Torian carefully adjusted the focus on his binocs, a frown slowly crossing his face as he made out the two figures who were leaving the Republic settlement. While he had only seen them a couple times, those times had made the pair quite memorable to him. The Devaronian was recognizable in an instant, mostly due to the fact that there were next to no Devaronians wandering the galaxy with only one horn. This one seemed to be chatting with the figure next to him as they approached the excavation site.

That figure was the one that grabbed Torian's attention. It was Gammon, a bounty hunter who had somehow risen from relatively unknown gun-for-hire to Grand Champion of the Great Hunt. Gammon was a bit of a mystery, no one knew his true identity. When he was talked about in the cantinas, the attention was on his armor, face-obscuring helmet, and oddly metallic voice. There may have been pockets of speculation about who he was and where he came from, but interest in those topics waned with the lack of clear-cut answers.

But what was Gammon doing on Taris? Torian pondered this as he set his binocs aside. Did Mandalore doubt his loyalty? Did his leader think he would turn his back on his adopted clan to join Jicoln? Torian did have a knack for making himself scarce; maybe Mandalore sent his champion and newly adopted clan member to track him down.

"Only one way to find out," he said to himself. He cast a glance at the sniper rifle sitting next to him, then silently put it away. Sniping at the pair would accomplish nothing, and might even give his hiding spot away if the rounds could be traced back to it visually. No, his best option was to go in at close range with a blaster and hope they weren't there to take him out.

Quickly, he packed away his meager supplies before slipping inside the giant doorway leading to the excavation site. As long as he remained quiet and in the shadows, the two intruders wouldn't know he was there until he was practically on top of them. Only then could he find out what was really going on.

He found his way to the main room of the site. Quickly scanning all corners of the room, he discovered the one with the most shadow was just inside and to the right of the doorway, amidst a pile of old excavation scaffolding left behind by the Republic.

He crouched in his hiding place, blaster pistol at the ready. If he really was the target, he wasn't about to go down without a fight.

It was quiet. Way too quiet for Ky's tastes.

From what the Republic captain had told her, this excavation site had been abandoned for a while. While she couldn't pinpoint exactly how long it had been deserted, the condition of the walls and door panels confirmed it to be more than a few months. Still, something wasn't right, a feeling that bothered her as they walked through the facility.

Gault spoke up. "It's too quiet here," he said, perfectly echoing her thoughts. "A site abandoned for as long as this one has been should be full of life. This feels more like a tomb."

Ky nodded. "It doesn't feel right to me, either," she replied, shivering at the cold metallic voice her helmet lent her. In a place like this, that metallic rasp seemed especially creepy. "If this place has been empty for as long as that Republic stooge implied, it would be the perfect nesting site for beasts. Asides from the rust on the walls, this place is clean. No beasts, no traps...nothing. Something is keeping this place clean. Or...someone."

They entered the facility's final room, still not seeing any signs of life. Ky gritted her teeth, glad her frustration was masked by her helmet. "Damn it. Dead end." She approached the computers in the center of the room, Gault following closely behind. "We have to have missed something. Let's retrace our steps and look for clues."

Gault hesitated. "I don't like..." he began. His statement was cut off by the sound of a blaster being drawn. He turned to see Torian approach Ky, blaster in hand. The kid wore a smirk, clearly satisfied at his deception.

"Yep, yep...definitely don't like this," Gault finished his thought. If it weren't for the blaster the kid was pointing at Ky, he would draw his own weapon and open fire. To her credit, Ky stood silently, her back to the young Mandalorian, not saying a word or moving an inch.

She has to know he's standing there with a blaster pointed at the back of her head. Gault thought to himself. What's she waiting for?

Torian couldn't believe his luck. He had been bracing himself for a fight, for some kind of heavy resistance from this famed bounty hunter. He had been hearing stories of Gammon's exploits in the Great Hunt, culminating in their face-to-face meeting at the camp on Dromund Kaas. If the stories were to be believed, this was truly a ruthless hunter who was not to be crossed.

He was admittedly shocked at how wide-open the hunter left himself. If it had been him, he would have kept his eyes up and scanning every corner of the room. He would have walked the room's perimeter until he was satisfied there were no hidden threats. Yet this hunter and his companion strode right into the center of the room; had there been anyone else hidden in the shadows, they would have been easy targets.

As he stood with the gun pointed at the back of the hunter's helmet, he had the vague feeling that something wasn't right. This felt...too easy, like he was being set up. Gammon might not be a Mandalorian by birth, but he wasn't stupid. Being a stupid bounty hunter was a fast path to getting one's self killed. From an outsider's perspective, this was easily the stupidest, sloppiest mistake anyone could make, and Gammon had to know that.

So what was going on?

He had to know. "Thought you'd be harder to get the drop on," he said, smirking slightly. Setup or no, there was still something satisfying about this whole scenario.