Hunter becomes Hunted

[Laira Darkhold]

Stars shone brightly overhead and the dim orange glow of Yavin illuminated the night sky like an eerie red twilight. Even at night Yavin Four was still visible to the eyes unless you ventured deep into the jungles and the light was blotted out by the canopy. Creatures lurked in the shadows, eyes gleaming as they looked on to the beast that was passing them. With every foot fall the creature made the other animals of the forest hushed and sought refuge, hiding from the monster as it passed. As swiftly as it had come, it was gone again and the animals that populated Yavin Four returned to their activities of hooting, hollering, and the sound of insects chirping, birds singing filled the air again.

The beast itself stalked different prey, though food was food. Tonight was no different than the last few, constant wandering, seeking out prey, hunting for the prey it was bred for. No, it was made for. The massive claws dug through dirt and moss as the beast knelt and took a drink from a stream, its monstrous form reflecting in the water. Tusks framed a hideous visage and the three meter tall beast's eyes were blood red, as they had always been. For centuries it had lain dormant, and it had been slower to rise than its brethren, but it had risen now. And now it sought to fulfill its purpose.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Far above the moon, still dropping into the atmosphere the modified corellian corvette that I used as Chiasa and I’s personal ship rattled as we dropped back below the sound barrier, letting the vapor cone and roar fade away from the engines as it switched over to use its repulsors primarily now that we had entered the moon’s atmosphere.

“Well, we made it love.” I said, spinning in the captain’s chair as the droid pilots saw to most of the work. Pretty much the only reason a Pilot was needed was if you wanted to survive combat, pretty much everything else was automated.

“The short message we got from the Rekali’s was there is a Terentatek in this region and the Buir wants it dead and off his planet as fast as humanly possible.” Giving Chiasa the run-down of what had happened while in transit to the system. “Once we drop down to five hundred meters we can go the rest of the way on jump packs, that is, assuming you are up for it?” These were nasty beasts from everything I had read about them, but the two of us, Drahr and Starbird, we could handle it. I was confident in my own abilities, and she had been teaching students since before I was aware I was even Force Sensitive, so without a doubt she could hold her own.

[member="Chiasa Vereen"]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"Of course."

Was she a little concerned about fighting one of the infamous Terentatek? Sure. They were known for killing Force Users and resistant to almost everything. And she'd never used a jump pack before. Still, with Draco at her side she was unafraid, and she understood the basics of jump packs and could always supplement with the Force as needed. She was back at almost a hundred percent and ready to go. Plus this was the first time she'd really had a chance to work with her Viyi'ee in the field, she was looking forward to it, and to seeing what he could do.

The small metal globe mag-clipped on to her belt may or may not have had a little surprise as well. Not one that would be helpful in the actual encounter, but it could come in to play later. Technically she supposed it was unnecessary for the most part now, most of the galaxy thought she was dead and she had only her own family to look at for, and to some extent Dracos workers, but you never knew when you might need an ace in the hole.

Beyond that she had her 'saber for all the good it would do and a slugthrower. Likely neither would do much to a Terantatek and it would come down to improvisation, but that was fine. She'd killed a Fireworm with her bare hands on one occasion, and that was while alone and under attack.

She had no doubt she and Draco would manage fine.

"Buir is father yes? And in this case.. Patriarchal clan leader?"

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

“Yeah, he’s the guy in charge. Good man from what I know of him, but I haven’t been introduced.” The Rekali’s ran Yavin, straight up. Aside from Mandal Hypernautics no one stayed in the system very long without them giving their seal of approval. One way to gain that seal might be to do errands like this for them, but this was more of a ‘I don’t want to deal with it unless I have to, but I want it dealt with’ scenario that meant we wouldn’t be best friends afterwards.

“Well, whenever you are ready Mesh’ika.” I said, standing and slipping on my helmet, letting the droids take over. They could handle keeping it steady and we could remote control the ship to a degree from the ground, or just call the droids and tell them where to meet us.

I walked to the ramp and pressed the panel to make the loading ramp open, turning to face her and walking backwards off the ramp. “I will see you on the ground my dear,” I said over the comm, letting gravity carry me down towards the ground.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The beast continued down the river, striding through the cool clean water. Some Jedi considered even this light touch contaminating and corrupting, and they may have been correct. Its claws, deadly in so many ways dragged through the water, known to be highly poisonous. Such virulence in the water would surely kill some of the fish and river animals currently cowering in whatever shelter they could find, hoping to escape the monster’s gaze.

They had little to fear from the monster now, as it could see the first signs of intelligent life off in the distance, a small ship floating above the ground, many kilometers away. Prey. That was the clearest sign of prey the rage filled beast could remember, and so it began moving in that direction. The flesh of men was always tender and stank of fear. The monster rose out of the clear water and tore a path into the jungle making its way towards the ship. Even as it passed out of the water, it roared and took off as fast as its relatively short legs could carry it. Whatever nearby animals bolted in terror or froze in their shelters, their fear fueling the monster onward.

[member="Chiasa Vereen"]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

Chiasa nodded once at this. She was still working on learning the language. She had the feeling that perhaps Draco didn't have it quite down yet either, which made things a bit more difficult. On the plus side there was no pressure from him for her to be suddenly fluent, but she felt the pressure all the same. She wasn't a Raven any more. She was part of Clan Vereen. In usual Chiasa fashion, this meant she had to understand and assimilate. She still had mixed feelings about Mandalorians as a whole, but for Draco, even if he did not directly ask it of her, she would make an effort. If she was going to be a Mando, she was going to do it properly.

Doing a favour for a Clan Leader seemed like a good plan then. Particularly one strong enough to hold a planet on their own.

Custom helmet was put in place. As much as she hated having her lekku confined, it was necessary. A grin went unseen beneath it.

"Yes, you will."

Natural competitiveness and perhaps just a bit of adrenaline junkie rose. As Draco walked calmly and nonchalantly backwards off the ramp, Chiasa, gear checks completed made her own sprint. Speed keeping her from having time to worry. That was the key. Keep moving forward. No time for fear. Realize you were afraid after, when you looked back, but not in the moment. A jump and she was in free-fall, body rigid and knifing through the air, watching the numbers tick by on her HUD, waiting for the correct timing to first use the jump pack.

It was a bit fun. A bit exhilarating. For the same reason piloting a starfighter was fun, but much more direct.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Buzzing through the air, I waited until I hit eighty meters to arch upwards and hit the first thrust, slowing my descent enough that the repulsorlift coil alone was enough to keep the landing from being painful. Chiasa however waited and hit the ground before me, though I had no problems with being a little behind her, I wasn’t that insecure. Her choosing to live a little more dangerously didn’t bother me, we both had use of the Force, it wasn’t like either of us were going to make stupid mistakes like that.

All that said, once we hit the ground travel was easy enough. Not a whole lot of underbrush and a lot of creatures making noise at us as monkeys, birds, and insects observed us from the trees. I expanded my presence, pushing my senses to their limits in search of the beast we were hunting, though I wasn’t sure what I was feeling for, I was certain I would know it when I felt it. And know it I did. Like a black pit moving across the field of living things, leaving fear and terror in its wake it was there. Moving in our direction, still several kilometers off. It left little to wonder about why they had been made to slay Jedi. “It certainly is out there. And moving. How do you feel about taking lead?” I asked, cheerfully. Hunting was fun for me, and I could think of few afternoons better spent than tracking down a beast, and slaying it with my beloved wife.

[member="Chiasa Vereen"]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

The journey from sky to land was quick, quicker than she might have liked. She made a mental note to practice more with jump packs. Firstly because she'd enjoyed it, and secondly because her timing had been slightly off, there had been a little more stress to her knees than she'd anticipated. Not enough for injury by any means, just more than she'd meant. Still, despite that the stumble was mostly righted and she stayed on her feet, so that was a victory.

Which left her planetside. At least with the taller trees there wasn't too much under-brush. Chiasa was still not a very big fan of wilderness. Deserts were nice and clean. She liked deserts, beyond that she was a creature of cities and space.

The Terantatek was easy to find, sensing was one of her stronger skills. The only problem was all the jungle between her and it. Well. And the fact that it was a giant murder monster designed to destroy force-users. That was a bit of a problem.

"I can. Keep in mind this... greenery is not my strong suit."

At least the Terantatek couldn't really get the drop on them with how strongly it resonated. Any other dangers the planet had to offer though.. They could eb dealt with as they arose however. Always move forward.

So, double checking to make sure the bond between them was active and open, she sent him a quick surge of affection, before turning to face the Terentatek like a dog scenting the wind and moving off at an easy lope, on high alert, scanning constantly with both tech and force, watching for threats.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I let her get a little bit ahead and then started off after her, only about ten meters back, more than close enough support her when we came up on the beast. Pretty much everything else wanted to avoid the Terentatek like the plague, and us to a lesser extent. We didn’t radiate fear and corruption like that monster did, and so, most of the beings we passed weren’t anything beyond curious. One or two swarms of Piranha Beetles ushered away through the Force were the only things even partially difficult to deal with.

As we continued through the Jungle I could feel us drawing closer and closer to the black pit of despair in the Force that was our prey. I had lots of doubts about this hunt, but I wasn’t about to say anything. Chiasa reinforcing our bond helped assure me we would be fine. I worried for her more than anything. I could not lose her again. “When we get within a few hundred meters we will take to the trees and ambush it from above. The key here will be one of us keeping it occupied so the other can go for the kill. That will be me pissing it off in case you were wondering.” I said calmly over the comm link. I could handle dodging and shooting a terentatek enough for her to go after its vitals.

[member="Chiasa Vereen"]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

"Are you sure? I am very good at making things angry you know."

Chiasa teased with a slight grin. Quite frankly she didn't like the idea of either of them playing bait, but for all that she always scraped by she was willing to admit it was likely that Draco had more experience in this sort of a hunt, and she had the wisdom to let him make the calls for the most part.

Taking to the trees. Well. It made sense in any case. Likely between her own dexterity, the force and jump pack she'd manage, but quite frankly swinging around and jumping between trees had not largely figured into her life up until now. And by not largely, she meant never. She'd just think of them as balance beams. Cheap, uneven, likely to break balance beams. No problem.

A little longer, and it became not only easy to sense to beast, but impossible to ignore. Chiasa, and likely Draco, were in the enviable position of having enough darkness that it did not come as a shock, an alien assault, and enough light to fend it off for the most part. At least these basic, unintentional mental assaults. A slow creeping corruption rather than a direct attack.

A slight mental touch to Draco to confirm had the Twi'lek selecting a conveniently gnarled tree to scale. Likely this was where most force users would leap six storeys up in the air, do a triple back-flip and land in a broodingly mysterious crouch. That seemed like a tremendous waste of energy and just a generally ridiculous course of action. Chiasa just climbed the tree, like a particularly dexterous, but otherwise normal being.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

I nodded to Chiasa as she took off and landed into a rather large tree. Good, that is where she needed to be. I would rather be up out of its reach and stay that way then getting face to face with one of the most fearsome alchemical beasts the Sith as a hole have ever created and being within its reach for very long, but someone needed to draw it in. I had a feeling that the Jedi of old that tried to hunt these monsters to extinction did the same. It was foolish to try and match or overpower these creatures physically, and I knew they weren’t exactly easy to deal with.

I winked at Chiasa, from behind the visor of my helmet. “I know you are, but I’d rather not have a giant monster angry with you. I’ll be back with it in no time, and it will probably be enraged.” I continued jogging through the jungles. Sensors in my helmet told me I was coming up on it only a few moments later, or that it was coming towards me. A few seconds paused, told me it was indeed moving in my direction, though not straight at me. Alright, simple, piss it off.

I took a to a branch only about three meters up and got my first look at the creature stomping through the trees. Whether it noticed me or not, it did turn in my direction and though it was mostly obscured I took aim with the rocket system on my arm and waited for the target lock icon and let loose. Even before the missile hit its target, nearly eighty meters off I was already moving, albeit at a jog away from the monster back towards Chiasa.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Pain surged through the beasts left shoulder as a small explosion ripped into its flesh. Its roar of fury echoed through the jungle as its blood red eyes searched for the source of its injury. Even a small explosive didn’t critically injure it, but it was more than enough to whip the creature into a frenzy. There. An armored man moving away from it. That must be the source. The beast roared again, taking off at a sprint after the armored figure, smashing small trees out of its way as it pursued him.

The man glanced over his shoulder and cursed under his breath, picking up speed, keeping out of arms reach. The muscles of the beast surged as it pushed its legs harder, running on all fours, trying with all its might to catch its prey and devour the man’s bones. This state of mind, this blind fury radiated through the Force as it slowly closed on its prey, darting through the trees. Just as the beast started to gain significant ground on him though, the man flew, exhaust trailing behind him as he did, rising into a tree.

The beast slammed into the tree, across from the tree Chiasa sat waiting, causing splinters to explode from the trunk and a loud creaking sound to emit from its base as the tree went from upright to falling over. Placing its claws on the tree the beast helped the tree fall, and the man, gracefully dropped away from the tree trunk to the jungle floor.

[member="Chiasa Vereen"]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

Blind fury. She could work with that. Not the blind part of course, she had to be aware, alert, but oh she could do furious. That was her husband the best was set on devouring. Hers. Yellow eyes narrowed and lips pulled back from fangs in a silent snarl. It went against instinct to stay still and wait, she would rather throw herself at the beast, run it down, assault it until one of the two of them was dead. Ensure it never so much as looked at Draco again. But that was not the plan, so wait she did. Instinct had it's time and place, but reasoning was a powerful tool as well. On this hunt Draco was in charge, and she would follow his plan.

As it was distracted pushing down the tree Draco had retreated into, forcing him down to the forest floor and back into direct danger, the Twi'lek decided she'd been given an ideal opening. It attention was wholly on him and it's broad back was to her.

Silently she moved, now was the time to call on the force, now was the time to jump. Hilt of her saber held in both hands over her head, unignited, she leapt from the tree. At the last moment as she pushed off, the branch cracked and broke. Whether it was that noise, the feeling of her sudden flare in the force, or just it's own brutally efficient instincts, just before she was poised to land it whipped around, bellowing.

Already slightly off balance from the unexpected breaking of the branch, the Twi'lek instead of landing neatly on it's head and igniting her blade for a quick killing blow through the unprotected eye, why change a system that worked, she barely avoided its slashing tusks, and was left clinging to it's shoulder as it tried to dislodge her. Grimly tracking it's poisoned claws, refusing to release entirely, set on recovering and landing a killing blow.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The ground was not where I wanted to be. That was right in the danger zone, I wanted to be five or six meters up from it, taking shots at it and dropping stuff onto it trying to weaken it and distract it from Chiasa for as long as I possibly could. It swiped at me with its massive, poison coated claws, and I was barely able to roll backwards out of the way in time, and only then because the Force had warned me to hit the ground and start backwards before I had even landed. Two or three Jedi Knights had been able to hunt these things to near extinction thousands of years ago. Certainly two experienced masters with a tightly bound Force connection could handle one lost on Yavin Four.

When I finished my roll I came up, seeking my swords with my hands. The short blades slipped out of their holsters, razor sharp and supernaturally strong. I was just about to set myself for its next attack when the beast swung around, taking a half step and twisting on its back legs to face Chiasa. Luckily she was able to alter her trajectory slightly and land, gripping the monster’s shoulder. Time to act. I rushed up behind the beast, putting all of my strength behind my left hand, swinging the flash freezing blade for the back of the knee with as much force as I could muster. Drawing power from my hips, the blade dug deep into the Terentatek’s flesh, biting into it, the flesh around the blade visibly changing color and frost appearing on the deep slash from frozen blood.

Continuing forward, I drove the other blade into the small of its back and rammed my shoulder against the handle, driving it to the hilt of the beast, and urging it a step forward.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Pain seethed through the mind of the beast as the woman latched on to its shoulder and its knee buckled under the surprise attack from the other being. For a second it dropped to a knee before being shoved, only a mere foot or so, by the armored male. A deafening roar echoed through its lungs as it swung backwards with supernatural speed, catching the man full in the chest with a back hand swipe, knocking him away. He wasn’t dead, but he was down on his knees after impacting a tree with a good deal of force.

Something was stinging it. Something buried in its back, and blood dripped from the wounds it had already suffered, though only the frozen, numbed leg would truly effected its ability to fight and devour Jedi. Shifting its attention to the woman on its shoulder a throaty growl rose from its mouth as the clawed arm swung in her direction, across the beast’s chest. Absolute rage seeped into the Force as it sought to shove this prey away from it, to send her sprawling into the moss and dirt just as it had done to the other being.

[member="Chiasa Vereen"]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

Draco managed to wound it. In the long run the wounds would probably kill or cripple the beast at the very least, likely still resulting in it's death when it could no longer hunt. In the short run however, it was still moving, and very, very deadly.

Still, the assault on Draco combined with the fury the beast was putting out was moving Chiasa to damned near enraged. The pain it felt while not spurring her on like it would a Sith, and not particularly enjoyable, spoke directly to her more feral side, whispering that it was weak, wounded, injured, should be finished. So unsteady though her footing was on the beasts broad shoulders and back, she rose, crouched, one hand still on its thick hide, the other holding her lightsaber, unignited.

Quick feet took her towards the center of it's back, climbing, clinging to one of the spiked headplates as she pulled herself forward, out of reach of the swiping claw. If it put it's mind to it it could likely get her still, best to distract it then. A moments intense concentration through the Force got what she wanted. A small fire sprang to life within the beasts nostril. Far from deadly, but painful and distracting as she continued to try and get in position.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

My back and my chest hurt, and I could feel a few of my ribs were cracked even though I was protected fairly well against blunt for trauma. My eyes were hazy and crossed a little, and so I took three deep breaths, sharp pain emanating from my chest. I looked around for my swords, but I couldn’t see one of them, the other laying near the beast that was currently fighting Chiasa. My Chiasa. I rose to my feet and started to make my way back to the beast, moving slower than a full sprint due to the injury I had suffered. Reaching around my back hurt as well, but it was necessary, bringing out the mace, Taak’Shukur.

The light danced over the dark metallic phalanges as I brought the weapon into my hands. I centered myself, focusing on the task at hand. Save my beloved wife before anything happened to her. I needed to stay focused on helping her, on distracting the creature so she could keep going for the kill. She started a small fire on its face, enraging the monster and preparing her strike. All she needed was a few more seconds. She was wearing her helmet, perfect. Telekinetically pulling the pins on both the Flash Bang grenades I carried the bright flash and loud pop were muffled by our helmets, but there was little defense against the disorienting attack the Terentatek could do.

While it was dazed, I through the mace, hard. Aiming for center mace the weapon wasn’t meant to kill, only meant to draw the beasts attention, to injure and set up for the kill.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Smoke crawled through the beast’s nostrils and mouth as the small fire cooked parts of its face away. Nothing was more distracting than having a fire started on your being. The sith made beast howled in pain and started reaching upwards for the female on its back, hoping to unleash its fury upon the female and rend her asunder. As its arms raised, giant venomous claws arcing up towards her, struggling through the smoke and burnt flesh smell that engulfed its face now, a bright flash blinded the monster while loud pops, ruptured one of its ear drums.

Recovering with supernatural power, the beast righted itself to face this attacker, the spots clearing from its eyes, ears ringing and muffled. As it started to roar the heavy mace impacted its gut, driving the air from its lungs and its intestines rupturing from the shockwaves that emitted through its body. Doubling over, its gurgled up a low growl, blood oozing from its mouth, only to be caught by the flames erupting from its nose.

A final roar echoed from its throat, and the beast lunged forward slashing at the injured man before it.

[member="Chiasa Vereen"]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

Draco bought her a moment, and a moment was all she needed. Ducking the poisonous claws once more, grateful for the automatic shielding from both light and sound her helmet afforded her, The Twi'lek moved swiftly, bringing the hilt of her lightsaber into place before igniting it, the orange blade cracking into life with it's familiar noise, bypassing the creatures tough hide to penetrate the vulnerable eye socket, continuing into the beasts brain.

It's final attack was cut short, momentum keeping it moving, but the aim gone, the movement jerky and uncoordinated as the abused grey matter within it's skull sent out it's last jumbled signals.

Switching off her lightsaber, the Twi'lek jumped clear, hand reaching to the sphere at her waist. Thumb finding a small depression and pressing. With a whirr a section of it's seemingly smooth and solid surface lifted. The ASU-V1's within flying out to fulfil their directive. Samples while the tissue was fresh. Once they had their samples, flesh, blood, venom, brain matter, they would return to the sphere, climate controlled to maintain the samples.

This however was pre-programmed and did not require her attention. Her Drahr did. He had taken several solid blows even with his armour. As soon as the little droids were set free, she had turned and was moving, one eye on the beast as she trotted to Dracos side.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Chiasa took the seconds I had bought her to down the large Sith-created beast with her lightsaber. She was good, she had always been good, but this was the first time I was seeing just how good she was. She was a different kind of warrior. I was a bastion, strong and unwavering, methodical and slow to advance on the whole. She instead was a dancer, one who slashed her opposition and pirouetted away with grace and deadly fluidity.

She jogged over to my side and I smiled from behind my helmet, wincing as I straightened myself. “Do not fear for me, Mesh’ika. I did not go so long without you to be lost now.” I drew upon the Force, pushing my ribs back into place and using its mystical presence to fuel and hasten the rate at which I healed. It would still take some time, but setting the bones now and then getting some Bacta or Kolto would put me back on my feet in no time.

I took off my helmet and wrapped an arm about her waist, pulling to my chest. “Remember what I said to you on Nar Shaddaa. Not the gates of heaven, nor the pits of hell could keep me from you. Certainly one beast isn’t going to put me down.” I pressed my forehead against her helmet, kissing her faceplate and smiling, a little blood staining some of my teeth red. “Let’s get what we came for my shining star.”

[member="Chiasa Vereen"]