The inside of the pyramid was cool and held the scents of age and preservation, while the stones themselves smelled of the generations past. Countless battles had taken place on nearly every square inch of the entire complex, millennia of trial, tribulation, error and skill, life and death on both sides were evident, and the very atmosphere seemed to hum with energy about them. Even now, blood from both sides had painted the area; it was clear where the blood of their prey had been spilt already, blurring clear lines of stone into muddled, vague shapes, the acid eating tiny pits and craters into the carved stone, the once ornate imagery and smooth lines now marred and ugly, their original form forever lost.

The team moved in a slow, steady formation down the main corridor, immense stone statues, depicting figures of their kind, holding the weapons of their race, stood, hundreds of feet tall, towering over them on either side, looming over them like ancient benevolent titans.

"If there ever was a time where was ok with feeling small…" Yeyin commented soflty to himself, as they moved further down into the pyramids entrance, and came upon a set of descending steps, which forked into two separate directions. Muttering broke out as they all began wondering and then debating which route to take.

Yeyin threw up his hand for silence as he eyed both pathways, trying to listen to his untested instincts, then the big male turned to face the group "We stick together through this, no matter what happens" and then began walking down the right handed path.

It was slow going, the hall began narrowing further and further until a point where they all had to move in single file. Soon though the hall widened and they found that they were in a long broad tunnel.

All around them the walls bore pictograms and writing, of ancient hunters, great hunts, worthy battles, war and some passages of females. Hi'tashi, who was skilled as both a scribe and reader, took great interest in the room and since the others felt there was no apparent danger, or great reason to rush, let him have his time to read to his content, which he did, often running his free hand over the sections, feeling the cool stone beneath his figner tips.

Yeyin walked over to Ky'gall and had a brief chat as they looked over their weapons.

"So, not exactly what we thought it would be is it?" the red skinned male chuckled, sounding more nervous than he had hoped he would.

"Don't get lax, it may be smooth right now, but when one of those things is charging right for us, or worse, we're split up, you'll want to be ready" Yeyin said repositioning the shuriken on his belt again (he'd developed a habit of fidgetting with his gear when nervous).

"Yeah, you're right" Ky'gall sighed and readjusted the grip on his maul, before turning to looking back over at Hi'tashi "Anything interesting to report, Longshot?"

"This is amazing" the green skinned male rumbled as much to himself as the others, as he lightly ran his hand over the raised text "This is a complete record of this pyramid, it trials, names of hunters who've been here, everything you could want in a record."

"Any tips on how to get out of here without a scrape?" Rul'wan asked.

"No, after all this stuff it's just complimentary text, honors won, females bedded and stuff like that" he said half paying attention

Quall coughed nervously "Well let's not read that aloud... I mean, all guys in here... you know?"

All the other seven turned to stare at him, flatly stating "Shut up" in one voice.

"Hi'tashi wrap it up, we're moving on" Yeyin said, giving his brother a nudge to the shoulder before turning looking down the passage.

Soon the seven were moving down the passageways again, seeing several more rooms like the one they had paused in, however Yeyin felt that they didn't have the luxury to wait around anymore and kept the party moving.

Eventually the hall widened out again, this time into what appeared to be a large ovular alcove.

Around the entire alcove were life sized statues of a yautja, some standing nobly with their weapons at their sides, others posed in the midst of battle, muscles bulging and straining. All of the fearsome details were captured perfectly in the carved rock. All of them were set equal distance apart save for one spot which was vacant, all that was left was a pedestal.

Yeyin was busy looking around while Ky'gall went over to inspect the vacant spot. He caught the glint of something above in a crack in the stone. "Hey guys there's something up here, looks metal, I'm gonna see if I can't grab it" he said sheathing the large arm blade on his one side.

At the same time, Hi'tashi had been studying some more of the ancient pictograms and hieroglyphics on the walls when he came across something which made him stiffen, and at the sound of his red skinned brother stepping up on to the stone pedestal, he cried out "DON'T-!" just as the floor suddenly fell out from beneath them, swept down in two separate halves of a great trap door.

Time seem to halt for a moment and all felt like they were hanging in midair, light streamed down from opening above them, from some far distant hole on the surface, where another trap door had opened simultaneously with the one under there feet, then they dropped. All screamed in shock and alarm as they contacted a sloped surface, most were so taken back by the sudden change that they did little but try to watch where they were falling.

Others like Yeyin, Hi'tashi and Ky'gall, tried to grab a hold of whatever was around, but felt their claws and fingers scrabbling and grating on nothing but cool, slippery stone.

Yeyin cried out as he fell through nothingness for what felt like forever, until he felt the breath knocked out of him as he hit firm ground again hard with a loud, echoing 'THUD!'.

Groaning, he rolled onto his back, holding his left arm, feeling his palm grow warm as a bit of blood pooled in it.

He felt his skin bathed in the cool, musty, dryness of years of accumulated dust. Sitting up, he looked his arm over, seeing his skin only suffered a minor scrape, and nothing major had been cut or torn, better yet, other than the dust, his armor was untouched.

Shakily bringing himself into a defensive crouch, he shook his head an looked about, cycling through his masks vision modes until he could make better sense of where he was. It was yet another very narrow path way leading off into darkness, ahead of him it took a downward angle, behind him was only a blank wall, that climbed up into indiscernible darkness. Upon seeing he was alone, and giving his equipment and weapons one last check over, he sighed and decided to move forward. The path turned left once and then right, all the while the downward slant increased and he slid a bit and he found himself looking over a much larger passageway.

The drop was manageable, and he stepped out of the opening and descended down the stretch of air, and landed with a soft crunch on the old stone tile, which had cracked under his considerable weight, until it shattered entirely and fell through into a simple antechamber beneath.

"PAUK!" he barked in alarm before grabbing at the surrounding tiles, his legs kicked in the open air as he struggled to pull himself with little success, failing to find purchase on anything. He was slipping back into the breach, his sharp claws screeching as the points dug into the smooth ancient stone, when a pair of hands grabbed at his. Del'thweis voice grunted with his effort to pull the much bigger male out of the hole "Come on you big bastard, haul yourself up, I ain't as strong as all that!"

Both males grunted and groaned before Yeyin managed to swing a leg up and hauled himself out, and immediately rolled over to what he believed to be more solid ground, sitting up he leaned back against the wall, huffing and grumbling aloud "C'jits getting old! What's this place made out of, anyway? Keeps giving out left and right!" he caught his breath and sighed.

Looking around he noted they were in an unbelievably huge and expansive area, with stone statues like the ones they first passed on the way in. The ceiling itself was enormous disappearing high up into vague obscurity, much like an ooman gothic cathedral in design, with large spanning struts and beams, and all of it scrawled with text or decorated with more pictograms, the construction and dedication to detail was amazing, Yeyin was continuously struck by how small the whole place made him feel.

He then looked at Del who was still panting, hands on knees, and sighed before asking "Where are the others?"

Del shook his head "Don't know, when the floor went we all split, I think I saw most of 'em fall into the larger tunnels, so hopefully they're still together" he sighed before standing up.

"Hopefully but probably not, that room was meant to thin us out, and now we're really in it bad, together we have the best fighting chance, split up that's less eyes and ears to help watch out and listen" Yeyin said as he helped Del stand and checked him for injuries. "Doesn't matter, we'll set out and find em" he said, looking about as he spoke, getting his combi-stick free.

"You sound so sure, how can you know we're going to meet up with them again?" Del asked puzzled.

"This place is designed to pull us in deeper and deeper until we find our quarry, trust me, our paths will link up again" he said patting the shorter male on the shoulder, he didn't voice the gnawing worry that when they did meet up again, not all of them may still be alive.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Meanwhile, Hi'tashi and Rutaroo had hooked Quall, and Maka'dan, and Hi'tashi had in advertently found himself thrust into the leadership role, the green skinned male wasn't really unhappy with this choice, but was more nervous than anything. He had always preferred letting Yeyin or Ky'gall take the lead and hang in the back of the group, while helping to observe and point out his observations when needed.

But he didn't have that choice this time, so he listed off in his head what was most important, first off was checking to his group and making sure they were all ok. Thankfully he had Rutaroo and this made the whole thing much easier, the striped male was immensely knowledgeable when it came to yautjan health and biology.

Beside some scrapes and a minor gash here and there, they were fine, next they went over their weapons and gear. Most everyone was still well equipped; no one had lost or broken anything in the fall. Hi'tashi was about to suggest that they look for the ceremonial plasma casters when a voice cut through their masks com system.

"I say again, is anyone there? Yeyin? Hi'tashi? Rutaroo? Anyone?"

Though the voice was faint, and somewhat garbled by static, it was unmistakably that of Ky'galls.

"I'm here Ky'gall! Are you alright?" Hi'tashi said, nervously awaiting the answer.

"I'm fine… with Rul'wan, we fell … opposite side of you guys, there's a giant wall separating us…don't think we can get through to you guys" he said sounding calm

"We'll keep an eye out for you as we move farther in, just keep your eyes and ears sharp Ky'gall" he said sighing

"Got it, where's Yeyin?" he asked

This time Hi'tashis heart sunk "Haven't seen him, everyone else but him and Del are with me, Paya willing one of our groups will hook up with him soon."

"I'll agree to that, well we're going to set out, and don't worry about Del or Yeyin, if there's any of us more ready to take this on, it's them" Ky'gall said before Hi'tashi heard the coms go silent.

Looking back to the group, he thought a moment before squaring up his shoulders and addressing them all. "Alright we're setting out, keep your eyes and ears sharp, if we hear any of the others, we work our way to them before we do anything else, now let's go" he said before pulling out one of his knives in one hand and holding a cutting disc in the other.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Yeyin and Del proceeded onward, deeper into the pyramid; they began noticing patches where wall had been scraped, melted or broken along with the surrounding statuary. They began slowing their movements and looking things over much more thoroughly as they continued on. Each step and foot placement was measured, both males barely made a whisper of a sound.

Eventually they come upon a section of pyramid that made them positive they were in the right place; it was all covered in kainde resin. A unique and freakish amalgam, that managed blend the looks of both organic and mechanical together at the same time, and provide the perfect camouflage for their quarry. It as alien in this ancient proving ground, as it would be anywhere else. It was strangely warm and semisolid under foot, much like heavy padding, although every once in a while a softer spot would sink under the weight of their sandaled feet with an audible -squish!-, once or twice even venting sound identical to a soft, wet fart. Every now and what looked like steam or water vapor could be seen issuing out of seeming cracks in the walls, adding dampness to the environment, and both began to smell the stink of it even through their bio-masks. Yeyin faught the urge to retch as the scent of an old drain, caked with rotting meat and shit filled his nose, and clung obnoxiously to the back of his throat.

He pulled out his combi-stick and advanced slowly with the point of the spear in front of him, at the ready. Del stayed a couple of paces behind him, his own weapons ready as he watched their backs while both had their vision modes actively scanning for kainde signatures.

As they descended farther in, they began to feel a very humid heat again, not unlike the jungle they came from before, but also they began to feel wet as the moisture condensed and formed on their armor in beads and made their skin feel sticky and slick, the smell was quickly becoming almost unbearable, and Yeyin felt his head almost swim with the nausea of it. Soon enough they had walked several hundred yards into the resin coated labyrinth, all memory of the pyramid was now gone, replaced by the resin of their most ancient foe.

Del and Yeyin were both extremely on edge, the muscles in their arms, shoulders and chests were tensed at the ready. So when Del slipped and fell in a small hole on the resinous floor, it was no surprise when Yeyin spun ready to strike. Seeing his friend tripped up however, the big male relaxed, chuckling as he bent down and grasping the proffered hand, hauled the other male to his feet.

"Just be glad it wasn't during a fight" he said brushing Del off.

The other male let his wrist blades free as he grunted in alarm.

Yeyin turned and what he saw seem to defy all reason, logic and belief. A kainde warrior was barreling straight at them, in spirals. It literally ran on a diagonal scuttling up the ceiling and down on the lower wall, before reversing course again, moving insanely fast, its eyeless "face" fixed on them, the bizarre crystal clear lips pulled back in a snarling rictus of insane rage, its fanged maw agape, dripping with saliva, the smaller jaws of its 'tongue' snapping impatiently. By the time Yeyin was readying to block with his combi-stick it was already upon him.

If he was surprised by the speed of his attacking quarry, he wholly taken aback then by the enormous brute strength of the creature, which easily picked him up and tossed him aside like a rag doll, crushing the resin on the wall and knocking the spear from his hands and out of reach. His head spinning, ears ringing, he was barely able to reach out and grab hold of the beast's chest and neck as it tried to savage his face with it's claws. The inner jaws were launching out, again and again at near blinding speed attempting to impale his skull through his mask, its spittle was splashing over his mask, neck and arms. He managed to evade most of the savage strikes and landed a solid punch to its head, but it did little to stem the onslaught, merely making a dull -thump- as his knuckles impacted the smooth front of its head.

It snarled and screeched in feral rage, raking his shoulders and chest with its claws, furiously trying to have him release it from his grip. He groaned trying to force it off him but it was so ferocious in its assault he could barely budge the insane animal. He was surprised however when it shrieked and launched itself off him.

What he hadn't seen was Del had grabbed at the beasts tail and been working on pulling it off of him. The creature, enraged at the interruption, turned its attack on him instead of the big male.

Del was overwhelmed almost immediately and began trying to fight off the creatures mad frenzied attacks, but slipped on a cracked bit of resin and fell backwards. The black, insect like warrior was upon him in an instance, his armor covered less of his front than Yeyins, and so he was soon feeling his chest being ripped into, and the passageway illumined with glow of his phosphorescent blood. He growled as he kicked out at it with both his legs, managing to send the creature back, but it only came back just as mindless and savage in the very next instant.

He felt the warm, wet air hit his face as his mask was ripped off, and he felt the spindly fingers of both its hands hold his head steady, hte dagger like tips of the claws easily piercing the hide of his scalp. His vision cleared in time to see it's horrible, eyeless 'face' just in front of his, the jaws opened wide, impossibly wide, and he could see the tiny teeth on the second jaw opening as well as they came ready in the center of the monsters reeking maw, as it tensed ready to punch through his skull, shred his brains, and blast the mess out the back of his head.

He couldn't close his eyes, even though he knew what was about to happen, he couldn't stop himself from watching in frozen terror, as his death was played out before his eyes.

He was jolted from his fear induced stillness by a colossal roar, and suddenly his attacker was wrenched off his body and flung into a wall, a small crater formed as the resinous section caved in under the impact of the kainde warrior.

Del watched as Yeyin went toe to toe with the beast, it shrieked and hissed, striking and clawing at him, a few times it drew a bit of blood, but most times it merely slashed at the heavy plates of his armor, eventually he let his wrist blades free and stepped in close, blocking the primal but instinctive blows with his forearms or shoulder, he began using basic jabs and plunged his blades several times into the center mass of its body, spilling its toxic blood, it shrieked as it went to claw at him again, but he was ready this time, grabbing at its wrist he spun it around, wrenching the limb as he did. Set off balance by the maneuver the alien slammed face first into the wall, planting his foot firmly on its body, Yeyin pinned the monster to the wall and then seized its wrist with his other hand. Shoving with his leg, he leaned back and gave a monumental heave on its arm, and Del watched as the kaindes shoulder first broke with an audible snap, its hide tearing open as its limb bent the wrong way as it broke, and then with a sickening tear, followed by a wet popping crunch, its entire arm was torn out of its socket.

Rancid looking greenish-yellow blood sprayed out of the gaping wound, but missed both Yautja, and the creature squealed in agony and tried to crawl away but its assailant only kicked it down relentlessly. Taking advantage of the moment, Yeyin roared again and grabbing opposite ends of its phallic shaped head, and spun it viciously, snapping the neck.

As the creature went limp in death, Yeyin planted his foot on the fallen beast. Taking a deep breath, he threw his head back and roared again in victory, beating his chest in a primal display of dominance. After he stepped of the kainde, he caught his breath and calmed a bit, before walking over to his friend. He handed Del his mask and helped the other male to his feet.

"Are you alright? Your chest looks pretty tore up" he asked

"I'm fine, it's nothing serious" he said looking at his larger companion then at the now dead kainde "Sweet Paya; I don't think I've ever seen a kill that brutal! Why didn't you just use your combi-stick?" he asked as he put his mask back on.

Yeyin suddenly felt rather foolish as he grabbed the collapsible spear up off the ground and stored it back on his belt, happy his face was covered by his mask to hide his blush (not that anything would've been noticeable with his black hide anyway).

"Never gave it a thought, I was just in the moment... I guess" he said shrugging

Del nodded "Ok, just you know... never be in the moment with me, alright?" he laughed nervously

Yeyin chuckled, and slapped the other male on the shoulder companionably, before reaching down and freeing the ceremonial knife from its sheath on his calf. Careful to avoid the pools of still acidic blood, he quickly and efficiently cut through the fibrous hide and sinews of the neck, severing the the head from the kaindes body, working quickly he also severed the spine from its tail. As he pulled out the wire mesh bag he'd been given as well, Del spoke up.

"Won't the blood just eat through that?" he asked curiously

Yeyin shook his head "You didn't catch the little bit in the lectures, after they die, the blood quickly loses its potency, and eventually becomes neutral" he pointed to the large pool of blood that had oozed from the stump of the neck, it was a darker in color than before "See, it's barely eaten into the floor, my bag will be fine" he said placing his trophies in the bag before pulling the opening closed. Del nodded but shook his head with a growl of disgust, "Still smells like rancid c'jit though"

"Now all we need to do is hook up with the rest, and help you all bag one for yourselves and we're home free" Yeyin said looking around.

"Right…" Del smirked shaking his head. "So easy."

They both whirled at the sound of something cracking, just in time to see the wall a ways down bulge as something hit it. They both readied their weapons and took a defense position.

A large arm burst through suddenly, quickly followed by a few more as the hole was widened.

Within a few moments Hi'tashi was stepping through and quickly rushed over and grabbed Yeyin in a quick but tight hug.

Yeyin felt his chest get squeezed tight for a moment before, Hi'tashi had his hands on his black skinned brothers shoulders.

"Gods I'm glad to see all my little doubts were wrong!" he practically laughed in happiness.

Yeyin chuckled at the relief his brother showed as Rutaroo and Dels two other companions walked in with him and ran over to Del, upon hearing the screech of the alien, and the roars of their brother, they had run to the source of the sound as quick as they could, before they were able to get through the wall however, they were engaged with kainde themselves, but had managed their foes with a bit more ease, owing to the larger number in their group, Rutaroo and Maka had both taken trophies, but the rest were still waiting for their chance, more eagerly now that their initial doubts of their skills were receding. As the six got each other up to snuff with what had occurred, it was relayed that Ky'gall and Rul'wan had gotten separated in a part of the pyramid that seemed to be even farther away from where the group already was.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Ky'gall and Rul'wan had been slowly moving away from the last point of contact they had with Hi'tashi. They had gotten just enough of a signal to communicate through their masks com system. Both males had initially been relieved that the others had been ok, and felt more confident as they set out into their half of the pyramid, but soon all initial feelings of comfort faded and were replaced with the crushing weight isolation in the unknown. Still, they trudged forward doggedly, bold as ever and determined to do their families, friends and mates proud, or die trying honorably.

They soon came into an enormous hemispherical shaped room; the open space was humbling and seemed to go on forever. In the center of the wall was a massive pillar like column, immense in size and height, both figured at least two hundred feet thick and soaring at least 4 times that height straight up. Here and there walk-ways connected it to other sections of the massive room, at every height, the lowest one down being only some thirty feet.

They had walked out from the curving end of the room and saw many other doorways equally spaced across from theirs running to both ends of the arch. Above them the walk-ways were similarly spaced.

The entirety of the walls was painstakingly decorated yet again, with pictograms, giant depictions of battle, hunts, history and war. Between every pictogram was the raised or carved text of their kind. Like Yeyin, Ky'gall felt small in the room, and both he and Rul'wan had to pause to take in the sheer enormity and majesty of the structure, which dwarfed even the most complicated ones they had seen at home.

This pyramid was said to have been put in place, some tens of thousands of years ago, before even their home planet, before hundreds of home planets were ever colonized, and this wasn't even the oldest one. Again the sheer awe of the history, ingenuity, tenacity, and majesty of their race, had hit both Ky'gall and Rul,wan, and rocked them both to their very cores.

Eventually though, they both came back to their senses and began working their way to the opposite side of the room, but even from the doorway they saw soon the unmistakable resin of the kiande, it covered the entrance and inner tunnel at the center of the enormous pillar. The resin seemed to be almost like a creature, great tendril like shapes were on the edge of its expanse, making it seem as if the resin itself was slowly encroaching on its own free will, like some great fungus or bacterial growth.

Approaching the entrance the blue skinned male stopped a second to gaze once more at the vast height of pillar.

"God's how far up does this room go?" Rul'wan gawked amazed

"I don't know, but it must mean we're near the center of the pyramid, that's the only way the rooms could get this tall" he said checking something on his wrist gauntlet while Rul'wan walked up ahead into the tunnel mouth before them.

Ky'gall was jerked from his activity as Rul'wan called him, frantically into the tunnel mouth and handed him a sobering item.

It was another hunters mask, scratched and cracked, and slightly burnt from acid.

Ky'gall looked ahead into the tunnel the skin at the nape of his neck tingling, his quills rising, as he slowly stood, his voice deceptively calm, but eerily hollow as he asked "How many hunters didn't make it back before we came in Rul'wan?"

Rul'wans brow creased as he thought confused and answered "Nine, I'm pretty sure it was nine, why?"

"Because…" the crimson skinned male said as he freed his massive arm blade and wristblades, the metallic 'ching!' resonating in the open room behind them like a ringing death knell "…that's nine chances the kainde have had."

"Had to what?" the Rul'wan said starting to shift nervously, unsettled out by his brothers nervousness.

"To breed an u'darahje" he said still looking ahead.

Rul'wan suddenly understood and readied his combi-stick as they both proceeded deeper into the resin disfigured depths of the pyramid, knowing somewhere inside was one or more beasts, which could only be coughed up from the deepest, darkest, and very blackest pits of hell.

. . . . . . .

Time went by very slowly; as both parties kept moving deeper and deeper in, hoping to eventually link up with each other, before something else did.

Eventually Rul'wan and Ky'gall came upon a very chilling site. It was one of the hives birthing areas. The floor itself was a tangled and slimy matt of smaller tentacles, which shot back and forth, over and under one another, squishing underfoot each time a step was taken. Here and there the large empty husks of kainde eggs lay, planted by the elders along with a few warriors to help start the process. Along with the eggs the long dead bodies of the spider like creatures that came from the eggs littered the floor, their legs curled up tightly in the rigor of death.

Here the long dead carcasses of victims used to birth the hellish creatures, hung suspended by the resin, frozen in their last agonized death throws. Nearly all were of a strange, humanoid like creature, that was the jungles tribal inhabitants, which were actually very intelligent and considered worthy warriors by the yautja, and so they actually reached a sort of mutual agreement, the yautja did not hunt them, and in return the sickly, criminal, or old who were willing, were given as hosts for the kainde.

Even so, both males couldn't fight a brief thought of pity for these creatures. However they soon forgot their pity and began to fight the growing horror inside themselves as they saw the one site they were so hoping not to come upon, and yet had been expecting all along.

One of the youngbloods, his chest torn open, was attached firmly to the resinous wall, seemingly almost crucified; his hands and feet stretched out and completely covered in hard resin to restrain him, and his face forever frozen in agony. A long trail of green blood ran down from the crater like hole in the center of his chest, and led away from the body and down one path of a forking tunnel.

Both males, knowing they were not even near well-equipped enough to take on such a beast, choose the bloodless tunnel and tried not to let their fear turn their steady jog into a swift sprint as the made their way down the sharply curving tunnel, away from the place of suspended and frozen death.

. . . . . . .

After some time, both decided to take a quick break and catch their breath. The hot humid air in the hive, along with the gut churning stink, made breathing difficult and quickly sapped the strength of any one who pushed themselves to hard.

As they both panted softly, a rumbling growl emanated from around their general position, and both were immediately on edge and readied their weapons and looked about, unhappy but ready to face the foe.

That plan was immediately foiled as Rul'wan was struck by something that sent him flying down the hall, before he hit the wall and landed in a heap.

Ky'gall turned to watch in terror stricken awe, as the massive, barb tipped of the tail, came back to the section of wall, which slowly began to move before unfurling, the creature using its natural body shape to hide, literally in its environment.

It stood up as it roared deafeningly at down at Ky'gall. He gawked astounded, it towered over him, it seemed to fill his entire field of vision. The head was a horrific blend between the face of his own race, and the mindless one of the quarry he was supposed to be hunting. His mind reeled in revulsion and disbelief at the creature, every bit of it was a mockery of his species, even their hair and tresses had freakishly been recreated in a sickening imitation of its original shape on this monstrosity, this abomination.

Ky'gall couldn't make his legs move, he was rooted to the spot, transfixed as the beast looked to him, lowering its gargantuan head to his level.

It stared straight at him, the shiny domed head in front of his mask, he could just barely make out a set of eyes beneath the thick, chitinous dome, and the eyes were in the skull of a yautja! Ky'gall felt his palms bleed, as he clenched his fists so tight his claws punched through the skin. The eyes were full of indescribable rage as it roared again, this time right in his face, he could feel his braided hair flap from the sheer force of its breath.

Suddenly though the eyes were torn away, as the beast was rocked to its side by the bellowing form of Rul'wan as he tackled the monstrosity with all his might, slamming himself into its side. Even though he was the smallest of the five brothers and not the most adept at times, Rul'wans one outstanding feature was his sheer tenacity and grit. As soon as he had gotten up, he charged back and used all his speed and momentum to attack the creature threatening his brother.

The impetus was enough to not only knock the creature down, but right through the wall it had been previously been resting all. Both Rul'wan and the monstrosity landed in a heap, him dazed and pushing hunks of rock off of himself, and it flailing and snarling, trying to stand and attack the impudent creature that had been so bold as to attack it.

Rul'wan felt himself get grabbed by an immense hand, that flung him back at Ky'gall, knocking them both flat. The ground shook as the beast stomped its feet in rage, flinging its arms wide in a ready grapple stance, eerily similar to how a male yautja would challenge an opponent in a jedhin ring.

It flexed its clawed fingers, and flared its mandibles wide, and just as it was about to charge, a combi-stick pierced its thigh. It sank on the injured leg shrieking and bellowing in rage as Yeyin and the second group descended upon it.

Quickly diving in, the black skinned male retrieved his combi-stick and rolled out of the way in almost the same movement.

When the abomination turned to grab for him, Rutaroo, shot in behind the maddened beast and sliced open the backs of its legs with his ceremonial blade, cutting through tendons and muscle, effectively crippling the huge beast. It roared in agony, as it sank down on both of its legs this time and lashed out with its tail, attempting to impale the tormentors.

Ky'gall, who had been charging in, barely managed to dodge one of the strikes, but grabbed at the spikey lined tail and began wrestling with it in his grasp. He gasped in pain as it was wrenched away, the bladed, vertebrae-like sections slicing into his flank, straight to his ribs.

He groaned and then growled, freeing the arm blade he readied himself and when he caught the tail this time, he plunged the blade straight up through it, twisting the blade, he grinned at the howl of pain from the abomination as he cut off the wicked barb from its tail. As the eight closed in on the beast it dimly became aware of how the tide of battle had suddenly turned against.

Hi'tashi used his cutting discs to sever an arm off, Yeyin, Del, Qual, and Maka, were relentlessly spearing at it, until all eventually ran it through completely. As it fell onto its back, Ky'gall placed his sandal sole firmly on the beasts throat, lining up the large wicked blade on his arm, with the point right between those enraged eyes.

Roaring he drove the blade straight down, between the eyes, and into its skull as deep as he could. The beast went limp as he wrenched the blade free, and looked about, all the males huffed silently, the effort from the battle in this hellish environment was exhausting and they all felt sapped of their strength.

Ky'gall was about to speak, when the ground suddenly shook. They all looked about before turning in shock at the shrieking roar behind them.

"Oh you got to be pauking KIDDING!" Yeyin yelled as he saw the massive praetorian and several warriors round the corner, bearing straight for them.

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