Session 9: A Deadly Game, Part V
General Summary
As soon as The Initiates land on ViGureni, Lem runs into the jungle, excited for the hunt. Rin and Tomla follow behind him, trying to keep up. Onnce inside the jungle, Lem attempts to demonstrate his non-existent expertise in jungle survival by pretending to identify several plants he sees. Unfortunately, his lack of knowledge of Fresian botany results in him licking the first plant he sees, causing an immediate reaction. Thankfully, they aren't far from the ship, so despite their lack of preparedness, Tomla is able to head back to the The Mynock's Wing and get a medical kit. Rin uses his survival skills to find out which plants should be avoided, preventing further catastrophe. Once Tomla returns and treats Lem, causing him to feel better immediately, Lem takes off in a run toward the north. The other two sigh and follow. After a few minutes, they come upon an abandoned building. Lem hears growling up ahead and instinctively drops to the ground. Rin hears voices and as they approach the clearing with the building, they see twoHeadhunter Hunt participants. They try to remain quiet in order to avoid being seen, but Rin trips and falls, notifying everyone, including three Coromon Headhunters, to his presence. Still on the ground, Rin uses the Force to knock the nearest headhunter prone and giving it some internal damage. Lem follows Rin's lead and charges the prone animal and slicing it in half with his lightsaber. Tomla bellows at another approaching headhunter, but does more damage to herself than the headhunter. Almost before he finishes his cleave through the previous beast, Lem charges at the second and starts swinging. Tomla takes a different approach and walks across a narrow pipe spanning a crevasse toward the headhunter, talking to the animal to get it to retreat. She's so focused on the terrifying beast that she drops her favorite wrench, which clangs against the pipe as it falls into the crevasse below. Meanwhile, the two participants ready themselves for the approaching headhunter to attack. One of them is slashed across the chest and falls to the ground, bleeding out. Rin runs over to the cliff overlooking the participants and begins firing his blaster at the animal. As he fires, he sees a fourth headhunter approaching from the east. As the remaining participant takes a nasty bite from the headhunter that has him cornered, Rin shoots it in the face and climbs down the ladder to where the participant is. Focusing on the Force and summoning all he can, he slams the two beasts, killing the wounded one and knocking the other back a bit. However, it continues approaching the two as Rin keeps firing at it. Back at the pipe where Lem and Tomla are facing off against a headhunter, it's not going well. It bites Tomla badly and slashes Lem with its claws. Despite having no formal martial arts training, Tomla tumbles across the pipe, right by the beast, dodging its sharp claws and vicious teeth, then uses her large Ithorian neck to tackle the animal and pin it in the crook of her neck. Momentarily incapacitated, Lem is able to slash one of its legs before Tomla loses her grip. Lem then switches to a two handed grip on his lightsaber, and dizzying it with a flourish, brings his lightsaber down into the headhunter's shoulder. Tomla tries to help by sweeping at its legs with her own, but is unsuccessful, so Lem just finishes it off with his saber before heading over to the cliff to see how Rin and the participants are doing. Despite constantly firing at the animal, it keeps approaching and takes a chunk out of Rin's arm. With the Duro participant next to him bleeding badly and face-to-face with death, he nearly resigns himself to a grisly fate. Suddenly, he looks up and sees Lem leaping down from the cliff with his lightsaber pointed at his feet, yelling "For the hunt!". Lem lands on the headhunter with his lightsaber first killing it, before its dead body cushions his fall. The Duro participant is grateful for the rescue, but runs over to try to help stabilize his comrade that is slowly bleeding out. Rin helps him and together, they are able to keep him from dying for the time being. After some private discussion, the three padawans agree to give the Duro participant 3 of the four teeth from the dead headhunters if he agrees not to say anything about them using weapons that aren't allowed. The participant, Lomy Baaksob, cuts the teeth out with his sword while Rin pushes the the beasts' bodies over the crevasse edge. Thinking that it will help keep more headhunters away, Rin and Lem urinate around the perimeter. They then help to barricade him and his fellow participant in the building for the remainder of the hunt to keep them safe. After their work is finished, they assess the damage to themselves and do what they can to stop the bleeding before leaving east to head to the tower they saw peaking out of the jungle. During the walk, Rin has the idea to camouflage themselves with (safe) leaves and grass to prevent themselves from being detected. From the edge of the jungle, peering into the clearing, the group sees a Trandoshan by the remains of a building, facing off against a pair of headhunters with two more dead animals next to him. Seeing that he's in trouble, Rin rushes in and starts firing and using the Force to attack the beasts. Lem slowly crawls out into the clearing, making his way toward the building. He spots a sniper hiding behind some junk in the building who is firing at Rin and the Trandoshan. Tomla notices it too, but also sees some mysterious tracks leading into the jungle. As she relays this to Lem, they all see the Trandoshan warrior impale one of the headhunters with his spear, although it doesn't die. As he continues taking sniper fire, Rin dives for cover behind a nearby crate. Tomla tries to help the Trandoshan by picking up a rock with the Force and throwing it at one of the headhunters. However, she doesn't realize her own power and ends up sending the rock clean through the animal's skull, to her own horror. The Trandoshan is attacked by the remaining headhunter who bites into his arm and rips it clean off. Enraged, the participant rolls on the ground toward his spear, picks it up with his remaining arm, and skewers the headhunter into the ground before running away. Meanwhile, another sniper reveals himself, also from inside the building, and also fires at the Jedi. Rin and Lem take direct blaster hits, wounding them badly. As the three try to maneuver around the snipers to gain some sort of tactical advantage, they start to realize the full gravity of their situation and wonder how they are going to get out of this one alive.
