From The Ashes

[Milo Corr]

Finding oneself on Yavin 4 was perhaps not an easy task. Long, by Milo's standards, had it been under the control of the Sith Empire. It was mere luck that he found himself upon the verdant green rock, slipping the last of his credits into the hands of a passing smuggler with a similar destination. Yet now he was next to abandoned on the planet, alone.

But the vagabond did not come to this world without a reason. A feeling guided him here, as it had in the past. Hours of scouring historical records, forgotten legends, and geographic maps had led him here. Without a credit to his name or a weapon on his body, he trekked into the wilderness searching for the presence which nagged at this thoughts.

Two days he had spent searching, surviving off of dubiously edible berries and fruits. Aimlessly walking as the transient did not carry a map with him, instead relying on his senses.

As night fell upon the moon, two stone pillars rose from the earth, just piercing the foliage. An aura, one Milo could not place, emanated from the masonry itself. Hewn rock, cobbled together in clean cut rhombuses formed what appeared to be a stone like rib cage, flush with the earth. Upon the ground rested what he assumed to be the entrance. A slab of rock covered in a cryptic and jagged language, unknown to the amateur explorer.

With the dwindling light so too dwindled his chances of examining the slab. With the light that remained he set about to the task of creating a fire, gathering fallen limb and dead logs to create an orange circle of sanctuary for the night. With a sigh of relief he rested upon his back, gazing upon the galaxy's stars in wonder, for they were far brighter here in the woods than on the streets of an ecumenopolis.

[member="Mereel Vaun"]

 

[Mereel Vaun]

A T-visor glowed ghostly blue under the gnarled tree canopy as the helmet's wearer navigated cautiously atop the massive tree branches of the Massassi trees. Mereel's senses were on high alert. Tuning out each crunch of his own footfalls and the snapping of twigs that often accompanied them, his focus was on the other bumps in the night. Each sound of the forest nightlife, every flicker of movement in his night-vision assisted vision, every lifeform he could sense in the force - all were weighed in his mind as he decided the next tree trunk to fire his grappling hook at.

Without a doubt though, hearing was the most important of his senses right now. Yavin 4 may have been the home to several areas of historical importance to the Jedi Order, but to Mereel it was just another world on his bucket list. The world was somewhat inconveniently located in the middle of Sith Empire territory, but phony IFF tags and faked registration were things that he already had on hand, and besides that, there was something on the planet that would make his visit worthwhile.

He was hunting for a leviathan grub - an incredibly rare predator that feasted on the roots of the trees he was currently climbing through. Rumors said that the grubs were absolutely massive in size once they emerged, wider and longer than sections of entire rivers. While he had absolutely no idea what he'd do if he found one, Mereel knew he wanted to try to vanquish such a beast if he could find it. All he had to do was hike half the planet and listen for the sound of something enormous either emerging from the ground or scurrying across it.

Before he could hear the sound of anything massive lurking about the forest though, he felt another lifeform in the force. He fired his rifle's grappling hook into the tree he was standing on and began rapidly descending in a heart beat. As he got closer to the ground, he could clearly see a fire, two pillars, and a man.

Still repelling from the tree, about 20 meters up, Mereel called out to alert the man of his presence, "Oh kriff, you're not a leviathan grub!"

[member="Milo Corr"]

 

[Milo Corr]

Rising from the ground, startled, he almost fell over. The vagabond was not expecting company, not out here at least. Pushing himself to a stand he brushed off his grubby coat. "Do I look like a grub?" He waved the figure off,"Nah, nah. I'm just your average, uh, spacer." He said, motioning to the sealed ruins about them.

"I haven't seen any grubs," Milo said, tugging once more on his coat. The man looked like a common drifter, low on coin and food, travelling the galaxy and surviving on what could be found. Crude, dirty, but hearty. With scrutiny he looked over Mereel, trying to gauge his intentions and any other equipment he had on him.

[member="Mereel Vaun"]

 

[Mereel Vaun]

"Hold on, I'm not close enough to rule that out yet."

Now 5 meters above the ground, Mereel cut the grappling cable at its source under his rifle barrel and fell freely. After using the force to slow his descent, he landed on his feet with a light thud. Spinning around on his heel, his eyes sized the man up under the privacy of his helmet.

Now that he was closer, he was entirely certain that the not-grub-man was force sensitive, but that wasn't what interested him most about the stranger. The man's coat could certainly pass him as a spacer, but something important about that lifestyle was missing from the man's visible person.

"Well, you certainly have the attire of a spacer, but you're missing something. Hmm.. lose your blaster, ner vod?"

[member="Milo Corr"]