Dark Space: Go Back To Sleep (open)

Calgrin sat in the cantina staring down the cylindrical mug that held the reminance of his drink.  As he swirled it slightly in his hand he could make out flecks of something he had eaten earlier.

Heh... That's attractive...

"You gonna gonna head out soon Cal?"  The Weequay bartender glanced at him as he closed the establishment down and wiped the counters with a greasy cloth.  Cal regarded him and looked back at his drink.  "Working on that case again eh?"

"Bastard's not getting away this time."  Cal said with slightly slurred speech.

"There will always be another killer Cal... you only have one family."

"Maybe you're right."  Cal thought of his wife and kids.  It was bad enough when he was in the Republic's Marine Core.  Now he obsessed case after case of murderers, crime bosses, and the slime of the scum as an investigator and analysis agent of Delos' planetary security force.  It may be a backwater dump of a world, but it was his homeworld.  It was where he grew up and was where he was raising his family now.

He was getting up to head off when a few words from the live holownews caught his attention.  Apparently the weequay had already been watching intently as he dried a dusty looking glass.

"Can you believe this crap?  The Republic is making fools of themselves."

Cal ignored the comment and tuned his complete focus to the holonews.

"...blic officials state that they have not authorized fleet activity in this sector of the Mid Rim.  However the Republic's battle cruiser Vertigo has refused any com communication.  There is speculation that this is an emergency defense ploy against a Sith Invasion.  Planetary spaceports have been closed for the remainder of the inc..."

The blue-skinned Twi'lek announcing the new's appeared to have been handed a piece of flimsy and a data pad.  The holonews went silent for a moment or two before continuing.

"Ladies and Gentlemen it appears that the Republic Cruiser Vertigo has begun a decent into the atmosphere.  Planetary security is taking swift action at this shocking turn of events.  It could be that the Sith have used a new..."

Calgrin's comlink went off.

"...iser is on a collision course for downtown Seleb.  Emergency forces are standing by to aid.  Evacuation has commenced."

"Calgrin..."  He answered.

"We need you at the capitol now.  That ship is falling and it's not just going to crush a few buildings at the speed it's descending."

"Is it at least heading for the spaceport?"

"We think so... something is wrong tho.  There is still no communication."

"I'm on my way."

Cal pocketed his comlink and almost sprinted out the door when the ground shook.  Debris fell on him catching his Correlian overjacket.

What the hell...

The next thing Cal knew the world was eclipsing into darkness.


*****


Major Scott Chain sat half way hunched over listening to the idle chatter between various crews in the shuttle's bay. He sat there flipping his father's blade in his hand and staring out the small window. Looking over at two commandos sitting across from him, unlike him they dawned helmets.  Scott detested helmets.  Tho... he had the force and precognition in place of a HUD.  His long thick braided hair was braided back.  From a distance he would have looked like a Kiffar with his tan skin and thick, dark braided hair.  Standing at more than 7 feet he was the largest being on the shuttle.  He wore hardened, bulky, dark blue and silver commando armor on all but his arms.  The armor cut off at the asymmetrical pauldrons showing off his large and muscular arms.  The right pauldron bore the insignia of the rank of Major.  He wore a tactical bracer on his right arm and a power pack strapped to his upper left arm.  His dark blue kama and cape was half wrapped around his armored legs.  He let out a low grumble as the shuttle shook slightly.


There was a click in the panel above him.  Power couplings were switching drives... they would soon be in the lower atmosphere, and the fun would begin.  He checked the holster on his armor where he had modded it to conceal his lightsaber.  His father's blade would be sheathed on his lower back.  Finally his hand cannon was tucked in it's own holster strapped to his thigh and conic sniper leaning up against him. He turned back to the operatives in the drop bay and sheathed the blade. A voice came over the intercom.

"Approaching drop altitude."

Scott kept his calm trance.  The world below was a wasteland of carnage.  The sky burned a deep orange/red.  It was happening all over again.  The nightmares.  They were back.  And as he looked back at the operatives he could remember the horrors they faced on that Sith Cruiser.  On the unnamed white world of snow, ice, and death.

He didn't want to imagine what a thing like that could do on a populated world such as Delos.

How in the four moons did that cruiser survive...

The Republic cruiser Vertigo was part of the mission that had been taken to hunt down a Sith warship that had kidnapped a couple of senators 3 years ago.  The mission went horribly wrong when the indescribable began to kill, feed off, and convert the entire Vertigo's crew.  Most of it Scott had blocked from his memory with a mind rub.  But the faces and voices were growing stronger again.

The light went yellow indicating for the operatives to fasten their drop jet packs.  They where diving in at low altitude.  They would be accompanied by Republic scientists as they uncovered the truth behind this new threat labeled "Sith Scares", after Scott and his team's last encounter.  He stood to address the squads.

"You've all read the operation profile, so this is just a formality.  At 2100 galactic standard time galactic holonetwork feeds suddenly ceased from the planet.  The reports received prior to loss of communication reported a Tython class Republic cruiser, the Vertigo, in orbit and unresponsive to hails. The responding scouts arrived in the system and found no sign of the cruiser in orbit or on the planet.  However with the amount of... devastation we've seen from orbit on the capital we cannot determine specifics yet. Again... you've all read the profile and history on the cruiser... I can't stress the possible opposition we might be up against. Stay in your squads at all times. Any questions?"

"Yeah I have one, is this the part where all die, Big guy?" Michael said in his typical way

"Mr. Tarkus... your expertise on the planet is most welcome and greatly paid for... however you will address me as Major Chain or what we came here for will be the least of your worries." Scott replied evenly. He had to work with civilians often enough, but this of all missions... The man had not seen them yet. Perhaps when they were on ground he would sober up on the sarcasm. Alas what was he expecting from a smuggler. He gave a shallow sigh and looked back at the squads.

As the Major scolded the smuggler on his sarcastic tone, Jacen was able to enjoy a nice laugh from the safety of his helmet. Being Corellian, he could appreciate the type of sarcastic humor that a man of Tarkus' caliber would express. Not that he would make any jokes around Major Chain.

Javin had dropped off the grid.  He changed his name and disappeared into space with his comrades he'd been friends with years.  Even during his time he served in the Empire.  For years, he kept telling himself he was done with the military after what had happened to him. Yet he now finds himself on a Republic ship, getting ready to fight against possible Sith.  But he realized that this might be the perfect chance to get back at them for taking his family and career away from him.

After Major Chain's speech and Tarkus' smart ass, unprofessional question, Javin himself asked a question.  

"Major, what exactly are we to expect once we touch down?"

"Take your worst nightmare... and give it Kestrel milk... because what you're about to witness is an infant compared to it.  These things will feed on your fear.  They will exploit it.  But I assure you... these things are beyond illusions... they will kill you... and then they will feed off of you.  Pray you're dead before they do.  You will stay in your squads at all times.  These things can and will pick you off with any and all kinds of distractions. You're dealing with quite possibly the most deadly force this galaxy has ever faced. And before it spreads further... we need to find its weakness... and we need to find a way to exterminate it. If this thing has landed planet side... we will be outnumbered.  We are not an army... and we are not here to wage a war. We are a recon squad. Any heavy lifting will be done by the fleet when it arrives."

Scott punched the bay door's deploy console and the doors swung open wide.  A glowrod next to the console flashed yellow once then turned green.  Reaching to his throat he activated the circular com on his throat.  The device would measure his vocal cords and transmit his command even if he were not releasing air from his lungs. Effective for him to remain silent without a helmet.

"What do we give!?" Scott yelled and the com transmitted to the commandos and rest of the party. The commandos had been with him for nearly two years when the Fillorean Society inserted him into the Republic army as a special operations agent... Cavo Squad they had been named. Most were soldiers directly from the Republic's marine core.  Jacen was their newest addition.  Far from green... but he had yet to see the wars fought behind the scenes. Scott had specifically picked him for his record.

Out of the civilian's along for the ride two in specific stood out.  Michael Tarkus, a smuggler, and the best in the business for several clicks he was told.  He was their guide on planet thanks to his knowledge of local smuggler routes and the capitol in general.  The republic had kicked in a small fortune to recruit him for the mission... as well as a hefty pardon for recent deeds in Republic space. Javin Burk was a professional mercenary and as skilled as they came. He was an ex-Imperial agent who's files read just as black as Scott's and his squad. Scott didn't even know how the Republic recruited him. Probably the most reassuring... and concerning member of the civilian squad. Minus Scott's in-person contact with Sith Scares... he was the next best thing to an expert on them.  It was the ex-Imperial part of his dossier that concerned him. Imperial's didn't often defect alive... much less high profiles such as black ops analysts.

"Life!" The commandos from his regularly assigned squad yelled in unison.

"What do we get?!" He shouted again.

"Death!" They replied.

"And what we don't!?"

" A DAMN!" They replied in unison again.

"Ooorah!" Scott turned and dove out of the shuttle.  He had always been a natural leader... even when he was still in the Order.  What he lacked in charisma he made up for in brute strength and raw power.  He was born a warrior and would die a warrior.

Jacen checked his jetpack before jumping. Of course, he was the last of his squadmates to take the plunge. Finally, he sprinted toward the doors and gave a twisting leap as he crossed into the planet's skies. Hard to believe that such a pretty planet was the point of no return. He saw mountains, a river, trees of all sizes. And there would be one of the greatest fights he may ever witness.

As ground became closer, Jacen positioned himself upward and his jetpack begins cushioning his landing. The grass beneath his boots fold and he begins to take in the view around him. It reminded him of the greener places of Corellia. Then Kalbon saw the city. Its rustic shine echoed of darkness. His memory of Corellia quickly vanished as he would die if his cities ever looked the way the ones here did.

Without a second thought, Javin followed suit behind the Major and Lieutenant Jacen. It has been many years since he's done this, but his kind of training never leaves a person. That, and he was no stranger to jumping out of shuttles with a jetpack. He had done this several times before while serving the Empire.  Though this time he's jumping out of a shuttle not for the Empire, but instead for the Republic. 

With the ground approaching quickly, he flipped on his jetpack and well, landed.  Come on now, what else was he going to do? His jetpack wasn't going to blow up and send him falling to his death.  I'm not writing an entire book on what he does in the air.

After making his landing, he switched on his cyber-eye to quickly survey the area around them.  As far as he saw, there were no hostiles in sight. Yet.

"Come on, let's move" The smuggler said as the crew follows him.
He uses his radar to check close areas.
"OK, christ; The ship is far away from here, I think we can find a good way to get there fast right, Chainsy boy?." The smuggler says directly to the major.

Irritated by Tarkus' attitude disrespect, Javin approaches him and firmly grasps his arm.  "You need to cut the attitude and show a little bit more respect.  Act more professional; this is NOT some pleasure cruise, this is a very dangerous mission.  And if you keep acting this way, you're going to get shot before we even run into hostile forces."

Javin releases his arm and walks up next to Major Chain.  "Following your lead, Major."

Jacen couldn't tell how this was gonna go. It didn't seem the Captain was fitting in with the tough and serious group of soldiers. Part of him felt as if the Captain would find himself tripped if there was ever a chase. Jacen's conscience started to kick in. Surely, Tarkus could get a hold of the situation. Still....

Scott's mind drifted and when blank as he started out at the curved horizon. It glowed with a dull orange intensity from the fires far below. As the wind rushed by him it brought about a certain kind of calm. Relaxing his pupils and lightly drawing on the force he expanded his vision along the EM spectrum scanning the slowly growing mass of land. A blossom of colors and inversions flashed through his mind as he depicted a mental map. He could see the light blue glow around the edges of his vision.

Focusing back on his squad he acrobatically flipped back around to witness the rest of the squads safely exit the shuttle's drop bay. It's twin Terrisian Tebanna engines shot streaks of flares in his expanded vision and he quickly constricted his pupils. Normally more "visible" light made it harder to see further along the spectrum, but he made sure to track infrared signatures as they dotted the sky. After he was satisfied Scott reverted to belly down as he fell toward's the planet's surface.

The drop reminded him of a mission he once took to Ossus back when he was still in the Jedi Order with his former master, Rowand. They were after a device known as the Codex. It was shortly before his departure from the Order... Ira... what... what was he thinking about? Scott shook the thought from his head where a small migraine was forming. He was sure it was something important... or at least once was. It didn't matter at the moment tho. After checking his tactical bracer, Scott pulled in his arms and legs. Using the Force, he slingshot himself towards the planet's surface.

The adrenaline coursed through his veins as the wind screamed in his ear. The ground was full of more detail and the horizon began to straighten out. Slowly the thought crept back into his mind. So subtle at first it quickly grew and shook him. That face... Levlin... he had sacrificed himself that day... to stop the threat they were now on Delos for. There were few that could call themselves a true Jedi these days... he was among-st them.

50 meters above the surface Scott bolted skillfully pulling his legs underneath himself. As he had the force and more reinforced bone structure, he had long ago learned to make orbital drops absent a jetpack. Or perhaps it was less learning... and more durability. Duracrete shattered and cracked sending out a bowed pulse in the earth. Perhaps a little harder of a landing than he'd planned. As the dust settled he quickly scanned the surroundings. He still had a few moments before the others touched down. Silence... as he feared.

Checking his conic sniper's strap he upholstered the blaster rifle from his back and flipped the safety off. Shortly after the sounds of several low hums filled his ear. Each hum slowly became higher pitched as the jetpacks neared. Expanding his Force Awareness he closed his eyes. Normally Jedi would talk about a "disturbance" in the Force. The whole world felt like such an atrocity. There was no light or dark side of the Force to him... there only... was. He could feel the ominous and foreboding presence as if it were just on the edge of his presence. He didn't believe in the Darkside... but there was definitely malice... a very familiar malice. Anger filled his passion for the briefest of moments before he reverted to his common sense.

When he left his half meditative state the others were conversing. The smuggler had made another sort of childish remark and Javin was reprimanding the man. Scott ignored the comment and nodded at Javin then the rest of the squad.

"Sir... we're receiving a low frequency broadcast off of a local policing com network. Sounds like we've already found our first survivor." The coms corporal announced.

"I saw several pockets of... viable lifeforms... perhaps there's still time to issue a planet wide evacuation and decontamination routine. Let's triangulate and form up on the signal. They might not know what's going on... but some info is better than none. Hopefully they at least have an idea of holonews prior to the event."

"Then let's get moving. We're gonna have to double time it to the city so we don't lose too many more civilians." Jacen explained to a fully aware crowd. Someone had to be the guy that stated the obvious. With the Major's "sensing", he could tell conversations would be full of riddles and cryptic fodder. And Javin didn't seem to be the conversationalist of the group either.

"Major, I believe in order to get to the city, we need to do a surpise attack, maybe if you could enter through an alternate route I know and have some snipers above taking backup for the crew. Everything might be fine" Tarkus says, showing a more respected language compared to his other moments.
He picks up something out of his pocket, a lightsaber handle which once belonged to a powerful enemy of the repbulic at his hands.
"And Major Big Guy, I believe you need this" Tarkus throws the handle at Major Chain.
Don't mind the color though, I bet you can do something about it. Says Tarkus as he heads off to find the route.

Javin abruptly halts Tarkus by grabbing his shoulder. "You do realize these creatures have a hive mind, right?  They already know we're here, so you're "surprise attack" would be utterly futile."  He lets go of his shoulder. Surely, the Republic could have done a better job hiring somebody who actually read the briefing.

Javin thought back to his days in the Empire.  He recalled his near perfect record of mission success, being held in high regard from his superiors. That is, until that day where his career went down the drain in a matter of 24 hours all due to the selfishness of one of his superiors and his friend the Sith.

Realizing he was lost in thought, Javin shook himself back into the present and regained his thought process. "As a former special ops, our best course of action would be to sneak and avoid them entirely for the time being.






Note: the italicized text are his thoughts.  So don't have your character react to that, MT.

"Let's take a look at our options." Scott glanced around waiting for the coms commando to triangulate the signal. "We need to get downtown. Unfortunately "avoiding" these things is a relative term, bet none the less we'll try to."

Scott looked at the saber hilt the smuggler presented to him with a bewildered expression.

"Thanks Captain Tarkus... but..." Scott reached down to pat the concealed holster on his right thigh, where his lightsaber was secured. "Got one already."

In the background eruptions of flame could be heard. Followed by shrill screams of metal folding. From the sound of it a gas main had burst.

"We need to get downtown ASAP. Find the cruiser if we can, collect samples, and pick up any survivors we can. The signal is our best chance at finding both."

Scott dialed his tactical bracer and a holomap of the city appeared before the party.

"I think everyone can agree walking down the street and upper walkways are a bad decision. There's a cargo freighter service tunnel that has an access point about 2 clicks northwest of here." Scott indicated with two fingers and the map zoomed in on their location. "Captain Tarkus... where's the closest access from there to the capital's spaceport?"

He had been running around what was left of the central commercial district of Seleb for over an hour now, dodging and weaving through the ruined buildings in a desperate attempt to loose his unreal pursuers, who had gathered several of the more tangible monsters along the way. The parts of the city he passed through were devoid of life.

No, that statement was wrong. There was life, if you counted whatever those things were in that category. The streets were getting full of them, as more and more of the unreal ones corrupted the former inhabitants of the city. The city itself didn't appear to be entirely dead either. Out in the distance, always seeing as coming from just around the corner or right on the other side of a half-ruined complex, there was the entire plethora of the usual sounds to be expected in a combat zone- far-away screams, blaster shots of both large and small calibre, explosions... Even the smells were familiar- from the choking sensation of ozone in the air, to the strangely calming tingle in one's nostrils when passing near an organic fire. All the things reminded Ban of days, years, gone bye.

Yet for all it's "life" there was not a living soul to be found. Short-range, low-frequency comms proved to no avail, though it was expected- judging from the destruction about, it would be a surprise indeed if even a single Net tower remained intact. He had given up trying to hail anything or anyone some minutes ago, instead trying to find any survivors by directing himself to the sounds of fighting. So far, it had proven of little use.

He was keeping low, using the remains of a public transit vehicle, now half embedded into the ground and mostly aflame, to break the line of sight between himself and a group of the things which was slowly making its' way across the commercial avenue they were on. They hadn't noticed him yet, although the more bestial of the abominations possessed a keen sense of smell. It was probably all the fumes from the fires, which were also masking his thermals.

Ban was loading one of his guns with a mixture of flash-incendiary rounds and hollow-point tungsten exploding rounds when his data-pad comm-link when his still-open comm-link came to life.
"--ark-Active out. Repeat- This is Tango-Dark-Active, requesting sound-off ----- units in the area of Seleb Central Transport Terminal. Any such units ----- way towards Central Terminal. Evacu -----lians --- no-longer a priority. The new orders are to pres ---- tary foot--lds in -- city in ---tion for reinforcements. Repeat ---" The line was broken up by heavy static. Unfortunately, it was enough to demand the attention of the nearby abominations.
Driven more towards the sound, rather than the actual sight or smell of Ban, several of the beasts quickly leaped towards the burning chassis of the vehicle behind which he was hiding.
"Well, shit..." Ban exclaimed, raising and firing both his guns. The hollow-points made large, gruesome holes in the chest of one of the things. One of the shots cut through its' right shoulder, letting the arm fall limply. The creature made no sign of notice and simply lashed forward with it's other arm, walking clumsily but hastily towards Ban.
The others were also slowly making their way towards the site- over thirty in total, both tangible and unreal. Ban fired several timed-explosive incendiary rounds into their mixture but that had little effect- the phantasmal ones were left unscathed and burning flesh, unless melting, was no deterrent for the rest.

"--nsport Terminal. Units capable of combat are ordered to---"
"Yeah, I know, I know..." Ban snapped at the comm-link, which was still on. He had started to run away into a side-alley, shooting an explosive incendiary round every few paces. If nothing else, it at least slowed them a little. Enough to let him gain distance.

Noticing an up-turned cargo container spilling liquid fuel in front of him, Ban switched to his flash-incendiary shots. As soon as he passed the large pool of fuel, he jumped on a series of crates and scampered onto the emergency ladder of the building that made the right wall of the alley.
As expected, most of the creatures stopped right in the middle of the pool, taking no notice of their surroundings and making guttural noises at Ban. Some were even making their way up the crates and trying to get up the ladder.
Having stopped on the second landing, which opened up (via a destroyed wall) into someone's living room, Ban let out three shots into the fuel canisters that were spilled from the container. There was no explosion, only a tremendous whoosh of heat and flames, completely engulfing the entirety of the alley.

Holstering his guns, Ban made his way inside and brought up a map of the central district from his data-pad, the comm channel was still open and the guy was still droning away. The Central Transport Terminal was a good way south, though still near- on his estimate, around 10 minutes away, given no distractions. If there was still an organised military force nearby, that would be a good place to start from.


*******
This is gonna be a long one folks, hang tight...
*******

Scott wrote:

"Let's take a look at our options." Scott glanced around waiting for the coms commando to triangulate the signal. "We need to get downtown. Unfortunately "avoiding" these things is a relative term, bet none the less we'll try to."

Scott looked at the saber hilt the smuggler presented to him with a bewildered expression.

"Thanks Captain Tarkus... but..." Scott reached down to pat the concealed holster on his right thigh, where his lightsaber was secured. "Got one already."

In the background eruptions of flame could be heard. Followed by shrill screams of metal folding. From the sound of it a gas main had burst.

"We need to get downtown ASAP. Find the cruiser if we can, collect samples, and pick up any survivors we can. The signal is our best chance at finding both."

Scott dialed his tactical bracer and a holomap of the city appeared before the party.

"I think everyone can agree walking down the street and upper walkways are a bad decision. There's a cargo freighter service tunnel that has an access point about 2 clicks northwest of here." Scott indicated with two fingers and the map zoomed in on their location. "Captain Tarkus... where's the closest access from there to the capital's spaceport?"

 "Major Big Guy, I'm afraid even the closest point is far from here and the only way to actually get into said location is by using transport" Michael says.


"By the way, am I the only one here who is going to ask what the flying fuck are facing against? I've never seen anything like this" Tarkus comments

At this rate, Javin feels as though he should just stay quiet rather than call Tarkus out once more.  But being the former veteran special ops agent he is, he can't sit by and let somebody's ignorant words being shouted out without consequences.  If nobody else will tell him, then he would.

But instead of telling him off, Javin just walked up behind Tarkus and smacked him square in the back of his head and shook his own head. "Don't be a fool."

*******
Continued!
*******


Ban was nearing the grand plaza entrance of the Central Terminal. He had made good time, though due to the destruction and packs of the creatures his progress was somewhat slowed- it had taken him just over 20 minutes to reach the plaza.

The area appeared deserted. There were signs of recent activity however- deployed mobile cover platforms, ammunition containers scattered around, the burnt remains of the creatures that were strewn about were still smoking. But whoever won that battle did not appear to be around any more. "Well, at least now I know where all those explosions and shots were coming from", thought Ban while looking around one of the ditches.

He inspected a heavy blaster emplacement which rested limply on its' mount. Most of its' barrel was chewed off, the creature that had done that rested several feet away, its' jaw and part of its' skull blown to bits. The emplacement still had a nearly fully charged cell in it, which Ban took.

He also managed to find a serviceable blaster carbine, standard issue, along with some cells for it. He didn't imagine concentrated blaster fire would do much against the creatures as so far the only way to put them down for good appeared to be to completely dismember them, or at least do so to a point where the body no-longer proved capable of movement. Incendiary and explosive rounds were the best means to achieve that. Yet the added fire-power was still welcome. The next ditch over proved a bountiful yield- a full satchel of plasma grenades with adjustable fuse and buds on their surface which, when compressed hard, allowed the grenade to stick to almost anything.    

Continuing down the plaza towards the main entrance of the Terminal, it was made clear to Ban that the place was far less deserted that it first appeared to be. For starters, there was clear movement on the roof of the Terminal and several of the buildings around him. And then there were the laser-trip and "smart" proximity mines lain all over the approach to the Terminal.
Trying to side-step the minefield was hard and brought back memories of Alderaan, where the Imperials had used those "smart" bastards to completely decimate squads by leading them into the narrow alleyways of the planets' capitol. The mines would only trigger on specific targets and were capable of making distinctions between species, race, uniforms, even ranks, along with other biometrics which could be added-in via a controlling computer before deploying each batch.
The field was laid in such a way that, when triggered, each "smart" mine would also guarantee the secondary triggering of several laser-trip mines and vise-versa.

Walking near the edge of the plaza and entering the blown-out buildings when he could in order to avoid most of the mines, Ban slowly made his way to the main concourse leading up to the Terminal's entrance. It was then that Ban got the eerie sensation of having not one, but several guns pointed at his back, the flash of laser sight through his eyes confirmed that and made him look up.

"That'd be far enough. I'm gonna need some identification, lest I slip and blow your damn head open. And you better be the mother fucker that knows what the fuck's going on, if you want me to let you in here." Said a trooper from the Terminal's second floor terrace, pointing the laser sight of a blaster rifle at Ban's eyes and making it extremely uncomfortable for the lawkeeper.


*******
More to come...
*******

Once again, the tension between the most distinguishing of the crew halted their advances. Jacen was enraged by the lack of movement.

"Leave him alone, Burk. And Tarkus, stall the goofy names. We're here to find a source of these creatures and extract any and all civilian personnel." Jacen turned his attention to the Major. Though kept the guide well within sight. "Perhaps there's another entrance into the city. Sewage system perhaps?"