"Yeah. I didn't sign up for a crusade. And bantha dung is worse. They're bigger and don't chew as well."
Anders stares at Tarros for a few seconds, dumbfounded.
"I did not need to know that. I did not need to know that at all."
Tarros shrugs apologetically, and gets back to work.
The rest of the evening, and night pass. The next day Grovan informs you that Koth has awoken, and has started decrypting the pages. Later that same afternoon, you are summoned to his chamber, where he informs you that he has determined the planet to which you must go, Balmorra.
"Whoa, who put this guy in charge? I guess Clan Revik is taking this seriously."
If he gets the chance, Tarros wants to talk to Trask about Koth, to see if the old former Jedi has any thoughts.
"I wouldn't complain, Tarros. We get to go off world on some kind of adventure. I would rather do that then the stuff we have to do here. Is it sad that i would rather be shoot at then clean out a barn? Maybe?"
Vyr heads over to Koth.
"How you feeling Koth? Heard you got some work for us, so what is the plan?"
Anders zones out, fiddling with his tool kit.
'I want to modify my blaster...'
"I wouldn't complain, Tarros. We get to go off world on some kind of adventure. I would rather do that then the stuff we have to do here. Is it sad that i would rather be shoot at then clean out a barn? Maybe?"
"Um. Yeah? Getting shot at is really low on my list. Dying is even further down. Dying without getting paid for it is right at the bottom."
Koth replies to Vyr: 'I gave you the planet, right? Go talk to wierd-beard over there,' he points towards Grovan, 'he will get you outfitted and prepared to go. By the time you arrive, I should have finished with the rest of the translation, and will have sent it to you. That should help with the location.'
Moving over to speak to Grovan, he leads you to a large room in the basement of the house, a room that you have not been allowed into as of yet. He orders you to wait outside the door, and he enters, and spends several minutes inside.
He emerges after several minutes, holding a crate in his hands. He leads you to a large table set up outside the barn. 'Now, we are sending you on your first mission for the clan. We are not being paid by Koth to proceed on his quest, but this is an important quest. We have a chance through this to earn much honor and glory for not only Clan Revik, but the Mandalorian people as a whole. We have brought this quest to the attention of the Mand'alor, Boba Fett, and he has arranged for generous compensation to be awarded the clan if we succeed. For this first mission, you will not be paid. Not in credits. You will earn your place in the clan if you are successful.' He pauses for several seconds to let that sink in, then continues. 'Sel and Tryyk have missions of their own to accomplish around the Balmorra system, and have agreed to provide you passage to the planet. Now though, we can't send you out into the dangerous galaxy, representing Mandalorians, in the shape you are in, you need proper gear.' He opens the crate, and pulls out numerous weapons and other gear.
He pulls out four sets of armored flight suits, and tosses one to each of you. He then picks up a couple weapons from the crate, he gives each of you a BlasTech DH-23 blaster pistol, and an Assault Blaster rifle. He then hands Vyr and Tarros each a Survival Knife, and to both Axel and Anders, he gives a War Sword.
'Now go! Sel and Tryyk are waiting at the speeder!'
Blastech DH-23: size - small, ROF-S, damage-3d6, type-E, stun-yes, 1kg
Assault Blaster Rifle: size-large, ROF-S,A, damage-3d8, type-E, stun-yes, 5kg
Survival Knife: size-small, damage-1d6, type-S, 1.4kg
War Sword: size-medium, damage-1d8, type-S/P, 2kg
The weapons and armor have no mods, you get enough blaster charge packs so that you don't need to worry about running out of ammo.
Tarros absentmindedly notes the room's content, busy thinking about whether he really wants to do this. However, when Grovan mentions that success will earn them a place in the clan he snaps to attention.
Okay. This is the test, not just a charity case. He mentioned the Mandarlore himself is interested... I guess that's more evidence that this Koth guy isn't some crackpot.
Testing the edge of the knife, Tarros gives a nod. Stashing the equipment in his backpack, he puts on his cloak and runs for the speeder.
Vyr catches a quick look in the armoury but his mind quickly focuses on the possibility of being full member, fully Mandalorian. Vyr will not screw this up.
"Yes, sir!" Vyr replies to Grovan and he puts on his gear. He sees Tarros dash out with out it so he makes sure is is quick. He collapses the stock on the assault rifle and hold that in his right and the pistol in his left. He stops for a moment to crack a smile before stowing them and heading to the speeder. "Today is a good day, guys."
Axel holds the blaster rifle in one hand, and the war sword in the other. He looks from one to the other, one to the other, and grins. "Awwwwwww YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHH!" he says, "THIS is gonna get good."
Anders snatches up his new gear, and looks around for the head. "Excuse me, I have to see a being about a Ronto," He mutters as he dashes off. He enters the washroom, and changes into his flight suit.
He secures his new pistol on his right thigh, and slings his sword across his back, hilt poking out a bit below his right elbow for a reversed draw. He adjusts his bolo-ball cap, and steps out of the 'freshers.
"Alright, now what?"
Tryyk pilots the speeder to the spaceport, where you are invited aboard his personal ship, a modified light freighter named the 'Wua ga ma uma ahuma ooma.' Tryyk explains his choice of ship name for you, in Shyriiwook, and bursts into a fit of Wookiee laughter at the end. Sel explains when he finishes, translating the name into Basic, and telling you 'He thinks it's funny, just let him be.' The name, translated means: 'I think my arm has been pulled out of the socket.'
Once aboard the ship you can settle into the basic quarters that have been assigned to you, as it will be a 2 day journey in hyperspace to reach Balmorra. The ship has all the basic needs covered, including a workbench where Anders may employ the use of his Tech Specialist? feat.
Axel sits near the front of the speeder and listens to the wookie rumble. He laughs nervously upon hearing the ship name explained. I'm thinking it'd probably be best if I don't try to arm wrestle the wookie...
Once aboard the ship he tosses his duffle bag with his gear on a bunk and then takes a look around the ship, finding his way to the cockpit and engine room in turn, examining the ships specs if he can.
Tarros looks up information on Balmorra on the HoloNet, as he usually does before visiting a new planet. He checks for both dangerous and easy-to-find edible flora and fauna, basic planetary geography, standard weather patterns, and other such information vital to survival, in case the worst happens.
Anders fiddles with parts in the workshop.
Arrival at Balmorra: The freighter drops out of hyperspace, replacing the hypnotic blue whorls of hyperspace with inky black, studded with stars and, directly in front of the ship, a large, rocky planet, with several large bodies of water surrounded by a planetary continent. Having been a droid producing factory world for millenia, the planet has several large cities visible from orbit, and lifeless, brown wastes consuming the bulk of the planet.
Moments after exiting hyperspace, a message is received over the holonet addressed to you. It informs you that the complex you are searching for was located under a mountain near the ancient Sith capital city of Sobrik, 3700 years ago. The city is now in ruins, and inhabited by the planet's lower class, and is often assaulted by the various raiders and scavenger gangs located around the area. Some areas still have ancient droids functioning, patrolling the hallways and perimeters of long-lost fortresses and factories.
Sel scans the area around Sobrik from orbit, and finds a small area a half days journey from the city that she would be able to land at and let you off, however, it would be a hazardous journey to attempt on foot, as there are no small vehicles in the area, or aboard the ship. She also gives you the option of being dropped off at Bin Prime, the capital city, where there would be any number of shops to purchase supplies, or rent a landspeeder to get you to Sobrik. From Bin Prime, it would be impossible to travel to Sobrik on foot, though it would be a two and a half day journey via speeder. She gives you a small amount of credits, in the amount of 1500 credits.
Though he doesn't necessarily speak first, Axel suggests they land in Bin Prime. Having a speeder would give the team a little more versatility in ground transport, plus they can use the time in the city to pick up local information and purchase equipment. Besides that, Axel just feels more comfortable in a big city.
Tarros doesn't mind being dropped in the middle of nowhere. He's confident he can keep them fed and get them where they need to go, but defers to the rest of the group.
"I say we go on foot. We can survive the small trip and we would make less noise. I don't want to babysit any speeders we rent and there should still be some supply shops in the ruin's itself. That or Tarros can find us some. I vote walk."
Tarros seems surprised by Vyr's agreement, secretly pleased at the vote of confidence.
Sel aims the freighter at a small clearing a dozen kilometers south of the city ruins. She expertly brings it to a hover a meter above the ground, and lowers the boarding ramp. She passes Vyr a scrap of flimsi, on it is written the frequency to contact via comlink when you need pickup. With a 'K'oyacyi!' she waves you out of the ship, and flies off, to complete her own mission.
The clearing is barren ground with some small boulders littering the ground. There is a crashed speeder in the center of the clearing, and now on the ground, you can see there is a small mountain range to the north, which will need to be traversed to enter the city. It looks like it will take a fair bit longer than your estimated half day to reach the ruins.
"Think we could find something worth salvaging from that?" Anders mutters, looking at the speeder.
"Eh, best to keep moving."
Tarros takes a quick moment to get his bearings before leading the group towards the ruins.
Seeing as Tarros seems to know where they are going, Vyr lets him take the lead. He keeps a look out for anything of note.
"So Tarros, have you done this kind of thing before? The whole get dropped off and told to kick it up a mountain because you seems to know what you are doing."
"Yeah. Sorta did this for a living."
Tarros mentally debates for a moment, but figures that by this point his companions are unlikely to actually be Hutt agents.
"I worked for the Hutts. I'd guide smugglers through rough areas - jungles, swamps, deserts. Y'know, places where you can drop off or pick up some glitterstim without the spaceport authorities knowing. Started off just trying to make some cash on the side, but I got in too deep. Couple weeks ago I walked off the job, right through the rainforest on Phindar." Tarros shrugs. "Hopped a few shuttles till I got to Mandalore. Figured they were one group the Hutts wouldn't touch."
Tarros keeps forging a path as they go, ducking branches and stepping over fallen logs.
"I got pretty good at this stuff. I mean, I was good when they first recruited me. But practice makes you better, and I've got a couple years of doing this under my belt. Don't walk through those plants." Tarros points without looking back. "They'll give you a rash. Walk where I do."
The afternoon wears on as you travel towards the ruins. Just as night begins to fall, you arrive at the base of the mountains. Luckily, Tarros finds what looks like an ancient tunnel hewn into the rock, traveling in the direction of the city ruins. Starting from several miles off, there are the remains of ancient rails, used for transporting large quantities of material to the city for droid production. Around a mile from the tunnel, which is quite large and can be seen from several miles away, Vyr spots movement around the tunnel mouth, and brings the party to a temporary halt.
Tarros looks for somewhere to hide and pulls out his electrobinoculars.
Anders pulls out his Assault Blaster, and looks for cover.
'Where Contact?' He signs silently.
Tarros sees a group of figures clustered around the tunnel mouth. He counts 6 figures, all armed, with a 7th manning a small assault cannon. They are likely members of one of the multiple raider gangs that frequent the area. While scanning the area, he also sees what might be a route up the cliff face, though it is little more than a goat path, and would be perilous to climb, however, under the cover of night, reaching it would be an easy possibility, though scaling it at night carries its own set of risks.
Tarros relays the information to his team. "We're outnumbered, and they have a big gun. That's a bad idea to attack, right?"
"Yes, bad idea. Unless we had some grenades or something else to help us even the odds but we don't. Goat path it is then boys. Wait for night and then we will start moving up."
Anders huffs under his breath, but nods reluctantly.
"This is going to suck," He moans quietly.
Axel grumbles about not having a speeder, and why they should have landed in the spaceport, and why couldn't they land closer, and how if they had a few more boys they could take 'em in an ambush. But in the end he sees that in their current predicament, climbing under cover of night is likely the best option, if somewhat dangerous and uncomfortable.
"Okay. Wait for night then? Maybe we should get some distance and rest so we're ready to go later."
"Good idea Tarros. Find a place to camp and we will wait for night fall. We will make our move then. Avoidance is most likely our best tactic here."
Tarros goes to find a good spot, some distance away from the bad guys.
"Do we even know if they're bad guys?" Anders mutters quietly as he follows Tarros and Vyr.
"Do we even know if they're bad guys?" Anders mutters quietly as he follows Tarros and Vyr.
"Do you want to go ask them?'
"They're probably a raider gang. Weren't mentioned in the official guide, but if you look in the right places you can find out what really happens on a planet. Been lots of manufacturing here for millenia, so lots of parts lying around."
"Kriff this for a game of Bolo," Anders curses darkly.
"Alright, now what? We wait?" Anders asks with frustration suffusing his voice.
"Yeah. Until dark, at least."
Night falls, and the guard around the tunnel changes. The day guard of 7 leaves, and a smaller group of 4 replaces them. The day guard heads to a small camp a small distance east of the tunnel entrance. As you carefully make your way towards the cliff face, you can see that there is no longer anyone operating the turret, and the guards are spending just as much time watching the inside of the tunnel, as the approach. When you arrive at the path, you can see that it is very treacherous indeed, being barely half a meter wide, and ascending for the first 15 meters at a slope of around 60 degrees off the ground.
Now that Tarros is closer, he is less confident of this plan. "That looks pretty tricky to climb. I dunno... maybe we should just try to take out the guards. There are fewer now, and they're not really paying good attention."
Anders takes a few tries to get his approach right, but eventually succeeds.
"Once you get a good approach, it's easy. Here, let me help you: Put your foot there, and the reach for that black rock."
"Wait, I'm an idiot. Hang on a second." Anders pulls out his liquid cable launcher and fires a cable down to the trio below. "You can climb up this. I'll secure it to the rock face up here, give me a moment." Anders uses the contents of his tool kit to secure the rope-like substance to the rock face.
Tarros takes his time and uses Anders' cable.
"Thanks for the rope," he comments. "I'm not so great at climbing. Keep my feet on the ground most of the time."
"Great idea with that rope Anders."
Giving one final look to make sure they haven't been spotted, Axel hauls himself up behind the others.
Once everyone gets safely to the ledge, the ascent can begin. Several minutes later, as you are edging ever upwards, you hear a startled scream from below. If you glance down, you can see that one of the guards has disappeared, and two of the remaining three are firing their blasters madly into the cavernous tunnel. The final guard is struggling haplessly to drag the large cannon around to face into the tunnel. Before he is able to succeed, however, a thin tentacle extends from the tunnel, grabs him, and drags him to his doom. Over the next several seconds, more tentacles reach out and snag the remaining guards. Before long, a large group of men begin rushing from the small camp, to attempt to lend aid to their comrades. Several men glance up at the cliff face while running, spotting the group of you. With a shout of 'Intruders!' a half dozen of the two dozen men snap off a quick couple of shots at you. The shots all hit the cliff harmlessly above your heads, sending small showers of pebbles down on you. Before they fire more, a second shout of 'Get them later!' they all then focus their fire on the tunnel mouth. You are able to finish the ascent just after they kill the thing in the cave, just in time to see several men break off from the larger group, and begin an ascent via the same path you just came up on. You are around half an hour ahead of these first pursuers. At the top of the cliff, a wide, rough path winds its way into the hills to the north, leading more or less to the city of Sobrik.