The Red Arrow

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

The lizard group in front and Enyo&Ylva following them, the tension never seemed to vanish as they moved towards their destination, passing many structures that were enlightening about the Kraal culture. So far, she has seen that tinheads had a significant influence here, enough for the Kraal to build statues for them. Slavery was a part of them and they were very proud of themselves, though the last part was quite obvious. Anyway, they finally arrived to a structure which reminded her of the past, for it looked like where Ylva and her siblings fought to win the family heirloom. Under the watchful eyes of other lizards, the group walked towards the center. Here he was, the Imperator, sitting in his throne as still as a statue, in full black armor. Ylva wasn't Force sensitive, but even she could feel something was wrong with him, yet Mönkhbat was right it seemed, this lizard was definitely different from the rest. He was strong, charismatic. Her passionate soul... She wanted to fight him. Test his strength. Yes. That was it. The Valkyrie couldn't help but grin.

When it came to introducing themselves, Enyo started first. Warlord, huh? The title suited her, alright. Yet something else caught her attention. She talked about a twin, Siobhan Kerrigan. Even though it wasn't the time to ask about her right now, she made a mental note for later. For now, she focused on the conversation. Enyo also introduced her, which she felt the need to add something afterwards.

"Delighted to make your acquaintance, Imperator." She said, adding a smile.

Wait, was the Valkyrie being polite? What kind of sorcery was that?

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Ylva Wolfsbane"]

Alexia wrinkled her nose a little. “I can enjoy my job without becoming a flippant hedonist,” she said stiffly.

Regardless they were now in the slave pits. She was more than a little disgusted by the role she had to play. This was not because of her pity towards the slaves or regrets over playing a morally corrupt character. She cared about neither. Rather, she had to lower herself to play a common flippant hedonist, the very sort she had just decried.

“Oh yeah, the mining ones we want to be strong as a bantha, but the house slaves we want to be hot and have large…assets, right Ro?”
It was a terrible performance. She’d even affected a horrible accent for the occasion which sounded like an impression of a Corellian by an Alderaanian noble.
Fortunately the Kraal didn’t care about humans or know much about them, so he shrugged and led them inside.

They were led into a crude storage cell underground. There they found a half dozen slaves of the burly variety, some human, some not.
“Good for work,” the Kraal said, pointing to them.
“Can you give us a moment? We wanna check them out in person,” Alexia said.
The Kraal shrugged. There was only one way out, and the pair didn’t have the keys.

XXX

The Imperator’s voice did not answer physically. Instead a presence reached out to her mind, words forming in her head.
“Siobhan Kerrigan has no twin. So what are you, a clone amalgam of machine and organic? It matters not. If you have any of her skills you will prove yourself.”

Before the Imperator answered, another Kraal rose. “Imperator, this human is unspeakably bold. She comes here to demand a pact when all she has done is defeat some of Saal’s runts.”
Saal growled, showing his many sharp fangs. “I will show you, Troag, just how the runts of Clan Yogir will feast on your flesh!”
Troag snarled back, and several other Warlords were stirring.
The Imperator raised a hand. “Enough.”
Troag growled. “Imperator, he challenges-,” he abruptly clutched his throat.
Without any apparent gesture or effort the Imperator deposited him back on his chair, releasing him from the choking hold.
The Imperator rose. “You will perform one more challenge. If you succeed a pact will be sealed. If you fail you will be dead. You will bring me the head of a desert Wurmhttps://i.ytimg.com/vi/joOBZyxLaWc/hqdefault.jpg. That shows you are worthy. Use any means except your ship. Go, do not return until it is done.”
He sat, showing the audience was over.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"], [member="Ylva Wolfsbane"]


Alexia's acting ability could use some polish and refinement, but it had gotten the job done. Nonetheless Tyrone decided to pass along some sisterly advice. Don't let pride get in the way. It only makes you stumble. I've done harrowing things undercover. Playing a decadent fop is nothing compared to that. She had no telepathy, but she could use her implants to communicate into Alexia's earpiece.


Regardless, they were led into a crude, dirty storage cell underground. Tyrone could not help wonder why slave cells had to be this...squalid. If slaves got sick, this would reduce their market value. Nonetheless, any slave cell she'd found herself in had been filthy. Disgusting. Good thing she was wearing gloves. She'd rub her hands with lots of disinfectant and have a a thorough shower to wash the stink off once she returned to the ship.


She glanced towards the pitiable collection of poor unfortunate souls. Some were burly, some not. One of the pleasure slaves was a Togruta, the other an Eldorai. I supppose it's inevitable that the wormheads and the knife-ears end up doing their work on their knees, she thought haughtily. "Begin your inspection. I'll have a look at one half, you the other. Maybe some here are worth it," she told Alexia. The clone would understand the double meaning.


xxx


Suddenly there was an alien presence inside her mind. Enyo had little experience with mentalism. Outwardly her expression remained unchanged, but she was about to raise her mental walls when suddenly words formed inside her head. She was surprised by the Imperator's knowledge. She very much doubted that his people understood what clones were, let alone what Cyborgs, HRDs and so on. Mönkchbat had been right. But how had the Imperator acquired his knowledge? And what was the catch?


She acknowledged his words with a curt nod. "I'll kill it," she said laconically, void of emotion. Gesturing to her posse, she turned and walked away. Our lizard friend was right about his boss. And he's a strong Force-user, she broadcast to Ylva via her implant. The Valkyri had no brain implant, but had presumably been equipped with an earpiece or something like that. "Tell me what you know about the wurm. Strengths, weaknesses, hunting habits," she ordered Mönkhbat once they'd left the Imperator's presence.

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

Introductions, as expected, didn't go too smoothly. The audience weren't that happy with the gang's presence, and that turned into a power struggle between the two clans very quickly. Ylva wasn't impressed, she rolled her eyes as the scene unfolded. Showing their weaknesses this early in the meeting, especially against people who have defeated theirs in a fair challenge wasn't the smartest thing to do. Besides, one strong headbutt would be enough if one of them wanted to show dominance. Anyway, the conflict ended as soon as it began with the Imperator raising his voice. One tried to speak back, but his attempt was punished by an invisible hand choking him. Once more, silence reigned following this show of power, and was broken by the Imperator himself shortly afterwards.

He would be a good sacrifice to the Goddess of Hunt, or an excellent bed partner. Ylva lacked those, as accidents tend to happen a lot. Nonetheless, she was definitely not disappointed after what the young lizard told about him.

However, things weren't that easy, as always. A challenge to prove their strength, huh? Well, Ylva was looking forward to slaying this creature, especially since it sounded tough and she was always craving for a hunt. Definitely more worthwhile than a peaceful meeting. "He certainly was." She responded to Enyo, then added. "I wasn't expecting such a powerful figure considering what we faced so far." Then the three left the Imperator's presence, and it was the time to prepare for the hunt.

"They are enormous, snake like creatures. They don't select food, everything in their territory is meal to them with the help of their sharp teeth which can cut through the most. They move extremely fast inside the sand, but are almost immobile if you manage to push them above ground. Even then, they aren't completely defenseless since their body can absorb a lot of damage and they can spit acid. It isn't going to be an easy kill, heh heh." Mönkhbat explained with a grin on his face.

"Looks like it's going to be quite the hunt." Ylva commented. "We should fully prepare before going after one of them. I suggest freezing the creature, that way we can limit its mobility so it gives us room to counter."

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Ylva Wolfsbane"]

Alexia walked to the doors of the cells and snapped her fingers. “Come closer, slaves,” she snapped irritably.

They came forward, a mixture of fear and blank defiance on their faces.
“I offer you a simple deal. I will buy you and get you out of this cell, but only those who have the information I want. How long have you been here?”
One, a waif of an Eldorai, raised her hand. “Two years, Mistress.”
The rest chorused their times. She scrutinised each. They did not know the ‘correct’ answer, so most answered the truth. All except one.
“You,” she said, pointing at a Twi’lek. She had said two years, but she was clearly deceiving. “Don’t lie to me!” she growled.
“Please, Mistress, I want to get out of here, and I thought….”
“You are not here to think, you are here to obey. Now answer!”
She looked down. “Eight years, Mistress.”
“Occupation?”
“House slave to Warlord Vorax…of Clan Dracovich.”
Alexia smiled slightly, reached through the bars and pulled her chain so she was pressed against the bars. “Then we can have a discussion. The rest of you, I’m done with. If you snoop I’ll cut your ears off.”
Somewhere, somehow, Amara looked a little pained.

XXX

The endless plains of Karakorum stretched out before them. Out in these alkali wastes nothing lived…for long anyway. A common punishment amongst the Kraal was to drive a prisoner into the wastes and leave them. If somehow they survived they had proved their will…but usually their bones bleached the desert.

Soon enough Mönkhbat called them to a halt. They were at the lip of a valley leading down into a salt flat.
“Heh heh, you can see one has been active here, a big one!”
Giant gouges were visible in the ground.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"], [member="Amara Zarides"]


Before them lay endless plains of nothingness. Just sand and a mercilessly hot suns. Along with gaitn gouges. Enyo bent down to examine them. A bunch of bones lay around. It took her back to her training on Gehenna. She'd learned to hunt big game then. Needless to say she understood it was silly to try and hunt a giant wurm with just three people, without planning or preparation. "We need bait - and high explosives," she surmised, getting up again.


"Carbonite rifles can freeze tanks. They're worth a shot. Ylva, give our people a call and have them fetch some slaves. I want a fireteam on this. And get a bunch of thermal detonators from the ship. Plus jetpacks, an anti-tank rifle, a missile launcher and the Spitfire. Use speeders for transport." The Spitfire was Enyo's absurdly heavy and equally absurdly powerful rail-minigun. "We strap the charges to our bait." Enyo was heartless! Perhaps the most frightening thing was that there was no malice behind her actions. The organics were simply pieces on a board.


xxx

Amara was playing bad cop, so it fell to Tyrone to be the good cop. Of course, if she pretended to be too benign, the slaves would get suspicious. No one would buy it if she claimed to be an abolitionist who'd come to free the downtrodden.

Approaching the door of a cell, she beckoned the slaves forward. "Come closer. I want to talk to you," her voice was authoritative, but calm. She did not snap her fingers or raise her voice. "I have an offer for you." Slowly they came forward. Some looked fearful, others defiant. She crinkled her nose slightly, for the slaves stank. If I actually purchase one of you, the first thing I'll do is make you have a good shower to wash the stink off. And have a medical droid check you for diseases and infections, she thought. Good thing I'm wearing gloves.

"I can get you out of here and give you a better life. Those of you who have the attitude I need. I will be demanding and expect complete dedication, but treat you well. But you must answer some questions first. How many years have you been enslaved by these creatures?"

One by one, they answered. All except an Eldorai sitting in the corner. She looked like a waif, almost emaciated. "What about you, girl?" Tyrone asked.

"Does it matter?" the elf asked defiantly. "What answer do you want to hear, mistress?" there was disdain in her tone.

"Aenwyn, do not anger the mistress," another slave, this one a mousy Togruta, said fearfully. "The lizards will hear."

"They beat us regardless."

"Let her speak," Tyrone interjected. "You're right, the Kraal will beat you. For sport, if nothing else. If no one buys you, they will work you to death or feed you to wild animals," the cyborg pointed out.

"What makes you better?"

"I will get you out of this dirty cell, give you clean rooms, food, drink and clothes," having said that, she reached into her jacket pocket and removed a small jar. Once she opened it, the slaves saw it contained cookies. Some slaves could not help themselves and reached out for the jar. "One each," she said sternly.

Even the Eldorai could not help herself, though she sniffed the cookiee first. "You won't beat us?"

"No. If you do your chores and please me well, your existence will be quite comfortable. Now, how long have you been here?"

There was a moment of silence. "Five years."

"Good girl. Occupation?"

"Servant to the Shaman of Clan Jalair."

Tyrone smiled slightly. "That's a start. I will have a chat with each of you - individually."

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

Nothing but sand, and a hot, uncomfortable weather. Needless to say, Ylva hated being here. Her only hope was that the hunt was going to be enjoyable at least, so it wasn't a complete bother. The group continued to move towards their destination, and came to a halt when Mönkhbat suddenly called. Holes in the sand, bones, some barely visible almost buried and some scattered. Metal parts of what she assumed that belonged to some kind of a vehicle. The hunt was on.

"Might be a younger one we are facing." Ylva told from experience as a huntress. It was just a theory however, since she didn't know about this creature. "The holes aren't as enormous as we were informed." Nodding to Enyo afterwards, she activated her holocomm to call the other team.

"This is Ylva." She started as the noise of a crowd suddenly invaded her ears. "We met the Imperator. Long story short, he's willing to cooperate but only if we can kill and bring the head of a Wurm." And then, she proceeded to recount Enyo's grocery list. "And slaves. Bring some slaves. We'll use them as bait. Make sure they stand out." Ylva agreed with Enyo, but she was a bit more malicious with her thinking. For her, slaves simply didn't deserve to live anyway, so getting rid of one or twenty didn't bother her at all.

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"] [member="Enyo Typhos"]

The commlink buzzed, and Alexia picked up. “Yes?” A moment, a smile, grim and merciless. “I’ll make it happen.”
She turned, but saw Tyrone had received the same message. They shared a glance.

“This is your lucky day, worms, we’re taking all of you. And you,” she pointed to the long term slave, “are coming with me specially.” She looked emotionless, but Alexia felt her pain.
“Yes, Mistress, if it pleases Mistress.”
“That depends on what you know. Merchant!” she called loudly.

The lizard wandered back in. “Yess? Have you found any you wish to purchase?”
“We’ll take them all,” Alexia said.
“All?” The Kraal’s eyes widened as greed clouded his mind. “Eighty tokens,” he said.
Alexia was not in the mood to play games. “Sixty, you cold blooded ignoramus. You will be happy with sixty tokens.”
“I…will be happy with sixty tokens.”
Alexia slapped a bag onto the table. It contained the ‘tokens’, really a somewhat esoteric measure of worth Mönkhbat had explained to them. It covered everything from precious metals to technology to battle trophies, each with their own value. It was chaotic and Alexia found it irritating, but they paid the price with gold and silver with some fine durasteel blades.
“We need loan of a speeder too to move them,” she told the purveyor.
By then he’d examined the ‘payment’ and seemed satisfied, he snapped something and two slaves went to fetch a rickety vehicle like a small, open topped APC on wheels.
Alexia, barely concealing her scorn, herded all but the one she’d chosen into the back.
“If any of you try to run I’ll make you wish you were back there with him.” She chose one at random and held out her hand, choking the unfortunate until she was begging on her knees. “Clear?”
They were, and they could soon head out in their archaic vehicle. With that, and letting Tyrone drive, she was able to get close to the five year slave, though she did wrinkle her nose at the smell.
“Now…let’s talk about five years ago….”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"], [member="Ylva Wolfsbane"]


"Heh, heh, this will be fun," Mönchkbat grinned. "They say the Imperator once rode upon a wurm and clove its head off."

"Probably not at the same time," Enyo said flatly. Tales of martial glory had a way of acquiring a life of their own and getting more and more embellished as time passed. Especially when the subject of such tales ended up in a position of power and authority. She was a sceptical person by nature. "Now don't just stand there. Get everything set up. Make yourself useful," she ordered gruffly. She did not quite say 'or else I'll break your bones and feed you to the wurm, too' but it could be inferred.

"Yes, Warlord. You got quads, I like you." These lizardmen were weird. Anyhow, eventually speeders appeared on the scene. They carried Eisenkrieger loaded with the weapons Enyo had ordered. Now they were only waiting for the Alexia and Tyrone to deliver the slaves.

Stepping towards one of the vehicles, Enyo received her absurdly brutal rail-minigun. She took a moment to examine the heavy weapon, making sure it was clean and in good condition. "Take that," she spoke to Ylva, indicating the moderately overpowered anti-tank rifle. The weapon utilised particle beam technology and fired a bolt capable of percing medium armoured vehicles with one shot and heavily armoured with repeated shots.


xxx


Tyrone looked scornful when she saw the...vehicle. Enyo might have an affinity for these smelly, brutish barbarians, but she did not. However, she did feel like Karakorum was a good place to send pacifists, Jedi, tree-huggers and other fools to. It would cure them of their delusions. Or the wild beasts would just eat them. Sadly, that was not on the agenda today.

The slaves were herded into the vehicle. "Where are you taking us?" one asked fearfully and suspiciously.

"Somewhere away from your cruel lizard masters and this filthy cell. Now get in," she ordered. One of the slaves suddenly getting choked by Alexia was enough to convince the rest of the herd. Before embarking, the investigator gave the Eldorai she'd been chatting with a look. She felt like holding on to her. Alexia ought to get the message. So Tyrone took her place behind the controls. Or whatever passed for it. Even the wheel looked primitive. After a few moments she managed to kickt he rickety vehicle into gear.

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

"Excellent." She said, deactivating her holocomm afterwards. Then she turned to Enyo, and reported. "They are on the way."

Mönkhbat, meanwhile, was talking about how the Imperator was great and such. She would listen to it more and learn about him more, but the lizard was too young and proud, so that tale was probably not that accurate. Also, she was concentrating on the hunt and trying to find some clues that could help them. It was all sand and bones, however, so finding such clues wasn't that easy.

A bit later after several fruitless attempts, a few speeders approached them which belonged to the gang, carrying the weapons in Enyo's grocery list. With Enyo in front, she followed her to check the weapons, signaling the young lizard to follow.

Big, big weapons. Ylva couldn't help but grin. That grin turned into a laugh after what Enyo said.

"You know how to make a Valkyrie happy, my friend." She said, amusedly as she extended her hand to take the rifle from the carrier.

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"] [member="Enyo Typhos"]

Herded out, the dirty, ragged and scared slaves looked around. Finally Alexia herself jumped down leading the veteran slave. The others were forced by the Eisenkrieger into a line.
“Right, did we want to send them in groups or individually?” one asked.
“Send us where?” one asked.
“Shut it. Get them moving. Groups of four!” Alexia growled.
Whilst the slaves were forced down the slope under the watchful gaze of the soldiers, Alexia came up to Enyo.

“This one told me some useful things. Apparently the current Imperator was sucked through the Netherworld portal. He wasn’t Imperator then though, so when he came back he claimed the title, saying the previous one was dead. She says when he came back he had the helmet of the last Imperator…probably killed him.”
“He was different after he came back. Soon he sold all his slaves, now he has just machines I think,” the slave said.
“Interesting, right?” Alexia commented to Enyo. She looked at the slave. “I’m going to keep you, we can make sure you’ve not forgotten anything useful.”
“I’ve told you all I know,” she said rather pathetically.
“We’ll see. I know how to make sure you’re not lying. Until then, you get to watch the show.”

Ylva would be able to send the pitiful slaves down into the amphitheatre of death. As soon as their prize appeared they’d be ready. Honour? Fair play? Alexia far preferred to be alive at the end. With this in mind she’d acquired a launcher.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"], [member="Ylva Wolfsbane"]


"You'll make good use of it. Aim for weak spots. Internal organs," she spoke softly, giving Ylva a curt nod. Very, very few people called Enyo 'friend' - understandably. It felt a bit weird to her. She did not reprimand the big Viking though. They'd met by chance on Midvinter, shortly after Enyo had been 'rebuilt' after almost dying in the Silver Jedi's bombardment of Korriban City. Awkward, angry and uncertain of herself, she'd cheered herself up with violence. Ylva had helped her butcher an annoying Jedi and indoctrinated Valkyri. She'd also helped out in other ways. Ways Enyo could no longer indulge in. Still, the night at the fireplace had been appreciated.


The roar of engines pulled her out of her musings. The herd of slaves smelt of fear, sweat, dirt and urine. "Ylva, Mönchkbat, prepare the slaves. Attach explosives to them, follow the tracks and lay them out as bait," she ordered in her usual commanding, emotionless tone. The fact that the slaves would be cruelly sacrificed and die a horrible death did not bother her in the least. They were just pieces she moved on the board.


Alexia and Tyrone showed up, with two slaves in tow. Enyo listened to what Alexia and her slave had to say. Then her eyes turned to Tyrone and the elf. "Does she have anything useful to say or did you just like the ears?" she asked caustically. Enyo was not too fond of Eldorai. They seemed weak and whiny to her. The exception to this rule was her teacher Talsir. Who also did not like most Eldorai.

"You wound me, Boss. She was the property of a shaman...but before that she served the last Imperator," Tyrone reported a bit smugly. "You see, when our scaly warlord returned, he used his newly-discovered eldritch powers to purge the old clan leaders. She survived by hiding in some wreckage. It is why no one knows the true nature of his knowledge. And he's been gathering strange devices," she gave the slave a significant look, silently ordering her to speak up.
"He's launched several raids since he returned, but let his minions have all the slaves and booty. All he's taken are trinkets. No one knows what they do. Even the shamans aren't allowed to touch them," the slave reported. She was trying to suppress a tremble.
Enyo shared a look with Alexia, then looked back at the slaves. "You may have been useful. Put them under guard." That was addressed to Tyrone. While the slaves were being restrained, Enyo sought out a good position for her rail-minigun.

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

Ylva nodded with a smile, while examining the weapon and measuring its weight on both her arms to kind of "get to know" the weapon and find a comfortable way of using it. After this sweet, and perhaps a bit awkward for Enyo but Ylva was too excited about the weapon to see it, moment, the rest of the gang arrived with the slaves. Many of them, approaching. Today was their day of redemption. Redemption from their sad lives. Her cold gaze followed the group until they were close enough, and then she grunted. Also, she noticed a sharp-ear, who wore the same clothing as the others yet not following them, but the gang. Perhaps the girl still had some use for her, she wondered, but didn't think about it that much. After all, she had things to do. Nodding to Enyo, she turned to the young Kraal.

"Lizard, come." She said, and then started to move towards the slaves. Mönchkbat followed, with a crooked smile.

"Wh...wha...what are you going to do with us? E..exp...." One of the slaves asked, an almost skeleton-like human, who clearly heard Enyo and the explosives just like the others. The noise of a useless crowd. That was all this all was.

"Silence." Ylva said, not letting her to finish her sentence. "Take the explosives from the container." She ordered Mönchkbat. Herself, doing just that, moved towards the slave from earlier.

"Hands up." She said, coldly, not even looking at her.

"I... I can't... You can't... I won't allow!" Trying to struggle against her attempts to stick the explosives, Ylva was both amused and annoyed. Especially since her attempt seemed to rally the others as well. One of the gang members hit the woman in the back of her knee with a rifle, which made her lose her balance.

"Wait." Ylva said, and then extended her hand for the woman to rise once again. "You don't want to end up like that, do you?" This time, her voice was a bit softer than before. Shaken, she nodded her head repeatedly and confusedly. "Good, I like your passion... for freedom. What's your name, dear?" The confusion seemed to spread to the others. Mönckhbat stopped doing his job and started watching what was happening. "N... Nela..." She answered.

"Nela..." Still holding the slave's hand, her grip suddenly tightened, and with her other hand took the form of a punch. One hit the girl and made her fall down immediately. Then followed one more, and one more, and another, until the slave's face turned into a puddle of blood, then she raised the half conscious body of the human from her neck.

"Listen up, you useless piles of chit." She shouted, swinging the body left and right like it's nothing to show what happens to all. "You can either die peacefully, or end up like your friend Nela here. Your fate was sealed once you've been selected as sacrifices, and there is no escape for you. Your only freedom is the belly of the Wurm. Don't make a noise or I will personally beat every single one of you until you can't feel anything." Chaotic Evil, alright. Then she proceeded to stick the explosives to Nela's half-conscious, still moaning from pain, body anyway. Resistance was futile. "That was quite the performance, Chief!" Mönckhbat was about to applaud but decided not to after the angry look of the giant. Her little "performance" seemed to quicken the process a lot, as soon all the slaves were prepared and ready as bait.

"Enyo." Ylva called the cyborg after a few minutes. "We are done with the slaves."

Not long after, the ground started to shake a bit, and from the distance the scouts could see the sand was moving.

It was dinner time.

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"] [member="Enyo Typhos"]

The five year slave, whom Alexia had not asked or cared the name of, pawed at her. “Do something, please!” she said.
Alexia turned on her. “Quiet, or you’ll join them. You, cuff her to the truck,” she ordered one of the guards.

She knew Amara would be horrified if she knew. It gave her almost a perverse pleasure to know this. She wanted Amara to find out, by ‘accident’ perhaps. Maybe the slave would tell her, her clone sister was ever the patron of the weak and pathetic. It was if she thought that doing the opposite of Kaelin was required in every situation. Alexia disagreed. There was a middle path between useless sadism and weak-kneed idealism.

And so the party headed off across the sands. One tried to run but bam they went up in a bloody mist. The others, frozen with fear, moved onward.
The noise was getting louder.

“Big object incoming,” Amara said, checking her scanner. She handed it off and took control of the detonators. She knew Enyo wanted a big gun, and Ylva would too most likely. Therefore she’d trigged the bombs at the right moment.

The ground erupted and the beast emerged.

Several of the unfortunates vanished into its maw, the others panicked and tried to scatter but were soon devoured. Alexia grinned and hit the detonator.

Boom

Now it was time for the others to open up.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"], [member="Amara Zarides"]


And so the slaves were led to their doom - right into the giant wurm's maw. All except two. Unlike Alexia's slave, the one Tyrone had nabbed did not cry and plead. She looked disgusted, full of sorrow and hatred...but resigned. "You don't seem surprised," Tyrone observed.

"It was too good to be true. There are no happy endings. Only monsters come for the slaves," the Eldorai slave spoke in a tone that mixed resignation with loathing.

"You're a smart girl," Tyrone remarked. The party was moving, so she passed the slave off to a guard and took up position.


xxx

Then everything happened so fast. The ground erupted and there was an epic noise, like that caused by an earthquake. A colossal wurm emerged. Its maw opened and the slaves disappeared inside it. Some were devoured instantly, others tried to flee in vain. Then boom.


Several Baradium charges detonated inside the beast, giving it stomach aches from hell. Hundreds of wounds opened up inside the beast, green ichor dripping out of them. The wurm howled in rage, producing a roar loud enough to cause shockwaves as columns of sand and dust were raised into the air like a shroud.


Even Enyo's artificial hearing was compromised - if only for a few seconds. She'd felt the deaths of the poor unfortunate souls when their bodies were ripped apart. She also did not care. To her, she and her siblings were the only people that mattered. Having taken cover behind some wreckage on a dune, she raised her rail-minigun. The weapon needed a fixed position to be used from, since otherwise the recoil was all but unbearable. The Spitfire roared, firing a storm of 1cm rounds at hypersonic speed towards the giant beast. Accelerated by an internal rail assembly, the projectiles hit extremely hard and fast.


Enyo's goons opened up, unleashing carbonite and explosive weapons. They were designed to slow the beast down. For, though severely wounded, it was not dead yet....and coming straight towards them, driven by primal rage and ferocity. Balancing a missile launcher on her shoulder, Tyrone took aim and fired.

 

[Ylva Wolfsbane]

And so the hunt began as the monster appeared, creating an earthquake as it moved in the sand. In less than a minute, the Wurm ate half of the slaves, the other half tried to run away but to no avail, as the Valkyrie said before, there was no escape for the chosen. Explosions followed inside the creature's belly, and then the it's shrieks which almost made her deaf and caused another small scale earthquake, making the environment difficult to see with all the sand it caused to fly.

A good start.

The desert then turned into a light show of bullets flying. Some of them hit the creature and made green liquid come out of the wounds, and some less powerful grazed the creature's armorish skin. The creature shocked by the surprise attack, couldn't move for a few seconds and took quite a bit of the damage. However, it was its turn to attack. With another shriek, it once again started to move, although slowed down for some of its parts froze still quite fast, mouth wide open to devour what was in front of it. It was a chance.

Ylva took out a cryobomb and threw it, aiming its open mouth. If Tyrone's attack connected with hers. The missile would hit the frozen part and deal a good amount of damage, cause the Wurm to have some dental problems.

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Amara Zarides"]

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"] [member="Ylva Wolfsbane"]

The worm was having a seriously bad day. It had sensed the vibrations of many tasty, squishy prey and had emerged to consume them. Now though it was burning, fire was filling it, sharp spines were piercing it and many prey were before it! It began to get angry.

Alexia was the first to realise that picking a fight with a hundred foot worm was probably not the best move. As it roared she was forced to cover her ears and duck down as the sound and dust tore at her.

Then the shadow loomed over her. Training, the Force, or just animal survival instincts made her hurl herself away…just in time. A maw fully as big as she was tall slammed down, tearing at the ground where she had been. One of the Eisenkrieger was not so swift and had been bitten literally in half. A cybernetic pair of legs stood as a rather surreal reminder of where a warrior had been.

Alexia rolled up to her feet. She held out her hand and called a fallen missile launcher to her hand. No invertebrate was going to get her. Loading a missile into the chamber she took aim and fired, reloaded, fired, sending six shells into the monster’s head and maw.

The worm was faltering, but turned as if to try and escape. Once underground it’d be near impossible to catch even if it subsequently perished from its wounds.

“Hit it with everything we’ve got, Enyo, we can’t let it get away!”

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Ylva Wolfsbane"], [member="Amara Zarides"]


Things were awkward for the wurm. It was being bombarded from all sides, part of its mouth had been frozen solid, then the ice had melted and turned steamy due to the heat. Finally, a missile had ripped apart a good portion of said mouth. There would be dental problems.


But it still had fight in it. Its roar was loud enough to burst eardrums, raise columns of dust and sand and cause a large shockwave that sent Eisenkrieger flying. One Eisenkrieger was literally ripped in half, leaving only a pair of robotic legs. Another one was swallowed wholesale, screaming as she was drawn into the maw and torn to pieces.


A constant barrage of rockets, shells and high-velocity bullets hammered the beast. Launchers roared, and missiles lanced out on tails of flaming exhaust. Warheads slammed into the massive body of the wurm, exploding against it and breaching its natural armour, or penetrating outright. The wurm was in pain, bleeding from countless injuries and burning.


However, it was still alive. Turning, it seemed to be trying to escape. "Continue firing. Use jetpacks if needed," Enyo ordered coldly. Her rail-minigun roared, aiming for the roof of the beast's mouth. 1cm rounds were propelled towards it at hypersonic speed, tearing injuries into it. However, ammunition was running low.


Then the beast howled and smacked her with its massive tail. The force of the blow was strong enough that it did not just knock the Cyborg off her feet, but sent her flying through the air like a ragdoll. She landed hard upon the ground, though the fall was cushioned somewhat by the sand. Her assault cannon had landed elsewhere, out of her reach, and she was covered in sand.


As she got to her feet, the beast was upon her. She was in its path and too tempting to let go. Enyo did not try to run and so a giant maw devoured her. The Cyborg was quite literally swallowed. The beast's huge teeth tore at her, seeking to rip through her armour. Rather than try and protect her whole body, she focused a telekinetic bubble around her more vulnerable skull. All that metal was not good for digestion though. Enyo activated her lightsabre and began to cut.

 

[Amara Zarides]

[member="Enyo Typhos"]
Alexia felt like the world was dropping out from under her as her ‘sister’ vanished into the maw. Despite her studied mask of arrogant disdain, Alexia really did care about Enyo. The cyborg wasn’t exactly…loveable…but she was kind in her own way, and the closest Alexia had to a parent.

Thus, she was gripped by fear, anger, loss, panic. Anger won out in the end. She reloaded her launcher.
“On me! Concentrate fire on the head! Waste it!”

She knew Enyo was ridiculously tanky, but they had to be quick. A hail of missiles, slugs, blasters and other attacks slammed into the monster. It let out a shriek. However, it seemed that for all the harm done to it, what most hurt it was something they could not even see. Suddenly it started to go into convulsions, and as it howled in anguish Alexia lined up a final shot, aimed and waited for its mouth to be open at maximal and fired.

Right into the roof of the abused mouth it went, piercing to blow up in the worm’s brain. However, as the beast fell Alexia would realise that the final blow might not have come from her, but from Enyo, of whom the rumours of her death were greatly exaggerated….

 

[Enyo Typhos]

[member="Amara Zarides"]


The wurm was having a bad day. All it had wanted to do was fill its belly with some tasty meat, now it was being shot at. That was not nice at all. A hail of rockets, slugs, blasters and so and so forth slammed into the massive creature. Combined, the hailstorm opened more wounds than could be counted.


So much for a quick escape into the sand. It began to convulse. Its mouth and a good portion of its skull were riped apart, a missile killed its brain. Oh, and a lightsabre had cut through its insides, the searing blade burning it from the inside out. Finally the beast gave up the ghost. At least now the ruffians could no longer hurt it!


There was a hole inside it. Covered in gore, brains, filth and sand, wearing battered, damaged armour, Enyo tumbled out. When she rose to her feet, she did so mechanically. Tyrone just put down her missile launcher and muttered something that vaguely sounded like 'showoff'.