When you are traversing the wild and untouched landscapes of the savannah, just remind yourself that you are never the apex predator. The vast and desolate area of sand, rocks, dead and ancient trees are all the same blood-orange color for a simple reason: to hide your worst nightmare from your sight, the Akul. A large, quadrupedal and orange furred mammal, the Akul are the top predators that hunt all sorts of bovine, dog, hooved and giant mammals. Using their extraordinary sense of smell, they can trace your scent from days long past and track you down without mercy.

Throughout the Savannah, tall and wispy Turu-grass stretches out into long ranging fields. Watering holes are sparse and spread thin, and the terrain offers little safety from the blazing sun that hangs overhead. When the sun retreats and gives way to moonlight, the Savannah becomes almost chill, but the night is dark and full of wild creatures. In the Savannah, it’s hunt or be hunted.

One Marauder-class Corvette remained in the space just above the Togrutan homeworld of Shili before a single jet black Kom'rk class fighter launched out of the capital ships hangar bay and broke through the orange hued planets atmosphere. Upon reaching ground level the Kom'rk committed to a corellian drift and took down a small number of trees that still inhabited the Savannah they landed in. Dust rose from the ground and surrounded the ship like an unbreathable fog. Once it settled, the ramp to the Kom'rk class fighter lowered and two figures began to descend down onto the cooled sunset lit sand. They were followed immediately by a IG-RM Thug Droid.

"I don't see what your problem is, master. Ted can handle himself just fine," spoke the first individual in protest. His name was Trenkyp Zkig, a tall Kel Dor and Jedi Defender associated with Clan Vizsla.

"Akul are dangerous creatures, Trenkyp. The utmost caution needs to be taken and I'm not sure if a standard thug droid is appropriate for something like this. Are you absolutely insistent on it coming with us?" Asked the second individual, a tall, slender man wearing personalized Mandalorian armor. His voice was altered and made deeper by some device hidden within his helmet. He was Appius Wight, Vizsla's first Knight, Sorcerer and the master of the Kel Dor accompanying him.

"Yes."

That single word of defiance from his apprentice caused the Force Disciples head to slump for a moment before he reached for his WESTAR 35 Blaster Pistol attached to his waist.

"Fine, he can take this then. I just hope he's as capable as you say he is," he said, having a sudden bad feeling overcome him about the situation. He held out the pistol and the thug droid, known as N0-TED or Ted for short, took the deadly weapon without so much as a second thought within its circuits.

Appius withdrew his Brotherhood-issued Inquisitorius Datapad and looked over the mission details carefully. The client for this particular mission had paid for House Wren to eliminate a pack of Akul that had overbred and overtaken the area they were situated in. Akul were vicious creatures. Quadrupedal, large with orange fur, and teeth sharp enough to give durasteel a run for its money. They were the natural apex predators on Shili so it was no surprise to Appius then that the Client, a Togrutan, wanted the nearby nesting ground eliminated. The Togrutan's feared these creatures the most. Fairytales of evil demons described just like them were often told in mythos and stories across the planet and killing one was considered an act of bravery, strength and courage. The creatures had reportedly overrun a nearby village not too long ago leaving no-one alive. Men, women and children were all devoured by the hunters of this world.

"It doesn't seem like they are here," Trenkyp said dejectedly.

Appius turned to the younger man behind him and smiled behind his T-shaped visor. "Remember your first lesson."

"Never jump to conclusions," the Kel Dor stated back sarcastically drawing quotation marks in the air with his fingers. It was a lesson Appius often liked to repeat to him. "Are you ok with doing this? Wiping out a nest of creatures in their own home?"

The question caused the Sorcerer to pause in steps and ponder for a moment.

"I do what I do because I'm loyal to my Clan, House and Battleteam. Is this unfortunate? Yes, of course it is. Do I want to do this? No, no I do not. But it's what has been asked of us and at the end of the day, these Akul have slaughtered a village of Togruta. So there's a silver lining to this somewhere at least. Regardless of how small it is," Appius responded and even behind the voice altering mechanism in his helmet the Defender could detect a hint of sadness in his master's voice. Whether or not Appius had regrets about the actions they were about to commit remained to be seen. One thing was for certain however, Trenkyp couldn't see the silver lining, not at all.

15 minutes later.

"We're here." Appius stated quietly as the two Force users carefully kept their distance from the nesting grounds of the Akul. To the two of them, it was no surprise that they had overrun the nearby Togrutan village. By their estimation there were at least ten, potentially more and they were notoriously dangerous. Several smaller Akul appeared to be dropping bloody pieces of Togrutan flesh around the feet of the largest Akul, the alpha female. She was at least double the size of the rest. Appius and Trenkyp dropped to the tall and wispy Turu-grass and attempted to remain unseen. Unfortunately for them, this all appeared to be futile as the Thug droids metal feet stamped past their heads and proceeded onwards towards its objective.

"What is it doing!?" Appius asked angrily.

N0-TED was programmed with predatory inclinations and as such, when it saw its prey it had to go on the hunt. The Sorcerer received his answer very quickly when the droid aimed the WESTAR 35 towards the pack of Akul's and fired. The blaster bolt embedded into the tree above the pack leaders head, instantly alerting them to their presence. The leader arched its head into the sky and let out an ear destroying shriek.

"That doesn't sound good," Trenkyp declared. The ground shook as a small horde of Akul began to stampede at them from the nest. Ted fired the blaster once again, scoring a head shot before being overwhelmed by two that jumped at the droid and knocked it off his feet.

"Kark!" Appius shouted, his jetpack roared to life as he ascended fifteen feet into the sky to get a better vantage point. Unfortunately, the grass was perfect camouflage for the orange furred beasts below and tracking their movements was insanely difficult.

Trenkyp grabbed his lightsaber from his waist and instantly activated it. The Force was with him however, as it probed the back of his mind and warned him of one the Akul leaping at him like a ferocious cat. He instantly rolled to the side and used his lightsaber to slice through its abdomen. Blood spilled out onto the Savannah floor as the beast drew its last breath. However, he was quickly surrounded by two more and one instantly jumped at him. so he was forced to call upon the mysterious power he was trained in to power his speed, he rolled out of the way again just in time. Coming to a stop, a warning screamed into his head and the Kel Dor threw his hand up on instinct. Another Akul slammed into an invisible wall that separated it from the Defender. The impact from the beasts momentum made him stagger back several paces and his quick successive use of the Force had suddenly drained him physically.

Seeing his apprentice was in trouble, Appius called upon the Force and his father's lightsaber floated to the palm of his right hand. He cut the power to his jetpack and descended quickly to land on top of the closest Akul to Trenkyp. Activating his own blade , sapphire met the neck of the beast, dropping it to the ground in an instant. The Force then screamed a warning to the back of the Sorcerer's mind but as he turned to address what gave him the warning he was jumped by another of the packs Akul which pinned him to the ground and applied it's full force against him.

"Appius!" Cried Trenkyp as he rushed to aid his master before the monsters jaw could bite into him.

Trenkyp took a Vibrosword out of his robes and threw it at the creature’s face, making it leave Appius right before his head would have come off. The Sorcerer's armor suffered a few scratches but nothing that would compromise its effectiveness. The Knight then hit the Akul with a stream of lightning powered by the Force before it smelled like burnt meat.

"You need a lesson or two about sensing danger too," Trenkyp told Appius.

"No I don't, I'm just fine."

"Then what's that?" said Trenkyp, pointing to the right of Appius.

Appius did sense the Akul approach him, but only after Trenkyp told him. The Sorcerer ducked under the creature's jump while Trenkyp held his own lightsaber right in front of him. The Akul landed directly into the lightsaber, being cut in half and filling Trenkyp's robes with blood.

"Let's just get this over with," the Kel Dor exclaimed as he tried to get the blood off his clothes.

Trenkyp then laid down beneath the grass, turned his lightsaber off and signaled Appius to do the same. They both stood in the grass lane, while the Kel Dor was focusing to keep both of their Force signatures hidden. The Sorcerer grabbed his blaster from Trenkyp's droid with an invisible hand and slowly dragged the droid towards them.

"He'll be fine. He's self-repairing right now," said Trenkyp.

The droid was making a few noises which grabbed the remaining Akuls' attention. Trenkyp stopped focusing on their Force signatures and drew out his broadsword, the Butcher. Trenkyp and Appius stood back up. A few Akuls were running towards them before the Mandalorian opened his hand.

"Brace yourself," the Sorcerer told the Jedi.

The Defender planted his sword in the ground and put his feet behind his body. Appius then hit the ground with his palm and threw the Akuls backwards with a wave of energy, knocking Trenkyp off-balance.

The Kel Dor then got back on his feet and started running to one of the Akuls. It jumped at Trenkyp and as the Jedi ducked, the beast's chest was cut open. This time Trenkyp rolled away from the blood about to hit his clothes. Appius then fired at one of the creatures and hit its head. The Sorcerer held out his right hand and flames burst out of the flamethrower on his wrist. The Akuls were scared of fire and backed away as Trenkyp focused deeply to imbue his muscles with the Force, grabbed his Vibroblade and threw it with all of his strength at the creatures, this time piercing through an Akul's head.

Whether it was the Akul's fear of fire or the fact that Trenkyp's Force imbued throw just sliced an Akul's head in twain, the remaining beasts were now reluctant to approach the pair of Force Users.

They both were beginning to understand just why these creatures were so dangerous and why the Togrutan's considered it a badge of honour to defeat just one of them. Never mind an entire pack.

A hellacious roar boomed across the red savannah and immediately the pack surrounding them slowly retreated back into Turu-grass, making them almost invisible to the naked eye. Unfortunately, both Trenkyp and Appius knew better and their suspicions were confirmed when the alpha female stood up from her nest and began to approach them. After each step her subordinates moved away, both out of fear and respect for her leadership.

Appius glanced to his apprentice. His use of the Force was impressive thus far in this confrontation and as a Sorcerer, Appius could certainly appreciate and admire that. However, as impressive and effective as it was the Kel Dor was clearly fatigued. His robes were bloody and in what little wind inhabited the savannah, sweat dropped down his face. It didn't surprise Vizsla's first Knight at all. Out of the two of them, Trenkyp had been the most active in combat so far against these Akul.

"Are you ok?" He asked concerned about his apprentices wellbeing.

"I'm fine. I can finish the fight," replied Trenkyp with a defiant tone in his voice. "Do you have any fuel left in that flamethrower?"

Appius quickly inspected the reserves and whilst it wasn't empty, it was certainly low.

"A little bit, not much."

Trenkyp's head lowered for a moment before it raised back up to look at his master.

"I have an idea. Start a fire."

The moment the Defender finished his sentence the alpha roared and lunged at them. The Force screamed it's warning to Trenkyp and then to Appius half a second later, giving them just enough time to escape the beast's claws as they spun and rolled to either side. The Akul spun and tried to knock the Kel Dor off balance with its tail to which the young man had no choice but to jump over the long appendage. Appius' jetpacks roared to life once again as he used it to leap over the Akul and land beside his apprentice, his boots collided with the ground loudly with a thud.

"Trenkyp, shield your eyes!" Yelled the Sorcerer. His apprentice didn't know what his master was up too, but now was not the time to argue with the beast in such close proximity to them. He covered his eyes with his bloody Jedi robes as Appius willed the power of the Force into the palm of hand and concentrated on it as best he could before thrusting it towards the beasts face. Thankfully, the few moments he had to focus were enough to set off what looked to be a flashbang in front of the alpha female's eyes. She recoiled in horror and stumbled backwards as she struggled to regain her vision.

Whilst the opportunity presented itself, the Sorcerer decided to put Trenkyp's plan into motion. He knew exactly what his apprentice was thinking. If they don't like fire, then why not make them burn?

Despite his own stamina drain from his own use of the force, with what little fuel remained he set alight the nearest patch of Turu-grass with a cone of flames. Fire needs two things to burn, a source for ignition and oxygen. In the humid and dry savannah there was certainly plenty of that and it didn't take long for the small fire to spread like a deadly plague towards the remaining Akul's as well as their nesting ground.

"We'll need to be quick. We won't be able to survive in this for long," the Master stated to his apprentice. Smoke rose from the giant fires, unbearably hot and began to engulf everything around them. The alpha Akul was about to retreat until it's tail was grabbed by a now standing and operational N0-TED. This momentary distraction provided the opportunity the Force Users needed as the pair activated their lightsabers in unison as sapphire blue erupted out of the hilts. The two Force then rushed the Alpha intending to end this fight once and for all.

After all, with the fire keeping the rest of the pack at bay, if the Alpha could be defeated the rest of the Akul society would crumble. Trenkyp reached the Akul first and raised his lightsaber above his head and directed a strike and the beasts shin.

Before Trenkyp could slice the Alpha Akul, another smaller one jumped between the blade and its target, pushing Trenkyp back and getting sliced. The Alpha female then kicked Trenkyp to the side and jumped away from Appius. The droid was knocked down and scratched, making it repair itself again.

The Kel Dor was hurt, but he wasn't affected too much. He concentrated on his wounds, which healed quickly, but left a burning sensation on the scars. Trenkyp remained on the ground, focusing on the pain as it was passing away.

Appius quickly grabbed his blaster from his belt and fired at the Alpha Akul, trying to end its life but he was too tired to hit any shots. He took all of his remaining strength and focused on delivering a powerful lightning bolt to the Akul, destroying its brain and killing it.

The remaining Akuls ran at their dead leader, trying to get any response before they started running at the Mandalorian. Before they could reach him, most of them were quickly cut by a blue lightsaber blade. Trenkyp was standing in front of the Sorcerer, trying to kill the last Akuls of the pack. The Defender was gathering all of his strength and focus to power his muscles with the Force, keeping him standing up.

"Don't leave me here," the Kel Dor said before he collapsed from fatigue.

One last Akul jumped at Appius, stopped midair by a blaster bolt and tossed aside by an invisible hand summoned by the Mandalorian. Appius then grabbed Trenkyp's Vibrosword, Vibroblade and lightsaber and carried the Kel Dor to the Kom'rk fighter. N0-TED stood up and walked by himself to his master.

Half an hour later, Trenkyp woke up tired and hurt on the ship. He then tried sensing Appius on the vessel, taking him a few seconds before finding him. The Kel Dor walked slowly to the Mandalorian inside the piloting cabin.

"How much are we getting paid?" said Trenkyp with obvious pain in his voice.

"Enough. Besides, we did a good thing."

"Yeah. You took care of that fire we caused right?"

Appius didn't respond which lead to Trenkyp trusting that the lush planet was still on fire. They both believed that the Togrutans could handle a small forest fire.