The Next World [SSC v. Matsu Xiangu]

[Sorel Crieff]

Location: Dromund Kaas
Allies: None - erratic posting for the next few days, so going it alone (and posting often when I can)
Enemies: Five of 'em

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RKZpKkgWMM

Others were gathered there. They'd just been waiting in silence, watching.There were five, maybe six of them. The silence exploded in a scream, and the things came spilling forward in one coordinated wave, surging at her like a single organism.

Sorel broke right, letting her lightsaber lead her like a natural extension of her will but one grabbed her by the ankle. She pivoted and swung it down into its head, splitting its skull down to the tonsils. But its hands flung upward blindly toward her like a pair of carrion birds, and it kept fighting, climbing up her body as it did. Turning, she came up from below and took out its legs just above the knees, leaving the thing in a slimy mess of its own dissolution. Two more came at her, and he swung at them, removing one arm at the elbow and missing the other completely. Not that it did any good.

But to stand and fight was to lose, she quickly realised she needed to keep moving and get away from them. She unplugged her mind and let her training take over. It was just like the drills she'd repeated over and over. She'd already begun to see the fight through the mirror-bright lens of a warrior, reducing the battle to a sequence of movements, like a series of doors she had to pass through to get to the other side.

The things were screaming around her again, that pulsing, deliberate scream. Like the smell, it blanketed everything and made her skull feel as if it was going to pop. As she chopped another limb, a white-hot shock of pain sprang up through her right shoulder. Her hand went numb, just like that, the last three fingers dead around the handle of her lightsaber, and she spun around, snatching it from the air with her left hand before it hit the floor. Everything was happening with crazy tricked-out speed, and she both saw and didn't see the thing that had attached itself to her bicep, grinning up as its incisors raked her flesh. Blood splashed around its lips like tawdry lipstick.

She thrust her blade crosswise through the thing's upper thorax, slashing it down in a meaty spray. Its jaws stayed locked onto her arm, until she swung her blade down on top of it, working left-handed, cutting the thing's head apart. But she was losing and needed to change tactics. So she lifted her one good hand and called upon the Force and pushed with all of her might. The remaining creatures were flung against the end of the tunnel. Mortals might have perished from the force of the collision but she already knew these were not alive, not in the traditional sense.

So she ran, as fast as she could, using the small distance advantage she had over them to get back to the surface as soon as she could. She didn’t look back, she didn’t need to, they were already on their feet and running after her. Boy they could move!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4QbJRAWvRU

 

[Jenson Koraz]

Objective: Defending Myself and Those Beside Me
Enemies: [member="Matsu Xiangu"]
Allies: [member="Dune Rhur"] [member="Zayen"] [member="George O Rourke"] [member="Joza Perl"]
OOC: Just FYI I am not a Chiss. I am a Sorian.

"Here they come!" Jenson cried as the zombies charged. He completely ignored the cold spot at his feet. It was no longer a threat, and Jenson was focused on one thing: defending himself. He assumed a battle stance and prepared himself for battle. As the first zombies reached the group, Jenson struck like lighting. Jenson was a skilled practitioner of Makashi, which focused on precision, speed, and agility, and it proved a skilled weapon against the undead. His blade held in a one-handed dueling stance, he struck at vital areas of the zombies: brains, arms, chests, legs; anything that could be conceived as a threat. His first enemy went down with a thrust through the face, another was disarmed, dislegged, and sliced in half with three quick slashes. The creatures continued to approach with mindless ferocity, and any regular practitioner of Makashi would have been quickly overwhelmed, but Jenson knew Soresu as well. Enemies that got too close were Force-pushed back out of range. One zombie spewed a cascade of acidic bile, but Jenson redirected the attack with a well-timed burst of Force energy, and sent the torrent back onto the already-rotten skin of several more undead before beheading and dismembering its source.

"We shall prevail!" Jenson said. With a cry he slammed his hand to the ground, shoving the horde back with a powerful Force wave.

 

[Nima Tann]

On surface
Allies: Ice
Enemies: The Zombies!

The shuttle, as she was lost in thoughts, finally landed on the surface. Ice was no more his cheerful self, he was a bit... disturbed about something. Growling towards the door like he was about to attack, she slowly reached to her lightsaber as well, always trusting on the instincts of the mutated wolf. "Prepare yourself." She said, as she took her lightsaber from its hilt, the wolf's eyes were getting red by rage as he continued growling. He would become like that whenever he sensed danger. And to be honest, her Force senses were tingling as well. The danger, whatever it was, was pretty near. She moved closer to the door, her lightsaber activated and ready for an attack. The outer door opened slowly as the figure just behind the door slowly become more and more visible. Then, as it opened fully, the figure, which revealed to be such an ugly creature with a decaying body and a strong smell at the door immediately made its way inside and tried to attack her, which she immediately reacted by sending a Force Push and pushing it out from the shuttle, then immediately she let herself out of the ship as well not to be caught in such a small space. As she escaped the shuttle, it immediately departed and moved to safety.

Well, there was no way out now from this. The outside... Well... it was like an infestation. Everywhere was full of decaying bodies mindlessly wandering around. She called Ice close her quickly. Splitting up wouldn't be a good idea in this situation. "I don't have any idea what those are. But they aren't good." She said, then continued. "Ready?" She asked, and then jumped immediately towards the body she threw off the ship earlier. Oh, and the smell of a living person must've caught the others attention as well since their attention were turned towards the two and were all started to move towards her. Well let's see if they died fast. The thrown body seemed to already re-collect its balance and... wait what was that green goo coming towards her? Well, that wouldn't be a good thing, would it? So she enhanced herself with the Force and ascended higher to the sky, only to be landed just behind the zombie, impaling the zombie from behind in its stomach, or whatever that was. Well, it wasn't dead. It still struggled to turn its back and take a bite, but she wasn't going to let it do that. She pulled the lightsaber back and swung it towards its head, decapitating it. The body fell down to the ground lifeless as it was seperated from the head. And at the same time Ice jumped to another one and took the zombie by surprise, biting its face off with such a rage. The zombies' weakness was the head. "Attack their heads." She commanded to the mutated wolf. Oh, and there were almost a hundred here quickly coming towards her and her wolf, so about that...

 

[Akhilleus]

Location: Colossus
Allies: None
Enemies: Zombies
Objective: Survive!

A snarl of disgust escaped Nikias' mouth as he looked upon the decrepit beings that rushed him. What he saw before him was a perversion of life, a perversion of the natural order. Nikias didn't even think the creatures rushing him could even qualify as sentient any longer. They were almost completely mindless in their sprint, climbing over each other vying to get the first bite. Their shrieks filled the air and while Nikias may have been a jedi he would feel no guilt in slaughtering the creatures. What had once been was now gone. The creatures before him were no longer fellow sentient that lived, laughed and felt real emotions. All they understood was death.

Reaching down Nikias tapped on his gauntlets control panel and enlarged his shield to its full circumference which was over four meters. He could only hope that it would be enough to protect him. Though as the shield enlarged Nikias saw a ball of green spit, or acid come flying out the creature’s mouth at him. Quickly ducking he was able to dodge it but the sizzling that came from the colossus as the acid ate into the metal was a great cause for concern. "I hope those mystics have good insurance." Trellos said while Nikias raised his shield and backed closer to the colossus so that he couldn't be cornered from behind. Then bracing himself against it Nikias smiled as he let the zombies do the job for him. He dare not run in wildly to engage them, instead it was best to let their mindless charge be their downfall.

The first zombie that had spat the acid met Nikias' shield its entire upper body immediately being disintegrated with all that remained being the cauterized stumps of limbs. The Makrosian shield may have been created for defense, but it was still a lightsaber in many ways and was just as lethal. Letting the rest of the zombies meet the shield head on Nikias watched as limbs were hewn free and fell to the ground at his feet easily piling up. One zombie even pounced over its brethren in an attempt to reach Nikias. Raising his right arm Nikias sliced the creatures head completely off letting the momentum carry them both the disembodied head and what remained over him. Unable to truly move beneath the onslaught, Nikias was forced to stand there striking out at whatever zombies tried to attack him from the sides with his lightsaber while his shield did the real work.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]


Zombies were torn to shreds or blasted away in all directions, then an undead gundark appeared! Well, we could not allow things to be too easy. Seeing that she was surrounded by the decomposed, destroyed bodies of undead, Siobhan had taken a deep breath, needing a moment or two to recover. Even she could not perform TK AOE spam all the time.


Unless the plot demanded it. However, there was no reprieve for her as the massive monstrosity charged her. The earth shook, sand and mud were tossed into the air along with bodies. Its loud, blood-curdling roar was like the boom of a sonic bomb going off and compelled any jungle-birds and carrions to vacate the scene. Massive clods of mud and stone bombarded Siobhan.


She did not have the focus to take to flight so she shielded herself, wrapping herself in a protective cocoon to protect herself against the barrage that momentarily robbed her of her vision. Mud and rock were blasted in all directions, but then the gundark suddenly knocked her aside with its massive, clawed hand as if she were a ragdoll. Siobhan was sent flying through the air before impacting upon some rocks. Ouch.


Her bolter had fallen out of her grasp in the process. For a moment or two she was unconscious, then she was awoken by the beast's loud roar. Calling upon her telekinetic power, she bombarded it with a storm of rocks.


The beast reeled when boulders rained down upon it, one of them smashing into its chest. But though the beast was toppled, it soon got up again and looked more enraged than anything. Siobhan rolled when its massive foot tried to stomp her, but the beast was upon her, smashing and slashing and trying to crush her. She had to call upon her powers to try and shield herself from the smashing blows, then it suddenly scooped her up.


Its claws could not penetrate her armour, but its grip was so tight a normal human would have been crushed, so it sure hurt a lot and there would be nasty bruises on her body. As it pulled her towards its mouth, she managed to grip her bolt pistol and fired an explosive round right into the beast's jaw. In pain and rage, the creature dropped her and she fell to the ground. A massive invisible hammer was manifested through her power and struck the creature hard in the knee. Stumbling, it was knocked off-balance and fell. Seizing the moment, she brought telekinetic power to bear to crush the beast's skull. Blood and brain matter splattered her rent armour when the gundark's skull was cracked open and she reduced its brain to paste.

 

[Jericho]

Location: Outside Earthly wall
Allies: [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Dune Rhur"] [member="George O Rourke"] [member="Jenson Koraz"] [member="Zayen"] [member="Aldera Antilles"] [member="Nico Minuro Ike"] [member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Lily Hex-Volsh"]
Enemies: Matsu Xiangu and Her Horde
Objective: Minimize Number of Zombie to the city. Find the head of the horde. Push to the Enemy ship.


The the continuous dark aura made by the entirety of the planet Jericho could begin the feel the light of lighter aura coming to fortify the earthly wall. The warrior narrow dodged one of the spider like creatures as it rammed itself into the spiked wall, flinging more undead over the wall. Followed by that movement more of the beasts began attack his wall and even more were getting through to the other Jedi. The warrior grunted knowing that there was little for him to do about it. He was already concentrating on a numerous amount of things around him, mainly the bulk of the horde. The Acklay swiped at the warrior and in return force pushed its upward so it could overexert itself and with the momentum of its swing miss the warrior and the jedi behind him. With his exposed body, Jericho leaped and tore into its underbelly and ran slicing through its throat and through its head came out the orange and purple light slicing the face in two and popping right out came, the warrior. Jericho amplified his voice with the force so the forces of the jedi outside the gate could hear him over the groan mass of undead.

"PUSH FOREWORD SANCTUM!" ​

Every thing was a weapon for the warrior, fire, the rain, the air, the earth, and the force. And he would going to utilize to his fullest potential, as the warrior came down he punched down the into the very earth cause the area around them to shake and causing a small fissure towards the middle of the horde and causing the front line to trip over themselves and a great many many behind them, only to see the ones that hadn't tripped up to run over them. But after a single step, Jericho raised an arm impaling rows upon rows of them and those who weren't impaled by their head were just groan and eerily squirm. The warrior continued to press his attack deeper into the horde, slashing though more and more, after some time the weaker ones just became a minor and tedious task once he began to understand their flow and mindset. Despite that though the warrior kept his guard readying himself as he was sure something stronger would come he could feel it.

His aim now was to cut though these beast to the head of the army and the ship, the woman he had seen initially with the red saber, where had she gone? What did she have in mind for all this? Was she apart of the One Sith or something more? Was she alone in this an just amassed this force herself? If so, she is an astonishing foe. Would he be able to take on the horde and its varied creatures as he continued deep, alone? Were the other Jedi capable to keep up to his pace or would have to continue on alone? So many questions, yet little time to time to decide. He had but only a moment to decide.

Spoiler

Summery; Continued personal attack. defending wall, depending how everyone else goes, will grab two jedi to attack the ship.

 

[Audren Sykes]

Location: Kaas City Borders
Allies: SSC
Enemies: [member="Matsu Xiangu"]

Soon enough, the Jedi began to hear skittering as well as running footsteps. The Dark Side washed before whatever was causing the sounds, just different enough from the darkness of the planet to provide a touch of nausea. And then the smell hit. The smell of death, yet much stronger than it had any right to be. That one made him heave and stop short, and the only reason he didn't fully vomit was that he simply had nothing on his stomach. He wanted a breathing mask but hadn't brought one with him. Too bad.

As he straightened, the Sephi saw a line of creatures rushing in on the city. They weren't running directly towards him...and then two of them were, ugly arachnid-looking creatures that couldn't possibly move as quickly as they were. Yet he could move quickly as well. With a speed born of habit and practice, the Sephi's carbine was out and stock extended. Rather than move forward while he shot and screw up his own aim, he simply waited for them to approach him. As they moved, he fired blast after blast at the one on the left. Given the odd movement, he was lucky that any of his shots hit the target at all; most nicked the legs or slammed into the body. Only one of them actually hit the head, and only that one caused the creature to react in any way.

If that was how they wanted to play it, fine.

By then the creatures were too close, they'd entered their melee range. They reared up on hind legs, then lunged forward to attack with pincers. Rather than backing away, Audren shot forward, between the two creatures. They turned to follow his movements, and he unloaded the rest of his power pack into the face of the faster one. Fully-automatic blaster fire literally chewed away at the face, burning through the skull and brain before running out of juice. He dropped the blaster and drew his lightsaber, the blue blade flashing up to intercept the swinging pincers. It swept right through, encountering almost no resistance, and the backswing bisected the arachnid's head. Both dropped to the ground, their threat ended.

As the Knight stooped to grab his dropped blaster, he spotted pockmarks in the street surface and recalled the liquid dripping off the pincers as they swung. Acid. He'd been lucky that none of the drops had gotten him this time, he'd have to be careful of that as the engagement progressed. And continue it would, there was at least one hole that the dead-smelling creatures were slipping through. The noise and light of even this small fight had attracted the attention of others now too, others that were even now closing in.

 

[Joza Perl]

Location: Kaas City
Allies: [member="Dune Rhur"] [member="Jenson Koraz"] [member="George O Rourke"] [member="Zayen"] [member="Jericho"], SSC peeps
Enemies: Zombies

Joza let go of Jenson’s arm as Dune Rhur worked to help him up and steady the Sorian to his feet. From behind them she heard a new voice, one laced with disbelief at the creatures approaching. The Zeltron’s grip on her saber hilt tightened as the corpse-like bests made a beeline toward them, their putrid stench hitting her like a tidal wave. Urk… She swallowed the bit of vomit that rose to the back of her throat, artfully maintaining her scowl in the process. In the pit of her stomach she felt the same knot of dread as when Dredge had invaded Voss in a whirlwind skirmish, leaving almost as quickly as he had arrived in a very confusing and nearly unbelievable battle.

Glancing over at the pair of Knights, she drew her saber from her hip and activated it just as Dune sliced through an undead neck, cleaving its head from its shoulders. I don’t think I’m skilled enough to try a move like that… But there wasn’t much time for her to take in the opposition, as they were clearly hell-bent on tearing into the Jedi no matter the cost. They seemed unperturbed by pain or the loss of their comrades, something that the Zeltron found even more disturbing.

Moving quickly, the lithe dancer swung her blade in a wide arc, attempting to catch the nearest creature in the neck as her mentor had done. But the undead was quick, lurching forward to grasp at her with its bony, decaying fingers. The sudden movement caused her strike to dig deep into the beast’s chest, though this seemingly did nothing to stop its advance. And then she felt a cold, almost sickly hand wrap tightly around her left arm in a firm grasp. Guiding her saber down quickly, she sheared through the zombie’s arm before it had a chance to apply any pressure and yank the limb from its socket. Teeth gnashed in her face as the creature let out a strained, almost angry cry that nearly made her sick to her stomach again.

Being in such close proximity to such a monstrosity made her ill and stirred her fear, but she pushed them down in favor of control. With a flash of blue, her blade cut cleanly though the undead’s neck, body falling limp. Sensing something from the side, Joza turned and leaped back quickly enough to avoid a spray of vomit that heaved her way. Eyes quickly finding the source of another creature shambling towards her, she couldn’t help but glance back for a moment when the acidic vomit ate through the stone pavement behind her. Grimacing, the Padawan thrust out a palm and used the Force to shove her opponent back in an attempt to buy herself a few more seconds. Her eyes glanced around the battlefield, attempting to take stock of her allies when Jericho’s voice hit her. It made her shudder, but renewed her fighting spirit.

 

[Lily Hex-Volsh]

Location: Next to Master Ike
Allies: [member="Nico Minuro Ike"]
Enemies: The Ugly Things
Objective: Do what Master Ike Does


"HERE COMES LILYYYYY HEXXXXXX!!!!!"

A little voice called out amongst the swarming undead. The littlle girl ran from building to building along side her master and aunt, Nico Ike. She was equipped with her unique pair gauntlets made by the Sasori corporation. While her pink colored saber hilt clicked on her belt that was attached to her thigh, why? Cause she could. She had been waiting for this day! Well, not exactly this day per-se, she would have never guess that she would have been fighting zombies on a dark sider planet. Luckily for her, Nico has been teaching her to remain calm among the darkness that radiated the planet so her free running and use of Interia would be as affected. The young girl took a deep breath as they launched themselves just behind the earthly wall. She stuck her landing a made a pose as her and her master had practice. It was then the stench of the monster like creatures entered her nose.

"Oh force....Oh my....Dear....My....AHHHHHH"

The young zeltron placed her hands over her nose and quickly choked down puke the made it up from her throat. She regulated her breathing from her mouth, that way she could only taste it....Errr....That way smell didn't seem as potent. After gathering herself she punched a zombie that was coming behind her master sending it flying several feet, not due to her strength as she was still a young girl but the power of momentum and interia....And yeah, the force. She looked to her master and gave her a thumbs up. Though on the outside, she seemed confident and strong, she was deathly afraid. But as she was taught, never show the enemy weakness and to always stick close to some, safety in numbers right?

"I'm ready to do that move we practice, Master!" She shouted out to her master.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

"Danger!" Alric called after his wife with more annoyance than true fear. In her rush to aid the weak and defenseless the Trade Queen had forgotten that her husband was, unfortunately, rather crippled. The injury within his leg prevented him from moving as quickly as Danger, well as quickly as anyone really. The cane that she had tossed him helped of course, but while Danger could break out into a full run, Alric could really only hobble along after her. Something that ordinarily would have been slightly embarrassing, though at the moment Alric was hardly worried about that.

Instead he was more worried about the safety of his wife.

Danger could handle herself perfectly fine, probably more than he could at times, but she did have a tendency to go run in and not really think things through. It was who she was as a person, hot blooded and fiery. They had been alike that way, though Alric's temper and his reckless nature had been cooled by the raising of his daughters. He frowned slightly, as he hobbled after her, shifting slightly as another loud screech pulled through the air.

That time Danger slowed, looking back for her husband and stopping just long enough for Alric to catch up to her.

"Got your blaster?" Alric asked as the two of them passed around a corner and came upon the scene from a horror flick.

 

[George O Rourke]

Location: Kaas City
Allies: [member="Joza Perl"] | [member="Jericho"] | [member="Jenson Koraz"] | [member="Dune Rhur"] | [member="Zayen"]
Enemies: Undead Horde.

As both Knights Dune and George awaited the incoming dead the two behind them stood up, Jenson seemed to have a new desire. One to bring peace back to the unstable dark city. It was going to be a tough ask, but the first step was against the zombies. As he rose Dune also struck, using the force to propel his lightsaber at them with somewhat good strikes, one was down but it didn't make much of a difference. The undead seemed to not feel pain, rather once their head was severed from the body it became motionless. Finally a place to start.

George engaged both his lightsabers and began running head first into the horde. "Today we stand united, to defeat forces of evil and the undead created by them!" George's battle cry as he entered the fray. With his blades still by his side he sprinted into battle. He leaped into the air swinging his blade in an arc decapitating three and dis-arming two more. However this didn't stop them. The single armed zombies continued to sprint into battle unphased by the sudden loss of limb. George knew at this moment head shots would be the only answer. However with his heroic antics he had now positioned himself right in the thick of it. The undead surrounded him however utilizing both lightsabers helped fend off the horde as the speed he could rotate the blades around him was doubled, leaving less time for the undead to penetrate his defences.

However unknown to George at the time these weren't just your usual undead horde, no they also spat. Like acid drops. George sensing a projectile coming for him, jumped out of his trapped position into the air. As he flipped he saw the acid land in the exact spot he was just standing. As he descended he extinguished his blades returning to his belt as he came down back to the ground. As he reached the ground he unleashed a mighty force wave that crippled the advancement of the undead, knocking many over and pushing them back many paces. But even with the power of the blast, non were completely disabled. George returned the lightsabers to his hand, ready for another round against the seemly infinite undead.

 

[Dune Rhur]

Kaas City outskirts

Dune was surprised when he saw the acidic substance spew forth from the attackers. No natural creature bled in such a way, he thought, but then nothing natural rose from the dead. This was the work of some mad Dark Side sorcerer. From that point on, he kept them back with Force blasts and dispatched them with carefully aimed throws of his blade.

The Bith looked up as he felt a familiar presence. [member="Aldera Antilles"] was coming towards them, guns literally ablaze. Whether she knew it or not, her latent abilities helped her make many almost impossible headshots. As she reached them, Dune acknowledged her with a smile before he spoke. "Welcome, Aldy. Please help us look after our youngling."

Though [member="Joza Perl"] was doing admirably, the Bith made certain to maintain a watch on her. He would not allow his student to die this day. Neither would the the young one, [member="Zayen"] nor [member="Jenson Koraz"] and that gave him a sense of resolve amidst the onslaught. Too, the Nautolan Knight [member="George O Rourke"] was like a buzz saw with his twin blades sizzling in the rain.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

[member="Matsu Xiangu"] @Others
Ach! Zoooombies!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4IzEqZGuXY

“Boss, you’ve got to see this!” Myr called, bursting in.
“Anything specific apart from the zombies?” Nantaris demanded tersely. He was glaring at monitors in the control room of Kaas City’s central base. “Where’s the fleet, having tea and crumpets?”
“Battlegroup Liberty is en-route to cut off their retreat, sir.”
“It doesn’t seem like the One Sith are here in force. Quarantine the planet. No one enters or leaves. If these zombies are infectious we will not have it spread beyond here.”
“Boss!” Myr called impatiently.
“Yes, yes, I’m coming!” Nantaris growled, going over to the Twi’lek. “What is it?”
“Look at this,” she ordered, showing him a monitor.

The drone could not get an exact view through the gloom, but a large force of the zombies were advancing straight at the city.
Amidst them, hard to make up, was a figure unlike the others. Light glinted off…
At that moment the drone was pulled down and smashed.
“That’s it,” Nantaris said softly. He closed his eyes, confirming his sense. “That’s the leader. Powerful in the Dark Side. The zombies are driven by their will. Without that Sith they will scatter.”
He turned. “Scindia, prepare the defence, hold your ground as long as you can, then withdraw with covering fire. Use the walkers and tanks Siobhan sold us. The zombies can’t do much against them. Call on air strikes to slow them down.”
“What about you?”
“I’m going to deal with this Sith. Send two squads to follow me. Myr, stay here and keep me informed.”

Heading out to the landing pad he found a speeder. He tapped his communicator. “Coalition, Jedi, this is Valiens Nantaris. I have located where I think the Sith controlling this horde is. Sending co-ordinates. If possible, join me there. Protect the civilians and protect yourself.”
He tapped another frequency. “Red flight, I need an airstrike at those co-ordinates….”
It wouldn’t kill the Sith…they were absurdly difficult to kill…but it would clear his landing.

The speeder flew into the air with great speed as he flew over the battlefield. Soon the Sith would know fear.

In orbit, the Coalition fleet commanded by [member="Kyrana Gould"] moved in to blockade the planet and deal with any ship which was foolish enough to stand against them.

Summary: Prepared defences, aiming for nasty Sith Matsu, called in air strike near to her.

(Apologies if I missed any posts or details, just catching up now.)

 

[Zayen]

Location: Kaas City
Allies: [member="Dune Rhur"] | [member="George O Rourke"] | [member="Joza Perl"] | [member="Jenson Koraz"]
Enemies: Zombies?!

Youngling? He had to bring that up, didn't he? If there was something Zayen hated most in the world, it was being called a kid. With a frown on his face the boy rolled up the right sleeve of his hoodie, revealing the energy slingshot worn on his wrist. "I'll show you youngling." The shining blades of the Jedi whirled around him, faster and more precise than he thought was possible. Meanwhile he took aim, firing shots of energy at the bodies of the dead. While the plasma burned at their skin, it did little to stop their advance. It was only after a few shots did he realise the head was the only viable target. With this in mind he pulled back the chord, releasing a ball of energy which tore straight through the brain of an undead. It's acidic blood sprayed back onto it's brethren, causing Zayen to feel a little sick inside. However he was too determined to show these Jedi what he could do to give in so early, and so he continued firing bolts out at the zombies, standing side-by-side with the warriors of the light.

 

[Dune Rhur]

Thus far the Bith had remained unscathed by following his strategy of 'keep away'. That changed when an errant abomination had broken off from the pack. It spewed it's acidic bile towards him from his blind side as he was distracted. Though his senses warned him, it was too late to more than mitigate some damage with a sidestep.

He cried out at the substance burned through his robes and tunic, hissing into his yellowish skin below. Right shoulder, arm and torso seared in pain. It was all Dune could do to hurl the creature away bodily. Pain caused him to drop his lightsaber and hunch over. As the hilt clattered to the ground, it extinguished itself....

[member="Joza Perl"] [member="Aldera Antilles"] [member="George O Rourke"] [member="Jenson Koraz"] [member="Zayen"]

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Dromund Kaas Jungle
The Wall
Refugee Camp

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

Danger slowed to a skid, alarm rising over her face and in the widening of her eyes.

“What in the..” Alric’s query, drew her momentary attention. Her answer was to pull out her Westar-35. The scene that stood before them was one of morbid horrors. For Danger, it was like a flash back to the time of the Dark Harvest.

Black Wing? Was it the Dark Harvest Virus? Whatever it was, the reanimated dead were slow and primitive creatures driven by primal urges. To fed.

A swarm of undead swarmed out from the edges of the jungle. Some had already reached a few of the refugee tents, the blood curling screams that they had heard the wretched victims of the initial horde.

People were running away, a few of Eden’s security forces already sending a volley of fire down range. A few struck their chest, but they simply kept coming.

“Shoot their heads!” Danger yelled out, having dealt with them years back. At least, she was assuming these were like those from Dark Harvest. Narrowing her eyes, Danger sent two bolts to two lumbering humanoids chasing down a woman. Both struck as they twitched, falling forward with a sickening thunk. Growls and gnashing of teeth would follow more screeches, as cries of horror would echo as the refugee families would run from the horde.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

Uhh. Alric thought to himself as Danger exclaimed something about shooting the creatures in the head. There were a few problems with that assumption of course, the first of which was that the old man in fact didn't carry a gun. It wasn't that he didn't find such a thing useful, nor that he didn't know how to use one, it was more that...well...why would he need to carry one? Most of the time he had security forces surrounding him and if he didn't he tended to be perfectly safe.

Besides, who expected...zombies.

A frown carried over his lips, and he slowly turned to Danger. "Honey."

He said the words quietly, so the security forces didn't hear. It was kind of embarrassing after all, when your wife carried a blaster but you didn't. Not that Alric Kuhn could ever feel emasculated by anything so silly, he had owned and run the galaxies biggest weapons manufacturer at some point.

"I don't ha-ADFASDFDAG!" Alric's words were quickly interrupted as one of the strange Zombie like creatures ambled over towards him with surprising speed and tenacity. It moved ferociously, stomping forward and and completely bypassing the security forces as well as Danger. The Titan wheeled back, taking half a step and placing all of his weight on his good leg before quickly drawing up his cane and smashing it into the creatures temple. There was a slight squelch, and then Alric struck the creature again and again until it finally fell onto the floor, dead.

 

[Jenson Koraz]

Objective: Defending Kaas City
Allies:[member="Dune Rhur"], [member="Zayen"], [member="George O Rourke"], [member="Joza Perl"]
Enemies: [member="Matsu Xiangu"], Undead
Location: Outside Kaas City

"No!" Jenson screamed as the Bith Knight was hit. The zombies began to surround him, like sharks at the smell of blood, and Jenson felt rage rise in him. He stomped it down immediately; he needed to be focused for this. Yelling a battle cry, Jenson leaped to the Knight's side, slashing at the zombies around them. The combined acts of the various Knights, and the young one with the energy slingshot, had reduced the fifty zombies to less than half that number, but the remaining undead continued their attack with unwavering ferocity. Jenson stood over the fallen Knight, slashing and stabbing like a man possessed.

"Master, are you all right!" he yelled as a sweeping slash from his shimmering blade decapitated three zombies at once, "We must get you to safety!" With a cry, Jenson once again slammed his hand to the ground. A concentrated Force blast, more powerful than most Padawans could manage, sent the undead around the two Knights flying into the air. The zombies climbed to their feat and screamed a gut-wrenching cry, but by then Jenson, his strength enhanced by adrenaline and the Force, held his ground.

"Come on!" he cried. He Force pulled a zombie to him and cleaved it in half from skull to crotch, "Is that all you've got!"

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

LOCATION: Continuing towards Kaas City through jungle.
ENEMIES: Valiens, SSC
ZOMBIE ACTIVITY: Those not directly attacking tagged individuals are moving to destroy Jedi shield emplacements, MASSIVE-CLASS CREATURES MOVING ON TO THE FIELD.

[member="Sorel Crieff"] | Just outside the tunnel, the zombies had found a prize-winning meal: a Yozusk - male, angry, and exceptionally powerful. By rushing at it in a gang they’d managed to overwhelm it at expense of the numbers of undead crushed beneath its swinging front legs. The rest had climbed on top of it, clawing at its sides, back, and face without mercy. It was roaring in a desperate way, long and pained as it thrashed, backing up as if it could escape.

The size of the meal and its constant thrashing and screaming were a distraction for the horde who hadn’t noticed the quiet Jedi at all.

The Yozusk was usually a fearsome predator, but in that moment it noticed the Jedi when none of its attackers did, its eyes ceasing their rolling in fear to look at her desperately.

She could pass it by and survive. Perhaps it would try and kill her anyway once it was freed. But it would surely die painfully without help.

[member="Nima Tann"] | Her ship had been on a draw on its own, but the quick, agile movements of her Akk dog combined with the glow of her lightsaber was a beacon. They rushed her position, the snap of their teeth driving their frenzied growling to a staccato beat.

Leaping out of the trees and through the bushes, they dropped on her position with rictus smiles.

One, more zealous and intact than the rest, lunged off the ground and slammed its entire body against the Jedi’s companion, its primal instinct screaming in its head as the creature let out a bark of dismay. The dog-creature fought it off, but the undead was so very hungry, and its teeth snapped over and over just inches away from the dog’s eye.

[member="Nikias"] | Without thought or common sense, none of the zombies behind the first to lay against the Jedi’s shield learned from the burning final-death of their companion. The rest just continued to burn, disintegrating without putting two and two together. They simply knew food was behind the shield and would force their way past it if necessary.

A particularly grotesque zombie, blubbery and dripping rot, started shivering as it came to rest against the shield, the burning taking longer with so much of it to get through. In its final moments, it belched a torrent of acid that sizzled enormously when it came in to contact with the shield, but also managed to splash off and around towards the Jedi behind. Its force caused it to splash against the undead in the immediate area, immobilizing most of them as their limbs burned off. It would open a path...as long as the Jedi behind the shield wasn’t burned to a crisp.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | The Gundark lay in a heap of body parts, its claws twitching involuntarily as it finally headed towards rest. The clearing - for the moment - was quiet, a seeming oasis surrounded on all sides by the screaming cacophony of herds of the undead flooding towards the city. They would follow basic commands: ‘destroy’ wasn’t difficult and also made more food. Barbequed ribs, even.

Their growling grew frantic as they stopped by a shield pylon, skittering around it and trying to find a weakness. There was none. A living creature would have to find some sort of electrical station or slice in to the system to deactivate it.

But the Creator had said destroy…

They threw themselves against the pylon, a massive explosion of electricity reaching up in to the sky as dozens of zombies were electrocuted at once. The short cut power to the area for only a moment, but it was enough to make it obvious what would happen if the rest were allowed to continue on.

[member="Jericho"] | The zombies that fell in to the earth crumbling under their feet still reached for the Jedi Master as he passed, hungrier than their urge to pull themselves from the mire. Some of them felt the purchase of his robes in their bony fingers, but none managed to grab the required purchase.

At some point however, the companion Matsu had dropped from the ship with had broken off from her side to maintain her frontlines. He was one of her first creations, and had been around so long that she’d been required to use sorcery to prevent him from rotting. She’d done the same ‘kindness’ for none of the others. He’d developed something of an intelligence - nothing truly sentient, but he at least had a glimmer more patience and forethought than those he ran with. In truth, Matsu had a soft spot for him. She knew bringing him to this place meant the possibility of his death, but it was...sacrifice for the greater good. She’d explained that to him. His second death would have purpose.

But then again, he might win the day.

Gaunt and grey, he intersected the path of the Master heading back in the direction of the ship. Outfitted in basic armor, a sword in either hand, his eyes glowed with a red-maroon glow that signalled Matsu’s connection. The wind tossed the whisps of the hair connected to what remained of the skin over his skull. Unlike those around him he did not scream at the opponent he faced - he just attacked, leaping with both swords reaching for a diagonal slash that would cleave the Master in two.

[member="Audren Sykes"] | The spiders dead at his feet, there was a heartbeat to take a breath.

“HELP ME!” The scream drew the attention of dozens of zombies.

“HELP ME, PLEASE!” A Padawan - barely begun in his training, incapable of even pulling himself up with the Force - was dangling off the side of a ledge to Audren’s right. He kept having to shift the position of his hands as zombies started gathering, stomping on the Padawan’s fingers in their haste to shove each other out of the way and grab the Padawan up. More and more and more were swarming, some tumbling off the edge in their haste to get to helpless prey.

“HE--AAHH!!!” One of the Padawan’s hands slipped, the other digging desperately in to the muddy ledge.

[member="Jenson Koraz"] & [member="Dune Rhur"] | Drawn to the sizzling sound and burning smell of flesh under the touch of their acid, more of the horde centered on the two Jedi finding their way to a safer place from which to continue their attack. Like dogs to a hunt they started screaming to draw more of their companions, an expression of primitive excitement, basic instinct: chase the thing that’s running. Hands reached out hopefully, bones clicking together as fists wrapped around thin air.

But they drew closer, their rancid stench permeating the air around the two Jedi.

Leaping from the front of the pack, the frontline of zombies soared towards the Sorian, attempting to grab his robes or ankles or calves as they crashed against the ground to bring the Jedi with them.

[member="Joza Perl"], [member="George O Rourke"], & [member="Zayen"] | As the Padawan’s Master was brought to safer ground, a good chunk of the horde chasing after them, it seemed like the eye of the storm for the other two Jedi in the group that had been holding the frontlines. For a moment there was a breath to regroup.

And then, almost like a dream, two small creatures shuffled around what was left of the earth pillars created by Jericho. They mumbled and mewled, wiping at their faces as if upset and afraid. They were clearly undead, but they seemed frightened - unwilling even.

They shuffled closer to the safety of the two Jedi, their faces burning with the acid in their tears, soft wails of regret haunting the jungle.

And then they exploded in a hail of acid droplets.

[member="Ikki Ike"] & [member="Lily Hex-Volsh"] | From on high, the sound of rustling would greet the ears of any Jedi in the vicinity.

Looking down from the branches, a dozen zombies cackled in amusement watching the creatures down on the earth. They had their orders. They would keep moving. But this meal right below them...so tempting, so easy. It would take only moments.

And then - after a moment - they dropped down, eight of them swinging their primitive weapons towards the pair of women.

MATSU’S MOVEMENTS: [member="Valiens Nantaris"] Sprinting through the woods, humming with the song of her creatures screaming in a measure of concentration, she moved closer and closer to the city. There was still no rain to speak of despite the intensity of the storm above her head, but it was humid all the same. She could feel the humidity clinging to her skin, discomfort giving her motivation as she pushed forward.

Bringing the drone down had bought her moments of untracked movement at best. Moving deeper in to the jungle, she was only seconds ahead of the strike as the ship shot over at the speed of sound.

The strike hit the ground like the thunder had dropped from the sky, mud and rock flying up in to the air in all directions. Though she’d missed being hit directly, something hit her in the back of the thigh, ripping her leg open. The sick feeling of the breeze whipping against exposed muscle shot up her body and she hissed, baring her teeth to no one in particular. She had no time to look at the damage, using the pain to fuel her as she kept moving.

Was that not the reason she was here?
Was she not here to show them that suffering was the Way?
It would make them strong.

With a flare of rage she called to her horde’s mental connection once more: wake up, children. The last of you, move out.

The last massive creatures in the ship stirred in their cages as they opened.

 

[Aldera Antilles]

Objective: Defending Kaas City
Allies:Dune Rhur, Zayen, George O Rourke, Joza Perl, [member="Jenson Koraz"]
Enemies: Matsu Xiangu, Undead
Location: Outside Kaas City

The Bith looked up as he felt a familiar presence. [member="Aldera Antilles"] was coming towards them, guns literally ablaze. Whether she knew it or not, her latent abilities helped her make many almost impossible headshots. As she reached them, Dune acknowledged her with a smile before he spoke. "Welcome, Aldy. Please help us look after our youngling."

"That would be my pleasure," Aldy said, smiling at the Bith Jedi, whose presence alleviated much of the trepidation she had felt because of her recent harrowing experience with hordes of undead on this planet of doom.

She smiled warmly at the Jedi and the youngling.

Moments later, Dune Rhur was felled.

"SITHSPIT!"

Interposing herself between Dune Rhur, Zayen and the oncoming onslaught, Aldy fired at the zombies with terminal intensity, an electrical charge of vigor coursing through her, her eyes narrowed, their penetrating glare boring into the legions like twin emerald turbolasers.

There is no emotion, Aldy thought, remembering her vision in the cave on Ilum.

The charge of what she believed to be a tugging of the Dark Side lessened, then faded, to be replaced by a wash of serenity, like a refreshing breeze on a Spring day.

Aldy kept firing her blasters, barely taking time to replace their power packs before continuing her fusillade.