"The planet possesses a Type I atmosphere, and life sign readings are tremendous, but we see no signs of sentient life. No structures or apparent settlements, though a subterranean species is certainly a possibility," clearly excited at the prospect, "As you can see, the planet is heavily forested, so much so that it will be hard to find a good location to set down. I’m waiting on the report from Garm," he says, clearly impatient, "about possible landing sites. These storm systems have been wreaking havoc with our scanning systems, it appears to be very dense fog caused by odd atmospheric conditions that we don’t really understand. As for objectives on the ground, Nadriana will want to collect some samples of the native flora and fauna, and I'll want to take some readings and collect some soil and mineral samples to see if there is any-" You hear a loud clumping of boots, and Garm Arcturus skids around the corner, plunking himself down in one of the chairs, plugging his datapad into the systems, "Nice of you to finally join us, Mr. Arcturus." Breshenal growls. "Oh, no problem. Anyway, I found a decent site, but I can't really tell what is around the site because of the thick tree cover. There is definitely a very high humidity level over everything, so I'd rather not leave ol' Prometheus down there longer than I have to- by the way, is this ship a girl or a boy? We gave it a boy's name. Anyway, Prometheus's systems are finicky enough as-is and I'd rather not get them soggy. Best approach would probably be to leave you guys down there with Epimetheus , and then I'll come pick you up when you're done." When Arcturus finishes his rapid-fire presentation, Breshenal pinches the bridge of his nose as if he's getting a migraine. "Why don't you show us?" "I'm working on it, give me a sec..." He responded. Darryn Shapris speaks up, "During the Galactic Civil War, there was a refurbished Providence-class named after a Separatist admiral. Given the name, they referred to it as 'he' so that precedent should extend to this ship." "There." Garm stated, as the holographic planet spins and zooms in on a rare break in the trees, not far outside one of the fog storms. "There. Nice, level ground, big enough to land this old bird. Hard to tell for sure, but it looks like the trees might actually be fairly far apart on the ground, but just have a wide umbrella of branches up at the top. " Breshenal turns to Rakan, "What do you suggest? You are our hostile environment expert."

"Shut up, both of you. Nobody cares." He growled, partly at Arcturus and partly at Shapris, finding the chatter about the ship name irritating. He turned his attention back to Breshenal. "Well, no sentient life is plus for me. But, with tremendous signs of life, that makes a thriving ecosystem a fact. Along with that fact there will undoubtedly be a food chain, likely with a few handfuls of creatures dangerous to frail things like yourselves."

The wolf-man paused, looking at the hologram.

"With no more information than what we already have, we're practically going in blind. However, I know that isn't going to stop you going down there. So I would suggest going forward with Garm's considered assessment. And i'll keep you from being eaten."

Rakan stood behind the Corellian pilot, placed his clawed hands on his shoulders and squeezed lightly. "If it doesn't pan out, we'll know who to blame."

Garm gulps and shifts uncomfortably.

"Protecting us from being eaten becomes a moot point if you then eat one of us." Sorotai said with a smirk.

Breshenal gives everyone at the table what he hopes is a withering glare and speaks with some irritation, "Alright, then it sounds like we have a plan. Melenia, go prep the others, Darryn, prep Epimetheus , Garm, prepare to take us down. Rakan, you're in charge of overseeing the loading of Epimetheus , make sure we've got adequate supplies. I'll double-check the sensitive equipment, hopefully the moisture down there doesn't cause too much of an issue."

Garm ducks out from under the claws of the Shistavanen and steps quickly to the door, "Sure thing boss, I should have us down there within the hour."

Rakan gave Sorotai a smile, or what could be considered a smile, bearing his rows of jagged teeth with a low growl. if there was one person he liked, it was her. She was bold and adventurous and that resonated with him well enough to make her presence tolerable.

"As you wish." Rakan replied to Breshenal flatly, and made his way out, following Darryn to the Epimetheus .

Rakan followed the Chagrian down to the bottom deck of the Prometheus to where the Ranger was kept. He spent the next little while loading all of the essential supplies and equipment that this sort of mission would require and prepared for worst case scenarios. As he was loading a Fusion Lantern, he slipped on the ramp, dropping it on his clawed foot.

"Yaarr!!" He yelped. Then looked around to see if anyone saw his blunder. Then proceded to mutter obscenities to himself. After a while he felt confident that everything was loaded and good to go and so he grabbed the rest of his personal effects and rendezvoused with the rest of the ground team.

Breshenal gave everyone their final briefing on the conditions and objectives, then ordered Arcturus to land the ship. Once the ship completed its landing cycle, the team loaded into the Ranger and the garage door opened. Shapris eased Epimetheus down the ramp and radioed back to Arcturus that they were clear. As Prometheus took off, Shapris slowly pushed the Ranger forward into the trees and away from the landing site. The Corellian's assessment proved correct, and the trees were quite far apart on the ground, growing fairly straight up before the branches spread out broadly several meters above the ground. The humidity in the air was quite heavy, but the vehicle's environment-proofing systems kept the windows free of condensation, even though it was much warmer outside than it was in the Ranger. As Shapris stopped under the branches, he turned to Breshenal who was sitting in the seat beside him. "Where to?"

"First, let's see if we can find a good location to set up a base camp. We need to keep the landing site clear."

Nem Muub is sitting between Rakan and Karn Fenn, and looks very uncomfortable. "How lond do you expect it to take before we'b found a spod?"

Mel Ashen leans forward from the backseat, "We get there when we get there. Haven't you ever been a family trip before?" She said with a wink.

"Nob whed by brother loogs like he wants to eat me." The Sullustan muttered under his breath, shrinking further towards the Weequay, and then reconsidering, trying to make himself as skinny as possible.

Rakan kept his eyes on the surroundings. Glancing up at the tree's, past them and through them as the Ranger made it's way under the canopy. Occasionally turning to look over his shoulder to where they have been, keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of danger.

He stopped only briefly to bear his teeth at the Sullustan.

Looking up he catches a furry form, eight-legged, moving through the canopy keeping pace with the Ranger.

Not wanting to quite cause a panic he leant forward to speak softly to Breshenal.

"We're being followed. In the Canopy."

He checked over the Hunting Rifle which stood between his legs, then kept a close eye on the creature.

Nem's keen ears overhear Rakan, and his eyes grow even wider, but he doesn't say anything, just shifting even more uncomfortably and trying to not attract attention.

Breshenal peers intently up into the canopy, but then turns to Rakan, "I... don't see anything... Keep an eye on it."

As Rakan turns back, he sees the creature disappear up through the canopy in a blur.

He leaned back in his seat. Intrigued, a slight smile curled at the side of his mouth. This may be fun after all...

The creature seemed agile in the tree tops, probably it's most comfortable environment. Not so with the crew here, they would have to be cautious. He made a mental note to describe the creature to the team when he had a good opportunity. No doubt they would want to record the findings.

He put a hand on the Sullustan's leg that was bouncing nervously.

"Stop. Focus." He nodded at the man, "You're good."

Nem nods and gulps, trying to settle down. Suddenly, the creature drops out of the trees onto the transparisteel roof of the speeder! The Sullustan screams, and Shapris swears as he tries to steady the swerving speeder. The other passengers yell in differing amounts of fright or surprise, with the exception of Nadriana, who is looking at the creature with fascination. Shapris barely manages to keep the speeder from crashing and slams on the brakes. The creature scrabbles on the slick roof with a look of sheer terror and confusion on its feline features before it goes tumbling off the front, bouncing on the hood before landing on its feet and scurrying away through the trees and low brush.

The Sullustan continues to whimper softly, as the others gasp or try to recover from the surprise appearance.

Breshenal turns to Rakan, "Is THAT what you saw!?"

Nadriana is tapping at her datapad, but she looks up, "Mr. Breshenal, I have an analysis of what that creature appears to be."

"Son of a SCHUTTA!!!" The Shistavanen barks as the creature rudely drops in without an invitation, gripping his weapon and instinctively flicking off the safety.

The Sullustan's scream wails in his ears like a newborn child wanting to be fed, and as the creature bounces off and runs into the forest, Rakan involuntarily howls in laughter, his abdomen seizing up.

He gives the Sullustan a hard slap on the Arm, and continues to chuckle.

"That'd be it. Aha." He replies to Breshenal. "I almost blasted the dang roof off this thing."

After everyone has recovered from their fright, with the exception of the Sullustan who is still shaking uncontrollably, they get back underway. “Doctor Juna,” said Breshenal, using her preferred title, “mind filling us in?”

“Certainly.” She replied. “Just give me a moment to separate out the bits that would be of most interest to you.”

Shapris gets the craft back underway, weaving through the trees.

“Ah, here we are. As you may have noticed, it is a predatory feline, and based on the claws, I am fairly certain that it is arboreal. It is not dissimilar from other species I have encountered in the past, albeit from a safer distance. It possessed fangs that seemed like they may be used to inject poison, but that is too hard to tell without closer examination.”

“Or a bite victim!” Sorotai suggested helpfully.

“We can always use Muub as bait…” the Gonnie Ad suggested. “For science, of course.”

“The ondly science I wanb to be involved in is holo-mabbing a cave systeb.” the Sullustan replied, miserably.

Rakan gives a grunt of approval at Sorotai. But the humor is quickly lost when the Rodian chimes in.

Rakan turns around to face him. "If anyone would make an adequate meal. You'd be first." He growled, his yellow eyes narrowing. "If not now, then it can always happen back on board the Prometheus."

Suitably chastened, the Rodian shrinks back in his seat, looking out the window as if nothing had happened.

After a few minutes, the group starts seeing more creatures of various stripes, from birds to rodents and of course the insects, many samples of which are already plastered on the canopy, much to the pleasure of Doctor Juna, who is standing up to get a better view of the corpses, though she seems disappointed by the lack of significant differences from most insects, drawing a couple snide remarks of "bugs are bugs" from some of the others.

After maybe another half hour or so, they come to a clearing suitable for a base camp. The trees are far enough apart that there is a break in the canopy perhaps big enough for a starfighter to land, though nowhere near large enough for Prometheus . Upon exiting the vehicle and stepping into the environment for the first time, they realize just how hot and humid it is. The Rodian seems quite at home, but Nadriana is suddenly a much lighter shade of blue and is sweating heavily. She quickly decides to stay in the vehicle for the time being. Before the group begins to offload any supplies, Breshenal asks Rakan, "Take a couple of the guys and explore the surrounding area, make sure this really is safe. And keep an eye out for those creatures, let's have nobody eaten if we can help it. I doubt a perimeter fence would help us here, even if we had one."

Rakan nods, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. "Already on it."

The environment here wasn't nearly to his preference. It was hot, humid and muggy and that wasn't the most comfortable for him. He shook off some moisture beads that had gathered on the fringes of his fur and walked to the edge of what was becoming their base camp and took a deep breath, letting the nee scents fill his sensitive snout. His eyes scanned through the forest with a steady gaze.

After a quick glance back over his shoulder, he took out the inhaler and discreetly loaded another vial of Glitterstim. He grit his teeth, grinding them together with angst before shooting the drug into his snout and body once again.

"Sorotai." He said a moment later looking over at the young woman. "Want to do a perimeter check?"

He waited a moment for a response, honoring her with choice, before shouting further. "Ashen, Fenn. With me."

He then made his way into the Forest, keeping in mind his direction and location of the camp and began a wide arc around the area.

"Coming, hang on a sec." She walks over to Nem Muub, who reluctantly gives her his blaster pistol, which she tucks into her belt.

Ashen and Fenn both check their weapons before following.

Sorotai pulls out a miniature scanning device and starts sweeping it around as they walk, checking for any potential issues in the terrain itself.

During the sweep, Rakan catches a whiff of something... something very pungent. As he follows his nose, he sees one of those creatures from earlier lying on a branch, mostly obscured by foliage and seemingly sleeping.

"Hold up." He says softly. Kneeling down and bringing his Rifle to bear. He points in the direction of the creature.

"There, between the tree's..." The Shistavanen opens his mouth slightly, breathing across his tongue, getting the full extent of the scents. He looked through the sights, calibrated the rifle to be it's most accurate at that range. Too easy.

He lifted the rifle back up, resting it on his shoulder. He didn't want to needlessly aggravate the wildlife, especially if it wasnt aggressive, and he certainly did not want to make it so and endanger the lives of his charges.

"Let's keep going, but keep an eye on it."

As the group moves forward, the creature remains strangely still. Then they hear a rustling from the other direction, and another of the creatures drops out of the canopy and charges towards them, making a growling hiss as it clambers over, under, around, and down the branches and trees.

Rakan snaps around with the Rifle.

"Very clever." He said with a smirk.

He watched it for a moment before firing a warning shot. It hit the ground in front of the creature by a few meters, sending mud into the air with a Bpooofff.

Then he set off towards it, growling loudly and waving the rifle in the air to show dominance and a lack of fear, a common tactic for making a predator think twice and stand down. He ran faster, dropping to all fours and letting off a screeching howl.

Unfortunately the creature didnt stop or slow. The Wolf-Man stopped, turned and ran back to the others.

"Well, that didn't work. Open fire."

The creature puts on a burst of speed, rapidly closing the distance as it scurries along the ground now, a purple blur.

Ashen and Fenn fire off a couple shots before retreating, but the animal quickly dodges them. Sorotai waits a moment longer, then fires, her shot hitting the creature's back. Then she turns and runs, leaving Rakan lining up his shot.

Focusing on the shot, looking for a weak spot, Rakan fires. The shot flew and penetrated the creature through its shoulder, it seemed to slow although still coming.

"Tough lil beasty" he grimaced.

He turned and ran to catch up with his companions. And readied for another shot.

The creature charges forward again, lunging at Rakan, but its wounded shoulder seizes up, allowing Rakan to side step the attack. Mel and the Weequay continue to back up firing, grazing the beast. Sorotai tries to jam her blaster against the beast’s head, but misses, only dealing a light wound instead, causing it to twist violently.

Rakan moved out of the beasts way with a dive into a roll. Coming up into a kneel and pivoting. He backed off giving it some space before turning over his shoulder and firing again.

Kriff.

He missed barely, scorching a nearby tree. One of the boughs creaked with a groan before snapping and dropping to the floor below.

The creature whirls and sinks its teeth into Sorotai’s left arm, causing her to cry out in pain. It then turns tail and scurries to the nearest tree, rushing up into the treetops. Karn Fenn rushes forward firing up at it, landing a hit, but Mel Ashen runs over to Melenia to see if she needs help. Apparently not, as she jumps to her feet and charges after the beast, swearing in multiple languages as she fires several shots at it.