The hoots of two-dozen marsuuk leapers made a melody with the rushing sound of the river Salazar's speeder hovered over. It was like music to his ears. Just wait until Archie discovered what was in store! Salazar had had a lot of time to think while he sat in the cargo container that he'd escaped the bulk hauler explosion in. By the time he was finally picked up his space suit had stunk like a Mondriun gas farm. Still, he was feeling pretty good about things. He'd stayed a step ahead of his old friend all along, even had the map Archie had made of the route to the Temple. What an amazing place. Once a century the three moons aligned and shone straight through the alien lenses, coalescing into luminous crystals of pure moonlight. What a score this would be!
A blip on the speeder's sensors brought him back to the present. Archie was approaching and, by the speed he was moving, on foot. Perfect. He put the vocalizer to his mouth and a few hoots and whistles burst from it. The marsuuk troup bounced off towards Archie's location, the smell of ripe banotans drawing them like a magnet.
***
Archie could hear the sound of rushing water up ahead. That would be the river. He'd originally planned on using the river as a highway for his speeder but he'd have to take a shortcut. He'd discovered a thing or two about the local geography after he'd made the map that Salazar was probably following. Hopefully that would help.
A sudden chorus of shrieks and hoots erupted from the trees around him, as a horde of tiny long-limbed creatures swarmed out of the trees towards him. Archie staggered as they leapt on him, pulling at his pack, climbing on his head, and tripping up his feet. His pack fell to the ground and six of the little critters dragged it up out of reach. A long hooting whistle sounded from not far off, and the creatures hurried off. Archie tried to give chase but he could not keep up through the trees. A moment later the sound of a speeder powering up reached his ears. It seemed like Salazar had pulled another fast one. Archie hated to admit it, but that rogue was a good planner. He almost grinned, then remembered that the alien artifact that would supposedly open the temple was in that pack.
Archie sighed, picked up a banotan that had spilled out of his pack before he lost it, and trudged off towards the river to look for a shortcut. At least they hadn't taken his satchel.
### Latest WIP ###
MarssukAmbush.png
If anyone is interested, this is the initial tiny sketch I did to plan this map:
roughSketch.jpg
Thanks for following along!
Cheers,
Meshon