Private The Felling of Zygerria | PM to join

[Other Space Kaiden]

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An endless torrent of rain swept the charred bones and shredded flesh into the sewers, washing the gore from the streets with a river of curdled blood. Weeks had drug by since the Graug first descended upon an unsuspecting Zygerria, turning the glistening world built upon the backs of slaves into a withering graveyard of ruins being torn down, brick by brick, at the hands of their former masters. Time had done little to douse the flames that still raged across the planet, some still burning strong from the day of the attack while others were ignited again and again as the Graug demolished the cities of the Zygerrians. Vulcanus stood at the edge of the capital city, the skyline of cubic towers and striking palaces slowly crumbling into the flames raging behind him. With a deep breath the beast drank in the reek of rotting flesh, a burn scratching deep in the back of his sinuses as he sucked in the falling cinders around him. Shrieks chased the crack of lashes as slaves struggled against their labor and infantile screams trailed off into wet splashes as worthless offspring were dealt with at the edge of the deepening hallows.

The Great Khaan had ordered the culling of the planet in much the same way he had commanded the Kaleesh to ravished two decades prior. Across the planet cities, villages and towns were being razed to their foundations - their populations exterminated or taken into bondage. The wide open terrain of the planet torn asunder by the ripping, tearing claws of war beasts as they began the process of hallowing the planet out. But the last, gasping breathes of rebellion had yet to be wrung from the corpse of Zygerria.

"My hordes are so weak as to bested by an army of conquered lessers" Vulcanus hissed, a cloud of flame spurting from between his rotted lips

"They use the forest, Great Lord" the warlord cowered below the Great Khaan's shadow, his forehead flat to the ground, "the weaklings will not show themselves!"

"Your excuses do not concern me, whelp" Vulcanus' voice roared like thunder as he spun, lifting his boot high above his subordinates head. The warlord's eyes grew wide for only a moment before his skull turned to a pulp beneath his god's heel. First they had allowed the Zygerrian queen to slip through their claws and now they could not bring a few renegade slaves to heel. His people required culling.

"Kantus!" Vulcanus bellowed, to which the lanky priest responded by scurrying to his side, "command the hordes to ready themselves" the God of the Graug growled as he turned his eyes away from the pulpy mess beneath his boot and set his burning gaze on the endless expanse of forest below the capital city,

"we will burn these lessers alongside their planet."

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

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"Sweet little cub on the mound so high" Mama's soft voice swam through the thicket. The soft patter of rain on the treetops added a calming chorus to her song as she cradled the blanket wrapped ball of fur in her lap, "with ears so big they touch the sky. Worry, worry nevermore - mama's here and that is sure. She'll trim your claws and clean your fur..."

Slender fingers brushed aside the cloth blanket to reveal the black marble eyes of the Zygerrian cub. The infant starred up at his mother, snout turned up with a caught sneeze as mama stifled back a tear. It fell anyway, landing between the cub's eyes and coaxing the sneeze out in what amounted to a whisper.

"...You'll want for none, my love is pure..." tears were wetting the cubs face and he cried out for the pain of his mother. When had she started sobbing? When had her vision become so blurry?

A dark horn sounded in the deep forest. Her cub screamed louder, but it was muffled by the panic of the camp around them. "Shh, no baby it's okay don't cry - it's going to be okay" she lied to them both.

"They're coming! The demon is with them! They're coming!" There was only one voice. The other scouts were gone then.

Blasters buzzed to life around her and calls to retreat deeper into the forest began to sound off. "Anyone with a blaster, hold your ground! Cover the retreat of the others!"

Few listened. Most ran.

"Nashala, get up - you and your child must run!" Ventos had been the kindest of the palace guards before The Graug came. He'd always cared for the handmaidens and if not for him then her child would be lost already. She prayed for one last favor from the boy.

"No, Ventos please take him! Take Farad to safety, please!" she pushed the crying child into Ventos' direction, Ventos pushed back

"Nonsense! You will both live now get up!" Ventos grabbed mama by the arm, but his attempt to heave her to her feet was met with a scream of pain.

"Stop! I can't! I can't run!" she fell to an elbow, Farad still in hand. Ventos looked her over and his shoulders dropped when he saw it. Down the entirety of Mama's right calf was a festering gash. Yellow-red blood clung to the fur and pus oozed from the wound. They had no medicine. No aid. It'd all been destroyed or used.

"Nashala, I-

"Just take him!"

Mama pushed the cub into Ventos' arms, this time he let the crying bundle of fur fall into them. Just then someone in the distance screamed. There was a blaster discharge and then a violent roar as a wall of fire shot up from the forest canopy and consumed the horizon. Embers and ash fell with the rain now and the sickly sweet smell of burning pine mixed with the putrid stink of infection and burned flesh.

"Go!" Mama screamed over her cub's wails as the sound of heavy boots grew closer. Ventos didn't think, he just listened. He slung his blaster and ran. He abandoned the other defenders and Mama. He ran past the trees and through the rain as the hungry, beastial growls grew louder behind him.

Blaster's resounded and echoed off the trees. Then came the hungry howls and then the screams. Then there was a sharp female shriek that shook the air. The cub wailed. Ventos clutched him close.

And he cried as he ran...

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

The land hissed as rain pelted the flaming wreckage of the forest. Vulcanus' boots sunk deep into the bloody sponge that was the soil, the saturated mud sticking to his heel like pieces of red gum as he leisured through the carnage. Limbs, organs and other assorted Zygerrian parts were thrown about with such careless abandon that entrails hung from the branches like dripping tapestry. The warriors who had not followed the survivor into the forest were busy picking at what meat remained - even if it was still groaning out its dying breaths.

"This filth was not what has been killing my warriors" Vulcanus hissed as he spun back around to face the direction of Kantus and the distant capital city. The High Priest stood in the foreground of what had once been a maze of greenery. Flame projectors and his own power had turned it to smoking char and fallen timber. If he had not been present to snuff the flames it would have consumed the entire forest in an Inferno. If it weren't for his desire to ensure the rebels were dead then he would have let it happen.

"Yes, God of Gods, these things were weak, even for lessers" Kantus noted, sending a charred skull flying through the air with a swift kick. The skull rolled to a stop near Baalagor 's feet. The slave spawn had been dragged alongside her master with water and food in hand - kept at his side even as blaster fire tore through the ranks.

"This forest is a blight, filled with rats who defy us" Vulcanus turned back to the thicket that still stood, his one sulfuric eye peering into the shadows. If this rebel army refused to fight him, then he would burn this forest until he found them.

Trailing upward Vulcanus' gaze flew over the treetops and rested on a solitary mountain peeking through the endless green. He would burn his way to the mountain and if he had yet to find the rabble then he would topple it. If still he had not found them then he would burn his way to the oceans.

"Rally the Horde, we continue on" Vulcanus growled, beckoning Balaagor to his side before taking a step forward.

He stopped when there was a wet crunch beneath his boot. Lifting his foot, the beast snarled when he found a Zygerrian female curled into a fetal position - skull crushed by his boot, leg festering with sickness and her guts ripped open.

Without a second thought the beast kicked aside the lifless corpse and trudged on into the forest...

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

The world was a blur. Trees became little more than green-brown smears across Ventos' vision as he stormed over stone and log, bundle of screaming fur tucked close to his chest. Blaster fire resounded throughout the forest, the clean buzz of plasma met by the mechanical clunk of the Graug slugthrowers as more of his people fought and died alone in the thicket. He couldn't bare to look back. His feet wouldn't let him. All he could manage to do was look forward and let his feet take him...somewhere...

…Anywhere as long as it was far, far from here.

"Don't cry, I'm going to take care of you. You are safe. We are going to live...we are going to live..." Ventos mumbled in repetition, more to soothe himself than to console the screaming child. Just keep moving, he reminded himself, just run.

Then a branch snapped somewhere to his right. Ventos' heart stopped and his eyes shot towards the sound just in time to see the mouth of fangs lunging at him through the brush. He dropped, tucking his shoulder into the fall as a jagged blade swung wide at exactly where his head would have been. The Zygerrian hit the ground hard, cursing as he tumbled head over heels across the soil and through the underbrush - the bundle of crying fur coming loose from his hands and falling into a pad of bushes nearby. Dirt and soil spat up into Ventos' face as he finally clattered to a stop, his breathing heavy as he picked his head up from the muck.

The assailant rose from the ground mere feet from Ventos, it's body covered in grey scales with massive arms ending in five claws digits. The Graug warrior turned, a plate of black metal hung haphazardly from its chest and a wicked, lighting shaped sword clutched in its claws. It's yellow eyes rested on Ventos and then it screamed - the forest echoing its deep, gratting voice before the beast lunged forward. Ventos reached for his blaster and found only a torn sling.

Too late to look. He darted to the side. The spot he'd just been exploded into a cloud of dust as The Graug crashed into it sword first. Ventos stumbled into a run towards a nearby patch of bushes. He could hear Farad crying.

The air shifted, he heard the growling and dove for the ground again. The Graug blurred by, it's booted feet crashing the soil. It turned at Ventos quickly and charged with sword held high.

"No!" The Zygerrian begged, pushing himself backward through the dirt, "stop! Don't please!" He could hear himself sobbing but the beast didn't seem to care. It pushed forward and brought the sword down like a hammer. Ventos tucked to the side just in time, then kicked the beast hard in the chest.

The kick sent Ventos skidding through the dirt. The Graug didn't budge. "please! Don't kill me! Stop!" He wasn't thinking, he just scurried through the mud and dirt as quickly as he could - clawing through grass and bush in the opposite direction of the beast.

Ventos heard it laugh as it's shadow drew closer over top of him. He scurried faster, the ground disappearing behind a veil of rippling tears as he crawled with all his heart. The shadow of the Graug eclipsed him...he felt the cold of its body wash over him. His hand reached for one last time and his heart jumped a beat.

His rifle barrel was buried in the mud. With a vicious scream Ventos grabbed the barrel and spun - swinging the butt of the weapon with the force of his entire body.

Crack

The butt slammed into the Graug's skull, sensing the beast stumbling backwards and into a tree. Still screaming, Ventos fumbled with the rifle until he managed to get a finger in the trigger guard. He didn't aim, he just pointed and fired as quickly as he could. The first bolt bounced off the armor plate and into the canopy, the next scorched his sword arm and sent the blade flying into the distance.

The beast howled and pushed off from the tree toward him. Vents screamed loud. Fired quicker. Another shot deflected by armor, another in the arm. Finally a blast hit the beast in the left eye and it dropped, smoking, to the forest floor.

Before Ventos could sigh in relief the beast lunged from the ground and swung its claws. The Zygerrian screamed as meat was ripped from the bone, but he fired anyway. Again and again until the trees seemed to be painted in a permanent red glow. Ventos screamed and fired, even as the trigger only clicked and the glowing hot barrel only hissed against the last drizzles of rain.

Eventually the blaster simply slipped from his hands as he sobbed, his eyes glued to the smoking lower jaw that used to be his murderer. Pain shot through his leg. The sound of more grew louder. Ventos could only manage to lift his head to the sky and scream in agony and confusion.

"Why? Why?" He screamed to...he didn't know who. The Sith? Some God? The universe maybe. Then Farad screamed again and Ventos was back to reality, his mind still fuzzy but now with a renewed purpose.

"Farad? Farad I'm coming!" Ventos groaned in pain as he forced himself onto his legs. He could barely move the left. He could feel the warmth of blood on the flesh but he didn't dare look at it. Limping as quickly as he could, Ventos reached the bushes and scooped Farad up from the ground - pieces of stray shrubbery still hanging from his fur.

"I'm going to save you...you...you have to live" he gasped to the child, his eyes turning towards the mountain peeking from the canopy. "I'll get you to them...you'll live"

Ventos' voice trailed off into incoherence as he limped towards the mountain.

 

[Baalagor]

The skull found its way into her hands, and as they marched onwards she turned it over and inspected it, running her hands across its imperfections and the jagged edges of the blunt trauma that had killed whomever it had been. The loss of life didn't concern her, nor did the ongoing massacre. Baalagor had long since grown used to such things, able to look past and around them to what ultimately concerned her, which at the moment amounted to learning more about these creatures her master wanted dead. They weren't human, that much was obvious, but then neither was she or her superiors. The skull resembled more an animal than anything sentient, but for as much care as she possessed that might as well have been true.

The snapping of bone was the only sound as she broke the sharpest of the teeth from their roots, pocketing them and letting the skull fall only to be crushed beneath the feet of the army that followed behind. Her attention then was once more focused on the greater goal ahead of them: the distant mountain that was said to be where those attempting futile resistance were hiding away. Her nose crinkled at the thought, sharp teeth flashing briefly in an expression of distaste for those that defied the will of her god. They would suffer the consequences, and soon, if not because she willed it then because he demanded it.

As they continued walking the ground appeared to slowly slip further away, the edges of her vision blurring and then going black, and as she stumbled to catch herself reality itself shifted.

///

A mound of skulls set in the shape of a throne, beset on all sides by green flames that burn bright but illuminate nothing.

Higher and higher the thrones grows as the bones of the conquered are added - bones so innumerable that no war of man has ever created so many.

But as The Throne grows so high as to eclipse the last star - the mound gives way under its weight and buries all in little more than the dust of the skeletal throne that was once there.

///

As reality settled in once more and she felt the ground beneath her she realized she'd fallen to her hands and knees in the mud, breathing harsh and ragged as crimson eyes focused on nothing, her mind still caught halfway between the dream world and where she was now. Shakily she reached her feet, as unsteady now as she had been in those moments that followed her birth. "I saw it, master. Your ascension."

Her eyes crept upwards to meet his, and she smiled.

Other Space Kaiden

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

The forest shuttered as the horde surged forward, toppling the canopy and tears up the soil with claw and boot. Slugthrowers clattered through the dying light and the smell of burning ozone overwhelmed whatever floral notes the wilderness once harbored. Vulcanus lumbered behind the growing tide of hunger, boot heels crushing the arm of a headless Graug corpse - freshly dead by the smell of the flesh. The survivors were close and they were fleeing quickly and in the same direction. They knew where this resistance was being held and they were leading his hordes right to it.

Prey was always so predictable.

"Burning one, your slave lags behind" Kantus called to Vulcanus, drawing the beast's attention back to the trampled forest he and his horde had just left behind. His sulfuric gaze found Baalagor convulsing in the flatten underbrush, head between elbows and knees buried deep into the dirt. With a rumbling growl, Vulcanus stepped over to the lesser thing's side and sniffed the air. Sweet with the smell of the darkside...a powerful musk of death and taint that was not just from the ensuing battle. No, the smell was dripping from Baalagor's pores and oozing from her soul - the darkside was strong in and around her.

"Let me smash her skull, my lord. Her weakness disgraces your divine presence"

"Bite your tongue or I will take it from you" Vulcanus sneered, to which Kantus retracted into himself and bowed his head to the ground. There was relative silence between them as they then watched the slave continue to writhe on the ground until at last her body relaxed and the smell of the Darkside receded.

"I saw it master" her voice was shaky and weak as she looked up from the ground, "your ascension"

Then the girl looked up to him, a smile on her lips and her eyes meeting his. Disgust surged through the beast's body as the subtle sign of challenge was met with a furious anger that was palpable even on the tongue. Anger rose, the air began to burn and then there was a violent explosion.

Vulcanus turned away from the girl and in the direction of the sudden thunder, his rage shifting its focus. A plume of smoke and dirt rose up from the canopy ahead, fire licking the treetops shaded by the mountain. Vulcanus' gaze drifted upwards to the peak of the summit just in time to see a blue flash of light explode from somewhere on the mountain face. A breath later and another explosion sent a wave of air blasting through the forest, the bark of the cannons melding with the impact of the second round.

It appeared they had found the resistance.

Vulcanus turned back to Baalagor, anger still in his eyes...but a curiosity sat just beneath the surface. What was it that this girl had seen?

"Keep your sniveling gaze averted, slave, or I will take your eyes from you" with not another word spoken, Vulcanus turned for the sounds of battle and left Baalagor to follow in his shadow.

 

[Baalagor]

Her eyes dropped as he scolded her, and she braced for pain that didn't come. Although she didn't look Baalagor could feel the eyes of the priest on her, and she didn't so much actively ignore him as simply brush past. She had told her master what she had seen, and that was the end. It wasn't her place to interpret it, nor would she speak of it to anyone. Although this was the first prophetic occurrence, she filed it in easily with the rest of her experiences, knowing well it was between she and Vulcanus.

The first shot of the cannon shook her to the bone, and she stumbled, eyes searching out for her master to ensure his safety. The second shot she was braced for, her gaze tracking along the tree line just as his did, her senses instinctively searching for those responsible. There was yet more death and destruction ahead, but she had learned in her short life to revel in it. It gave her purpose and, through refinement and an animal instinct, strength. These pathetic few would fall, but they would suffer and she would enjoy it.

As they marched onwards her gaze lingered on the mangled corpses until she found what she was looking for. Ripping it free with the sound of rended flesh, she turned the blade around in her hand, looking it over as if she knew more of it than as a tool for killing. It wasn't a refined weapon, but refined wasn't what she needed. It was crude, but it would serve its ultimate purpose, and that was all she needed.

Her pave quickened so that she might be at his side, and she walked in his shadow to the mountain.

They would pay with their lives, and she would see to it personally.

Other Space Kaiden