"Mandalore - Tunneling Out"

The Players - Paul Nighman, Urio'kosh (NPC played by Grathix and Paul),
Kairne, Dane Noth, Shenner Veery

Introduction

Mandalore is not a place that Paul associates with luck or good fortune.
But in a suspicious black out one night, serendipity finally came
knocking in the form of a long awaited colleague - Grathix.  Finally,
just as things were getting underway, albeit somewhat illegally and
surreptitiously, the small party lost their ally Grathix, and
unfortunately gained an enemy ... Urio'kosh.  However, politics can make
for strange bedfellows, and the quest for the crypt is apparently a
rather political issue it seems.

************************************************************************

Urio'kosh and his pair of begin to make their way towards the party, blaster 
  rifles wielded, sighting mechanisms already activated and probably locked.

Kairne turns around from the blast door, "Well, well. If it isn't our dear 
  friend Urio'kosh. I do hope you do not plan to deter us."

Eyes wary, Paul turns, considering the Mandalorian and his guards with only a 
  flash of surprise before the expression settles into something akin to 
  expectation. _I knew it ... that was way too easy, or there is more to all 
  of this than meets the eye_ Paul considers, his gaze resting on Urio'kosh 
  almost expectantly now.

Dane_Noth turns to face Urio and the guards, his own weapon well in hand, "It 
  figures...." he seems thoroughly unamused and says something Horansi.

Urio'kosh smirks, "Did you really think it would be this easy? A simple power 
  outage to aid you in your desperate attempt to carry on with an expedition 
  well canceled even before your arrival? Surely, your creativity is not this 
  feeble."

"Just a tad less feeble than your manners," mutters Shenner.

Having nothing to do with the plan Paul folds his arms calmly across his 
  chest, considering the odds between the two parties and considering them 
  lacking on the visiting team's side. At Shen's comment, Paul's gaze slips to 
  her, but he offers no comment or censure.

Urio'kosh looks at the Lord General then to the Major, "Oh, feel free to fire 
  your ancient weaponry at will. But it won't help you any. My guards are 
  amassed outside of this blaster door as we speak. You are hopelessly 
  outnumbered. So do yourselves a favor, power down your weapons and hear what 
  I have to say."

Dane_Noth chuckles, "Well then boy you seem to like to talk so much..do so.." 
  he gestures to Urio, hand waiting it seems for him to start speaking before 
  it drops..or is it one of those ancient flame projectors pointed at him 
  instead..

Kairne moves forwards and places himself next to Dane. "Blasters are weak and 
  imprecise weapons. At least when held by your men. I've seen them practice, 
  it's not much of a sight. And it is not the way to test a warriors might."

Kairne says, "Or have you forgotten that lesson I taught you not so long ago? 
  Do you need a reminder? The pain does not fade so easily the second time, I 
  am not so forgiving when I have to continually teach...."

Paul seems oddly calm, for one thing that being on Mandalore has taught the 
  Corellian is that things are not always as they seem. He stands calmly, 
  waiting to hear what Urio will say, or waiting for an indication that action 
  is about to be requested and required. Either way, he is ready for whatever 
  is to come.

Urio'kosh lowers his own rifle and says, "You have two options as I see them. 
  Either you surrender now, save your lives, or you engage in a firefight you 
  are destined to loose. In either case, your goal is lost." He steps away 
  from his guard, walking towards a large engine core. He raises his hand, 
  holding one finger u, "But what if I gave you what you so desperately 
  wanted. What if I let you have your expedition...no one would have to know 
  about it. By anyone's estimation, you all could be said to have dies here 
  and no one would be the wiser. And you would be free of any 
  'responsibility'..." He rests his arm against the engine core, leaning 
  against it, "Did you, Lord General? Did you teach me a lesson, or did you 
  just see what I wanted you to see?"

Shenner just scowls, her brows lowering over her green eyes, and she demands 
  of Urio'kosh when he makes his offer, "So what's the catch?"

"That's three options," Paul notes blandly. "Why would you want to do that?"

Kairne says, "I taught you only that which you deserved. You've only seen what 
  I wanted you to see, young one."

Urio'kosh sets his rifle against the engine core, "No, you only have 2 
  options. The third, " he waves his hand in the air, "... is, say a gift..." He 
  looks directly at Shenner, "in exchange for something." He makes no attempt 
  to answer Kairne, apparently oblivious to the Lord General's words.

Shenner is already standing at her full height, so she doesn't straighten 
  under Urio'kosh's gaze. Her scowl deepens slightly on the word 'gift', but 
  she only smirks back at the young Mandalorian and drawls, "I got two flutes, 
  a guitar, and a drum to my name, pal. Or maybe you want my ocarina?"

Eyes narrow, but Paul waits for the boot to drop, for the catch to spring, as 
  it so clearly will. He also waits because time might just be their best ally 
  now after all ... if Grathix is still a free agent somewhere ...

Kairne says, "If you haven't noticed... Dane and myself don't actually exist.. 
  we have nothing to lose in the first place."

Dane_Noth says, "besides..I think we've both lived a full life..what about you 
  Urio'kosh?"

Kairne says, "If the Jedi nor the Empire was unable to end our lives, what 
  makes you think you and your men can?"

Urio'kosh chuckles at the remarks, "So much anger, such hostility, and in 
  light of such an unexpected -and- worthwhile gift." He straightens up and 
  says, "All I'm asking is to come along and obtain something that rightfully 
  belongs to me."

Now -that- worries the Corellian, more so than anything else said. "What would 
  that be?" he asks calmly and evenly.

Urio'kosh spares Paul a quick glance, but looking back toward Kairne and Dane, 
  replying in all seriousness now, "A piece of my heritage." A smile curls his 
  lips as the younger Mandalorian adds, "You may throw away your lives if you 
  so wish, but I thought you had an obligation to your -friends- here," he 
  notes with a raised brow, his gaze passing aloofly over the Doctor, pausing 
  for a moment on Shenner.

The redheaded girl maintains her own aloof expression, or at least tries to; 
  her eyes are glinting, and whether it's out of fear, anger, or both is 
  anyone's guess. She eyes Urio'kosh right back.

Kairne says "I threw my life away long ago, for a cause I know now to have 
  been a lie. But I ensure you, you will fall before these 2 here are harmed."

Dane nods in agreement with Kairne, "These two are under our protection."
 at his side.  "Lord General 

Kairne says "But a piece of heritage, and a chance for Dane and I to find 
  ourselves again, is a path more open for travel."

Urio'kosh shifts, picking up his rifle once again and nodding toward the two 
  guards at his side. "Lord General ... do I see a philosopher behind the 
  front of a warrior? I had always heard that you were a man of reason .... do 
  I take from your words that this path is open then for one more?" The smile 
  is bland, assured, but not really arrogant. There is beneath the veneer of 
  the younger Mandalorian, a true spark of interest.

Paul listens to the Mandalorians speaking, frowning with his suspicion and 
  concern. However, better to take one along then get into a fight here and 
  now. Should Urio choose to betray them along the way, it would be four 
  against one ... unless the guards come? Glancing at the armored pair, Paul 
  bites the inside of his cheek and continues to wait ....

Dane folds his arms slightly and watches the exchange. Curiously enough he 
  stands closer to the humans he calls friends than his own countrymen.

Kairne adjusts his cloak, and powers down his armor, placing his arms at his 
  side. He cocks his head, then extends his left hand out, "A true warrior 
  does not only follow the path of the fist and sword. He follows his heart, 
  and his mind, and studies many things, in order that his body become one 
  with them. My clan believes in the trinity of the triskelion.. mind, body, 
  and spirit, and I am no different...so yes, you may call me a philosopher as 
  well as a warrior." Kairne takes a step forward, in front of his companions, 
  "I show my willingness to allow you to learn this as well, will you show 
  yours?"

_I don't want him along,_ Shenner thinks stubbornly, and although she manages 
  to keep this to herself, still, the thought tightens her mouth. Her 
  expression avoids reaching full scowl, though, as she eyes Kairne and Dane's 
  behaviors... and feels an unexpected surge of startled pleasure at their 
  apparent defense of her and Paul.

"The journey was carved by such warriors," Urio states confidently. "I have 
  already shown my willingness in the fact that I have not betrayed you to the 
  Elders in your actions. I do not care for childhood stories and fairytales 
  ... they have taught me all that they can. However, the Four Warriors will 
  have left much behind for their children to .... utilize. That is my 
  intention." Urio glances at the humans briefly, then back to his brethren. 
  Nodding to the guards, the armored pair salute and retreat, leaving just the 
  five.

Dane glances between the group momentarily, "Shall we get going then?"

Those words do not assure Paul either, but it seems that there is little 
  choice in the matter. Nodding toward Dane, Paul murmurs, "Good idea .... 
  there's only one problem .... which is the way out??"

Shen smirks, when no one is looking. Going, not going, going... _Aigh. Let's 
  just karkin' -go-, people..._ Frustrated, she manages to keep herself 
  poised, watching the others for a cue.

Dane looks to Urio for a response to Paul's question, his face covered by it's 
  usual expressionless visor.

Kairne nods to Urio, "then if we've chosen our path, lead us onward through it 
  Urio." Kairne motions for the group to fall in behind him.

"There's an exit here," Urio'kosh informs them, the rifle settling into a 
  holster on his back. "Somewhere." He turns and begins to rifle through the 
  debris, trying to see what is underneath. "I suggest we spread out and scout 
  around," he murmurs, straightening and looking back toward the rest. "I know 
  about as much as you do at this point." A smile curls his lips then and he
  adds, "Well, maybe a little more ..."

Dane nods and starts off to one side, grabbing a long metal pole from the 
  debris as he does so.

Glancing over at Shen's slender figure, Paul doubts much that the girl will be 
  able to move much of the giant debris, and heads over toward a large metal 
  plate, gingerly looking for a place to put his hands ... he stops then and 
  pulls out a pair of leather gloves from one of this pockets. Hands now 
  protected, he catches the edge of the plate and lifts, groaning slightly 
  under the weight. The thing creaks a little, moving slowly under his efforts.

Search. Okay, fine, she can do that. After eyeing the males warily, Shen picks 
  a spot and begins her own search, nudging at things with her booted feet, 
  glaring greenly at the wall, mentally willing some sort of useful clue to 
  reveal itself to her. _Maybe then I'll actually have a reason to be here..._

Dane starts to prod the debris with the acquired pole, his gaze sweeping over 
  his search area, "So how did all this get here Urio?"

Kairne also acknowledges Urio, and begins to fiddle with his armor, muttering 
  behind his faceplate. "I wonder if this damn thing is charged up again." 
  Lights on the armor's wristguard flicker, and Kairne suddenly looks up, and 
  about the room. , "Finally," and begins to search the debris field for some 
  sort of now-hidden exit.

Glancing over at the Major, Urio reaches, placing his hands on an old 
  generator and rolling it over slowly, the metal creaking with resistance. 
  "After the destruction, many such places were created ... there was no way 
  to move things ... nowhere to move them. Now we're more concerned with 
  rebuilding what your generation destroyed than trying to dispose of that 
  destruction."

Dane nods slightly and keeps sifting through the debris with the pole, 
  "Perhaps there's something salvageable here.." he glances back at Paul and 
  Shenner curiously for a moment before continuing with his search.

There is a tremendous crash as Paul somehow manages to flip the giant metal 
  shielding .... only to reveal more debris beneath it. Cursing softly in 
  Corellian, he begins to shift through that ....

Shen scowls to herself, not meeting anyone's eyes, especially Paul's, and 
  striving to look like she has half a clue about the objects that fall under 
  her view. Pointedly keeping her mouth shut, the redhead experimentally pokes 
  and prods at the wall nearest her... until Paul flips that plate over. Then, 
  Shen jumps, and promptly curses at herself. _Get a grip, street rat...!_

Shaking his head, Urio'kosh lets out a bitter laugh. "No, trust me .... we've 
  been scavenging and salvaging for years .... this isn't even worth it's 
  weight in scrap metal." He glances over at Paul, murmuring archly, "Careful 
  Doctor ... wouldn't want to lose you this early in the game ..." There is 
  something about his tone that seems to hint otherwise though.

Dane glances in Paul's direction after the crash but after Urio's comment his 
  gaze drops on to the younger Mandalorian as cold as usual..

Kairne takes a few minutes from his scanning about, and turns to Shenner, 
  "You'd be surprised as to what we consider salvageable Shen, and what some of 
  this 'scrap' actually is. We didn't design our technology to outright 
  identify itself to 'xenos'.

An hour passes, and as each person works individually, the bulk of the debris 
  is moved or shifted .... to no avail. There is nothing that hasn't been 
  touched and at least shifted slightly .... well, almost nothing ...

Dane chuckles, "Xenos..now that's a word I haven't heard in years." He sweeps 
  his gaze across the room, eventually letting it settle on the ceiling, 
  "Kairne is right but it would be nice to have a hand scanner right now.."

Kairne takes a moment from his sifting, and looking about and joins Dane in 
  his ceiling gaze, "Old friend, have you forgotten that which sits on your 
  head and protects your brain? Please tell me you haven't been jostled around 
  in it that badly." Kairne chuckles softly to himself.

Dane shakes his head slightly, "Aye I remember it..but I don't think it will 
  be of much use with all this clutter around.." he gestures to the mess, "But 
  I'll give it a try."

Settling himself against a discarded cooking unit, Paul wipes the sweat from 
  his brow, looking about intently. Being a Xenos ... and specifically a 
  Xenoarcheaologist, Paul is used to digging through debris to find the one 
  thing of value. Using that experience now, he stares about the area, trying 
  to figure out what it is that they've -missed-. He glances up at the ceiling 
  as well, but it is smooth and finished ... no gaps or openings save for 
  cracks in the surface.

Kairne says "One of my instructors once told me this, 'Don't look for 
  something that might or should be there... look for something that shouldn't 
  be there. That is how you will find your enemy, or that which evades you.'"

Looking disgusted, Urio'kosh wipes off his hands. He looks at Kairne for a 
  moment, before replying, "Lord General, no offense, but -none- of this 
  should be here really. I don't think that solution will apply in this case."

Dane says "Perhaps we need to check the floor?" he glances around a bit, 
  "Or..perhaps it's activated by a signal.."

Shenner only smiles faintly to Kairne's addressing of her -- not bothering to 
  comment that regardless of whose technology it happens to be, it probably 
  wouldn't have been very identifiable to her anyway. She casts a wary glance 
  around at everyone, then, but only when they're each talking to the others, 
  her mind racing as she listens.

Kairne returns his gaze to Urio, "No offense taken Urio, but Master Dren'ai 
  was rarely wrong in his teachings. Look beyond that which you see around 
  you."

Shaking his head, Paul shifts up walking toward Dane thoughtfully. "Don't 
  think so," he murmurs ... by the looks of it, this used to be an access 
  tunnel ... more likely manual ... there's no sign of technology other than 
  the debris .... " Walking past his friend, Paul stops, placing his hand on 
  the giant crushed engine core. Softly, as if thinking more to himself, Paul 
  murmurs, "If I wanted to hide an exit ... and didn't have the time or the 
  technology to spare to do something fancy .... I'd just get something ... 
  big and heavy." His hand remaining on the core, Paul glances back and about 
  before turning to Dane and murmuring, "Lend me a hand?"

Dane nods and heads over to the core, jamming the pole under one side, "On 
  three?"

Shen eyes the engine core Paul's pointed out, grimacing. She bites back the 
  impulse to ask, 'You think there's a trapdoor under there or something?' -- 
  telling herself _Don't ask stupid questions_ instead. But she does move 
  closer, ready to drop her gear at the slightest signal.

Nodding Paul joins Dane, grasping the pole firmly and nodding. "One ... two 
  ... three! " and he heaves along with Dane with all his might. The core 
  doesn't even so much as wiggle.

Dane exhales, "Gods this thing is heavy..Kairne you have any explosives on 
  you?" he chuckles and starts to walk around the core.

Kairne walks over to the engine core, watching, "Oh, I'm sure we did something 
  fancy somewhere, most likely not with an entrance. Better to lure your enemy 
  in, and then strike, than to do it outright...."

Kairne smirks under his helmet, revealing to no one his, 'what do you think 
  grin', "I'm an assassin, where would I be without shape-charges and such?"

Paul glances over at Kairne, grimacing not at the man, but at the core. "Maybe 
  ... but this isn't the crypt ... I mean we have a long journey ahead of us 
  according to my notes, before we even get there. I think this is just a back 
  way out that Grathix wanted us to take so we could leave unseen ..."

"Maybe if we all try to move it?" Shen abruptly puts in.

Dane nods, "Perhaps." he braces against the core again, "Okay everyone let's 
  get on it.."

Urio looks toward Paul thoughtfully, before addressing Kairne. "I don't think 
  that is a wise idea Lord General .... this is a narrow enclosure with sealed 
  walls .... there could be a ricochet effect. And, much to my surprise, the 
  Doctor is correct on this point ... this is the only way out of the city 
  according to the latest floor plans, that would allow anyone to leave the 
  confines unseen."

Kairne turns to Shenner, "maybe... that isn't the way, but exactly what we 
  shouldn't do? Dane, does this core look familiar to you at all?"

Glancing at Shen, Paul nods, moving to settle himself close to Dane, taking 
  hold of the pole. "I think this is worth a shot first," he replies 
  thoughtfully.

Shenner slips her pack off her shoulders, and prepares to press her slender 
  arms to the core, ridiculous though she might appear doing this in 
  conjunction with four males all noticeably bigger than she is, and two of 
  them armored besides. The young woman pauses, though, eyeing Kairne, and then 
  Dane, and then, lastly, Paul. Urio'kosh, she seems determined to ignore 
  entirely.

Even Urio'kosh deigns to step closer, placing his hands on the pole in 
  readiness. He stares into Paul's back and then unexpectedly murmurs with a 
  touch of respect, "Each Warrior was the living embodiment of the Warriors 
  Code, but each exemplified one particular virtue above all else. They 
  abandoned their assigned duties to become a Brotherhood ..."

"I think we oughtta try somethin' _soon_," Shenner mutters, not expecting 
  anyone to pay any attention, but saying it anyway, "before somebody else 
  comes lookin' for us. Otherwise, sneakin' out the back way won't be too 
  karkin' useful."

Dane glances at Kairne, "Will you help or talk Kairne..we could use your back 
  in this?" he chuckles slightly and gets ready.

Paul can barely stifle his surprise at Urio's words, and can't at Dane's 
  comment. "Come on Kairne ... we tried individually ... maybe this is a test 
  of cooperation."

Shenner moves to stand by Paul -- determined to cooperate with _him_, at any 
  rate. "Lemme in here," she mutters at him, looking for somewhere to get some 
  leverage on the pole.

Kairne mumbles to himself, "if you wish...but that which resists you, only 
  meets you with equal resistance." Kairne places himself on a free section of 
  the pole, and poises himself for the core's reaction.

Paul glances at Shen and murmurs, "Well Shen, this was your idea ... care to 
  do the honors and count us off?"

Shenner blinks, then immediately hides it. "Hokay...." She does actually look 
  at everyone, then, half-expecting someone (translation: Urio'kosh, _but kark 
  if I'm gonna say it_) to protest. When no one does, the redheaded girl 
  braces herself. "Let's do it, boys. On three. One... two... three...!"

Dane throws his back into the work, trying to use leverage to shove the 
  weighty core out of the way.

The group heaves together as one, and the engine groans and begins to shift, 
  slowly at first, but with increasing rapidity as the group pushes even 
  harder at the small sign of success. After a few moment of great strain, the 
  engine rolls ... not impressively, but enough to reveal a very narrow 
  <t>unnel.

Several tons of metal versus five sets of arms... a hard, if brief, fight. And 
  for Shen, it leaves her arms trembling. The girl finally looks up, striving 
  to pretend that she's just fine, thank you very much, never frekkin' mind 
  that she's never had to try to move anything like this before in her life. 
  "I'll be damned," she mutters.

Dane exhales loudly as the core slides out of the way but maintains his grip 
  on the pole so it doesn't fly free in case the others decide to do 
  differently.

Staring at the hole, a small satisfied smirk curls Paul's lips. "Alright then 
  ... who wants to go first?"

Kairne sighs in relief, "Now, that was probably not the intended way, but it 
  worked. However.. how do you propose we move it once we venture into the 
  crack down there? I for one, would like to cover my tracks, as we've made a 
  ruckus as of late in here."

Urio'kosh glances over at Kairne, an amused smile on his face. "Ah, you were 
  saying something Lord General? I think your years in the field have perhaps 
  made you a little over analytical. How one -tries- to accomplish a task is 
  not as important as -accomplishing- the task."

Dane stares down into the hole for a moment, the metal pole still in his 
  grasp, "We slide some debris over it..like that big piece of metal Paul was 
  looking around."

Shen leans over to take up her pack, scowls as feeling takes its time creeping 
  back into her fingers, and casts a wary glance around as Kairne speaks of 
  the ruckus they have, indeed, just caused. As the others start debating, 
  Shen straightens, grimly, her pack once more slung into her shoulders.

"That'll make a temporary cover," Paul agrees. "We can always do a better job 
  when we return .... and perhaps the door could be welded shut from the 
  inside? Dane, that suit of yours wouldn't happen to have a blow torch, would 
  it?"

Kairne says "It's one thing to accomplish a task.. it is an entirely different 
  thing to enjoy that accomplishment. I for one don't intend this journey to 
  be cut short because of carelessness that could have been avoided."

Dane shakes his head, "No but I have a small armor repair kit with me that has 
  one..we shouldn't use it up unnecessarily."

"Well then, you're fortunate ... your carelessness could already have caused 
  your trip to be cut short, if not your life, had someone other than myself 
  found you," Urio'kosh points out archly to Kairne, offering the Lord General 
  a disparaging glance.

"Do we have to--" Shen's voice comes out of her sharply, and with an effort, 
  she manages to cut herself off before the rest of her words, 'argue about 
  it?!' escape her. She pauses for a single second, then finishes gruffly, 
  "--waste any more time than necessary? If anybody's gonna be lookin' for us, 
  we shouldn't be standin' around, guys."

Dane raises his hand slightly, "Enough of this bickering it serves no purpose 
  but to deter us in action." he gazes around the group, "Agreed?"

Kairne moves back to the engine core, "I believe you mistake me for Grathix, 
  my dear boy..."

_Hot karkin' damn, somebody's talkin' sense._ Shenner grimaces, but nods to 
  Dane, in support of his words.

Kairne says "Well, get in the damned hole, no one is keeping you here to hear 
  us bicker.""

Dane chuckles and starts for the hole, "Sure..I was going to let you have the 
  honor." he pauses to look down it for a bit as he shifts through his 
  different visions...

Shenner's grimace deepens, and her patience snaps. Vehement curses in her 
  still fledgling Corellian -- after all, some of the best curses were the 
  first things she looked up -- blazing through her thoughts, the redhead 
  slips into the tunnel, clinging to her pack as she goes.

Shenner starts to climb down the tunnel slowly.
Shenner has left.

Paul sighs darkly, tired of all the posturing between the Mandalorians in 
  general. Crouching down by the tunnel he mutters, "I'm never taking you guys 
  on another dig, ever ...." and with that he follows Shenner down.

You start to climb down the now exposed tunnel slowly, your hands gripping the 
  thin and somewhat slippery rails.
Tunnel(#259R)
The tunnel is a long thin shaft, with a ladder that runs set along one side. 
  There is no visible bottom when you first look down. It is a tight space, 
  not even enough room to look down to where you going.
Contents:
Shenner
Obvious exits:
Cavern  

Urio'kosh> Kairne says "Women of any race, are a pain in the ass."

Urio'kosh> Dane says "Agreed.."

Urio'kosh> Dane with that he drops down the hole..

Urio'kosh> Dane starts to climb down the tunnel slowly.
Urio'kosh> Dane has left.

Dane enters the tunnel and begins to climb down slowly.
Dane has arrived.

Urio'kosh> Kairne says "After you Urio."

Urio'kosh> Urio'kosh sighs and follows Dane down into the darkness.

Urio'kosh enters the tunnel and begins to climb down slowly.
Urio'kosh has arrived.

Kairne enters the tunnel and begins to climb down slowly.
Kairne has arrived.

Tunnel. Dark, tight tunnel. Yeah, hot karkin' damn alright. _This is whatcha 
  get for shooting off half-charged,_ Shenner tells herself annoyedly, as she 
  starts to creep down the ladder's rungs. Taking it on faith that there _is_ 
  actually a bottom down there somewhere, she feels her way with the bottoms 
  of her boots, and strains her ears for sounds that the others are following.

The rungs are slippery, and while the tunnel is a tight fit, it's not so tight 
  that losing one's footing wouldn't cause one to plummet straight down for 
  Maker knows how long. Swallowing hard, Paul blinks as an unexpected cold 
  sweat breaks over him. He climbs down slowly and carefully.

Dane follows the two down in the darkness trying to make his own movements as 
  silent as possible so that some measure of stealth can be kept up..besides 
  he sees fine in the dark..

"Psst!" Shen hisses up. "Hey up there, I feel somethin'... air." Now the 
  question is, how the hells to do something about it. Shenner pauses on the 
  ladder, trying to balance herself to peer over her shoulder.

Urio follows more slowly, his robes not being the best attire for the trip, 
  and he reminds himself to change once they're on their way.

Kairne follows in behind Urio, speaking down to Dane, "You wouldn't happen to 
  have proximity sensors on you, would you Dane? I'd like to be aware of any 
  'unwanted tag-alongs'" Kairne moves slowly down the ladder, his systems 
  still slowly coming back on-line, but still not yet fully-functional.

Pausing so not to step on Shen, Paul murmurs, "Hold up everyone ... Shen, what 
  is it? Can you see? Can you reach your glow?"

Dane tries to peer down past Shen with his enhanced vision but the intervening 
  bodies most likely prevents that for the time being..

"Gimme a minute, can't see a karkin' thing..." The girl's voice drops off into 
  a muttered curse as she shifts her weight on the ladder to one hand, while 
  digging with the other into the pocket where she'd stashed her original 
  glow-rod, Dane's extra safely stashed in another pocket nearby. "Mind your 
  eyes up there, boys, I'm flickin' this on..." And after a moment, dim light 
  pops into being in Shen's free hand.

Kairne looks down past Urio and Dane to Paul and Shenner, slowly beginning to 
  realize a small mistake has been made, "You two, don't go any farther, and 
  for Mandalores sake, breathe shallow for a minute. Kairne focuses his 
  attention back to Dane, "Dane, what's the story on the air in here?"

Air? What's the problem with the air--"Aigh!" Shenner can suddenly be heard to 
  yelp. Her glow-rod flickers, as she suddenly fumbles for her grip on the 
  ladder; her free hand grabs at the rungs, trying to hang onto the lit rod at 
  the same time.

"Shen?" Paul barks, twisting in an attempt to see more than he can. His only 
  reassurance is that the light flickers, but doesn't disappear.

_Oh crap... oh shit... get a grip... yeah, you better believe it, get a 
  grip..._ "Here," she rasps out a moment later. "Ladder's slippery. I'm okay. 
  I feel wind, guys..."

Kairne says "remain calm Shen, I'm just making sure you two are safe down 
  there. All should be fine, but who knows what's been in here or built up in 
  here after all these years."

Urio frowns down into nothingness, calling out, "Can you -see- anything girl?"

Dane after a moment Dane speaks up, "Can't see much so far but the air is 
  fine.." he glances up to Kairne, "Too much noise to hear anything well.."

Shenner takes a moment to suck in a breath, then tightens one hand's grip on 
  the slippery rung before her, while cautiously moving the hand with the glow 
  off again, towards the draft hitting her neck and shoulderblades. And just 
  as cautiously, she turns her head to peer towards her illumination. "I'm 
  lookin'..."

"There's another tunnel," Shen calls up. "Right behind me. We take this, or go 
  on down?"

_Seven Hells ... a vote? This is never going to work_ Paul muses, before 
  calling out so everyone can hear, "I say we try it and see where it leads."

Dane says "I do to..that way we don't get picked off from behind.."

"Good enough for me," Shenner affirms, mostly to herself. Never mind that she 
  has no idea where she's going -- that she's actually now going _somewhere_ 
  is comfort of a sort. More loudly, she calls up, "I'm takin' it." And that's 
  three, majority rule, let's hope the Mandalorians believe in voting. Taking 
  a moment to brace herself, the bardling then flings herself over into the 
  new tunnel.

Shenner suddenly vanishes from sight.
Shenner has left.

As the light vanishes from his sight, Paul makes his way down the ladder 
  gingerly until he feels the wind at his back as well, a slight illumination 
  emitting from the entrance now.

You step gingerly off the ladder and into the near invisible opening in the 
  tunnel wall.

Passageway(#269R)
A long tunnel stretches forth before you, the walls turning before the end is 
  in sight ... if there -is- an end. The tunnel is clearly quite old and looks 
  none too stable. The walls seem to be very crudely dug out, as if done with 
  very primitive instruments, the supports clearly scrap pieces of metal. It 
  is only wide enough to walk in pairs.
Contents:
Shenner
Obvious exits:
Right  Back  

Urio'kosh> Kairne says "When we find a large tunnel Dane, you take point. 
  Shen's too open out there in front."

Urio'kosh> Dane proceeds down to where the air is coming from, "I had planned 
  on it Kairne..give me some credit."

Urio'kosh> Kairne says "Just making sure old man.."

Urio'kosh> Dane says "Old?..Ahh here it is, "he starts for the hole, "Just 
  cover my back grandpa.."

Urio'kosh> Dane suddenly vanishes from sight.
Urio'kosh> Dane has left.

Dane steps off from the ladder and into the dark opening.
Dane has arrived.

Urio'kosh> Urio'kosh makes no comment, focusing on moving down the ladder and 
  letting the older Mandalorians banter among themselves. He has other more 
  important issues on his mind.

Urio'kosh> You step gingerly off the ladder and into the near invisible 
  opening in the tunnel wall.

Urio'kosh steps off from the ladder and into the dark opening.
Urio'kosh has arrived.

_Ow... ow... hells..._ Shenner scowls again, feeling a slight tremor in her 
  arms, and a pull through her shoulder muscles as the weight of her pack 
  settles back into something resembling a reasonable placement, once she 
  ceases the business of turning and twisting on the ladder. Still brandishing 
  her glow-rod, she peers frowningly at her new surroundings, and wipes off 
  her other hand on her pants. _Ick._

Kairne steps off from the ladder and into the dark opening.
Kairne has arrived.

Dane starts towards the front very carefully, "I'll take point..Paul you next 
  just in case we find something that you want to study..Shen then Urio and 
  then Kairne..okay?"

Kairne says "I'm older than you Dane.. if anyone is the Grandpa, it's me.."

Glancing about Paul sighs, stretching his arms slightly and moving forward. He 
  reaches into a pocket, pulling out a glow of his own and lighting it. 
  "That's better," he mutters, glancing about at the walls and frowning at 
  their condition.

Dane says "That was my point Kairne.." he chuckles, "Now step carefully this 
  place is a death trap."

Moving up behind Dane, Paul mutters, "Right ... this doesn't look too stable, 
  so let's not dally ..."

Shenner opens her mouth, then closes it again. _If they wantcha in the middle, 
  deal with it. Like you know what the hells you're doin'?_ "After you guys," 
  Shen mutters at Dane and Paul.

Urio'kosh seems content to stay in the same place, although now Shenner is in 
  front of him, and despite his preoccupied thoughts, he finds his eyes 
  straying to her yet again, as if still regarding her as -member-non-sensical.

Dane starts just a head of the group offering a silent prayer to the gods that 
  this tunnel holds out..

Dane walks along the passageway, disappearing around a right bend.
Dane has left.

You walk along the passageway, following it as it turns to the right ...

Tunnel - Cave In(#271R)
Apparently these tunnels -aren't- too sturdy, as what seems to be a large 
  deposit of shale, metal, and dirt, have collapsed and now block your path.
Contents:
Dane
Obvious exits:
Back  

Shenner turns the corner of the passageway and joins you.
Shenner has arrived.

Urio'kosh turns the corner of the passageway and joins you.
Urio'kosh has arrived.

Kairne turns the corner of the passageway and joins you.
Kairne has arrived.

Dane sighs, "Blocked.." he gazes around the walls of the tunnel, "I really 
  think digging in here is a bad idea so let's head back."

All too aware that Urio'kosh is behind her, Shen travels tensely, grateful 
  that she has at least a pack of gear between him and her. But the girl comes 
  up short at the sudden obstruction of their path. "Back...?" _Ah hell.._

Glancing at the cave-in, and then at the walls uncertainly, Paul merely nods,
  his lips forming a grim and unhappy line. "I'd suggest seeing if we could
  tunnel through ... but this whole tunnel looks like it could go at any
  moment," he notes, his voice laced with distrust at their surroundings.

Dane nods in agreement, "All right then.." his voice is low, "Everyone
  back..one at a time."

Looking disgusted, but without argument at the decision between the warrior
  and the scientist, Urio'kosh breathes a sigh of annoyance, turning about to
  head back from whence they all came.

Kairne turns to Urio, "Why do you wear such a look on your face? Do you have a
  different opinion on things?"

Glancing at Kairne, Urio's expression is neutral as he replies loftily, "Just
  because I see the logic in something doesn't mean that I -like- it."

Without another word, Urio glances back at the small mismatched group, shaking
  his head a touch derisively before fording his way back through the tunnel.

Shenner scowls, much, but edges her way out into the tunnel they'd just 
  vacated. _Karkin' great... back to the ladder..._

Shenner turns back.
Shenner has left.

Shrugging, Paul follows.

Blocked by the cave-in, you turn back.
Passageway(#269R)
A long tunnel stretches forth before you, the walls turning before the end is 
  in sight ... if there -is- an end. The tunnel is clearly quite old and looks 
  none too stable. The walls seem to be very crudely dug out, as if done with 
  very primitive instruments, the supports clearly scrap pieces of metal. It 
  is only wide enough to walk in pairs.
Contents:
Shenner
Urio'kosh(#246p)
Obvious exits:
Right  Back  

Dane re-emerges from around the bend.
Dane has arrived.

Kairne re-emerges from around the bend.
Kairne has arrived.

Not paying attention to whether anyone follows him or not, Urio steps back 
  onto the ladder and disappears from sight, heading down once again.

Shenner casts a green-eyed, wary glance back at the others, slightly more 
  concerned with making sure they track her. Shifting her slender shoulders 
  under the straps of her pack, she makes her way into the ladder tunnel.

Shenner re-enters the tunnel.
Shenner has left.

You turn back and re-enter the tunnel, taking hold of the ladder rungs.
Tunnel(#259R)
The tunnel is a long thin shaft, with a ladder that runs set along one side. 
  There is no visible bottom when you first look down. It is a tight space, 
  not even enough room to look down to where you going.
Contents:
Shenner
Urio'kosh(#246p)
Obvious exits:
Cavern  

Dane emerges from seemingly nowhere.
Dane has arrived.

Kairne emerges from seemingly nowhere.
Kairne has arrived.

Shen didn't like that ladder before, and she's not too crazy about it now. But 
  she'll be damned if she's going to tell anyone. She hisses out, "I'm goin' 
  down," as she hears noises above her, and as she'd done the last time, 
  begins to make a cautious trek down the slippery rungs.

Dane whispers, "Wait Shenner..let me go first.."

Urio'kosh can be seen some distance below, climbing down the ladder steadily. 
  He makes no comment and indeed does not even look up to see if anyone is 
  following him.

Dane looks down and shakes his head, "Okay..you go first Urio.." he then 
  murmurs, "it's your funeral boy.."

Shenner blinks up above her, and whispers back, "Ain't no room to trade!" The 
  others are already up above on the ladder anyway, and time's a'wastin'. 
  "I'll sing out if somethin' happens...!" She pauses, frowning darkly at 
  Dane's murmured words, especially 'funeral'... but goes anyway, climbing 
  down in Urio's wake.

Kairne stumbles along in the dark, "Damnit, I pulled the feed cord my helmet 
  and my optics went out. Can you help me out here Dane?"

If the younger Mandalorian hears Dane's comment, he makes no sign of it, but 
  with the delays above him, he is soon just a glowing blob far below the rest.

Dane nods and assists Kairne with the cord, "You know most of us have modified 
  this configuration to where the cord isn't necessary..all self contained in 
  the helmet. I can help you fix it when we get outta here."

Paul sighs deeply, unable to go any further until Shen moves along, and then 
  as she does so, he follows close behind. "Take your time," he warns. "Don't 
  try to keep up with him," he adds, as if he had any fears of Shen giving a 
  damn about whether or not she was right behind Urio. He half hopes himself 
  that the Mandalorian will prove himself useful and set off a trap, thus 
  saving them the trouble of doing so themselves.

Kairne says "Oh I've modified it already, just that after my trip back home, 
  and run-in with the local guards, I managed to short the circuits out 
  somewhere, and had to wire up this 'patch' feed for now. I'll be fine for 
  now with this until we have the time to sit down and rest, tho I do hope you 
  have some of the parts I need on you. But let's worry about this later, I do 
  believe it's your turn to venture down this tunnel."

Dane nods, "The parts can be made from almost anything." he follows along, "I 
  managed to get a stock when we got here."

Kairne walks to the edge and peers over into the darkness, his optics 
  adjusting slowly to the light, "How are we doing down there?", he yells down 
  to the other party members.

The group climbs down, hindered by the fact that Shen is in the lead, and her 
  pace is slow and careful. There is no sign of Urio now. He has gone so far 
  down that there is no longer even the reassuring glow of light to indicate 
  his presence. For all that Paul didn't like the man, he at least felt a 
  little better knowing that there was someone below. Now he begins to fear 
  that this tunnel will -never- end.

Slow and careful is better than fast and dead. Trying to resist bursting into 
  singing 'Down, down, down, down, gra-vi-te-e-e-eeeee,' Shen tests the rungs 
  as she goes, and looks for some sign of a floor or another side tunnel, 
  anything to distract from the growing tedium of tunnel, ladder, tunnel, 
  ladder, tunnel, ladder...

Pausing briefly, Paul glances at his chrono, frowning, before yelling back up. 
  "By my account it's been fifteen minutes .... and no sign of Urio or the 
  bottom. I don't like it."

Shen does, indeed, keep going. "Where the kark else could he have gone but 
  down?" she calls up, hoarsely, glancing for a moment away from the rungs 
  immediately beneath her hands.

Hidden by the shadows, Paul stops for a moment, telling himself that it is 
  only to catch his breath ... that's all. There is a wild churning in his 
  stomach, and at Shen's words he feels an alarming dart of panic snap through 
  his nervous system. Clenching his teeth, he continues to move his hands and 
  feet, thinking to himself, _Almost outta here ... almost outta here ...._ 
  It's a lie, but it seems to help.

Those fifteen minutes are nothing, as one hour, two hours, three hours go by, 
  with nothing but climbing down down down. On more than one occasion, the 
  group stops, leaning back against the wall of the tunnel to give their arms 
  a rest. This is mostly done for Shen's benefit, after a few nerve wracking 
  slips. By this point, the entire group is beginning to feel the strain of 
  the descent, some more than others, and for some, not just physically.

Dane glances down at Paul, his voice barely a whisper, "We better try and rest 
  for a bit..I have a small length of rope we can use to tie Shenner off."

The Corellian refuses to let Dane know that there is anything wrong. He merely 
  nods brusquely ... then realizes that the Mandalorian probably can't see 
  him. "Right," he barks, "pass me the rope."

Kairne takes Dane's suggestion, and slides his legs through the rungs until 
  the backs of his knees are resting on the rung, then clips himself to the 2 
  railings of the ladder with carbines, slowly leaning backwards so that he 
  is inverted and facing down at the party, his legs securely locked on the 
  ladder. Yelling down to Dane, "You know Dane, if it weren't for the fact 
  that you 3 are beneath me, and that I don't know if it'll be needed later, 
  I'd be tempted to use my jet pack. This ladder is growing tiresome. This 
  tunnel can't go on forever. I don't remember many of our installations being 
  this far down, but then again, I never asked many questions for answers I 
  didn't need to know. Whatever this leads to, must be important."

And here she'd thought moving the sheet of metal had put strain on her arms -- 
  now, every nerve in Shenner's limbs is screaming, and the girl's face is 
  bathed in sweat and streaked in dirt she's managed to pick up from her close 
  calls on the slippery rungs. At the last halt she'd had barely enough 
  strength to call for the rest she desperately needed, and now, her awareness 
  beginning to blur, focusing desperately on the need to keep moving, she 
  croaks upward, "I'm here... I'm here."

Dane digs in his leg pouch and produces a synthrope dispenser, "Here Paul.." 
  he closes the flap and hands it down, "This should do the trick."

Shen can hear the men's voices above, and as long as she doesn't have to move, 
  she clings tenaciously to the ladder, muzzily pondering that her filthy 
  fingers have, at any rate, given her a somewhat better grip -- or would, if 
  they didn't ache so fiercely. Hanging there, she leans her head forward and 
  realizes in dismay that she is trembling, tears of exhaustion pricking at 
  her eyes. _Dammit..._

Catching the end of it with a trembling hand, Paul mutters, "Right," and 
  stuffs it into a pocket. Locking legs and one arm about the rungs, he 
  carefully removes his pack and taking a section of cord, ties it securely to 
  the ladder. He finds that he has to focus intently on what he's doing, but 
  that he can at least do so. Climbing down closer to Shen, Paul loops his 
  legs into the ladder and taking a deep breath, turns himself over and 
  backward, reaching down toward Shenner. "Okay Shen," he calls out, his voice 
  a touch sharp. "I'm gonna ease your pack off and tie it to the ladder .... 
  then I'm gonna come down and secure you so you can rest .... there's not 
  enough room for me and you and the packs ... so that's why that's coming off 
  first." His words are hurried and rough, and with shaking hands he reaches 
  down, carefully undoing the cinches on the pack so he can remove it without 
  Shen releasing her grip. His entire body is one clenched muscle. "Relax 
  Shen," he rasps, "Just hold on for a bit longer."

Dane switches over to his helmet's com system and kills the external mic, <<We 
  need to get these two to a better resting spot Kairne.>> His gaze still 
  rests on Paul and the young woman below but to Kairne his voice carries a 
  note of concern.

"Here... 'kay," Shenner gasps out to Paul. Hold on to the ladder. She can do 
  that. Yep. Hold on to the ladder.

Shen can't see Paul's hands shaking, nor tell how tense he is; the girl barely 
  has enough attention to register when the pack is lifted free from her back. 
  She trembles violently in reaction, tensed shoulder muscles that had been 
  shrieking under the weight dragging at them screaming again as the weight is 
  suddenly gone. The girl says nothing, though, biting her lip against any 
  noise of protest, enough to draw blood.

The pack is secured and Paul let's out a shuddering breath before climbing 
  back up, an idea in his head. "Shen, press your self as close as you can to 
  the ladder ... I'm going to lower my pack past you ... and just let it hang 
  below." He stops, swallowing hard as his breath seems abnormally short and 
  labored to him. "Then I'm gonna come down behind you and tie you in place, 
  okay?" He starts, gingerly, to lower the pack, sweat pouring from his brow.

Kairne receives Dane's com message, and follows suit, replying, "Yes, I agree 
  Dane. I have no problem with our current situation, but these two must be 
  hurting bad. I'd be dehydrated and mineral deficient by now if I wasn't 
  trained for this. They've been keeping up well, but this is pushing them too 
  hard." Kairne shifts his weight about, the rungs crying out ever so slightly 
  from his movements, "And as comfortable as this may be, I'd rather not hang 
  upside down here, but I'm trying to keep a lookout upwards. What are our 
  choices? There's not enough room to strap them to our backs and carry them 
  down."

"'Kay," Shen croaks, trying to obey Paul as best she can, though her limbs 
  protest again as she attempts to press herself closer to rock, earth, and 
  ladder rungs.

Dane continues the quiet com message, "I doubt we could carry them far on our 
  backs anyways...I dunno." he gazes up and down the shaft, "Let's all rest 
  for an hour or two and then see if they can continue. I don't like being 
  this vulnerable but it's better than losing members of our group."

Slipping down carefully, Paul tries to get behind Shenner while not knocking 
  her free from her perch. Of course that means that -he- doesn't have much to 
  hold on to, and cursing suddenly, he kicks himself for not thinking to 
  secure himself with a rope as he did his pack. _Too late now ... just get it 
  over and done with_ Hands shaking he passes the rope about Shenner several 
  times, lashing her in securely, in fact perhaps over doing it really. But 
  with this inexplicable panic trickling through his system, he is determined 
  to get her well and firmly anchored into place. His legs and back scream as 
  he uses the walls of the tunnel to stay in place himself, but they are slick 
  and more than once he has had to stop and readjust. He pulls the last knot 
  with a breath of relief, yelling up, "She's secured!" and then more softly, 
  "Let go Shen ... you're tied on, you won't fall."

Let go, he says. Shenner groggily issues this command to her fingers, but her 
  hands do not immediately respond; it takes her a few seconds before she sags 
  against her rope support, and when she finally does, she issues a sharp, 
  short little gasp, as if she expected to fall.

Kairne radios back to Dane, "Agreed, let's rest here. See if they need any 
  nourishment, and what ideas they have on continuing." Kairne readjusts 
  himself, pulling himself so that he is sitting on the rung, and not hanging 
  downwards, but in doing so, loosens up the pouch that contains some of his 
  glowsticks are in, and one falls out, tumbling down towards his companions. 
  Noticing the slight change, Kairne yells down, "watch out below, glowstick 
  falling."

Dane unspools a small cable from one of his belts and attaches the grappling 
  end to one of the rungs, turning slightly he wedges the spikes of his boots 
  into the wall and leans back to rest his old bones.

Carefully trying to clamber around Shenner, the sudden call makes Paul glance 
  up sharply in alarm, and in doing so, his grip slips unexpectedly. He slides 
  scrabbling at the slick walls in panic as well as the ladder as the 
  glowstick bounces against him and down, and with a short yelp he falls. 
  There is the unpleasant sound of cracks and thuds as he must hit the walls 
  on the way down ... and then there is a very loud thud after a few seconds.

Shenner looks up sharply, roused, and she shrieks, "Paul?!"

Dane looks down with his enhanced vision, cursing under his breath, "K'athre 
  and V'alya!" as he helplessly watches Paul fall.

Shen's immediate impulse is to scramble down in Paul's wake -- but now, of 
  course, she's rope-lashed to the ladder. Shoving her exhaustion as best she 
  can into the back of her mind, the girl begins fumbling at the ropes 
  securing her, and shrieks out Paul's name again. "Paul?! Paul, a-answer me, 
  can you hear me?!"

For a moment there is silence, as the wind as been knocked out of the 
  Corellian, making speech impossible. His head rings from glancing off the 
  tunnel wall, and there are a few other sharp pains and aches, but as far as 
  he can tell, gasping like a fish out of water, nothing seems to be actively 
  broken. Taking short little gasping breaths, Paul barely is able to wheeze 
  out. "I'm ..... o .....kay."

Dane lets out a sigh of relief, "I can see ground below..about ten meters.." 
  he activates his motion detector to see if Paul is actually moving still as 
  he starts after the girl. releasing his grapple and climbing down the ladder.

Kairne yells down at Shenner, "Calm down Shen, don't undo your ropes, we don't 
  need anyone else falling down there, and we don't know how injured Paul is.. 
  anymore falling bodies could make things worse for him." Kairne quickly 
  organizes himself, and pulls himself out of the rungs, his body still 
  attached to the ladder railing through the cables and carbines. Over the 
  internal com system he calls to Dane, "Now what do we do? The unfortunate 
  fool didn't tie off, we should have seen this coming, damnit."

Shen seizes on Paul's hoarse reply, and feels an acute flare of relief in her 
  chest. _K'chaiya..._ "O-okay, Paul..." As Kairne calls down to her, the girl 
  pauses, torn, desperate to scramble down to the Corellian, but just as 
  desperate not to do something tremendously stupid. "We gotta go down!" she 
  calls up.

Dane says "Shenner let me get down to you..I'll give you a hand." he calls, 
  "We don't want you falling too."

"R.... right," Shen calls back to Dane, trying to maintain enough breath to 
  speak around the lump that's swelled up in her throat. "Hurry. Please."

Kairne quickly unhooks himself and secures his gear to himself, "We're going 
  Shen, but it's now a wise idea to be more careful now than ever. Let Dane 
  help you down, and we'll get to Paul as quickly as safely possible." "Ready 
  when you are Dane."

Dane replies to Kairne and starts on down, "On my way." he doesn't waste much 
  time in getting to the girl, lowering his hand down to grasp the back of her 
  clothing, "Easy now Shenner." he says rather calmly considering the 
  situation.

Sitting upright slowly, Paul hunkers down on all fours, arching his back to 
  try to ease the flow of air into his lungs. Picking up the glowstick that 
  caused this whole mess, Paul raises it slightly, his eyes perking up with 
  hope at what he sees before him. His voice is still raspy, but he manages to 
  call up audibly, "There's another tunnel ... a crevice ..." The conversation 
  above his head begins to make an impression, and he calls up, Dane .... "Just 
  cut my pack free and let it fall .... it's hanging beyond Shen, so it won't 
  be in her way, but it will make getting down harder if you don't move it."

Hearing Paul's voice steadies Shen, and she mentally seizes upon it, dredging 
  up a few more shreds of strength. "Hangin'," she croaks out. "Gimme the 
  word..."

Kairne calls down to Shen, trying to calm her, "He'll be fine once we get to 
  him. Take it slow and careful, and we'll access his situation." Calling out 
  to Paul, "Try not to move too much Paul, don't need anything popping up on 
  you down there." Kairne mutters to himself about all this mess, feeling 
  somewhat responsible for it all, as he's supposed to be looking out for 
  these two, not causing their danger.

Dane maintains his grip on Shenner and calls up to Kairne, "Grab Paul's 
  pack..I've got a handful now." he continues to ease the girl down carefully, 
  "Just lower it with us."

Now thoroughly embarrassed by his situation, Paul checks once again to make 
  sure that nothing is damaged before calling up, "I'm fine Kairne ... just 
  some bruises I'm sure." Glancing around he cases the area, adding, "There's 
  nothing down here ... no triggers or anything out of the ordinary."

"Right," Shen croaks up in acknowledgment to Kairne. The girl might be paying 
  attention, but she's not wasting any more breath than she has to on 
  speaking. As Dane reaches her and begins helping her down the tunnel, she 
  starts, but focuses on moving down the ladder with the old warrior's aid.

Kairne moves down the ladder, coming upon Shen's pack, and unties it from it's 
  current resting place, and attaches it securely to his utility belt. Kairne 
  thinks to himself, "No need for this to be falling also, and taking those 2 
  with it too." Kairne resumes his journey further down the latter, making 
  sure to give Dane enough room to work with Shenner.

Glancing up, this time raising the glowtube, Paul is even more chagrined by 
  the fact that his pack is hanging a mere foot above his head. "Never mind, 
  I'm getting my pack now ... and I'm stepping into the fissure ... there 
  ain't enough room for all of us." And he does so.

Your muscles ache from the strain of what feels like hours of 
  climbing down down down. You step off the ladder and into a dangerous 
  looking fissure.
Tunnel(#379R)
The tunnel here is jagged and dangerous looking, with no visible supports 
  holding anything up. For all you know, it could collapse on your heads at 
  any moment. The cramped space yawns ahead of you, narrow and dark.
Obvious exits:
Forward  Back  

Shenner enters into this new tunnel, looking about it's "walls" suspiciously.
Shenner has arrived.

Shenner climbs down into view, once more with her pack, and hissing out as she 
  draws near, "Paul...?"

Dane enters into this new tunnel, looking about it's "walls" suspiciously.
Dane has arrived.

Glancing up as Shen enters and then Dane, Paul waves from where he is huddled 
  close to a wall. The glowstick in his hand illuminates his features from 
  below, which looks creepy enough without the blood streaming down the side 
  of his head.

Dane walks over to Paul and kneels down, "Let me check you out Paul.." he says 
  in a low voice while searching his belt pouches for something.

Staring at Dane, somewhat mystified, Paul murmurs, "What? I'm fine ... what 
  are you talking about?" His gaze shifts from Dane's impassive mask to 
  Shen's, trying to get a sense of what is going on here.

"Paul," Shen barks out, aghast. She'd be louder, but she doesn't have much 
  energy to spare for it. Nor does she quite have the strength to practically 
  teleport, as she desires, to the Corellian's side. But she stumbles after 
  Dane, and she finishes, "You're bleedin'..."

_Bleeding?_ Paul reaches up to his head, checking the wrong side first and 
  looking at his hand blankly, then the right side, his hand coming away with 
  blood on it. "I thought it was just sweat ..." he murmurs. With a small 
  curse he opens his pack. "Never mind ... head wounds always bleed worse than 
  they should ...." He removes a piece of cloth and after tentatively finding 
  the source of the blood, wraps his head turban style. Glancing up at Dane he 
  mutters, "Let's get out of here first ... this tunnel looks even worse than 
  the first one ... and I don't want to be here if it's gonna give way."

Dane nods, "We wait for Kairne though.." he says quite emphatically but in a 
  low tone..

Kairne enters into this new tunnel, looking about it's "walls" suspiciously.
Kairne has arrived.

Shenner glances dully over her shoulder, then blows out a breath of relief as 
  Kairne finally comes down to join them. "Move," she mumbles huskily. 
  "Move...." The way the word escapes her, it's sounding like a less than 
  palatable concept. "Do it."

Glancing back toward the tunnel, Paul sighs as Kairne joins them, tucking the 
  cloth about his head securely and nodding carefully ... just in case it -is- 
  serious. "Let's go then ... no Urio," he notes, as he rises up heading 
  gingerly forward.

Despite the fact that this place could come crashing down around your ears, 
  you move on ahead down the passage.

Tunnel opening(#376R)
You continue to walk on and on, dodging gingerly about obstructions and 
  looking up at the "ceiling" furtively. Finally, however, the passageway 
  begins to lighten and after you turn another corner, you finally see light 
  coming in from up ahead.
Obvious exits:
Back  Outside  

Shenner emerges from around a corner, following you down the tunnel.
Shenner has arrived.

Dane emerges from around a corner, following you down the tunnel.
Dane has arrived.

Kairne emerges from around a corner, following you down the tunnel.
Kairne has arrived.

Light...?! If Shen knew of a deity to thank, she'd be thanking one right now. 
  Or perhaps several. As it happens, when the illumination reaches her, she 
  smiles hugely, giddy with exhaustion and relief, and she croaks out, 
  "Look..."

The tunnel winds on and on, and while it isn't as endless as the climb down, 
  it does seem frighteningly long. As light finally begins to beckon, Paul 
  let's out a sigh of relief, echoing Shen's reaction.

Dane gazes at the lightening corridor and raises a hand, "I think I should go 
  first again.."

Kairne comes trailing in, Shen's backpack dangling at his side, "Had I not 
  been in such a rush to catch up with you, I'd taken this thing off before I 
  tried to get through the crevice. Remind me to do so in similar situations. 
  But I'll hold onto it for now, no need to let you carry it if I can burden 
  the weight for now."

Despite Kairne having her pack, Shen's exhausted body is now protesting her 
  halts as loudly as her progress, and informing her in no uncertain terms 
  that she should be prone, Right Now, for about six or seven years. The 
  redhead flings out a grimy hand to support herself against the tunnel wall 
  and barely manages to nod to Dane, as she fixes liquid, hopeful eyes on the 
  glow ahead, blinking to adjust her tearing vision.

Paul stares ahead to the light like a man dying of thirst, but nods at Dane's 
  request, waiting for him to pass.

Dane starts ahead of the group, this time a small but temporary whine can be 
  heard from his armor..

Kairne says, "Let's make it to the light friends, and get a fix on our 
  position, and see if we don't find our missing companion Urio." Kairne 
  slowly moves forward, his breathing somewhat labored after this long ordeal, 
  but nothing to be worried about, just too much time in close quarters, 
  something he's never quite liked.

Dane heads toward the light and disappears outside the opening.
Dane has left.

Shenner heads toward the light and disappears outside the opening.
Shenner has left.

Kairne says "After you Paul, and I'm quite sorry for earlier. Please accept my 
  apologies. I'll take a better look at your injuries once we get out into 
  this light.""

You head toward the light gratefully, emerging outside at last.
Valley Base(#382R)
You look about you and realize that you are at the base of a valley. Clearly 
  the underground caverns have brought you to beyond the city and spaceport 
  limits. As you look up the steep incline, you see that the landscape around 
  you is rough and mostly barren save for a few straggling trees. Clearly this 
  might have once been a lovely valley, but something has torn through here, 
  leaving devastation in it's trail. What once must have been a raging river 
  is now a barely recovered stream trickling several meters ahead of you. 
  Gently sloping hillside has been ravaged into rocky, steep, torn earth. High 
  above your heads you can just barely see an opening in the valley's side.
Contents:
Shenner
Dane
Urio'kosh(#246p)
Obvious exits:
Forward  Back  

Kairne emerges from the tunnel to join you.
Kairne has arrived.

Dane stands quietly looking out over the devastated valley, his head shaking 
  ever so slightly.

_I -will not- fall down, I -will not- fall down, I -will not- fall down...- 
  Mentally chanting this litany over and over, Shenner staggers up out of the 
  tunnel, lifting her face almost prayerfully to the light and the air. As she 
  emerges, nevertheless, she _does_ trip, one foot skidding out from beneath 
  her.

Glancing up from his perch on a tall boulder, Urio arches a curious brow. He 
  looks virtually untouched by the experience which has clearly marked the 
  rest of the troupe. "Well, you finally made it," he murmurs obliquely.

Dane looks up at Urio, "Hoping we wouldn't?" he says quite seriously.

Kairne manages to come out of the tunnel as Urio finishes his remark to the 
  group, and mutters, "I'm sure we all appreciate your enthusiasm in this 
  endeavor, but it would be best for all of us to stick together, so that we 
  don't end up in 'hairy' circumstances."

Paul pauses, the light making him realize that it must be dawn ... which means 
  that they've been up for most of the night. He spares no more than a 
  withering glare toward Urio before turning toward Kairne, murmuring, "What 
  are you talking about Kairne ... I'm the idiot who fell." Clearly the 
  Corellian hasn't a clue as to why the Mandalorian would be blaming himself 
  for Paul's stupidity.

Slipping easily from the stone, Urio glances at each member of the group 
  before turning to Dane and Kairne. "My apologies Lord General, Major," he 
  offers with a slight bow. "I have an extreme dislike for small spaces, and 
  the rest of you were so far behind, it seemed more prudent to keep going." 
  His manner and tone are perfectly proper, but there is still an air of 
  superiority about the younger Mandalorian.

Shenner manages to turn her fall into a harder-than-normal kneel, and she 
  remains there for a moment, her hands pressed against the earth, tremblingly 
  supporting her weight. _I -will not- fall... I -will not- fall... Urio, you 
  can frekkin' bite me... I -will not- fall..._ Once she manages to rally 
  enough attention, she looks up, expression tense, her features streaked with 
  dirt, sweat, and a little blood.

Kairne listens to Urio again, "Aye Urio, I dislike them also," but then 
  focuses on Paul, "Yes friend, you fell, but it was I who dropped the 
  glowstick and excited you when I yelled out. You are under my protection 
  here, I wish to see no serious harm come to you. Now let's find a place to 
  take a look at what did happen to you, and then I suggest we eat a little, 
  and take a morning nap, so that we can regain some of our strength." Kairne 
  slowly removes his helmet, his orange side-locks of hair falling about his 
  shoulders, and his pony-tail flopping onto his back. He slowly breathes in 
  the air, and then breathes out as he looks about, his green eyes taking in 
  all the sadness he can of his once beautiful homeworld. With helmet 
  under-arm, he places himself beside Dane.

Nodding, Paul sits down heavily, his arms and legs throbbing with the unusual 
  amount of exertion that they had been put through. Slowly he reaches up and 
  begins to unwind the turban about his head, the final few passes shifting 
  from white to pink to red.

Dane nods in agreement with Kairne and unlocks his helmet, slowly slipping it 
  from his head and inhaling the air, "I think we all.." he eyes Urio, "Could 
  use a rest.." he then looks to the others, "and some food and water."

Urio smiles graciously at the exhausted troops, looking as cool as a ocean 
  breeze. "Please," he replies, "allow me to prepare something while you ... 
  recover." He moves efficiently to his packs, pulling out water and rations.

With a jolt, Shenner recollects that Paul is wounded, and she scrambles 
  unsteadily to his side, managing only to reach him, rather than reach for 
  him. But she stares at him worriedly and mutters at him, "Want my medpack?"


Glancing up at Shenner, Paul frowns at the streak of blood on her face, not 
  knowing if it's hers or his .... Glancing at Kairne, he mutters, "Let's see 
  if it deserves any special attention. Could just be a big bleeder ... don't 
  want to waste any medical supplies on little stuff. Better to save it for 
  any emergencies that might come up."

Shen at any other time might insist on Paul getting proper attention; indeed, 
  the girl does stare long and liquidly at him, but all she says is a husky, 
  "'Kay, Paul..."

The cloth now completely unwound, Paul takes one end of it, pouring a little 
  of the water from his canteen onto it, and then gingerly washing away at 
  where he can feel the wound now. Still, he can't see it or what he's doing 
  really, and with a sigh, he turns to Kairne. "Can you take a look and see if 
  it's deep or anything? If I can just keep it wrapped up, that would probably 
  be easiest."

Dane stands quietly letting the young woman tend to Paul for the most, taking 
  time to eat a ration bar or two.

Urio sets out rations for everyone, looking about the disarrayed camp with a 
  touch of ironic resignation, then starts to set up his own tent, planning on 
  at least getting a little bit of sleep. After supplying the food, he has 
  done his duty, and disregards the rest of the party.

Shen is still sort of half-crouching, half-kneeling next to the Corellian, but 
  as Paul turns to call for Kairne, she says nothing, only moving back 
  slightly to get out of the way. _Pack's over there anyway,_ she thinks, 
  wobbling to her feet. Seeing Urio'kosh working to set up his tent, she is 
  reminded of her and Paul's own. _If Paul wants Kairne to patch him up... I 
  could set up the tent or something..._

Kairne makes his way over to Paul, reaching into one of his leg pouches and 
  begins to fish around for something..."How's it look to you Shen? We should 
  prolly clean it with some sort of antiseptic as to avoid any infection. Tho 
  I am afraid what I have to offer, will sting slightly more than what you two 
  are prolly used to."

"I've got something for that," Paul informs Kairne patiently, wondering if he 
  was mistaken in his assumption that the Mandalorian would be more proficient 
  at first aid than Shenner. "I just need to know what it looks like," he 
  notes, leaning forward and trying to point out the source of the blood to 
  the Lord General.

Dane says "I'm sure he can take it Kairne.." a smile crosses Dane's features 
  as he looks for a comfortable place to crash, "I don't have a mirror with me 
  sorry.." he looks to Shen, "Do you Shenner?"

Shenner blinkblinks, startled at Kairne's hailing of her. Her opinion is 
  wanted? _Oh, well..._ Her thoughts are starting to fuzz around the edges, 
  but the girl blinks rapidly, determined to remain coherent. "Uh, well," she 
  begins gruffly, then trails off, peering down at Paul's bloodied head from 
  where she stands. Carefully, taking note of the disturbingly insubstantial 
  feel of her legs, she kneels by Paul again, to get a better look. She starts 
  again, then, glancing at Dane, and asks blankly, "Mirror? Nah..."

A light smirk curls across Kairne's lips as he hears Paul's statement, "If 
  memory serves me right, there are some rather dangerous things on Mandalore 
  that an unaccustomed body would not be able to ward against. I'd feel better 
  if we used our techniques instead, with all due respect."

Kairne says, "Who knows what's bred itself in all this mess," as he motions 
  about with his free hand.

Shrugging tiredly, Paul leans his head toward Shen instead, and as she parts 
  the reddish hair back, she finally exposes a long thin gash along the right 
  side of his head. It's well buried past the hairline, and while it seems to 
  be still bleeding slightly, it doesn't look particularly deep.

Dane says "Very true.." he glances about, "Although the lack of foliage has 
  probably reduced the chances of something truly nasty."

Kairne turns to where Urio is setting up his tent, "What say you Urio?"

Shenner just grimaces, fixing her attention back on Paul, to whom she mutters 
  as she pokes gingerly at his hair, "Looks like it just clipped yah, but 
  mostly okay... prob'ly just slap some synthflesh on there, or if you wanna 
  save the supplies, hold it for a while..." Her voice gets softer as she 
  speaks, towards her latter words, with a few odd pauses as she forces 
  herself to keep talking, keep focused.
 and loftily replies, "What say I regarding which topic, Lord General?"

Although content to ignore the rest, Urio glances up at Kairne's question and 
  loftily replies, "What say I regarding which topic, Lord General?"

Kairne says "About what exists here on homeworld now..."

Folding his arms together, Urio's mouth draws into a thin line, his strangely 
  pale green eyes scanning the landscape. "Beyond the perimeter's of the 
  cities, there is little known," he replies. "We have had our fair share of 
  problems with mutated diseases, and of course there were many Mandalorians 
  who were born damaged or mutated afterward. Some were spared ... some were 
  killed ... and some chose to remove themselves from society when they 
  reached the age of consent." While he still looks upon the landscape with 
  impassive eyes, his voice grows darkly ominous. "There are stories of what 
  lays beyond the rim ... and few that have ventured out have ever returned."

Kairne turns his attention back to Paul, "Urio's description only furthers my 
  concern Paul."

Dane nods in agreement, "Mine too..we better use some of the medical supplies 
  on you Paul."

His eyes rise to Kairne and sighing, Paul waves his hand. "Well, we've been 
  here for a few days, eaten the local food, hand we haven't been sick. I have 
  a medical kit, and let me assure you, it is designed for a broad base of 
  planetary types." Raising his hand up toward the injury, he casts a 
  questioning gaze at Shen, adding, "However, I have no issue with using your 
  antibiotic versus my own. I simply do not with to use any supplies 
  unnecessarily."

Shen seems to miss Paul's glance, while Urio'kosh speaks. Her brows wing down 
  into an unsettled frown, and she casts a look over her shoulder at the 
  Mandalorian, fretfully. Then she scrubs a hand across her eyes, thinking, 
  _Tired..._

Kairne says "Mandalore never was a typical planet... And while you've eaten 
  the local food, we are here in the 'outlands' were things are different... 
  vastly. Perhaps at a later date, I will tell you the story of my clan, and 
  how it relates.. but... let me look at your wound. Our supplies don't need 
  to be used in excess to perform well."

Dane nods, "I remember the rock vipers in the area I grew up in..they like 
  this sort of area and carry a lot of bacteria in their bites."

Dane he looks to Paul, "That's not to mention the various types of sicknesses 
  that can hit a person that has an open wound and we really don't want to 
  carry you back up that ladder." he smiles reassuringly at Paul, "We can 
  spare the supplies I think."

Waving a weary hand at the mothering pair, Paul's mouth cracks into the 
  slightest of smiles. "Alright then .... attend me gentlemen, I am your 
  willing and patient patient."

Dane nods and motions to Kairne, "He's better at healing than I am."

Shenner blinkblinks muzzily, frowns, but gets to her feet again, to stumble 
  towards her pack. As long as Dane and Kairne want to make sure Paul isn't 
  going to keel over -- a noble goal, as far as Shen is concerned, though she 
  squelches her brief flare of jealousy at their task -- the tent can be her 
  job. She makes it to her pack, and starts undoing the fasteners, slowly and 
  deliberately. Never mind that some of those buckles are starting to look a 
  little blurry.

Kairne nods in recognition to Dane's comment, "Saa'Thuls have been that way 
  for centuries. I am no different, Dane's right, I can survive better than 
  most clans, tho I know I am not immortal..." Kairne takes a black 
  rectangular case from his leg pouch, and opens it up, searching for a small 
  vial of fluorescing blue liquid, his eyes showing his small exhilaration at 
  finding it. Taking it out he lifts his head up to Paul, "Don't pay attention 
  to the color, it will hurt worse than it looks," he lightly laughs.

Paul glances up at the container, resigned to his fate and remembering to 
  never let himself be doctored by a Mandalorian in the future. They have no 
  understanding of the concept of having a "bedside manner". The Corellian, 
  however, is no child and has been through some excruciating experiences in 
  his short life so far. As Dane said, he is more than assured that he can 
  handle this.

Dane rolls his eyes a bit and smirks, "Clan D'ael'mor has just as hearty 
  warriors Kairne..we have several rites that forge the spirit, mind and body."

_C'mon, street rat, been over this, How to Get Out Your Gear 101, and while 
  we're at it, let's review How to Set Up Your Tent..._ Shenner, while Dane 
  and Kairne attend to Paul, finds her hands beginning to shake as she ferrets 
  into her pack to find the tent poles and canvas. It takes her several 
  moments to find the pieces of the poles, and a few moments more to find the 
  catch that extends them out to full length.

Urio stares at the human girl for a moment before approaching her slowly, 
  silently. He crouches down beside her, reaching out with one hand to correct 
  one of the connections, lifting cloth as well as one brow, waiting for her 
  to spit at his quiet offer of help.

Shen doesn't spit; she does, however, start, her head lifting with a jerk as 
  she finds the Mandalorian beside her. "Thanks," she mutters.

Eyeing her strangely, Urio'kosh merely nods gracefully, his long fingered 
  hands working on the construction of her tent calmly. Those silver green 
  eyes, however, raise frequently to rest on her face, questioning without 
  speaking.

Kairne, while facing Paul talks to Dane, "I never said that your clan were 
  less warriors old friend, I know your rituals, they serve the same purpose 
  as mine. But let's relive old times later." Kairne proceeds to unscrew the 
  cap of the vial, and takes a strip out of his kit, dipping only a small 
  piece of the end into the vial. The entire strip quickly begins to fluoresce 
  blue just like the liquid itself, strangely enough as it has only absorbed 
  so much of the liquid. "This is a 'mixed' antibiotic, the strip's fibers are 
  impregnated with certain chemicals that react with this liquid Paul. Once I 
  apply it, it will only take a few moments before the reaction catalyzes."

Shen, however, is completely focused now on the construction of the small 
  tent. _She_ is expecting some sort of snide remark about how the inferior 
  helpless human must need the mighty Mandalorian's assistance to build her 
  own tent; determined not to give him the satisfaction of any more 
  acknowledgment than necessary, she slips pole through cloth, joins 
  connections, and presses the buttons on the corner spikes that will release 
  _them_ and drive them securely into the ground.

Kairne caps the vial, and kneels down in front of Paul, strip in hand. "Ok 
  Paul, when I apply this, it will slowly begin to burn and sting. For the 
  un-accustomed, it will be painful at first, but I'm sure you can master the 
  sensations within a few moments. You'll know once you feel it beginning to 
  icy-cool, and any pain you had should go away as the anesthetic begins to 
  work. We've found the process to work better if meditation (conscious 
  breathing) is done to concentrate your energies in a productive manner. 
  Ready?"

"Alright," Paul responds to Kairne's explanation and instructions, bracing 
  himself for the pain to come and wondering if the cure is going to be more 
  unpleasant than the cold, so to speak. He reverts his mind to training he 
  received from the Kubazian Tre'lan, his mind and breath becoming one flowing 
  entity before he nods in readiness.

Shenner's tent is a minuscule little thing, seemingly barely big enough to 
  hold a child, much less her. But it's a tent, and it's there, and the fact 
  that it's now there and looks stable enough eases her mind somewhat. One 
  down, one to go. Hauling herself laboriously back to her feet, she refocuses 
  her attention on Paul's pack now, intending to put up his tent, too.

Kairne nods, and proceeds to fold back Paul's hair away from his wound, not 
  really having to hold down the blood matted hair with much effort. "Here we 
  go Paul..." Kairne places the strip over the wound, first pressing lightly 
  as he lines up the strip, then forcefully to make sure the strip gains 
  contact with Paul's scalp and 'attaches' itself. He then lets go, and moves 
  back a little to watch Paul.

Dane watches Paul quietly and munches on his rations but every once in a while 
  his gaze drifts to keep an eye on Urio.

There is perhaps a somewhat sharper intake of breath, Paul's features 
  tightening briefly in response to the chemical reaction before he relaxes 
  once again. After a minute he opens his eyes, peering up from beneath long 
  bangs to Kairne. "So, now what? Is it it's own dressing, or do I wrap up 
  again?"

Urio'kosh is either oblivious to Dane's observations or ignoring his fellow 
  Mandalorian. He rises again after a moment, crouching down by the girl once 
  again, but not raising his hands in help this time.

Urio'kosh> Shenner senses "Urio'kosh 's pale eyes pinion Shen, forcing her to 
  look up and acknowledge him before he softly whispers, "You're not going to 
  make it.""

Shenner, crouched there by Paul's pack, pieces of his tent poles in her hands, 
  looks up at Urio'kosh. Her eyes narrow, and a flush darkens her dirty 
  cheeks. "Says you," she mutters, jerking her gaze away, to begin once more 
  the joining of pole and cloth.

The younger Mandalorian is unfazed by her sharp remark, merely watching her 
  struggle with this second tent. Before he murmurs to her softly, his voice 
  not passing beyond the hearing of her ears.

Urio'kosh> Shenner senses "Urio'kosh sighs, those eyes patient and somber. 
  "You're already exhausted ... and this was probably the easiest part of the 
  journey. Why are you here? What is your purpose in this "expedition"?" he 
  questions, the word spoken with soft disdain, as if despite the fact that he 
  was a member of it, he still believed the entire venture to be nothing more 
  than folly."

Kairne says "Yes, you are correct, it's it's own dressing. Over the next few 
  days, it will semi-graft itself into your scalp to help seal your wound. It 
  will become part of your scalp as it dissolves, as it helps accelerates your 
  natural healing process by providing it with nutrients and other assorted 
  medical things to which I have not a full understanding. It's a far cry from 
  synthskin, but it's more natural, and nothing overly technologically fancy 
  like the nano-technology we used to have in our medical facilities, but in 
  the field, it worked well."

Nodding, impressed with that explanation, Paul carefully pours some more water 
  on the cloth laying across his thighs, wiping at his hair carefully as he 
  tries to clean away some of the blood there. Sighing at the futility of such 
  an attempt he finally turns, picking up the rations placed near to him by 
  Urio'kosh, only to scowl as he sees the Mandalorian in question next to 
  Shenner, the girl's expression less than amiable.

Same song, second verse, Shen is tired, it's getting worse. Her vision fuzzing 
  again as she joins the pieces of the tent's upper pole, and she pauses there 
  for a moment; her hands clench around the pole, but she doesn't dare close 
  her eyes, lest she fall asleep right then and there. She's silent for one 
  beat, two beats, then three. Then, her expression frigid, she looks up to 
  Urio'kosh and tells him, "I am _here_ to assist Dr. Nighman in whatever 
  capacity he needs me." She doesn't bother to whisper.

Kairne says "Do be careful not to touch or agitate the strip, as it has just 
  been freshly applied. It will take a few hours for it to set itself 
  entirely. After that though, you can cease to worry about it. I've seen 
  blaster scorch marks come off more easily than that."

Smirking, Paul tosses the cloth down, abandoning his efforts and nodding at 
  Kairne. "Duly noted ... and thanks." Shen's words reach his ears, causing 
  Paul to turn once again and scowl. However, he makes no move toward her and 
  Urio'kosh, merely keeps a watchful gaze on the pair.

Dane stands quietly and slips his helmet under his arm, he walks over to Shen 
  and smiles a bit, "Why don't you sit and rest for a bit." he rests his free 
  hand on her shoulder lightly.

It's as if she didn't say anything to him at all. Urio'kosh raises his gaze, 
  meeting Paul's and holding it as if in challenge. He finally looks away, not 
  backing down, but losing interest. He raises up, nodding cordially at Dane's 
  approach before turning to his own tent and settling himself inside.

Kairne quietly gathers what pieces of his medkit are lying about, and puts 
  them into the medkit, and then back into leg pouch. He stands, and heads 
  over to where his companions are all gathered. "Forgive my 'bedside' manner, 
  as I've always been the sort of person who's thought it better to expect the 
  worse, and be prepared, and then be able to freely relax when it's 
  discovered that it's not half-as-bad as was anticipated. Optimistic 
  pessimism I guess you could call it."

Irritated -- _the others're tired, too, why the hell're they raggin' on me?!_ 
  -- Shen begins to brush off Dane's suggestion, but thinks better of it in 
  time. Still staring coldly at Urio'kosh until he chooses to leave, she stays 
  like that, and only when the young Mandalorian has turned away does Shen 
  flick a glance towards Paul. "You wanna take over here?" she rasps at him, 
  doing her best to make it sound casual.

Dane raises his voice slightly, "I can take care of it Shenner...let Paul 
  rest. " he glances in the doctor's direction, "You both need it."

Staring at Shen for a moment and then Dane, Paul shakes his head and rises up. 
  "I'm fine," he assures the pair, moreso Dane, as he approaches. "You have 
  your own tent to set up ... but I don't suggest we camp for long - just rest 
  for a bit and move on while there's still light to do so. I don't think 
  traveling by night is a good idea from here on out."

Dane shakes his head, "I didn't bring one." he offers, "don't really need it. 
  " he then stands back from the tent under construction and Shenner, "I'll let 
  you finish yours though." he smiles.

Kairne says "One last thing Paul. Since this is your first time with this 
  treatment, do resist the urge to scratch the intermittent itches you may 
  experience. It's only your skin reacting to the chemicals, and growing back 
  and healing. If you scratch, you'll upset the process, and end up with a 
  possibly large and interesting scar. Don't touch it, and it will heal 
  perfectly, and you'll never know you fell off a ladder and sliced yourself 
  open."

She _cannot_, _must not_, _will not_ keel over. As Paul makes his call, the 
  girl gets slowly up, and turns to flick Dane a smile that's little more than 
  a brief upward twitch of one end of her mouth. "His tent, his call. I'm 
  snoozin', then, if y'all don't need me." And she turns towards her tent, 
  doing a fairly good impression of walking normally until she reaches it. 
  "Y'all wake me when it's my watch or time to move." With that, the redhead 
  crawls into her microscopic shelter, tugging her pack in behind her and 
  remembering to close the flap. Mercifully, she is inside and out of sight 
  before unconsciousness rises up to clobber her over the head.

Snorting slightly at Kairne's warning, Paul glances over his shoulder and he 
  lowers himself to his tent. "Right," he replies, "No scratching ... got it." 
  His hands start to assemble the tent quickly, as certain aches and pains 
  worry the Corellian enough that he wants to strip down and check them for 
  himself, but not wanting anyone else's attention to that fact.

Dane glances in Kairne's direction, "Mind if I take first watch?"

His tent finished, Paul turns to the two Mandalorians, grinning in amusement 
  at their relationship and informing the pair, "I'll let you guys duel for 
  the honor ... come kick me in three or four hours? Don't think we should 
  wait much longer than that."

Kairne says "Whatever you decide old friend, I'm not in the mood for a long 
  debate."

Dane nods and dons his helmet, "First watch for me then.." he looks for some 
  high ground to watch from and unslings his rifle, "Get some rest I'll wake 
  you up in four hours."

Nodding, Paul disappears into his tent, to check the rest of his injuries and 
  rest. He trusts Dane and Kairne implicitly, a trust that allows the 
  Corellian to finally lie down and close his eyes with security.

Kairne nods, and reaches behind his back, and takes out a small folded up 
  'device' that he slowly unfolds and places on the ground before it begins to 
  inflate itself. He quickly and easily removes his jetpack, and places it 
  alongside the inflating pad before kneeling down and placing himself on the 
  pad.

Kairne says "Wake me at the first sign of danger Dane. But for now, I'll dream 
  of days long past."

Dane chuckles and heads for high ground, "Will do..try not to have too much 
  fun.."