"I do nae know what yer tryin' ta tell me," spoke the Ryn with a sigh, currently crouched in a glittering tunnel. His ID9 droid, Skitters, was scuttling back and forth before him, chittering in binary and using its pincers to gesture further down the hall.
I really, really need ta brush up on binary. Or start carryin' a bleedin' datapad again.
"Alright, alright, calm yer probes, Skitts. Let's try it tha ol' fashioned way, eh?"
The droid seemed to sag in resignation on its many legs before turning its round, red eye up at the feckless moron that was its master.
"There somethin' up ahead?"
The droid bobbed forward in imitation of a nod.
"Someone?"
Again, a bob forward.
"How many?"
Skitters extended a pincer and scratched a pair of lines in the dirt, though it added a plus symbol next to one of them.
"Two? And...somethin'? I dinnae know what that bit there means, Skitts, but I suppose it helps. Can ya lead tha way?"
The crawling probe droid bobbed again, making a noise that, while Kordath couldn't translate, he could get the gist of annoyance. While the Ryn could feel something deeper in the cave, the tunnels were annoying him. The crystals themselves seemed to have some amount of Force presence, which was muddling his senses as well. So, he'd fallen back on letting the ID9 scout for him.
He'd been dispatched for a simple enough mission, scouting out the cave for possible resources for the inevitable war with the Iron Legion. So far it looked promising, from what little he knew about the crystals and lightsabers, but he needed to ensure it was safe for operations. No point in sending mining droids in if they were just going to get torn apart by some local beast.
Following his skittering droid through the cave, he crouched low and watched his footing. Light reflected off the crystal formations from unknown sources, creating a surreal atmosphere. Ahead was more light, and what appeared to be an opening. Whatever, or whomever he'd sensed earlier, was closer. Closing his eyes, the Ryn pushed down at his Force signature, trying to hide should whoever was in the cave be a Sensitive. As he began to creep into the cavern, Skitters caught his cloak with a pincer and tugged insistently.
Kord gave the droid an annoyed look before following where another tentacle arm was gesturing. Tracking the direction, the Ryn squinted into the glittering depths of the cave and froze up. The golden and brown, roughly triangular shaped head of an HK assassin droid was slowly sweeping the cave, pausing at tunnel entrances before moving on.
Somebody left a guard. Must be somethin' worthwhile down here, then. Or it's lost. Nah.
Regardless, the droid's head was tracking his way. Bleu reached over and patted Skitters on the dome in thanks, prompting the ID9 to release him. Taking a deep breath and checking the HK's line of sight one more time, the Ryn dashed towards an outcropping and huddled down behind it. He pulled his cloak up over his head and waited for the assassin droid to open fire on him.
When no blasterfire came, he poked his head back up and sought the HK out, seeing he'd passed over him in its search.
"Blacksoul, anything to report?" came a voice from further in the cave, prompting Kordath to mutter a curse and pull his cloak back up. The voice spoke Basic, but it came out mangled and gravelly. That ruled out most Human or near-Humans, decided the Arconan, unless they'd had their throat slit at some point and survived it. Still holding to his attempts to conceal his presence, the Ryn didn't risk reaching out with the Force to inspect this new player. Instead, he chose to creep further into the cave, keeping to the outcroppings of crystals, trying to keep as much cover between himself and the droid as possible.
Finally, another figure came into view, covered in a gray cloak and armor. Kordath stared for several seconds, trying to place the armor the...creature, was wearing. He couldn't see a face, what with the helmet, but fleshy bits trailed out from under it, tentacles wriggling as the being conversed with the droid.
Quarren, probably. Explains the lisp, he thought. Why does that armor seem familiar, though?
It was a heavy style armor, though the man wearing it was slender looking. The color scheme was throwing him off; perhaps it was meant to be some variety of camouflage? As he traced the lines with his eyes a sense of wrongness started tugging at the back of his mind. He'd seen this sort of armor before, somewhere. Taking his time, the Ryn crept closer, sweat beading along his brow as he tried to hold to his Force signature down.
Oh, kark me, that's Iron Legion gear, innit? Bit heavier and funny colored, probably some kinda recon or special ops type. O' course they're scoutin' this place out too. The Arconan mentally kicked himself. He shouldn't have come alone, but it had seemed like an easy enough mission. Take a trip, have some peace and quiet, look at some shiny rocks. Kark.
He missed the droid's reply to its master, but heard the lisping follow up.
"I told you! I'm certain I sensed something. Keep your receptors open and alert me should anything emerge from the caves."
"Of course, Master," came a condescending tone from the droid. Kord kicked himself mentally; he'd lost track of where the blasted thing was, and the cave was bouncing the voice all over the place. "I never considered the possibility of not informing you should your life be in danger."
"Very good," spoke the armored figure. The Quarren turned to head towards another part of the cave, pausing and turning his helmet to gaze in Kord's general direction.
Kark, kark, kark! I do nae need ta be gettin' inta a skrimish with some special forces type! The Ryn pulled from its sheath the alchemically treated dagger on his thigh, a leftover from the days before the Iron Throne had turned on the Clans. He could see a saber hilt on the armored figure's belt, though he didn't like his chances against the weapon.
Instead, he saw the Quarren unholster a pistol and continue staring in his direction. He tensed himself and nearly jumped when he felt a prodding to his calf, glancing down to see Skitters gesturing wildly off towards his left. Movement ahead caught his attention, pulling it away from the ID9 in time to see the pistol get tossed into the darkness.
A clicking sound resounded, filling the void of silence in the cave. Kordath realized, numbly, that the weapon had been tossed the same direction as where Skitters had been pointing. Slowly, the Ryn turned his head to look up at the business end of a slugthrower, held by the still hand of the HK unit.
"Master, I seem to have located something. Would you like me to dispatch of this inferior life form?"
"Who tha hell ya callin' inferior ya tub o' bolts?"
"Do not murder the man, Blacksoul, I would prefer to interrogate anyone spying on our work."
"Very well, Master. Come along, Meatbag, my Master has questions for you. I'm certain the torture will be most enlightening."
Kordath dropped his attempt to conceal himself with a sigh and redirected his energies towards his left hand, clutching it into a fist. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small, black shape scuttle away.
Skitters? What tha hell, mate? Traitor.
When the little ID9 let out a bleat of binary that sounded less than complimentary, the HK's head turned in the droid's direction. When the weapon followed a moment later, spitting several slugs towards the retreating probe droid, Kordath took a breath and waited.
"Small, annoying, ineffective. Your companion is no threat—" began the assassin droid, pausing as it found the Ryn standing with both hands in the air. One held a dagger, though not in an aggressive manner. "You've chosen surrender? How boring."
"Yeah, no." Kordath opened his left hand, a bright flash of Force driven energy overloading the HK's photoreceptors and causing the droid to twitch violently. Bleu leaned back and kicked the droid, bouncing off the solid chassis and falling on his arse. "Ow...okay, that was dumb."
"Blacksoul!?" came a gravelly shout, followed by the snap-hiss of a saber blade.
Bleu's head snapped towards where he'd last seen the Quarren, spotting the armored figure and a dual bladed, green saber in his hands. "Kark, kark, kark," he muttered, getting to his feet and holding his dagger up. "This day just keeps gettin' better."
