Coruscant's Underworld

*The cry was one he had hoped never to hear again. Move fast enough, move far enough, never stay in one place for long -- he truly thought it would be enough to keep out of reach of that madman with a yearning for Malora, and Dazac. Wrong again, buddy-boy. Jekk were everywhere. The breath caught in his throat for a split second as the spacer ran through the possible scenarios. He didn't like any of 'em.

But the crew were reacting: even now, Sam and Frend were on the move, and Jace was out the door. Was that Wade he heard yelling above the screeching of the Jekk? It wasn't until Dante made a move to the window of the cantina that Fel snapped into action. He was half a step behind the man, and pulled him flat against the wall, out of sight. A glare at Daniel flattened him against the wall, too. There was no time to speak, but there was no hope if he didn't. As he spoke, Fel drew out the Power5, and tossed it to Dante, then he drew the two menacing charric pistols, flipping one to the never-before-tried maximum setting, the other to half.*

You move when I move. You're never more than a step behind me. Sheath that steel, Mister. I need you alive, and you don't want to be close enough to use a blade on these things. Doctor, don't use that pistol unless you absolutely have to. Make every shot count. *double-checking the load in the charric pistols, Fel cracks his neck.* Let's go.

*The movement to the front door was easy, the pilot watching with his peripheral to ensure the good doctor and the business-man were adhering to his orders. Thing was, he wasn't headed for the front door, he was moving for the massive hole in the wall Frend had just created. Sparks and steam hissed and snapped in the huge opening, the result of severed power lines. A dozen feet away, a handful of jekk caught the scent of prey and turned toward the breech in the wall. Galdaart braced and fired, centre-mass. The effect was as if someone had fired off an M32 grenade launcher. The explosive force was incredible. Bits of Jekk peppered the street for a hundred feet, and about fifty pairs of eyes turned their direction. A terrible shriek rose up in unison as the abominations found new targets.

But by that point, they were in an alley, and then another, as Fel navigated the streets, as much by scent and instinct as by design. The din behind the trio was unbelievable, and growing louder by the moment. They weren't covering enough ground. Checking the next corner, Fel moved with a purpose, pistol held calmly, eyes ever scanning. Activating his comm unit, Fel continued to move, checking behind himself ever couple of seconds, tightening up the Doctor as he straggled behind.*

:: Fel plus two, on the move. ETA UA: six minutes. ::

*He tried not to think of Karana. He tried not to think of Jace or Wade, buying time and fighting the creatures head-on. They rounded one more corner... and came face to face with more Jekk than he could count.*

Karking Black-Sun!

*Galdaart squeezed the trigger four times on the half-power charric pistol, and vaporized the torsos of three of the closest Jekk. Backing down the way they had come, Fel targeted a speeder parked nearby with the full-power charric pistol, just as a dozen more Jekk tensed themselves for the pounce.*

RUN!

*The three had just taken off at full gallop when Galdaart squeezed the trigger. The ordinance itself was devastating, but added to it the maelstrom of the speeder exploding, sending shrapnel in all directions, at a danger-close distance, and the resulting fireball engulfed at least fifty Jekk. Some were incinerated outright, some blown to bits by the explosion, and yet more emerged aflame, but still in pursuit. The effect was horrifying. As if the visual of the Jekk weren't scary enough, setting them ablaze, flesh bubbling and charring, was even more terrifying.

Fel had been nearly thrown off his feet by the explosion, and, catching his footing only barely, swiveled to fire again at the swarm, when he ran headlong into an immobile, metal object.

Frend.*

Estra rolled his eyes as a racket echoed through the streets, sounding like a screaming mob. The excess noise only seemed to intensify the headache he was experiencing. He and Beln had been searching for hours now, and he frustration was growing. The man hadn't been in the apartment complex and no one there seemed to recall him. The building the man had worked in had been re-purposed, and they were forced to hunt down where it was relocated to. Once there Fen finally found someone who did remember Praeletum, but had not seen the man in nearly a decade. He thought back to when he'd first met the man nearly fifteen years ago when Praeletum had been in his early twenties. A man down on his luck with a mediocre job, and in desperate need of credits because of his refusal to take out any sort of loan. 'Didn't want to rely on others,' he'd said...

[quote="Fifteen Years Ago":2qoqdgne]Estra looked at his charts and the results of the stress tests that each volunteer had undergone. So far only four had been found unfit for the test, which was promising. He moved his focus to the list of people who would be undergoing the first trial today. He would have to explain to them all, once again, what they were getting into, all it entailed, and then their written consent to absolve the University of any liability for potential injures. He entered a room and found a man seated on one side of a table. [color=#FFBF40:2qoqdgne]"Mr. Praeletum, My name is Fen Estra. I will be overseeing this study. Now, before we begin..."[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FFBF40:2qoqdgne]"...I believe that is all I need. If you would, my assistant is waiting outside and she will take you to the lab and get everything set up. This first test will be measuring responses to pressure and strain, so, if you would,"[/color:2qoqdgne] Estra said, motioning to the door.

Praeletum gave a nod and stood, opening the door and stepping out. He came to an abrupt halt when who he assumed was Estra's assistant, made her way toward him and smiled. [color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"Are you ready, Mr. Praeletum?"[/color:2qoqdgne] She asked.

He gave a nod, [color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]"Yes, miss...?"[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"Oh, please, just call me Reina,"[/color:2qoqdgne] she said.

[color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]"Alright, Reina,"[/color:2qoqdgne] Praeletum gave a nod, [color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]"In that case, just call me Dazac."[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"Ok, Dazac. Shall we?" [/color:2qoqdgne]Reina said, motioning down the corridor. They began walking to the lab in silence, but Reina was finding it to be a bit uncomfortable and decided to try and start a conversation. [color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"So, you understand what we'll be doing?"[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]"Yes."[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"And it doesn't bother you?"[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]"Should it?"[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"It will hurt..."[/color:2qoqdgne]

Dazac looked at her and gave a reassuring smile, [color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]"Yeah, but you can't look at it like that."[/color:2qoqdgne] When she gave him a confused look he chuckled and continued, [color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]"The best thing about pain, is that it's temporary. Once it's gone... it's gone. We can remember that we were in pain, but we can't recall the pain itself. Our minds don't let us. It's a defense mechanism."[/color:2qoqdgne]

Reina blinked at him, confounded, [color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"I've never heard that..."[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]"I made it up,"[/color:2qoqdgne] Dazac exclaimed with a grin.

[color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"You... Made it up?"[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]"Well, not like that! I just know a bit about the nervous system and the connections it has to the body and mind, and came to the conclusion on my own."[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"I see..."[/color:2qoqdgne] Reina said, hesitantly.

Dazac shrugged,[color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne] "Hey. I've yet to be proven wrong... in my experience anyway."[/color:2qoqdgne]

[u:2qoqdgne][b:2qoqdgne]Two and a half months later.[/b:2qoqdgne][/u:2qoqdgne]

Estra approached the terminal just to the side of the large window that looked down into the lab. [color=#FFBF40:2qoqdgne]"How is he doing?" [/color:2qoqdgne]he asked, Reina.

[color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"Just over four hours, and he only started twitching a few minutes ago."[/color:2qoqdgne]

Fen's eyes widened and a smile crept across his face,[color=#FFBF40:2qoqdgne] "Remarkable! I can't believe our luck at finding him. I've never encountered someone so resilient and strong willed before. If there is an unstoppable force in existence, then this man is most assuredly and immovable object!"[/color:2qoqdgne] Fen moved over to an intercom and pressed a button on it.[color=#FFBF40:2qoqdgne] ::"Mr. Praeletum? How are you holding up in there?"::[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]::"J-just another day at the office, Estra. Heh. It is a little hot though."::[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"A little hot?"[/color:2qoqdgne] Reina said incredulously, [color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"He's been sweating for over three hours and his body temperature has gone up four degrees!"[/color:2qoqdgne]

Estra looked at Reina and then turned back to the intercom, [color=#FFBF40:2qoqdgne]::"We'll get them to turn the cool air up, Mr. Praeletum."::[/color:2qoqdgne]

Dazac's breath sounded shaky as he tried to remain focused on what was happening, but the sudden distraction was throwing his concentration off. He finally managed to get out a [color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]::"Appreciated."::[/color:2qoqdgne] and then let out a grunt as he felt several muscles in his back spasm.

Reina pressed a button on her console and leaned forward,[color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne] ::"Dazac, we're already two hours past the time limit, if you want to st-"::[/color:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FF0000:2qoqdgne]::"NO! ...I'll let you know...when, hah, it's too much."::[/color:2qoqdgne]

Reina turned to Fen with a worried look, [color=#FF0080:2qoqdgne]"Estra, don't we have enough data?"[/color:2qoqdgne]
[color=#FFBF40:2qoqdgne]
"If he wants to give us more data, it would be rude to refuse at this point,"[/color:2qoqdgne] Fen reasoned.

Reina stared incredulously as Estra looked down into the lab with a smirk on his face.[/quote:2qoqdgne]

[color=#FFFF00:2qoqdgne]"-tra! Estra!"[/color:2qoqdgne]

Fen was jolted out of his reminiscing at Beln's shout and looked at her with a glare, and then wonderment. She was staring past him, and looked absolutely terrified. He turned his head and his eyes widened. Not more than ten meters away, four grotesque, malformed beings stood hunched over. Their claws at their sides and mouths hanging open to reveal razor teeth as the dark orbs that must have been their eyes looked on unblinkingly at the two. And standing in the middle of them was a tall Echani man with long hair and sickly green eyes.

[color=#40BF00:2qoqdgne]"Hello again, Estra..."[/color:2qoqdgne]

In Front of 'The Dodger'...

The jekk kept scurrying about in limitless supply, although being the xenobiologist that Seros was, he noticed no reproductive organs on their rather naked humanoid bodies. Either this was some form of mutation of other species, or they were manufactured. Kneeing the crawlers in the groin wasn't granting him the desired results.

Countless jekk corpses lay in a bloodied strewn mess about the streets, namely where this posse had traversed. It was getting crowded, and Seros suffered more lacerations along his left thigh from a crawler giving a good chomp. Instead of pummeling the creature's jaws loose by harsh impact on the temple, Seros stretched out his fingers into a tight claw, and swung them down onto where he hoped the larynx would be, clenching tightly. His faced folded into a tight grimace of both pain and determination, his fingers almost immediately finding that familiar bone hidden under the jaw.

*His adrenaline was doing its job quite well even as the jekk's teeth etched back out of the wound, the jekk itself now trying desperately to gasp for air. Its clawed hand tried feebly to push against Seros' tightened arm that held him there, but the phrik vambrace protected him from further injury. Another flyer came in to swoop him off the street, but Seros hoisted the jekk up by the throat as a shield, or rather, as a projectile. The larynx already crushed in his merciless grip, Seros hoisted up off the street, chambered his leg up near his chest, and shoved the jekk point blank in to the incoming flyer. Descending back to the street near Malora, who was now doubling back to regroup with the few men who had hastily vacated the bar, Seros felt the harsh retort from the new wound on his leg.*

Wade was still in the street in front of him, dancing his rather impressive intercessory dance of death, probably making sure the woman was safe. The jekk didn't have any intelligent inclination to stop when they saw Seros dispatch nearly six of their kind in a matter of seconds. Killing these creatures was relegated to snapping of the neck, severing of the nervous system through paralyzation granted through the breaking of the spine, or tossing them over the street's edge.

Finally, two more flyers targeted him from his right aft, behind The Dodger. They were now surrounded, and Seros' reserve was now starting to show the stages nearing the end of his mana reserve. But he had no choice. Some light rods atop a nearby dome roof were the perfect alternative. Outstretching his hand, grunting as he pushed the pain out of his mind, the Force enveloped both rods, breaking them off similarly to that of the lamp post. Once they snapped loose, he veered their severed ends towards the incoming jekk in a wave.

The vanes hit their targets..but...so did the wave. Their wings should have folded forward from the momentum they gained, but the wave of Force energy had pushed them back as well. As their screams of agony and failure faded into the depths of the Undercity, Seros deducted that these creatures MUST have been manufactured, or generated from some sick experiment. The crawlers were immune. The flyers weren't. An overall species would and should have the same attributes by universal law alone. But this also meant he didn't have to spend nearly as much of his reserves on exerting extreme amounts of energy into telekinetic manipulation. After roundhousing another charging crawler in the jaw up and over the street's edge, he turned to Wade to yell out his new strategy...

...but a crawler mounted atop the bar descended with gaping jaws, right onto Seros' left shoulder. They crumbled to the deck together, and the pain was harsh to say the very least. "..AAAaagghh!!"

*Mounted on his back, repeatedly trying to dig deeper into Seros' flesh, the jekk now aimed for Seros' neck. It happened in slow motion in the man's head. He knew what was coming the same second it happened. Tightening his teeth as the tiny spears broke flesh on his the back of his neck, he shoved upward into a Force-aided push up, sending him and the creature into the air, turning about so Seros fell onto the jekk full-force, rolling off the creature's belly, grabbing and hyperextending its arm whilst shoving a chambered boot straight down onto the jaw, snapping its neck in one swift move.*

Blood now permeated through his garments, layering the entire left side of his chin and neck with blood, his new wounds now profusely increased his rate of blood loss. The others were gone, but Wade was already making his escape. Seros' only hope of survival and healing, as well as get off this Force-forsaken planet, was to keep moving forward. Gut it out, ol' boy! ..You've seen wor--"

Trudging forward on his bad leg, he gathered his wits to push through, almost humored by his attempt to make himself feel better. "..Heh. Well, maybe this IS the worst you've seen. ..Just don't die."

He gathered what Force he could then muster about him, and built up more speed in his stride, ignoring both the pain and the jekk he needn't kill. But the strange thing was...they seemed to be ignoring him, too. They stopped attacking him when Wade's posse from the bar left the scene. "What in bloody blazes' goin' on here?"

*He rounded the next corner, seeing Malora in the distance, shooting incoming flyers whilst trying desperately to maintain an eye on her leading captain.*

Galen had his head slightly bowed and his eyes closed as he walked calmly through the streets, seeing through the eyes of his many Jekk. Most of his focus was on watching Karana, but some of these others were catching his attention. He smiled at the thought of what her reaction would be when she found that the cryo pod and body within it were no longer on the ship. Would she even notice in her panic fueled flight? Oh, but what would the look on her face be? Well... there was one way to find out.

<< You travel with such impressive companions, my dear Karana. I've already taken the one you left behind to.... hehe, 'watch' the ship. Who else shall I take? The captain? That wretched gunslinger who took a parting shot at me on Kessel? Perhaps the armored man? Oh, I know... one of the brawlers. Hmm, that last one doesn't seem to be doing to well, but that other man, the one with the staff and the glee in his eyes... Yes, that one will do. I do hope you said goodbye, my Dark Lady. >>

He gave the silent order for the Jekk to refocus their efforts. Capture Karana. Capture the man who moved amidst the Jekk as though he were dancing. Kill the rest. His eyes snapped open as he rounded a corner to find a man of similar stature to his own, accompanied by a yellow-hued Twi'lek. How fortuitous... it seemed fate was in his favor. Now he wouldn't have to go looking for the knowledge obsessed fool. A wide smile spread across his face as he order the Jekk with him to stop, and Fen's eyes came up to meet his own.

"Hello again, Estra..."

*Exiting the cell block, I and my fellow survivor gaped at the destruction that had been wrought inside the main room of the constabulary station. But there was no time or reason to stand and goggle at the mess of burned desks and chairs, smoldering droids, and even a dead cop or two. I needed to find my gear --- which I quickly located in a locker marked 'Evidence,' Along with the bottles of liquor I'd pocketed to take home --- and find out where we were, then get the heck out of the area. There was no way something this big had happened without drawing attention from higher up in the CSF. I kept a blaster fixed on the thief, and we entered the communications center, which was relatively untouched.*

*Smack in the middle of the floor was a dead policeman. He might have been inspector I had met earlier, but it was hard to tell. The top half of his head had been completely blown away. But there were no other signs of a struggle. How strange. I turned the carcass over with my foot. His hands were bound behind his back. Weird.*

*I leaned over to inspect the computer terminal, and there, at last, was some explanation of why no help had yet come to the overpowered local force. Someone with police credentials was logged in --- and had shut off the communications center, isolating the local communications from the planetary grid. My heartbeat quickened, wondering if some component of this had been an inside job. I began to search through the other processes running on the dead policeman's account, and saw to my surprise that he had not yet submitted his arrest reports for any of the three of us. In three clicks, they were gone.*

*Idly, I wiped my hand across my face, and came away with a nice mixture of blood, grime, and sweat. Reminding me of the all too obvious: That we needed to get out of here. But first, what was going on in the area? I switched on the comm system, and the police scanner buzzed to life. I pulled on the last of my armor, and settled my holsters into place as I waited. There was nothing but static for a few minutes, then suddenly, a dozen voices talking at once.*

::: --- moving rapidly through Sub-Levels 32 and 33 --- :::

::: I'm getting more calls about carnivourous beats. Attacking at random. At least a hundred of them. Killing and eating anyone who gets near them! :::

::: Control, we need backup. We're being overrun. There are creatures in the air and --- AHHHH!! --- :::

::: There's some kind of wild fight going on outside a bar called the 'Dodger' :::

*My heart stood still at that last reference, then I spun around in grim determination.* "We're leaving." *I jerked my blaster at the thief.* "I don't know who you are, and I don't have time to find out. Pick out one blaster, and as many power packs as you want from this mess, and we'll leave." *I looked around the comm center, then down at the dead body. He had something in his shirt pocket, which turned out to be several data cards. Without a glance at their titles, I slid them into my own pocket, and we made our way out into the lobby.*

*I needed to get across town, and fast. But were there any resources here I could use? The constables' private lockers had weak locks which easily cracked open, and I picked out a pair of binders, and a police comlink. Then I hit the jackpot. Prying open the next locker, I found the belongings and entire professional outfit of a female police commander, who was apparently off duty. There was a blue female CSF officer's uniform and even a badge, with the name 'Elena Martinez' engraved into it.*

*That would do. I led the Nightwing operative outside, and cuffed him to a lamppost before he even realized what was happening. He'd be able to free himself with his blaster, but by then I would be gone. It wouldn't do to risk being followed, but I didn't want him to loose his chance to escape. Leaving the poor man in a dumbfounded state of shock, I jumped into a and roared away into the half-gloom.*

*Surely it was morning by now, but you would never know it down here.*

~~~~



*As soon as I was out of sight of the constabulary station, I switched on my wrist console, and called Scrapheap.* ::: Scrappy, it's Liya. The crew's in trouble. Can you and NIM get the Eagle over there? I'm sending you the coordinates now. ::: *There was some electronic chit-chat, then an affirmative beep at the other end, followed by an inquisitive tone. It felt so good to hear his familiar voice after the trauma of the last six hours.* ::: Yes, I got separated. I'm heading back that way now. Get that bucket of bolts in the air and tell me what you see! ::: *Scrappy affirmed again, and as soon as he cut the channel, I turned on the police comlink.*

*I raced through the Coruscant streets at nearly double the speed limit, but no one would question me, not with the police colors on the outside of the speeder, or the flashing red lights on top of the stolen speeder. Somehow I managed to pull on the police uniform without crashing (although I nearly lost control both times I had to stick my foot through a pant leg). It helped that this Elena was fatter than me. I wasn't sure if anyone official would buy the disguise, but it was worth a try. I just hoped no one would check the photo on my badge too closely. Elena was a blue-eyed blonde.*

~~~~



*As the members of the Fel Crew and their new customers fled through the rapidly-emptying streets toward their ships, a roar of repulsorlifts suddenly echoed through the cavernous streets of the Underworld, and the Millennium Eagle flew into view at break-neck speed. The ship slowed as Scrapheap fed tactical readouts and decisions to NIM through a direct connection into the ship's comupter system. Scrappy hadn't had time to acquaint himself with all the intricacies of the Millenium Eagle or it's modifications from the stock YT-1300 model, as he had done for Liya's own ship. It hadn't mattered. Talking to NIM was actually better than talking to the ship itself; NIM was significantly more intelligent and added his own input and optimization. Seated practically on the windscreen of the cockpit, Scrappy knew what to do, and NIM knew how to do it. The first ten blocks had been rather clumsy, as they adjusted to crosstalk and learned how to make their circuits work effectively together, but now the real fun was beginning.*

*NIM's voice came over the comlink into Sam's helmet* ::: Sir, the Millenium Eagle has arrived. How may we assist? :::

*A few seconds later, after some translation delay, a computerized voice came over the crew com channel to Fel and everyone else.* ::: This is the R5-series droid Scrapheap, standing by with NIM aboard the Millenium Eagle. My mistress is on her way. Captain Fel, do you have any orders? :::

*The Millenium Eagle's lower quad turret suddenly came to life, waving from side to side as it mowed down an entire row of the ground-based jekk, sending their burning remains flying back into the faces of their counterparts, then swept back across the advancing line to incinerate the next wave. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, and small piles of blackened teeth, claws, and bones marked the spot of each blast. Scrappy let out a two-tone note of desperation, however, when he saw that all his firepower made little difference in the advancing tide.*

*The swarm of beasts was without end, and now some of the flying creatures were breaking off and surging forward to attack the Eagle. Analyzing that the beasts' claws could damage the Eagle if they were to get within range, NIM activated the ground buzzer cannon, and began picking the wings off of the flyers, one by one, as the foul creatures rose toward the Eagle. With terrible screams, they crashed to the pavement below, or fell over the edges into the depths below, falling kilometers to their eventual death.*

~~~~



*When I could, I stole glances at the choppy video stream that Scrappy was feeding my my wrist console, and the rest of the time, I willed the police speeder to further speed with every curse word in Epicant. The situation was apocalyptic. Where had these beasts come from? Even I knew that such incidents never happened this far from the Bottom, or is such numbers. Yet I could hear the screams as dozens of police were cut to shreds by the vermin. And now, as I watched my crew helplessly from kilometers away, it seemed that the entire throng was specifically hunting my friends. I could see Fel covering a path for two strangers as they tried to catch up to Sam and Frend, and then, as the Eagle shifted, I caught sight of Wade clubbing the beasts to death. In spite of the dangers, I was relieved to see that Wade had returned from whatever secret errand had led him away. That meant everyone was together.*

*Everyone except me, that was. My heart dropped still lower, wishing I were there with them. What more could I do, though? Thoughtfully, I turned to the police comlink, an idea beginning to dawn on me. I was almost to the UA's berth by now. I wracked my mind, trying to remember where it was parked, and managed to call a dirty, barely legible plaque to mind. Sub-Level 33, Bay C14. Yes. Perfect. I keyed the police channel.*

::: This is Commander Elena Martinez. I'm setting an ambush for the vermin. I need droid reinforcements on Sub-Level 33, outside Bay C13 and C14. :::

*Muting the police comlink, I switched over to my wrist unit once more, and keyed for the crew. By now, I was screaming through Sub-Level 33. Only a few more seconds until I'd be at the rendezvous point. That was, unless the crew was heading somewhere else. Scrappy's data made it look like they were headed this way, but I'd better check.*

::: It's Liya. Shall I meet you at the UA? :::

*The sound of Jace's boots hitting the slick ground as he sprinted down a side alley could be heard above the now distant howls of the Jekk. Bloodcurdling screams cut short by snarls and the sound of flesh being torn from the bone made his skin pucker. He was glad to be out of that frenzy but still couldn't help but feel somewhat shameful for not being back there with the crew, helping them survive. But they needed to be off this planet, and that meant all of their ships needed to be in space. Continuing down the alley, he followed the curves and contours to where he knew a nearby turbolift was located. In his mind, a flurry of questions ranging from how the crew was holding up to what the kriff were those things and where did they come from. But his thoughts were cut short when he noticed something.*

*As he sprinted, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye as he went past another alley. Whatever it was, it was moving with him. And seeing how he had spotted a small group of the creatures moving to intercept, he could only assume that they had caught up with him. His gaze flipped back ahead of him as the opening of the turbolift came into view. And as he looked back to his side to track the creatures movement, he saw it already halfway down the side alley that fed into the alley he was in.

Jace put on a burst of speed as he grew closer. The sound of heavy breathing and claws scraping across the gritty surface punctuated the lack of distance there was between them. When what some would call the final stretch came around, he knew he wasn't going to make it in and close the grating behind him before they reached him. He could see the control panel on the wall inside the unit, which gave him a desperate idea. Reaching out with the Force he managed to activate the lift, which started the sequence for the outer door to close. Taking a quick breath and a leap of faith, he dove into turbolift and skidded across the floor as the grate closed and locked into place behind him. The Jekk following him slammed into the grate, trying to claw their way through. He slowly got to his feet and steadied his breathing as the lift began to ascend.* "...close call. Way too close."

*Although he had a sinking feeling that he wasn't out of it yet. From above, he could hear more of them trying to claw through the grating. These damned things just didn't give up.**Turning towards the panel, he quickly popped the safety pin and opened it up. Luckily the buttons still worked, which gave him an advantage he needed. Activating the level above the one they were scheduled to stop at, he deactivated the emergency stops and the receiver for other stops.**Jace stood up and checked his pistol, then looked at the rigged control box. If he did it right, which he doubted, the lift would skip the next stop and head to the level above. The clawing got louder and louder, and he prepped himself for a close fight with these creatures with some breathing exercises he had learned to keep one calm under pressure. But that was all for nothing when he realized that he passed the level without incident, and that the lift stopped at the next level up without incident.

Jace stepped out of the lift and studied his surroundings. Two levels up wasn't much of an improvement, but it was noticeable if someone was paying attention. The streets were just a tad cleaner, the trash was either reduced or pushed to the side, and everything seemed just slightly brighter. He was at the mouth of a walkway, and ahead of him a small gap separated one side from the other. He wondered if those things Karana called Jekk had gotten stuck on the level below. If so, he would just have to travel across the narrow trench and drop down a level on the other side.*

*As he took a few steps further, the sound of metal snapping like a twig came from behind. Spinning around, he saw a metal maintenance hatch fly to one side as two Jekk stormed out of it. Turning back to the narrow trench he started to run. There was only one way to go now, and it was going to hurt. Picking up speed, he let the Force seep into his legs to give him a small boost. It was the only way he was going to get across, and that was only to the residential balcony that stuck out on the upper part of the level below. As he reached the edge, he could feel one of the beasts practically nipping at his heels. And that is when he jumped.*

*Gravity felt non-existent as he soared through the air, but he knew better. From the looks of it, he was going to either slam onto the balcony or break through the glass door that lead out to it. At least his aim was good. What wasn't good was the two Jekk undoubtedly soaring through the air after him. He was going to be in a lot of pain upon landing, and he figured he would be somewhat incapacitated and unable to fight them effectively. He'd have to deal with them before he got there.*

*Twisting his body in mid-flight, Jace spotted the two in pursuit. One was but a mere meter and a half from him, saliva trailing it as it's teeth glimmered in the dull lights of the streets above and below. The other was a few meters behind him, looking equally terrifying. He brought up his Verpine pistol, aiming towards the closest one and dumping as many rounds as he could into it. One through the thigh. One through the hip. One into the chest. One in the bicep. One in the abdomen. Another through the chest. And one in the head. The only reason he paused from putting the rest of the magazine into him was the sight of the second one getting drilled by a passing air speeder. And because he stopped firing he realized he had reached his destination.*

*SNAP. Jace figured that was one of his ribs snapping upon impact with the deck of the balcony. SMASH. That would be the glass door, as predicted. THUD. Wasn't sure what that was, but based on the distance and falling rate of himself and the creature he thought that was it hitting the side of the deck. THUD Thud thud That was him rolling to a stop.... SMASH. And that was the expensive vase from Anobis falling off the shelf.*

*Jace tried to push himself to his feet, but the fact that the room was still spinning prompted him not to. The back and the side of his head hurt terribly, among other parts of his body. He avoided looking at his wounds for now though, as his only goal at this point was to get to the Loronar and get the crew out of here. The wounds would come later.*"...That...is going to be sore tomorrow."

[narration:3ceak01f]They were everywhere; crawling, flying, burrowing through walls. Grotesque in appearance, they dredged up some vestige of childhood terrors from bed time stories - monsters, in every sense of the word. Outside, members of the crew defended the bar with varying levels of proficiency, some with blasters, others with the force, and still others with advanced forms of technology; all dangerous, all deadly. Still. How long could they hold back the tide of teeth and claws? How long could they hold fast against wave after wave of these Jekk? Already several of those defending had accumulated minor wounds - how long would it be that one earned a major one? And when one fell...the line would fall with it.[/narration:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]Cold, white, tingling; adrenaline surged through his body by the frenzied pounding of his heart. Reflexes heightened, awareness was acute, the senses were over sensitized, but soaring higher than all of these things was the urge to join the battle at hand - to close the distance, and to make battle with a formidable foe. Against better reason and judgement, bloodlust was swiftly building in Dante's heart, and memories of duels and battles for glory and honor raged in mind. Dante was many things, ranging from doctor, engineer, inventor,tactician, collector, and sophisticate. But first and foremost, he was a duelist; and woe to those who under estimated his prowess with a blade.

Swiftly, Dante started to turn to head for the door; he was interrupted by Fel pressing him flat to the wall.[/action:3ceak01f]

[quote="Galdaart Fel":3ceak01f]You move when I move. You're never more than a step behind me. Sheath that steel, Mister. I need you alive, and you don't want to be close enough to use a blade on these things. Doctor, don't use that pistol unless you absolutely have to. Make every shot count. [action:3ceak01f]double-checking the load in the charric pistols, Fel cracks his neck.[/action:3ceak01f] Let's go.
[/quote:3ceak01f]
[narration:3ceak01f]Annoyance was first and foremost; once again the captain presumed to command his blade to its scabbard. Once again Dante would defy the request to the blade - the blade would stay unsheathed. Fel's intrusion had a sobering effect on Dante though, the urge to close with the bloodbath quelling in the presence of the other mans seriousness, an supreme urge to fight silenced by reason. As the urge faded, reason replaced it with the need to retreat in face of a suicidal fight, the impending fall of the line was made all the more evident by shout and incurred wounds on the force wielder outside.

Dante's willingness to nigh fling himself into a suicidal charge took him by surprise. Had it truly been so long since his blade had bit into flesh? Did he truly hunger for more blood after he had spilled so much? Wasn't one war enough to sate his appetite - did he truly have to have [b:3ceak01f]more[/b:3ceak01f]?[/narration:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]Taking the blaster, Dante verified the power setting was set to kill. With Fel's orders, Dante nodded once in acknowledgement; now was not the time to argue leadership. He didn't sheath his blade though...better to have his other hand filled with a weapon rather than empty handed.[/action:3ceak01f]

[narration:3ceak01f]Idly, Dante eyed the Captains charric pistols; he had some expansive dealings with the Chiss in the past, and saw them for what they were. Indeed, he even owned one of the weapons. Mentally, Dante made a note of the unique weaponry for later speculation and wonder.[/narration:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]They were off; heading for the large hole that the monstrous security droid had made, they stepped out of the protective womb like bubble of isolation and protection of the bar and into the living hell that was the open streets. Immediately twelve pairs of eyes turned towards them, and as Fel blasted one to bits - with impressive force Dante noted - near FIFTY pairs of eyes turned to join their comrades.[/action:3ceak01f]

"...Yeah. No."

[action:3ceak01f]They were off down alleys, down streets, down sidewalks, and walkways; the dizzying maze of the underworld being impressively navigated perhaps even better than Dante's eidetic mind could remember. But it wasn't enough. They weren't covering enough ground. Already the scramble of claws on uneven stone could be heard, the snarling whooping call of the Jekk was on their heels. Looking back, Dante saw the masses streaming like water for them.[/action:3ceak01f]

[quote="Galdaart Fel":3ceak01f]Karking Black-Sun![/quote:3ceak01f]
[action:3ceak01f]His head snapping back to look forward, Dante's eyes widened as a literal sea of Jekk streamed towards them from the other end of the street. Fel thought quickly - and destroyed several jekk with his pistols. Dante himself started to raise his blaster, when Fel's aim shifted subtly. Straight towards a speeder.[/action:3ceak01f]

"Oh no no no no!"

[quote="Galdaart Fel":3ceak01f]RUN![/quote:3ceak01f]
"YOU THINK?!"

[action:3ceak01f]Throwing himself to the ground, Dante plugged his fingers into his ears. Time seemed to stand still, his heart pounded in his chest, he could feel his breath rasping in and out of his body...and then...[/action:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f][size=150:3ceak01f][b:3ceak01f][i:3ceak01f][u:3ceak01f]KABOOOOOOOOOOM[/u:3ceak01f][/i:3ceak01f][/b:3ceak01f][/size:3ceak01f][/action:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]The concussive wave slammed into Dante - and even on the ground, it felt like he had the breath knocked out of him. The pressure changed in his ears, and shrapnel rained down all around the trio. Climbing to his feet, the grizzly sight of Jekk on fire - notably still coming towards them - greeted Dante's eyes. Despite this, Dante's sword was still grasped in a death grip in his right hand. Unfortunately, in his haste to take cover, the heavy blaster Fel had loaned him had slid across the pavement and down towards the front end of the street...right in the path of the oncoming Jekk.[/action:3ceak01f]

[narration:3ceak01f]Jekk in front, Jekk in back; the Jekk converging on their flanks were fresh from the bar, following the tempting bait that Fel presented. Easily, they numbered in the hundreds - the narrow dimensions of the street forcing them into a choke point. The Jekk in front had taken alleys to try and head the trio off - undeniably a smaller force of perhaps one hundred, now perhaps a mere fifty after the explosion. Idly, Dante saw Fel stumble into the security bot from earlier, and remembering the fire power the massive brute had poured on the Jekk earlier, Dante smiled.[/narration:3ceak01f]

"Fel! Droid! Keep the flanks suppressed! I have point!"

[narration:3ceak01f]They weren't covering enough ground; and from Fel's comm they had at least six minutes full run to reach the ship. On open straight streets, they had no chance against the speedy Jekk...both Fel, Daniel, and the security droid would need to suppress the Jekk on the rear flanks if they had any hope of not being over taken. As for point -[/narration:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]Dante smiled slightly, and began to run forward...straight for the Jekk.[/action:3ceak01f]

[narration:3ceak01f]- as for point. Dante would handle point. Not pausing to see if his shouts were recognized, he ran full throttle towards the fifty or so Jekk running down the street towards them. Cybernetically enhanced muscles strained, artificial heart pumped, and with a shout, Dante engaged the enemy.[/narration:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]And so the ballet began; raising his left arm as he ran, Dante rolled his left wrist once, clockwise, unlocking the safety on his gauntlet wrist charric. Taking aim, he pumped his left index finger three times, and he was rewarded by consecutive hiss of neon bolts streaking across the street...

Right for the blaster on the ground.

The first bolt struck a meter to the weapons left, the other half a meter to its right. The third though...the third struck it just barely on the barrel of the weapon. And that was enough; the immense electrical properties of the bolt conducted through the barrel and into the power pack of the blaster - the blaster gas, meant to be slowly released and energized in bursts, immediately ignited all at once. The result, was a satisfying fiery explosion of plasma that ripped engulfed some twenty five Jekk, leaving nothing more than glowing stumps of limbs and severed torsos in the energy blasts wake. Dante paid no heed to it; running through the fiery remnants of the explosion, Dante confronted the twenty five Jekk still left alive, some still reeling from the blasters explosion, others already heading towards Fel. Leading forward, Dante slashes from right to left in a diagonal slash, bisecting the first Jekk. Following through with the slash, he pivoted on heels and clotheslined a second Jekk in the throat that tried to make run for Fel and Daniel. Continuing the clothesline, Dante simultaneously pivoted and kneeled, slamming his fist into the downed Jekks throat - snapping his neck. Standing and continuing his run, a trio of Jekk slipped off to one side of the street, again making a run for it - they were silenced by a burst of sustained fire from his gauntlet, killing the first and third, but mangling the second beyond belief.[/action:3ceak01f]

[narration:3ceak01f]Five.[/narration:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]They were getting the message. They had to go through him if they wanted at Fel. Simultaneously, the twenty Jekk still alive came straight for Dante...maws open wide, claws flashing. Four Jekk assaulted Dante from the front, two on his left and right sides...in that moment, Dante seemed to dissolve into a blur as he released the energy he had been storing since his talk with Fel at the bar into a force speed; his right arm seamlessly crossing over to his left, and then flicking to his severe right faster than was humanly possible. Six Jekk fell, either beheaded or bisected respectively.[/action:3ceak01f]

[narration:3ceak01f]Eleven.[/narration:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]Four Jekk had slipped past Dante as he had slashed through their comrades, and spinning on his heel, Dante spun and took aim. The first bolt pegged one on its heel, and sent it crashing to the ground, impaling it on a large piece of shrapnel leftover from the speeder explosion. The second bolt impacted a head, exploding it like a melon. The third blast apart a rib cage, and the fourth...the fourth grazed an arm, allowing the intense electrical shock to stop the creatures heart rather than the kinetic energy.[/action:3ceak01f]

[narration:3ceak01f]Fifteen.[/narration:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]Continuing the seamless pivot, Dante turned back towards the remaining ten Jekk, and was rewarded with a Jekk leaping through the air and tackling him to the ground. With a grunt, Dante inwardly scolded himself as his head slammed against the pavement, making his vision darken. With a hideous screech, the Jekk lurched forward to try and mangle his face with its jaws...only to have it blasted off of him by Dante firing his gauntlet into its chest point blank.[/action:3ceak01f]

[narration:3ceak01f]Sixteen.[/narration:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]Hurriedly rushing to his feet, Dante was still unbalanced as the remaining nine Jekk rushed him. Dante's right arm came up and over his head, slashing once again at a right to left diagonal, leaving a horrendous gaping hole through a Jekk's ribcage. Off balance, Dante didn't even try and save his footing - bending his right elbow outward, and careful to keep his blade flat against himself, Dante rolled forward, using his right arm as a guide. Rolling to his feet and simultaneously standing, Dante used his momentum to slam his right elbow into the face of a Jekk, sending it to the ground with his combined cybernetic strength and momentum. Pausing, Dante calmly shot its head off, while slamming sword into a charging Jekks chest, severing its spine.[/action:3ceak01f]

[narration:3ceak01f]Nineteen.[/narration:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]The next Jekk was more careful, it kept it's distance and slashed with its claws; in return, Dante parried its first slash, and then riposted with deft twist of his blade, bisecting its second slashing arm. Through the opening in its meager defense, Dante spun, slashed, and then continued onward, leaving its bisected body writhing on the ground.[/action:3ceak01f]

[narration:3ceak01f]Twenty.[/narration:3ceak01f]

[action:3ceak01f]Five left. Easy pickings. Running forward, Dante snapped his arm forward, throwing the blade and embedding itself in the chest of the first Jekk. Continuing his run, he slammed his body into it, while simultaneously gripping the hilt of the blade...in effect forcibly shoving the Jekk off the fiercely vibrating blade. Stepping over the first, Dante aimed a well placed kick into the seconds chest, sending it reeling backwards. By the time the creature had regained its balance, Dante had dropped and cut it's legs out from under it - a quick stab through it's head finished it off. The third and fourth Jekk simultaneously screeched and rushed forward. Jumping, Dante executed a flip and a twist, beheading the beasts as they ran past - now lifeless as they sank to the ground. With a roar, Dante recklessly charged into the last Jekk, sheathing his blade as he ran; grasping the creatures head, he wrenched it to the side, and with a sickening snap, broke its spine.[/action:3ceak01f]

[narration:3ceak01f]Twenty five killed; those killed in the explosion don't count. A fair tally...though not as satisfying as fighting an opponent with a blade. Looking back behind him, covered in gore from his gruesome work, Dante yelled out to the trio.[/narration:3ceak01f]

"LETS GO! BEFORE THEY CAN REGROUP!"

[narration:3ceak01f]The path in front of them was only made open so easily by two explosions...undoubtedly they would send more to head them off...it was only a matter of time. And Dante prayed that they would make it to a ship before the rest caught up...for all of their sakes.[/narration:3ceak01f]

The slash across the back of his left leg, only enough to draw blood rather than be truly debilitating, nevertheless pulled Wade out of his battle-frenzy and back to reality. He'd managed to keep the crew in sight, or at least glimpses of them through the horde of jekk, but even if he hadn't the knowledge that he had once again enjoyed the killing that much would have overshadowed any horror at losing sight of the crew. Not because of any taboo against it, he had killed many times with a clear conscience, but because the enjoyment of it came from the other side of him, the side locked up in a cage in his mind. If it was leaking through again, there was no telling how much strength remained in those walls.

Those thoughts were thoughts for another time however, as the jekk had taken no time to reflect and in the brief moment of Wade's distraction had begun to close in anew, one already drawing it's arm back for a swing that would likely take off his head. Before he could so much as move, the creature was doubled over on the end of Sky's hoverboard and being driven into the nearest wall with a sickening crack, likely it's spine, and Faith was next to him pulling him back to his feet. "This is not a time for napping, Wade." "You sure? I could have sworn it was exactly that time." His smile betrayed the joke as he stood and reconnected his staff at it's center, then twirled it into the face of an oncoming jekk while Faith opened fire with the slugthrower she reserved for drastic situations.

Looking around, Wade realized Sky and Faith weren't the only runners to have come to his aid. Only distinguishable from the jekk by the presence of clothing and weapons, the noghri he had spotted earlier and followed out of the bar, Keeruhk, was weaving through the jekk around them with no more concern than if he were strolling through a park, more at home with killing than even Wade was. Wade was a man who could cause death, but Keeruhk kept death in his pocket to be dealt out as he saw fit. Where Wade had danced through the jekk and remained untouched, Keeruhk turned them against themselves as often as he used his own fighting sickles, their claws and teeth becoming weapons to harm their fellows as he moved through the melee with practiced ease. It was no myth that noghri were the finest fighters in the galaxy.

Sky, on the other hand, had finally decided to take full advantage of his strength and after ripping the arm off the first jekk he had slammed into, began weaving through the flyers above the street, using the limb as a cudgel as often as he snapped necks and broke wings with his other hand, his slender frame presenting a decidedly odd contrast to the raw strength he displayed. And down below, Wade, Faith and Keeruhk kept making their way toward the crew, the odds shifting decidedly more in their favor with every step and felled jekk. The whole scene reminded Wade of the cthon nest they'd run into nearly ten years ago now.

As the Millenium Eagle came into view overhead and opened fire, the trio on the ground finally caught up to the rest of the crew, or got close enough that they could easily be seen through the jekk that remained between them. Determined to clear the rest of the way, Wade pushed forward, confident that Faith and Keeruhk could cover his back, and slammed his staff into the side of a jekk readying itself to pounce, sending it flying to the left and well clear of the blaster bolt that had been intended for it's head. The blaster bolt that was now headed directly for Wade's chest, a shot that not even his phenomenal reflexes could avoid. As the bolt drove home and time seemed to slow (doesn't it always?), a stunned expression crossed Wade's face and he toppled forward.

"WADE!!!!"

She had lost him once to a monster, and losing him again so soon was too much for her to handle. Pain and anguish, anger and fury, emotions she had long kept buried, all surged to the surface as the woman snapped, fueling a power she had never before had such vast access to as she lashed out at whatever was nearest. Her fist drove entirely through the chest of the unfortunate jekk, and she didn't stop there. With inhuman speed, she moved from monster to monster, entirely focused on ending the existence of those that had fractured hers. She was not untouchable however, and claws and teeth raked across her skin as she fought, skin that might as well have been made of stone for all the damage they did. In the space of mere seconds, a dozen more jekk lay dead and dismembered on the street and Faith had no intention of slowing until every last one of the creatures was dead.

Disengaging from the fight, Keeruhk stepped over to Wade's body and picked up the concussion stick, being one of only half a dozen people it wouldn't reject, and hurled it like a javelin toward Sky, who snatched it out of the air as he dropped his makeshift club and began causing damage in earnest. Then, turning to the crewmembers, some stunned by what had just happened while others still pushed forward, the noghri spoke in his gravelly tones. "Move faster." He knew that Faith and Sky couldn't hold them back forever, despite the choke point created by the street and the ship that rained it's crimson bolts into the surging mass. They had to keep moving.

Adhartim means human. That's interesting, he thought to himself. Daniel was already fascinated with the iron man, or whatever he was, it didn't matter what he was but rather who he was, one of the last of a endangered race. Daniel's sorrow for Sam's loss was only exceeded by his intrigue, Sam being one of the last of his race was interesting considering that the language that he had spoke wasn't even one that Daniel could recall in his studies, and the doctor could only speculate why that might be only coming up with the initial thoughts that either a narrow populace remained through selective breeding or Sam was very, very old. Questions began filling his head, all of which revolved around this race's culture, history, language, even their biology.

All of these questions were however placed aside when the mysterious employer came to check if he was ready to leave. And when Daniel answered he felt like this mysterious man had become annoyed by not only his response but his tone as well, the doctor, however, did not care. The past hour had been rough for him and no one but Sam had made it any easier, he'd been shot, threatened, bullied, and insulted and all seemingly for being out of place in this world...the "underworld," well he was starting to realize what was so under about it. The "guard" as he referred to himself turned on his heal and walked toward the door with Daniel in tow, and as Daniel was about to answer his questions the bone chilling squeals from just outside the bar could be heard and a chill ran down Daniel's back as his eyes widened and he looked around as he heard Sam yell another cluster of foreign words toward the captain Fel.

Snapping his head back toward his protector as he pressed the very blaster that he was threatened with earlier into the doctor's hand before heading to the window Daniel's heart started pounding, his eye's wide with fear he looked around hearing almost nothing but the chaos that was ensuing outside, even as direct instructions were given to him. His mind was racing once more but this time imagining what sorts of horrors could be lurking outside, the words of both Dante and Sam fell silent as the doctor was frozen solid with the fear of what might be happening outside. It wasn't until the large droid crashed through the wall that Daniel snapped out of his daze only to realize that he was now against the wall listening to what the captain was saying about halfway through what he was saying.

"Make every shot count" the captain said and Daniel nodded absently. Then he remembered, the blaster, which he still held lazily in the palm of his hand out in front of him. He looked down and took it with his right hand, adjusting it so that he had the pistol grip clinched tightly and his finger on the trigger, though he had no idea what he was doing or even how to use a gun since had never fired a blaster even for practice because he had no need. His only point of reference were the holovids, which he had only watched sparingly even in his youth. The mechanisms seemed simple enough, point and pull the trigger, how hard could it be? The unfortunate reality was on top of not ever having fired a blaster, he had also never even held one. Needless to say, it was intimidating for him to even have it in his possession.

And then off they were through the hole that the large droid had created in the wall, though Daniel would have much rather used the door any other time, now wasn't the time to be picky. However, as he stepped through he felt the push of small explosion from the grenade that the captain had fired at whatever was attacking the bar, and then shortly after he felt the pieces of said creatures landing in small pieces on him and bouncing off, making a rather grotesque sound as they splatted both on him and the ground. But that was nothing compared to the sight that he had saw next, pale creatures of unspeakable hideousness almost gliding across the ground toward the fighting crew mates, the madman, and a few other individuals that Daniel had not seen.

Daniel's intrigue by what the creatures were was drowned out by the horrifying sight of seeing them ripping people apart on the street and attacking others ferociously like feral beasts only capable of carnage in their uncontrolled rage. His initial thought was that they were Rakghouls, Daniel had done some studying on the Rakghouls that plagued Taris in the days of the old Republic, but these beasts seemed far more vicious than the underdwellers of Taris. And then he saw the most terrifying sight that he had ever seen in his life, the eyes of these creatures turning toward the captain, his employer, and worst of all, Daniel himself. His heart began pounding even faster, his eyes grew wider, his body turned cold, his lips trembled, and without another thought he began to run. Which turned out to be the right move because that was exactly what the captain and Dante had done just a moment before.

As they ran he could hear the growls and shrieks close behind him and he began to panic. He followed as close to the two experienced fighters as he could, turning corners quickly in an attempt to lose the creatures at his tail. He finally was able to accomplish both once the captain had slowed to let him catch up, and with a sigh of relief he heard the captain finishing his comm chatter. Six minutes? He thought, six minutes until what? They reach the ship? Six minutes was a long time to run from these things, it meant that they were at the very least a klick, as the ruffians say, away. There was no way that they would make it that long, and as he was about to say as much another horrifying sound interrupted him, the captain's exclamation, and that was an order that he had no problem complying with once he saw what the fuss was about. An untold number of these creatures waiting just in front of their next move, ready to strike them.

Daniel's mistake was thinking that they were only running from the creatures only to find that they were also running from an explosion that sent the doctor on a tumble which he landed quite a ways from where he had began falling. And he had lost his glasses. He looked up and around to see the blur of fiery creatures running toward them, he didn't know for sure if it was them or not, but he was certainly assuming as much since thus far they seemed to be a very hardy species.

Scrambling around on the ground frantically looking for his glasses Daniel heard behind him was blaster fire and some shouting along with the shrieks and growls of the monsters of nightmares. Finally his hand ran across them and for a brief moment he felt relief and almost joy, that was until he put them on and looked up. In front of him was yet another creature, this one was different than the others, and in Daniel's opinion more terrifying than the others. The hair on his neck stood on end as he was frozen yet again in fear. Face to face with the creature Daniel stared at it for only a second when it squealed in his face and he started to back away on his hands and knees. As it crawled after him close behind, he was able to shuffle to his feet and start to run.

It wasn't until he felt like he was a good distance away, if there was such a thing that he looked over his shoulder to see if it was giving chase. Much to his horror what he saw was nothing short of a nightmare as the creature sprouted canvas looking wings and began to fly straight toward him after lifting off. It was only in that moment that he realized that he had dropped the blaster somewhere along the way. "RUN!" He shouted as he ran toward the captain and the droid, "THEY FLY! RUN!!" And then he felt the wind on his back from the flapping of the wings behind him. "DON'T LE-WOAH-AHH!!" He screamed in terror as the felt his feet lift of the ground. He had to think quickly as this monster was taking off with him for its evening meal. He had exactly to the count of one to think of a solution, and that is exactly what he did. He didn't feel any pain or pressure on his body so that could only mean that the ghoul had hold of his pack. As Daniel reached about five feet in the air he immediately started to unclip his pack at the chest and then when he reached about eight feet of elevation he slipped his arms out of his shoulder straps and fell to the ground.

Trembling and frightened out of his mind he scurried over to the nearest wall and put his back against it. He had no idea what to do next, he was unarmed and certainly overpowered and most definitely out numbered. As he sat quivering in fear he heard the sound of running, similar to what an animal sound like, running directly toward him followed by the most chilling shriek yet. Without thinking he grabbed the nearest thing he could find, which happened to be the blaster that he had dropped earlier hold it out in front of him, not realizing that the creature had leaped toward him and fired two shots at the monstrous beast as id sailed threw the air at him. It landed dead just short of his thighs, on top of his legs. He was sat in disbelief for only a moment or two with the blaster held out still in the same position but shaking uncontrollably. He had to calm down slightly before kicking the abomination to the side.

Breathing heavily and terrified of what might happen next, the doctor scrambled as quickly as he could toward the captain and the droid. Still shaking he held onto the blaster for dear life not sure what to do next...

*Fel collapsed against Frend's lower leg, sputtering, coughing. It was more running than he had been forced to do since Ryloth, and though his convalescence had been short, somehow the pilot had forgotten about the burning nausea and the coppery taste. Ignoring the pain as best he could, Fel took stock of the situation, as he simultaneously checked the load in both charric pistols. They weren't going to make it. It was over five-hundred yards to the UA from here, through more corners and alleyways that meant a slower rate of travel, and ambushes by the Jekk at every turn. They had been lucky thus far, but luck would run out.

At that moment, hot casings rained down on the Captain as Frend opened up into a group of Jekk charging their position with chain-guns, shredding the monstrosities with a sickening series of thudding, tearing, crushing impacts. Seemed Dante was better with that blade than Fel woulda guessed, as the man moved with a grace he would have thought reserved for Pirate Bloodletters.

But there was no time to think about it. He was on his feet again, charging hard for the Doctor after what could only be described as a very close call. Pulling the frazzled scholar to his feet and dragging him to the relative safety of Frend, Fel then stepped out a few paces and stood ground beside the hulking droid, levelling and firing the big charric hand-blaster at anything that slithered, reducing flesh to tatters, splashing ichor against walls. He one-handed the cannon for a moment, firing repeatedly, and tapped the small ear-piece he was wearing, activating his comm. In the background, blaster-fire, the shreiking of hundreds of Jekk, and the rattatattatta of Frend's auto-cannon could easily be heard above the spacer's strained voice.*

:: Sit-Rep: Fel plus three, pinned down. Holding our own for the moment, but not for long. Can't climb the mountain, so the mountain's coming to us. ::

Friend -- watch the Doctor. Let's move -- on my six, five yards back, covering fire.

*Switching channels to his private band, shared only by Wrench, Fel continued firing into the horde of Jekk, which, disturbingly, were getting closer, Frend's continual stream of fire now coming in shorter bursts, no doubt to avoid overheating the barrels. Dante, meanwhile, was cutting a swath through the Jekk, moving ahead at twice the speed of the controlled press Galdaart and Frend were sustaining. This meant that as he moved forward, the path he cut through the chaos was quickly filled in by others. Dante was cutting himself off. Galdaart tried to call out to him, over the din, but it was no use.*

:: Hey, 'Toolbelt' -- quick start, we're in trouble. come in hot, vape anything that isn't us. Home in on my signal. ::

*He left the channel open, and targeted another swarm of runners coming in from their right flank. His first shots took them at knee-level, cutting the Jekk down, but horrifyingly, not stopping them one bit. Every time he encountered them, Fel was more and more certain they were designed to instill fear. Fel adjusted his fire, and the next three rounds dropped the targets.

The sound of Frend's ordnance had changed, as the droid had altered his line of fire to assault airborne targets, which seemed more plentiful for the moment. Concentrating on what was approaching from the right side, Fel didn't notice as two flyers streaked in, past Frend's screen of fire, and didn't catch the sounds of their approach until it was too late. Attempting to grab him from behind, the spacer managed to turn in time that their claws merely raked deeply across his back, and he howled as he dropped from the lacerations, rolling with the momentum of the attack and firing at the creature that struck him, boring wet, fleshy holes through the beast that started at the base of the spine, and exited under the chin.

His back felt like it was in ribbons, being roasted on a spit. Scrabbling to his feet as two crawlers lunged at him, he kept moving, knowing that to fall or hesitate was to die the most painful of deaths.*

450 yards away...

Wrench activated, jolted awake by the comm chatter, and immediately wheeled as fast as he could for the cockpit of the Unfair Advantage, the power recharge coupling 'CLAK'ing against the bulkhead as he pulled away from the recharge port. He didn't reply, as that would have wasted the barest fraction of a second. He didn't pause when he noticed the cryo-pod containing Dazac's body was missing. Not a single bit of extraneous movement was wasted.

Powering up the ship, the little droid performed no pre-flight checks, did not even check to ensure the systems were all on-line before rocketing away from the platform. Three deck workers dove away from the old Corellian freighter, in fear for their lives as the heat from the main engines washed over them. Wrench wasted no time with repulsorlift generators, and pressed straight to full power with the main engine, landing struts sparking and scraping along the landing pad as the ship gained momentum. Fuel lines tore free, and as the Unfair Advantage gained altitude, the engine wash ignited the free-flowing fuel from the ruptured lines. There was a tremendous explosion, as most of landing pad 33 went up in flames.

Wrench wasn't a pilot by trade, usually thinking three-dimensionally, lacking the wild abandon and imagination that Fel could possess if the situation called for it. At this moment, however, with the lives of his friends at stake, R2-P47 was every bit the drop-ship pilot. The small droid, plugged into his astromech socket, shaved inches where there were no inches to spare, clipping buildings and towers, sending jolts of jarring kinetic force reverberating through the old airframe. It took less than two minutes flight time to cover the distance.

Wrench couldn't help but coo mournfully at the sight before him. There were hostile, evil forms everywhere, surrounding the Master's comm signal. Two other humanoids, and a droid which registered as Frend, were close by his Master. Wrench weighed the options six times, determining variables for an interminable period (for a droid) of 3.4 seconds. Once his decision was made, Wrench committed to it, and the scene was ripped apart by divine fire from above.

From a range of just under 100 feet, the UA's lower quad laser cannon didn't kill Jekk, it liquified them. The cannon kept up a steady stream of fire in a balletic halo pattern emanating outward from Frend and Galdaart, incinerating Jekk, ground, small structures, all in its path. To the untrained eye, it looked as if Jekk were blown apart from within, so fierce was the impact of the auto cannons.

Wrench moved steadily lower, dropping to within 30 feet of the deck and hovering, continuing to fire, even as Jekk Flyers turned their attention to the metal structure in their midst. Wrench ignored them for the moment, concentrating on the safety of his friends...

Heavily Modified YT-1300 Stocklight Freighter, The Millennium Eagle - Boarding Ramp to the Cockpit

As the Eagle drew closer, lower, Myranda had kept up with Frend as far as she was willing to go, but as he was programmed and hardwired to prioritize the safety of the Captain, Galdaart Fel, he was providing cover fire for him and their "clients". Soon, she was standing on her own as much as most of the others were. Though she seemed to be faring slightly better than some of them. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Myranda's will to survive this battle unscathed was quadrupled with the knowledge that she cannot risk harm to herself for the sake of her developing baby. And nothing that looked as ugly as the Mor Amarth were going to come anywhere near her!

Of course, no one told them that!

Myranda closes her eyes, an action which took her all but a split second, and she fell back into the welcoming embrace of the Force. Her greatest ally, and right now, it was her greatest weapon. When she reopened her eyes, the color of fire and gold in her irises lit up like a lighthouse flare, and the Ageless woman leapt, crossing her arms and spinning through the air. She flips her legs at the last instant and was kneeling on the back of a flying jekk. The creature screeched a high-pitched sound that would have hurt the Ageless' sensitive hearing, far more acute than a humans, were she not protecting herself with the Force to lessen the audible damage. She points her sabergun at the back of the creatures head. Having basically the same potency of a lightsaber blade, hence the weapon's name, Myranda only needed one shot to put a hole right through the creature's head.

She leaps off as it hurtled to the ground, dead, and switches the weapon mode to melee, and the sabergun becomes her lightsaber once more. She spiraled upwards, still possessing the momentum of her leap, right into a trio of flyers. Her golden-bronze colored blade cut through their bodies quickly, and repeatedly. Anticipating her move, NIM lowered the Boarding Ramp for Myranda as she hurtled right for the ship. She switches her weapon back into a gun once more and fired off a few more shots, trying to clear the space around Seros, Wade, and Karana as the battle slowly turned against them simply through the sheer numbers of these monsters. She catches the edge of the ramp and flips over to her feet. Firing a few more rounds, Myranda spots the volatile man who had come out to aid them in fighting the jekk, but he seemed to be somewhat disappointed and had taken to just sitting down and shooting. Sending to him and shouting at the same time, Myranda tries to get his attention.

"Get up here!"

Turning around, the woman made a dash for the Cockpit, noting that NIM was flying the ship and utilizing the weapons with the aid of Liya Tawaza's droid, Scrapheap. She wondered idly about how the droid earned such a name, before she noticed some rather glaring issues. "Nim, Scrap...what're you trying to do, overload the Eagle's mainframe and motivators??? You're running the weapons far too hot! Hand over the controls now, or you're going to melt our point-defense weaponry."

Taking a seat in the co-pilot's chair, Myranda rests her hands on the console and closes her eyes. She'd spent little enough time with Galdaart Fel, but in the few times that she'd watched him when he flew the Eagle, she realized something about him and some of his talents. Now she hoped to be able to replicate his skill with the ship that he once demonstrated. Whether he knew it or not about how he uses the Force whenever he flew, Myranda certainly knew enough of the Force itself to know that as much as it exists within the living, it is very much capable of affecting even the inanimate. Now she put her entire focus on the vessel, spreading out her feelings in the Force through the ship and through all things that lived. For some reason, she could not feel nor see the presence of the Jekk that moved on the ground, as if they were not there, despite the fact that they very much are. Like the Yuuzhan Vong. Could they be related to the Vong, somehow? She wondered.

As her consciousness seeped into every corner of the vessel, Myranda realized she would need the Eagle's external viewcam to see the walker jekk since she could not sense them in the Force. The ship's eyes became her own, and she suddenly thought she knew how NIM felt seeing everything through the ship. It was a difficult process, and something that consumed far more time that she would have liked. The Ageless woman dared not lower the ship too much as she did not want the ground moving jekk to be able to jump on board, the flyers were giving her enough trouble. Now that she had gained semi-sentience with the ship, she was aware of everything, and she could move just about anything in the ship. Centering the ventral gun turrets on the jekk, she cleared a circle around her crewmates, trying to make as much of a clearing as possible without hurting any of their own people. The Boarding Ramp she left open and had the hidden blaster cannon mounted on the starboard access hatch fire at any flying jekk that tried to get in.

She turns on the external speakers, :: Time to get out guys, get on board and we're clearing out of here. :: The autoblasters mounted at the front "pincers" of the freighter lit up on a flock of flyers, peppering their bodies with countless bolts.

[quote="Liya Tawaza":3nkx5cac][color=#FFBF00:3nkx5cac][i:3nkx5cac]*NIM's voice came over the comlink into Sam's helmet*[/i:3nkx5cac][/color:3nkx5cac] [color=#FF0000:3nkx5cac]::: Sir, the Millenium Eagle has arrived. How may we assist? :::[/color:3nkx5cac][/quote:3nkx5cac]
[b:3nkx5cac]{ Boarding Ramp to Cargo Hold, Heavily Modified YT-1300 Stocklight Freighter - The [color=#FFFF00:3nkx5cac][i:3nkx5cac]Millennium Eagle[/i:3nkx5cac][/color:3nkx5cac] }[/b:3nkx5cac]

[comlink:3nkx5cac][color=#00FFFF:3nkx5cac]Nim???[/color:3nkx5cac][/comlink:3nkx5cac] [color=#FFBF00:3nkx5cac]Sam said incredulously. And when he looked up, there was the [i:3nkx5cac]Millennium Eagle[/i:3nkx5cac], never a sweeter sight than ever before for sore eyes...that is, for those who have any eyes left.[/color:3nkx5cac] [comlink:3nkx5cac][color=#00FFFF:3nkx5cac]Doesn't look like I'll need to tell you what to do.[/color:3nkx5cac][/comlink:3nkx5cac] [color=#FFBF00:3nkx5cac]He observed his lovemate leap through the air at impossible heights, obviously drawing on the Force, killing jekk along the way into the ship. The air and ground was so thick with the creatures by now, that it was impossible for even a stray shot to miss hitting one of them. Sam turned his focus momentarily back to the battle around him. Karana's blasters, both hers, and the one loaned by him, already had red-hot barrels glowing ominously as bolt after bolt came out of them, going into heads, torsos, arms and legs of countless jekk. Sam studied the young woman's face. It was a contortion of pain, fury, fear, anguish, hatred, and perhaps a multitude of other emotions. There was a great deal of history between Karana Malora and the jekk. And it would surely cloud her judgement about the right course of action to take.

Sam backhands one jekk, knocking it to the ground, his blaster cannon comes out and without even looking at it, fires a high-heat bolt into its head. His awareness was all around him. He can't sense the walkers, but he can hear them, and his battle experience gave him enough knowledge to anticipate. Another jekk, Sam aims hif left hand, palm facing forward. The repulsor cannon emits a click and a high-pitched whine that built up with intensity as the cannon charged for a concentrated blast of concussive energy, and then blam, the concussive beam punches a hole through the jekk, and into at least two more. All the while, he was making his way towards Karana. The jekk weren't trying to hurt her as much as the others. They seemed more interested in grabbing her. The young [i:3nkx5cac]Adhartim[/i:3nkx5cac] was a vortex of death, twirling, shooting in all directions, doing as deadly a dance with blasters as Wade did with melee weapons.

She turned, fired at two jekk, turned, fired at two more, her hands were pointing the weapons forward, to the side, to the back, up above, at her feet. She was covering as much of a three-hundred and sixty degree angle as she could...and she cannot hope to keep this up forever. Nobody could, no matter how impressive, how driven, how powerful a person is, this is not a force one could hope to overcome without an army of their own. As he neared Karana, Sam turned about and began to punch and just all-out brawler style knock jekk out of the way. It certainly wouldn't kill them, but they'll be knocked back for a little while, enough for the Ageless to add to the clearing that Myranda was making with the [i:3nkx5cac]Eagle[/i:3nkx5cac]'s turret fire. [i:3nkx5cac]The strength of the suit seems to be working out quite well.[/i:3nkx5cac] Sam thought grimly with approval. The amplified strength provided him by the suit's artificial muscles was an unexpected boon at this point in time. [i:3nkx5cac]They will be overwhelming us any second, time to pull everyone out.[/i:3nkx5cac] Sam blasts a flyer out of the sky with both hand cannons, then turns to Karana,[/color:3nkx5cac] [comlink:3nkx5cac][color=#00FFFF:3nkx5cac]The fun's over, Karana, we're getting out.[/color:3nkx5cac][/comlink:3nkx5cac]

[color=#FFBF00:3nkx5cac]Without waiting for her approval, Sam grabs up Karana in a protective hug and blasts out of the throng of jekk that tried to pin him down by jumping on him. The jet boots rocketed him and his unwilling passenger up into the air quite quickly. Karana protested all the way, trying to break free of Sam's firm grasp without dropping her blasters, screaming incoherrently why she should be left to kill them all, but Sam ignored it. He knew she would be angry with him, but hopefully later, she will understand why he had to pull her out or lose her. He shifted his head around and took one more look. To his dismay, he saw that Wade seemingly disappeared, from both sight, and sense. He also spotted the other [i:3nkx5cac]Adhartim[/i:3nkx5cac] Jedi. The man was injured and halfway delirious, turning around, Sam shifts Karana over to his left arm, holding her by the waist, and careful not to let her own feet get caught in the fire of his jet boots. As he rocketed towards the man, he picked up several tails.[/color:3nkx5cac]

[comlink:3nkx5cac][color=#00FFFF:3nkx5cac]Nim, launch flares.[/color:3nkx5cac][/comlink:3nkx5cac] [color=#FFBF00:3nkx5cac]A section of his right thigh opened up and round object emerged, several holes opened up and began rapidly firing flares into the air, catching several of the flyers in the faces and chest, slowing them down. When he was near enough to the [i:3nkx5cac]Adhartim[/i:3nkx5cac], Sam slows down his approach and envelopes the man in a protective aura of the Force and snags the man by the waist with his right arm. Now carrying two struggling individuals in either arm, firmly but not painfully holding on to them and ensuring they cannot either slip or fall out of his grasp, he turns about and jets for the [i:3nkx5cac]Eagle[/i:3nkx5cac]. It wasn't easy, as neither individual seemed too willing to be rescued and taken away from the battle. If Sam still possessed a body, he would have been shaking his head. The flyers that pursued him were picked off by the [i:3nkx5cac]Eagle[/i:3nkx5cac]'s point-defense blaster cannons mounted just above the boarding ramp.

When he was inside, Sam literally flew all the way into the Medical Bay. There was far too little time, and far more people to rescue before they even could think of lifting out for orbit, where hopefully, the jekk will not be able to continue pursuit. He puts them both on one of the beds and points at them,[/color:3nkx5cac] [comlink:3nkx5cac][color=#00FFFF:3nkx5cac]Stay here.[/color:3nkx5cac][/comlink:3nkx5cac] [color=#FFBF00:3nkx5cac]The adrenaline coursing through them is the main reason for their bloodthirsty desire to remain in combat, and he didn't want to risk them trying to get back out, but he was confident that the height the ship was at would be enough of a deterrent for them. He rushes back out, and then remembers Liya Tawaza. Searching quickly through the Force, he sees roughly, and guesses that the woman was riding a speeder of some sort. Turning about, he enters the Cargo Hold and has NIM begin lowering the entire floor. He patches in to Liya's comlink,[/color:3nkx5cac] [comlink:3nkx5cac][color=#00FFFF:3nkx5cac]Liya, Sam here. Can you see the Eagle? We're lowering the Cargo Hold flooring, you can bring the speeder right in. We'll cover your entry, just get in here![/color:3nkx5cac][/comlink:3nkx5cac]

[color=#FFBF00:3nkx5cac]Immediately, jekk began flying towards the new opening, and both he and Myranda (controlling the ventral gun turrets) began to blast at the creatures, keeping them from getting in.

As Sam dealt with the situation at his end, Frend continued to provide cover for Galdaart Fel, following the captain closely, crushing any jekk that got into melee range with his gigantic feet or fists, and shooting at those approaching from a distance with a dazzling array of weaponry that would make any general proud.[/color:3nkx5cac] [comlink:3nkx5cac][color=#FFFF00:3nkx5cac]Deploying defense protocol three-oh-eight.[/color:3nkx5cac][/comlink:3nkx5cac] [color=#FFBF00:3nkx5cac]Frend says, and tiny spider-like droids, no bigger than a clenched finger began to exit from an opening in Frend's back, about three dozen of them. They took to the air and began to attach themselves individually to various jekk, flying and on the ground. each of them emitted a red light and a soft beeping that began to increase in volume and speed the moment they attached themselves to their chosen targets, and then...[/color:3nkx5cac] [size=150:3nkx5cac][color=#FF8000:3nkx5cac]BOOOOOM![/color:3nkx5cac][/size:3nkx5cac]

[color=#FFBF00:3nkx5cac]Each of those spiderbombs had the equavalent magnitude of a mini-thermal detonator. Shop owners and housekeepers are going to be cleaning the walls off of jekk guts for months at least, assuming anyone will even bother. Frend turned his photoreceptor on Galdaart Fel, observing the man Sam hardwired Frend's programming into protecting. Running a quick bioscan, the droid noted that all of the man's vitals were elevated, as expected during high-stress events like this one. Despite this, the man was doing far better than most biological beings, he would even be able to keep up with Frend at full stride. The other person whom Frend noted was supposed to be a client of the captains, seemed to be even more accelerated and lethal with his sword. He was however, beyond the range of protection of the droid. Then came the one classified by his creator as Dr. Daniel Logan. He was handling the situation the poorest of them all. He also appeared to be somewhat slower, as such, the droid had to slow down as well so as to keep both humans in front of him and under his umbrella of protection.

Having depleted almost all of his projectile-based ammo, the droid switched back to lasers and began to exercise a twist-shoot-twist-shoot motion as he ran and fired back behind him, also occasionally shifting his aim upwards whenever flying jekk came into view, bringing down the foes, crashing, burning, and dead. Two jekk got too close to Galdaart as they reached with clawed hands for the captain.[/color:3nkx5cac] [color=#FF0000:3nkx5cac][b:3nkx5cac]WHUD! SQUELCH![/b:3nkx5cac][/color:3nkx5cac] [color=#FFBF00:3nkx5cac]Two jekk were now permanent decorations on the floor, their bodies flattened under fist and foot of the massive droid. As they drew nearer to the rendezvous point, Frend though it prudent to mention a useful bit of information to the captain, so even as they all ran, the droid leaned close to Galdaart,[/color:3nkx5cac] [comlink:3nkx5cac][color=#FFFF00:3nkx5cac]Frend can carry clients and captain and jump into ship with jets.[/color:3nkx5cac][/comlink:3nkx5cac]

[color=#FFBFFF:3nkx5cac]"EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"[/color:3nkx5cac] [color=#FFBF00:3nkx5cac]Aoife tore out of the sky followed closely by a flying jekk, jaws of death wide open to bring an end to the half-Fairyn princesses life in a single bite. Propelling herself with the Force to increase her speed, Aoife catches up to Frend and dives around his front, allowing the jekk to crash painfully into the back of at least two tons of solid metal. Frend spins around on his flexible waist and decides to splurge on a round with his shotgun at point-blank to the face of the jekk, spreading the insides of its head all around the floor and the walls of buildings. While he awaited Galdaart Fel's instructions, the droid took a moment to scan the other sentient who was supposed to be with them. He had run some distance, and would need cover fire if he decides to finally catch up with them. Dr. Daniel Logan most likely would require assistance in being brought aboard the [i:3nkx5cac]Unfair Advantage[/i:3nkx5cac] as he estimated the probability that they were all going to be jumping one way or another to get into the ship.

There was no time spared by the jekk and their relentless pursuit, so, adding to the potent firepower of the vessels above, Frend continued to pour into the creatures with his pulse lasers and blaster cannons. One arm was ever aimed upwards, and the other he kept trained on the ground, firing at enemies from above and below and all around. Aoife had to clamber up to the droids head to keep out of the way of the cannons.[/color:3nkx5cac]

[color=#00BF80:1cpn9vlm]The jekks numbers weren't thinning, and Seros was loosing blood and stamina. But he lost something much more significant in just a few seconds.[/color:1cpn9vlm] [quote="Galen":1cpn9vlm][color=#008000:1cpn9vlm]He gave the silent order for the Jekk to refocus their efforts. Capture Karana. Capture the man who moved amidst the Jekk as though he were dancing. Kill the rest.[/color:1cpn9vlm][/quote:1cpn9vlm]
[color=#00BF80:1cpn9vlm]Almost all at once, a stray bolt smacked Wade square in the torso, and jekk swarmed in to finish him.

Almost in perfect sync with Faith, Seros yelled out in horrified protest, pile-driving a fierce punch into an incoming crawler, ignoring both the extreme retorting pain from his gashed leg and the jekk coming up behind him.[/color:1cpn9vlm] "CONNORRS! NOO!"

[action:1cpn9vlm]Seros drew from what little mana he had left into a haphazard leap, torquing his body around to project a flying sidekick to the first jekk that carried Wade's right arm. The invisible blow landed onto the harpy's crown, knocking him dazed. Another incoming shot from Malora on the other end of the open plaza bulls-eyed another holding his opposite leg. But two more jekk quickly came in to replace the fallen, continuing their flight high and away.[/action:1cpn9vlm]

[color=#00BF80:1cpn9vlm]Seros landed and his knee crunched down onto another crawler's face, breaking its jaw as he rolled off.[/color:1cpn9vlm] "..Dammiiit!" [color=#00BF80:1cpn9vlm]With teeth grimaced, he was about to try something that he was almost certain would fail. Jump above the crawlers, and push the flyers and Wade down to the street before they cleared the edge. But before he could attempt, another flyer swooped down from behind him, hoisting him up and forward towards the nearest wall of an apartment complex. It bared its teeth to finish the helpings of a previous jekk on his neck, mid-flight, but Seros knew better.[/color:1cpn9vlm]

[action:1cpn9vlm]About twenty feet in the air, making way for the wall, Seros was a tinge bit glad he was off his injured leg. It also gave him the focus required to thrust his hand back to the jekk's head. The teeth met the flesh of his hand, but Seros' fingers lay clenched tightly over the jekk's eyes. Nearly at the wall, Seros aided a torque to the side with the Force, and rotated their flight axis, causing the jekk's wing to snap upon impact of the wall. The deafening shrill of the jekk pierced Seros' ears as they fell the fifteen feet downward. Seros made sure the jekk was below him as a cushion, but that didn't stop his elbow from wedging in between two of his ribs before rolling off.[/action:1cpn9vlm]

[color=#00BF80:1cpn9vlm]Trying desperately to stand up, he turned around to see more jekk closing in. For the first time in a while, Seros started losing his hope of survival. While Wade was carried off for whatever purpose, the look in these jekk eyes didn't say anything about him being preserved. And he was cornered. The first/closest crawler snarled before he lept forward, and its target was suddenly swept off my a shimmering, roaring red blur before its claws or teeth could meet it.

Whatever wind Seros had was hopelessly gone, especially since the metal arm the wrapped around his injured ribs. PAAAINN. Seros couldn't even hear his own grunt over the armored man's repulsor thrusters. All he saw was a mysterious glowing light in the middle of a crimson red plate..and the intense face of a young brunette woman, icey blue eyes on the other side. He also didn't know how or why the light of morning was quickly replaced by the darkness of enclosed bulkheads and durasteel hallways. His body was placed like a ragdoll onto...something malleable, and relatively...soft??[/color:1cpn9vlm]

[quote="Sergio 'Sam' Ghomesz":1cpn9vlm]:: [color=#00FFFF:1cpn9vlm]Stay here[/color:1cpn9vlm]. ::[/quote:1cpn9vlm]

[color=#00BF80:1cpn9vlm]The mechanized voice was brief yet strong. As the heavy clanks of its shods could be heard fading down the hallway, Seros lost all sense of displacement and reason by that point. Now in a place where blasters, shrills and shrieks, and the gnashing of teeth wasn't overtaking the atmosphere, the loss of blood and energy took its effecting toll.

...He was out.[/color:1cpn9vlm]

[color=#BF8040:2ap4wz9t][i:2ap4wz9t]Jekk e'erywhere. Ho-hum. Shoot them. Shoot. Shoot shoot shoot chute chutes & ladders man (that's a fun game) game of life game of death (that's a good action movie) action move action star (just like Mack!) stars stars filling the darkness scarce to be counted twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are wait just what the kriff is a star I mean I know it's a big ball of flaming gas but I wonder if there's [b:2ap4wz9t]more[/b:2ap4wz9t] to a star than just what it's made of made of now that's a question of composition versus essence as in what something is made of as opposed to what it [b:2ap4wz9t]is[/b:2ap4wz9t] at it's very essence like Mack for example is made of the same things as any other human but he is clearly a badass at his most essential state badass (like an action star!) choobies choobies choobies choobies oooooo [b:2ap4wz9t]Karana's choobies[/b:2ap4wz9t] heheheheheh now [b:2ap4wz9t]that[/b:2ap4wz9t] is one fine choobies that that girl is packing [b:2ap4wz9t]mm-hmm[/b:2ap4wz9t] - [/i:2ap4wz9t][/color:2ap4wz9t]

[quote="Myranda Ghomesz":2ap4wz9t][color=#FFFF80:2ap4wz9t]"Get up here!"[/color:2ap4wz9t][/quote:2ap4wz9t]

[color=#BF8040:2ap4wz9t][i:2ap4wz9t]Somebody was talking to him? Somebody from the sky?! Was it an alien?! WAS IT THE GODS?! - oh, wait, no, it was just a woman in the back of the freighter-ship that was busy processing creamed Jekk for the canning factory. (Canned Jekk could be quite delicious if you were, y'know, a Gammorean. Add a little rosemary, and who knows? A man can survive on canned food 'til Doomsday if he has enough rosemary; but canned Jekk...?) Well, they seemed like nice people, and they were rolling with Fel and (more importantly) Karana, so yeah, sure, why not jump aboard? How nice of her to offer, too! Young people had such nice manners these days!

Mack stood up awkwardly, working out the kinks in his joints and the cricks in his neck and spine. He tipped a nod to Darien, offhandedly frying three more Jekk with his left hand as he gestured with his right.[/i:2ap4wz9t][/color:2ap4wz9t]

"C'mon bud, we gon' hitch a ride."

[color=#BF8040:2ap4wz9t][i:2ap4wz9t]No doubt Darien was wondering what happened to their plan to join the other at their own ship, but Mack couldn't have cared less. Being with Karana was the priority. They could call home later and tell them what happened and where to meet up, if need be. And Ass-Face wouldn't mind, right? Right.[/i:2ap4wz9t][/color:2ap4wz9t]

"'ere we go. Stay close and follow my lead."

[color=#BF8040:2ap4wz9t][i:2ap4wz9t]Mack began to move. He was almost walking, strolling nonchalantly straight into the swarm of Jekk with Darien (and Darien's boomstick) covering his back. It look for all the world like the gunslinger was just walking and the Jekk were harmlessly swarming around him, except for the spray of red bolts flowing from the man's hands and leaving a trail of death all around him. Then he started to move a bit more quickly; now he was jogging, still shooting and reloading with movements smoother than a dirty Underworld pazaak dealer. Then he was running, still shooting and storming through. To Darien's supreme credit, somehow he kept pace with the gunslinger, using his fists and the butt of his gun when there weren't shells enough to share with the other children.

Well this is actually kinda fun, getting some running in, doing some cardio - that's good for you, right? - and killing Sithspit at the same time. Fun fun fun, but... still no badass, damn. No music = no badass. That was always the way it worked: when Mack heard music, it was time to nut up or shut up and get badass!

Now he was still running, getting closer to the ship - hey, where was Karana? He couldn't see her anywhere... mostly because of the swarm of ass-biters. That was weird. That could be trouble. No doubt he'd be able to see her if he got up on that freighter cargo ramp, like the lady offered - but how to do that...? Now that was a problem: how were the two of them, he and Darien, gonna get their asses skyward and get on board that thing? -

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RukUetw0hAM:2ap4wz9t]The music.[/url:2ap4wz9t]

Time for badassery. Forget planning and strategy, it was time to get awesome.[/color:2ap4wz9t][/i:2ap4wz9t] "Keep up Darry! 'ere we go!!"

[color=#BF8040:2ap4wz9t][i:2ap4wz9t]As the music started that spine-tingling intro, Mack took off running, sprinting across the remaining distance between himself and the hovering ship. Jekk were flying towards it; Jekk were running towards him; and all in all, it was very convenient. He reloaded once more, and sent a spray of protective fire ahead of him, hitting all but one crawler Jekk. The beast hissed at him, and Mack cackled. He was almost right on top of the Jekk before he finally fired twice, hitting the creature in its hip and shoulder. Disabled, the thing fell to one knee. Holstering his left blaster, Mack jumped as high and as hard as he could, landing on its back.

A flier Jekk buzzed past, chasing a man in armor. Pushing off and jumping again, Mack reached out and laid hold of the ass-biter's foot, hanging on for dear life as he was carried away. Sure enough, the Jekk carried him right at the flying ship. Things began to blow up behind and below him, and as somebody screamed [b:2ap4wz9t]"THUNDER!!"[/b:2ap4wz9t] Mack came flying right at the cargo bay. The Jekk snarled, finally deeming Mack to be more of an irritant than armor-man - toooooo late. Pyew pyew, a double-tap to the jaw, and Mack was free-falling, landing chest-first on the edge of the ramp just after Sam and Aoife. He came up laughing.[/i:2ap4wz9t][/color:2ap4wz9t]

"Ohohohoahaha kriff YESSS!!!"

[color=#BF8040:2ap4wz9t][i:2ap4wz9t]Darry had caught something of the same idea; he ended up catching a piggy-back ride on one of them in much the same way that Mack had, applying a wicked choke to his 'mount' and still blasting away, one-handed, with his boomstick.

Still cackling, Mack spun and dropped his pants, giving the Jekk a quick flash of his bare choobies. Covering himself, he drew his other blaster and resumed firing.[/color:2ap4wz9t][/i:2ap4wz9t] "Mack Revette: two!! Ass-biting nemoidian: Zero!! Suck on that, kriff!!" [color=#BF8040:2ap4wz9t][i:2ap4wz9t]He wouldn't be Mack if he didn't taunt appropriately. While Sam & Myranda ran the turrets, Mack and Darien poured their own brand of death from the loading ramp.[/color:2ap4wz9t][/i:2ap4wz9t]

Chaos, utter and total chaos. There were too many of the things, that much had quickly become apparent to Sky as he felled one after another after another with Wade's staff. A staff that he had never once seen fail yet somehow had begun softening it's blows, slowly but surely turning from a weapon that could shatter boulders with a tap to little more than a metal stick. It had killed countless hundreds of the creatures since the first attack, and it seemed that even it, with all it's mighty power, could not hold back the tide. They were going to lose and if they didn't find safety, that loss would cost them their lives.

A glance to the ground as he drove the staff into the back of a flyer, fracturing it's spine, revealed Faith in the heart of the melee, fingers enhanced by the force tearing through muscle and bone like so much cardboard while claws and teeth left little more than scratches on her skin, but those scratches were beginning to draw blood. Even the rage-fueled power that made her nigh-invincible was beginning to wane, but she wouldn't care until either every last one of the creatures was dead, or she was. Which left it to him to save her from her mindless quest for death.

Swooping in low, Sky struck out left right and front with the staff, draining the last of it's power then using his own considerable strength to clear a path to Faith. Coming in behind her, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close before soaring back into the air, his hoverboard carrying the weight of the pair as easily as it had on the trip here. For his trouble, he received an elbow to the temple and a dislocated shoulder as she did her utmost to break free of his hold. The pain was immense, no one he'd ever fought before had been strong enough to dislocate any of his bones, but he refused to let Faith go and grabbed onto his belt, all but locking her in place unless she managed to tear the arm clean off.

"Ruhk!" The Noghri was in the midst of five Je... fou... thr... The Noghri was sprinting for the next cluster of Jekk when Sky called out and he spun, catching the lip of the board in one clawed hand and applying an iron grip as Sky pulled up and toward the only safe haven anywhere near the street, the descending cargo bay of the Millenium Eagle. Sky didn't stop once they were inside though, spinning the hoverboard as Keeruhk dropped off and moving into the ship itself until he reached the common area, well away from any exit point Faith could use in a suicide run. Dropping off the board and letting it clatter to the deck, he released his grip on both the staff and his belt and the staff fell next to the board as Faith wrapped her arms around her knees, curling up into a bloodstained ball of anguish as tears mixed with the blood on her face. Placing himself between Faith and the route to the boarding ramp, Sky clutched his dislocated arm and leaned heavily on the bulkhead, thoughts so jumbled by everything that had happened that he didn't even notice Keeruhk had come in until the surge of pain from his shoulder pulled him back to reality as the noghri relocated it.

The Noghri, however, was not ready to sit and count the losses, not until he was sure all possible losses had been minimized. To that end, he left the common area and followed his nose to the med bay, where two of the combatants had been placed upon being flown in by the metal man. The injuries of the male, who his nose told him was not entirely human unlike the female, had not been overlooked by the Noghri's quick eyes as he was carried from danger, and he was in greater need of care than the female, so that was where he started. His knowledge of anatomy was vastly more suited to causing harm than repairing it, but he had performed the duties of field medic more than once and after locating a basic medkit, he began applying bacta patches to the wounds, neglecting to use any sedatives on the already unconscious man.

*Hewn limbs and rent bodies choked the street as testament to the ferocity of Dante's fierce blade, blood and ichor staining its length from tip to guard. Yet still they came. The vengeful treaded on the fallen with unerring abandon, driven to satiate their need for blood, and fueled by a reckless hate that forsook all reason. Equal to their fury was Dante's own wrath, fueling the strikes of his blade, and giving voice to the battle hymns on his lips; for each Jekk that approached, flashing blade and biting steel greeted it with gleeful abandon. It had been perhaps several minutes ago that Dante had realized that his rally call had fallen on deaf ears - effectively cutting him off from the others. In the moment that he had charged forward, he had condemned himself to fight alone and surrounded by hundreds of Jekk.

But he had ceased to care.

It seemed trivial now; how long ago had that been? A minute? An hour? A year? Time had slowed to a crawl as Dante fell into the heat of the battle, his arms moving in a graceful ballet of death and carnage, his feet and limbs striking and moving with form and finesse that he had mastered since he was a boy of twelve. As Jekk upon Jekk came, strike upon strike fell, and the bodies of his foes continued to pile. That was not to say that the Jekk were unworthy opponents however. Already a large bull of a creature had clamped down on his left arm, nearly ripping it off, and numerous other scratches adorned his body in a gruesome pattern. Blood stained his clothes from collar to boot, most of it Jekk, though a goodly portion Dante's as well. The bleeding was controlled though; he had tried in vain to bring the force to bear on his enemy, to no avail. Abandoning the endeavor, he had focussed on using the force to bolster his own physical abilities, drawing on it heavily to give him strength and to heal his wounds. His reserves were beginning to strain though - Dante's strength was engaging a single enemy, and then wearing them down through endurance, finesse, and form. Against so many though├óÔé¼┬ªhow long could he hope to last?*

*Daniel and Fel were gathering close to the security droid├óÔé¼┬ªperhaps a last stand?

A screaming Jekk leapt to the top of the corpse pile Dante stood upon, and Dante silenced it with a slash across it's throat. Between Dante and the trio was a seething mass of Jekk. With a grim smirk at the amassed foes, Dante flourished his blade in a salute. He had few reserves left├óÔé¼┬ªbarely enough force power to mount a proper attack. Instead, Dante used it to augment his voice, sending it roiling unnaturally loud across the masses, heard even above their combined shrieking.*

"By flashing blade and biting steel,
I swear this day to see you kneel,
so weep you mothers and wives of men,
as strong are punished for their lives of sin!"

*Sword raised up to chest level, blade held horizontally before him, pommel braced against the palm of his other hand. He had no force left, no tricks left...*

"Now for Honor."

*A LEAP off of the pile, easily clearing six Jekk.*

"Now for Death."

*A LURCH forward; cybernetic muscles strained, the strength of three men drove the nobleman's legs like pistons - churning great clods of dirt and stone into the faces of the Jekk behind him.*

"Now for the glorious dead!"

*Mania. Battle rage. Berserk. In full charge, Dante slammed into the sea of Jekk and tore through their ranks like so much tissue paper, cybernetic strength and battle madness giving Dante the all out adrenaline dump to simply wade through his enemies; form and finesse was abandoned, the elegant rapier relegated to the use of hacking and chopping rather than thrusting and parrying. The free fist, when free, punching with such strength as to actually embed itself in his foes chest; his feet collapsing ribcages. Claws raked at his person - he hacked their heads off. Jaws reared back to bite - Dante's own snapped forward to rip their throats out.

Fierce, primordial; he fought with all the strength and power he possessed...but regardless, he would only make it two thirds of the way. Cover fire from Frend would need to be soon coming - or perhaps Dante would perish in his final hour.*

[narration:3l7fq9iy]Fel didn't answer my question. That was ominous. I stomped on the accelerator.[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

[narration:3l7fq9iy]Rounding one last corner, I came into sight of the instantly recognized docking bay where Fel had left the Unfair Advantage. I slammed my foot down on the brake pedal, and drew myself together to leap from the speeder. And then I stopped. There was a rumbling sound of engines from within the docking bay, and then twenty meters of the wall to my left imploded, and the UA burst up and away, engines roaring at full power. A shockwave rolled over the enclosed canopy of my stolen speeder, shattering one of the flashing blue lights above my head, and then, all around me, pieces of hose, brick, mortar, and the blue cylinder heads of CSF police droids (the droids I'd requested as backup, no less) rained down from above. A quick glance through the gaping hole in the wall confirmed my suspicions. There was nothing left to see except a glowing orange plume of fire, and sickly black oil smoke. [color=#FF80FF:3l7fq9iy]Kark it all.[/color:3l7fq9iy] I guessed there was no further need of the police, then. With a frustrated slap, I silenced the CSF comlink.[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

[narration:3l7fq9iy]Easing the controls forward once again, I shot down the alleyway towards the very audible but as-yet unseen melee, buzzing around corners and up and down short ramps as I twisted and turned through the last few hundred yards. Above and ahead, I could see that the UA had come to a halt and opened up an impressive array of weaponry on the vile aliens. There wasn't time to steal a glance at Scrappy's data feed, but my ears told me that the Millennium Eagle was doing the very same, somewhere nearby. And then I saw it, floating like a protective mother avian above the carnage. I was just in time to see Sam propel himself in through the cargo hold, with Karana and a second, blood-covered humanoid (Wade? Probably so, but it was hard to tell) in his arms.[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

[narration:3l7fq9iy]Then, suddenly, I was in the thick of the battle. At least a dozen of the creatures turned, growling and gnashing their teeth, to face me as I whipped toward them at something above the 150 klicks-per-hour limit of the speedometer. There was a grisly [b:3l7fq9iy]WHAP[/b:3l7fq9iy], and three or four of the middle aliens were literally severed in half at the torso by the front fenders of the speeder, while a number of the others were picked up and thrown to either side. They crashed up against the walls of the alley, hard enough to liquify their soft tissues and crush their bones to powder. Still others were scalded by the burning wash from the speeder's over-performing engines. You'd think that such a spectacle would have caused their fellows to take a more cautious approach, but such was not the case, as bloody impact followed bloody impact.[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

[quote="Sergio 'Sam' Ghomesz":3l7fq9iy][comlink:3l7fq9iy][color=#00FFFF:3l7fq9iy]Liya, Sam here. Can you see the Eagle? We're lowering the Cargo Hold flooring, you can bring the speeder right in. We'll cover your entry, just get in here![/color:3l7fq9iy][/comlink:3l7fq9iy][/quote:3l7fq9iy]
[color=#FF80FF:3l7fq9iy]::: Almost there :::[/color:3l7fq9iy] [narration:3l7fq9iy]I gasped out.[/narration:3l7fq9iy] [color=#FF80FF:3l7fq9iy]::: Look for a blue police speeder breaking every traffic law in the galaxy, ... and that'll be me! :::[/color:3l7fq9iy]

[narration:3l7fq9iy]Just a few seconds more seconds, and I would be on top of the Eagle --- if I could avoid being blow apart by withering fire being laid down all around me. A flying version of the attacking horde flew straight for my face, and I ducked slightly as it slammed into my canopy, every muscle and vein on it's nearly-naked skin standing out in bold relief for a split second before it ricocheted away. There was a crinkling noise like a ration bar being opened, and a web of fractures spread through the transparisteel that surrounded me. There was a rush of air as the cockpit's integrity failed. The beasts came so thick and so fast that it was all I could do just to see where I was going and avoid hitting anything immobile. I had to get above the crowd.[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

[narration:3l7fq9iy]After a long moment, I became aware of a steady, warning beeping noise that had been sounding in my ears. A glance down at the speeder's display showed two red warning lights: One for a canopy failure, and the other for the engines overheating. Great, just great. I was either going to die in a massive engine fire, or I was going to be sucked out of my cockpit into the middle of the mayhem. Unless I did something fast, the only question was which it would be.[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

[narration:3l7fq9iy]But I was almost there. Climbing further above the pavement and above the level of the ground-based attackers, I eased back on the accelerator as I closed within the last hundred yards of the Millennium Eagle. Safety was within sight. My heart lept at the thought of being back with my crew, back where I belonged. But now that I was above the ground carnage, I had a new problem. All around me, bright bursts from the freighters' quad turrets were flashing past like a nice artistic light show, only with deadly consequences for anything they touched. Up ahead of me was a thin duracrete bridge that ran across the alley, and just as I ducked down and eased the speeder beneath it, it was lit up with blue-green energy, then vaporized into dust. There was an ominous clunk as a chunk of debris crashed right through the left airfoil of the speeder, and it suddenly bucked beneath me like a wild stallion.[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

[color=#FF80FF:3l7fq9iy]"Fierfek!"[/color:3l7fq9iy] [narration:3l7fq9iy]I shot straight upward, fighting for control of the speeder. Fortunately, I was in a main air passage, and there was no roof overhead to intervene and crush me flat. Five levels up, and a good hundred meters directly above the Eagle, I finally regained control. For a moment, I leveled out, braking to hover in place, and then, with a bang, the engines quit. There was a sucking sound as the speeder slowly dropped into a free-fall. The sudden rush of air swept the canopy open, then tore it away, and the wind hit my face like an invisible wall.[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

[narration:3l7fq9iy]I screamed hoarsely into my comlink, praying Sam could hear me over the wind noise.[/narration:3l7fq9iy] [color=#FF80FF:3l7fq9iy]::: Incoming :::[/color:3l7fq9iy] [narration:3l7fq9iy]Then I rolled over onto my belly, easing myself over the lip of the cockpit, bit by bit, all the way to the edge. I was falling at a pretty good clip now. I couldn't have that. Watching the fast-approaching boarding ramp, I tensed. I was going to get exactly one try at this. Viciously, I aimed a kick at the steering column, and the speeder's nose came up, transforming it momentarily from a speeding bullet to a wide, flat, surface. The sudden air resistance caused the speeder to bounce violently, nearly stopping for an instant and throwing me clear before resuming its fatal dive.[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

[narration:3l7fq9iy]The last four meters were gone before I had any real time to react, and the extended cargo ramp swept up toward me. I reached out with both arms --- and felt my left hand catch nothing but air and grease. A hundredth of a second later, my right hand caught the very end of the ramp, closing in a death lock around the edge. The sudden stop ripped through my right shoulder, and there was an even more sudden release and an audible pop as my arm nearly came apart, the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints all dislocating simultaneously. High on adrenaline from my stare-down with death, I didn't feel a thing except numbness. Instinctively, I reached up with the other arm, slapping my left hand around on the first solid object I could find: Someone's ankle.[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

[narration:3l7fq9iy]And there I was, at last, with all sorts of gear and weapons hanging from my belt and my back. The blue police uniform would be a puzzling surprise to my crewmates, and my face was covered with cuts, bruises, grime, and dried blood, but there would be no mistaking my long brown hair, now hovering in a twisted, wind-swept cloud around my face. I looked up to see whose ankle I'd found, and was startled to find the face of a complete stranger --- a muscular young Lethagoe (Sky).[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

[narration:3l7fq9iy]As for the speeder? It corkscrewed the remaining thirty meters at an angle, it's police siren wailing uselessly all the way, and impacted with an ancient warehouse wall made of duracrete blocks. The entire hundred meter side wall of the elderly structure melted like so much glass, and collapsed. A hail of half-meter-long masonry chunks crushed dozens and dozens of jekk beneath them, punctuated by an ear-splitting explosion as the speeder's engines finished their dramatic and untimely failure.[/narration:3l7fq9iy]

After making sure that Faith wouldn't make a run for the nearest exit, he quickly to realized she was far too distraught now with the adrenaline gone to do much of anything, Sky had returned to the lowered cargo bay and begun searching for a sign, any sign, of Wade's body. He hadn't seen it get carried away, focused as he was on getting Faith and Keeruhk to safety, but he couldn't get so much as a glimpse of him beneath the surge of monsters. He hadn't seen the blow that had struck him, but Keeruhk had, and he hadn't stayed to defend him, which could only mean it had been a death blow.

He had turned to go back inside the ship, which had moved beyond the point where Wade had fallen and obscured the view with buildings, when something caught his foot and he spun to rip the jekk's arm off, only to find a woman clinging to both him and the edge of the ramp. Steadying himself with a grip on the hydraulics, Sky leaned down and grabbed the forearm attached to the hand that held his ankle and easily hauled the woman up to safety. "Welcome to... uh... wherever this is." There wasn't any reason to not try and make her feel welcome...

*I gasped as the sharp-nosed, hawkish stranger pulled me to safety, my right arm hanging at a funny angle.* "Thanks." *Grabbing my elbow tightly, I pulled the injured arm close against my body and fumbled for some way to support it. We weren't out of danger yet, so I needed to free up my left for fighting.* "The Millennium Eagle. That's where we are."

*I gazed down worriedly at the pandemonium in the street below us. Several more of the flyers swooped in for the kill, possibly sensing my injury, but were quickly gunned down by a twitchy, skinny young man with tousled blonde hair (Mack), whom I hadn't noticed until now. And there was a third stranger on the far side of the ramp, although I couldn't turn my head far enough to see him clearly without drawing a sudden, screaming pain from my shoulder.*

*Who were these people, and why were they on the Eagle? Were they someone that my friends already knew, or were they just passersby who had just happened to get caught up in the fighting? And where were Sam and Myranda and the rest of the crew? Inside, I hoped. I glanced down at the stolen police uniform I was wearing. A random underworlder was more than likely to decide it would be just as well to give a lone policewoman a helpful little push and see her consumed by the horde. Hopefully none of these three were so inclined. But just to make sure ... I turned to the man who had dragged me to safety.* "These people" *I nodded slightly, indicating the freighter behind us.* "Are friends of mine. Is ... is anyone else still down ... there?"

*It wouldn't be far now. Jace had already gotten past the two major obstacles that stood between himself and the Loronar. The difference in the sub-level and the gap between the nearest lift and the hanger bay. With those behind him, that left getting out of this building and hitting the streets. From there it was about a minute walk to the ship. And the Jekk. That was the biggest problem. But from what he had seen, those two were the only ones chasing him...*

*Jace's eyes shot open as the now all-to-familiar shriek echoed out across the cityscape. The cool sensation of the floor against his cheek was lost to him as he tried to correct his blurry vision. Before him the sight of the doorway slowly came into focus. As his senses came back to him, he realized he had just came out of being unconscious. For how long, he didn't know. Slowly, he moved his arms to his sides and pushed himself up. An intense dull pain in his head almost put him back onto the floor, but he managed to ignore it enough to continue. As he brought his legs underneath him, several sharp pains along his left leg and on his back brought his attention to what he assumed was puncture wounds from the glass door. He chanced a glance at his leg as he stood upright and noticed that not only was there glass in his leg, but blood slowly and continuously drizzling down his leg to a small puddle on the floor. Knowing that he wasn't out for long brought a small sense of relief...

Which was shattered when he heard another howl much closer than the last. He looked around the room to see his pistol sitting on the floor next to the destroyed the glass door. The few haggard steps it took to get over to the pistol made him realize that getting to ship quickly was going to be difficult. And the figure that cleared the gap of the ravine that he caught in his peripheral vision warned him of more obstacles. Reloading the weapon he limped over to the door, opening it hastily and heading down the stairs to the street level.

As he entered the lobby he looked up to the door to see one of the creatures plowing through it and charging straight for him, it's howl starting low and raising in pitch and volume. A round in the head and neck silenced it as it slid to a stop before Jace. He cautiously stepped over it and peaked out into the streets. Absolutely empty, not a single soul in sight. Everybody had caught word of what was happening and locked themselves into the safe confines of their homes. Seeing no immediate threats he struggled to move as fast as he could towards the hanger, the wounds in his leg getting worse as they shifted slightly with each step. A minute later, which seemed like ten to Jace, he was coming up to the entrance of the hanger. He heard the sound of claws on duracrete a second before five Jekk burst out of the entrance, rounding the corner to meet him. Two rounds in the first one sent it tumbling into the open street, flailing around as it struggled to get up. He dispatched one with a round in the head and another with three to the chest. The other two had already closed the distance, and he had to think quickly to slow them down. He put a round into each of their kneecaps, causing them to get tangle up in one another as they went down. He put six rounds into the pile and ceased their actions to untangle themselves. As he walked into the hanger, he put his last round into the back of the head of the first one which had struggled to get back onto it's feet.*

*He was going to reload his Verpine pistol, but he realized that he had just used up the last of his ammunition. This day was just getting worse and worse. And to top it all off, he could hear something scurrying around in the hanger. From the sounds of it, there was only one left. And it was waiting for him.*

*Securing his empty pistol in his thigh holster, he grabbed a nearby pipe to hold himself up while he pulled the hidden throwing knife from his right boot. If there was a single chance in hell of making it to the ship, he was going to take it. He carefully stepped into the hanger, it's dull lights illuminating the top of the Loronar and casting a large shadow underneath it. Jace kept an eye on the shadows as he slowly limped towards the transport. He grinned slightly as he thought of the situation. The wounded prey walking into the final trap of the hungry predator that waited nearby. He twirled the knife slowly in his hand, stopping midway as a challenge to the predator. If this thing wanted him, it would have to come out and earn it's meal.

And it did just that. The first thing Jace saw was it's eyes in the shadows, followed by it's ugly face and glistening teeth as it stepped forth. And without a moments hesitation it broke out into a full sprint, letting loose a roar that signified it was going to be eating tonight. Jace took a cleansing breath before he put the force of his whole body behind the throw, sending the knife towards the Jekk. In a single instant the creature dropped to the ground, blood oozing down the blade from it's eye socket. He walked over and plucked the blade from his foe, continuing to the ship with a trail of blood following him all the way.

He managed to get to the second floor without incident, but his wounds were starting to take their toll. He had sustained a mild concussion from the impact with the deck, and the glass was causing his wounds to bleed out a little faster. His vision was getting blurry again, and his head started to pound. The blood had now soaked his pant leg and the bottom of his boot. As he stumbled down the hallway towards the common room, he slipped on the blood and tumbled into the closed door of one of the rooms. He tried to stop himself, but at this point he was too drained of energy to do so. He landed on his bad leg, forcing the broken shards of glass even further into his leg. He gasped in pain, holding back the urge to vomit all over the floor. Jace tried to swear, but even that was nothing but a hoarse whisper. Biting his lip and forcing himself to his feet, he pushed onward to the cockpit, leaving the bloody door and the pool that had collected on the ground behind.

Finally, the cockpit. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he dropped into the seat, powering up the ship. Jace was sure he had done most of the pre-flight checks, but the blinding pain and concussion was starting to get to his thought process. Gritting his teeth, he kept his eyes glued to the sensors and the viewport as he took off and headed towards the fray. It took all of his concentration to find out where the fighting was, but he quickly saw it once he had rounded a corner. The ground seemed to be covered in a writhing mass, all flowing towards two ships that hovered above them, raining death upon the waves. Without a gunner or enough energy to move, Jace made a good decision and brought the ship to hover about one hundred meters above the fighting. He switched it into auto-pilot and let it hover while he waited for his friends.

Which gave him time to figure out what to do about his own problem. Reaching over, he used the already torn holes to tear open his pant leg to examine the wound. Several large shards stuck out along the side of his leg, all covered in blood. But the largest one that sat in the middle of them all was the one causing the slow but steady blood loss. Taking that one out would most likely not only cause more damage but provide an easier path for the blood to flow out. Taking a long strip of the torn clothing, he wrapped it up into a roll and stuck it in his mouth. Biting down upon it, he reached over to one of the shards and gripped it lightly. Closing his eyes he reminded himself to take a few calming breaths before going through with it. Gripping both the glass with his hand and the cloth with his teeth he tore the glass from his leg, letting out a loud grunt through the pain. His breathing quickened and his vision was blurry from the pain, tears of pain, and the mild concussion, but he wasn't going to slow down. He moved onto the next one, and the next, tearing them out and letting them fall into the pool of blood and glass that was collecting on the floor...*