Enemy of Mine

[Samshiir]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....

The Mandalorian Wars have begun. Two Jedi Knights, REVAN and MALAK, have set out to engage the Mandalorians in the Outer Rim territories, bringing a full force of Jedi Knights with them.

The Mandalorian and Jedi fleets battle with ferocity, destroying numerous starships and killing an uncountable number of combatants on both sides. Among the chaos, two starships are shot down and land on a nearby unknown planet.

Among the wreckage there are two survivors, one Jedi Knight and one Mandalorian. They are stranded on the planet with their starships and communications completely destroyed. Their fates are now intertwined....

***

A Mandalorian boarding party struck and the casualties aboard the Hammerhead-Class cruiser was extremely high. Confusion ran rampant across the ship as Mandalorian Commandos quickly wiped out a majority of ranking officers aboard the ship. A frightened lieutenant rushed a retreat command and led the fleet into hyperspace, but quickly realized it was a mistake when the Mandalorians destroyed the hyperspace control system within the ship.

Dropping out of hyperspace into an unknown system, the cruiser lost power as Mandalorian starfighters targeted and destroyed the ship's engines. You, along with several Republic troopers, boarded escape pods and ejected from the dying ship, but your attunement to the Force revealed that a vast majority of the escape pods were being destroyed by the brutal tactics of the Mandalorian fleet.

Your escape pod was unharmed by the battle, be it through luck or will of the Force, and began descending upon a dark green and blue alien planet. As the pod raged through the planet's atmosphere, the flaming wreckage of the cruiser gave chase directly behind it. Using thrusters and panels to slow to its descent, the pod allowed the cruiser to surpass its journey to the surface of the planet.

The area the cruiser and pod descended on was a mountainous forest that stretched for dozens of miles, then lead into a relatively short beachhead that faced an endless ocean. It was also nighttime in the area, but an eerie glow of reflected light that illuminated the area was cast down by three moons in the sky. The cruiser slammed into the waters of the ocean at full force, creating a gargantuan tidal wave that rippled in every direction. The cruiser that was now simply several thousand tons of steel quickly sank out of view.

The escape pod, however, had continued its journey and sailed toward the beachhead at breakneck speed. Like a skipping stone, the pod bounced against the water several times. It then slammed abruptly onto the land that bordered the water with such force to slam your head into the metal framework of the pod.


***

When you awaken from the crash landing, the only indication to how long you were unconscious is the sun peaking over the ocean's horizon behind you. The escape pod is damaged well beyond any feasible repair, especially with the limitations of your tools within the escape pod.

Through the Force, you sense an overwhelming amount of life in the area. The closest comparison you can think of to this magnitude of life was on the plains of Dantooine, yet you only detected a third of the amount of life there as you do here. That is when you realize that there is a large, four-armed hairy creature clawing and sniffing at the hull of your escape pod.

Your mission was to cover the boarding party's transport ship from enemy star fighters as they approached, boarded, and destroyed one of the Republic's Hammerhead-Class fleet cruisers from the inside. The mission was a complete success, and the Republic forces were in complete disarray, panic, and retreat.

The boarding party quickly distributed the hyperspace coordinates to the Mandalorian fleets and allowed them to follow the cowards, then the cruiser's hyperspace system was knocked out so that the Mandalorian fleet could pounce on their enemies once again.

The Mandalorian star fighters were ordered to knock out the cruiser's engines, which was also a success. Unable to move, the cruiser was losing the battle fast, and had begun deploying escape pods.

At this point, your orders were to focus on preventing enemy escape pods from getting away intact, but it was this particular objective that didn't go as successfully for you as the rest of the mission had. While performing a strafing run against the cruiser's hanger bay, a lucky laser blast from the cruiser's defensive cannons caught your star fighter and blew the port engines out of the ship's chassis.

Going into an uncontrollable spin, the fighter was going on the same trajectory at roughly the same speed as the cruiser as they began falling into the atmosphere of a dark green and blue planet. Using centralized thrusters to slow your descent, you allowed the cruiser to get an early start descending through the atmosphere. Unfortunately, the fighter was damaged to the point that this was about all you could manage, besides stabilizing the intense spinning before you would feel it once you entered the atmosphere of the planet.

The area the cruiser and your fighter descended on was a mountainous forest that stretched for dozens of miles, then lead into a relatively short beachhead that faced an endless ocean. It was also nighttime in the area, but an eerie glow of reflected light that illuminated the area was cast down by three moons in the sky. The cruiser slammed into the waters of the ocean at full force, creating a gargantuan tidal wave that rippled in every direction. The cruiser that was now simply several thousand tons of steel quickly sank out of view.

The fighter was able to rise enough to avoid the water, but instead skidded along the treetops of the forest. Tree branches and foliage knocked the ship around vigorously, causing emergency alert systems to flash and beep uncontrollably. An explosion erupts from the console in front of you that spikes an explosion of pain throughout your body. The pain is so intense that you lose consciousness.


***

When you awaken, there are two things you notice immediately. One is that it is much lighter out, indicating that you had been unconscious for quite some time. The second, and probably more important, is that you are still in the air. The ship landed roughly a quarter mile above ground level upside-down. You are currently resting directly on the glass of the ship's viewport, which was significantly weakened by the combined effects of the crash landing and the weight of your body and armor.

Cracks in the glass have formed around you based on the resting position of your body, and if it breaks you will have a quarter-mile fall to the surface of the planet below you. The glass broke slightly more when you first moved upon waking up, and is now freely starting to break apart more. It won't be long before you are freefalling through tree branches below you.

Because of the intensity of your respective crashes, both characters are reduced to half Hit Points and are moved down 4 positions on their Condition Trackers (Half move speed, -10 Defenses, attack rolls, ability checks, and skill checks. Remember that you may spend 3 Swift Actions to improve your Condition Tracker by 1 step).

Your time unconscious was not sufficient to recover any Hit Points or Condition Status. Rather, these losses represent the state that your characters are in upon waking up.

[Batpope Scott]

At least the blasted ship kept me alive.

The injured mandalorian notices the cracks and attempts to stay perfectly still, letting himself breathe and recover momentarily. After his moment, he slowly checks his jetpack to see if it functions.

Without my sen'tra, I'll be taking the short and final way down...

Going to take a full turn to recover before checking his jetpack. Trying not to make cracks in the glass, but I'm not sure if that'd be a check or something for that.

If this makes him fall, he'll try activating his jetpack to get to safety on a nearby branch.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Shuruy's immediate thoughts upon waking up are a chaotic mess, unbefitting of a Jedi Master. Consciously, a flurry of emotions - surprise, anger, pain (which she hadn't realized could be an emotion until now) hit her hard until she can shake her head to clear it. Doing so puts her in enough pain more to focus her and tell her she needed to immerse herself in the Force to take care of that possible concussion. Before going anywhere, she takes several deep breaths, calming herself and letting the Force take care of her shaken body even as she reaches out into it to study her escape pod (dead beyond any hope of her limited mechanical skills) and the creature sniffing at it (very interesting, at least in the sense that she had no idea what it was.)

Three Swift Actions to recover.
Use the Force to Sense Surroundings as a Free Action, which should help prevent anything else from sneaking up on her. UtF check succeeds automatically (+17 vs. DC 15).

[Samshiir]

Te Talyc Dral: Your jetpack, luckily enough, is in operating condition. The cracks in the glass are slowly spreading and you know there is very little time left before it gives out.


***

Shuruy Vas: You sense water rising and falling against the escape pod in a three to five second rhythm. The inquisitive nature of the creature before you, which you are able to identify as a gundark, is also apparent. The creature is still investigating the pod and has not noticed you yet. Otherwise, you detect no other creatures larger than a mosquito or a small fish in the remote area.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Oh, a gundark. Wonderful. At least it was a terrible known predator instead of a terrible unknown one.

Shuruy, realizing that the gundark hasn't noticed her yet, carefully combs the pod for her equipment. She hadn't managed to grab everything before entering the escape pod, but she doesn't relish the idea of accidentally leaving anything behind only for it to be washed out to sea at high tide.

Once she's certain she's picked up everything that's still inside the pod - especially her lightsaber or at least her Ascension Gun - she takes a deep breath, opens the pod door, and whistles to get the gundark's attention, followed by focusing her mind and reaching out to the beast through the Force, brushing against its mind with a suggestion.

"There's nothing to see here, hunter. Seek food at the other end of the beach."

Of course, the creature would certainly not understand Basic. The words and their calm, even tone were just a way of focusing the more empathic impulses Shuruy was sending through the Force.

Using Mind Trick (Beast Trick) on the Gundark to send it elsewhere. Use the Force: [roll0].

[Batpope Scott]

Dral keeps his breathing level as he slowly grabs his rifle from the side of the cockpit.

He goes over the plan in his head. Picturing the scene in the few moments he has.

Rifle butt to the window, fall for a hundred meters to allow time to level out, activate the pack and move to the side. I don't wanna be in the way if the movement jostles the fighter out of the branches.

He takes a deep breath and initiates the first step in his plan. He breathes out as his blaster makes contact with the transparisteel.

Grabbing my gun and dashing. As described, I'll fall for a bit and then activate the jet pack to move out of the falling area of the starship in case I knock it loose. I won't stay in the air, though. I'll be looking for a branch to land on to have more time to further recover.

[Samshiir]

Te Talyc Dral: With a swift butt stock check, the window beneath you gives out. As suspected, the ship loses its stabile positioning in the trees and begins falling directly behind you.

[roll0] vs. Te Talyc Dral's Reflex Defense.

With ease, you activate your jetpack and fly out of the path of danger, landing on a nearby branch. Even as your ship continues to fall through the trees below, you notice a Republic escape pod at the edge of the nearby beachhead. There is a being within it.

Those robes are unmistakable. It is a Jedi.


***

Shuruy Vas: The gundark decides that there is nothing important among the wreckage and runs off to another section of the beach to find food.

A moment later, a loud crash erupts and echoes throughout the woods ahead. Something large is falling from the trees, and just beneath it erupts a jet of fire that transports an armored being to safety.

That armor is unmistakable. It is a Mandalorian.

[Nerd-o-rama]

The flames and noise get Shuruy's immediate attention - more starship crashing to the planet, clearly, delayed by the trees - but her mind's eye follows the jetpack's trail instinctively, that impossible alloy glinting in the Force like a hitcher crab's carapace would in the sun. It would have been too much to hope that the nearest sapient would be another Republic survivor. If there are any survivors. The boarding action had been a slaughter, and the Mandalorians had been shooting escape pods out of the sky like the whole thing was target practice...and before that there had been Bror...

Shuruy sets her face directly toward the Mandalorian in the trees, takes a deep breath while checking her utility belt, and starts walking slowly and deliberately toward him across the sand. He probably thought he could take her head off with a rifle from this distance, but even with her head still buzzing, she was fairly certain in her ability to defend herself, and trying to find cover on the beach would be useless against a man with a jetpack. So, naturally, the course was to approach the Mando.

She just has no idea what she'll do when she gets to him.

Taking Shuruy's Second Wind for the day to restore 27 hit points and then approaching Te Talyc Dral at a walking pace, keeping an action readied to draw her lightsaber and ignite it if he shoots at her.

[Batpope Scott]

Osik. This isn't good.

Dral crouches on the tree, confident in his positioning. There's no telling what the jedi might be planning, but he can't have any of it be hostile in his current condition.

The slow walk towards him is evidence enough, however, that he isn't being viewed as a threat. At least not an immediate one. Nehutyc, jetii. This one is very brave.

He jumps from his perch and activates his jetpack to come down, landing at the edge of the sand.

He doesn't point his blaster at the jedi at any point, but his tone isn't friendly either. "I'd stop there. I'm not keen on blasting you right now, but I wouldn't need much provoking."

[Nerd-o-rama]

Shuruy stopes a few dozen meters away, likewise not drawing her lightsaber. He wants to talk, she can talk. She will still stand ready and keep her senses attuned for any tricks, though.

"The situation has changed a bit from shooting down fleeing escape pods, has it?" she calls out, unable to keep bitterness out of her voice. She chokes back more recriminations with a quick mental recitation of the Jedi Code and almost literally biting her tongue.

[Batpope Scott]

Dral isn't the most socially aware, but he isn't deaf. This could go shebs up any moment.

"Not really. The only reason this is different is because I don't have direct orders to shoot you and I already have a lightsaber."

He shifts slightly to let the electrum-coated handle sway in the sunlight. Jedi normally aren't intimidated easily if they're worth their stock, but hopefully the danger of a fight is obvious to both parties.

He pauses in his speech before saying "This isn't a fight worth having, honor or no. Your head is pretty low on my priority list, but you obviously present a complication if you happen to be hostile."

[Nerd-o-rama]

That was most certainly a lightsaber on his belt - Shuruy could practically smell the Adegan crystal. It wasn't Bror's, fortunately, or she'd have probably tried to cut him down then and there and dealt with the consequences in private. As it was, she kept her head, and so did he.

"Jedi don't start fights, we finish them," she says, "and our idea of honor doesn't involve killing lone survivors."

She looks around without moving her head. "We are both alone here, it seems. That was your starfighter losing to gravity just now, right?"

[Batpope Scott]

Dral scowls under his helmet, remembering the fighter's collapse. "Yes, and it will require parts to get functioning again judging by all the noise."

He kept his own bilious reproach to himself, preferring to focus on the now. The jedi was justified in hating him, but she obviously didn't understand her opponent.

He turned his back to the Jedi and started walking towards the wreck, stopping only to say "I will require your aid in this matter if this forest is even half as fierce as Dxun. The beasts will not flinch from blaster-fire if I'm not watching to give it to them." He sighs as the memories of the search for the last Mandalore's downed basilisk return. This mandalorian will forever have a healthy respect for a jungle.

He hopes that her next comment isn't about the irony of a mandalorian asking for help, but there's only so much you can expect from aruetiise.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"'My aid'?" Shuruy asks, raising her vestigial eyebrows. Incredulity aside, she walks closer to the Mandalorian. Once she's closer, it's easier to notice details about her appearance - tall and with a muscular lankiness to her, with mid-length brown hair and the look of a good deal of time spent outdoors already, her traditional homespun Jedi robes worn over a shipboard jumpsuit. She's also entirely human in appearance, except for the fact that the thick cloth blindfold across her eyes doesn't appear to be impeding her senses at all.

"A few hours ago you were trying to kill me, most of my friends and acquaintances, and the concept I'd call civilization," she observes, senses moving past him to try and get an idea of what state his starship's in (probably totaled, but still). "Do you have anything to offer in exchange for this aid you 'require'?"

[Batpope Scott]

The confusion was understandable, really. It's hard for outsiders to understand mandalorian reliability and that's something he's used to. Explaining it, however...

"Let's get something on the level, burc'ya. I fight because those are my orders; the only reason I killed your friends is because they happened to be the objective. As for your concept of civilization, your Republic is flawed enough without me attacking it personally."

The armored visage of Dral the Bloodstained is covered in scars, on the armor and underneath. His T-visored helm is gashed from cheek to forehead and similar battle scars adorn almost the entirety of the sage green plating. The armor is uniform in all except for the right spaulder, which has a patch of a circular blue insignia.

He looks at the Jedi with a sigh, only responding with "And what I can give should be the obvious part. If I find a way out of here, you do too. If I ask you for help I'll honor my debt; Mandalorians are pragmatic, not duplicitous."

He continues walking to find the ship and check to see which systems are functional. He is alert for jungle beasts, however.


Just as a note, Burc'ya means friend. It's being used with heavy sarcasm, here, and might be heard as an insult but it's actually pretty benign.

Moving at a walking pace and actively watching for animals in the bushes.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"So a deal, you mean. I help you get back into space, you help me get back into space, and we go back to killing each other like reasonable sapients," she summarizes.

She keeps a respectful distance between herself and the Mandalorian, but regardless of how many weapons his battered armor is sprouting (and that was quite a few), she's still at less of a disadvantage the closer she is to him, so it's hardly a matter of avoidance.

The thought of just killing him, or even just attempting to maroon him, does cross her mind, and a part of her is ashamed of that. Another part admits that she signed up for war when she decided to follow the young man who wore one of the Mandos' own masks, so considering a fight for practical reasons is hardly any more of a violation of Jedi principles than she was already making.

Still, in an unknown wilderness like this, while Shuruy is quite confident in her ability to survive on her own, if this planet is uninhabited, she'll have a whelk's chance in a supernova of ever leaving it without help from someone mechanically inclined, like a soldier covered in hideous and obviously customized blasters.

"As long as you're not under the impression you can blast me in the back on our way out of here, I can see that working for now," she says, careful not to make any promises. "Why don't we start by you seeing what you can salvage of your fighter?"

[Samshiir]

There are very few systems left in the starfighter that can be powered on still, let alone operate at full potential. The hyperdrive system, life support, navigational systems, engine power, and thrusters are all damaged beyond operational status.

The power generator is still has power left in it, but it cannot generate additional power. However, the generator is slowly losing its power and will be completely drained soon, probably within a few days. In addition, the weapons and shield systems are still able to receive power and operate on their own, but the targeting system is offline.

While there is an abundance of small or tiny life forms in the area, none of them are of any threat to you. The gundark on the beach is still content with catching and eating fish in the water for now.

There are also several small, leathery-winged, native reptilian birdlike creatures that perch upside-down on nearby tree branches to observe the nature of you newcomers and your strange, broken metallic cocoons. One of them sings a whistling, high-pitched squawk at you as it tips its head curiously to the side.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Shuruy will cheerfully admit to being useless when it comes to mechanical or computerized anything, but she's pretty certain she knows a dead starfighter when she senses one. Hopefully the Mandalorian will be able to salvage something, but it seems doubtful.

As for herself, she concentrates on the avians, and on relaxing her senses back into order after being scrambled by the crash. "Any idea what those flyers are?" she asks. "I recognized a gundark on the beach, but those live everywhere."

Shuruy needs three more rounds of recovery to get her CT back to normal, which she'll do if possible. Once that's done:

Untrained Knowledge Check on the wildlife: [roll0]

What a coincidence, it'd be the exact same result without getting rid of the remaining -5, since 15 is the max for untrained knowledge.

[Batpope Scott]

Dral scowls at the downed ship, knowing that weapons and shields would be only of minor use.

He sits on the wreck with slumped shoulders as he thinks about the issue. He looks up at the birds silently, trying to figure out what they are, but for the most part just breathes.

"...In this state, it's almost as likely that we'd build a brand new ship than fix this one to be able to get out of the system." He's almost mumbling to himself at this point, but he is loud enough to be heard.

Osik.

He lifts his head to look at the Jedi, though he imagines that looking at the person he's talking to isn't as important with someone who doesn't see. Strange abilities, these Jedi.

"In any case, we need to figure out shelter, food and water. I don't know what supplies you managed to take with you, but we'll need more. Even if I miraculously get parts for this, it'll take days or weeks to get this finished."

He then gets to work trying to figure out the leak in the generator.

Taking time to recover so he's more useful. Also taking his Second Wind for 37hp.

Untrained knowledge on the birds [roll0]

Mechanics to check the generator. [roll1]

[Samshiir]

Dral is able to figure out the exact problem with the generator. About one fifth of the system got ripped out of the ship when the neighboring wing was blown off, and now a giant hole in the system is the cause of the leaking power. Fixing it is out of the question simply because the required tools (or even so far as an entirely new generator) is not available to him.

Though both Shuruy and Dral have studied in the Jedi archives and Mandalorian schools, respectively, neither one are able to identify the species of the flock of birds that perch before them inquisitively. The birds continue to watch, as if they are as curious about your species as you are about theirs. This is truly a unique alien planet.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"'Osik' is Mando'a for 'it's busted', I assume?" Shuruy guesses. She doesn't speak a word of the Mandalorians' language (yet), but she's naturally adept at reading tone. And phrasing things diplomatically, when it suits her.

"I guess the next step is to have a look at my pod or start looking around for water and shelter," she says. "I haven't the faintest idea where we are or what the weather or day/night cycles look like, but it's never too early to secure a camp."

[Batpope Scott]

Dral stands and agrees with a slight nod before saying. "We should see if we can scavenge enough spare parts from your pod or any of the fallen debris to patch the power generator. If I can repurpose the shields, we might be able to use them to avoid any dangerous weather patterns or metal falling from orbit."

He checks his blaster momentarily out of habit before adding "And Osik isn't that nice of a term, though Osik'la is fairly close to what you're thinking. I wouldn't use either in polite company."

Dral pauses, barely moving, before asking "That gundark... aren't they tribal? That would mean there's a nest nearby..."

[Samshiir]

It would take a majority of the evening, considering the lack of tools needed to properly reformat the escape pod's metal to accommodate for the damaged generator, but it can be done. It won't be able to restore the generator to full functionality, but it will prevent the system from losing additional power.

As the day progresses, dark clouds begin to approach toward your area from the horizon over the ocean. Lightning strikes can be heard in the distance, gradually getting closer. The gundark on the beach decided it would be more suitable to escape into the mountainous forest, and so it disappears into the wilderness. Before long, rain and lightning alike are pouring heavily from the sky.

In order to fix the generator, you will have to work on it for a few more hours in these weather conditions.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Shuruy nods to the initial sentiment. "I can deal with one Gundark easily, but a group of them could be a problem. Salvaging some defenses out of your fighter seems like a good start."

She spends the day assissting with the salvage operation, letting the Mandalorian take the lead and trusting her senses to warn her of any betrayal or other dangers. If he was going to attack her, it would have been when she was at a distance, or later while she's sleeping...but until she senses danger, she'll continue trusting him for the moment.

As the storm starts coming in, though, she begins to worry about more immediate problems.

"We're not going to get anything useful done in a thunderstorm," she says, raising her voice over the rain. "We should get undercover, somewhere in that forest with shorter trees."

[Samshiir]

After searching through the woods for a time, Shuruy does not find any decently suitable shelter. The storm rages on as waves of water and lightning crashes down from the sky.

Then a terrifically loud sound emits from the mountains that drown out the sound generated by the thunder and rain. It is an intense roar that almost shakes the ground beneath your feet and lasts for six whole seconds. Some sort of gargantuan monster lives up there.

[Batpope Scott]

Dral snaps his rifle up at the sound, allowing the silence to resume after the roar. He walks more quietly now, looking to the Jedi and stating "I think the rain is the least of our worries, now."

The mandalorian looks at the ship guns and ponders setting them up as a defense, but who knows how much time they have to do this.

"Do we try and find shelter or set up defenses against that thing?"

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Whatever that was, it's either the largest predator I've ever heard of or compensating for something," Shuruy says through the steadily more annoying rain. Her robe is fine, but she really ought to consider a water-repellant blindfold in the future.

Stuck in an unfamiliar, dangerous, and downright unpleasant situation, Shuruy stretches her feeling out into the Force, looking for the path of least danger. Immediately - thanks to her own preconceptions, most likely, she saw three paths in the future: flight, defense of this wreck using its remaining weapons, or going and facing the danger head-on. Who knows, maybe it has a nice dry cave.

If nothing else, she hoped the Force could tell her which path was least likely to result in getting eaten.

Use the Force to Search Your Feelings: DC 15 auto-succeeds. Basically looking for the immediate consequences of "run away", "set a perimeter here", or "go find the monster".

[Samshiir]

Shuruy feels that the best and safest course of action is to stay put. A defensible position is wiser than seeking out an unknown threat in uncharted territory.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Let's dig in here," she concludes. "And see if you can get either a cannon or a shield projector working, maybe. Not that I'm for shooting at alien wildlife willy-nilly, but if it decides to investigate, we can scare it off."

For her part, Shuruy gives up on looking elsewhere and seeing what she can do about keeping the rain off their heads while the Mandalorian works. "Have you got a plastent hidden anywhere in this wreck, by any chance?"

[roll0] Survival to set up a reasonable camp in place around the crashed fighter.

[Batpope Scott]

Dral gets to work without a word. He'll need all the time and effort to go to those guns and possibly a shielded enclosure. He first sets his efforts in turning the laser cannons into a workable turret he can shoot at whatever might need shooting.

Good thing he has a tool kit; this would be difficult with just the ceremonial welding torch at his hip.

Mechanics Roll [roll0]

Untrained Knowledge:Tech (If that's necessary) [roll1]

[Samshiir]

The next several hours are spent preparing the camp. There are very few supplies available to prevent from being seen, especially with the noise of a high powered generator echoing off the sides of the mountains.

The good news is that the starfighter's turrets are back online. Unfortunately, they will drain the leftover energy in the generator very quickly if used. The shields are still offline and will take even more time to bring online, and even if they do they will draw from the same energy bank that the turrets would.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Well, we're not hidden, but the noise should scare off smaller predators, and one or two laser blasts should do the same for larger ones."

Shuruy takes a deep breath, calming herself after the exertion of setup and the stress of the situation. "We can stay here and wait for the storm to pass, but we're going to have to range out for supplies once the weather gets better. There's not much else we can make use of here."

She moves to sit down, fashioning a very small canopy by tying her all-temp cloak to a piece of wreckage in a probably-vain attempt to create a slightly drier space. "Until then, it'll probably benefit both of us to get some rest. I don't think it's a deep strategic secret to say I can do that and stay conscious, so you don't need to worry about alternating watches. Just show me the button for the laser cannon and I can keep this place protected."

[Samshiir]

The night comes quicker than expected, but perhaps that is due to the darkening of the sky from the storm clouds overhead.

Sleep does not come easy because every half hour to an hour comes another terrific roar from whatever beast lives in the mountains nearby. Luckily, it reveals itself before the end of the night.

Some time after midnight, the rain lets up and the nocturnal creature decides it is time to leave its dwelling and search for food. As it descends toward the base of the mountain and toward the campsite, it can be identified as a rancor.

The rancor spots the whirring power generator with ease, and is overcome with curiosity. You can tell that it plans on investigating the unknown device with its massive, crude, powerful claws. It doesn't seem to have noticed either one of you at this point.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Snapping out of her not-very-restful meditation, Shuruy quietly moves so that she's not between the Rancor and the generator. For all that the simpler fauna was unknown, it gratifies Shuruy slightly that two of the galaxy's most widespread apex predators happened to be on this planet too. They couldn't be that far off of a useful hyperlane, surely.

The more immediate problem was, of course, this particular beast's interest in their most convenient energy source. Motioning in the general direction of the Mandalorian to tell him to stay down, she attempts the same trick as she had on the Gundark, getting the Rancor's attention as best she can and suggesting to it that "There's nothing to see here; move along."

Mind Trick, Use the Force: [roll0]. This time the Beast Trick talent actually is relevant.

[Batpope Scott]

Dral quickly gets up to the gun on hearing the roar. A rancor, of all things?

He's silent and ready. He preps to shoot if the creature advances, but he lets the Jedi have her moment in hopes that she can dissuade it from killing the both of them.

Readying an attack for if it charges or otherwise advances menacingly in some obvious attempt to murder us.

Braced Burst Fire with the Laser Cannon
[roll0] Attack
[roll1] Damage *2 = 94 Damage