That noise, that screeching, it still echoed inside Karash’s head. The EMP had effectively doomed the RAIDERS as their weapons, communication devices and cybernetics had been fried. That noise was what worried Karash the most, the entire squad would have headaches for the next few hours and the recently arrested Whiskey would probably suffer from intermittent loss of hearing for the next few days. However there was something more, something else that was not right, there was something missing.

“I wasn’t planning on it.” Jae replied to a question that Karash has missed.

“Prepare for trouble” Karash mumbled and looked over at Mox and Dusk who were squabbling over something, “And make it double.”

They had no choice but to scramble for some sort of shelter, a cave, that Jae had spotted earlier in the day. Everyone knew that there was something out there and it had the RAIDERS on their knees. The unseen foe was probably watching them, it had probably been watching them since they plunged into the water and it had probably seen Mox being attacked by the big kitty. It was the kid with the magnifying glass and the RAIDERS were the insects slowly being roasted. As they began to march back the way they came, the world around them seemed to change, it looked more sinister now.

“I bet they knew about, I bet they sent us here to find out who they people are.” Mox said to himself, presumable referring to high command.

“Perhaps they sent us to protect this world from devastation? Or perhaps to unite all peoples within this nation?” Karash looked as derisively at Mox as he could.   

Usually the medic would have taken some form of satisfaction out of his meanness but there was nothing; in fact there was not much feeling at all. He felt slightly worried about the squad’s current predicament but there was not fear, no paranoia about his squadmates and no sense of impending doom. There was something wrong, there was something missing from Karash. Not only that but they were being followed and the entire squad knew it.

“For frak sake!” It was once again Mox. “Why can’t he deal with the cybernetics?”

“Because ‘he’ is a medic, not a mechanic.” Karash sneered.

“Most of the squad has cybernetics, what is your job if you can’t deal with them?” Mox was almost as sarcastic as Karash.

“My job is to denounce the evils of truth and love. Not to mention keep little...” The medic was stopped before he launched into a full assault on Mox.

“Alright you two, last thing we need is a cat-fight. We are almost there; keep your eyes open as we don’t know what is around the corner. 

“I suppose, once we have reached our delightful new residence, we will be able to rebuild our weapons, fix all our physical problems, deal with the dissenter and extend our reach to stars above.” Karash almost spat his words.

“I said that is enough, I have already arrested one member of this squad and I won’t hesitate to do it again.” Jaenna boomed and oozed authority.

As the squad once again began moving Karash tried desperately to do something to recover some of his dignity but he just could not. The thing that was missing was becoming ever more obvious to him; the thing that the screeching had taken away from him was his inner voice. The cruel, annoying and distasteful voice that had developed out of his insanity was gone, on the face it this was a good thing but Karash knew what it really meant. That voice acted as a release for his inner emotions, it prevented him from going mad and it prevented other voices from entering his head.

“Whiskey!” Jae shouted, “Heliwer!”

“We are coming, its not easy with her like this.” Heliwer grunted as he rounded a corner.

“It’s not wise to go in there like this; we don’t know what awaits us.” Naast spoke in a growl.

“He is right, we have no weapons and we all know that we are not alone. Going in that cave is madness.” Karash found himself agreeing.

“We are RAIDERS and we can fight off anything that maybe in there without our guns, I believe in us and so should you. We just have a few days to wait.” The SL was becoming rather endearing.

“A few days... RAIDERS Squad, blasting off at the speed of light” The medic mumbled.

‘Karash, surrender now and prepare to fight.’ A deep and cruel voice rang in his ears but it could not be what it sounded like. The voice was dead and Karash had dealt with his problems, that voice would not return, it could not return. Last time it had done such terrible things and he promised that that voice would not be allowed to cause any more harm.

“Father...” Karash whispered in terror.

‘Father, that’s right.’

OOC:

We have reached the cave.... I realise that this post is nothing but CD and might be confusing. Basically Karash is once again criminally insane, if there are problems ask me or just ignore it. Also I have not had time to proof read it so there are probably a few mistakes.

Once the squad entered the cave,Dusk settled into a corner to begin stripping his weapons and arm of parts. 'Fraking New Republic, out of all the time they could have EMP'd us. They chose when were on a planet with some of the most dangerous wild life." He thought angrily. And I was starting to like this arm. He heard Heli fire a burst deeper into the cave. Looking up he saw that the sergant had shot some kindof large rat. "Uggh..." Dusk grownd, "There are rats too?" One was getting alittle close for comfort. Drawing one of his throwing knives, the private impaled the rodent. Jannea looked at him with a slightly confused look. "What, I don't like rats."

With that set aside, Dusk started opening up his arm. His goal was to get the energy core; since it had insalation from the EMP, unlike the rest of the electronics. Opening a small pouch he had on his belt, he pulled out his soldering iron. 'The main power source of it will be destroyed, but I have my arms power cell. He popped the cell out and modified it so he could attatch the power cell when needed. He fashoned a small metal spear about four and a half feet long from the barrles of his two EE-3's and the spear tip he got from the many throwing knives he had. It had wires running along the inside with a triger on the grip to activate the power cell on the end. "Hmm..." Dusk sounded satisfied with himself, "It's like a cude force-pike."

Mox and Naast returned with large lizard on the new guy's shoulders and Max carrying a large leaf that appeared to have fruits and some herbs. "Yes, Meat. And not just they mystery meat they have in ration packs." Dusk called extaticly.

"Calm down, it still needs to be prepared." Jannea said.

"Well now that I have a warm meal waiting for me, I'm going to check out whats deeper in the cave." Saying this, the private quickly fashoned a torch from part of the jump suit worn under his armor (Which he had taken the chest plate and arms off to gain access to his cybernetic arm) and some rubbing achohol from Karash.

Lighting it with his lighter, Dusk went into the darkness. He didn't see much for the first few minutes other than rats, but than he heard a faint trickling. Heading toward the source, the private found a large pool of water, it's reflective surface bounced the torch light around the large cavern. Kneeling by the water's edge he cupped some in his hand. "It's cold, this must be an underground spring. Which meens it's safe to drink." He said to himself as he filled his canteen with the cool elixer of life. He drank a few mouth fulls before retuning to the rest of the squad.

Coming back to the entrance of the cave system he was met by the scent of cooked lizard meat. Mox handed Dusk some of the meat on a leaf. Walking over to Jannea the private said, "I found an undergrownd spring. It's safe to drink and not far away. I marked the cave wall with a long scratch on my way back." He dropped down next to the partially dismantled equipment and tossed the dull throwing knife into his small scrap pile. Quickly eating the cooked lizard and drinking some water, Dusk leaned against the wall, closed his eyes and slept with his crude weapon at his side.

OOC:

WC: 600

Frustration, worry, anger... fear.

It was a cocktail of sheer danger, especially when mixed inside the mind of the woman that sat with her back against the wall of the cave. Her eyes were cut into daggers, glaring down at the arm that was now useless. She had removed it since the broken and damaged electronic nerves were causing her pain, but now she hated that she had taken it off. That mixture of emotions surging forth and screaming at her to react the way she normally would. If this were any other time, the woman might have picked up her useless cybernetic and started to swing it about while yelling like a banshee as she attacked anyone who came near her.

Luckily, this wasn't one of those times.

Rather than the heading towards the angry side of the spectrum, she had completely withdrawn into herself. She continued to stare at the arm in front of her, though she wasn't seeing. She was just... looking on and on and into nothingness as her mind continued to twist and turn, rolling itself in the field of worries and fears that had sprouted since the beginning of this dammed mission. Not even the smell of the food that they had apparently found brought her out of her trance like state.

"Jae, come eat something." At first the voice had fallen on deaf ears, the Squad Leader not looking up, not moving, just continuing to blankly stare at her useless cybernetic. "Hey! Jae! Food!" The voice called out again, it belonged to Mox.

There was a soft grunt, a grumble following the noise. "She's probably too high to move or something."

Heliwer's voice broke through now. "Xy, saying stuff like that isn't really smart right now..."

"You think I care? Look at me!"

"Shut up, Private." Finally, Jae had found her voice, and apparently daggers as well considering the look she was giving the still bound and demoted woman she once thought she could be friendly with. "You have no say in this, you have no voice, you have no respect, you have no discipline. You will remain silent unless spoken to," Jae stood then, kicking her arm to the side as she took a step towards Whiskey, her eyes cutting into even harder daggers, "you will not move unless you are told, you will not think unless you are told, you will not do anything."

The woman had backed up, pressing herself against the side of the cave, shrinking down into herself, and yet there was still defiance in her eyes. She opened her mouth as if she were about to say something but as Jae took another step closer that thought was gone.

"Am I clear?" The words were a slow and venomous drip from her tongue, a soft growl in the back of her throat as she spoke. Jae waited until Whiskey nodded to step back again and turn to the rest of the squad. Most of whom had blank faces... all but Heliwer. The looked on his face almost pained the Squad Leader, but this was no time for going soft, it was no time for allowing disrespect to run rampant. Jae nodded to him, her eyes softening for only a moment. Hopefully... he would understand why she was being so hard on his girlfriend.

The crackling of the fire that had been built was the only sound filling the cave, the otherwise almost painful silence lasting for a handful of minutes, each one going on to feel like an hour or more. Finally, there was movement, someone shifting against the cave wall. Dusk had rolled over and lifted his head, the fact that he was tired still obvious in the way his eyes were still half-lidded. He gave a grunt and shifted to shit with his back against the cave wall. 

"So... Is there a plan?" His voice was like an explosion through the quiet. If anyone had been anymore on edge that probably would have all winced.

Jae looked over to him from her place at the mouth of the cave. She had been standing there, silently looking out into the darkening wilderness. Now her eyes were on Dusk, calm and soft. "We survive. We have a little more than four days to wait."

"You mean we're just going to sit here?"

The woman nodded. "For now, yes."

Karash chuckled, though the reaction was not from amusement nor was it from the fact that he was enjoying himself in the slightest. "The woman has a plan, gods help us all." The Medic and Slicer had been on the same Squad for years at this point. Both had gone through their own share of trials and challenges, but the good thing that came out of it was a mutual understanding that was... far less than friendly, but much more than just being fellow troopers.

With a chuckle the woman nodded. "I do." She walked over to the fire and took a seat, poking a finger at the cooled reptile meat that had been set out on a leaf for her. She hadn't touched it till now and just poking it as she sifted through her thoughts was enough. "We sit, we wait. They'll come to us. We fight as best as we can. Chances are we get captured-"

"What? You want us to get captured?" Mox spoke up, a bit of meat hanging from the corner of his mouth.

"If they had wanted to kill us, they would have already. We've gotten out of prisons before, so I'm not worried about that. Even with no tech I'm sure we'll be fine." She took a breath, running her hand through her hair, her sea-foam eyes glancing over to the area of the cave where her useless cybernetic was laying in a lifeless heap. "I'm sure of it..."

There was a grunt then a soft purr that rolled into the few moments of silence. Naast has shifted slightly. "What will do when we get taken?"

"We learn. We keep a mental of record of everything we hear, everything we see. Then we get out, we get to the transport when it gets here and we go. We give the Empire what they'll want to hear." There was a sense of confidence in her voice and yet it still seemed to be bogged down by some sort of worry. She had grown up in the city, her life had revolved around technology, she was a self-proclaimed master Slicer and now they were stuck on a planet with no tech and little to no weapons.

"Are you sure, Jae?" Heliwer spoke up now, his eyes soft as they looked over his Squad Leader.

The woman nodded. "I'm sure. Trust me. Please." At this point survival wasn't the only thing driving her mind. She longed for her Squad to trust and love her again.

The shuttle took off with a high whine, fading into non-existence within seconds. For a long moment, a labored silence hung about the LZ like the calm before the storm. Then, after a few hesitant chirps of unseen life in the dense growth, the sound of the forest resumed its usual cacophony, unmindful of the SCOPE’d and armed trooper left in the wake of the noisome machine.

Coad looked about himself, checking the sensors in the suit and the charge pack in the gun. He’d checked them over several times on the transport, of course; he never wanted a re-run of Anteevy to happen, and he was now a huge stickler on the state of the equipment he brought. But a triple check never hurt. He tapped his com and spoke into it, hoping Joamer would make it easy for him.

“Hello hello RAIDERS, Coadster here. What’s your location, over?”

He let ten seconds pass by before trying again. “RAIDERS, HQ sent me to join up with you. What’s your location, over?”

Nothing but static answered him. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. That’s the RAIDERS for you. Sighing, he adjusted the strap to his rifle and began trudging through the forest, sending out a message every few minutes. For a while he headed toward the sun, high in the sky and filtered through the dense forest cover. The detritus that covered the floor hid gnarled roots that threatened to trip every unwary foot, and simply keeping from injuring himself was a full-time effort for his brain. Well, almost full time.

As he walked his mind dwelled on the rather shameful report he had to submit about Calan. Escaped and on the loose, with no other trace than the ID number of the ship he left on. The bar room incident; setting fire to the apartment complex; the failure to both apprehend Forlax or his New Republic contact; it all fell on Cody’s conscience, and ultimately the accumulation of it all ended with the disbanding of Jester Squad. Even if it was until the investigation on the incident was over, it was the failure to keep it from ending the way it did that ate Coad up inside. As he had done every day since, he swallowed the feelings and tried to focus on what he had to do, which at this point was to keep from twisting his ankles.

By the time he reached the high cliff face, he figured it was more Joamer’s style than threatening a stupid injury in the middle of the wilderness. He followed the cliff looking for a suitable spot, and came across the spot where someone must’ve obviously set up camp. The face overlooking the site was slightly less sheer, and a rope still hung down from the top.

“How the hell am I going to get up this thing?” Coad asked aloud, taking his helmet off and sizing up the cliff. While he had some equipment to rappel, he had nothing to climb with and the only things around were a few carabiners and a discarded sock. He looked up to the top of the cliff again, and noticed that something was… moving. He heard an odd barking sound coming from above him, and then something began bouncing down the cliff. And from the clinking noise it made whenever it met rock, it was decidedly metal.

Alarms suddenly going off in his head, Cody sprinted for the forest cover as the can-shaped object finished the last half of its descent to the ground. He threw himself to the floor as whatever it was exploded, a loud pop drowning out everything else, leaving only a high whining in its wake. Bits of dirt and detritus bounced off his SCOPE armor and the trees around him, giving a moment of hail before subsiding entirely. As far as explosives went it was actually quite pitiful, but the intent seemed obvious enough to him.

The high whining didn’t subside though, and for a panicky moment he imagined the pop not being the explosive but his eardrum. Once he brushed the comlink off, though, he realized it was just that: the comlink. The gadget kept its high whine through the howl of whatever it was on the cliff, and through another of the same beast from somewhere in the forest. “Oh hell.”

He scrambled to his feet and flew into the forest, in a different direction than where the returning call came from.  Trees flew by and crawled across his vision as adrenaline pumped through his system. Leaves and the critters underneath flew from his path and another howl pealed, closer now than before. Whatever it was barked again and again, a demonic and impish chuckle that chilled Cody’s spine. He tore through underbrush and crashed through a small stream. The bank was steeper on the other side, and he ran alongside until he could find a footfall to launch himself up. A branch whipped across his face, and suddenly he was tumbling, tumbling down a hill covered in leaves that sounded too much like rattling bones. The barking was incessant, and just behind him.

Desperately he threw himself to his feet, dizziness nearly forcing him back down to the ground. He turned around and brought the rifle up to his face, fighting his spinning vision to focus on where the noise was coming from. The beast was quick, and huge. The mouth seemed impossibly large for the creature, a jaw made of muscle and deadly intention. Powerful legs propelled the beast forward and Cody only had a matter of seconds to fire before the creature bore down on him. A dull click from the trigger was the gun’s only response.

“IKE IKE IKE!” The beast chortled to Cody as it barreled into him with enough force to knock the wind out of him before he hit the ground. They tumbled further down the hill, the creature pinning Cody on his back when they came to a stop. Its teeth were just as unnaturally large as the mouth, seeming to fill its face as the thing’s lips peeled back for the most gruesome smile Cody had ever seen. Its mouth opened wide, and it howled into the air. Cody fumbled at his belt for his combat knife, the sheath’s button proving to be quite the challenge for a man beneath a fearsome predator. He wasn’t fast enough. The creature’s eyes locked on Cody’s, and made for his throat…

“Chuckles, Ho!”

The creature stopped mid-lunge, ears perking and mouth snapping shut. Cody’s heart froze for half a second, and it froze again as the same voice called, “You too, you dog! Quit fiddling with that knife before I send you to the stars above! You hurt my Chuckles here, and I’ll be blasting you at the speed of light, I swear it!”

A shaggy man came into view from behind the big creature, blaster pistol pointed squarely at Coad’s eye. His smile was toothy and smug, with decidedly less teeth than what he started with. He scratched Chuckles behind his ears with his free hand and looked up and down the SCOPE’d soldier with a mixture of pride and contempt.

“Good girl, Chuckles! Split this one from the pack and ran him down, didja? Just like my little hunter!”

Like a young pup, the thing nuzzled the man’s hand and preened under his suddenly warm gaze. It wasn’t nearly as warm as it settled upon Cody again, and for a quick moment under those eyes he wondered if it might’ve been better to have been killed by the beast.

“Well now, my sickly little deer, why don’t you be sport and come with me? The higher-ups want you whole, so won’t you make it easy on me and not make a fuss? …No response, eh? That’s alright; you don’t need to talk to follow orders, pup.”

With a snap of the man’s fingers Chuckles released Cody and leaned on its haunches beside its master. Beyond the two was a hover bike with a cage on the back. As he got up and walked to it with a wave of the blaster pistol, Cody fervently hoped he wasn’t riding with Chuckles.

OOC:

Had a run-in with the friendly folk of the forest. This is happening about the same time the RAIDERS were scouting and before you got hit with an EMP yourselves. Good to be back!

"I think that's acceptable." The smiling man said before he turned away from the captured squad. ”You heard men, don't harm them just make sure that they cooperate.” The man said before walking away.

RAIDERS were surrounded by guards and masiffs on all side. Naast hated these reptilian hound like creatures. Hadn't there been so many of them, his new clan could probably have taken care of them. Jaenna walked first in the squad. Naast noticed that she for once seemed vulnerable. He didn't know if it was for the loss of her cybernetics or her realization of RAIDERS being useless for once.

They walked for what seemed an eternity. The massiffs snarling on all sides with men keeping them in check. Since the moon was out Naast could see almost everything. He saw that the large reptilian, walking at the back of the column, noticed that some of the massiffs had found food that they were eating. Since the large creature obviously was the mightiest and strongest of them all he were the one who should have that meat. So it charged the smaller massiffs.

The large creatures charge was straight through the column oblivious to the chaos it sowed. Naast started sprinting towards the large beast as soon as their captors realized that they had a murderous rancor in their midst. Naast had gotten the idea that the massiffs would be busy being threatened by the larger reptilian that was tearing up everything in its path and then he would make for his escape.

The feline warrior managed to sneak between the legs of the large reptilian and kept running out into the darkness and safety of the forest. He had decided that telling the others what he planed was foolish because they couldn't navigate the forest as well as he could in the darkness so they would be torn up by the massiffs or even worse the rancor.

Naast made a quick advance through the forest. He didn't want to get caught again so he intended to make sure that they couldn't find him. And now he would have the element of surprise. He had kept on running on all four to make sure that his escape was as quick as possible.

“How could we be caught so easily.” The large feline hissed as he ran. Naast stopped mid step and stood straight listening for anything following him. He could not hear anything follow him but since he couldn't be sure he decided that he would keep on running until the sun would rise and then he would find somewhere to rest until he could start planning the rescue of his newly adopted clan.

Naast found this planet to be very beautiful. The forest was built up by large trees where the tallest of them almost seemed to try to connect with the heavens and on the forest floor there were all kinds of flowers some were blooming now when the moon stood it's highest. Because he had not seen them before when the squad had arrived on the planet. The large cat noticed that it had a lot of nocturnal animals. He managed to catch one of them when he ran. It looked like a rabbit but something was off with its colour. But he had no time to think of that right now so he stood up on his back paws and kept on running while eating the creature.

It tasted great. Sure it was quite crude to eat an animal raw but it was not like he had not done it before and sometimes a prey tasted better while the meat was still raw and the blood made sure that he did not need to drink right now, which meant he could focus on running.

Naast ran until the sun rose. The sky seemed pink as the sun peeked over the horizon. He started to feel very exhausted, so he decided to try and find cover for the day. When he was about to stop and see if he could locate a suitable place to rest. A large cat like creature hissed and dropped down behind him, the creature had four eyes and a big mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. Naast realized that he had stumbled into the cat's litter. He also understood that he would have a place to rest if he won this fight to the death.

The creature made a lightning fast lunge for his body. One of its clawed paws landed on his plated chest almost ripping through the plastoid. Naast hissed a challenge to the cat that it could not refuse. It lunged again but this time he was prepared. He stepped aside as it came flying past him but he landed a paw on the beast, drawing blood. The two combatants were circling each other, this time the feline warrior was the first one to strike. He jumped towards the creature trying to land a solid hit on it but it seemed to be out of reach the whole time. Naast gave up his attack understanding that he could only hit when the creature attacked him.

“Come on then!” He goaded the nexu. It could not have accepted his invitation any quicker, launching itself at him. He decided to stay his ground this time. The two cats fell into a great tumble, claws digging into both contestants. Fortunately the armor was protecting him still but he still got a few scratch marks on his face. He could feel the warm blood running down into his coat. But now his opponent was within his reach so he fell into his most primal and brutal instincts because this was not a fight that both contestants would walk out of.

Naast managed to throw the great cat unto its back. He lunged himself towards the soft belly of the beast. He managed to get to the belly with a clawed paw as soon as he felt the warmth of the other creature's blood on his paw he started to claw at the stomach furiously. Soon enough the nexu had no fight left in him and then Naast slit its throat with a sweep of his paw.

He had walked victorious out of the fight with a deadly opponent and it felt great to know that he was the better killer. He also realized that he now had food for when he woke up. Naast dragged the corpse into the large cat's hiding place and fell asleep as soon as the creature was out of sight. His stormtrooper armor scarred and bloodied.

OOC:

If something is wrong pm me and I will edit it.

The bars of Cody’s cage were thick, made to withstand much more ferocity than he could possibly muster. The floor was cold and damp, the food was cold and damp, and the air seemed to hold much of the same attributes. The only warm things in the vicinity were his new neighbors, and he had a feeling the Massiffs would rather bury their noses in his gut than cuddle. The other cages flanked him on three sides, and to the front was a walkway for the trainers to use. That, and his new jailer Jed, who’d been the man to hunt him down and capture him.

Jed sat easily in a sturdy chair, at first gloating over his enemy’s capture, and now reminiscing about his life. Coad couldn’t care less about the man’s social life in school or how his parents really weren’t there; in fact, he’d rather just throttle the man and make for an escape. But he knew if the man was at ease with him, he’d be less inclined to simply feed him to the exotic animals that surrounded him. So he nodded when the man looked at him, and let the gab flow through his host.

“I wasn’t always a trainer ya know,” Jed continued, looking up at the fluorescent bulb as nostalgia pulled him in again. “Been lots of things before I found my passion. As most people are oft to do, of course, but first I thought I was going to be a bounty hunter. I got a quick wit and a knack for sniffing what I’m tracking down, and the pay was a pull, I won’t lie.”

He raised his eyebrows and smirked at his own joke, and Cody gave a small one in turn before the man’s attention was back on the shining light before him. “Follow a lead, give a good chase, then end with them in binds and gift-wrapped for the client’s pleasure. Ah, they were good times, and as you can tell, I’m still damned good at it.”

Cody thought about mentioning the fact that Chuckles did most of it just to see that sleazy smirk disappear, but those frosty eyes dared him, and he decided to bite his tongue. After a moment of silence, a look of disappointment passed across Jed’s face, but he leaned back and continued all the same.

“But you know what I didn’t like about it? It was too… easy. You’d think, with the fact that a single city might contain half a million people, that it’d be tough to find someone in that sort of crowd. But they just leave just a wide path in their way you’d think they were inviting you to slap on the cuffs. It wasn’t the physical stuff that’d do them in most of the time. No, no, it was the paper trail. Visas and  credits and receipts and signatures. One time, it was a painting that did my prey in.”

He gave a mirthless laugh at that, tracking the person down in the fluorescent bulb.

“You see, I’m a man of talent, and I want to be the best. Bounty hunting’s a damned good life, but there are a few hunters at the top that truly cannot be topped. It was a dead end for someone like me, but it was certainly an interesting gateway into what I do now. You see, one client didn’t want me to find a Ms. Jones of Alderaan or drag Squizzgar Rudderthroat from Pisswater Delta. He wanted me… to track down his pet [alien] that had escaped and was now somewhere in the city.

“Can you believe that? A five star bounty hunter, and this man hired me to find an animal. I was mad at first, and I only took the money because it was good. ‘What a waste of my talent,’ I’d thought then, but truly it was the most difficult, the most exciting chase I’d ever had. Even in the nervous system of civilization, no one seemed to notice a four hundred pound man-eater in their midst. And unlike the most careful people in the universe, there was truly no paper trail to find. So I went out on foot, and I looked in alleys, under trash receptacles and even hunted through a decrepit building or two. When I finally found it, it was strong and healthy, in a burrow it had made beside a closed restaurant. The truth is, if you turned any city upside down and shook it, you’d have enough exotic wildlife to fill a zoo. And each animal is craftier than the last, though none came close to that vicious animal. From that day to this one, I carry the fact that every animal is better than those that can think.

“We can build monuments, move mountains and zip through space, but compared to any beast you’ll see in here, we’re just prey flexing our muscles behind a glasteel case. And in their strength I found my calling: to serve and be served by the best that nature has to offer. I give discipline, structure and love to those that may have been killed at the first sign of ferocity, and in turn I get obedience, warmth and love. And so here I am, pup. Here to not just be the best, but to command and train the best better than anyone else alive. It’s why I was picked up by Tekcor, why I’m in charge of taking care of all these lovely animals that need caring for.”

Jed eased himself back against his chair, having at some point stood up and paced. He opened his mouth to continue when his com beeped quietly in his ear. After a few long moments of someone presumably talking on the other end, he tapped it and said, “Alright, bring them to the Holding Center, they can share a cage with the other prey until we know what to do with them.” He got up without looking at Cody and walked off toward the entrance. “Make sure to get the hurt ones to the infirmary… I know they’re useless now, but we need to get a copy of their genes before…”

His voice echoed in the cement building, and as Jed walked further away the noise blanketed the words in a discernible mess before fading completely. In a few minutes Jed was back, escorting an armor-stripped and weaponless group of RAIDERS. Coad’s heart swelled at seeing his old friends again, whole and alive, but after the surprise in their faces flashed, there was a sudden feeling of dread that sunk into his chest.

There’s no one to help us this time, He thought as he gave a wan smile to the squad he’d known before. Joamer wasn’t with them, he noticed, and the odd way most were walking worried him. The squad… his squad seemed to have had a much worse time than he, and a sense of doom seemed to press against them. He locked eyes with Jae, and she only shrugged. Well, with one of her shoulders, at least. “Well, my pups,” Jed said through tightly clenched teeth as he locked the cage behind the new arrivals. “You’ll be here until command decides what to do with you. And if they give me leave on you, you’ll be here a lot longer than you’ll expect or want. A hole in the gut might take days to kill, after all.”

Jed's demeanor was tight and angry, when only minutes before he'd been full of triumph. Cody wondered for a moment what had happened, but it all became clear as he spotted the large collar held in Jed’s hand. Jed stomped off, the big brass tag bouncing and jangling against his leg and shining as the white light from above caught it. It’s insignia made Cody’s heart skip a beat and give a greater force to the sudden hopelessness surrounding him, a single word that caused no smiles or laughter.

Chuckles.

The sudden news of the new ASL struck Dusk like a charging wampa. 'What!?! Coadster, ASL. I heard he was ASL in Jester, but I thought they had to be false. I've been in the Corps for a little more than a year and the little prick's been here for about eight months. He's lance corporal and ASL while I'm still a private.' Dusk scowled at Coad. 'I may not deserve the job but he sure doesn't over Heliwer or Karash.' He disregarded what Jaenna was saying, 'Most likely her not having spice in the past three minutes.' Everyone was silent when the door burst open. "You gorram idiots! Now how do you expect my pretties to have any fun?!" Some woman yelled as she burst in. Dusk looked at her face to see an evil smirk. "You little rats were supposed to be toys. But... poor Rocket can't play with toys that are all in the chest, can he?"

          *                              *                            *

RAIDERS squad had been pushed, shoved, and prodded along like cattle. Dusk didn't struggle much, he assumed he would need his strength for whatever was in store for the squad next. They passed windows looking down on pens with a conglomerate of bizarre creatures, some Dusk recognized... others he did not. They were marched onto a large metal disk encased in a transparasteel dome. They could see all of the cavernous room. At the far end was the largest cage, it was also the most fortified. He heard the roar of a bull rancor. The guards removed themselves from the platform and sealed the lock behind them. As the squad looked around quizzically the platform started to rise and a hole opened above them. As the exited the cavern, the found themselves back in the forest. A speaker hissed than squealed.

"Hello vermine, as you may be wondering. I am Vanni, leader of this fine facility. In a few moments the dome will slide open and you will be free. Well, not free entirely your trapped by a large ring of mountains and if that's not enough, we placed a ray shield just before the mountains." Vanni chuckled, "And you have no need to fret about your little lost kitty, we herded him here. So, all of you are going to be part of a little 'Experiment'; you will be the prey to our large collection of pets we have here at our humble facility. Good luck." The deranged woman laughed and cut off the speakers.

The squad looked at each other, Heli had Whiskey on his back. The moments that passed felt like years, then the dome snapped open along with multiple opening in the cliff behind them. "RUN!" Dusk yelled. The squad burst from were they stood, barking and growling soon followed. There was about twenty feet between the squad and any form of cover. Dusk poured all he had into running, as he hit the tree line he quickly grabbed a long, straight stick of the ground. The group seemed to be loosing the animals behind them; then they hit the cliff. Dusk smacked Karash in the chest to stop him from going over. The ravine was a jagged scar in the middle of the forest, it had rocks jutting from the sides and he saw no way for them to cross. He looked over the chasm to the other side, Dusk had one thought. "I got a bad feeling about this."

OOC:

WC: 666
So we've been released and have almost immediately fallen to our deaths.

What before had been an eerie calm had now erupted into a burst of adrenaline. Being chased wasn't something that was foreign to the woman, and yet this time it felt different. It was carnal, feral, a true fight for life. The more the thought rampaged through her head as she felt her feet stomp upon the ground, her chest heaving with each breath she took. It was odd... the feeling she had as she ran, the corners of her eyes just barely catching her fellow troopers as they too ran for their lives. Something was making her heart beat faster and faster, something was making her mind jump and flip and tumble about, screaming at her to keep moving faster and faster and to not look back! It was something she had only truly felt a few times, and each time it had been difficult to give in to what that feeling really was. There wasn't only adrenaline rushing through her veins.

There was fear.

A shriek, sounding almost misplaced as it flew from between her normally stoic or scowling lips, lifted into the air as she did the one thing her mind begged her not to do: she looked back. Tendrils of drool hung from the starving jowls of each candid like beast that raced towards them. Their eyes narrowed in a determined hunger, muscles flexing with each bounding leap they took that brought them closer and closer to the group of running troopers. The image of fear painted itself clearer and clearer in the one-eyed, one-armed woman's mind as she finally tore her gaze away from the beasts and looked forward again, only to gasp as she the ground in front of them seemed to drop out of existence.

Skidding to a stop was more than difficult, and for more than a few moments, the woman felt as though she was doomed to fall over the edge. The loss of her cybernetic arm had finally decided to show it's first disadvantage. She fought for balance, her left arm winging wildly as she growled to herself, time seemingly slowed as she was forced to stare over the edge and straight down as her body had tipped forward a little more than she would have liked. Her sight blurred for a millisecond, after images streaking across her vision as she felt like the world was spinning on its side. Finally, she caught her balance, or she thought she did, and she was suddenly standing up right again, the world moving at its normal speed.

The tightened grip on her right shoulder made her realize that it wasn't her who had righted her balance. With a quick gasp she turned and managed only a feeble smile at Coadster before a howl broke through her mind again.

That fear, that feral fear that was still so foreign to Jae's mind screeched with a ferocity that made the woman want to crumble over and die. It wasn't new, but it wasn't old. She was so unused to such a feeling of utter ripping that she had no idea what to do. Milliseconds passed as she fought her mind, beating it to a pulp as she tried to think of what to do. For a moment, she turned to look over the edge of the cliff and down into the twisting nether of the ravine. "Follow." The word was a whisper against the raging voice of the fear that continued to pound her brain.

"What?!" The shout of confusion burst forth from one of the other troopers.

The Squad Leader didn't care who had questioned, she simply continued to look down, sea-foam eye wide as it traced the thing trickle of a stream below. "Follow my lead!" Her voice had cracked as the fear that continue to rampage seemed to kick her voice, almost completely stifling the normally confidant bravado that was constantly evident.

"Where?! Follow where?!" Once again, the voice wasn't put to a face.

"Just do it!" The milliseconds were counting down, the howling, the barking, the growling and snarling was getting closer. Finally, Jae had decided it was the time to do what she hoped the others would be able to do. Though, she had doubts of her own ability... given the fact that she would have to achieve this with only one arm. Five... four... Her mind began to count down, her hand shaking and her fingers twitching. Three... two... She could hear the others mumbling and panting. One!

With a sudden intake of breath, she reached down and dug her hand into the ground, gripping onto whatever she could. Despite them having come to a cliff, the robust nature of the planet had given the ground plenty of roots for her to scramble to hold onto. With a thrust, she swung her body over the edge of the cliff, grunting as she felt her body weight tear against her hand, cutting the flesh and bringing tears to her eyes. Another grunt and she twisted her body to slam her boots against the side of the cliff, shouting out in the pain as she felt the true pressure and pain of her weight against her only shoulder. Again she shouted, biting her lip to the point of drawing blood. A final grunt and she righted herself against the edge of the cliff, looking up just in time to see that the candid beast that had targeted her had done exactly what she had hoped it would...

The beast attempted to skid to a stop. Its great paws kicking up dirt, drool flying about it frantically tried to catch its bearing. Yet, within another moment, its body went over the edge of the cliff, howling as it fell to its doom.

Panting, the woman looked up and to her sides, waiting to see other beasts fall over the edge. Hoping more to see that her troopers had caught on and had been able to do what she had done. She hadn't had time to give instruction, to explain anything! If her eye caught any sight of a RAIDER falling to their death, she wasn't sure if she would be able to hold onto the roots that continued to cut into her hand any longer. The pain was immense, she could smell the blood pouring from her palm, she could taste the tears that had betrayed her and decided to stream down her cheeks. No... it wasn't just the pain that caused the tears.

It was the fear.

OOC:

Yeah so, if no one understood what just happened, basically Jae dug her hand into the dirt and grabbed some roots and flung over the edge of the cliff to hang there JUST before the hound got to her, causing the hound to falter and go over the edge itself. Any questions, just ask :3

The moist breath of the beasts could almost be felt on the back of his legs; they were certainly gaining on the small group. Any moment now the dogs would catch their prey and the RAIDERS would be ripped to shreds, Karash had always thought that the group would die in a pool of their own blood but he had hoped it would not be in such a gruesome fashion. He could also feel the beasts’ jagged teeth tearing into his flesh.

‘Stop you fool!’

The voice in the medic’s head seemed to scream but it was too late, he had not noticed the fact that a large ravine was just a few feet away from him. Once again he had allowed himself to become wrapped up in his own thought but this time his luck had run out, there was nowhere to go but down. Karash closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable to occur, the thud as every one of his bones smashed and innards burst across the cold stone floor that lay at the bottom of the ravine.

‘Never could think of anything but yourself, you pathetic little twerp!’ The last voice that Karash would hear would be his father’s that was the cruellest of all the tricks the universe had played on him.

But, there always seemed to be a ‘but’, the medic was granted a last second reprieve. That reprieve came in the form of Dusk and his one available hand, it smacked into Karash with quite a force. He was certain that something popped out of place however that was insignificant when compared with the fact that he would not fall to his death, he had once again been spared.

‘Instead of falling to your death, you will be mauled by one of the doggies... because that is much better.’

“Follow my lead!” Jaenna shouted.

The Squad Leader dug into the ground and grabbed hold of whatever she could and flung herself off the side of the cliff, she was far braver than Karash ever could be. He clung on to whatever he could get hold of but something was stopping him from going over the edge; there were too many questions and uncertainties. Would the supports hold? Where would they go afterwards? What if only one or two of the group survived? That was the worse possibility of all, watching all his squad-mates fall to their deaths whilst he survived.

The time had come, it was now or never. The yellow tinge of the dogs eyes could clearly be seen, its tongue wagged in the breeze, its mouth foamed in anticipation of food and the beast leapt into the air with an almighty roar. That roar turned into a howl and the howl turned into a yelp and the yelp turned into a whimper and finally the whimper turned into silence as the beast fell hundreds of feet. Karash had thrown himself into nothingness and survived. This scene was repeated several times as all the dogs jumped to their deaths; their last hunt had ended in disaster.

‘Saved by your own fear and pity, you should just let go now and give the rest of those ingrates a chance of survival.’

His father was right Karash was only alive because of his own cowardice. It would be better for the entire squad if he let go and fell to his death with the dogs, at the very least they had done what they were meant too. He began to loosen his grip on the feeble lines supporting him but before he finally let go Karash looked around at the RAIDERS. They had all made it, just as they always did. Now it was time to go.

“Karash down here” Jae ordered.

‘Do it!’ His father’s orders seemed more harsh and severe; Karash could picture the cruel face that would force them out through clenched teeth.

“Karash!” The SL’s voice seemed desperate and slightly pathetic.

It was only as he began to swing to the ledge that Jaenna and the rest of the squad were on that he realised his arms were moaning in agony, they had been under a great strain for a little while by this point. As Karash landed on the ledge, he tried to keep his balance but ended up flat on his backside.

“What do you people need now?” Karash tried to repress the desire to weep but his voice sounded shaken. He quickly noticed that Jaenna’s surviving arm was soaked with blood, “There is nothing I can do for that, just apply pressure and don’t lift anything heavy.” All of his medical equipment had been taken by the squad’s former captors.

Looking up Karash noticed that Dusk was the only RAIDERS not present. Looking up even further revealed that Dusk was still dangling over the ravine; he managed to catch the Private’s eye and motion for him to swing down. However it was quickly apparent that Dusk was not in the best of shape, as he swung down he smacked his head and knocked his self out.

‘Same problem with the hand as Jae, nothing can be down about the claw marks but they are minor, a slight concussion probably...’ 

As the medic continued his diagnosis the trooper awoke and tried to get up, Dusk was visibly dizzy but he still attempted to get to his feet. For a moment Karash watched him squirm but guilt quickly forced him to help the concussed trooper to his feet. Despite protests from the medic Dusk made his way over to Jaenna.

“Sure don’t bother listening to me, what do I know? I have only saved more members of this squad than any of you could ever hope to know.” Karash’s voice oozed sarcasm.

“You think I need any medical treatment?” Mox spoke, achieving a giggle from Coadster.

“No, you need to a short course of psychological treatment followed by an intense course of euthanasia.” The medic did not ever look at Mox, though he was slightly happy with the audible laugh that came from Coadster.

The cave the squad found themselves in could not be stayed in for long, they were being hunted and the hunters would know where they were, not to mention the fact they would be annoyed by the loss of their pets. If they had not had to flee, the cave would have been a very reasonable place to shelter.

“I hate to drag you out of this cycle of self-pity,” Karash spoke as he made his way over to Jae and Dusk “but we need to get moving.”

For a moment there were visible signs of anger on the squad leader’s face but these quickly dissolved, “Right, I don’t know what these people are up to but we are going to find out. First we have got to try and find Naast.”

Recovering her air of authority Jae moved off and lead the squad, though it was still clear that recent events had disturbed her greatly.   

‘I don’t know how you manage to survive every time, not that I care.’ The usual voice of sarcasm and insanity was once again occupying Karash’s mind. Though the spectre of his father still lurked deep within his mind and it was laughing. Laughing at the control it still had over Karash.

OOC:

I apologise for the length but I had trouble starting and then I had trouble stopping. Also apologies but I have not proof read so their might be a few mistakes.

“Frakkin’ roots… no good for anything…”

The mini-lighter glowed brilliantly in the dark of the cave, but the roots that hung from the ceiling at the entrance were still alive, no good for anything except smoke. Cody gave the lighter back to Jae for a moment, and racked his brain for something. Lighting stuff on fire was the easy part, of course; it was getting it to stay lit that was the problem.

He thought back to the survival techniques he was taught in training, but nothing came to mind. A shred of an old holovid came to mind then; the name escaped him, but in the clip the hero, after falling into a cavern, takes a long leg bone from the floor and wraps a large piece of his undershirt around it. From his backpack he pulled a bottle of wine he’d been saving and soaked the cloth end in it. It burned for the entirety of his trek through the tunnel, and though it may have been a little bit of vid magic he was willing to bet one of his teammates’ dead cybernetics that the fuel was important.

“Gah, does anyone have any sort of… I don’t know, I need something flammable…”

He racked his brain and checked his belt for anything; the only thing that seemed likely to work was the small dispenser of gun lubricant he’d brought in case the humidity got to his blaster. Pretty useless now, and there’s definitely enough here anyway… Regardless of its potential he put it aside. Though by far the most down of the group at the moment, Heliwer approached Coadster with heavy steps and revealed a silver flask that sloshed heavily.

“Hey, that oughtta work well enough,” Coad said, giving him a weak smile. He wouldn’t have minded a drink to calm his nerves, but if there was one thing he knew about alcohol besides its tendency to give headaches, it was that it was flammable. Cody reached out for the flask, and after a good swig Heliwer relinquished the container. “Thank you, sir! Let’s just hope this works, eh?”

There was no returned smile, but then he didn’t expect one in the situation. Heli was a comrade and probably closer to a friend than the others, but booze always seemed to come to his lips when a bit of courage was needed. And they’d just lost Xy. Sighing to himself, he returned to his work with the torch and stripped off his armor and removed the black shirt underneath. “Need something to burn,” he said to the squad. He looked about for his combat knife before remembering it had been taken by the Tekcor animal trainer. He resigned himself to tearing his shirt with hands and teeth. Two long strips he made, and after finding and breaking away a suitably hefty root to use as the handle he wrapped the thickest end with one of them. He was about to double up on the torch size, when he considered how well the alcohol might actually work.

“Hey, could someone cut me another good root for me? I’m gonna try to make a second one.”

Mox and Dusk nodded and went to it. Cody unscrewed the top to the flask again, and fighting the temptation to take a sip he poured the whiskey onto the cloth, slowly enough for the material to soak it all up. By the time Mox came back with a good root, the booze had been drunk up by the shirt like an alcoholic at a cantina; there was nothing left for a second one. Cursing himself silently for not saving any, he turned his attention again to the gun lubricant. “Hey, does anyone else have any oil or anything? It’s not like we’ll be using our guns any time soon.”

Pockets were rummaged, and in the end two more canisters surfaced. It wasn’t enough to soak it like the other torch. Oh well; he’d make do with what he could. He emptied all the containers on the un-seasoned cloth, trying to get it evenly spread all around the fodder end. After that he nodded in satisfaction. If they didn’t get out of the cave, at least they’d get far enough to lost before being eaten.

“Time to get going?” Jae said, pushing his shoulderpads down as he struggled to get his chestplate back on. He nodded, and offered the alcohol-soaked torch head to Jae. The small flame from her mini-lighter grazed the cloth, then bright blue filled Cody’s vision. The torch burned merrily and banished the dark of the cave, replacing it with brilliant blue hues instead.

“Damn Heliwer, you don’t skimp on the good stuff, do you?” Coad said, fascinated by the blaze. And though they were heading underground with little hope of resurfacing, being chased by hellish hounds and trapped on the forest-laden planet with little company but Tekcor, the light lifted his spirits considerably. If I could go out in a blaze like this, I’d die happy.

“Alright, let’s get going. I don’t know how long this thing’s going to last, and we’ve only got one back-up and no idea where we’re heading. Let’s stick close, and try not to split up.”

The group formed up and shambled forward into the cave, a motley crew of broken forms, heading into the darkness under a beacon of blue.

OOC:

Alright, admittedly not much happened. But we're heading on in with shiny new torches! Should be a fun ol' time in the spooky ol' cave! We shouldn't hit anything immediately, but suspense is always nice! ;P

Vanni's nose curled as she inhaled the anti-pheromone spray that Jak insisted she put on if she was going to watch the Mastiff's close in on their pray. Rocket was somewhere in the jungle enjoying his romp, she knew that the rancor would avoid Delver's Cave. When Tekcor first arrived on Rhanda they spent the better part of a very boring year doing surveys and construction. Vanni would ride rocket and do her own explorations of their new home. She accidentally caused the demise of several members of the survey team that way.

Delver's Cave was an original location for one of their testing grounds for things like night vision enhancements and memory in the higher functioning creatures. For some reason she never quite understood, Rocket would never go near the place. It had been explored by countless teams and deemed to have too high a concentration of carbon monoxide in certain areas to be cost effective.

Still, that never explained Rockets reaction to the place but Vanni didn't really care. She stood with her hair blowing from an air pocket on the outcropping that would have been the observation room had they ever built it. The cliff gave her an excellent view of the darkened cavern below.

Eight specs of white armor moved with a tired bravado amid the rocks. Vanni smiled and leaned against a particularly convenient rock formation. Her hand motioned behind her and a drink appeared much to the older womans satisfaction.

“The massiff's are doubling back now, they are slightly out of breath which should decrease their effectiveness but I don't anticipate...”

“By the Gods, Gwen get Jak a drink too. He's boring me.”

Their tones were hushed but audible and sent whispers bouncing off the cliff walls. Gwen stood behind her with a datapad taking notes on the animal's speeds and locations. Since this was being used as a training exercise the girl was making her best effort to note anything that would be considered research.  Vanni was in it for the entertainment though, a fact that angered Jak to no end.

A thin, sinister smile slithered onto Vanni's face as she turned back towards the white specs. “So our little test subjects have Massiff's in front of them, and Rocket waiting for them should they try to run. Today is going to be a fun day indeed.” She took a long sip from her glass and reached her hand out again.

This time Gwen put macrobinoculars in her palm before glancing at Jak.

As the two of them walked to the cave he mentioned concerns, mostly those of Ianto she gathered. The plan they had to deal with the intruders was indulgent and full of possible holes. Jak hated that Vanni constantly did things for her own amusement rather than for the safety of the company. Someone would be looking for these soldiers, it was just a matter of time. Jak also neglected to inform Vanni of the several tunnels that had been excavated in Delver's Cave that could still be functioning enough to give the troopers a way out of the cave.

He knew his superiors temper and wasn't looking forward to the reaction should that be the outcome of this experiment.

OOC:

Tunnels? Boring? NEVER! So Massiff's to the front, a Rancor to the rear. Somewhere in the dark cave are tunnels built for workers, but if you go too deep there is no breathable air, bring a canary and get er' done folks.