Haro Zylrun vs. Korynn Starkos

On the fringes of the Outer Rim territories and famous for being the one-time location of the Rebel Alliance, Hoth is a frigid world marred with fissures created from the tidal pull of Hoth’s three moons. Blanketed in a frozen ocean, massive oceanic currents beneath the southern hemisphere are the cause of constant seismic activities that result in a constantly shifting landscape of tunnels and caves.

Buried into the side of a fissure reaching hundreds of meters into the core of the planet is a network of tunnels leading into a cave. Its sole entrance is suspended within the wall of the fissure, requiring one to rappel down the dangerous crevasse and into the tunnels; one small miscalculation could send explorers descending the rest of the unmeasured height deep within the planet’s core.

Insulated under several hundred meters of ice in all directions, the cave is protected against the gale force winds and the intense snowstorms that sweep along the planet’s surface. As a result, the cave is warmer than most of Hoth’s unforgiving cold with melting icicles dangling precariously overhead. In turn, this allows for more life to grow in addition to being a promising habitat for the hulking wampas that have been trapped this far below the surface. Beginning to thaw, it is obvious that this cave will eventually fall victim to seismic activity and disappear into the sheets of ice that surround it. Illuminating the cave’s interior with a dull blue glow, the luminous forms of lichen have taken up residence among the bones of the creatures unfortunate enough to be trapped here.

Caution must be exercised if one is to navigate the slippery slopes of the cave as melted icicles drip onto the cavern’s floor surface. In one corner of the cave, the ocean water has accumulated to form a large pool, providing sustenance to the rare lumni-spice growing within the crystalline complex, never to see the blue-white sun.

It is here that many choose to hide, the frozen wastes acting as a deterrent against most pursuers and tracking systems. Regardless, there are those that will press onward, no matter the cause.

Finding yourself on Hoth, either for shelter from pursuit or to claim a target yourself, you know the elements are just as big a threat to success. With that in mind, there are two enemies to manage. Nature holds no sympathy for your plight and outside the caves a thick storm is raging. No matter the outcome that is to follow, neither of you will be leaving any time soon.

Complete your task or succumb to the elements. Either way, it's a battle for survival.

[Venue Note: It is assumed that both members are wearing at least a cold-resistant cloak in this venue, even if not included on their Loadout. All other ACC rules and guidelines still applies.]

"Stop right there!"

Haro and Kayfour had just begun to extract the stunned and unconscious bounty from his hideout at the end of the cave when a man clad in beskar'gam came into view. "That's my bounty. Hand him over." Korynn Starkos produced a pair of blaster pistols, aiming at Haro. "Now."

"I captured him fair and square, bucketbrain," Haro replied. "First to the bounty, first claim to the reward." He aimed his rifle at the intruder. "Unless you'd like to dispute that claim?" Behind him, Kayfour dropped the bounty and took out his rotary cannon.

"I would." Korynn opened fire on Kayfour, trying to take out the imposing security droid.

However, Kayfour only returned fire as his reinforced plating simply absorbed the shots. Blaster bolts peppered Korynn's armor, so many that they couldn't help but find gaps between the plates. Korynn bolted for the tunnel, but he caught a couple bolts before he could make it out of sight. Kayfour kept firing, but it wasn't long before the cannon ran dry. Haro advanced toward the tunnel, assault rifle at the ready.

"Give it up, di'kut," He called out. "You're outnumbered and outmatched."

In response, Korynn tossed a thermal detonator into the cave. Haro swore and rushed for cover as the explosive detonated, sending a massive shockwave through the cave. Icicles broke from the ceiling and fell, shattering on the floor. Haro fired twice with his grenade launcher into the tunnel in an attempt to draw Korynn out, but the man stayed hidden.

Korynn called out, "Alright, how about a deal? We split the reward, fifty-fifty. I didn't come all the way here for nothing!"

"Well, you'll leave here with nothing," Haro shot back, "so kriff off before you find yourself in a rancor pit with a busted jetpack. I'll give you ten kis'lune."

He started counting down. "Ta'raysh, she'cu, sh'ehn..."

In the dark tunnel, Korynn raised his blasters again, charging up a powerful shot aimed directly at Kayfour's shoulder joint. When the bolts were loosed, they tore through the reinforced plating, disabling the droid's right arm and overheating Korynn's blasters. He followed it up with a C-25 grenade in Haro's direction.

The shockwave reverberated through the cave, but Korynn could see Haro's quick reflexes in action as the blue-armored Mando stopped his counting and dove to the side, aligning his beskar-clad boots between him and the blast. That quick thinking kept most of the shrapnel from reaching Haro's less-durable flight suit, but some fragments still managed to find their way under his leg plates. Korynn could see the little spurts of blood as they entered. But Haro didn't appear to slow down as he got to his feet.

The blue Mando looked over at his shrapnel-peppered and partially-disabled droid. "You'll pay for that, di'kut. I spent good money on that droid."

"Looks like your bounty is a little worse for wear," Korynn fired back. "You'd better check on that." His blasters had cooled down by now, so he cycled the fresh cells in and raised the guns to level. "Or I could take the bounty off your hands, and you'd be free to repair your droid."

In response, the blue-clad warrior raised his rifle and aimed it in Korynn's direction. "Kriff off. I won't say it again."

"Make me." Korynn fired his whistling birds in a swarm, designating Haro as the target. The beskar-tipped missiles shot toward him, and Korynn used that temporary distraction to fire his blasters and take out Haro's underbarrel grenade launcher.

Haro grumbled as the birds exploded against his shield. This arrogant son of a nerf had caused too much damage to get off easy. He took aim and fired, sending a disruptor shot powering straight through one of Korynn's blasters and into the ice beyond.

Korynn swore. He hadn't seen that coming. The melted metal contacted his fingers, burning through his gloves in milliseconds, and he swore again, louder this time. "Shuk!" He threw the ruined blaster to the side. "You'll kriffing pay for that!" He activated another frag grenade, only to find a still functional and very angry one-armed droid barreling toward him. Before he could deactivate the explosive, the droid ran headfirst into him, plowing him down and sending the grenade and his remaining blaster flying.

Haro switched his rifle to repeating mode as Korynn tried unsuccessfully to get out from under the droid, who was punching him repeatedly in the helmet. He started to advance on his opponent, when Korynn used his repulsor to retrieve the grenade and jammed it up into Kayfour's abdomen.

The explosion sent shrapnel ripping through both the droid and the human. Most of the shrapnel that came back at Korynn bounced and skidded off his armor, simply scratching the paint, but some found his flight suit and shot deep into his flesh. Kayfour, circuitry damaged, slumped down onto Korynn. As Korynn struggled to push the droid off of himself, Haro approached, rifle at the ready.

"Alright, you've taken out my droid," Haro spoke. "He's gonna cost at least as much as the bounty's worth to repair, likely more. If you take the bounty, you pay for the droid. If you leave here empty-handed, I won't make you pay. What'll it be?"

Korynn deliberated for a moment, still trapped under Kayfour. "I... Fine. You can have the bounty. I'll go." He tried again to get free, but was unsuccessful until Haro rolled the droid off of him and offered him a hand up.

"The name's Haro, by the way. Haro Zylrun." Haro pulled his ex-opponent to his feet as introductions finally began.

"Starkos. Korynn Starkos," Korynn replied as he retrieved his remaining functional blaster. "You make a good opponent," he admitted.

"That was a good fight," Haro nodded. "And hey, if you ever need more muscle, shoot me a holo. I have a crew that gets restless quick."

"Don't push your luck," Korynn mumbled, but still filed the idea away for later as he began assisting Haro with extracting the still-unconscious bounty.

Kayfour got to its feet, right arm hanging uselessly at its side. It charged at Korynn, who sidestepped it, but he couldn’t dodge the droid’s sudden lunge, and Korynn felt the breath go out of him as he was clubbed hard in the chest by Kayfour’s left arm. He fell to the ground, chipping the ice floor and dropping his blasters.

As he lay there, he made a quick mental check assessing the damage. He didn’t seem to have any broken bones, which was a good sign. That impact had hurt.

He rolled onto his side and grabbed one of his blasters as he slowly got to his feet, only to have his left arm grabbed in a vice-like metal grip. Turning his head, he could see the fingers of that blasted droid wrapped around his upper arm.

He charged up his blaster one more time, placed it against the KX-series droid’s left wrist, and discharged a powerful energy blast directly into the joint. As the hand separated from the forearm, Korynn grabbed his last C-25 grenade, primed it, and stuffed it into the opening in the droid’s right shoulder, then shoved Kayfour backward, sending it stumbling.

The grenade exploded, shredding the immediate area around the joint and tearing up the wiring in its chest. The droid’s movements slowed and it collapsed, disabled completely.

Meanwhile, Haro had cleared away the rest of the whistling birds, raised his blaster rifle, and prepared to let loose with a hail of bolts. As soon as Korynn turned back toward him, the blue-armored Mando squeezed the trigger and a flurry of plasma blasts hit him square in the chest. The impact was so great that it sent him staggering backward, directly into an icy stalagmite, which tore a gash through his flight suit across his left side and dug deep into his skin.

Blood immediately started running out and steaming in the frigid air. Korynn clutched his side to try and stop the bleeding as he dropped to one knee.

Haro lowered his blaster rifle. “I’m claiming the bounty,” he announced. “And you’d better not try to stop me. I’ll need the credits to replace my droid.” He walked over to the fallen Kayfour and cut off the droid’s head, where the processor was stored. Haro turned to Korynn. “Here. For such a worthy fight.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a single credit and tossed it at Korynn’s feet, then grabbed the unconscious bounty and dragged it out of the cave.