Hell's Basement

[AutoFox]

((I sincerely apologize for holding everyone up these last few days... this past weekend didn't lend itself well to posting, unfortunately.))

Frex, rubbed the side of his head, shaking it clear before nodding to Herk. Reaching down, he drew his small slugthrower pistol from its holster, as well as the hilt of his molecular stiletto. Gritting his teeth, he drew back the slide on the former with a click.
"I'm alright, but I wish I could SEE these things! I'm not sure what-DUCK!"
The young slicer aimed over Herk's shoulder, the small weapon snapping up with a crack as he fired. Something behind the other mercenary screeched and flailed, tumbling over the edge of the stairway and falling several stories to the street below, screaming all the way.
Frex hadn't been able to see much of what he had hit; he had caught a glimpse of pale, sickly flesh pulled over a slender frame, but it was little more than a vague impression. Quickly, he transferred the mental image to his implants; they would unconsciously sift his memories for any relevant information, and potentially give him a better idea of what he was fighting after a little while.
For now, though, Frex would have settled for being able to see his opponent.
Reaching down, Frex delved into one of his pockets and withdrew a small glowrod, clicking it on and grabbing the handle in his teeth. Wielding his pistol and switchblade, he took his place and ran with the group down the stairs, heeding Essaru's instructions gladly.
Frex's pistol barked a few more times as they descended, at one time savagely kicking a pale, almost skeletal arm with reached up to try and grab him again from over the edge of the steps. He could see the glow from the shops and other lights on street the level below...
Whatever these things are, I doubt they'll follow us into the light!
"Keep moving!" He shouted. "They won't follow us past the bottom of the stairs!"

 

[Elijah Brockway]

As Frex yelled - and the others began to move - Cabur let his Taskmaster hang from its sling, as he pulled out his two Shuk'trayc pistols, one shot sending a crackling, energy-coated slug tearing through one of the creatures running at them. Cabur smiled - always trust a ripper to do the killing job right.

He slowly began backing up, every so often sending a shot down into the chest cavity of another of the creatures. They were starting to back off, now, as the group got both closer to the lighted street and killed more and more of their pack, or tribe, or whatever this gather was. As the group passed out of the darkness of the stairway - and Cabur sent one more of the creatures down, its body falling of the steps - he finally sheathed his weapons.

"I vote we stay away from that stairway when we come back," the Mando growled. "I don't much feel like becoming some degenerate's food supply."

 

[Fantasy Liver]

Darren continued to chase after the creature that attacked them, unaware of the real danger and leaving his teammates. He started chasing after the thing and attempted to Force Pull it to him. However, due to the size and movement of the creature, he might not succeed.

 

[Ten10dix]

Karl heard Essaru's plan, and didn't like it one bit. He very nearly ran right there and then, but he figured they'd be mad at that and chase after him. That or he'll get killed by whatever else lurked in the depths of Coruscant. At least with these guys he was pretty well protected. Cursing in his mind, he replied with a simple "Aye" and started moving with the group, shooting at anything that moved in the darkness. His aim was a little off, but he hoped the others would put that down to it being really dark and him not being able to see.

They finally emerged into the light, Karl very nearly giving a sigh of relief but then holding it in, thinking a merc like Herk would be hardened and used to this. So instead he said:

"That were the most fun I've 'ad since I've been 'ere. Rats didn't know what 'it 'em."

He looked around.

"Where's the lightsaber guy? D'he get gobbled up?"

He hoped not. Lightsabers were useful. He then looked around at his surroundings.

"So... Where'd we go now? We close to them techy things we need yet?"

 

[Wolf231]

It was a fight, but soon enough they came out of the storm and could come to a stop in the light, or at least what passed for it down here. True to what Frex had said, it seemed they weren't going to be followed into the light; whatever they had been fighting, it liked to stay in the dark, which suited her just fine. She pulled a cloth out of her pack and used it to wipe her blade clean of the - blood or ichor or whatever it was those things had been made of. She looked around as she did, her cybernetic eye shifting back into the normal spectrum of light. Once her blade was clean she sheathed it into her back and finally turned back towards the group, satisfied that they were safe for now.

"Not close yet." Her voice was soft, as if it didn't want to break the strange silence of this place. Now that she thought about it - it really was strangely quiet. Perhaps because the denizens of this level knew not to come here due to the things on the stairs? In hindsight, they should have hired a guide to get them through with as little fighting as possible. From the look of it, it was far too late for that and they would have to keep stumbling blindly. Anything they met down this far wasn't going to be wanting to give them easy passage or she was a hairless ewok. She turned in the direction they needed to move in, her cybernetic eye taking it all in quickly as she wondered if their best bet was to go straight to it or try and find a way around.

"Anyone else get the feeling we may not have been the first group sent on this mission?"

 

[AutoFox]

(I again deeply apologize for posting so late. My parents turned off the wi-fi in the house. Long story.)

Frex pelted for the bottom of the stairs, firing blindly into the dark and - with horror - realizing he was hitting something with almost every other shot.
Whatever was out there, there were a lot of them.
Once he reached the light, he panted, his hands on his knees. Peering over his shoulder, he confirmed that whatever had been after them was holding well back from the light.
Looking up at Herk, he shrugged slightly at the mercenary's question.
"We'll be close by the end of today... assuming it's still day. Hard to tell night from day down here, obviously."
Glancing at Essaru, he straightened up.
"I'm thinking that's likely... probably why they paid us so much." He replied, checking the chrono on his wrist-link. "I'm betting we haven't seen the last of those things... I don't exactly know what they're called, the people down here have a lot of different names for them, but according to the information I've got, they're everywhere in the lower levels."
He sighed.
"At any rate, we have to keep moving. There's an alleged hotel several miles from here; if we take watches, we probably won't all be robbed blind during the night. And I do mean blind, they'll steal your eyes down here if you're not careful."
Checking the map, Frex pointed ahead.
"We should start that way. There's another stairway, and we need to descend at least another few levels before we reach our stop."

 

[Elijah Brockway]

"Then we follow the same formation as earlier," Cabur said. "And, if those things are everywhere, I wonder how the locals manage to avoid them...or kill enough of them to stay around. We might ask around for more information on the creatures."

 

[Fantasy Liver]

Darren continued his pursuit before stopping dead in his tracks. His place was by his team, though his anger and impulsiveness might lead him to think otherwise. He jumped/parkoured his way back to his team.

"Where are you?" he asked over comlink.

 

[Ten10dix]

Karl heard his comlink beeping, and took it out.

"We're on level 212, hurry up kiddo. We ain't got all day."

He put his comlink back, and looked towards the direction the Rat pointed out.

"Well come on then folks, no point doodling around. We've got us some tech to nick."