Title: Animals of the stars: Imperial Interest Chonas Larkin had been lying in wait for over six hours now. He had settled into position just as the imperial shuttle had landed covering himself with his mesh cape, making sure no signs of his presence was visible to the Imperials on board. He had no reason to hide from the Imperials but something told him that if he was discovered it would be trouble. This planet was on the outer rim of the galaxy and he guessed the Imperials were there for the same reason as he was. Ever so slightly he checked the power of his modified blaster, making sure that if trouble came he would make it unpleasant for anyone within blaster range. So Chonas thought, the Imperials have heard of the Jarrack cats of this planet. The Jarrack is a phase shifting predator, a myth most thought. It has never been reported on any planet except this one. It has been rumoured that the Jarrack has the ability to sense or smell force sensitive creatures and its ability to phase shift during an attack makes it the perfect Jedi hunter. Why would Imperials want such a creature, surely there is no Jedi left in the galaxy he pondered. The planet itself had no name, due to it being a myth and all, but it showed up in Chonas` view port as he had hoped when leaving hyperspace. He had patched together nav references from many sources; he had travelled to many cantinas around the galaxy. Having to mingle with some of the lowest of low found in the darkest corners of the galaxy. It was in these cantinas that he gleamed planet references when trying to plot his course to this desolate and uninhabited planet. The planet itself had an unwelcoming aura to it; the grass was dry and looked dead. Many giant skeletons lay scattered here and there, of these quite a few looked as if they had died in combat. It had a blood red sun, which made the landscape look quite foreboding. The ground itself was of scorched earth, dry and dead. Any plants that survived here were sickly looking and to tell the truth quite intimidating. But some things survive on this planet, he had seen many tracks that day and found some odd looking animals feeding off the dead grass. Chonas had been lying unmoving now for over seven hours, this never bothered him overly. His job as a creature handler required lots of patience and control of his body as he waited and watched. He had once waited for 3 days on the planet Talus rarely moving, waiting for a Sludge Panther pup to wander close enough for him to stun and retrieve. He had managed to also track and capture its sister and over the years since then they forged a strong friendship. The first of the cats he called Fire, and Fires sister he called Brimstone. A beep sounded in his comm. Indicating that the power on his mesh cape was running low, damn he thought he must have forgotten to fully charge it before leaving his ship. He had under an hour left on his cape. His wife Lloris designed the mesh, it incorporated a mini holo projector that blended the fibres to match his surroundings and heated him at night. It was no cloaking device but had saved his life many times. The Imperials hadn’t scanned the area around the shuttle yet and he so far had avoided detection, but if he was to continue his search he had to get back to his ship fast. Chonas snapped out of his thoughts as the hatch of the Imperial shuttle descended with a hiss of releasing gas. As it hit the ground it threw up a cloud of dull and lifeless dust. Through the dust came the startling contrast of Imperial Stormtroopers, their white armour making them stand out in this drab landscape. Chonas counted ten troopers, and one commanding officer followed by what appeared to be Imperial scientists. The troopers set up a perimeter around the shuttle, while the scientists started unloading large plasteel cages. The cages looked odd to Chonas, but he soon realised that the cages were modified like his. So he thought you have done your research too. The cages had been retrofitted with a small energy shield; they heard the tales of these cats phase shifting. The Imperials were setting up a base camp with the Troopers deploying sentry guns and the scientists erecting temporary labs. As the last tent was finished the sky darkened with heavy clouds, he had heard of this from his contacts. The tales of sudden electrical storms and torrential rain on this planet had created some interesting tales. An old spice runner describing how his navi computer malfunctioned and his hyperspace jump ended in this planets atmosphere. He said that he was lucky to survive a random hyperspace jump but wished he hadn’t been in the air when one of these storms broke. All his instruments had gone wild; the only thing that saved him was his emergency thrusters that fired as he neared the planets surface. Suddenly all power in Chonas cape shut down, he quickly glanced at the Stormtroopers who now were running back up the ramp to escape the storm. All the equipment around the shuttle shut down and the air was filled with static electricity. The power in the shuttle also shut down, this gave Chonas a window of escape. But he hoped he could get back to his ship without getting fried. Chonas scrambled down the opposite bank, making sure he wasn’t seen by the Imperial troops. Tripping and gashing his leg as he was buffeted by the intense winds, he made a dash for the mouth of a set of caves barely surviving a lightning blast that struck nearby. He had landed his ship the “Fire Hawk” at the bottom of a ravine a few klicks away, but he decided that it was too dangerous a journey at this time . Limping, he entered the first cave covering his tracks as he went. The inside of the cave was dark, dry and smelt of bantha podo. “Great” Chonas sighed as he hunkered down and peeled back the torn leggings around his wound, it wasn’t deep but hurt enough to slow him down. Opening a pouch at his side he took out his med pack and dressed his wound while cursing his luck. He had been here two days now and hadn’t found any traces of the Jarrack. He had promised his wife, he wouldn’t be long. He knew how much she worried, but she had to understand this was his job. He got paid a lot of credits for exotic animals for many rich and powerful people. He even did a job for Jabba the Hutt, although he would never tell his wife he had risked his life for a Crime Lord or that he had travelled to the distant planet of Dathomir and brought back a baby Rancor. His life wouldn’t be worth living if she found out… Chonas finished his dressing, and with the storm impeading any imperial search decided to get something to eat. Switching on his comm, he tried to contact R15D51 his astromech on the Fire Hawk. Nothing but static bursts as his comm shorted out due to the electrical storm, he switched it off and checked outside. Rain started to pelt the ground around the cave mouth throwing up muddy splashes into the air, sighing again Chonas skulked back into the cave. This was gonna be a long wait. Bored now Chonas ignighted his power torch and decided to investigate the cave. At the back of the cave Chonas found a tunnel leading to another chamber. This chamber was lower than the first and he had to crouch to gain access. As he thought he reached the back of the chamber he noticed little white twigs on the floor, on closer inspection he realised they were bones. Some animal made a home here not too long ago, and a hungry one at that. Chonas decided to piece together the bones to see if it would give him any indication of animal types on this planet. As he finished the first skelengton he realised it was a cat, a big cat, around 4ft high and 8ft long. As he reached for the next skull, he heard a wimpering coming from further back in the cave. Slowly he increased the light of this power torch and scanned the back wall. From the back wall were two glowing red eyes, very small around a foot from the ground. The animal was black with white spots, it looked very young. Could this be the animal he was looking for Chonas thought? As he moved towards the cat he stepped on a loose bone with a loud SNAP and the animal vanished! Chonas could barely believe what he had seen, the myths were true and here he had stumbled across a real Jarrack. Possibly an orphan by the looks of it, the skelengtons closly matching the bone structure of the animal he had seen. The only question is, how does he capture an animal able to transport itself through walls? He didn’t bring his nets or the shielded cages he had constructed.
