Karran Val’teo woke up to unfamiliar surroundings. From his position, he could see blue nylon all around him draped over a cage. How crazy did last night get? The Zabrak stood, the fog that covered his mind slowly clearing. He performed a quick inventory of his belongings. He was wearing his armor. He did not remember wearing his armor the day before. His lightsaber was on the floor of the cage, which he quickly picked up and clipped onto his belt. It appeared that he had all of his gear, which was fortunate. The Sith inspected the door to the cage. It was cracked open. Slowly, he peered out.
He was in a forest of some kind, no… more like a jungle. The trees were tall, with vines hanging down. A heavy mist pervaded the air, obscuring any view of the sky. There were other cages of various sizes surrounding him. He heard a rustle in the bushes to his right. In an instant, his saber was in his hand and activated. With a Force-fueled leap, Karran bounded over the bushes to face the potential threat. As he raised his saber to deliver a powerful strike, recognition pierced the battle-lust. There before him was a familiar Miraluka, who also appeared to be fully equipped.
“Eleceos, what are you doing here?” The Zabrak offered a hand to his fellow Arconan, which was hesitantly accepted.
“I don’t remember. One of the last things I remember was training with Satsi.”
“Satsi?” Karran’s memory cleared a bit more at the name. “Satsi sent me on an errand to pick something up for her. Strange…”
“I don’t think we’re alone here...wherever here is.”
“That is a reasonable conclusion.”
In the distance, birds fluttered out of the trees as an animalistic shriek stabbed the air. Instantly, the pair pressed their backs to each other. Karran drew his saber and Eleceos drew his bow. Once the birds flew away, however, the air became still and silent again.
“We should move, Karran.”
“Indeed.” The Zabrak walked forward. “Please do not fall behind, I believe a number of people would, ahem, ‘have my nuts’ is the phrase if something bad happened to you.”
The young Miraluka chuckled. His cousin would not be so...violent. Satsi, however, would be.
The pair made their way through the jungle,Karran clearing through the dense foliage with his lightsaber. They had simply picked a direction and started walking. Several hours had passed with no sign of life until they heard blaster fire in the distance. Whether they were friend or foe, at least they might have information. Karran charged forward.
Eleceos, however, hesitated. If the Zabrak had asked his opinion, he would have suggested waiting and scouting them out, but he followed the Zabrak nonetheless.
The two came to a small clearing where about a dozen Trandoshans were gathered around a collection of slain animals, several Wookiees, a Besalisk, and what appeared to be a Human in full armor, like that of a Mandalorian.
Karran gripped his lightsaber and was about to charge in when he felt a hand on his forearm.
“Let me see if I can talk to them.”
Karran sighed, “Very well, but there are a number of bodies over there and I do not think they died of natural causes.”
“I’ll be careful.”
The Zabrak tucked himself further into the vegetation as the Miraluka stepped into the clearing. Upon seeing Eleceos, the Trandoshans all turned to face him with puzzled looks on their faces. They began whispering among each other in their native tongue.
“Hello, good sirs! I believe we may have ended up here by mistake. Is there any way you might be able to assist us?”
The aliens hissed among themselves before they all leveled their weapons at Eleceos and fired. The Miraluka ducked down to the ground and quickly scrambled back into the treeline.
“Mistake?” Karran cocked an eyebrow. He did not often feel smug, but he allowed it just this once.
The Miraluka exhaled sharply, nodding in the affirmative. “Mistake.”
“Then we do this my way.”
Karran whipped around the tree, igniting his saber, and charged forward. He channeled the Force into his legs, turning himself into a blur to the unprepared eye. Immediately, a dozen pairs of Trandoshan eyes focused on him and turned their weapons to the charging Zabrak. Blaster bolts and slugs flew through the air. The multicolored bolts deflected off of the crimson blade. Karran pushed through and quickly bisected one of the lizardmen. A bolt of plasma flew from the treeline and pierced another. Eleceos darted from his position to take cover behind another tree.
As the Sith pushed his way into the middle of the group, several fell to friendly fire. One by one, the rest fell either by lightsaber or bow.