Stonerjedi
New Member
Titus stood at the edge of a large opening that led down into darkness, the cavernous hole on the side of a hill was large in diameter, easily thirty meters across and just as many high
The ceiling of the cavern curved up and outward if one were to look, creating a high sloping ceiling, ropes of vines and moss hung like curtains giving the place an entirely bad feeling. It had taken Titus two and a half days to get here, most of it running in full gear and armor, taking only the merest of breaks. Just enough to replenish his vitals and catch maybe an hour or two of sleep here and there.
Here he was, a thirteen-year-old foundling on his trial to become a man, at the entrance to a cave that led to perhaps one of the singular most fearsome of all carnivorous creatures that roamed Dathomir, if not the entire galaxy. This one was a Bull Rancor, a nasty old male that had its tusks broken at some point in its life and took pleasure in harassing wildlife and anything else in the area, including their small Mandalorian clan.
Now here he was, about to attempt his hand at bringing the magnificent creature to its end, and prove he was worthy.
Titus knew that he would never kill the beast if he went into the deep dark cave, he would be limited in his senses while the Rancor would have perfect sight and smell. He would fail unless he managed to draw his foe out of his lair. Which meant he had to spend time collecting enough bait to attract the behemoth from within.
Titus spent the course of the remainder of his third day hunting, scoring surrounding areas for Drebbin and fishing for Burra fish, excessively hunting as much as he could find. With that part finished Titus went about exploring the areas above the cave, during this exploration he noticed that parts of the ground above the cave were eroding and had deepening cracks along a good portion of what was the area directly above the opening to the Rancor's den.
An idea struck him at this point, causing him to grab his pack and the pair of thermal detonators he was allowed to bring, setting the charge in place he set the device to remote detonation before moving back toward his pile of freshly killed carcasses. Now he just had to lug these closer to the opening without alerting the Rancor to his presence.
After he was done hauling the bloody hulks inside the cave Titus waited inside the entrance for a few moments, switching his HUD to night vision as he scanned the cavern. His ears straining for the slightest sound of his prey, then behind him came a loud angry roar, and crashing thumps started rising in pitch and vibration. Turning around Titus switched off his night vision in time to watch as a 16 meter tall, blue skinned, broken horned Bull Rancor slowly approached toward the cave, a large carcass hung from its maw as it scented all the blood and the scent of humans. He could hear it sniffing as it returned via scent, its eyes weren't the greatest in the light. In the seconds that followed Titus calculated the odds of sneaking past the Rancor in the open versus falling back into the cave, when an idea struck him. Territorial creatures such as Rancor's roar a challenge upon creatures that invade upon their grounds. Grasping his remaining thermal detonator tightly in his hand he set the timer to thirty seconds before charging out at the Rancor, his Blaster Rifle fire peppering the beasts face, earning an irritated roar from its maw, the second he saw his chance he threw his detonator straight into the opening. Sailing the silver ball with its flashing red timer, Titus watched it disappear into the abyss that was eager to swallow him whole.
Lashing out as it charged forward Titus was struck hard by the Rancor's right arm, sending him flying back toward the cave opening. Lying there senseless and breathless for a split second he groaned as he rolled away from a thunderous crash of a giant left foot, gaining his feet he rolled forward under its legs and detonated the first thermal grenade he'd planted earlier.
An explosion rocked the air, and a wave of pressure knocked him careening backward onto his back, as the cave began to crumble. Giant rocks tumbled down and hit the Rancor, causing another agonized roar, then the timer on the second thermal detonator exploded inside the Rancor's stomach. Causing viscera and bone and half-eaten animal corpses to rain about him.
Titus lay stunned for a while before he was able to regain himself, his breastplate was shattered, and his helmet smashed to shit, his right leg was sprained, and his left arm felt like it was dislocated. Still Titus toughed it out despite his injuries and managed to cut the head from the Rancor and created a makeshift sled to transport it back to camp.
The ceiling of the cavern curved up and outward if one were to look, creating a high sloping ceiling, ropes of vines and moss hung like curtains giving the place an entirely bad feeling. It had taken Titus two and a half days to get here, most of it running in full gear and armor, taking only the merest of breaks. Just enough to replenish his vitals and catch maybe an hour or two of sleep here and there.
Here he was, a thirteen-year-old foundling on his trial to become a man, at the entrance to a cave that led to perhaps one of the singular most fearsome of all carnivorous creatures that roamed Dathomir, if not the entire galaxy. This one was a Bull Rancor, a nasty old male that had its tusks broken at some point in its life and took pleasure in harassing wildlife and anything else in the area, including their small Mandalorian clan.
Now here he was, about to attempt his hand at bringing the magnificent creature to its end, and prove he was worthy.
Titus knew that he would never kill the beast if he went into the deep dark cave, he would be limited in his senses while the Rancor would have perfect sight and smell. He would fail unless he managed to draw his foe out of his lair. Which meant he had to spend time collecting enough bait to attract the behemoth from within.
Titus spent the course of the remainder of his third day hunting, scoring surrounding areas for Drebbin and fishing for Burra fish, excessively hunting as much as he could find. With that part finished Titus went about exploring the areas above the cave, during this exploration he noticed that parts of the ground above the cave were eroding and had deepening cracks along a good portion of what was the area directly above the opening to the Rancor's den.
An idea struck him at this point, causing him to grab his pack and the pair of thermal detonators he was allowed to bring, setting the charge in place he set the device to remote detonation before moving back toward his pile of freshly killed carcasses. Now he just had to lug these closer to the opening without alerting the Rancor to his presence.
After he was done hauling the bloody hulks inside the cave Titus waited inside the entrance for a few moments, switching his HUD to night vision as he scanned the cavern. His ears straining for the slightest sound of his prey, then behind him came a loud angry roar, and crashing thumps started rising in pitch and vibration. Turning around Titus switched off his night vision in time to watch as a 16 meter tall, blue skinned, broken horned Bull Rancor slowly approached toward the cave, a large carcass hung from its maw as it scented all the blood and the scent of humans. He could hear it sniffing as it returned via scent, its eyes weren't the greatest in the light. In the seconds that followed Titus calculated the odds of sneaking past the Rancor in the open versus falling back into the cave, when an idea struck him. Territorial creatures such as Rancor's roar a challenge upon creatures that invade upon their grounds. Grasping his remaining thermal detonator tightly in his hand he set the timer to thirty seconds before charging out at the Rancor, his Blaster Rifle fire peppering the beasts face, earning an irritated roar from its maw, the second he saw his chance he threw his detonator straight into the opening. Sailing the silver ball with its flashing red timer, Titus watched it disappear into the abyss that was eager to swallow him whole.
Lashing out as it charged forward Titus was struck hard by the Rancor's right arm, sending him flying back toward the cave opening. Lying there senseless and breathless for a split second he groaned as he rolled away from a thunderous crash of a giant left foot, gaining his feet he rolled forward under its legs and detonated the first thermal grenade he'd planted earlier.
An explosion rocked the air, and a wave of pressure knocked him careening backward onto his back, as the cave began to crumble. Giant rocks tumbled down and hit the Rancor, causing another agonized roar, then the timer on the second thermal detonator exploded inside the Rancor's stomach. Causing viscera and bone and half-eaten animal corpses to rain about him.
Titus lay stunned for a while before he was able to regain himself, his breastplate was shattered, and his helmet smashed to shit, his right leg was sprained, and his left arm felt like it was dislocated. Still Titus toughed it out despite his injuries and managed to cut the head from the Rancor and created a makeshift sled to transport it back to camp.
