Naasad'guur Mhi, Mhi N'ulu, Mhi Mando'ade (Mandalorian Dominion of Taris)

[Werdla Dardalab]

[7/20]

"All right, got it, we're not far off."

Course adjustments were made, and they continued, walking, swaggering or stomping angrily if unevenly as was their individual wont.

"It might not be that easy either. I mean comparatively easy, but this guys still likely got muscle with him."

"Harampr, did you bring grenades?"

"Never leave home without 'em La'ika."

"There you go then, we're fine."

"I'm not sure tossing grenades about really qualifies as winning hearts and minds.."

"Don't toss 'em at kids or fluffy things, less'n they're trying to kill you, then kark 'em."

"Got it. I could toss 'em gently if you reckon that would help?"

"Sure, let's do that."

"Lenedat."

Immediately five weapons were unholstered, and the squad spread out. Not in their usual tactical formation, but forming a line. Claiming the entire street as they continued to advance. This contact was hardly worthy of being called out, but they were thorough, if otherwise unprofessional. A handful of youths, varying species, matching jackets and stupid haircuts. Gang of some kind. Or possibly a religion. The chains and various makeshift weaponry said gang though. The squad could easily have ignored them and moved past, but that wasn't the point of this little exercise now was it?

 

[Briika Munin]

Location: Taris Undercity
Objective: Determine effectiveness of current Rakghoul Plague serum
Allies: [member="Graad Hokan"], Mando'ade
Enemies: Rakghouls
1/20

All the way to Taris, Briika's heart was in her throat. The going away scene had been a teary one when she'd said goodbye to her six year old daughter. Being a single parent now put a lot of pressure on the medic to come back alive and well from her missions for the Mandalorian Medical Corps and MandalMedical. Today, Bree's mission was for the latter; a research project to determine the effectiveness of the Rakghoul Plague serum on the current strain found on Taris, especially now that the Mando'ade were going to incorporate the planet. Viruses mutated and so vaccines and anti-serums always needed to be checked and tweaked to meet the current needs. It would be a dangerous research project, but one that needed to be done nonetheless otherwise needless lives would be lost if the serum was found totally ineffective.

Unbeknown to Briika, MandalMedical had contracted for a private mercenary to come along with her to provide protection while gathering the research. She did need an assistant, but a bodyguard was a little extreme as the baar'ur was a trained verd first.

< "That makes two of us… Definitely not where I want to vacation at. Sunny and 75 is more to my liking," > Briika replied over their personal comm channel, though the blonde didn't really know why she threw that last part in.

If Bree was honest with herself, she was actually relieved to have her good friend watching her six as they traveled into the belly of the beast. Now to find a helpful Rakghoul for a blood sample…

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Location: Sewers
Objective: Killin a Nekghoul
Allies: [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] and [member="Shaw McKeller"]
[6/20]

With the rakghouls alerted to our presence they began their assault, and unorganized swarm, swarm of ten to twelve at a time, so not quite an overwhelming force, just enough to keep us busy, keep us working. Even as they advanced I had the eight troopers form two groups of four, to stand back to back covering the tunnel fairly well. Their weapons were large blaster cannons, more than enough fire power to down a rakghoul, heck on maximum power they were more equivalent to a laser cannon, but that required charge time and was very, very much overkill.

I myself, stuck to wrist lasers and slugthrowers. And those that got too close caught Taak’Shukur to the skull, often smashing the bone open and oozing following the shockwave generator enhanced Beskar Mace’s strikes. I didn’t know Sio at all, but I was aware she was obviously a respected warrior, same with Shaw. I knew we could clear this nest. Once the initial brunt of the rakghouls were finished off it would be easy pickings. I reached out with the Force connecting to everything around me, allowing it to guide my attacks, to aim my weapons, to carve a swath through the sith spawn.

 

[Werdla Dardalab]

[8/20]

Citizens froze and were moved past as if they were no more than inanimate objects, pressed themselves out of the way and were ignored, or skittered off and were likewise ignored.

The youths froze for a moment, one or two sneering, a few weapons were brandished. It flashed through the minds of more than one squad member that it was quite likely just waving a stick with nails in it at her was more than enough to have La start cutting down the delinquents, but to their surprise, fire was held.

As far as La was concerned shooting someone harassing a civvie, that was one thing. Shooting some dumb punk who didn't have a hope and hadn't really been doing anything short of affronting peoples sensibilities with their presence, that was something else. As much as she might currently like to shoot just about everyone, that did not mean she was going to.

The moment where sense warred with hormone-addled idiocy and bravado stretched on, and then someone turned and run and it wasn't long before the lot of the were gone. Weapons were reholstered and the Mandos moved back together, all in seeming silence to the onlookers.

"What was in the report?"

"What did you read?"

"Something something, someone's running their mouth, shut it."

"Or explain to him the error of his ways."

"Pffft."

"I dunno, you can be pretty terrifying, I reckon you could talk him into behaving."

"It was implied that would be better."

"Who is it again?"

"Nikto, not really a crim, not really a businessman, big mouth though."

"You read the report?"

"I skimmed it. I like to know who to aim for."

"I read it."

 

[Ordo]

Location: Taris
Objective: make Caff
Allies:
Enemies: lack of Caff
1/20

The cool air of his room drew a brief shudder from him as he sat up in bed. The feeling of stickiness in his eyes and the slow response of his muscles was more than enough to tell him he was in dire need of caff and probably a bit dehydrated. Slowly he wiped his face and wrapped himself in the blanket that had long since fallen to the deck. One foot after the other he plodded to the caff maker and added the dried grounds then activated the auto drip system.
Slowly but surely the smell of hot caf began to fill the air and already he felt slightly more awake. The cold deck on his bare feet bid him move and after pouring the first cup he walked to find his datapad and check the morning news before he would decide if getting dressed was even worth it.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Draco Vereen"], [member="Shaw McKeller"]
(3/20)


There had been a time when Siobhan felt enjoyment and exultation from being in battle. When she had to a not insignificant extent experienced bloodlust and revelled in carnage. However, those days had largely passed. She was older now. Wiser? Well, that was probably a bit debatable, but marriage and motherhood had grounded her. Never mind the fact that after all the maimings you kind of lost the thrill.



So she focused on efficiently slaughtering things that needed slaughtering. An abomination leapt at her, only to find itself suddenly blown back by an invisible force with enough strength to shatter bones and crush it. Switching to buckshot quickly as Rakghouls closed in, she fired and her boltgun roared, blasting beasties. The Force surged through her and then she unleashed it an outburst of telekinetic power with such force that the air twisted in strange shapes as Rakghouls were hit with the force of a speeder. Their bodies exploded in a bloody shower of gore, flesh and innards. The walls themselves seemed to shake under the pressure. Good thing that these were sewers, so no one would be forced to clean up this mess. The stench of death permeated the air, but she kept on slaying.


She felt a strong pressure when suddenly a Rakghoul that looked like it was grossly mutated gorilla with absurdly big teeth managed to knock her down from behind and sent her flying. She hit the ground with a hard thud, water splashing everywhere. Ouch. Soon the beast was upon her and trying to crush her whilst its sought to tear off her helmet. However, then it suddenly gasped and screamed in pain when she grabbed the beast's arm with her crushgaunts, yanking so hard to break it. As she knocked the beast off her with a blast, her telekinetic will wrapped around the beast's heart and, bionic eyes ablaze, she crushed it, ending it's life most brutally.


Getting up with a groan she used her power to send the beast flying through the air to bury some smaller beasts. Activating the flamethrower on her wrist, she bathed the creatures ahead of her in fire. Their screams were most pleasing to her ears as they were engulfed by flames and perished.

 

[Andras Garon]

Undisclosed Location; Skyscraper

​

...the last fist that crushed itself against Kimmel's face left his eyes glassed over as his mind slid into darkness but rather than stand triumphant when it was all over Andras simply slumped over and fell across his adversary. Mentally he scolded himself by being caught by what was nothing more than a pawn in one of his cousin, Strider's, love wars. Hopefully whatever woman Strider had met in the past was at least memorable after everything Andras had been through up until this point. Laying there, his hand sliding over Kimmel's torso which was motionless save for the rise and fall of his chest Andras would have eventually started to stand back up onto his feet..."Next time lets just get a drink. I imagine we might both have a bit to talk about."...the reality was that after he'd had his face bashed in Andras could appreciate anyone else who held a bit of hate for his cousin. Well that's family for you...

...now that he was back on his feet, shaking off the cobwebs lingering on the fringe of his mind, Andras would have stumbled back through the room looking for the rifle that Kimmel had dropped. The Rifle was found a few feet deeper into the room, Andras bent down and picked it up before bringing it closer so that he could study it. Not something that was exceedingly common on the market he wasn't exactly sure what to make of the weapon except that it seemed to use a foreign energy source to create pulse bursts that translate into concussion blasts of varying degrees. Interesting though not entirely stable. The Dark Horse could always find a use for something like this later on though...

...venturing out of the room Andras would have returned to the adjacent one he'd left and originally been held in. The Blinds were open now, mechanical shutters were raised, letting in the sun and aside from the body of one of his attacks still lying on the floor Andras saw only one thing of interest to him. A Desk equipped with a personal console. Moving around the desk Andras bent over and started punching at the keys, his fingers walking across them slowly as he started the only rudiment form of slicing that he knew and hoped that it would take shape for him...​

 

[Werdla Dardalab]

[9/20]

"This is it."

"What really? Ta'dria'ye peyn tahla'ada jadi'r!"

The last was snapped out when drawing to a stop she overbalanced and had to fight to stay upright. Beraga stepped in and grabbed an elbow almost immediately. She nodded once in thanks to him, still feeling particularly snarly. This was not dignified. Nor was it enjoyable for one used to having absolute control of her body and using it as a weapon of war. She was not and refused to be a casualty.

"Yep."

"I was kind of expecting.."

"Something a bit more intimidating?"

"Like a warehouse or a factory or.. I dunno. Something. At least something that looked a bit rougher."

If anything, the cleanliness and lack of grafitti on the residential building in question made it look slightly out of place in the neighborhood.

"It is a bit of a let down."

"Half feel like we ought to knock.."

"Are we going to?"

"Pffft. Kick it down."

"Resa be ner jibr, gar catade dala, rala ni hiibir gar jii."

"I will shoot you. Kick the damned door."

With a grin and a wink, Harampr moved to apply an armoured boot to a door that was definitely not meant for that kind of treatment.

 

[Shaw McKeller]

Another fiend met its end followed by another. He used his bare hands, his feet, and his body to crush, rip, and pound the life out of the Rakghouls around him. Black armor ran slick with tainted blood and bits of flesh hung from his gauntlets and boots only to be shaken off once more by the impact of another blow. As a new foe appeared, its claws outstretched to latch onto Shaw, it found no purchase.

A beskar plated fist grasped each of the ghoul's wrists, the fingers locked down grinding the tiny bones there against one another. A fraction of a moment later, Shaw's boot landed on the thing's chest, the armor there stylized to appear as a clawed, demonic foot. Slowly, carefully, the Mandalorian applied pressure to the thing's chest. The creature screamed and bones creaked as the force on its chest grew stronger. Creaking was replaced by the dual popping of arms being dislocated, though one would have to listen closely to hear them over the screeching. The pressure increased slowly, surely, until the flesh around the shoulders grew taught and thin, like an old skin draw over a fresh drum. Suddenly, the flesh ruptured and the arms came free. The screeching reached a sudden crescendo and then died down as the creature's body went into shock from the blood loss. Shaw held the two arms of the rakghoul in his hands and slowly lifted them as the remainder of the ghouls charged.

"I think I found weapons I can use in here," he said, his voice monotone, to no one in particular.

[8/20 - Betna's writer]

[member="Draco Vereen"]
[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Judah Lesan]

Location: Taris Undercity
Objective: Capture a live Rhakgoul
Allies: Briika Detta
Enemies: Rhakgouls
[Post 2/20]

The Undercity was cettianly not anyone's ideal location for a resort vacation, but to a Mando'ad it was great recreation at least. Graad had no problem with the location other than the fact it was so dank and dark. The fact venomous monsters could jump out an bite you, turning you into one of them. Right so that was most people.

<<<"Now you're talking. Sun, sand, big tall glass of hard iced tea in my hand... way better than here.">>>

Briika and Graad were coming up on where the initial strike had taken place. His goal was to take one alive, and hoped it could be of some use. The safer route was a recently deceased monster, but Graad knew a live test subject was better. Awarw there may be some more creatures about in the same area, Graad laid out a piece of raw meat which he had brought for just his reason. Setting up a simple snare, Graad finished and motuoned for Briika to hide behind something, where he joined her.

<<<"Now we wait.">>>

 

[Darth Metus]

Location: Taris, Undercity
Objective: Finish the Job.
Post Count: 1/20

Soulless.

That was the path that Dagora-Kel had willingly chosen. During the second rampage of Akala, he had been cast into a literal hell. During the first, his mind was ravaged and his body used as a tool. Twice now had literal gods made him powerless, despite all he had learned as a faithful of Manda'yaim. Surely, there was another way to grow strong enough to counter the gods...and all Dagora found in his search was Darkness. This was the path he walked, one devoid of the Light and the comforts of Home. However, despite the choice that would earn him distaste from his former culture and people, there was still a part of him that remained loyal to Mandalore.

And that part of him was frustrated.

At a young age, Dagora had been dropped onto Taris alongside a scouting party. There, he and his fellow vod battled against raiders and a prominent den of Rakghoul. The subsequent missions seemingly saw these threats eliminated...but that was most certainly not the case. These Sithspawn were some of the most stubborn creatures in the Galaxy. Burning them. Shooting them. Blasting them. Nothing seemed to rid Taris of the virus that plagued its lowest depths...and that honestly irked Dagora. He had spent quite some time gunning down the beasts in his youth, only to discover that they had returned once again?

That wasn't satisfactory. So now he was here to finish the job.

For the occassion, he dressed the part so that he could blend in with his former brothers and sisters. Armor was cobbled together from plates of durasteel, completed with a helm bearing the iconic "T" visor. As for identity? He borrowed the insignia of his mentor, Halik Falkosi, and passed himself off as a member of his clan. For the operation, this would pass; especially since Dagora was flying solo. He followed the path his team had followed literal decades prior, descending into the darkest bowels of the Undercity. Much had changed, especially the amounts of trash piled up...but at the same time, much remained the same.

Such as the gaping chasm torn by centuries of diligent clawing.

 

[Werdla Dardalab]

[10/20]

The door splintered around the lock, flying backwards to impact with the wall behind it. This drew some attention of course, but that was not necessarily bad. Let those who were watching see what happened when you decided to try and rabble-rouse against Mandos. No one did rowdy or roused like a Mandalorian.

Still, professionals. They breached in silent efficiency, banter gone the moment boot hit door, clearing rooms, checking for their target. Apparent civilians where given a quick clean shot on a stun setting. It wouldn't feel nice when they woke up, but making people feel nice wasn't high on the agenda. Besides, this dealt with the off chance someone wanted to play civvie and then come out with a big gun from behind. It also meant with Jidte and his life sensor to make sure no one was hiding in any of the cleared rooms, they didn't have to hold them and could proceed, holding only at uncleared junctions.

In short order they found their target. As Sasctayr had suggested, he wasn't an entirely easy target. He had blasters in both hands and a half dozen similarly armed thugs around him. Apparently the Mandos had interrupted a little meeting. How sad.

"Try it mate."

Las growl rang out, made all the more intimidating by her helmets filter, warping it just slightly in that familiar way. Four of them were within the room, weapons raised engaged in a standoff. Jidte held the door, watching their backs.

"What do you think you're doing in my home?!"

"You go talking like you have been and you think we're not going to come visit?"

"I have rights!"

"We don't care about them. Should have looked into who you were bothering a little harder. Your rights don't mean jack all to us."

"I will not sit in here in my own home and be accosted by not only thugs but crippled thugs at that!"

The internal squad commlink went silent. The familiar noises of fidgeting, breathing and so forth suddenly stopped as the four men froze and held their breath in unison.

"Say it again."

Her voice, normally rough was a silken purr.

"I-"

"SAY IT AGAIN YOU HUT'UUN SAGR BE JARSR SKRAAN."

 

[Darth Metus]

Location: Taris, Undercity
Objective: Finish the Job.
Post Count: 2/20

Oh, there was no doubt in the Dar'manda's mind that there were Rakghoul in that hole. Why? Because silence characterized the alleyway leading up to it. Silence broken only by the dull thud of his boots touching down upon the filthy ground. Yet, as Dagora drew ever closer to the chasm, he could clearly hear it...the low, semi-screech that defined the damned creatures. Drawing a breath, he steeled himself for what was to come next. The creatures were not organized, not by any stretch of the imagination...which meant that swarm was the only "tactic" they knew. From what Dagora knew from experience, Rakghoul only wanted one of two things.

To kill or to infect.

Today, the Dar'manda did not plan on falling into either of those categories. Instead, he readied a rather menacing pair of weapons in his hands. The first was the natural evolution of blaster technology: "The Annihilator". Second was his lightsaber, a rather trusty piece of technology that would make quick work of whatever attempted to swarm him. Between these and his durasteel plating, Dagora was rather confident that there would be success. Oh, and he could use the Force. That was another thing too. Rolling his shoulders, the Dar'manda took a final moment to prepare himself for the Hell that awaited...

...Before diving in, feet first.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Location: Sewers
Objective: Killin a Nekghoul
Allies: [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] and [member="Shaw McKeller"]
[7/20]

With the three heroes assistance, the Rakghoul population in this nest was swiftly declining. As Mand’alor Barker always said, remember to spay and neuter your sithspawn. The troopers had taken some light damage, mainly superficial because of the large heavy plates, the strength enhancing servos and the power fists themselves literally shattering bones they impacted. It may not have killed the beasts outright, but a Rakghoul without a ribcage was much less likely to hurt you than one with a ribcage.

With the brunt of the numbers dwindling swiftly, the rakghouls became less and less of a threat, until they few survivors scattered, now outnumbered by the small group. It was now time to let the most experienced person take the lead. I nodded to the woman and Shaw, “Lead the way, I will just follow.” I could tell that the woman was much superior in terms of Force abilities, so that meant she was probably, deservedly, in charge of this little venture now. “Well, we were down here looking for some kind of Force Sensitive Rakghoul, some old guy called it a Nekghoul. Said it was down here.” I told her, giving her as much information as I could.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Draco Vereen"], @Shaw McKellar
(4/20)


Great was the carnage as our three heroes unleashed an Illyric orgy of slaughter. Doubtless the Goddess of Death and Destruction, who according to myths sat deep in the underworld upon a throne made of the bones of the wicked, would be well pleased, for her kingdom was being fed with souls.


Against their combined might and the firepower of the Mandalorian troopers, the few surviving Rakghouls in this area had scattered. Doubtless more beasts awaited them. After all, a good purge requires plenty of slaughter. Now that there was a brief lull in combat, Siobhan heard one of the Mandalorian warriors, who wore some very nice armour, address her. She could sense the Force emanating from him, though it did not seem that strong yet. Then again, heavy firepower worked very nice as well, hence why she had her bolter with her. She could not quite place the name of the other, older looking Mandalorian with them, but he seemed a hell of a fighter from what she had seen.


Well, she was fine with taking point! "Sure. You cover. Name's Siobhan Kerrigan. A Nezghoul, huh? I'd say that sounds a tad crazy, but I ran into a Force-using zombie once. I can sense a nexus of the Force further ahead of us. The Dark Side is strong there. If this beasts exists, then it'll be there." She could do without the Nezghoul regrowing its head after it got chopped off though. At least Rakghouls did not annoy you with repetitive chanting about how they would bring you into the hive mind. Or maybe she could just not understand their language, which tended to express itself in animalistic grunts. Her boots trode upon the skull of a Rakghoul and then upon some innards lying around as she made her way through the sewers, walking with a slight limp from her old injuries but no less determined.

 

[Darth Metus]

Location: Taris, Undercity
Objective: Finish the Job.
Post Count: 3/20

He landed.

They stirred.

Twin lights affixed to either side of his helm kicked on in response to the darkness. Pale rays of illumination shone about the chasm; and for a moment, Dagora felt sixteen again. He felt the very same sensation in the pit of his stomach: an even blend of excitement and fear. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise. He felt his heart beat thunder away, sounding at the base of his throat. This wasn't the sort of battle that one went into with bravado...Sliding his finger over the ignition switch of his saber, even more light was added to the room. A single blade of plasma, blood red in hue, shot into being with a "snap-hiss".

Then, Dagora could clearly see them. The light had momentarily stunned the closest, causing clawed fingers to raise in attempts to shield the eyes. Yet the stun only lasted for an instant, and a symphony of gutteral screeching began. The Dar'manda held his saber aloft before taking aim with his blaster. A quick salvo of rounds was unleashed into the most adjacent Rakghoul before he advanced deeper into their domain. Some pounced, only to be met with crimson upon decaying flesh. Some clawed, only to be shoved away with a boot and countered with a blaster bolt.

Progress was being made, but this was only the first few feet.

 

[Shaw McKeller]

Shaw followed the other two, the two rakghoul arms in either hand. The short, brutal fighting had gotten his blood up and, with the darkside nexus ahead, he figured now was as good a time as any to deal with the issue. Especially since between the adrenaline and the Force his hip wasn't hurting at all, though he knew well enough that he'd feel it later.

Blood and gore coated this section of the sewers making the floor slick and treacherous. Shaw decided that he'd rather make a little more noise than wind up on his shebs in a pile of raw sewage and ichor and activated his magboots. As soon as he did so, the added magnetic plates in his boots kicked on and anchored his feet through the vile liquid below to the metal of the piping. Sure, his boots now sounded like the tramp of doom, but such was the price to not have to get someone to help him up in the heavy armor.

It wasn't long before the pipes gave way to a resevoir. The smell of sewage and the pull of the darkside was strong here, he could feel it. Both hung like a miasma within the chamber. More rakghouls could be seen and more poured from other pipes and entrances nearby. He stepped out of the pipe and into the chamber, taking a position on the left flank to anchor the rest and discarded the arms. A thick, beskar plated arm reached up and back to grasp the hilt of the blade he carried. With a mere whisper of a rasp as the magnetic clamps on his back freed the blade, Jag'kyramud was brought to the fore, the blade catching the light in the chamber with lethal intent.

"I'm going to assume this is the nest," he said, ready for combat as both hands gripped the massive blade tightly. "Shall we?"

[9/20 - Betna's writer]

[member="Draco Vereen"]
[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Briika Munin]

Location: Taris Undercity
Objective: Determine effectiveness of current Rakghoul Plague serum
Allies: [member="Graad Hokan"], Mando'ade
Enemies: Rakghouls
2/20

It didn't take long for a rakghoul to get the sent of the raw meat and come towards the trap the ver'verd had set. As soon the the creature was snared, Briika stepped out of hiding and shot it with a tranquilizing dart directly into it's jugular vein. She waited thirty long seconds, then approached the transformed human by the plague as it slumped over. The baar'ur only had a five minute window to work in to get the samples she needed from the live specimen.

Four tubes of blood were taken along with snippets of claw tips and nasal swabs. As soon as Bree was done, she stepped back and let Graad do the honors of killing it while the samples were put into a mini lab kit for analysis. The hope was that the serum MandalMedical had was still a perfect match for this particular strain of Rakghoul Plague. Even if it was 75% effective that was still worthy of giving in emergencies though a new serum would have to be made with the antibodies gathered from a recently infected person.

 

[Naast'ika Laaran]

(#7/20)


Naast'ika enjoyed the sensation of the small, young twi'leks cleaning his hull. He couldn't feel much of it due to the armor plating that was layered over top of his natural carapace, but he still enjoyed it. Naast'ika enjoyed anything that involved water, but was quickly finding that he also enjoyed being rubbed, scrubbed, and hosed off by the young twi'leks. He beeped happily aboard the bridge and sang softly, as his species is prone to do. His voice called out hauntingly on most subspace frequencies, acting as a soft, local jammer. More interestingly though, his voice resonated within the Force. Like a soft, alluring beacon, Naast'ika's voice could be felt by those sensitive to such things. It would convey a soft happiness. It would feel strange and alien, but alluring all the same. To those of a weak mind, it was light a beautiful light that pulled upon the more base instincts.

The urge would be there. Simple but, for those of a weak will, profound.

Go towards the light. The beacon. The point of haunting beauty and contentment.

Deep beneath layer after layer of dark city streets and abandoned tunnels, Rakghoul and Nekghoul alike stirred in the darkness.

 

[Naast'ika Laaran]

(#8/20)


Naast'ika's sensors were designed to study the surface of a planet from a low orbit, several dozen kilometers above the surface of said planet. At such a close proximity to the surface, resting comfortable at the top of an urban super-city that itself rose a few kilometers from the surface of the planet, Naast'ika's sensors had a particularly wide area of effect. He saw the city as hundreds and thousands of rectangular, three-dimensional buildings with pinpricks of living light moving through the hollow network of tunnels and stairs and open walkways that was the city. Each light was a living being, be it a rodent, a house pet, or a sentient being. Naast'ika saw hundreds of thousands of lights. Each one moved in a fairly set pattern. The ones in the buildings either moved slowly about the building, sat motionless as one task or another was dealt with, or moved between levels. The humanoids on city streets and the rodents in the sewers moved in nearly identical manners, traveling along strait lines and paths that were almost predictable. Even the thousands of speeders and railways that moved through the city helped to move people and pests alike in predictable manners.

But deep beneath the upper layers of the city, where humanoids were rare and pests common, a new type of movement caught Naast'ika's attention. Large humanoid creatures were approaching the surface in large numbers. Not in the hundreds of thousands. Not in the thousands. But very much in the hundreds. They moved like vermin but his sensors told him they were humanoid. Still singing and happy with his bath at the speeder wash, Naast'ika's curiosity drove him back into his databanks.

-What is Rakghoul?-