Ask Event Killik With Fire

[Quin Leonkri]

As Quin made his way back to the stairs, he saw a Killik charging at the Sith who’d helped him earlier (@Phoenix). While he saw him dash aside, he thought it was better to be safe than sorry. Extending a hand, he channeled the Force in the direction of the bug, hoping to knock it off its feet or push it back a little to give the man more time. From here, he could also see that there were more of them coming on the defenders’ right flank. A horrible thought occurred to him that if they broke through, all the effort put into freeing hostages would have been for nothing.

But it was too far to get there right now, and it was only him and another Sith who was holding this part of the stairs (@LouJoVi). While two of the three oncoming Killiks were injured, the one that wasn’t was coming up the stairs nonetheless, and that one was his priority.

Quin would aim for an attack on its limbs, trying to cut off its legs and pincers as they came close to him before aiming to slice it horizontally in half on the abdomen. If it worked, he would extend his other hand to pick up the smaller half with the Force before trying to throw it at the other oncoming, already-injured Killiks. It wouldn’t do much in terms of damage, he thought, but hopefully it could slow them down so he could help the others at the right of the stairs.

Spoiler: TL;DR

Quin is attacking the lead Killik of group 1(the one going up the stairs) by trying to slice off its legs and pincers that come near him(either walking or attacking) and then cutting it in half horizontally on the abdomen. If it works, he attempts to Force-throw the smaller half of it at the other two injured Killiks behind it.

 

[Wayson Hanson]

The fighting was getting worse for them all, right now Wayson felt like a single stone in the sea attempting to block all the waves from hitting the beach. An impossible task and one that will just break down the Jedi before he ever had a hope of accomplishing it. So Wayson slowly began to walk back, attempting to keep in line with the other Force users. When the battle was forcing them back Wayson was too distracted to be able to assist the children that were gutted by the Killiks.

Their screams were like knives in his heart, cutting up his soul as each life hit him like the waves of the beach. Death wasn't just here but everywhere on the world but there was a difference from feeling a life end a hundred miles away vs seeing kids dying where he could do something about it. Than he saw one of the Sith get caught in the tractor beam that the Sith was using. Wayson would have to struggle with the events of today later.

Moving back Wayson would look to see the defenders rush at the advancing Killiks. Which was good staying at the second group attempting to keep the Killiks from going any further. Rushing to one of the Killiks with a kid, aiming at a Killik that is holding the kid up. Wayson will baseball slide when close enough to attempt to slash through the Killiks let’s with his main lightsaber. Before getting up and throwing his secondary lightsaber at a nearby Killik’s head hoping for it to sink to the hilt before calling it back into his hand. Than with his main lightsaber cutting the hopefully fallen Killiks head off before getting up and making sure the kid gets up and to the defenders.

Spoiler: TL’DR

Wayson will baseball slide behind a Killik with a kid to cut at its legs but avoiding the kids legs with main lightsaber. Than throwing his secondary lightsaber at another’s head without a kid before cutting the hopefully fallen Killiks back. Than making sure the kid goes to the defenders. This all happens in the Killik’s group 2.

 

[Drow Venn]

Drow had no time to celebrate his multiple kills with the sheet metal or his quick stun blasts making contact with the rest of the bugs. With no more little Killiks or hostages remaining in Group 1, it was repeater time. Drow quickly got back into position and readied the massive gun, aiming at the three Tanker Killiks below. He would fire a ten-bursts round at each of the Tanker Killiks, trying his best to keep his bolts concentrated on those beasts, aiming to minimize misses.

TLDR: Drow shoots at the Tanker Killiks with his repeater.

 

[Darth Tempest]

Of all the variables Vahliri had considered, abruptly being trapped within a tractor beam simply wasn’t one of them. Panic flashed across the half-Annfyn’s features as she was immobilized and floated into the air - her limbs suspended in place, even as her eyes frantically searched the horizon for the source. It didn’t take her long to spot the ship hovering above, irritating twitching at the muscles of her face. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?” She hissed. The half-Annfyn was entirely vulnerable while caught in the beam, and it filled her with a palpable sense of anxiety for those brief moments.

Naturally, her attention snapped back towards Varyn the moment that the fellow Champion seized her body with the Force. She felt as those tendrils of energy snaked around her and began to yank her free - her body floating out of the beam’s radius. At once, gravity once again took hold and the half-Annfyn plummeted from her airborne position - forcing the half-Annfyn to quickly twist her body mid-air in order to land on her feet.

“I’m fine,” She said towards Varyn, giving him a simple nod. In the midst of battle there really wasn’t time for any other questions. “Thank you,”

Without another word, the half-Annfyn turned her attention back to the advancing Kilik’s - eyes narrowing into harsh, gold-tinted slits. Her shoto snapped out of life and the hilt returned to the half-Annfyn’s waist, and Vahliri instead rushed forward with her single saber - closing the distance between herself and the nearest Insectoid.

Crimson plasma sliced rapidly through the air with a flick of the half-Annfyn’s wrist - attempting to cut across the knee of the nearest Kilik before arcing upwards and through its thorax. Strong as the Insectoid’s might’ve been, their exoskeleton was just as vulnerable to the edge of a lightsaber as anything else.

Regardless of the effectiveness of her attack, Vahliri lifted her left hand and extended it towards the Tainted Kilik out of her melee range - the Force building within her hands and manifesting as strings of electricity that danced between her fingers. Within a split moment, a torrent of violet-and-blue lightning tore through the air - snaking viciously towards the larger insectoid in hopes of striking its center mass with lethal intent.

Spoiler: TLDR

Vahl gets pulled out of the tractor beam and closer to Group 3. She attacks one of the lesser Kiliks with her lightsaber, and then proceeds to Force Lightning the Tainted Kilik further back.

 

[Romeo Solus]

.

Romeo wasn't too concerned with his disruptor shots being close to the children, he was a young man, not experienced fatherhood and viewed saving them as a minor burden rather than a privilege. He was also utterly confident in his shot placement and believed that his marksman skills could do no wrong. Only time would tell whether he had enough talent to reinforce that confidence or whether an unlucky bystander would find themselves wounded by his deadly crossfire. Given the concussion rocket's aftermath, his eyes quickly snapped their attention to the Killiks momentarily disoriented and opened fire with his disruptor for five more shots, each of which was well-aimed towards the chest and torso region of each beast.

Afterwards, Romeo quickly snapped the crosshair placement to the tainted Killik that Vahliri had unleashed her force lightning on. @Altaris The single disruptor shot accurately timed to hit the monster at the same instance as the violet/blue torrent. Hopefully, Romeo believed, their combined attacks would put it down for good. A single button pressed on the underbarrel of his disruptor rifle, as the near empty magazine fell from its hull and onto the sands beneath his feet. Left hand quickly glided to his waist and slammed a fresh power pack into the weapon, pulling the carbine reload lever and granting him twenty more opportunities to kick ass.

Spoiler: OOC

Romeo takes five more shots at the disoriented Killiks from his concussion rocket's aftermath the round prior. He then shoots a single shot at the tainted Killik Vahliri is also firing upon with her lightning.

@lizziie

 

[Grerse'dava'nlon]

It seems like things are going just swell. After letting his heavy blaster rest, he would switch off it's stun setting in favor of lethal mode. He did see one first tainted Killik he stunned start stiring up. It's time to get it out of the fight permanently. Aiming carefully towards it's head, Davan would fire two heavy blaster shots. Hopefully it will be enough firepower to take it out of the fight.

 

[Bast Emblai]

Bast picked up the child left at her feet, careful to avoid her injuries. Doing her best to say soothing things, she nevertheless made sure the girl made no sudden movements while taking her inside.

Spoiler: TLDR

Bast takes kid with broken legs inside. OOC I’m moving and the second shooting within as many months happened near me and it’s been a lot altogether, so please excuse the two-sentence post, I promise this will not be the norm. Thanks!

 

[Laeonas Tannaras]

​

Of all the things Laeonas had seen or done, what happened as he ran towards the ship was completely unexpected. Whether he was fighting sith, mandalorians, hordes of AMS infected or eldritch abominations on worlds long forgotten, none of the experience in his years of fighting could prepare him for being levitated several meters off the ground with no prior warning. The calm, methodical and brutal state of mind the Brentaalan fell into in combat situations fell away as he fell into confusion, then panic as he saw the killiks below snapping at him— and when he looked back, that panic turned again.

“YA STUPID FUCKIN’ GOBSHITE!!” He screeched, arms flailing, sword still in hand. “LET ME DOWN RIGHT KRIFFIN’ NOW OR AI’LL FEED YA YER OWN BOLLOCKS!”

Blind animal panic and incoherent rage had coalesced into a hilarious display of impotent flailing as the Brentaalan was carried by the ship, arms flapping and voice screeching like a trapped bird, before he dropped back where he’d been. Instantly, two killiks descended on him, thinking the Brentaalan easy prey— an angry crow still had beak and claw, or in this case, a blade.

The Brentaalan slashed off the limb of the closest bugs before throwing out a push of the force, sending the two careening backwards. He breathed heavily, eyes darting around him before he heard the voice of the pilot over the comms. All of his instincts told him that he ought to threaten the pilot and insult the size of his brain and manhood, but after a deep breathe he only barked, “Try not to scoop us up again, jackass!” Before readying up again.

He hadn’t moved very far from his original position in spite of how much he’d flailed around, though his original target— the Killik in the back of the central group— had walked forward quite a bit. Taking a deep breathe, the Brentaalan would try his best to calm himself, drawing on half decent memories and his own purpose in being here.

The two killiks, having been sent only a few meters, descended on him again in a fury. The one with the missing limb hung back as it’s counterpart slashed at him, and the Brentaalan would work to evade, dodging its blows before finally catching it in a parry, sending the beast’s claw flailing back as the Brentaalan drove his sword into it’s face. It’s counterpart finally managed to charge, but the Brentaalan jumped to his side with the force before rushing forward, slashing up it’s side and ending the creature.

Finally, he began to run again, falling into that low angled run that had carried him before. He was at a 90 degree angle to the Tainted Killik now, and he would use it to his advantage. Running, he would hope to catch the large creature in it’s blind spot, so that once the distance would close, he’d have an opportunity to strike.

​

@lizziie

 

[The Gatekeeper]

** Ship stuff. **


[@SlagathorTheUnknown]​

Unfortunately for @Bryce Callaway , he was distracted by his endangering of his allies and didn't really seem to react to the fact that the Killiks had landed on his ship - not been splashed against it. Three of them crawled along his viewport and began to hammer away at the transparisteel with their strong, sharp, claws. As they began to do so, scratches and small cracks began to form along the viewport as they were allowed to continue unobstructed while the soldier tried to undo his mistake with the tractor beam.

The other two Killiks that had managed to land upon the ship were not idle either. As Bryce was messing with the tractor beam, the two of them began to produce a substance known as Killik Resin. They began to stuff their created Resin into the barrels of the Firespray's Light laser cannons, the ones that they knew the pilot was willing to use in such close proximity to the others. Working with their hive-mind-linked allies, the three on the viewport would do nothing to obscure the human's view of the Tainted Killik he wished to fire upon.

Only when he came to fire, the cannons immediately encountered massive failures as the resin was able to block the light laser cannon blasts fully. The explosive force of these blasts was contained within the barrels of the cannons, meaning that the power could only go in a few directions. The barrels burst and within the ship, Bryce would be able to see two holes the size of his head burst into existence deeper in the ship, where the cannons had been mounted. One of the Killiks tasked with blocking the cannons was unable to move out of the way in time, dying as some of the cannon barrel was reduced to shrapnel and found its way into its body at high velocity.

As the three on the viewport would continue to smash at the transparisteel, the fourth would begin its journey along the hull of the ship toward its unguarded soft spot - to the docking ring - to begin slicing and cutting at the weaker sections to begin forcing it to open.

** Group One Stuff **

[@LouJoVi @Sicadorito @The Good Doctor]​

As the two, rear-most, Tainted Killiks withered under the fire of @Drow Venn from above and @Grerse'dava'nlon from the steps , the final Killik of the group continued its mad charge towards its objective. Although disappointed it would not be able to get at @Varyn Atrix , it wouldn't even miss a beat as it charged up the stairs towards @Quin Leonkri . The fireball thrown at its face by @Caerllion of Cyfnos was something that the Tainted Killik itself could see but it relied upon the senses it borrowed from the hivemind to enact its plan.

Swiping the fireball with one of its attacking arms, it saved its face even as the arm was set ablaze, chitin burning and cracking as the flesh beneath burned and cooked due to the heat. Rather than slowing down as it charged right up to Quin, it didn't attack with its pincers or its legs - instead it used all of its remaining legs to skitter. The act of skittering forcing its body to move entirely too quickly to be anything but spider-like to the humanoid mind, using up a large amount of its energy to suddenly move twice the span of its own body in barely an instant, moving to circle the Jedi Padawan.

This would cause it to have Quin between itself and @Caerllion of Cyfnos when the sith came in trying to slice at it, meaning it was able to handily avoid being slice apart even as it dodged Quin's own attempts to do the same. The burst of blaster bolts that Drow had loosed towards its expected position were also no longer on target due to its sudden burst of speed and agility. Instead the burst of ten repeater bolts would pepper the stairs in front of Quin, with three of them actually on tract to hit his lower legs if he wasn't careful.

** Group Two Stuff **

[@Richie B.@Tom]​

Within the second grouping of the Killiks attempting to swarm the place with numbers (which dwindled) and hostages (which also dwindled), there was a sense of renewed desperation as those not caught in the tractor beam would surge forward toward the stairs, chasing escaped hostages as they did. CorSec opened fire on the advancing Killiks, two of them being gunned down before the CorSec immediately began to hold their fire and hurry to switch back to non-lethal fire as several children were scooped back up by Killiks.

One of them very pointedly ran its pincer across a teenager's throat, slitting it to the bone, when one of the CorSec officers raised a blaster in their direction again.

@Wayson Hanson pushed forward in the face of this threat, throwing himself forward in a text-book baseball slide with his lightsaber lashing out as he did so. Though what he had seemingly not accounted for was that he was performing said perfect move along duracrete - which tore up both of his unarmoured legs with gashes and cuts from the uneven duracrete of the ground, slowing him down and hurting quite a bit. Despite this, the lightsaber would indeed be able to cut through the legs of the targeted Killik, avoiding the child's legs through the slimmest of margins.

With the drag slowing him down and the pain nagging at him, his follow-up throw of his secondary lightsaber wouldn't be made quick enough to catch his second target off-guard. Instead of being impaled through the head, the Killik in question was given enough chance to see @Wayson Hanson in motion to duck out of the way in a most animated fashion. As this second Killik started to rush toward Wayson, intent on slashing his face in retaliation for the attack, the Jedi would turn back to the first with a slash aimed at it's back - which was not there. In the extra time it had taken for Wayson to perform the throw of his secondary blade, the wounded Killik had managed to turn itself on its back and present the hostage in front of it, using it as a literal human shield that @Wayson Hanson would have a split second to act to avoid slashing with his planned follow-up attack.

Towards the rear of the second group of Killiks, @Laeonas Tannaras was released at the same time as a duo of Killiks baying for his blood. As he was released, so were they and he swung hard for one of the limbs closest to him - and found the attack blocked by a swung staff that had been readied for the attack. The second used this momentary block to slash with its own staff, leaving a shallow wound across @Laeonas Tannaras' chest moments before he was able to get them caught off-guard with a Force Push.

As the two of them were forced back, they maintained their balance fairly well by spreading out their limbs to better distribute their weight. @Laeonas Tannaras might have thought that the two would rush at him one at a time, one wounded and one angered, but he would be incorrect. Instead while he was yelling up at the ship, the two Killiks spread out - one circling round to his right while the other stayed at his front. Indeed the one to the front did take a slash towards his neck with its saber-staff but while he was dealing with that, the second would dart in from his right-side with a pair of quick thrusts aimed to skewer him through the side of the abdomen while he was parrying or blocking the first attack aimed at his neck. @Laeonas Tannaras would need to combat the two of them and the threat they posed before he had any hope of attempting to flank the Tainted Killik of the second Grouping.

** Group Three Stuff **

[@Faded @Altaris @Phoenix]​

Disorientated as they were from the concussion charge, the Killiks that @Romeo Solus targeted would find themselves wheat to the chaff - though the Mandalorians shots were true, only five of the six Killiks would fall as they scrambled to recover from their disorientation. As @Romeo Solus moved to fire a lone shot at one of the Tainted Killiks, the Killik he had skipped over would half slump over to the area the grenade had gone off in - and punish the Mandalorian for choosing a more glorious opponent by thrusting one of its clawed handed forward, piercing through a screaming child's eye clean into their skull, before pulling back and tearing the back half of the skull off with it.

A hostage dead, a child killed brutally, when the Mandalorian had both a clear shot and one in the chamber - the Killik would then proceed to head further down the line, attempting to kill the other children trapped within the adhesive.

As @Varyn Atrix helped pull @Vahliri Kahtal free from the tractor beam that had ensnared her, Killiks of all shapes and sizes tried to continue their push. The Killiks roared and screamed their disapproval of the whole situation as they pressed on, toward the stairs, but they were waylaid as both @Vahliri Kahtal and @Varyn Atrix slammed into their flanks. @Vahliri Kahtal chose her first opponent well, getting the drop on the Killik and ending it before it could fully turn to counter the flanking attack, falling in several pieces. @Varyn Atrix himself became a blur, cutting down the first of the lesser foes he had taken upon himself, likewise catching it ill-prepared.

The other Killiks that @Varyn Atrix targeted didn't give him the battle he craved however, four of the remaining beasts instead unveiling their wings and rocketing up the stairs to engage with CorSec - as the closest Tainted Killik instead made its presence known as it roared before pouncing through the air, leaping toward @Varyn Atrix as he was pulling his arm back from his latest kill, seeking to pin the young man to the ground with its front legs.

Deeper within the group, one of the Tainted Killiks screeched a challenge to @Vahliri Kahtal and started to charge at her as she prepared her lightning barrage. As lightning lanced towards it in a cone, the Tainted Killik reacted in a post peculiar way - it reacted as though it knew the dangers of being caught by the Sith lightning. But, of course it did. Because thousands of variations of its mind, at this point, had faced the Sith and their lightning. It had proven effective at catching the Killiks and forcing them to remain paralyzed by the electronic current - but they were not unintelligent.

They learned and they adapted.

The Tainted Killik tucked its legs in close and rolled - like an insect rolled into a ball to defend itself or gain more speed - to the right of @Vahliri Kahtal like some kind of demented pillbug. This evasive move also had the benefit of messing up @Romeo Solus' carefully lined up shot, which had been focused on firing at the time and location the lightning would have struck it. Now slightly to the right of @Vahliri Kahtal , outside of the cone of lightning she had unleashed, the Tainted Killik would burst into action, legs unfurling like a twisted painting of a spider unfurling to collect it's prey - and the Tainted Killik responded in much the same way, launching itself at Vahliri's right hand side with its dagger-like legs descending with the suddenly airborne Killik to strike her in four separate areas, one for the head, two for the torso and one in her right leg.

** Upon the Stairs **

[@Kestrel]​

Atop the stairs, the young girl cried as the reality of the situation once again made itself known to her. There was no way she could hide or run from what was happening, what had already happened to her. Instead she buried her face into the side of Bast and sobbed against her.

Still, despite how emotional the young woman was, Bast would be able to guide her quickly and almost painlessly within the building. Once she was inside, a medic ran over and took the young charge from the Ranger, leaving Bast free to return to the fight should she so wish.

Along the stairs to the right, the CorSec officers facing the advance of the Killiks from Group 3 let out a string of curses and, in one case, a blood-curdling scream as the Killiks descended upon their defensive lines from the sky - one of them impaling a CorSec officer through the gut with its staff by way of its landing.

It left the officer to claw at his gaping wound as it continued to push forward with its brethren.

** Construction watchtower. **

[@Fantasy Liver]​

With Drow in his construction tower sniper's nest, he was able to rain down fire on the enemy and a trio of Cor Sec troopers decided that the Jedi had the right idea. The trio began to climb the same tower with no small amount of difficulty as Drow laid into the Tainted Killiks of group 1 with his repeater. The stunned Killik was a sitting duck, even as it was slowly pulling itself together, all ten rounds slamming into its near defenceless form, tearing gouges out of its hide and cutting through limbs as it roared in anger and pain before stilling for a final time as the one who stunned it, @Grerse'dava'nlon , fired twice with heavy blaster fire to put it out of its misery.

While the second was not stunned, it was somewhat lacking in mobility, having lost most of its limbs. As it tried to pull itself together, to pull itself towards its objective, it was cut down as several of the repeater blasts found their mark. The last grouping of shots would fly toward the final of the Tainted Killiks of Group 1 in a burst - not allowing Drow the chance to take those shots back even if he wanted to.

As Drow was finishing up with his repeater, he would find a trio of humans, two of them carrying NT-242 Longblasters and the third carrying a couple of CDEF Blaster Pistols... and weighed down with Spotter's equipment. The trio nodded to Drow, one of the snipers making to hand his longblaster to him.

"You've proven you're a good shot and I lack a requirement for shooting." he joked, holding up a hand that was bloody, bandaged and noticeably absent a trigger finger, "They decided to take me and my aim out quick looks like. Give em hell for me, yeah?"

As the sniper was talking, the second sniper began getting set up while the spotter took out a pair of rangefinders to start his own duty.

Spoiler: Killiks Remaining

Hostages
Hostages saved: 21/50
Hostages lost: 5
Pending…: 3

** Group 1 (Dark Blue) **
Tainted Killiks: 1/3
Killiks: 0/30

** Group 2 (Light Blue) **
Tainted Killiks: 1/3
Killiks: 16/30

** Group 3 (Green) **
Tainted Killiks: 3/3
Killiks: 5/30

​

 

[Quin Leonkri]

“Nice shot!” While the Sith’s fireball had missed its intended target, at least it had still damaged the Killik somewhat. And some encouragement was better than none, in his view.

He was taken out of his thoughts when instead of slowing down, Quin’s follow-up attack on the Killik only seemed to draw its attention. At least it’s not going after the other Sith anymore? That was only a small comfort as it skittered towards him as if it were a spider, not even trying to strike him with its pincers.

Even worse, it started to circle him, and his and the Sith’s attempts to slice at it were completely avoided. The Killik was making him feel like a fool, and combined with his disgust of the creature, it was made even worse. By the stars why can’t it be Nyssa circling me instead? He found himself missing Elidan and the feel of the baby gualama’s fur an awful lot.

Suddenly, he saw three shots coming right at his legs and he could only back up, trying to use his lightsaber to deflect the bolts in the direction of the Killik as best as he could as the blood roared in his ears. What the kark? As for the other ones coming down, he tried to move out of the way, hoping that they would hit the Killik crawling around him instead.

“Get- away!” he exclaimed at the bug. This time, however, he tried to slice off some of its legs on his side, aiming to unbalance the Killik, stop it from circling him, and leave it open for a kill.

Spoiler: TL;DR

Quin backs away and deflects the blaster bolts coming to his feet(aiming for the Killik circling him) and then tries to slice off the Killik's legs nearest to him to potentially unbalance it

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

”I dtigh an diabhail!” Caerllion screamed in the language of his homeworld, Sidhe, while he watched the Killik using its arm to avoid the fireball colliding against its face. He had underestimated these things. They seemed to be dumb before, now he wasn’t sure anymore.

The Acolyte only grunted with the Jedi (@Sicadorito) comment. How was it a nice shot if the bug was still alive? There were only some flames in the creature’s arm, but the damage wasn’t as effective as it could have been if it had hit the Killik’s face.

Without the distraction, he wasn’t able to attack the insectoid with his lightsaber. The Killik evaded his hit and went to attack the Jedi. He wondered if he should allow the creature to kill the Light Sider. No, it would not be wise to lose an ally while fighting such an invasion. They needed everyone to fight these things.

While the Jedi tried to avoid the Killik and blast shots that came from somewhere, Caerllion noticed that there were still some flames in the creature’s arm. Summoning all his frustration and rage for what was happening, the Annfyn focused on these flames. If his concentration was enough, they would increase in size and spread through the bug’s body. Perhaps now it would burn.

Spoiler: TL;DR

Caerllion is trying to use the Force to make the fire that remained in the Killik's arm grow and spread through the creature's body.

 

[Varyn Atrix]

Varyn's blade sunk deeply into his initial victim, and the Jedi didn't feel an ounce of remorse. Perhaps he should have as this was a sentient being (probably?), but he couldn't. It had come here holding children hostage and it was going to pay.

He had to admit, though, that he was caught a little off-guard as the bugs leapt into the air and sprouted wings.

They fly now!? he asked to no one in particular. He was considering pursuing them or heading over in the direction of Vahl when a new and very real problem appeared for him to deal with.

The tainted Killik was larger and more dangerous than its lesser bretheren, and even the Shae-pivot wasn't going to get Varyn out of this one. He leapt back fully as a leg came down to pin him down. It slammed against his saber arm - still extended from his previous kill - and tore into the armor on his forearm. That was probably the only thing saving him from losing the lower part of the limb altogether as the armor shredded apart under the blow.

He could feel the impact all the way up his arm, numbing the limb momentarily and forcing the saber hilt from his hand. He swore loudly, but at least had cleared the attack and hopefully that left the creature open to one of Varyn's own.

He opened himself up to the Force and let it flow through him, his open left hand spewing forth a jet of flame directly into the creature. With it focused on its own maneuver, it should have a difficult going rolly-polly and avoiding it.

Varyn leapt back again, his right hand - feeling slowly returning - calling his saber hilt from the ground to his hand.

Spoiler: TLDR

I made a reference to one of the worst dialogue lines in the sequel trilogy. Varyn's saber is knocked from his hand and the forearm armor on his right arm is busted, but he is not pinned to the ground. Force flame to the bug. Jump back and recall his saber to his hand.

 

[Bryce Callaway]

The Ship​

Bryce cursed as the situation took a turn for the worse; not only had he been unable to deal with the final TK in Group 2, his light blaster cannons were definitively out of commission. He dared not fire with his medium blaster cannons, but at least he could still hold the Tainted Killik in place with his tractor beam until that, too, was likely knocked out. Right now, though, things weren't looking good for him.

There were bugs on his windshield, hammering away such that the viewport- designed to withstand the extremes of spaceflight- was cracking. Even worse, he could hear the sound of a similar attack on the docking ring. "So that's how you wanna play?" the soldier snarled, furious at the damage to his ship. "Can anyone shoot the three on my front?" he called out over comms, hoping that someone with a blaster (@Kestrel @The Good Doctor @Fantasy Liver) might be able to help. With the front of his ship facing towards the core, one of them had to have a clean shot. The ship would stay hovering where it was, its tractor beam locked on the third and final TK in group 2; if only to hold it in place. Bryce, however, was not at the controls.

Drawing one of his DE-10 Blaster Pistols, he quickly made his way towards the docking ring, noting the dents that were evidence of the kilik's efforts to enter and taking careful aim. Today, he was thankful that the button for opening/closing the docking ring was a few meters away from the ring itslef. Using his free hand, he opened the door- the kilik likely wouldn't expect a premature welcome aboard- followed almost instantaneously by a blue beam as the pre-aimed soldier fired once, his blaster set on stun. Immediately after firing, the door button would be pushed again, sending the mechanism whirling shut on where Bryce anticipated the invading kilik to be; right in the path of the closing docking ring.

If that wasn't successful? Well, Bryce was already aiming in the right direction.

@lizziie @Nefieslab

Spoiler: Bryce's Actions

Bryce leaves his tractor beam locked on TK#3 in Group 2
Bryce asks for assistance from those on the ground to shoot the kiliks on his front
Bryce heads to the docking ring, opens it, fires a stun bolt, and attempts to close the door on the kilik's body

 

[Drow Venn]

Drow reacted quickly when the three men snuck up on him. With the nature of Joiners, he didn't particularly trust people he didn't know, especially ones that showed up this conveniently offering him weapons. Was the goal to get him to turn his back so they could gun him down in service of their hive? Drow wasn't going to have it.

"Sorry gents. This might be an innocent mistake but I'm going to need you to go up or down a floor so I can do my thing." Drow ordered, waving his E-11 around to punctuate his point. That being said, he did take the proffered sniper rifle and would take some headshots as soon as this crew left his floor of the tower.

TLDR: Drow orders the three people off of his floor of the construction towers and then takes some headshots at the remaining Tainted Killiks

 

[Bast Emblai]

Bast handed over the child to the medic, her face passive and unreadable. Her shoulder was wet with the girl’s tears. The Captain wiped her bloody hands on her pants. She could not promise it would all be okay, because it already was not. The Killiks were gaining ground faster than it could be recovered. She had no doubt that by the time she emerged again, the casualties would have mounted considerably. But she did not have a choice. She had to go back out. Even if there was a choice, calm and sacrifice had been so programmed into the woman that she was not sure what she would do otherwise. There was fear and then there was numbness. Occasionally the fear would crawl out and save her, but at the moment, there was no trace of it.

Descending the stairs once more, Bast took in the scene. Blood ran in rivulets from the body of an impaled Corsec soldier. It dripped from the neck of a hostage. She blinked, the seared image of Orn’s body ever present. But she had survived that. She had lived her nightmares and nothing could be worse than what had already happened.

Her comm crackled as a message from Callaway came through. He was alone, without support, and seemed to be in imminent danger. Nevertheless, his risk-taking and careful assessment of the situation reflected well on his potential ability as a ranger. “Copy”, she responded, then fired at three shots, one at each of the Killiks on his windshield. If they did not land true, at least they might distract the insects from doing more harm for a brief amount of time.

Spoiler: TLDR

Emotional turmoil and Bast fires one shot each at the Killiks on the front of Callaway’s ship.

 

[Darth Tempest]

Vahliri momentarily glanced over her shoulder - tearing her gaze away from her own opponent just long enough to catch a glimpse of the Kilik’s who suddenly went airborne. She watched as the Insectoids ascended above the fray, continuing their advance upon the CorSec and through the front line of defense. “They fly now,” The half-Annfyn hissed loud enough to be heard, following up that statement with a string of colorful expletives.

Of course, the half-Annfyn didn’t have more than a split-moment to focus on them. Instead, her attention snapped back onto the Tainted Kilik - eyes going wide as the Insectoid monstrosity tucked and rolled onto her right flank. At once, the half-Annfyn relinquished her concentration with the Force lightning - refusing to needlessly deplete her own Force reserves after missing her initial mark.

The last sparks of electricity flickers through the air as Vahliri turned to the right - her crimson saber crossing her body diagonally as she moved to face her attacker. The Insectoid moved uncomfortably swift, and it was for that reason that the half-Annfyn only made small, quick adjustments to keep up with its movements. Just as the Tainted Kilik unfurled its arms and lunged towards her, Vahliri lifted three fingers off the hilt of her lightsaber, unleashing a concussive blast directly into the creature’s exposed abdomen.

It was far too reactive - lacking the power to do any real damage or send the Kilik very far. But the half-Annfyn attempted to force it backwards and just beyond the reach needed to impale her with its dagger-like legs. Just as she did so, Vahliri’s left hand snapped down towards the shoto-hilt on her waist - drawing the secondary weapon and igniting its plasma blade with a flash of crimson.

Rather than move back into melee range, Vahliri sent the shoto through the air like a javelin - imbuing the Force. She aimed to send the plasma blade right through the Tainted Kilik’s abdomen - banking on its inability to outright block the weapon.

Spoiler: TLDR

Vahl turns to face the Tainted Kilik and sends a Force-Push into it - attempting to force it backwards and save herself from getting stabbed.

She then draws her Shoto and throws it through the air, aiming to impale it through the Tainted Kilik's torso.

@lizziie

 

[Wayson Hanson]

The Jedi soon realized why slides were done the on very specific ground, his legs were cut up now and it would limit his speed too much. As his entire movements had been slowed it allowed him to pick up on the changes that he needed to know to change his actions. He would see the Killik's movements and deactivate his blade with a flip of a switch that takes less than a second, to avoid fighting the kid. Releasing his Force grip on his shoto blade, Wayson went down to grab his pistol in his left hand..

Slowly picking himself up the Jedi would turn to face the charging Killik using his pistol to shoot two bolts at the Killik's body. Thankfully it was charging at him so it would help him in making this shoots more accurate despite the pain in his legs. He kept the lightsabers up in a defensive manner prepared to defend himself against the other Killik. If the Killik got closer he would swing out with his lightsaber going for a horizontal slash

If the other Killik is downed by the bolts the Jedi would turn to the other Killik and grabbing the Killik's head with the Force feeling the need to save the kid's life, then and slam it straight down to the floor hoping to kill the thing to free the kid. He was feeling the pain and now his mind was getting tunneled vision. If he is able to get the kid free he would help them to get up to the other defenders to help keep them from getting overwhelmed.

Spoiler: TL'DR

1. Wayson deactivates his lightsaber just before committing to his slash as he is slowed down due to the pain and notices the kid before he completes his slash.
2. Wayson gets himself up, with grabbing his pistol and shoots twice at the charging Killik. If the Killik gets closer Wayson will do a horizontal slash at the Killik.
3. If the charging Killik is killed, Wayson will use the Force to reach Killik's head and slam it into the ground to kill it.

 

[The Gatekeeper]

** Ship stuff. **


[@SlagathorTheUnknown]​

Onboard the ship, and literally on the ship, the Killiks were raising merry hell as they were left mostly unopposed as @Bryce Callaway stepped away from the controls of the ship and made his com call for assistance with the Killiks on the front of the ship. With the ship hovering within range of weapons from the ground, it was unfortunately close to the ground enough for other issues.

The Killiks plotted and their schemed in their interconnected mind, calling out plans and ideas to one another that they screeched and cried loudly in joy over. As soon as they could see that Bryce had moved away from the cockpit, one of the Killiks started to crawl down the body of the ship even as @Bast Emblai started blasting at those on the cockpit viewport first. One of them took a blast to the torso, falling to the ground below with a burning hole through clean through it.

As she was lining up her second shot, the third Killik on the front of the ship moved unopposed down the length of the ship and started to hack and swig at the instrument of their continued torment - the tractor beam projector. The second of Bast's shots caught the Killik remaining on the viewport in the head, sending it careening down to the ground after its brother. As she lined up her third shot, the brave Killik drone managed to do exactly what it had intended to do and as it was blasted off the ship, stunned enough to die upon landing hard on the ground, it did so having shut off the tractor beam projector.

On the other side of the ship @Bryce Callaway opened the airlock door, startling the Killik who fell forward into the docking ring. Falling to the ground was the only thing that stopped it from being immediately stunned, however, as it hadn't managed to stay upright as Bryce had initially believed it might have done. Using all of its limbs, it scuttled forward along the floor, crossing the distance quick, to jump up at @Bryce Callaway in an attempt to grapple the soldier.

As this was happening, however, the tractor beam was off and the Tainted Killik was freed. Unlike the smaller Killiks, the Tainted Killiks did not have wings - but the firespray was close enough to the ground to be aided by small arms fire. Which meant that it was close enough for the powerful limbs of the Tainted Killik to be enough to propel the Killik in question up - right up at the Firespray. @Bryce Callaway would immediately know that something was wrong as the ship began to pivot and shudder, as if a great weight was suddenly pulling it down. Rather than trying to ground the ship, however, the Tainted Killik was beginning its slower climb - its long, powerful, legs stabbing into the plating of the ship's hull as it started to climb up toward the cockpit.

** Group One Stuff **

[@LouJoVi @Sicadorito @The Good Doctor]​

Luckily for @Quin Leonkri , @Caerllion of Cyfnos and the known Galaxy as a whole - the Killiks were not able to skitter about at top speed on a second's notice like that very often. Indeed, the burst of movement had noticeably taken the wind out of the Tainted Killik's sails and it was slower to respond than it had been before. Burning up so much energy in such a short amount of time had been enough to burn through some of the limited energy reserves of the Tainted Killik and they were built with a very big design flaw.

They had no mouths.

They had no way of regaining lost energy, they were designed to fight in one or two engagements and then die. It was their entire purpose and it was why the Tainted Killik facing @Quin Leonkri and @Caerllion of Cyfnos was not quite as much of a threat as it had been even just a moment before. This allowed Quin the breathing room to block the blaster bolts as the Tainted Killik had to divert some of its movement into avoiding his, admittedly not perfect, deflections back in its direction. As this was happening, @Caerllion of Cyfnos let their anger be known to the Killik for daring to have survived the attack on its life.

Flames rose bright and violent up along the length of the limb that the creature had used to protect its face, the upper limb suddenly a liability and a source of pain that through off the balance of the Killik as it tried to attack Quin. With the sudden pain of the reignition of the flames, the Killik's response was slow - allowing Quin to cut through one of it's forward legs even as it tried to jump back.

Skidding back on three legs, unsteady, the creature roared in pain before snapping down with its powerful jaws, biting clean through its own chitin and flesh to bite off the attacking arm before the flames could travel to the torso. Bleeding ichor from the stumps of two of its limbs, the Tainted Killik seemed to hiss at the two Force Users as it backed up slightly, its remaining three lower legs bending slightly as if preparing to move again.

** Group Two Stuff **

[@Richie B.@Tom]​

@Wayson Hanson narrowly managed to avoid slicing through the child that was presented in place of the Killik he was aiming at, the child screaming in fear as the blade came in and letting out a gasp of relief when they were able to actually live through the moment. However, as Wayson spun to draw on the charging Killik coming from another direction, the kid screamed again as the Killik using the child as a human shield bodily threw the child at @Wayson Hanson from the side while he was drawing on the charging Killik. With the Jedi focused on turning, drawing, aiming and firing, he would be caught flat-footed by the sudden projectile child and the first shot would fly hopelessly wide and the second to the ground as the kid collided with Wayson's shoulder, throwing his aim off.

The charging Killik's slash would come in at his face, the Jedi now with a child hostage slumped against him from the side, the charging Killik slashing at his face and the wounded Killik making a grab for his lower right foot underneath the cover of the child's body in an attempt to cut at the Jedi's Achilles tendon. @Wayson Hanson had his extinguished lightsaber in one hand, free, and his blaster pistol-carrying hand thrown off course - and a split second to decide how he wanted to respond while still keeping the hostage safe.

Towards the rear of the group, @Laeonas Tannaras seemed dazed from the after effects of the tractor beam and it would cost him. Unable to fully react to the Killik's and their counterattacks, the man was not in a good position. The thrusts from the side landed first and they landed hard, the bladed staff thrusting into the side of the man like a lightsaber into butter. Even most full armor sets left the sides relatively exposed to allow the user to freely move and for a Force User this was especially important.

Tearing through the thin resistance, the first thrust carved cleanly through @Laeonas Tannaras' kidney and the second further muddied the waters, carving through his gut without mercy. The only mercy, if it could be called such, was that the two thrusts landing pushed @Laeonas Tannaras off center, sending him crashing to the ground and causing the slash at the neck to ride high and off-target - the second Killik's bladed staff cut lightly across his right cheek as he fell, leaving a cut that crossed his cheekbone but stopped before his eye.

The two Killiks, seeing their foe partially disembowelled before them, left him. Instead of finishing him off, they instead focused on recovering some of the free hostages. After all, either he died or he would live long enough for them to force him to Join later - there was no downside for the Killiks.

** Group Three Stuff **

[@Faded @Altaris @Phoenix]​

They fly now.

The Tainted Killiks, however, didn't so much fly as they launched themselves at their prey like the worst kind of nightmare insects imaginable in the Galaxy - spiders on cocaine spice. It roared its approval at having knocked @Varyn Atrix back and having sliced through his saber arm - approval that turned to disappointment when it realized that it had only torn through the outer layer of the present that was @Varyn Atrix.

Before it could fully capitalize on their positions, fire was suddenly all that the creature knew as the Force User thrust his free hand forward. Screeching in pain, the Tainted Killik's chitin was far hardier than the flesh of most organics but the heat was still transferred through the armor-like plating and its eyes burned, temporarily blinding one of its multiple eyes. In its pain and rage, the Tainted Killik didn't attempt to withdraw - it attempted to return the pain tenfold on the one hurting it and it charge forward, through the jet of flames, causing more of its chitin to heat up and singe, in an attempt to slam its entire body weight into @Varyn Atrix's chest, to stun him long enough for it to use its massive jaws to bite down on his head.

Similar to Varyn's own experience, @Vahliri Kahtal was finding that Tainted Killiks being as nimble as they were was unsettling and surprisingly terrifying. They had literally no right to be as agile as they were, though similar to how the Tainted Killik of group one was losing energy, so too were the Tainted Killiks of group three. Unable to dodge now that it was committed to its attack, and unable to conjure up another mad burst of energy, the Tainted Killik screamed in frustration as it was hit by the Force Push.

Sent flipping backwards, the Killik tucked in its extremities as it spun backward through the air and it was only this instinctive attempt to protect its limbs from a bad landing that saved the Tainted Killik. @Vahliri Kahtal's shoto saber flew through the air like a lance of lightning caught in a single strike - pushing through the ball of spinning Killik as it was coming in to land. Rather than flying through the Killik's torso as planned, the rotations meant that it had gone a slightly different route, lancing straight through the upper part of the Tainted Killik's jaw, slicing the top half of its jaw clean off before the shoto saber passed through and beyond the Tainted Killik.

Ichor gushing from it's ruined jaw, the Tainted Killik struggled to its feet and screeched in rage and pain - the effort of making such a noise causing yet more ichor to spill from the gaping wound in the front of its face. It took a shaky step forward before the rage overcame the pain and it began a charge at the Sith once again, slower this time and lacking the ability to actually bite her in half - instead it would look to try and use its front two legs like the lances of charging knights to skewer her through the chest.

** Upon the Stairs and Beyond**

[@Kestrel]​

Upon the stairs, as @Bast Emblai was providing covering fire on @Bryce Callaway's ship, the CorSec and the Killiks battled each other with equal ferocity. The Killiks with their single-minded determination and the CorSec agents with their very strong aversion to being killed and allowing their enemy to kill all of their friends and family. Two of the Killiks were able to be wrestled to the ground by CorSec agents, who then stomped them down to disorientate them before blasting their heads off with lethal blaster bolts.

At this stage, at this line of defence, none of them wanted to risk the Killiks waking back up. One of the agents called out as Killiks from group two, left largely unchecked, began to charge the stairs.

"We need some goddamn support here!" he called out to @Grerse'dava'nlon @Bast Emblai @Caerllion of Cyfnos and @Quin Leonkri , "They're making a push for it!

What had gotten the Killiks riled up and pushing for more? Further back, away from the current line of fighting, people upon the stairs were able to observe as a mound of dirt seemed to bulge up. Then, suddenly, the mound of dirt erupted up into the air and began to rain down as a large shape began to pull itself free from the ground.

From the news reports and from the hastily prepared military briefings, the CorSec agents and everyone currently able to see the emerging threat would be able to recognise it as one of the Tanker Killiks that everyone had heard about. One of them had gotten into a slugging match with a Rancor and survive past the first round.

The only saving grace, for now, was that it was a full 500m away from the fighting.

** Construction watchtower. **

[@Fantasy Liver]​

When @Drow Venn refused the offer, the two snipers held their rifles in their hands and looked back to their spotter, the one with a good hand already setting up regardless. The spotter shrugged a little bit,

"Well then no sniper rifle for you then if you're gonna be a dick about it." he declared with a roll of his eyes, "Seriously, trying to save some kids here and your answer is 'sorry folks, this floor is full'? Come on guys."

The sniper with the bloodied hand had already started handing his rifle over to Drow however and the spotter just made a sigh of annoyance when said sniper just shrugged. However, as soon as Drow lowered his own rifle to grab the offered sniper rifle, the sniper didn't let go. Instead he pushed forward, pinning Drow to the railing of the tower with the length of the longblaster acting like a bar, giving the sniper better leverage.

As he was doing this, the spotter drew both blaster pistols and fired a shot from each underneath where the sniper was struggling with Drow, aiming at @Drow Venn's stomach. As this was going on, the second sniper had set up - opening fire with a round aimed at the middle of @Romeo Solus's back as the Mandalorian seemed to be taking a second to gather his focus as he reloaded.

Spoiler: Killiks Remaining & Info

Hostages
Hostages saved: 21/50
Hostages lost: 5
Pending…: 3

** Group 1 (Dark Blue) **
Tainted Killiks: 1/3
Killiks: 0/30

** Group 2 (Light Blue) **
Tainted Killiks: 1/3
Killiks: 13/30

** Group 3 (Green) **
Tainted Killiks: 3/3
Killiks: 3/30

** Group 4 **
Tanker Killik: 1/1
Currently 500m out

** Map **

Killik with Fire

Tainted Killiks (TK) Group 1 TK Group 2 TK Group 3 TK Tower Ship Gloop-Grenade Regular Killiks (RK) Group 2 RK Group 3 RK Drow Varyn Gerse Bast Vahliri Romeo Laeo Wayson Caer Quin Logna Etr Joined Tanker Killik CorSec Bryce entrance

docs.google.com

​

 

[Quin Leonkri]

When the Killik caught on fire and he managed to cut its leg off, Quin couldn’t help a fleeting smile from appearing on his face despite the heavy fighting around him. The bug was on its last legs, literally, and he and the Sith would just need a little more to take it down.

The Killik backed up, and Quin took a few steps forward. Extending his left hand, he would attempt to use the Force to yank the remaining three legs to one side to unbalance it. Then he would move up, aiming his lightsaber for its abdomen and trying to slice the bug in half diagonally.

If it fell, he wouldn’t waste time before heading back up onto the stairs, seeing Group Two of the Killiks rapidly approaching the steps and hearing the call for help. However, before he was fully up the stairs, he caught the eye of the Sith for a brief moment and gave him a slight nod to show his appreciation for his help (@LouJoVi). After that, he would join the CorSec agents at the top of the stairs, slashing at whatever Killik came close.

Spoiler: TL;DR

Quin tries to pull the Tainted Killik's legs out from under it to unbalance it(Group 1), and if it works he tries to cut it in half diagonally. Then he moves over to the top of the stairs near Group 2, defending against the oncoming Killiks.

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

”Burn your piece of shit! Burn!” Caerllion screamed in delight while the flames burned the Killik’s arm. Being an Annfyn, he didn’t fear the reaction of those around him regarding his emotions. He wasn’t going to hide how his anger had become satisfaction now that he was able to damage the creature.

He would watch the Jedi attack the creature. If it wasn’t successful and the Killik didn’t die, the Acolyte would watch with frustration the bug using its fangs to cut off his burning arm. Caerllion would wonder if there wasn’t anything in the Galaxy that could bring down this damned thing.

While the creature was distracted hissing at the two Force users, Caerllion would in an act of rage use the Force to throw the burning arm that was in the floor directly at the middle of the Killik’s fangs. In the way that it went, the flaming member would pierce the bug.

If the bug already fell with the Jedi attacks, Caerllion would move back to the stair with the purpose of helping the CorSec fight the rest of the Killiks. He would also nod at the Light Sider, recognizing that he was useful in the fight. Now they would need to deal with the rest of the bugs.

@Sicadorito

Spoiler: TL;DR

If Quin don't bring down the Killik, Caerllion will use the moment that the creature hisses at them to use the Force to throw the burning arm between its fangs, hoping to pierce through its head. If it works or the Jedi already killed it, the Annfyn will join the CorSec in the stairs to fight against the approaching Killiks.