Chapter 53
The Descent
The happy noise of a thriving village slowly tapered off as the group was being led to the Chiefs residence centred in the village overlooking the marketplace. Mothers pulled their cubs closer and backed away, several armed Wookies pushed their way to the front as if to shield those unarmed despite the group already being under armed escort and having surrendered their weapons to the guards.
The group was led to a structure to the side of the chiefs residence and none too gently pushed into the stockade. Their equipment were carelessly dumped in several wicker baskets. Guards surrounded the structure as the door was pushed close, slowly the noise in the marketplace picked up again, with the more bold among the cubs looking into the structure from a distance before scurrying away. Melissa sat down against the bar and extended her slightly injured leg.
"Going to take a nap, wake me if anything interesting happens." She said
Terri and Bastila felt her slip into a healing trance. Terri made herself comfortable as well with Bastila walking around the stockade. Canderous irritably settled himself next to Melissa and lit a nicotine stick. Zaalbar was pacing up and down the front of the stockade, the two feeling his agitation rolling of him. Bastila completed her stroll and sat down
"So much for slipping in and out unseen. Terri commented
"No plan survives contact." Canderous replied, blowing out smoke
"The guards are not happy that we are not resisting, they are wishing for an opportunity to fight. As for the others here, there is a lot of fear and anger in this village." Bastila stated
"Yes. I picked upon it as we entered." Terri replied
"Should have brought a pack of cards, this might take a while for this chief to stop with this power play." Canderous said, flicking his stub out of the stockade.
The Wookie nearly hit by it growled in displeasure but made no move to get closer. Canderous gave him a mocking grin, making sure to show his teeth to the guard. The guard stepped forward angrily but was knocked of his feet after a negligent movement of Bastila's hand. After helping their companion to his feet the guards moved further back. Terri lifted her knees and placed her head on them, her hand cupping her comlink. Bastila leaned closer as if to sleep on Terri
"HK are you in position?" Terri muttered
"Condescending Response: I am not an incompetent meatbag that allows themselves to be caught."
A quick flash of green light landed between Terri's feet before disappearing.
"Tell me what you see?" Terri said, ignoring the criticism
"Bored Response: Five hairy meatbags are moving along the walkway towards the trade station path, four are guarding, there are patrols on the wall walkways. No movement from the main building."
"Anything else?" Terri asked
"Sarcastic Reply: Three less hairy meatbags and a hairy meatbag sitting in a cage."
"Missing someone?" Terri mockingly replied
"Indignant Answer: I will not call my Mistress, a meatbag if that is what you are implying."
"She promised to take a fusion cutter to you if you call her a meatbag?" Terri commented
"Scared Answer: Something much worse. My circuits are still frozen after her promise."
"Sound interesting. I will ask when she is awake." Terri replied
"Irritated Rebuttal: Instead of meddling in affairs not of your concern, can I suggest you indulge in your organic urge to procreate with your obnoxious meatbag mate."
"We are in public." Bastila hissed, mortified
"Gloating Rejoinder: That did not stop you this morning. Shall I play the audio recording?"
"I will take a fusion cutter to your core." Bastila threatened, blushing deeper
"Mocking Response: It will still be too late to stop me for playing the recording, dirty little girl."
"Go silent, hold your position." Terri ordered
Terri sat up straighter.
"So the question is are that five going to the night shelter to investigate or doing something else." She said musingly
"We will find out one way or another." Canderous replied
Night started falling rapidly and the noise of the animals intensified. Torches were being lit and an acrid smell started wafting around, The flames producing a black smoke as it burned. The guards were rotated and the group could see lights flickering on inside the tree dwellings as the villagers prepared to settle in for the night
"What is that smell?" Bastila said, holding her nose
"Scythe blood, keeps the insects away." Zaalbar answered, having decided to sit down.
"I think the insects would be more welcome." Bastila groused
Terri shrugged of her jacket and shifted till she was supine. She placed the rolled up jacket under her head.
"Might as well get some sleep, it does not look like dinner is going to served. Will definitely not give the accommodations a good recommendation at the tourist bureau." She said.
Bastilla shrugged her jacket off and laid down partially on top of Terri throwing her jacket over them using it as a blanket.
The droids standing to the entrance of the landing pad had their heads swivelling around as they tried to keep the pacing male and female in sight. The fact that the two were crisscrossing frequently had them switching targets just as frequently. Unnoticed a hatch underneath the ship opened and closed leaving a black clad figure lying motionlessly underneath the ship. As if by some signal the two organics stopped their pacing and entered the ship, the boarding ramp lifted and closed. With a nod to his compatriot one droid circled the ship, receptors scanning for movement.
On the far side of the pad a figure slithered to the edge dragging a large bag. There was a slight hiss as a pneumatic device fired and the figure moved over the edge suspended by a thin cable. The figure pointed a rifle like device and there was another hiss as it fired, trailing a cable behind the fired grapnel. A louder thud was heard as the grapnel struck. The stationary droid spun around as the noise was behind it, seeing no motion it turned back to its allotted position.
Inside the droid maintenance bay a blue light flickered on as a droid woke. The restraining bolt attached to it chassis blinking green to indicate active status. Despite the bolt in place the droid was easily able to roll over to a dataport and plug in. The internal security was quickly disabled and the door to the main trade station rose up. The droid detached and made its way through to the office cubicle in the back. Reaching a terminal it plugged in and started slicing away.
Mission placed the last demolition charge before dropping the bag that had been weighing her down as she had traversed the distance to where the residential modules were underneath the trading station. Making her way across a very narrow walkway she reached the garbage chute and sliced the access panel. She coughed in disgust as the chute emptied its contents into the jungle below, releasing a foul smell. She pulled herself in and braced her feet against the sides of the chute waiting for the hatch to close. Once the hatch closed she started moving up the chute till she reached the deposit hatch. Another quick slice had her pulling herself out of the garbage disposal chute and into the residential units passageway.
In a cost cutting exercise only every fifth light panel was light, throwing the passage into deep shadows. Mission made her way through the passage, a helpful direction board underneath a working light showing her the way. She flitted into the communal recreation area and approached the terminal standing in a curtained alcove. Slicing her way in was easy. Connecting her datapad she started downloading the data it contained.
Knowing that the download would take some time she made her way to the kitchen unit. She grinned licking her pointed teeth as she saw a second food conservator in the kitchen marked for the sole use of the director of sales trade station six. She pulled six vials from a pocket on the leg of her outfit and stalked over to the unit. Minutes later all six vials were empty and she closed the door to the unit. Moving back to the terminal she switched out datapads as the first was reaching its memory capacity. Three additional datapads Mission detached from the terminal and logged off. She slipped out along the passageway and made her way back to the garbage chute.
Carth was waiting as Mission pulled herself up through the secondary docking hatch of the Hawk.
"Good to see you back safe." He said
"I told you I could handle it." Mission said grumpily, secretly pleased at Carth's concern
"Did not doubt you at all but you know our luck." Carth replied
"The biggest trouble magnets are not on the ship right now." Mission pointed out
"True, now go get cleaned up, you stink." Carth answered
"That is what every woman wants to hear." Mission replied, rolling her eyes
" Let me try again then. My blue flower of beauty, your enticing aroma is particularly striking, is it a new perfume?" Carth wisecracked
"Much better, no stand aside you are blocking the doorway, there is a bath with my name on it."
Carth stood to the side and waved his hand grandly, indicating the path is clear. For a moment he wondered if he should have told her that the others once again found themselves in a local jail, HK having transmitted the image straight to the Hawk. He brushed the thought off and decided to tell her once she was clean and fed, it is not like they could do anything from there. Moving to the kitchen he opened the conservator and looked at the meals Melissa had prepped. Taking out three containers he popped them into the micro oven to heat up, the smell of Naboo fowl filling the air. Reaching into the conservator again he pulled out a milk bottle
The chundering sound of an anti aircraft battery had him sprinting to the cockpit, the bottle dropping on the ground, the blue fluid pooling on the floor. He threw himself in the pilot seat and activated the shields. A heavy weight thumped against the hull and the shields dropped by a fraction. An anti aircraft battery on top of the trade station was blasting away, automated searchlights illuminated the attackers. Winged Reptilian beasts were swarming around trying to dodge the lights and lasers flashing in the air. The top turret started to add its contribution to the light show.
"Got one, uh. Whatever those are." Mission reported.
The winged beasts broke of their attack, leaving several of its kind strewn over the walkways and landing pads. The top turret comlink crackled
"Carth? Where are you now?" Mission asked
"Cockpit, why?" Carth replied
"Can you stay there for a few minutes, while I move to my room?"
"You are naked aren't you?" Carth sighed
"Not completely, I have a towel. I am not an exhibitionist like the others" Mission replied, brightly
Carth groaned and wiped his face with one hand
"Fine, however if my food burns I will tell Melissa that you were streaking this time." He replied.
The smell of food hit his nose and he turned in his chair. Juhani had come into the cockpit carrying two containers.
"It nearly burned, I got to it in time. However we are out of milk." Juhani said handing Carth a container
"Still got some beer in the locker." Carth answered
"And here I thought we were not to drink while on mission." Juhani replied
"I will say nothing if you say nothing." Carth said, through a mouthful of food
The two ate in companionable silence after Juhani had levitated two cans to where they sere seated. An idle observation crossed his mind
"Can I ask a question? You do not have to answer if it is too personal or if I am being intrusive." He said
"Go ahead." Juhani invited
"I have been noticing that both you and Bastila have not been wearing your robes. I thought that you were required to wear them always." Carth remarked
Juhani swallowed some beer before answering
"That is true. We are required to wear the robes, I can not speak for Bastila, but for myself I have been reconsidering my allegiance to the Order." She stated
"Any particular reason?" Carth asked
Juhani gave a rare smile
"No, I am not turning to the dark again. I have various reasons. Belaya being a very large portion, also Melissa have shown me that you can serve the force and still live your life without having to curtail your emotions."
"So you are embracing the grey side then?" Carth responded
"I believe I will, though those of us who do have to decide if we are creating a new sub order, like the Correlian Jedi did." Juhani shrugged
"So the if the grey is not an official order, why did Beren mention them to Melissa?" Carth asked
"The Grey are an official order, just not active for a century. Though keeping it active with only five knights may be impossible, and one being more Mandalorian than Jedi will complicate matters."
"There is only the five of you that you know off, there may be more that feel like you do." Carth pointed out
"That is true. However we will have time to hammer out the pieces once this mission is complete. Till the current Sith threat is neutralised, everything can wait." Juhani answered
"Don't you mean destroyed?" Carth responded
Juhani looked out the viewport, her expression pensive
"I do not believe we will destroy the Sith. There will always be a remnant hidden somewhere in the dark. The Jedi and Sith will always be in conflict. All we can do is fight the threat we are facing " She stated sombrely
"That is not a very encouraging viewpoint." Carth answered
"That is why it is imperative that we live our lives as fully as we can, I once heard that the best way to discourage your enemy is to live your life to the fullest and without regret, show them that they have no true power." Juhani responded
"I do not believe the master will agree to that philosophy." Carth replied
"That is one of the reasons for the continuous conflict, neither side will reach to the other in an attempt for peace."
Juhani shook her empty can
"I believe I should stop drinking before I sprout more philosophy. If you will excuse me, I will see if I can raise the Satin Claw on the holocom. There is someone that I have to tell that I love her."
Carth nodded at that and looked out the viewport, rain started pounding down, he sat in his chair watching the rivulets running down the plexiglass. Juhani left him there, lost in his own thoughts
Dawns first light broke through the tree canopy covering the village. The ten bedraggled and tired guards were eagerly waiting for their replacements. Many a bet among them had failed to realise as the prisoners had made no demands of their jailers. Many had been sure that the rain storm would have them demanding food and shelter as no offworlder would be able to tolerate being cold wet and hungry.
To their dismay the old male had pulled a poncho from one of his pockets once the rain had started and once pulling it on had gone back to sleep, the madclaw obviously not bothered by the rain. The three females had sat down in a circle and clasped hands, even now they were still seated eyes closed breathing slowly and deeply.
As one they opened their eyes and stood up, showing no sign of discomfort despite being soaking wet and having remained in one position for several hours.
"That really complicates matters." Bastila said
"A mild understatement." Melissa remarked
"I have met their leader once before." Terri said
"Where?" Bastila asked
"The Endar Spire, a man named Trask Ulgo sacrificed himself so that I could escape. If not for him I would not be here." Terri explained
"Care to enlighten the rest of us?" Canderous grumbled from under his poncho hood
Melissa walked to the wall of the stockade and held onto one of the bars.
"There are several dark side users in the Shadowlands, one feels close to master level. To make it worse the dark side is very strong on this planet, it is almost as if there is a nexus here." She explained
"The amount of live down there makes it difficult to determine the exact amount of dark side users down there." Terri added
There was a commotion at the gate post as five Wookies entered. Two were heavily wounded. The tension level in the village rose by several levels. The wounded were diverted to a large structure close to the gate and the other three rushed to the chiefs house
"Seeing as they are not carrying anything from the ones killed in the night shelter I would think it is safe to say they went to visit whoever is pulling the strings here." Bastila stated
Terri looked down a t her bedraggled state
"And here we are, not looking our best to meet the great and glorious Chuundar." She said in mock disappointment
They waited for another hour before a Wookie stormed from the house and spoke to the guards. They immediately moved closer to the stockade gate and ripped it open
"Move." One barked at them
Zaalbar went first and let loose a fart as he passed the gaurds. The guards howled in outrage at the insult delivered. One moved to strike him, moments later he was suspended in the air, clawing at his neck as he was being suffocated. Melissa flicked her clawed hand to the side and the Wookie went flying.
"Z, you realise we are going to have to walk through that to follow you, right." Melissa stated
"Feel free to add to it." Zaalbar replied, chuffing in laughter
"How uncivilized." Bastila muttered before taking a deep breath and rapidly moving through the gate
"Not going to pee on them as well?" Terri chortled, before she too took a deep breath and rapidly walked through the gate
"There is no reason to mark them as mine." Zaalbar responded
"Good thinking, they might get confused with two scents on them." Melissa sassed as she walked out
Canderous paused on his walk to blow the smoke of his nicotine stick in the face of the Wookie he had taunted earlier. The five formed a line and walked to the open doors of the chiefs house. Casually they strolled in as if they were regulars visitors.
The main room was circular with a fire pit in the centre, a blackened cauldron hanging from a tripod over the fire. The nauseating smell of cooking kinrath immediately spoiled any appetite the humans might have had. Several doorways led from the main room, Several guards were posted at the door way.
A grey furred Wookie wearing a ceremonial headdress made from various multicoloured feathers and carrying a carved totem staff stood at the bottom of a dias containing a throne draped in various animal skins covering an abnormally large cushion
"Approach and hear the wisdom of Chuundar the wise and powerfull." The Wookie called out, slamming the totem on the floor.
A door to the side opened and another Wookie entered trying to strut regaly to the throne. Two gaurds falling into place behind his as he strutted, the difference in size between guards and chief were pronounced
"Is he going to need a hand to get on his high chair?" Melissa whispered loudly
The strut turned into a stumble before continuing after a heated glare was thrown at her. Chuundar seated himself and shifted a bit on the cushion before trying to look down on the five with a regal stare.
"You may approach the powerfull Chuundar." He stated magnanimously
"Powerfull? You were always the runt." Zaalbar howled
"Much has changed since you were asked to leave because of your mental condition, brother. Alas mental problems seems to follow our family as Father too had fallen low. I, the wise Chuundar, was forced to step up and take the burden of command." Chuundar spoke softly and sadly
The news about his father seemed to rock Zaalbar to the core.
"And here you bring humans into our midst, the worse kind of off worlders. Have you gotten more ill brother?" Chuundar exploited the weakness
"They have more honour in one finger than you have in your household." Zaalbar snapped back
"Which one is your mate? The small one?" Chuundar retorted
"Do not belittle the one I owe my life too." Zaalbar snarled
Terri stepped forward
"As intriguing as this. What do you want, Chuundar?"
"Why do you assume I want anything from a human?" Chuundar replied
"You have more tells than a novice gambler in a Hutt casino, so let us stop wasting each other time with this posturing." Terri retorted
Chuundar leaned back in his chair
"Perhaps there is something you can do. Some friends of mine have been bothered by another of your kind as they study the shadowlands below. There is also a madclaw that needs to be killed, the poor thing is attacking anything that moves, it has truly lost itself." He stated
"And is your guard incompetent? By my count you have thirty warriors that could resolve your issues for you." Terri rebutted
"They are needed for the safety of the village." Chuundar retorted
"And the all wise and powerfull Chuundar is needed here to protect them." Bastila stated dryly
"Of course." Chuundar replied happily
The totem bearing Wookie flinched slighty as Chuundar walked into that verbal trap.
"I suppose we can look into it." Terri gave a vague acknowledgement
"Of course my brother will be staying to regale me with the tales of his wandering while you are down there." Chuundar replied
Zaalbar placed a hand on Melissa's shoulder before she could reply to that statement
"I consent to be your hostage." Zaalbar growled
"Z, we can find another way." Melissa objected
"Not peacefully, there is no other way." Zaalbar calmly replied
"Fine." Terri said, sighing deeply.
Chuundar clapped his hands together
"Then the shadowlands is open to you. You may retrieve your weapons and equipment and leave whenever you want."
Two guards stepped forward and hustled Zaalbar to a room leading of to the side. Melissa turned to Chuundar
"If one hair on him is misaligned when we get back, I will hunt you down and skin you alive."
"Is that a threat?" The totem carrying Wookie demanded
" A Mandalorian does not make threats, we make statement of intent." Melissa replied
"And as with most species, the female is deadlier than the male, especially Mandalorian women." Canderous added
The four turned around and stepped out of the house. Stopping at the wicker baskets they reequipped themselves. Canderous gathered Zaalbars equipment
"Back to the ship then. I assume you will need Juhani if there are other force users down there." He said
"That would be the wise option." Bastila replied
"Let us head back then, the four of you should make it back in the afternoon then if you use your Jetti tricks." Canderous suggested
Terri nodded and set the pace out of the village, the residents staring blankly at them, both fear and hostility blanketing the air. Clearing the village Melissa stopped and looked back at Canderous.
"I believe we can get to the ship a lot faster using the force." She said, a grin starting to form
"Since I can't use it, we are out of luck." Canderous replied, not liking the grin
"You can't but, I can." Melissa grinned mischievously
Canderous felt his feet leaving the ground as he was lifted in the air. Melissa turned to the other two.
"Shall we take a little Force run?" She suggested
"Melissa, put me down." Canderous demanded
"Sorry, got to run." Melissa called back, starting her sprint
Canderous bobbed along in her wake as she sped off. Terri sighed and looked at Bastila
"And you want to have kids." She said
"Someday, and not her." Bastila replied
"I am beginning to see what they were on about on Arkaxis." Terri answered
The two started to run, the direction Melissa took off in clearly audible as Canderous was letting her know of his displeasure in both Basic and Mandolorian. In a tree overlooking the village a rust brown droid settled down for along wait by switching of all non essential functions leaving only its central processor and receptors active.
They made it back to the ship in record time, having stopped a distance away from the trade station to let Canderous regain his feet. Canderous promptly promised Melissa an extended time out once they lifted off from the planet, he disregarded her retort that she was an adult and a clan leader, and merely pointed out that she could complain to Daria if she was not satisfied with her punishment. Fearing a more inventive punishment she resigned herself to it
Reaching the landing pad, they noticed that the boarding ramp was up. Opening a secure panel Terri tapped in her access code, blocking the view of the pad with her body. They found the four remaining crew in the lounge busy working through the data T3 and Mission had sliced. Mission was the first to notice their presence
"Why are you back so early? And is Zaalbar already feeding his face in the galley?" She asked
The four looked between each other before Melissa nodded. She stepped closer to Mission
"Zaalbar is in his village, he did not come back with us." She stated
"Is he catching up with his family?" Mission asked
"No his brother is holding him hostage till we perform two tasks for his brother." Melissa replied
"Why did you not simply break him out?" Mission demanded, angrily
"He told us not to. He was not willing to let us fight his family and his village to free him. He wanted us to comply with his brother." Terri jumped in
"Believe me, we were more than willing to throw down for him." Melissa added
"Then why are you here and not completing the tasks then?" Mission demanded
"We came back to get Juhani and more supplies, the tasks are in the shadowlands. There are Sith down there." Bastila answered
Juhani stood up from her chair and placed the datapad she was perusing down.
"I will be ready as soon as possible." She said, walking to the dorm
Canderous jerked his head to indicate the female dorm
"Go and get ready, I will fully explain what went down and catch up with what they are doing."
Melissa struggled to get into her old combat suit, for a moment she was tempted to dress up in her armour. However Zaalbar's wishes that they do not further antagonise the Wookies put stop to that idea. Terri walked into her room, her suit also no longer fully fitting, the zip halfway up her chest
"Either I put on weight or these things shrunk in the wash." She complained
"Not the only one." Melissa said after her zip got stick a little bit higher
"It would fit better if we take out the armour inserts, but we need those more than propriety." Bastila remarked from behind Terri
Melissa bent down and up and took a knee thereafter. Lighting her saber she went through a Shie Cho and a basic Shien kata
"Nope, too tight going to have to go with civilian clothing." She reported
Terri mimicked her idea and found her movement hampered as well
"We will have to go and see what that trader by the gate has available, there is no way I am buying anything from Czerka." She said
"Keep your combat suit on, flashing the girls might get us a discount." Melissa remarked jokingly
They made their way back to the ship with four new reinforced mechanic coveralls. Melissa was itching for a shower after having been the target for the most of the leers by the trader Eli. His mechanic Matton had shown a lot more decency by trying to keep his eyes from wandering
"I feel like a slab of meat in a shop." Melissa stated
"A slab of meat would have got more respect." Bastila answered
"The only positive thing is that we got everything at a discount." Terri replied
"Next time I make a joke about showing off to get discount, slap me up the head." Melissa said
"Can we have that in a signed contract?" Terri joked
"Call my lawyer." Melissa retorted
Fabricating new armour inserts took longer than anticipated. Surprisingly Carth was most adapt at tailoring to make the changes to the coveralls to fit the armour inserts
"How come you are so good of this?" Melissa asked
"My mothers family ran custom clothing shops, most of my school holidays were spent there so I and my sisters could make pocket money." Carth replied, stitching the last seam on Melissa's new suit
"Sorry for bringing that up. I did not want to drag up bad memories." Melissa said
"No bad memories, they are still on Commenor, My wife was from Telos. I met her while I was at the fleet academy on Coruscant." Carth said, smiling softly in reminiscence
"Do you want to talk about her?" Melissa offered
"Sure. She was part of the Telos contingent at the academy in the officer training program, she was a freshman as I reached midshipman. At the college the midhipmen acted as MPs over the students." Carth said
"I assume you met her while acting as one." Melissa prompted
"I caught her and her squad stumbling in late at the academy after going on a bar crawl on one weekend. Even while completely drunk she tried to convince me to only give her punishment and let her squad go, when I took them for laps at the training ground she tried again by flirting with me." Carth reminisced
"So did you take her up on that offer
"No, I made them run till they puked." Carth laughed
"I assume she was hacked off with you for that." Melissa stated
"She was glaring at me the whole time. A few days later she sat down at my table uninvited, disregarding the rank barrier. We started going out a few months later, she was the one to propose marriage." Carth smiled
Carth paused for a moment
"This is actually the first time I spoke of her like this since Telos." He said wonderingly
"Are you okay?" Melissa asked
"It hurts much less than I anticipated." He replied
"Those we love never truly leave us. They live on in our memories. And I believe one day we will meet them again." Melissa said
"Thank you." Carth said softly
The four looked in open mistrust at the cage that was supposed to lower them to the shadowlands. A wooden floor with holes between the planks, a mesh made of vines. A steel cable was attached to a pulley anchored in a tree branch, the most of the floor space taken by the cable reel and an ancient motor to unspool or spool the cable.
"How long does it take to get down to the shadowlands?" Terri asked
"Six hours. Assuming the engine does not break or we get attacked." The operator grunted
"And no refresher in sight." Bastila stated
The operator pointed to the holes in the floor
"If you need to relieve yourself, use the holes. Not get on or stay it does not matter to me."
Having no real choice in the matter the four stepped on, another Wookie closed the vine mesh and tied it down. Releasing a manual brake, the operator started the cages descent, before lighting another of the foul smelling torches in use in the village. Not having experienced the smell before Juhani gave a slight retch as the smell hit her nostrils.
Mellisa dropped her rucksack onto the floor of the cage and opened a side a small power pack and power cable from her rucksack Melissa clipped the connector to her lightsabers battery, before sitting down her rifle across her knees, using her backpack as a
back rest. By common agreement they had decided to not speak in the presence of others as they had no way of knowing the allegiance of the Wookies they were in contact with
Cries from the nightlife echoed in the air as they slowly descended, the only light was from the foul smelling torch, the most immediate sound the whining from the ancient motor lowering them
An hour into the trip Terri looked sharply to the left. She struck her rifle barrel through the mesh and initiated rapid fire. A screech of pain followed and a blurry object came into view as it careened past. Bastilla poked her rifle through a hole in the floor and fired, another screech came. Feeling no further threats Melissa And Juhani did not bother disengaging the safety catches on their rifles. The operator gave a reluctant grunt of respect to his passengers
They finally reached the ground, a short distance from the landing a group of tents were set up. One tent was collapsed by the weight of two winged reptiles, a hand sticking out underneath one reptile showed that not everyone made it out of the tent before impact. Five figures turned to look at the cage's occupants. Four red blades sprung into life,
