Drama and Subversion

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela and the others had made it to the base of the landing pad by the time Jamie had gotten on top of the hill. Ian relayed her message, Aela's head swiveling slightly as she tried to catch sight of Jamie on the hill. She frowned when she couldn't. "Alright's let's head u-"

Before she could finish her sentence a loud screech echoed through the ridge.

The Jedi Marshall's eyes popped open with more than a bit of shock, the screech jumping from every nook and cranny of the valley. It reverberated for half a second, and then silenced loomed within the air. The group looked at one another, staring in silence, and then another screech suddenly followed.

Then another, then another.

Before long dozens of beasts began to fill the air with a cry that sounded of pure death.

 

[Aela Talith]

Aela and the others had made it to the base of the landing pad by the time Jamie had gotten on top of the hill. Ian relayed her message, Aela's head swiveling slightly as she tried to catch sight of Jamie on the hill. She frowned when she couldn't. "Alright's let's head u-"

Before she could finish her sentence a loud screech echoed through the ridge.

The Jedi Marshall's eyes popped open with more than a bit of shock, the screech jumping from every nook and cranny of the valley. It reverberated for half a second, and then silenced loomed within the air. The group looked at one another, staring in silence, and then another screech suddenly followed.

Then another, then another.

Before long dozens of beasts began to fill the air with a cry that sounded of pure death.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"Neil is down, shuttle irreparable," Asmus confirmed back to Ian. "I'm going to get the other one."

He took the code cylinders from his jacket pocket and fixed them securely to the shirt underneath. If he lost those during the sprint then it was all for nothing.

Heading back into the passenger bay he gave an apologetic look towards Neil's body.

"Sorry about this," he mumbled, dragging the body towards the bay doors. The reality of the situation was that he couldn't outrun all three in a straight sprint. He needed a headstart. There was a sudden, heart-stopping keening from the creatures outside, echoed from further away. Time to go.

Asmus grabbed a flare and walked back towards the cockpit. He sealed it behind him. One final apologetic thought and he opened the rear bay doors. He heard their claws on the metal deck as they investigated the body. Then the snarls as they each tried to claim it.

"Here we go then," he mumbled. The emergency release jettisoned the whole canopy before him. The series of micro explosions left his ears ringing. One foot on his console and he propelled himself up and out, sliding down the nose of the ship to land lightly.

His heart was racing well before the exertion started. Head down his legs pumped hard to get him up to speed before he opened up his stride. Tunnel vision honed in on the free shuttle.

He was halfway before he heard them. Short ragged breaths and slapping paws. He pulled the flare from his pocket, twisted it and dropped. One of them stopped before the brilliant orange flames, the others ran on.

Closer and closer came the shuttle, but those dogs ate up the meters. He heard a snarl, then felt a bolt of pain lance up his calf. He carried on, needles of the hot trickle of blood down his ankle. The one which had tried to bite stumble and a few meters opened up between them again. But Asmus could see the ship was too far.

There was a familiar roar, then a red flash and a wall of heat that threw Asmus to the ground. He rolled over to look back, expecting snapping jaws. Where they had been monsters there was nothing.

"Got your back One," he heard in his ear. Asmus didn't have the air left in his lungs to reply. He crawled back up into a run. More movement on the periphery, more creatures. He was certain he heard more blaster fire.

The shuttle loomed and he gave everything he had in those last few meters. He slapped the door button, hearing the whine of the motors surround him. Shaking hands took up a rifle and he turned and pressed it into his shoulder.

Somehow that fatigue have him focus. Two of them appeared before the doors closed and both went down to a single pull and a three bolt burst. When the doors were sealed he just stood there for three full seconds. His hands didn't want to leave the rifle, but he prised one away.

"Team, this is Wraith One. We have alternative transport. East side of the landing bay. Chad, Wilson, we're going to need more cover fire."

"Roger that."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie watched the whole thing unfold from where she laid. The doors to the shuttle opened, the creatures slinking their way up inside to further mutilate Neil's poor, unfortunate body. It made her cringe and at the same time, fume with anger. Angry that they had been too late to help Neil, angry that those things were further defiling the body, angry that they would soon be chasing the pilot whose name she could barely remember. The Padawan watched and relayed the information of what was happening to Ian just as Asmus made his break for the other ship. Aela, Ian, and Bria would likely both see and hear the fighter as it gunned down a few of the creatures pursuing Asmus, the roaring of its' engines and the piercing noise of its' lasers.

"He's in." She confirmed after he transmitted his message. The blonde scrambled to her feet and leaped off the ledge, sliding down the hill a bit before breaking into a sprint toward the landing pad. They would only have a short period of time before whatever those screeches were for was revealed. "Now. Go!" She urged into Ian's earpiece as she herself made a run from the other side. It would take her a bit of time longer to reach the shuttle, given the added distance away she had made herself in order to keep watch.

As she hustled down the hill and up along the outer perimeter of the outpost, the familiar beeping on her wrist began to sound. Only this time, the screen was littered with small blips. And the distance was closing.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Tell him to open that door!" It would be close, but they could make it.

Aela was the first to go of course, she had to be, always was. Her hand reached up and grabbed the landing pad, fingers snapping onto the edge as she lifted herself up and onto the hard Durasteel. She landed with a thud, the force pressing away from her.

The two lightsabers that were normally kept on her thigh instantly flew to her hands, slapping into place and igniting with a loud snap-hiss. The two Marines quickly followed after her, blasters already ringing out at several of the creatures that were still in the way. The Marshall rushed forward, blurring speed pushing her towards the other shuttle.

Her lightsabers swiped forward, cutting a beast in two.

"Asmus!" She shouted into her comm. "Open that door!"

They needed a way to get in.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus had barely warmed up the engines when the call came. Kriff, they were closer than he'd realised. With adrenaline pumping he didn't even pause before taking up his rifle and hitting the release. The rear door was slowly lowered by pneumatic arms.

He stayed by the cockpit, not wanting to make the mistake as Neil and allowing himself to be flanked. Two claws and a jaw appeared before the ramp was even down. With a flash of light it vanished in another three round burst. He heard the noise of fighter lasers again as Wilson strafed an arc around the soldier's flank and forced back a rushing pack.

Asmus advanced slowly until he stood on the ramp. He provided more covering fire courtesy of blastech.

"Come on, come on," he grunted. They were close, but the horde seemed to have been summoned. They'd been through more already, it probably felt a long way to the armoured soldiers.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Aela and the others had reached the landing pad before Jamie just as she'd assumed would be the case. Jumping up she latched her fingers around the base of the structure, doing her best to gracefully pull herself up. One leg hooked over the top, using the muscles there to help roll herself onto the duracrete surface. Before the girl had even a chance to draw a breath a small group was on top of her. She shrieked in a small fit of panic, rolling underneath the belly of one before quickly pulling her lightsaber free, burying it into the underside and dragging it across before she stood up, the body falling limp to the ground beside her. She now stood in between five more that had encircled her, each one moving forward before backing off as she turned on her heels to swipe her saber towards them. Perhaps they were smart enough to understand what would happen to them if she managed to hit them.

Still, she needed an opening, and they certainly weren't about to give her one. She waited another few seconds before one lunged forward, drawing from the Force to send it flying backwards. Jamie raced forward between the gap that was created, though not before she felt the embedding of a claw into her shoulder. There wasn't pain, quite surprisingly, but she did feel the impact, and the force that now prevented her from escaping as it held onto her with an incredible amount of raw strength. The others began to swarm around her once more, slashing with their claws and jaws, forcing Jamie to twirl her weapon about wildly to keep them at bay while she contemplated what to do.

Feth!

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela slid to a stop, her eyes darting to Jamie.

The Marines slowed with her, but she waved them on. Three of the couldn't get through, Asmus needed someone to help protect the shuttle. She let out a curse and practically screeched towards the two marines. "Tell him to take off! Get in the air and keep the ramp lowered."

Dangerous, but not impossible for Aela or Jamie.

Before either of them could respond Aela broke out into a sprint. Her lightsaber spun forward. She didn't even bother to kill the creatures anymore, simply bat them away so they would leave her alone for a few seconds. Quickly the Marshall dashed through the crowd, snapping jaws and sharp claws reaching for her as she made her way towards her Padawan.

"Jamie!" She called out to her padawan. "Duck!"

Aela threw the lightsaber in her off hand, sending the blade spinning forward until it was naught but a bright burning disc.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"Take off?" Asmus echoed. He could see the Marshall cutting her way towards the younger Jedi. There were too many of the creatures pounding towards the shuttle. The soldiers took up defensive positions and the fighters made another run to thin the herd.

"We go to them, right," Asmus muttered as he rushed for the cockpit. He slammed down into his chair and took the controls. Caution went as he yanked them up off the deck and then drifted for the Jedi.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie turned her head to see nothing but a twirling flash of color zipping towards her. Quickly she dropped down, falling to the tips of her toes and knees as the saber came screaming through the center of the group, severing the claw that had dug itself into the back of her armor, thereby freeing her. The monstrous creature let out a grinding screech over the loss of its' limb. Meanwhile the others skittered back a couple of paces to avoid being hit as the weapon careened through. With the momentary break she made a run for it towards Aela and the ship as it took off.

"Thanks!" She shouted as she ran while attempting to pull free the appendage that had buried itself into her shoulder. Given where it struck however made it incredibly difficult to reach, and impossible to remove.

As the shuttle lifted off the landing pad and made for a turn Jamie scrambled towards it with Aela, looking to make a leap for the open ramp as it drifted their way. It was then she realized what the sudden and echoed screeching was for. A few loud thuds against the durasteel blast doors that led to the inside of the complex could be heard before suddenly the metal itself folded outwards, where a massive version of the others came barreling through with a deafening roar.

It was time to go.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela ran as fast as she could, catching up with Jamie in a blink.

The two Jedi rushed across the landing pad together, the lightsaber that Aela had thrown slamming back into her palm as she pulled it back with the force. They came to half a stop as the creatures halted, the metal of the massive bulkhead breaking apart to reveal what could only be described as the Alpha. Her eyes popped open, her jaw unhinging slightly. "Go."

Aela said quietly.

"GO GO GO!" It was doubtful that Jamie needed any encouragement.

The two Jedi broke out into a sprint, quickly heading down the landing pad as the Shuttle bucked over them. The ramp lowered, Bria and Ian standing by just in case Aela and Jamie needed help. The creatures rushed towards the padawan and Master, jaws snapping, claws reaching to strike.

Then they jumped.

Both of the Jedi went flying into the air. Aela's lightsabers quickly slipping into their holsters as she went tumbling, her hand stretching out to just barely catch Ian's wrist.

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus grimaced at the controls. He felt lightheaded. Looking down he saw the blood pooling around his ankle. Kark, that one had caught a big vein or artery and the bleed wasn't stopping. Adrenaline seemed to have kept him going so far.

"Take us up, easy!" Shouted one of the soldiers.

"Grenade!" One of the others called. The shout followed by a whine of a detonator counting down. And then a pop that seemed to silence the animalistic noises coming from behind.

As smooth as he could, Asmus pushed forwards and gave them some height to get clear. The outpost vanished from his view as he pushed them over the cliffs

"I've got her, shut the doors!"

Asmus nodded and drew back on the controls. The bay doors slid shut and the nose turned upwards. The engines roared as he pushed the throttle forwards to put some distance.

"Wraith One, you hear me?"

"Roger that, I'm here," Asmus replied. His voice wavered.

"Command heard it all. Ghosts are inbound with bunker busters. They don't want any SIS data or tech left. They're going to be thorough.

Asmus just nodded, not even realising that he didn't reply.

"Can anyone...Land a shuttle on a carrier..." He asked of the others. Some of the colour had gone from his face.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Aela's student most certainly needed no encouragement to get a move on. None at all.

Bria helped Jamie up and into the ship as the girl landed beside Aela on the ramp. The large woman hefted the blonde up with a single hand, almost as if Jamie was as light as a data pad. The woman smiled down at the Palawan with the severed appendage protruding from her back before reaching down and tearing it from the fabric of her armor, dropping it to the floor of the shuttle.

"Thanks." She said with a smile. The woman nodded.

With the doors to the shuttle closed and the ship up and away from the massive swarm of monstrous creatures and their enormous alpha, Jamie leaned her head against the hull, closing her eyes. The relayed message sounded as though the alliance was about to bomb the outpost into oblivion. That was fine and well enough for Jamie to relax. Nobody else needed to stumble upon whatever those things were.

Her head turned to the side though as Asmus surprisingly asked someone else to pilot. Of course, she didn't volunteer. She planned on surviving this.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

"Ian." She motioned for the Marine.

The man was probably the best pilot out of all of the small group that had just come aboard. Aela would end up smashing their vessel against the side of the Carrier and Jamie very likely would do the same. Ian at least would be able to make it back to The Subversion without too much trouble.

"Got it boss."

Ian jumped over towards the pilots seat, taking off his helmet and gently taking Asmus out of the seat. "Bria, can you check Asmus' wounds?"

Again, the other Marine nodded and tromped over to the Pilot as Aela joined Jamie by leaning her head against the metal bulkhead.

"Tell the Subversion to get word back to the Alliance." Aela slowly went sliding down the side of the wall, sitting and letting her head lull to the side. "This probably wasn't the First Order."

 

[Asmus Janes]

Asmus took his hands from the controls as Ian moved into the co-pilot’s chair and took over. Asmus swivelled around so that Bria could take a look. She eased up the hem of his trousers to find the deep puncture wound pulsing with blood. His sock and boot were soaked through. She gave him an odd glance.

“Had to get us clear,” he replied. She nodded at that. There was an understanding that all who fought for the GADF were there to lay down their lives when necessary. It was what they did when the time came. Or at least tried to face it with bravery. Under normal circumstances Asmus wouldn’t have been afforded the chance to test his mettle. When a Starfighter when down it was normally a very brief experience for the pilot.

She focussed on the chance of infection and tried to stem the bleeding. A broad spectrum anti-biotic cocktails was applied, followed by a bacta based paste that started to seal the holes. That didn’t really do the trick so Bria applied a staple that snapped shut on its own volition. Asmus groaned through clenched teeth. Fortunately the next application numbed the calf almost instantly.

“Oh…the good stuff,” he said wearily.

“You should go lie down in the back,” the marine instructed. He gave a curt nod.

“I’m picking up signals. I don’t…I don’t know this model all that well,” Ian said.

With an accepting smile Asmus turned his chair forwards. “I’ll be fine resting here,” he told the medic. His hands left a bloody trail across the console as he pressed some keys. The warning lights vanished and the three dots turned blue.

“That’s Ghost squadron,” Asmus said. “Here,” a display appeared with a clear path to follow. “Keep on the vector and they can bring you into the Subverion’s deck. I’ll help. What were those?” he asked of no-one in general.”

 

[Jamie Pyne]

While Asmus was tended to by the marines Jamie went about pulling free the visor obscuring her face, dropping it to the floor of the shuttle, as well as unbuckling the latches that held the outer portion of her armor to her arms and legs, thereby freeing herself of just about the entirety of the suit, aside from the body glove. that acted as the under layer. The gash in the back of the outer layer was rather substantial, though very thankfully it had managed to hold up against the assault of the creature back on the landing pad.

"Nightmares." Jamie said as Asmus questioned what it was that they had encountered. She leaned forward towards the ramp, picking up the piece of the claw that had been lodged in her shoulder, examining it for a few moments. It was a nice parting gift. Razor sharp and quite lethal on its' own. The bigger question to her was where they came from. If they had been on the planet the whole time, disturbed by the construction of the outpost? Or if those were created, engineered even, for the purpose of killing and released as a sort of test. Perhaps alternatively they were simply mutations of some other species.

"Not bad for a first test." She said towards Aela, lifting up the damaged suit. "Probably saved my butt." Or at least prevented another Bastion from occurring.

 

[Aela Talith]

"Sithspawn." She gave Asmus the more detailed answer, though she doubted it would answer many questions.

"Creatures created, or bent by the Sith. That planet isn't supposed to have anything like that, a few canines, but not with Six legs and tails like that. I doubt it was a natural mutation...not with the added legs, that coupled with their reflection in the force..." Aela trailed off as she glanced out the viewport and back towards the planet. "They're not natural."

That much she could say for sure.

They would have to send an investigation team to figure out exactly what had created those things and why. Destroying them was the first priority of course, and luckily there was nothing else on the planet of value, so at the very least it wasn't a total loss.

When Jamie spoke she couldn't help but smile. "Should make me one."

It was only half a joke.

 

[Asmus Janes]

"Don't they often come poisoned?" Asmus asked. It was a rumour he'd heard. He had no knowledge on the subject to speak of. His face was quite pale now, but he stayed stubbornly in the pilot's chair.

Bria was busy checking him over still, measuring his vitals. She gave a shake of her head. "No immediate signs of toxins, we'll have to check back on the Subversion."

"Whatever they are... They're not going to survive the imminent incineration," he said quietly. That was a comforting thought. The medical fetched a thermal blanket and insisted on wrapping it around him.

The Subversion loomed ahead of them. The light appearing in a crack in its matte black exterior. That was the prow hangar bar doors slowly sliding open. Asmus leaned forwards and pulled back two levers to put them into landing mode.

"Alright, this model kicks like a mule if you don't drop the inertial dampeners down before stabilising with the repulsors."

 

[Jamie Pyne]

imminent incineration sounded just like what that planet needed. But honestly, there could have been more elsewhere on the planet if that was not the only congregation of things that had been left there. It was impossible to tell really, and not worth mentioning given the current spirit of things on the ship. Instead she simply smiled to Aela, nodding. "I can."

Making another set of armor similar to hers wouldn't be too much work. It was more the small tedious type than anything. Ensuring that each layer was stitched and threaded properly, that there weren't any weakened layers or areas between fibers, and acquiring the gadgets she'd purchased as well. That part had been a bit tricky.

Her eyes closed once again as Ian and Asmus brought the ship into the hangar of the Subversion, waiting to feel the brief shake and thud of the ship against the floor.