Jedi Insurgency 116

The LAAT’s engines whined as it hovered above the massive elevator platform. The structure was ancient, its durasteel plating scarred with rust and impact craters. Beyond its square rim yawned a black chasm that seemed to swallow the light of the gunship’s lamps. The shaft stretched so far down that even Tech’s scanners struggled to read its full depth.

Hunter stood near the open side door of the LAAT, his visor scanned the abyss below, and the outline of various objects began to be outlined by his helmet's HUD. The stench of decay reached them even through their filters, it was a sickly-sweet odor that clung to the back of the throat, and made one want to wretch. 

“This place smells wrong.” Hunter muttered, his heightened senses making his voice tight with disgust. “The rot of decay is commingling with something sweet, as if someone was holding a barbecue with rotten meat…”

Wrecker shifted uncomfortably from his position in the LAAT, his massive hands gripped his rotary cannon tightly. “Yeah, well, whatever’s down there, I’ll blast it back into pieces.” His laugh was forced, and carried a hollow intonation. 

Corvus stood at the rear of the LAAT, he was silent as the grave, and his mind was constantly probing their surroundings. It felt as if an attack was imminent, yet he had nothing concrete. His cloak draped around him like a shadow flapped as a bone chillingly cold wind blew up from the dark depths. Jax was quietly meditating by his side, and Yon was regulating his breathing. 

“Master. I've been thinking. I might be able to hide my scent.” Yon hesitantly spoke up, his voice could barely be heard over the hum of the LAAT's engines. 

Corvus’s eyes snapped open, and he turned his attention to his student. The holocron had treated him well. 

“Are you activating your ability now?” Corvus asked. 

Yon nodded lightly. 

“Hunter, can you track Yon's scent?” He turned to the leader of the Bad Batch, and enquired. 

Hunter paused for a moment, and took a few whiffs. “Hardly. Maybe within a 5ft radius, after that, nothing.” The clone frowned, as if not being able to get a read on Yon's scent was throwing him off. 

Corvus looked at his student with a look of appreciation. Although Yon's control wasn't perfect, and could even be described as rudimentary, it was still pretty good. 

“Can you cast this ability upon others?” 

“Sorry, Master.” Yon mumbled, and hung his head in shame. 

“Heh, kid, with your ability to go invisible, it's still pretty good! Not many people can react to someone as fast as you!” Hunter praised. 

“The Captain is right. As I understand it from the report, these Blackwing infectees have excellent ol factory, and auditory abilities. Your ability will be beneficial for surprise attacks.” Echo added. 

Corvus nodded along, and clapped Yon on the shoulder. “I don't want you straying far from the group. You're to act as a rear guard with Wrecker. If any creepy crawlies spawn out of nowhere, they're your responsibility.” 

“Yes, Master.” Yon nodded in reply. His lust for power,  and need to show off had seemingly been somewhat subdued after his close shave with death on Eriadu. 

“That’s all well and good, but the droid probe we sent down ahead of time is not painting a pretty picture.” Obi-Wan said from beside Echo, he was currently reviewing the plan on a datapad, and was watching the live feed of a drone before it suddenly cut off. His calm façade was steady, but even he seemed tense, his free hand rested lightly on the hilt of his lightsaber, ready to draw the weapon at a moment's notice. 

“Oh? What are we in for?” Corvus came close, and looked over Obi-Wan's shoulder. 

What greeted his eyes was something out of a horror movie. The enemies awaiting them were no longer bipedal, and included all sorts of exotic animals, and mutated alien species. It didn't help that everything was dark, and grainy, adding to the already eerie atmosphere. 

Corvus’s mouth thinned into a line. Fighting in underground tunnels were some of the worst places for speedsters like Jedi. A chokepoint could really hinder their advance. Glancing at Obi-Wan, Corvus weighed his options. To get through this crisis, he might have to openly use [Force Lightning], he might have to tap into the Darkside…

Tech’s voice came sharp over the comms a second later, breaking Corvus out of his self reflection: “Approaching descent point. The facility’s external elevator controls are non-functional. I’ve slaved the platform to our gunship’s nav system, but it will require manual stabilization during the descent.” He glanced up from his console at Hunter. “If anything interferes, it will come crashing down on top of us.”

Crosshair, already positioned at the top of the elevator-with his sniper rifle at the ready-cut in over comms: “Copy that. I’ll keep the surface clear. If anything comes out of that hole, I’ll make sure it never moves again.”

“Good hunting.” Hunter replied. He nodded to Tech. “Take us down.”

The LAAT’s repulsors roared as it lowered itself past the massive platform, and slowly began its descent into the vast chasm. 

Darkness swallowed them almost immediately. The shaft walls were slick with moisture and streaked with black fungal growths that pulsed faintly, like veins beneath diseased skin. The gunship’s floodlights flickered to life, and twin beams of white light scoured the superstructure for threats. 

“This isn’t natural.” Echo said quietly, staring at the walls. “It’s like the place is alive.”

“Tell me why we ain't orbital strikin this bloody place again?” Wrecker growled. 

“Queen Neeyuntee might still be alive. There are lives at stake.” Obi-Wan was quick to say. 

“Yeah, our lives. You Jedi with your fancy moves are just fine, but I reviewed the hangar's security footage. Those things are no joke.” Hunter scowled. 

“Easy, brother. So long as the General is around to heal us, we'll be straight.” Echo pulled on Hunter’s shoulder, afraid that his CO's belligerence might cause unneeded tension. 

“Your gear is as strong as I could make it. Just make sure you call out if you're bit, and I'll take a look.” Corvus reassured them. 

After saying that, each man began to do a last minute check on their gear. A grim silence fell over them as the tension began to settle in.  

The further they descended, the colder the air became. Frost began to form on the interior glass of the cockpit. The stench grew unbearable, even through their filters, until Wrecker gagged and cursed under his breath.

As they drew near the bottom, a faint sound began to be picked up by their audio receptors. 

At first it was faint, like the scurrying of vermin. Then it became so loud, it could not be ignored. It became a deep, shuddering thrum that vibrated the metal that encased the elevator shaft. Like a giant taking a deep breath, or yawning upon waking up, the facility was coming to life. 

The team froze, each of them lifted their weapons on instinct, and pointed them outward searching everywhere for an enemy. 

“What in blazes is that?” Obi-Wan muttered, his usual composure faltering.

“Contact!” Hunter hissed, his enhanced senses detected something directly across from them. 

A scraping noise of something scratching metal became a shriek, and the shadow of some winged creature was reflected in the LAAT's lights. Something slammed against the elevator shaft wall, rattling the LAAT, and Tech was forced into a spiral to regain stability. 

Yon almost fell out of the ship, and Jax grabbed ahold of him at the last second. 

There was no time for thanks as the creature lunged at them again. At the same time, over a hundred spider-like mutant aliens the size of dogs were rapidly ascending the elevator shaft, and began jumping at the LAAT, narrowly missing thanks to Tech’s excellent piloting skills. 

“Light them up!” Wrecker roared.

Blaster fire erupted from the side doors, streaks of blue lanced into the dark, and the twin mounted beam cannons started to spray into the horde. For a heartbeat, they illuminated the creatures, and revealed their diseased forms. 

The infected didn’t scream when shot. They hissed like deflated tires when falling dead, yet despite the initial barrage thinning their numbers, they kept coming in an endless wave.

“They’re coming up from below!” Echo shouted. “We’ve got dozens, no, hundreds of the buggers!!”

Tech’s voice was strained as he fought to keep the ship steady. “We cannot halt the descent, they are emerging from maintenence tunnels, and dropping on top of us! If they overwhelm us here, we will not survive. Someone needs to take that flying creature out!”

“Overwhelmed?! Ha! Oi, getta load of this!” Wrecker’s cannon spun up, shredding a cluster of the infected as they leapt for the LAAT. Black ichor splattered across the viewport, and then the big man unslung a rocket launcher from his back, took aim, and took the shot. 

The big flying beast's screech generated a painful sonic echo, and it was about to tear into their engines when Wrecker’s missile hit it. A dense explosion illuminated the chamber, and rocked the LAAT due to how close they were. This action forced it into a tail spin. 

“Hooold onnn!” Tech said between grit teeth as he fought to keep the ship afloat. 

Red lights were flashing in the cabin of the LAAT, and beeping sounds warned that the ground was rapidly closing, that a crash was imminent! 

Corvus closed his eyes, and held his hands up, as if he were trying to hold up the sky. Connecting to the Force, he worked against the laws of gravity, and slowed the LAAT down to a more manageable speed. 

Hovering in front of a huge horizontal tunnel, Tech began to fire into the swarm with the front mounted turbolasers. Blue bolts of heavy machinegun fire tore into the mutants, whilst the rest of the squad began to disembark. 

Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber, its blue glow cut through the gloom as he advanced without any hesitation. He slashed cleanly through a lunging creature, its body tumbled into the abyss. “We must hold until we reach the base level! Our probe has tracked the man in the hazmat suit to this general area before it was destroyed.”

Corvus moved to back Kenobi up, his twin blades swept into the crowd with terrifying precision. Unlike Obi-Wan, there was no hesitation in his strikes, every swing severed limbs and heads with brutal efficiency. 

Hunter fired in controlled bursts, keeping the swarm at bay, while Echo planted a shock charge on the edge of the platform. “If this doesn’t slow them down, nothing will!” He yelled.

“Get some ya blood wankers! Ahhhhh!!!” Wrecker unloaded his autocannon into the horde, and was yelling at the top of his lungs. 

Jax fought on the left flank, taking care of anything that got past Obi-Wan or Corvus. Suddenly his eyes narrowed. “Something is coming!” He shouted in warning. 

Seconds later, a massive figure surged upward from the depths. It had a large, worm-like body…it was a mutated Taozin, like the one they had fought on Coruscant!!! 

Nearly immune to energy weapons, this creature was twice the size of a school bus, and began to rampage like a locomotive that had gone off the rails! 

It roared, shaking the shaft, and tore away a support structure that held the shaft up, intending to swing down at them from on high. The elevator lurched violently, and rusted gears from above began to break off one by one. If they didn't eliminate this thing fast, tens of thousands of tons could come collapsing on top of their heads! 

“Tech!” Hunter barked.

“I know!” Tech shouted back, his fingers flying over the console. “If that thing pulls us off balance-”

Wrecker didn’t wait for instructions. He charged forward and slammed into the creature, bellowing with rage. “Get off our ride!” His cannon fired point-blank into its head. The mutant toppled backward, and hissed as Wrecker’s enhanced strength pushed it back. 

The platform groaned, and swayed, yet it was still in one piece. 

The floor was littered with the walking dead, and a slew of corpses. Emerging from the horde, the giant bug monster's mandibles clicked in hunger. 

Corvus silently twirled his lightsabers, and wondered if he could defeat the Taozin with [Heal].  On any other creature, he figured it might work, but if this Taozin could use the Force to resist his abilities, than they were in for a world of hurt.

“I've got a bad feeling about this.” Obi-Wan muttered. 

The ground shuddered a second later, and a pair of diseased Rancor's emerged from the dark. Following in their wake were a dozen black armored Roggwarts, predators the size of baby elephants from Grievous' homeworld.

Corvus grit his teeth. 'Who the hell was so bored on Naboo that they kept these things in a zoo?!?!'