Dredd crept through the forest’s thick flora beside his squad leader, a blaster pistol he retrieved off one of the militia men raised in caution. He always scavenged guns, never holding on to one long enough to change ammunition or cores, because he hated them. Not only was he a piss poor shot in comparison to many of his Mandalorian brothers, but there was no expression in simply pulling a trigger; it was a cold, unemotional and mechanical act. But when travelling as a group as they did now he needed to have one in hand, especially when taking point.

The forest was eerily quiet with the only sounds being the tiny footsteps of the squad and the occasional echoes of battle from far in the distance. Dredd was careful where he planted his feet, feeling the dry earth beneath his boots. It was surprising to him how such a seemingly dry environment could bear fruit to so much flora; particularly on the plains. He wondered how easily such places could be burnt to the ground, and as such thoughts played on his mind he thought he could even smell smoke on the air. 

[b][i]SNAP[/i][/b]

A branch was broken ahead of the group and, before Rika even gave the signal, Dredd found himself dropping to the ground and enabling his stealth field generator. He laid utterly motionless with his head titled upward whilst the hostile party came closer. When the Jedi leading the group came into sight Dredd let out a large eternal sigh. He loved fighting up close, but against a magic space wizard with a laser sword? If he had to take one down he would need to do it from the shadows or when the Jedi was unarmed. And with the Jedi known as Nar less than a couple of metres ahead of him that seemed unlikely; that’s why he began to sweat as Mar and the HK began to plan their attack.

[b][i]“If these idiots start blasting I’m going to have to try dodge their fire and stick my knife in this Jedi’s back.”[/i][/b] he thought to himself. He would have said it out loud if he believed the Jedi were not close enough to hear. Slowly, without sudden movements, Dredd placed down the gun and unsheathed his vibroknives.