Drama and Subversion

[Asmus Janes]

"Are there any biological agents in the manifests?" Neil asked more forcefully.

Asmus headed back to the cockpit. "I'll double check. Maybe I missed something or they were using a codeword."

He flicked through the computers once more. He shook his head as he went.

"Nothing. Not even a request for environmental seals."

"Let's get back to our shuttle," Neil replied. He has one finger to his earpiece and was looking increasingly concerned.

Asmus nodded and headed down onto the landing pad. Something was wrong and he wasn't about to question the soldier. As they walked back there was a loud clang. Asmus turned sharply, Neil had his rifle shouldered.

The clang turned into a series of metallic scratchings. They both locked onto the source. The air vent emerging from the ground. The noise continued. Asmus felt his heart rate increase, his hand dropped near his sidearm. The noise abated over time.

"Back to the shuttle and keep her hot."

Asmus didn't disagree.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Okay." If Aela knew where they were and where they needed to go then all the better. To Jamie every corridor, door, and hallway looked the exact same. It would be incredibly easy to get turned around or find herself wandering in circles. Although knowing where they were going came with a cost, that being finding at least a number of terribly mutilated bodies all in one foul smelling and blood covered room. Immediately Jamie covered her mouth, only to feel the inevitable rise of bile force its' way up, where no amount of holding or will could stifle what she was about to do.

Quickly lurching to the right she pushed one of the marines aside with her left hand, simultaneously making a mortified groan as she purged the contents of her stomach twice over, before the third and final heave left nothing but a pained contraction of her gut. "Ugh." She mumbled, wiping her hand over her mouth before she managed to regain composure.

It was just as difficult to turn back and again see the scene laid out before them, but no sooner had she done that then the beeping on her wrist begin to sound off. For a moment she thought she was hearing things, but then upon further inspection, raised her wrist up to see several blinking orbs at a distance of 47 meters away. "Hey!" She shouted, "I'm showing movement."

Odd. Everyone in the room was very clearly deceased. There was definitely no mistaking that.

There was also the lingering question of what the feth happened in here?

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Secure it." Stepping into the command center seemed like...well a horrifying option, but it was better than standing in a hallway. "Two at the door, one on the windows, Ian, see if you can't get the consoles running."

It was pretty clear that everyone in the outpost was dead, or rather, everyone who the Alliance had stationed here. Those life forms were definitely not friendlies, Aela was confident enough of that. She stepped over Jamie's vomit, frowning slightly as she moved into the Command center. The rebreather, thankfully, kept the stench away, though the scene was horrid enough that she felt her own stomach turn. The 5th Legion troopers followed her inside, Ian immediately heading towards the console.

"Sorry buddy."

He said quietly as he pulled the rotting corpse away from the console and dropped him on the floor. Aela frowned, shaking her head slightly. There would be time to care for the dead later. Ian set to work on the console and Aela checked the rest of the command center for anything suspicious. She peered around, spotting only more blood stains and a vent that had seemingly been torn open by something. She frowned slightly and pointed towards it. "Jamie watch that ven-"

Aela suddenly found herself interrupted by an odd, guttural screech.

She frowned and whipped her head around towards where they had come from, the sound echoing upon the walls.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"Contact contact contact!"

Asmus heard the panic in the voice even though the earpiece was in Neil's ear and not his own. There was a blaster shot before the voice stopped.

"What's going on?" Asmus asked. His answer came in a gentle shove to the back of his shoulder. Neil made them pick up the pace. Asmus found his vision coming to settle on the ramp of his shuttle. It was coming closer and closer. He suddenly found himself wanting to get back there quickly. It didn't have any guns, but it was relatively immune to small arms fire.

"Keep her hot!" Neil shouted as they reached the ramp.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The lingering disgust in her mouth was sickening and bothersome, though the Padawan stepped inside the command center all the same, doing her best to avert her eyes away from the many dead strewn about. Whoever, or whatever was making their way towards them was moving rather quickly, almost as if they knew exactly where to find the group. "36 meters" She said aloud, "31." Her eyes scanned the room as more blips showed up on the screen.

"A couple dozen signatures, maybe more, moving this way. 25 meters."

The screech tore her attention away from her wrist for a minute, before she had even really processed the request Aela had made before she was interrupted. The scratching and digging noises were enough to make a person cringe at the sound. "20 meters."

How? I don't see anything?

Suddenly it became apparent that this was not the work of pirates or the First Order. "Aela. That's inside."

As she said those words she looked up to see that the ceiling itself was moving, the product of something crawling through the space between it and the duracrete above the drop ceiling. "Above us!" She shouted, not that it mattered, as the next instant several incredibly aggressive creatures came through, with similar intentions they had for the previous occupants.

A lightning fast snap of her wrist drew her lightsaber and activated both it and the small lightshield on her off-hand.

What are those!? There was little time for questions, she lunged forward to strike.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Blaster fire rang out almost immediately. The two soldiers at the door spun around and fired their weapons at the creatures furthest away from Aela and Jamie, taking careful aim towards the beasts heads and necks, reasoning that would take them out the fastest.

At the same time Aela's lightsaber snapped into life.

She moved as swiftly as she could, one of the creatures nearly falling on her from above. It let out a low, guttural snarl as it landed, that odd clear ooze dripping from it's maw as it snapped it's teeth. The thing hissed, and then lunged forward. Aela frowned and shifted to the side, her lightsaber flicking up and into the creatures skin. A loud yelp echoed in the room, though the beast was quickly silenced as Aela sliced through it's neck and severed it's head.

Two more of the creatures fell from blaster bolts, though three more quickly fell from newly formed holes in the ceiling.

Aela bit the inside of her lip, moving towards the creatures that had dropped down and quickly slicing her lightsaber towards them

All the while she tried to extend her will to the creatures, attempting to reach out and touch their thoughts. When she did so all she found was an odd, indiscernible rage. The creatures were not instinct, they were not driven by any reason, all she felt was an uncontrollable need to kill. The Jedi Marshall recoiled slightly as she pulled herself back from the force, the creature before her screeching once more and suddenly leaping forward.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Without waiting for any cue, order, or direction she lashed out, bringing the yellow lightsaber down against the body of one of the creatures. A curse escaped her lips as she'd realized the falter she'd made. The hide of the monster did not peel away like it had for Aela, instead it unleashed a bestial growl, its' tail whipping about as it nearly bit her, blocked only by the lightshield on her wrist. Thankfully one of the 5th legion soldiers had spotted the incident and fired his blaster twice, hitting her aggressor in the head and body once respectively. It reeled back and screeched at him. Before it had an opportunity to strike again however Jamie had managed to correct her mistake, quickly adjusting the power of her weapon. While she respected and cherished all life, this was not a time where that was an option. She had seen first hand what these creatures had done to the Alliance workers.

These things were unnatural.

With a two handed hold she drove the saber down against the head of the creature, severing it from the body and dropping the corpse to the ground. A slight twist at her hips and she again struck at another one, though for all of their efforts, the beeping on Jamie's wrist continued. "Aela there's more coming!" She shouted over the commotion, beginning to try and slowly back her way towards the Jedi Master. Blaster fire continued in just about every direction towards their targets, but for every one that fell, it seemed like another took its' place.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She could hear the panic in Jamie's voice, a scowl crossed her lips. They had to get somewhere safe, soon. Her head swiveled and she looked towards the left. "Cover me."

Ian was the first to respond to the request, scooping up his blaster rifle and firing three consecutive shots towards one of the beasts that moved towards Aela. The Jedi Marshall ignored the creature, dashing to the side and reaching one of the far walls. Without any ceremony or hesitation she plunged her lightsaber into the cold durasteel. The blade carved through the metal like butter, and within half a second she crafted an exit into a side maintenance hall.

The thing was entirely surrounded by cooling pipes and durasteel, meaning getting inside would be difficult even for the creatures. "Go!"

She shouted towards the soldiers.

Ian was once again the first follow, with the other two Marines quickly chasing after him until only Jamie and Aela remained. The Jedi Marshall motioned for her padawan, using the force to throw two of the creatures into a nearby wall.

What in the feth were these things? There had been no reports or warnings about creatures like this. This planet only had a few native species to it and none of them looked like this. Another one of them came at her as she waited for Jamie, Aela quickly stepping towards it and slicing off the tip of it's tail. The creature whipped back and screeched, but was quickly silenced as she plunged her blade into it's head.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Ba-dum

Asmus froze. He turned to the marine. The soldier didn't move at all for a moment, he turned just his eyes to face the pilot. The loud thump was followed by rhythmic scratching.

"Is that a bird?" Asmus whispered.

"The shuttle is secure..." Neil replied.

"If it's one of them...Well this thing can take a glancing blow from a heavy cannon. We're safe."

"But we need to be able to extract the others," Neil replied sternly.

"We hold here and move right up to the exit when we need to," Asmus reasoned. The scratching grew loud. It was coming from both sides of the shuttle now. Asmus craned his head forwards to try and see what it was. He caught a glimpse of movement, nothing more.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie's eyes flickered to Aela for a brief moment, watching as she cut her way through the wall to make a break for some measurably safer and more defensible spot. One of the creatures saw this lapse in judgement and struck, snapping its' head and tail forward in a two pronged attack toward the Padawan. Thankfully for Jamie that light-shield was already active. The creature's tail struck the shield first, while the yellow bladed plasma sword cut deep into the creature's head, dropping it to the ground limp.

There were just simply too many of them to deal with.

Jamie backed off and disengaged, dropping into a sprint towards the hole in the wall that Aela had made with the other 5th legion soldiers, slipping behind the Jedi Master just as she Force Pushed two of the monsters out of the way. "Aela come on!" She shouted as she reached the opening, forcing her way through the small gap. "There's too many!" Where these things came from, what they were, and how they managed to get inside was quite the mystery, though most absolutely one to answer when they were not about to be overrun themselves.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela didn't argue.

As soon as Jamie slipped through the opening The Marshall followed after her, hair whipping back as she practically fell into the maintenance tunnel. She had to duck slightly to not hit her head, two of the 5th Legion soldiers having the same problem. Ian was already rushing down the hall, the bright beam of his flashlight illuminating the inside of the hall quite well. Jamie was quickly following after him, as were the two soldiers. Aela stepped into place, though turned back for half a moment.

Her hand came up, fingers scrunching.

There was a loud groan of metal, then a screech as the pipes and bulkheads bent inward. She pulled her hand back and crushed the inside of the maintenance tunnel, creating a makeshift seal that would prevent the creatures from chasing them down. Her breath caught as she turned, Jamie standing directly in her face and half scaring her. "Poodoo."

She breathed.

"What the hell are those things?" She asked...well pretty much everyone. "And how did they get in here?"

It probably wasn't a vote of confidence for Jamie that her Master was just as clueless as her.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

For a minute Jamie remained quiet, listening to the skittering of claws along the floor and walls as the monsters tried to force their way in somehow. Her eyes fell then to her motion tracker, watching as they began to move away from where Jamie, Aela, and the soldiers were hold up. "They're going to try and find another way in, if they don't already know of one." She said, ignoring Aela's question. If the Jedi Master couldn't identify them, it was incredibly unlikely that Jamie would have any idea as to what they were either.

"I think you have your answer as to what happened to those people." Quite a grim death. Not a way she would like to go by any means. "Can we go?"

As tragic as their deaths were, there was no telling how many more of those things there were, or where they came from, but two Jedi and a few soldiers were not going to be enough to fight them all off. Their welcome seemed rather overstayed at this point. It wasn't that Jamie wanted to abandon any potential survivors, but, given the aggressive nature of these creatures, it was unlikely that anyone would have survived.

Not without a miracle of some sort.

 

[Aela Talith]

@Jamie Fyne

"Yes. Yes we can." Aela motioned for Ian to head down the tunnel. A part of her wanted to check the rest of the outpost for survivors, but doing so would be more than folly. Jamie hadn't picked anything up on her motion tracker save for the creatures, and given with the voracity these things fought...it was unlikely that anyone else had made it through the outpost. So they would abandon this place, at least for now.

"Bria." She told another one of the Legionnaires. "Get word to Neil and the pilot."

If they hadn't already encountered these creatures then they would very soon. "We'll be coming out of the Maintenance hatch beneath the cliff."

Heading back into the facility would have been incredibly foolish, those creatures clearly had made a home for themselves here, and she figured that heading down would be their safest bet. Bria nodded to her, pressing her fingers to the side of her helmet as the small group began to travel through the Maintenance tunnel. They would have to cut through the floor at one point, but for now it was a straight shot to one of the ventilation shafts.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"I'm going out there," Neil declared.

Asmus turned to him with an incredulous expression on his face. "They're not going to damage the shuttle. By the sound of things we need to..."

"I'm going out. We need to clear the landing zone."

If it had been a month ago Asmus would have told him quite curtly to stop. He outranked the squaddie by a long way, equivalent to a Major or above for a soldier. But he was brand new to the SIS and was still finding his place.

The rear doors slid open. Two four legged creatures scrabbled up the ramp before it even touched down. Their jaws opened wide, thick hide flapped free from decaying flesh.

"Kark!"

Neil didn't say a word. He simply opened fire. Several bolts cut the first one down, but the second leapt to the side. It brushed against the wall as it tried to get around the soldier.

Asmus tried to shout a warning but Neil pivoted and fired four more times. Three bolts went through the side of the passenger bay and Asmus' console lit up with warnings.

The creature leapt and Neil's screams drowned out the warning alarms. Asmus stepped forwards with his sidearm and fired. The creature had its jaws around Neil's neck. Muscles bunched and it shook its head from side to side violently. It let out a gutteral growl as it shook, almost like a dog with its favourite bone. The other sound twisted Asmus' stomach in knots, it was flesh being brutally tended apart.

Asmus fired three bolts, but the sidearm barely seemed to bother it. Three scorch marks down the creature's flank. As it turned towards him it felt as if his heart had stopped. He fired twice more into its face. This time it fell suddenly as if the strings had been cut. Asmus slapped the door control and the ramp snapped shut.

He checked Neil. It was hard to recognise what was left of his face and neck. There was a faint pulse, but he was gone. Asmus took the rifle with him back to the cockpit.

"This is Janes to investigation team. This shuttle isn't going to fly, I repeat extraction is not possible. Wraith Two can you hear me?"

"I'm here One."

"We need an evac shuttle!"

"Command is not responding currently, I cannot confirm evac."

Asmus swore. He could see more of the creatures skulking about outside. His eyes looked across to the shuttle that had already been on the pad. That was a long way to run.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Neil wouldn't be answering that communication, probably because his face and neck were a disfigured mess on the floor of the shuttle. Static came through in return.

Eerie, dead, static. Psssshhhhhhhhhhkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.

"Something's wrong." Almost on cue Asmus' voice came through the same channel confirming the blonde's suspicions, increasing their plight they were now in. She almost wished it had been pirates. At least they were somewhat predictable. Whatever these things were, she had never seen nor heard of them, and apparently neither had Aela or the other members of the 5th Legion. Thankfully for the moment the beeping on her wrist had quieted, leaving them alone to race through the tunnels. With each step however she feared they might return, finding their own way into the tunnel.

Reaching the nearest shaft Jamie could see terrible claw marks that dug into the durasteel of the shaft. "They're using these to get around." She warned. "This is a bad idea."

That was how they had gotten inside. That was how they were moving around so freely, despite the workers having closed themselves off from the outside.

 

[Aela Talith]

Aela scowled slightly, peering down the ventilation shaft before glancing back towards the small group that they still had. She honestly wasn't sure where else they could go. Her lips thinned, fingers gently scrunching against the hilt of her lightsaber. "The only other way is back into the facility."

Which also wasn't a good idea.

"Those things are getting around fast, faster than we can match." It was an unfortunate fact. She leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes so that she could try to give a little bit of thought to what their next move was. These things were...well she had no idea what they were, but it was pretty clear that they weren't going to stop trying to chase down the little group. Her fingers drummed against the bare metal.

"We could try the power tunnels."

"What?" She asked quietly. "What do you mean, Ian?"

The soldier shrugged slightly.

"These outposts are powered by Geo-thermal activity, tunnels that tap into lava ducts below and feed heat into generators. The tunnels are empty, but...well they're obviously incredibly hot. They'll lead to some lava pits at the bottom of the Mountain. We should be able to find an exit...but it would be dangerous for you."

Aela glanced towards the three others. All of them were wearing armor except for her, meaning they would have a little bit of protection from the heat. She wasn't sure just how much Jamie's armor would protect her, but she certainly didn't have any defense. Despite that however, the tunnels sounded like their only option. "I have the force. I can make it. Jamie?"

She glanced at her padawan.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Two options: Maybe die from intensive geothermal heat in the tunnels beneath them, or likely die trying to make their way through the very things that were enabling the creatures to travel about the facility unhindered.

The choice was obvious to her. "I'll be fine."

Whether that was because she had no real option or because she honestly believed that was a whole different story. It was about that time again though, as the signal on her wrist began to chime once more Jamie lifted her forearm to glance at the device.

"They're back. Let's get going."

They were still on the far reaches of the tracker, hopefully leaving the group enough time to escape into the tunnels where, with any luck, they would be free of these creatures.

How do they know exactly where to find us? That question burned in her mind as she followed behind Ian who led the way towards the tunnels. Every few steps Jamie would dart her eyes down to her wrist, hoping that the creatures would drop off the tracker. While that hope didn't quite happen, they did manage to keep between 35 and 46 meters ahead, meaning that they were likely trying to navigate their way through the ventilation shafts and cut off their escape.

"Are you certain there is a way out from down there?"

The last thing she wanted was to wind up trapped beneath the surface, especially with whatever was happening at the shuttle. It was obvious from the comm that the creatures had discovered Neil and Asmus as well.

 

[Aela Talith]

"In theory. This world Isn't Mustafar or anything, but it does have open lava pockets that pour to the surface. It's why geothermal energy was an option in the first place."

Aela didn't say much as they wandered along the tunnel, her eyes flicking over to Jamie's wrist every now and again to check on the project of the creatures chasing them, her fingers tightening on the hilt of her lightsaber. A part of her was still considering what the kark hose creatures were, they had seemed half mutated. Their minds had been broken shells, completely unnatural and tortured beyond all belief. She frowned slightly and turned as Ian left the way.

"Is there a way to tell?" Aela asked him.

"Yeah. The natural flow of the magma will show us where to go, but like I said...it'll be dangerous."

Aela nodded. There wasn't much that they could do about the heat, but she figured they'd have a better shot against that then whatever the hell those creatures were. The path eventually lead them to a thick outer door, Ian instantly kneeling down in front of the access panel in order to activate the doors controls. A second passed, and then the heavy metal fell away. Almost instantly a blast of heat struck them, a rolling wave of warmth that rushed into the tunnel.

A single ladder sat in the tunnel opposite them.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The sudden burst of intense heat was enough to make Jamie stagger and struggle to find a breath. It felt almost like the vacuum of space for an instant, drawing the oxygen out of her lungs and replacing it with nothing.

She sneered, turning her head away for a moment. "Feth!" It was hot in there. Hotter than any Nabooian summer she'd ever encountered. Hotter than the tanning chambers she occasionally visited before attending some grand gala event at the palace back home. Her armor offered no intrinsic heat protection, meaning it would only shelter the girl until the suit itself became hot. Temperature regulation wasn't something she could design, nor implement into an armor like this. It was too open.

"Let's go quickly, before we melt in here."

She wasn't sure if that was a joke or not. They weren't even down there yet.

One by one each of the 5th Legion descended the ladder into the tunnel, followed by Jamie and Aela behind her. The large blast doors behind them would close slowly, sealing the heat back inside, and hopefully, the creatures out. "Hopefully those things don't like heat." It would be a small reprieve if that were true, or an added nightmare on top of the already extraordinarily uncomfortable temperature.

 

[Aela Talith]

Aela had to agree with Jamie. The heat was almost intolerable. As soon as the doors opened she couldn't help but let out a loud cough, her skin already feeling like it was sizzling. A deep breath and she managed to calm herself, the force quickly encapsulating her in a more calming aura. For now she wouldn't need more, but she knew that as soon as they got lower into the tunnels things wouldn't be so simple.

Her suspicion was proven correct the moment they began to descend. The rungs of the ladder were surprisingly cool to the touch, but Ian said that was because of a cooling system that ran through the back of the wall. Apparently that system had been put in place precisely because sometimes maintenance had to be done on these tunnels. Aela didn't question it, mostly because every time that she spoke she felt like the heat would immediately begin to ravage her throat.

"Getting near the bottom."

Ian said as a few minutes passed.

Aela already felt sweat bead on the back of her neck, her clothing making her feel as though she'd just ran a marathon. Her breathing became a little bit more labored, her head felt oddly...woozy. She frowned slightly and took one hand off the ladder, adjusting her rebreather. She didn't want to get sick from the fumes down here. Eventually they managed to get to the bottom, the tunnel opening up to a massive underground chamber.

"Woah." Aela couldn't help but say the word as she stepped off the ladder and turned around on the small rock plateau. In front of them sat a massive lake of lava, slowly flowing towards another edge of the cave, bubbling and giving off intense waves of heat. Vents lined the ceiling, a few massive fans sitting near them to drive the hot hair into them.