The hunt for the lava wyrm //GM: Plett//

[Plett]

The clerk was clearly shocked, when Ordo busted out in laughter. He'd knew Ordo wasn't a guy like him, but didn't expected that kind of a reaction. He needed several moments, to return to himself. He wished he'd get rid of you as fast as he can. But of course he knew, Ordo had the upper hand in their coversation, so he didn't said a word, just answered the mandalorians question:

- You'll get the equipment on the location, I think... Heh... How should I know? The logistics department is in charge of this... - he said with a little self-sarcasm in his voice. - Well have a bountyful journey then. - he said to the leaving Ordo.

After the doors closed, he mumbled the word "maniac" to himself, and then he returned to his old, boring job again.

Two weeks later...

The Hadrian companies docks were full of strange people: hunters from all corners of the galaxy. Even droids have answered the companies calls. Many have brought egzotic weapons and equipment with them for the trip. About 30 hunters have waited for departure. But there were no sign of the Hadrians representatives yet.

[Beskar'ad Ordo]

Two weeks had passed before the expedition would set off to hunt down the lava wyrm. Ordo tried to make those days useful by researching some extra information on this creature and their destination planet. On an ecumenopolis like Gerrenthum, there were plenty of libraries, HoloNet Access Points, Literary Archives and other institutions for finding useful data on practically anything known in the Galaxy. Beskar'ad visited one after another and yet another during those days and he finally found...

... nothing at all.

The volcanic planet designated AN-0597 was uninhabitable, uncolonised and therefore pretty much unknown, except for its location. There was nothing available on its flora or fauna - which both had to be very limited, but still, at least some moss would eventually grow in a harsh climate as that of AN-0597.

Arriving into the unknown has not made the mission impossible at all. For a Mandalorian, it made everything just a bit more enjoyable. So after concluding his unsuccessful scientific research, Beskar'ad simply leaned back and enjoyed the benefits granted by the planet-sized city. And when the deadline arrived, he went to the docks owned by the Hadrian Mining Company.

Dozens of other mercs have turned up for the rendez-vous, sporting weapons and armor from all over the known universe. Almost like a gathering of Mando'ade in the good old times, in the golden age of war. And still, most of the warriors stepped out of the way as Ordo passed. They have definitely heard of the Mandos (that is, who hasn't?) and learned their lessons well: it's not worth messing them.

But as always, there has to be a random guy, who needs to prove his superiority over the sixty-odd gathered. And this one, a tall, heavy-set zabrak intercepted Beskar'ad. He was gnawing at a large peck of tobacco, which he spat in a cool manner on the ground - and on the blck boots bleonging to the beskar'gam.
'Well, lookie, lookie, what we've got here. Ya're a Mando ain't ya?' he said in an annoyingly attitudinizing way. 'I heard ya're tough guys, ain't ya'll?'

Beskar'ad had already been through his first killings when the kid posing in front of him was a passing though of two lowers on Iridonia, and he had learned that one should not pay attention to this kind of bantering. He shrugged and walked on.

'Well I ain't gonna believe ya're so tough. Prove me!' the zabrak spoke, and unsheathed a longbladed knife from his belt. The biggest mistake he ever made. Ordo had learned not to care about a kid's babble... but a Mandalorian would never back down from an open challenge. He stopped, and then turned to face the boy again.

'You meant that, didn't you?' he asked, a tone of sadness in his voice. A pity, for such a young life would be wasted soon.

[Plett]

//Sorry for the late response//

The gathering ground was soon to be turned into a battle circle. Everyone was loaded with energy before the event. The zabrak was hyped too. It was the heat of the hunt, where the blood boils, and makes all the fools think, they could take on the whole by themselves.

But still it won't benefit the company’s purposes, if the mercs would slit each other’s throats open, before they did something beneficial to Hadrian, so somebody was needed, to make peace. That meant someone, who could speak the universal language of the overzealous mercs: money.

A man (perhaps one of the shuttles' captains) stood atop of a crate, with a megaphone in one hand, and something weapon like in the other. He tried to act politely at first:

- Now, now, gentleman, this isn't the place for fighting. - there was no response. Everyone was paying attention to the zabrak, and Ordo. The man lifted the weapon and aimed clearly at the zabrak's head. Ordo could see that from the angle he stood there. The man fired. It was a nice clean and very accurate shot. Even if the weapon was only a sound emitter. The zabrak reached for his ears after the agonizing sound hit his head. He was standing on his knees now.

- Now, - the man continued - that I've got your attention, I should introduce myself: I am Malus Fort', Line captain of this little fleet. You'll obey all my commands until you're on the shuttles, or in this dock.

The first thing: I don't want to see any brawls, while I'm in charge. I don't want get troubles from the local peacekeeping forces, nor any of my ships damaged. If anyone of you tries something foolish while on board, I'll order to open the airlock doors of the cargo bay, regardless of who started the fight.

The second thing. While on planet: there are no rules outside the company's camp. Feel free to do whatever you want. There is only one thing: The company only finances one extraction per person. That means if you call for evac, you'll leave the planet for good. You can always return with your 'bounty' - he said the word in a very awkward way - to the camp and get some food, water, and medical supplies. Anyone can back off any time. I'd prefer if you make up your mind here and now.

Nobody took the given chance and nobody left. After seeing, that nobody answered the captain's call, Fortis continued:

- All right, everyone should gather up. We'll call everyone by name, and we'll give out all those supplies you've previously ordered. After that you'll board the shuttles and we'll take off in an hour. Good luck everyone.

After his last words, the captain got off from the container box, and some company workers began to call out the participants by name and began to give out the enviro-suits, and other supplies at the makeshift stands surrounded by the crates the captain was standing on just a minute ago. The workers eventually called for Ordo too. Ordo got his enviro-suit in a small 1x1x1 meter, cube-like box. After he opened it, he saw the thing: it really looked bulky at first, but it was surprisingly light weighted. There was an antenna on the helmet that meant that suit had a communication system, or even a tracking device. Which is not a very bad thing if you get stranded on a barren planet. And it was clear: the mandalorian armor could clearly not fit into the suit. You must to do something to your personal armor, because you won't be able to use it if you have the suit on.

Along with the suit, you were given a little probe-droid, with many sensors, and graphic devices. It could connect to the suits HUD, and transmit a video feed to it. This little probe also collected some classified data for the company, but nobody knew about it. The last thing you've got was a data-pad. It had a very detailed map of AN-0597. It was far more accurate then the holo you've received earlier. It seemed that planet itself was a very strict secret of the company, so it must've been very important to keep specification a secret. The corporation's camp site was marked with a red dot. From here you had to choose a location, where the shuttle would take you. The corporate worker said that you must tell coordinates of your starting location to your shuttle's captain after you've arrived at the planet. And finally: you've got 24 low powered freezing grenades. These weren’t the high graded military versions, but still these were pretty good as you could tell.

After you've got your gear, you noticed a short green something looking at you. It looked pretty scared - because of the crowd of mercs and hunters - , and it quivered after you looked directly into its beady, black eyes. It was a rodian. After some time he gathered some courage, and approached you:

- A-are you Mr. Ordo? - he waited for some response of you, and then continued - P-pleased to meet you, I-I'm Yu Dwallion, biologist. I was told, that I could escort you on your way. - He looked really scared, and was clearly afraid of you. It seems that he recognized the T-slit visor from somewhere.

[Beskar'ad Ordo]

In just a matter of a few seconds, a large circle was formed amongst crowd and around the two opponents, to provide them space large enough for a melee fight. A duel such as this one was not only a curiosity on its own, but the bystanders would soon see a Mandalorian fight - a sight they would surely never forget.

Although he was thaught to fight without losing his head, the thrill of the incoming battle overwhelmed the veteran. He was not controlled by his feelings, no. But his primal instincts - the urge to hunt, to kill for survival - took over, as always, when his life was in danger. When the large man with the loudspeaker stepped on to the crate, he didn't hear his words. There only was the crowd cheering, his blood racing, and his knife and the knife his enemy just drew. There was nothing else.... just as if theye were suddenly enclosed by a bubble or a durasteel wall: everything outside the circle stopped existing for the minutes to come.

His eyes were fixed on the Zabrak, regeistering every subtle movement, his hands constantly raising and lowering with the beskar-blade in it... They circled around each other, slowly, one step at a time, looking for a blink of the other's eye, which would mark the first mistake, and maybe the last as well. The non-human lost.

Ordo leapt forward with, gracefully, as a tiger on the hunt, drawing back his weapon to gain momentum for a stab. Then there was a loud noise, lasting only for a moment, and the Zabrak collapsed. The fight was over before first blood could be spilled. The Mandalorian was breathing heavily, but the world was returning to focus, the fog clearing. He thrusted his dagger back to his place on his belt - then turned about and left the body lying on the permacrete floor.

The man who took the shot waited for the crowd to turn towards him and started briefing the mercenaries.
'Now, that I've got your attention, I should introduce myself: I am Malus Fort', Line captain of this little fleet. You'll obey all my commands until you're on the shuttles, or in this dock.

The first thing: I don't want to see any brawls, while I'm in charge. I don't want get troubles from the local peacekeeping forces, nor any of my ships damaged. If anyone of you tries something foolish while on board, I'll order to open the airlock doors of the cargo bay, regardless of who started the fight.

The second thing. While on planet: there are no rules outside the company's camp. Feel free to do whatever you want. There is only one thing: The company only finances one extraction per person. That means if you call for evac, you'll leave the planet for good. You can always return with your 'bounty' - he said the word in a very awkward way - to the camp and get some food, water, and medical supplies. Anyone can back off any time. I'd prefer if you make up your mind here and now.'
'Sounds fun to me,' muttered the Mando under his breath, and started making his way through the commotion and towards the shuttles. As the boarders formed lines, their name was called for, one by one, and then they all stepped out to receive their requested equipment.

After he got his own, he checked thorugh it at the counter, evocating faint curses for holding the line. The package contained the envirosuit, a probe-droid, imaging devices, a detailed map of their target zone, and a belt of grenades. Unfortunately he had to leave his armor behind, but he figured the suit's sophisticated HUD and the droid together would do just as fine, although not in the terms of protection.

He left his armor in a sealed container - and received a bill with which he could reclaim it upon return - then started off towards the ramp of his designated vehicle. Halwfay there, he was stopped by a Rodian.
'A-are you Mr. Ordo?' he asked, and got an affirmative nod in response.
'P-pleased to meet you, I-I'm Yu Dwallion, biologist. I was told, that I could escort you on your way.' he continued then, and the merc shrugged.
'I don't mind. As long as you don't get in my way.' he said, then walked on, into the belly of the ship.

[Plett]

It took about an hour for everyone to get ready for the trip. Ordo got on shuttle no. 3. along with his new companion, Yu, and several other hunters. After all the supplies were loaded, the shuttle’s hatch closed and after the last preparations were being completed, the shuttle took off from the docks on Gerrenthum and the shuttles entered hyperspace on by one.

Yu, the biologist was trying to get a little closer to the mandalorian, but he didn't even know what to say to him, so the rodian stayed silent all along. The others weren't trying to get in touch with each other either, they were more interested maintaining all those toys they got at the starport on Gerrenthum. The trip was short, it took only a half an hour to reach the star system through hyperspace.

Once the shuttle came out from hyperspace, Yu rushed towards one of the viewports on the side of the ship.

- Amazing... - he said while staring out of the viewport. He wasn't very wrong with his statement. There was quite a view out there. The first thing you could notice outside was the primary star of the system, a yellow star. It's light was dim, because it was far away, probably too far away to support any forms of life. But somehow the planet managed to sustain some very unusual creatures. The next thing that the scientist noticed was the planet itself. AN-0597 had a sparse atmosphere, which now glowed with an unhealthy yellowish light. The night side of the planet was visible from the inside. The glowing lava pools, and the light made by the rivers of molten rock made the planet look like a great ecumenopolis from far away, but this planet had no population at all. It was amazing and frightening at the same time. It was like the planet itself was talking to you with the words: Turn around and never come back.

Of course you didn't had the intention to turn around now. The ship's engines were humming lightly as a woman entered the cargo hold. She seemed very confident, like captain Fort' itself. The woman was very thin, and gave the look of an experienced spacer. She was very thin, and was in her mid-forties. She put her hand on her hips and began to talk:

- All right men! Listen up. I hope you all chose where to land, because were about to enter the atmosphere. But before that, I want all of you tell us where to drop you off. - she said with a clearly corellian accent - One more thing. After we enter the atmosphere, I want all of you to get inside those exosuits and prepare your gear. I don't want to spend more time on that cesspit more than necessary, so I want to shorten the time of setting you off as short as possible.

The woman gave a few words about the landing - the usual stuff - and then she disappeared to the cockpit for a while, and came back with a printed map of the surface. She put the map on a wall and took a few pins out of her pocket. All of them had different colors, and each hunter got himself a different colored pin.

- Now, then. Everyone mark your entry point on the map, and remember what colored pin you got in the first place. - said the woman and she gave each of you a pin. Beskar'ad got the red colored one.

After the last person marked the map, the woman stepped to the map, and marked each location with a marker pen and a letter that symbolized the color of the pin. After she retreated to the cockpit again and the ship began to descend into the atmosphere. It was a tough ride though, the wind was blowing wildly. But after a minute or so, everything became more calm. Yu closed his eyes during the entry. He was clearly scared. It looked like he didn't even have such a ride in all his life.

* Closing on landing point red. I repeat: closing on landing point RED. * - Said the intercom system in the cargo hold.

Thip landed on the place you've decided. The hatch was opening slowly, letting a great portion of ash and hot air inside the cargo hold. You finally arrived on the planet.