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, bipedal 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.

Armad had been looking for a suitable place to work with his new found powers, when he’d come across information about the Akul on the planet Shili. As his transport was making its descent to the landing zone, Armad spotted another transport with a lone figure disembarking and heading off into the vast savannahs. Curious as to know who else was here, Armad ran a check on the transponder code and found that the ship belonged to Clan Arcona, particularly that of House Qel-Droma. Curiosity was his friend this day, because after he ran a facial recognition on the individual that had left the ship it came back as Revs, a Miralukan Knight, who incidentally had a bounty on him of thirty thousand credits from Jarcoma the Hutt. Wondering as to how the Knight had gotten embroiled with the Hutts, Armad figured he could capture the Knight and turn him over to Jarcoma, get his credits then betray the Hutt and free the Arconan. But first he wanted to know if the Miralukan could handle himself enough to help get them both out once they’ve crossed the Hutt.

Once on the ground, Armad headed off in the direction Revs had gone, but his path through the long grass had all but disappeared. Opening himself to the Force, Armad expanded his sphere of influence to try and find the Knight. Keeping himself alert to safeguard against an Akul attack, Armad felt Force energies rising and could sense that there was someone ahead, probably Revs. Concentrating a little harder, Armad could also feel four Akul circling the Miralukan. Wanting to gauge the Knights abilities, Armad hung back just enough that the Akul wouldn’t know that he was there and attack him as well, but close enough that he would be able to watch what happened.

Revs was standing in the middle of an uneven patch of red and white Turu-grass, and Armad was able to see three of the Akul circling around him. He was certain that Revs knew there was another one out here waiting for the right moment, but while Armad could sense that one, he couldn’t pinpoint where it was. It looked as though this might take a while, as Revs was just standing there with lightsaber deactivated in his hand. It almost looked like it was a practiced move, as an Akul that was directly behind him pounced. Revs pivoted backwards on his right foot, swung his right hand up towards the predator, activated his lightsaber, sliced open the underside of beast, deactivated the lightsaber and turned to face the same direction he’d started in. Revs was perfectly still before the now dead Akul hit the ground. Enraged at the death of one of their own, the two circling Akul attacked as one, as Armad watched the fourth sprint towards the Knight. The first two Akul were attacking from an angled flank position and the last one was running straight at the Knight. Revs rolled forward, came up with his blaster in hand, fired off two shots that connected with both eyes of the Akul, killing it instantly. Turning around Revs, holstered his blaster, and with the aid of the Force, sped towards the remaining Akul. At some point he’d pulled a knife from his boot, because after a couple of steps, Revs flicked it at one of the beasts catching it in the eye, which dropped and skidded across the ground to a stop, dead. Switching his lightsaber back to his right, the Knight stopped dead in his tracks, planting himself and drove his now activated lightsaber straight through the heart of the last Akul. It, too, dropped to the ground after the Miralukan deactivated and clipped his lightsaber to his belt.

Now that that was over, Armad started walking over to where the Knight was retrieving his knife from the dead Akul. Clapping his hands in slow applause, Armad praised Revs, “Wonderful display. But know I need you to accompany me somewhere.”

Revs wiped his knife off on the fur of the dead Akul before placing it back in his boot, “And where would that be?” Revs questioned the stranger before him. “Normally, most people say who they are before demanding them to do something.”

“Where we’re going isn’t important right now,” Armad said with a dismissing wave of his hand. “My name is Armad, and we’re going to collect a lot of credits.”

Pausing for a moment, Revs dismissed the idea. “I don’t think so. I don’t know you, nor trust you for that matter. I think you should be on your way.”

Giving a vexed sigh, Armad gave Revs an ultimatum, as he placed a hand on his lightsaber. “I do think so. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”