Strask's private harbor, situated a ways away from the civilian fishing docks, looked more like a warehouse on the outside. Gray durasteel walls, slightly rusted, and broken windows high up on the walls. However, armed guards scared away any would be "curious parties." Strask's men let me inside. The submersible was docked in the water, its hatch open as a technician finished working on it. The Bothan grease monkey finished his work and looked over at the entourage that came inside.
"You know how to operate one of these things?" The techie asked of me. I gave him a dry glare from behind my helmet and stepped inside the open cockpit. One man sub.
"Back in a while fellas." I said dryly. After closing the hatch, I took the craft out from the dock, submerged beneath the surface, and headed out to sea.
The underwater trip to the island chain took a little under an hour. The submersible was fast, that was for sure. As I neared the chain, I surfaced the craft and used the periscope to view the islands. Densely wooded, with a few large rock formations that rose into cliffs. Scans revealed the islands on average were 50-60 feet apart. Taking the sub in closer would be risky, so I activated the sub's SDV to get me to shore. Onboard the SDV, I shot the small, torpedo shaped vehicle through the water, until hitting shore. I climbed out of the SDV in several feet of water and did a quick scan. Nothing. I equipped my slug-thrower, and with my other hand pulled the SDV onto the beach, between several trees.
Coastal warfare was different than typical inland battles, made even more complex when it was being fought on islands. Training, and experience, had shown me that over time, fighters engaging in a war over islands began to develop a certain "cabin fever." There were no huge expanses of land to flee or hide to, and if one was lucky, the terrain could allow for ambushes. In this case, my opponent already had a huge advantage over me. He had made these islands his fortress, while the jungle and cliffs were his battlements. While fighting against Revan's forces on Dxun, we Mandalorians had used the dense jungles to our advantage. Now the tables had turned.
Wonderful. I bet my friend is already watching me. I thought dryly. I checked my helmet's uploaded 3-D map of the islands. The chain was shaped like a wide, stretched out crescent, and I had landed on its southern edge. I set checkpoints on the map, and slug-thrower in hand, began heading forward through the jungle.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
A feline like character, perched amongst the jungle canopies, watched from high above as this new character, wearing Mandalorian armour and heavily armed, stalked through his playground. A playground of death.
This new character was certainly not here to play cards, drink ale and share war stories. An agent of his Bothan "friend" no less. Well, this Mandalorian was in for a surprise. Several, in fact. Warriour versus warriour, hunter and hunted, Trianni versus Mandalorian. The former grinned, his sharpened teeth leering as though they had a mind of their own.
The Trianni predator leaped to a nearby tree, and began the hunt against his new foe.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
The jungle liked to play tricks on untrained minds. Shadows where there should be none, things you thought you saw, dozens of life forms around you watching and waiting. None of that mattered. Dxun was more ferocious than this place. There were some creatures that had stalked me, but I scared them away with sonic blasts from my portable emitter. But there was one creature who wouldn't be scared off.
I know you're here I thought to myself. By now, the late afternoon sun had begun to slowly set, leaving few openings in the canopies above for natural light to pour through. As I trekked further, there was light at the end of the trail – the jungle pilfered out as it reached another beach, downhill from my location. I scanned ahead with my helmet, and spotted something – a giant boar. On the beach. Charging me. I aimed my slug-thrower to level the beast, and as it charged up the hill and into the trees, an explosion ripped the terrain in front of me apart. I was thrown onto my back, disoriented. As the smoke cleared, I quickly stood up, wary of the boar and any other creature whose attention was caught.
But I was in the clear. The boar had been caught in the explosion, its body blown apart and now lying dead under a pile of broken trees. I did a quick scan. Some creatures were approaching, and there was something else ahead. Nothing organic. Small energy signatures. I moved ahead, wary, as I investigated the site of the explosion. The blast had erupted not from the canopy, but from the ground. I walked around the blast site, as my scanners detected more energy signatures. Traps. Set by my prey.
IEDs I thought to myself. Clever…my prey was not only cautious, but ready. I traveled ahead, avoiding the charges and heading to the beach down the hill. I set foot on the beach and looked around. The beach was in fact home to a small cove, and just up the beach was an ascending rock formation. I checked my 3-D map. My next checkpoint was just over those rocks. There was still enough daylight, but even without it I had no need to fret. I headed up the beach, and began trekking back and forth across the rocks, eventually making my way to the top of the formation. The top of the formation was narrow, only a few feet wide at least. Still, from this peak I had a full vantage point of everything around me. From here I could fully make out the island chain, from where I began, and as it curved north. The descent down the rock looked only slightly easier, thanks in small part to nooks in the rock face. As I studied the rock face to plan out a descent pattern, a metal slug pierced the ground next to me, sending pieces of rock flying.
Sniper! In an alarmed panic, I moved for cover, but slipped on dry vegetation, collapsed on my stomach, and began tumbling down the rock face. Slugs from the hidden sniper continued peppering around me as I slid down, but ceased as I crashed to the bottom of the rocks and found cover amidst the jungle.
"Sonofabitch…" I grumbled to myself. I slowly stood up, grabbing onto a rock to help myself up. I checked myself…nothing broken. My jetpack, upon closer inspection, was also still in top form. My slug-thrower, which had fallen from my hand, was on the ground next to me. I holstered it, and equipped my rifle instead. When I was ready again, I continued on into the jungle.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
The Trianni watched this spectacle from another rock perch, opposite the one his prey had climbed. His target got off lucky, that was all. The hunter pocketed his remote control, and made a mental note to tinker with the sniper rifle trap. The rifle had to be tilted upwards and to the left slightly. Or he had to redesign the entire system, maybe create a remote that not only fired the rifle, but allowed him to view what the rifle's scope saw, while also being able to move the rifle in a 360 fashion.
Satisfied for the moment, the Trianni left his post, and continued the hunt.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
I had been traversing through the jungles for several hours now, passing check points as the sun finally set. I had activated my helmet's NV to suffice. As usual, I kept the wild life at bay with my portable sonic emitter, and hadn't run into any traps yet since that mess on the rocks. Its as though my prey had ran out of ideas halfway through fortifying the place.
Or he's letting me run wild till I get bored and call the whole thing off I thought to myself. That was a possibility. Or was he now hunting me? Was he on a different island entirely? Was he even here? The possibilities seemed endless as I cycled through them, simultaneously traversing the island. My thoughts had now begun to plague me, annoy me even. He was here. That was all.
Keep it simple stupid was every operative's universal motto. Think too hard and you'd just get yourself killed. Focus on the now, only the mission mattered. I ignored my worries, stashed them in a tiny black box in the back of my mind, and threw away the key. By now I had reached the end of this island, the next one across the sea, a little over 60 feet away. Keep going or call it a night?
I had a bad feeling about it. The water, that is. Going for a dip in the night was about as smart as sticking a fork in an electrical outlet, or more simply slamming your dick in a door. I backed away from the water, and walked back up the beach. As I began back, something pegged on my sensors. Behind me. I swiftly turned around.
And there he was. Standing well over seven feet tall, and armed with a vicious looking vibrosword. The Trianni looked at me intently, motionless and silent. He was ready for a fight. So was I. Enough of this cat and mouse shit. Alright. Let's do this, asshole. I settled on fist and foot, and my prey charged me. As he neared me, he swiped with his sword. I ducked and rolled, coming up alongside him to stab him in the side with my gauntlet shiv. But the blade went right through. My hand went right through. And suddenly my prey disappeared.
A hologram? Clever bugger I thought to myself. My sensors had deceived me. I shook my head, and began once again towards the jungle, wary of the real thing. Till the morrow.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
The Trianni predator watched his latest spectacle from the opposite island, while hidden behind a tree. His holo-projector had succeeded quite well – now he knew his prey's fighting style.
After setting up a sensor nearby to alert him to his prey's presence, the Trianni hightailed it further into the second island. Tomorrow was another day.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
I woke up. It was barely 0600. The sun was still testing the waters as I pulled myself up from the sand. I had found a decent enough spot to sleep a short ways into the jungle, but still close enough to the beach. I checked my kit to make sure everything was accounted for, and when everything was, I set out. I reached the beach, and surveyed the sea once again. It didn't look that deep…still. My jetpack, still functional, came in handy as I shot over the water, landing on the next island.
Too loud. Keep moving. I thought to myself. I had attracted enough attention already. I ran on ahead, past more rock formations and began along the beach. After a while, the sun finally began to take hold over the landscape. After searching the beach for about an hour, my sensors alerted me to something behind me. Again. I quickly spun around, and aimed at my target. I fired my rifle, and naturally, the bolt went right through the hologram. It disappeared.
Going to have to try better than that asshole I thought to myself. Another hologram appeared, this time in the trees uphill. This one had a blaster. I fired, and that hologram disappeared too. For several minutes nothing else appeared. I shook my head and turned around. Fifteen feet in front of me was another hologram. I began walking forward, casually shooting the hologram, causing it to disappear.
This is getting tiring I thought to myself, annoyed. My sensors alerted me to another behind me. I shook my head and kept walking, and was rudely knocked down as a blaster bolt pegged me in the back. My armour deflected the bolt, but I went down regardless. "Fucking asshole…" I cursed under a hushed breath, as I quickly scrambled up. As I turned around, the real Trianni was right there, arm charged back as he swung forward to slug me. My prey managed to connect, and I was sent sprawling backwards.
He wasn't the prey. I was. He always had been, from the moment I arrived till now. Everything I did was watched and monitored by him. This was all a game, and now he was going to finish it. My foe equipped his blaster again, and as he aimed down to shoot me, I already had the jump on him. With my gauntlet lasers, I fired at his weapon hand, destroying the blaster and burning his hand.
The Trianni yelled in pain, and turned to run. I lunged forward to grab him, catching his utility belt instead. My prey kicked wildly at me, but I held on. He broke free and ran off towards the jungle, but I had his belt. As I stood up to go after him, he tossed something at me. I jumped towards the water, splashing as his thermal detonator exploded in mid air. My armour took the brunt of the blast, as I lay facedown in the water. I slowly swam back to the beach, disoriented as I crawled across the sand. My prey was gone. I was alone. With nothing else to lead me on, I picked up the utility belt. It was mostly burned, but I checked its contents anyway. Some small electronic devices, a remote control and a holo projector. I tossed them into the water and grinned.
Now you are the hunted
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
The Trianni huffed and puffed as he scrambled through the thick forests, defenseless. His ambush had failed, utterly. The Mandalorian had turned out to be more capable than expected.
Holding his burned hand, the predator, now on the run for his life, kept running.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
I ran through the jungle, my eyes scanning the ground for footprints and other tracks my foe had left. My scanners meanwhile kept me alert to everything else. It was time to end this game. After a while of running, I came to a creek.
"Dammit." I said annoyed. The trail had gone cold. He could've followed the creek either way for a time, and then continued on, or even back tracked. As I looked about, disappointed, something caught my eye. On the other side of the creek. I walked through the water and checked it. Something had been snagged on a small bush, whose leaves looked like they had small razors on their outer edges. Upon closer inspection, it looked like fur – Trianni fur – caught on one of the leaves. It was bloody. I immediately turned to head in that direction, but then stopped. Was this a ruse? Had he purposely snagged himself to lead me astray? Or was he so caught up in fleeing that he accidentally hurt himself on a bush and kept running?
Shit. Now the KISS method was just being restrictive. After a few moments of indecision, I decided my prey was just that tough that he would try and trick me. He already had been playing games before. I went opposite the bush, and began running again.
Wait a tick. I stopped running. It was a ruse alright. But he hadn't ran. I looked up. The jungle canopy, thick and dense. A perfect place to hide. And stalk your foe from. My scanners pointed me to a spot in the trees just behind me, past the creek. With my rifle I fired several times, which was followed by a huge rustling in the trees above. My foe leaped from one tree to the next. I ran after him, letting my rifle drop back to its slung position as I followed after my prey. With my scanner keeping track of him, I set my eyes on the ground before me, jumping over fallen logs, around IEDs, and across creeks.
After several minutes of running, I began uphill through the jungle after my prey. The Trianni was still swinging in the trees, but eventually the jungle began to pilfer out. We had reached the cliffs, looking over the edge of the island. My prey swung from his last tree, and crashed at the edge of the cliff. I raised my rifle at him.
"STOP!" I yelled. The Trianni had his back to me, as he was on his hands and knees.
"You've beaten me. Aren't you going to kill me?" He asked, standing up and facing me. He stood back as I kept my rifle aimed at him.
"Not yet. I want to know what your deal is with the Bothans!"
"What makes you think I have a problem with them?"
"Strask Girov said so." I replied. The Trianni shook his head, and favored his weapon hand, still in pain.
"Your Bothan friend isn't to be trusted, Mandalorian."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Let me guess. Told you I destroyed some 'critical infrastructure' in his precious city?"
"Yah. Told me you raped a little girl too." I shot back. He laughed.
"Lies, mere fabrications. When you kill me and show him proof of the deed, he'll betray you as he's done to many so called 'allies,' myself included." He replied. I paused. "Didn't tell you he knew me, did he? Ha, figures. He and I used to be army buddies, then later business partners. When he sold me out of this colonial venture, he hounded me out of the city till I had one place left to run to: these islands. Now he's sent you here to finish me off. He'd rather send out a pawn than waste his own men's lives."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Why should you believe him? May I prove to you I'm not lying?" He asked. After several moments I nodded. My prey lifted up his arm, and showed me his tattoo. A G.R.A. tattoo. And I had seen plenty of them to know this one was real.
"Ok. So he's probably lying."
"That's it! Now listen, you and me, we work together, and we can bring this guy down!" He replied excitedly. Something about it struck inside me. I shook my head, rifle still aimed at him.
"I work alone." I replied dryly. I fired twice, killing the Trianni. I went over and checked his pulse - dead. Now the fun part I thought unenthusiastically. Using my gauntlet shiv, I went to work scalping the bugger. When all was said and done, I trekked back to the first island, retrieved the SDV, and headed back to the submersible. I was done here.