The Beast of Bacrana

Slowly, the connection was made, the fear and aggression emanating from the immense beast nearly overwhelming Kitichik's senses, as his own frustration bridged the gap between his outstretched hand and the lead Bantha, forcing the massive creature to pivot ever so slightly. The noise of the agitated herd reached a crescendo as the herd began to turn, the beasts bumping into each other with angry shakes of their large curled horns and gnashing of teeth. Reynar, expertly kept the struggling speeder bike free from the massive legs that threatened to over take the, even has the engines groaned in protest. Perhaps with some relief the town, that had been straight before them and rapidly approaching, began to shift to the peripheral of their view as the thundering, stampede began to move away. Still connected to the lead beast, Kitichik felt a sharp surge of frustration, an uneasiness that did not seem to be the beasts' own.

From his elevated vantage point, Matey could see the cloud of dust that had been quickly approaching began to move away, the near deafening pounding of hooves and agitated lowing lessening slightly, only to unexplainably increase in intensity. What had been tiny vibrations associated with the ringing cauldron, increased to violent quakes that had the stone tower swaying, the people below who had been heeding his warnings and making their way towards the structure now began to disperse in a panic.

Out on the plain Deng, despite the raucous crowd of miners, could not help but notice the eerie quiet of the surroundings, as if all was holding it's breath, before the ground began to violently shake.

---

Out on the open grassland there was little in the way of a high vantage point, however some comfort might be found as clearly the dust cloud and agitated groaning of the herd was moving away from Deng and his merry band. The crisis seem to have been adverted, though bantha steaks for dinner there would be not.

Whatever relief would be short lived as the shaking, now clearly not a cause of hooves pounding the ground, intensified and tore the drunken miners from their revelry. Eyes widening with near panic all seemed to turn, as one, towards the good doctor.

---

Matey looks around reflexively as the ground begins to shake, and being detached from his comrade(s) by some distance, gets on his comm as he kicks up his jetpack and flies back toward the mining center.

"Reynar, what's your status? I'm heading back toward the mine administrator..."

In town, the gathered crowd looked up with a bit of uncertainty and yet relief, despite the violent quaking of the ground beneath them, as the appearance of the mysterious droid, whose wild calls and timely ringing of the bell had them in the relative safety of the open square, even as their odd, mechanical savior jetted off towards what they could only assume its headquarters at the mining camp.

Reynar confirming their success, or the Jedi's rather even if his actions were no less important, turned the now struggling speeder back towards the camp, repulsors absorbing the violent shaking of the ground, leaving he and his Jedi companion unaffected by the quake.

Upon the open plain Deng's less than confident phrasing did little to spur the miners to any sort of action, though the fact he presented where no less true, leaving the agitated mob cowed for the moment and content to ride out the shaking in the safety of the open. It was clear however to the doctor that they most likely would be returning to camp, concerned with whatever damage the earthquake might have caused to their own situation than the neighboring town.

Matey was the first to arrive back at the camp, the damage minimal to his ocular sensors, despite the now haphazard layout to the camp, the temporary structures no longer in the orderly rows and instead at odd and different angles, the shaking of the ground having shifted them on their makeshift foundations. A testament to the manufacturer that the structures all were intact and as safe as they were when first erected. The droids sensitive auditory receivers however picked up from the grumbling miners milling about that much of the equipment however did not fair as well, the more optimistic of them cheerily offering that at least now they all would have work and within the safe confines of the camp.

The protest, the stampede, the quake, all combined to be enough excitement for the day thus it was when Reynar and Kitichik arrived that most of the camp had successfully assisted the cantina owner in putting his establishment back in order and were raucously engaged in forgetting the mornings troubles.

---

Seeing Raynar and the other few folks who took action, Matey lands with a thunk and a small dust cloud ejecting around him.

His speakers buzz, "Nnngt... what was that all about... Angry ranchers? Negligent, perhaps? Or were they wild beasts?

We should see what the colony administrator knows, yes?"

The unlikely group of heroes, thrown together in the excitement of the mornings occurrences, regrouped back at the mining camp, ready to take assessment and decide next steps. Deng, as the camp doctor, understandably was concerned with the safety and wellbeing of his panel. His call to assess the conditions of the mines fell on deaf ears, the mornings labor strike and protest insuring that no being would have been working and as for the condition, well the consensus of the disgruntled laborers was that that was a corporate problem. Seeing the rest of their comrades at the cantina, the crowd that had followed the doctor's earlier call to assist the town, begin dispersing towards the promised drink and fellowship with the danger seemingly passed.

Kitichik, sensing something broader at work, sensibly asked Reynar if he would be willing to join him looking beyond the confines of the camp whilst the Twi'lek skiptracers droid suggested they continue their prior conversation with the camp administrator. The Director, no longer cowering in his office, was instead outside the bar with voice amplifier attempting, unsuccessfully, to spur the camp to action. The mines needed to be surveyed for damage, the equipment inventoried and what had been damaged repaired, and the prefab structures placed back in their more orderly positions. The miners for their part, already having disrupted their day for the picket line and subsequent stampede and quake, were ignoring the corporate exec whose instructions were quickly delving into threats of docked pay and dismissal when the odd team of fringer, doctor, Jedi, and droid approached.