Mud Stingers [PM for Invite]

[Coci Heavenshield]

Dagobah​

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A very small township​

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Early evening​

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She had heard of this force user, famous one so they told her, that had lived on Dagobah. Aerin had some time off from training and so decided to take a visit to this place. She regretted her decision the moments she landed. Nothing, absolutely nothing here but biting insects, strange noises, bubbling rank marsh water, humidity and the smell. Rotting vegetation. All of this compounded by the thick hanging mist.

.. and she is lost.

And so clinging to a faint sign, a whispering through the force telling her of life ahead. Sentient life, at least that was something. As she moved forward, slowly pounding her way through the adhesive mud, she arrived on the outskirts of a very small township. She sighed with relief, however, she did not know what she would find in this isolated place, only one way to find out.

Her brown leather boots, now caked with mud, pushed her forward. Aerin looked down at her attire, her trousers covered in mud as was her white shirt and she smelled of the marshes. Her hair disheveled and face covered in droplets of sweat. This is not a good day and she hoped to get off this stink hole as soon as possible.

 

[Connor Harrison]

He’d navigated most terrain in his recent years – molten rock, sand, snow, jungle, fauna – but this…THIS? This was something else. Dagobah was humid, smelly and a giant ball of fungus. Steam rose between the trees caked in mist, many bogs and rancid pools of water bubbled and rippled from natural gases under the planet core that seeped through.

Bugs, flying insects, giant Bogwings and the odd Dragonsnake made up just some of the creatures Kail Ragnar had to avoid as well as his footing on the surface.

Shaking his head as he held out his hands to grip the thick trees to help pull him forward, he was still in his white combat trousers (now more caked in greeny-brown mud) with dirty boots and his rolled up tan shirt, armoured vest splattered with grime and bits of tree. His face was peppered with sweat and mud, his hair unkempt as he focused on keeping his balance rather than his style. He didn’t care – he’d seen worse.

Wrinkling his nose against the smell and the sweat bead ticking the end of it, Kail managed to keep Aerin Firebrand in his sights as she stopped upon a very small collection of, what looked like, huts and shelters. He tried to keep his mind clear from thinking about the Midvinter warrior to avoid her catching onto him, so focused more on the environment he navigated.

He had trailed Firebrand from Midvinter that he had “left” after saying his goodbyes, but it was only a ruse. Kail wanted to see what she was plotting and where he could fit in, and as he hadn’t heard anything from Matsu Xiangu – as if he would now anyway – he followed her.

Followed her to this slimy mudhole.

He wobbled slightly on a raised bank of thick grass and stone and crouched down to observe her. What was she hoping to find here? This wasn’t the place to find anything to help with a war. Unless you wanted to make mud-balls.


[member="Ærin Firebrand"]

 

[Menoetius]

Ah, Dagobah. This was where it all began for the brain-sucking, life absorbing, Anzati. This was where the ex-empress [member="Ashin Varanin"] had trained him, taught him the basics of what it meant to be a Sith. This was back when she was a white woman, not a black one with slick sunglasses. Nevertheless, it was good to take a small stroll down nostalgia lane. This particular stroll had led Menoetius to the edges of a small township, one that echoed a few faint force signatures that made the Sith lick his lips in anticipation.

He didn't know sentient life called Dagobah its home but boy he was glad there were some tasty snacks available planetside.

So in the darkness, he stalked. Those force signatures within the township may detect a void of empty force stalking the perimeter, discharging small traces of the darkside as it circled the clearing slowly. This void was Menoetius' supernatural, nihilus-like, hunger and it was quite the dark sensation to pick up on indeed.

Any sentients not in tune with the force would probably just feel a sense of foreboding, enough to raise some hairs on their necks. Regardless, Darth Erebos was approaching. And he was hungry.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Menoetius"] | [member="Kail Ragnar"]​

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The walk toward the village took longer then expected. The swamp mud proving hazardous and great care was needed or one could find themselves falling in the mud... once more. Soon the village was in reach, and finally her boots hit what could be loosely called solid ground. Strange eerie lights shed yellowish light from crossed window frames. The water sitting stagnate on the ground surrounding the structures danced with reflection, like flames in a fire.

Nothing, no sign of any form of building that might house quarters for repose, but she moved into the village further to find something. Her face blackened as she continued, a sense of ill whispered through the force of something near by and menacing. She could not pin point the source of it, but her head turn around the see if she had been followed. The darkness proving impossible to see through but she thought for a moment, she saw something moving within the shadows.

Her force senses heightened and she felt it, a presence of someone familiar and another unknown. She turned back and continued walking wondering why he was here, and she rapidly grew suspicious of him. That was not part of the plan .. why is he following her? But what was more concerning was the other presence. Aerin moved toward the structures, not changing her stance or gait and as soon as she spotted an opportunity she ducked into a small alley way and disappeared into the swirling mists.

 

[Connor Harrison]

She's always on the move.

Standing carefully, he waited until Firebrand hand disappeared into the mist, illuminated by what looked like oil lamps and fires, and the traversed the ground before him. Stepping lightly as he could on rocks, marsh banks and tree stumps, Kail held the above vines for balance.

Around him, the inhabitants of the planet chirped, growled and hissed around him as he moved quickly and carefully to the small village.

Kail stood and moved his right hand to the SSX blaster on his thigh. He hoped he wouldn't need the firepower of the KX-60 rifle, so hope Firebrand wouldn't be in the mood to fight dirty. He was too open in the seemingly make-shift village, but the thick mist helped him move quietly and carefully through. It wasn't a large village, if it WAS a village he was in, and it was too quiet.

There was no real reason for the Valkyri to be here. That made the hairs on his neck prickle even more out of suspicion.



[member="Ærin Firebrand"] [member="Menoetius"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Kail Ragnar"] [member="Menoetius"]


Moving as quietly as she could in these conditions, her boots stuck in the sodden mud from time to time, squelched. She cursed under her breath each time the noise came, as it sounded so loud in the quiet place. She, a master at stealth hunting hated every moment of it.

Why did I decide to come here?

She smiled however, as a image of [member="Aurelio Murtix"] popped into her mind. She would have delighted in his presence here, if for nothing else then to see the look on his wonderful face. This very thought made her giggle just a little bit.

Now, she returned her mind back to her situation, she had double back behind the person that seemed to be following her. She did not know why someone out here in this horrid place would do such a thing. But her time in the Galaxy since leaving Midvinter had taught her much, to expect the unexpected.

In no time she had finally reached her viewing point and to her surprise saw a familiar figure struggle just as much as she. Her eyes narrowed, and her mind began to ponder why he was here.

She did not like it, not one bit.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Slipping on a wet bank of moss and fauna, Kail went down on one knee, reaching out with his hand to stop himself going down fully onto the muddy floor. Laughing to himself, it quickly turned to a curse as he picked himself up again.

What as a snow-woman doing on a humid, dirty planet like this? But why did Kail feel the need to follow her? He wished he hadn't bothered now. There was an air of discomfort around the settlement and he never felt more alone than he did now.

Scratching the back of his head, wiping away some soft mud in his hair, Kail turned and peered through the mist. He didn't know where to go and what do to. He wiped his hands together and chuckled to himself.

"I know you're out there, frosty. Get out here and stop getting involved with things you can't handle."

Exhaling, Kail crossed his arms and circled where he stood. No need waiting around and getting more lost on this mud-hole.


[member="Ærin Firebrand"] [member="Menoetius"]

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Kail Ragnar"]

The nerve of the man! As his voice bellowed out it 'words of wisdom'. Not to mention just alerted the entire village of their presence. And he has the gall to call her Frosty? Her back up now, she decided, frankly.. to lean him in the dark. Her pride at it's fullest now and she grinned at his discomfort with the mud, servers him right!

She can more then handle herself out here in the vast Galaxy, if not she would have been dead ages ago. As she turned to walk away, leaving his to this mud heap, she stopped. Her mind thought of something else, hmmm this could be a good test of the man's bottle.

Aerin turned back and moved forward to the edge of the building she hid behind. Her arm raised and with the uses of the force she raised the rank water into the air behind him, moving her hand to place the brown puddle over his head and then she let it fall. The brown stinky muck splashing over him.

"No one calls me Frosty". She said finally .. then she shifted her position to another location.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Kail waited, but heard nothing except the inhabitants of the swampy planet chirping, roaring and swimming around him. What a waste of-

SSPLASSSSSSSSSSSSH

His body convulsed and stiffened as the fountain of water swallowed him up, a chill running down his back as the dirty water fell over him and getting everywhere with a resounding roar. It was over in a moment, and Kail froze to the spot, catching his breath, not knowing what had just happened or why.

Bringing up his hand, he feverishly wiped away the thick deposits of mud from his face and mouth, shaking himself from any creepy crawlies deposition on him and turning in anger to see what was behind him – nothing.

Kail reached down and pulled the wet SSX blaster from his thigh holster and held it tight, checking the butt to ensure there was enough power to use following the blast of water – there was, just. And then he heard her goading voice.

Looking up, he failed to see much beyond the mist, but knew she was around the buildings where he had come from. Sneaky. And a tricky fighter.

”My apologies, Firebrand! Just a dirty coward, like your entire backward race. Come out and face me.”

He spat out droplets of the water running from his face to his mouth, wiping his brown with his damp arm. He didn’t raise the blaster, but it was comforting to feel it and he wasn’t afraid to fire a pop shot to scare her if needed.


[member="Ærin Firebrand"]