Session export: The Great Hunt RP

Port Ol'val The Ducts

The Blindman frowned. This was certainly a new one. As footfalls echoed through the cavernous catwalks that lead towards the Docks, his illusionary facade faded, white hair morphing to black, eyes flicking back to emerald, and white suit swapping to a black nerf leather jacket with cross-hip holstered blasters now visible.

Wyndell Tyris studied the datapad feed in his hand as he walked, trailed by the few Qel-Droman’s that he had been able to round up. The Voidbreaker II was docked for repairs and upgrades on Selen, so they would have to make due with what personnell they had on hand at the shadowport.

He tapped a button, linking his datapad to the conference call back at the Citadel.

“HI CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME? Wyn yelled into the datapad.

”…Yes Wyn, your mic is not muted. That was one time.“ Tahiri’s voice hid its suspiration well.

”**OKAY GOOD*,“ Wyn started as he made sure his expression remained calm and aloof. ”…Because I think we’re going to need a bigger gun…“

The Qel-Droman’s heard the roar of the creature before they could even exit the Ducts.

Revs apartment.

Revs was jolted awake by a mix of several things happening at once. First the high pitched scream of last night’s date, then the sound of his sister’s voice screaming wake up followed by a string of curses as she threw parts of his armor at him, and somewhere from outside……a roar?

“Whats going on”! Revs screamed as he ducked a pair of grieves.

“The Ports under attack! Get moving!” Starlynn screamed at him again.

Revs slid on the lower part of his armor and attached his lightsabers as quickly as possible. Snatched up the chest peice and ran out the door.

“Call me.” He yelled back to the extremely confused woman still in his apartment.

Starlynn chased after her brother and cued up her comlink. “Wynn. I got him. We are en route to your position.”

There was chaos within the war room, even though it was controlled chaos, the tension and sense of urgency was still there. Tahiri stood in near the front of the holo-table, watching the creature advance on the outskirts of the Citadel. She was also waiting for others to either join her in the room or by holo-comm.

Seeing Wyn and the others he gathered with him at Port Ol'val was a relief to her, although her expression was more cheerful.

Shaking her head slightly, a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth at the memory of that one time Wyn had been muted for half a meeting, and was almost hoarse by the time he had realized.

“Umm Wyn… was that a roar I heard on your end?” Her eyebrow raised slightly as she looked between the monitors and then back at Wyndell.

“Yeah…anything you want to share with the class, boss?” Wyn replied.

Caleb was aboard the Vhe'saarik when the emergency communication came through the ship’s consoles. The Kom'rk-class fighter sat idle in Ol'val. The Togorian had stayed behind at the port while the Voidbreaker II was on Selen for repairs, at the urging of his significant other.

Caleb had learned a long time ago to go along with his Shista’s hunches.

Leaning forward in his seat, he tapped into the call and was greeted by the sound of Wyn being loud.

“Wild'en, reporting in from Ol'val.”

He arched a brow at the sound of a roar.

Mune took the call from the Captain’s Ready Room on the Voidbreaker II. The ship was nowhere near ready for action. Major components were being rebuilt from the ground up. They tried to ask, but then Carr went into one of his explanations that only Zig seemed capable of following. The white-furred Shista had wound up just leaving the engineers to it and returning to the bridge of the vessel.

They had an unpleasant feeling. Ro'ki on the bridge had suggested it was likely indigestion, trying to be funny, Mune rolled their eyes and hid instead in the Ready Room to enjoy some quiet.

“HI CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME?” greeted Mune when they patched into the conference call, Wyn being loud.

That seems about right, Mune thought with a bit of a grin.

“Mune, reporting.”

The Shista’s ears perked, and he tilted his head to listen to the sound of the roar coming through the comms.

“Oh… huh. Did not see a beast coming.”

Estle City Citadel Selen

Luka Zarkot appeared from a shrouded corner and kept in stride with the others gathering towards the war room. The human wore their battle robes, helmet clutched between their hands once removed, a pack full of mission necessities, and blades at their belt. They made hardly a sound as they moved, weaving through the chaos of the crowd. Though once inside the room itself, they kept to where the Arcona leader and holoprojections remained just visible, leaning back against the far wall.

The image of the creature was of great interest to them, perhaps moreso than the woman addressing them. The sounds of its cry came across the holo, and Luka focused their attention there. Was it a creature they knew of? Some caxqette monstrosity, or something more common across the galaxy? Whatever it was, it had to be big.

Ghost Luka Zarkot

Standing Near Wyn Port Ol'val

“Never a dull moment, is there?” Adele asked as she paced behind the Blindman, even as that persona faded to be replaced by that of Wyn Tyris. She was already wearing her armor and checking her weapons. Her violet eyes were alight with the prospect of impending combat. “Who’re we fighting?”

As if in answer, she heard the creature’s roar over Wyn’s datapad. Adele’s eyebrows shot up. “Well. That sounds like a problem,” she said as she glanced around to see if her brother had joined them.

Seeing he was not present, she sent a message along the link they shared. “You might want to get your ass over to the docks, Big Brother. Sounds like we’re going monster hunting!”

Wyn nodded to one of his two protegé…protogés…whatever one applied to two very powerful twins he was glad were on his side.

Yeah Annie! Wyn intruded into the mental link.

Anselm laid in his bed after a looking day of training and work. He was dead on his feet tired and really…reaaally didn’t want to deal with any bullshit. His communicator kept going off, and he used the Force to silent the machine.

“I am not pulling any overtime tonight.”

Then the current bane of his existence spoke in his head, along their mental link.

“I really don’t want to clean up any more problems today. Are you incapable of handling a little monster hunting, dear sister?”

Adele gave Wyn a flat look as he barged into their link, before turning her attention back to Anselm. “Oh, right. Sorry, I didn’t realize you’d missed your nap. You just relax with your binkie, and I’ll fix you a bottle of warm milk when I get back.” Her voice was teasing, but also didn’t hide her excitement at the prospect of a fight.

“So what do we know about this critter?” she asked in her outside voice.

“That is an excellent question,” Wyn said, slowly taking out his Synergy Rifle and checking that it was primed. He waited patiently for the answers to come from the conference line they had dialed in. He tapped another button, successfully putting it on speaker phone.

Caleb wasted no time. He kept the line open on his comms console while doing a final check on his weaponry. He had taken Mune’s gut feeling seriously. Every weapon had been freshly checked over, cleaned and oiled. He ensured the armour-piercing rounds were loaded into the Synergy S-10s before holstering them on either hip. He lifted the Oathbreaker and rechecked the chassis. You are getting up there in age, my friend. Let’s put a beastie down… He ensured it too was loaded with armour-piercing rounds before it was slung across his back to rest against his armourweave cloak.

“Not to be the guy that agrees with Tyris, but, can we get to the point? What is our unfortunate home invader?”

Caleb pulled his helmet on and tapped a button on his console to transfer the call to his helmet’s H.U.D. He did another habitual check of his armour before grabbing the dagger he borrowed from Mune. There was no way to carry his usual sword when he had the Oathbreaker on him.

Mune smirked and shook their head at their mate’s impatience. They remembered a time when military training was so instilled that he would never think to talk without being spoken to in a briefing, now he was trading barbs. Playful barbs, but barbs, still. Mune holstered their two lightsabers at their lower back and the lightdagger they strapped to their boot. The bladed weapons they sheathed on their back. They were ready; once they knew what they were dealing with, they would leave the ship immediately.

Mune opened a link to engineer, to Carr and Zig. “I am leaving within minutes. Zig, keep up the extraordinary work. Carr, don’t break our home!” The cut the line before the younger Shista could stop sputtering indignantly to respond.

Tahiri smiled to assembled Arcona members, before reaching forward and typing a command code in that linked the terminal to her own datapad.

“Thank you all for assembling so quickly,” she tapped a few buttons. “Our unfortunate home invader is a rare species. In fact there hasn’t been many found or seen outside of failed cloning projects, since the species was supposed to be extinct.”

Images of a huge reptilian, with a gigantic maw and long limbs came up on the feed, matching that with the creature those within the Citadel could see from the feeds coming in. Tapping one more button, the petite Togruta played a very distinct roar, that matching the what came from Wyn’s holo comm.

“Seems we have a few Zillo Beasts on our hands,” a sly grin crept across her face, one that she couldn’t hide, along with a bit of excitement and gleam in her eyes. “Now they have a near indestructible hide, and they feed on energy. The who, how, and why these creature are attacking can be answered at a later time. Right now, we need to either find a way to subdue them and get them to better location as soon as possible, or…”

Tahiri’s voice unmistakably saddened slightly, “Or we have to find a way to kill them.” Clearing her throat, she returned to her usual cadence, “We haven’t gotten a report yet from Wuntila, Sashar or anyone at Fort Blindshot yet. Though I wouldn’t doubt that they may be getting attacked as well.”

“If you have any ideas, lets get to executing those plans quickly, so as to avoid Shadow Lord Olen having to deal with more panicked city officials. Aye?”

“Zillo Beasts,” Wyn said with an exasperated sigh. “Why did it have to be Zillo beasts,” Wyn quoted, mimicking the voice from a famous holonet movie. “Also–hey, I heard that, Caleb!”

He kept his expression reserved, however, playing it cool. “Your dad ever make you tango with a Zillo Beast?” he asked the twins.

Now Standing Near Wyn Port Ol’val

If her pale eye could roll up, over, and off her head, it just might.

“Now what?” Socorra grumbled flatly as she joined the emergency crew. Her fingers were flying over her datapad at breakneck speed as she seemingly ignored the roar.

General Socorra Erinos

“Zillo Beast? Got it,” responded, disembarking his ship. “Converging on the target.”

It mattered little to him what the target was. He had a job to complete. A mission. He walked through the port, purpose-driven, focused on the task at hand. Numerous port denizens ran by him in a panic, the roars of the beast rising over the everyday noises.

“Hmm… that elevation should do fine…”

Caleb started his ascent to an appropriate perch. He knew the others would be in position soon. Or… he assumed. He trusted they were on task no differently than he was.

“Wild'en to Tyris. I am in position.”

The Togorian unslung his rifle and gazed down at the scattering people. Things were going to get messy, it seemed. He frowned, gaze shifting to take in the sight of the Zillo Beast. At least it presented a decent-sized target.

Revs came running up to Wynn and Soccora. He had managed to get all his armor on while running to meet up. Starlynn followed close behind.

“The frak is that thing!” Revs griped as he tried to tame his wild hair that was falling in his face.

He couldnt help rolling his eyes at Adele’s remarks. He chuckled a bit as well, enjoying her banter as much as hating being kept up. But she could handle whatever this animal they were hunting was.

Anselm laid his head back down and closed his eyes with a yawn. He so very nearly drifted off back to sleep…except for the loud banging noise coming from outside his hotel room. He’d chosen to rent out a room forge night to get away and relax. But it seemed far had other plans. He stood up and walked over to the covered window.

“What is making all this freaking racket!”

Ripping open the shades, he found himself staring out at smoke billowing from the docks. Whatever this was… it was big. After starting fit a few moments, he closed the curtains and walked over to his clothes, getting dressed.

“Seriously…you couldn’t just say that we were hunting something this… big?”

His voice rang of annoyance as he sent the message to his twin down their bond.

“I’d say take the shot if you can, but…I think it’s not going to be that simple.” Wyn replied into his ear-comm.

The Quaestor quirked an eyebrow at his Aedile as he ran up. “Good of you to make it, Number 2,” he drawled.

He nodded to Socorra. “Anyone got some hyper-focus lore to drop about Zillow beasts?” Wyn asked over both the conference call and to those gathered.

“Guaranteed it won’t. It will take more than a few armour-piercing rounds to disable it.”

Caleb knew too, if he was the only one in position and he fired, it would quite likely draw the beast’s attention… Or it could be that the chaos would keep it busy and distracted enough from zeroing in on his position. His eyes scanned the doc, noting any potential obstacles that could be used.

“I’ll see if I can keep it from moving toward the Ducts. If we can keep it boxed in on the dock, we can limit the damage.”

The Togorian adjusted his grip on his rifle and lined up his shot. He noted what he needed from his h.u.d. before he muttered under his breath, “Hello, from Qel-Droma…” he squeezed the trigger, and with a crack, a round closed the distance between sniper and beast.

Wyn winced. Limit the damage was partially true. But the Blindman knew exactly how much goods and cargo were currently in play in the docks, not to mention the ships themselves.

He wasn’t even sure shadowports were allowed to have insurance policies. Oh well. That was a problem for the nerds sitting locked up in Phantom Complex with their terminals and “analytics”.

Starlynn stepped past her brother to answer Wynn.

“I dont know much but I remember seeing them mentioned in my Sith studies class that they were used by the Ancient Sith as some type of weapon. They are not natural. Some type of freaky Dark Side experiment, extremely tough to kill. Thats about all I can remember though.” she said nervously as she typed through her data pad looking for any more information.

“Once. We had to steal some eggs from a black-market geneticist. He had an adolescent guarding his lab. It wasn’t near as big, and we still had a tough time with it,” Adele replied to Wyn’s question as she nodded to the arriving Socorra and Revs. “She’s right, though. They’re built like tanks and are tough to take down.”

A smirk spread across her face at the exasperation in her brother’s voice. “Dear brother, do you think I would bother you during your precious sleep time for something easy? Again, get your ass over here, and try not to forget your pants this time.”

Selen Estle City Sebektra’s Apartment

“Kriff,” Sebastian swore under his breath as he played his holo-game, controller tilting in his hand as though it would have changed the outcome. He was losing. And it sucked.

The human always did his best to keep quiet while she worked on her studies but sometimes it slipped out.

While fixated on the game, he felt the hairs on his arm stand on end. His hands went still around the controller. His breathing stopped. There was a familiar tug from the Force that made his stomach churn.

Yams brushed against his shin, purring softly.

His brow furrowed. On the table beside him, the surface of his tea rippled.

“Lex, we gotta go, now!”

Heart thumping in his chest, he scrambled to his feet, scooping up the loth-cat under his arm.

His comm lit up. The emergency message blared on his device, his eyes finding Lektra’s. Right as he parted his mouth to speak again, a thunderous rumble shook the floor beneath their feet.

Sebastian Vasca

Koda had been making his way up the ramp of The Bastion when he got the alert and heard the roar.

“…well that certainly can’t be good.” He quickly ran up the ramp and towards the cockpit, where his wife was snoozing with her hat over her eyes. Koda nudged Dani awake. “Showtime, darlin. Make sure the kids are secure, we might need to help evacuate or I get to dust off the weapons on this rust bucket.”

Danitha groaned as she stirred, “You don’t always have to be the hero, y'know.” She said sarcastically as she got up to go check on the kids.

Koda sat in the pilot seat and activated his comms to the Citadel, “Kendis, reporting in. What’s the situation?” The engines stirred to life.

Fort Blindshot was burning.

Overturned hovertanks and crushed transport shuttles belched black smoke into the sky, poisoning the air with the acrid stench of burning fuel.

Each frantic breath set the soldier’s lungs ablaze. Everything had happened so fast. He and the rest of his unit were the first on the scene; they were the first to realize that this creature, this monster, shrugged off direct hits from heavy laser cannons like they were flies hitting a windshield. Throwing everything they had at it only managed to piss it off, and one swipe of its tail sent their landspeeder flying.

His lekku were the only thing that hung freely in the overturned vehicle. The safety harness had saved his life, but was jammed, and no amount of prying at it was making a difference in freeing him. To make matters worse, a sharp pain that shot through his side when he moved more than an inch or two in any direction. Were his ribs broken?

He managed to crane his head enough to see a body lying a few meters away, unmoving and bent in a way it shouldn’t.

The hammering pulses of heavy weapons, the roars that made the ground shake, and the horrific screams of dying soldiers bled into a single, unintelligible drone. Suddenly, his world became so small, shrinking until it could only house him, his overturned landcruiser, and the picture of a pretty twi'lek girl holding her belly taped to the cruiser’s dash. His lips stretched into a bloody half-smile as a thought cut through the mess of half-formed thoughts buzzing in his adrenaline-addled mind.

He was going to die here.

“At least … at least I’ll get to see you one more time, Mayena,” he said, forcing each word out in spite of the pain in his side. “Don’t blame me too much for not being able to see our boy grow up.”

Warden Bril Teg Erinos

Blindshot

Once Mune knew the where and the what, they were already on the move. The shuttle they called for arrived as they jogged down from the hangar to the bustling maintenance dock. It seemed like an eternity before they arrived at Blindshot, which was billowing with smoke and fire. Mune certainly hoped Ol'val was faring better.

The Shistavanen gazed down upon it all: death, pain, destruction… the Force was upset. And the world wept. It was as though the heavens opened and rain in heavy drops began to fall.

“Sir?! It’s a mess down there! Where should I set down?!”

The voice of the pilot drew Mune back to the shuttle, grounding them. They glanced over their shoulder. “Get low enough and I’ll jump. Please, get to safety once I’ve disembarked.”

“The shuttle has weaponry,” the pilot began, but Mune cut him off.

“Energy weapons are useless. If you can find somewhere safe to evacuate the injured to, do it. Otherwise, retreat.”

“Sir. Understood.”

A roar filled the air, and Mune’s head snapped around. He gazed upon the beast responsible for the chaos bellow. It posed an interesting conundrum. The pilot did as ordered, and Mune jumped to the ground safely. The shuttle ascended and moved away in search of a safe position to help evacuate the injured.

“Already so many dead… who set you upon us, I wonder,” the Oracle growled low, their eyes narrowing, the Living Force whispered through them. “A puzzle for later. Mune here; I’ve arrived at Blindshot. Casualties are escalating quickly,” Mune reported over comms back to the Citadel. “Preparing to engage.”

Ol'val

A spent cartridge was ejected and immediately replaced by a fresh round. Whether the first armour-piercing round had any effect or not, Caleb could not say, nor did he let it stop him from squeezing the trigger a second time. The suppressor absorbed as much of the sound as it could; a sharp crack came from the Oathbreaker and sent another slug violently on the same trajectory as the first. The spent cartridge ejected; the third lined up. His h.u.d. kept track of that same spot, even as the second shot hit.

Caleb adjusted, shifting. The beast knew it was being fired on. Good.

The Togorian breathed out slow, squeezed, CRACK!, another shot taken. The beast roared, Caleb smirked, “Sorry, I have family on the Voidbreaker louder than you, you’ll need to try harder to scare me…”

The others had better get here soon… else I start using explosives…

“Actual, this is Vanguard. We’re moving to engage Behemoth now,” said Bril over an encrypted Galeres comms channel. “What’s the ETA on our CAS?”

“Vanguard, this is Actual. CAS is fifteen minutes out from your location.”

Bril tightened his jaw beneath his helmet. Every second this thing spent rampaging across the caldera was a second too long. They needed to get a handle on this situation quickly.

“Just a reminder to all of you that our mission is to contain. CAS will be here in fifteen micks. We’ll do what we can to stabilize injured friendlies, but our priority is to prevent the target from reaching Fort Blindshot, especially the civilian centers. Now let’s move.”

A squad of two dozen DDF soldiers exited the LAAT/i transport with their weapons raised, flanking Bril on both sides as they advanced toward the zillo beast’s position.

Warden Bril Teg Erinos

Ol'val

“Alright kids, spread out. Rotate attacks, don’t be a hero,” Wyndell called out, his usually aloof nature seeming to slip away as his focus and voice sharpened.

The Quaestor lead the charge into the docks, but instead of his usual Double-D blasters, his Synergy rifle drew a bead on the creature, he sighted, and let loose the ascendent-crystal powered Yeet Canon aim for a spot on the creatures side-hide. If he could land consecutive hits to the same spot, he might acutally be able to do some damage to its hide. But on something that large moving around that nimbly-bimbly, it would be hard even for a marksman like Wyn.

“Hey you overgrown lizard! Eat this.

He hoped to draw its attention, then readied a barrier.

Revs nodded at Starlynn. “You know what to do.”

She nodded back before sitting down cross-legged on the ground. Drawing on the Force she started to use her battle meditation ability to guide and strengthen her allies.

Revs pulled his lightsabers off his belt as he faded from view. Cloaked in the Force he moved across the port until in striking range of the creature before dropping the cloak and slashing at the creatures legs.

With a flicker, Anselm appeared by the others, dark circles under his eyes. The look on his face mirrored that of annoyance mixed with the rage of one-thousand suns at this monsters audacity to attack their port.

“Good news. When I’m finished with this thing, we’ll have plenty of barbecued lizard meat to feed the hungry. Consider this my act of charity for the week.”

His hands roared to life in a blazing flame.

He glared to his sister.

“So what’s the plan?”

Adele gave a slight nod at Wyn’s order, seeing what he was trying to do. A moment later, she felt Starlynn’s influence, guiding the flow of the battle.

She smirked when Anselm appeared. “Nice of you to join us,” she said, her gaze flicking downward to ensure that he was, in fact, wearing pants. “And that you’re fully dressed. As for the plan, you see that thing?” She ignited her lightsaber and gestured toward the Zillo with it. “Get him while Wyn’s distracting him.”

Without any further preamble, she vanished, reappearing in time to try and stab her lightsaber into the creature’s leg.

“1001…Long Tail with a lighting mark at the forehead. Tag Number MYN1001DM. F2 from Dobby and Ginny - does not inherit black Sock at left eye. Name Given…”

Loud ping of the alert echoed between rocky tunnels of Port Ol'val, frightening the family of Mynock and a few other pairs from the colony to flee away to the opposite wall.

“For Fury Sake…” He muttered looking down at his telecom.

The last 4 days Archian spent climbing, swinging and jumping between rocks to finish the survey of increasing Myncock population at Port Ol'val, which wasn’t a surprise as the rocks inside were a perfect environment for them.

He opened the message and glanced at it. “I better get going there if I’m already at my second home.”

Red Shistavanen started to climb down, punching his fist armored in climbing claws making his way to the main pathway and where his Transporter was.

“Red, get your furry-butt to the docks!” Wyn called over comms as he continued to speak loudly, make a lot of movement, and try to draw the creatures attention to him.

“Lizard, Lizard, Lizrd!” he shouted, his voice carrying with the training of a seasoned performer.

Estle City
The Citadel “` It heard the screams of terror in it’s wake, heard the annoying blare of an alarm, though it continued towards the annoyance rather than avoiding it like it wanted to. It watched as the small creatures running about scurried out of it’s way, and the destruction it was causing on the way to it’s goal. There were other creatures running around nearby, but they only shot little tickles of energy along its limbs and underside.

The large looming pinnacle on the plateau above this city was the thing that was drawing it there. It needed… no wanted something from there… but couldn’t remember what. It was also searching for it’s missing bretheren.

Was that the energy signature it felt as it began to climb? Or was it the fact it felt pushed, directed towards this place?

A place it didn’t want to go. ”`

Port Ol'val Docks “` Caleb’s shots pounded against the creatures reinforced hide. On the far side next to one of its legs, Adele’s first stab rang hallow and harmless against the creatures hide, but the second she was able to angle her saber in between one of the scale-like armor of its body. At the same time, Revs uncloaked at the other leg and mimicked the angling of his blade between the scales.

It wasn’t much, but it did force the creature to abandon its position and move to another.

The Zillo beast writhed and wormed as it landed atop of a freighter that had been parked in the docks and left with half its cargo still yet to be loaded. Its claws and mass dug in like a hunting cat in a tree branch. It roared defiantly, green eyes flaring against its grayscale hide and the durasteel hull plating it perched atop creaked and crunched .

Then its eyes focused on the loud, and nearly blinding through the Force Quaestor of House Qel-Droma. It roared and lashed out with its spindly, sinous arms in an attempt to wrap and bind Wyndell. ”`

-# “Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao,”

Wyn chanted under his breath as the Defender manifested his will into a sphere around him to form a hardened barrier. The Zillo beast tries to wrap its long limb around the Human to try and grapple and crush and him, but Wyn’s barrier held true as a smug smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

At least he had its attention.

Adele’s eyes narrowed as the Zillo beast flew off, seemingly unaware of the fact that she had literally just stabbed it in the leg. It was bad enough that she didn’t have flashy powers. But now the critter was outright ignoring her?

She waved her hand at a nearby speeder that had been abandoned by the beast’s approach. “Hey ugly! Catch!”

The speeder vanished and reappeared above the Zillo beasts head. Gravity took hold, sending it crashing down on top of it.

Pulling the strings from deep seeded emotion, Anselm felt power boiling from within. He tapped into his passion, his intensity, his rage and his hands were ablaze with scorching flames.

He started throwing fireballs at the large beast, and upon seeing his sisters surprise, he grinned. The next three balls of flame hit the creatures eyes, and the engine of the speeder. His emotions acted as a powerful accellerant melting through the chassis. With a spark, the speeder burst into a raging inferno, lighting up Port Ol'val’s interior.

“Don’t you just love fireworks, dear sister?”

Revs watched Adele. “Not a bad idea!” He called to her. Holding out his hands he concentrated on a pile of nearby debris. Fist sized chunks of concrete started to float and then hurl themselves at the creature’s head.

Starlynn focused harder in her battle meditation and drew more on the Force, extending her will out to Wyn to strengthen his barrier.

Caleb ejected another spent shell. He adjusted his aim. The Togorian appreciated the distractions. Another round slid into position within the chamber of the rifle. He aimed higher, eyes scanning for weaknesses, data flicking across his helmet’s HUD. The soldier shifted ever so slightly, lining up his next shot, aiming to disable it at the hip. He fired. CRACK! The piercing round found its target.

Caleb chambered the next, fired again. His focus was all for that one spot.

Fort Blindshot “` The creature was seeing red, it’s brethren were no where in sight and it was in pain. This was the direction it was prodded in, and it assumed that whom ever was responsible for taking the others was near here.

The small irritating blasts and twinges of energy shot at it was just more of an inconvenience than actual damage. The only damage that was concerning, was the stabbing pain in it’s right side from where a metal splinter was stuck between scale and hide along it’s side. Otherwise, it continued it’s rampage towards the fort.

It was going to find out who did this to it and it’s brethren. ”`

While Koda awaited a full response, he fired up the engines of The Bastion as it rattled to life and ascended from the hanger. It didn’t require any special visuals to see the beast and the carnage it was wreaking.

“Dank farrik that things huge!” Koda flicked up a safety cover for the button to ready the ships weapons. The weapons energy started to coil through their systems and the Burst Cannon mounted to the hardpoint of the ship started to spin up. “…I’m going to ask for permission to fire once the dust settles.” Koda brought the ship closer, but far enough away that the beast would have to make a change in course to even get close to reaching it.

The beast’s size certainly presented a conundrum. Certainly, the Voidbreaker II could cause some damage, but that was out of the question currently. The Oracle made their way through the bustling soldiers and their weaponry. The creature was not here of its own volition… someone had planted it here. To what ends? Maximum carnage. That one was easy enough to decipher… but what was driving it once it had appeared near the fort? Was it driven to defend itself? Certainly that was likely enough, considering it was being fired upon indiscriminately. Except… wild beasts do not necessarily aim to attack without provocation or… an irritant? Something to cause it to become aggressive.

The Shistavanen puzzled as they walked. There was no point dashing forward. They knew they could only do so much personally against the creature. As they walked, the Force flowed through them, a whisper through bone and marrow, flesh and blood. From one shadow to the next, a Shistavanen melted away so a Cythraul could continue in its place, weaving through the chaos, never looking away from the Zillo Beast. Studying. Analyzing. Intellectually speaking, yes, someone set it upon them, but what kept it moving forward? Was it being baited? Was something pulling it somewhere? Someone? They did not know enough about it to say whether it was naturally aggressive. They could only work from the general understanding that not all animals are naturally aggressive.

Then why is this one acting aggressively? Mune needed to get closer, they decided, even if it was not to attack.

Tahiri quickly gave the Mandalorian the run down, as Bril had filled her in on the situation, and was able to finally get some semblance of the comms for the War Room up.

“Contain it the best you can, get it away if possible,” the Shadow Scion’s voice had tense edge to it. “If unable to subdue it, then once in the clear, take it down.”

“` The speeder crashed down onto the creature, causing it to rear and hiss, thrashing about. This of course turned the hull of the ship it was perched on to crumple even more.

Concussive Force continued to drill into the creatures resilient hide.

Then Anselem’s flames flickered and flowed, singing against the scales.

Rev’s contribution of a concrete projectile hammered into the creature just where the flames and Caleb’s shots run out. ”`

Wyn maintained the barrier, empowered by Starlynn’s boost, and managed to use his free hand to fire off consecutive shots from his Synergy Rifle.

“Keep attacking, the more it thrashes, the more it crumbles the ship its perched on. If we can keep it pinned down and the ship falters, it will drop off into the chasm of the asteroid!” Wyn’s voice carried across the docks theatrically.

Caleb growled into the comm, “Choose your poison. Thermal Detonator, Imploder, Denton Charge, Tripmine or Seismic Charge.”

The Togorian fired again, emptying the rifle. He began reloading fresh rounds, “If we can hit the shit or the creature with enough of a blast, we can ensure it does not manage to grab a hold of the dock or gain other leverage.”

He reacquired his target. “Just give the order and I can move in with explosives.”

*CRACK! *Another shot rang out.

The white-furred Cythraul closed on the creature. Observing its movements, how it moved, how it reacted to its many assailants. How its armoured hide moved and shifted like… plates… Hmm… Mune’s brain worked, watching… they barely dodged a vehicle that was thrown into their path by the flailing creature. Don’t fixate; a hover bike to the skull won’t help here.

Mune leapt, all four paws landing on another thrown vehicle before launching themself upward. Their body shifted, fur and muscle rippling. Flame coalesced, gathered into their hands before they threw both fireballs the distance to the Zillo, aiming for where the plates slid across each other. The flames roared and crackled across the armour. The Shistavanen landed on the ground, studiously watching. Plate armour has to have gaps… even if it is natural; find the gaps, and we should be able to disable it, Mune thought.

“Mune to the Citadel. I have a theory; it needs to be cross-referenced with data to be confirmed, but it couldn’t hurt to test.” Mune made sure the line was open to Blindshot and Ol'val communications as well. “Its hide is made up of armour plating, which means it needs to overlap when it moves, which also means there need to be gaps. Theoretically, those gaps can be taken advantage of if we can isolate them and focus on them.”

Ol'val

Uh…guys, come in, do you read me?“

Zigs voice came in over comms. "If you can get it into the Kas Tunnel, there is an emergency jettison rail that will use plasma energy to clear debris and eject it out of the asteroid and back into space. I can remotely trigger it with the er, Quaestor’s permissions.”

Zig did not actually need his permissions but was trying to be better about chain of command when it came to slicing.

“When we give the signal, make it so!” Wyn replied to the comm using his best starfleet commander voice.

He maintained the barrier as the Qel-Droman’s continued to berate it.

There was a woosh in the air and with momentum of high speed Star Commuter 2000 suddenly ram into the Zilla Beast head on into its chest.

The ship hit it and through the comms of the falling down ship everyone could hear “Red Wolf Down, I repeat Red Wolf Down.” The vehicle hit the rocks and rotated down the Docks.

“…that’s one way to do it,” Wyn murmured. “Red…you good!?” he called out, unsure of where the Shistavanen was.

Revs stared at the tumbling ship, jaw open in shock. “Did…um…did this just become a rescue mission?”

Wyn sighed.

Revs shoulders dropped as took a deep breath and exhaled. “Red Wolf. Im coming. Just hang tight.” He said through the coms as he took off running after the ship. Jumping from rock to rock. Using the Force to Amplify his movement he was able to cover the distance to the crashed ship fairly quickly.

Revs knocked three times on the ships hatch. “You alive in there buddy?!”

Adele tensed, watching as the Star Commuter slammed into the beast’s head, followed shortly by a distress signal on the coms. But it seemed Revs was already on it. She grinned at Anselm. “Those were so great fireworks. Let’s do it again.”

She waved her hand at another speeder, causing it to vanish from its place to appear over the Zillo’s head. A second later, it came crashing down.

“` The Zillo beast roared and cried out as the hull it had been perched and clinging to finally broke down from the mass of its weight. The ship would never again fly, even with the best of mechanics, and was no longer supporting the massive creature’s weight. The attacks from the Qel-Droman’s was relentless and varied enough.

It fell, away from where Revs leaped to save Archian, and when it tried to grab on to the ledge of the docks with its long spindly, armored arm, Adele’s projectile prevented that. The speeder was the last straw to send the creature falling and falling down to the distant carved asteroid, where it landed. ”`

“Now? Zig asked.

"Uh, yeah,” Wyn said, blinking at everything happening all at once. He lowered his barrier and blinked.

In the next moment, a pulsing light flared from outside the Docks where the creature had dissapeared. Then, a loud groaning noise as repulsors flared, followed by a scream of primal rage that got quieter and quieter as the Zillo beast was launched from the docks, through the Kas Tunnels, and out of Port Ol'val into the void of space.

Wyn winced, mentally calculating the damages and costs House Qel-Droma was going to need to put up, and all the smooth talking he’d need to do with the trading company that lost their ship…not to mention the other destruction…and figuring out how the damn thing got there.

Archian climbed up through the window from his crushed Commuter. “Yeah… Not the first time crushing around… Where is the Beast?” When said that words saw Zilla falling down and roaring out of space seconds later. He made a puppy wide eyes at Revs. “Bbbutttt I wanted to catch it, tame it, and hug it and love it…” He almost cried at the spot

“Archi we’ve been over this. You can’t keep Zillo beasts as pets. This is exactly why,” Wyn called.

Archian turned around and said with a sad murmuring. “But his name would be pickle, and he would live in the jungle…” He connected his pointing claws together. Then with a spark in his eyes asked.

“Are there more… I mean does anyone need help if there is another attack?”

Wyn looked around at the destruction all around the shadowports docks. He winced. “I sure hope not, bud,” the Quaestor replied. He glanced around at the others, then keyed up the comms.

“Ol'val to Citadel…how’s it going on your end? Our suggestions are to use fall damage and then launch it into space…not sure how much that helps ya’ll though. It might be a bit before we’re able to get the Qel-Droman’s to Selen…and we need to start with the clean up process here.”

Revs patted Archian on the back. “Its ok buddy. I think there is another one at Blindshot, If you think you can get a ship and make it in time…..if not we can get some icecream or something. ”

“What ship?” Wyn asked, casually gesturing around the dock. “I know you’re blind, but, c'mon Revs.”

Wyn spoke back into the comms. “Nice shooting Caleb..you can join us now if you want…”

“I said IF!” Revs through his hands out wide. “Way to be pessimistic boss.”

Caleb was already climbing down from his vantage point. It was a few minutes before he reached the rest of the group. “I’ll bill the ammunition to the port, citing pest control.”

Headphones blocked out the sounds of seemingly mindless button presses and frustrated grunts and groans coming from the couch. She loved that Sebastian found something fun to do at home, despite not understanding the appeal at all. But she hadn’t grown up with holo games.

Lektra busied herself with studying for an upcoming exam, her eyes scanning over textbooks while she absently took notes. Unlike her lover, she didn’t share that same sense for danger, so it wasn’t until he yelled that she finally recognized that something happened. She tore her headphones off, tossing them aside.

The vigilante looked to Sebastian for a short moment before she darted to the bedroom to don her armor. Whether it was an attack or simply a natural disaster, there would be people in need of help. While she was busying herself getting ready, her Sebastian called his mentor Bril to try and figure out what was going on.

When Lektra exited the room, Sebastian almost looked disappointed, but he didn’t word his concern. The man explained the situation and without much fanfare, Lektra led the man out the door and towards the speeder garage. “Don’t drop Yams and hold on tight,” she said as they boarded the Galeres company speeder. Sure there was a beast in the city, but there were plenty of members of Arcona that lived there. Bril was alone, he needed help, and they would provide.

The fighting had already begun when the pair finally arrived. The trip had taken longer than either of them would have preferred, but they made it all the same. Lektra dropped Sebastian off at the fort’s armory before flying off with her jetpack towards Bril and the DDF forces.

Upon landing, she turned to her lover’s mentor and did a very lackluster salute. “I’m here to help,” she said. <@315438760428961793>

Ellisyn Kendis

Blindshot

Mune instructed the forces to focus fire on what the Shistavanen surmised were the potential weak spots. They also instructed the forces still nearer the fort to hasten the evacuation of surrounding civilians in case the creature got any closer to those facilities. The Oracle reached out through the Force. They knew Bril and Lektra were not far off.

“Sir! The charges are set as ordered,” A soldier reported. “If this doesn’t work…”

“Let us not dwell on it. Focus on the task.”

“Artillery is in position. They know where to aim.”

Mune nodded slowly, mind wandering through innumerable paths. “Bril. Lektra. Get ready,” was all the Voidbreaker II captain said before he was once more in the form of a Cythraul, unable to speak, racing toward the point of planned engagement.

The creature roared, moving inexorably toward the fort, unsuspecting of the trap that lay before it. Soldiers held their breath. A mighty foot came down upon rock and earth; before, all at once, the air was filled with dust, debris and balls of sweltering flame. The earth disintegrated from under it. The screech of shock, of rage, of pain as it tumbled downward. The terrain became its enemy in moments. The creautre would be shaken, off balance, disoriented. Mune also calculated their advantage would not last long.

Shifting from Cythraul to Shista, they gave the order as soon as they could speak again, and artillery rang out.

“Bril! Lektra! Get ready! It will be back up within minutes!” Mune was not guessing; they knew.

“Roger that…I’ll see if I can draw it’s attention and pull it away from the city.” Koda flew the Bastion around, searching for what could act as the path of least resistance out of the city if he could manage to blast the beast enough to get its attention.

Archian looked with hope at Revs.

“Permission to look for ships in working condition.” Red salute to Wyn.

| Fort Blindshot

“` As the roar of the wounded creature echoed across the island. It slowly rose from the debris, though found that the rubble had pinned one arm. Even as the Zillo Beast twisted and bashed against the rubble to free itself, a shrieking whistle came through the air before several bolts, shells and explosives hit their precisely aimed mark.

The beast screamed and tried to knock any of the incoming barrage, but to no avail. The concussion from the explosive rounds was enough to make the rod in it’s side vibrate.

Watching the scene playout on the view screen made the creatures cries no less painful to the Beastmaster than if was one of her own creatures.

"Mune, Lektra, Bril,” Tahiri sighed. “Whatever poison gas canisters you have in there at the fort, throw it at the Zillo Beast. It’s going to be the only way to effect and actually take it down. Call back any forward troops and pound it with the strongest poison you have.” “`

Mune watched the beast struggle and writhe, hearing Tahiri’s orders through a ringing in their ears. They snapped back to reality within a moment and listened when the orders were repeated. “I had the teams here prepare sleeping gas. Gas masks have been distributed. I can have them switch to poison, if that is what you really want…”

They knew full well she would have no desire to harm the creature further, much as Mune disliked the idea of further harming it… let alone killing it.

Mune motioned; they felt no need to wait for the order to be adjusted. “We’ll need containment, though.”

The soldiers began to gas the creature with the strongest sedative gas they had. Mune stayed where they were to oversee. The creature was not going to get back up, not here, anyway. The Shistavanen found themself puzzling over the why of it… who set the creatures upon them… The Oracle had a lot of thinking to do, or perhaps, a lot of walking of future paths to unravel the mystery before them.

“It was in pain before we downed it, while it is out, we should have someone with the correct knowledge look it over. It may hold a clue for us to follow,” Mune suggested, before finally turning away.

The creature’s cries faded as consciousness fled. Mune could only hope the situation was handled at the Citadel.

Tahiri gave the Shistavanen a small smile upon hearing sleep gas. She simply nodded to Mune, trusting their judgement in the given situation. Then turned back to her own situation, now that the other two sectors were on their way to being dealt with and contained.

| Citadel, Estle City

“` The Zillo beast outside continued it’s slow climb up the tiered city towards the cliffs pinnacle. Other than the destruction that lay in the creatures wake, there was no other want of destruction. It didn’t go after the citizens fleeing, and fully ignored the pock shots from soldiers.

Turning away from the scene unfolding at Fort Blindshot, in full confidence that Mune, Bril and Lektra would be able to contain the beast promptly. The Shadow Scion nodded and asked Luka to watch over the war room. Then she strode towards the lifts, to take her up to the top of the Citadel. All the while she tapped into Koda’s comm from her personal one.

"Koda, slow the Zillo’s assent, don’t worry too much about hurting it, or extra destruction,” a sly smile cut across her lips. “If my plan works, we’ll have a playmate for Drogon.”

Then she opened comms to anyone in transit and within the city.

“Attention, if anyone is able to and is masterful in controling creatures or manipulate minds, meet me, the Shadow Scion, at the top of the Citadel ASAP.”

Meanwhile… A shuttle had already left Port Ol'val and was about to enter the atmosphere of Selene. It carried a few Arconan members coming to help.
“`

<@395091612952297484> <@571544963607822336> <@141239709291511808> <@534224904917352493>

While in the Shuttle aiming to arrive at Citadel soon, Archian quickly opened every possible file that he gained and had access to Zillo Beast information.

“Feeding on electricity, early research suggests possibility of sentient thoughts but never fully confirmed, vulnerable between in armored plates. Hm… This opens a few possibilities and options.”

Tahiri only had to wait for a few minutes before Lucine swept in. She looked like she was going to an afternoon tea party instead of a battle. Her hair was swept up in an artfully messy pile atop her head, held in place with a pin decorated with sapphires cut into delicate flowers and emerald leaves. Her jewelry perfectly matched the hair clip, and also matched the intricate pattern on her green and black dress.

Tabriss followed behind her, an ever-present shadow. He said nothing, merely bowing to Tahiri as Lucine dropped into a graceful curtsey.

“My dear Shadow Scion!” she said in cheerful greeting. “I do apologize for my tardiness, but that awful creature caused the shop I was in to collapse when it started attacking! It took forever to dig ourselves out. So! I understand you require someone with my particular talents?”

The Togruta gave both Lucine and Tabriss a short bow of respect in return, tucking her datapad away. She knew that the Sith Equites’ prowess with mind manipulation and illusions had helped greatly in their SARLACC battle against genetically modified creatures, so she was glad that the red head was able to come and help.

“Lucine, it’s good to see you,” flashing her bright fanged smile. “I’m sorry to hear about the shop collapsing, Glad you weren’t hurt, and hopefully no one else was.”

Glancing towards the edge of the roof, where the roars were slowly getting closer, the Mistress Elder nodded.

“And yes, your talents came in handy before, when dealing with big creatures. I have a few ideas, but I need someone to help both defensively and offensively if needed.”

Tahiri quickly went over her ideas, as she wanted to either; see if the beast was being controlled, and if so, they could break it’s handlers control and take over instead, making the creature do as they commanded instead. Or if it wasn’t possible to take control, then they needed to get it up and out of the city, and then take it down from there.

“There’s a shuttle arriving shortly with a few others to help, otherwise Koda is hopefully slowing it’s asset enough for us to gather.”

“Controlling the beast’s mind,” Lucine repeated thoughtfully. “Well, I suppose it is worth a try. If it does not work, I do know of a few illusions that might lure the thing out of the city.”

She crossed the tower so that she could see the Zillo Beast, narrowing her eyes at the thing that had ruined what had otherwise been an excellent shopping trip. “Do you think the shops will reopen for the day once that thing is taken care of? I found an adorable pair of shoes that I would like to go back and buy.”

As she spoke, she drew upon the Force, extending her mind and her will toward thr Zillo Beast. It’s consciousness was not hard to find. It was large and animalistic, consumed with rage, fear and hunger. And perhaps, buried beneath all of that, a spark of intelligence. She could work with that. “There it is.”

Dark tendrils for Force energy slipped into the creature’s mind, seeking to grab its attention and subordinate its will to her own. “Sit”

“` The Zillo Beast looked up at the tiny speck of red hair near the top of the building that was it’s target. Then it shook it’s head and roared, still climbing instead of obeying the command it had heard. Something else clicked inside it’s mind, and it’s pupels grew a little as the effect of whom was controlling took hold.

From within the shuttle, Archian could see the massive creature’s assent, and a small group of people who gathered at the top of the Citadel. ”`

“Red here. Where is the main supply energy connector at Citadel?” Shistavanen asked through the commlink everyone who was actively listening.

“It’s within the base of the Citadel,” the Shadow Scion replied. “However, I have already had tech’s working on a power conductor at the top of of the Citadel.”

She glanced over at the coil already hooked up and ready to be powered with a massive amount of the electricity.

“The beast will be up here any minute now,” she quickly motioned for everyone with her to stand to side.

“Good. Let’s teach this Bastards who controls it that Good Shock Therapy still works.” Archian sniffed and jumped out from Transport as soon as it reached the top, and stood a side with others.

“Slow it down? Understood, opening fire.” Koda flicked off the safety switch for the burst cannon and unloaded into the beast. Massive bolts of energy began to fly out of the spinning barrel of the undermounted cannon under The Bastion. They pelted the the Zillo beast in the head and down its neck, uncertain of if it would actually hurt or just feeling like getting hit by a Nerf dart.

| Estle City | The Citadel “` The Zillo Beast roared and struck out with it’s third arm at the stinging menace that was flying behind it, still continuing it’s ascent towards the top of the great tower.

"Koda, cease fire. Can you fly up a little closer to the top?” Tahiri asked over the comm link. “I gonna need you in case this big guy decides to throw me off.”

“On my way!” Koda broke off engagement and positioned The Bastion just down and to the left of the top of the Citadel. Tahiri saw where he was and calculated what needed to be done. She had already talked with Archian and he had a solid addition to her plans.

“Archian, be ready. Calm and break whatever mind control this poor beast has on it,” nodding her head to the red head. “And then Lucine, be ready with that illusion to get it down in the landing pad area.”

All three nodded and got ready to do their set tasks, just as the fingers of a hand curled over the top of the Citadel’s roof. The petite Togruta reached into the river of the Force surrounding her, collecting and absorbing as much of it as she could hold in. This wasn’t going to be easy.

The Shadow Scion stood in the middle of the roof, and waited as the creature’s head rose over the lip and slowly pulled itself onto the roof. The creature seeing her, roared as it swept it’s one arm forward to the grab the Togruta. Only to find it hand sweep through mist.

Tahiri smiled to herself, before jumping up onto the arm and running up it towards the head. The beast began to turn it’s head in her direction, she amplified the already tense muscles within her legs, making an arcing leap to get her close and using it’s horns to help get her atop the creature’s head. Once on top, she placed her hand on the forehead plate and gave the creature an overwhelming command that was stern, yet almost lovingly.

Stop!

The Zillo Beast paused in both it’s movements and even whimpered a slight bit before it’s pupils yet again dilated and the it began to fight back against her command. However, Tahiri wasn’t done.

“Lucine! Archian!” Hearing their names both nodded and added their own power to hers. Archian helped in reinforcing the Togruta’s creature control, while Lucine added her mind trick to the mix.

STOP!

They all shouted at once, which overwhelmed and broke the mind control. As the Zillo Beast raised it’s head and slowly shook it, growling softly as it’s mind cleared, though that action made it hard for Shadow Scion to stay atop it’s head. Tahiri waved for Koda to come closer, the Mando quickly and carefully flew closer, allowing her to expertly jumping from the beasts head to the wing of his ship.

“Take me in front of the beast, Koda.”

“You got it,” expertly maneuvering to the front of the front and just twenty meters away. The beast looked at the ship and then at the tiny Togruta standing on top of it.

She reached out again, and this time instead of the single-mindedness she had felt before, Tahiri felt confusion, longing,and hunger.

I know you’re scared, but if you come with us, we can take you somewhere safe. And feed you.

She couldn’t be sure that the creature understood her or not, but she needed to show it that she meant no harm. She motioned for Koda to go down a little, once he had, she jumped off and he resumed a flight path around the top of the Citadel.

Landing in front of the beast, she craned her neck to look up at it. Stretching out a hand she smiled and sent warmth across the small connection.

You must be tired, as well as hungry.

She glanced to both Archian and Lucine, who nodded in return as they executed to next portion of their plan. Archian commanded his Mynock to grab the now charged battery and flew up with it to show the creature. “`

“` The Zillo lowered it’s head and looked between all the little creatures in front of it and then at the Mynock with the juicy electrical container it held. After what seemed like forever, the Zillo let put a deep rumble, and even though it didn’t lower it head enough for Tahiri’s outstretched hand, it slowly blinked at her.

"Okay. Lucine, tell the troops to be ready,” she kept her eyes on the beast. “Archian, tell your Mynock to fly the battery down into the cage. Go slow and no sudden movements.”

Both did as ordered and the beast watched, and waited for a moment, before it glanced down again, feeling her warmth. It slowly went half over, half around the top portion of the Citadel, following where the Mynock had gone, and looked at the somewhat seemingly cozy cave it had gone into.

It looked back at Tahiri before it climbed down and into the landing bay below, which is what Lucine had illusioned as a cave. The Mynock set the battery down on the floor and then flew quickly back to Archian, taking a wide berth around the Zillo Beast as it descended into the bay.

“Turn on the field, and let it sleep,” as Tahiri authorized the slow indutroduction of sleeping gasses to the now shielded bay.

The creature looked up, but then gave a soft growl before curling around the battery and feeding before slowly falling asleep.

“Well, now that’s taken care of, we need to figure out why and how theses creatures got here.”

“`