Private Dragon Slayer

[Dylan Marsek]

Tags: Valery Noble

”Alright,” the match in his fingertips sparkled to life as the man struck the side of the matchbox with it; the dark gray eyes of the veteran merc glistened from the dancing flames as he lit up a new cigarra. ”Let’s go over the details, one last time,” Skif said as spared a glance at his men, gathered around him by the holotable. Shifting his gaze from the featureless, emotionless, tinted helmet visors looking at him, the man set his eyes on the holographic projection before him. The third dimensional outline drawing of Coruscant’s level 516 was laid out over the holo table; residential districts, trade districts, streets, back alleys, sewage access points on every street.

”Listening into the chatter between CSF units, we’ve received reports of a creature matching the descriptions of the target our client would like to get her hands on,” Raising the cigarra to his lips, the man took a long drag; the smoke rolled out his mouth and nostrils as he heaved a sigh before continuing. ”We’ll be getting hazard pay for our troubles for this one. The beast is highly dangerous. The karker’s already wreaked havoc in that level, tearing down multiple residential complexes and killing a few hundred from the civpop in the area,” Skif said, scratching his stubble before taking another drag from his smoke. ”Evacuating the level, the CSF has cordoned off the level at an attempt to contain the beast from moving over to other levels,”

<”Hmph,”> Tower smirked underneath his tinted visor; standing beside the young explosives specialist, his arms crossed. <”Like that’ll do any good for ‘em,”> the man muttered.

”Aye,” the veteran squad leader nodded slowly. ”Alone and without the numbers they need to try and take it out, they won’t stand a chance against it.” the man said. Ironically, numbering up to only twenty mercs in total, several of which would not be on the ground with them as they were assigned to carry out exfil operations with the package, they too did not have the numbers that they conventionally required to take out the beast.

But they had something the CSF lacked, which made this entire operation possible with such low manpower to begin with. ”As you’ve all read the details yourselves by now, our client’s been quite generous and thoughtful to us, providing us with the data on the creature we need to pull this off smoothly,” tapping the smoke gently a few times, Skif flicked off the creeping ash of his cigarra as he spoke. ”Karker’s tough, but we got the equipment, and a solid plan. Now,” The man pressed a button on the holo table; the projection switched from the blueprints of the level to a holo recording that had captured the final moments of the beast’s most recent rampage on the level. Having feasted on the unfortunate souls that were unlucky to cross paths with it, unable to escape from it, the men clad in unmarked, jetblack armor in the room watched the sithspawn retreat to the sewers underneath the level.

”It’s nestled up somewhere in there. Now, we’re gonna draw it out from hiding into this killzone,” the man said as he looked over to Dylan while he mentioned “drawing it out”. The kid let out a low, troubled sigh at the mention, as Skif brought up the plans to the level again. Pointing at one section of a street with his cigarra, the man continued with the short briefing. ”The street here, at least a sizable part of it, has collapsed into the sewage tunnels underneath it. That’s where we’re gonna draw it out from, execute our ambush, and kill the karkin’ overgrown lizard. However,” the man said, finishing his cigarra with one last hefty drag. ”No plan is perfect, and no plan survives first contact intact. If chit hits the fan, we disperse and break contact with the kriffer, regroup at the rally point, and give it another go after we assess the situation.”

”Any last minute questions? the man said, sparing a glance at each and every one of his colleagues in the room. As he expected, he was met with silence. This was a quick refresher of the briefing they had a few hours ago aboard their ship,while they were enroute to Coruscant. Some had raised good points during the briefing, with some parts of the plan changed to make up for the flaws in the execution of the hunt his men had noticed.

”Alright then,” he said, as he flicked the spent cigarra bud on the ground, putting it out as he stepped on it with his boot. ”We roll out in ten. Get the last minute equipment checks out the way. Let’s get it done, lads!”

Night Patrol​

Debris and rubble strewn all over the streets crunched and crumbled underneath Dylan’s boot, as he reluctantly made his way to his insertion point; the cave-in on the road. Thick columns of smoke, both far and close, filled the night sky as several buildings burned like pyres; the lively orange flames winked at him, shining off his tinted bright blue helmet visor. He could make out the silhouettes of several dead and torn bodies, abandoned to rot on the streets as he walked. It was his first time seeing a body of a sentient. It wasn’t up close, or close enough to make out the more gruesome, scarring details, but it was gruesome enough for him. The light rain dribbled and trickled off his jetblack armor and combat uniform. Packing light to fulfill his part for the task at hand, he had left behind his black assault pack and particle rifle with his battle buddy, Aiden; keeping everything else, the kid only took a single detpack and the clacker from his backpack with him, tucking them into an empty pouch on his chest rig.

Just in case if he couldn’t outrun the damn lizard.

He wasn’t going to be eaten and get digested alive. No sir. The kid very much prefered to die by his own hand, and perhaps take the karker down with him while he was at it.

If it ever came to that.

<”Remind me why we’re not using a probe for this?”> the kid asked over the squad comlink as he slowly closed up the distance to his insertion point. He was to play the bait to draw it out. Being the most athletic, agile and fastest of the bunch had its downsides, too.

Why did he had to outperform everybody else in his unit during that damn obstacle course anyway?

The voice of his battle buddy chirped in his ears shortly after, as the kid cursed silently at his misfortune, having been chosen to play the role of bait. <”Signal’s not strong enough to penetrate deep into the ground to maintain a connection with the probe, man.”> he said, sounding rather apologetic. He too did not like the idea of having one of them being forced to be used as bait to draw their target out of hiding. He

The fatherly voice of the seasoned squad leader chimed in after Aiden. <”We’re going to be losing coms with you after a certain point, once you go deep. When you get that karker’s attention, you run like hell, and straight back to the killzone. We’ll keep it in bay while you get out of the way and run into cover,”>

No response from the kid came as he now stared at the large cave-in before him. His chest plate rose and fell rapidly as his heart rate skyrocketed; the young merc's hands balled into fists as he looked down into the pitchblack sewage tunnel in front of him.

<”You got this, son.”> The man said; his tone, and his genuine belief that he would be alright, was noticeable in his words. It helped soothe the young mercenary’s anxiety and fear, giving him the confidence he needed.

<”Okay,”>Reaching for a handheld tactical glow rod from his chest rig, the kid drew his sidearm from his right thigh holster. <“Moving in. I’ll see you guys soon.”> Stepping forward, sliding down over the ramp-like pile of rubble and debris and into the sewage, through the cave-in, the kid began to make his way deep into the sewers, following the massive footprints the dragon had left in his wake, aside from the long streaks of blood, smeared on the filthy ground and walls.

Topside, the remainder of mercs lied in wait; some atop the roofs of the deserted buildings, some behind wrecks and debris, and in their hastily made fighting positions, ready to spring the trap and execute the ambush on the beast, as soon as the kid drew it out to the designated killzone for the ambush.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Coruscant | Level 516
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsabers
Tag: Dylan Marsek

"Hmm..."

Valery mumbled to herself while she glanced down at the tactical computer she had integrated into her vambrace. It allowed her to download and process large amounts of data, which mostly included maps of the level and individual districts, as well as security footage of the area. In fact, the authorities were live-feeding her footage along a secured channel while she moved through the dark to hunt down the corrupted beast responsible for an incredible loss of life on Coruscant already.

It was one of very few things that forced Valery back into her old role as a Jedi Shadow — there weren't many of them out there anymore, but their specialized skills to find and purge anything tainted by the Dark Side was unrivaled. The creature that was wreaking havoc in the underbelly of the City-world was also beyond anything Coruscant had seen in a long time. In the aftermath of the Maw's incursion, many beasts were left behind as well, but few were as dangerous as this winged monstrosity.

So to deal with it, they had called on Valery specifically, which meant she once again stood within her Cloak, gazing down at the streets below from one of the rooftops. She kept her presence in the Force suppressed in case the beast could otherwise feel it, and followed the trails of its destructive path and the security footage she was receiving.

According to her latest intel, it had moved into the sewers, likely to rest or to feast on whatever it had brought down there with it.

However, as she approached the entry point she was looking for, she spotted something that drew her attention, "What the..." her gaze narrowed at the men on the rooftops and down below. They looked like they were armed to the teeth but she had seen Sithspawn wipe far larger groups than this without any problems. They were all lined up as if they were waiting for something to get out, but what really worried her was the single man she watched entering on his own.

"Fools... " she gritted her teeth and quickly adjusted the plans she made. The beast had killed enough innocents and even though these men had likely signed up to be here, she couldn't allow this creature to kill anymore of them. So without any further delays, she jumped down, still in her Cloak so nobody could detect her, and moved into the sewers after Dylan Marsek .

 

[Dylan Marsek]

Tags: Valery Noble

The Underground​

<”Talk to me, man. How’s it looking down there?”> Aiden chirped into his ear as the young lad silently vaulted over a large piece of debris. Holstering his pistol for a moment, the young merc reached for a blue, high intensity chemlight from his chest rig. Every minute he chucked down a chemlight on the path he took, marking down where he passed to make it easier to track back his movement and reach the surface from his insertion point, which also doubled as the intended killzone for the beast. His wrist computer on his right wrist also mapped the path he took, but he reckoned he might not be given the respite to check that while a big kark off overgrown lizard chased him in the undergrounds.

Cracking the military glow stick in his hands, the merc and his close surroundings were painted in a lively hue of blue. <”Well if you’re so curious, why don’t you come down here and see it for yourself?”> the young man quipped as he tossed it onto the ground. Joking, to relieve some stress. Tensed up and on edge, the kid had started to see things in the dark, his mind playing tricks on him; oddly shaped debris looked like silhouettes of men, until he shone a flashlight on them and got a better look as to what they were with his night vision. Under severe lack of light, the night vision device did not function as intended. He needed a little bit of light for it to work.

The occasional rattle of the pipes stretching along the tunnels also didn’t help with his situation either.

<”Hah, I’d just slow you down.”> the young techie responded, continuing the chatter with him. Every two minutes they spoke to check up on him, making sure he was alright and was still within comlink range.

And to also know when exactly they lost comms with him.

<”Well ain’t that a shame? Knee deep in chit water, aaalll by myself,”> The kid idly said as he drew his sidearm from his right thigh holster again. Locking the backsides of his wrists together, the glow rod in his left hand and the sidearm on the other, the kid kept the particle pistol at a low-ready stance as he shone the light on the trail of footprints of the beast.

It’s claws… they were twice broader than his chest!

<”Wouldn’t say no to some company right about now…”> the merc muttered into his helmet comlink as he walked past the small crater of a claw mark left on the damp, dirty ferroconcrete.

<”I’ll keep you company over the comlink as long as I can,”> his battle buddy tried to placate him, and to an extent, this helped even though he was all by himself under the ground, wading through the slimy, nasty sewage looking for the beast that lied somewhere within. Slowly, it was starting to get nerve wracking. Call it paranoia, but he felt like he was being watched by it; something’s gaze sweeping over him. Scared, he would look over his shoulder on a few occasions. Chatting with his best friend made it easier to bear with all this.

<”Tell you what,”> he said; much to Dylan’s dismay, he began to hear static, interference in the comlink as he continued walking down the sewage tunnels. He was audible still, but for now. <”Once this is done, I’m gonna buy you a whole round of be-”>

His voice degrading further and further, what the young merc dreaded finally come to passing.

<”Aiden? Aiden!”> coming to an abrupt halt, the young lad shouted in a low tone at an attempt to raise the squad’s techie and get into contact with him again; afraid of having his voice echoing into the ears of the beast he sought after, he didn’t try for too long. All he could hear was nothing but that annoying, crackling sound of static.

He was alone.

Heaving a deep sigh to keep his cool and stay frosty, the kid pressed on despite that blow to his morale. Raising forth his particle pistol and the flashlight along with it, the kid moved with extra caution, moving as quietly and as stealthily as possible in the sewers, following the tracks of the beast had left in its wake.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Coruscant | Level 516
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsabers
Tag: Dylan Marsek

He wasn't really alone.

From within her Cloak, Valery was watching him and listened to the last few seconds of conversation with his fellow squad member. Luckily, with the trail of lights Dylan had left behind, finding him had been very easy. But the yelling over the now interrupted comm channel had also drawn her attention, and hopefully not that of the beast. After a moment longer of watching though, it was finally time to reveal herself, before it was too late and the Sithspawn's attention was drawn.

"You shouldn't be here alone," Valery said as she suddenly stepped out of her Cloak behind him.

She had a feeling that the sudden appearance could startle him, so she ignited one of her lightsabers and idly held it between her and the mercenary, but her tone and body language made it clear she wasn't going to attack, "None of you should be here. Who are you and why are you trying to hunt this beast alone?"

"Do you have any idea what you're up against?"

She tried her best not to sound agitated or condescending, but it was a bit difficult. At the very least though, her tone came from a good place — the idea of more people losing their lives to this creature wasn't something she wanted to accept. Not with her being here to stop it from doing just that. And while these mercenaries were armed to the teeth, more often than not people without a connection to the Force weren't as up-to-date on how to deal with Sithspawn.

They were very tricky beasts to deal with.

"We should get out of here before it's too late."

 

[Dylan Marsek]

Tags: Valery Noble

Layin’ Low​

Topside, the squads continued to wait under the light rain on their guard, waiting for their colleague to draw out the beast from hiding and into the designated killzone. Slowly, the rain started to pick up, much to the veteran squad leader’s displeasure. According to the intel they were given by their thoughtful client, the highly noxious breath of the beast turned into a highly corrosive acid when it came into contact with water of any kind. That had the potential to complicate things during their mission. And they couldn’t just call this off and wait for the rain to subside either. No. This had to be done now.

<”Dylan,”> Taking one last drag, the old merc flicked the spent cigarra down the shattered window in front of him, and slipped on his helmet as he turned around. Sparing a glance at their tech specialist as he tried to make contact with him soon after they lost comms with their explosive specialist, the former was trying everything in his power and every trick in the book he knew to restore communications with his battle buddy.

Even though he knew it was futile. The young merc was way too deep underground for their comlinks to raise him now.

<”Come in, Dylan,”> the man spoke into the comlink channel as he fine tuned the frequency adjustment knobs on his comlink. <” Dylan, come in. Do you read me?”> Trying a few more times, the young techie slammed his fist against the ferrocrete wall beside him in frustration and mild anger. <”Kark sake!”> His voice boomed in the deserted apartment room.

<”Settle down, lad. He’s gonna be alright, now move to your assigned position.”> Skif said as he walked towards the other side of the room. Looking up at him from his wrist computer, the young techie gave a reluctant nod of his head as he flipped down the device’s screen. Standing up swiftly, the kid reached for his particle blaster and walked out the room, heading out to his assigned position at a brisk pace.

Although Skif had reasons to be worried for the lad, just like Aiden, he did not doubt the young lad would somehow pull it off his part of the mission, and come back in one piece. He was a good kid, and a valuable member of their squad, even though he was a bit inexperienced.

A gentle breeze had no difficulty flowing into the room from the completely broken-down western frontage as Skif approached the edge of the ruin. Metal bars jutted out freely from the edge of the torn floor. Looking down at the roof of a low-rise building to his northwest, the veteran squad leader’s voice called out to his men positioned on top of the roof. <”Wolf. Nimble. Are the spotlights ready?”> he asked as he grasped the particle rifle, suspended over his chest plate by its sling, looking at the pair of silhouettes positioned on the rooftop.

<”Everything’s set, waiting on your signal.”> Wolf reported in, right after Skif’s inquiry. <”Ready and waiting,”> the latter responded shortly after Wolf. Waiting for the old merc’s command, they were ready to blind the beast by turning on the high power spotlights, debilitating the creature by taking away its eyesight, for how long that would last.

The old merc acknowledged their check-ins wordlessly, with a satisfied grunt. <”Stay sharp. I don’t think we’ll have to wait for too long. ”> the man said as he switched off from their comlink channel over their circuit, and patched into his own squad’s network. Turning around, the man walked towards his position in the building; his dark gray eyes scanned the thick columns of smoke in the distance, taking in the level of destruction the beast had caused, occasionally shifting his gaze over the killzone.

<”Come on lad,”> he muttered to himself, rooting for him as if he could hear him, even if that wasn’t the case.

Lying in wait, the chatter of the mercs did not escalate any further than radio checks, as they stood still behind their piece of cover and listened for any sounds or the tremors of the very ground beneath their feet that would signal them the beast was coming, hot in Dylan’s heels.

"You shouldn't be here alone," Valery said as she suddenly stepped out of her Cloak behind him.

Barely a moment after the young lad lost contact with his battle buddy over his helmet comlink, a voice of a woman coming from right behind him reached his ears. A shiver ran down his spine, as he was certain there was nobody but himself and the beast he sought after to be in the sewers. Turning around at an instant to get eyes on the unidentified contact, the kid’s sidearm was raised forth at the silhouette of the woman, just a few feet away from him. Her eyes glowed with a grainy, bright green hue in the dark as the young merc looked at her through his night vision.

How did she snuck up on him like that?

Accompanied by that distinct snap-hiss of a saber turning on, the sudden change in light coming from the woman’s direction caused him to blink a few times as he stumbled back several steps, till his helmet’s visor polarized to accommodate the shift of the light conditions of his environment. Making out the general details of a lightsaberat a quick glance, the young merc’s heart pounded against his chest plate, thinking he was under attack. His muscles tensing up for a potential fight in his near future, the young merc swiftly combat rolled rearwards to get distance in between her in response to the lightsaber drawn at him, exiting the combat roll in a crouch.

The heavy blaster pistol brought to bear on the woman, Dylan’s finger trigger slid onto the hair trigger of the blaster pistol without his notice; his training taking over.

"None of you should be here. Who are you and why are you trying to hunt this beast alone?"

"Do you have any idea what you're up against?"

Thinking he would be attacked by a lightsaber wielding combatant, he was taken by surprise when she asked him what they were doing here. They? The young merc’s head tilted slightly to the left as he kept the glowrod and particle blaster pistol combo pointed at her. She must have seen his squadmates topside before heading underground, he assumed.

It was also clear to assume she was under the impression he had set out to hunt the beast… alone? The kid raised an eyebrow underneath his bright blue visor at her presumption. He was inexperienced, not stupid.

And qualified to carry out what he was tasked to do today. He was only supposed to get the beast to the surface, playing the role of bait. They had a whole ambush set up for the overgrown lizard.

He wasn’t sure how to interact with what he perceived as an “unknown contact”. Sure, she looked like a Jedi, at least what he thought what one would look like, and was still alive, so she did not harbor ill intent towards him. Yet, at least.

Under normal circumstances, he’d raise Skif over the comms and request the old merc to advise him. Seeing as he had no way of getting in touch with his squad lead, and others, he was unsure how to answer her question for the time being, as the woman's objective and her reason to be here in the sewers remained ambiguous to him. She knew of the sithspawn they were after, that was for sure. Was she also going after it? He could only assume until it was revealed to him, but it was a safe bet she was after it.

<”You have a habit of sneaking up on people like that?”> the young lad said in a hushed tone, barely suppressing his agitation. Heaving a breath at an attempt to calm himself, he relaxed some as he saw she did not assume a stance to lunge out for an attack against him; the young merc lowered his sidearm and glowrod combo in response to her stance, but only just. He relaxed, but did not let his guard down just in case.

<”Well… My Ma’ warned me not to talk to strangers,”> the young merc innocently quipped as he asked for her identity; joking to relieve some stress and anxiety from the unexpected encounter. Unsure of her ambitions to be here, he was reluctant to reveal his name, and the details of the op he knew, for now.

"We should get out of here before it's too late."

When he was proposed the idea to move topside before he found the dragon, the young lad shook his head a mere moment after. <”Cannot comply. I have a task to carry out,”> The young merc refused. To him, leaving the sewers now meant letting down Skif, and his squadmates. And the thoughtful gesture behind the proposition to head back up and leave was… strange, coming from a complete stranger. The young merc, as well as the others topside, were all nobodies to her. Why’d she care?

<”What are you here for?”> the kid would ask, soon after he refused her proposition, wondering if her reason for being here would interfere with their mission. He assumed she also intended to kill the beast, seeing as she was a Jedi, but her execution of her mission... Would it interfere with theirs?

Unsure of the answer, the kid remained on guard as he was, expecting answers.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Coruscant | Level 516
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsabers
Tag: Dylan Marsek

It was to be expected that her sudden appearance would startle him — it's why she had drawn her lightsaber — but to see him shift into a combat roll so quickly and draw his weapon to defend himself was still quite surprising, yet interesting to see. Despite the barrel pointing in her direction though, Valery didn't even move an inch. She could sense no danger or hostile intent through the Force, and knew he wasn't going to be shooting at her because of it.

So she remained relaxed and gave him a moment to process everything that happened.

<"You have a habit of sneaking up on people like that?">

"Only when it's necessary," she said in response and now that he was talking, and had calmed down enough, she tapped the switch on her hilt and allowed the violet blade to vanish again. As a Keshian, she didn't need its light to see in the dark, and he had the equipment to still keep an eye on her as well.

<"Well… My Ma' warned me not to talk to strangers,">

Valery narrowed her eyes and gave him a 'really?' type of glare for a moment before she clipped the hilt to her belt. He had lowered his weapons but she hoped that with her gesture, he'd keep the barrels of his guns away from her entirely. "If it means anything to you, I'm Jedi Master Valery Noble. As I'm sure you know, that beast up ahead is quite dangerous, and I'm here to take it out. I don't know what your plan is, but I'd be careful getting close to it."

Of course, she didn't know how well-informed he was about the creature. But even so, Sithspawn were usually best to leave to Jedi or specialized groups.

"Why are your buddies outside not with you? Are you trying to lure the beast out of here?" she questioned him. But regardless of his answer, she wasn't going to just leave him alone to interact with that creature in any way.

 

[Dylan Marsek]

Tags: Valery Noble

"If it means anything to you, I'm Jedi Master Valery Noble. As I'm sure you know, that beast up ahead is quite dangerous, and I'm here to take it out. I don't know what your plan is, but I'd be careful getting close to it."

The young merc fell silent as he listened to the woman identify herself, watching her every move as he remained on guard. Not long after she spoke, he witnessed the Jedi sheath her lightsaber, clipping it to her belt as the bright source of light disappeared at the press of a button over the saber’s hilt. The young merc was taken by mild surprise yet again. He had lowered his particle pistol, but only slightly; still pointing the barrel towards her general direction. Did she trust him? A total stranger, clad in unmarked, jetblack armor, carrying weapons and equipment that of a soldier’s?

She didn’t even know his name. Seeing as she had identified herself, it was customary he revealed his. <”You can call me Dylan,”> Assuming it was safe to reveal his name, seeing as his name was among the more common names in the galaxy and would not exactly endanger their operational and personal security, the young merc identified himself.

In response to the Master Jedi’s gesture of holstering her weapon, the kid lowered the heavy blaster pistol in his hand slowly, without any sudden moves, and kept the tactical glowrod lowered and away from her visage in order to avoid causing her discomfort or unintentionally impairing her vision; although his senses still remained on full alert and kept his distance from the woman, the kid’s posture visibly relaxed as he remained crouched. He assumed if she was in fact a threat and had the intention of attacking him, they would be engaged in a different conversation, with their weapons doing the talking instead.

"Why are your buddies outside not with you? Are you trying to lure the beast out of here?"

Although reluctant to share the details of their operation, the young merc would speak after a moment passed with his silent pondering, deciding they could work with one another. After all, they shared the same ambition; killing the Cirmuhai that was nestled underground in the sewers. And she was a Master Jedi. That meant she was cream of the crop, right? If that was the case, she could be of considerable assistance to them when they set about executing the ambush topside.

That is if the plan in her mind to take out the dragon aligned with theirs. Only way to know what she had in mind was to reveal a bit of details about their plan, and ask what she had in mind.

<”They’re set-up on overwatch looking over a killzone. Facing the beast in the sewers with the whole fireteam imposed several operational issues as we come to realize them during our planning,”> the young lad said in a hushed tone. Having studied the intel they were given by their client, limiting their avenues of attack into a single choice, fighting in cramped space, and most importantly limiting their room of maneuver was not desirable. It would inherently make things difficult for them. That was among the reasons they’ve opted to face the beast topside, and have a better chance at executing their plan successfully. <”I’m the fastest and most agile of the bunch, so… I get to play bait and draw out the Cirmuhai from hiding,”> the kid said as he stretched his back and stood up, feeling relaxed enough to stand. <”Yaaay…”> the kid sarcastically muttered to himself in a hushed tone. He wasn’t a fan of the idea, but he knew it had to be done, for the sake of completing their contract.

<”So, how do you plan on taking it out?”> the kid asked in turn, wondering what she had in mind. He was uncertain if her plan would interfere with theirs. <”Do you have backup?”> he inquired further. She had warned them of the creature they sought after, yet she was here all by herself, unless there were other Jedi like her, lurking in and hiding in the shadows around them that have not revealed themselves to the young merc yet.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Coruscant | Level 516
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsabers
Tag: Dylan Marsek

<"You can call me Dylan,">

Valery dipped her head lightly, "A pleasure to meet you, Dylan," the woman said with a friendlier smile, hoping it would help him adjust. While she wasn't too bothered by the weapons he had, the whole situation would be easier to address if they weren't holding each other at gunpoint. Luckily though, he seemed to open up more and lowered the heavy weapon.

The young man then explained what his purpose was, and he'd likely be able to see the woman frown a bit. The overarching idea was solid — fighting the beast within the sewers would have been very difficult for such a large group. But to use one as bait simply because he was the fastest and most agile... it didn't seem to be something she liked very much.

"All these preparations, specialized weapons, and no ideas came up about getting his beast out without using one of your own as bait?" she sighed and looked him over for a moment. It was evident that he wasn't overly fond of the idea either, but the respect he had for his squad members was strong, and if he was given an order... "But you're not going to back out of it, are you?" A rhetorical question.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "For me, it's much easier to take these things out. I was specifically trained for it, but it's risky with others around, and I don't have back-up." She didn't really need it, but she wasn't going to make herself sound arrogant here. "So... I think only one option remains."

Her eyes looked him over once and she nodded, "I'll help you get this beast out of the sewers, and make sure you don't get eaten or crushed. How does that sound?"

 

[Dylan Marsek]

Tags: Valery Noble

"All these preparations, specialized weapons, and no ideas came up about getting his beast out without using one of your own as bait?"

Failing to see the woman’s slight frown due to his night vision, the young lad shrugged in response to the Master Jedi’s questioning of their strategy for this mission. <”Target’s too deep underground to draw it out with a probe. Can’t retain a healthy signal connection,”> the young merc explained. <”And droids would be too slow for this. They’d get caught by the target way before reaching the surface, and you can’t trust them to do a man’s job, so… We had no other choice.”> Similar to how his colleagues felt about droids in general, he too harbored a level of distrust towards the idea of tasking droids to handle tasks such as this, even if it was safer that way. Sure, there were things they were good for, but this wasn’t among them.

Falling silent after his explanation, he would continue to listen to her, occasionally looking over his shoulder at the sound of a pipe rattling and rambling, somewhere down the sewage tunnel behind him. The kid didn’t bother to respond to her rhetorical question as she continued. She already knew his answer to begin with, anyway. As much as he dreaded the task he was assigned for this mission, he was not going to leave the sewers with that thing hot on his heels. The guys counted on him after all, the idea of having willingly signed up for the contract set aside for a moment.

"For me, it's much easier to take these things out. I was specifically trained for it, but it's risky with others around, and I don't have back-up."

Keeping his silence, the young man raised an eyebrow in silent response to the Master Jedi expressing mild, yet understandable annoyance towards his unit’s involvement in the hunt of the beast. He was afraid of the Master Jedi creating complications for their mission, yet he didn’t think she had harbored the same concerns about them in return. The young merc’s brows furled underneath his tinted helmet visor at the mention of setting out to kill the beast completely alone, however. He could not quite distinguish whether she was cocksure or genuinely knew her capabilities, but taking her word for a moment as to her status in the Jedi order, he could venture a guess it wasn’t overconfidence speaking.

"So... I think only one option remains."

Her eyes looked him over once and she nodded, "I'll help you get this beast out of the sewers, and make sure you don't get eaten or crushed. How does that sound?"

Relieved, a smile emerged from his features. That meant he would not have to improvise on the spot if she had decided to set her own plan in motion. This meant they could work together towards the common goal they shared, without any noteworthy hindrance that might have occurred if neither of them gave compromise to reach common ground.

<”Sounds like a deal to me,”> the young merc chirped as he raised and held the wrist computer over his right vambrace. He was happy to have someone he could trust to watch his back, and someone that could keep up with him when chit hit the fan. He would have very much preferred his battle buddy, Aiden, to be with him here, but not only was he not fast enough, his expertise was required topside.

Opening the touch screen with a precise flick of his wrist, the kid checked the mapped out areas of the sewers, and the time. <”Okay,”> the kid muttered as he looked up at the woman, closing the touch screen with the flick of his wrist. <”We best get moving. It’s been a while and the guys topside might start to worry. If we take too long to lure the beast out, they might send down someone else to look for me and carry out the task in my stead,”> He said, keeping the weighty particle pistol at a high-ready stance, the young merc turned around as he placed the back of his hand with the other, extending the pistol and flashlight combo in his hands forward, illuminating his path. <”I’ll take point,”> he said as he began moving at a brisk pace, continuing to follow the tracks the Cirmuhai left behind, all the while he tried to retain stealth and silence as best he could.

The waste and trash, and the occasional debris and rubble strewn over the grimy ferrocrete ground crunched softly underneath his combat boots with each step he took. Lowering himself to a crouch as he moved, the young man pressed onwards, foregoing speed over stealth and silence now. The beasts breathing softly echoed in the sewage tunnels, helping them hear it long before they got eyes on it.

The glowrod turned off and tucked into a pouch on his chest rig, the young lad slowly went up the high rise slope leading to an intersection of the sewage, as silent as possible; he could hear the beast’s breathing pattern coming from up ahead. Peeking his head over the slope, his eyes widened in dread and fear at the sight of the massive creature; his heart pounded rapidly against his chest plate.

Curled up at the middle of the intersection of the sewage tunnels with several torn bodies and limbs laid scattered around the creature, roughly twenty to thirty meters before the young merc, the black scaled Cirmuhai was deep in slumber, presumably resting after its tiring carnage resulting in the deaths of several hundred a few hours ago.

He had seen the beast from the security footage they had gotten ahold of. The holo recording betrayed its size. The damn creature looked much bigger, and he wasn’t even that up close with the thing yet.

Taking in the scene before his eyes in silence for a moment, the kid’s head dipped back down behind the slope as he took a few steps back. Momentarily holstering the particle pistol, the kid reached for the explosive charge he had brought along with him. The pouch’s fabric shuffled and rippled softly as he pulled out the detpack and the detonator. His hands dithered as he inserted the fuze into its socket for the explosive.

<You got this, you got this,> the kid thought to himself at an attempt to stay frosty, keeping his fear in check. This was the moment of truth. He could not let fear get a hold of his mind and cripple him, even though the sight of the torn, bloodied corpses and limbs laying around the beast were difficult to keep out of his mind. Not dwelling on his very much possible demise if the Cirmuhai catched up to him while trying to draw it out to the surface, the kid silently and swiftly went about sorting out the explosive device in his hands.

Quickly syncing the explosive’s transceiver signal to the firing device in his hand, the young merc tucked the detpack back into its pouch on his chest rig, and hung the detonator over his web gear’s suspender running down over the pocket of his left shoulder for easy access.

Just in case things did not go according to plan. All he had to do was to squeeze the clacker three times, rapidly, if the creature ever caught him. Three times, and boom. He silently prayed for that to never happen, being forced to go out with a bang and take the beast with him.

His right thigh holster crackled softly as the young merc drew forth his particle blaster pistol, and reached for a red flare from one of his pouches with his non-dominant hand. Turning back slightly to look at the Master Jedi, the kid gave a nod of his head towards the beast as his visor looked at her visage, wordlessly asking if she was ready.

As soon as he got the go-ahead from the woman, the young merc spring into action, shortly after mustering his courage; lighting the flare by briskly striking the end of it over the ground before standing up, he would level the pistol at the beast, and squeeze the trigger a few times in rapid succession, firing off a few shots at the creature to get its attention as he would shout a taunt while particle bolts struck and explode over its black scales.

<”HEY! UGLY! COME AND GET ME!”> Squandering not a single moment after waking the beast and getting its attention, he would break into a sprint, staying on the path he took and marked down with chemlights to reach their set-up killzone on the surface, occasionally shooting at the dragon on the move as he ran to keep its attention.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Coruscant | Level 516
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsabers
Tag: Dylan Marsek

<"Sounds like a deal to me,">

Valery dipped her head in acknowledgment and looked at the man in armor with a softer smile. Normally, she wouldn't have teamed up so easily, but these Mercenaries, in contrast to what she believed initially, seemed to have actually prepared and thought everything through. Whenever issues like this popped up on planets, there were always people willing to help for payment, but more often than not, they had no clue what they were getting themselves into. Especially when it concerned the creations of the Sith.

But Dylan and his squad seemed to be different. They had sent in a bait not because they cared little about the young trooper or because they were incapable of figuring out a better plan — they had actually considered all their options and assessed the situation properly. Valery could appreciate that, so her decision to team up was an effort to help all of them make it home.

Because when confronted by a beast of the magnitude they were dealing with here, that wasn't always a guarantee.

"I'll let you take point, but if something goes wrong, stand behind me for cover. It's not that I don't trust you, but I can be a literal shield and give you a better firing position," she said before she gestured around, "Sewers don't exactly provide much cover." A smirk tugged on the corners of her lips and with that, the two began their journey forward.

​

Closely behind Dylan, Valery remained low and matched his reduced pace to follow him through the sewers without alerting the sleeping giant that was up ahead. She was careful not to step on any debris and with her Keshian eyes, she could already look ahead quite a bit. But what really gave her an edge were her senses — a Sithspawn like this had a strong, distinct presence in the Force. It was a corrupted and almost painful taint on the natural way of things, and as a former Jedi Shadow, it was impossible for her to miss it.

But soon, the steady sound of its breaths began to echo through the sewers as well, indicating that the pair were getting much closer. When they finally did peek around the corner, Valery still stayed behind him but looked with widened eyes at the creature that was fast asleep. Even with all the footage and details she had gotten, it felt so surprisingly big up-close. Despite it though, she didn't seem too bothered by it due to her experience with Sithspawn.

<You got this, you got this,>

Valery gently placed her hand on his shoulder after she felt his nervousness, and hoped to briefly offer some comfort, "You can do this, I'm here to help you." she reassured him with a quiet whisper. Finally, after he prepped his equipment and made a gesture with his head towards the beast, Valery nodded and signaled that she was ready as well. It was time to awaken the large beast and start this operation to take it down once and for all.

A deep breath was taken, Dylan readied his pistol and flare, and it was go-time.

<"HEY! UGLY! COME AND GET ME!">

Valery smirked and jumped up alongside him after the pistol rounds woke the beast up, and had it immediately charging the two. Together with him, she began to sprint away but she made sure to stay behind him, and off to his left side so he could still fire at the beast while he ran. But naturally, the large Sithspawn was much faster, and when it finally seemed to catch up with the two, Valery tapped into the Force and moved to stop it. With a single flick of her hand, a massive amount of debris and dirty water from all around them was instantly sent towards the beast, hitting it like a tidal wave.

It shrieked from the sudden attack and was slowed down enough for Dylan and Valery to create some distance.

But was it going to be enough?

"Keep moving!"

 

[Dylan Marsek]

Tags: Valery Noble

Looming Dread​

The encouraging words coming from the Master Jedi soothed the young mercenary, helping him keep his composure and carry out his part of the operation.

Until they forcefully tore the beast away from its deep slumber. The monster’s eyes glowed eerily in the kid’s night vision as they fluttered open the moment the first shot from Dylan’s sidearm rang sharply in the sewers at the squeeze of the trigger. Particle bolts slammed and burst over its black, adamant scales in a bright show of light in rapid succession.

Unsurprisingly, to no effect. Its hide, except for a few distinct weak spots, were nigh impervious to conventional weaponry.

Rising from its coiled up posture on the ground at an instant with speed and agility that belied its size, the creature lunged at them as it bellowed an almost deafening shriek.

The young merc grimaced in pain as the bellow of the creature pierced his ears; it was loud enough to be disorienting, even while he had hearing protection, built into his helmet. <”Aargh! CHIT!”> the young man rackingly grunted as he turned around at an instant, and broke into a sprint, tossing the blazing flare to the side. Eyes widened in fear, with adrenaline coursing in his veins, survival quickly became his top priority as he blitzed through the path from whence they came, running past a few glowing chemlights he chucked on the ground most recently.

He had to stay alive and see the light of day with his eyes once again, to see the mission through. <”Notgonnadieinthischithole! NOTGONNADIEINTHISCHITHOLE!”> the young man loudly shouted; his voice trilled in a bitter mixture of anger and fear, as hate quickly nourished in his mind for the beast in response to its thunderous roaring.

Ceasing not his sprint for even a mere moment, the young lad looked over his right shoulder as he raised forth the weighty particle pistol with one hand at the beast behind them.

Chills ran down his spine as his gaze met the beast, just roughly fifteen feet behind them; ferroconcrete tore and fell, crumbling to pieces as the beast forced itself through the sewage tunnel, with seemingly no hindrance whatsoever. Its maw agape, the creature’s razor sharp fangs the size of a shortsword… The beast's head had coiled backwards, as if like a serpent, poised to strike. The sinister glow of its eyes shone over the kid’s tinted helmet visor.

It was about to lunge forth!

In terror, the young merc pulled back hard on the trigger, unleashing a long winded salvo of particle blaster bolts at the beast; not a moment after his sidearm whined sharply with each bolt leaving the barrel, he witnessed what resembled a tidal wave of debris and sewage water rise and strike forth at the creature to their rear. Shrieking in response, the beast appeared to falter.

Astonished, the kid’s glance turned sharply at the master jedi a few feet beside him to his rear as he continued running. <”D-Did you-”>

"Keep moving!"

The kid spoke no further in response. Whatever she did, bought them some time to make their escape with the beast still on their tail.

But judging by the sound of it, that was not meant to be a permanent solution for their rather massive problem.

Pressing on the mag release of his pistol with his thumb, the kid expertly flung off the spent magazine with a precise flick of his wrist as he reached for a fresh powerpack from his chest rig as he ran. Sliding it into its magwell, the fresh mag sat in with a satisfying metallic clatter.

Reaching for one of his pouches on his web gear, the kid produced a thermal detonator soon after reloading; he could hear the beast rumbling closer once more, starting to rapidly close the gap between them.

The familiar beeping whine of an activated thermal detonator resounded a mere moment after the kid had pressed firmly on its activation switch with his thumb. Throwing it over his left shoulder, it disappeared in a splash of water in the knee-deep sewage.

The ground beneath their feet rumbled and shook from the ensuing explosion a few moments after; with the beast presumably in close proximity, as the beast’s terrible shriek caused him to grit his teeth in pain.

Swiftly vaulting over a large piece of debris on their path, the young lad dared not to glance over his shoulder, unaware whether the grenade had bought them time or not. <”Come on! COME ON!”> the kid deliriously shouted, keeping a fast pace as he started to count the chemlights he had tossed behind.

<”Not long now!”>

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Coruscant | Level 516
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsabers
Tag: Dylan Marsek

The familiar sound of a thermal detonator being activated briefly echoed between them, and without looking back, Valery continued to sprint forward to make sure they'd have enough distance from the blast. Luckily, the giant beast's body and it being underwater helped dampen the shock but when the explosive went off, she could still feel its power booming in her chest. Another shriek followed that was so loud it was almost impossible to determine its distance.

But Valery's senses did not betray her.

The moment Dylan jumped over a large chunk of debris, Valery did the same but suddenly stopped and turned around — the beast was getting too close again. Both her hands came up and while her fiery eyes settled on the opening mouth of the beast, she connected with the Force and very suddenly lifted the entire piece off the ground, before sending it flying directly into the creature's opened maw. From the impact, it recoiled and sent out another deafening shriek, but it hadn't been stunned as much as Valery had hoped.

And now, it was angered. With a wild motion of its tail, Valery was struck against the side and sent flying through the sewers, until her back hit the floor and she tumbled back a few more feet. Despite it, the woman only let out a pained breath and climbed up to her feet, but she was slower and the beast was already coming for her again, its razor-like teeth ready to tear the woman apart.

This was going to be close.

 

[Dylan Marsek]

Tags: Valery Noble

The Cult of 2112​

Barely a moment after he leapt over the large chunk of debris in their way, the young lad felt a commotion akin to that of the tidal wave of sewage, rising and slamming forth towards the Cirmuhai. Looking behind him over his left shoulder, Dylan would witness another feat of the Master Jedi; halting a yard or two after vaulting over the debris, she had come to a halt, much to Dylan’s bewilderment. What was she doing!?

Her gaze and figure wavered not from over the beast hot on their heels. And without muttering a word, the large chunk of ferroconcrete rose from the ground and was flung at the beast with nothing but a simple gesture of her hand; the debris aimed at the creature’s maw agape.

The beast bellowed once more, in the wake of the Master Jedi’s action.

Opening his mouth to shout a praise encouragement, the kid would be mortified at the retort of the creature that came in the form of its tail whipping forth from the side in tremendous speed. Sliding to a halt, the kid turned around as he shouted a warning for the Master Jedi. <”LOOK OUT! GET DOOOWN!”>

But alas, too little, too late!

The kid grimaced at an involuntary response at the sight of the woman swept off her feet, sent flying by the blow, and hitting the dirty floor on her back. Despite the initial blow that would have severely injured or worse, killed a lesser being, the woman forced herself up to her feet, and started moving again, much to the bewildered young mercenary’s surprise.

But at a slower pace than before, and the beast was closing in again!

<”Ccchhhhit!”> the young mercenary cursed under his breath as he raised forth the particle blaster pistol at the beast, specifically at one of the orbs that glowed brightly on his night vision, at its face; his fingers placed just so with the left hand steadying the right as he took aim. Heaving a deep breath he held it, stabilizing his aim further.

And squeezed back the hair trigger.

Shooting out the barrel with the distinct shriek of his particle pistol, the particle round whizzed and snapped past the Master Jedi, a handbreadth away from her left ear, striking the monster in the left eye in a brief shower of light; the round detonated upon contact with its organ of sight. The creature’s ear splittingly loud shriek trilled with much greater pain than before this time; the ground trembled relentlessly beneath the kid’s feet as it thrashed wildly, momentarily dazed from the pain.

Not wasting the precious opportunity he made for the both of them, Dylan wasted no time to run up to the Master Jedi. Placing her arm over his shoulder, the young mercenary coiled his right arm to her side and held on to her firmly as he grasped her arm over his shoulder with his left, helping her move faster.

<”We’re almost there! Just hold on!”> The young man shouted as he tried to move as fast as he could while helping the Master Jedi keep up; his voice somewhat drowned out by the creature’s blaringly loud, pained roar. He had bought some time for themselves, but how long would it take for the creature to recover, and come after them seeking revenge?

Thankfully, his insertion point laid before him, just a dozen or so yards in front.

Disco Inferno​

The peaceful, harmonic thrum of rain pattering over his armor and helmet visor, usually relaxing and comforting for the young mercenary, did little to nothing to calm his nerves as he climbed up to the surface, with the woman’s arm still around his shoulder.

<”Doc! Scalpeeeel! I need you!”> Adrenaline still coursed in his veins; the kid’s voice trilled in a mixture of excitement, terror and apprehension over the comlink with bated breath as he climbed the pile of rubble, and emerged back into the battered, devastated streets of Coruscant’s level 561.

Unaware of a Jedi’s endurance that could be regarded as inhuman for those who did not possess such resilience, Dylan was worried the woman might have broken bones or worse, internal bleeding from the tail whip of the beast.

At the sight of their comrade emerging from the sewers in one piece, their comlink channel erupted in sudden activity, with the kid’s friends cheering him on as he began making his way towards his assigned fighting position, regrouping with Aiden and Tower.

He barely made out what they were saying as they shouted over each other. They were all drunk with joy; happy to see their colleague come out of it alive and in one piece.

<”-HE DID IT! HE KARKIN’ DID IT! YOU KARKIN’ MAD LAD!”>

<”Hoooly CHIT! We thought you were done for, man!”>

<”You karkin’ crazy ass! I’m gonna put you in a body bag myself if-”> The young techie would be denied the allowance to finish his words, as Skif cut in quickly; his voice boomed over everybody else’s.

<”HE’S NOT OUT THE WOODS YET!”> The veteran merc’s shout rang sharply over the comlink. Heaving a muffled breath as the abrupt rise in the chatter subsided in a moment’s notice after the man’s reminder, the old merc continued shortly after. <“Get your heads back into the game, children!”>

He barked a series of orders soon after; they had felt the ground shaking beneath their feet, long before Dylan and the woman -whose identity were unbeknownst to the rest of them save for the young merc at the time- had emerged from the underground.

It was a matter of time the beast came rumbling forth from the cave-in, in pursuit of Dylan and the unidentified woman. The relentless tremors had only grown in their intensity as the two drew nearer to the insertion point on the road. It did not just subside after the two reached the surface, either.

It was on its way.

<”Scalpel, tend to that woman,”> he commanded. He could see from his position on the roof that the woman moved with the kid’s assistance. <”Roger,”> their medic gave a curt response. Not long after acknowledging his orders, the medic would emerge from a ruined structure on the street, sprinting towards Dylan and the woman on the street to help them get behind cover more quickly. Upon reaching the two, the seasoned medic would slip her right arm over his shoulder, and help the two move out of the killzone faster.

<”Tower, Voron. Cable launchers at the ready?”>
The gentle purr of a landspeeder’s engine would resound in the giant merc’s comms when he spoke. <”Ready as it’ll ever be, boss!”> Tower said; a positive, acknowledging grunt came in the form of a response from Voron, shortly after the giant’s transmission.

Atop the roof of a building overlooking the killzone, the old mercenary shifted his gaze from the killzone, and set his eyes upon Barmaley, crouching a few feet away from him with a modernized RPS-6 in his hands with the tube resting over his right shoulder, keeping the launcher at a low-ready stance.

Feeling the veteran’s gaze washing over him, the merc turned to look at Skif, giving him a silent nod of his head, the man signalled he was ready. Returning his acknowledgement with a curt nod of his head in return, the veteran squad lead’s gaze shifted back over the killzone once more.

The need to shout orders and radio in last second gear checks had subsided now. They were all ready, and knew their part to play in the ambush, and in what order.

The rumbling from the underground grew louder and louder as they waited. Their weapons drawn forth and sweeping over the killzone, their comms plunged into complete silence in anticipation of the creature’s emergence from the depths of the level.

They did not have to wait for any longer, however.

Small to large chunks of ferroconcrete scattered all around and a cloud of gray dust kicked off from the cave-in a moment after the beast ascended from the tunnels; its enormous size in full display, unhindered by the restrictions of an enclosed space this time.

Although it emerged, the mercenaries did not open fire from their concealed positions just in that moment, waiting for Skif’s signal. Patiently waiting for the creature to move deeper into the killzone, Skif’s cold, steely gaze swept over the beast as the Cirmuhai ran after the trio sprinting for cover: Scalpel, Dylan, and the woman.

<”CHIIIT! SHOOT IT! SHOOOOOT IIIIIIT!”>

<”Come on, come on,”> the old man muttered to himself under his breath, forced to ignore the pleas of the young mercenary for the moment. The massive, scum sucking karker wasn’t close enough for the cable launchers.

<”Just a little closer,”>

It didn’t take long for the shadow of the collosal being to be cast over them. They couldn’t move as fast while they were helping the Master Jedi move at an increased pace in her state. <”OH KAAAAAARK!”> closing his eyes shut in anticipation to be torn in half in a second, he cried out in helpless panic as he reached for the firing device.

<”NOW! HIT ‘EM NOW!”> With the beast finally in range of all of their tools they needed to neutralize their target, the mercenaries would emerge from their concealments over the roof of the buildings and behind the walls in the streets; the ambush would be kicked off with the spotlights first.

With a muffled thrum, the powerful spotlights set atop a low rise apartment building shone down over the beast’s visage: It’s deafeningly loud shriek resounded in the wracked streets of level 561 as the massive beast came to a grinding halt, chasing the trio no further as they made for cover, and reared up, raising its claws over its one good eye.

The second phase of the ambush followed shortly after the success of the first thereafter. Backing up into the larger street from the alleyways they had laid hidden, landspeeders with cable launchers at the back of them sprung forth. After locking onto their target, cables in the launchers shot out their tube with a distinct snap-hiss, intended to coil around the base of the Cirmuhai’s each wing, and wind up, pulling the beast from two different angles, trying to pin it down.

Soon after, blaster fire would erupt from rooftops, windows and alleyways alike. Assailing the beast with a hail of particle blaster bolts, the goal of the mercs would be to take away the beast’s mobility first, targeting its more vulnerable wings compared to its hide and other weak spots more difficult to hit.

If they could take away its mobility, and effectively pin it down, they could bag and tag the massive creature in no time.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Coruscant | Level 516
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsabers
Tag: Dylan Marsek

Valery coughed a few times from the pain while she tried to move, the beast close behind her and ready to kill. She wouldn't have blamed Dylan for running at this point — he would have easily made it out with the creature focusing on her. But instead, much to her surprise, he was suddenly by her side and threw her arm over his shoulder, while one of his own wrapped around her waist to offer support. He had bought them some time by opening up against the beast with his weapon, and with how close they were to get out of the sewers, she felt confident that they were going to make it.

"There, we're close!" Valery called out through gritted teeth as just a little bit of light from the outside world reached them. For someone who had taken quite a hit, she already seemed to be doing much better, but until they were out in the clear, she decided to use his support. In fact, when they got out and comms seemed to be going crazy, another merc joined Dylan and helped carry her. She likely could have moved on her own feet already, but this was a lot faster and they had little time to discuss anything.

But still, it wasn't fast enough to entirely escape the beast.

With thundering roars, it finally appeared from the sewers, angered greatly because of the injuries it had sustained. And so, it wasn't very surprising that it immediately went after the three trying to get away, "We're too slow. Drop me and I'll-" she stopped as very suddenly a spotlight turned on, and the loud mechanical sounds of cable launchers echoed through the streets. Such weapons would never be enough to kill the Sithspawn, but it was hopefully going to pin it down. Either way, the doc, Dylan, and Valery all made it to cover and watched as the beast was being pinned down to the ground.

Those positioned at the rooftops opened fire and within just a few seconds, it felt as if an entire army opened up against this one creature. The explosions and impacts were loud, and so were the pained shrieks from the beast. "Not bad," Valery commented to those with her before she held up a hand, right before the doc could take a closer look. She then patted her stomach and side with a smirk, "Abs of steel, I'm fine," she tried to joke and while she was feeling good enough to fight, there was still going to be some bruising. A problem for later, though.

"It won't be able to fly anymore, so let's finish this," Valery continued as she got up and focused on the beast. With it pinned down like this, turning the Light side against it would be easy enough. She could purge the very thing that tied it to the world of the living, and all would be over within a minute. However, before she could even begin moving closer, she felt a sudden spark of danger in the Force. A warning that quickly became more clear, as the beast violently threw around its damaged wings and head. The vehicles holding the cables were put to the test, but they weren't going to last.

"Crap..." Valery said before she could feel it coming. "Take cover!" she called out at the top of her lungs, before sudden and powerful movements of the beast threw one of the land speeders up into the air, and directly for one of the rooftops the mercenaries were positioned on. Valery saw this and quickly extended a hand to connect with the Force, which allowed her to project a grip on the vehicle. At the last possible moment, a second or two before impact, she managed to catch it and kept it hovering just above those who were up there. A sharp exhale from the physical strain left her lips, but with a little more effort, she tossed the vehicle aside and lowered her arm again.

She really hoped there was a backup plan, or this would be a lot more difficult than she had hoped.

 

[Dylan Marsek]

Tags: Valery Noble

The storm of blaster bolts unleashed on the Cirmuhai relented not even for a moment as the young mercenary, Master Jedi, and the team’s medic quickly got out of the edge of the killzone under covering fire. The rubble strewn across the ground crunched and shifted under their boots as they hastily ran into an alleyway nearby.

<”Aaah, chit!”> Shifting the landspeeder into reverse to try and pin the create, snared by the cables coiled around the base of its wings, the giant of a man sitting on the driver seat of the vehicle cursed out loud; the reeling mechanism of the cable launcher whined sharply in protest, strained to its limits. Comprehending the situation the creature found itself in, it tried desperately to set itself free from the thick, metal cables that hindered its movement.

<”Bro!”> As the trio sprinted into the alleyway and ran past the landspeeder, Aiden reached for the backpack leant on against the wall beside him in one swift motion, that his brother-in-arms entrusted with safe keeping, and tossed the young merc’s jet black assault pack at him; the young mercenary’s assault rifle and MGL strapped to either side of the pack. <”Catch!”>

Panting heavily for breath, the kid looked up from the ground upon hearing the familiar voice of his best friend. Seeing his kit was about to be thrown his way, the kid slipped under the Master Jedi’s arm he had coiled over his shoulder, and catched his assault pack mid-air. Slipping it on his back as Scalpel accompanied the woman further into the alleyway, the young mercenary reached and pulled his assault rifle from over his right shoulder.

<”Come on! We gotta kill that karker now!”> Aiden shouted as he sprinted past Dylan, running towards a pile of rubble. Taking up a firing position behind the mound of rubble, the techie began firing in short controlled bursts, aiming for the massive creature’s wings. With haste, the young mercenary would join his friend behind cover, joining the fight.

Letting go of the Master Jedi they helped to reach safety, Scalpel reached for his backpack with post-haste to begin treating the woman he perceived to be injured after setting her down on the ground. Just as he produced a medisensor from his backpack to quickly identify the woman’s injuries, he would pause in surprise when the woman held her hand up towards him, kindly denying medical attention.

She then patted her stomach and side with a smirk, "Abs of steel, I'm fine,"

The medic’s head tilted to the side in response; the non-transparent helmet visor hid the man’s surprised expression. Although he was about to express valid concern that of a medical professional, arguing against her decision from a medical standpoint, he was relieved somewhat as the woman stood up from the ground just fine without difficulty.

"It won't be able to fly anymore, so let's finish this," Valery continued as she got up and focused on the beast.

<”Copy! If you have a change of heart, just holler at me,”> he said as he quickly tucked away the medisensor back into his pack, and reached for his rifle before joining the attack against the creature with her. Sprinting past the vehicle, the man joined up with the others, opening fire at the massive beast further down the street.

<”Aim for its weak spots! Aim for its weak spots!”> Dylan said, shouting over the deafening sound of blaster fire as he pulled the rifle’s trigger, unleashing a long winded salvo of particle bolts of his own.

Adrenaline coursed in the young mercenary’s veins, amplified further by the ongoing fight; explosive particle bolts rained relentlessly on the dragon with each squeeze of the trigger. The mercenaries spent magazine after magazine, continuing to let loose on the beast and put it down.

Though its thick hide made it difficult.

Looking to deliver a killing blow and end the creature, the mercenaries began shifting their fire towards the weak spots they were aware of, mainly its remaining eye and the discoloration on its broad chest.

The beast thrashing about to slip free of the firm and unrelenting grasp of the cables certainly did not help their endeavors.

"Crap..." Valery said before she could feel it coming. "Take cover!" she called out at the top of her lungs.

Just as the Master Jedi shouted a warning, they witnessed the beast pull the landspeeder across their position into the air as the creature tugged back the cable firmly with its wing.

<”OOOOH CCHHHHIIIIIIIIT! AAAAAAAAH!”> The Cirmuhai’s strength outweighed the engine power of Voron’s landspeeder with ease. Lifted into the air to be slammed over Wolf’s and Nimble’s position atop a low-rise building, it was stopped mid air, as if an invisible hand gently held the vehicle in place, preventing what otherwise would have been an untimely death for the mercenary inside the vehicle, and his comrades right underneath him.

<”Whaaat the hell…”> Halting fire for a moment, Aiden murmured whilst he looked at the landspeeder suspended mid-air. The feat of the Master Jedi momentarily surprised the mercenaries, save for Dylan. <”KEEP! FIRING!”> With a stern nudge from the young mercenary, accompanied by a shout, the techie quickly shook off the surprise and trained his rifle back on the massive creature, unaware just who, or what held that vehicle mid air.

Suspended just a few feet above the duo’s heads on the roof, the mercenary in the vehicle quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out the landspeeder as Wolf and Nimble quickly scattered away from the vehicle above their heads. Landing on his feet on the roof, the mercenary quickly sprinted away from the landspeeder; a moment after, the vehicle was tossed away into the street, away from harm's way to them all. The metal plating groaned sharply as the land speeder struck the ground, kicking off a small cloud of dust into the air.

<”Ah for kark sake!”> the veteran muttered to himself in restrained anger from his position, overlooking the entire killzone from the roof of the high-rise building. Taking out one of the land speeders out of the equation, the creature partially gained freedom of movement. It did not relent under heavy concentrated fire as well, thanks to its thick hide. They needed more time, and they desperately needed to create an opportunity for themselves to deliver a killing blow to the injured beast.

But alas, the series of unfortunate events would not end with one of the land speeder’s getting decommissioned, however.

Diverting all of its attention to the last land speeder that snared the creature and prevented it from moving freely, the beast began relentlessly tugging the vehicle towards itself. Slamming on the gas, the giant of a man sped up the land speeder with the gear on reverse still, in a counter motion of the beast’s tugging. Unlike the other speeder however, the driver within was spared the opportunity to resist the relentless pull of the creature.

But alas, it would be the cable that’d give way this time. Already strained to its limits prior to the beast’s merciless pull, the cable finally snapped under enormous amounts of stress, unable to withstand the punishment any longer. With a sharp whistle, the severed cable lashed violently towards the Master Jedi.

Free from the grasp of the mercenaries at last, the Cirmuhai was no longer pinned down on the spot. In response, the veteran squad leader muttered a curse that would make a spacer blush, before raising his rifle towards it. Shooting a glance to the mercenary by his side, the old veteran shouted an order to him. <”Barmaley! Hit him with the launcher, now! Right on the spot on his chest!”> Skiff commanded, squeezing back the trigger of his rifle, unleashing a controlled salvo in the meantime.

They had a small time frame before it chose its avenue of attack while it got its bearings over the urban terrain. A direct hit from the launcher would either finally kill it, or injure it enough for them to kill the beast by other means.

Wordlessly complying to his squad leader’s command, the man rose to his feet from cover in one swift motion, leveled the launcher in his hands at the beast, and fired off the missile after taking a brief pause to aim at its weak spot by its broad chest. The high explosive anti-tank warhead shot out the tube with a loud, yet brief thump. Amidst the hailstorm of blaster bolts, the missile would glide swiftly in the air towards the beast with a faint whistle, aimed and intended for the slight discoloration on its chest.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Coruscant | Level 516
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsabers
Tag: Dylan Marsek

<"KEEP! FIRING!">

Her use of Telekinesis hadn't just stopped the land speeder from obliterating those inside or on the rooftop, but it had also stunned some of the mercenaries, who were trying to figure out what happened. Luckily, Dylan wasn't frozen and called to maintain pressure on the beast. With one vehicle down, it already had a lot more freedom of motion, and with the continuous weapons fire turned against it, the beast's anger was rising rapidly as well, causing it to put a severe strain on the remaining land speeders.

Finally, it resulted in one of the cables snapping and flying towards Valery like a huge, metal whip. Feeling the danger of it through the Force, she moved into the air with a Force-augmented jump to avoid it, but it meant she couldn't assist any of the mercenaries for a moment. She made her landing and stared up at the dragon, which was further freeing itself and lashing out at anything it saw moving. Debris was thrown around, its tail was looking to strike people down and the hatred she felt was getting even more overwhelming.

But then another voice called out.

<"Barmaley! Hit him with the launcher, now! Right on the spot on his chest!">

From behind her, Valery watched the missile move towards the beast, carefully aimed so it would connect with its chest. But at the last moment, the beast folded its own wings around him like a shield. The explosion that followed was still massive and ensured it wasn't going to fly again, but it didn't kill the beast. Enraged and with the Dark Side fueling it, the dragon turned and dashed towards those at surface level, clawing and sweeping its tail around more wildly to cause as much damage as it could. In their attempts to kill the creature, so far, they had mostly managed to bring out the real monster within.

"I'm going to present an opportunity! Please cover me!" Whether they did or not, Valery advanced directly towards the beast, dodged its sweeping tail along the way with a slide over the ground, and channeled the Force as she got within range. Her hand extended and from the open palm, a wave of Force Light lashed out at the creature, directly targeting the corruptive nature that kept it alive. It shrieked in agony as blast after blast connected and weakened it, but she was going to need the follow-up.

She really hoped they would find their opportunity now.

 

[Dylan Marsek]

Tags: Valery Noble

Sensing imminent danger, the beast folded its wings to shield itself from the incoming explosive munitions, a mere moment before the missile struck the target. The deafeningly loud explosion filled the air; in its wake the beast howled in terrible pain as its wings were torn to shreds by the blast.

Although wounded some the overgrown lizard still drew breath despite the best efforts of the mercenaries, simply refusing to relent under the heavy concentrated fire.

Things began to look dire. Miraculously, they hadn't suffered any casualties yet.

So far.

And their squad leader, Skif, very much wanted to keep things that way, for as long as he possibly could. <"God, damn it!"> the old merc hissed between his clenched teeth, firing off a series of short controlled bursts at the creature. They had spent enough ammunition to wipe out platoons worth of men, twice over. It was time to execute a back-up plan; break contact with the wounded creature, resupply, reassess the situation and hit the scum sucking bastard again and kill it.

<"All units, break contact. I repeat, break contact. Retreat to the rally point. I say again; retreat, to the rally point!">

Dylan's helmet comlink crackled to life as the fight waged on; hearing the metal cable snap right above their heads, the kid pulled his squad's techie out of harm's way by the nape of his neck and onto the ground as the cable lashed at the two of them like a whip.

<"Karkin' piece of chit!"> Aiden shouted curses in between a grunt as they fell on their backs together. <"You okay!?"> Dylan asked, the young voice of the lad trilled with concern as they tried to stand up. <"Yeah, yeah I'm fine,"> Aiden said; the loud pained groans and shrieks of the lizard almost drowned the merc's words.

<"Guys get the hell out of there now!"> the sonorous voice of the resident giant in their squad, Tower, bellowed over their squad's comlink as he and Scalpel opened up on the dragon several yards behind them. <"Alternate bounding! Come ooon!">

The maelstrom of blaster fire the mercs had conjured to combat the massive Sithspawn began to dwindle by the second as the men, starting to run dangerously low on ammunition, quickly began to break contact at their squad lead's orders, starting to make their way towards rally point X-Ray.

They had to get out of here now, and fast.

But it seemed like the Master Jedi had a different plan in mind.

"I'm going to present an opportunity! Please cover me!" Whether they did or not,

Sprinting past them as she kindly implored for covering fire, the woman left the two mercenaries in bemusement as she ran directly at the beast. <"Do you have a karkin' death wish!?"> standing back on their feet despite their heavy gear trying to pull them back down, Aiden shouted behind her as she masterfully dodged the beast's sweeping tail with a display of her acrobatics.

<"Kark this, I ain't dying here for this chit!"> while particle bolts zipped past them to suppress the beast, laid down by Tower with his repeater to cover their retreat, Aiden shouted at his comrade as he turned around, firmly grasping his best friend by the bicep to pull him away as he took a step towards the duo covering them, further down the alleyway.

But the young demolitions expert did not budge.

<" Come on, man! We gotta go!"> he begged him to break contact. The young lad shook his head as he watched the woman subdue the beast single handedly. <"Wait! Look!"> Dylan shouted, pointing at the beast and the woman before it.

Shrieking terribly with each wave of the blinding light blasted against it, the wounded and battered creature trembled and weakened before the woman.

Now was their chance to put an end to this and finish up their contract, once and for all!

Aiden let out a troubled sigh at the sight. Assuming the initiative they did not fall back like the others, much to Tower's and Scalpel's surprise. <"If that karker is not dead in the next minute, we're hauling ass, you get me?"> getting behind a piece of cover again, he snarled as he looked at the bright blue tinted visor of his friend with a glare. Dylan gave a quick nod of his head at his words.

Swiftly turning his attention to their squad members down the alleyway afterwards, Aiden sharply gestured to the other two to join them with a hand signal.

Joining the fight once more as a full squad, all four of them, it did not take long for the mercenaries to pepper the damned beast with particle bolts again. It's armored skin still unrelenting, it did nothing more than to piss it off more, prompting the beast to coil its rearwards in preparation for another attack; its long, razor sharp rows of teeth laid before their eyes as it opened its maw. Throughout the fight to bring it down, the rain had not ceased for a moment.

The karker was about to below its poison at the Jedi, Trauger Gas, which turned into a potent corrosive acid that could melt steel with ease upon contacting water!

As it opened its maw to unleash its noxious gas, a singular loud thump that of a grenade launcher momentarily trumped over amidst the cacophony of blaster fire from particle rifles and repeater alike. Trailing in the air at an arc, the forty millimeter munition, cryoban in nature, found its mark right on the intended target; its mouth.

Detonating with a faint explosion and a sizzling hiss at the faintest contact upon its soft tissue, a mist of frost bellowed out of the creature's mouth; freezing from inside out, the beast could no longer let out a scream in pain as its vocal cords froze and shattered. Flailing its head around in eerie silence at a natural response to the burning frost inside its maw, the wounded creature finally submitted under the combined might of the Jedi and the mercenaries.

With a loud thud, the beast groggily fell to the ground. The covering fire for the Master Jedi relented and ceased as the dragon's body convulsed every now and then as the life in its one eye froze up by the cryoban.

It finally laid dead on the rubble strewn ground.

An eerie silence settled into the wrecked streets of Level 516, with only the downpour and patter of several footsteps approaching the dead beast disturbing the quietness.

Not letting their guard down for even a moment as a precaution, the four young men slowly began to close in on the beast's twitching and convulsing corpse and the woman standing before it; their weapons still brought to bear on the creature. Soon the small squad would be reinforced by their other colleagues who had played a part in the hunt.

They would make sure it was fully dead, leaving nothing to chance before they eventually bagged it to extract its remains out of here.