Ask Felucia Arachnophobia

[Verse Tillo]

Spoiler: Mission Briefing

What would you do if you were sitting by your window at night, reading a lovely book with a side of warm tea, and a sudden, arachnid shadow passes over your room? That's what the farmers and civilians of Felucia now have to experience. How it happened, nobody is sure. Animal smugglers is the likely answer, but regardless, a plague of spiders have descended upon the planet, more specifically targeting the sprawling city of Har Gau.

Most of the spiders have been identified as juveniles, despite the horrifying characteristics of being nearly as tall as the residents. Zoologists have since identified them as Knobby White Spiders, a breed that could grow to nearly the size of a star-ship. Given the many juveniles that now swarmed the city, it can only really mean one thing. Somewhere in the jungles of Felucia, a fully grown Knobby White Spider had made it's home, likely in a cavern deep beneath the earth, where it's many eggs and many young could live beneath the feet of it's victims. Numerous disappearances have been linked to the spider attacks. Local law enforcement is overwhelmed, and have no idea how to handle the problem. They are begging the Empire for help, and now it seems, their cries have been heard. Find the spider nest, and destroy the threat.

Verse was in a small shuttle with a fellow Sith, on her way to Felucia. It would be a change of pace- rather than ending lives to restore order, she would be saving lives. While she was not a fan of spiders, with the combined effort of her and her comrade, the two of them should be able to kill all spiders.

Strategy was already dancing around in her head, plans forming, while outwardly, she appeared calm. Her presence in the Force was extremely faint and what little Bel would be able to feel would be ice cold. She had delved deeper into the darker, more unknown ways of the Force, and it would be proven in the coming battle.

She turned her head to Bel, watching him with a cold expression. "We talk to the local law enforcement, then seek out the spider's nest and eliminate its spawn on the way," she suggested a plan.

@Charles

 

[Bel]

Felucia was vibrant hellhole that reminded Bel of his vibrant hellhole-of-a-home, Dathomir. They both shared similar flora and fauna that made the Nightbrother a little homesick. Nevertheless, the Agent was prepared to for the mission at hand. Huge spiders had been terrorizing the locals and now it was time for Bel and his colleague, Verse Tillo, to terrorize the arachnids.

With his left arm in a sling, due to the damage it received at a stupid Sith party, Bel would have to utilize his detective skills instead of those of combat. His disadvantage only made him more and more eager to return the favor to the bitch that did this to him, but for now he'd bide his time and earn his place among the Empire so that one day he could properly put Vahliri in her place. Verse seemed to be an equally jaded mood, which did nothing but improve the likes of the Agent.

"I've already gotten word from officers here." Bel offered. "All they told me was to 'Follow the spiders'." And then, Bel would crouch over an almost unnoticeable line of baby spiders about the size of his finger nail, all of which made their way into the thick exotic jungles away from the village. "We found our trail. Watch your six- there are more than spiders in these forests..." Bel grumbled before setting off into the jungle, being sure to keep an eye on the slowly growing numbers of spiders as well.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

The shuttle touched down and the two Sith got out. It was already dark on Felucia, dulling the planet's usual over-the-top brightness. Verse glanced down as Bel crouched down, closer inspecting the tiny spiders that hurried into the jungle beyond. She looked up into the shadowed jungle and then began walking with purpose towards the edge of tree growth, Bel beside her.

Each step Verse took was sure; while with some thuds of her boots, spiders were killed, any others that tried to climb onto her foot in retribution seemed to freeze on contact with the top of her boot. Her hands hung by her sides, a saber holstered on each side of her hips, her dagger in line with her spine. She had worn her armor for this mission- she figured it might be useful if a massive spider was going to be attacking them.

She walked into the jungle and was plunged into complete darkness. She casually pulled her right saber and ignited it; while she was better at summoning shadows, summoning light was not a strong suit of the Sith.

@Charles

 

[Bel]

Verse would only receive an arched eyebrow from the Agent after she decided to activate her lightsaber. Yes, Felucia was under Sith control, but he assumed these spiders couldn't give a rat's ass who was in charge. They would only see the two as food and right now, if there was any around, they could most definitely see the two Sith under the red light. Maybe it was because Verse hadn't grown up on a planet like this or Dathomir- or maybe she did and she was just overly confident in her abilities. Either way, they needed to be more careful.

With the Force, Bel could sense the spider trail as well as the path laid ahead. Light wasn't needed, and the cover of darkness would've been an excellent way to conceal their location from any other would-be predators. With his good arm, he gently touched the ground away from the spiders, feeling the Force pulse through the many lives around them. The forest was quiet and hushed- nothing wanted to move except for the spiders, who's pride was as high as Verse's.

"Cut out that light. Now!" Bel grumbled in a hoarse whisper. Something was with them- many something's and they were much larger than the itsy bitsy spiders beneath them. "They're close...If we're lucky, they might not have noticed us yet." The forest became more barren with less and less life besides the trail of spiders, which were slowly getting bigger and bigger. More trails of spiders could be noticed by the Nightbrother as well as more prominent webbing. "Be careful with what you touch..."

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

As soon as the suddenly bright light of her saber ignited the surrounding area, Verse realized what a stupid, amateur mistake she had made. She had already turned off the saber even as Bel was speaking, hissing at her to turn it off. To make up for it, she spread out the Force, the tiny spiders and nearby creatures being thrown into almost stark relief against her senses. She felt the spiders grow in size as the unknowingly led the two Sith to their nest.

Verse knew they were close when the spiders were the size of the trees in the jungle. She felt an eerie sense of calm, despite the multitude of legs and the chattering of pincers that was growing louder. The larger the spiders got, the smarter they seemed to get. A spider roughly the size of the shuttle Verse and Bel had arrived here in paused in front of them. Verse stopped smoothly, preventing herself from running into the spider. She stretched out the Force. Mental manipulation would be of no use here, but there was definitely another Force power she could use to exterminate the massive arachnid before her.

@Charles

 

[Bel]

Bel sighed with relief after a huge spider passed without noticing the pair. How were they supposed to be able to take down something four times the size of the one they just saw? With Bel's arm, he wasn't sure if he was cut out for something like this. Speed, stealth, and efficiency would all be key to the success of the mission. That's when Bel got the idea to get a better vantage point. Without giving a warning to Verse, in case something heard him, he quietly jumped atop a large exotic tree with decaying bark.

He nimbly walked across the treetops, from tree branch to tree branch before he decided to rest his back on what he thought was another small branch. He could see that most of the spiders were congregating over a pile of dead felucians, that were rapidly being spun into their webs for storage. The nest was further through the forest, and it's positioning within a maze of huge spider webs made it look like they needed to take a different approach than going after it head on.

However, the chittering of mandibles and the movement of his branch made the Agent's heart stop. Slowly and steadily, his gaze traced from the bottom of the branch, to the huge spider it was attached to. It's black beady eyes gazed into Bel's as it quivered it's hungry mandibles and inched closer and closer.

"Verse! Get back to the shuttle-" The leg he was leaning on knocked him off the tree, causing Bel to land in a spider web big enough to catch a Rancor. The spider hissed and clicked it's teeth before quickly making it's way onto the web where the Agent struggled to free himself.

Tck-tck-tck...

Bel freed his good arm.

Tck-tck-tck...

Bel's breathing quickened and he could feel his heart throbbing, barely managing to free his left leg.

Tck-tck-tck...

Bel's eyes widened as the spider's legs were mere inches away from his body...

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse could feel Bel's presence shift as he leapt into the trees. They neared a clearing illuminated by just enough moonlight to see a massive spider fling Bel into an even bigger web. Verse ignored his suggestion to get back to the ship and instead reigniting both her saber. The spider's slightly smaller friends turned to look at her with their numerous eyes, but Verse had her focus on the largest of the group. She lowered into a squat and then jumped, boosting herself with the Force. She flew up high enough that she was able to land on top of the spider heading for Bel. Her weight caused the web to swing dangerously and it was only through the Force that Verse stayed standing. Before the spider had time to react, she swung in a downward arc with her right saber, cutting off four legs on side and destablizing it. As the spider tipped to the ride, she ran up its massive back and cut off the other four legs.

The spider's legs twitched once, twice, before falling still. Its bare torso twitched and without anyway to move, it was stuck in the web. Verse jumped off its torso, landing far enough away to miss its still dangerous mandibles. She cut at the web with her sabers, freeing Bel. He would fall to the ground as the other spiders converged on them, angry for the injury caused on their bigger friend.

@Charles

 

[Bel]

"GAH!"

Bel landed a little awkwardly after Verse freed him. Nevertheless, he was unscathed, which he had to thank his fellow Sith for. After she rendered the bigger spider useless, the smaller ones (though they were still the size of dogs) began making their way towards the two. The Nightbrother wasted no time and began his retreat through the jungle, trying to put as much distance between him and the spider den. The spiders wouldn't leave too far from home, or that's what Bel hoped.

"I think we should reconsider our plan!" He yelled to his colleague. "Maybe a few napalm bombs should do the trick!" Even though Bel was terrified, he still managed to chuckle and laugh. However, this joy would be ill-felt as a larger spider dropped in front of him, blocking the exit of the den. It hissed and snapped at the Agent, who drew his blaster and fired two shots into the spider's two big eyes, blinding it temporarily. The scuttling of the smaller spiders reminded Bel why he was running.

However, the pair would quickly find themselves surrounded.

"Murdererrrrsss...Innnn myyy owwwwnnn hoommme..." Hissed a deep guttural voice. A gargantuan spider many times bigger than the Sith shuttle loomed before the pair of Sith. "Myyyy chillldrennnn...hunnnngerrrr forrr flesh!...Forrrr veannnngance...Murrrrderrrerrrs...MURRRDERRRERRS!" The large spider howled and wailed, the smaller spiders hissing menacingly. Hopefully Verse had an idea, because Bel had nothing planned for anything like this.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse was not keen on running from these monsters- it would only lead them to their ship. Verse didn't have to run after him, though- they were quickly surrounded by spiders, the biggest spider (who was likely the mother of the hive) lifted its long, thick, hairy legs as it hissed at them. Verse did not flinch, her sabers steady in her hands as she looked at the remaining eyes of the biggest spider.

"Kept count of your murders, have you?" she asked calmly. If the spider was intelligent enough to form sentences and have coherent thought, she would understand Verse. Verse did not wait for an answer before swinging out her right arm, starting with her arm across her chest and spinning in a circle. The Force would knock the feet off of all the spiders closest to them and create a tangle of limbs as the other spiders fell over them from behind. She clenched her still-extended fist and the spiders nearest her crumpled, their legs buckling and bending, their torsos crunching with nasty, juicy sound. Verse straightened and held her sabers at the ready, glancing out of the corner of her eyes to see what Bel did in the time she had provided.

@Charles

 

[Bel]

After Verse's distraction, Bel slipped underneath the larger spider guarding the exit and made a beeline back to the village he landed by. Though the talking spider was huge, Bel had a feeling it wasn't the mother and merely one of it's daughters. It wouldn't dare leave it's nest at the risk of being attacked. This was why the Zabrak thought it would be better to simply burn the arachnids out of their holes with napalm bombs. Bel's shuttle wasn't a blastboat, but it did have torpedo launchers.

---

The mother-spawn roared after Verse sent another one batch of it's children flying. So, it swatted at the Sith with it's huge arms, being quick and precise as to not being cut by the Champion's lightsaber. After batting at the Sith, it would come in close with it's mandibles outstretched, slamming it's large venomous fangs down on Verse, hoping to tear her apart rather than simply kill her.

"Diieee, murdererrrr! DIE, DIE, DIIIIIEEE!"

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse was distracted for a brief second when she glanced to see how Bel was holding up and saw him dart off into the forest. "What the-" she said, tamping down her sudden burst of anger. She didn't get much time to finish processing what had happened before the biggest spider came at her with its legs, and then its venomous fangs. She did not pass unscathed- the sharp end of one of the spider's legs lacerated Verse's arm, creating a decent sized gash in her upper bicep. Verse hissed through her teeth but made no other noise audible over the spiders clicking and hissing.

Determination surged through Verse; she would survive this, and then she would kill Bel. It was with this boost of adrenaline that she managed to escape the fangs; she had to duck and roll on the ground, springing to her feet quickly. Pain electrified her arm and it only strengthened her. She swung her saber out in a buzzing horizontal arc and it left her hand, following her directive even if the path she had originally sent it on did not succeed. She did the same with her other saber, and after a few intense, noisy moments of focus, the biggest spider lay legless and twitching on the ground; her legs hacked off at uneven intervals. She was still hissing incoherently, and the other spiders seemed to lose confidence as they chittered nervously, still forming a circle around Verse.

@Charles

 

[Bel]

Bel hurriedly started the shuttle up and took it over to where Verse was positioned. He would hover well above the treetops to avoid any unwanted creepy crawlies on his ship and opened fire on the big spider's abdomen. It didn't take long before the mother-spawn would no longer be able to move do to being pelted by laser turrets. Then, Bel would circle around Verse's position, making sure any other bigger bugs were exterminated before they reached her.

"Miss me?" Bel chuckled through his ship's speaker systems. After the remaining eight-legged wonders were in full retreat, the shuttle landed before Verse and the Agent proudly walked down the hatch, his bad arm still in it's sling. "Not bad for one hand, if I don't say so myself." He could sense the rage Verse had for him, but he didn't care. Her life had been saved and now they could work on a plan that wouldn't result in them getting killed.

"We're going to need to bomb the nest. I've only got torpedoes, and it won't be enough." His tone went back to it's rustic jadedness but he still smiled his sly smile. "Hate me all you want, but you ain't gettin' far without me. You can have my head after I'm promoted- how about that?" Verse wasn't the first to express feelings of hate for the Nightbrother, and she certainly wouldn't be the last.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse glanced up, surprised when Bel returned in the ship, firing at the remaining spiders. When she heard his voice come over the ship's speakers, she stared up at it. She watched it land with a blank expression, although she was breathing a little heavier than normal due to adrenaline and the pain. She had no reaction as he complimented himself, and then made another arrogant comment. "I don't hate you. And I don't want your head, either; your arrogance will take care of that," she said calmly. Bursts of emotion were becoming increasingly common as she got stronger in the Force; after all, the Sith drew their power from their passions.

"Get bombs from the villagers or a nearby Empire outpost," Verse said. Felucia was already under Sith control, and their were posts of agents from the Empire keeping the villagers mostly under control. They would be prepared for an attack and could provide additional backup if needed.

@Charles

 

[Bel]

"Hmph," Bel folded his arms and raised an eyebrow after Verse made her retorts. "You remind me of someone..." And then he'd offer a hand to his fellow Sith to help her onto the shuttle. "I've got a medical droid that can patch your arm up. Sorry about ditching you like that- I should've said something." He did feel a little bad about leaving her behind, and his pride was mostly just a mask to hide his regret and shame.

Once inside the ship, Bel would take off towards an Imperial outpost that overlooked the village. It was strangely quiet- in fact, no one was there. Had the Empire slacked off or something?? This was probably why the spiders were aloud to get as big as they were. Nobody was here to do their kriffing job. The Agent grunted with disdain before taking the ship down.

"I'll look for explosives. Feel free to help after you fix your arm." He'd offer before taking his leave. However, almost as soon as he exited his ship, a chill ran down his spine that gave him goosebumps. The Force was warning him... but of what?

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse did not care who she reminded him of; she just took his hand with her good one and pulled herself up onto the shuttle. She was surprised to hear an apology as the ramp door lifted and the shuttle took off. Her only response was a lifted eyebrow as the med droid he mentioned whirred up to her. She only let it spray bacta-spray over it before she bandaged it herself and followed Bel off the ship near the strangely empty Imperial outposts.

The hairs on the back of Verse's neck stood up and she felt as if someone was watching her. She walked slowly, turning her head even slower, as if just gathering her surroundings while in reality her mind was racing. No Imperials were around... could the villagers be hiding out in the outposts? Or were the spiders back again, their fury increased? The Force tickled her senses, and she opened them, letting the Force in, to enlighten her. She heard a soft crunching noise and whipped around just in time to see a large spider (relatively small compared to the one they had just defeated) crush a Felucian between it's mandibles.

@Charles

 

[Bel]

"Fuggin hate bugs..." Bel didn't hesitate to draw his pistol and take aim on the beast feasting on the innocent Felucian. Three shots to the face was all it took to fell the eight-legged beast. As soon as the spider died, however, crumpling over the edge, his senses spiked, telling him to move quickly. Almost in the nick of time, Bel rolled out of the way to avoid the pounce of another large spider. It hissed and snapped it's mandibles, trying to grab the Agent, but Bel was able to quickly pop off a few more shots, disabling the second beast.

"We need to move fast. Those crates in front of me hold the explosives- be careful with them, please." Since Bel couldn't use his arm, he stowed the blaster and channeled the Force within him. He began lifting one of the crates, hurriedly yet smoothly loading it into his shuttle. He could hear the chittering and scuttling of more spiders drawing nearer and nearer. If Bel could get enough explosives to subdue to the mother, then that would have to be enough.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse was dodging and fighting off her own spiders and she cursed them under her breath- not because she was scared of them, but because there were so goddamn many; they reproduced by the thousands. She ducked the stabbing legs of one spider, slicing them off at the first joint as she rolled to the side. She didn't have time to get to her feet before a spider appeared above her- without thinking, she plunged one of her sabers into the underside of the spider and twisted. It let out a shriek and stumbled to the side, dying with a lack of grace. Verse got up and moved in time to miss the collapse of its tangled, hairy legs.

Verse was already doing what Bel suggested before he finished speaking. She knew how to handle explosives, and lifted the rest of them carefully into the air with the Force. They floated along beside her as she made her way back to the ship. She set them down and then waited for Bel to take off. They would hopefully fly over the forest, looking for the mother. She shouldn't be too hard to find, and considering the amount of bombs they had, even if they couldn't kill her, they could at least disable her and make her easier to kill later.

@Charles

 

[Bel]

Bel was satisfied with the amount of explosives they were able to load under such premises. The Agent wasted no time to get back into his shuttle, knowing that his injured arm would only be his downfall if he stayed out their for too long. Upon getting back in the cockpit, however, some of these buggers began to swarm the ship, crawling all over it's panels and wings. One bigger one was slamming it's face into the cockpit windshield. It only made a few smudges and no real damage, but the lack of visibility really pissed Bel off.

"Buckle up!" Bel would cry before taking evasive maneuvers to throw the arachnids off his ship. But, the big one still rammed it's face into the windshield. "Get off my ship!!" Bel roared, taking the ship up into the atmosphere, freezing and choking the spider the higher he climbed until the husk of the spider drifted off the ship. "Finally... Let's proceed to the nest, shall we? It's about damn time we finish this..."

It didn't take long to find the main nest but finding the mother was surprisingly harder. All Bel could see was dead flora and a lot of smaller spiders spreading their webbed madness. However, upon further investigation, Bel realized that what he thought was just a giant patch of dead trees, was actually the mother spider herself. It was the size of a small star destroyer and it seemed to be resting, allowing it's many children to crawl over it to get to wherever they needed to be. It was terrifying to see such a beast that size lay there so patiently as if it were waiting. Imagine the destruction these things could cause once fully grown.

"I'm opening the hatch... drop the load on this bitch."

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse sat down in the co-pilot's seat and watched silently as Bel flew into the atmosphere, getting the spiders off the ship. It was tiring, having to play extermination for some cowardly villagers and cowardly Sith agents that should have been guarding the planet. She would report it back to her superiors when this ridiculous mission was over with.

They finally discovered the mother- she was a massive, disgusting creature that seemed to have reached a size where she could no longer move. Verse knew the monster wouldn't have to move to cause mass destruction. She whole-heartedly agreed with Bel and wasted no time before pressing the necessary button to release the bombs when they were right over the mother. With a terrific boom that reached even Bel's ship, echoing and kicking them upwards, the spider nest was destroyed.

When the dust and smoke cleared, there little fires everywhere; on trees and even on hissing spiders. They scrambled onto the mother as if she could help them, which only made her situation worse. The hair on her torso and legs had ignited quickly and the stink of burning spider reached Verse and Bel through the open hatch of the ship. Verse reached across the control panel and closed the hatch, before getting out of the co-pilot's seat, heading towards the seat and controls that manned the small guns on Bel's ship.

@Charles