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Hangar M4, Tipoca City
A Few Days Later
Sergeant Vhonte Teryho's POV
~Can't believe Skirata's this dead set on our bet.~ She thought with a frown as she waited for the kid's training scenario to end, ~I guess I should be happy he waited until his eight month guess came to an end instead of mine.~
Though she'd never admit it openly she had to admit that the kid was made of sterner stuff than she'd originally thought. She'd travelled the galaxy long enough to know that most of the people living in it were perfectly content living easy lives doing only as much work as they needed to in order to pay the bills. Such people were lacking in the qualities she believed were necessary in order to not just survive but thrive in this sort of training atmosphere. Indeed she'd been of the opinion that if you pushed such people hard enough it wouldn't be long before they gave up so they could return to their more comfortable lives.
Xander hadn't.
He'd stayed the course and applied himself to El-Les' training regardless of what it was. He was still a sloppy, undisciplined and ignorant civilian when compared to a true Mandalorian or even a Trooper halfway through their training but there was SOME potential in him. El-Les though was taking the slow and steady approach to it and limited it to the controlled environments. While she didn't know what awaited the kid after his training was judged to be complete but she doubted Xander would find 'controlled' anything regardless of where he went. It was one of the many things she'd been taught: control is an illusion. The only thing a person could control was themselves. With the rest you could only depend on versatility and adaptability to navigate life and guide things in the direction you wanted them to go.
It was this fact that had helped her to choose what to teach the kid.
Hearing the door open she looked up to see El-Les and the kid come in so she pushed off the side of the modified Omicron-class attack shuttle. What she had to teach the kid couldn't be done in a controlled environment like the training rooms so they'd have to take things to another planet. Nothing too difficult of course but enough to get what she had to teach the kid pounded into his brain so she could tell Cal she'd made good on her side of the wager.
"Xander this is Sergeant Vhonte Tervho. She's another of the instructors that were hired to train the clone troopers." El-Les said performing the introductions, "Though unorthodox she has made an offer I do not think it would be wise to pass up."
"And that'd be?" The kid asked with mild interest.
"Among those asked to train the clone troopers Sergeant Tervho is especially adept at hunting down targets where cameras and sensors aren't an option." El-Les replied with the expected respect, "While I understand that you will most likely not choose a job where hunting people would be required there may be a time when you'll need to hunt for food. Sergeant Tervho will make sure you're up to the job no matter what planet you wind up on."
"Kinda exaggerating aren't you?" The kid asked with skepticism in his tone, "There're a lot of worlds in the Kaminoan database with their own kind of wildlife. Hard to believe she could teach me everything I need to hunt on every last one of them."
"Don't be an idiot! Do you know how many world's support life out there? How many would make for a nice place for humans to live?" She asked eyes narrowing at the slight, "Besides at least a third of the worlds out there are colony worlds with a lot of the animal life transplanted from the home world of the dominant race. I've hunted most of them."
"The animals or the dominant race?" The kid asked with curiosity.
"Both." She replied with a smirk of confidence.
Before being hired to train the troopers she'd been doing mercenary work for whoever could pay her fee assuming it didn't offend her personal sense of honour. As such she had tons of experiencing hunting down prey whether they were sentient or not learning along the way the skills necessary to be successful on such jobs. Hunting animals that the client wanted dead or captured weren't usually very challenging save the creatures that had well earned reputations for lethality. Hunting sentients was more of a mixed bag but there'd been enough cunning targets that it'd been an interesting challenge and enough to satisfy her when she caught them.
"So where's the hunting ground going to be?" The kid asked looking like his opinion of her skills had gone up.
"Jedha though some people call it the Pilgrim Moon." She replied revealing her choice for getting the kid's feet wet, "It's not too dangerous but it'll be enough to get you started. You do well and we'll move onto something a little tougher."
In truth she had five worlds in total with each one sporting a different kind of environment as well as different types of animals to hunt. It wouldn't cover all the variations but most of the peaceful worlds people tended to live on would have the same sort of animals she planned on teaching the kid to hunt. She'd already loaded most of the gear they'd need for their stay on Jedha as well as files for the kid to study on the trip there.
"So when do we leave?" The kid asked looking like he was up for learning new things.
"Just as soon as the help I asked for arrives." She replied revealing her bit of news.
"Who?" El-Les asked in mild surprise.
"One of the more promising troopers I've trained." She replied as the hangar door opened once more, "Here he is now."
"Reporting for duty Sergeant Tervho." The armour clad trooper said with a salute, "This the recruit?"
"Yeah. Not much to look at but hopefully we can change that." She replied half in jest, "So how's Wrecker?"
"Oh you know him." The trooper replied with humour, "Nothing keeps him down for long. He'll be fit for duty by the time we get back."
"Tell him next time he thinks taking on six sentinel droids solo is going to be fun I'll make sure he heals up the old fashioned way." She warned with mild reprimand, "I don't remember training any of you to be stupid."
"I'll make sure he gets the message." The trooper said with a nod of his head.
Turning back to the kid she was about to say something when she noticed that he was thinking about something.
"Am I boring you kid?" She asked not liking students who didn't pay attention.
"No but do you think we have enough room for one more on this trip?" The kid asked sounding like he had someone in mind.
"As long as you don't mind getting half a meal and sharing a tent SURE." She replied almost mockingly at the student trying to change things, "Why not?"
"Good. I'll grab a few things and be back in thirty minutes." The kid said before running out of the hanger before anyone could get a word in.
"Is he always like this?" She asked El-Les not quite sure how to respond to what'd happened before her.
"While I wouldn't call him impatient Xander is quick to act once he's made up his mind." El-Les replied sounding like he didn't think such behaviour was a bad thing, "There is almost always a reason behind his actions even if it takes some explaining afterwards for others to understand."
"Sounds like some of the stories I've heard about some of the legion commanders out there." The trooper said with interest in how things would unfold, "This should be interesting."
"Glad you think so Hunter." She said with a bit of an edge, "Because I'll be using you as the prey in most of the scenarios. Don't go easy on him."
"Never crossed my mind Sergeant." Hunter said before walking up the ramp leading to Marauder's interior, "I'll get the engines warmed up."
With a nod she turned away to await the kid's return with whoever was going to be tagging along.
She already had an idea who it'd be.
Aboard the Marauder
En Route to Jedha
Moko Był's POV
"A-are you sure it's okay for me to come along?" She asked from her seat in the Omicron-class attack shuttle.
"Yes I'm sure. Sergeant Tervho said that as long as I was willing to split my food with you it'd be okay." Xander replied from where he was reading from a data pad, "Seeing as how we're learning how to hunt I can always just track something down to eat."
"Don't bet on it kid." Tervho said from the co-pilot chair in the front of the ship, "Most of what's on Jedha are lizards, birds and Sand Slugs with that last one being big enough to swallow you whole. Besides it's one thing to hunt down and kill your prey it's another thing to make it fit to eat. Can't just put it on a stick and hold it over a fire."
"Maybe not some of it but if what I'm reading's right the people on Jedha aren't known for their good food. More of a spiritual hotspot for the true believers." Xander said looking up from the data pad, "Spiritual people tend to keep their food simple both in the getting and in the preparing. Gives them more time for prayer, meditation and other ways of getting spiritual enlightenment. Once we get there all I'll need to do is check out a few shops and restaurants to find out what can be killed and eaten with next to no effort."
"Guess it's a good thing that I packed double the usual OTC meds." Tervho said sounding like she believed they'd be quite necessary in the near future.
This caused her to believe that perhaps it would've been better if she had declined Xander's offer to join him in his hunting training. If she had then there would be no need for him to make do with half his usual food or consider hunting animals he did not know how to properly prepare. It was just that she had been taken completely by surprise when he'd appeared before her asking her to join him on his training trip. Her imagination had gotten away from her as to what deeper meaning there could be to the request and before she'd returned to her senses she'd agreed to go with him. In the end it'd only been halfway through her packing for the training trip before her mind cleared up enough to realize what she'd signed on for.
Two weeks on Jedha learning how to hunt prey both sentient and not.
Two weeks with Xander as a fellow student and both Sergeants Tervho and Hunter as their teachers.
It was more intimidating than one would think at first glance both because of who she'd be learning alongside as well as taking into consideration who'd be handling the instruction. Tervho had quite the reputation around Tipoca City for her teaching methods and for her somewhat mild dislike of clones in general whether they were trooper or not. As for Sergeant Hunter he was the leader of Clone Force Ninety-nine, a group of Fett clones with advantageous mutations being tested for further development, and had a high success rate with their missions. Several of those missions were dangerous enough that many expressed surprise when they not only returned in decent condition but also with their objective accomplished.
Granted that their success came with quite a bit of damage more than finesse they still proved themselves worthy of supporting.
With such teachers she expected the bar for success to be set quite high for both her as well as Xander. She had never been off of Kamino or even outside of Tipoca City so what little she had learned on the subject of hunting was limited to information on a data pad. From what she had learned training alongside Xander she suspected that he was much the same leaving them both with quite a long road to travel. She only hoped that by the time the two weeks were up both of them would successfully have grasped the fundamentals of the skills a hunter needed in order to succeed.
Beneath the surface though was the fact that of her four teammates she and she alone would be spending time with Xander for the next two weeks.
Potentially close PERSONAL time with him.
It had been almost two months since she had first pondered the possibility that she might be intended for someone other than the one that'd commissioned her creation. For a time she had thought no more on the possibility that had appeared in her mind but with every time that Xander had shown her kindness and helped her improve the idea rose once more within her. It was…a dream that made her look forward to the next day rather than allow the world around her to pull her along in its current.
However, as they travelled to Jedha, she wondered if the time might have come to do more than simply allow the possibility to come and go as it pleased.
It had been a long time since their squad had first come together and in that time their skills had been honed through the various scenarios and training they had gone through. In spite of the issues some possessed that occasionally interfered they were getting better and achieving the criteria El-Les set in order for them to pass more easily. Unless something happened to change things she foresaw their training coming to an end in the near future and after that who knew what the future held for any of them. She and the other abandoned clones had been utilized after all in order to give Xander experience fighting alongside others at a skill level similar to his own. None of them were told why this was necessary and during her short talks with Xander he made no statements that made her think he was looking for a career in combat. Indeed based on what he'd told her and some of her own reasoning she believed he intended to live a fairly peaceful ordinary life on the first planet that caught his interest.
When that day came…
…what would happen to her and the others?
Would they be set free into the galaxy to find their own path or would they be expected to abide by whatever decisions the Kaminoans made with regards to them?
She knew how the Kaminoans viewed the clones they created and in their mind property didn't have the right to defy the will of its creator. It was likely that the four of them would either be forced to return to their previous tasks or much like Clone Force Ninety-Nine they'd be sent on missions for the Grand Army of the Republic. To wither away doing menial tasks or sent into dangerous situations with only themselves to depend on for survival since she doubted the four of them would be given much in the way of resources. As much as your average Clone Trooper? Perhaps. Sadly given the fact that the Kaminoans were producing new Fett clones at a steady pace it didn't inspire confidence in the tools the troopers were given. They'd likely have to pull off several impressive victories in order to be judged worthy of being given better gear and other resources.
It'd been as she'd pondered this quandary that the idea of pursuing her theory of him being her intended emerged once more. However instead of shoving it aside she instead began to consider just how she might start down the path to making her theory a reality. Surely if she could make him see her in half the same light as she saw him he would take her with him when he left Kamino to find his place in the galaxy.
Surely he would not leave her to die fighting in the war or performing menial labour on Kamino for the rest of her life.
A Few Hours After Landing on Jedha
The Streets of Jedha City
Xander's POV
~Okay…I'm on an alien world but it looks like someplace in Saudi Arabia or something.~ He thought as they walked through the streets, ~Luck or is it something like that thing…convergent evolution…except with a planet?~
Whatever.
According to Tervho they were here to get up to speed on any local developments just in case there was something that might affect their training. While most apparently came for spiritual enlightenment or something like that they had only one resource of value and needed quite a bit in order to make living on Jedha bearable. A place like that made fertile ground for people who wanted more but couldn't get it through legal means and it varied how much each individual cared about how their actions affected others.
A group of four people, newcomers, camping outside the city?
It'd make for a tempting target especially since Tervho had them stash their combat gear in sacks rather than walk around ready to fight at a moment's notice. The only thing they were allowed allowed to keep out in the open were holstered DC-17 hand blasters since having a means of defending oneself was understandable to most races. With only basic blasters to worry about anyone looking to increase what they had would see taking what the four of them had to be little trouble at all.
Best to know the names and hopefully a description of the people looking to rob and or kill you.
Plus there was the joy of there bing a dangerous critter prowling the outskirts of the city they were in.
All sorts of fun!
"Doesn't look like anything bad is going on." He said low enough so that only those he was walking with would be able to make anything out, "No fear on faces and people're going about their business instead of hiding inside. Guess the only trouble we'll be running into will be the kind we make ourselves."
"Don't kid yourself." Tervho said her head on a subtle scrutinizing swivel, "Only the troublemakers with bantha poodoo for brains would advertise that they were planning to cause trouble. Smart ones blend in, keep a low profile and wait until opportunity knocks."
"So you think we're going to have uninvited guests while we're working?" He asked smart enough not to give away anything risky.
"Dunno. That's why we're looking around first." She replied before focusing on the entrance to a building up ahead, "And I just spotted a good place to start. Stay close and let me do the talking."
Nodding his head he hoped that things wouldn't get dicey.
Upon entering the building he found not some dicey bar as would be cliche but rather a decent looking restaurant with patrons scattered about as well as employees doing their jobs. Trying not to look like some sort of wide eyed tourist he followed Tervho between tables until they came to one where a tanned man sat enjoying a good drink.
"Been a long time Baze." Tervho said like they were old friends.
"Not long enough Vhonte." Baze said with a slightly sour look on his face, "What're you doing back here? After another bounty?"
"If only that was the case!" Tervho replied with a little humour, "I've been hired to teach these two how to hunt."
"Hunt what?" Baze asked with a bit of curiosity.
"Anything." Tervho replied with a predator's grin, "Everything."
"Huh…that's new." Baze replied growing more curious, "You're normally a one woman show. What changed?"
"Decided it was time for a change." Tervho replied with a shrug, "Anything buzzing on Jedha lately?"
For a few seconds Baze didn't say anything but rather seemed to be scrutinizing Tervho but then out of nowhere the man chuckled with amusement.
"Lost a bet didn't you?" Baze asked with amusement.
"Do you know if anything's happening on Jedha or don't you?" Tervho asked not acknowledging his question, "Anything that could make trouble for me?"
"Must've really stun to lose if you're acting like this." Baze replied before letting his humour subside, "As for something that could make trouble for you…not much. There's always one gang or another trying to steal Kyber crystals. As for someone who'd cause you trouble I doubt it. You don't look like you have enough credits to have any real players interested and the bottom feeders outside the city don't count as trouble. Scavengers most of them. Armed with slug throwers and no real training."
"Perfect." Tervho said sounding pleased with this news.
"How's that?" He asked a bit puzzled, "You'd think we're want to steer clear of people like that."
"Oh we won't be going anywhere looking for them but they'll make for a good test when you've got the basics down." Tervho replied sounding like she was looking forward to that moment, "Anyone strong gonna care if there're a few less scavengers prowling about in a week or two?"
"Not really. Most consider them vermin. A few bleeding hearts who want to redeem them and show them a better way might get preachy but that's it." Baze replied with a shrug.
"I've dealt with worse." Tervho said not sounding concerned in the least.
"I bet you have." Baze said with a nod before raising the cup in his hand, "Care for a drink? It's not great but it grows on you."
"Maybe after training's done and if you're still around." Tervho replied with a light negative shake of her head, "Gotta pick up some supplies and then get these two to work. We've only got two weeks here and I plan to make the most of them."
"Why don't I get the warm fuzzies from those words?" He muttered to himself imagining a training regime from hell.
Still it wasn't like he had anything better to do and learning to hunt might be useful down the road.
In the end he followed behind choosing to let the dice fall where they may.
Three Days Later
A Camp Two Days Away from Jedha City
Hunter's POV
"Something's off with Harris." He said even as he watched the two students retire to their tent for the night.
"What do you mean?" Vhonte asked as she worked to clean her gear, "Other than being an amateur that's never hunted a day in his life I haven't noticed anything."
"I'm not sure. He's been following instructions and performing the exercises but…" he replied as he tried to put what his instincts were telling him into words, "…it's like his body's there but his spirit isn't. It isn't affecting how he's doing the exercises but it still feels like there's something missing. Something important. I can't put it any other way."
"Hmmm…probably nothing to worry about." Vhonte said not sounding more than a little concerned, "He's just a civilian after all. He doesn't have battle in his blood like you and me. He doesn't come alive on the battlefield."
While he couldn't deny that when he was in the middle of a battle with his teammates an energy thrummed in his veins he didn't think Vhonte was right about Xander. While his team and the Regs didn't get along very well if at all he still heard things between missions. Most of the time it was either about a promising squad of cadets or how a mission turned out but scattered in between there'd been a few discussions about some kid El-Les was training. A few Regs had been in the right place at the right time to watch the kid being put through his paces and later on taking on team scenarios. Only some had been impressed by Xander's efforts but none had thought that the kid had been without potential. Put in enough years of training like the rest of them had, put him with the right squad and there wouldn't be a member of the Grand Army who wouldn't trust him to fight at their side.
After watching Xander himself for the last few days he agreed that the kid was handling himself better than the civilian militias his team had fought alongside on missions. Put through the same training programs as the rest of the Grand Army and Xander would be ready to fight if he chose to do so. If not then any scum that tried to rob him or put him in slave chains was going to have a serious fight on their hands.
All in all while Xander didn't seem to have the hunger for battle he was definitely a lot closer to having it than any civilian he'd ever met.
"Maybe not but we won't be able to call this training mission a success if can't maximize the results." He said knowing that Regs who hadn't taken their training seriously had suffered worse than just being reassigned to help Ninety-Nine with clean-up.
"If you want to do something about it go ahead." Vhonte said before focusing on making sure her gear was ready for tomorrow, "I'm going to finish up here and then get some sleep."
With the discussion ended he debated when it would be best to approach the kid for a little 'talk'. One option would be tomorrow but if he knew Vhonte she'd want to dive right into the next part of the training and wouldn't want any distractions getting in the way. As for talking to Xander before he went to sleep there was some merit in that approach. Given how tired the trainee was there'd be less energy available to make up excuses or other ways to avoid telling the truth. If he was lucky Xander would let something slip by accident and give him enough information to fix whatever was keeping the kid from giving his all.
Decision made he set his DC-17 aside before making his way to the trainee tent formulating his approach as he walked. Pushing aside the cloth draped over the entrance he found the two of them getting more comfortable but not bothering to change into sleep clothes. A good call since they only brought a limited amount of luggage with them and the training by its nature would make keeping clothes clean impossible. Best not to waste valuable time with futility when it could be put to more productive uses.
"You got a minute Xander?" He asked keeping his voice neutral.
"Is it gonna be much more than a minute? I'm in serious need of sleep." Xander said the fatigue evident in his voice.
"Don't worry. I'll keep it brief." He said reassuringly before stepping aside to provide a route out of the tent.
With a bit of lethargy Xander got to his feet and exited the tent before waiting for him to either begin talking or lead him to where they would talk. Given that he didn't know what sort of answers he'd get he decided to act with discretion and began to lead the kid to a spot a ways away from the camp. It'd be far enough away that their voices wouldn't carry far enough to be overheard but they'd still be close enough to get back fast if something happened.
Turning to face the kid once they arrived he waited until he was sure he had Xander's attention he kicked things off.
"Is something bothering you Xander?" He asked wanting to see if the student would reveal the truth simply because the question had been asked.
"Not really. Just another day of training same as usual." Xander replied as casual as ever.
"No day of training is routine. Each one is an opportunity to learn and improve." He reprimanded the kid in order to stave off complacency, "As for my question I've noticed something lacking in your actions during the exercises. I can't help but feel something is missing. Are you giving it your all?"
"Yeah…of course…sure." Xander replied with a tone that only further reinforced the missing element.
Only now, with words added to actions, did he have what he needed to define it better.
A lack of motivation.
Contrary to what some people might think one does not need motivation to perform actions or to live. It might help and give meaning to the actions but many could carry out actions simply because they lacked a reason to do anything else.
It was this that he believed was lacking in Xander: motivation.
The kid might do as he was asked and do his best but it was not because he was interested in the reward or the feeling of accomplishment.
It was just because he'd been asked to do so.
"Have any plans for when the training's all over with?" He asked making it look like he was changing the topic to something else.
He wasn't.
He was just attacking the original target from a different angle.
"Not really. Find a planet that's nice enough and far from the front lines." Xander replied showing a bit more focus, "Find someplace to call home. Find a job to pay for the essentials. Then whatever happens happens."
"Doesn't sound much like living." He said putting forth his own opinion, "More like existing."
"Maybe." Xander said with a gaze that flickered with something for a second before vanishing, "Any other questions? Cause I really need to get my sleep. I doubt Tervho's going let me get away with 'I didn't get enough sleep' if I screw up tomorrow."
For a moment he considered trying to pry more insight from the kid but decided that perhaps discretion would be wiser. If he pressed too hard it would likely cause Xander to become defensive despite the casual demeanour that had been shown thus far. Better to allow the kid to think he'd successfully shut the door on the topic so he could open it up once more once an ideal opportunity presented itself.
"No I think that'll do it for now." He said jerking a thumb back in the direction of the tents, "Get some sleep. You're going to need it."
With a nod the kid walked away leaving him to his own thoughts.
~Looks like we might have a bigger problem than I thought.~ He thought watching the retreating form.
If it'd just been a lack of motivation he could've worked with the kid to find something that would suit him but there was more to it than that. During his various missions alongside his teammates there'd been times when they'd fought alongside local resistance and militia fighters on worlds that lacked an official military. He'd seen the brave, he'd seen the scared and sometimes he saw the dead that yet moved as though they were still alive. These last sort had been through terrible ordeals had been shaken by the experiences leaving them adrift not willing to die but bereft of a reason to keep on living. It was because of this listlessness that many of their allies did not expect them to live through too many battles before being killed. As such these people were only given the minimum support in terms of gear and food so as not to waste them on a lost cause.
He wasn't in such as dire situation so he wouldn't be so callous but at the same time he could only see death in the kid's future if nothing was done.
So the question became how to give Xander the will to live again and choose his own future rather than allow it to be chosen by chance or someone else.
He'd need to discuss this with Vhonte.
She'd have more experience with this sort of thing and together they could figure out a way to keep all this from being a big waste of time.
Late Morning the Next Day
Sergeant Vhonte Tervho's POV
"You sure about this?" She asked after hearing Hunter's summary of his late night discussion with Xander.
"I wouldn't have said anything if I wasn't." Hunter replied without any waver in his voice.
Looking down from their vantage point as their students put what they'd been taught into practice to find their two teachers. It wouldn't be as simple as just looking up since both she and Hunter were in a position that hid them well while also allowing them to keep tabs on the students. If Hunter was right about Xander's mindset then she was wasting her time teaching him the skills she knew as a hunter and that pissed her off. It was one thing for her to teach someone who wanted to learn after losing her bet to Kal but to be teaching someone who was hollow inside…
Fuck that!
"Like hell am I gonna let this continue!" She growled in rejection of the lifeless mindset, "He's gonna start giving a shit about everything if it's the last thing I do!"
"No offence Sergeant Tervho but finding effective ways of motivating people isn't exactly your specialty." Hunter said with a little hesitation, "Not in the way that'd work with Xander anyways."
"What are you talking about? You saying I can't light a fire under his ass?" She asked a little irritated at the slight.
"If it was just about getting him motivated about the training I wouldn't have any doubts." He replied with a negative shake of his head, "It's more than that…it's…it's like my hand blaster. The tech's sound and it'll do what it was designed to do but in Xander's case the power cell's bone dry. Just getting him to do the exercises isn't the problem. It's getting him to act human instead of like a damn clanker."
That made her pause.
She didn't know how but her instincts were telling her that Hunter had just hit the problem right on the head. Thinking back to how she'd seen Xander behave since she'd first laid eyes on him she had to agree that nothing he'd done had been something that would've been impossible for a droid to do. Indeed with the right mechanical body and the right programming any droid would've been able to complete the scenarios El-Les had put Xander through. With tactical droid programming added in leading the four clones in team scenarios wouldn't have been too difficult either. None of those scenarios were so difficult that it'd be beyond the ability of even the most capable programmer to come up with a droid mind capable of handling them.
What set flesh and blood people apart from droids though was their ability to make leaps beyond the limits of computer logic and be more versatile than the best artificial mind.
Had Xander exhibited any of that since she'd first seen him?
A wisp of it maybe, an afterimage perhaps, but nothing more visible than that.
Like Hunter had suggested Xander was just going through the motions, completing the tasks set before him and only caring about himself as much as was needed for survival. There was no fire of life, no bright dreams behind his eyes, making him little better than the battle droids the Separatists used.
It was unnatural!
"So what do we do?" She asked Hunter even as her mind came up with some flimsy ideas.
"If he keeps acting like he has it's only a matter of time before get gets himself killed." He replied mind focused on his thoughts rather than who was before him, "I doubt it's something that's going to be solved in a day either. It's like an open wound that's bleeding out. We need to figure out a way to stop the bleeding and help him heal."
Thinking herself she tried to come up with something they could work with.
It was only when she turned her gaze back to Moko and Xander that she had an epiphany of sorts. The idea was crude but when putting it side by side with Hunter's words she believed that it did have a chance of succeeding.
"I got an idea." She said as the pieces started coming together in her head, "It's tricky but I think it'll work."
"What's your idea?" He asked both out of curiosity and an offer of help.
As best she could she related her idea for how to get Xander to act more like a normal person rather than some organic droid. It wasn't the kindest method she was sure some would say but given how deep in it Xander seemed to be kindness would only make his death less painful. It wouldn't prevent it. In order for Xander to get pulled back to the right side of the line between living things and droids they needed to make the kid believe that him dying had consequences that'd pull down more than just him. Not just in an indirect way but specifically him and deliberately him.
As deliberate and specific as a blaster bolt to the head.
By the time she was finished outlining her plans she could tell that while Hunter wasn't thrilled he wasn't rejecting it either.
"A bit heavy handed don't you think?" Hunter asked crossing his arms over his chest, "Plus we're going to need to be ready to follow through if we need to show we're serious."
"If he's as far gone as you say a light touch isn't going to do anything." She replied certain this was the best option, "We need him to feel the weight of it, the decisiveness of it, if he's going to take it seriously."
Between the two of them they fleshed out her original idea to account both for how the Kaminoans would handle it and the various ways it might fall apart on them. By the time Xander and Moka were close enough that talking more would compromise the current training session they had most of it mapped out. There was still enough flexibility that they'd be able to adapt to any surprises that came along but not so much that it'd flop all over the place.
~Wonder if I should let Kal and the others help.~ She thought pondering what they could bring to the scheme before shaking her head, ~Nah! Make something too complicated, get too many cooks, and you're just giving a plan more ways to screw up.~
Her and Hunter could handle it themselves.
It'd work.
No doubt.
One Week Later
The Northern Badlands Outside of Jedha City
Moko Byl's POV
"Where is it?" She asked as they walked between the large rocky outcroppings tracking their prey.
"It's close. This is its territory." Xander replied his eyes focused on the path ahead, "It's not gonna get scared off just because the two of us are here."
Letting his words strengthen her resolve she drew upon the teachings that had been conveyed to them both by Sergeant Tervho and Commander Hunter over the last ten days. Both experienced soldiers had done their best to explain their methods and techniques before working her as well as Xander hard all day to make sure they got it right. Xander took it all in without fear and only ever asked questions to clarify certain parts of what was being taught rather than complain about it being too hard. She did her best to follow his lead but he could never quite manage it without making some mistake or another. Both instructors were prompt in pointing out her errors but where Sergeant Tervho was harsh and unbending Commander Hunter took a softer approach.
Today their test was to use what they'd been taught thus far to track down a pack of wolves that'd been causing trouble with people working outside of Jedha City for awhile. According to what they'd learned the scavengers that wandered about used them in fights but abandoned those too old for such things or the ones that didn't have the right temperament. Most of those two categories died pretty soon after being abandoned but some survived and even gave rise to wild packs unaffiliated with the scavengers. Given the environment prevalent on Jedha being so harsh it was to be expected for the wolves to be feral, vicious and almost always hungry to one degree or another.
They hadn't seen it yet but they had come across signs of their passage in the form of footprints and poodoo on the ground.
The less said about how their teachers had drilled them on how to recognize wolf poodoo from the other kinds the better.
At present the tracks they were following appeared to be less than a day old leading them to believe they'd catch up to their prey sooner rather than later. Like Xander had pointed out this was likely the territory this pack had claimed and two intruders would not be enough to scare the one they were tracking into leaving it. In fact Tervho had pointed out how it was more likely that the lone wolf was retreating back to where its pack was for strength in numbers. This would work in their favour when it came to dealing with the problem since it'd allow them to kill all the wolves at once rather than one at a time. Both of them had their DC-17 hand blasters out and were prepared to use them the moment they needed to. Whether that'd be because they were attacked or were preparing to attack depended on how the future unfolded but she was confident that their aim and their training would keep them safe.
It was an hour before they found something but honestly she wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
Blood stained the sand and there were even wisps of fur still being blown about by the random winds of the area.
"Looks like our fur ball ran into some trouble." Xander said kneeling down to get a better look at the stain, "Not enough to keep it from running off though. If it's hurt bad enough we might be catching up to it sooner than expected."
"And if 'trouble' finds us first?" She asked concerned that the inclusion of another predator could complicate things for them.
"Then we'll handle it." He replied before standing up and following the trail that'd been left by the wolf, "Watch our flanks."
Nodding she trailed a few feet behind him keeping her gaze shifting from the left to the right and back again. Predators of the size of the wolves were capable of being stealthy when they needed to be even to seasoned hunters. The larger predators while not capable of being stealthy due to their immense size and the affects such mass had on the environment but they did prove to have greater potential for destruction.
Both personal as well as structural.
Oddly enough she found herself preferring the possibility that whatever had hurt the wolf had been a much larger predator since that would allow them to detect it faster. It would also give them all the justification they needed to retreat since there was no way that their hand blasters would be effective on a life form past a certain size. She'd even heard stories about how the Voritor lizard's was highly resistant to blaster shots and very much hoped that it wasn't one of them that injured the wolf they were tracking.
The effort she was putting into keeping their flanks covered made the keeping track of time difficult but eventually they came upon a troubling sight.
"So much for finding the rogue wolf pack." Xander said looking down at the bloody dismembered remains of the wolf they'd likely been tracking, "Guess whatever hurt it earlier caught up and finished it off."
"I don't think I want to find out what did this." She said feeling slightly nauseous at the sight.
"Yeah. Not a pretty sight." He said inspecting random bits of remains, "I just wonder…what…"
"Wonder what?" She asked as her squad leader suddenly went quiet.
"Most animals only kill 'cause they're hungry or to defend their territory." He replied picking up some of the larger body parts to look at before dropping them, "But I'm not seeing any bite marks and it looks like everything's still here."
"Maybe whatever did this wasn't hungry." She proposed liking that safer option.
"Or maybe the wolf was the right size to kill but not big enough to make a good meal." He said his alertness rising higher than before, "Let's get back to Tervho and Hunter. Our one lead to the rest of the pack is dead so we're pretty much back where we started."
"Tervho's not gonna like it." She said as they began to retrace their steps back to camp.
"Probably not but it's not like there's anything else we can do." He said keeping a steady pace along the path of footprints they'd laid down.
She was about to say something when she began to feel vibrations from the ground climbing up through the bottom of her boots. They started out small but were growing both and power and intensity causing her to stop in her tracks as her mind tried to figure out what it was she was feeling. Was something coming at them from the sides? No…no it didn't feel like that. There was a pattern of sorts to footsteps whether they were made by sentient races or non-sentient ones and even those that moved by slithering could be recognized.
This didn't feel like either of those but then what-
"MOVE!" Xander exclaimed before she found herself powerfully pushed forward from behind.
RUMBLE! KRRSSHH!
"GRRRHHH!" Came a primal roar even as rock and dirt was tossed into the air along with her.
Hitting the ground she was dazed for a moment but her training proved its worth as she quickly recovered bringing herself into a crouch position facing the likely threat.
What she saw was NOT what she'd been expecting.
Towering over her and Xander with what she suspected was the bottom half still buried was a massive worm-like creature with a gaping maw that had three sets of teeth in it. Coupled with sharp protrusions every few sets of scales that might be legs of some sort for pushing itself along and it was clearly a predator.
Looking around she found Xander not too far off looking just as surprised as she was at the unexpected arrival. However when the beast lowered its head and seemed to be looking at them they both realized that the time for staring was over. Bringing up her hand blaster she began to fire on the beast but even as it moved about she couldn't see any sign that the bolts of blue energy were doing physical damage. Sure the scales they hit darkened in colour a bit but she wasn't seeing any sign of reduced maneuverability that might indicate an injury.
"We're gonna need bigger guns to take this thing down!" Xander yelled even as he performed a diving roll to get clear of the beast's attempt to eat him.
"Run for it?!" She asked knowing that there weren't any 'bigger guns' close by for them to take advantage of.
"Yep! Wait for it to open its mouth and fire some shots down its throat!" He ordered even as he moved to join her, "Hopefully its more tender on the inside than it is on the outside! Might not kill it but hopefully it'll distract it enough for us to get away!"
"Just give the signal!" She said even as she mentally prepared herself to fire a volley of blaster bolts into the beast's mouth.
Seeing the creature turn to face them using its sharp feet she tensed waiting for the order to be given and thankfully she didn't have long to wait. Either angry or feeling aggressive the creature opened its maw letting loose a terrifying roar and immediately Xander began sending shots into its mouth. Adjusting the aim of her own DC-17 hand blaster she added her own shots to the mixed with a little over half of them succeeding in going down the throat. THIS did get a reaction as it reared back but neither she or Xander were going to stick around to see what happened next. With her squad commander taking the lead they ran from the creature taking the most direct route back to where Sergeant Tervho and Commander Hunter awaited them.
Feeling the ground vibrating beneath her feet she knew that the creature had gotten over the shock of the attack down its throat and judging from what she was sensing it was coming for them.
"Stick close to the rocks!" Xander yelled briefly looking over his shoulder at her, "Might slow it down a bit!"
Nodding she did as he directed hoping that the rocks that'd gotten tossed in the air upon the thing's debut had started out as small rocks rather than one large one. If her hopes proved true then the larger chunks of rock along their route back to safety would prove to be an obstacle for the creature that'd slow it down. However if the small rocks had once been a large boulder any time they gained would be measured in seconds.
KRRSH!
KRRSSH!
KR-KRRSSH!
"ROAR!"
"Doesn't sound like it's impressed with all the obstructions!" She yelled even as she tried to quicken her pace.
"Well we were a little pressed for time!" He said with a bit of humour, "Can't blame us for half-assed preparations!"
"Any other ideas?!" She asked hoping for something a little more successful.
"Run faster?!" He proposed half-heartedly.
She could only roll her eyes at this, a habit she'd learned from Xander, but nevertheless pushed her legs to move faster. There was no way of knowing if they could get away but privately she hoped that if they could exit the beast's territory perhaps it'd give up on pursuing the two of them. A slim hope since beasts angered by pain might be motivated enough to chase the ones responsible to the very ends of the planet.
Hopefully this was one of the lazy ones.
It was just as the two of them made it clear of the rocky outcroppings and into the wide open desert that things took a turn for the worse.
"DIVE!" Xander yelled and without hesitation she did as he had commanded.
The displacement of air that she felt on her back made it all too clear that she had missed being hit by something by the very slimmest of margins. When she looked up to see what it was she was surprised to see a spike sticking up out of the dirt a dozen feet ahead of her with an unpleasant ichor flowing off of it to the ground.
"It can shoot SPIKES!" She exclaimed even as she got back to her feet and adopted a more zig-zag running pattern in order to be harder to hit.
"Looks like!" Xander said from ahead of her not sounding any happier than she was, "Scattered advancement pattern three!"
"Got it!" She said even as she began to put her training to good use.
Over the course of their team training patterns had been taught to them and they'd come up with their own in order to successfully pass El-Les' training scenarios. This one had been developed with the idea of confusing the training droids' targeting subroutines preventing them from achieving a solid lock resulting in more random fire than precise shooting. Using it on the beast hopefully would prove just as effective since animals were dumber than droids when it came to how they attacked and killed their prey. Sure there were those who praised the cunning of a predator or the sharpness of their instincts but there was a reason why sentient races ruled planets while predators simply lived there.
Seeing spikes shoot through the air missing the both of them by meters sometimes while other times barely a foot she was reassured that the pattern was working.
Now it came down to who had the greater stamina: the two of them or the beast.
A dangerous gamble but it was all they had.
Xander's POV
~Just how much gas does this thing have in its tank!~ He thought as he began to feel his own vitality reach its final lap.
It'd been almost half an hour since the two of them had started fleeing from what he suspected was a sand worm and she didn't see any sign of it slowing down or giving up. It was to their credit that they'd managed to maintain their pace for as long as they had but he could tell with a glance that Moko was quickly approaching her limits. While she had made a significant amount of progress physically since becoming a member of his squad he'd confirmed that he'd gotten some improvements along with the Emiya makeover. One was greater stamina than someone his age and build would naturally possess with it only getting greater the more effort he put into his training. Sadly this meant that Moko would give out from exhaustion sooner than he would and that would make her easy prey for the sand worm.
~Why oh why did I let Tervho convince me to leave the com-links back at camp!?~ He thought thinking of how wonderful it'd be to call in the cavalry.
According to Tervho it'd been to make sure that neither he or Moko could rely on anyone other than themselves for the hunt. The Mandalorian didn't believe that either of them would truly come to grasp what they'd been taught if there was a way to rely on their teachers. Moko had asked what they were to do if they got in over their heads with something to which Hunter had said that no hunt or mission ever went according to plan. How you adapted to the unforeseen and overcame it was what separated the hunters from the pretenders.
With the way things were going though he wouldn't be a hunter or a pretender by the time this was done.
He'd be food and later giant worm poodoo.
How could he turn this around?
Their hand blasters were useless against the sand worm and likely weren't any worse than bee stings. He'd investigated the possibility of turning blasters into makeshift bombs with El-Les and Kayla but according to them while possible it wasn't something that was easy. The designers of every widespread model of blaster had ample reason to make sure that their products didn't malfunction and blow up in the user's hand. According to El-Les most of the incidents involving exploding blasters came about as a result of modifications done by the buyer after it left the factory. With the occasional bit of bad publicity connected to their products many companies had done the best they could to make such modifications increasingly difficult to accomplish or even attempt.
Given how things tended to be on the battlefield none of them thought it'd be practical or efficient to try something like that with whatever tools were on hand.
Running was only delaying the inevitable so that was out.
Could he…should he…try…THAT?
It'd been awhile since he'd last matched wills with the imposter Willow and managed to keep her from driving his Od out of control. It'd taken everything he'd had to maintain the stalemate but in the end his room hadn't gotten messed up and none of the security troopers had come crashing in to see what was going on. In his mind this was an important achievement no matter what the imposter insinuated. The question he couldn't give a solid answer to was whether or not he'd managed something big enough to risk trying to pull a hat trick. He had no experience or training and would be relying entirely on the leftovers from Halloween to succeed. Did he dare take that chance?
Glancing back at Moko, seeing fatigue grow into each of her movements, he knew the answer and cursed whatever force was responsible for putting him in situations like this.
Shoving all doubt and hesitation aside he dove away from the direction Moko was running and once he was back on his feet he made for the nearest raised outcropping of stone. In order for his plan to work he needed to have the best angle possible and that was something that'd be hard to get given his lack of knowledge about sand worm biology. Another thing he'd need would be at least five seconds of time to prepare and at least three to actually execute his plan.
Given how aggressive the sand worm was he couldn't say for sure if he'd have his eight seconds.
~Gotta pull this off no matter what!~ He thought as he reached the outcropping, ~Moko needs me to!~
Hearing the sounds of the worm approaching he leapt onto the outcropping before focusing not on the oncoming threat but rather on something within.
A hammer raised in preparation to strike downwards.
"Trace on!" He declared tapping into his Od deliberately for the first time since the imposter had revealed herself to him.
As soon as he could feel the energy flowing through him he began to imagine the weapon he needed in as much detail as he could muster drawing upon his Halloween memories. He had memories of many weapons that Emiya had laid eyes on over the years but the ones that stood out the most seemed to be the ones where a personal connection existed. It was one of the ones Emiya knew all too well that he was summoning forth and even if his control and skill were lacking he forced things to go his way through sheer will alone.
Energy crackled out from his right hand at first chaotically but order was brought to it even as a form began to be outlined in mid-air. Long it was, almost six feet in length, and with every second that passed features began to define it until it became clear that it was a spear. Then with a flash to herald completion the spear's tracing was complete and a blood red spear with vine engravings along its shaft and a barbed spearhead. With his mind he could sense that his tracing while better done than he'd been expecting was not quite perfect or completely stable.
It was to be expected but it was still good enough for his purpose.
Tapping into the power of the cursed spear he called forth what could be considered its weakest technique because it was the most he felt he could pull off at present. Twirling the spear once as he turned to face the sand worm he found himself almost out of time and so with one final surge of Od from within he spoke the words needed.
"I'll have your heart!" He declared bringing the the spear back, "Gae Bolg: the Barbed Spear that Pierces with Death!"
To the uneducated observer it looked as though he was aiming too low and from too far away but they would not know that it was impossible to miss with the crimson spear. Why? Because this was the cursed spear obtained by the legend Cu Chulainn from the warrior-queen Scáthach who ruled the Land of Shadows. Its special properties made it so that so long as it was used by one who knew what it was and had the magic to power it the spear would always hit its mark. In this case the mark was the beast's heart wherever it was and with the technique he just used the nature of causality was reversed in the blink of an eye.
Instead of 'the spear was thrust and pierced the heart' it in fact looked more like 'the heart was pierced so the spear must have been thrust'.
He was counting on the possibility that Gae Bolg didn't need the user to know where the heart was located in order to seek it out for piercing.
And so it did.
As though made of energy rather than metal the tip of the spear shot forth changing course as it homed in on its target and then it PIERCED. That which had proven impervious to blaster fire might as well have been ancient paper before the tip of the spear and when barbed head vanished beneath the worm's skin its roar of anger came to an abrupt halt.
For a moment he grinned as this could only be considered a success but it didn't last much longer than that.
Why?
Because while his traced Gae Bolg did succeed in killing the beast it did little to arrest the worm's forward momentum meaning its body was still coming at him fairly quickly.
Knowing what happened when something huge slammed into something smaller and less sturdy he pushed off the stone with everything he had away from the dead worm's path.
He made it.
For the most part.
Sadly whether it was due to his slowness in realizing the danger he'd been in or the lateness in which he unleashed Gae Bolg the result was the same. While most of his body succeeded in evading damage one single sharp protrusion from the worm's body succeeded in cutting into his leg drawing blood. The cut was not deep enough to require serious surgery but it was painful nonetheless and this was only exacerbated when he hit the ground jarring the wound. The spike in pain broke the focus he'd been using in order to keep Gae Bolg intact and so it disintegrated into motes of light before vanishing entirely.
"Not bad for a first try." He grunted even as he forced his body into a sitting position, "Bitch didn't even show up to fuck things up."
"Xander!"
Turning his head he saw Moko running towards him worry clearly etched on her face almost succeeding in masking the fatigue she had to be feeling.
"Don't worry. It looks worse than it is." He said offhand his Emiya memories telling him that the laceration would need stitches and bandages but nothing more.
Given the existence of bacta and other advanced forms of healing he doubted that he'd get more than a day or two of rest before Tervho would resume teaching them.
"How…how did you do that?" She asked kneeling at his side and immediately taking emergency medical supplies from the compartments on her belt.
"Let's just say I picked up a few tricks before I landed on Kamino." He replied not seeing any wisdom in being completely honest with the Togruta, "Just don't tell Tervho or Hunter 'kay? If they ask just say that something more interesting got the worm's attention and I was stupid enough to get cut a bit."
"If you're sure that's okay…" she said sounding unsure about keeping this from their teachers.
"Trust me." He said with his trademark lopsided grin, "With that sand worm dead our only problem is getting back to Tervho and Hunter."
A bit of a challenge with his leg sliced up but he'd manage so long as they didn't push themselves too hard to get back.
He'd need his strength to survive the tongue lashing he was sure Tervho would hit him with the second he was close enough to be yelled at.