STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- The Hunter

We were waiting on the other half of things, but let's go!

The shots came from about midway.

"Let's sneak up on foot. Approach from different sides." Rylis says, slowing the speeder.

Snith nods, charging his pulse cannon as he breaks off from you at the base of the dune.

The dune is oddly shaped. It seems to be too steep, almost like a miniature mountain rather than a dune.

No further gunfire as you approach, though. Plan?

Not really much of one - cautiously approach the area the gunfire had been coming from and ready to shoot anything that moves.

First glance says that it is really impossible for dunes to shoot at people of their own free will, but you have no idea where the shots came from... but upon closer inspection, you manage to spy a slot in the side of the dune that claps shut when you come near. Sand buries it immediately.

Hmmmm. Buried something in the sand then...

Try brushing aside some of the sand at that spot then.

It takes a moment to uncover the sand-blasted metal slot... a moment with which the Tusken Raider chooses to emerge from the dune and sneak up from behind! It roars just behind you, startling you just as it lifts its gaffi stick to pound in your head...

Where the hell is Snith and what is he doing?

Rylis will quickly spin out of the way (dodge) and fire at the Sand Person with her blaster.

Your answer comes shortly after the Tusken Raider swings just over your head. It growls when your gun goes off, the bolt bursting into the dune beside it as your aim goes wide in your fright. Enraged, it throws itself at you... and into Snith's line of fire.

Purple whisps and blobs of energy hiss out of Snith's pulse cannon and into the Tusken Raider, zapping it before it reaches you. Each vein and artery in the Tusken illuminates briefly as Snith holds the trigger, causing the Tusken to collapse and roll down the dune.

"Lovely," Snith says, lowering the rifle. "I'm going to say... Tusken outpost. We've stumbled onto some holy grounds that they really don't like people coming on, and so they're trying to kill us. Not surprising, really! They do try this a lot."

"Great. Well, you've got your answer as to what was shooting at us. How about we keep heading to Kyle's ship then?" Rylis says.

"And I think I'm almost starting to prefer Nar Shaddaa..."

"First things first," Snith says. "We've gotta clear this outpost out before we can go anywhere. We don't want word getting out to the Sand People that we're here. If this outpost is indication of anything, their might be an encampment nearby. And that would be ridiculous to try fighting off."

"Makes sense."

So I'm guessing there's some sort of door that the Tusken Raider came from...

There is a battered hatch that pops out of the dune, mechanized with pistons that will push the door open no matter how much sand covers it.

"Not a Tusken design," overanalyzes Snith. "Hmm. I'm guessing... old fort. From the mining days, some odd thousand years ago. Awesome. So... we'll flip a coin to see who goes in first. Heads or tails?"

He produces a coin from his pocket.

"Great way to make a decision. Heads."

Snith flips the coin and catches it. A 1 means...

"Heads," Snith says. "But wait, what does heads mean? Are you going first or am I?"

"Heads means you go first." Rylis replies.

Snith ducks into the hatchway, firing a warning shot to any would-be attackers... though, being a pulse cannon, the blast is more of a hiss.

Something catches your eye across the arid desert.

Is Rylis able to see it enough to get an idea of what it might be.

"I've spotted something."

Snith can't hear you over the beastial war cries of the Sand People he's encountered.

It seems to be a landspeeder, passing the dune in the distance.

Well, Rylis is a bit too paranoid to go anywhere with that around, so she's going to keep an eye on it. Besides, Snith can probably handle himself.