Theft isn't a crime...unless you get caught.
-Thalia Vao
The noose was tightening.
Within ten minutes of their victory, Aethon had cordoned off every conceivable exit point from the fortress. The northern towers and its surrounding walls were in complete ruin, shelled to oblivion by Kynes' heavy artillery, while any survivors had been summarily killed by the cold dispassionate touch of Aethon's snipers. The rest of the vermin had scampered back into their underground holes for protection, collapsing the passages behind them. The Reborn believed that in their tunnels they would be safe but Aethon would not give them that sort of reprieve. With Malleus' forces exhausted, it was time for Revan's forces to breach the inner sanctum and purge the threat for good.
Revan crouched within the tight confines of the Mole as it rumbled across the uneven terrain to their destination. He spared a glance out of his windows as the shadow of Malleus' fortress came into view. Mandalore and Octavia had already advanced to their designated insertion points, leaving squad Aethon to take their positions before the operation commenced in earnest.
He took a moment to look at the men and women that he would personally be leading into battle. The Widowmakers were engaged in their pre battle rituals, calmly checking their weapons, making subtle adjustments to their crosshairs or cleaning out the ammo junctions from their weapons. The men Kynes had chosen were apparently the most experienced in close quarters fighting and their equipment reflected their specialty. Five of them hefted what was known as Meme Shields. According to Kynes, it was apparently a unique Mandalorian piece of wargear capable of creating a virtually impenetrable energy field which would protect the bearer from head to foot. The rest of the Widowmakers carried an assortment of close combat weapons, ranging from flamers, grenades and other implements of death.
Kynes herself had a miniature table laid out in front of her with an assortment of bullet cartridges, weapons and infiltration equipment. The sniper inspected each piece with cold analytical precision before snapping them onto various parts of her body.
Mysteel by contrast looked lightly equipped. Dressed in dull black fatigues, the Twi'lek had her lightsaber strapped to the rightside of her hip and a blaster on the other. A bandoleer was strapped from shoulder to chest, bearing the impressive collection of flaying knives Revan had seen her cleaning earlier. Right now, she was anxiously fingering one of them, pressing the point onto their tip of her finger again and again.
The Jedi frowned. He really didn't think Mysteel should be on this mission. Her private vendetta had become all consuming, changing her jovial personality in ways that the Revan found disturbing. But something in the back of his mind told him that she should be in the thick of things, that she was a key to…something.
My dreams…it all has something to do with them. But what?
Unsure of the answer, Revan did one last check of his own equipment and made sure everyone on his team had a working comm channel. When the Jedi was satisfied that everyone was as ready as they were going to be, he addressed his team.
"You all know the mission parameters. Our first objective is the live capture of this Twi'lek of yours." Revan looked at Mysteel when he stressed the word.
"Octavia and Mandalore will be the diversion. They will hunt and draw as much enemy attention from us as possible. While the defenders are busy, we will scour the complex until we find the traitor and get him to reveal the location of the weapon. Resistance is expected but should be minor compared to the other teams. During the purge, you are all authorized to kill anyone that isn't a slave. Questions?"
"Just one," said Kynes, snapping a clip into her marksman's pistol and giving Revan her wintry stare. "We are going into the belly of the beast. The heart of Malleus sanctum. He and the remainder of his brood are literally backed into a corner so we must assume they will deploy every trap, weapon and resource at their disposal to deny us any semblance of victory. What's to say he won't unleash the weapon and doom us all to a slow and agonizing death?"
"I have considered that." admitted Revan. "And I believe Malleus will only use that as a last resort. If there is even a remote chance he can escape, the Reborn will fight to the bitter end. Our goal is to neutralize the threat before it gets to that point. But if we are unable to secure the objective..."
"Yes?" pressed the sniper.
"...I have left standing orders with the ships in orbit to bomb this continent into oblivion the moment our life signs get cut off. One way or another, Malleus' schemes end today."
The sniper didn't look thrilled with that prospect but nodded all the same.
"Let us hope that it doesn't come to that. I rather like being alive."
"We should find my sister first," interrupted Mysteel urgently. "I don't want her in the hands of that bastard any longer than she has to,"
Kynes gave an irritated sigh.
"We've been over this. She is a secondary objective, somebody Malleus or Matarl will likely use as a bargaining chip. We can't fall prey to the same trick a second time." The sniper looked pointedly at Mysteel when she said this, earning a poisonous glare in return.
"Why don't you shut up before I make your face a secondary objective?"
"Enough!" snapped Revan, stopping both women in their tracks before their bickering could turn into a cat fight.
"Matarl is the only definitive source of information right now. With luck, he will know where to find the weapon as well as your sister. But to do that, we need to find him first."
"And what of Malleus? What do you plan to do when we finally cross paths?" interjected Kynes.
"We kill him," said Revan without irony.
"You make it sound so easy." she retorted with a faint sneer. "Have you forgotten the punishment you got for underestimating his second in command? I can assure you, Victus is to Malleus what an insect is to a giant. And even with all three of us against him plus a full squadron of Widowmakers, I do not like our odds."
"Leave him to me," Revan said in a surprisingly calm voice. The sniper looked like she wanted to argue the point but the Jedi beat her to it.
"Mandalore and Octavia will breach the sanctum from their separate entry points. With luck, once they have completed the purge, they can track our signal and all three teams will be able to converge somewhere down the tunnels below."
"If, when and how." said Kynes scornfully, shaking her head. "You are putting too much on faith Jedi. An army commander would never approve of this reckless course of action."
"Are you in the army right now?" Revan asked pointedly. The sniper remained silent.
"This is not an ideal situation I know." The Jedi said after a moment, "If it were up to me, I would have the fortress' floor plans, escape routes and defences all mapped out. But time is against us. Every moment we spend arguing semantics is another second for the enemy to prepare. And yes, I am doing this partly to give Thalia's daughter the best chance of survival. But mostly because I want to deny Malleus as much time as possible to carry put any plans he has for the weapon. So we strike hard and fast, and hope that we arrived in time to foil the Reborn. Understood?"
The sniper stared at Revan for a long time before giving the slightest inclination of her head. "Understood,"
A voice crackled onto their comm channel. "Lord Commander, we are approaching the designated coordinates"
"Good, bring the Mole straight to the insertion point."
Seconds later, the transport came to a rumbling halt. The hatch doors blew open and pairs of black clad soldiers stepped put in synchronous precision. They automatically took up covering positions around the vehicle's perimeter and searched for lines of fire before giving the all clear. Revan emerged from within.
The insertion point he had chosen was one of the auxiliary barracks that connected to the underground complex proper. The front of the squat rectangular building was dominated by a pair of sturdy metal doors, designed to withstand incredible punishment. To reach their objective, Aethon would need to breach them.
Using curt gestures, Kynes directed her Widowmakers to form a phalanx in front of the entrance. When her squad was in position, the sniper approached the doors. With practiced efficiency, she set up a series of elaborate wires from her portable terminal to the console interface. Then after typing a series of rapid commands into her terminal, the sniper looked up and gave a sign.
System breached. Internal defense systems offline.
The Jedi nodded and took up position, hugging the wall next to the doors, while Mysteel walked up to the opposite side. When everyone was in position, the Jedi switched frequencies on his comm. channel.
"HQ, Squad Aethon is in position. Are the other two teams in place?"
His adjutant answered a moment later.
++Affirmative Lord Commander, Mandalore and Octavia report that their squads are standing by. They can insert at your command++
"Good. Tell them to initiate insertion protocol. Do not break channel silence unless absolutely necessary."
++Understood++
Revan cut the channel and gave his second-in-command a curt nod.
"Do it,"
The sniper drew her sidearm and nodded before tapping a button on her wrist terminal. The doors sparked and then shuddered open as the hot-wired command terminal forced the locking mechanism offline. Not waiting for the dust to settle, Revan and his team charged in, weapons blazing.
Unsurprisingly, the Jedi and his team were promptly greeted by a tidal wave of blaster fire. Revan and Mysteel instinctively blocked the incoming shots with their blades, while the Widowmakers absorbed the rest with their Meme shields as they advanced inexorably. A quick inspection told Revan that the enemy had taken the time to entrench themselves. Dozens of mercenaries which Kynes had earlier identified as Scourged Souls crouched between makeshift blockades made from broken furniture, tables and bunk beds. Groups of Abominations and Aspirants were scattered amongst the groups to hold the line.
"Kill the Jedi!" snarled one of the monsters in their bastard tongue. Revan issued a command of his own.
"Charge!"
Following his own command, the Jedi ran towards the nearest group of defenders, vaulting over chairs and tables to meet his quarry. An Abomination leapt to block his path midway but Revan deftly stabbed the brute through the skull before his claws found purchase. Using his momentum to roll away from his kill, the Jedi came to stand within only a few feet of his enemies and thrust out his left hand.
The flimsy blockade came apart like kindling, and the Sourged Souls were flung into the air shouting curses before crashing bodily into the unyielding rock. While they lay stunned, the Jedi quickly covered the distance cut the mercenaries down with brutal swipes of his blade. Finishing the last straggler, Revan noticed a golden flicker from the corner of his eye. He turned and realized Mysteel had waded into melee as well.
The Twi'lek's movements were lithe and graceful like a dancer, her feet barely touching the ground as she vaulted between her victims delivering brutally precise cuts to the throat, chest and skull. She ducked under the latest enemy's clumsy attempt to butt her with his rifle before cutting out his legs with a slash of her blade. As the man fell into three parts screaming, she rolled and came stand in front of another Scourged Soul. The mercenary fired a hasty shot but Mysteel leapt impossibly fast, and landing nimbly with one leg on his chest. Using him as a springboard, Mysteel leapt off her stunned quarry and vaulted straight at an unsuspecting Aspirant like a bird of prey. The warrior turned as he sense movement, but the Twi'lek's lightsaber was already embedded deep into the back of his skull. With a brutal motion, she ripped her weapon out of the surprised man's head and whipped it backwards, straight at her first victim who had regained enough composure to raise his weapon. The lightsaber ripped straight through the man's throat, leaving a gaping hole where his larynx used to be. And before the man had even fallen dead, the weapon had flicked back into Mysteel's hand and the killing spree continued.
The chaos caused by Aethon's spearhead had left the enemy reeling. Their sporadic blaster fire against the Widowmakers impenetrable shields was like an annoying drizzle compared to the roaring fury of their guns. Discharges of superheated plasma fire ripped through the flimsy barricades and into the mercenaries' armor, reducing dozens of the enemies into screaming piles of burning offal. Those that didn't die cooked in their armor were brutally cut down by a flick of Revan or Mysteel's lightsaber.
Seeing that their position was unsustainable, the remaining Aspirants snarled for a retreat. Aethon made them made them pay for their cowardice. Mercenaries that left their cover were cut down piecemeal by Kynes as she cracked off shots with effortless precision. Some of the braver (or insane) Abominations were reduced to piles of fetid meat by the Widowmaker's guns as they broke themselves against the phalanx.
After a few more quick shots, the entire hall had been purged. Revan looked around to inspect their handiwork. A few stragglers had escaped through the exit tunnels into the darkness beyond, but at least thirty of Malleus' henchmen lay dead at their feet.
"Casualties?"
After a moment's inspection, Kynes replied. "Minor flesh wounds, nothing fatal,"
Revan nodded and took out his tracker. The tool was slaved to Matarl's homing beacon, giving an approximate location as to where the Twi'lek would be at any given time. Combined with his spatial mapping tool, he could plot an approximate course to the source of the signal. After inspecting the data for a moment, the Jedi issued a command.
"We take the right tunnel and proceed onward for 500 meters."
With that, Revan's team pressed into the darkness, to face whatever threats lay within.
The passage Aethon took to the lower levels of the complex was one long ominous descent. Its air was old and stale, evidence that it had been breathed then recycled countless periods of times. Pitch darkness wasn't too much of a problem since every Widowmaker had night vision built into their visors and the two women seemed comfortable stalking through the dark corridors. Revan was also accustomed to travelling in near darkness, using his sense of smell and hearing to guide him through the passage. The Jedi would have thought that there would have been resistance at some point, but their passage had been surprisingly uneventful.
However the descent took an unpleasantly smelly turn when the group emerged from the tunnel and into large dimly illuminated chamber. The smell was appalling, a heady aroma of feces mixed with blood and vomit. Foul sludge flowed out from several rusted pipes and into the damp mossy ground. There was no doubt about it. They were in the fortress' sewer.
Revan could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that they would very much prefer not to take this route. Unfortunately it was the most expedient way deeper into the lower complex, according to his tracker. With a resigned shrug, Revan stepped in and immediately regretted it when a faint squelching sound emanated from under his boots. His comrades reluctantly followed suite, stepping into the putrid liquid.
For the next few minutes, Aethon trudged knee deep in the putrid swamp, doing their best to keep silent while resisting the urge to hurl.
"Oh yeah, this is just perfect." Mysteel muttered after about five minutes of nauseating travel. The passage had narrowed significantly and they were forced to walk in pairs.
"I'm never going to get the smell of ass out of my clothes after this"
"Quiet." Snapped Kynes suddenly, cocking her head to the side. "Do you hear that?"
Revan froze and signalled the rest of the squad to do so. The hallway was still eerily quiet to him, but he did feel something...a subtle vibration in the direction they were heading. It sounded like...
"Footsteps. Lots of them." warned the sniper.
"Form up." ordered Revan. The Widowmakers resumed their phalanx formation with rifles held rock solid into the darkness in front of them, their multiple searchlights looked for any telltale signs of movement. As Revan and Mysteel ignited their lightsabers and lowered their stance, the Jedi hear a very faint wailing. The sound became exponentially louder as the anticipated horde approached.
"Abominations?" asked Mysteel warily.
"Doesn't sound like them," said Revan cautiously. "More like..."
"Screamers!" interrupted Kynes sharply.
Just as she shouted the warning, Revan saw a quartet of emancipated figures emerge from darkness of the corridor, then a dozen, then a score...the Jedi quickly lost count. They weren't Abominations thankfully, each man and woman still resembling a distinct species. However, each of their chests had been strapped with something that looked suspiciously like plastique and dynamite. And to his disgust, their eyes had been gouged out, replaced by some sort of spiked visor.
Slave fodder.
Screamers were codeword for suicide bombers. The Jedi had read Aethon's engagement history and remembered Lucidae's recount of how the Reborn liked to use their flesh fodder as walking time bombs. When the slaves reached a certain proximity, their helmets would trigger the explosives, reaping a bloody tally. Behind them were the herders, Aspirants and Scourged Souls who forced their wailing victims to run straight at the intrepid squad. They laughed in their guttural tongue as they whipped their charges into a frenzy.
The Reborn's depravity knows no bounds.
A lesser commander may have balked at the horrid sight and prospect of gunning down unarmed civilians, but Revan was made of sterner stuff. As the closest slaves converged within firing distance of their positions the Jedi pointed his lightsaber at them and issued a curt order.
"Aim for the legs,"
The Widowmakers obeyed, lowering their guns fractionally before firing. The corridor became illuminated in plasma fire, with men and women collapsing to the ground screaming in agony as their legs were taken out from under them. Since none of them were wearing armor, many of the victims were blown to bits, much to the Jedi's regret. The poor slaves would be crippled if they lived to survive this massacre, but at least they would live. As the first ranks fell, the dozens behind them screamed and tried to run away, only to be brutally trampled into the floor by the scores of other slaves taking up the rear.
The suicide ranks were quickly thinning, caught between the controlled volleys of Aethon's guns and their Master's whips. However they were only the tip of the iceberg. Pairs of screaming Abominations leapt over the desecrated bodies, followed by Aspirants. Dozens of the Scourged Souls took cover behind the makeshift flesh shields and opened fire at Aethon's warriors.
The Jedi, Widowmakers and Mysteel weathered the majority of the firestorm with sword and shield but were otherwise unable to counter as the melee fighters came into striking distance. Revan knew in such a confined space, the Widowmaker' ability to fight was severely hampered as they had to worry about hitting the Jedi as much as the enemy. He was about to issue an order to order a strategic withdrawal and find open ground until Kynes stepped in front of him. In the sniper's hand was her whip, her eyes glinting with a fire that the Jedi had never seen before.
As the enemy converged on them hurling curses, Kyne's weapon crackled and hissed into life, torrents of energy arcs streaking across its lethal surface. In a brutal windmill motion, the sniper brought the whip streaking into the mass of diseased flesh in front of her. Her first strike cleaved through the waist of an Abomination, separating the monster into two bloody chunks. Snapping off the walls with a crackling discharge, the whip came back and parted another unfortunate warrior's head from it's neck, as effortlessly as a scythe cutting through suet. The deadly woman continued slashing back and forth with the whip, tearing huge gouges of flesh off the closest enemies that foolishly tried to enter melee.
One of the Aspirants snarled and tried to sever the whip with its lightsaber, but the thing recoiled like snake, almost as if it had a mind of its own. With quick snap of her wrist, the weapon darted out and punished the aggressor by taking out one of its eyes. As the warrior howled in pain, Kynes slashed its throat open with lethal precision. Then with two quick explosive motions, the sniper took off his and left arm, leaving the Aspirant to gurgle and drown in its own poisoned blood.
Another Abomination bounded off the floor and against the wall before hurling itself at the woman. The fiend movements were blinding but even its speed was nothing compared to the whip. Faster than the blink of an eye, her scourge had curled around the Abomination's neck in mid flight. A brutal jerk of her wrist was all it took to send the thing crashing into the ground. As the monster jerked spasmodically, Kynes blew its brains out with a single shot from her pistol.
Revan was so busy marvelling at the lethal display that he almost forgot to attack himself. With the enemy ranks suddenly depleted, the Jedi leapt towards the Scourged Souls. His first victim tried to block the blow with his sidearm but the lightsaber sundered the feeble shield like a toy before plunging deep into his chest. The Jedi unceremoniously ripped his blade out of the gaping wound before beheading the next two in quick succession as they tried to fire in point blank range. Even as Revan rained death on the stragglers, Mysteel was right at his heels, stabbing her blade into any target fortunate enough to evade his wrath.
It was over in moments, the remaining enemies cut down with lethal efficiency. One last mercenary tried to scramble away but Mysteel was having no one of that. The Twi'lek sprung as a snake and kicked the fleeing man on the back, forcing him face first into the sludge stained floor. As the Scourged Soul spat out gobbets of shit, Mysteel ripped off his helmet and grabbed him by his lanky hair.
"Where is my sister you bastard?" snarled the Twi'lek, shaking the wretched thing like a broken toy that wouldn't start. "What did Matarl do to her?"
The Scourged Soul hawked a gob of bloody phlegm and spat it into his captor's face.
"Go to hell bitch."
Mysteel's eyes narrowed in fury and she punched the man in the throat. Revan flinched at the cracking noise. It sounded like she had crushed his windpipe.
"You want to put your balls on the line for these bastards?" she snarled as the man was reduced to gagging fits. "Fine! Let's see how long you last when I start stripping the skin from your flesh."
The Twi'lek drew one of her flaying knives and pressed it against her prisoner's cheek, hard enough to draw blood.
"Do you know how painful skin flaying is?" Mysteel hissed into his ear. "I've seen ball breakers like you who shit themselves after a few good flicks. They would beg to have their own limbs cut off rather than to endure the pain,"
To highlight her point, the Twi'lek deftly flicked a patch of skin off the man's pinky finger. The pirate immediately starting screaming like his hand was on fire.
"Arghhhh! Stop it! Make it stop!"
"You want it to stop? Tell me where she is!" the female demanded.
"I don't know!" sobbed her victim, "Please, I swear I don't know anything!"
"You lying prick!" Mysteel shrieked, raising her knife again. "I'm going to-!"
Revan grabbed her hand before Mysteel could do any more damage.
"Enough. This isn't going to work,"
Mysteel hissed and tried to wrench away but the Jedi's grip was unrelenting.
"Let me go! He's lying! I know he's-,"
The Jedi wrenched her arm and forced the Twi'lek to look at the pile of sobbing flesh she had reduced her prisoner to.
"Look at him. Do you really think a lowborn scum like him are privy to Malleus' plans?" Revan demanded.
"Pirates are not known for their loyalty. And you've pretty much scared the piss out of this one. If he knew anything of note, he would have told you by now."
The fury in Mysteel's eyes dimmed somewhat and she stopped struggling. Satisfied that she wouldn't try anything psychotic, Revan let go of the Twi'lek's wrist. With a disgusted sigh, she turned and stalked away. When she was gone, Revan beckoned the team's medic closer.
"Close the wound then tie him up,"
"And the slaves Lord Commander? They will not survive long without medical treatment. Especially in this filth."
"We'll move them to higher ground. Then do the best you can. But time is of the essence. Sedate them if you have to."
The soldier saluted and they spent a few minutes helping the wounded to a relatively clean patch of dirt. Afterwards, Revan approached Mysteel, who had been pacing angrily up and down the tunnel during the entire process.
"Dammit Revan. We're going too slow!" she hissed when he approached. "We should have bled that bastard for more-"
The Jedi grabbed Mysteel's chin and forced her to look straight into his eyes. Many people had had withered under his baleful stare and this was no different. A measure of fear crept onto the Twi'leks face and she stopped ranting.
"Listen to yourself," said Revan scornfully. "Do you know what you sound like right now? Why don't you start painting your skin with the blood of your enemies and call it a day?"
Mysteel flinched at the accusation as surely as any slap to the face. She looked away shamefully. "Y-you're right. I'm sorry."
"I know you're worried about your sister." Revan said in a milder voice. "But lashing out at every enemy we find isn't going to solve anything. We need to approach our objective with caution and guile,"
"I know, I know." She muttered. "It's just that...with the noise we've been making, that bastard could have slipped away with her by now!"
"He won't," said Revan firmly. "This entire fortress is blockaded. The entire planet is blockaded. Nobody is getting off here without us noticing,"
"But what if he does somehow?" she insisted.
"Then we follow him. We have Arctet's tracking signal," Revan said, tapping the side of his belt.
The Twi'lek looked at the device for a moment, then back at Revan before giving a weary nod. "Right...right, I was being an idiot,"
Satisfied, the Jedi glanced back at Kynes who was tending to the moaning slaves. Most of them looked unconscious if not exactly comfortable. He made a quiet sign for her to gather the rest of the team. She nodded and the Widowmakers started trudging in their direction. Revan turned back to Mysteel and said.
"Let's go,"
The Twi'lek nodded grimly and fell back in formation.
Thankfully, they encountered no more enemies within the sewers and Revan focused on finding the most expedient path to their quarry. That proved more difficult than anticipated as they emerged from the sewers and into the fortress complex proper. While the fetid smell of excrement had diminished, the new environment took on a much more sinister aspect. One did not have to be a Jedi to sense the echo of the countless souls who had died in agony within the bowels of this fortress.
Foetid banners of skin hung from the walls like obscene trophies. Bones crunched underneath their armored boots, almost like a blanket. And the bricks...Revan did not doubt that the bricks were stained red from the blood of their victims whilst the mortar was crushed from their bones. Much of the complex had also fallen to ruin, overrun with black moss, dead roots and fallen masonry. More often than not, they would come across a crumbled passage or a dead end, forcing the group to turn back and choose an alternate route deeper into the complex.
About ten minutes after their arrival, the communications channel inexplicably went dead, leaving Squad Aethon without any new intel on Mandalore's and Octavia's forces. Some of the troopers surmised they were too far underground to get a decent signal but Kynes suspected that Malleus had found some way to jam their communications. To add another headache, the tracking signal started jumping erratically. Either the beacon's polling was becoming less frequent or Matarl was on the move. Revan's money was on the latter. The traitor knew he was cornered now, and like a rat he was trying to scurry into some darker hole to hide in. Either way, it forced the Jedi to continuously change his projected route for the squad. From time to time, Kynes or another squad member caught flickering shadows from the corner of their eyes or a scuffling of rock, suggesting a malevolent presence that was stalking them. But every time they turned around and flashed their lights, they saw nothing.
This place is cursed, thought Revan ruefully. He noticed that Aethon was on edge now, not just Mysteel. They clutched their weapons more tightly, reacted more aggressively to every suggestion of movement. The Jedi knew they had to find their quarry soon, otherwise squad Aethon's nerves would fray.
Thankfully, after a many more minutes of frustrated backtracking, Revan managed to find a relatively clear tunnel passage which eventually expanded into to a very large blood stained chamber. The room was dominated entirely by circular pits roughly ten meters in diameter, with dark iron bars surrounding their circumference. Scattered around the chamber were huge wooden crates, presumably with supplies to feed whatever had been in them. The smell coming from the pits themselves was a pungent combination of blood, shit and spoiled meat. Revan could see the remains of different skeletons scattered amongst the dirt, many of them vaguely humanoid. Most of the prisons had been left open, like they had been evacuated hastily.
"The flesh pits," the Jedi mused. "This must be where Malleus kept his Abominations."
"There must have been hundreds in here." murmured Mysteel as she looked around. "Thousands even,"
"Not anymore," said Kynes dismissively. "We culled the majority of the Abominations in the battlefield."
"Interesting, but not relevant at the moment," said Revan giving the room a cursory inspection. He noticed there was also second level of balconies, presumably for spectators who could watch bloodsport below. And while each wall had an exit, Revan had come to assume that anyone of them could lead to a dead end.
"We'll take the first passage and see if it l-"
The first sign that something was amiss was when Reban heard a loud bang followed by the Widowmaker next to him pitching back and crumpling to the floor. A bloody crater had replaced the place where his helmet used to be.
"Enemies on the balconies!" one of his allies shouted. His warning was followed by several loud clicking sounds as enemies rose out of from behind the balconies and started firing with impunity.
"Scatter!" shouted Revan, dodging another shot that narrowly missed his shoulder. The Widowmakers obeyed without question, diving for cover behind pillars, crates and other miscellaneous blockages. It was a good thing they did too, because a renewed torrent of flurry of crimson spears roared from above, perforating the entire room in crimson red. Bits of wood, glass, and concrete went flying in all directions as the enemy's weapons laid waste to the flesh pits.
Revan crouched next to a fallen statue, deflecting the stray bolt that came his way. Looking around, Revan and was relieved to realize that aside the first casualty, the rest of the team had managed to avoid a grisly death. Widowmakers with shields protected their brethren as the fury of shots washed over them, while the rest took pot shots whenever they could. Kynes was leaning behind a pillar, coming out from cover from time to time to execute the odd pirate with her typical calm detachment. The Jedi was also vaguely aware that Mysteel was pressing tightly behind his back, way past his personal space, but was too distracted by the firefight to care.
One of the enemies lobbed a grenade into the center of the room. In most cases this would have been lethal to the defenders but Mysteel simply flicked her hand and the payload flew back up to the balconies with a scream followed by a sharp crump. Bits of bone and meat flew off in all directions, adding additional décor to the room. When Revan turned back with a bemused look, Mysteel shrugged and said.
"What did he think was going to happen?"
Despite these small victories, they were effectively pinned down. The Jedi knew that they would have to do something soon before the entire squad was decimated.
This proved true when one of the Widomakers risked raising his head to let off a shot. It promptly dissolved into red mist as a high powered beam ripped through his helmet, killing him instantly. Revan grimaced at the gruesome scene even as flecks of the man's body splattered over his robes. It was the same type of kill the first victim. Such a powerful shot could only have come from a sniper. The Jedi wanted to scan the room for the telltale sign of a long barrel but knew that was an invitation for the sniper to take off his face.
However inspiration struck when he caught sight of a discarded mirror lying scattered among the debris. The Jedi raised a finger, angling the object to and fro so it reflected off the various balconies. Revan continued rotating it until he caught sight of the black muzzled sniper rifle that had been hounding them. The Jedi smiled, he as discovered the sniper's exact coordinates. Te Widowmakers couldn't shoot the sniper directly without breaking cover but there was one amongst them who didn't need to. Catching Kynes eye, the Jedi signed a quick signal in Army code.
Sniper directly north of my position. Forty five degree elevation. One hundred meters.
Kynes nodded sharply at the instructions and raised her marksman's pistol. Without leaving her pillar, the sniper took a rapid scan left and right before aiming at a support west of the Jedi's position. Weighing the trajectory based on Revan's instructions, she fired. The bullet ricocheted off the side with a clink. A split second later there was a cry of pain as someone toppled over the balcony. The Jedi risked another looked and smiled with grim satisfaction as the sniper lay crumpled on the floor with a bullet embedded in his neck.
Revan nodded his thanks to the sniper who had already turned away to look for more targets. With the most major threat neutralized, the remaining Widowmakers emerged from cover and began returning sporadic shots at the remaining enemy who were still raining blaster fire from the balconies with impunity. Aethon was holding their own at the moment, but the Jedi didn't doubt for a moment that the other shoe was about to drop.
We've stayed here too long. Now we'll be fodder for the secondary counterattack.
Just as he suspected, the onslaught proved to be a precursor to an even greater threat. Within seconds of the sniper's death, Revan heard a familiar keening. Moments later, hordes of ghoulish figures exploded from the doors of the western passage with claws outstretched, braying curses. With the incessant bolts of blaster fire still raining down upon their heads, none of squad Aethon could react to the new threat.
"Melee weapons!" Revan shouted, surging up from one knee. Mysteel turned with him, deflecting a flurry of bolts as they came out of their hiding spot. They barely had time to orient themselves as three Abominations attacked almost in unison. The first fiend swiped at Revan's head. The Jedi crouched under the strike and heaved the attacker over his shoulder just in time to cleave the second monster across the throat. He shoved the kill out of the way and was about to parry another outstretched claw until a muzzle blast caught him the shoulder. The Jedi staggered and was almost beset by a pair of slashing talons, but Mysteel managed to cut off the Abomination's arms before his face was turned into ribbons.
Mysteel turned a round briefly to see if Revan was okay. That proved to be her undoing as two more monsters clamped onto her body like parasites and she was dragged down with a yelp.
Revan turned tried to help his beleaguered ally but he noticed in dismay that the wave had reached the rest of his men. Widowmakers were forced to fend off the monsters with the butts of their weapons and Revan knew it was only a matter of time before they were all overrun. But he couldn't worry about that now. All he could think about was trying to stay alive for the next few seconds.
The Jedi bisected another Abomination through the torso and spun to cut a slavering maw in half. But even as he raised his blade to fend off a new pair of slashing claws, the Jedi felt the wind blasted from his chest as a black clad monster slammed into his shoulder. Revan staggered and tried to push the monster away but another Abomination abruptly took his place...then another and another. Within seconds, the Jedi his allies were swarmed on all sides. All semblance of order was lost amidst the press of putrid flesh and gnashing teeth as Revan was forced to the ground. The Jedi found himself suffocated by the mass of groping claws and gnashing teeth.
Somewhere along the way, Revan lost his lightsaber and gained a sharp piece of glass, which he promptly stabbed into the eye of the Abomination trying to bite off his face. Even as the monster reeled away in pain, a fresh pair of teeth clamped onto his shoulder sending flares of pain shooting up his entire body. Revan snarled in pain and tried to break free but the pressure was top great. His whole body felt like it was on fire and it was only a matter of time before he was fully engulfed. Revan felt his world turning crimson as taloned claws ripped through his robes and gouged deep red worms on his chest.
This is it... Revan thought. This is the final hour. Perhaps in death, my dishonor will be absolved.
But even as he was preparing to utter the final battle rites for his own demise, the pressure on his chest suddenly lifted...
Revan became aware of a new sound amongst the screaming. It almost sounded like...laughter. The Jedi dared to open is eyes. In front of him was a red armoured giant, lathered from head to toe in ichorous gore as his blade cut through the mass of monster flesh on top of him. He wasn't alone. Several other towering figures had crashed into the mass of flesh and were pushing Abominations away from the beleaguered Widomakers. One of them was taller by half a foot and each sweep of his blade brought devastation to the fiends. It took a moment for Revan's throbbing head to realize what was happening.
Mandalore...he found us.
Revan never thought he would be glad to see the tinheads, especially after what happened on Solace, but here they were, saving his wretched hide. Clawing about, the Jedi found his weapon and belatedly realized he could see the telltale bulk of Octavia's armoured chassis along with his droids entering from the North end of the room. Their weapons showered the mercenaries on the balconies in incandescent death, killing half a dozen outright while forcing the majority to keep their heads down.
The Mandalorians, one of the most feared fighting forces in the galaxy brought death to the Abominations with blaster and blade, roaring in fury as they hacked the their limbs off. Claw and tooth skidded off harmlessly from their armoured hides while their lethal blades pierced through flesh and bone as easily as a skewer through meat.
Their leader was destruction incarnate. Mandalore didn't so much fight the Abominations as he did ground them into a chunky paste. As the Jedi got back unsteadily to his feet, he saw the huge man charge into a pack of Abominations with the force of a bull. Despite being outnumbered ten to one, his sheer bulk split the wedge apart and scattered the monsters like paper in the wind. While they lay stunned, the mighty Mandalorian swung his butcher's blade with impunity, cleaving Abominations into pieces with each savage stroke.
One of the fiends regained its wits and managed to sneak up behind Mandalore and stab deep into the warrior's back, tearing huge gouges into the burnished metal. Roaring with hatred, the huge man spun and grabbed the monster from his back before slamming him into floor again and again. Once the thing had stopped squirming, Mandalore pincered its head with his huge metal claw and clenched. The pressure immediately causing the head split apart like a piece of ripe fruit, the gore exploding in all directions. Revan found himself soaked in the stuff, which seemed to amuse the giant man to no end.
"Do you smell that boy?" thundered Mandalore through the din of combat. "Smells like victory, doesn't it?"
"Only to you Mandalore," replied Revan as he waded back into the fight, severing an Abomination's grasping claws that tried to gouge his eyes out. Between the Jedi and Mandalorian's blades, the fiends were being culled in droves. Revan had to admire the brutal efficiency in which the Mandalorians dispatched their enemies, each economical blow designed to kill the enemy as quickly as possible before they moved on to the next one.
Octavia by contrast seemed to be taking an almost sexual joy in its killing. The huge droid waded into the carnage, all seven foot of metal and malice. Pirates snapped off shots to dissuade its advance but the machine ignored the torrent of blaster fire which barely scratched its metal finish and brought its massive right arm to bear. Gouts of flame spewed forth from the nozzle built into its palm, immolating all the enemies on the nearest balconies in its lethal embrace. Pirates and slaves screamed in the same high pitched wail as their skin sloughed off their flesh and they collapsed as burning husks to the floor.
The droid wasn't done. His left arm came up and pointed to the other side of the room, bearing a massive six barreled auto cannon. Revan heard the distinctive clink of shell casings being loaded into their chambers until an even more terrifying sound replaced it...
Awhooooooooooooo
The chamber turned white, lighting up with an endless torrent of bullet shells as Octavia unleashed his fury. Entire sections of the cages and pillars were torn apart as Octavia levelled his fury across the balconies and the remainder of the enemies. They ripped through every obstruction effortlessly, reducing Abominations and Scourged Souls alike to red and black mist as the oversized ammunition punched through their fleshy bodies.
The cacophony was deafening, and most of the Mandalorians clutched their helmets, so great was the ringing pain. Even Revan thought the noise would split his head open until he heard the loud clicking noise of Octavia's ammo belt running dry. One by one, the Widowmakers and Mandalorians dared to raise their heads. The entire room was ruined, with nothing but chuks of black and red slurry to mark the deaths of their enemies. The smell of cooked meat wafted into the Jedi's nose, mixed with the sharp tang of promethium and ash.
Friendly fire indeed.
Miraculously, the droid didn't seem to have hit any of his allies. A quick count told him four of the Widowmakers remained standing, a far higher number than the Jedi hoped after the pummeling they took. Kynes had also made it through, and drenched in as much black gore as him, much to her apparent distaste. As the Jedi wiped some of the grime from his face, the commanders from the Eight and Tenth stalked menacingly to his position.
"I'm glad you two decided to help us when you did," Revan nodded to them.
"If it wasn't for the noise, we wouldn't have bothered to rescued you at all," growled Mandalore. "The fodder was growing scarce in the fortress." He pointed to the pulpy mass of Abominations. "We wandered these corridors looking for the vermin until the sound of gunfire attracted our attention. We followed the din, hoping to find fresh kills for our blades. Helping you was purely coincidence."
"Nevertheless, your assistance is greatly appreciated,"
Mandalore grunted something unintelligible and turned away.
"Your primary objective was to locate the traitor. Have you achieved that yet?" interrupted Octavia.
"Not yet. But we were close."
The Jedi reached for his tracker again but realized it was no longer on his belt. As he looked around the floor for it, Revan realized something else.
"Where is Mysteel?"
Kynes and the soldiers looked around but didn't answer,
"Damnation," muttered Revan. He opened up a general channel. "All squad members, give me visual confirmation of Mysteel."
After a moment's silence, one of them said.
"Negative Lord Commander, I don't see her life signs on the radar either. Either she's dead or she turned off her beacon."
Based on the fact that she was nowhere to be seen, Revan was hedging his bets on the latter. It didn't take for him long to understand what this meant. Mysteel had stolen off with his tracker so she could get to Matarl first. And when that happened...well Revan had seen first hand how unhinged the Twi'lek was at this point. If Matarl was lucky, she would give him a swift death assuming he told her where her sister was. The alternative involved flaying knives and a lot of skin.
"Orders?" asked Kynes
Revan stared at the three passages leaving the room, and considered his options. Their top priority was still the acquisition of the weapon but without Arctet's beacon, they would be flying blind. Aethon would need to find the weapon themselves. But he also remembered his pledge to the Master of Aethon. Revan knew he was honor bound to keep Lucidae's student safe. Still, he couldn't divert squads from their primary goal just to steer Mysteel from her personal vendetta. He would have to look for her himself. But the problem now was that she could have taken any one of these corridors.
"We'll need to split up," said Revan reluctantly.
"Is that wise?" Kynes asked dubiously. "The defences will only get worse and Malleus is still unaccounted for."
"It isn't," admitted Revan. "But it is necessary. Mysteel has taken it upon herself to wreak vengeance on her tormentor and nothing good can come from that. I need to stop Mysteel before she does something we all regret. I owe Lucidae that much at least,"
Kynes stared at him with an inscrutable expression but eventually nodded in agreement.
"Very well, what do you want me to do?"
"Take all three teams through the eastern pass. That is as good a location to start looking as any. I will take the passage that leads to Matarl's last known location."
"How many men do you want?"
"All of them. But I will cover more ground alone and have a better chance to remain undetected."
The sniper shook her head in disbelief.
"Always taking insurmountable odds. You enjoy defying death, don't you Revan?"
"Not in the slightest. Like I said, it's necessary."
That wasn't strictly true and Revan admitted to himself that the decision stemmed from largely personal reasons. Lucidae had warned Revan about the follies of a Jedi working alone, but some things had to be done from prying eyes.
I don't want others to learn the truth.
Seeing that she wouldn't be able to dissuade him, Kynes motioned for the three teams to press forward into the tunnel, Revan had specified.
"Keep your channel open then and alert us at the first sign of trouble" said Kynes, turning to follow them. Almost as an afterthought she turned and said.
"Good luck Revan. Force be with you,"
"And with you," said Revan nodding in thanks. With that, the sniper turned and melted into the gloom beyond.
Matarl had been running blindly for what seemed like an eternity.
The distinct discharge of blaster fire and lightsabers clashing rang discordantly against the Twi'lek's lobes with the noises had been getting louder each minute. And with each shot and scream as another henchmen fell dead, Matarl felt a mounting dread creep around his shrivelled heart like tendrils waiting to pull a hapless victim underwater.
He had seen the battle back through the cameras in the observation lab. The swiftness and brutality that Lucidae had demonstrated in wiping out Malleus forces was nothing short of terrifying. He fancied he had heard Malleus himself scream in helpless fury as his numerically superior army had been destroyed piecemeal. At that was when he had started running again, hoping to find some way of escape from this wretched prison.
They were coming for him, the Twi'lek had no doubt about that. Aethon had already breached Malleus' sanctum and when they found him, they were going to drag his rotten body back into that wretched planet and mount his head on a pike. Matarl was under no illusion that Lucidae or Mysteel would spare him a second time.
And all this for one stupid whore and her baseborn child.
Matarl would have wept if he could still remember how.
His one chance was to flee while Aethon was still occupied with the remnants of Malleus skeleton forces. Hide in the tunnels and hope they overlook him. He didn't even think twice about taking the child with him anymore. Her screaming would just give him away and Matarl didn't have Malleus to protect him anymore.
Matarl ran but with no real course in mind. The complex was one long labyrinth of tunnels and crumbled corridors, making Aethon's catacombs seem straightforward by comparison. Eventually, his blind running brought him to a huge set of wooden doors. Without thinking, the Twi'lek pushed them open and found himself in a tall gloomy chamber. The room was cluttered with half filled bookcases and scattered papers.
A library.
When he went in, Matarl felt an almost unnatural silence permeat from the room in stark contrast to the raging inferno from the rest of the fortress. The Twi'lek exhaled. While not the best hiding spot, Matarl figured it was easier to get lost among rows of bookcases than in some dark corridor. As he walked amongst the piles of texts and crumbling parchment, the Twi'lek had a chance to reflect on how his life had gotten so out of control. Malleus...everything had gone wrong ever since he met that...that thing. The rumors had been right after all. He was truly the Corrupter of Souls, leaving death and ruin in his wake...including his allies.
Damn slug. I hope Reeka chokes on a Bantha. He should never have tried to deal with this bastard.
Perhaps it was paranoia or maybe his heightened senses, but the Twi'lek suddenly sensed movement from his back as he was musing. Turning around, Matarl was horrified to see that the bookcase behind him was creaking and tumbling forward.
Instinctively, he lunged to the side, narrowly missing the plummeting bookcase which came crashing down his former position in a crack of splintered wood. Coughing and cursing his ill fortune, Matarl whipped his head to see the source of the disturbance. What he saw was the thing he had dreaded most ever since the first ship had been sighted in orbit.
Mysteel stood behind the clearing dust, her face incandescent with rage.
"Matarl!" She shouted in a voice mingled with barely suppressed fury and hysteria. "Where is my sister?"
In this situation, Matarl did the most sensible thing possible. He ran.
Unsurprisingly, he heard Mysteel following, her footsteps echoing loudly across the gloomy room.
"Get back here you bastard!" she shrieked.
Matarl didn't look back. He knocked over chairs, tables and other bookshelves in the hopes of hampering the angry female's progress. Mysteel gave chase, shoving the nuisances away like they were toys.
Matarl sweated and worked his mouth in wordless prayer as he ran. The female might have been consumed with anger but she was also a hunter, her technique perfected by countless hours of training.
It was only a matter of time before he stumbled, and when that happened…
Revan jerked his head sharply to the side at the sound of the crash. His search through the corridors had proven uneventful until the sound of violence piqued his senses.
That sounded like Mysteel.
Wasting no time, the Jedi turned and ran down the passage where the noise emanated each step, the sound of the female voice became clearer, shouting threats and promises of vengeance. It was definitely Mysteel. Reassured he had found his quarry, the Jedi ran down the passage with renewed purpose. But when he came to a fork in the tunnels, Revan stopped and found himself hesitating.
The Jedi spent a long time looking at either path. The source of the din clearly came from the left...but something in the back of his mind told him to go right. He couldn't quite place the sensation, but it almost felt like something was waiting for him there.
I should find Mysteel first.
Yet against his better judgement, the Jedi found himself turning right. Walking down that long dark chamber almost felt like walking through a dream. Half hidden whispers scrapped the back of his mind, like a pitch that was just beyond the human capacity to hear. It was a sensation that felt eerily familiar.
The last time I felt like this...was with Victus.
The walk felt like an eternity...or maybe it was no time at all but Revan found himself stopping at a high set of arched doorways. With a deep breath Revan push inward and entered a cold drafty room. The walls were decorated with long elaborate tapestries which on closer inspection was actually skin...multiple faces sewed together to form an unbroken banner of anguish. Looking away in disgust, the Jedi focused on the singular longtable occupying the centre of the chamber with rows of chairs to either side.
And at the far end was a shadow, the faint suggestion of a wraith like figure. A quiet voice told him to walk forward and the Jedi found himself obeying. But as Revan stepped forth and towards the seated shadow, his head started to hurt again, a very reliable sign that he was in danger. And when he got close enough to see the man sitting at the end of the table, Revan could see why.
"Hello brother," said Malleus.
Author's note: New artwork on my deviantart page. This time, it's Ailene from the Gathering Storm. Enjoy.