[center]
[h1][color=fff79a]Merak Shenly[/color][/h1]
[hr]
[b]Location:[/b] Dantooine, approaching the ruined enclave
[b]Interacting With:[/b] [@DirtyDingo]'s Alessia, [@Delta44]'s Aether
[hr]
[/center]

With the briefing out of the way, they could part ways with Blitz Crew and focus on their part of the mission. As they approached the enclave, the trio took cover behind a large stack of crates before making an initial move into the courtyard out front, which was just as well for at that moment a patrol of about fifteen or so Mandalorians appeared. Craske and the rest of his men had already disappeared from view. They were on their own.
It made Merak nervous. He had been hoping for a ‘creep in, creep out’ approach where they completely escaped notice from their enemies. Of course, fate, or the Force as his Jedi companions might have said, had other ideas…
He should have of course been used to their mysterious ways by now, but it still caught him off guard slightly to hear their voices in his head, especially for the pair to exchange words as casually as if they were having a verbal conversation. The smuggler would sit there for a while as Alessia and Aether both proposed strategies for moving forward. 

He realised that they couldn’t just sit there and wait for the Mandalorians to pass them, and that the Jedi were waiting expectantly to hear his input. Blinking at them both, Merak shook his head and, with some difficulty (he never did understand exactly how to do this whole ‘talk inside other people’s heads’ thing the Jedi had going on), managed to put forward his own thoughts without speaking and just hope that they could hear him.
[color=fff79a][i]Well...we can’t risk them doubling back and finding us while Blitz is busy, can we?[/i][/color] he pointed out. [color=fff79a][i]So Alessia’s right, we’ve got to put them down or we’ll be in for more trouble later. Using the crates as cover sounds like a good idea, and we do have the element of surprise on our side.[/i][/color] of course none of the trio had considered the possibility of backup being sent once the fifteen-man patrol never returned to their leaders to deliver their report; but that wasn’t their chief concern in the moment. The patrol was getting closer, a moment longer and their window of opportunity would pass.

Hefting his vibroknife into a better grip position, Merak nodded again. [i][color=fff79a]I’m ready when you are. [/color][/i]
Whether they chose to use the crates or not, they would have to move quickly once they revealed their position to the Mandalorians in order to dispose of them before they could make enough noise to alert any more of their allies. Though he was less skilled with a knife than with ranged weapons, it would be easier to get past the heavy-duty armour the Mandalorians wore with a blade that could slip through the gaps in the plating than it would be trying to blast straight through the thickest parts with gunfire. He’d learned that during the war and hadn’t forgotten it.