can you explain what Outlander is? We would still like to help."

'Oh, he understands Mando'a. Shab. Well, time to brush off the military sign.' Anders shuffles sheepishly.

'Ah kriff. The galaxy forgot. The Outlander was a great warrior who fought against the Immortal Emperor and his son, Arcann. I was part of his crew. A Jedi Knight, denied ascension to the rank of Jedi Master after his supposed defeat of the Emperor on Dromuund Kaas, due to the darkness contained in his soul, gathered there from years of combating the Empire's darkness. The Infinite Empire rose up, and this Jedi took on the mantle of the Outlander, prophesied hero who would bring this, both new and ancient, empire to it's knees. This hero took on this task in order to redeem himself, and to cleanse the darkness from his soul. We were not able to fulfill his destiny at the time, and were decimated by the Infinite Empire's forces. Only the Outlander, Senya, 51, 55, Lana and I escaped, though at the cost of the Tombstone, a legendary ship capable of laying utter waste to the Empire's fleets. We went into hiding, I, here on Mandalore, and the others on other planets, to seal ourselves in Stasis until a new group of heroes rises up to help complete our work. You must find the Outlander, and work alongside him to fufill his destiny, or if he is dead, to take on the burden of the Outlander, and fulfill your own destinies. I only have the location of one of the others, 55, and I will need time to decode that information.' He pulls a single page from his vest, it looks to be torn out of a book, and is the same material as the pages in the tome you recovered.

'I will need my book to decipher the location. I suppose you defeated 51 on your way into my chamber, is he still in repairable condition? He was a friend, and I would much enjoy the chance to repair him to working condition. Is it possible for his parts to be recovered? My name is Koth, by the way.' With that said, he collapses back into the bed. Tryyk quickly examines him, and tells you that he is merely asleep (through a translator if nobody understands Shyriiwook).

"What. This guy is crazy. That's not how real life works. No way this is real. It's gotta be a plant."

Tarros takes another moment to think over again what he just heard, and realizes one word came up an awful lot - Jedi. A sudden realization strikes Tarros like a lightning bolt.
"Stars above, I'm wrong. This is like the Skywalker thing, isn't it. This stuff does happen in real life, but only when Jedi are involved."
"Karking cheespa poodoo. Stoopa keepuna loca koochoo. Getting caught up in Jedi business... "

Tarros drops to a seat as if stunned, still quietly swearing to himself under his breath.

"The Force pulls us all towards our destiny or something, something, Jedi, light side dark side... yeah I got nothing. Well, looks like this guy needs our help and we said that we would so let's do it. That and if I stop to think about it my head might explode, so I will keep moving and hope this is the right path. Or if it is not and then enjoy the ride. Okay, time to find Ffon and get that book back. Old man Koth needs it and we need a ride back to the hunting ground to get the remain of the droid named 51. Sure... we are doing this. Why not? Why? Because? Sure."
Vyr stands there wide eyed for a couple of seconds before getting his act together and in gear. Time to talk to Ffon.

Anders stares at Tarros in shock. 'That's the most I've ever heard him say.'

He turns to look at the sleeping man, and then Axel. Anders shrugs. "This is going to suck," he mutters as he trudges after Vyr.

"The Force pulls us all towards our destiny or something, something, Jedi, light side dark side... yeah I got nothing. Well, looks like this guy needs our help and we said that we would so let's do it. That and if I stop to think about it my head might explode, so I will keep moving and hope this is the right path. Or if it is not and then enjoy the ride. Okay, time to find Ffon and get that book back. Old man Koth needs it and we need a ride back to the hunting ground to get the remain of the droid named 51. Sure... we are doing this. Why not? Why? Because? Sure."

"Wait, what the hell?" Axel says as Vyr turns to leave. "You wake up some senial old man in a bacta tank and he tells you to go save the galaxy from a threat that ended 4000 years ago, and you just, what, agree? Just like that?" Axel looks dumbfounded. He looks at Vyr, then the man collapsed on the bed, then at Vyr again. "The hell you smokin' bro? For all you know, the guy's brains could be scrambled. I seen people, spend their lives hooked on skooma and sh*t. Come outta that thinkin' they're lookin' straight, but can't make sense o' yesterday or tomorrow. Get your head on straight, man. This ain't right!"

"I am the one messed up in the head? Maybe being beaten every dam day as a slave, maybe it did mess me up a bit but so what? At least I am not he one standing there to scared to move forward. When a opportunity comes knocking like a guard falling asleep you take the keys and go for it. If this turns out to be nothing then we have lost nothing. If it turns out to be something then we have much to gain. So why not, Axel? Why the hell not? So find your balls and let's get going or stay here. Up to you. I think we have done alright as a team so far, though."

Vyr ignores Tarros and Axel and walks away to find Ffon. Making sure to thank Anders for coming with him.
"Ffon, there you are. We need your help. The old man in the tube is named Koth and he just woke up. He need his books back, the one i gave to you, and he would like to repair his droid back in the underground cave. Can you give us a ride back to the hunting ground so we can bring the old man's friend back?

"Wait, what the hell?" Axel says as Vyr turns to leave. "You wake up some senile old man in a bacta tank and he tells you to go save the galaxy from a threat that ended 4000 years ago, and you just, what, agree? Just like that?" Axel looks dumbfounded. He looks at Vyr, then the man collapsed on the bed, then at Vyr again. "The hell you smokin' bro? For all you know, the guy's brains could be scrambled. I seen people, spend their lives hooked on skooma and sh*t. Come outta that thinkin' they're lookin' straight, but can't make sense o' yesterday or tomorrow. Get your head on straight, man. This ain't right!"

"He's talking about Jedi stuff. This kinda stuff happens for real with them." Tarros leans back, looking resigned. "And once you're tangled up with them, you're stuck. Have you heard about Han Solo? They say he started off just by giving a ride to a Jedi. That destiny stuff - we found him. I bet we're already trapped."

Tarros pushes himself to his feet. "Come on. We might as well see what Vyr's talking to Ffon about."

Ffon reaches inside his vest, and removes the book. He then hands it to Vyr. He then pulls out a comlink and speaks into it. 'Xin, Yarbe, you there?' There is a muffled response. 'Can you locate the old fart's complex? There's a busted-up droid in there, recover it's bones.'

He then turns to you, speaking to Anders, Axel and Tarros, 'Now get to the barn. Grub's in an hour, and you don't get food until all the nerf sh*t in there is cleaned up.' Turning to Vyr, 'Get that book to Mr. Old-as-the-Maw, and then join the women in the kitchen, you're cooking tonight.'

Vyr takes the book back. "Thanks, Ffon. I will deliver the book and head to the kitchen." Vyr takes the book back the Koth and put it beside his bed. He then goes to the kitchen to report to who ever he needs to.

Tarros nods and heads to the barn. He's quiet as he patiently shovels nerf dung, deep in thought.

"He's talking about Jedi stuff. This kinda stuff happens for real with them." Tarros leans back, looking resigned. "And once you're tangled up with them, you're stuck. Have you heard about Han Solo? They say he started off just by giving a ride to a Jedi. That destiny stuff - we found him. I bet we're already trapped."

Tarros pushes himself to his feet. "Come on. We might as well see what Vyr's talking to Ffon about."

"Now THAT's loco, hombre. That's 'loco-with-a-side-of-guacamole' loco. Reds just made up that Jedi sh*t. It's propaganda. Can't believe you think that stuff really happened." Axel continues to grumble as he follows Tarros.

"Took a class on it. 'Jedi Influence in Galactic Government and Leadership.' It's the real deal. Solo didn't end up so bad - married the Chief of State, had Jedi kids. He's basically a Skywalker now."

Tarros pushes around a semi-solidified chunk of excrement with his shovel. "I dunno. It sounds pretty wacky, but his stuff seemed really old."

"No kidding," Anders responds shortly. "The old fossil seems older than all the osik piled up in that place."

Anders continues diligently shovelling, ignoring the stench. "I don't know, I'd bet most of his supposed 'treasure' has fallen to scrap by now. Not much can stand 4,000 years and still activate at the push of a button."

"For once I think I agree with Anders. I came here to get rich doing merc work, not go relic hunting." Axel jabs his spade in a mountain of dung, and pauses, contemplating it, before putting his shoulders to the work while muttering under his breath "although I didn't exactly expect that to involve shovelling animal dung, stupid bantha poodoo..."