The Enemy Below: Week Three
Fiction Update
Tunnels below Aliso
The assault on the lower tunnels was going rather poorly. The Proconsul had decided to lead the charge himself, and while his unique Togrutan physiology allowed him to maneuver well in the cave system, the rest of his patrol was falling prey to the lack of visibility. At first the Sith had raced through the tunnels, slaying Geonosians left and right, but now they remained more elusive. Abadeer’s echolocation only stretched so far, and the entire system was buzzing with life, making it difficult to pinpoint where to proceed.
“Captain, is there anything coming up on the scanners?” Taasii asked, knowing the answer before it came.
“Negative sir, the caves are still scrambling our signal. We’re totally blind down here,” Captain Orann responded quickly, “I would recommend that we don’t stay in anyone place for too long, I think that would give our enemies an advantage we can’t afford.”
Abadeer nodded at the suggestion. He was of the same mind. They were completely at a disadvantage down here. The Battlemaster scanned the available routes quickly, and pointed down one of the tunnels on his right.
“Let’s move out.” He started a slow jog down the tunnel he pointed. The caves were littered with openings, small side passages and impossible to explore crevices. The cave was like one large sponge, openings everywhere. At times it felt like they were getting nowhere, moving in circles, but Abadeer knew they must be getting somewhere. It was hard to tell, but he knew he didn’t recognize any of the caves he was moving through.
As they continued to run through the tunnels, Abadeer began to sense something strange. He couldn’t quite place his finger on it. Something had changed, maybe multiple things had changed, but it was proving very difficult to see exactly what it was.
“Eyes up, I think we’re getting somewhere.” The Togruta warned his squad.
“What do you see sir?” Orann asked. Abadeer shook his head, he still couldn’t quite tell what it was that was there.
“I’m not sure, just be ready. I think we’re going to see some action soon.”
Taasii heard the sounds of blasters clicking, his soldiers getting into position. They were trained, they were the best soldiers around, but Abadeer felt little confidence at they being the ones to cover his back. It all happened in an instant. Suddenly, Taasii felt his senses blaring. They were being surrounded, swarmed. Abadeer turned to his men, just before the wave hit. The tunnels felt like they were streaming out a torrent of Geonosians, the bug like aliens attacked his men in full. To their credit they stood their ground, firing off blasters til the very last, but they never stood a chance.
Abadeer charged in, dual lightsabers igniting with an angry crimson hiss. He was the commander of these soldiers, and he would show them why. His form turned into a flurry of death. He spun left and right, cutting Geonosians just as fast as they could come at him. Though the Battlemaster was skilled, even the Wrath of Plagueis could not hold back the endless tides of bugs. He tried to move closer to his men, but it was one step forward, two steps back. He gave up trying after the last blaster sound died out.
Abadeer felt a growing ball of hatred inside him, his rage nearing a tipping point. He wasn’t overly attached, but those had been his men that were slaughtered. He would get revenge. The Togruta let out a mighty shout, feeling his rage power his limbs. He pushed back against the onslaught of his enemy. He cut down wave after wave of bugs, but it was not enough. Several minutes into the ambush, Abadeer continued swinging away. His rage fueled his power against the attack ahead of him, but he completely missed out on what came from behind.
Almost in an instant Abadeer had no more targets left to swing at, he looked around seeing fleeing bodies heading into the porous rock, disappearing into the gloom.
“Come back you cowards!” Taasii shouted in his native tongue.
Abadeer’s senses were lowered from his prolonged rage, his sense for danger slowed to much to stop the next assault. He turned seeing a small group of Geonosians in the tunnel he had had his back to. A small canister flew from one of them, exploding at the Proconsul’s feet. A rush of potent gas hit him hard, the affects almost instant. His head was swimming, his senses reeling. He couldn’t keep standing, the cave was spinning, and he fell to his knees. Kneeling on the cold stone floor, Abadeer attempted to maintain his posture, tried to stand back up, but then he knew no more.
Abadeer awoke all too quickly. There was chanting, from all around him, the space he was in now, much bigger than any of the rooms he’d gone through before. He attempted to stand, but his hands were shackled, with the restraints chained to the ground. This was not ideal.
Taasii looked around the get his bearings, there were Geonosians all around him, cheering and clicking. Two entrances to the cave, one fairly normal sized one behind, and a massive, huge entrance before him. Abadeer peered into the darkness ahead, this way was the important way, he was sure of it.
There was a grinding sound coming from the cave ahead. Something was coming closer, something huge. It was heavy, and large, but just out of sight. Abadeer continued to watch, unsure of what was to come. And then he saw it, writhing and huge. It was a massive form, long and wiggling, with what looked like a large Geonosian stuck on the top of it. The form was being pulled in by several workers, a large contraption that allowed this beast to be pulled around. Abadeer looked up in disgust at the gigantic form above him. What had he gotten himself into?
Week 3 Is Here!
With two thirds of this event completed, it's time to head to the home stretch for the finale in Week 3. Once again, we've got a slate of 8 different events to test your mettle. As for Week 2, everyone has done extremely well there. Barring any last minute entries in the next 5 or so minutes, we hit a total of 145 individual competition entries for Week 2, 14 more entries than we saw for Week 1! Can we go even farther in Week 3? 150?
But for now, go out there and get those entries in for Week 3! This is it!
Week Three: April 3rd - April 9th
In Closing
The summit and I should have results for Week 2 completed in time to post in my normal monthly report this week, so everyone should know where they stand heading into the final week by Wednesday.
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Good work, Team Plagueis. Give it your best this last week and achieve that 8/8. I believe in you all!
Go Team Odd
Lovely fiction and really glad to see a huge effort put in last week. Hopefully we've saved the best for last.
Fantastic update. Let the final push commence!
Ready! Let's do this!