Ranger Archive
Thread: An encounter with Rancors and Rangers: A bit of fiction.
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Scarin
Sat Jun 12, 2004 6:45 am
#1
This started out as something I wrote just for fun. I don't really consider myself an author, I guess I was just thinking about how I see my Ranger and kind of let my imagination do the rest. Its just a story of what an encounter with a couple of Ranger's in the SWG universe might be like. And since reading it over to myself gets kinda boring, I thought I'd share it with you guys. So here begins an encounter with rancors and rangers.
A Rebel soldier stared up at the Dathomir night sky. On the fringes of the horizon, he could see the sun beginning to rise. It was a welcome sign. He had been patrolling the wilderness all night and couldn't stand it much longer. The sounds of fearsome creatures were all around him and the foliage grew so thick in some parts he couldn't even see 2 meters in front of him. All he wanted to do was leave this cursed planet. Pausing for a moment, he imagined himself in a cantina somewhere far away. A band playing, dancers on stage and a nice glass of sunburn in his hand.
Ugh, I need to get out of here, he thought. Something about this place made him fell anxious ever since he arrived. He wasn't scared, he was a battle hardened soldier and always felt safe with his blaster by his side, just nervous somehow. It was almost as if the planet itself was out to get him. He had been told this was a dark place, tainted by the Dark side even, but he never really knew what that meant before.
He stopped his train of thought for a moment to evaluate his surroundings. Had he been here before? He didn't recognize this place along his route, but then again it all looked the same to him. He knew he had just passed a series of hills that should have taken him back in the direction of the outpost, but he must have made a wrong turn somewhere. He continued up to the top of a steep hill and looked around for something familiar but saw nothing he recognized.
No bother he thought I'll just use my directional transponder. As he searched through his gear however, he dropped his datapad. It must have hit a rock, because it made a loud clank when it struck the ground the light went out.
"Damn this place," he cursed loudly and began fumbling around in the dark looking for it. The brush was thick and jagged, and he had to fight to keep himself from getting tangled.
"Ah, there you are," he exclaimed aloud as he spotted the metallic edge from the corner of his eye. He bent down further to reach it, but in doing so got his feet tangled in a bush. Staggering for a moment, he tried to catch his balance, but then fell head first into the brush. Down the hill he tumbled, until he came to an abrupt stop against the trunk of a large tree.
In a daze, he brought himself to his feet slowly. He winced in pain from a bruise on his ribs where he smacked the tree, but as far as he could he tell he wasn't seriously wounded. The datapad however, was nowhere to be found.
For the first time in a long time he felt somewhat fearful, he just wanted to get out of there and back to the base. Thinking it would be best to head back the way he came, he started up the hill, but soon realized it was much too steep on this side and would have to take the long way around. He picked a direction that looked the least menacing and headed out. He had only a gone a hundred meters or so when he heard a loud crackle of branches breaking under somethings feet. He stopped, frozen in his tracks to listen.
Then he saw it, only a few meters from himself was a massive Bull Rancor! Terrified, he held his breath and watched as the Rancor wandered about.Don't move he
said to himself don't let him see you. But it was too late, the Rancor caught his scent and let out a heart-stopping roar as it charged him. Bravely the soldier drew his blaster and fired at the Rancor, but it was uneffective against its thick armored skin. Realizing he was unequipped for the situation he turned and ran in a panick. Fleeing for his life, the soldier sprinted as hard as he could, but the Rancor kept gaining on him. With each heavy thud of its feet the Rancor got closer and closer, until the soldier could feel the swoosh of air against his back as the Rancor clawed at him, and smelled its hideous breath. He thought he was doomed.
Then suddenly, something caught his feet and he fell hard to the ground. His face planted painfully into the dathomir soil, and for a moment everything went black. He thought he was dead, finished by this evil planet and the monstrosities that inhabited it. Regaining his senses, he desperately he tried to crawl away on his hands and knees, but he was caught in some kind of trap. Like a giant spider web, a mesh entangled his feet and was covered in some sort of adhesive. Fighting for dear life, he struggled to free himself, but could not. Looking over his shoulder, he expected to face his impending doom, but then realized the Rancor was caught too. It was clawing and slashing its way through the mesh in a flurry of anger, and roaring ferociously.
Suddenly, a loud blast of heavy rifle fire rang out, and the soldier saw a flash of energy strike the Rancor. Its thick armor glowed red hot at the rifle score and it bellowed out a horrendous scream that the was the worse sound the soldier have ever heard. In a terrible rage the Rancor ripped himself free from the mesh and charged at its attacker, smashing and tearing its way through the foliage as it went.
The Soldier watched as the Rancor tore its way through the forest, towards the bush where the shots were fired. Just when it seemed the Rancor was right on top of it, a flash of white hot light filled the night sky. The Soldier tried to cover his eyes but it was too bright. His eyes burning, the soldier lay blinded only able to listen the events that followed. He heard yelling and more rifle fire, then a loud smack followed by another terrible scream from the Rancor and a shattering thud as it fell to the ground. Then, for a moment all was quiet.
As his vision returned, the soldier lay bewildered, thinking of the events that just happened. He couldn't make sense of it all, but somehow he was alive and greatful. Slowly, he pulled himself free from the broken trap and stood up. Looking around, he saw standing over the dead Rancor was a dark skinned zabraki male, wielding a powerhammer and was apparently investigating the body. Out of the bushes behind him crawled a large, maroon colored Trandoshan, holding a heavy T21 rifle in his hand.
The soldier observed as they went to work on the body. They were dressed in similar fashion, some sort of camouflage that made them almost indistinguishable from the foliage from certain angles, and they seemed to be arguing with each other about something. The Trandoshan spoke in dosh, a harsh and slithery speech the soldier couldn't understand, and the Zabrak replied in his own native language. The soldier had learned a fair amount of zabraki before, but it was too fast for him to comprehend. He could tell from his tone however, that the Zabrak was angry, and seemed to be questioning Trandoshan about something. The argument ended abruptly and when Trandoshan gestured at the soldier. The two stopped whatever they were doing and turned towards him.
"Hello there," the Zabrak said as he stood up and walk over to greet the soldier. "My partner and I tracked that beast for hours for a chance to engage him, it seems you nearly beat us to it."
As he spoke, something in the Zabrak's manner angered the soldier suddenly. He had nearly lost his life, and now this hunter was speaking so causally, as if it were all a game to him. He felt nervous, and eyed the Zabrak suspiciously as he walked closer. As he did, he noticed the glimmer of a medallion hanging about the Zabrak's neck. He couldn't read the inscription, but he recognized the symbol from the rebel database as an imperial marking. Anxiously, the Soldier's hand slid down his side, resting against his blaster. The Zabrak stopped mid-stride and followed his gaze to the medallion. In a quiet gesture, the Zabrak slipped the medallion underneath his shirt, as if to indicate he was not looking for a fight.
The Trandoshan seemed to notice this too, but did not appear so forgiving. He stood watching with his large, lizard eyes, staring coldly at the Soldier, his foreclaw clenched around the trigger of his rifle.
"You are a rebel soldier?" the Zabrak asked sharply.
The soldier was in no mood to play games, harshly he replied, "What business is it of your's?"
The zabrak paused for a moment, and looked down as if he were disappointed. Then his expression changed, and he looked up at the soldier gazing fiercly into his eyes.
"Be careful where you venture soldier," he said. "This place is not safe to wander alone," turning his back on the soldier as he spoke.
This angered the Soldier even more, he didn't care what just happened, he wasn't about to be intimidated by a couple of imperial vagabonds. Defiantly he shouted back at him, "This is an Alliance controlled area! I could have an entire squadron here in minutes!" he cried.
The Zabrak continued walking away, as if to ignore the Soldier, but then stopped and turned around to face him.
"You have never met a Ranger before have you?" he said almost smirking as he spoke. "Call your friends if you want to, wander aimlessly and search all you please, but know this; The wild belongs to no one, and only to those who truly seek to understand it may find refuge there." And with that he seemed to vanish right before the Soldier's own eyes, disappearing into the woods.
The soldier stood flabbergasted for a moment. They can't hide in the woods for long he thought. Thinking of chasing after them, he started towards the spot where they stood only seconds before, but then heard the sound of a speeder approaching his way. Looking over, he caught a glimpse of the rider, it was another Alliance patrolman.
"Are you alright?" the Patrolman called out.
"Yes, I'm fine" the Soldier replied, breathing a heavy sigh of relief.
"What happened out here, we heard a fight and came as soon as we could to investigate."
The soldier stared at him blankly, contemplating how to explain what had just happened. He wanted to go after them, fighting imperials was his business, but he somehow he felt unsure. Thinking about what the Zabrak had said to him, he thought better of it.
"I-I'm not sure," he said. "I'm came to investigate too... but I didn't find anything."
"You didn't find anything?" the Patrolmen asked surprisingly.
"Nothing," the Soldier replied, "now let's go home."
A Rebel soldier stared up at the Dathomir night sky. On the fringes of the horizon, he could see the sun beginning to rise. It was a welcome sign. He had been patrolling the wilderness all night and couldn't stand it much longer. The sounds of fearsome creatures were all around him and the foliage grew so thick in some parts he couldn't even see 2 meters in front of him. All he wanted to do was leave this cursed planet. Pausing for a moment, he imagined himself in a cantina somewhere far away. A band playing, dancers on stage and a nice glass of sunburn in his hand.
Ugh, I need to get out of here, he thought. Something about this place made him fell anxious ever since he arrived. He wasn't scared, he was a battle hardened soldier and always felt safe with his blaster by his side, just nervous somehow. It was almost as if the planet itself was out to get him. He had been told this was a dark place, tainted by the Dark side even, but he never really knew what that meant before.
He stopped his train of thought for a moment to evaluate his surroundings. Had he been here before? He didn't recognize this place along his route, but then again it all looked the same to him. He knew he had just passed a series of hills that should have taken him back in the direction of the outpost, but he must have made a wrong turn somewhere. He continued up to the top of a steep hill and looked around for something familiar but saw nothing he recognized.
No bother he thought I'll just use my directional transponder. As he searched through his gear however, he dropped his datapad. It must have hit a rock, because it made a loud clank when it struck the ground the light went out.
"Damn this place," he cursed loudly and began fumbling around in the dark looking for it. The brush was thick and jagged, and he had to fight to keep himself from getting tangled.
"Ah, there you are," he exclaimed aloud as he spotted the metallic edge from the corner of his eye. He bent down further to reach it, but in doing so got his feet tangled in a bush. Staggering for a moment, he tried to catch his balance, but then fell head first into the brush. Down the hill he tumbled, until he came to an abrupt stop against the trunk of a large tree.
In a daze, he brought himself to his feet slowly. He winced in pain from a bruise on his ribs where he smacked the tree, but as far as he could he tell he wasn't seriously wounded. The datapad however, was nowhere to be found.
For the first time in a long time he felt somewhat fearful, he just wanted to get out of there and back to the base. Thinking it would be best to head back the way he came, he started up the hill, but soon realized it was much too steep on this side and would have to take the long way around. He picked a direction that looked the least menacing and headed out. He had only a gone a hundred meters or so when he heard a loud crackle of branches breaking under somethings feet. He stopped, frozen in his tracks to listen.
Then he saw it, only a few meters from himself was a massive Bull Rancor! Terrified, he held his breath and watched as the Rancor wandered about.Don't move he
said to himself don't let him see you. But it was too late, the Rancor caught his scent and let out a heart-stopping roar as it charged him. Bravely the soldier drew his blaster and fired at the Rancor, but it was uneffective against its thick armored skin. Realizing he was unequipped for the situation he turned and ran in a panick. Fleeing for his life, the soldier sprinted as hard as he could, but the Rancor kept gaining on him. With each heavy thud of its feet the Rancor got closer and closer, until the soldier could feel the swoosh of air against his back as the Rancor clawed at him, and smelled its hideous breath. He thought he was doomed.
Then suddenly, something caught his feet and he fell hard to the ground. His face planted painfully into the dathomir soil, and for a moment everything went black. He thought he was dead, finished by this evil planet and the monstrosities that inhabited it. Regaining his senses, he desperately he tried to crawl away on his hands and knees, but he was caught in some kind of trap. Like a giant spider web, a mesh entangled his feet and was covered in some sort of adhesive. Fighting for dear life, he struggled to free himself, but could not. Looking over his shoulder, he expected to face his impending doom, but then realized the Rancor was caught too. It was clawing and slashing its way through the mesh in a flurry of anger, and roaring ferociously.
Suddenly, a loud blast of heavy rifle fire rang out, and the soldier saw a flash of energy strike the Rancor. Its thick armor glowed red hot at the rifle score and it bellowed out a horrendous scream that the was the worse sound the soldier have ever heard. In a terrible rage the Rancor ripped himself free from the mesh and charged at its attacker, smashing and tearing its way through the foliage as it went.
The Soldier watched as the Rancor tore its way through the forest, towards the bush where the shots were fired. Just when it seemed the Rancor was right on top of it, a flash of white hot light filled the night sky. The Soldier tried to cover his eyes but it was too bright. His eyes burning, the soldier lay blinded only able to listen the events that followed. He heard yelling and more rifle fire, then a loud smack followed by another terrible scream from the Rancor and a shattering thud as it fell to the ground. Then, for a moment all was quiet.
As his vision returned, the soldier lay bewildered, thinking of the events that just happened. He couldn't make sense of it all, but somehow he was alive and greatful. Slowly, he pulled himself free from the broken trap and stood up. Looking around, he saw standing over the dead Rancor was a dark skinned zabraki male, wielding a powerhammer and was apparently investigating the body. Out of the bushes behind him crawled a large, maroon colored Trandoshan, holding a heavy T21 rifle in his hand.
The soldier observed as they went to work on the body. They were dressed in similar fashion, some sort of camouflage that made them almost indistinguishable from the foliage from certain angles, and they seemed to be arguing with each other about something. The Trandoshan spoke in dosh, a harsh and slithery speech the soldier couldn't understand, and the Zabrak replied in his own native language. The soldier had learned a fair amount of zabraki before, but it was too fast for him to comprehend. He could tell from his tone however, that the Zabrak was angry, and seemed to be questioning Trandoshan about something. The argument ended abruptly and when Trandoshan gestured at the soldier. The two stopped whatever they were doing and turned towards him.
"Hello there," the Zabrak said as he stood up and walk over to greet the soldier. "My partner and I tracked that beast for hours for a chance to engage him, it seems you nearly beat us to it."
As he spoke, something in the Zabrak's manner angered the soldier suddenly. He had nearly lost his life, and now this hunter was speaking so causally, as if it were all a game to him. He felt nervous, and eyed the Zabrak suspiciously as he walked closer. As he did, he noticed the glimmer of a medallion hanging about the Zabrak's neck. He couldn't read the inscription, but he recognized the symbol from the rebel database as an imperial marking. Anxiously, the Soldier's hand slid down his side, resting against his blaster. The Zabrak stopped mid-stride and followed his gaze to the medallion. In a quiet gesture, the Zabrak slipped the medallion underneath his shirt, as if to indicate he was not looking for a fight.
The Trandoshan seemed to notice this too, but did not appear so forgiving. He stood watching with his large, lizard eyes, staring coldly at the Soldier, his foreclaw clenched around the trigger of his rifle.
"You are a rebel soldier?" the Zabrak asked sharply.
The soldier was in no mood to play games, harshly he replied, "What business is it of your's?"
The zabrak paused for a moment, and looked down as if he were disappointed. Then his expression changed, and he looked up at the soldier gazing fiercly into his eyes.
"Be careful where you venture soldier," he said. "This place is not safe to wander alone," turning his back on the soldier as he spoke.
This angered the Soldier even more, he didn't care what just happened, he wasn't about to be intimidated by a couple of imperial vagabonds. Defiantly he shouted back at him, "This is an Alliance controlled area! I could have an entire squadron here in minutes!" he cried.
The Zabrak continued walking away, as if to ignore the Soldier, but then stopped and turned around to face him.
"You have never met a Ranger before have you?" he said almost smirking as he spoke. "Call your friends if you want to, wander aimlessly and search all you please, but know this; The wild belongs to no one, and only to those who truly seek to understand it may find refuge there." And with that he seemed to vanish right before the Soldier's own eyes, disappearing into the woods.
The soldier stood flabbergasted for a moment. They can't hide in the woods for long he thought. Thinking of chasing after them, he started towards the spot where they stood only seconds before, but then heard the sound of a speeder approaching his way. Looking over, he caught a glimpse of the rider, it was another Alliance patrolman.
"Are you alright?" the Patrolman called out.
"Yes, I'm fine" the Soldier replied, breathing a heavy sigh of relief.
"What happened out here, we heard a fight and came as soon as we could to investigate."
The soldier stared at him blankly, contemplating how to explain what had just happened. He wanted to go after them, fighting imperials was his business, but he somehow he felt unsure. Thinking about what the Zabrak had said to him, he thought better of it.
"I-I'm not sure," he said. "I'm came to investigate too... but I didn't find anything."
"You didn't find anything?" the Patrolmen asked surprisingly.
"Nothing," the Soldier replied, "now let's go home."
SaseO
Sat Jun 12, 2004 7:01 am
#2
thats really good you need to writee more of this stuff......pls i want to read more 
Belegdae
Sat Jun 12, 2004 8:06 am
#3
Very good. Rangers disappearing back into the wild that was great.
Enoshima
Sat Jun 12, 2004 11:13 am
#4
Nice read, liked it alot. I really wish the Ranger website was working, you could post it with the rest of the stories written by Rangers.
Message Edited by Enoshima on 06-12-2004 02:13 PM
Svengali666
Sun Jun 13, 2004 12:05 pm
#5
Good one man! Glad I got to read it in its entirety now.
So hey... quick question, what handsome, somemay ... dashing, Trandoshan and Zabrak pairing did you base your characters off of??
Scarin
Tue Jun 15, 2004 3:48 pm
#6
Enoshima wrote:
Nice read, liked it alot. I really wish the Ranger website was working, you could post it with the rest of the stories written by Rangers.
Thanks, which site are you talking about? If its up at all I'd at least like to read some of the other stories myself.
Svengali666 wrote:Good one man! Glad I got to read it in its entirety now.So hey... quick question, what handsome, some may ... dashing, Trandoshan and Zabrak pairing did you base your characters off of??
Haha, I'll give you one guess man.
Calculus_Entropy
Tue Jun 15, 2004 8:54 pm
#9
I finally got the chance to read this fine work, and I am glad I did! GREAT JOB!!!
Venom1656
Fri Jun 25, 2004 4:27 am
#11
Nice story, really liked it a lot. I want more.
Manhacochett the Wookiee
Ranger, it's a lifestyle not a profession.
Phenix1050
Fri Jun 25, 2004 6:16 am
#12
I like, I like.
A great read...entertaining and interesting and...dare I say it...strumtrulescent. (yeah, it's a word...you should watch more old-school SNL)
However I am greatly disappointed to see that you left out Bothan Rangers. Clearly, unbeknownst to the Rebel officer there were one (or more) Bothans who also engaged in the Battle with the Rancors. However, he failed to notice them (despite them jumping up and down repeatedly) and they got bored and went off into the wild to drink. By the time the silly Zabraki and Trando were talking to the guy, the Bothan(s) were already having a ripping good time. No punch bowls were injured in the incident.
MonsofoLexius
Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:04 am
#13
Wow, very nice! Thanks for taking the time to share that!
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