[P9-Kashyyyk-FF] Wrath of the Wookiees - Part 2: Meeting Lieutenant Dorn

It had been morning when they had landed on the jungle world of Kashyyyk, now it was midday. Jal wondered if Tolli was still asleep as she had been when they had landed, he hadn’t entirely figured out what to do with her yet — journeying through the wild jungle undergrowth would be challenging due to her still-injured knee. It was a thought that clouded his mind as he hiked from his transport to the coordinates where the so-called Lieutenant Dorn would meet him. 

A soft crunching of worn boots and the steady jingling of metal weapons sounded, Jal Mes wasn’t certain if this was Captain Hil’s agent or perhaps an imperial. He maintained his calm disposition and kept his gaze fixed onto the haze from his fire. 

The crunching stopped with a last, solemn jingle and the foreign figure spoke in a harsh voice, “Dr. Mes, we of the Third Appreciate your aid.”

Jal turned his head and saw a dark skinned zabrak dressed in camouflage armed with an ax and a blaster.

“I’m not a doctor or professor, but I was a monk, a Searcher.”

Dorn resumed walking until he stood over Jal’s shoulder, staring past it into the haze created by the flames. He looked down at the hooded duro, seated before the coals.

“Then, who is it that you work for Searcher, if not The Preservation and Research Foundation?”

“I am a follower of the Force, as it guides, I follow. However, I am likely to join them after I finish helping the Wookiees, they deserve my work more than the pompous monks who never dare help anyone as if it’d distract them from their meditation,” Jal replied.

He pulled out ingredients from his jacket and two canteen flasks, using the slowly-fading fire to warm it up. He passed one of the flasks to the Lieutenant who eyed the beverage with suspicion.

“What is this?” He asked. “I hope you aren’t a Consortium spy hoping to poison me!”

Jal laughed and smiled up at him saying,”Lieutenant! It’s only Leivaks, just a favorite Durese drink. One of the ingredients, the zhoguum leaf, could knock you out, but brewed together and it’s heavenly. Now, inform me on what ails our Wookiee friends.”

Dorn frowned at the duro. He should’ve known this already. “The Shadowlands, there’s fear that it will harm the Wookiees as they rebuild after enslavement under the Empire’s occupation. We cannot let any bastion of evil survive, and as you know from the charts…”

“Charts?” Jal asked. “I was only given the landing coordinates.”

The Lieutenant drank from the flask and scowled. “Sometimes, I wonder if Captain Hil knows how to give a proper briefing. To put it succinctly, I have a small team camped out six clicks from here at the shores of Kachirro Beach. From there, we travel on foot inwards into the depths of the undergrowth. What I need from you, is your valuable skills as a former searcher and the skills of any you brought forthwith. I expect your presence for supper at our camp tonight.”

“And the coordinates appear to be six clicks off,” Jal muttered to himself.

Jal took a sip before replying, listening to the sounds of the jungle and the crackling of the flames. “I only have one companion, an archeologist from Telos.”

“Good,” Lieutenant Dorn said, standing up from his cross-legged position. “This is a good drink, Searcher, I hope you make more of it.”

Jal was left to ponder how he was going to get Tolli into the Shadowlands, as the clanking of the zabrak’s weapons faded into the distance.

To be continued…