Most Curious Creatures - SJO Dominion of the Tholatin Hex

[Cassius Droma]

Objective: Curious Creatures
Location: The Cave - The Queen's Lair

It had all kicked off rather quickly. The creatures obviously didn’t want them to go inside of the cave. It was a place of such importance that they had transformed at the mere notion of the group entering. Cassius could only guess that the other creatures back at Esau’s Ridge had transformed as well, so time was of the essence. If there was a way that they could stop these creatures, they had to find a way quickly.

When his lightsaber ignited, he pressed a button near the bottom that made it glow somewhat brighter – the magnetic field around the blade weakened, and the energy increased. This was the lethal mode of the lightsaber, one that usually wasn’t on it by default. Faced with dozens, if not hundreds of vicious monsters, Cassius had no qualms with ending their lives if it meant shielding Inaya and Gianna.

As Cassius stood guard and hacked and slashed at the monsters racing towards them, he suddenly felt a surge of confidence, as well as an increase in his focus. He was able to concentrate completely on what he was doing. For a moment, he thought it was Gianna giving him strength, but when he turned around for a split second, he saw the older blonde man sitting down. Battle Meditation – he’d heard of it before, but had never seen it in action. He was grateful for it now.

Gianna was suddenly distressed – he could feel it through the Force. He turned to her and placed a hand on her shoulder as he swung his lightsaber with his other hand. Her sympathy might have gotten the best of her, it seemed, and she implored that they go deeper into the cave. Whatever was compelling these creatures, it had to be there.

With Gianna’s kinetic push and Josh’s Battle Meditation, there was a lull in the waves of creatures coming to them. “Everyone, let’s move!” he shouted, and grabbed Inaya by the hand as he raced towards the cave. T-4D4 followed closely behind, keeping his head on a swivel so as to look out for more creatures. Soon, darkness would envelop them as they went deeper into the mouth of the cave.

It was calmer in the cave, but only for the moment. Cassius could sense the feverous rage coming towards them – more beasts, trying to protect… something. He spearheaded their movement inside, trying to lead them down a rocky path. The monsters came at them from ahead, behind, and even above, as some of them used their razor-sharp claws to cling to the stalactites.

Eventually, the creatures started to peel off, and there were only a few left as they reached a large chamber in the cave. A hole near the top let in a beam of sunlight, and it spotlighted some sort of hulking mass. As the group gathered in the chamber, a deafening roar would echo throughout, and the ground would rumble underneath their boots as a beast the size of a small corvette emerged and reared up on its hind legs.

The Queen. Cassius could almost feel the stream of consciousness pouring out and to the beast – she was controlling all of them. For what purpose, though? Looking down, Cassius could see tattered robes and a few lightsabers encased in some sort of sickly, red paste. The other worker beasts must have been bringing other lifeforms here for the Queen to feed on, and she had a hold over them just like the townspeople at Esau’s Ridge.

She had to go.

[member="Inaya"] | [member="Gianna Aegis"] | [member="Josh DragonsFlame"] | [member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Objective: 2 Nighttroad
Equipment: Duel Vibro Wakizashi - Nexu Armour - Sabre
Peps: [member="Valkren Calderon"] - [member="Kat Decoria"] - [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] - [member="Varindar Asyt"]
Post: 4

Tana stuck to [member="Valkren Calderon"] like glue as the small team entered into the ship, giving a quick reply to his question on the ships current state of gravity. Ducking into the ship the sounds of foot steps echoed through the hallway, Tana sticking to the ceiling as the pirate walked past... quite a lax guard if he did say so himself, they did know the Jedi had them a stalemate, or where they that contingent in the while hostage thing the leaders just called mass off duty? It was a strange way to think but Tana doubted the pirates where that stupid, never the lest reason to keep for the look out if the guards returned.

Jumping down from his hiding area the Shadow Jedi regrouped with the strike team, "we can wing it? good to know, I've been wanting to try out an ice trick up my sleeve". Letting the rangers go about their business Tana turned around to face Kat and Asaraa, motioning for them to come and listen. "So, I have a thing I want to try with Cyrokensis, I'll freeze their legs, stop them from moving, with that we can quickly swoop in and knock them out, I know me and Kat can hit the pressure points for that, but Azaraa, you good in CQC'? He knew the girl had good force powers and saber skills but had never seen her martial arts skill.

"If all goes well we can keep get int there without making a sound and get to the ventilation system, if no one has any question cloak up and lets get moving".

 

[Gianna Aegis]

Location: Esau’s Ridge
Tags: [member="Cassius Droma"] | [member="Josh DragonsFlame"] | [member="Allyson Locke"] | [member="Inaya"]
Objective: Curious Creatures

The feel of her Padawan’s hand to her shoulder was grounding. At the end of the day, it would never matter how she felt about slaying vaguely sentient creatures. She would protect the people at her side regardless of the personal cost, because she cared, and it because it was the right thing to do. Primrose lips pressed into a thin line as they retreated deeper into the cave systems to escape the feisty little monsters. The flame-haired woman moved instinctively when Cassius called for everyone to move—but was surprised when the creatures fell away.

She could feel her heartbeat flying in her ears. It wasn’t fear or anything so easily explained. It was the knowledge that there was most definitely something worse very much so nearby. The Battle Meditation had helped to take the edge off, however, the emotion that roiled in the dark sought to undo the effects. Rage, hate, and hunger echoed along with the sounds of furious scratching while waves of the force-sensitive animals rolled through cavern like a rushing river.

Jade eyes peered through the dim lighting in an effort to anticipate where they might strike from next but it seemed unnecessary. The next attack never came. Instead, the ground shook, and they were greeted with the mind she had brushed against unintentionally. The creature was massive. The controller, the leader, the mother, the queen—whatever the beast should be called entirely eluded her. Gianna only knew what she had seen in the endless connection of minds.

“The smaller ones will follow her to the death. Obedience is complete.”

Killing beasts that were a blight on the galaxy, that devastated native populations, was not unheard of. Gianna had not heard of a Great Hunt in her own generation but she did know the stories. Her pale countenance was hard to see in the dark, which, was probably for the best. As much as she did all that she could to maintain her faith in the Force by following her instincts—this was something she would never enjoy. As it stood this was simply the way things were. Some creatures, like this one, were predators that could not be reasoned with. For the moment nothing seemed to be targeting them, moreso, they were focused on defending the larger beast. Gianna breathed the sickly scent of the cave in deep. This Queen felt no compassion. No regret.

They were just food.

At the base of her spine, hidden beneath the sash that helped her robes stay where they belonged, was her lightsaber. She rarely ever drew it. The blue-bladed weapon, though beautiful, was not something she bandied about casually. With that in mind, she left it where it was. Gia could call it to her hand in the blink of an eye if it was necessary but this thing was so large she wouldn’t even be sure where to begin. Lightsabers could cut through just about anything organic but it was a matter of getting the job done before all the smaller creatures reacted. How long would it take to sever the mental connection?

Would standing orders remain even after it passed? Would the little ones keep attacking?

Gianna didn’t know. Her focus instead turned to the massive stalagmite formations in the topmost areas of the cavern. Crude, but, it could work if they were careful. “If we can keep it in place we can use the rock formations above to take her down. They’re large enough, that from that height, we should be able to weaken it.”

Or kill it. Gia simply didn’t like the word. Everyone know what needed to happen—she didn’t feel the need to drive the point home any further. The leaders of this village had asked for help, not to mention, that the creature had already had its fill of Jedi. She had not missed the red-pink gelatin at its feet.

“I can bring them down, I believe, without causing a cave in if one of you can distract it.”

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Objective: Curious Creatures
Location: The Cave - The Queen's Lair
[member="Cassius Droma"] | [member="Gianna Aegis"] | [member="Josh DragonsFlame"] |[member="Allyson Locke"]

Inaya’s shoulders drew up and in, her head turned from side to side, watching the monsters and the attacks launched by Cassius and the other Jedi present. When the monsters had stopped coming, for a moment at least, she felt Big Brother’s hand wrap around her own. They headed into the cave, where the quiet soon dissolved, there was movement. Drawing breaths in quickly, she didn’t even have enough to shriek when the monsters seemed to come from every nook and cranny.

But, their group was fast and soon reached a large chamber.

As a horrible roar echoed all around, she clung close to Cassius’ side. The rocky ground beneath them trembled, and Inaya looked down at her shoes. And when she looked up, there was a terrible sight to behold. A very big monster, more terrifying than the rest appeared before them. Inaya’s jaw clenched tightly. Her young eyes found the scattered remains of what she could only guess were… humans.

Dropping the rock she’d been clenching, Inaya covered her mouth with her hand. The scene here was enough to turn her stomach. Her attention shifted as the woman with red hair spoke, and Inaya understood. The other creatures follow this big one, and she was momentarily reminded of Orbaa the Hutt. While the others conversed and formed their next plan, Inaya looked back at Tee-four.

“No like,” She whispered, “No like this place.”

Inaya shook her head to punctuate her point; she didn’t want to be here much longer.

 

[Cassius Droma]

The queen beast now had the group in its sights, its glowing red eyes burning holes into them. It howled like thunder once more, the ground quaking. Cassius’s hearing deafened ever so slightly due to the sheer loudness of the call. Nearby, he could feel the worker beasts starting to move in their direction. They needed to act now.

Gianna had a plan – bring the house down around it. Craning his neck, Cassius nodded as he spotted the same stalactite formations. With enough force, they should be able to disable the queen. The large creature might have been several stories tall and imposing, but blunt force trauma would go a long way. He looked to his redheaded mentor. “I’ll keep it occupied. I’ll know when to move.”

Cassius knelt down to Inaya, who seemed visibly upset. “Hey, hey,” Cassius made sure he got her attention. “Stay with Tee-Four and the nice lady, okay?” he said as he pointed over to Gianna. “I’ll be right back.” He glanced up to his droid friend, and they shared a knowing look. T-4 knew what to do – if this went south, he’d grab Inaya and Gianna and run, like he was programmed to do as a battlefield medic. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

Standing back up to full height, he gave Gianna a nod before taking a few steps back to get a running start. Sprinting, he went to the edge of their ledge and leapt with as much energy as he could muster. He flew forwards as if shot out of a cannon, soaring into the beam of light being cast through the small opening above. The queen had registered his movement and brought up an arm to block, but it was much too slow.

Raising his lightsaber above his head, he brought it down onto the beast’s chest. The queen howled in pain and rage, but Cassius knew he hadn’t done too much. This was all a distraction, after all. Bracing against the beast’s body, Cassius kicked up and sailed over the horns of the creature, arcing and landing on the back of his neck. He stabbed into it once again.

[member="Gianna Aegis"] | [member="Inaya"]

 

[Gianna Aegis]

Location: Esau’s Ridge
Tags: [member="Cassius Droma"] [member="Josh DragonsFlame"] [member="Allyson Locke"] [member="Inaya"]
Objective: Curious Creatures

Fear. It didn’t belong to her—but it was there. She could feel it, taste it through the uplifting Battle Meditation, and everything in her wanted to chase it away. Inaya. Just like any little girl should when confronted with a beast that could use her bones for toothpicks, she turned and hid. It was probably the best strategy for the time being. If she couldn’t fight, in this scenario, the brunette mouse was more than likely little more than an adorable dinner plate. With legs.

Gianna would have enjoyed Cassius being the protective older brother, however, her focus was stolen by the massive carnivorous beast in the cavern chamber ahead of them. She would do her best to project warmth and reassurance to Inaya in his stead but it would be difficult to maintain concentration on two different fronts.

“The nice lady has a name…”, she murmured, distracted, by the fact that her Padawan had decided to BE the distraction. That wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind when she’d mentioned keeping it occupied but their options were slim. The stalagmites were old and heavy. Gravity would do most of the work. She just needed to work them free of their moorings without bringing the rest of the cave system down. The moment the Queen was attacked, the smaller creatures surged forward in a wave, moving to protect her from the searing pinpricks of the lightsaber however they could. They didn’t care about anyone or anything else. ‘Cassius—Incoming!!’

He said he would know when to move. He had better.

Gianna focused on the task at hand. It was delicate and far more intricate than it seemed. The Force bloomed and pulled from what felt like nothingness. The lingering effects of Battle Meditation let her draw through the weak points at the base of the massive stalagmites and she exhaled slowly. Her abilities, though executed for the destruction of the beast in front of them, were not rooted in hate or anger. It was out of love. Compassion. Protection. The people of this world didn’t deserve this fate and neither did her companions.

Through eyes that perceived more than they should, luminous in the dark, she could see every flaw that made up the collection of stone spears. All she had to do was pour the Force into the cracks and rend it apart. Carefully. Even with benevolent desires, there could be a backlash. Unpredictable outcomes. She felt her heart skip as her pulse began to race from sudden strain. She waited until the creature was in the center of the chamber, where the largest of the stalagmites had formed before she pushed forward.

‘MOVE!’

Sharp cracks would echo throughout the cavern. It was deafening, the sound of thunderclaps rolling in nearby. Most of the largest of the pointed rocks began to fall at the same time. There would be no room for the creature to escape. Dust, dirt, and hunks of rock kicked up as the Queen began to howl and her offspring shrieked. Stalagmite after stalagmite pierced the beast until there was nothing left to feel in the Force and her little murderous slaves soon followed. They were bound with a hive mind. Her death would drag them all down. Slowly, but surely.

Gianna and Inaya were far enough back that a light kinetic shield would protect them but she couldn’t see Cassius through the thick cloud of dust that fell. She could feel him, alive, but she couldn’t see him. In the interim, she did what she could, to help stabilize the cavern to ensure they would all be able to escape safely.

Small tremors were still running through it. They hadn’t worsened, but, they hadn’t stopped. If a true cave in had really begun there was only so much the Jedi Knight would be able to do. Strong as she was, trained as she was, there were tons of limestone and dolomite above their heads. She couldn’t hold it all. It was just too much.

“It’s done—We need to leave! Now!”

 

[Valae Heavenshield]

Inaya frowned at Cassius as he knelt down to comfort her, but she nodded. Her frightened eyes shifted to find the nice lady, and she scooted a bit closer to Gianna’s side. Though she had yet to exchange words with the woman with flame-hair, Inaya noted that Cassius seemed to trust her and that meant that Inaya would trust her, too. Watching as Cassius began to move, her eyes went wide.

“Big brother,” She whispered, afraid for him. But, she had seen him fight before, he was very brave and he knew how to use that light-sword. Though she was frightened, the feeling seemed to dissolve slightly. Looking up, she watched Gianna. There was something comforting about being next to her; it was a sense of reassurance that made her heartbeat steady again.

There was movement all around; the terrible creatures had come to defend their Queen.

Inaya’s attention was suddenly pulled up towards the ceiling of the cave, the part that hung above the monsters… and Cassius. There was such a flow of energy there, her gaze tracked back to the source – Gianna. She didn’t understand exactly what it was or why she could feel it. The nice lady called out in warning, and there were sharp cracking sounds that followed. Inaya gasped as the rocky ceiling began to crumble down, but the Queen and her monsters were buried beneath it.

As Gianna spoke, Inaya heard the urgency in her tone. Yes, they needed to get out of here. But, where was Cassius? The dust hadn’t cleared just yet, she couldn’t see him. But, somehow she could feel that he was there. Still, her young eyes needed the visual confirmation.

“Brother! Brother!” She called, feet hesitant to move.

[member="Gianna Aegis"], [member="Cassius Droma"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

The sound of a lightsaber searing through flesh was never a pleasant one, especially as the blade stayed inside of a larger organic being for quite some time. It popped and hissed, and a gulch could be heard as Cassius withdrew the weapon. The queen beast had become quite still… she would let her minions protect her. Cassius could hear the snarling before he saw them leap for him over the hump of the queen’s back.

Spinning, Cassius moved back and forth, dodging as deftly as he could, his lightsaber arcing back and forth. Knowing Gianna, it wouldn’t take long for the Jedi Knight to bring the house down. He just needed to keep the queen occupied while she did so. While Cassius sliced through the smaller creatures, he would occasionally strike downwards to cause the behemoth additional pain and therefore distraction. It was hard to keep his balance as he did so – each time he made a new laceration or puncture, the creature would shake violently.

He gripped onto a large tuft of hair as he sliced at the creature’s neck once more. Just as he raised his lightsaber again, he could hear his mentor calling him through the Force. Move, was the order given. An echoing pop sounded as the rocks finally broke free, and the smallest of debris was already falling on him. His head snapping up, Cassius could see the first stalactites start to come down. Quickly, he deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt. Mustering what energy he could, he pushed away from the queen beast and launched himself into the air once more.

Through the dust and tons of debris falling around him, Cassius trusted the Force to guide his feet to where they should fall. He emerged from the cloud at a speed much higher than he would have liked, but necessary for their current situation. His feet hit the ground, but he hit hard, rolling in order to absorb the blow and not break his legs. Grunting ever so slightly, adrenaline and the Force allowed him to shoot back up. Gianna expressed it was time to leave. Cassius curtly nodded in agreement.

Without saying anything else, he scooped up Inaya into his arms and bolted for the exit, knowing that Gianna and T-4D4 would be able to keep pace behind him. He ran as fast as his feet and the Force could take him, not letting himself trip or all over any falling or stray rocks. A dust cloud began to fly in their direction, filling in the tunnel behind them.

Soon enough, they breached back outside, the dust billowing out from the cave entrance. Panting, he set Inaya down and took a knee in order to catch his breath. T-4D4 and Gianna were right behind. Sighing, Cassius knew everyone was safe. He could even feel the rest of the creatures falling around them.

Looking to the young one that had taken to calling him big brother, he pulled her in for a hug. “Next time,” he said, tussling her hair, “I’ll just take you to a zoo or something.”

[member="Gianna Aegis"] | [member="Inaya"]