Log:Mandalorians: Cleansing

Cleansing

OOC Date: March 6, 2021
Location: Ealor - Bysis System
Participants: Mandalorians, Rathe Kora, Sumi Kora, Aubrei, Zelo Parrai, Hahtavi, Bizz Bliptettjupp, Narsai Ordo and Hadrix Kora as GM Clan Kora

Tracking led further into the wilds of Ealor, never in the open, the grasslands or plains where they could be tracked and destroyed from the air. The remains of a small pack of Graiveh, what little there was, arranged in geomantic design around where they'd been roasted over fire, torn apart, and consumed.

The Mandalorians were in the forests again, on the trail, following traces spied by the hunters, smoke detected by sensor sweeps, and good old fashioned mark-1 optical use. Aerial units were near, ready to support if possible, but the trail has been going cold. Prey gone to ground doing their best to leave no spoor, when at least a day's worth of track before the sudden cutoff was clearly showing larger numbers coming together, like a migration or a war party.

There are still tells to be found - marks that might have otherwise been missed. Ideograms marked in the crotches of tree branches where they may be mistaken for wrinkles in the bark.

Traces of swept ground that would have hidden all movement.

Aubrei is amongst those searching and as she stops to inspect the ground itself she speaks off faint, her vocoder filtering her voice. "THey may have been hunting, it appears they were dragging something big. Could be an animal, most likely an animal. If you want, I can go ahead and use internal coms to feed you back information."

The woman in green armor glances back at them, sticking low to the ground as she presses her hand next to one of the drag marks. She shifts forward and twists, inspecting their immediate area for hidden threats. She seems ready, eager even to trail blaze for the group.

<"If they're using comms, it might be good to hear what they are up to,"> Sumi says, agreeing with the scout's initiative to discovering what was happening out here in the wilderness of Ealor. Despite the danger, Sumi considered Ealor one of the more milder planets she had hunted on. It did not lack for danger, but there were other factors that helped her simply overlook the negative. Like this fantastic climate! Or the beach! Sumi unslung her slugrifle and chicken-winged her arm over its woodenstock, stepping past a tree and moving down a short embankment, careful of her footing for century old knees!

Clad in the heavily modified Dreadfinder armor, Rathe takes a moment to pause and squat down. His E-11 is cradled in his arms, stock extended on it's sling. <"Well. That is different."> He's gesturing to the Graiveh remains. <"A pattern series. Trials within triangles."> He doesn't touch the remains that were arranged in the designs, he just turns his head one way and then another trying to decipher just what it is he is looking at. <"Come to think of it, it's been increasing on the trail."> He points to where the tracks start thinning. <"That's more like a hole... perhaps Aubrei, take Zelo with you? Staggered a bit. Spotter and Sniper teams are effective. He can cover your back a little quieter than all of us at once.">

Brother Bizz is dressed in his dark robes with a set of light armor visible underneath as he moves. The short Ugnaught carries a walking stick, an energy bow on his shoulder, a repulsor-quiver at his hip, and what looks like a folded stun baton under his kasaya robe. In his 'free' hand is a decrepit MicroData Versafunction88 datapad that has seen better days. It is currently scanning for distress frequencies on the comm bands, since Bizz is here to search for a certain grand-nephew of a Ruurian archaeology colleague, the latter of whom has now turned into a butterfly (really!).

Zelo considers these trees and feels the ache that still lives in his knee, and briefly considers if continuing this mission was wise on his part. Up close is not what he does, and there's nowhere for him to get any distance, nothing to get comfortable with. Instead, he holds his E-11 close, like a talisman; but further ward than the gun has been brought today, as Zelo now wears new armor - to him, still new, but old and known - with gleaming blue and sky trim, like his hidden skin beneath it but washed out. No, he doesn't like this place, but he has more to protect him this time than before. He leans in to examine a set of scratches on the tree, black pools catching what his display didn't consider noteworthy. He taps in on clan comms while speaking softly.

<<"...Kind of blood markings on these dark trees... Spears crossed, with... These triangular marks...">> He pauses, or trails off, as he leans in, a breath accidentally coming over the comms while he considers. <<"Always three triangles together. Three groups here...">> This time the comms drop as he continues to follow the leaders, but looks again to the next dark tree, this time finding similar more easily. <<"Four groups of triangles on this, again with the crossed spears... Do we have some anthropologist who knows this?">> Because Zelo doesn't. The young Nautolan only knows that he is not fond of the forest. He thinks on Rathe's observations, but still stumped by the symbolism.

<<"I'll follow. Do my best not to fall in anything too deep. If I'm too loud, you wave me off. That work, Aubrei?">>

Hahtavi, who's never been a woodsman or spent a lot of time in natural settings that weren't desert wastelands, has been quietly watching Aubrei in particular for cues on what he should be doing. Lot of excellent practice moving quietly, sharpening his tracking skills that hadn't seen as much use the past few years, and even going so far as to ask her a few questions now and then as they travel across country. Otherwise he's been his usual silent self, watchful, listening, and keeping sharp.

As they search the remains of the campsite, the clan's newest tal'at'cuyir slowly circles out from the others. His own rifle hangs by a tactical strap so it's ready to use, but leaves him the option to free up his hands as needed. Hahtavi stops when he notices something where tracks had been swept. Cautious of traps that may have been set, he freezes and doesn't at once give into the temptation to step close or pick something up.

Instead, he finds a branch and very carefully leans to poke at something in the bush until it falls to the ground. When it fails to spring anything, he warily steps in and crouches down to pick it up. <" I've found something. "> Hahtavi takes a moment to look it over, then turns to carefully bring it back towards the others, <" It's a datapad and some loose hand written notes. "> If the others come to see, there are stills of trees, stones, and reference imagery of a milky translucent stone labeled 'mytag crystal'.

Bizz waddles in front of Hahtavi, looking at the strange pictographs on the trees as he goes. "Huh. It looks like this is three people per triangle. And perhaps 9 per crossed spears? Perhaps it is a war gathering. I have seen it in books long ago, on other worlds." The archaeologist-monk is more interested in Hahtavi's findings in the remains of the campsite. "Mytag crystals? Those were used for data and communication technologies thousands of years ago! But holographs largely replaced them."

Bringing up the rear, Narsai was here and wrapped in her usual beskar painted in red, those shades that so often meant danger in nature. The Ordo girl had her share of hunts in the wild under her belt now thanks both to time on Dxun and largely the Kora allies, but even now she knew that others were more practiced trackers of the subtle trail left behind.

Exhaling a breath, Narsai's gaze sweeps over their suroundings behind her visor.

<<"Zelo, you were chosen by Karys, I've more confidence in how you will perform than you credit yourself.">> Hadrix's voice rumbles over comms as he looms among the 'pack' with his carbine held in a pistol grip at his side. Letting the trackers work and nodding to Bizz's information provided, no mocking in stance or posture, but definite intrigue there.

But as the trek, more of the symbols are spotted as the trackers become more familiar with what to look for. Triangle clusters around the spears consistently four groups of three. The triangular 'bullseyes' found by Rathe turning into something like an eye-teaser for the number gathering within, quick but careful notation. The marks angling northeasterly, steering the group until a brow of stone rises from the ground, angling in the stones giving away an entrance nearly even to the level of the ground below spied between a pair of overlapping rocks.

And then a soft tone and buzzing from Bizz's datapad. Warning tones of a distress call the Ugnaught has been trying to trace.

Then something more caught by ancient eyes.

<<"They lay the foundation of an ambush, well entrenched at that. Weapons out and prepare to crush the enemy! Targets marked!">> Sumi shoulders her weapon and activates her jetpack in the same instance, climbing up high to perch upon an ancient branch with her back against the trunk of the tree. Flicking up the lens cap on her optics, Sumi begins to sight in her foes to engage.

Her first shot rings out from above, a distinct firearm and slugthrower, its projectile splitting leaves and small limbs to cut a path to a Cultist and tag them right in the chest. The round had enough momentum that it emerged from their back in a violent spray of red. He dies, but not immediately. Sumi lowers her weapon from the follow-through, working the bolt back to eject the spent casing and chamber a new. <<"One down.">> She calls out in cold satisfaction.

As Sumi engages, Aubrei uses the cover of fire and stays low as she hurries forward into the heavy growth, trying to get herself into a position to gaze down upon the cultists that are gathered in their various forms. Beneath her helm her eyes dart as she looks at the numbers which are likely now responding to the first shot and about to engage.

She finds herself on a slight high ground which gives her a vantage that causes her breath to still. <<"I have thirteen that look like they are ...the grunts. About seven more in the same area and ...I swaer I see more of the followers at the rock line near a hole in the ground. There are many, stick close, don't let them flank you. I will begin taking out who I can when I have a better position.">>

Her gaze ducks her head down, keeping it beneath the greenery, the sound of her heart beat filling her ears as she tries to slow it before the adrenaline takes over.

Bizz's old MicroData Versafunction88 datapad gives a little alert and then the screen flashes, picking up a simple distress signal while blinking DISTRESS and overlapping the received signal with the pattern matching algorithm. "Hey, I think I got somethi- Poodu!" The CRACK of a rifle shot makes him go even closer to the ground. "What, where are they?!" He stuffs his datapad back into his kod'yok-hide satchel and hides behind a tree.

Zelo sees Aubrei move off, but loses her in the underbrush with the rocketflare of the Alor taking to the skies and the firing begins. He had been trying to work out the exact math that the Brother had explained, but... Algebra really hadn't been a part of his education. Instead he ducks down and listens close to Aubrei's call-out; visor scans and IFF shows the direction their scout had gone. He tries to follow suit, seeking some higher ground like she has but hoping to not draw more attention her way. However, he can't seem to see how she moved where she did. Trying his own path, the Nautolan finds himself in the open, looking in the direction of the enemy. He shrugs and brings the E-11 to bear.

Of course, the rifle does what it was meant to do. Empty lungs, keen black-pool eyes, a gentle trigger and superior craftsmanship all align and one after the other a pair of cultists fall. He ducks behind the nearest tree, not daring try to cross the distance to Aubrei and give up her position. <"Two down,"> he calls out.

An ambush sprung, but thanks to Sumi's eye? Far less favorably than the ambushers intended. Narsai's W-35 seems to practically fly out of the holster at her thigh and fire in one smooth drawing motion faster than some might be able to blink.

Her first bolt hits a cultist hard, taking him down with a smoking hole where his heart should be. The followup shot at the next? It goes high as the target moves, marking the trees and showering smouldering splinters down on the would-be ambushers.

It wasn't how this was intended. The one shot down by Sumi and those subsequently blasted when they start to rise thinning the numbers notably. Those remaining stand and shaking weapons crafted of stone or flint bound to wood, sharp and splintery shale embedded into bone, and a small number with scavenged and re-worked vibro weaponry buzzing with their battle cries as the lot begin to charge, hurling javelins or attempting to close so that they can put their weapons to good use.

It was most fortunate for Sumi and Aubrei's eyes, what could have been if the numbers had been fresh and from position of ambush?

<<"Narsai, keep watch on Aubrei and Zelo">> that's the best Hadrix apparently has as he opens up, coring through the gut of a charging cultist and trying to follow the battlefield flow while everything goes mad. <<"Push for the cave?">> Caught off guard and trying to find his footing now.

It's absolute madness, with primitive weapons mixing in the air with blaster bolts.

The rifle going off not so far from her as Zelo follows draws Aubrei's attention after imparting the information. She narrows her gaze and glances his way but pauses when she watches as one of the cultists sweeps in. There is a sound of dismay and she speaks up. <<"Zelo has been hit hard, down...man down. I am going to him!">> She breaks cover quickly, scrambling towards the armored Nautolan and calls out. <<"We need cover">> Becuase trying to deal with wounds while a weapon is being wielded by foe is something else. She bides her time a breath or two because Zelo is down, likely dying to the cultist is going to probably move on.

Only when she has a second does she rush forward, trying to keep cover as she sets her gun downa nd then slides in next to him. <"Hold still, I have you. I promise."> That is alls he says, her focusd then on parting the medpac she rests to his side as she half straddles him with a knee on the ground as the quick seal bacta patch is applied. She wipes at the wound and presses at the patch, noting his other and where it is as the adrenaline continues to sing in her ears.

They respond in kind, using primitive means to try to bring Sumi down, and nearly succeed. She's hit by.. something, and nearly knocked from her perch because of it. She tries to fire back at the ones responsible, but damned if she couldn't keep her balance and shoot at the same time. She slings her weapon after the shot is taken, not even bothering with the bolt at this point. She pulls out a vibrodagger and sets herself up to aim for where they'd thickest for close quarters combat. <<"Stand by, I will be engaging in close quarters in just a moment..">>

Brother Bizz springs from the tree as the bizarre cultists get within range of his short reach, intermingling with the trees and such. "By the FORCE, there's so many!" With his walking stick in one hand he grabs his riot baton in the other, the stun vanes popping out of the top in unison with his stubby fingers grasp the twirling handle. He smashes a running cultist in the gut with a loud crashing BZZZZZ ZZZZZZ ZZZZZT that sends the cannibal flying. A second zealous cultist strictly-comes-dancing with a vibrating sword. It is parried by the riot baton's electrical field, then the cultist is caught so heavily by Bizz's twirling stick that he breaks himself on a nearby tree.

There are two sensations with which the Sniper is familiar. Something like dread as he feels the ache in his knee twinge, and then the unnecessarily unpleasant piercing of a sharp stick into flesh. He looks down to see the blue blood coming out from between armor plates, and doesn't see the vibroblade - only hears the whine of it right before it hacks into his side. He doubles back and to the side, as his body clenches in the pain and he lies still, instinctively hoping the thing will move on like some predators in the oceans of Glee Anselm. There isn't enough strength for his throat to scream, so he rasps for breath, worrying if his lung was hit by the large, technological blade, when he is taken up by a familiar face - well, underneath the helmet.

'Hold still, I have you. I promise.'

"It's... Fair Aubrei..." There is a halo around the helmet, or it's his ocular nerves not getting enough blood. As she is tending to his wounds, he sees a dark shadow further over. It must be a demon. Engaging his muscles, he sits up despite the wound and pulls the barrel of his E-11 up with his left hand, right hand tensing to fire from the hip, around Aubrei and into the cultist that had been coming up with spear behind. There's another shot, but it's not even close. The Galaxy only gives luck once, though, and he falls back, crying out as he grabs his stomach. <"I... I'll cover you."> He looks up to the reflective visor, managing to use his vocoder so he is heard.

One of the cultists bursts through, probably the very one he'd missed trying to shoot. A blade of some kind swings and Hahtavi ducks it, but another savage is on top of him almost at the same time, striking his right arm a blow! The weapon clangs along the tal'at'cuyir's armor but still manages to open up flesh to the bone above his elbow! Hahtavi cries out in surprise, the momentum of the blow twisting him and almost causing him to loose his footing. Thankfully not!

Then they are past him and in the confusion of the thick foliage and trees, the Mandalorian manages to start moving towards Aubrei's and Zelo's location. <" I'm coming! "> Blood slicks the back of his right arm, pushing his way through the trees.

As soon as Hahtavi sees two more of the savages about to attack Aburei while she's trying to work on Zelo's prone form, his rifle is back up. His wound doesn't impare him enough to miss his shots, blowing two more of the Ealorians into meat! Blood spatters the trees and foliage behind them as they go down!

How's that for covering their six?

Injured among their side and still pleanty of threats, Narsai's blaster moves again and fires off its quick one-two punch, dropping another cultist with the first while she advances up.

It was a chaotic dance many of the Mandalorians had done before, but Narsai steps forward, trying to join those putting themselves between the other threats and the medic tending the wounded. <<"We've got you!">> she calls, turning her gaze to the melee of Bizz and Sumi, trying to level a clear shot.

<<"Impressive...">> It's Hadrix's voice, and lacking any sort of joke or sarcasm when he says it. A moment before his blaster takes the cultist who'd injured the Nautolan in the side and then the neck, crumpling her to the ground moments before a chip-stone club slams into the crook of his arm, smashing it down and forcing him to grab the blaster with his left hand while the right goes numb.

Then the lot of them close in, attempting to overwhelm with their thinning numbers. The last of those wielding tech comes at Bizz with what looks like a line of half-functioning vibrodaggers strapped to an elongated power supply, like a saw blade meant to cut down Wroshyyr trees.

The distress beacon continues on the ugnaught's datapad and a sound like a mountain horn sounds from within the caverns, voices rising and fading as suddenly as they come combined with a high pitched buzzing screaming sound from the shadows.

Aubrei's gloves are slick, growing more so as she address both the wounds. She leaves the major one as two shadows belonging to Narsai and Hahtavi step in over her and the downed Nautolan. <"I promise I have you."> She may be repeating it again not just for herself but for Zelo as well. She smiles, but he can not see it, nor can he see the briefly worried expression as the wound arm is treated quiclky so she can return to the grevious wound at his torso.

She presses another patch over it and begins to seal around the edges to be sure that it stays in place as the bacta does its rudimentary work. <"They say women like scars...that is good right?"> She is trying to lift morale for him but her head lifts just as Hahtavi steps in front of her to take a shot. She winces. <"I have to see to others, Zelo, I need you to find cover..there is a fallen tree right there, aim over it, lay on your side."> Only when he starts to move does she turn towards Hahtavi. <"You are next.">

Sumi's rocketpack activates and like a bullet shot down from the heavens, she lands in the midst of the foe and immediately takes hold of one zealous cultist by the collar, yanking them into the point of her knife not once, but twice! The second stab robbed them of their life and Sumi cast his body aside and pounced on another, sticking the blade in their neck and ripping it across their throat in a nasty motion and brief display of violence. Even though they were not killed immediately, their life was limited to how long they could bleed out, which wasn't long at all. Sumi stalks forward, looking for more!

Bizz downs two cultists in short order but is being slowly overwhelmed by the number of humanoids charging them. One stone weapon nicks his tall Ugnaught forehead, then another with vibroblades-aplenty slashes through his kasaya robe and his simple armor plates, leaving a gaping wound in his chest. He parries two more blows but cannot get the upper hand - at least until Sumi Kora blasts in like a Mangolorian missile and stabs his opponents twice and once. "By the FORCE, I need a healer." The monk leans against a tree as he slowly leaks blood, looking to be on his last legs, yet still holding up his crackling stun baton.

Zelo is incredibly thankful that Aubrei was so close, and that she is quite gifted with a medpac. He's not going swimming or doing situps any time soon, but the Nautolan's blue blood is staying at the same levels, not getting lower. He nods to her warning, even as the midnight whorls start to glow blue at the thought of women liking scars... He is definitely going to have a big one of those. <"I'll get clear. Aubrei-"> He pauses for a second as a stitch catches his breath away. <"Thanks. I'll cover you all."> He looks up to Hahtavi and Hadrix as he crawls back, scuttling quickly to the downed tree that had been pointed out.

Quickly he lines up his shots, finding one target and stopping it completely, but missing the other as a hiss escapes his lips, drawn by a rock against his bacta patch as he shifts a little. Right... On his side. He can do this.

By a Hutt's titties! Do they even have titties?! Nevermind! There's /still/ more cultists and it's taking everything Hahtavi has to protect Aubrei while she's trying to save Zelo's life! He fires, then tries to block a blow with the body of his rifle! It still catches him in the right forearm, even as he sees yet /another/ of the crazy savages lifting what looks like an axe...

But it's not aimed for him! The Eolorian is about to brain Aubrei from behind. The Kora tal'at'cuyir isn't about to watch that axe descend but he can't bring his rifle to bear fast enough in the close proximity!

Hahtavi slams himself shoulder first into the fellow, taking the blow meant for Aubrei wholly upon himself. The axe strikes his arm with a loud CLANG but slips past and cuts deeply into his left thigh. Another involuntary sound is forced out of his throat as the Mandalorian goes down!

Into the leaf mold, Hahtavi finds himself down on his back. The Galaar Mandalorian rifle is still in his gloved left hand but his right arm isn't working. It's all he can do to try to fire up at the savage's crotch and chest - missing both shots with teeth gritted!

With blasters failing, wounds mounting and their foes in close, Narsai's blaster is slid back into her holster, her Beskad drawn as a replacement.

Fewer and fewer by the moment; those last half dozen remaining all call out in their guttural language before drawing thin pouches from their belts to smash against their own faces in a hazy burst of smoky dust drawn in with deep inhalation before they charge with a will. Weapons lifted and falling with berserk shrieks coming from the attackers as they move to clearly make their last stand.

Then Hadrix is by the small porcine creature, hypo-pen in hand and jammed down between shoulder and neck guard to inject a flood of pain killers and bacta solution into his system with a nod of his helmeted head. <"Covered, Brother Bizz.">> moving to cover the smaller alien, while the cultists make their advance.

The horn sounds again, further, deeper, moving further beneath the surface of the planet.

Sumi ducks beneath a retaliatory swing, countering with a stab of her own but catching only air. She steps wide, transitioning the knife from one hand to the other to stab them as they danced behind her and to her opposite side. The technique caught them off guard, but it was not enough to leave them bleeding on the ground, They leapt back as Sumi followed through, yielding yet another whistling miss. She pursues her target, not nearly as wily or as fast, but proving clever enough to leave her mark, at least! She's quiet in this, focused on the killing, maybe even tunnel vision!

Brother Bizz receives Hadrix's hypo-injector and blink-blink-blinks. Combined with his Zama-shiwo breathing techniques the little alien begins to feel far less pain. Even his pinkish blood at his wound slows from a gush to a trickle. "Oh that did the trick! I can feel the FORCE guiding me!" He wades back into the fray, bashing one cultist to death with his crackling baton, then intercepts another and sends him careening into a thick Ealorian treetrunk.

The enemy is nearly finished, at least... This grouping of them. But they're still drawing blood and Zelo sees one of them go after Aubrei - not only his friend but his savior on the battlefield this day. While she presses on, healing those around her, he sees keenly from his vantage point the blood flowing openly from her wound. <<"We need a medic for our medic.">> He raises the gun and himself, standing as he fires twice in quick succession. The first shot goes wide as his gut pulls in pain, but the second drops the target, making more room around Aubrei and Hahtavi as he advances again. Better that a grunt go down than a healer, the Nautolan thinks as he ends up standing near the two, one more layer of protection, with his gun raised and ready to fire at the next fool to walk in front of it or try to hurt one of his own.

Hahtavi's not getting back up, not easily, though he's about to make a desperate attempt to at least roll his ass over and brace his rifle in a prone position when Aubrei is suddenly looming over him. His eyes go wide, <" No! "> Just as he sees the blade come down and strike her in the side of her back! He failed to keep giving her the cover she so badly needed! The rifle swings around in his left hand as she tries to get to his maimed right arm.

<<" Hahtavi copies.. ">> He sounds like he's breathing hard, gasping. There's a lot of blood.

A shadow looms up to try another swing at the healer and Hahtavi fires at the savage but misses. His second shot ... nothing happens as the powercell in his rifle dies.

<<" Krif! ">> Now he's really frakked, and still down! Thankfully Zelo's trying to cover them both!

As the remaining cultists come charging in, Narsai surges to meet them, her beskad flashing up to knock a spear aside and slash down the length of the haft into the supporting limb. The cultist screams, staggering back and clutching at his ruined limb, but the Ordo Alor simply whips her weapon around in a horizontal slash that tears open his throat and sends him sprawling. Helmeted head turning to face another of the dwindling survivers, Narsai lashes out once more, cutting hard across the midriff of the man and sending him staggering only to be finished by another!

<<"Last one is fast...">> Hadrix gruns as another club slams into his uninjured arm, spinning him to the side after the big man had put down the second to last of the attacking cultists.

The fanatic laughs and slaps their own chest before licking blood and getting flint splinters embedded in his tongue and set to manic chanting as he hops about, turning a circle, challenging the mandalorians. A vicious, gleeful, exuberance as whatever drug that has been taken wipes away much of what sentience that they once had.

The cavern sounds are further quiet, the hole in the ground quiet at last in contrast to the chaos above.

Heavy breathing punctuates her motions as the lithe scout tries to ignore the aching burn in her back. The slow trickl of blood is felt and she blinks a few times beneath her helmet as she tries to focus. The second wound to his right arm is noted as she moves down the appendage to attend the second. <"I am counting three wounds, yes. Please confirm..."> Labored. She feels the ache carry up through her shoulder blades as she cleans the second wound and this one in his forearm and wrap it. She whispers something, <"This should help..."> Focus.

Aubrei tries to focus but her weight is pressed into her free hand as she firms the bacta field patch over the wound. Her fingers curl, trying to find purchase as she turns, starting to move down to his leg. The color that is slipping free of her is not red, its green and hard to pick out against her armor. Panting, she has to take a moment to situate herself and prepare for the inspection of Hahtavi's third wound.

Sumi catches the final cultist when they square off, avoiding their swing only to step in and stick her dagger up through their chin. She holds them up close to her, letting them watch their dying eyes on the reflective surface of her mirror like visor before yanking the blade back down and letting gravity take over. Just as the body collapsed, Sumi called out. <"That's the last one, I think.. everyone good?"> Her tunnel vision was wearing off and she turned to regard the team and see how everyone was doing.

His bedside manner is questionable, and this isn't at bedside right now, but as Sumi fells the last, Hadrix moves with wound numbed limbs and a grumbling attitude. <"This won't feel pleasant."> most likely in how on massive wampa-paw grabs hold of the back of Bizz's head, pulling it back and with the other hand spraying vaporized bacta directly onto brow of the little ugnaught.

It STINGS. But it begins healing? STEALING!? HINGING?! Hard to tell.

But the quiet is pregnant with the fall of the last cultist under Sumi's blade. But there is still the hole.

Bizz Bliptettjupp struggles as his forehead laceration is sprayed with the stinging combination of bacteria and barley called bacta. But it does feel much better afterwards. "Unngnggg. We must find this Ruurian, before it is too late!" He keeps his stick in one hand to help walk, and his baton in the other just in case of a counterattack, and hobbles forward to the cave mouth. Bizz sniffs but it all smells of foulness to him. "Poodu. These filthy creatures."

Here now, closer, Zelo watches Sumi drop the last cultist with a quick and efficient bladestrike. He looks down to see Hahtavi's wounds - not great - and lowers to try to help Aubrei... But knows nothing of first aid. He sees something that has him wondering if he's still lost too much blood to be upright... Lowering, black pools definitely see the blood that's not red - not even the normal blue of his own - and he reaches out, tentatively, to just help steady the scout as she continues her life-saving work with one hand on her shoulder for physical support. The tension of holding a body up when hurt can cause more damage, so he hopes to steady her until she gets patched. He wonders at the color, if it's just a trick of the forest light. But... He doesn't think it is. Still, there's no time for wondering.

<"You can lean on me some until you're patched... I really don't like this place,"> he adds, to Aubrei and also to anyone else who may be nearby. He looks over her shoulder. <"Hahtavi, you good?"> He looks beyond to Hadrix, who is seeing to the often-around ugnaught Brother Bizz. He remembers the hulk of a Mandalorian putting him back together after an unfortunate meeting with a landmine, so he calls out.

<"Hadrix, can you bring your kit over? I don't think Aubrei's reaching this one to do it herself, and I've no talent for healing."> The Sniper turns his head a little, trying to hear any warning that would suggest the advance of more trouble, but is rewarded only with the sound of his own blood pounding in his veins as he keeps himself upright.

He's in a LOT of pain, teeth gritted, but Aubrei must be doing wonders with his mangled right arm because the throbbing pain in it is fading rapidly as the drugs take affect. Hahtavi's left leg is still bleeding but his dazed wits are clearing. << I'd have bled out, probably. Thanks. >> Still breating a little hard but improving. Thought maybe he was a dead man. But with the others mopping up, and Aubrei struggling to slow his bleeding, Hahtavi manages to get the old powercell dropped out of the rifle. It requires his right hand to help and he can barely do it. He's got to lay it over his own chest and grope with his left gloved hand for the reload, but he manages to find it.

Hahtavi's making ready for round two. Always a 'just in case' with Mandalorians. Then he hears Sumi over their coms and he can't help but laugh. Are they good?? He's still down but maybe he can struggle to his feet in a moment, after he pops in the new powercell. Then, there's Zelo. <<" I'm still breath'n, vod. ">>

<"I got it,"> Narsai answers Hahtavi's call, sheathing her own blade and nodding to Sumi on her way past.

Withdrawing a battered and partially depleted Bacta from her belt she moves up behind the other woman to tend the wound. <"Should hold well enough to get you through,">

She stands, looking back towards Hadrix now and tilting her head. <"Any further contacts?">

The cavern, as entered by Bizz is found to be set with a spiral ramp cut into the living rock, moving down, more geometric ideograms found - triangles again, two with points touching to form as a sigil almost like an hour glass. On the left crossed spears and on the right a singular triangle with more within, each smaller as if to form a corridor if one looks long enough.

The patterns repeating, the 'corridor' and the spears changing sides of the hour glass. Simplified ideograms of canid headed humanoids and smaller stick like humanoid figures frequently placed within the lower triangle, and a starburst in the upper. Leading further and further down into the depths.

<<"None so far, Narsai.">> Hadrix rumbles over comms as he follows Bizz downwards into the depths.

Breathe. Aubrei focuses, having positioned herself at Hahtavi's last noticeable wound when the can feel the pressure of another behind her. She stills. After all is that not what medical personnel appreciate. The stillness of their patient. There is no mention of the color of her blood or lack there of and the faint sounds of pain inside her helmet when her wound is touched or pressed upon is thankfully muffled as she leans against Zelo.

<"Thank you">, is offered to Narsai before her fingers reach into her own pack and pulled out the pain killers that are injected around the site. Time for quick movement as the group needs to stay together. The patch is smoothed over the thigh wound, the patch finding purchase as she pushes back the bodyglove worn beneath his armor. <"Rathe will have to look to any lingering effects, but you..are as good as you can be. Sealed for the moment."> She withdraws her slick hands, the gloves damp with Hahtavi and Zelo's blood as she starts to slowly gather up her pack as she hears the no more targets comment.

Sumi replies, <<"Breathing is a good place to be.">>

There's the matter of this hole still, and Sumi moves into it without much hesitation. She has a knife afterall! <<"Signs of struggle here, going deep..">> Sumi intones, moving further and further until she comes to a ledge. A ledge beneath the surface of the ground! Her helm light comes on and she shines it below, finding an abandoned injured (maybe dead) Ruurian, but the tunnel goes even deeper and the darkness is something even her light (at least from this angle) cannot effect. <<"This is a deep cave network. We'd need professionals to map this out or someone could get lost. Forever.">>

Brother Bizz pauses at the entrance to the cave. He takes a small flask of Gungan hsuberry elixir mixed with liquor and gulps it, needing something to both refresh and take the edge off being stabbed by bloodthirsty natives. The flask is re-corked before Bizz sets off, trading it for his MicroData Versafunction88 datapad which might give more clues to the distress signal. The smell is still overpowering so he cannot track anything via the scent currents. "Such a mess," the Ugnaught mutters while his stick goes tapping over steps.

Zelo stays in place, buoying the scout-turned medic while her own patching is being done, but he rises slowly when Aubrei no longer needs him. His gun is held close to his chest, guarding and ready as they seem to be moving on. He doesn't much feel like he can do that, but he's not going to leave his clan down a hand. It's not his place to point out that the cultists have the numbers, that more are needed to see this campaign done. But he tries to lend a hand. His visor is fogging with his breath though, and his glance hole-ward yields nothing of use. The Alor already knows the score anyway, so he holds back, turning his eyes outward to guard against lingering cultists who weren't dead, or stragglers from outside. He moves back from the hole, just trying to watch every angle in this forest.

Light falls on the figure and several of the insectoid's limbs flail while it clicks and trills and a translator droid, still somehow worn around its neck, speaks a few sounds after he starts, "OH! Ohhh! Oh owow!! Please! I don't know where they were taking me! OH please get me out of here! I was tracking down something! Hello!? I think I've found part of the hoard!" whatever that means. But the small creature, though quite chunky, flaps its feather like antennae - trying to show he is alive, if his speech hadn't already.

Bizz trundles down the steps after Sumi, stick in one hand and datapad in the other. "You've found him! Are you S.K. Skynx's grandnephew? PHORBUX SKYNX?" It's a stupid question since who else could this Ruurian be? He takes out a knife and proceeds to cut the fat larva loose of any bonds - not desiring to stay any longer than necessary. He's a professional, as Sumi suggests, but Bizz isn't interested in mapping more cannibal caves! "Come on, before more of those scallywags come back to eat us all!"

There'd been a nod to confirm, three wounds that he knew about. With the sounds of fighting stilled, Hahtavi just lies there. It takes time for bacta to work, yet combined with Aubrei's remarkable skill as a field medic, she's probably not only saved his life but will have him back on his feet quickly.

In a few minutes, when she's finished with his leg, Hahtavi carefully gets to his feet - with help. He steadies himself, favoring his left leg, but his head is remarkably clear now. <<" Thank you, Aubrei. Amazing work. ">> A gloved hand briefly to her shoulder.

While the bacta and pain meds are doing their thing, he'll start limping over towards the cave to see what all the fuss is about. Looks like they are all on their feet now. Zelo's given a looking over and a nod, then Hahtavi turns his attention and the aid of his helmet's augmented vision upon the darkness of the cave's depths...

It's slow going but he begins to descend down into the cave's mouth. In the darkness he stops about halfway down. <<" Found something. ">> /He/ can't make out details without a light but it's a battered satchel, with paper journals filled with notes in a flowing alien script, holo-stills of ideograms like the cultists use, several tool samples, and several tiny chips of mytag. He turns to bring it to the light. The insectoid lifeform flailing where it lies upon the cave's floor is eyed suspiciously. <<" Maybe this belongs to him. ">>

"Of COURSE I'm Phorbux!" More chittering comes and with the help of the Mandalorians the larval alien can be aided in being retrieved from the cavern mouth. Brought back to the surface where the grateful ruurian who the bag does, indeed, belong to.

A story wrought from him of his research group captured, all but him so far eaten, and the apparent wish for the poor ruurian be taken deeper by the cultists for reasons he could not fathom. But his stories and worries include sight of a figure wearing ancient crystals in a headdress, and his suspicions that they may be part of a treasure hoard uncovered decades ago by some Corellian that his grand uncle knew.

More worrying, that the number of cultists on the planet of Ealor being larger than expected, and that the people of Kora might have underestimated how many of this cult existed, that they ousted from what became their beach front fortress.

And what secret treasures might they possess without realizing it?