Log:Wanted: Lord Follar
Wanted: Lord Follar
OOC Date: July 13, 2019
Location: Ler'a Ruins, Darglum, Mid Rim
Participants: Idan Jensa, Ryo Odessa, Oozlevort, Sion, Iollan Canem, Lozen, Sumi Kora
Ler'a Ruins, Darglum, Mid Rim
It is nearing evening time, and the jungle island is ripe with life. Local beasts and small critters screech and sing, their voices echoing and adding to the ambience of a jungle. An expeditionary landing unit has sunk its skids into the sandy beach of this island to allow a team of professionals to off-load and begin their hunt. Ahead of them looms a large lush jungle and the shadow of a massive dormant volcano. Storm clouds backdrop it all with the occasional flash of lightning and low rumble of thunder. Rain falls gently.
It's nearing the evening time on the jungle world of Darglum, and the Duchess has commissioned a bounty for the famed Lord Corbin Follar. Follar, a Coruscanti Lord and Dean of the planet's renown university, is a controversial adventurer who takes credit for the actions of others, and publishes them in his memoirs. Today, Lord Follar is a thief, and a wanted fugitive with no where left to hide.
The Duchess has given specific instructions to track down this errant Lord, and kill he and his men. The official writ is being carried out by the BHG representative, Sumi Kora, who is present at the landing on the beach to oversee the operation. The primary objective is to find the family heirloom this no good, huttsucking thief has stolen, and return it to the lovely Duchess. It's believed the Follar has the gemstone with him.
<"Everyone! Round up on me before we step off!"> Announces the voice emitted from the blue armored Mandalorian bounty hunter standing near the wrecked tourist skiff. Black smoke and fire loom behind her, giving the hunter an odd glow.
<"Are we clear on the hunt? Any questions?">
A bounty!? Well, galaxy; look no further than famed ne'er-do-well and renowned bount hunter Ryo Odessa. The Festian's Luxury 3000 has been touched down on the landing area for quite sometime, resplendent in it's mix of lime green and chrome panelling. It's gauche and painful to look at for too long, just like it's captain.
Ryo's already over by Sumi, hands resting on his hips as his cape whips wildly with the sea breeze. "Gemstone, eh?" Ryo asks, looking over at her as he neatly finishes rolling one of his sleeves up.
Oozlevort, the famous Gand findsman, steps off a rickety public shuttle on to the humid Darglum. He is shipless after an incident with the Vandar authorities and a mistaken impoundment. The short robed alien has a large slugthrower strapped across his chest and a smaller white SE-44c blaster in a thigh holster. He also brought an umbrella with a glowing lighted shaft from Nar Shaddaa but it isn't raining on Darglum today. "Living or dead?" he asks Sumi Kora.
This isn't Sion's usual line of work, but she does need the money. So here she is, in the best combat gear she has and with her choice weapon on her hip. She moves to join the blue-armored woman near the skiff, casting a quick look around to make sure they're not being observed by the wrong kind of people.
<Our target's a noble turned fiction author turned thief, right? With a one-of-a-kind gemstone and a lot of help?> she asks calmly, sticking to the com system. <Do we have any idea where he might've gotten to?>
She gives Oozlevort a look of distaste, and nods to Ryo. <Heyo. Nice cape.>
Idan Jensa is a short, thin Neimoidian in floor length robes, carrying no noticable weapons, and trailed by a two-meter tall J9 series protocol droid. Hardly a combatant, or the sort many would expect on a bounty collection team. Yet, here he is: crossed hands lost in the sleeves of his robe, moving with even, gliding steps toward the muster point.
HElmet tucked against his hip, the rangy figure had taken a moment to survey what can been seen quickly over the crash sight, standing just apart from the group for a moment as they get situated. He himself has come on one the shuttle, shipless as he was presently, though it hardly seemed a problem. In the snarling sea wind he looks comfortable at ease, blonde hair loose across the steady line of his gaze, watching Sumi for a moment. But he smiles, crooked and faint. There's a nod to the Mando as she takes charge.
"Seems fair enough," shoots his reply, low voice tinged with amusement.
Lozen is pint sized but armored and heavily armed though strangely ony one of her weapons is a baster. The force pike is strapped to her back and vibrodaggr at her thigh. Large silver eyes take in those gathered and trots along to follow the others, braid swaying across her back as her tiny feet move double time easily to keep up.
<"My recon scans reveal a large group near the Ler'a ruins just north of us. It's about 200m in /that/ direction, and we'll be approaching from the high ground. I couldn't get a good visual scan on the ruins so we'll need to develop a strategy once we're there. I suspect they intend to use the ruins and caving system to hold out against an all out attack. It'll depend on his militia's training if they can sustain our fire for long, or they retreat."> A glance is given to the Findsman near her, the iconic helmet she wears dips down slightly. <"They all die. The Duchess was clear in her ruling. Her land, her law.">
Sumi's visor was oriented ahead again, and she regarded Iollan when he spoke, saying the op seemed fair enough. She acknowledged with a single nod, then turned her head to look north. <"Dusk falls at any moment and a storm is due to sweep the island. I suspect rain and wind, but if you have HUD or optics capability, be sure to bring that along."> Sumi hoists her rifle up, its weathered sling hanging low and displaying the spare blasterpacks fed through the many loops. <"It's time we move. Pull your weapons out, and be prepared for anything. Darglum is home to more than runaway thieves. The Great Hunt has been hosted many times on this world.">
Sumi steps off in the direction of North, not necessarily eager to take the lead, but willing to if no one else did. A cursory glance was paid to Idan, the Trade Union rep here to collect what Follar owed him too. Funny how when it rained in someone's life, it often poured.
"Thanks," Ryo offers back to Sion before giving her a once-over. His eye's move over to Lozen and he say, "Hey, you're that girl that Erisi paid me to shoot that one time. Good to see you."
"What's a Great Hunt?" Ryo asks, wandering along with the rest of the bounty hunters, reaching down to pull his blaster pistol out of its holster. It's a Resistance standby, but Ryo doesn't exactly look the type to have come by it honest.
Oozlevort nods his bulbous insectoid head at Sumi Kora. He then draws the SE-44c pistol from his hip and checks its gas charge, then prepares to move. The Gand is lightly armored and will be attempting to use stealth, so he just keeps the pistol down low. And he stays away from Ryo Odessa because that guy has a very colorful scarf.
<Hopefully we can get inside before that storm hits,> Sion replies, activating her visor's optics and drawing her weapon, taking care to slip its wrist lanyard on before she moves out, taking up a position to cover Sumi's right side. <A death mark... our man must've seriously caught the Duchess on a bad day.>
Idan Jensa comments dryly to Sion in passing, "Lord Follar has a.. gift for poor judgment and a talent for making enemies. It is a dangerous combination." The Union representative treads along smoothly, one eye turned toward the gathering storm overhead.
Short and direct; there's nothing to complain about there, surely. A gloved hand cards through errant hair as Iollan tips his head back a touch, goes to fit the helmet on properly as they all begin to walk. His own pistol comes to bare at his side as they move, thumb flicking over the safety but keeping it slack, held casual at his hip. While stealth might not be his forte, he isn't keen to stray to the front of the column either, large target that he is - middle ground suits him best, presently, so he sticks to that, giving the assorted company a few lingering, curious looks as they go. If nothing else, he certainly looks the part of man-hunting professional.
Lozen's hand eases her pistol from it's holster and her head swivels slowly while that silver gaze sweeps the scenery. While her gaze is alert and weapon is in hand she looks rather at ease all considered, "One does wonder how he has survived to the point where he had opportunity for his latest blunder, no?"
Sumi Kora takes the lead of the group, using her own internal HUD to maintain a mastery of direction. Their path goes straight through the dense jungle, its ambient sounds loud and invasive. Insects are bad here, and the humidity amplifies the presence of blood-sucking bugs. There is wildlife along the way, but nothing that's overly aggressive or particularly interested in the group passing by. Thunder rumbles low, and lighting flashes, outlining the looming shadow of the island's central volcanic mountain. The wind blows with the tell-tale of a storm and rain begins to pick up more.
By the time they reach the cliff face, it's dark. They're naturally concealed by that alone, though flashes of lightning make it easy to spot glints of armor that have not been dulled. They have a wonderous view of the ruined city below. Half submerged in calf-depth water, the ruins are completely surrounded by tall cliffs. To the west of the party's location, the cliff gives to a natural cut, that angles down like a ramp to the ruined city level. It is not immediately apparent that anyone is below, but further searching is required to ascertain the location of an alleged hasty defense.
Along the way, Sumi explained what a great Hunt was. To everyones' knowledge, it's an event hosted by the system's royalty to commission the galaxy's greatest hunters to find and capture the most dangerous of beasts.
Upon arrival at the cliff, Sumi takes a knee and surveys below. <"Anyone see any points of interest?">
Once they come to a halt, Ryo groans a bit as he takes a knee and pulls a monocular from his vest pocket. Holding it up to an eye, he has a look around. "Down there," Ryo begins, gesturing to the base of the volcano. "Weird. There's some people chained up and held at gunpoint. Reports mention any of that?"
Oozlevort steps lightly as they approach the cliffs, hiking up his robe's hem to avoid it getting wet in a muddy puddle. Unfortunately the Gand then has to get down on his belly and crawl up to the cliff's edge, using a tan pair of macrobinoculars to survey the ruins of Darglum's city of yore. "Oozlevort counts multiple scout speeders near the base of this volcano. No guards but many speeders."
<Poor judgement and a talent for making enemies,> Sion repeats thoughtfully, looking the Neimoidian over as she walks. Even she knows the most likely place to find Idan's kind. <Let me guess, you're here because of /both/?>
She has to smile at Lozen's observation. <You don't have to be smart to be rich and lucky. And considering how mad our employer is at him, he's missed smart by a long way, and he might be about to lose lucky, too.>
At the end of the long walk, there's a good vantage point from which to look over the ruins of the city. Checking her low-light optics and lifting her pistol's powerful telescopic sight to her eye, the Socorran takes a good look over the terrain. Ryo's comment gets her attention, too. <Think our scuzzball's branched out into kidnapping? Or slaving?>
Idan Jensa observes quietly to those nearest, "Closer. There, at the base of the natural ramp:" he extends a skinny finger to point. "A pair of armored militia. Wading the the water, hand in hand." Aside to Sion, he notes with deadpan humor, "You will be shocked to learn.. he owes me money."
Well, they were bound to get dirty. The mud becomes less of a determinant as the party moves into position, taking various points of surveillance. For his part, Iollan gets low, bellies up to the edge of the overhang to peer at the targets with a monocular in one hand. A faint hum of approval comes from deep in his chest.
<"Not sure they were expecting anyone at camp like this."> He tips the viewing device down, glancing to the others. <"Pretty open if we flank, yeah?">
Lozen peers but being tiny as she is it is hard to not just have the view get lost in the foliage. She frowns at the reports she hears from the others, "A business transaction concerning the item we are here to retrieve?"
The Mandalorian appears stoic and remains quiet as reports filter back on their surveillance. Speeders, a group of sparring militia, hostages, and an ongoing campfire all at the base of the Volcano. Their only safe point of entry was by a natural ramp where two militia are wading by in the water, seemingly patrolling, or scouting a location to...
Sumi switches her optics over. <"I have no visual confirmation of our death mark. I do confirm the presence of chained up people. Local authorities have cordoned this island completely, so no one has left. It is my belief that this is our target group.">
<"I am a marksman by trade and can provide overwatch effectively. I believe if you all use the natural ramp that Mr. Idan has pointed out, and await the pair walking by to pass, we can access the ruins without raising alarm.">
<"That said, we have two priority targets. One, there are hostages. Since Ryo spotted them, he will lead a team to the hostages to overtake the guards. Meanwhile, Oozlevort should move to the speeders. Protect the speeders from fleeing militia, but allow the hostages to take them and escape.">
<"Once we attack, enemy forces will converge on these two points. Regroup once the hostages are away, and see if you can force this group toward the volcano, or.. draw them further out. I will coordinate and communicate any troop movements I see that could jeopardize your positions."> Looking to the others. <"Unless there's any suggestions or ammendments to our plan, I suggest we make our move.">
"You guys wanna do flipsy-coiny for who goes with who?" Ryo asks, looking over his shoulder at the group of gathered hunters. He idly flicks the safety of his blaster off and wiggles the barrel of it down at the volcano. "Should be easy-peasy. Just, y'know...shoot em, save the day."
Oozlevort bobs his head at Sumi Kora. "This Gand will infiltrate to the speeders. Using comlink frequency 117.14 encrypted." The squat alien puts a small comlink device in his earhole and proceeds south, intending to sneak down to the speeders at the base of the volcano via stealth and take up position there.
<Never would've guessed,> Sion asides wryly to Idan, edging back from the cliff edge and getting to her feet, carefully stretching. It promises to be a strenuous night. She looks to Ryo.
<Those hostages will really complicate this. If you need a volunteer to help get them out, I'm in.> She loosens the cinches of her gloves and tightens them again. <Now'd be a good time if you want to check your gear. We won't get another chance,> she comments, finger-checking her boot clasps, then unlatching her belt and waist clasps and securing them again. <Good to go. Let's move.>
She doesn't wait for Ryo's answer, instead moving off to sneak into the place where the hostages and their guards are.
Idan Jensa instructs his trailing droid, "Forte: remain with Hunter Kora, until instructed otherwise." The tall, insectoid J9 chitters its understanding, as Idan creeps down after the Gand, apparently intent on avoiding the immediate firefight.
Iollan takes a knee to listen to the plan as it lays itself out, simple as anything. Half his attention skims still over the camp, small prick of light in the distance, but eventually he nods assent.
<"No time like the present,"> comes his lilting agreement, mostly as the people move off already. They all know the drill, right? Either way confidence takes deep root as he starts his own quiet creep toward the hostages, opting into direct fire as per usual.
Lozen considers and then intones <IF it is hepful I can get in close and try to extract the hostages while the rest take the targets? I never mind close quarter combat.> she moves to follow the others, she can fight but tactics is not amoungst her strongest of skills.
The pair that are wading by the natural ramp slosh by, more into each other than they are their surroundings. Their voices, a low chatter, involve mused laughter and joking. It takes a few minutes, but they disappear further down the way, turning at the corner of a stone ruin.
This opens the pathway up for the group. Moving left leads one group to the speeders. They are 50 meters ahead and toward the base of the volcano. The right path leads the other group to the hostages, 75 meters away.
Both groups arrive unseen, though they must wade through calf-high water. At the HOSTAGE LOCATION, two militia stand smoking and joking near the hostages. Nearby, five others continue to spar in the water, splashing and laughing. They have direct line of sight with the hostage location. Around the group at the hostage location are several toppled stone pillars and broken rocks from the cliff. These provide cover and concealment should they choose to use them
The SPEEDER LOCATION has several speeders parked upon a large stone ruin platform. Each speeder is oriented within a row and column, facing a large ramp that leads SOUTH, toward the direction of the natural ramp. These speeders are currently turned OFF. There is one guard nearby smoking and seated upon the ramp that faces the SOUTH. Oozlevort's group CAN see him.
"Alright," Ryo answers Sion, moving to take the lead, as the man clearly has something in mind. <<When we get down there, I'm gonna do what I can to, y'know...woo them, as it were. While I'm talking their ears off, make sure you guys get in nice and close, should it all go belly-up. Got it?>> he asks, looking at his little strike team.
"Oh my goodness, would you just...HA!" Ryo begins, stepping up onto the stone platform and wandering towards the guards, shaking his head before he rests his hands on his hips. "I gotta tell you guys, I...I'm gonna be honest with you right now. I feel like a real doof right now. I was supposed to get here hours ago for the hostage transfer, but did I remember to bring my map? Of course I didn't. Classic Grondo, you know?"
He chuckles and shakes his head once more, "Aaaaaanyway. So. You guys ready for the transfer? Looks like you're just kinda...y'know...popping your thumbs up the ol' rear-end waiting for somebody who knows what's going on to show up and tell you what needs to get done."
Oozlevort is slinking down the southern slope. The Gand sees the singular guard smoking and takes a breath from his ammonia rebreather, then slides through the thigh-deep water (he's short) toward the volcano. Unfortunately he stumbles on a rock and drops his macrobinoculars! They go *SPLUNK* as they fall into the water. The guard perks up, but Idan Jensa is thankfully walking right up to the guard. Oozlevort uses this opportunity to weave through the inactive speeders on his way behind the guard.
Sion, not sure what Ryo has in mind, just stays close to him and looks professionally tough. She keeps an eye on the guards, though. One wrong move, and they'll get a taste of green energy-based unpleasantness.
As they all pull up within visual range, Iollan drops off a bit from the back of the group, despite leading in most of the way. An idle finger taps against his blaster for a moment as he watches Ryo and the other two skim up and into conversation range with all sorts of boldness. That's fine.
It gives him the opportunity to skulk, a preferred pastime, using the guards distraction to maneuver silently out of sight. The fallen pillars are ample cover, and so he creeps around that way to settle in, blaster more than ready as he listens over the commlink for any sign that now is the time for a fight.
Idan Jensa waits with the Gand until the first pair of guards are on their way to distract each other, then watches Oozlevort begin his approach. As the guard seems to suspect something amiss, the Neimoidian plays a gambit: in the middle of this isolated, ruined mudhole, the militiaman guarding the speeders sees a well dressed officious alien in a particularly elaborate hat approaching him directly. In an authoritative and slightly condescending tone, the Neimoidian states, "You there. Inform Lord Follar that the response he sought from Coruscant has arrived."
Lozen stoops down and scurries stooped down low to close the distance, one hand reaching back with intimate familiarity to free her vibro ax though she doesn't activate it just yet focused on closing the distance stealth being a secondary priority to speed.
"A transfer?" They ask back almost in unison, then look to one another. "We don't know nothing about no transfer, but then.. the boss didn't tell us that there was anything going on really. Where are you taking them?" The right guard pointed at Ryo, his voice having some authority to it. The left guard peers past him, spotting additional movement in the shadows. The other guards, the ones sparring, see it too. "There's someone in the shadows over there! GET YOUR WEAPONS!" Blasters are raised toward Sion and Ryo in that instance. "Just who are you two?!"
BACK OVER WITH IDAN: "Lord Follar sent a mess-- well of course he did. He's always got a plan. I'll let him know immediately! Just--just wait here!" The guard flips his smoke into the water, glances in the other direction where he'd heard noice and saw nothing. Oozelvort had moved on! He trudges away in the water, heading toward the Volcano and campfire location.
As the other guard barks out that he's spotted movement, Ryo just rolls his eyes and levels his blaster at the guard. "Easy, champ. Get those guns down or else. We're not here to play grab-ass with you sentries. I'm here on direct orders. You think I'm just gonna come out here without backup? So either get this transfer done, or I'm sending this straight up the chain. You'll be /lucky/ if you get latrine duty after the shrak-storm I bring down on your heads. We clear?"
Ryo's blaster drops back down to his side. "I'm going to go ahead and assume that we're clear?" he asks, gesturing for his 'back-up' to take it easy.
Oozlevort sees the lone guard returning to the ruins. So he begins to power up the speeders, but their computer systems are strange to him. His multifaceted eyes turn toward Idan. "Hey, help power up these speeders! Then the hostages can depart."
Sion glares at the guards pointing blasters at them, her own remaining in her hand but unaimed. So far. She eyeballs the likeliest points of cover behind her optics, ready to get them both to one or two of them at the slightest hint of things getting worse.
Idan Jensa waits for the guard to hurry toward the volcanic camp, before joining the Gand in getting the speeders prepped... slowly. "If you follow that one, he will lead you to Follar," he suggests to Oozlevort, with a gesture toward the hustling militiaman.
There isn't much to be done around the impeding threat of action; he moves quiet as anything, sinks into position out of sight of both groups as the comms buzz back and forth with conversation. He can hear half of it anyway, just the shouting, and it pulls a tired and measured inhale from the PI. He settles a broad shoulder against the rock, staying low, absently adjusting the grip on his blaster.
<"Nobody do anything stupid now,"> he says, not lacking a sharpness to his tone. <"It's a miracle we're this far, everyone be cool.">
Lozen grimaces as a twig snaps under her foot betraying her position so she turns the trot to a flat out sprint and turns the Vibro part of the Vibro ax on and swings it up into ready position with a protesting whine of air with the speed in which she does so, making strait for the nearest and abandoning cover entirely.
The attack is sudden, and as Ryo tries to explain their situation, the guard seems convinced. Then.. there's movement again, and he ain't buying it. A blaster is raised and fired into Ryo, and blaster fire erupts from all directions. It's utter chaos. Five (5) rush toward the hostage stone ruins firing, some firing in the direction of Iollan and some how, miraculously hitting him. The person who fired it didn't even know he hit him. Hostages try to scoot away from the danger, children immediately start crying.
Meanwhile, AT THE SPEEDERS, they hear the start of a fire fight. It's loud, and draws the attention of the rest of the camp, just like Sumi said it would. "CHECK THE SPEEDERS, MAKE SURE NO ONE IS GETTING THEM!-- ON IT"-- Two guards come jogging into view toward the SPEEDERS.
From the bluff, Sumi is watching from behind her scope. She sees the chaos by the hostages, then pans her rifle toward the sparring group. She attempts to blast one of them but her bolt sinks into the water with no effect.
Oh, that's not good. Ryo looks down at the now-smoking hole in his gut and reaches his free hand to press against it. Bloody. Definitely not good. Ryo shakily lifts his blaster and squeezes the trigger a few times before he eventually crumples down onto the ground, not likely going to be any help in the battle to come.
Oozlevort exhales suddenly through his rebreather as two guards round the corner of the volcano, coming to check on the speeders. Right now the speeders are finally revved up and ready. The Gand flips on his personal shield and hops into the back of a speeder. "Drive us!" he says to Idan, then fires a staccato burst from his pistol. One guard drops dead from sudden tibanna gas poisoning.
It looks like they're buying it. Ryo's line was good, the anger seemed genuine, the delivery was well-timed…
And of course somebody way over there is noticed, and for some reason the guards decide the people nowhere near the speeders are to blame. You just can't get smart help these days…
Sion ducks behind a fallen stone pillar and opens fire on the guy who just shot Ryo, taking him down with a well-aimed blast. She shifts targets to his friend. The results are much the same, and the trouble is at least thinned out. Pity there are more of them around. "Protect those hostages!" she shouts, ducking down again to move to another spot.
What a mess. Maybe they should've just gotten into position and taken down the guards with blasters. At least that's simple!
dan Jensa fumbles his way into the driver's seat as he is instructed, offering in return, "This may.. end badly. I feel compelled to point this out, in case of-" the speeder stalls out, and falls to the ground with an embarrassing think. "I.. will get it started, again," he mutters, adjusting his hat which had slipped over one eye in the short drop.
No sooner had he spoken than fate came tumbling over in the form of a too excitable Echani. Figures. Suddenly there's blasterfire and the PI slides up the stone pillar to get a look at what's what, a brief maneuver that should still keep him in cover, still safely-
He curses, barely under his breath, mostly from the shock. A snarled inhale catches his temper as instead he turns to level a shot at one of the more visibles, targets, over by the clearly fallen Ryo. Before it even lands, Iollan is ducking down to cover again, hand on his shoulder to explore the damage briefly. <"What the kriff happened to holding position?"> comes out barked, far less amicable than before.
The same target Iollan had hit is struck again from a resounding blast from the cliff side (Sumi). It pierces their back, bursting from the front of the armor and spills them face first into the water. In very quick action, the two guards near Ryo and Sion are dropped and killed. Of the five that rushed from the sparring area, 3 remain and they swarm Lozen trying to blast her! All of their shots missed, and they're perplexed by the ease with which she moves between them!
By the speeders, the remaining guard has skid to a water halt and opens fire at the pair in the speeder. The red bolt sparks off the exterior of the craft, missing both Idan and Oozlevort.
Bleeding heavily, Ryo begins to drag himself along the ground with his off-hand, trying his best to get out of the middle of things. It's easier said than done, of course, seeing that he's missing a chunk of his torso. Rolling over onto his back, the Festian gambler shakily raises his blaster and lets loose another series of bolts; one of them finding purchase in one of the militia.
Oozlevort is ready to do a gangster-style drive-by of the final guard... but Idan drives the speeder into the water like a Neimoidian Ted Kennedy. The Gand is blaster away at the final guard, lighting him up, and then finds himself wrenched into the front passenger seat from the force of the speeder failing. "Learn to drive!"
Learn to drive? "Right now??" Idan returns to Oozlevort, tersely, as the Neimoidian struggles to restore power to the vehicle's repulsors. "I don't suppose you could do any-" then the Gand scrubs a guard from existence with a hail of blasterfire, and Idan thinks better of finishing his prior thought. "Power restored," he notes, instead.
The thing is, it could be worse. He's been shot far worse in the last couple weeks alone! So Iollan peeks out again, braces against the stones and takes aim at the last couple standing. One shot wings high, trying his level best not to hit the Echani mid combat, but the other finds a fleshy target.
<"Not to put a rush on things, people, but let's get a move on out of here, yeah?"> By now it's nearly clear enough to stand again, and he does, hopping and sliding over the pillar to move in a lope towards the hostages. <"Might be more of them coming along soon."
Lozen swings and misses, being rebuffed by a rifle used to parry her attack and drive her back but she keeps his attention on her meanwhile, it is hard to worry about being shot when someone is swinging an ax at you after all.
Another by Lozen is blasted aside just as a man turns to run away. He isn't getting axed by some crazy Echani! Meanwhile, the guard fighting Lozen misses his blast and suddenly plants his feet looking for her. "Oh, what the hell.. STOP MOVING YOU!"
Near Ryo, the hostages are yelling out to him. "Free us. Shoot the bloody chain." One man in particular screams, but his voice is drowned out by what the other two by the speeders witness. Emerging from the deep water and screaming with a loud roar is an Acklay that stands about 10m (33ft) tall. Massive, pointed limbs move in tandem as it sweeps into the camp. Screams from fearful militia men sound as it impales a soldier turning for the speeders. He's crushed and submerged beneath the water that promptly turns red.
The Acklay screams and turns, capturing another soldier in its mouth, chomping down so hard his body splits in two! A third is chased toward the speeders and impaled seven times until only minced meat floats back to the surface. The Acklay has not spotted the two by the speeders and it sweeps back further toward the Volcano camp.
<"What's the rekking hold up? Free the damned hostages and get to the speeders.">
Pulling himself into a seated position with the help of an overturned stone column, Ryo howls in pain as that gaping stomach wound of his bends and strains. Steadying himself, Ryo cuts his eyes at the hostage before lifting his blaster and firing a shot at the chain holding them all in place.
Idan Jensa frowns, hitting the dashboard display of the speeder with his palm (wincing and shaking out his palm, afterward) as he suspects the disturbance is tied to faulty repulsors rather than , "aaaAAAAUGH, what is that??!" as a gods-damned fang-claw-screech-death monster emerges from the water and begins a massacre. "Why does this keep happening??" he demands, indignant, before promptly swerving away from the Acklay and stalling out in the opposite puddle. "I am consumed with rage," he states, in the same tone one might bemoan a minor mistake in their meal order.
He blinks. Twice, just to be sure. No, that's definitely the wildlife come to play, right in front of him, splashing into the shallows as he is. There's a passing heartbeat of hesitation, trying to take in the many angles of action at once, but the downed party member comes to mind. Iollan curses again, but it's more of a conversation with himself at this point.
Long strides put him to moving quickly, his lope turning into a sort of quick-footed dodge of Acklay combat as he finally comes to slide up onto the small platform Ryo is on. Ah, and he doesn't look... great.
"Alright, darling, hang in there," is his only near-gentle warning before he moves in closer, on a knee to take Ryo's arm and half pull him up, protesting or otherwise. For a moment he considers throwing him over a board shoulder, bu that seems ill advised with that sort of stomach wound; so with a tired inhale, Iollan scoops the other man up easily enough, bridal style, and starts them towards the speeders.
Lozen slings her ax back out of the way and swiftly moves to usher any hostages that remain are unbound and ushered to safety while others see to the wounded. She misses the alarm the Rancor's arrival causes, her attention on getting any non combatants out of the way.
Lozen's final combatant is dropped when he plants his feet and looks around for her. He avoided her ax, just barely, but Sumi’s blaster bolt struck his temple and spilled him forward into the water. With her rifle's barrel still smoking, the Mandalorian pivots to look over the crowd when she spied a blaster bolt breaking the chains. But that was not the only thing she saw. <"Rekk me, Lord Follar is in with the hostages! He's in the bright yellow tunic, running with the others toward the bleeding speeders. Oozlevort.. try to get him before he gets away.">
The acklay is still distracted with the camp and is not paying attention to all the hostages splashing down the aisle of ruin stone buildings toward the speeders. Currently, IDAN and OOZE have a clear sight of the running mob coming their way.
Oozlevort is jarred as Idan Jensa stalls the repulsor craft out into the muck again. "Poodoo!" he curses. Lozen gets his attention and the Gand scrutinizes the hostages running toward them. Luckily Gand are keen on shades of yellow, as the ammonia mists on their world are a similar color and require discrimination between the various shades to tell a dangerous mist from a benign one. He blazes away at the scrum, striking Follar twice and not hitting any innocents (by pure luck). The findsman hops out, bashes one panicking hostage in the head, and grabs Lord Follar's corpse, tossing it into the back of the speeder like a bag of juju fruit. "I drive! Find the jewel!" he says to Idan.
Idan Jensa restores power (again) to the stalled out speeder, shifting out of the seat as Oozlevort announces his intention to drive. He begins searching the disgusting dead Human's dead corpse. With 'searching' taken to mean collecting any visible valuables, and failing to find anything of actual substance.
As it becomes clear he probably won't need to take pot shots at anyone else tonight, Iollan holsters his blaster in the half-run he's doing, keeping the prone Ryo steady as he can on the loping run over to the speeders. Hostages scream and scramble, and from the corner of his eye he sees the other two take out who is hopefully the target in question. Either way, it's obvious they've all overstayed their welcome.
<"Alright, kids, let's get the kriff out of here while we still got our legs,>" comes the far more enthused slant over the comms as he makes it to the speeders, propping his new friend up in front of him so they can zoom on out. Mission /somewhat/ accomplished.
Lozen takes a running lope towards the speeder trying to catch it as the others prepare to speed off into the sunset..rainstorm..obivion? Who knows!
The camp was in utter chaos as the Acklay continued to butcher the soldiers, screaming as Acklays often did, and avoiding the flames that kicked up as a result. In the back of Oozlevort's speeder, Idan Jensa searches to no avail. It seems as if Follar did not have the gemstone to begin with. As hostages make it to the speeders, they all pile in. The last ones to depart contain our heroes. They make it safely away, moving up the natural ramp on the cliff and disappear into the jungle treeline. By then, the rain is coming down, and Sumi watches as the last of the soldiers are slaughtered by the Acklay whose shadow glides across the spreading flames. When the last of the pained screams conclude, the Mandalorian turns from the despair, slings her rifle, and begins the hike back to the beach. Idan's droid was trailing behind her.
