Open Grit and Glory | Abyssm

[RC-5175]

(OOC: Open to the first three people to post here. It’ll be a gritty thriller for a potential rescue mission on the harsh planet of Abyssm.)

“Can anyone hear me??” The Commando called out into his makeshift long range com device that was powered by the remaining juice of one of the last ARC-170s still in the hangar.

“This is Commander Winters, Clone number RC-5175. We have crash landed on the planet titled Abyssm. Our ship has no power and we are trapped in the main hangar. There are eight of us- seven still in stasis pods -that remain after the crash.” Winters heard the loud crash of thunder rattle the old ship around him. He kept the message on a loop and hoped and prayed that someone would hear it.

As far as rations went, he had enough for another day. As far as water went, it appeared there was a leak somewhere as it was slowly pooling in from the walls- which meant they must have crashed in either a river or a lake of some sort. As far as air went, they’d be fine. Winters didn’t want to die from starvation. That was very not cool and way more painful than going out in an epic explosion or starship crash.

The poor clone had awakened from his slumber first and decided to let the other seven of his brethren sleep in a bit. He found the corpse of his Jedi General, but it looked like he had been dead for a while. There was only tough and course grey skin that bound the dead force-user’s skinny and fragile body together. Winters guessed that his General died from internal bleeding as his stomach and torso were severely messed up.

What happened? How long were they asleep? All would be answered in time- or that’s what Winters hoped. He dreaded the lingering thought that he was going to die here in this cold and damp hangar and that his brothers would sleep on endlessly until someone found Winters’ own rotted corpse.

…

The ship had indeed crashed into a river surrounded by dense forest. Unknown to Winters, large Titans had made parts of the ship their home and territory while more Titans outside the ship awaited for wanderers and travelers to snatch in their grimy jaws. Abyssm was no planet for the feint of heart, nor the weak minded. You needed to be on your toes constantly.

Mighty winged Titans with axe-like beaks and pike shaped tails ruled the sky while thousands of different Titans roamed the earth for prey and water.

 

[ARC trooper silencer]

*this is ARC-9967 i read you RC-1575* silencer said over the comm. he had picked up the long range transmisson from an old frend of his. where are you? silencer asked from his ship communicator.

@Charles

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

Hera Albion screamed from atop a massive tree, her pale eyes uncovered in the dark and stormy Abyssm nights. The Arkanian had taken what might be called a 'sabbatical' from her Jedi duties, choosing instead to travel the galaxy in search of the most dangerous worlds from which to hon her skills. Abyssm reminded her a bit of Dxun, all things considered, and she certainly enjoyed the nights. Her eyes, honed to look for heat signatures instead of shapes in the darkness, were perfectly designed to counter many of the more stealthy animals of this world. Those that lowered their body temperature, of the rare beasts that could, Hera could see through the Force.

But alas, this was her last week here. She felt as though this planet held little more for her. As she took one last 'once over' through a large forest, Hera stumbled upon something she had missed in her previous excursions on the world. Laying in a massive river, a practically ancient hulk jutted partially out into the trees. Hera could barely recognize the ship type, as she wasn't particularly familiar with old vessels, but it looked to her like a much smaller star destroyer.

Looking up to it's conning towers, she could see half a dozen knife beaked titans making nests and tending to their young. A welcome danger and challenge for the Jedi Knight. Breathing deeply, she did her best to hide herself from sight, smell, and through the Force. Slipping down the tree she had perched upon to observe her surroundings, the redheaded Arkanian crept through the underbrush towards the old vessel.

From what she could see, it must have laid there for at least a hundred years. Vines and trees had overtaken much of the metal, little could be discerned of the vessel beyond it's general shape from all the greenery that strove to conquer it. Stopping at the river's edge, she determined that it would be about a thirty meter jump across the river to make it to the ship. She could make that. Oh most definitively. Positively easy.

Calling upon the Force, Hera soared, and missed, the ship. Falling gracelessly into the water, she cursed her foolishness. But the Force seemingly had other plans for the Jedi. Looking through the water, she could see an open hatch into the vessel. Swimming inside, she quickly found herself surfacing inside the vessel. Climbing out of the water, she shuddered from the cold and removed her heavy cloak. Sitting on the cold metal, she started to look around for dead roots, leaves, and other flammable items from which to build a fire.

@Charles

 

[The Storyteller]

As Hera trudges forward, she feels the presence of something watching her from the dark- something Hera can't pin point. There's a long and silent creak that echoes through out the old and rusted metal corridors. She wasn't alone. Her comlink begins to flicker from static to a blank buzz to static again. Then the buzzing becomes more and more clear until a voice can be heard fighting through the speakers,

“...This is Commander... Clone... RC-5175. We have crash land... Our ship has...and we are...the main hangar. There are eight...after crash...”

There's a low rumbling noise coming from one of the corridors followed by a rhythmic clicking and chittering. Whatever it was, it found Hera in it's territory. The transmission seems to be on a repeat and the creature in the dark is drawn not to Hera, but from the original source of the transmission. It chitters again in a shrill laugh, banging, banging it's way deeper into the ship towards the central hangar. It's laughter seems to awaken the whole dark and damp cruiser as the whole ship begins to reply back to the creature's call. More chitters and clicks followed by shrill howls and moans sounded from almost everywhere. It was a hive, a horde, a pack, a singularity of creatures thinking one thing- and that one word rang inside the Jedi Knight's head like a migraine;

HUNGER

The creatures were all awake, banging and rattling the walls with their calls before all went silent.
No more banging.
No more howls.
No more clicks.
But the hunger still lingered...

The eerie silence lingered and the Force beckons Hera to leave while she still- something liquid drops onto the Jedi's shoulder.

@Black Noise

 

[RC-5175]

As the ship began to roar and yowl, Winters' hairs on the back of his neck prickled. He hoped he wasn't to die on this crummy old ship. The Commando had a terrible feeling that he wasn't alone inside this ship with his still sleeping brothers, which was ironic considering that he hoped someone would come find him. Alright...looks like there's a few holes that were made after we crashed. I can probably grapple up to it...but I'm not sure what'll be waiting for me inside. Winters looked over his shoulder at the seven remaining stasis pods left in the hanger.

In order from left to right;

Captain Easy, CC-1945, a very quiet and respectable soldier. He was given his nickname for the several back-breaking operations he had survived and completed successfully. From his training to his last battle, Easy never let any leeway in his life.

Colonel Picasso, CT-5141, a very loud and bombastic soldier. He was given his nickname for the way he handled explosives. There was some sort of science or understanding of how bombs worked that Picasso understood and used to create immaculate and intricate traps that went KA-Boom with flavor and vigor.

Sergeant Tango, CT-1000, a quick thinker and even quicker runner. He was given his nickname for the way he seemed to dance with the enemy. Tango fought like a fluid stream of water running across fiery embers that sizzled and hissed as the water passed by. You kind of had to see him in action in order to understand his name.

Sergeant Strayer, CT-4219, a bit of a loner and an excellent ambusher. He was given his nickname for the way he seemed to wander off on his own. Ever since he was cadet he had been a loner, but Strayer's talent in stealth came in handy for the covert operations of the 77th Marine Corps. Whenever the boys lost track of Strayer before a battle began, they'd all make bets on which of the enemy would start screaming first.

Private Spaz, CT-384-1212, a bit of a...well, a spaz. Something must have gone a little AWOL while he was growing from a little zygote, because that kid had some serious AD-HD. That didn't stop him from proving himself worthy of serving for the 77Th Marine Corps.

Private Forge, CT-080-1832 a great engineer and medical aid. Forge was given his name for his knack with gun modifications and the ability to come up with a makeshift way to save an injured trooper on the battlefield, whether that was using a clanker arm or leg as a splint or using his own gun as a crutch for a gimp trooper.

Finally, there was Private Gordon, CT-121-0116. His name was not given to him by his brothers but by a little boy the 77th found in a ruined village on Saleucami. "Gordon" was the name of the boy's older brother who wouldn't go anywhere if Gordon didn't come with him.

RC-5175 sighed and walked towards the remaining men of his attack battalion.

"Alright, boys. It's showtime..."

@Black Noise

 

[Hera "The Joyful" Albion]

A noise crackled to life at Hera's hip while she sat, drying herself. An ancient distress call of some sorts. The Jedi Knight listened to it quietly, seemingly in thought. Then, snapping her fingers, she reached down and turned the comlink off. Speaking to herself in an exuberant tone, she exclaimed, "That's right! This vessel is a Venator! I can't believe I couldn't remember that. Silly me."

She wrote the sound from her com off as just random interference. There couldn't be anyone left alive on this vessel, they would have long ago decayed away or been eaten by the monsters that crawled the vessel. Clones didn't live past like, forty years anyway if she remembered correctly. Speaking of monsters, Hera could feel something, or maybe many somethings, crawling about the vessel looking for food. Shutting herself off in the Force from their dark desires, she centered herself in peace and took a look around.

She could see in the infrared spectrum, a beast's ability to hide in darkness was entirely negated to the Arkanian Jedi Knight. This thing, or group of things, that swarmed above her were no different. Staring up, Hera smiled and reached out through the Force, exuding an essence of peace and calmness. Most animals fed off the emotions of those around them and the swirling of emotions through the Force, and it was through this that Hera attempted to calm the beast.

"Hey there friend, what's hangin'? Ha ha."

@Charles

 

[The Storyteller]

The creature appeared to be a large insect, it's grey oval eyes peering down on the smaller humanoid. It was latched to the ceiling, using it's four powerful looking legs with claws hooks for feet to grip the rusted metal and stay put. It's abdomen was long and snaked into two whip-thin tails with barbs at the ends of each tail. It's head was triangular and smooth, it's mandibles clicking softly as it's long antenna flicked over the face and head of the Jedi, feeling it's intruder. It was much larger than the Jedi, around 8 meters long and and 5 meters tall.

Finally, the insect gracefully dropped down in front of the Arkanian, revealing it's two reared arms that looked as if the bug was praying. Inside the forearms were rows of serrated dagger like teeth while the outside was built like a tough battering ram. The Jedi soon realized that the loud banging wasn't these creatures making a ruckus, but the creatures burrowing into the ship and creating tunnels and passageways through the ship like a maze.

Muckus dripped from it's opening and closing mandibles as it began a strange humming that sounded before- but this time, it was much more hypnotic and entrancing, lulling for the Jedi to keep gazing into it's grey eyes as it slowly crept forward, chittering peaceful notes of seemingly curiosity. The humming intensified as the insectoid Titan focused in on it's prey.

But the hunger still lingered...

@Black Noise

 

[RC-5175]

RC-5175 helped each of his brothers out of their pods, all of which were happy to see each other again. The eight of them took a few minutes to mourn their fallen brethren and General before getting to work on finding a way out of the hangar and hopefully out of the ship.

"There's a hole we can grapple into...but I think something big made that hole. Before you all woke up, I heard the ship scream and chirp almost- Now...now I know it sounds crazy, but just be ready for whatever is waiting for us inside this old sucker." Winters had Spaz and Gordon go up first, both of which were happy to be back in action. After they finished walking up the side of the old wall with plant overgrowth, they turned on their helmet's flash lights and peered into the hole.

"All clear, Commander." Gordon called back to the other six and then went back to watching into the hole with Spaz. Once the other clones got onto the ledge, Winters led the way into the first corridor that the hole led into. "Holy shit...It's like their a bunch of giant ants or millipedes- they tore up the whole damn ship!" Forge commented at the other holes and tunnels that seemed to go off in all directions.

"Stay sharp, boys. We may have to fight our way out of here." A few seconds after Winters made that comment, the ship began to make noises again- the same ones Winters described before. "I've got a bad feeling about-" Easy was cut off by an ear-bleeding shriek that sounded from all around them that rattles their helmets and made their ears ring. "What the hell was that?!?" Spaz screamed after the noise died down, but then a loud banging of metal being hit- hard -and popping open began sounding from their left, where there wasn't a tunnel.

"Go, go, go, go!" Winters ordered and the eight of them began running into the dark and damp maze of a ship. Something breached the wall behind them and began chittering and howling- it was calling for back up, Winters knew it. "It's a damn bug!!" Picasso yelled, and he then took the rear, grenade launcher in hand. "Come and get it!" Winters looked over his shoulder to see Picasso facing the monster of an insect as it pursued them. "Picasso! No!" Winters yelled, but Captain Easy pushed Winters onward and they took a right to try and throw off the pursing bug.

The last time Winters saw Picasso, he fired a grenade, but somehow...somehow the bug deflected it with it's forearms. Winters flinched and grit his teeth after the explosion sounded, and only the bug remained. Another shriek sounded from in front of the group- another bug. "Wait!" Tango panicked as the group stopped and took another route down one of the bugs' tunnels. "Where's Strayer?" Winters made an audible sigh after realizing the trooper was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, after the reached the exit to their tunnel into another corridor a bug dropped from a hole in the ceiling, but it was preoccupied with the clone on it's back who only had a vibro knife to hold his grip on the violently swaying bug.

The group instinctively opened fire on the bug, trying their best to avoid hitting Strayer. "Ride 'em, Strayer!" Spaz cheered on his brother, who managed to stab the sucker in the eye before getting thrown off, rolling right into Gordon. Gordon helped Strayer up and the group began moving again, as the bug was trying to get a knife out of one of it's eyes. Strayer said nothing- which was just typical Strayer being a selective mute.

The group continued onward, now only seven left after Picasso's sacrifice. Winters lost a lot of brothers in war, but he still never stopped having nightmares about losing each and every single one of them- and now he'd have another name to add to the list of clones that would never be given a proper burial. "Tango! Watch your six!" Winters called to Sergeant Tango, who now took up the rear. Another bug shriek and barreled after the group. Tango nodded, "Spaz, Forge! On me!" And the three clones took a knee in defensive position and began firing at the bug that kept moving forward. The bug got Spaz first, flicking it's arm in a violent thrash that grabbed Spaz instead of knocking him back. Winters felt sick to his stomach after watching the Private get ripped in half. Forge and Tango screamed and cursed as they both charged the bug head on- then a blast door shut, thanks to Gordon's slicing skills.

More shrieking sounded, breaking the moment of silence. Easy led the brothers on this time, Winters taking the rear. The grown man wanted to cry- he was slowly losing more and more of his remaining family by the second. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, shutting the rest of the world out, calming himself down. The last thing Winters wanted was to lose control of himself- that would get his brothers killed. "Keep moving! We're almost at the east hangar! Then we're home free!" Winters called to his brothers. Unbeknownst to him, he was heading towards the Jedi who was facing down one of these insects as we speak...

@Black Noise