To Slay a Dragon

[Azula Tindara]

The creatures charged down the corridor, a roiling mass of palid flesh and clattering, chitinous spikes. Jaani grunted something that half-laugh, half-moan as the experienced beast hunter suggested keeping them alive. A dart hissed over his shoulder and the creature at the front of the group dropped. The others clambered over it and continued their charge. Jaani had already discarded his shield, it would do him no good here. He lobbed a booma forwards, it exploded in a crackling blue display and a second one fell to the floor, convulsing.

As the closest beast approached he used his height to take a long stride back to take is opponent off balance. He reversed his momentum in a flash, swinging his club underhand to catch the beast off-guard. There was a loud crack as it's jaw was slammed shut, and probably cracked. It's eyes rolled back into its sockets and it collapsed. Another stepped forwards, giving Jaani only enough time to catch it's shoulder and spin it away. The next one came in low to try and tackle him. It didn't pull the heavy Gungan down, but it surprised Jaani with its strength. Spikes found gaps in his armour, leaving bloody trails. With his free left hand he grasped the creature's right shoulder and with a powerful yank broke it's grip and span it to the ground.

OOC/ I am enjoying myself too! I was thinking generic experiments like:

 

[Mrrew]

(I apologize for taking so long to reply, I didn't get a tag! And that sounds good about the sithspawn type. I've always liked that picture. )

Mrrew simply turnedxd his aim quickly, keeping his eye on all of the Sithspawn on the quarter, and systematically deciding which ones were the biggest threat. This is why he was a decent hunter; he could keep calm in situations like this. When he was wrestling with Darkside Dragons, or surrounded by Nighthunters, he'd be bale to think things out instead of hyperventilating. It had probably kept him alive half a dozen times.

Another dart whizzed to what appeared to be a Herglic, covered in chitinous plates and spikes, much resembling a demonic crab. The dart's tip pierced through the chitinous shell like tissue paper, causing the creature to fall unconcious before it could take another step. This is why he loved SmartTranq. The Togorian's aim quickly flickered to [member="Jaani Doosun"]'s legs, where he dropped the Sithspawn, the last Sithspawn, that had attempted to tackle his partner. A third dart whizzed through the air. And it stopped moving.

Mrrew slowly lowered his rifle, panting.

"...And the thing we're here to capture? It's about thirty times the size of these."


[member="Jaani Doosun"]

 

[Azula Tindara]

OOC/ Sorry about that! Don't worry about tagging me, I'm following the thread by the way! [member="Mrrew"]


"More like a hunrdred!” Jaani exclaimed. He quickly checked over the Sithspawn he’d taken down with an underhand strike. It seemed he’d clipped that one a little too hard, judging by the blood oozing from its ears. Well, if they were worth credits four out of five was better than nothing.

Cautiously, he advanced further into the fortress, entering the room where the Spawn had come from. The sides of the room were lined with alcoves. Each alcove was a couple of metres high and one wide. Most of them had long decayed remains at the bottom of them, ranging from full skeletons to piles of stinking ash. When Jaani investigated one more closely, he found a recessed cavity above the alcove where a door had slid upwards. A trail of mist still hung at the bottom. Each container had a panel at the side, with several buttons covered in the same scrawl as the walls.

“Una, duey, dee, foosa, fife,” he muttered to himself. “Five chambers empty, five spawn bek daree,” he announced, pointing towards the corridor they’d come from. At least that probably meant they’d dealt with the fortresses inhabitants. He started for the door at the other end of the room. If this creature really could defend the fortress, there would have to be a much larger, open chamber for it to enter somewhere.

 

[Mrrew]

(Ah, my bad.)

The Togorian glanced down at the Sithspawn, and slowly removed his comlink from one of the oversized pockets on his gunbelt. A moment later, he gave a few quick commands into the device, before placing it away again.

"My droids will collect the Sithspawn, and put them on the transport freighter that'll be arriving soon for the Dragon. The client wants anything we can get."

Mrrew glanced around to the give chambers. How long had these Sithspawn been there? Over a thousand years, certainly. He glanced over to his Gungan partner, noting for a third time not to judge him by his appearance. He was becoming one of Mrrew's favorite hunters in the guild.

"Any idea when the Dragon will appear, then?"

 

[Azula Tindara]

“Mesa not in the knowin’” Jaani said as he carefully pushed the next door forwards. He winced as the door groaned. The noise seemed exceptionally intrusive in the near silent and still fortress. As soon as the door started to open, he felt the humidity in the air. “Den again, dats prolly da place!” he said, looking as the deep crack in the ground. He stepped into the wide, open hall. All around were shelves and desks and equipment. The walls were lined in metallic cupboards, many already plundered. The blast marks and scorches indicated that the contents were well protected, and wouldn’t easily be taken.

Jaani looked at the crevice in the ground, deciding not to go any closer. For all he knew the beast could be right there waiting for them. Or, given his ships scans, it could be fair away in the subterranean network. His voice a low whisper, Jaani turned to [member="Mrrew"]: “My suggesten we cover the hole with the net, and I go down and see if my finden da beast. Yousa could looks about, but wouldn’t want to disturb any more beasts?”




There was still no sign of the Dragon. The pair of scavengers had despatched the remaining spawn with ease, if only Darsin had more of them available. Staying incorporeal, he watched the pair and waited. His influence was waning now, only able to lift one lightsaber. He would bide his time and then strike at an opportune moment, he decided. When he realised they were discussing deliberately rousing the Dragon he laughed into the ether. The Gungan turned his head as if noticing, but then carried on. Well, if they were going to bring about their own demises, they were welcome to do so!



OOC/ Tag didn't work [member="Mrrew"] sorry

 

[Mrrew]

(Alls good. This thread is getting better and better.)

The Togorian stepped lightly into the room, looking at the varoius cabneits and desks that laid scattered about. And then to the large fissure, or prehaps a small canyon, that stood in front of them. He liked [member="Jaani Doosun"]'s idea, of the net over the crack, but...

"We have no idea how large this thing is, really. According to legend, it's teeth 'are as long as a Wookiee is tall'... I don't think there's a net large enough in the universe. It'll probably take half a dozen darts just to take it down... and they're loaded with SmartTranq. One shot can take down an angry Leviaothon. A net... a net will probably just annoy it. Slightly."

Mrrew glanced nervously down into the crevice. He wondered how close it was... And wondered how the feth they were going to bring it down. Killing it? That may not be hard. A rocket propelled grenade. A laser canon. Easy. Capturing it alive? Without hurting it? This was going to be... interesting. He wasn't even sure if it was possible.

 

[Azula Tindara]

Jaani let out a deep breath, concentrating on what to say. He still struggled to explain trickier concepts in good, plain basic. “Twisted monofilament. Light, but super strong. Big enough t’grab whole Opee, and grabben Sando head. More deysa struggle, more deysa cut up.”

He placed his hands out, palms facing an inch away. “Opee,” he said before moving his hands over a foot apart. “Sando,” he said. He moved his hands back and forth and shrugged. “Dragon? Anywaysy. It’ll tekken a few minutes to cover the hole, itsa good …. Forty metres wide.”

He slowly turned his gaze back and forth across the hall, he despised the feeling of this place. If he focussed he was certain he could feel pain, anger, and something malevolent lingering just on the edge of his vision.



@Mrrew OOC/ Sorry it's taking so long, but I'm really enjoying the thread

 

[Mrrew]

(All's good. I'm enjoying it too.)

Mrrew's eyebrow whiskers raised. He had a super-net that could catch Sando Aqua monsters? The dragon was probably about twice as large as one of those Naboo monsters, but still... It could be useful.

"Fair enough. While you look for the beast, i'll be waiting with my Chiru rifle. With it's size it'll take a few darts to bring it down, but, SmartTranq will eventually do the job..."

Mrrew glanced over to the crevice again, and frowned. The ground shook slightly. Just slightly. But enough to be noticable. As if something was moving, something huge, deep below where they stood.

"The quicker the better."

 

[Azula Tindara]

It took a short while to get the net in place, even at a quick pace. Despite its being lightweight, this volume of net was still awkward and heavy. He found a few heavy metal containers from around the room to weigh down the edges of it. At the least they'd ensure the net found some purchase on the beast and - hopefully - slowed it down. A series of micro-boomas were placed along its length, as the creature struggled the smaller boomas we crack, giving the beast a stunning shock, and the mesh would cut into flesh. Once it was in place he ensured that there was a route he could scrambled up and through a gap in the net. That part of the plan concerned him, there was nothing like a climb when slippery and under pressure. Jaani cracked and shook a few weighted glo-balls and tossed them into the water. Nothing stirred. He turned to [member="Mrrew"], sighed and shrugged. He dove off the edge, through the net and fissure and into the surprisingly clear waters.

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew was glad he had an aquatic partner on this particular hunt. He wasn't much of a swimmer. At all. The Togorian busied him myself by loading several new SmartTranq filled darts into his Chiru Rifle, making sure it was at full ammo by the time the dragon appeared. If, of course, it came at all. And if, of course, it didn't eat them both.

Mrrew raised the rifle to aim at the center of the net, his ears twitching constantly for any sign of movement from the crevice. A clawed finger was ready on the trigger, to fire at a moment's notice. He wans't sure what to eexpect. Would the dragon just burst out of the crack, and ensnare itself in the net? Would it take another route, and suprise them? Would it just eat [member="Jaani Doosun"] and go back to sleep? He had no idea. But whatever happened, as long as it was teh first option. he was ready.

 

[Azula Tindara]

Jaani looked back and forth through the surprisingly clear depths. The two glow-spheres had fallen to the bottom of the smooth, circular tunnel. Jaani picked one direction and started swimming. He kept to the roof of the tunnel, hoping to stay in the shadows. It might not help him, he knew. Many creatures could hunt by other means underwater: sonar, scent, electrical signals. Jaani cracked another glow-sphere and let it fall to the ground and illuminate the passage ahead. He used a crevice in the ceiling to pull himself along, only to notice that it was one of a series of claw marks covering the walls of the subterranean tunnel. Perhaps this would just be a long, fruitless search. Afterall, the sensors hadn't shown any lifeforms of that size?

Then he felt the disturbance. He felt the water being pushed past him as something approached. Clinging to the ceiling of the tunnel, he pressed himself into the shadows out of sight. A great maw appeared, just a few features picked out in the half-light. Without pause great eyes appeared and immediately fixed on Jaani. He knew that the creature was here for him. If they'd left it in peace it would have stayed in its slumber, but an ancient force drove the thing to be here, to defend it's creator's home. The understanding passed between their gazes in a fraction of a second before it rushed forwards, bearing rows upon rows of glimmering teeth.

Oh shatsen, Jaani thought as he gracefully twisted and swam away. His muscled legs kicked hard and he focussed on keeping himself moving, even as his body screamed in protest. As he passed over one of the first lights he imagined that maw opening behind him, ready to snap him up.

Jaani rounded the corner, half swimming and half scrambling up. Then he broke the surface, his hands desperately scrabbling for purchase. There was a crash the the Dragon broke behind him and a fountain of spray flew ahead of him. The ground shook as a clawed appendage hit the rock next to him. Jaani climbed up and burst through the net. He didn't pause, but got to his feet and ran. He'd left an electropole close by and he scooped it up as he ran. Turning on the spot he saw the creature's head slowly emerge from the ground, net draping over it. Those eyes turned straight to him. In one smooth motion his long arm snapped around. The electropole hissed through the air towards his target, but it glanced off its teeth instead of going into its gullet. The dragon pulled itself up and out of the water, the net wrapping tightly around its head and upper neck. Jaani had put enough ground between them, the Dragon shook and clawed at the net instead of crushing the Gungan. He turned and sprinted for his pack of weapons, heart racing. What the feth had he gotten himself into?


[member="Mrrew"]

 

[Mrrew]

It had been awhile since [member="Jaani Doosun"] had gown down, Mrrew had started rooting around teh cabneits and desks of the room. He still kept his rifle ready in his hands, but his focus was on the various items int he room, seeing if anything could be of interest to the client, rather then on the crevice. Nothing notable. A few empty cabniets that bandits or scavengers had already been through. A few locked ones that he couldn't get in to.

And then he heard the noise as Jaani broke the surface.

Mrrew spun around, raising his Chiru rifle as the GUngan scrabbled through the net. Had he seen the dragon? Why was he running? Was it chasing him? A massive head that filled the room answered his question. The Dragon, the millenia old beast that had been living under the fortress all it's life, the creature large enough to swallow a Rancor whole, the monster that had become myth and legend on the planet, shook it's head to rid itself of the net that burst with small blue lights and cut into it's skin. It's growl at Mrrrew's partner echoed in the room, increasing tenfold in intensity as it rebounded off the stone.

Mrrew raised his Chiru Rifle as the beast struggled in the net. A chiru rifle flung small needles, sharp enough to pierce through most armors, and injected a small amount of SMartTranq, a tranqulizer that changed it's own structure depending on the bloodstream it was introduced into, to safely tranqulize anything from a mouse to a krayt dragons. This thing didn't even realize mice exsisted, and probably had bowel movements the size of Krayt Dragons.

Mrrew fired. And fired again. And again. Until the six shots were empty. SmartTranq couldn't overdose, amd Mrrew was quiet frankly terrified. Who wouldn't be?

 

[Azula Tindara]

Jaani picked up his shield and another throwing-weighted electropole. Two great claws followed the head up onto the floor and there was a screech of tortured metal as they dug in to haul the creature's massive body up. The Gungan warrior managed enough control to hold his throw. The Dragon had a thick hide, with scales that were closer to armour plates than what was found on a snake's skin. Jaani flung his tooth-pick with all his might. The pole stuck fast in the soft skin under its throat and with a crackle of white light it discharged all of its energy in a moment. It's whole head twitched from the massive electric discharge, but it growled in defiance. Were [member="Mrrew"] s darts going to bring it down? He hoped so, but perhaps they should have brought an artillery piece!

A twitch in his gut warned him of impending danger. The beast's eyes stayed locked on him and it lowered its head. Suddenly there was a crackle of lightning from its nose. The metallic net seemed to divert most of the charge all around the creature's head, but some of the energy caught Jaani. He stumbled to his knees, but quickly unslung his shield. As the next burst came, it crackled against the iridescent barrier, but didn't harm him. He threw another pole, this time it lodged in the creature's gum. It's roar of anger shook the whole fortress and it started to pull it's whole body up out of the depths.

 

[Mrrew]

Oh fantastic. It shot lightning. Mrrew was certain the SmartTranq would mutate enough to take down the dragon. Eventually. But that could take anywhere from a few seconds to 15 minutes in something this big.... In 15 minutes they could be half-digested. More darts could speed up the process, but the time it woudl take to re-load his rifle would be long enough for the Dragon to eat half of Almas. They couldn't damage it, or the client would be furious. How to speed it along. How to speed it along. Mrrew grabbed for his heavy blaster pistol, one of the powerful ones made by AEL, and started firing over the dragon's head, trying to get it's attention. They just had to keep it's attention from eating them, buy them some time for the tranq to kick in. Seeing that the dragon ignored the shots, Mrrew swiped a msmall piece of rubble off the ground,a nd flung it at the dragon's cheek. Togorians are pretty strong. Not strong enough to actually hurt the dragon... But strong enough to get it's attention away from zapping Jaani. And onto zapping him.

 

[Azula Tindara]

Jaani watched as the beast turned its head towards the Togarian. Lightnight flared from its head as it turned and stepped forwards. Something told Jaani that it was almost difficult for the creature to turn away from him, but he couldn't comprehend why. He had no idea that the beast was simply programmed to track Force users. As it stepped forwards, it caught a frond of the net and tripped over itself, its head landing well shy of [member=Mrrew].

However, its tail swung widly. It barely clipped Jaani, but it sent him crashing to the floor with enough force the crack a tooth. Is my right arm pulled or dislocated? he thought as he pulled himself to his feet. This space was too cramped, they would surely be crushed, perhaps it was time to fall back. He tried to indicate as much to Mrrew, waving towards the room's exits.

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew stared at the Dragon's massive head, roughly the size of a small freighter, as it fell a few feet away from him, snarling and growling. It wouldn't be to much longer before the SmartTranq kicked in... Hopefully they wouldn't get eaten in the meantime. He glanced up to his partner just in time to see him signaling for the exit. ... That would be a good idea. Considering there was no way the dragonc ould follow them. How the feth were they going to get it out of here, anyway? That was a problem for later. The Togorian spun around, and raced towards the door like it would save his life. Which it probably would.

Meanwhile, the Dragon turned it's focus back onto the Gungan, snapping wildly at theforce sensitive, each tooth larger then him and capable of pretty much tearing him in half. However, it's movements were slowed. The SmartTranq was kicking in. Slowly.

 

[Azula Tindara]

Jaani rolled as a claw scythed through the air over his head. He struck forwards with his longest electropole. The thing gave and slightly buckled between Jaani's powerful strike and the Dragon's nigh on impenetrable hide. The pole discharged all of its power in one go, where it could normally unleash a hundred lethal charges. The Dragon flinched and pulled back it's claw: barely a sting to the gargantuan beast. Jaani discarded the last pole and pulled out his club. He sprinted as hard as he could, holding his shield to his side towards the Dragon as lightning lashed across it. A claw landed firmly ahead of him, and another behind him. It was like a cat cornering a mouse, except each claw was the size of a building. Jaani focussed all of his strength into one swing his his club, every muscle coiling and exploding into the strike. There was a loud "crack" and the claw was pulled back with a roar, giving Jaani a free run for the exit. He hadn't pieced hide, but it had felt like he'd fractured a smaller bone. He thanked the debilitating effects of [member="Mrrew"] 's tranq as he ran free.

Jaani sprinted through the corridor and out into the sandy wasteland. He heard the creature thrashing about behind him, but he seemed to break clear. Placing his hands on his knees he paused to take some breath. His ship was just ahead, with any luck he could go and grab some more gear and then return to see if the creature was down and out. Then the ground started to shake. The sand under his ship rippled and then fell away. The massive maw exploded from the ground, water and sand erupting in a plume. Jaani only now noticed that the creature's hide almost completely matched the colour of the wasteland. There was a crackling sound, and then the shattered remains of his ship were spat out of the dust cloud. Feth, the beast had taken the whole thing in its mouth and spat it back out.

 

[Mrrew]

Mrrew had reloaded his Chiru rifle in the time it took for the Gungan to do some acrobatics, and whack the dragon's hand. But even with a fully loaded rifle, he was all to happy to follow the gungan out of the ruins. Why wasn't the SmartTranq working yet? It had never been tested on anything larger then a fething asteroid... but still. He was pretty sure it would work. Eventually. Hopefully it would go unconcious in the ruins, since it wouldn't be able to follow them...

Mrrew stared in disbelief as the Dragon burst out of the sand. Was this kriffing this unstoppable? It was moving a little slower.... But at this rate it could've eaten half a shipyard before the tranq took effect. He hadn't brought anything more powerful then his Chiru rifle, and Jaani's weapons were all but useless... See this would've been a good time for those stun vulture droid that Marek Starchaser was making for the Guild. Or a turbolaser. That would be good too.

The Togorian glanced over at Jaani for a moment, seeing if he had any plan, before raising his rifle at the creature. He considered firing at the eyes, but he didn't want to maim it... then teh client woudln't want it. Instead, he dropped the aim, firing in it's open maw. The more Tranqulizer the merrier. Not that it was doing much.

 

[Azula Tindara]

Every muscle and sinew ached. Blood flowed from several lacerations on his torso. Every breath set his lungs on fire and the dust scraped the back of his throat. The Dragon crawled across the sand towards them. Sand was caked to its hide, but it fell off in great plumes as it shifted its bulk. It was noticeably sluggish now. Jaani figured that at full pace it would have crushed them both already. A laser cannon would be useful, but his ship was wreckage. Then he noticed it, a blue glint in the wreckage. He had a large tank of Booma that he filled the smaller glass spheres from. It was around the size of the Booma spheres his people had once used to bring down Trade Federation battle tanks. "Distract it!" he shouted to [member="Mrrew"] . He offered up an apologetic shrug as he sprinted to the side, hoping to go around the creature's gaze to the ruined vessel.

 

[Mrrew]

The Togorian nodded at Jaani, and proceeded to pull his heavy blaster pistol off his belt once more. The tranqs were working in the long run, but it wasn't doing enough damage to distract the dragon. This, however might. Mrrew dropped his rifle aside, raising the pistol towards the beast's side. He didn't want to really harm it, that woudl mean less credits when they delivered it. But he was pretty confident that the beasts's cales would absorb even the powerful bolts of the AEL pistol. He was proven right, after several shots.

However, he was also proven right that it would distract the dragon. It did. The dragon's head turned. "Kriff." The Dragon lunged forwards, sending an open maw the size of a house flying at him. It was futile to dodge, it was way to huge. However... Mrrew lunged forwards into the creature's gaping maw as it lunged forwards. And it's mouth closed around him.