Drama and Subversion

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie felt the heat starting to get to her. She'd already pulled away the hood from her suit, allowing it to rest against the back of her shoulders as they descended into the pit of lava below. Sweat had began to collect on the back of her neck, just below the hairline, as well as her forehead and face. Hot was an understatement by the time they reached the plateau at the bottom of the ladder. The blonde appeared notably less impressed at the sight of the massive lake of ultra heated molten rock than Aela, perhaps because she was still incredibly worried about those things finding another way down there, and worse still, thriving in the heat that they were suffering in.

The device on her wrist though indicated nothing. That was at least good.

A small catwalk along the outer wall hugged the edges of the lake, likely used by the poor souls responsible for maintaining the tunnels. "That way." she said, as if she knew where they were going. The truth of the matter was it looked to be the only direction they could go in. "Hopefully there's another way out on the opposite side." It was impossible to tell from where they stood on the plateau, given that the path winded around the naturally created walls of rock surrounding them.

 

[Aela Talith]

Aela watched the flow of the lava as they quickly moved across the catwalk, wondering for a brief moment how the hell anyone withstood this heat. Sweat began to pool down her back, and slowly she had to call upon the force to very thinly begin to shield herself from the extreme temperatures.

The technique was a simple one, really just an extension of a protection bubble. "Ian."

They knew that Neil was likely dead. There was no reasons for their internal communications to be down, so that the Soldier had likely been caught up by...those creatures. The thought was not a kind one, but there was nothing she could really do about it.

"See if you can reach the pilot." He'd managed to send them a short burst message earlier. "Tell him our position and where we're headed."

"Aye."

Was the immediate Aela recieved, the Soldier holding back for half a second as he pressed his hand against the side of his helmet and tried to reach him. If he was succesful the transmission would be a simple short burst about where they were and where they were likely to come out, though as they moved along the side of the magma chamber Aela found herself more and more worried they wouldn't find an exit. Eventually however as they rounded a corner she potted a curve within the wall. "There."

The lava flowed into a side tunnel, slowly bubbling along, the only problem? The path that ran within that tunnel was tiny, only a foot or so wide at it's largets.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie adjusted the visor covering her eyes, instantly focusing on the path Aela pointed towards and magnifying it.

"That is a dangerously small path." From her experience exploring various caves back home she'd become accustomed to understanding that small pathways, namely those made of rock, tended to be unstable and shift when too much weight was applied. "I wouldn't trust that to support us all at the same time with it that close too the lava." Incomprehensibly hot magma running next to small walls of rock only strengthened her belief that if all of them went strolling across the path at the same time that it would very likely break apart beneath their collective weight.

"One, maybe two at a time at most. One would be safest." The question was whether or not they had the time to play things totally safe. Whatever was going on with the pilot and Neil was a problem, as was the heat down in the cavern, and to pile on even more, the ever looming threat of those persistent creatures. Jamie took another look at the tracker. "I've got no readings still. Maybe they don't like the heat."

The Padawan latched her lightsaber back onto her hip, feeling as though it was rather unnecessary for the time being. She then proceeded to wipe away the ever increasing sweat from her face in hopes that they would soon be out of the oppressive heat. The armor she was wearing was now slowly becoming a hindrance more than a benefit. A finger pressed the side of the visor, reverting back to a clear screen in front of her as Jamie headed towards where Aela had directed the group.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She was right.

"Jamie." She motioned for her padawan. "Even with the armor you're the lightest, so you go first."

It was the best way of doing this.

The small path was, as Jamie had said, sitting right beside an active lava bed. There was a good chance that the rock beneath had been eroded quite some time ago, and if they were going to walk across it...well it was best that they did it with the people that weight the least going first. Jamie was only a few centimeters shorter than her, but she was also a lot slimmer than Aela. The Jedi Marshall had long since recognized that she had a more muscular build, which is why she intimidated men, or so she told herself.

"Then me, then Ian, then Bria." The two marines nodded.

Bria was a rather large woman, and although Ian was actually smaller than Aela herself he wore armor that made him at least another fifteen kilograms heavier. The marines had to go last if they had any chance of making it.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Her gut told her this was a bad idea. Unfortunately there was no other path. It was either this, or back up into the ventilation shaft to mingle with those things. "Okay." Edging to the face of the path she fluttered her lips, exhaling. Her teeth pressed and ground against one another as she pressed her left foot down a few inches out, testing the support before she even attempted to put her full weight on the rock. When it didn't move, crack, or budge she pressed her back against the rock, slowly inching her body step by step across, all the while imagining just how quickly she would die if the support beneath her feet failed and she fell into the molten magma.

Copious amounts of sweat began to pour down her face from her proximity to the heat. Several times she stopped to catch her breath and use her lips to direct a small breath of cooler air over her forehead before continuing. It took about forty seconds to reach the other side of the pathway. Once she made it, she took a look around, ensuring that the area was actually safe, and another look at her tracker just in case. When that read clear she waived for Aela to head across.

"Careful." Jamie stayed close to the edge in the event something happened she could hopefully maybe catch Aela with some help from the Force in case the rock did eventually give way.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela sighed again. This wasn't exactly her idea of a fun time, but her padawan had done it, so now wasn't the time to chicken out. The Marshall slipped her lightsaber back into its place on her thigh, then slowly crept forward. The Two marines half turned, checking if any of the creatures had somehow made their way down into the lava pits.

Aela slowly crept forward.

She tried to follow Jamie's path almost exactly, setting her feet down in the same spots as if that would somehow stop her from falling down. Her back pressed against the rock as she moved, her eyes set forward on her padawan as though she were a goal to reach. The path narrowed slightly as she reached the half-way point, her foot coming down, and then suddenly slipping as a bit of the rock collapse beneath her step. Her hand dug into the rock behind her, she felt a slight press of the force from Jamie holding her in place.

Her heart thundered in her chest and sweat poured down neck.

Half holding herself back Aela took a breath, then quietly continued on the path.

After a few seconds she finally found her way to Jamie, turning and letting out the air that she had been holding in her lungs. Her hand came up to wipe the sweat from her forehead, then she motioned for Ian to come across. "Careful."

She told him.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"Yeah."

Ian did not look like he held much confidence in this idea. He weighed more than Aela, and quite a bit more than Jamie. Aela had slipped on the rock. Exactly how much more this could support he wasn't quite sure, but the odds were beginning to stack against them. Still, he recognized much like Jamie had that there were really no other alternatives to this. Either they crept their way across this tiny pathway, or they went back up the ladder. Ian understood that was a bad idea, just as Jamie had, and so he slowly inched his way across, noting the small patch of now missing rock that Aela had slipped on. Carefully the man stepped over that patch, though it was noticeably more difficult for him to keep his feet along the small patch of ground he had to work with than the two girls, as he was far more bulky due to the armor, and his overall size than they.

"Almost, you're almost there." Jamie encouraged, as if that would somehow make it any easier for him. It was more so to help calm whatever nerves he might have than anything else.

When he made it across the girl smiled, patting his shoulder as they turned and waited for Bria.

"Any word from the shuttle?" The soldier shook his head, "Not yet."

Maybe it was interference, but something inside her told her that Neil and the pilot were having their own problems.

 

[Aela Talith]

Aela shifted uncomfortably. Bria was easily the heaviest out of all of them. Not only was she slightly taller than Aela, but she was also built with a lot more bulk. Many times she joked about being an Amazon, and she was large enough to make most men feel small.

Nevertheless the marine seemed unabashed about crossing the bridge.

Before she did so she tossed her rifle across the large gap, throwing it hard enough that it hurt Aela's hands when she caught the weapon. The Jedi Marshall shifted slightly, and then let out a breath as Bria slowly began to cross the tiny path. The woman went slow at first, and then quickly picked up her pace as it became more and more apparent that the rock beneath her was slowly giving out. Aela set down the rifle as she saw some of the path give way.

"Jamie." She called her apprentices name. "Get ready, to help."

The force flowed through Aela in an instant.

Bria had broken out into a quick shuffling run, moving across the path as fast as she could to try and reach the other edge before the path collapsed entirely. The rocks fell too quickly however, and before she could get within two meters the ground collapsed beneath her.

Aela's eyes bulged open, her hands flicking forward as she seized Bria in invisible chains. "Got you!"

She caught the large Marine, letting out a heavy breath from the weight. At the same time Jamie yanked the woman back, pulling her towards the edge and sending her crashing to the ground. There was a loud thud, a slight rasp of breath, and then a thumbs up from Bria.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

With the last of the group across Jamie turned, looking around for any sign of an actual exit. Up above them there were a few openings in the rock, likely too high up to actually reach for Jamie and Aela, and most definitely too tall for any of the 5th legion without the help of the Force. That nixed the plan for simply going up and out. But if there was a way out from above, surely there would be another way. It was incredibly unlikely that a few holes in the ceiling of the cave were the only means of escape for the lava.

By following the path of the magma a few dozen meters more the group came upon a sudden drop off, one that created a sort of falls where far below pooled the run off of molten liquid. The path along the right however, as narrow as it were, led upwards towards a small light, presumably either towards the open air of Niril, far outside the facility, or back into the outer reaches of the compound. Exactly where they were was difficult to tell judging by where the tunnel beneath the outpost had directed them.

"There" She said, pointing up. "That's our exit."

Where they would end up though was another story.

 

[Aela Talith]

Aela nodded as Bria scooped up her rifle and checked it to make sure the Marshall hadn't harmed it in anyway. "Bria, take point."

The large Marine nodded.

There was no way of telling what they would find up there, and if it was another one of those creatures she'd rather have someone with armor who could take a bite or two pop up first. Without another word the group headed up towards the thin path that Jamie had pointed out, movingly quickly but spacing themselves apart to make sure they didn't put too much tension upon the ground below. Aela was still weary of collapses within the tunnel itself.

The tunnel wound up quickly, the bright light of the moon glowing brightly up ahead.

"Those creatures." Aela spoke to Jamie quietly. "Did you try to get into their minds?"

Half of her hoped that Jamie hadn't, if only because in her current state she was sure that the backlash from one of those things would have pushed Jamie over an edge that Aela didn't want to see.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"No." She plainly said. It hadn't even crossed her mind. "The brutality of the dead back in the command center, and the way they moved when they discovered us." Jamie shook her head. "Not to mention how many there were." There was honestly no time for her to even attempt such a thing. It wasn't as if Jamie had become a master of the ability quite yet, and in the heat of the moment wouldn't have had the ability to focus with all of the commotion. "Fighting back, killing them. It was the only way."

Jamie left out the part where killing them brought out a small bit of relief from the sheer amount of tension she'd had bottled up inside.

"Whatever those are, they're programmed for one thing, killing."

What they hadn't seen was a clear alpha, or anything that resembled some kind of leader. "Pack animals like that always have an alpha though. I didn't see one that fit that." Maybe those monsters were some mutated species that were disturbed by the workers at the outpost? Or maybe they were some Sith alchemists creation? Or just a species that had gone undocumented. Any explanation was relatively possible given the lack of information they had available.

 

[Aela Talith]

"This world shouldn't have anything like that." She told Jamie quietly. "There's a few canine species here, but none of them look like that...and none of them have six legs either. You're right though, they're unnaturally aggressive."

She frowned. Jamie had another point, there should have been an Alpha, or a Queen or something that actually guided the creatures, but they hadn't spotted anything like that. She frowned for a few moments and slowly drummed her fingers against her side. These things definitely weren't natural, or rather, they had been changed in some way. The rage that she had felt, the unnatural urge for killing...She shook her head, there was something else here.

"Sithspawn?" The quesiton was somewhat rhetorical. She didn't expect Jamie to have an answer of course.

"If they are..." She trailed off. "Someone had to make them."

Sithspawn, thankfully, didn't just randomly appear within the galaxy, and these things were something she'd never seen before. That meant that someone had to make them in the first place, and if that someone was still here they could make more of them. A proposition Aela did not at all enjoy. "That someone could be the Alpha, or act in it's place anyway."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie let out an audibly disappointed sigh. "What are you getting at exactly?" The question didn't need to be answered. She already had the answer. Aela wanted to find out how these creatures came to be.

They didn't have the resources to go on some kind of wild chase for answers though. Aela and two marines were hardly a force that could handle even what came for them in the command center. Their pilot and the other marine were likely dead. Even getting back aboard a transport to escape might be incredibly, if not impossibly difficult at this point. And judging by their location now? They had some walking to do. Ian lifted his hand back to his head, trying to radio the pilot once more for a status update while Jamie and Aela discussed.

"I'm not going back in there." She said pretty bluntly. "There's probably hundreds of those things. We'd need half the 5th Legion to clear this place out."

That or an orbital bombardment. At this point she'd rather opt for a total glassing of the planet than risk more lives in that place.

 

[Aela Talith]

"Don't be silly." Aela told Jamie. "We're not going to go back."

That would be insanity, Aela had no intention of dying today.

"We're going to get back to the Subversion and get an Alliance fleet to quarantine the planet." She wasn't fool enough to try and mess with these creatures, but there was a bigger mystery going on here, and Aela didn't want to leave it untouched. They already knew that the First Order Harbored Sith, and although she wasn't willingly to say there was a connection, they were awfully close to their border. This was all a bit much to be a coincidence for her.

"First things first." She motioned to the light up ahead. "We figure out where the feth we are."

They would eventually have to come back here, if only to make sure that none of these creatures survived, but for now she knew that the best plan was getting back to their carrier. Bria moved a bit faster, picking up their pace until eventually the light from above reflected directly off her armor.

A few more meters, and the small group found themselves stepping out onto a ledge, the very top of the outpost poking out just beyond a small ridge in the distance.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"Janes you still there?"

"I'm here Chad," Asmus replied. He had several panels off the wall and was trying to see if he could hack some power back into the main engines. He was rapidly coming to the conclusion that it was more likely to kill him than the creatures outside.

"Just did another low sweep. Got three of those things sniffing around the exit ramp still. Two have gone back into the vents."

"Don't suppose..." Asmus reached an arm into the housing and tried to reattach the condiut. "The flyby scared any of them?"

"Let me give them a proper buzz and see."

Asmus connected the conduit. Warning alarms started. The console suggested things would explode shortly. He pulled it free again. A few seconds later came the unmistakeable roar of Starfighter engines. He checked the external cameras. The creatures didn't even flinch.

Asmus returned to the cockpit. That other shuttle was out there, tantalisingly close. He wasn't going to get off world in this one and there was no word of a other inbound. With a determined grunt he shrugged off his jacket.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Well that was a relief. At least Aela hadn't found another suicidal idea in her head, like she had back on Bastion to save Jamie.

"There." She said, pointing to the structure just over the ridge. Blowing a gust of air up towards her forehead, it would send strands of distraught hair upwards. She was immediately reminded of the stark temperature drop now that they were free of the cavern. It felt incredible, as if she had escaped hell itself. "The outpost is down there. We're a ways away." Jamie turned to ask Ian to radio Asmus again, but he was already on it. Now that they were out from the cavern, the signal would more than likely reach, unobstructed by feet of rock above their heads.

Without time to waste Jamie began making her own path down from the ledge. She hopped off and landed on a rather steep slope six feet beneath where she had jumped, the ash and sand making it slightly difficult to maintain balance at first due to the cavern having overflowed sometime in the recent past. There was hardly time to wait around and conjure up a better solution for reaching the landing pad. They had known before even reaching the cavern that Asmus and Neil were in trouble. They'd need help if those things had found them as well.

The incline began to grow a bit steeper, and with a single slip of her boots, fell back and slid about fifteen or so feet before catching herself on the trunk of a downed tree by using her feet to stop her continued slide. Having stopped herself she'd turn and look back towards where she'd left Aela and the 5th legion expecting them to have followed. Or rather, she hoped.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

As soon as they exited the cavern Aela pulled off the rebreather. The small device was plucked from her face and a breath of fresh air filled her lungs. Her hair swept back with a gust of wind, pressing beads of sweat down her skin. A small crossed her lips and she felt as though she were about a pass out, the rush of sudden air giving her a small, but rather delightful high. Her fingers drummed against her side as she steadied herself, seeing Ian already calling Asmus once more and Jamie marching off back towards the outpost.

She frowned for a moment.

It was clear that her padawan was still troubled, and...well she couldn't really blame her.

Normally though she would have at least waited for Aela to say something. Her head shook, and then she heard the sound of the rockface collapsing. A surge of panic rushed over her and quickly Aela dashed towards the edge of the ridge. She took a few steps and then hopped down, landing on solid ground and leaning over the ledge to catch sight of Jamie standing upon the fallen tree. She frowned for a moment and then shouted down to her padawan. "Please don't get yourself killed."

She told Jamie.

"Bria, Ian, cord." She motioned for the two troopers who immediately followed her instruction. They tied a length of climbing cord to a solid obelisk, looping it to their belts and then quickly heading down.

Aela followed after them, sliding down slowly, her hand to control the speed at which she descended.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

They were moving too slowly. She could understand the need for the soldier to, but there was still no time for slowly descending the small mountain they found themselves atop. Not if they wanted any hope of Asmus and Neil being alive when they got there. Not if they had any hope of their ship still being in tact and space worthy. And certainly not if they wanted to get off world before the rest of those things found them. She heard Aela's quip, though chose to ignore it.

Rather, she took two additional steps and leaped forward, gaining enough momentum to land in a moderate sprint by the time her feet hit the ground once more. There weren't many trees, at least not any still standing, or left unburnt from however many times magma passed by this area, meaning there wasn't much else to try and avoid. Jamie was confident that Aela and the others would catch up without much trouble after a couple of minutes, even with her head start on them.

As she got closer to the base of the slope she could more clearly see the landing pad about a kilometer in the distance. There still wasn't much to make out aside from the two ships still present where they had been left. There was no sound of blaster fire, but past that she was too far away to hear the skittering of the claws that still scurried about, threatening Asmus still aboard the ship. She'd have to get closer, or at least more level with the landing pad before she could get a clear view with her visor.

Her hand raised to the side of her head, pressing the communication button.

"Ian, tell Aela I'm going to try and get a better look of the landing pad from the other side. There's an elevated hill on the south side."

 

[Aela Talith]

Aela pressed her free hand against her face as Ian relayed Jamie's message.

The Marshall shook her head. "Did she not understand the concept of staying alive?"

Ian shrugged his shoulders as they kept moving down the mountainside. Aela shook her head again and continued to descend. She could already see Jamie rushing across the plateau, heading towards the hill that she had said she would go to. The Jedi Marshall didn't like it, but she understood it. Jamie was eager to move, eager to occupy herself with something. A part of her couldn't fault the Padawan, though she wished she would at least listen.

"Tell her to be careful." She would likely be annoyed by that. "We'll use her as a spotter."

That seemed like the most prudent plan. "She can tell us whats going on while we'll head towards the base of the ridge beneath the landing pad."

From there they would be able to climb up and approach the Pad in a more stealthy manner.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The words were relayed through the comm. Jamie sneered at them, allowing silence to be her response.

Making her way up the hill was actually a bit more difficult than she had assumed. It was littered with jagged rocks and loose sediment. Each time she nearly had her footing she felt it fall away, forcing her to take another route up and around to get to the small outlying perch that overlooked the main landing pad that Asmus had taken them to. However just as she'd made it she heard the whirring of a starship engine rush over, passing the landing pads at such a high speed that it pulled her hair from the tightly tied ponytail she'd fixed it into earlier, while at the same time forcing her to cover her face to protect from the bit of rocky debris kicked up as it passed.

It was one of the escorts they'd left the Subversion with. Perhaps they were checking out what was going on.

By the time she made it to the perch she was aiming for, Aela and the others would likely be in place, waiting for her. Adjusting her vision she zoomed in to the pad where it looked relatively quiet. From where she was laying both ships were still present, there was a dead creature near the base of the ramp, and a few blaster burns in the hull of the ship, but no sign of either Asmus or Neil. Then from around the front of the ship she saw three of them slashing and clawing at the ship, frantically trying to force their way inside.

"Ian, I can see three trying to get inside the shuttle. No sign of Asmus or Neil, but judging by the behavior I am guessing they're still inside. Ship looks to have taken a bit of a beating."

Then they stopped what they were doing, letting out an ear shattering screech. That can't be good.