and i won't keep what i can't catch (mini-mission, OTA)

[concord_dawned]

Who: Boba Fett and YOU!
What: Clearing out the invasive monster fish introduced by the Sylphid to the lake near the Witch's Camp.
When: Mid-January
Where: The lake near the Witch's Camp
Content Warnings: Animal death



[ Since arriving on this world and taking part in his first mission, Boba has done his best to keep himself busy. He doesn’t like having too much downtime, doesn’t like letting his mind wander or his skills degrade. Restlessness comes easily to him. Thus, he is a frequent visitor to the missions’ board at Central Command, always looking to see what work there is to be done.

This month, there’s plenty. He scans through them, rapidly noticing a theme. The assortment of various animal control missions are something of a novelty to him—he may be a hunter, but his prey is usually of the more sapient variety. Still, it’s work and, in the case of the mutant predatory fish in the lake, work that he has some particular expertise in.

And so, later that week, he can be found at the lake on the edge of the Witch’s Camp, practicing with his newly purchased weapon-slash-fishing-implement. As a kid, he would’ve called something like this a “pocker.” Here, they just call such things atlatls or fishing spears. Yet, despite the difference in name, it functions almost identically to the one his father had taught him to use as a boy: aim, throw, and twist the handle to lock the line and reel the spear back in. It even features a similar missile accelerator system to generate extra forward momentum behind each throw, though this one is pneumatic rather than ion-powered. He refines his aim at the water’s edge, taking out floating clumps of algae as he waits for the engine of the borrowed watercraft to warm up a few meters away. His father had always demanded perfection on the hunt, even when their prey was fish. Yet, the last time they went fishing together had been an exception to the rule. That time, Jango Fett had said nothing at all and Boba had wasted the afternoon taking potshots at shadows. And a few days later...

Boba isn’t expecting company. When someone approaches, he’ll stop what he’s doing and watch them with narrowed eyes. ]

Didn’t know this was a group mission.

Comments

[tarisian_cathar]

Nor do I. That being said.

[She stepped down to the water, crouching lightly at the bank.]

Many hands make for light work.

[concord_dawned]

[ His gaze settles back onto the Jedi as she crouches by the water's edge. What, he wonders, does she expect from their cooperation? Perhaps she is foolish enough to think she can make an ally of him as she had the Mand'alor. Or maybe this is simply her display of Jedi detachment, that she is willing to work with scum like him for the purpose of practicality.

After a moment more, he turns away and steps onto the boat without a word. Grudging as he may be to admit it, they are on the same side, at least for now. Barring his personal feelings, he has no reason to refuse her help. Just as well, he has no reason to pretend to be happy about it either.

He occupies himself with checking the engine, though he never quite turns his back to the Jedi. If he won't make any move to invite her onboard, neither will he attempt to stop her if she decides to join him. ]

[tarisian_cathar]

[She does, stepping lightly into the boat without a sound and barely any trace of her presence, save what he can see wit his eyes. She points, downriver.]

Quite a lot of them. That way.

[concord_dawned]

[ She's quiet when she wants to be. Very quiet. Boba finds himself thinking of their last encounter, when she had seemed to appear almost out of thin air between him and the saboteur. The memory still unsettles him.

He gives no verbal acknowledgement to her direction, just moves to the steering console and sets their course. He's heard that Jedi can sense lifeforms, though he uncharitably wonders if she's just doing her best to create that impression now. They've already been told the lake is full of the mutant fish. They'd probably find them no matter what way they went.

The boat proceeds in silence for several minutes, Boba staring out over the bow at the water beyond. As it turns out, the Jedi doesn't need to tell him to stop—the tumult of writhing, scaly bodies and blood in the water does that well enough. He slows their speed, stopping close enough to be within spearing range, but distant enough not to disturb what is apparently a feeding frenzy. A few ragged feathers left on the surface give a hint as to the victim's species.

He leaves the steering console and grabs his spear-thrower, positioning himself by the boat's edge. For a few moments, he'll simply observe. The fish are actually somewhat smaller than the rollerfish he and his father had hunted on Kamino, though they certainly seem more aggressive. Boba pinpoints one towards the edge of the swarm, scales rippling as it tries to push its way to the center of the mob. For the moment, he allows himself to ignore the Jedi—he can't allow for any distractions while lining up a shot. Silently, he lifts the atlatl to his shoulder and takes aim. Muscle memory does the rest. He adjusts for the refraction of the water, slowly exhales—and snaps his arm forward, throwing the spear in a deadly stroke. The projectile pierces the water and buries itself solidly just below the creature's right gill—but, while such a blow would have immediately incapacitated a rollerfish, this one is still very much alive and squirming.

It's clear from the frown on Boba's face that he's not happy with this result, even if it was a direct hit. He begins to reel in the fish, hoping to learn a little more about his catch—

—and doesn't make it very far before its peers begin devouring it as well. In mere moments, it's reduced to little more than a few scraps of bone and viscera hanging off the edge of the spear. He reels in the remains with a raised eyebrow. Looks like he'll be learning from trial and error, then. ]

Ok, so my reply apparently never posted, sorry for this!

[tarisian_cathar]

[One thing she would acknowledge, if asked, would be the basic skills behind what he's doing. It is clearly something learned over years, practised and honed. But she could always give the Mandalorians that much credit.]

[What a pity they used their skills for such horrid things.]

[But speaking of horrid...the sudden onset of cannibalism amongst the fish is more than a little bit of a surprise.]

Well. That was...something.

[She looks at him for a moment.]

I can lift one from the water, if you can hit it and pull it in before it falls into the water again.

it happens!

[concord_dawned]

[ Perhaps the cannibalism should've been expected. After all, the mission briefing had said that the fish would eat just about anything. Boba makes a mental note to be cautious about getting too close to the water.

At the Jedi's offer, Boba grunts an affirmative. ]

I just need one, [ he mutters, then adds: ] I want to know where to hit.

[ His father had prized clean kills; as a result, so does he. Once he knows that much, he cares little how many of their brethren the fish devour. ]

[tarisian_cathar]

[For different reasons, they can agree there. Prolonged suffering is not, and never can be, a good thing.]

[She holds out a hand, closing her eyes. For a moment, nothing seems to happen, though Boba's ears may feel a sensation like a pressure that isn't really there. Like the strange non-sound one can sometimes hear when eyes are squeezed tightly shut, like a distant, rolling thunder.]

[And, slowly at first, a panicking, thrashing fish lifts up out of the water.]

[concord_dawned]

[ Boba indeed feels it and, as unsettling as it may be, it's as functional a cue as any. He raises his spear-thrower yet again and prepares to take aim—

Though, that's not quite enough to prepare him for the sight of a fish rising slowly out of the water, still thrashing around in an invisible grasp. He exhales, almost a laugh. It's an undeniably incredulous sight, almost comically so. Still, his amusement is short-lived. He takes aim, making minute adjustments to account for the lack of refraction now that he isn't aiming through water. This time, his aim is higher, at where he estimates the creature's spine to be. If it doesn't kill the fish outright, hopefully it will at least paralyze it. Again, he breathes steadily in and out—and again his arm flashes forward, propelling the spear through the air towards his prey.

He's not sure whether hitting the fish will be more like hitting a falling target or a pinned one. Either way, once the spear has pierced solidly into its body, he'll start to reel it back in, quickly so as not to provoke another impromptu feeding frenzy from its brethren below.

Within seconds, it's twitching out its last on the deck of the boat. The creatures are tough, Boba will give them that. A blow like that would've pierced clean through the spine of most fish, but this one is only partially paralyzed, its jaws still snapping feebly at the air. Boba makes a sound of displeasure low in his throat, crouching over it—and then, unceremoniously, summons his armor.

Really, he just needs access to the vibroblade in his gauntlet, but he's already learned that he can't summon his armor piecemeal. It's either the whole set or nothing. It seems to fold out from nowhere, transforming him in a single second into a Mandalorian warrior—

A Mandalorian warrior who is mostly just concerned with efficiently dispatching a fish. The vibroblade in his gauntlet slides out with a shunk and, using one hand to hold the fish down, he uses the blade to feel along the spinal cord for a weak spot. He finds one just behind its eye. He drives the tip of the blade through the point until he feels it hit the deck beneath. Finally, the fish lies still.

Boba stands, wiping the blade clean with the glove of his other hand. ]

Found it.

[tarisian_cathar]

[All of it is quite disturbing. On many a level, really. She shakes her head, leaving most of it aside and concentrating on the matter at hand.]

One wonders what pressures created fish so...durable.

[She casts her eyes back out at the water.]

This will take some time.

[concord_dawned]

Artificial ones, maybe.

[ For all they know, the Sylphid had specially designed these fish in a lab—or the magical equivalent of one. All the more reason they probably shouldn't eat what they catch.

No matter. Boba walks back to the edge of the boat and tosses the fish carcass overboard, where it's quickly set upon by its former peers. Boba picks up his atlatl again. ]

At least bait won't be an issue.

[tarisian_cathar]

At least.

[She sighs, then nods.]

We'd best get to work, then.