Thu Jun 07, 2012 10:01 pm by Dante the Deceiver
[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]