Sunburns & Hyperdrive Troubles

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

The jungle eventually began to thin.

It was subtle at first, but Kurt began to notice it more and more as he went along. The vines would stop hanging so low, the branches became less dense, and everything seemed to simply begin to fall away. The heat became better as well, the humidity slowly fading away as he began to walk out of the jungle. Kurt's breathing became less labored, more oxygen entering his system as he pulled on the front of his shirt and tried to dislodge some of the sweat.

"Now then." Kurt said as he finally poked his head completely out of the jungle. "What have we he-"

The Courier cut himself off.

In front of him, not directly within the jungle but clinging to the very edge of the clearing that he had stepped into was a structure. From this distance he couldn't quite make out exactly what it was, but he could see the faded durasteel and the grown moss. His eyes set forward and almost out of instinct Kurt slipped his hand onto his blaster. His fingers drummed slightly against the wooden grip, his eyes setting forward as he slowly stepped from the jungle.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]


Making a spear wasn’t really too difficult. One just had to get the right tools.

Kaile first needed something sharp for the actual spear end. She could use her multitool, b-uuut that really made no sense because she would require for everything else. What she could do, is look at what she had around. Her earlier excursion gave way to a nice long wooden branch she could use as the shaft.

It wouldn’t work for throwing, but for short little jaunts and thrusts it would do nicely. She spent the better part of her time breaking and trimming away the extra leaves and smaller branches, until she had a nice long usable shaft. Inspecting it, she gave a nod of affirmation.

“Aren’t you an Outrider survivor eh?” she told herself with a note of pride and a wide grin. Now for the tip. She could simply carve out a sharp tip at one end, but that didn’t work well. The shaft was still about an inch thick, and Kaile didn’t want to end up shoving that much into a fish and damaging it. They needed a nice fish, not scraps.

Getting to her feet, she twirled the wooden stick in her hand and peered down at the water of the pool a few ways from her. Hmm…

Maybe I can find some flint.

Taking her boots off and tucking in her socks, Kaile decided to make that her next task. Besides, with how warm it was with the sun up high, it would be nice to take a little dip.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt began to slowly stalk forward. He wasn't sure what the doors were, though if he had to guess it would be a bunker entrance. The foliage around the doors obscured most everything else, though as he came closer and closer Kurt began to realize that surrounding them was a heavy duracrete wall that stretched back and eventually into the ground. His lips thinned as he approached the structure, his falling onto the doors themselves as he looked for some sort of symbol.

When he found none, Kurt wandered closer to the doors. They were a heavy set of blast doors, both of them sealed shut and appearing to be completely closed. From the way the moss and vines had grown over them he would have guessed that they had sat closed for nigh on several decades, perhaps more. The electromagnetic locks had likely long ago lost power and he guessed that the manual release would pop the doors open within a heartbeat.

"Should probably tell Kaile." Kurt said to himself as he slowly slid his hand from his blaster.

Before he walked away however The Courier began to slowly look over the duracrete besides the doors, searching the wall for any sort of metallic panel or something of the sort. His palm knocked against the solid rock, until eventually he heard a metallic echo, a hollow portion of the wall. Kurt nodded to himself, then slowly began to peel away vines and moss.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]


Flint is perhaps some of the most common materials one could find near a river bed. Even better? Obsidian.

Kaile’s trek across the pool and the river bank gave her wet toes and a nice little walk. The deeper she went into the jungle, however, the more humid it became. Beads of sweat were now rolling down her temples and down her cheeks. Twin damp spots saturated her underarms, and she felt how the sweat trickled in between her breasts.

Okay, once one went deeper into the jungle, things became far more sticky. Sticky.. well wasn’t that good. Even in Belsavis, there still was the chill of the nearby tundra to cool things down. Thankfully, she was near the water. Bending down, Kaile would scoop a handful and splash her face.

“Ahhhh,” came her soft moan of pleasure. Oh that felt divine. She bet that once she went in for a swim, it would feel even better. Just the thought of that water enveloping her as she dove underneath it was enough to push her into finishing her task.

Okay, a tip. Searching along the river bank, she went hunting for flint. As she waded through the ankle deep water, she caught a bright glint in the corner of her eyes. Wait. What was that?

It could have been the sun glinting across the water’s surface, but upon closer inspection, Kaile would find a most precious surprise.

There, nestled between two larger rocks, was a snall, glossy black chunk of rock.

Obsidian.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Eventually Kurt managed to pull enough of the weed, moss, and vines away to reveal a metal panel attached and built into the wall. For a moment he inspected it, wiping away dirt and whatever else had become encrusted on the metal.

A symbol was carved into the durasteel, a central orb surrounded by what looked like a pentagon with inner spines.

Kurt didn't recognize the symbol exactly, though he did note that it resembled that of the current One Sith Empire. He doubted that this bunker belonged to them, however, given that this thing was nearly decades old and located within the outer rim. Their Empire had never quite reached this far into the depths of the Galaxy, something that most people were actually quite thankful for. He mused for a moment then looked at the small metal lock, his fingers running over it as if he were trying to see if it would give way.

"Lets see." He tapped along the side of the box. "Where..."

"Ah kark it." Kurt took a step back, drawing his WESTAR-34 and pulling the trigger.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]


“Ohmystars!”

This was enough to prompt Kaile to accidently drop her spear onto the water. Which she promptly gave a slight squeak of alarm as she went splashing out to grab it before it floated away. With water up to her waist now, she sputtered as she caught her breath.

That momentary panic aside, Kaile’s eyes bulged out in her growing excitement. “YES!” she gave a slight twirl splash, scaring away a few of the small rabbit critters that had used the opposite bank as a drinking perch.

This was GREAT! She beamed at the chunk of obsidian, toes curling and a sappy silly grin on her face. Wading back to the bank, Kaile bounded with joy. Not only did she find obsidian, but it would made an excellent bit for her collection.

Maybe she could even use a couple of the spare bits for jewelry or something pretty! Oh! A thought came to her.

She could make Kurt something with it too! Maybe… Kaile nibbled her lower lip. A small pendent. A circle one. Nothing too fancy. Just something for him to have.

Giddy with the possibilities, the Lorrdian came up along the sandy banks. Heading back to the camp, she would get a good solid round rock to chip off sharp slivers for the end of her spear. Then, using one of the ties from her bag or perhaps some rope, she’ll be able to secure it nicely for a fishing spear.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

The metal panel fell open, revealing a mass of circuitry and even a single metal handle. He mused for a second, then holstered his pistol and wandered over. He peered inside for a moment, fingering the contents and realizing that all of the electronics had likely been completely burned out a long time ago. There was the handle of course, what he assumed to be the manual release. Besides the handle was a small keyhole, though that too seemed to be rusted and loosely fitted.

Kurt reached out and pressed his thumb against the small keyhole, jiggling it for a moment before realizing that the thing could likely be torn out with a small pull.

Shrugging slightly the Courier did just that, grasping onto the mechanism and entirely tearing it free of the inside of the panel. There was a slight metal shriek, an echo and a whir, then a loose set of wires pulling free from the end of the port that he had just ripped out of the panel. The handle besides the key mechanism seemed to shift slightly, dropping about half a centimeter and unlocking.

"That was easy." Kurt said with a smile.

His fingers wrapped around the handle, one quick jerk pulling it down.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile arrived at the camp site dripping water, but energized. Plopping herself down on a sunny rock, she set out in front of her all that she would need.

Spear? Check.

Obsidian? Check!

A length of a spare leather tie? Check!

She also had her multitool handy to make a grooved crevice at the tip where she would eventually end up setting the obsidian arrow shaft nicely. The sun was bearing down on her, and it was getting warmer by the minute. Already she had a nice little tan going, her cheeks pink from the exposed sun. She paid it no mind, too engrossed on her current task.

Taking the multi tool in hand, she took the spear and studied the end of it. Without further ado, she began to whittle.

With a twist of her lips, Kaile began to sing...

“"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

At first, nothing happened.

Then a creak.

Then an echo.

Then the long resounding winding of gears began. Instinctively Kurt took a few steps back, dancing away from the massive double doors and letting his hand drop down to his blaster pistol. He moved like a snake, taking careful measure to ensure that if anything popped out from beyond those doors he wouldn't be the first thing that person saw. His eyes settled on the heavy Durasteel, watching, waiting as slowly the doors began to fall apart into the ground and the walled section of the bunker.

It moved like a snail, no, worse, like a snail that had been given some sort of anesthesia. The racket it made echoed throughout the clearing, booming past him and reaching into the jungle beyond. His head turned all around, watching to see if anyone would come and find him, no doubt Kaile had heard the creaking of metal and the loud echoing whir that was now coming from the gears of the doorway itself.

Kurt frowned slightly, wondering just what was inside.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]


The tricky part about making spearheads - as odd as this would sound - is making sure one strikes at a good angle to get a decent sized chip. Kaile had found a nice round river stone to do the striking. It had a nice firm weight in her hands and set nicely within the shell of her palm.

Legs spread wide open to brace herself, Kaile would lean her torso forward.

“If you’re not into yoga…” she sang, placing the obsidian lump in front of her. With her left hand, she held it still, fingers tucked in - she didn’t want to smash them, that would be embarrassing to explain to Kurt.

“Okay… just a nice firm hit. “ the Lorrdian told herself with a pep talk. “Nice.. firm…”

The smack echoed as the river rock struck the obsidian.

“Dang it!”

Needless to say, the smatt ll bits of flakes were not the sort she needed. They were too small.

“Okay… take two.”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

The doors finally fell completely open, stalling slightly just before falling entirely into the wall and floor. Behind them was revealed a massive black corridor, deeper than the abyss. Kurt watched for a time, completely silent, completely unwilling to even budge and inch. A howl pulled from the tunnel beneath, a press of wind rushing from the air around him and pushing into the black hole that had formed beyond those now open doors.

Kurt lingered a moment more.

"Alright." He said wearily, a single step taken forward as he drew his blaster pistol. "What are you?"

It seemed likely that this place was some kind of bunker, but a bunker for what? It didn't seem likely that it would be a survival facility, those places were usually on populated worlds and there was nothing here. If he had to guess he would say weapons depot, pretty much every government set those up wherever they could, but if that was the case then...well they had gone a tad overboard with the size of the doors. Something simply felt off here, something he couldn't quite pin down.

His head shook slightly. "No, better get Kaile first."

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile gripped the obsidian in her hand again. Concentration furrowed her brow, her eyes squinting as she took aim. The pink tip of her tongue stuck out the end of her mouth.

Okay.. just need to - Kaile first moved her hand up and down, working her way towards hitting it.

One...

Two...

Three! Kaile brought the stone sharply down at an angle. It struck the obsidian, and a nice arrow sized shard. Yes! The Lorrdian gave an arm pump. With a grin, she picked up the opaque shard. All she had to do now is to fine tune it. With a rounded twig, she began to shape the shard of obsidian into a spear head.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He wanted badly to explore the bunker, but going in alone? That was just stupid.

Kurt had no flashlight, no map, no frame of reference for what could be inside of that place, he would quite literally be walking into the place entirely blind, not something that he fancied doing. So he turned away from the black abyss, shifting on his heel and making a complete one eighty to turn and head back towards where he had left Kaile. He was sure that she would want to explore, and very likely the two of them could grab some sort of torch or something that would actually let them bring light into the facility.

"No way I'm gonna traipse through the dark." That was just asking to get murdered.

He did wonder though, as he walked, exactly what the facility was. His guess of a weapons bunker seemed the most accurate, though the size of the doors didn't quite hold with that, unless the bunker contained starships and other ancient equipment.

Kurt mused as he entered the jungle once more.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

She needed to make sure the leather was wet.

That was what Mrie told her back when they had been on Belsavis and she had taught the Lorrdian about making crude weapons. Sinew would shrink, and naturally tighten. It is preferable to have sinew, but if no sinew was available, leather would do. It would shrink, but not as tightly as sinew would. Kaile was just making something to last them for the week, not surviving out in the jungle for over a month.

Leather would do just fine.

The end of her spear now had a nice groove. Matching the blunt edge of her obsidian spearhead to the end of the shaft was easy. Making sure she was tying it and securing it as tight as she could a bit more difficult.

By now, the sun was at about 1 o'clock. She wouldn't realize just how much sun she'd taken until much later, but at this point, the third try was the charm.

Smoothing the wet leather, Kaile smiled at her new spear.

"Mmm... you're gonna do just fine!" she said with a giggle.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt wasn't too overly concerned with Mr. Spear, in fact he was far more concerned with Mr. Torch and Mr. Bunker. He wasn't entirely sure what was in that place, and that made him nervous. The Island wasn't populated, there was no other sign of life or construction, just one, singular bunker. There had been no markings, or at least no markings that he had been able to identify, and the entire thing looked like it hadn't been touched in decades.

"Alright, now..." He trailed off slightly as he looked about for the small path that he had earlier carved himself.

The Jungle was thick, thick enough that he had left a noticeable trail while walking through it. Def eyes spotted broken branches and torn vines, his lips turning up into a smile as he stepped onto the path he had earlier created and headed back towards Kaile. As he walked he couldn't help but ponder that bunker, what it might contain, what it was used for.

"Kaile!" Kurt called out as he got closer to the cove. "Kaile, I found something!"

His voice boomed through the jungle.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

The boom of Kurt's voice sent a flock of colorful macaws flying into the air. He wasn't the only one on this jungle, and he was starting to stir the natural state of things. What else was out there?

And did they already know Kurt and Kaile were here?

Back at the cove, Kaile was about knee deep in the pool she had Mister Spear in hand and was holding it at the ready. Big fat fish slowly swam about a meter away from the Lorrdian. While the water did reflac the light and the surface, the keen ability at simply being able to read the fish's slow swim and tendency to turn would help at hopefully nabbing one.

At least, until Kurt's voice cried out in the distance. Wide eyes stared in concern."Kurt?" She murmured, lowering her spear. This is how the pilot found her.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt stumbled upon Kaile going entirely amazon, his eyebrow perking and his lips pulling into a smirk.

"Well." Kurt said. "Look whose gone all native."

That wasn't an insult of course, nothing wrong with going a little wild, of course in that moment Kurt absolutely felt the temptation of jumping into that water and simply swimming around for the next three hours. The Sun was now at it's peak within the sky and it's rays beat down on the jungle without mercy. The humidity and the close proximity meant that heat permeated every single part of ones body, like taking a hammer and nail in order to drive it into his own skin.

He hated it.

It was worse than Tatooine's most awful day of the year.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile gave Kurt a crooked grin, twirling her spear in a proud spin. She gave a small shrug, and said, "What can I say... I'm pretty handy with my hands." she teased. As he neared, the Lorrdian could see the heaviness in his step, the slight bow of weariness in his back. He was coated in sweat and grime, with dark saturated pools on his shirt.

"You look like bantha poodoo," she chuckled out, leaving the fish for now. Wading over towards the bank, she beckoned him to her, "'Mere, how about you just relax a bit hmm? Cool off?" she would suggest with a warm smile. "The water is really nice!"

As her bare feet rippled across the water, she set her spear down upon a flat rock. "Swim a bit?" her smile widened. As if to encourage him further, she began to unzip and unbutton her shorts. Hooking her thumbs along the waistband, she began to tug them down.

"Reckon being under that waterfall would fell right nice..."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt grinned at her.

"As much as I would love to cool off for a bit." Kurt began. "I found something I think you should see."

He waved his hand towards the jungle. For some odd reason he was far more excited about the bunker than the prospect of raiding Kaile's treasure chest beneath the waterfall...perhaps because they would be returning to the waterfall later anyway, or perhaps because he wanted her to experience the exact same horrid sweatyness that he had been enduring for the past hour or so. The jungle was a harsh mistress, and you know what they said, misery loves company.

He urged Kaile. "Come on, we'll get back to this at a later date."

Kurt offered her a wink, grinning slightly. It would be clear to her by his body language that something had him rather excited, and not excited in that way either, more like a kid in a candy store.

"Oh." He said suddenly. "Did we bring a flashlight?"

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Well, that was.. rather befuddling.

The dark slash of her brows drew together. Odd, but she'd think on that later. Thankfully, she had only barely slipped her shorts over her hips. All Kaile had to do was tug them back up. He was rather excitable, his body rather thrumming with an energy akin to that of a little kid. A quick zip and button, and Kaile asked, "Whatcha find?"

Bending down, she curled her fingers around her make-shift spear, picking it up. Wet footprints would follow the Lorrdian girl as she ambled over the flat rocks towards the camp. "You look like you're about to jump out of your skin." Kaile said in a tease, shaking her head. The fire was burning nicely. The low crackling flames and the leftover wood and husks providing a good selection of hot coals.

Setting her spear against the wall, Kaile plopped herself down by the fire. If they were going to go anywhere, she really needed to put on her socks and boots. Plus, eat a bit first.

"Yeah, we have one in my back," she told him. Basic, nothing too fancy, but with an extra long powercell life. It was one of those long, heavy duty ones that could quite possibly work as a baton to beat someone on the head with.