Jack of the Universe

Part 1: Jack and the Dragon

One hand over the other, another step and another foot wedged between rocks. The grav-locks on his suit were turned up to gain more purchase on the cave ceiling, but could only do so much to keep him suspended in the air. "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick." He muttered, voice a bit strained with effort as he shifted over another handhold. "Jack climb over a fucking Dragon!" He complained, glancing down at the sleeping beast resting in the belly of the cave.

A soft laugh crackled out of his com unit. "You know it is a Drinarian Fire Breather, not this Dragon you speak of, yes?" The voice of his current leader stated, amused at his apparent misinformation.

The young human gave a grunt of annoyance. "Same thing, really. Dragons are human myth, so it's what I recognize it as- shit!" He explained, cursing when his foot slid free from its perch. He paused a moment to regain his bearings. "Now let me concentrate, I need to not die." He complained, heaving a deep breath before continuing.

"I thought it was impossible to kill humans?" The voice asked in confusion, drawing a groan from the annoyed human.

"While I wish that were true, it's not. Just rather difficult comparatively." He replied, having had this same conversation with nearly every crew he'd been a part of in the past. Most were under the impression that humans were invincible, though Jack knew that certainly wasn't the case. While he had yet to die, there had been some close calls, situations he would rather not repeat. Though, nothing that would make him quit adventuring or helping those that needed it.

His current crew was mostly made up of Linlindrea, a species that reminded him of a mix between marshmallows and jellyfish, with telepathic abilities. He had been hired to help with the retrieval of some of their stranded members, who had gotten stuck in a cave and misplaced. Apparently, they needed specific coordinates to use their teleportation beacons to get home. His job was to find them and activate his transmitter so that the retrieval could take place.

Blinking his eyes harshly, he wished he could reach his face to wipe the sweat from his vision. Sadly, his helmet prevented that, though it also prevented the atmosphere from killing him, so that was a plus. It only took a few more minutes of grueling work to get himself into position to drop down to the tunnel opening, raised off the cave floor a good twenty feet. Dropping from the ceiling, another fifteen feet up, he rolled out of the landing down the tunnel. With a grunt and a forming bruise on his shoulder, he came to a stop sprawled on his back. Chest heaving as his muscles finally were able to fully relax, he enjoyed the feeling of still being able to breathe.

After a moment to catch his breath, he pulled himself up into a sitting position. "Well, not dead at least, and I made it past big scaly there." He reported to his employer.

"That is good. Now you just need to find the others." His current captain informed him. Though, looking at the several branching tunnels before him, he knew that task was much easier said than done.

"Alright, I'll contact you again when I have an update." He reported before shutting off his end of the channel. He heaved a sigh before gazing about at the tunnels. "Eeny, meeny, miny, you." He muttered, choosing one at random and starting down it. He had his echo locator, but since he seriously didn't want to wake up the scaled behemoth in the cave he elected to not use anything with loud, high-pitched noises unless he had to.

After two hours of searching the tunnels, he finally picked up the sound of voices coming from up ahead. Being pretty sure it was the Linlindrea he was searching for, he followed the sound. Though, past experience enforcing his caution, he didn't let his guard down as he approached. Instead, he pulled out his blaster, set it to stun to be safe, and held it pointed towards the top of the cave tunnel.