Cradle Robbing (Hunter's Guild)

[Lucien Atika]

Lucien retraced the steps of the last few days as he floated through space on course to Korriban. After accepting the Tuk'ata pup job he had been approached by Bobawwa. The wookie's request, though inconvenient, was a sensible one. He asked that Lucien not kill any Tuk'ata if it could be avoided. Lucien, still eagerly seeking the approval of all of the guild quickly obliged. Plus, if it meant that much to Bob than how could he say no?

Before leaving out, Lucien acquired nearly a hundred pounds of Bantha meat. He stowed the meat away in a large refrigerated crate in the cargo hold of the freighter he again leased. He hoped to acquire his own ship soon, and if he stayed as busy as he had been that could be soon.

 

[Lucien Atika]

The red planet sneered back at Lucien from the cockpit as he made his approach. He had, like always, studied up on the Tuk'ata as well as the red planet. Big, triple rows of teeth, six inch claws, three horns, and stingers. Nasty combinations needless to say. As far as the planet, well, it seemed the planet itself sought to kill you. Which made the planet as dangerous if not more so than the sith hounds themselves.

The freighter busted through the atmosphere and eased towards the desert sands that covered the entirety of the planet. Lucien went to scanning for tombs as he had been advised by hunters back at the lodge. It didn't take him long to find a triangle of tombs all within reasonable distance of one another. Lucien brought the ship to rest in the middle of the three tombs. Each was in visible distance of the others. Each were marked with massive stonework statues and pillars (though most were damaged by age and the elements). Regardless, the architecture was beautiful in it's own way. Lucien made his way back into the cargo bay to suit up...

 

[Lucien Atika]

Lucien pulled a large sunshield poncho over his head. Retrieving the meat from the crate he stored it away in the coolth backpack he then slug onto his back. Two concussion grenades clipped securely to his tactical belt and he cleanly tucked his trousers into his boots as per usual. He was not use to having such nice things, and he made it a point to keep them in perfect condition. He also enjoyed looking well kept opposed to the latter. He slid a new combat knife into his boot sheathe. He had lost the last one hunting the Taozin.

Lastly, Lucien opened the case in which he kept his prized chiru rifle. It had been a gift from his mentor Mrrew, and nothing in the young hunters possession met more to him. Pulling the sling over his head the rifle rested against his ribs with a satisfying thud.

'Time to punch the time-clock.'

 

[Lucien Atika]

Lucien rolled two large polyweave nets down the ramp as he entered the desert suns. The ramp secured behind him as he tucked one of the nets beneath his arm and headed off towards the first tomb. He was told to avoid entering the tombs if at all possible. The boy knew why. He had never met a sith, but he had heard stories. Immensely powerful and often times cruel. Even in death. The hounds most often guarded the mouths of the tombs anyway.

Lucien shimmied up to rest against a fallen pillar. He peered over the stone cylinder to peer into the darkness of the cave-like structure. There was something terribly off putting about the darkness. Lucien felt a sense like he had never felt, but he dismissed it as nerves. He made quick work to set up the net trap using a nearby pillar for an anchor. Placing a decent chunk of meat in the middle of the trap he silently stalked to the edge of the cave keeping out of the caves line of sight. With his back pressed against the stone that constructed one side of the mouth of the cave, he gave a shrill whistle...

 

[Lucien Atika]

He was soon met with a serious of growls as an assortment of red eyes appeared from within the bleak darkness. Silently, Lucien shimmied to the top of a free standing pillar close by that offered a vantage point. The net trap was triggerable from his datapad. A nifty program he had constructed himself. He watched as a family of Tuk'ata poured into the sunlight. Six pups wrestled playfully among each other as they neared the meat as the two full grown suspiciously surveyed the area. Lucien had not been discovered, but the adults were obviously suspicious. Calmly and slowly he lifted the scope of his rifle to his eyes. The adults had split up to search the perimeter and the pups had settled in to devour the meat. It was time to work.

Lucien put a dart perfectly in the neck of the mother as she surveyed closest to his vantage point. She immediately fell into a peaceful sleep. The chiru rifle was virtually silent, and the others were unaware and unaffected by this action. Lucien had lost sight of the father, and sought to lure him back out. With each of the pups in proximity of the net trap he set it off. Instantly, the pups were enguled by the net and lifted into the air. The pups hung in discontent secured from a pillar. In seconds the father had come to investigate his demeanor hostile and confused.

 

[Lucien Atika]

Lucien made quick work to sedate the father same as the mother. He reloaded his trusty rifle before leaving the safety of his perch. With a few taps of his datapad the grav-cart was on it's way Retrieving his knife, he cut the ropes suspending the whining pups from the pillar careful to ensure they met the ground with a gentle thud. The cart arrived equipped with a moderate cage and Lucien, careful not to be bit, placed each of the six pups into the cage. He placed the half-finished hunk of meat as well as another into the cage before closing it's top.

Lucien made quick work to return to the ship. In the cargo hold he set up a much larger cage for the pups to roam as well as a water bowl and a timed releasing feeder. The confused pups, still fearful, whined as he shepherded them into the cage.

“Oh, it's not all that bad. I'm sure you will be well taken care of.”

Lucien, after hydrating, set off back into the heat of Korriban...

 

[Lucien Atika]

Lucien made way towards the next tomb. Careful not to alert it's inhabitants, Lucien set the net trap in a similar fashion and crept to the face of the cave. Making note of a safe vantage point he gave a shrill whistle, and, after being met with a shuffle of noise from inside, quickly climbed to the safety of the vantage point. Which, this time was a stone cut lip protruding from the top of the tombs mouth.

This time, the first to pour out from the cave was a large full-grown Tuk-ata. His head swiveled as he sniffed and investigated the noise. Behind him appeared a litter of eight younglings, and closing the rear were two more full grown sith hounds who quickly set to searching the perimeter together. This would prove a bit trickier than the last group...

 

[Lucien Atika]

The first shot was towards the lone adult as he was separated from the groups line of sight by some crumbling rubble. Immediately the hound toppled. Lucien swiveled to face the group still circling the area. His shots would need to be both precise and quick. He firmly squeezed on the trigger of the rifle . A slight recoil was met with the first hound turning an attentive gaze as the second stumbled. In one swift motion, the hunter bolted the next dart and smoothly lowered the scopes line of sight to rest on the neck of the concerned hound. With a soft thud the Tuk'ata fell to rest beside it's mate. A smirk of satisfaction crossed the young hunter's lips as he turned to face the pups devouring the pile of meat, but something caught his attention. A pup, smaller than the others sat outside the net watching as the others devoured the meat. The scruff of his neck was visibly scarred and Lucien could tell by his whining he was the runt and was obviously bullied by the pack.

With a tap of the datapad the trap was sprung. The pack of pups hung suspended on a pillar and were audibly quite unhappy about it. The lone pup quickly turned to dart back towards the cave, but Lucien dropped from the ledge to cut it off...

 

[Lucien Atika]

With fear in it's eyes the pup peered up at Lucien. Lucien, with one hand extended in a gesture of peace, dug for a piece of meat from the pack with his other.

“Easy boy, I'm not gonna hurt you.”

The Tuk'ata's head twisted in confusion at Lucien's words, but recognized the peaceful tone. The hunter extended the meat towards the Tuk'ata, but the pup didn't move. Drowning out the dissatisfied growls and whines of the rest of the litter, Lucien crouched frozen gaze fixed on the small pup. The pup's gaze softly switched between the hunter and the hunk of meat in his hand.

The pup took a step.

“That's it boy. Come on.” Lucien cooed towards the pup. “Come on.”

The pup took another step.

“That's it!”

The pup took one last step and extended for the meat. After clenching the meat in it's jaws it attempted to leap back, but Lucien intervened by grabbing it's scruff and pulling it into his lap. The pup began to struggle, but was quickly calmed as Lucien petted the Tuk'ata's back.

“Easy now...”

 

[Lucien Atika]

With his new pal in tow, Lucien cut down the net and loaded it on the grav-cart once the unreliable thing arrived. Lucien ensured the pups were stowed away safely and comfortably. The first litter of pups had calmed down and were even wrestling one another again. At the introduction of seven more pups they quickly circle to investigate. Their attitudes were quick to soothe that of the new residents and before Lucien had even left the planet everyone was calm and settled.

“Ajokoira, We'll call you Ajok. What do you think?”

The hound gave a tiresome yawn as it plopped onto the poncho Lucien had spread out for the Tuk'ata. Next to the makeshift bed was a bowl of water and a large hunk of meat. All of this was located right at the door of the cockpit.

“It's a fine name I think. It means hunter, and I'm sure that you and I both will become great hunters.”

The hound looked contently towards Lucien as it's eyelids grew to heavy to keep open. It wasn't long before the hound was fast asleep...

 

[Lucien Atika]

Lucien crept back to the cargo hold to witness the thirteen pups all fast asleep. Quietly he disarmed, and carefully laid his rifle to rest in her case. Retrieving the bantha-hide vest he had grew fond of he made his way back up to the cockpit. Stepping carefully over his new companion, He plopped into the pilots chair. As he cleared Korriban's gravitational pull, the uncomfortable gut feeling he had felt diminished. There was a feeling of the planet he couldn't explain. It felt like an immense sadness possessed the planet.

Dismissing the feeling, Lucien messaged home to [member="Mrrew"] telling him the job was done. He left out the part about Ajok as he was unsure if Mrrew would approve of his new friend. He felt that to be a better conversation to be held in person. Soon the freighter was accelerating towards home at hyperspeed, and Lucien was rather pleased with himself for a job well done...