Sullust

[MandaJetii]

     A lone T-70, S-Foils in Cruise Position, sped through the Outer System. The occupant had been out of commission for a while, once it had been found out by her Family that she was wounded, they hadn't let her out of the compound until she was healed. It had originally not been concerning, because Alliera's armor needed repairs, and she'd be in fighting shape when she returned to the Jedi. Then she got a horrible feeling about how her Master and Fellow Apprentice were doing, something bad was going to happen, she knew it. Her Family was adamant though, she wasn't to leave until she was well, and her armor was repaired. When both happened, Alliera didn't waste time, and here she was. 

 

    Sullust was a volcanic world already, and reports were coming in that the situation in one of the cities was getting worse. Alliera didn't need to hear more, her memories of Mon Cala and the later explanations of what happened filled in enough gaps that she turned off coms. If she had brought one of those new Heavy Y-Wings or a Gunship, she might have tried to run evacs, but she didn't think that far ahead when borrowing a ship for her little trip home. She needed to find Kirlocca and Fae, the dark feeling didn't stop, and it was only getting worse. When Alliera broke atmo, she focused on what Kirlocca taught her at Ossus...'seeing' with the force...feeling for life....two lives in particular. 

 

      Thier location stuck out to the Mandalorian immediately, but not for their presence, but for the Darkness and Death. While Alliera didn't have much training, the hunger and evil she felt was easy enough to discern in it's excess....A Sith Lord....or some kind of Monster. She could sense Kirlocca and Johan, but it was a vague sense, and they were faded. Alliera didn't quite know what that meant, but it wasn't good.  She she descended quickly and set her S-Foils to attack formation. Alliera came upon the rotten core of the dead city, and saw the Monstrous Hutt that stood victorious over her comrades. She quickly strafed the creature with the Fighter's Laser Cannons, hoping to drive him away from her friends, to save their lives. 

 

   Alliera landed on a nearby level rooftop that felt sturdy enough to hold the ship, big enough for the fighter to land. "Attention, any available shuttles, I need a hot extraction for two wounded Jedi." Alliera called into an open channel "We're at the center of the destroyed city, look for the X-Wing!" With that, Alliera jumped out of the X-Wing, followed by the R2 unit she had been working with since she borrowed the X-Wing. "Once we get down there, I need you to pull them out of danger, preferably to this rooftop, so the shuttle can grab them...hopefully." The R2 unit wistled an affirmative, with girl and droid both dropping off the edge of the building. The R2 unit slowed it's descent by controled usage of jump jets, while Alliera used her grapple line to guide her fall. Both landed with relative grace, and made their way over to were the pair of Jedi were laying. The R2 unit immediately used a grapple line of it's own to start pulling Johan in the direction where the X-Wing's building was....out of the line of fire with the Sith Lord. After he had gotten Johan to safety, he would come back for Kirlocca. 

 

  Alliera alighted her lightsaber as she regaurded the Sith in front of her, she could feel the gluttonous hunger that oozed from the creature, even with her limited training and insight. She could also feel how powerful he was, she could believe that he would beat her master...and here she was...between the creature and it's next meal. She was afraid, this was even bigger than the freeze on Mon Cala, this was a Sith Monster that had destroyed a whole city. Not helping the feel of the encounter was the ash, her helmet kept the worst out, but it lighted the world in an eerie haze. "Is this the part where you belt on about some weird Darkside BS, or go on about some evil plan that's been going on for some vaguely impressive amount of time?" Alliera asked, her fear trampled under determination "I just want to make sure you get it all out of your system before I shove this fancy laser stick down your throat." 

 

('Invitation Post' to begin Duel with Sheog). 

[MandaJetii]

  <<I half expected a darksaber. They seem so… in chic amongst your… sort.>>

 

      The Words thundered from the sky, and the Mandalorian couldn't help but eye the storm above. It sounded like a sentient storm was communicating with her, a vast elemental from the most fantastic of the Ancient Stories, and not the wasting monster before her. There was a moment where Alliera wondered if this was the case, the creature before here was clearly mid-degeneration, and the fight with her companions had not helped matters. Electricity danced in the air as the creature spoke, and Alliera her hair standing on end under her armor. Could this creature be the same that froze over Mon Cala? No...she would have sensed this monstrosity. She had just met it, and she would likely recognize the stench and hunger until her dying day. The light billowing out from it's wounds was almost nauseating, giving the creature an element of Unreality to the young Mandalorian.  

 

<<You see, I have a laser stick too…>>

 

       Now....Alliera wasn't a trained Jedi. By the Ancestors, she barely had enough training to feel things in the force! That all said, the image of the Slug Creature waving it's lightsaber/cane like a one of the Clan Foundlings would wave around a Toy Sword stuck out to her as wrong. She still backed up, adopting a rough guard, half drawn from her limited study in the first form and half from her Mandalorian CQC Training. Her experiance however, in both training and Mon Cala, spoke in her mind to keep her attentions to the environment. This creature showed the capability to move the Earth below her in violent Eruptions, as well as having some power over the storm above...she couldn't get distracted. 

 

     So, when the Volcano came from bellow, she was still suprised. Because seriously, who would realistically expect an ATTACK VOLCANO? That said, she was able to react quickly, grabbing her still unconscious Master, and ran for it. She didn't go far, just out of the square for a moment and around a corner. What she found was rather fortuitous...there was a Hover-sled, run by an integrated R2 unit...it seemed to be doing it's best to stay out of the way of the fighting. Alliera stowed her unconscious Master on the empty sled, and was about to tell the droid to get gone...until she noticed something. Her practice saber had been destroyed, it must have been hit by debris in the run, because the top of the saber was completely gone, with the occasional pop and spark coming from the remains. She tossed this saber, and grabbed her Master's saber, without thinking. She might need a saber. The Droid in charge of the sled was watching her, scared out of it's little mind. "Go, take him as far as you can away from the city." Alliera said, activating the lightsaber and holding it dangerously close to the Droid's eye when it didn't move "GO!" The droid went then, almost thundering itself. ALliera watched the Sled go towards teh outskirts of town and beyond....away from the phantasmal chaos of the Monster

 

   Alliera slid up to the wall, and looked around the corner back at the creature and it's work. . Upon looking at the two Volcanic events, she couldn't help but wonder: Shouldn't this be causing all kinds of geological chaos? Realistically, the molten rock and geological disturbances should have caused a much larger event, or the formation of an actual volcano. The Creature must be controlling the chaos below the surface, and keeping it under enough control to maintain his existence. SO Alliera wondered what would happen if she made things worse? She clipped her Master's lightsaber to her belt and grabbed her detonite, and plugged a simple detonator into it. Moving out of cover, she started firing one of her Westar-55s at the Monster, hoping to keep it focused on the blaster fire. After she was done, she threw the one pound detonite block, so it landed near to one of the fissures caused by the volcanic activity, and pressed the detonate switch on her bracer with the underside of her arm. 

 

(1)

(Used some Pistol Fire to try and keep Sheog focused on that and attempted to use a Detonite Brick(one pound) to destabilize the geological situation)

[MandaJetii]

      Alliera had not expected the eruption to be quite as massive as it was, clearly the damage to the rock layers underground was pretty large. Pillars of Ash, Steam, and Fire danced around the Mandalorian Girl as she stood; suddenly uncertain.  The scale of the destruction meant that she had been right, it had been waiting to go off. The Creature had done this in a relatively short time, only controlling it for it's own safety. She forced it to release control, and now the city was burning around her. That left her feeling fear again, this creature was going to kill so many people in horrible ways...if she didn't stop it. 

 

        She wasn't even sure if she could stop the monster, she may have been Kirlocca's apprentice, but all she really learned from him was patience and how to sense the force....That was it! She had no mystic super powers to throw at the creature, and she sure wasn't the best when it came to hitting someone with a Lightsaber. She had to try though, there were countless lives on the line. The hunger Alliera sensed off the monster gave her a sinking feeling about the fate of the planet. If he could destroy a city within an hour, what could he do to a planet if given enough time? Alliera wasn't planning on letting the creature find out. 

 

   <<Are you sure you aren’t with Mandalore the Bloody? You've destroyed a city!>>

 

  ...And just like that, Alliera had more motivation to kill the rancid pile of nerf-meat than the typical 'Save the World' shtick. The creature found the absolute wrong emotional string to tug. She was nothing like Mandalore the Bloody, and she was nothing like the maniacs and Dar'Manda that followed her. It was the reason she joined the Rebel Alliance. She had been accepted, and even shunted off to be a Jedi when her Force Sensitivity came up...it didn't matter what this creature thought, or even what those 'Imperial Exorcists' thought. She was a Jedi, and she was going to kill the fetid thing before her, if she could ever get through the rotten bloat. Seriously, how had this thing not died from it's own gangrenous mass?

 

<<Your actions are… ures ijaa… Wouldn’t that make you… Kyr'tsad?>>

 

   "At least I'm not a sentient pile of Rancor Poodoo." Alliera said, Keeping an eye on the Stone Shield as it started to move from it's defensive position "Seriously, did your mother just take a dip in a desiccated Swamp when she was pregnant with you, or is this the Hutt equivalent of a weird teenage phase that never went away?" Alliera quickly rolled to avoid the stone shield as the Monster threw it at her, hissing in pain as she did. The ground was hot, and she could feel the beginning of a few burns on the unarmored parts of her arms and legs. Careful to avoid Lava and Superheated Rock, Alliera pulled out her Master's saber, and attempted to stop the Electrical attack with said lightsaber. Alliera succeeded, mostly. Some of the searing lightning still got through, and Alliera felt like her chest was on fire where the errant strike hit. Alliera then attempted to swing her lightsaber in such a way that the energy of the attack would fly back at the Monster. Alliera wasn't done yet, she triggered her flamethrower, attempting to catch the monster in the arc of the flamethrower. 

 

((2))

 

(Tried to turn Sheog's lightning attack back on him, and tried to hit him with Alliera's flamethrower)

[MandaJetii]

       The creature simply allowing itself to boil away, even if it still had something left under what was consumed, was disturbing. Alliera had known huts were damage resistant, but this took things to a ridiculous level. Seriously, could anything hurt this monster? Did it feel pain? Would anything kill it? That line of thought was derailed when the axe came hurtling at Alliera, with some kind of darkside spirits haunting it. Alliera tried to dodge out of the way of the axe, feeling more intense heat as her maneuver brought her closer to one of the lava flows, and what happened next almost sent her INTO The lavaflow. Alliera hadn't quiet dodged far enough, so her helmet now had a rather sizable gash in the side of it. The creation of this gash caused Alliera's head to recoil and stumble, and almost falling into the nearest lava flow. What stopped this fall was a quick grapple to the nearest roof that was not on fire, which pulled her up just as she was about to fall into the Lava

 

      The Vomit came next, while Alliera was rapidly ascending the building, doing her best to avoid fires and particularly hot pieces. Alliera wasn't particularly aware of this happening, but she did miss it. When Alliera crawled onto the building, she layed herself down on the roof. Her head was ringing, and the damage to her helmet made the hud glitch out. Alliera pried off her helmet, and tossed it to the side...it was useless in any case. Alliera tried to reach through the force to feel something to bring her back to normal, and she felt the world below her dying. She had been too late. She couldn't save this world, she couldn't even save this city. Alliera just hoped the Johan and Kirlocca get off world before it finally collapsed in on itself, or was eaten. 

 

     They would, Alliera knew they would. Kirlocca was an experianced Jedi Master, and the apprentice he would have with him was the one who didn't have a habit of blowing things up...which was always handy in escapes like the one those two would have to undertake. Alliera knew she would likely die here now, the monster was absorbing everything, and the city was burning around her. She didn't dare get in close to use the lightsaber she pocketed from her master, it was mostly there to do what it did. Alliera briefly contemplated dying where she was....letting the fire consume her while the monster continued it's path of destruction. Why not? She had made her stand, she got her Master and Fellow student both out of the way of the monster. Alliera did her job, she could rest now. Alliera looked up at the evening sky, it was ruined by the storm and the random black hole-ish things in the atmosphere....but she could imagine the stars. 

 

     Countless worlds and the Massive Stars they orbited, she had visited a fair few in her lifetime, more than a girl like her had any right too. The young girl briefly wondered if she'd be able to see Concord's Star from here, if the whole dark side thing wasn't happening. How long would it take this creature to get there, the girl wondered next, how long to Concord Dawn for a monster like the Slug below her? How many worlds would he consume, before a real Jedi stopped him, before someone like the mighty Paladins of Legend came? Alliera's right hand found one of her grenades, and with it, an idea came...unbidden. Maybe she could damage this creature after all, or at least slow it down long enough for her Master and Johan to get off world and warn someone. Alliera kept the grenade, a typical thermal detonator, as she stood up and looked over the edge... 

 

    Alliera shook her head, clearing the cobwebs and letting the thought settle, and working to make sure she knew where the creature went while she was recovering. Alliera found what she was looking for almost immediately. The creature was dotted with gaping wounds from her fight with him as well as Kirlocca and Johan's own work. Alliera just needed one deeper one, and she had one. Alliera quickly grappled to a roof closer to the monster, and then grappled down to almost ground level, using her pistol to try and cover her descent. As alliera got low enough to avoid very serious injury, she pushed off of the wall of the building she was grappling down, and disengaged the grapple. At this point, she depressed the button of the Thermal Detonator, causing it to start it's countdown. Alliera landed in a roll, almost colliding into the side of the massive beast, and attempted to shove the thermal detonator as far as she could into the nearest deep wound with her arm. 

 

((3))

((took more burns from the ground, got her bell rung and helmet ruined by the axe. Tried to use her pistol to cover her descent. Cooked her grenade so it would go off sooner, and tried to shove it and one of her arms as deep into the ugly slug as she could. This was scary and awesome, and I'm sorry it took me this long.))