| abstract | - Tanis shields himself as the first grenade goes off. And then the second, courtesy of Cantrell's grenade launcher. Man, he has to get his hands on one of those... in the mean time, however, he has a job to finish. Barely noticing Jarek's arrival, Tanis offers the captain a swift salute and is off, following Malign's orders and proceeding up ahead. This was just getting more and more fun. "Push ahead!" he shouts to his stormtrooper comrades, firing a few blaster bolts at some of the nearby mutants that survived the explosions and Malign's use of the buildings. They are going to make it... The lack of respect shown to Jarek by his squad is overlooked, for the time being, hand slipping to his side to withdraw the riot gun that had done more than enough to protect him and his squad many times before. Hands molding perfectly around custom grips, the rifle rips to life - blue energy spitting forth and illuminating its path before slamming into mutants and various other objects alike, dissipating into flesh and pushing it to the ground with unseen force. "Nothing we can't handle." he grins, never letting up on the trigger as the gun continues to unleash stun bolts upon anything that might advancet towards the group. Now this is how you do crowd control in the Empire. Cantrell watches the dust settle after the explosion, seeing countless mutants crushed underneath the rubble, their legs and arms sticking out of it in various places. With a nod of satisfaction, he slings his ZCF back and unslings his ST-II, switching the firing option to 'Full-Auto'. Now the fun begins. "Evening, Captain." Cantrell offers Jarek a nod, gesturing ahead. "There's plenty to pick from, sir. Let's dig in." With that, he marches slowly, the auto-fire from the ST-II kicking the trooper back a bit, making him earn his right to stand up. One loose mutant does get close to the Master Sergeant, cutting a deep scratch on the chestplate. "Nice try, buddy." Cantrell growls, thrusting the butt of his rifle into the face of the mutant, sending him down. Reaching for his vibroknife, he kneels and plunges the knife into the throat of the mutant, a sick gurgle sound it's defeat. As Siva raises the rifle and takes aim, he looks over at Jarek and gives him a respectful nod. Of course he would've saluted the man if he'd not been holding a rifle. Siva squeezed the trigger once, twice. Picking his shots carefully was the name of the game here. He stood next to Tyy'sun and tried to keep as many of the ugly things as far away as he could for now. Although it was difficult to aim the rifle and shoot, he did his best. Siva wasn't totally made for combat. Not combat of this sense anyways. "We almost there?", he shouted to no-one in particular as a mutant got too close. Siva raised the rifle and squeezed the trigger. An issue of red light hit the creature point blank in the left eye socket and removed half of it's grey, rotten head. The report on Eson's AA-shotgun is noisy, but the screams of its mutant victims are worse, the Twi'lek right in with the group, pressing forward to the front lines now that a Maffi Lieutenant has fallen to the teeth and nails of the clamouring enemy, drug away into the darkness to be consumed. Siva at his side and joining in with Tyler, Cantrell, Tanis and Jarek the crimson Twi'lek's teeth grit as he reloads the weapon in his hand durring a brief repreiv. "We are there when we are there, Soldier." answers Tyy'sun to the querry of Siva. Up comes the loaded AA, and down goes another mutant, its leg coming free of its body as it twirls away into the night. "Damion!" he calls. "We are at the threshhold of depth that marks the point where the New Republic soliders and guards dare not continue to secure the foundation of their base!" he raises his voice to be heard over the screams and blasts, "Ahead is a 90' tunnel which will take us well below their scanners and recorders. Be sure to prepare your men for a drop - I have brought syntherrope and floodlamps in the event your team has not!" The fight was going well, and the smell of battle was bringing a very dark grin to Malign's face a beast within his depths that hadn't been released in a very long time. Tyler's hazel eyes flash with a somewhat insane glee as he raises his shimmering white blade toward several mutants, the rear had been fairly well suppressed by him and the creatures once stalking the rear were now cowering before the Sith Lord but he gave them no quarter bringing his weapon down and sending the remaining survivors from behind fleeing. The front of the formation was a different story as mutants were still pressing it with much of their might. The Corellian turns toward his men after Tyy'sun speaks, "Prepare grappling hooks and rope for descent!" The Sith shouts turning now toward the direction that the Maffi leader wishes them to go, "Check your packs for the explosives and get ready!" His weapon rises once again and charges into a new fray bringing his weapon down upon another mutant, cleaving it in half. His free hand raises toward another and a sickening crunch could be heard from its throat and it falls over silently, "Captain, lead the push toward the tunnel!" Tyler's voice was stern in issuing the order as he slips to stand by Tyy'sun and help him cover himself from the moderately weakening onslaught. Looks like they were nearing the end of their little trip, Tanis muses, as he overhears that one Twi'lek speaking to Tyler over the sound of gunfire. He wasn't expecting having to drop down a tunnel, though, rope or not. Well, it's all in a day's work for an Imperial stormtrooper. He's done it plenty of times before. "Nice shooting there, Master Sarge," Tanis says, running alongside Cantrell as they proceed towards their objective. "Looks like you might be as good as they say you are." Tanis slows down to allow Captain Syris to take the lead, deciding not to get in the way of the officer's glory. He has all but stopped firing on the mutants now; they were beaten, and he knew it. All that was left now was to continue onward and get this job finished with. "I wouldn't want to disappoint, Sergeant." Cantrell reloads a new ammo pack into his ST-II while following Tanis' pace. "This is nothing." His voice goes flat, the helmet almost frowning at the statement. "I had worse on Coruscant before. But it looks like we're about to make a jump." "Alright you heard the boss...move move move!" Cantrell pauses, pushing everyone forward while keeping the rear secure, giving any mutant still foolish to advance a lethal dosage of blaster bolts. "M'lord...we must move on." Cantrell glances up towards Tyler, who is having a little bit too fun. "We have bigger fish to fry now." After a few moments, Siva finally gets the hang of the rifle. He tries to stay out of the rest of the soldiers' way as he gets himself ready for descent as he aims and squeezes off a few more rounds, unsure of whether or not he's actually hitting anything. He hooks the line to his belt and with a few more shots, the mutants were even turning back. He figured the others had driven them back, though. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and started over the edge. The tunnel is a gaping hole of darkness before the team, its depths untold. Several Maffi toss floodlight sticks down the cavernous well. It looks smooth on the sides, though there are jutting rings of piping surrounding the parimeter every 20ft or so providing just enough room for a foothold should it be needed. The floodlight stiks melt down into the darkness until at last they hit the bottom and provide but a small focal point below. It would be a long way down indeed, easily 150 ft. Eson fingers each flank of the tunnel hole, sending each Twi'lek team to secure the cover of the Imperials as they prepare for the drop. Eson looks with seriousness to Tyler, "I lost a team down below to the mutants, Mr. Damion. In our recon work this week in preparation. The amount of mutants at that depths are so overwhelming, that if we fail to divert their course, we will be overrun within the hour by thousands. " He raises his AA and takes another shot as a mutant rounds a bend, before he looks back to the powerful Sith. "We have come prepared to do so, but I must ask your team to carry along the dead and wounded with us as we go, so that we have enough decoy material for the return trip, should I have miscalculated the worth of our initial plan." The Twi'lek teams kneel down in clusters on either side of the hole and open fire on incoming mutants as the Imperials move to begin their descent. Several of the Twi'leks begin to ready their own gear, these individuals lugging huge pack of equipment and rope on their backs, getting ready for the Maffi drop as well. Yet a few more of the Twi'leks begins dropping heavy lines down into the darkness, one of them hopping off the ledge and hitting the side of the tunnel8ft down and begining a steady decline. The Sith steps forward too look down into the deep tunnel, a cold wind brought a foreboding gesture to those who would dare descend into the caverns below. Tyler's hazel eyes glance back toward his men and he nods firmly, "Do as Mr. Eson says, we need to prepare for the worse." The Sith turns back noticing their path was well made and the original assault on them was well dissipated as the few surviving mutants fled back into the darkness to lick their wounds and to perhaps prepare for the next assault. Malign's weapon is deactivated and clipped to his belt, as he turns to glance down at the ropes grabbing hold and sliding down into the tunnel with Tyy'sun's men, time was running short and they would need to prepare the complex preparations for the explosives and set the timers soon, before there was another mutant attack. Tanis drops to a knee as he arrives at the tunnel, turning back to face the still ever persistent mutants. There were a lot less now, but for whatever reason, their one track mind kept them charging at the Imperials. He switches his fire mode to full auto and starts laying down some covering fire as the team begins their descent. He would descend, eventually. He drops a few more mutants, and after a few seconds finally decides it's time to get going. He pulls his rifle's ammo pack out - now empty - replaces it with a new one and then tucks the rifle into his holster to his right hip. "Watch my back, Master Sergeant," he says, grinning behind his helmet as he begins preparing to descend. He tugs on to the rope, takes a deep breath and is off. Taking Tanis' spot, Cantrell kneels and keeps his rifle trained, allowing the rest of the group to descend downwards first. "I got your back, Sergeant. Even if you are a lying bastard." He adds with a bit of humor, squeezing the trigger, allowing a quick burst of fire. The mutants hold back from the Master Sergeant, knowing the one trooper covered in the remains of their kin is the one with the large 'boomstick'. "Let's pick up the pace..." Cantrell looks back down at the team heading down, waiting for the last to head down before making his turn down. < Once everyone has gotten into the descending tunnel and onto their lines, including the two small Twi'lek teams who were covering the initial drop, the gun shots hault and a dark silence crests the entire group, augmented only by the shuffling sounds of the large team footfalling a few feet at a time down the sides of the tunnel, the ringing in everyone's ears from the firefighting they are leaving behind, and the heartbeats in the chests of those who are not so comfortable with what is to be found far, far below. As the team descends, the low moan and creak can be hear all around them then, as millions of tons of infrastructure are supported by these tunnels and foundational structures at this depth. The entire civilized Coruscant world rests atop these levels like the boot of a king stands on the ground. Above a few frustrated hisses can be heard, and the silloetted shapes of mutants can be seen milling around the top of the tunnel. Below, something passes over the fallen floodlight sticks, and a shadow is cast through the length of the tunnel only to increase the gloom of the situation.... .. and then the scittering. It is in the background of the bed of strange sounds at first, but quickly comes to the foreground, and reveals itself plainly, as small holes in the sides of the walls of the 90 degree tunnel pour forth signs of movement, like a malases pushed through small holes.. almost at once, everyone is met with the tickling and forboding sensation of little legs, and met with the glowing, stalked beady eyes, and then the sharp and painful bites as hundreds of small spider like creatures respond to the disturbace of their tiny near invisible webs in the tunnel. Dinner has come home for the spiders. Perhpas toom uch dinner. Nightmare has come home for the Twi'leks and Imperials, as a few screams are issued in response. "Climb strong!" calls someone, who knows who it is.. but letting go of the rope to wipe away spiders from one's chest might just be suicide.. it is yet a long drop to the distant ground below. As though it couldnt get any worse, a low howling sound eminates from the levels below them, as something passes over the floodlamps once more. SOmething big is down there, and its growl sounds dragon like. Malign carries himself down the ropes carefully the darkness was all encompassing. He slowly moves and then the sensation of crawling starts and his danger sense begins to alert himself to a new problem, spiders, he hated them. Anger begins to well up in the Sith as he outstretches a hand and begins to concentrate, slowly a glowing orb of pure energy appears in his hand, "I hate spiders!" he growls as he becomes virtually blinded from his hatred and then hurls the energy down into the cavern incinerating much of the webbing directly below him. He continues climbing down with the creatures covering him. Another flex of his will sends several of them flying off his body and down the cavern, "Help our associates get these creatures off them!" he tells his soldiers, this trek was getting difficult and dangerous. Wincing he eases his grip and begins to slide down the cavern more rapidly to close in on the Twi'lek's below his grip suddenly tightens and slowing him down as his weapon once again springs to life and begins attacking the spiders crawling over Tyy'sun's men, burning them with the hot blade but with his excellent aim and handling he manages to keep from injuring them. Tanis curses as he looks down below him... spiders. Lots of them. Now he's very happy he's in his stormtrooper armor. He's more or less safe from them... "Spiders. Why'd it have to be spiders?" Tanis mutters to himself, wishing he could get down there faster. But he still had the Twi'lek and other troopers moving down below him, and as long as they are moving slow, so is he. "Just how is this?" He's taken by surprise, however, by the... energy ball that formed in Malign's hand, and vaporized a nice number of the spiders. Blinking, he's at a loss of words... "The hell was THAT?" Finally it's Cantrell's turn to start his descent down, grabbing hold of the rope and securing himself onto it. Taking a look down, he sighs, shaking his head. "Damn..." And jumps off, begining the slow descent downwards. A large number of small creatures appear in his infrared scopes. "Whoa...what th..." Cantrell looks around him, suddenly covered by a bunch of spiders. Hearing Tanis' words, he chuckles, grabbing one of the spiders by the limbs. "Eh it could be worse...it could be mynocks..." After hearing the roar, Cantrell looks down again, "I'm begining to dislike Coruscant." Cantrell let's another heavy sigh, looking at his ammo gauge while letting himself down. Spiders. You've GOT to be kidding me. Siva makes sure that the line is secured to his belt before he lets go of the line and roughly stands up against the steep wall he's rappelling down. He takes the blaster rifle and checks the automatic/semi-automatic switch. The switch clicks into place and Siva grabs the line with one hand while the other points the rifle down into the perfect darkness that surrounds them. Siva comes down a few steps before he feels a soft motion hit his face. Bristly legs, sticky spittle of.. he didn't want to know what. He swore horribly in Corellian and ripped the monstrosity away from his face and fired a stream of red light into the darkness below. He didn't think anyone was down there below him since he was close enough to the ground for the spiders to actually /jump/ at him. He looked up, seeing most of the party above him. Just how far down to the bottom was he? Ryloth was a world inhabited by spider like creatures. Beasts who devour Twi'leks as readily as anything. The genetic disposition of fear when confronted by trials such as the tunnel spiders is no less a reality for many of the Maffi soliders, who do not take the introduction of the biting, eye stalked and furry tarantula like creaters well! Many scream in protest, and one of them, young and undisciplined enough to remain focused on the climbing at hand, lets go to slap a spider away. Sure, the spider falls away, never to bit into the Twi'lek again - but so too does the Twi'lek fall away, his belt harness slipping off at the wierd angle. With a scream worthy of Wilhelm himself, the soldier dissapears down below, a sickening thud signalling the end of that lethal drop. To the dismay of Eson and the other Twi'leks, the snarling, heavy foot stamps of whatever is down there is heard clearly by all in the tunnel as the unknown beast devours the fallen Twi'lek whole, the sounds of the feast echoing upwards for all to hear. Tyler's aid to the Maffi is appreciated indeed! Sure there are more spiders, but the athletic manuevers of the Sith and his expert treatment of the spiders raise the moral of the Twi'leks, who hold strong to their descent and continue downward dispite the growing amount of welts and bites on their exposed flesh. Enclosed armor is just not something the Maffi has the training and budget to invest in. Armored combat is not the preferred style of an alien race who depends on their dexterity and lithe body movements to survive and thrive on the field of war, should they be cornered. "HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Eson shouts to Siva, who could endanger the descent with random voleys of rifle fire. Tyy'sun stoically continues his descent as well, aiding Twi'leks when he can, but growing worse in condition as the spiders cover him, crawling on his head and lekku, and slipping into the folds of his cloak. His teeth grit and his knuckle show white through the crimson flesh of his hands as he goes, but there is not much that can be done but survive. The bottom lip of the tunel is now 50 yards below.. they would be reaching the bottom soon. Eson looks at Tyler and the Imperials, "Thank you.." he says in regards to their aid to the spider infested Maffi.. "I think there is something serious waiting for us to drop from this tunnel.." he says, stating the obvious. The comment is meant, however, as a suggestion that whatever strategy Tyler Damion, Cantrel, Tanis, Jarek and their worthy soldiers knew of to meeting such a situation that they prepare themselves and clue in Maffi. Simply dropping out of a tunnel and into the fang filled maw of a predator is hardly the optimal action. Climbing down a tunnel covered in spiders biting and distracting you, and to beat all a giant creature below ready to devour all that were coming down. Nothing like a day at the office of a Black Ops agent, Tyler grins and turns up to see the white armor of the Stormtroopers above, "Gentleman, give the beast below our warmest greetings." He gives a lopsided grin before raising his saber to clean some of the spiders off Siva. He understands Corellian cursing all too well and was known to use some of it himself. He ignores Tanis' shock from his display of his powers granted through practice of Sith arts. He simply continues to descend leaning forward with his weapon to try to illuminate what is below waiting for them but all he sees is darkness and spiders scurrying. What he wouldn't give for a flame thrower. "Drop some additional light into the hole gentleman!" he grunts as he again loosens his grip and begins sliding down the rope rapidly only to slow his descent again by gripping it, his black leather gloves showing the wear of these exercises and smoking ever so slightly. He was close enough now to drop to the ground, but was he going to risk it and face the beast below alone? Yes. He drops down into the darkness and raises his weapon in preparation for what is going to leap from the darkness for him. < Beast below? Oh, is that what that roar was before? -Wonderful-. Tanis smiles behind his white helmet and continues to drop down further into the tunnel. "Damn Twi'lek... should have just stayed home, they're not cut out for this job," he says as he watches the spiders crawl over the ugly aliens. He isn't sure what he hates more... spiders or Twi'lek. Tough decision. Right now, though, he has to work with them; the big challenge is just ahead. He takes his freshly charged rifle out of his holster and turns the safety off. Right after that, he lets go of his rope, drops down the rest of the way, and arrives just behind Tyler. Now where is that beast he has to take care of? Watching the Twi'lek plummet to his doom, Cantrell can't help but grimace at the thud. "That's one less soldier that'll help us, Sergeant." Cantrell throws a sharp glance towards Tanis, "Let's get with the program." Glancing down at the Warlord, Cantrell nods, unslinging his rifle from his shoulder and grasping it, sliding down the remainder of the rope with one hand. "Let's get some lunch...i'm starting to get hungry, m'lord." He chuckles, landing behind the Warlord and his comrade Tanis. Six legs make for an interesting sound when charging. Six legs weighing 50lbs each make for the sound of a freighter blasting off, as the image of a great horned beast, its height easliy 15 ft, and its bulk perhaps worth a ton, is seen clearly by Tanis, Cantrell and Tyler as they drop to the floor of the huge durasteel, rock and dirt cavern that is below the tunnel shaft! The thing is as bizaar as they come, its tail whipping through the air as it charges forward, horned head tucked downward. How a beast this size makes its life in the cramped tunnels of the bowels of Coruscant is not readily apparent, though the section like body, which seems to elongate and compact with its movements suggests that it has ore than one phsyical form with which to navigate the variety of environment sizes and shapes in the deep. It is right on top of the trio of imperials, having been waiting for more of the tasty meals to come down out of the tunnel! Above the Twi'leks and remaining Imperial sldiers scramble at their best to get ready to go down into the cavern below, readying their lines for release. Eson calls to his Maffi, "Get ready to drop down and aid in the fight. Team 2 I need you to immediately move to the flank f the fray, and prepare the mutant decoy equipment!" and with that the crimson Twi'lek lets loose his line, dropping down below and into the cavern, though he will not bear witness to initial charge and fight between Tyler, Tanis and Cantrell. The huntress follows the rest of the group, the waist length auburn hair pulled tightly in a braid that is then wound tightly at the back of her head. Nodding to Eson, Sid fixes the strap of the rifle strapped to her back. The blaster pistol strapped to her side is ready to be posed as well. Though the sound of the beast below draws the neverending sea blue gaze downwards. Adrenaline starts to hum and her blood sings in her ears. Feeling the itch to jump down, she readies herself, her muscles flexing to keep warm in their waiting. Casting a glance to the others with them, her eyes go downward once more. Such dirty work. Malign lands in a crouched position, and slowly stands up to face the monster before him. His soldiers were with him and that was both reassuring and making him nervous, they had a mission to do. The Sith pulls his heavy cloak off his body and turns back to the troopers who had followed him down the hole to face this thing, "Run!" he growls, "Plant the explosives!" With that he turns and charges toward the creature as it charges him raising his saber and leaping into the air with the aid of his own telekinetic energy. The white blade of his lightsaber comes down hard toward the beast and its horns taking one clean off as sparks fly and the weapon is pulled back as he lands and begins running to try to attract the beast to follow him another direction through the maze of caverns below. He taps his comlink, to let the team know he'll notify him should he survive. Dark energy surges around Tyler as he now moves into a full sprint beckoning the injured beast to follow him. His men were very capable of doing the rest and then it would only be a matter of time before he has achieved his primary mission goals, and what was the cost? Oh not much just forced to fight a giant monster that lurks in the darkness. The Corellian begins to concentrate forming another glowing ball of pure hatred into the palm of his hand he turns and hurls it toward the monster hoping it might be enough to bring it down but not expecting it. "Oh.....shit..." Cantrell stops on his tracks, his infrared scopes inside his helmet filled with the view of the behemoth monster. Looking down at his rifle, then back at the beast, then once more, realizing he'll need a lot more ammo to put that thing down. Glancing over at the Warlord, he comes to his senses, realizing he still has a job to do. "Move move move!" The Master Sergeant roars, rushing with his men and the Twi'lek team over towards the support columns. "Here!" Cantrell yanks the charge off one of the trooper's hands, setting the charge himself. "Let's move, gentlemen. I'm not about to be some ridiculously huge monster's lunch today..." He grabs another charge and throws it over, and continues to pass the charges along to everyone, forming an assembly line of destruction. Seeing the Warlord take on the creature single-handedly and disappearing further down both excites and worries the Master Sergeant, but shakes his head, knowing the Warlord is more than a match for the beast. "I need someone over there!" pointing to a column further down. "We need to rig the charges!" The Corellian man switches his rifle back to single shot and watches Sidi run past him. When the hell did she get down here? He follows into pace next to her at a jog with the rifle in both hands and almost stops when he sees the huge creature, an almost amorphous form lumbering towards them. He didn't swear this time. He didn't even shout. He just slapped the release onto his rifle and aimed it upwards. He looked around for Tyy'sun and found him just dropping down into the cavern. "When the hell did this thing show up?", he asked Tyy'sun, the rifle ready in his arms. He then stomped at the ground next to him, issuing a crunchy splat from underneath his heel. "I really hate spiders.", he mutters. His hazel eyes squint in the low light to see someone, he wasn't sure who, running off into the darkness with the creature following close behind. When a voice called for someone to rig charges, Siva slung the rifle over his back and ran towards the voice. "Let me do it!", he shouted over to him as he jogged up to Cantrell. "Where do you want them planted again?", he asked, looking down the path that the creature ran earlier. He hated standing there like a lemon while other stuff was going on, it wasn't just him. Tyy'sun lands down into a crouch after Tyler and Cantrell, and Twi'leks and Imperials land likewise all around him. The Crimson crimelord can only shake his head as he witnesses Tyler's herioc dealings with the huge beast and nods to himself as the beast in turn keeps its attention on the hot white saber flashing Sith, the two of them embarking deeper into the tunnels and away from the main group. "Impressive." he intones. The group is now free to perform their primary mission. "You heard the Sargeant." he says to the Maffi Twi'leks, Siva and Sidi. "They are setting the charges, get in there and help." That being said, Tyy'sun moves over to Twi'lek team 2, and motions for them to follow him. There are thousands of mutants down here, and the entire mission would be soon overwhelmed, just as his recon team was lost to the insane flux of hungry beings. Not this time. Several of the Twi'leks carrying huge packs follow with Eson and then take them off once they have reached a far corner of the cavern. Setting these into place and opening them, they pull out hunks of equipment, and also hunks of containers carrying blood and biological agents. The devices would put pherimones, blood and smells into the air, and attract many of the mutants to them, diverting their attention hopefully long enough for Maffi and the Imperials to make their way back into higher levels, where the mutants would be manageable in battle. She had to admit, that damned creature had brought her completely from though to a blank stare, fingers already clutching at the pistol and pulling it free. A great good that would do. Hearing Tyy's voice, she grits her teeth and shoves the barrel back into the holster. Booted feet dig into the ground and she is off swiftly after Siva to help with the charges. She was more of a shoot em up type of woman, not a blow it to smithereens. Letting Siva do the talking, she hangs just behind him and to the side, waiting for direction to help. Nothing personal against demolitions..just if you made a mistake with one of those charges, there was no coming out alive. "I need you..." Cantrell points to Siva and then to a support column about 100 feet away, "...you, set the charge over there." He then points to Sidi, "Here..." He hands her a charge, pointing on the dials. "I need you over there..." He points to another column a bit past Siva's, the finaly one on his side. "...this is a timed charge, already preset...I just need you to hook it up..." He reaches over and snatches the final charge. "Let's go people, let's go. The infrared scopes on Cantrell's helmet is starting to pick up small heat signatures fron a distance; the damned mutants are back. "Let's hurry up, people..." Cantrell orders his men to pick up the pace, setting the last charge by the column he's at. "There...everyone who's not doing anything...start to evac! We need to move, move move!" Stepping over towards Tyy'sun, he places his hand on the Twi'lek's shoulder, "I hope your plan works, sir." He says, his helmet seemingly has a worried look on it. "I trust you know the way out of this rock, aye?" "Who me?" says Eson looking at Cantrell, "I thought you knew the way out.." his eyes glint with amusement. He is joking, and its a good thing the Twi'lek can muster nerve enough to joke when the situation is so dangerous, because if he had been serious, they all might be doomed. Eson moves towards the main grouping of soldiers, maffi and Imperial alike. Several Twi'leks had been lost on this jaunt, but it was expected and it was not seen as a failure of the mission, simply cost of doing business. Maffi members know well that their careers are not plush office jobs. Even so, some Maffi positions are just that. But not those gathered here, and not Eson's. Nodding to Cantrell, "We must continue on out of this cavern, and into some tunnels which steadily raise to higher levels. We will likely meet resistance, but if the decoy equipment works, it should be about like it was on th way down here. If Mr. Damion cannot trace our steps, and toils long with the monster, he will find this cavern full of thousands of mutants." The twi'lek team 2 follows Eson and Cantrel, and abandon their now empty packs, the equipment set and started. Already the smell of blood and meat is pouring through the cavern. Everyone who is not setting charges readies their weapons. Tyy'sun moves toward a tunnel to the side of the cavern and indicates that that is the first that will lead the teams toward the surface. Siva follows his orders and heads to the indicated pillar. He glances at Sidi in the low light and for a minute their gazes lock, an unspoken verse of encouragement between them. Siva secures the charges to the pillar, his hands working swiftly with the speed of an expert slicer. When the charge was justly fastened to the pillar, he activated the charge and shouted back towards Cantrell that the charge was set up when he saw five jewels glinting in the darkness beside him. here was a soft purr, a growl, even. A flash of unpenetrable black followed and Siva was pinned to the ground by the clawed tips of four furry legs, looking down at him were the cold, hungry eyes of a spider the size of a man. Mandibles opened, dripping clear viscous saliva onto Siva's face. He shouted something unintelligible and fumbled for his rifle. The spider's head shot down with intent to bite. There was a horrifying crack as the mandibles scraped rock.. Siva had apparently moved his head just in time. The whole time, Siva was screaming, struggling to get the rifle pinned underneath him Taking her charge, Sidi casts one glance and gives a quick nod. Jogging over towards it, the huntress kneels, a gloved hand moving back to settle the large blaster rifle to the other side of her back so she can kneel on her right knee. With her weight shifted, she murmurs to herself, eyeing the charge a bit warily but moving with as much care and precision as time will allow. Looking up at Siva, she smiles and then turns back to her work. Trying to match his skill, but not coming close. It is taking her longer. The scream pierces her concentration and her lifts up. Gazing down at the charge, she curses and hesitates before pulling the rifle from her shoulder and walking up calmly taking aim. This she could do. Firing off a shot and another, she aims for the thick soft belly of the creature, far enough away from Siva. The charge is left partially ready and she turns to watch as more things start to scuttle in the darkness around them. "You had me there...if it weren't for the fact that you are my savior today, I would've punched you in face." Cantrell pats the Twi'lek on the shoulder one more time, letting out a raspy chuckle. "Alright, let's get out of this pit...get your men out of here." Taking a glance back at the now disappeared Warlord and the beast, Cantrell shakes his head. "He'll be fine. This is...just fun for him, I guess." "Sir! All charges set! Let's get the hell ou..." One of Cantrell's trooper's words gets cut short, jumped by and mauled by a rather large spider. "I hate this place!" Cantrell growls, raising his rifle and nearly emptying the entire ammo clip onto the spider. Another scream garners Cantrell's attention, this time Siva is the victim. He joins Sidi in firing, trying to get the spider out. "I think it's a good time to leave...I really need a drink." Tyy'sun meets his own spider near the exit tunnel to the cavern, and it is a conflict the Twi'lek would rather have not found himlsef entangled in. Too close for blaster fire to be effective, and without any weapon in his hand, the pommel of Eson's vibroblade is graped and pulled, his thumb flicking the on switch even as the blade comes free of its sheath beneath the flolds of his cloak. The two, giant spider and crimelord flail about one another, the huge things spear like fangs plunging awkwardly and painfully into Tyy'sun's shoulder - a natural act for the spider - and the last mistake it ever made. The vibro blade comes down cleanly, the Spider's head and abdomen exposed in the execution of the bite, and the vibrating sword does its work well, slicing deep into the flesh between head and body, decapitating the creature, and freeing Eson of the bulky weight of the 8 legged menage. Falling away, the head is still attached to the crimson Twi'lek as he grasps the blade in one hand, and the head hanging from his shoulder with the other. In a scream of protest from Tyy'sun the fangs are slipped out of his body and the thick boots of Eson punt the nasty thing far into the air. Within Eson's mind, danger is warned like damage klaxxons on a starship - there was poison in that bite, and he could already feel the tingling, fire-like sensation spreading through his bloodstream. Eson sees Siva's predicument as well, but he can only fall back against a wall and call the Maffi soldiers into organization as he returns thebloody vibroblade to its shealth, and pulls a pair of DY-155's to replace it. "Form up, soldiers!" he calls, "It is time to depart hense." Blaster fire is erupting throughout the cavern as Maffi soldiers form up and meet at the exit tunnel, warding off spiders and mutants alike as the teams prepare to disembark. Eson can only hope Siva, Sidi and Cantrell can take care of the giant spider attempting to maul Siva. Siva had never smelt hot giant spider breath before. And to be honest, he really never wanted to smell it again. The spider hissed as it used two other legs to hold Siva's head in place. The mandibles flexed slowly and the monstrosity pinning him to the ground raised it's head, ready to slam the mandibles down into both Siva's eyes, killing him instantly. The seconds rolled by like terrifying minutes. Suddenly there was the sound of a blaster issuing fire some space away. The spider's body rocked and stood up at full height for a moment. He could almost see the spider's shining jewel-like eyes turning in shock in Sidi's direction. Clarity hit Siva's mind like an icy-cold spike. Adrenaline was only thing keeping Siva from freezing under the bulk of the spider. Lightning quick, Siva wrenched the blaster rifle out from under him and pressed the barrel into the spider's soft belly. "This is how I spell relief, shitbreath!!", he screams out as he flicks the rapid fire on and squeezes the trigger hard enough to bruise his finger. The belly of the beast muffled the familiar-sounding report of the blaster rifle, as blaster bolts plunged into the creature's body and passed out the other side with a bone-chilling *THOOM-THOOM-THOOM-THOOM-THOOM*. Unfortunately for Siva, the bulk of the spider was still above him when the spider began to bleed like a stuck bantha. Siva wretched and vomited as giant spider innards splashed over his face and covered his entire body. He kicked the spider corpse off of him and saw the first spider before it saw him. With fresh spider guts dripping into his eyes, he let loose on the blaster rifle and splattered the creature against a far wall, the red light of the blaster illuminating a face full of hate, disgust, and terror. When he was satisfied(after nearly 20 shots) that the spider was dead, Siva stiffly jogged over to Tyy'sun, his hands gripping the rifle as if it were his only chance of survival here in this Hell. Johanna has disconnected. Watching the blaster hit its mark a few times and the thing finished by Siva, Sidi throws the rifle in a whirl back over her shoulder, the strap slipping back to her front. With desperation and almost out of time, she moves over to her charge to finish it. Kneeling roughly, jamming the rifle muzzle into her leg. WIncing, she ignores the pain and knows if she takes long enough, there would be worse to come by the sounds echoing around her. Finally, the charge is set and she moves to get up and cries out in pain as a damned spider sinks itself into her leg. Gritting her teeth, the huntress unholsters the DY-255 and sounds off a few more shots kicking at another smaller eight legged fiend before it gets close enough. Her leg burning now, the thin releases as smoke rises from it's useless corpse. Not caring to see if the second one lost anything from the meeting with her boot, she turns and runs towards the exit that Tyy'sun pointed to. Pistol in hand, she turns and offers a few parting shots towards the oncoming mystery guests. A slight limp negotiates its way into her stride, the leggings torn just below the knee, blood running free enough. "Let's get out of here" "Let's go! Let's go!" Cantrell motions with his hand in a wave. "Come on...we got to get out of here." He points to his squad mates over towards the injured Sidi and Tyy'sun, barking out orders to assist. And just like that, Cantrell too gets a friend in the form of a gigantic spider, knocking him off his feet and hard against a wall. His helmet rolls off, revealing the sweat drenched face of the Master Sergeant. Reaching over for his rifle, he almost gets ahold but the spider lunges forward, knocking it aside and pinning him against the wall. Not quite the brightest critter out there, the spider first chomps down on Cantrell's plated arm. "Surprise surprise...you like that?" Cantrell grins at the spider, a flash of insanity in his eyes as he stares the beast down. Struggling with the beast, he manages to get to his sidearm pistol, jamming it into the creatures gut. "Goodnight, my friend." Cantrell squeezes the trigger and the innards of the spider splatter all over his face. Cantrell closes his eyes, feeling the dead spider's lifeless body slump to the ground. "I hate Coruscant." He grits his teeth, holstering his sidearm and reaching over for his rifle, following everyone else out. As the teams move into the exit tunnel, which steadily inclines upward toward higher levels, Tyy'sun accepts the shoulder offered him by a stormtrooper, his arm pulling around the soldier and the two of them moving steadily along. The burning fires of the poison within make the Twi'lek's bones feel weak, and the energy that normally propells the crimelord begins to drain from him. Gritting his teeth he moves along as best he can, before an anger begins to well up inside the crimson being. He begins to deny what is happening to him, knowing well that he and Maffi cannot afford to be placated this deep in the underdark of the Abyssal Ruins. There was still an exit strategy to impliment. There was still combat ahead, should th emutants appear to attempt a feast once more of them all. Concentrating, the Twi'lek straightens his backbone and walks more surefootedly, forcing himself to become as though he were not wounded, and were not poisoned. He beckons the Force around him and mentally treats his wounds, denying their existance and power to affect his reality. Within ten strides the crimelord is walking without the aid of the stormtrooper. Though his wound will worsen with time and exertion, Tyy'sun would not confront the realities of his brawl with the giant spider until such a time as he can afford to. The teams are well on their way throug the tunnel now, Soliders providing cover fire to the rear and denying access to the tunnels any spiders and mutants that would follow. Hopefully there will not be too many ahead. Siva walks wordlessly behind Tyy'sun. If daylight could penetrate the darkness now surrounding them, Siva would appear to be covered in bright green fluid. It dripped off him in large, wet dollops as he walked as he gripped the rifle, it seemed to cement his skin to the metal of the weapon. Siva expected himself to be jumping at every single sound he heard after an experience like that. On the contrary, Siva was clear-headed and actually felt... good. He felt calm and exhilirated with the brutal slaying of the spider that threatened to gouge out his eyes. It was just something he hadn't expect to enjoy, but did. He glanced behind him to see if Sidi was alright. He couldn't see her, so he turned back ahead and followed in step beside Tyy'sun. She is indeed following, the limp growing more apparent, but her legs moving faster to make up for it. Sidi tries to manage on her own but the offered help is finally taken. Unable to do as Tyy'sun does, the huntress bites back simple curses, baring what she can but knowing her body is not as determined as her mind. Blue eyes meet Cantrell and she flinches at the sight of him, hissing at the green ichor all over him as they move into the tunnels and away from the pursuing creatures of the underworld. Being one of the last, she knew the other's were in, but it also meant that their backs were vulnerable and she wasn't certain how well she could react with one sure foot. "Ah how I missed this job..." Cantrell lets out a heavy sigh, reaching down for his helmet as he passes by it. He catches Sidi's glance, offering her a slight smile, the smile obscured by the amount of spider gib smeared over his face. Slapping down the helmet, Cantrell continues on further with the rest of the group. "Super 6-1 to Base team, we need an medic team ready to treat wounded..." Cantrell holds his hand up to his left ear, grumbling something about how reception several miles under a planet really sucks.
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