Chapter 234: Predator
I don't own Star wars
"Did you find anything?" the helmeted mercenary asked the durosian checking the cockpit.
"No." replied the duros bitterly. "STILL nothing." He added mockingly as the Mercenary gripped the Blaster rifle, his men fanning out to search as their ship circled overhead.
"Anything?" he shouted, trudging through the mud as a weequay snorted bitterly.
"No boss."
"Damn it." he snapped angrily, "There has to be SOMETHING we saw her in the ship! Where's the droid? The Crystal?"
"A body." Added another mercenary.
"A fucking body." He added sourly. "That crystal is worth more than a damn planet." He trudged through the muck to look into the ship himself. "There has to be something!"
"Hey boss."
"What?"
"…Shouldn't we be concerned about what did THAT to the ship?" asked a Gran pointing to the gaping droid port that had been torn open.
"We did that idiot."
"…Did we?" asked the Gran skeptically. His eyes narrowing at the hole, "…I thought we only blasted her engines?"
"Does it fucking matter? Even if it's some fucking animal we have BLASTERS. Nothing on this shithole can stop a blaster to the face. Keep looking. We are not leaving this planet without that crystal!"
"Boss!" shouted a twi'lek tracker, reading an odd device in his hand. "…Someone was riding a speeder bike here." The mercenary pulled his head out of the wrecked ship and glanced at him.
"A speeder bike. In this backwater?"
"Maybe it's a hermit." Replied another weequay. "I've heard of people who come to planets like this to get away from it all…"
"…Hermit or no hermit we need to check it out." He primed his rifle. "Vadick, Sleeko taking 5 men each and spread out. Co'dal you take point, follow the signal. The rest of you follow me." The twi'lek tracker Co'dal took point, glancing at the device and looking around, cautiously walking ahead as the mercenaries spread out. Fanning out they trekked quietly through the swamp and foliage.
"Stop!" after about half an hour of walking Co'dal held up a hand, hissing into his helmet communicator. "…The signals getting stronger." He hissed as the leader glanced around. "It can't be far…"
"…Spread out." He ordered, "Co'dal with me." The trees covered what little light there was left, the ship above had landing lights that flickered through, but it was almost utter darkness. "…Eyes open, coms clear. No unnecessary chatter…"
"…The fuck was that?" asked somebody suddenly. "…Hey get the lights over here…"
"What did I just fucking say?" hissed the mercenary leader as he glanced around. "Who said that?"
"Boss I… I think I found some sort of net trap. Like... primitive shit."
"Ha-ha… who'd catch anything in that? It's just out in the open!"
"What the FUCK did I say?" he repeated as Co'dal sighed. "Clear the coms! Disarm it or burn it, I don't fucking care!"
"Right right… move over pussy I got-UghAgh!!!"
"FUCK! OH FUCK!!"
"CONTACT WE GOT CON-!" a gruesome scream echoed over the com as he shouted orders.
"Right! Group up and move! On the right!" he shouted, then suddenly the swamp was lit with multicolored blaster fire and screams.
"Shoot it! Fucking shoot it!"
"Back to back! Back to back so he can't sneak up on us!"
He found what remained of his men, four out of 6 as they stood rifles up and back-to-back. Facedown in the shin-deep water was a dead weequay, and tangled in a net his armor pierced was another. He marched over to the body and yanked it out of the net… the armor had six individual piercings in its chest… certainly NOT a lightsaber wound.
"…The FUCK!?" he barked at them abruptly as Vadick shook his head in disbelief.
"It happened so quick…" he pointed to a tree. "It came from behind there and gutted Nogo like he was a fish!"
"It? What IT?" he snapped back, glancing over at where he pointed and trudged through the water. Glancing dismissively around, gun up. "FUCK…" he snapped irately. "…The Jedi has friends. Group up, and watch your backs." He said, "No one goes anywhere alone. Two By Two…" he gestured for the others to get moving. Significantly less spread out and grouped up they moved even more slowly before suddenly another soldier let out a scream
"AAGH!! Aah! Aaah…?" he blinked, dangling upside down as they stared up at him. "…Did I get caught in a fucking foot trap?!" he glanced up, the vine-made rope wrapped around his ankle. "Awe come on… what is this shit Endor?" he moaned as a few of the mercenaries laughed. His misfortune at being caught by a classic trap lightening the mood… until-
"GLUCK!! AAAGH!!!"
"FUCK!!" they immediately turned to the sound and started firing as one of them was dragged backward, his body used as a shield for blaster fire before he was dropped callously in the water and a shape vanished into the dark.
"FUCK!!" he barked angrily, "Cut his ass down!" he shouted as one of them fired blindingly above the caught merc until the vine was hit and he fell into the swampy sludge. "FUCK!" he repeated angrily as they pulled the caught man up. "What the fuck was that?!"
One of the men checked the obviously dead man shaking his head as he snapped, "Of course he's dead we peppered him with BLASTER FIRE! Did anyone see what got him?!"
"No…" Co'dal grumbled, obviously nervous. "…Looked like a man…"
He snarled, suddenly activating his communicator. "All ships regroup! Locate my signal!" he snapped before barking to the ship above him. "Blast around us!" he declared as the men grouped up, "Clear the foliage and give us more light!
"Yes sir." Came a rather droid-like reply as they bunched up together and the ship opened fire… heavy ship fire blasted water everywhere as it shot down trees and branches, bang-bang-bang as they watched the area open up. Flooded with light
"…They got to be around here somewhere." He noted bitterly. Now clearly lit up. "Now that they don't have the darkness they won't get us so-
PTOONG!!
He stopped as a soldier went down to blaster fire. "FUCK!"
"SNIPER!" Barked Co'dal narrowly dodging another shot but the man next to him wasn't so lucky. "Cover!" he declared diving into the water as they scrambled to get behind trees but a couple fell to blaster fire.
"SHIT!" he snapped angrily, furious that he opened them up by illuminating their position! he crawled in the muck and, to his fury he spotted one.
He loomed behind a tree like a stalking Kathhound… his red furred face twisted into a snarl as his clawed hand slashed slowly on the nearby tree… a red-furred Shistavaanan. His sidearm was up and he fired but his target slipped away at the last second. "Spread out! Get out of the light!"
"GAAAAGH!!" he turned just as the shistavaanan impaled another of his men on his claws, carrying him through the trees as many others opened fire only to be downed by more blaster fire from behind or the sides.
"Heavys!" he shouted as a pair of more heavily armored soldiers lifted repeaters and aimed where he was pointing, one took a blast on the shoulder but it was clearly made of sterner stuff as he was unaffected. The blaster roared rapidly, raking into the darkness as the shooting stopped. "Regroup!" he replied as a few men and Co'dal followed him.
"Sir-!" barked Vadick as he pointed only for a spear, a literal SPEAR, to suddenly appear in his stomach, he stumbled, glancing down at the pointed head jutting from him before falling forward… pinned upright awkwardly as the tip planted in the ground.
He glanced at where Vadick had pointed seconds before as a woman skipped between the trees holding a pair of blasters. "There!" he shouted as they followed her.
"Wha-oh!" she laughed as they followed her.
"Kill her!" he shouted as he, Co'dal and two others opened fire. The sexy zeltron practically cartwheeled between trees and cover as one of his men charged forward, turning the corner and-
"GUCK!!" he dropped his blaster as a set of claws jutted out and pierced his throat. "Guuck…" he crumpled like a ragdoll.
"Damn it DAMN IT!" he snapped angrily, grabbing the last two. "Co'dal let's go!" he shouted, "REGROUP! FALL BACK AND REGROUP!!" he barked into the com as the men followed him. Only he, Co'dal, and one of the men managed to regroup with who was left… only eight… he roared angrily as one of the heavies limped towards him. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"
"A shistavaanan and a Zeltron…" Co'dal replied. "Probably more…"
"Where's Toon?!" he barked to the heavy as he shook his head.
"…A dog woman got him… she yanked that spear out of Vadick and gutted him easy…" the heavy moaned. "…Fucking shit."
A low rumbled echoed overhead as two more of the ships returned… soon multiple lines were dropped and they were reinforced by the other squads. "The fuck happened to you?" asked Madd, leader of group two as he snapped back angrily.
"Some FUCKING asshole!" he said as Madd rolled his eyes.
"…Shit on a brick… is this all who's left?" asked Corgo another twi'lek and the leader of group three scowled. "…What the fuck?"
"A shistavaanan, a 'dog woman' and a fucking zeltron!" he snapped, "I don't know why the fuck they're here but they're killers and they know what they're doing!" he growled, "…Bring the lighters…" the men looked at each other. "NOW! We'll burn this fucking forest down! They're helping the jedi! Or they have the crystal! I don't care which!" he snapped.
Madd snorted, then spoke into the com. "Bring em down."
…..With great jets of flame, three heavily armored soldiers burnt tree and plant, clearing the way with hot jets of highly concentrated napalm as they walked in formation. Each squad led by a flame thrower and fanning out as they passed the killing ground.
"Mother fucker…" Madd breathed, kicking Vadick's corpse. "Three sentients did this?"
"And a sniper…" Co'dal replied, making sure he had PLENTY of tree cover.
"So NOT the jedi?" Corgo mumbled, gripping his repeater. "…I don't know boss this is looking worse and worse."
"Use EVERYTHING." He growled. "Grenades, thermal detonators, blasters, vibroblades! I don't fucking care! We're not leaving without that crystal…"
"Yes sir." Corgo replied as a tree fell to flames and was promptly doused out by the swamp water.
"Keep the area ahead lit!" he barked to two of the ships above. As they floated slowly ahead. "I want to see them coming…" have a dozen men watched their back along with the third ship as he sniffed through the helmet.
"Sir!" Co'dal shouted abruptly and he turned, the shistavaanan stood in view, hand on a tree as he glared at him. Co'dal slipped slowly away, hand on his boltcaster.
"KILL HIM!" he shouted as once again the shistavaanan moved, the tree peppered with blaster bolts as they saw his movements. "Don't let up!"
One of the lighters immediately moved towards the enemy to cut him off, setting a jet of flame into the treeline and laughing as it quickly rose into an inferno. "Got the fucker!" he declared happily at the sheer wall of fire before him. "I saw him in-!"
…Like a creature of nightmares… the shistavaanan roared pure fury as he leaped through the flames. The lighter screamed raising his nozzle up to fire but the shistavaanan with keen reflexes slapped it back down with his foot and sunk his claws into the lighter's throat as he gurgled and set napalm into the swamp water where it caught light.
"BLAST HIM!" he roared as blaster fire erupted.
TINK!
"What the FU-aaaagh!!" a lighter suddenly exploded, and a metal arrow sunk into his container with a light rag upon it. Simultaneously one of the ships was hit with a blast that could only have been from another ship… and with an ominous hum and a deadly grace… the Jedi was among them…
If she had not struck first, the last lighter would've lit her aflame, however, she slashed through his weapon like butter and the napalm went everywhere, including him… he screamed as he ran around and dove into the water, quickly putting himself out but it wasn't enough to stop the tanks on his back from exploding… another ship went down to a surface-to-air rocket and the scream of a laughing jawa as he watched his men get butchered by the shistavaanan and the Jedi. Not to mention sniper fire, blaster fire. Another arrow…
He took one last broken glance around, and roared a useless FALL BACK as the last ship followed that command before he ordered it. Suddenly he was knocked back as a blaster shot slammed into his rifle, destroying it as a few of his soldiers managed to get away, he fell over the dead body of Corgo, his face carved brutally by slashes as his heavy repeater barrel smoked…
Something told him to stay still as the screams around him finally stopped. He waited in the water, his helmet supplying him with oxygen to play dead as he breathed heavily… he didn't know how long he waited but long enough for everything to go quiet… he got to his feet. He glanced around… fires were still burning, ship wreckage was still smoking… he quickly glanced around, looking around for something to use as a weapon, and found a vibroblade, little more than something to clear jungle vines but he grabbed it and held his side blaster…
"Anyone alive?" he breathed into the com.
"Sir." Replied Co'dal eventually. "Where are you?"
"…Massacre site." He replied. "You?"
"About a click away, we're getting the fuck out of here sir… I suggest you accept that."
"…yeah…" he replied, "…On my way." He said sadly. He took two steps and paused…
The shistavaanan loomed out of the tree like a monster from a nightmare. He glared coldly at him, he was barely singed. He gripped the blaster tightly in his hand, his eyes narrowing as his fingers flexed on the vibroblade.
...A final shot echoed out into the night… and little else.
Co'dal waited at the ship's opening but their boss never returned, he shook his head and raised his hands as he tapped his com. "Sir?" but nothing came. He snorted finally, "...He's not coming." He declared to the survivors and climbed on. "…I might not be looking forward to telling Tulba about our failure… but I'd rather be alive to tell her." he said, as he approached the ship's com… and made the call.
The hutt answered quickly enough, puffing on a hookah as she blinked. "…I did not expect you to call me." She said. "Where is your captain?
"Dead…" he replied, his hands on the com. "…Him and more than two-thirds of the unit."
The hutt chewed the pipe end in silent fury. "…And my crystal?"
"…I can only assume the jedi still has it." he said, "Something is in that swamp ma'am. A monster… and his friends."
"Well… lucky for you my own monster is heading there right now." She added. "And he's bringing higher quality friends..." Hanging up abruptly as he sighed, watching as a familiar ship passed theirs from the cockpit window. A trandoshan vessel, and one known to be owned by Oswin Knights just behind it…
End
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone