Log:Felucia: Roots to Branches
Imat, the Felucian guide, has successfully lead the group through the dangerous, mushroom-filled caverns. It was within the tight, narrow ways they worked together to overcome every obstacle -- often to comedic effect. At the end of this treacherous journey, the cavern opens up to a grand expanse of a deep, lush valley the locals call the Wound. It is here the Empire had seized control during the Clone Wars and built their research facility.
In the decades following, the valley has become overrun and overgrown with all sorts of invasive plants and mysterious creatures run amok. Somewhere in that mess is the abandoned facility and within that... the precious seed vault locked away.
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Roots to Branches
OOC Date: August 05, 2022
Location: Fungal Forest, Felucia
Participants: Maelstrom (GM), Tamsin Cas, Grafn Struss, Qutha Buvu Pah, Hahtavi Kora, Cora Das, Galen Dawnstar, Kye Keraz, Sumi Kora, Aurora
o~`< Fungus Forests - Fungus Forests, Felucia >o~`~-.o~-.()._.--.-~o-.o~`~-.o~
Felucia has a diversity of bizarre plants (such as spike, spore, and enormous pitcher plants), fungi, and animals which are almost rubber-like and translucent. When the sun shines, the environment glitters like multicolored glass.
Most of Felucia is entirely covered by a humid, fetid landscape of huge fungal forests and its wildlife includes native gelagrubs, immigrated acklays, and a prodigious sarlacc.
Felucia has strong ties to the Living Force and as such the world's flora and fauna, including Jungle Felucians, can be influenced by a presence of a strong Force-user both light and dark. Most plants and animals of Felucia have adapted special defenses to protect them from each other, which makes them particularly hostile to off-worlders. Felucia is known to radiate a sort of life force that the native Jungle Felucians are capable of feeling.
This particular section of the planet is the fringe of a giant fungus forest. This is a clearing with enough space for starships to land.
o~`~-.o~-.()._.--.-~o-.o~`~-.o~-.()._.--.-~o-.o~`~-.o~-.()._.--.-~o-.o~`~-.o~-
-- Maelstrom --
The valley stretches before the group filled with flora and fauna alien to this already very alien world. Whereas Felucia itself is lush with towering fungi and wide-leafed ferns, the vegetation that swallows up this miles-long canyon locals call 'The Wound' is that of thick-trunked tropical trees, twisted bramble bushes, and curtains of woody vines that swoop and drape lazily from branch to branch. From above, this place is a large, gaping crack in the planet's surface filled to the brim with greenery and a humid cloud of fog that hovers just above it.
Standing at the cliff's edge several meters up, the exit of the cavern system to their backs, the venturing party is accosted by a din of insects screeching and some kind of primate hollering at one another from miles across. And somewhere in that mess is the research facility that caused it all.
"This place is not in harmony." Imat has his flat palmed hands on non-existent hips; small black eyes looking out over the lush, foreign jungle that has taken over this entire area. "Separated from the planet, yes, who does sing to us. But this place does not sing. It buzzes confused. This place: is not Felucia. Many mysteries here. Our people forsake it and ward others away, yes."
But not anymore. It was Imat who enlisted the help of these daring adventurers and whom acts as their guide to this perilous place. Sensing the irony of his own statement, the short reptilian is quick to add: "Desperate times we now live. Ah!" Imat raises a hand to a second guide who has arrived leading Sumi, Cora, and Galen. "Talnoc. You made it."
Talnoc, a yellow-skinned Felucian, gives Imat a quick nod. "Indeed." Is all she says. One look at the valley ahead and Talnoc turns around to disappear back into the caverns.
Imat sighs understandingly and gestures for the second group to join them. "Few of my kin dare venture where we are about to go. Even fewer return."
-- Tamsin --
"It must be something of great worth that was offered to you, to have you agree to go so far, without turning back to leave us to fend for ourselves." There was only Tamsin's usual mild tone in those words, as she made some space for ehrself on the ledge, adjusting the clothes she had worn, having worn no armor, as she never did, and making certain that her medical pack and all that she had tucked away in her pockets. Clearly, one could never be too prepared when walking into the unknown. "Or are you hoping that should the vault be removed, that your troubles will go with them?"
-- Grafn --
Grafn's usually wild and bouffant hair is decidedly slicked back with sweat from the exertion of the journey so far, not to mention the jungle itself. The old and portly Coruscanti slowly pushes up onto his left knee and then staggers to his feet once more, having been taking a pleasing break near the cliff's edge. "A bit of ferrocrete and this would be infinitely more traversible, though I'll admit this place is growing on me." Literally? Either way the old pilot brushes something off his arm and waves his hand before his face to drive some buzzing thing away. Checking his holster first, then the strap of his slung rifle, Grafn exhales a ragged and steamy breath, mopping at his brow but a few moments later as the new team arrive. "Welcome to quite possibly the most beautiful, yet most annoying place in the galaxy! Join us in our discomfort and suffer alongside us! One and all!" A sarlaccian grin, so many teeth, is offered so brightly.
-- Qutha --
"N'this here place's isolated from the res' of the area...?" Qutha queries, adjusting the collar of the canvas jacket he sports before straightening the cuffs - more a habitual motion than conscious by the slow movements. "An this here's t'only place aught one can find these herbs?"
Quieting, turning a slow circle in place, hands finding their way into his pockets. When his heavy boots stop again he sets in place like he was taking root. Eyes closing and breathing in deep as if the scents and sounds might have a story for him. Remaining silent and still until there's an answer or a need to be on the move.
-- Hahtavi --
Places like this make a fella glad he has armor that provides some seal against the hot, humid, hostile environment. The Mandalorian that has been with them since the beginning continues breathing through his helmet's filters rather than use his limited oxygen tanks. One presumes there is some air circulation that keeps the inside of his helmet from fogging up with his own sweat. The bastard's probably enjoying conditioned cool, dry air while listening to music for all they know.
Hahtavi's rifle hangs from his tactical sling down the front. Mud liberally soils his boots and lower legs from their having come through the jungle and caverns before. A few scrapes on his dark armor. His vocoder clicks on.
<"And why we didn't we simply come to the wound in air speeders?"> His helmet cants back to look up at the sky above, then levels to look at the rift ahead. Grafn might second that opinion.
-- Cora --
Cora Das is meandering towards the back of the adventuring party with a datapad in one hand and a pen-shaped stylus in the other. A pair of round-rimmed glasses perch atop her nose, and she looks quietly around her surroundings while stepping through the dense tropical trees that make up the wound. She swats at a few of the bugs that accost her, though it is ultimately a futile effort. The woman is dressed mostly in adventuring clothes -- pocketed and form fitting pants, light and breathable hiking shoes, and several layers on her torso. Tanktop, sun shirt, and a little hat. She presses her glasses up once again, as the sweat and humidity seem to continuously tug them back down the little bridge of her nose.
She laughs warmly at Grafn Struss' words, taking a few quick-paced steps up to join him and scribbling a few things down with her stylus on her data-pad. "It's not without its charms, Mr. Struss. I could do without the bugs, but it certainly smells better than Nar Shaddaa," Cora says, and then snifffffs. Coughs. "Okay, well, marginally."
-- Galen --
Galen looks over at the guide that had brought the group he was with just before she scurries off and offers a wave, "Thanks for guiding us here." And now his gaze settles on the others, "Well hello everybody!" He leans over on his combat staff relaxing from the climb/hike/scurrying through tunnels of fungi. "So did I hear that right? This area's in disharmony from the rest of the planet?"
-- Kye --
Dusting himself off, Kye doesn't seem too happy with the way things happened, since he almost fell once, and then someone else almost fell as well, and then there was the fact he had to spend his cable trying to climb vertically.
His clothes are, at least, comfortable for this kind of exploration, though he's gripping his Theed a bit tighter, eyes squinting through the dark.
"I wouldn't breathe into this air too deeply."
-- Sumi --
Sumi has her helmet off, enjoying a smoke that is at its last bit before she flicks the embered filter away and sighs out a plume of scented release. "Sounds like my kind of place," said in relation to Imat's comment about few going where he is about to lead them. Sumi is a short Mandalorian who looks no older than 18 or 19. To prove she is prepared for what may come though, she dons her helmet and its HUD comes online, the reflective silver is what's presented on the exterior of the T-shaped visor. Saying Sumi is armed is an understatement; Mandalorians were trained for a few things, and carrying weapons is one of them! She brings about a heavy Morellian made laser cannon complete with a powerpack she's lugging with little effort. The heavy repeating weapon is not primed, but she spends a moment to do just that.
<"Let's get after this. I want to kill something interesting.. then eat it."> Sumi steps ahead bravely.
-- Aurora --
Aurora places a hand over her eyes as if trying to shield them from the likely non-existant sun with all the vegetation and fog. She scans the valley for a bit, gauging what lie ahead of them. "Well if this place seems weird even to the locals, that'll make it even more interesting," Aurora notes with a small grin, then puts a finger to her chin as she seems to think. "Or would that just make it normal to us?" For a brief moment she's lost in thought before her thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of another guide with another group of travellers. Aurora turns and waves to them. "Welcome to the party! Was it an eventful trip for you too?" she asks, flashing another grin.
-- Maelstrom --
With the group assembled, Imat leads them down a narrow, rocky path that follows the steep canyon wall until they touch upon the thick, rich soil of The Wound. As they walk, Imat speaks. "My people grow and harvest the healing herb Nysillin. A rival to bacta it is not but it has gotten us by for generations. But." He raises one nubby, turtle-like finger. "The research the Empire did here many decades ago. It caused what you see now. But we have reason to believe a seed vault in their abandoned facility harbours a hybrid of the Nysillin herb. One that could help my people survive the squeeze on the supply chain caused by the war on Thyferra, yes. Such is my reward. To help my people."
Now well into the jungle, Imat's mannerisms have shifted. Shoulders hunched a little, he is gripping a shortstaff -- which is basically a sturdy stick he was carrying -- with both hands. "He is correct," Imat answers with a tilt of his head towards Kye. "The mushrooms here are beautiful but dangerous. Their spores are often defensive. You do not want to disturb the spores too much. Inhaling could have... mmm. Interesting affects."
To Hahtavi's question, Imat shakes his head. "Walls too steep to climb down. The flying terrors would pluck you off before you got far. They hunt the skies. And if not them, then the Gartoni would buck you off in the hopes of breaking your body open at the bottom. Is best way they know to hunt."
He frowns deeper, looking around as Sumi voices an eagerness to hunt. "Everything hunts here. You will have no shortage of it. Come. There are markers we must find as we go."
-- Tamsin --
Tamsin, nodding as she accepted their guise's answer, did not protest as they began to make their way down along the valleys floor. Rather, she looked carefully and stepped more carefully still. She neither wished to fall to her death, or end up a meal for some mutated flesh-eating bit of flora. or fauna. But in this place, both were equally likely. "I think I see something." Although she did not venture far, Tamsin did step away and off to the right of the group, bending down far enough that she almost took a knee, gloving up on her left hand as she pulled back a few vines, "An old speeder. I don't recognize the model. Old, though, rusted out, with signs of a nest."
-- Grafn --
Grafn follows along after the Doctor and the guide, one hand resting on his holstered pistol, the other swatting at various things and warding them away from his visor. "A speeder eh?" Grafn asks of Tamsin. "We're getting closer that's for sure!" The old Coruscanti rumbles merrily enough as he shifts and avoids various fungi and flora as best he can along the route. "Imperial?" He asks, a good guess most likely. "I cut quite the figure back in the day you know, damn fine vehicles." A hearty grunt of approval follows shortly after. Though the old pilot squints, he sees nothing.
-- Qutha --
The announcement to get on the move open and he just gives the smallest of smiles when he starts to follow, one hand sweeping out to one side, "Old track yonder, reckon theys might be the direction t'look ifn' we's got cause to think Imperial meddlin' included that bit we's on the lookout for." approaching where he motioned to.
Hunkering and staring down at the combination of leaflitter, soil and overgrowth, "Oh bother..." lower lip being pushed out by his tongue beneath while he gazes towards some of the fungus sprouting, his haversack being opened to acquire more samples to be jarred and tucked away, "Gonna haf't upgrade that system t'at this rate, reckon."
Looking then towards Tamsin and the downed speeder, brows lifting - intrigued, "Annyone still innit, rel'tively speakin'?" morbid, maybe. But worth checking.
-- Hahtavi --
This Kora has been to Felucia a few times. Whatever his thoughts might be, he keeps them to himself. Hahtavi watches Tamsin finding remains of an old speeder. He too looks for signs of trails and starts to move off a short distance, not far from the others as he looks around and listens to the sounds all around him. Their voices, the jungle.
Moving onward is good. There's a look back in Sumi's direction and a brief bearing of teeth in a grin that goes unseen behind his own visor. Then he's back to listening and watchful as they get moving again.
-- Cora --
Cora Das, just slightly behind Grafn Struss, is stepping through the mud with careful, practice, hand-waving paces to make sure she doesn't get stuck, slip, or some unfortunate combination of both. The warning from -multiple- people not to -deeply inhale- the atmosphere of the place makes her pause in her step, and then cough again. A few other outward sniffs can be heard behind the party as Cora plugs one nostril at a time and goes -snff snff- to, ostensibly, dislodge any glowing fungal spores she may have sucked into her sinuses. Hopefully that doesn't turn into a brain parasite.
"An Imperial research facility? I suppose they weren't exactly known for their conservationism. Sorry Alderaan," Cora says, just as her left foot gets stuck inside of a bit of mud. She gives a grunt and pulls it free, stumbling a bit towards where Sumi (and her big ol' gun) are both currently standing. Cora flashes the Mandalorian a winning smile and, mercifully, her steps have taken her towards the path aforementioned by the Zelosian.
"It's definitely an old road of sorts. Not a foot path by the forest creatures and their, uh, eternal hunting," Cora says. She taps her foot across some pavement. Overgrown as it is, it is still clearly sentient-made.
Whether it's the mention of the nest within the speeder or the prospect of something MACABRE lurking within, Cora tucks herself behind Kora. Or Grafn. Whatever big, armored person is brave enough to take a peek.
-- Galen --
Galen's looking around as he walks along with the others using the staff in his hand as a hiking staff for the moment and a rifle slung over his back because he does have a real weapon in there, "Oh that's an old speeder haven't seen one of them in a while." He points over towards an old broken down speeder that Tamsin was pointing out, filled with glowing mushrooms, "I think somethings living in it so I'd say somethin is in it although I dunno about if they're sentient or not."
-- Kye --
A speeder. Kye looks over the vehicle, but he is no mechanic, and machines don't speak to him as well as they would someone who knows their way around a robo-spanner or something of the sort. Checking his weapon, he holsters it as he moves along with the others, listening as they talk about the possibility some of these fungi may or may not be sentient.
Given they are all likely inhaling a bit of spore here and there, this is not great news.
-- Sumi --
<"Definitely sounds like my kind of place. I should have brought Lady Fae, she would've hated it here."> Sumi growls. She's not trying to sound menacing, Sumi's voice is the result of someone who spends much of her time fighting, yelling over gunfire, and it's left her voice in a raspy state, accented with the war-torn sound from Mandalore. It's clear that basic is not her chosen language.
Stepping forward and initiating the internal scan from her augmented reality provided by her helmet, Sumi looks for anything that might constitute a marker. She is not successful, thus she does not voice anything that would clutter the comms. This discipline comes from a century of soldiering, but few knew that about her.
Sumi pauses at a glowing mushroom, the urge is there to touch it because of how cool it looks, yet she refrains. She can hear her mentor's voice in the back of her mind asking, 'Sumi, do you want to get killed? /That's/ how you get killed.' Sana was probably right..
Sumi moves on, keeping the heavy repeater at a modified alert. Her cape gently rustles with each motion, and the ground does little to hide her heavy bootfalls.
Das stumbling a bit toward Sumi garners nothing from the warrior who only turns her head slightly toward the other to regard her in a slow 'head-to-toe' inspection. An approving grunt is emitted from the helmet's voice speaker, and Sumi trudges on, looking for something to kill and eat.
-- Aurora --
Aurora takes another look around at the mention of markers but, well, she's just not seeing anything except glowing mushrooms and forest. So she opts to follow along behind the rest of the group, listening for a moment and looking in the direction of the speeder when Tamsin points it out. "Huh. Wonder what... well, actually, guess if the Empire had a facility out here they probably were using vehicles to get around," she muses while rubbing the back of her neck. Shrugging it off, she continues to move along with the rest of the group. After a moment though she gets the idea to take out her datapad and get a few pictures of the fungal forest, thinking they'd make for interesting keepsakes.
-- Maelstrom --
Imat is keeping one earhole open to listen to those he is guiding through this glowing hell. The other is straining to listen beyond the din of buzzing insects and calling birds. "Empire worked here for a long time. My grandfather along with them. Not given a choice. Is how I know of the seed vault. I tried many times to get others to come with me, but my kin has cursed this place." With good reason. No one in their right mind would come out this way.
Unless they were being paid or just an intensely good Samaritan. Or both.
The group collectively finds moer than just the precious markers: they found a whole dilapitated road! "Oh, glorious sun. Them's some good eyes you all have, yes." Imat is more than happy to let his bare, flat feet keep them on the road. The textile of ferrocrete roads under inches of decomposed plants and fungus makes the traversal... well. Not easier, but they can follow the path more simply.
As they walk, the jungle starts to quieten around them. Imat stops suddenly, drawing his stick up in sudden and uncharacteristic alertness. "Hear!" Not all of the group hear it, but enough of them do to draw communal awareness. The scuttling of dozens upon dozens of tippy-toe feet.
From the brush around them emerges six-legged, spider-like creatures similar to Krykna -- but they aren't. From their thorax and abdomen are growing many tiny fungus. To the point they are covered in them with adaptive camoflague. They rear up with their front legs twitching and go on the attack.
-- Tamsin --
Tamsin, still wary as she moved, was more than happy to remain with the group, once her discovery of the speeder had been determined to be less exciting than she had hoped, and far less useful than she might have liked. Alas. The life of a non-adventurer. Or someone simply not at all handy with mechanics. The sound, and then sight of the spider creatures brought a frown, that odd thoughtful thing that always said that Tamsin was thinking Very Bad Things. "Has anyone considered that the spores we've been inhaling might have been these creatures' eggs?"
-- Grafn --
Grafn pauses for a moment, while he has no qualms about killing humanoids in any quantity, and has particularly fond memories of rebels making very bad snow angels on Hoth after landing in the snow and ice after a particularly satisfying blaster cannon shot from his AT-AT, shooting wildlife in this particular environment seems a little off. "Do we want to kill these things?" He asks, while the approaching beastie scuttles near on the attack, his hand drifting towards the decidedly non-lethal pistol holstered at his hip. "You know. That whole life is profound and in balance with the jungle thing? Or are we killing the thing? Or... oh kark it! It's coming right for me!" Grafn unslings his rifle, brings it to bear and fires off a shot. Not a warning shot. A shot that seeks to bring harmony and peace to the fungo gungho ant things! Grafn mentally prepares the knife he'll toss beside the body in a few moments to justify the attack. Pew pew! The blue bolts surge forth and take down a wee beastie! Grafn braces himself and pew pew pews. Well, the blue bolts make it more blew blew blew. Okay, a pew. A single shot. A single pew.
-- Qutha --
"Oh bother..." looking up when arachnids begin pouring into the area, his skin running in gooseflesh and the petal like material'd hairs on the back of his neck are stuck out like a hedge-pigs. Night Legends of Zelos II run across his thoughts. Stories from childhood and then seeing bodies matching thttps://discord.com/channels/@me/574463169729134609hem in his teen years. When morning came and those who hadn't gotten back to the perimeter were sought out.
Stepping towards the creatures, a collapsed metal baton in one hand and a wooden cylinder marked with what looks like religious iconography in the other. Sounds brought up from his chest and the back of his throat enough to make two of the creatures pause, for a heartbeat, but being lost on far more of them as all hell continues to break loose.
"Bother and blow." muttered and he stands, watching it all panning out around him.
-- Qutha --
"Oh bother..." looking up when arachnids begin pouring into the area, his skin running in gooseflesh and the petal like material'd hairs on the back of his neck are stuck out like a hedge-pigs. Night Legends of Zelos II run across his thoughts. Stories from childhood and then seeing bodies matching them in his teen years. When morning came and those who hadn't gotten back to the perimeter were sought out.
Stepping towards the creatures, a collapsed metal baton in one hand and a wooden cylinder marked with what looks like religious iconography in the other. Sounds brought up from his chest and the back of his throat enough to make two of the creatures pause, for a heartbeat, but being lost on far more of them as all hell continues to break loose.
"Bother and blow." muttered and he stands, watching it all panning out around him. Qutha looks skyward, though there is no sun to really be seen and shakes his head.
-- Hahtavi --
They get enough warning that Hahtavi lays his armored gloves to the rifle he has attached to his tactical rig on the front of his armor. The Galaar comes up and he pans his helmed head slowly from side to side to seek for that which comes ....
And there they are coming out of the thick jungle, from between the twisted trees, the hanging vines, the ubiquitous fungal growths. <"Spiders ... great."> Grafn is back there babbling something about whether to shoot the local wildlife or not. Hahtavi doesn't hesitate to flip the safty of his rifle off, <"Rule one about Felucia ... everything wants to kills you."> Then he's moving and starts firing.
Red blaster bolts flash out, striking one of the spider things but missing another. <"Careful! They probably jump!">
-- Cora --
Cora tips her head thoughtfully at the vocoded grunt of approval, her hat tipping a little extra far and slipping down the side of her head. Sumi's already moved on while Cora has stopped in her tracks to adjust the hat back to sit atop her head. She gives a non-vocoded grunt in return and a stiff nod as well. She tugs at the long sleeved and hooded short, squaring it over her torso before she gives a little tip of her glasses back up on her nose.
A few steps further catches her back up to the group, who have suddenly stopped in their place. "What's going o--oh," Cora says. Spiders. That's what's going on.
The woman, definitely not a fighter given how much maintenance she required to move through the cave system, just steps back behind those with the armor and the weapons. She digs into her pockets, some hidden self preservation subroutine spinning up and pre-empting her to draw a vibroblade from a pocket she has over her torso. She pulls it from its sheath, a magnet-circuit activating the vibration mechanism within. She holds it with both hands as the shooting erupts. Her stance awkwardly squared, and that knife point held uselessly out in front of her torso.
"Maybe we shouldn't shoot the--oh, well, okay."
They probably jump?
"THEY PROBABLY JUMP?!"
-- Galen --
Galen sighs a bit when the oversized spiders come flooding in having set his staff to the side his F-11s coming up as he sights down at the too many legged nopes the red bolt zooming out to slam into the one that was heading right for him, "Okay there's a lot of these things. Should we find a defensive position?"
-- Kye --
His face curled up in disgust, Kye fires off a couple of golden bolts straight at a spider, having switched from his Survival Theed to his Murderin' Mandaltech W-35, and so, when one flies wide, he curses, trying to readjust his holosights to see the maraudering arachnid. He shoots that last bolt, and it burns through the chitin, cutting through some (several) legs.
When it tries to bite him, he skips back. Now he understands the pain.
-- Sumi --
<"Finally,"> Sumi growls, chopping the charging handle forward to prime the receiver of her weapon. The spool cues up, the loud noise like a subtle hum that's suddenly joined by an orchestra of automatic fire. Between the brief pauses of burst fire, Sumi's laughter and screaming can be heard as the shadow allows for the discharge of red lances to light up the front of the Mandalorian's frame.
<"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! HAHAHAHAHAHA! COME GET SOME!">
Ahead of them, the jungle is picked apart by the high-explosive impacts of Morellian bolts as they pour from the staccato cannon. Instead of holding her ground, Sumi assumes the most basic doctrine in Mandalorian shock combat: We always advance forward.
She advances, drawing the ire of what she can from the rest of the group and looking amused because of it.
Her weapon continuously fires with no hint of relenting:
PENK, PENK, PENK, PENK, PENK!!!!!
-- Aurora --
Aurora makes sure to get a shot of the road they've found as well before putting her datapad away. "Old road in the middle of a glowing fungal forest like this kinda looks all apocalyptic, doesn't it?" the Zeltros adventurer muses. She falls silent for a moment as she hears something rustling and Imat calls out to the group. Her eyes widen when she sees those large, spore-covered spider-things and lets out a surprised yelp as one of them moves toward her. She wasn't waiting to find out whether or not they should attack them, she raises her S-5 and fires off a quick pair of shots at the nearest creature. One of the shots clips the creature in the side, taking a sizable chunk out of it, but the other flies wild. The shots fail to deter the spider and it continues its advance toward her, attempting to sink its fangs into her. They just barely graze off Aurora's armor as she steps back, though part of its fang does manage to graze her shoulder as Aurora pulls away.
-- Maelstrom --
The jungle erupts with life as over a dozen spider-like creature rush forth looking for an easy meal. It's not often new meat comes into this part of town, you must understand. There's only so many howling primates a speedle can feed upon. But this prey is proving to be a bit spicier than they were anticipating. For as much foreward thinking some relatively small spiders can do.
Many are blasted apart in a spray of goo and legs. Two are given pause and then, to the eruption of Sumi's guns, decide that maybe the monkeys /do/ taste better. Many of them scatter under the barrage of fire while a few remain because they are dumb achranids with an unnatural level of aggression.
But that rapid fire, while affective, also hits indistriminately. Several neighbouring fungi burst into clouds of spores that puff up and outwards like the worst pollen season.
And somewhere nearby in the depths of the jungle, the ground starts to shake. Trees rustle and birds fly away crying in panic. Something big is coming.
Imat swings as a spider, cracking it on the head only to get immediately bitten. Fangs rip into his small body and he cries out. "We have to run! It's coming!" He staggers forward, discovering his vision starting to blur and double. "Come, come! We must...!"
-- Tamsin --
Tamsin, who was both aware of the danger already present (hello spider-friends!) ands the incoming danger (hello probably not a friend), was, rather than occupied with either of those dangers, moving towards the most relevant danger, and that was the loss or potential loss of their guide, who was, in point of fact, the only person on this mission who knew what they were doing or where they were going, so. "I've got Imat." And so she did, as Tamsin retrieved a hypospray from her bag, and moved to steady the felucian, moving at a decent speed, despite the fact that she was treating on the run, "I've got you, we'll be fine." They were, both of them, running down the road. True adventurers, both.
-- Grafn --
Grafn is off! Oh he is running after Imat and Tamsin. The larger than life pilot even runs and guns! Though the running clearly impedes the gunning for it's a wild shot! Sure he huffs some spores, and there's an odd taste in his mouth for the moment. But you only live once until the fungal brain parasite takes over. "That's the spirit Imat! Good one Doctor! Set the pace!" The old Coruscanti roars over the vanishing pew of blue that vanishing through several mushrooms, setting off a cloud of spores through which he runs. The true shame here is that he's wearing a helmet and no one can see that amazing bouffant of silvery hair flowing in the fungal wind. But onwards he speeds, keeping pace, eager to put himself between Imat, Tamsin, and danger. "You only live once eh?!" His voice cracks over the comms. "Onwards and upwards!"
-- Qutha --
Eyes streaming and face turning a shade of green as the hacking and whooping force the chlorophyl to his head, Qutha is bent over for a moment, instinctively ducking when the rapid fire cannon goes off, hands up but still holding baton and spiritual cylinder, "Slap me, but damn *HAAACKK KOF KOF KOF* ifn' that t'ain' loud as all!" wheezing again, bent low then, for breath, hocking and spitting on the ground with spore born tears running down his cheeks, "Reckon 'bout that time..."
Dashing his forearm across his eyes and turning towards where Imat wishes to have them flee from. Licking his lips and taking a risk of a deep breath, seeking calm, lips moving in a steady pattern while the baton in his left hand is hung from his hip and both hands wrap around it.
"I'm one wit T'Force" learned from a, crazy, little porcine sentient who claims to be a Prophet of Jedha. "an' T'Force is wit me." legs moving to stance while his hands turn to a swordsman's inside right posture. "I'm one wit T'Force an' T'Force is wit me." a touch of his thumb to the most prominent icon on the otherwise wooden piece, a sun-disk make of bright golden metal, causes a blade blue as clear summer sky to erupt, illuminating him and his immediate cerulean.
"I'm one wit T'Force an' T'Force is wit me."
-- Hahtavi --
There's a look back Sumi's way as Imat blabbers on about something horrible coming. They can all hear and feel the ground shake, <"I sure hope that's a rancor! OYA!"> Damn crazy Mandalorians and their sports! <"I want steaks tonight!">
But not speedles. Hahtavi keeps moving between the trees and lifts his Galaar again, firing another shot. The red bolt leaps and sizzles when it impacts one of the giant Felucian speedles, frying it. This Kora snaps off a second fast shot as another spider thing leaps out over it's fallen hatch-mate and that one is shot in mid air! It falls to the jungle floor, legs jerking and kicking spasmodically.
Haht's helmet turns right about as he notes Tamsin's location tending to Imat, <"Everyone keep moving! Watch out for our Doc and our guide!">
-- Cora --
A puff of glowing spores wafts over into Cora's direction, dislodged by repeated blaster, spooderlegs, and quite possibly whatever is charging in her general direction. But Miss Cora Dax -- explorer -- (Cora the Explorer if you will) -- is staggering backwards and away from that glowing cloud. She attempts to wave it away, vibrodagger humming in front of her face, but her body has this pesky reflex to suddenly inhale. And so she does. She coughs a few times at the sudden burn and sting of whatever strange spores she inhales. They soak into artificial mucous membranes and cause complex bio-circuitry to misfire. Salt and Potassium flip and flop, ones becoming zeroes, and soon enough, the poor thing is toppling over backwards onto her butt.
The world spins, and though she's grounded, somehow, by that vibrodagger in her palm, she doesn't hear the call to retreat. She just feels the ground shaking beneath her butt and feet. Feels the wet of the earth soak through her pants. She coughs again and opens her eyes to look, but all she can see is spinning trees and glowing streaks of blaster fire and organic mushrooms swirling from right to left.
She closes her eyes and covers her nose and mouth with her arm, attempting to maximize the air in her lungs and minimize, well, the spores.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, self preservation protocols switch from dormant to standby. Her muscles briefly tense and shudder as she exhales out through her lips.
-- Kye --
When you get a coughing fit, it's hard to shoot. Kye's got that shot, beautifully lined up, at the one remaining spider -- and it falls off the mark, the bolt instead hitting a tree squarely and slicing its trunk to some degree. He coughs too much to curse under his breath, but he watches as Qutha starts reciting his mantra.
And then looks as he activates a blue lightsaber, shielding his eyes from the light with a squint as he continues to cough.
Also, a rock hits Kye on the shoulder, but he barely notices it, given the coughing. Just the jostling of his left shoulder hints to it.
-- Sumi --
<"Run away?!"> Sumi questions over the sound of fire and falling trees.
<"No. I /just/ got here. I'm killing whatever is coming.">
Sumi slaps the quick release on the harness she is wearing, dropping the heavy powerpack from her back, and abandoning the heavy laser cannon.
<"That's the spirit, Hahtavi! OYA!-- Hahaha!"> Sumi draws up the heavy slugthrowing enforcer from the holster on her thigh while simultaneously firing with the vambrace laser toward the remaining Speedle among them. It's a narrow miss, surprising a laugh from Sumi who claims, <"The Gods have a plan for this spider! Hahaha! Come on then!">
When it lunges at her, Sumi slides beneath the height of its leap, tumbling forward to land back on her feet with particular Mando'ade grace. <"Alright, let's gooooo! I'm hungry!"> And forward Sumi goes, searching for this monster the guide wishes them to run from!
-- Galen --
Galen blinks as he moves to rub his arm against his eyes trying to clear his vision blinking some more and his eyes are watering pretty nicely now, "Well maybe I shoulda grabbed somethin for filterin the air I'm breathin." The loud crashing noises and the scurrying of others causes him to grab his staff to start heading off... Then he notices Koof settling in to hold the whatever this big nasty thing off and he sighs, "Okay so we're doing this." He then moves to settle into a firing position overwatching Qutha's melee position kneeling down, right leg under his rump left leg out some as it turns into a firing position for his rifle to settle onto, "Hopefully it's big enough that I can hit it when it gets into view."
-- Aurora --
With the chaos of all the spiders suddenly attacking them, followed by a barrage of blaster fire pounding the terrain kicking up a cloud of spores and then most of those spiders dying or retreating, Aurora finds herself briefly disoriented and sneezes as a cloud of spores surround her. She can hear the familiar voice of their guide calling out to them and starts to move in his direction, but as she does she looks around in confusion. "When... how did we get in the middle of the ocean?" she asks, bewildered. She then looks toward Sumi, seeing the Mandalorian woman wrestling with one of the creatures, and gets a stupid-looking grin on her face. "D'aw! She's made a friend!" she calls out with a giggle. She continues to move off in the direction of Imat, moving a bit slowly and looking toward the ground in disbelief. "Whoa... I can walk on water!"
-- Maelstrom --
Imat is trying desperately to run away but only manages to run into a tree, instead. "We must go, we must go. The Wound screams!" Right now, it's Imat who is near screaming but that can be also that everything is blurring around him. Tamsin has him cornered, per se, and tends to the bite that nearly took a chunk out of him. It's enough to get his panic to ebb and, after fruitlessly throwing a rock somewhere in the general direction of spiders, he blinks at the only person in focus. Tamsin. "The children are here. The mother is not far behind."
It's as if this place as a sick sense of humour. That or just wicked timing. From the thickest part of the jungle -- in the direction they need to go -- a huge six-legged abomination literally leaps forward and stomps in the path of those trying to progress. From its mandibles oozes a putrid green saliva and the fungi on its back spewing a mist of spores upon impact.
This is a huge, terrifying beast. A variant Krykna adapted to survive in this Felucian split since it's escape from the laboratory the group has been trying to make their way to.
-- Tamsin --
Tamsin, having managed to get the guide to stop running, moved at lighting speed to get him patched up and loaded with a dose of anti-venom, which, considering she had to prep for general creatures and did not have samples of venom to make an exact antidote, would just have to work with what she had, okay? Still, she remained with Imat, body shifted so that she was between the spider monster and the felician. "Stay here. They best thing we can do is leave it for the others to deal with. You're no good to us or to your people dead." Harsh but true.
-- Grafn --
Grafn drops his rifle at the sight of that foul looming spider that erupts from the undergrowth! The DC-15 bounces off his thigh, slung against his shoulder as it is. Tugging a grenade from his bandolier, Grafn activates the grenade with a beep and a a flash of red light. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" And the old pilot flings that beeping ball of death towards the thing. The thing! The Thing! Turning away to shield his vision, Grafn hears that plunk of grenade meeting moss. And BLAMMM! The exposion erupts! Fire ait swirling together in a balletic dance of death. Alas the thing is quick, and Grafn turns back to see the thing unharmed! "Okay! Not as effective as I thought! You got the fellow eh Doctor? Excellent!" A thumbs up is offered Tamsin as she tends the dear Turtly-Turt. A cinematic gout of flame illuminating the gesture.
-- Qutha --
"Jus' trusyerself, Galen. That'll be 'nuff fer when the work needs bein done." if anything the tension might be making his rustic 'rim accent' even thicker, until he actually takes a long breath - energy blade close enough to his face burn away spores spores that otherwise might threaten to choke him again. Eyes closing, flicking to and fro akin to REM sleep beneath the lids.
"Ah'm one wit'a Force an' n'Force is wit me." definitely... the accent is getting thinner.
No robes to dramatically blow around him, no hood to lend an air of mystery of his features. Just some yokel, some absolute jackass by all appearances, walking towards the creature with his energy blade blazing, eyes closed. A sweep of the creature's leg dipped around and his lightsaber catching only long hairs, making them curl and sizzle.
Cries of fire in the hole are noted but they seem to slide right over him, rather than cause alarm. A jab of the blade that extends into an upward sweep is evaded by a quick hop that shakes the ground upon the massive invertebrates landing, mandibles coming down snapping bites that tear a jacket sleeve and force Qutha to skitter backward, with his head tipping suddenly to one side and emerald green eyes snapping open.
It's a look of regret that precedes the shining blue blade slicing through one of the forward legs of the beast. Cauterized lest the sudden breech of the titanic pneumatically driven creature would have suddenly lost the internal pressure needed to move, let alone live. Severed between the mid and final joint, the leg hits the ground next to the Zelosian now intent on getting beneath the abdomen of giant spider.
-- Hahtavi --
Is Hahtavi Kora the only one looking /for/ a rancor?! This Mandalorian is actually looking the wrong direction when big momma spider-thing arrives. The ground shaking leap makes him turn around fast, finally seeing it when it's already on top of them. <"Osik. That is not a rancor."> A sigh through his vocoder, <"I bet it doesn't even taste good."> Ah well.
The thing is HUGE as a rancor if a lot less tastey looking. Cora's being down on her butt is noted in case Hahtavi needs to give her assistance, moving up closer to where she's down. His rifle he fires at the big beastie - BLAM!
<"You all right, Cora? Need a hand?"> The Galaar fires again but the big momma is moving and Haht's second shot misses just as a Grafn's grenade goes off ... somewhere.
Qutha's pulling his weight, <"Get her, Qutha!">
-- Kye --
His last shot in the pack, or so he's counted. When it hits home, as the creature is giant, hulking, jumps at them and doesn't seem to want to let go, Kye readies himself. The pistol is prepared and the gold bolt flies -- only to glance off without much problem. He curses under his breath and repositions himself to switch the packs. That'll take a little while, but they probably got it.
-- Cora --
Cora coughs a few more times into her arm. The world around her has slowed its spinning enough that she feels like she can open her eyes again. While the trees still whirl around her when she does, she can see well enough to notice the massive shape ahead of her. "Oh, hello. Big spider. Pretty spider. Pretty big spider. Pretty, big spider," Cora says. She scrapes her vibrodagger towards her and plunges it into the ground, using it as a bit of extra leverage to pull herself up onto her feet. It's then that Hahtavi's hand reaches out in front of her, and explorer Das is grateful for the assist.
"I would love a hand, thank you," she says. "I'm going to run away now," she adds, turns, about face-s, and starts to run in the -opposite- direction as it.
"Spider! BIG BIG Spider!" she screams helpfully at those who have already retreated. Helpful as ever!
-- Galen -- Galen's settled into a firing position as he sights in on the big blurry blob.... Inhale. 1 2 3 Exhale pause squeeze of trigger with a red bolt zips from the rifle and just skitters off the thick hide, "Well dang it. That's a big beast!" He adjusts as he takes his sleeve to the eyes again trying to get another clean shot when the opportunity arises.
-- Sumi --
<"What ever it is.."> Sumi calls back to Hahtavi, <"..It goes no further.">
Sumi's jetpack comes to life in that moment and the century old warrior begins to hover, heatwaves rolling from her lower body and flattening the flora around her. She thumbs back the single-action revolver's hammer and takes to the sky above.
Loud discharges from the heavy handcannon rain down from above, with enough distance to generate the tracer image of the slug hitting the Krykna. Sumi hits it twice, though the first slug lodges into the carapace. The second punches through with good effect on target, spilling juice all over the ground.
Raising her other arm, Sumi moves closer firing from the Vambrace and catching its thorax with a devastating hit. No celebration yet as it still moves and attacks. Sumi thumbs back the hammer on her handcannon, knowing she has two shots remaining in it before things become more.. interesting.
-- Aurora --
When that giant spider suddenly drops down in their path, Aurora looks up at it with a mildly annoyed expression. "Hey! Why you gotta be like that? There's an... entire..." Whatever was in those spores that was making her hallucinate seems to have made its way through her system and she suddenly realizes that they did not, in fact, suddenly end up in the middle of the ocean. They were in a jungle. Fighting giant spiders. And now there was an even gianter spider blocking their path. "Ohh... okay... this is happening now..." she mumbles, blinking. Raising her pistol again she fires off a pair of shots at the large spider. It was proving to be an easier target to hit at least, but a more difficult target to actually inflict any damage on with its tough hide. Her first shot strikes the spider's body and doesn't even seem to faze the thing. Her second shot finds a softer spot to hit, striking around the spider's eyes. "Should have brought some bug repellant or something!"
-- Maelstrom --
A mother engraged. A mother hungry. A mother inexplicably aggressive. Creatures like these roam the Wound yet thankfully rarely beyond it. The flying terrors see to that. A blessing and a curse.
The battle is met with immediate, deadly force. One cannot even call this nature because nothing about this place is natural. It is a culmination of years of meddling in things that shouldn't have been meddled followed by a complete abandonment of the project and leaving everything to just fester and spread.
The Fungal Krykna savages out blindly; moving lightning quick to dodge a grenade and relying on it's thick archna-hide to soak in damage. A leg is lost to an expert swing of a lightsaber and no amount of maneuvering can save it from the barrage.
The broodmother topples to the ground dead; a literal cloud of spores releasing from her back upon impact. "Don't breathe it in!" Imat immediately stoops down and covers his head, holding his breath with the instincts of a native.
-- Tamsin --
There might have been a world where they were not being attacked by mutant spiders. There might also be a world where they were not in the middle of a jungle that seemed hellbent on killing them. There might also be a world where they were all sitting at a beachside estate sipping drinks. But none of those were this world, and so Tamsin kept herself and Imat back, adjusting how she was standing to keep the felucian safely behind herself. She did not much seem to mind the spores, though it made her breathing harsh. Perhaps just luck, or that fabled constitution. But in any regard, she had almost brought the guide and herself out of danger, when the spider, in its death throes lashed out at anyone and everyone it could reach, and Tamsin jerked the guide to the side, the clawed leg succeeding only in gouging out a chunk of the bark of the tree and some of it's flesh, that they had been using as partial cover. In the relative quiet of the rash of the now dead arachnid, Tamsin's entreaty to their guide, "Lead us on. I need to tend to the others." Tamsin did the best that she could with the spores as she fell back to see to the needs of the rest of the group.
-- Grafn --
Ah yes, don't breathe it in. That would be wise thinks Grafn as he inhales deeply. Whoops. As that large cloud of spores erupt and swirl like a tsunami of spore, Grafn is eveloped within that swirling mist, and for a moment he's a haze. And then from that haze he stumbles, his head tilted slightly to the side as he looks to Tamsin. To Imat. To Kye. Then to the others his gaze almost seems to sweep, one foot moving a little leaden before the other as his rotund and armoured frame looks a little unsteady on his feet. One foot after the other, his left hand rises and to his palm he glances as if a little confused as to something, though he does pause to place that palm against his chest as he hoarsely gasps for breath. Yet, with a faintly stifled, "Hrrrk." He twitches and falls, collapsing heavily with a thud as he slumps to his knees with a shuddering bounce of armoured bulk, and then forward and down with his visored face slamming into the ground. The old pilot unmoving.
-- Qutha --
He's knocked off his feet by the suddenly, and very erratically, moving abdomen he had charged beneath. Qutha's breath pushed out of him in a woosh, saber blade closing down before he hits the ground in a roll that is clearly intended to try and get him back to his feet - reaching out with his instincts to find them dumbfounded when he gets upright. Only for one foot to slip and he kicks over again to land on his shoulder and roll over to his face.
But despite it all, barely a scratch on him. BARELY a scratch. Lip split and green chlorophyl running down his chin in a slow creep, "Both'r n'blow..." getting to his hands and knees, swaying up to his feet and spitting dirt and green fluid from his mouth, "Consarnit..." bending to put his hands on his thighs, spitting again, "Datraddit..." one hand up to touch his swollen lip, looking with some regret towards the husk of the creature.
"Sheyoot."
A little fuzz-feathered head pops out of the collar of his jacket, big eyed and butting against the side of his jaw, issuing a frustrated "BAWK"
"Hell, y'spos'd t'stay in the damn ship..." head turning suddenly to look at the avian that is squabbling at him, getting his chin bitten for his troubles. The little porg hangs on, intent on making Qutha very aware that it is upset with the disruption of nap time.
-- Hahtavi --
Sumi has the right idea to be jetpacking around, more mobile. Hahtavi would be doing so as well but Cora looked like she needed a hand - but now she's run back deeper in the trees and is away, his can focus on shooting this huge spider thing again!
And then it's down and flailing, thrashing it it's death throws. Haht has to dodge, ducking a huge leg and evades even as a cloud of spores envelopes him.
But he's just fine. Hahtavi's helmet keeps him safe enough.
Out of the cloud of spores the Mando comes, rifle still in his hands as he gets away from the beast. <"Roll call! Who's hurt? Who needs assistance?"> Hahtavi begins to take stock, staring with Tamsin and their guide, then looking to the others to count them off and see who is in need. That's when he spots Grafn collapsing.
<"Doctor Cas! I think Grafn's down!">
-- Kye --
Oh but that's like Murphy's Law. 'Don't breathe it in'. But there's a cloud of spores and he doesjust that. It's like vaping mushrooms, only things look brighter, more bothersome, and the blood in his lungs carries the toxin to his brain and everything goes out like a light from sensory overload.
He has the presence to holster his gun before anyone has an accident, though.
-- Cora --
Cora Das arrives at the rear group moments before Grafn collapses, face down, into the mud. "Mister Struss!" Cora calls out. She's back on her knees again, though now it isn't her own illness but rather the boisterous Coruscanti man she'd met on Nar Shaddaa. She gives his shoulders a few shakes as Hahtavi calls out to Tamsin Cas, attempting to rouse him from whatever mushroom-induced coma has befallen him. "Wake up! We don't know if there's any more coming," she pleads. Shake shake shake.
"Ohhh, wake up!"
-- Galen --
Galen takes another deep breath then lets it out before he moves from the now dead big thingy and aims at the little nightmare fuel thingy squeezing the trigger as the crosshairs line up on his new target red pew leaving the blaster before 'sploding the nightmare fuel into tripping spores fuel. As the threats seem to be gone for the moment Galen slowly climbs back to his feet slinging the rifle back and picking up his staff to lean up against for support in the mud.
-- Sumi --
Sumi lands hard and heavy, the sound of her gear distinct in the quiet that followed the conclusion of the battle. The killing blow belonged to Aurora, so it's the Zeltron that Sumi salutes with a fist over her heart. <"Well struck, Zeltron.">
Sumi's pistol is sunk back into the holster and she draws a knife from the bandolier hanging diagonally across her chest. <"Hahtavi, I believe you are correct.."> Said calmly despite the spore-mist hanging around her. <"This will not taste good.">
Using the vibrodagger, Sumi detaches one of the mandibles as a trophy, tucking it into her belt where its ooze dripped over her armored thigh, but Sumi seemed apathetic about it.
Leaving the carrion, Sumi walks toward Qutha. <"Your laser sword came in hand, Jedai. A worthy trophy.."> She points to the leg he lopped off moments before. <"I would not envy you carrying it, though."> She pats his shoulder in passing, stepping casually back to collect her discarded laser cannon from before.
<"There must be something better here to kill, and eat. Let's go people, we're not done yet. Oya!">
-- Aurora --
Aurora ducks down as one of the giant's limbs lash out at her before the giant spore spider thingy finally collapses from all the punishment it's taken. She watches it for a moment to make sure it's dead while taking out an ammo back to reload her pistol with. With another blaster shot ringing out from Galen to put down the one remaining spider - persistent little thing that one - Aurora lets out a sigh of relief now that it's all over. "You know, this wouldn't be a bad vacation spot if it wasn't for all the stuff trying to kill us." When she hears a roll call asking who's hurt she glances at the cut on her shoulder and raises a hand. "Nothing major though," she says, then looks toward Grafn as he collapses. "Err... he definitely needs it more though." When Sumi addresses her, Aurora blinks and lets out a small laugh. "Oh, um, thanks! It was a group effort though," she replies while rubbing the back of her neck. While people are being tended to and recovering from the aftermath of the fighting, Aurora ejects her blaster's spent ammo cell and pops in a new one incase anymore spore-creatures attack them.
-- Maelstrom --
Only when things seem to have calmed down a bit does Imat slowly lifts up his head. Warily he looks around in time to see a pony-sized spider skittering back into the underbrush and then explode into bittles by Galen's shot. "By the sun. Cursed is this place, yes. Perhaps one day Felucia will reclaim what is lost here. Return to the planet and rejoin the song."
Rising to stand at his full height -- all four feet, two inches of him -- Imat pads over to Kye who seems to be suffering from some ill affects. "You breathed it in." Astute, this one. But he's at least speaking softly. "Give it a moment and it will pass." Towards Grafn, the Felucian just shakes his little bald head. "A rest, yes. But then we must continue. This road found will takes us there. To the facility."
He doesn't have eyebrows, but the ridges above his eyes do press down worriedly. "None has ever returned from within the building. Something terrible lurks in there, I fear. Rest, yes. Then we must face what is too big to escape."
