Terror on Terax

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Laira Darkhold"]


"Hey, no need to be nervous, cutie. I ain't the jealous type. 'sides, you're not the type someone can just forget." Saying that, she planted a kiss on Laira's nose. And then the secret Princess just happened to have a Freudian slip, so to speak. Elpsis furrowed her brow slightly.


"Turn the tables on one? Does that mean you're Princess?" she asked teasingly and looked Laira up and down, as if scrutinising her for real. This was probably a bit comical since Elpsis could not see colours or facial expressions. "If you are, you hide it well. Does this mean when I sweep you off your feet I carry you to your fancy palace with golden plates and silk covers?" she giggled at that, clearly thinking she was being remarkably witty. The ironic was that Elpsis sort of regarded herself as a knight errant. Hence why her archaic had an armour look that had more in common with the popular depiction of rights, rather than resembling a utilitarian military suit.


Of course, before anyone could sweep the other off her feet, they had to kill the draken. So she gave Laira a nod. "Plan works for me. If our Cathar friends wanna help plant the traps, that'll speed things up. If the big bang is not enough, we can use the Force to help cause a collapse. Got a good feeling about this. She will be with us."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

At first Laira froze for a second. Elpsis deserved to know sooner or later, especially with how things were going between them. But right before a hunt was not the right time, perhaps in the morning or late afternoon after they had succeeded and celebrated some. "Yes." She responded with a devious grin, putting her hand on the blind witches rear and squeezing. "I am the princess of this buttocks. And yes, you must sweep me off my feet and return me to your castle when we are done. Or your ship works." Laira winked at Elpsis and threw on a seductive grin. Soon, but not too soon.

The Cathar warriors nodded and loaded up on their camels, Laira pulling up the Speeder Bike with their supplies on it. They had everything the needed on its saddle bags, but Elpsis was right about them needing to assist the collapse with the Force. With the explosives they had they would be lucky to give it a nice shower of sand, and they needed to just about bury the monstrosity so the flame-maned huntresses could move in for the kill. "If we keep going on hunts we should consider leather outfits or furs." Laira said, imagining the pair in leather costumes or fur-clothing. She had a feeling she could pull off the metal bikini look.

"You wanna drive again?" She asked as she held the bikes handlebars. "We can't go too fast this time though, don't want to make too much noise." Laira was willing to sit behind Elpsis again and make herself comfortable, but also wanted to fly her bike and let the redhead get acquianted with her as well, so she left the choice up to Elpsis once more.

"Pits thirty kilometers. Must go now." One of the male Cathars grumbled, tired of waiting on the girls and leading his hunters out ahead. For the camels that was a decent little trip, at least an hour. For the bike, it was something like a couple minutes at best.

"He's getting impatient. We'd best go before you get in trouble again."

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Laira Darkhold"]

"Heard Tikulini hide is 'in' this season. We'd totally rock the leather queen or fur-clad barbarian look. Best save them for when we're not in a sodding hot desert though." [member="Tempest"] liked her in skintight leather. It made her butt look great.


Besides, animal furs would give this one an excuse to use Sansa Stark pics for lil Red. They reached the bike, and the cat people were getting impatient. "Yeah, we're ready," Elpsis said in a somewhat snarky tone. Perhaps she'd forgotten that the trip would be a lot longer for people who had to use camels.


Looking to Laira, she almost sat down on the bike, then realised the other redhead might want to drive since it was hers. "You can drive. It's cool." She felt a bit bad about the fact that she'd be little use navigating. Then again, all they had to do was follow the the nomads.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"I think I could pull off some tikulini thigh highs." Laira said, smiling as she sweeped her leg over the bike. She did want to drive, even if most of the fun of having an engine with handlebars would be wasted because they had to follow camels across the dunes instead of just open throttle, but she still liked the chance to get to. Plus Elpsis would be hanging on to her while they traveled. Always a plus.

She stradled the bike and waited to make sure Elpsis was on and had a good hand hold while refamiliarizing herself with the controls. She didn't get to use it as often as she liked, but it was a flying craft so it came rather naturally. She made sure it was shifted into the lowest gear and cranked up the accelerator, revving the speeder beneath her a few times, feeling the engine roar in response as it urged to be released. Sucked it wouldn't get to be, but Laira wanted to feel it before they left. "Hang on sweet-thang." The Princess's deep Apalis Coast draw peaking through her accent once again. Hopefully Elpsis found it cute.

At first she gassed the throttle letting it growl forward rapidly before easing it off, subconsciously because she wanted to go at top speed, but mostly because she wasn't used to how quickly it could accelerate out in the wide open space like they were.

They followed around the Camels, Laira occasionally doing a wide semi-circle behind the camels out of boredom. It took about an hour before they loomed over a series of inert geysers in the desert with vast bolt-holes criss-crossing in a maze beneath the surface of the desert.

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Laira Darkhold"]


Elpsis held on to Laira during the trip. It was considerably less rapid than their first wild dash across the desert since they had to accommodate the pace of the nomads. Still, they had a nice view of the scenery.


Oh, and she got to hold on to Laira. Sure, she did not need to cling to her since the bike was going quite slowly, but it gave her an excuse to feel her up a bit. The Alderaanian's accent was kind of cute. Time flew...though it seemed like ages till they arrived at their destination.


"Great beast dwell here. Many travellers lured here by its treasures," a Cathar hunter spoke, pointing towards the great maze. By now, the sun was setting it would soon be dark. "Few return. Dark ones worship beast. May spirits guide you to a better fate."


"The Heavenly Mother will light our path and shield us from its maw," Elpsis spoke piously. "We can take it from here. If you don't mind, we could use your help setting some traps to collapse some of the tunnels at the right moment. We can handle the rest."

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira quite enjoyed Elpsis's clinging to her, something she had planned as a win for the Redhead and for her companion. The result only almost had them crash once when Elpsis squeezed something causing the sweet redheaded pilot to jerk with a squeak escaping her mouth before she was able to regain control and settle into the activity.

Once they arrived, the Cathar's emotions were filled with fear. They were probably the more sane of the group as Laira was more excited about the hunt and its aftermath than she was afraid of a dragon. She'd grown up knowing that even the greatest beast was a simple challenge to a well prepared hunter with an appropriate plan, and the girls had a decent if straight forward plan.

Never the less, with the promise of a few rewards the nomads did slink around in the bolt holes quietly to help set the traps and explosives the two redheads had requested of them. "Heavenly mother?" Laira asked while she did a check over her extremely heavy rifle, its bolts, and the two grenades she was responsible for. She wanted to know more about Elpsis and understand the redhead better than she did, all the prayers, the faith she followed, her family were still strangers to Laira who was quite interested in getting much better acquainted.

She had a gas grenade filled with Tranqarest, the most potent tranquilizer on the market, and a Bait bomb filled with what was effectively Krayt Dragon chum to lure the creature in. For bolts she had loaded the anti-coagulant one first, hoping that it would be enough to upset the creature. They would have to stand and fight it some in the hopes of upsetting the beast and then use the terrain to escape it when necessary until they could lure it to the tunnel they had set to collapse. Once its movement was restricted she and Elpsis could line up kill strikes on a free bleeding, exhausted, and trapped animal. It wasn't exactly honorable, but it was good hunting.

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Laira Darkhold"]

"The Heavenly Mother, the Great White Wolf, the Great Spirit. She watches over us. The Creator birthed her to protect creation after she departed from this galaxy. She's the guardian of all good women. I pray to her to protect me...and those who matter to me," she smiled a little sheepishly.

"Like you," she added in a quieter tone. In terms of firepower, she'd brought a bolter and a Gorgon web rifle. She was uncertain about either doing a hell of a lot, but she figured they could annoy the great beast at any rate. Trapping it and wearing it down was not particularly honourable...but sensible. She might think of herself as a knight errant, but that did not mean she wanted to end up insid a krayt dragon's stomach!

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Oh," Laira said a little surprised by the explanation Elpsis gave her about the Heavenly Mother who protected the good women of the galaxy. It wasn't that dissimilar from the Goddess her mother believed in when she was young. Of course Laira was more of an atheist when it came to belief in deities, but a polite one that was willing to accept and allow others their views and religions without being a jerk about it. "I didn't know you were all that religious babe." She smiled warmly, "I hope she answers your prayers and keeps you safe for me tonight." Laira offered a wink with the last statement, and a bit of emphasis on her intentions.

The princess didn't catch the last quiet hushed admittance Elpsis had whispered, but would have been very pleased had she heard. Instead she was mostly hoping that the Force would help guide them through the ordeal and protect give her friend the strength they needed to survive unharmed. She had plans for Elpsis later on. As much as their plan relied on trapping and exhausting the creature, it also required that the two girls be fighting alone against a Krayt dragon on its home turf long enough to force it to chase them when they started running. She liked to consider herself a knight in some aspects, but she didn't feel it made her any less of a warrior by fighting smart.

"Alright sweetie, I think its up to us now." The princess sighed deeply, steeling her nerves and her body as she hefted the massive coil-rifle. It was loaded and ready, all she needed was time to take a well aimed shot at the beastie. "You ready?" She asked, looking to Elpsis for guidance with soft grey eyes.

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Laira Darkhold"]


Elpsis finding faith was a little ironic. She'd started out as a hardcore atheist who wanted nothing to do with spirtuality or the Force. Indeed, she'd run away her powers, shaken by her Force visions and her traumatic encounter with her biological father. This had left scars, and served to embitter her against Jedi.


However, some things had changed in her life. An encounter with an amazon called Laina Silvias had caused her life to undergo a profound change. Though she was sadly not in touch with her mentor anymore, she still thought warmly of her and had adopted her spiritual beliefs as her own. Her new-found spirituality had been solified after a reactor explosion during the battle aboard the Omega had left her blinded...and her deity had given her the gift of sight.


"Got wild plans for me tonight, huh? Don't tell. I like surprises...at least if they're from cute girls," Elpsis joked. She took a step forward, approaching the lair. It was time to be serious now. Hot, dry wind blew over the resting place of countless hunters who'd come before them - and not made it back.


"Let's get this hunt on track. I'm ready." Here and there, they would come across corpses in various stages of decomposition and mutilation. The arid conditions of the desert had caused them to desiccate and mummify. Elpsis crinkled her nose at the smell and made a silent prayer for the dead while moving onward.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The two stalwart, arguably sociopathic, redheads entered the lair with determination however Laira in her pride was still smiling and sauntered along with a slight skip in her step from excitement. Hunting was one of the few activities she could do with Elpsis where she felt she brought something to the table that mattered, that was worth having her around for that Elpsis could actually use. Besides her hot looks of course.

As they moved through the tunnels, the arid heat had exacerbated and amplified the smell of decay and rot throughout the tunnels of the Krayt Dragon's lair. Laira wrinkled her nose in disgust, remarking on the smell with a gag in her throat, "Ugh, hun. I'm so gonna need a shower when we get back." The handful of corpses and remnants of carcasses had been practically mummified by the heat and salt of the desert, leaving dried out husks in its wake, torn limbs and shattered bones scattered over the tunnels.

She pulled the small repulsor assisted bait bomb and tossed it, the sound of compressed gas escaping the spinning device occurring moments later. While not filled with actual chum, it contained the scent and pheromones of prey and meat that would attract a krayt dragon.

"There we go, now we just wait for the beastie." She said, more or less turning her attention to Elpsis. Her danger sense and Force powers remained expanded and readied, but her eyes were now busy inspecting her fellow redhead in the dim light with a grin. She considered spending what could be a long wait lip-locked with her companion, and was not far from suggesting it when she heard the sound.

The scraping of sand and rock being crushed by heavy scales, scratching as claws dug into earth to pull something forward. The low grumble of a massive animal breathing.

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Laira Darkhold"]


"I'll clean you if you clean me," Elpsis quipped. If she had her way, there'd also be 'cleaning'. Further flirtation was cut off by the noise caused by the great beast awakening.


Sand was scraped, rocks crushed, huge claws advanced, there was the grumble of animal breathing. Slowly but surely the huge dragon came into view. They could only see an enormous claw and the rough outlines of a maw...but even so it was massive.


Instinct took over, Elpsis raised her bolter and squeezed the trigger, firing explosive microgrenades. As the beast advanced, she would pull back and run, hopefully with Laira in tow.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Oh Shi-" Laira started, her words cut off by Elpsis's bolter and the growls of the beast's breathing. Suddenly no longer distracted by Elpsis, Laira shouldered her heavy harpoon coil rifle and took aim at the now charging beast's throat.

Breath in.

Breath out.

Her finger squeezed the trigger, releasing the hyperaccelerated bolt with a loud thunderous boom. The air bent around the shaft as the bolt hammered home into the throat of the creature. Its anti-coagulant capsules burst within the bloodvessels and muscle group around the strike point where it would spread and make each of the beasts minor injuries bleed a little more freely. Each of the small wounds the microgrenades opened on the creature would be just a little more taxing.

In humans, when they lost between thirty and forty percent of their blood they would become weak and start to lose consciousness. With a krayt dragon, Laira hoped the same was true. Without bothering to reload, the redhead turned and took off alongside Elpsis, a little behind the other Redhead.

The beast behind them, in the dim light roared, sand and stones shaking from the creature's weight as it charged.

The cycle down on the rifle was already started, but it would likely be fifteen seconds before Laira could reload the weapon, twenty since she wasn't stopped trying to do it fast. She'd be lucky to get a second shot off before they crossed the first incendiary mines.

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Laira Darkhold"]

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Run.

Halt.

Fire.

Run.

In theory these instructions were simple enough to follow. Elpsis had faced a giant ash monster on Atrisia. She and Laira had taken down a leviathan in the ocean of Manaan. She was also certain that she had a goddess on her side. That did not mean she was not afraid.


Boy, she was.


With a speed that might seem surprising given its enormous size, the beast pursued them. The bolter was a powerful weapon, firing microgrenades that could damage light vehicle armour. It would take its toll on the beast. To a degree at least. The gun was also rather heavy and Elpsis could obviously not use the rifle while running. She stopped trying.


Sand and rock shoke beneath the giant dragon's weight. Still, despite the wounds both redheads had inflicted upon it, it continued charging. Elpsis decided to just run. Her power raised some rocks, sending some flying towards the creature at a velocity that ought to penetrate its skin and make it bleed a bit. Mentally she counted down the seconds until they ought to reach the traps.


The ground shook and the dragon's charge caused columns of sand to rise into the air. This caused the empath to cough. In her haste, she missed a mummified corpse, and stumbled. Her head impacted upon a rock. Ouch.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira sprinted alongside Elpsis, heaving the heavy weapon along with her while she ran with the fire-haired witch. Her legs pumped and surged, the muscles straining to run as fast as she could while she carried probably half of her bodyweight in her hands.

The weapon cycled down, Elpsis turned and fired her own bolter for an instant, buying time for Laira to ram another bolt into the barrel of the Thunder Bow she carried before having to continue running away from the rapidly approaching Krayt Dragon.

Then, the unspeakable happened. As Laira was running, out of the corner of her eye she saw Elpsis fall to the ground. The princess slid to a stop, twisting her body as she did so to face towards Elpsis. With a stomp, she heaved the sand beneath the blind witch, surging it upwards and around her, dragging the redhead towards her with a single jerking motion of her hand.

"Elpsis, are you alright?" Everything else had faded away, even the massive dragon thundering closer and closer to the pair. The only thing on Laira's mind was if Elpsis was injured and how she could attempt to help her friend.

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Laira Darkhold"]


Her head hit a hard rock. Ouch. That hurt a lot. Especially since she was not wearing a helmet. Whiplash ensued and she was thrown into a daze. Blood dripped out of a small wound in her forehead. For a moment she was out of it. Everything seemed blurry around her. "W-what," she tried to focus, when she heard a voice. Briefly, she saw more than one Laira.


Finally, she regained her bearings as Laira pulled her out of immediate harm's way. The thunderous noise caused by the enormous dragon looming above them pulled her back. "Yeah...run," she said in a stronger voice as she managed to get up, swaying a bit. All the sand the beast had thrown up caused her to cough. Some even stung her. Luckily, she did not actually use her eyes to see.


The bolter had fallen out of her grasp and she did not have the time or inclination to pick it up. Soon afterwards, it was crushed beneath the dragon. Scalding flames erupted from her hands. Her actions were more instincual than the result of calculation, for there was no time for the latter. She would not be able to kill the beast with fire, but she could burn it a bit and obscure its vision. Hopefully at any rate.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira did her best to help Elpsis up from the ground and help her run, basically rendering the coilgun useless. So much so that Laira dropped it and let it be crushed by the beast that was now rapidly gaining on the pair. She could feel its breath, heat and foul breath spraying across the back of her neck, the thunder of its steps shaking her legs and almost making her stumble with each step. She was breathing in sand as she struggled to suck in air to keep running, leaving her on the verge of choking.

They needed to get to the explosives sooner rather than later or they would end up food. She heard massive jaws snap together behind her, the wet crunch of teeth only a few paces behind the pair of dashing young redheads.

Elpsis's hands became blazing brands of fire and heat, tiny pieces of sand becoming glass as they passed through the dust cloud kicked up by the Krayt Dragon. Her flames licked out at the beast's head and eyes, causing it to roar and pause, if only for an instant it bought them some breathing room. At least now one missed step wasn't going to cost the girls their lives.

Her legs powered onward, on arm helping Elpsis keep her footing the other reaching for the tranqarest she saw the concussion mines they had set up ahead. The redhead spun, quickly tossing the gas grenade up near the beasts nostrils where it struck and sprayed its tranquilizer gas. The beast was massive and didn't get a full dose, a large part of the gas escaping its breath to the side, but even if its movements were only a tiny bit lethargic it would help.

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Laira Darkhold"]


Behind them, massive jaws snapped together. A huge mouth filled with teeth that could each rip a human in twain sought to seize them. A loud, blood-curdling roar tore through the air. Elpsis held her breath as tranquiliser gas invaded the beast's nostrils. Not a full dose, but it made its movements just a tiny bit lethargic.


Through the Force, she could perceive the presence of the concussion mines up ahead. Inside her chest, her heart beat so loudly that it seemed like it might burst. Columns of sand ascended into the air and whipped at her skin. She wore no armour, and so where tiny granules of hot sand struck, they cut into her skin. Some stung her eyes.


The empath grit her teeth, grimacing from the pain. The beast was injured, but gaining ground on them. She drew upon the heat that permeated the air, upon the flames that still remained, and harnessed the energy into a thermic lance. The preternatural burning bar was sent hurtling towards one of the dragon's huge clawed feet.


They were close...so close to the traps.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Sand slashed at any skin Laira had showing, which while not much was painful. Her knuckles had tiny trickles of blood leaking from them and her face had a slight cuts above her eyes. Laira's eyes stung from the hot sand being kicked up all around them. The thunderous stomps smashed closer and closer, their slow respite being lost. The ground beneath her shook and the ground became treacherous for her footing.

Then, she stumbled. It was a running stumble so she was very much still moving forward, but also towards the ground. In a panic, Laira jerked her hands forward, shoving the ground beneath Elpsis upwards and forwards through the tunnel in the hopes to propel her fellow redhead beyond the mines.

And then she fell to the ground, her knees and palms scrapping against the sand and dirt. Her body twisted as she hit the ground, trying to get back to her feet and to look over her shoulder to see how far the dragon was behind her.

The beast's maw opened, the lower teeth dragging against the floor of the tunnel, its eyes burned from Elpsis's fire and blazoned with primal rage, blood dripped from its numerous wounds. The redhead screamed, but was unable to get back to her feet and outrun the beasts snapping maw.

The ground she stumbled on entered the monster's mouth and Laira curled into a ball in the Krayt Dragon's mouth, tucking her head between her knees. Then the jaws snapped shut, and she disappeared behind teeth and reptilian lips.

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Laira Darkhold"]


Time seemed to slow. Elpsis yelped when the ground beneath her rumbled and she blown through the air. She made a hard landing, as pain shot through her. Laira was behind her...she should be. Then she heard a loud scream emanating from her fellow redhead, and she vanished inside the dragon's enormous maw.


By the time Elpsis realised what had transpired, the Alderaanian had disappeared from her sight. Panic, fear and anger flooded her. "LAIRA!" she screamed loud enough to cause the cave ceiling above them to shake and a few portions of it to start to cave in. Laira was seemingly gone, though Elpsis could still perceive her presence.


The dragon was advancing towards her. Between them lay the mines. The sensible and logical thing for Elpsis would be to activate the mines and get the hell out. Instead she got to her feet and leapt through the air. Her lack of armour had proven to be most detrimental when it came to being assaulted by sand, but now it helped her stay mobile.


In mid-flight, her lightsabre ignited, producing a blazing yellow blade. The burning plasma pierced the dragon's neck. By no means enough to kill it, but sufficient to cause it horrible pain and hopefully force it to open its mouth again. Then her shirt was torn and caked in blood after one of the dragon's talons sliced across the empath's abdomen.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The Dragon continued its charge, chasing after Elpsis until it stepped on the first of the concussion mines. Combined with the intense scream and rumbling of the Force Elpsis had issued forth, the tunnel's roof dropped heavy stones and a mountain of sand, its floor erupted, filling with fissures and mounds of sand beneath the Krayt Dragon. It was hardly crushed, but it was trapped suddenly, opening its mouth with a deep rumbling hiss. And no sign of Laira.

Laira held herself in a tiny ball, surrounded by a shell of hardened sand inside the creature's stomach. Fear coursed through her veins, a sick sweat appearing on her brow. Stomach acid dripped through her shell, acrid sizzling against her clothes. She could not stay here as much as she wanted to. As much as every fiber of her being told her to hide and stay hidden, she had to power through and keep fighting.

Her fingers searched for the Orar'ragir she had sheathed on her thigh. She held it, shaking as she did, and commanded it to extend itself and her shell to become much more like a thin suit. Darkness completely enveloped her, thick soup surrounding the princess. Nevertheless, she began swimming to the edge of the beast's stomach. Only a few meters before her hands encountered the rubbery wall. He spear jabbed into it, hard. Until she pierced the rubbery stomach lining and began sawing her way out.

The monster roared in sudden pain while it continued to fight Elpsis.

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]