Faction Draelvasier | Sharing in the rage

[Tathra Khaeus]

Draemidus System

​

The Return:
Four months after leaving the Kardun System
Tags: Kathrok | Ostak Cl'mana |

The Draelvasier Stryker Shard had been in transit for months. The ship continued to send out repeating signals, while it could - but its transmitter's functionality was limited to short-range bursts. The Stryker continued to drift through space, the repairs Tathra had been capable of with limited tools; only staving off the hazards of space for long enough to draw near the border of the known Galaxy. Life support had begun to malfunction, allowing the white-hot cold to seep into the ship. Rations ran low, and finally, the thrusters of the Shard gave out. The Stryker drifted into Galactic borders, carrying its slumbering crew into the Draemidus System.

Ice crawls up between the cracks of the Shards pronged fins, seeping into the interior of the ship. The crew deck, silent and covered in a layer of frost, alongside the three Drael - near death; too weak from the cold to move or wake. The observation shield is nearly splintered, blurred by the permafrost cracking its surface. But the red flickers of the blight are unmistakable.

The ionic maelstrom was the first light to shine into the cockpit of the Stryker in weeks, the faintest heat felt on the eyelids of Tathra Khaeus, lax in the pilot's chair. His brow shifted, fighting under the constraints of the cold clinging to his carapace. Even the slightest movement forced his skin to shed and snap, breaking away from his crown as his eyes shifted under their lids. A rattled growl left the gaps in his teeth, fighting back the fatigue as the gold light of his eyes crept through his parting eyelids. The ionic flashes, even through the fogged shield, the lights of the storm were a distinct colour, burned into his memory. He'd spent too many nights, huddled on the surface of Draemidus - staring up at that storm whilst it kept him awake through the night. His limbs tried to move, instinct kicking in as his hearts tried to pump blood through his body but his limbs were under a great weight hanging inside of his skin.

His vision failed, perhaps minutes or days passed - the Titan had no concept of time as a fresh new light broke through the violently shaking hull of the Stryker. A white light, coming from all directions. Interior lighting. Tathra could not speak, the air frozen in his lungs as he looked back at the two near frozen over Draelvasier in adjacent seats of the cockpit. He coughed through his husk-like throat, ice shards breaking against his jaw as unknown things clambered around the observation shield. They couldn't see through the blast shield either, frozen over as it was.

Soon, sparks came from the damaged hull - plasma torches cutting into the observation shield and ceiling above the cockpit as a magnetic clamp attempted to pull it away, patchwork repairs falling and snapping off in every direction. The sparks fell against his crown, sparks of heat prodding his conscious mind. Tathra forced his half-open, hands clambering at his waist, dull with an ache to any feeling as the light cut into the Stryker as the hull and observation shield was torn away. He could smell the alien scavengers before he heard or saw them. His eyes, shifted into infrared as to soften the overstimulation of the scavenger ship's interior flood lights and search flashlights. The cold air came out like a swath of steam, a fog as the scavengers dropped into the cockpit.

He could feel the heat in his blood again.

"By the force.." One murmured, cocking a blaster pistol at the three paralyzed Drael. They wouldn't be able to tell if any of them were alive, but he could. Tathra could see the heat rising slowly, yet still faint in Kathrok. But Ostak was behind him, he couldn't see the Overseer at all.

"I ain't ever seen Drael wearing stuff like this..." Another, slightly further away spoke now. There was a shake in his voice, Tathra was unmistakable as the gold light ebbed from his opened lids.

Warm in his bones, aching as they were.

One stood opposite him, looking at the other two further down into the cockpit. Another aimed a blaster rifle at kathrok's head. Tathra could feel the blood in his veins, weak and slow as it was. Feeling crept back through him as his left hand found the Glaive still at his hip. With a struggle, he pulled it from its clasp - dragging it slowly across his stomach, and aimed for the scavenger opposite him.

"Kark! That one's alive!" One of the unknown number of scavengers outside of the Stryker called out.

The blaster-toting scavenger opposite Tathra turned, aiming the weapon at the Titan's head. The Glaive had frozen over along with him, unable to project out of its hilt. The scavenger fired, point blank as the blaster bolt exploded against Tathra's crown - leaving a black scorch mark and little else.

Had they forgotten already? If he didn't act, force himself to move. The others would kill Ostak and Kathrok as they slept.

It'd been too long since he spilled human blood.

A cold stir had begun to rise in the air, the scavenger's shaky grip on his blaster worsening with every second. The others were only spectators with guns half-raised. Tathra turned back to face the scavenger, fighting against his own skin to turn his head back to face his attacker. But as soon as they realised he was still alive, they were ready to fire. Tathra barked, lunging out of his seat as he drove the retracted blade into the stomach of the scavenger, gutting him as both fell to the cockpit floor.

A chorus of gasps and shouting voices followed a barrage of blaster fire. Tathra landed on his side, back pressed against the navigation terminal. Quickly grasping the fallen pistol and opening fire on the turning scavenger. Not that he wouldn't have been killed moments later by the untrained fire of the others. Blaster fire ricocheted inside of the cockpit, striking his chair and narrowly missing the other two Drael. He couldn't reach them, not from here. Tathra raised the scavenger's blaster, struggling to aim it properly in his weakened state. The weapon was clumsy and awkward in his grasp, making it take more effort than usual as he fired at the underside of Kathroks chair, forcing it to collapse under its own weight and take him to the floor. Thankfully Ostak's chair faced the other way and was protected by the pilot's chair. The air of the scavenger ship was doing the Drael wonders, the ice in his joints melting away. Another stray bolt struck the comms panel, breaking part of the console.

He had to get out of the cockpit. With enough blaster fire, the striker was likely to blow if a stray bolt hit its exposed fuel lines. But Tathra couldn't use his cannon, frozen as it was - it'd blow a hole in the hull of the scavenger ship and then they'd be back in the cold. The Titan rose out from cover, throwing the Glaive as it expanded - blasting away the ice and impaling a scavenger to the wall. He hunched under the broken hull, using his boot on the nav console to push him out onto the extended railing platform holding the Stryker up in their hangar bay. Tathra opened fire with the blaster, missing every shot but firing wildly enough to keep the blaster fire focused on him. There was a wild, desperation in his eyes, the scavengers were little more than sacks of flesh to him. He bound close, blaster fire bouncing off of the Titan's armour, grunting as his first strike punted the closest into the control panel next to the only door in the centre of the room.

Their blaster fell to the ground, a splatter of blood running down from where their head had struck the wall, cracking inward like an old bruised fruit. The next felt his armoured hands tear into their flesh, pulling them up into his jaw as he tore their leg off, eating half of their thigh, spitting splintered bone and blood into the visor of another as he kicked their leg in back-wards. His rising fist crashed down and popped the scavenger's chest open as their shoulders caved in over their collarbone, body sinking into the bending away railing.

Tathra pulled the Glaive free of the impaled scavenger, turning now on the last scavenger, who was slamming on the broken and blood-stained console to open the door, panic and fear in his eyes. Tathra took the Glaive into a two-handed, approaching slowly enough to let the last of them draw his weapon. A chance to die properly at least. When he did, Tathra struck immediately - parting his feet, bringing the right end of the Glaive down in a swift strike. The blade cut through the scavenger's chest like nothing had been there at all. The momentum pulled the corpse down, yanked off its feet, and to the ground.

Tathra finally breathed, hoarse as he leaned against the Glaive. His thoughts were racing, how had they encountered human scavengers in Drael space? Had they gone off-course? Had they never reached Draemidus at all? But he knew what he saw. Tathra sank to his knees, unable to stand as the adrenaline faded.

 

[Berok]

Tathra Khaeus

Draemidus Prime
Tunnel Karavos

Tunnel Karavos was a fortified part of the planet's vast tunnel network. Reinforced with all the metal they could find, it provided both a living space and a place to grow or breed food. Water, shelter, and warmth, all the basics of life. Aside from a place to exercise, there was not much more to Tunnel Karavos, it had a place to store salvage, weapons, and trade with what few groups they could reach.

Leaving the tunnel for a long period usually meant a fight, death, or a near miss with it. Wildlife was a constant and deadly danger. So trade, scavenging, and hunting were all dangerous aspects of life here. Every week each one of them risked death to sustain their home.

Home to twelve of his kin, they had learned to laugh at that danger, it was the way to get through it. This season's attacks had proven insufficient to breach their tunnel defenses. Unlike the last cycle when Rhivak's were probing their defenses, three got into their southern habitat tunnel and killed their commander before the alarm was sounded. He went out fighting, which was all any of them could ask down here.

It had been an uneventful few months. Almost on time, the blinking light on a run-down computer came to life. It took a while for anyone to notice. They got the message every so often at unreliable intervals but all responses so far had met with no answer.

"Gkron, start the generator. " The signal was repeating again.

Nobody expected them to have any luck this time, they'd been out of contact so long with any of their kind. The signal was probably a dead ship, but Berok had a duty to answer, so he sent a reply as always on time.

A weak old generator powered up on the planet's surface, usually saved for only the essentials, as spare parts and power cells weren't easy to find. A moment later, a beacon message was sent out to the source of the transmission. It gave the recognition code of their crashed ship and named their former commander as their leader here, who had died a season ago. It told them their condition at that time, and a safe place to land.

Just like the many other times, it was an automated message, as they'd long lost the ability to send direct communication into orbit. They could still receive, but as that same signal was sent out on a repeating loop, they didn't expect a response. Berok was dependable and right now that trait might reward all of them.

 

[Maulis]

Tathra Khaeus Berok

Maulis was with berok in the cave she was doing her best to heal those she could with the force and her limited knowledge of how to heal using the force. She was trained for more offensive uses of the force not healing as she kneeled down healing a drael who had just come back from scavenging for food. And trading with another group they could reach part of her hated that the drael had fallen so far from the stories she heard the draelvasier had the galaxy quaking out of fear. She would have loved to see that and met enemies on the battlefield conquering and purging the galaxy of alien life.

As she arose the drael she healed would be fine he needed rest now he walked over to berok "I know it's a long shot but hopefully their Alive and friendly" she said placing a hand on beroks arm. Trying to comfort him and give him hope she looked at the computer screen. She knew the rest of the group looked up to berok but everyone needed someone to lean on she tried to be that for berok even if he might not want her to be. Not knowing who or what was floating out there just knowing that they had technology that the drael could use.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Aboard the Scavenger Ship
Tags: Ostak Cl'mana | Kathrok | Maulis | Berok

Tathra wheezed, crown planted against the dull hilt of the Glaive. The blade below sunk a little lower into the ribbed texture of the platform, the drip, drip of blood his sole present focus. It lingered with him, like the instinct of an old beast. Ice-cold water was dripping from every open spot, every tear of the fabric. A cold sweat or the melting ice, he couldn't tell. Both likely.

How were scavengers in Drael space? Uncontested.

His ankles took the weight as his old feet were dragged until upright - pushing on the Glaive as it cut deeper into the ribbed platform. He slid back over the cockpit, using the chairs to steady himself as he got closer to the two still frozen over Drael. One went over his shoulder, and the other dragged along by hand to the edge of the cockpit. With effort, he was back out - settling both down on the platform. Tathra checked his right gauntlet, looking at the attached cannon. He brought the underside of his wrist close for inspection, seeing the thick pads of ice clinging to the indents of the cannon.

How was it possible? What had happened to his Empire? That would explain the lack of aid he'd sent for years ago. But it had never crossed his mind, the worst had never been an option at all.

The Titan cocked the cannon, bringing the under barrel forward and aiming it at the newly organised pile of dead scavengers. They hadn't been useful in life, how that'd serve as fuel. Fitting. The flames of Tathra's cannon shot out in a long, narrow stream. Quickly setting the pile of bodies opposite Kathrok and Ostak on fire.

They were no use alive, but now they served a purpose. As kindling.

 

[Kathrok]

Somewhere between sleep and consciousness Kathrok's mind stirred in response to the sounds of movement and aggression nearby. The young Drael couldn't make out any details nor string his thoughts together in any resemblance of sobriety. Lost amidst a haze of darkness, the armoured behemoth sat slumped against the hull of the ship, a far cry from the symbol of strength and ferocity that he normally stood to project.

A thin layer of ice covered his form, like crystalized dust from afar, his armour and hardened flesh glazed with a damp shimmer frozen in place due to the derelict vessel's time spent adrift in space. Any concept of time had been rendered entirely vacant. The Drael had fallen completely oblivious of the other two inhabitants, the vessel or any notion of where they were headed. It wasn't until Tathra Khaeus had been forced into action that beckoned an instinctive sense of conflict, almost predatory in nature, causing the blood to hasten within and his consciousness to search for familiarity and control of the state that had befallen him.

Still, he did not awaken. His body tried and failed against his weakened state, unlike their chieftain who had summoned the will to act alone. Perhaps it was inexperience that set the difference between the younger Drael's inability and the chieftain's independence, or perhaps it merely spoke to the strength of Tathra and what set their leader apart from the rest.

How Kathrok would have loved to be the one to slaughter the intruders. Thankfully, at least for the time being, he was spared such disappointment as his body struggled to defrost. A deepened slumber akin to hibernation or perhaps closer to that of cryosleep. A natural stasis for which only the strength of the Draelvasier kind, could survive.

Maulis | Berok ​

 

[Berok]

Draemidus Prime
Tunnel Karavos
Tag: Tathra Khaeus | Maulis | Kathrok

"We can hope Maulis," Concentrating hard on the screen. Even her limited healing had kept a lot of them alive during their time here, and her senses were often sharper than any of them. Her hand brought him some resolve for what followed.

The lights flickered at the power drain. Berok tried to reroute the connection from the storage areas to give them more time. It gave them a few more minutes transmission of their message. "Crosa," 'Courage' he said under his breath to Maulis. The lighting flickering got worse, and the defense grid keeping the doors locked down might fail if they held this up for too long. He knew the risk.

Another minute was all they could manage.

It was a long minute, the power drain becoming audible, and the tunnel began to tremor, either from the strain or something testing to see if it could get in. Light dust fell down around the console.

Few more seconds.

"Peliet" 'Enough' one of the older Drael stated, "turn it off."

They might look up to him to keep the lights on, the air flowing, the water pumping, and the food at temperature. Important duties for sure, but he wasn't the leader. Maulis though had her force sense.

Berok reached for the power switch and…

 

[Maulis]

Berok Tathra Khaeus Kathrok

Maulis stood there alongside berok "hope is about all we have left" she said loud enough for only berok to hear. She wasn't wrong as she stayed next to berok as much as they relied on her they also relied on him to keep everything working.

She could feel beroks desperation maulis felt it too "don't get us killed because you want to send out this message" maulis said. As she saw the lights flickering worse she wouldn't be able to use the force to protect them indefinitely and she wasn't sure if they had the parts to repair a broken generator if something happened.

Part of her wanted to enchant beroks mind to shut off the transmission but she wouldn't betray his trust. Like that as an elder drael spoke up "I agree with him berok stop for now" she said as she squeezed his arm lightly.

As he reached for the switch and pulled it the power went off for a few seconds then turned back on "thank drael" she whispered loud enough for berok to hear.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Tags: Ostak Cl'mana | Kathrok | Maulis | Berok

Puffs of black smoke were rising from the flames now, collecting on the ceiling above them. Tathra's feet slid out from under him, knocking into Kathrok's side as he fell to the ground. Every joint buckled under his weight, upper back and head crashing into the railing behind him. Only now as the adrenaline began to fade could he feel the tearing in his skin and muscles, like thousands of tiny cuts on his plated flesh and painful shivering beneath them. His hearts were working harder than they would in a vacuum to keep the air in his lungs, pushing the hot blood through the frozen was hard work. Burning the scavengers wasn't going to be enough. They were dissolving quickly, the acidic plasma eating through them, chunks falling through the grated floor.

He'd need to get to the life support controls for the ship and turn the heat up.

"Anytime now, brothers..." Tathra tried to crawl to his feet, voice straining as he spoke. Pushing up on his open palms.

He could hear the rest of the ship's crew beyond the door ahead of him, a dozen or maybe more and his cannon was still dysfunctional. He rose, pulling the Glaive from the floor with his right hand, and the composite sword from the sheath on his hip into his left.

 

[Kathrok]

Warmth. The crackling of the fire as the fats from human flesh began to roast and sizzle. These were the first familiar sensations felt from the nearby sustenance that Tathra Khaeus had provided them. Still aloof to the details of how what and why, Kathrok stirred nearby his superior Drael Ostak Cl'mana of whom the pair had sought to leave Ardak alongside their chieftain.

What had been a frozen layer of moisture covering his hulking frame soon began to dampen, gradually shifting down his armour and hardened flesh while his mind awoke from the involuntary slumber. His concentration strained to come to, consciousness returning at a sluggish, weakened pace. As if awakening from the rem cycle of deep sleep to a sudden urgency, his eyes snapped open, forcing flecks of ice to litter his face at the sudden motion.

A deep low growl emanated from behind his closed maw, lips twitching as he subconsciously tried to speak yet found too little strength in those initial seconds to do so, instinct driving him rather than purposeful thought or intended direction from the brain to the body. His fingers extended, stretching out slowly before reclusing back inward to the palm, the need to feel and retake control of his motor functions once more.

"Anytime now, brothers..."

Kathrok's head turned, though his eyes still struggled to find clarity of vision, he followed the voice to where Tathra Khaeus remained, hoping to uplift the two loyal Drael from their vacancy. "Chieftain" Kathrok spoke. Only a single word but an important one. An acknowledgement and response, as well as the Titan's title of leadership across their people.

As if the spoken word could rejuvenate sense back into the Drael's mind and body, Kathrok realized the sudden need to collect himself and serve their leader; to pull himself out of such a sorry state and be the vision of strength he sought to be for their people. His first instinct was to reach for his Radesh Shredder with his right arm, finding the fallen weapon down on the floor beside him. His Battle Axe lay flat near his left side, soon taken into the loose grip of the Drael's glaive.

"I am awake..." He grumbled, fighting the urge to close his eyes once more; "What happened?" he soon questioned, still trying to collect the pieces of his shattered memory while his brain continued to defrost behind his thick skull.

Maulis | Berok ​

 

[Ostak Cl'mana]

Tathra Khaeus | Kathrok

The cold-loving Aeravalin was the last to awaken.
​

The Overseer had slumbered quite comfortably in his tomb of ice, and his temporary amnesia he was granted the bliss of ever so briefly being able to forget about all that had taken place in the past three years. No nightmares haunted his hibernating brain, no traumas rushed out to fill even the deepest recesses of his thoughts. It was a rare comfort for the aged Overseer.

That was, until the rising heat pulled him out of his slumber.

Reluctantly, Ostak opened his eyes, flakes of ice falling off his face. The moment he saw the all-too-familiar hull of the Shard, all his memories returned to him. The massacre at Kardun. The eradication of the Tachael-Vemnak. His loss of power. Reuniting with the Chieftain and leaving the world, on route to Dramedius Prime. The fact that Ostak had awakened now had to mean something. Perhaps they were close to Dramedius Prime?

However, as the Overseer gazed through the viewport, he realized that something was off.

The entire view was obstructed by a wall of steel, some unknown construct having surrounded the vessel. Another ship? Or perhaps alien intruders.

The thought sent energy coursing through Ostak's veins, sensation returning to his body. Immediately, pangs of hunger rang through his torso, his body being deprived of nutrients for months on end. He had grown lighter and weaker, his body consuming its own tissues just to fend off starvation. His muscles ached as his breathing and heart rate returned to normal levels, a constant strain tugging on his limited remaining strength. The Overseer knew it would do no good to focus on his ailments, and decided instead to distract himself by finding other sensations hitting his body.

The first he noticed was a slight but growing heat on his left flank. The Overseer pivoted his face to the left to find a fire burning a few meters away, lit by the corpses of alien species. Intruders? Probably. But who had started the fire?

Just then, the Chieftain himself came into view, presiding over the fire. He seemed as fatigued as the Overseer felt, fussing over the fire and occasionally glancing over at Ostak or Kathrok. The youngest of the three was also starting to stir, and barely a minute passed before he left his seat and joined the Chieftain as well.

There was no more time to waste while his kin stirred.

In years past, Ostak could have used his inner energy to unfreeze himself nigh-instantly, shattering the ice with a shockwave of his own making. But he was still weak, still regaining his strength. He would have to become a little more creative.

The Overseer turned his attention from his kin to the fire, centering it in his gaze. Then, Ostak took a deep breath and reached down into his well of energy. What he felt was still mere puddle compared to the lake of spiritual power the Overseer had once possessed, but it would get the job done. He channeled the puddle of energy towards the fire, sheer willpower bridging the gap between Ostak and the flame. The center of the flame suddenly shot upwards, slowly but surely changing color from orange to purple. In an instant, the heat became about twice as intense, the ice melting away from Ostak's body in mere seconds.

Finally unencumbered, the Overseer took a shaky step up off his seat, turning to face the Chieftain and Kathrok.

"What have I missed?" rasped Ostak.

 

[Berok]

Draemidus Prime
Tunnel Karavos

Tag: Tathra Khaeus | Maulis | Kathrok | Kathrok | Ostak Cl'mana

Tremors stopped. Duty to the others and the stability of the tunnels came before everything else, but the Young Drael was silently gaining a lot of the jadedness some of the others had from the civil war.

Don't get us killed because you want to send out this message, she had said.

Her hand gave the young engineer Drael support, yet his head sank forward a notch. "Is it naivety," he asked Maulis for an honest opinion, "to maintain the vigil?" Turning to her to see the truth of what she thought. It did put them at risk every time they responded.

After she answered and he thought about it. He rose from the console and knelt beside a power conduit to fix some of stress it had gone through. If the others decided it was a forlorn hope, he would follow their lead. Pulling off a small panel nearby and getting to work with the wiring. Every time he did, the jerry-rigging got a bit messier.

Getting a zap on his fingers for his trouble, he fixed it up and stood back to his feet, giving her a nod.

"There might be a problem in the food tunnel." Came a message, "the door's jammed and Varbok's locked himself in there, he's not answering." That didn't sound good, maybe the pressure or hopelessness was getting to some of them more than he realized.

"Will you come?" He looked to Maulis, when actually he wanted her to lead. Packing up an engineering kit for the trip.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Tags: Kathrok | Ostak Cl'mana

Tathra couldn't ignore the dull ache in his head, feeling the heat of the plasma scorching on his crown, fighting with the cold under his skin was sending a shrill sensation through him. Made it hard to focus. The weapons in hand, growing a little slack. It was then that both of his companions stirred awake, Kathrok was quickest to his feet - pulling his weapons into grasp. Ostak only a moment later, intensifying the heat. Tathra let out a short sigh, feeling the greater warmth burn away the ice in his nerves. Good, his powers were already coming back. A hopeful sign after their escape from Kardun's moon.

"Scavengers.... have welcomed us home." Tathra did all he could to focus on the task at hand. Panting sightly through his words.

The Drael shook his head, trying to ignore the black scorched mark on the side of his face from the disruptor pistol. The Glaive in his left and sword in his right moved in a quick flourish, re-entering a readied pose as the old Drael shook back to focus. The others on board the ship were on the other side of the door, scrambling to open it. His infrared vision allowed him see through the metal, though the heat made it difficult to count exactly how many. Maybe a dozen or more waiting on the other side with a turret placement.

"Scavengers in our system, Ostak. It does not bode well..!" Tathra snarled, booming voice easily heard over the fire as the hangar bay door started to open inch by inch.

The anger alone seemed to carry each dragged foot as he raised his cannon, shoving the barrel of the plasmathrower through the gap. A hot stream of blue set three of the four working at the door on fire. The screams poured through the gap alongside renewed blaster fire. Tathra pulled away, leaning against the door.

"Hah."

 

[Kathrok]

The Titan's short laugh was heard in the aftermath of his weapons fire, those on the other side of the door being strewn asunder by the Drael bolts, much larger and more powerful than the meek excuse for common firearms in the known Galaxy. Kathrok could not help but give a toothy smirk, baring his sharp teeth as he turned to look across to Ostak Cl'mana in clear enjoyment of the audible display. There really was nothing like the anguish of one's enemy, let loose at the height of their lungs, to warm the blood of the Draelvasier Warrior.

"They could not even kill you in your sleep!" Kathrok laughed hoarsely, both in astonishment and splendour. It was almost embarrassing a display for their race, these scavengers having failed so miserably where the Draelvasier had arguably been at their worst and still managed somehow to botch a simple killing.

As the fire continued to burn away at the bodies placed on the hull floor between the trio, Kathrok seemed to lose any sense of threat at the revelation and instead turned his sights upon the possibility of food. The hulking mass reached down to take hold of one of the corpses by an arm, soon placing the flat of his boot against the torso, the flames warming the metal plating beneath his flesh yet wasting no time in removing it only after Kathrok had torn the arm out of the socket with such a strength that the already cooking flesh came apart. The warrior would then step back, his left hand taking hold of the bloodied flesh, lifting the arm to his maw before sinking his teeth deep into it.

There was no grace within the Drael warrior's manner of being, nor in the way that his knife-like teeth buried themselves into the blackened flesh of the arm, soon to jerk his head back and tear a large mouthful from what had once meant to have a hand in their demise. It was exquisite and truly laughable. Though the taste wasn't as satisfying as some of the species that Kathrok had feasted upon, the mere thought of eating those who sought to tread upon the same ground as the Draelvasier was too beautiful to dismiss.

"Even their flesh tastes bland," Kathrok remarked, between chewing away at the mouthful of human meat; "Is this all that awaits us in your new verse?" he questioned to Tathra Khaeus , both curious to know what was to greet them in the known Galaxy, yet disappointed with what they had been granted thus far.

Maulis | Berok

 

[Ostak Cl'mana]

Tathra Khaeus | Kathrok

Scavengers.
​

Ostak instantly cringed in disgust at the word and all it stood for. The Shard had been set upon by the basest of thieves, rats so cowardly that they sought only the abandoned scraps of what once was. Their presence so close to Dramedius Prime was a distressing sight. He shared a glance with the Chieftain for a brief moment, the older Drael conveying their worry to each other before their attention shifted to Kathrok and the new wave of scavengers approaching.

"Is this all that awaits us in your new verse?"

"Patience, young one." urged the Overseer. "We have not yet even arrived at Dramedius Prime. For now, we will smite the mongrels who dare defile our realm."

Ostak stepped closer to the fire, his stomach growling and his muscles straining with each step. Yet each step closer to the flames was easier than the last, his body thawing both inside and out as his faculties slowly but surely returned to him. Like Kathrok, he reached down into the flame and ripped a burning arm from one of the slain scavengers. Only instead of consuming it, Ostak tossed the still burning arm through the gap the scavengers had made in the hangar bay door. Already disoriented trying to put out the fires from the Chieftain's enormous cannon, the gang didn't notice the flying arm until it landed right on the lead member's torso. In an instant, the orange flames turned to purple, the Overseer's enhanced flames using the scavengers as fuel to spread rapidly through the hall. There was no escape for the intruders as the magenta blaze mercilessly melted them within their own armor, barely even giving them enough time to scream before they turned into puddles of reddish-black fluid with the texture of lava.

In the end, the Overseer's creative use of his surroundings had more than made up for his diminished raw power.

 

[Maulis]

Berok

Maulis stood there with him and listened to him he turned to her she could see on his face he was becoming jaded and was losing faith she didn't mean for her words to demoralize that much she placed two of her hands on beroks chest. "I get it you are looking out for us and want us to get help there is nothing wrong with that I want that too but we have to use our brains and not be controlled by emotions" she said as one of her hands touched his cheek to reassure him. watching him work on a power coupling she healed his electrical injury real quick for him.

Listening to the message she nodded "of course I will" she said as she walked ahead of him when they got to the hall and the locked door she looked at it "berok see if you can get this door open I'll try and talk to varbok telepathicly and see if I can help him" she said the door was locked and there was the manual release wasnt working due to a tremor. She reached out through the force and touched varboks mind "varbok we can help let us in" she said "you can't help we are all going to die" he yelled through the door she could sense his hopelessness "we only die if you don't let us in" she said through the force to varbok. She looked to berok "how's it coming?" She asked softly to not let varbok hear.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

Tags: Ostak Cl'mana | Kathrok

Tathra snorted in amusement at the young Draels comment. True, the aliens of the Galaxy had quickly forgotten how futile the use of blasters and disruptors was against Draelvasier. But it had taken a lot out of him to kill the scavengers. Even now - standing was difficult. He didn't care to answer Kathrok's question. But, Ostak did it for him. When the Shaman threw his bomb, Tathra took his left hand round the side of the door - pulling it in as the arm bomb exploded into a blaze of violets and magenta that disintegrated those it touched and forced the others back.

Tathra tore half of the door off, pushing it down on the ground to cover the floor melting away from the violet flame. He fired his arm-cannon down the corridor into the retreating scavengers. The blast tore through the remainder of the scavengers, simultaneously destroying the doors at the end of the corridor leading to the bridge.

A mercenary crew had been hired by the scavengers to protect their bridge, firing down the hallway with slugthrower marksmen rifles. Tathra returned to cover.

"We take the bridge, and find out what's happened to MY planet."

 

[Berok]

Tag: Maulis

Electrical burn wiped clear, Maulis gave him quick relief from any pain. Patching up his confidence as he did their power systems. "Understood." He'd keep it together, duty first always. Stretching his arms out and getting himself in the state to act.

Berok see if you can get the door open. She'd asked.

"Can count on me." He took out his toolkit, which consisted of whatever he had salvaged or traded, a mismatch of gear. Starting to work on the door, sparks were soon flying. "He's jammed the lock. Two minutes." A cutting tool flared up, the engineer pulled down a badly fitted visor to try and block any stray heated metal as he cut. "You are doing good, as long as he's talking he's surviving," his turn to support her with encouragement.

That would be two long minutes hoping Varbok didn't do something stupid and endanger himself or worse the others. The bad thing about reinforcing these halls to withstand stray wildlife was that it was thick metal, designed to be hard to cut through.

Berok looked upward to Maulis, morale really was strained, but "our duty," was how they'd get through. He stated those words loudly to Varbok when he yelled, the other Drael didn't respond, head down in his hands.

"I've got to think, I've got to think." Varbok cursed and kicked something across the floor, clearly at a breaking point.

 

[Kathrok]

"Patience, young one." urged the Overseer. "We have not yet even arrived at Dramedius Prime. For now, we will smite the mongrels who dare defile our realm."

Patience was not Kathrok's most vital skill; However, the youngest of the Drael gave a disgruntled scowl while nodding submissively to Ostak Cl'mana. The Drael was not his chieftain, but certainly his superior; Not just in rank but experience too. Hot-headed and violent, but not insubordinate, Kathrok did not refute Ostak's words for calm.

At least he spoke of butchering something.

"We take the bridge, and find out what's happened to MY planet."

Their Chieftain agreed and spoke of the new world Kathrok had yet to set foot upon. Kardun was Kathrok's hatchling world, the ancient birthplace of the Draelvasier before it was razed in civil war, the dominant claiming victory under their leader Tathra Khaeus . Dramedius Prime was expected to be something altogether glorious by comparison, a hint of what it may have been to fight alongside the Bryn'adul, to have experienced the Empire's glorious onslaught of worlds. Dramedius was to be a sign of things to come.

Taking a final flesh-wrenching bite from the severed limb in hand, Kathrok grinned at his imagination of their near future whilst his sharp teeth worked at the chewy human skin that kept the best of the succulent meat from his tongue. Blood smeared and fang-like, Kathrok showed his teeth once more as he turned to look to Tathra with a broader smirk, the encouragement of violence seemingly greater motivation for the feral warrior, more so than finishing his meal at least.

"Then we make with haste" he growled in approval, dropping the arm and turning for his Cleaver Battle Axe, taking it in hand and stepping away from the heat of the makeshift fireplace. His blood had warmed enough, and the adrenaline of battle would bring him back to his peak if nothing else.

 

[Ostak Cl'mana]

Tathra Khaeus | Kathrok

Ostak barely managed to find cover before the mercenaries began to fire upon them.
​

"More rats for the slaughter." murmured the Overseer while reaching back to the pile of ashes in the Shard.

From within the pile, Ostak pulled out a charred torso, chunks of ash falling to the floor between his fingers. Holding the burnt flesh directly in front of him, the Overseer willed his energy back into the body. Thanks to the direct contact, it was slightly easier than it would have been otherwise, but Ostak still groaned with the effort, sweat dripping down his face. Clearly, his mind was still out of shape, and it would be a long road until full recovery. But the Overseer only knew one way to recover.

With a sudden burst of air, a purple flame sprung to life atop the torso, flesh rapidly disintegrating as the heat in his arms nearly overwhelmed him. Ostak only had a few seconds to act before he was the one alight.

Dashing out from behind cover, the Shaman-Overseer hurled the burning flesh towards the mercenary squad at the other end of the hall. They seemed to be a little wiser than their incinerated cousins, ducking to the side and under cover to avoid the flames. However, scattered was just how Ostak wanted them.

Pulling out his Crippler, he aimed at the still-airborne chunk of flaming flesh and fired a shot.

The moment the spike fragments made contact with the flesh, it exploded, bursting into dozens of smaller flaming pieces that soon filled the majority of the hallway. Cover turned into confinement as burning shrapnel and flesh found its way to the mercenaries, the sounds of gunfire being replaced by screams of agony. Some dropped dead on the spot, the flames swallowing their bodies whole. Still others limped away and fled, barely stopping the scattered flames from reaching their vitals.

Over the course of about two minutes, the hallway had been cleared of hostiles.

"Let us continue forth." declared Ostak.

 

[Maulis]

Tag: Berok

Maulis listened to berok she continued to varbok she could feel his dispair so when she got the chance she pushed berok out of the way "sorry berok but the situation is dire" she said looking at him as she placed her hands in the hole berok created she strained against the door as her four arms muscles bulged in protest from the extra protection berok added. As her muscles strained the doors creeked from maulises attempt as the doors finally snapped open maulis ran up and grabbed varbok as he held a blaster to his own chin disarming him "you can't lose hope varbok" she said looking at him.