Public Weekend Treasure Hunt 33: Midnight in the Forest

[Mercy]

Even with shielding herself through the vibro-saw parts of the barbs managed to get through.

They cut against skin and cut deep at that.

Anything lightsurface would have healed in a matter of minutes. This? It hurt, it made her bleed and as such sluggish. But there was little to do besides press on and- the tree atomized itself right in front of her.

Mercy blinked and looked to the side.

Scruffy guy with a disruptor. One that he could use on them next and it made Mercy curse, before she had to duck to avoid another tree trunk being slashed at her head. Once more the vibro-saw went whirrrr and caused the creature to flee. For now. Mercy could feel eyes all around them, staring, probing, waiting for the opportune moment.

<< MEAT MEAT MEAT MEAT >>

"Thanks, whoever you are." Towards Sal, before Mercy turned around to quizzically look at Io. She couldn't help but smirk. "Well, yeah, I like living and I assume the same goes for our disruptor-holding friend."

Gesturing back towards Sal.

"So yeah, unless we want to make this into a murder circle and see who gets to kill who first." Thoughtful expression. That did sound like fun.... but no... no, not with those creepy viney eyes staring at them from the dark places. "I say we band together, protect each other's flanks. We can figure out the loot chit if we manage to get off this vine ball."

In truth Mercy cared little about the loot.

She wanted two things:

1) survive

2) murder the feth out of whoever lured her here

2a) burn down this entire forest, but that probably wouldn't work

Mercy was about to set off in the direction of the temple. Then? A sniper shot coming from... above? At first Mercy assumed they were under attack from other enemies too. Then a tree standing really close to her suddenly shattered into pieces and screeched in anger. "We are getting suppressive fire, let's go!"

This time the large woman didn't check if the others followed.

No, she'd make use of the sniper fire, to close the distance to the temple as much as possible.

Lief Percival Io Moya Virtu Sal Katarn Ashin Cardé Varanin Taeli Raaf Gi Gregain Alessandra Io Akemi Io

 

[Percival Io]

Percival could track the signatures of his fellow Neutralizers, even in the dense woods. He deliberately sought out the rest of the away team, eventually landing on a ridge close to their position. Instead of a swamp, the area up here was more of a humid jungle. He had no way of knowing if the Drengir also had a presence here, but someone had been through recently, clearing a path through the undergrowth with machetes and the like.

Percival set Eliphas down, then stuck his fingers in his mouth and gave a distinct whistle.

Roughly a minute or two later, his comrades arrived. They were a motley bunch of strange humanlike droids, most of them female in appearance, all heavily armed and armored. With their eerily symmetrical features, poreless skin, and uncanny movements, it was obvious even at a glance that they were not human.

“This one’s got an injured leg,” Percival said, pointing to Eliphas. A blonde-haired Medical Neutralizer, dressed in camo armor to better aid in blending in with the forest, stepped forward to administer aid.

A brunette Neutralizer named Nadine was the leader of the posse. She spoke to Percival in Khemostian Sign Language—a secret means of communication they had developed amongst themselves. [Who is this? He looks like you, but he’s not one of us.]

[A survivor of a crashed ship,] Percival replied, shrugging his shoulders in answer to her other question. [I don’t think there were any others. The plant was overtaking the wreck when I found this one.]

Nadine cast a suspicious glance in Eliphas’ direction. [He’s the only survivor, and he just happens to look like your twin?]

Percival also turned to look back at Eliphas. If anything, the young human appeared to be in shock. Then again, anyone would be overwhelmed by the experience of losing his ship and his crew, being rescued from a plant monster by his mechanical doppelganger, and then encountering a bunch of weird bio-organic droids in the middle of a jungle. In all honesty, Percival would be surprised if the kid didn’t crack before the end of the night.

[We can get him off this planet in one piece. No need to do anything more than that,] Percival signed back. Then, turning away from her, he approached Eliphas. “What is your name, and what happened to your ship?” He paused. "Besides crashing, I mean."

Lief​

 

[Arianna Belasko]

Wearing: Naiad Combat Armor

Armed with: Fork of Persecution (Vibro-Trident)

Chimera (Single Bladed Yellow Lightsaber)

Current Persona: Vivian. (See Bio)

Near: Percival Io

It had been months since she had been able to leave Arianna's flesh and mind and just be herself...

The Force Spawn Vivian, who worked as a Civilian school teacher in this identity, had at last found the strength to put Arianna back to sleep for the moment and emerge, deciding to accompany her grand children Akemi Io , Percival Io , and Alessandra Io to this wretched place. She had been delayed by some unexpected last minute nonsense involving a handgun and one of Arianna's philanthropic efforts.

The Dark Side of this place screamed out to her and she knew that if there was any place for the young Nuetralizers to prove themselves then it was surely here, on an ancient Sith Moon.

She had flown here in style of course in a Cosinga Corvette. Xiphos had been busy over at Scion Mobile Shipyards again. The vision for House Io's Navy had been finalized. Their Navy was to be able to fight or flee almost anywhere, with as much attention to self sufficiency paid as possible. Too long had the old designs had reign. Too long had the same battles been fought again and again.

House Io, as it had with the Nuetralizer Program, would throw away the rule book when it came to ships.

It felt good to Vivian, breathing fresh air not as Arianna. It had actually been a real struggle to emerge, after having spent months being her on a daily basis. Part time work as a substitute teacher in the CIS didn't demand as much as acting like that Homicidal Beast.

Arianna always encouraged the Nuetralizers more violent tendencies when possible. It annoyed Vivian to have to stay in character. The Nuetralizers hadn't just been imitating their own Mother in ripping apart their enemies... Arianna had endorsed the vicious practice, recognizing the fear it incited. Arianna, beyond The Amalgam herself, was one of their chief sources of wisdom when it came to Torture Techniques, the real Arianna having been a monster even before joining the Cult of The Brain Demon, and had bathed regularly in the blood of adults and younglings alike for the sake of sheer sadism. While Vivian had been careful to avoid letting Arianna go too far nowadays, due to the genuinely dangerous risk of being trapped in her mystical LARP permanently, the fact remained that it was extraordinarily difficult to restrain the Countess. She had to be very careful when feeding so as to not accidentally overdose on Psychic Energy and morph into her.

Her chief concern at the moment was reaching her Grandson Percival for she sensed him the easiest as her ship had approached, due to him being the closest.

She wore her Naiad Combat Armor, a stark white color, armed with a Vibro-Trident and Lightsaber. Though not as powerful with Hydrokinesis, she had a few saving graces in this form...

The Model 3 piloting for her signalled they were close to Percival's location. Vivian directed the hatch to open and the elderly looking, red headed Force Spawn stepped to its precipice, using a Repulsor Belt to slow her fall as she jumped out. The Corvette signaling to him and the other Nuetralizers on the surface that she had arrived to help.

As she landed in the ground, she was immediately set upon by the plant creature. The Daggers of Light Side energy formed in her hand and she sent out brilliant white shards of it damaging the Dark aligned creature severely, burning it even worse than a Disruptor, the concentrated light so powerful it actually severely slowed it. She kept throwing the daggers of light as she moved, attacked from all sides by the aggressive organism until it finally got the hint and out right went into full retreat from her as she moved through the jungle towards the ridge Percival and the others were.

Now it was Percival's turn to encounter a red headed woman in all white armor, like with Starlin and his true Master.

"Percival?" Vivian called out as she approached the Ridge. "Sorry I got held up. Embarrassing incident involving a Handgun and a power converter..."

 

[Lief]

It wasn't until he was set down that he could truly appreciate just how much their surroundings had changed. The ground underneath him didn't give way to squishy mud anymore, and for the first time since waking up here he no longer felt alone. Sure he was surrounded by uncanny-valley humanoid droids, all of whom were complete and utter strangers, but there was a safety in numbers at least at present. None of them had turned their weapons on him, in fact they were offering assistance in the form of medical aid.​

​

Slowly but surely the thousand yard stare he'd been exhibiting began to fade. He said nothing as the female medic began to patch him up, and his saviour and another began an intricate set of gestures by way of communicating. He didn't even try to figure any of it out, not that he could have anyway. He just sat and waited, allowing the full weight of the situation to wash over him.​

​

Yara, he'd come to realize, was dead. So too was his Captain, and the rest of the crew. There was no way they could have survived that crash without being dragged beneath the treacherous swamp, or consumed by the sentient plants which skulked the planets surface. Eliphas had been lucky, he'd been spat out of the debris onto an area of ground which wasn't quite so sodden as the rest, and that was the only thing which had kept him alive.​

​

Well, that and now his mechanical doppelganger.​

​

Thoughts of the saviour had him turning his head to observe him. In almost every conceivable way he found himself reflected in him. His stature, his face, even some of his expressions. But then there were the strange changes, the odd way in which he moved, and the way in which his face was a little too perfect. His voice of course was another factor. Why was this, though? Had somebody stolen his DNA at some point? Made a replica droid of him?​

​

Or was this just a weird and uncomfortable coincidence?​

​

Certainly it had to be the latter. The Galaxy was vast, and to think that not a single doppelganger existed within it was foolish. This much of a doppelganger though?​

​

The droid's approach brought him out of his thoughts, and for the first time since being discovered he was surprised to find himself with a voice. "Eliphas," he replied, voice quiet yet still very much audible. "I don't know... I don't remember. Where are we?" This was like no planet he'd stepped foot upon before, everything about it felt foreign and predatory.​

​

Percival Io ​

 

[Percival Io]

"Where are we?"

"We are on the forest moon of Abherin," Percival replied. Digging the tip of his katana into the ground, he rested his hands on the pommel. "I am Percival Io, Chaplain of House Io. The servants of House Io came to plunder the ancient Sith tombs here."

As for the identical elephant in the room (er, jungle), Percival could think of a few plausible explanations. One of the more interesting ones was related to his own mysterious and anomalous nature—most Neutralizers were manufactured as female by default, so he had long suspected that his being male was done by special request. It was entirely possible that the same person responsible for selecting his gender programming had deliberately chosen his appearance to resemble Eliphas as well, though he didn’t know who or why…

"Percival? Sorry I got held up. Embarrassing incident involving a handgun and a power converter..."

Percival immediately stood at attention, hands clasped behind his back. His katana remained embedded in the dirt, wobbling from side to side without his grip to hold it steady. “Grandmother,” he acknowledged the woman who had just arrived.

In this case, the word grandmother was being used as a formal title rather than an affectionate term of kinship. Grandmother’s orders clearly held precedent over solving the mystery, as evidenced by Percival’s almost ashamed reaction to her arrival. “I should apologize. I… became sidetracked. Alessandra went on to the tomb without me. I ask for your forgiveness.”

Arianna Belasko Lief​

 

[Arianna Belasko]

Vivian smiled as Percival Io stood at attention.

"At ease, Grandson. No apologies needed. After what I have just seen, I can understand how the situation could have become chaotic. We'll look for Alessandra and Akemi. But right now, the important thing is to develop a strategy to proceed ahead..."

That was the main difference between the bio and the mechanical Nuetralizers...the Mechanicals would have already been in the offensive, having been designed from the ground up as pure Soldiers, used to a life of battle, everything else a secondary. Most bio Nuetralizers had special, primary purposes other than pure combat, though they would certainly grow into such a role with enough time.

If it was mechanical Nuetralizers here, they'd be merrily tearing apart the jungle with Disruptors or some other fethed up chit to kill the damn Plant Monsters. Bio Nuetralizers required more guidance in this department out of the gate.

Not that Darth Xiphos held this against them. She had designed them for special roles as the Mechanical Nuetralizers, while sapient, were ultimately best as warriors (though they too could grow acclimated to special secondary roles over time. But experience against highly dangerous foes was the best teacher for any Nuetralizer. Even Chaplain Nuetralizers would have a slight learning curve. It was one thing to talk the path. It was another to walk it.

Vivian then noticed Lief , and did a double take. Had Percival decided to exploit his scary ass healing factor?

No, she decided...the other one looked too human in how he moved. But the resemblance was uncanny.

But still, they had bigger problems.

"These plant things...quite voracious...Can this one walk?" Vivian asked about Eliphas.

"He should be good to go soon..." The Medical Nuetralizer treating him answered.

"Good. Give him a weapon. He's going to need it." Vivian said, striding over to Percival, flesh shuddering unnaturally on her face for a few seconds as she resisted the Dark Energy of this planet.

"You at least saved one person, Grandson, that's something to be proud of. But now the time has come to retrieve the others and loot these tombs like it's a five credit discount at an all you can eat buffet at Corellia..."

She saw a surge of plant Monster slowly creeping towards them in the distance. She hissed a spell, Flesh bubbling and shuddering on her body as three lightning bolts crashed down from the sky, utterly frying the large mass to ash.

She felt a little drained, suddenly. That was to be expected, as it was a powerful spell. She would have to be careful how much power she used up, lest she have to resort to feeding again,which carried the risk of bringing out Arianna if she fed too much...

She shook her head a bit shaking the effects of power drain off.

"I'll lead the way. You follow as soon as your lookalike is well enough. We must use great aggression against such a relentless Foe. You have Lightning Organs and Tractor Organs. Be prepared to make full use of them. We'll spearhead an attack through the temple and the Corvette above will provide overwatch, and fire what tries to sneak up on us. Sound good, Grandson?"

Alessandra Io

Akemi Io

 

[Alessandra Io]

Location: Outside Tomb of Darth Peraxis, Deep Forest - Abherin
Objective: Obtain Sith Artifacts for House Io
In Vicinity - Tomb of Darth Peraxis: Taeli Raaf Lief Taeli Raaf Arianna Belasko Akemi Io Percival Io
Direct Engagement: Mercy Sal Katarn Ashin Cardé Varanin

Alessandra exercised an abundance of caution, especially as the distinct, high-pitched zap-whip of a disruptor met her organic audito sensors, to which she naturally placed herself at the outer edge of the group Firrerreo, unwittingly forming a circle with the two copper-skinned Firrerreo in the process. Seeing the tree atomized before her eyes from the green-eyed gunslinger’s disruptor, the Nuetralizer adjusted her threat assessment accordingly, deciding that he would be the one to devote the most resources to, if it came to a fight. However, there was also the distinct possibility that the two Firrerreo were working together. While they were not a rare species, meeting two of them in this context could be cause for alarm.

Nevertheless, separated as she was from her brothers and sisters, Alessandra knew that it would be in her best interest to form a temporary pact with the two strangers.

Floating back down to the ground, Alessandra gave an assenting nod to the woman, only just as one of the tree beasts in the vicinity gave a pained, eerie howl. The woman’s alarm was initially surprising to the Nuetralizer, but the potential threat quickly became evident to her cognitive systems, even if she was unable to determine its exact nature. As such, the Nuetralizer moved quickly after the muscle bound Amazon as she took off towards the tomb, ever wary of the potential threat who’s nature seemed apparent, that of the mysterious gunslinger following behind.

As for the hidden actor? The Nuetralizer could only pray that she did not fall into their sights.

Spoiler: Loadout

• Eversor Bodysuit
  
  • Gauntlets
    
    • Hekler'Kok WMMW-01 - R/L
      
      • Shotgun (2) - 10 Gauge Incendiary
  • Energy Shield
    
    • Phase III “Force Avenger” Energy Shield
  • Droid
    
    • IBIS Drone
• Eversor Rings
• House Io Citizen Energy Sword
• G-20 Glop Grenade (2)
• NOVA40 Plasma Grenade (2)

 

[Percival Io]

Percival seemed pleased at Grandmother’s praise, though his reaction was short-lived as he watched her lob a thunderbolt at the encroaching plant monster. Their position on the ridge was no longer safe from the Drengir.

Another Neutralizer approached Eliphas with a weapon—with several different weapons, in fact, which he would be expected to choose from. While the young human would no doubt be less than overjoyed to follow them into an ancient Sith tomb, he would stand a much better chance at survival if he stayed in their group.

"We'll spearhead an attack through the temple and the Corvette above will provide overwatch, and fire what tries to sneak up on us. Sound good, Grandson?"

His brow furrowing at the mention of a corvette, Percival glanced up at the skies. Sure enough, there was indeed a ship firing down at the Drengir from above. Looking back at Grandmother, he shrugged. "The more the merrier."

Retrieving his katana, he approached Eliphas and held out a hand to help him to his feet. "There's safety in numbers, but no one will stop you if you want to forge your own path through the jungle," he said. Regardless of what the human decided, Percival set out with the rest of his group toward the tomb...

Lief Arianna Belasko Mercy Sal Katarn Ashin Cardé Varanin Alessandra Io Akemi Io Taeli Raaf​

 

[Lief]

As many questions as were circling through his head, there was simply no time to ask them. The doppelganger, soon referred to as Percival by another, answered his initial queries but soon became sidetracked by duty. Eliphas knew how that was first hand; there was never a moment of lax protocol when the Commander was on deck, much less if the Captain was afoot.​

​

His stomach churned at the thought of them both, no doubt lost beneath the swampy surface. The further he came out of his state of shock, the more grief washed over him. But he had to keep a level head, some how. The danger was not over, in fact he'd guess it had hardly even begun.​

​

At the newcomer's order, he found himself presented with a few different weapons. He had his own blaster still in its holster, but compared to the arsenal laid before him it was a child's toy. He glanced at Percival once the woman had begun to head off, listening to his words. Safety in number... Yes. Basic training had taught him as much.​

​

"Those plants seem hardy," he remarked, finally finding the strength to speak up beyond a murmur. "Will any of these truly stave them off?" Even as he asked he reached for a vibroblade, and a blaster that was decidedly more militant than the small one he carried. He gulped down some of his doubts, and rose up from the ground. His leg still ached, though not so bad, and there was a strange sensation coursing through him.​

​

Chit. Chit, chit, chit. In his brain fogged state, he hadn't even really realized he was being mended. "Feth," he muttered, "Did... did you administer bacta?" he inquired of the medic. He tried to recall what steps she had taken to patch up his leg, but he couldn't unscramble everything that had taken place since they'd landed. Had it been two minutes, or two hours?​

​

Eliphas' cheeks flushed hot, the last thing he needed was to be even more of an inconvenience than he already was.​

​

Percival Io Arianna Belasko ​

 

[Percival Io]

"No," the Medical Neutralizer replied. "We don't use bacta. I secreted healing enzymes on your wounds."

Lief

 

[Lief]

"Oh... Thank feth!"​

​

Percival Io​

 

[Arianna Belasko]

Vivian gave Eliphas as much time more as she dared before she signalled it was time to fight their way to the temple.

Vivian's summoned light side daggers flashed out from her hands, badly corroding the Drengir flesh allowing her golden vibro Trident flashing through the weakening but still frightfully aggressive creature, the other Nuetralizers unloading on the dangerous area with Sonic Disruptor Rifles.

Vivian was keeping track of just how much energy she expended with each Light Dagger released, as it drained a tiny bit more from her own reserves. She couldn't throw the daggers willy nilly, else she would need to feed before she knew it. She had to be judicious about when and how many she would throw. She made sure to not go so fast Lief could not keep up, but not so slow that her grandson Percival Io would feel slowed. The Cosinga Corvette above fired at Drengir masses behind them as She advanced.

Being herself was nice but being Arianna was definitely easier. Arianna would have been able to keep them away just by outright ripping the moisture out of the Drengir. But Vivian didn't have nearly the same command of Hydrokinesis that Arianna did. Plus, focusing the Light through a planet steeped in darkness was highly taxing.

Her Vibro-Trident, basically a custom Electrostaff, slashed through weakened plant material casually but though the spearhead tactic was working, the Drengir looked for any sign of opening or weakness to mass in them, and the Corvette would punish such attempts with laser fire. But the temple was still some ways off. Vivian could not do it all in her own...

Percival Io

Alessandra Io

Akemi Io

Mercy

 

[Sal Katarn]

Yep. Just made ‘em angry.

Sal grunted at Buzzsaw’s comment and with a grimace started loping toward the temple, firing behind him at movin’ shapes.

Weren’t much of a sprinter anyhow, much less with a gut full of holes, but fear could be a powerful thing. Gave a man wings.

Not literally, that would be stupid. Sal just ran faster than he might’ve thought he could is all.

And he had a mighty headache too. A thrumming in his head that made his neck all hot and his nerves on edge. Like that feelin’ on a hot summer’s day when it’s so karkin’ hot outside and you’re drowning in your own sweat and someone looks at you funny and you just wanna cave in their face with your bare knuckles, cause at least you’d be doin’ somethin’ instead of sitting there and frying.

 

[Percival Io]

Percival was a two-faced creature. On one hand, he was the gentle confessor, the kindly priest, a shepherd to his people. On the other, he was a monstrosity, deploying a brand of ultraviolence that was as ruthless and brutal as the methods of any Sith.

The Drengir had no head to decapitate, no limbs to dismember, no heart to pierce. Percival sheathed his katana and instead relied on his disruptor. Blue-white bolts of energy arced toward the plant monster, blowing pieces of it to ash while it writhed and undulated in rage.

While he had to pause briefly to reload, the Drengir thrust a tendril at him. He held out a hand, the tractor-like organ in his hand shoving it back, but the creature simply absorbed the kinetic impact. It knocked him down and coiled itself around his neck. While he scrambled to free himself, the vine split into several more, targeting anyone standing around him…

Lief Arianna Belasko Alessandra Io Akemi Io​

 

[Gi Gregain]

THE SWAMPS

The sounds were still coming to her helmet... the woman she had met had the right idea of running and keeping on the run but as her body twisted and fired several shots using the thrusters to keep momentum going forward while she corkscrewed through a tree. The wood splintering under the impact before it was falling onto the thing chasing her and Gi lept into the air using her boosters to fly up for a moment. Her mind racing.. her perception augmented with force energies and the augmentations themselves as everything seemed to slow down and a time dilation came into effect in many ways. She selected in her wrist weapons and came down with a shockwave generator ejecting from her wrist tube to send a bone shattering blast around herself as the drengir screamed being knocked back and over for a moment. She was moving in and her wrist blades rotated slicing into it and she pulled staying away from fangs but going at the internals of it to shred it. The shielding system flaring as flames and acid sprayed into the internals to keep it from creating a second of its.

 

[Lief]

The enzymes proved rather fast acting.​

​

As they made their way swiftly through the jungle toward wherever it was that they were headed, he began to feel the pain numbing and had a much easier time walking than he previously had. He tried not to think about the idea of them having been secreted too much, because in truth he didn't entirely comprehend what that actually involved. Instead he kept his head down and followed the crowd.​

​

Disruptor bolts were launched to singe the arborous beasts, and he became all too aware of the use of the Force at the hands of the one who appeared to be the leader. It was still such a strange sight for him, one he couldn't fully comprehend. In that moment though there wasn't even really time to comprehend. They kept pushing forward, bolts continued to be launched, and slowly but surely a path forward was cut.​

​

For his own part, Eliphas just held the vibrosword and the blaster he'd been given. He told himself that he hadn't fired yet because there hadn't been an opening, after all he was walking in the middle of their group and any attempts could result in a stray shot hitting friend not foe.​

​

The reality of it was that he still hadn't ever shot a being, humanoid or otherwise, outside of training. In his current placement within the group he hadn't really been pushed to, he supposed there really hadn't been an opening, but that wouldn't last. And soon he'd find out if he had the nerve to do what was necessary or not...​

​

Percival Io Arianna Belasko ​

 

[Percival Io]

While the tendril around his neck coiled tighter, lifting him up off the ground, Percival opened his mouth and screamed. The effect was similar to that of a sonic weapon—Eliphas' eardrums might suffer, but it succeeded in bursting the vine that had been choking him.

Falling to the forest floor, Percival's eyes went wide, a crazed look in them. He was just a little bit peeved that the plant monster had managed to get the drop on him like that. Grabbing a sonic disruptor from a fallen fellow Neutralizer, he cocked the gun and started firing at will, blasting chunks of the Drengir into gore that splattered against the leaves and trunks of nearby trees.

But it wasn't enough. They were fighting an unbeatable enemy. The fact that he couldn't kill this fucking thing only pissed him off even more. His ammo spent, Percival begrudgingly reached for his less-than-ideal katana—then glanced over at his doppelganger, still wild-eyed. Eliphas Dune had not fired a single shot.

"Give me that," he grumbled, snatching the gun out of Eliphas' hands and resuming fire.

They were close to the tomb now.

Lief Arianna Belasko Alessandra Io

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

The tiny shuttlepod settled onto the Pomojema's hangar deck. Ashin handed off her gear and samples to a waiting Aksifas researcher, but kept her rifle. As the mobile dark side academy moved back up toward space, Ashin slung her legs over the edge of the hangar door — just inside the atmospheric field — and took a final look through the sniper scope. Diverse weapons fire illuminated the trees , glinting off blood and char. The Drengir moved through the forest en masse: elusive targets despite their bulk. Ashin found herself hoping that whoever was still down there got away safely.

She didn't hope it quite enough to offer them a lift, though. Neither strangers nor Drengir were welcome aboard the Pomojema, and going down to rescue others would risk contamination, infestation, infiltration.

The academy soared for space, leaving everyone else to live or die as fortune and skill would dictate.

 

[Alessandra Io]

Location: Outside Tomb of Darth Peraxis, Deep Forest - Abherin
Objective: Obtain Sith Artifacts for House Io
In Vicinity - Tomb of Darth Peraxis: Lief Taeli Raaf Arianna Belasko Akemi Io Percival Io
Direct Engagement: Mercy Sal Katarn

The Nuetralizer flew just above the floor of the jungle, moving faster than legs could carry her via the repulsor cells in her body. Nevertheless, the tree monsters managed to nick her on more than one occasion, but ultimately failed to penetrate the shielded material woven into her bodysuit. In turn, Alessandra answered their attack with all the firepower she could bring to bear, the shotguns on her gauntlets delivering a booming retort towards one of the foul creatures, the incendiary shells striking the Drengir’s bark-like hide and consuming it in flames.

Still, it hungered.

One of its branching root-tentacles managed to snag Alessandra around the knees as she moved to fly away, slamming the Nuetralizer down to the ground in a hard fall that would have knocked the wind out of a mortal. While her systems registered broken ribs and an impact to the head that briefly scrambled a few of her systems, the HRD turned around immediately as she was dragged towards the Drengir’s gaping, barb-toothed maw, her mouth opening to unleash a powerful, sonic backlash from the organ in her throat, stunning the creature enough for her to slip out of its grasp, once more taking to the skies as she did.

Not a moment later, the monster caught her left ankle and yanked her back down to the floor.

A second hit to the head in such a short span of time further scrambled her organic processors, leaving her stunned for a precious split-second, more than enough for the Drengir to deliver a powerful, jagged barb into her side, overcoming the shielded material in her bodysuit to finally breach soft flesh, silver blood spraying from the fresh wound in the process. The creature gave a triumphant howl as its barbed vine impaled the Nuetralizer, to which Alessandra answered with a second, banshee-like shriek, briefly stunning it, but failing to loosen its grip around her ankle. Nevertheless, Alessandra gave a third howl as she was pulled towards its maw, still failing to have a significant effect on the monster, whose massive size became all the more apparent as she was pulled closer, explaining why it had managed to absorb so much punishment.

Then, without explanation, the Drengir stopped pulling the now-wounded Nuetralizer towards its maw.

A split-second of confusion manifested across the Nuetralizer’s hyper-symmetrical features as the creature’s expression seemed to shift towards a facsimile of disgust, before an ugly, hacking noise erupted from its maw, uncoiling its vine-tentacles from around the HRD in the process and slinking back into the forest.

The Drengir hungered for flesh.

Fortunately, it seemed that the Bio-Organic Nuetralizer wasn’t very appetizing.

Spoiler: Loadout

• Eversor Bodysuit
  
  • Gauntlets
    
    • Hekler'Kok WMMW-01 - R/L
      
      • Shotgun (2) - 10 Gauge Incendiary
  • Energy Shield
    
    • Phase III “Force Avenger” Energy Shield
  • Droid
    
    • IBIS Drone
• Eversor Rings
• House Io Citizen Energy Sword
• G-20 Glop Grenade (2)
• NOVA40 Plasma Grenade (2)