Hunting a Terentatek Mauler

[Phoebus]

⎊​

Hunting a Terentatek Mauler​

​

⎉​

Preface​

The planet of Dromuund Kaas had been abandoned by the One Sith upon the centralization of their installations in the Core. It was conquered by the Order of the Silver Jedi and its dark-side presence in the Force was long forgotten. However, inside the deep catacombs of Korriban, the dark side of the force lingered and developed leading to the re-population of Terentateks and chrysalides far beneath the surface of the peaceful planet. There have even been rumors of a Terentatek Mauler roaming in the bowels of Korriban, searching for the savory flesh of Force users. Now, Phoebus arrives with her thrall, Lycorus, to hunt the rumored Terentatek Mauler with the assistance of hired help, [member="Benjamin Atlas"]...

⎉​

Chapter I.​

Orbit of Dromuund Kaas​

​

Inside of her shuttle, Phoebus awaited the arrival of Benjamin Atlas, who she hired to assist her with the collection of valuable materials necessary for her alchemy. She originally planned on traveling to Korriban, as it remained uncontrolled by any major government but the origins of Mr. Atlas were here, in Korriban, so she assented to coming here. It did not particularly matter, as the location was simply a means to the end. Standing silently, she looked over to Lycorus.

Following her expedition on Dathomir, Lycorus had trained himself rigorously and accepted the transformation of spirit ichor into his veins. Now, he was transformed into an avatar of primal rage that possessed great strength and dexterity compared to before. Wielding a large mace, Lycorus defensively positioned himself in the blindspot of Phoebus and awaited her orders.

Looking back into the depths of space, Phoebus waited for Mr. Atlas's arrival....

 

[Benjamin Atlas]

Home....or previous home to be exact. Dromund Kaas was the home of his species...the Rapax. Conflicts with the Sith ultimately caused the destruction of his species, leaving the remnants of both sides to flee. Aperantly the planet had different occupants now, that of the Jedi. The new occupants might have been quick to forget the previous tenants of the planet, but the Rapax wouldn't. Colonisation by the sith of their planet was not wanted.

...

So what brought him back to his roots... For him it was mostly the fact of seeing the planet his parents had talked about. The truth was, he had received a job, not normal to his abilities, it was not the assassination of someone, but more the assassination of a beast.

The teen slowly pulled his ship out of hyperspace and brought it up near an awaiting ship. He sent over a transmission:

"Ah you must be my employer...The Dark Assassin is at your service." He would say. He then pulled his mask and hood down, the seventeen year old's red eyes would peer out into the darkness of space.

"At any rate, lead the way down to the planet..that is unless you have questions." The teen would say. He clenched his fists as he felt a small pang of hunger hit him. He wasn't used to saving his energy. He sighed as he waited.
[member="Phoebus"]

 

[Phoebus]

[member="Benjamin Atlas"]

Phoebus briefly paused before nodding to her navigations officer. The shuttle slowly descended through Dromuund Kaas's atmosphere and onto the barren, infertile plains at the center of the planet. One of her attendants passed her a standard-issue breath mask, and she slowly secured it snugly over her mouth and nose.

Adjusting her energy bow slung across her back as she walked toward the exit, Phoebus departed from her shuttle and onto the dusty, lifeless ground. She looked at the nutrition-less dust beneath her feet and sighed lightly as she felt an absence of the spirits to guide her. She tapped the single totem on her belt, which was amidst a bundle of trinkets and tokens, softly, and it vibrated softly in response.

This particular talisman was called the Totem of Familiars, Opulence of Varactyl. It housed the spirit of a Varactyl and served as Phoebus's main mount and guardian. Phoebus liked this particular Varactyl as it was infused with spirit ichor, making its feathers seem like they were made splendidly cut emeralds. Created by Cynthia, it was far more sophisticated and advanced than what Phoebus could personally create at this point.

Slowly moving forward, she purveyed the surrounding areas as she waited for the arrival of Mr. Atlas.

 

[Benjamin Atlas]

Bringing his ship down into the atmosphere, he would smile as the ship landed. He didn't know much of his employer, only that she was a bit odd...and coming from a Rapax that was strange. As he walked down the ramp of his ship, the muggy air stick to his skin. The teen's attire would consist of his normal black jeans his on his torso he wore a sleeveless vest, his hood still rested over his head, his glowing red eyes would be the part that sticks out.

Stepping on to the dry land, the teen would smile. This was his supposed home...the start of his people. He sighed as he looked over his shoulder only to see a woman and her thrall.

The Rapax would make his way over to her and give a small nod, he eyed her up. She was his boss, he would simply nod. The teen stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Details?..." The Dark Assassin would ask with a growl in his voice. He grew a bit hungrier...his patients was wearing thin, not at the woman in front of him, more of the situation, he had felt a bit of frustration with being on his home planet. He tensed up.

"It's good to meet you."
[member="Phoebus"]

 

[Phoebus]

[member="Benjamin Atlas"]

Phoebus stopped her actions pondering Mr. Atlas before giving him a slight curtsy. "Pleasure to meet you as well. Thank you for accepting my unique assignment; I do realize this is out of your expertise, but I'm sure we will be fine."

Turning around, she took out a blank Talisman of Finding and began the process of branding it with an old drop of Terentatek blood. Closing her eyes, she used spirit ichor to carefully draw out the drop of blood and smear it across the surface of the talisman. Chanting in Dathomiri language melodically, the Talisman of Finding glowed green slightly before imprinting a ferocious red glyph of a Terentatek face on the top.

Opening her eyes, she lifted the talisman up to her eye level and observed the fluctuations of spirit ichor that danced on the face of the talisman. Brightly shining to the right, Phoebus began walking in that direction and turned her head to Mr. Atlas.

"Follow me."

 

[Benjamin Atlas]

Benjamin listened as the woman spoke. He then smiled.

"It's never a problem madam, I wouldn't want to give up the chance to see what my parents called home." He paused as he reached down and touched the ground, pulling soil up into his hand, then letting it fall through his fingers. He looked back up to his boss. Before wiping his hands off on his jeans and standing back up.

"So far I am not impressed...I heard great battles has happened on this soil...Sith and Rapax casualties on each side...yet...I don't feel it..." He said as his red eyes searched the ground for a second.

The Dark Assassin then looked up from the ground and to the woman.

The Rapax was put on edge, the woman, his boss was obviously not a normal person, he watched as she took out a charm, and started to chant in an unknown language. Benjamin was uneasy yet he didn't question her, it was not his job. He was getting paid to accompany her on a hunt, not ask questions. The teen sighed as the woman called back to him.

He slowly followed her.


[member="Phoebus"]

 

[Phoebus]

[member="Benjamin Atlas"]

"The governing body have done a decent job of cleaning up the dark side Force energy that once infested Dromuund Kaas on the surface, yet they have unable to exterminate the full root of the problem. Cleansing the catacombs would be too arduous, so I assume that they instead maintain a fine line of stability."

Seeing the obvious discomfort in Mr. Atlas's posture and eyes, she briefly explained, "This is a Talisman of Finding that I personally created using spirit ichor, the Force-equivalent to Witches of Dathomir, to track living things. I inscribed the blood of a deceased Terentatek to track one of their lairs, and we will go from there."

As Phoebus stopped in front of a large cavern plunged into the ground and looked at the brightly green glowing Talisman of Finding. Nodding to her thrall, Lycorus readied his mace and jumped into cavern. Hearing three resounding thumps against the cavern walls, Phoebus jumped in as well.

⎉​

Chapter II.
Terentatek Lair of Dromuund Kaas

Phoebus immediately removed her Trinket of Firesprite's Luminesce and activated it with a drop of spirit ichor, illuminating the vast cavern. The area was more or less flat and seemed to be artificially created. Inspecting everything carefully, a heavily injured Terentatek suddenly charged toward her.

 

[Benjamin Atlas]

So apparently the new governing body of Dromund Kaas was cleaning the filth of the Sith, and their evil powers...or more accurately they had slowed it. The source of the evil, the catacombs, the only problem with that... that's where the monsters hid.

He listened as the woman spoke of her charm....her talisman. This was the first he'd ever heard of someone who had a talisman. She explained that with a drop of blood from one of the Terentatek's ancestors, that she would be able to possibly track one down. This furthered the boy's knowledge on what she was doing, but it also made him a bit scared, his heart rate jumped a bit. 'that means she could track anyone with a drop of blood.' he would think to himself, he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sight of a large cavern that plummeted into the ground. He watched as the woman's thrall jumped in.

Three taps, soon after the woman jumped in. Benji sat out for a second. Soon the sound of something charging could be heard from the cavern.

"If I leave now...she'd be dead..." He debated with himself.

He quickly shook his head as he jumped in after. The cavern was lit and ahead was a charging Terentatek, it was limping, so obviously injured. The teen quickly crouched low as his Telum uncoiled and shot out through his shirt, four appendages would point towards the beast. The Darke Assassin growled as he chargers at the beast. It was obviously taller than him and heavier, he smiled. It was heavily armoured, it's claws were scratching the man-made floor of the cavern.

The five separate telum would branch out. The teen sighed. Three of his telum would smash into the creature. The Terentatek would slash at the boy, he was too busy focusing on his attack to stick out a defender, the claw slashed his side. A surge of pain went through the teen's body and he stiffled a scream. The telum pushed harder as it broke through the monster's armour and continued to penetrate it's body. The teen's other two telum would attack one of it's claws. Soon the beast fell with an echoing thump.

Ben fell on one of his knees. The gashes in his side made him angry, he looked back to the woman. "You okay?" He then pulled off his bag searched through it eventually he pulled out a small container and opened it up, the stench of human flesh would fill his nose. The teen grabbed a chunk and pulled his mask down, he greedily devoured it. While his wounds would heal until later, it made him feel much better.

He put the container away San pulled his bag back on before rising.

"If that thing was that strong...I can't wait to fight kill those other creatures." he would say softly. He looked to the beast which laid dead on the floor.

[member="Phoebus"]

 

[Phoebus]

[member="Benjamin Atlas"]

Surprised by the quick response of Mr. Atlas, Phoebus observed Mr. Atlas and his motions. Musing to herself about the biology of Mr. Atlas's species, she stepped a littler closer and began channeling spirit ichor into the physical world. A green mist suddenly filled the air around Phoebus and formed into an emerald river that swirled around her. Utilizing the newly conjured Water of Life, Phoebus began assisting in the recovery of his wounds.

As she healed Mr. Atlas slowly, Lycorus approached the bleeding corpse of the Terentatek and began carving out the usable portions of skin, flesh, organs and bones while storing the blood from the heart in large glass vials. As he removed the usable portions of the Terentatek, Phoebus split part of her Water of Life and used it to purify and then, temporarily preserve them. As she finished up preserving the portions of the Terentatek and healing Mr. Atlas, Lycorus picked up the materials and tapped on his holocommunicator. Whispering a few words, Phoebus's shuttle hovered above the cavern and a tractor beam began collecting the materials into the ship. As they were received by two mercenaries, they were carefully stored.

In total, only a few kilograms of skin, flesh, and bones were collected as the rest were too damaged to be salvaged. Unfortunately, the spines of the Terentatek were all broken, mangled or imperfect and thus, they remained unharvested. However, the heart of the Terentatek remained in good shape, and blood collected from it would prove invaluable to her future alchemy efforts.

As for the rest of the Terentatek corpse, she chanted a short incantation which caused the remaining spirit ichor to disintegrate the Terentatek corpse into energy as an offering to her contracted Varactyl ur-spirit. At this point, all the spirit ichor dissipated back to the spiritual realm.

As she waited for the products to be stored on her shuttle, she inquired about his container of blood, which she was able to make out from the distinctive smell of iron, "Can you consume the blood of Terentateks?"

 

[Benjamin Atlas]

Soon a green fog would roll into the cavern, soon a swirl would appear around the woman, his wound hurt a little less, he would look down at it and watch as it would slowly close itself. He was amazed, he smiled as the blood from his meal dripped from his mouth, his boss's thrall began to harvest the beast, blood, organs, bones.... anything that was intact, soon the woman's ship would hover over the entrance of the cavern collecting the samples from the monster.

As the two mercenaries received the crates, Ben's gaze was brought back down to the creature, it began to disintegrate. He watched in awe. 'She definitely shouldn't be messed with.' he would make a mental note for later reference. He was brought back into reality when the woman spoke again, she brought up this idea of consuming Terentatek blood. He looked towards her. Before touching his wound.

"That's a good question, I myself know that I can't consume anything other than the flesh of humanoid spiecies, of course that doesn't mean that I would be opposed to the idea of trying Terentatek blood. If it doesn't work, my body will reject it..." He said as he pulled his hood down.

"Why...what would be the benefits of drinking it?"
[member="Phoebus"]

 

[Phoebus]

[member="Benjamin Atlas"]

Scratching her head and slightly cocking her head sideways, Phoebus looked inquisitively at the place where the Terentatek corpse laid. She carefully responded, "Although this is purely based on speculation, the Terentatek are a mutated species of sith spawn that are empowered by the dark side of the force. They also like to feed on the flesh and blood of force users, so I assume they have some assimilated Force and Force resistant to themselves. This is evident by the Force-resistance of their skin...However, whether this translates to this blood is questionable. At worst, the blood would corrupt the individual with the dark side of the Force if they were not strong enough and at best, the assimilated Force within the blood would increase their abilities in the Force. As for your unique appendages...they might become Force resistant or more resilient to a degree. Not quite sure of their composition or biology, but that's what I speculate anyways..."

"If you truly wanted to try, I think that incubating the blood within a humanoid species and then consuming it diluted would be the best practical solution. Ethics aside of course... The safest way of doing it would probably be removing all of the components of Terentatek within the blood and refining the actual essence of the Force and consuming it like that. Or just transmuting the blood of the Terentatek to that of a human through the use of engineered enzymes that would alter the individual nature of all the proteins within the blood or through Sith Alchemy or Dathomiri Witchcraft..."

"That's all I can think of right now, although a combination of the previously mentioned or some other more innovative method probably exist."

"If you want to try the Terentatek blood now, we can set up camp and a fortified position here or we can continue onward. I'm fine either way, although if you require my services I will have to charge you."

 

[Benjamin Atlas]

The Dark Assassin listened carefully to the woman as she spoke about the Terentatek's blood. He was unsure, he could take the risk of consuming the blood but if he couldn't handle it... corruption would consume him. The teen looked towards the cavern entrance. Then to the woman.

She then gave him all these different ways that he could consume the blood, he was still sceptical. The reward would be great if it worked. The assassin ran his hands through his hair before looking around. The boss offered to set up camp and begin the ritual now...or they could continue the current mission, either way, he'd be charged for her services. The teen brought his red eyes back upon the woman.

"I am not opposed to the idea... would you be willing to perform the ritual after we finish here?" The teen asked he then pulled up his hood and wiped his mouth. Though he was on edge about drinking the blood...he was willing. The teen then smiled.

"How much would it cost me?..." He asked



[member="Phoebus"]

 

[Phoebus]

[member="Benjamin Atlas"]

Upon mention of a price, Phoebus shrugged. "Depends on what how much I have to do and what route you choose. I will not rip you off, but it will be pretty costly. The most expensive would be ten of thousands of credits or some material equivalent."

"If you want to continue...then let's proceed."

Phoebus continued down the cavern into the depths of Dromuund Kaas. There were not any remnants left, although dried blood was scattered across the walls. As the decline into the depths got steeper and steeper, Phoebus paused for a moment and checked her Talisman of Finding.

It continued to point into the depths of the underworld, and thus, they proceeded into the darkness....

 

[Benjamin Atlas]

Benny listened as she spoke about how much the cost would be. He closed his eyes for a second before smiling. He thought for a moment before looking further into the cavern.

She began to walk into the darkness, Ben followed closely behind her, he would continue to ponder the cost of the rituals. For now the teen shook it out of his mind as they continued to walk further into darkness, deeper into the catacombs. The smell began to get to the teen, he would pull his mask back up, just imagining the amount of evil that was down there...the amount of death. The teen would feel a shiver down his spine before smiling, this was his kind of place.

His mind wandered back to the ritual. He looked to the woman as they walked.

"Hmm... would you take credits combined with the offer of my services...freely?" The assassin would ask . He then began look deeper into the darkness.

The lair of the beast was near....a dark presence would grow stronger the further they went.

[member="Phoebus"]

 

[Phoebus]

⎉
Chapter III.

Terentatek Mauler Lair​

[member="Benjamin Atlas"]

Phoebus paused as she felt the dense bloodthirst within the air. Quickly stepping backwards, a gigantic Terentatek claw crushed the ground underneath her. A deafening roar resounded throughout the cave and Lycorus quickly stepped forward.

Taking out his mace and turning on the ultrasonic vibration generator, Lycorus quickly jumped and slammed the joint of the claw arm. Unfortunately, his mace was not able to even mark a scratch onto the Terentatek's armor and Lycorus rebounded backwards. Slamming into the wall and causing fissures within the cavern wall, Lycorus groggily got up and dashed in front of Phoebus in a defensive position.

"Mistress, this Terentatek is a little stronger than expected."

Phoebus nodded and said, "Mr. Atlas, it seems that Lycorus can do little to guide you minus distracting it during key moments and giving you some breathing room. I hope that you can keep this Terentatek in tact as it will be an invaluable specimen. Please stall for a few moments and I will freeze its limbs in place."

She began chanting the incantation for Revitalization of the Whuffa onto Lycorus, slowly healing the severe bruising on his back. Phoebus retied the Trinket of Firesprite's Luminesce and began priming all eighteen of her Tokens of Iceworm Frigid Ice.

 

[Benjamin Atlas]

Out of nowhere, a large claw slashed at Phoebus, but she must've anticipated it because she stepped back. The teen crouched low as the thrall attempted to attack the beast's claw. The woman spoke out to him as he cracked his knuckles.

She told him to keep the beast in tact, the teen looked to her as she began to chant and nodded. He released his telum, and again the five appendages shot out of his lower back, the red blade-like arms branched bout around him.the teen decided to distract the Mauler. He bolted towards the beast and slashed at one of it's legs. The Mauler slashed it's claws at the boy. He quickly jumped away and slashed at the monster's leg again. It was getting irritated at the assassin. He laughed a bit. When he woke up that morning, he wasn't expecting to be fighting a beast in dank catacombs with a witch.

He smiled as he jumped back at one of the slashes. "Crap that one was close." He would say as he stopped for a second to catch his breath, he panted a bit, being a apex predator he had not been used to having to work away at his prey, sadly the witch wanted the beast intact. A claw slashed at him as he was catching his breath, the telum made it just in time to block the attack.

The teen growled as he jumped back as far as he could.

He then ran towards the monster again, this time going for its other leg. The monster stomped and the cavern shook again. The boy smiled as he drew a dagger. He didn't attempt to attack it again, more of annoy it. He threw it at the beast's skull, but it had just bounced off the armour but it had annoyed the creature enough for it to focus it's attention on Benji.

He looked back to the woman and watched as she continued to chant....to chant to some spirit or something. He reached for another dagger, and again he would throw it towards the beast's skull, again it bounced off. The beast began to chge at the teen. 'it's crazy... trying to charge in this space.' he thought as he nearly jumped out of the way and the beast smashed into a cavern wall. It shook, the teen laughed, the beast quickly recovered let out a large roar. The path which they had talked to get there began to fill with chunks of rocks.

He sighed "Chit!" He could curse as he stood there, his telum ready to defend him, the monster let out a large growl as it stood in front of him.
[member="Phoebus"]

 

[Phoebus]

[member="Benjamin Atlas"]

Phoebus had finally activating all eighteen of her tokens and tossed them at the Terentatek. After a few moments in the air, the tokens transformed into eighteen freezing bolts of ice toward the joints of the Terentatek. Slamming into the four main joints of the legs and arms, the joints of the Terentatek were locked in place. The Terentatek struggled to move and its mobility was greatly hindered. Phoebus then grasped her energy bow and rapidly focus firing at one of the frozen joints of its leg, shattering the external shell of the Terentatek and piercing through the joints that allowed it to move. In a short few seconds, the leg from the knee down was cleanly removed and the Terentatek tumbled to the ground. As the wound was seared by the plasma of the energy arrow, blood did not leak from the Terentatek and the removed leg.

All the Terentatek could do is roar in pain and pointlessly claw at the air between Phoebus and itself. She looked at Mr. Atlas and nodded, "Could you please chop off the rest of the joints and seal the wounds with these tokens."

Phoebus threw three Tokens of Darellian Fire Crab Ignition toward Mr. Atlas and explained, "As I've already imbued the tokens with spirit ichor, all you have to do is simply imbue them with your will and toss the token at the wound and it will produce a ball of flame."

She sat down and began meditating, attempting to recover some of the mental strain that was left through her proceeding actions.