Legacy of Tython: Battle in the Gnarls

[Just Matt Now]

Both dropships fast tracked their progression, flying high above the trees, one in front of the other. Vixur in the lead, directing the pilot to follow the riverbed, where he clearly felt hisSith brothers presence to be. They obeyed without hesitation, any lapse in time was quickly being overcome by the greater speeds of the dropships. Faster,and with a near unlimited endurance, the ships made their presence known by the distinct sounds of their roar. Noster was not too far, though Vixur knew that he would not be able to keep up the chase for long without him. His plan to bring the dropships the very reason for this.

"My friend, ready yourself. I come with aid." Vixur said through the Force, not mere moments from picking up his sithly friend. It would give them the advantage, the Jedi could have out ran them in the river, though with only one path for it to take them Vixur saw it more of a disadvantage. The Anzat sitting in the co-pilot's seat, their heading clear as they quickly approached Noster. The Jedi would not be so clever as to escape them. They had beaten them in more ways than one, but the final defeat would only lie in their death. Both he and they knew it to be true.

 

[Rom]

Alistair grinned widely as they left the Golden Clawed Sith in the dust behind them, the water surging faster and faster as the vortex grew in size and brought them higher into the air. From his new vantage point, the Kushiban could see everything around them... including the large body of water ahead reeking of death, and the dropships whining in the distance. "Stang! Von, I think we've got company coming soon... and it looks like Kushiban and Zeltron are on the menu!" The little yellow furred being let out a whooping laugh and threw his hands forward, the column of water rushing forward towards the lake. The exuberance and laughter was a front, the only way the little Padawan could stay true to the Light. Inside... inside he was dying. The Force cried out in agony all around him as the planet continued to die, the once sweet music lost in the cacophony of screams.

Physically it made him ill, and the thought of throwing himself deep into that sickness was enough to make his skin crawl in shame. But they truly had no choice; the Sith were right behind them, and if they did not escape while they had the chance they would surely die here alongside the planet itself.

Growling under his breath, Alistair sent the spiraling vortex in a wide curve and sent them spiraling away back up the river, his dark eyes squinted in absolute concentration. "Von... I'll get us there, but you need to get us onto one of their ships. It's our only chance of getting off the planet now that the Sith have the planet..." The water surged forward in a roar, the once dots representing the dropships growing bigger and bigger as a veritable tsunami of water surged forward, led by a pink woman and a yellow Kushiban riding a wave.

 

[The Kyzer]

Turning back to look at her and Alistair's pursuers, Von locked eyes with the dark man that she'd been fighting before.

Another day, dark one.

Then a mild cry of warning cut through the cacophony of pain and death that echoed from the dying world. Von expanded her senses and felt the flying war machines before she saw them. The lead dropship felt even more dangerous than the second, and she belatedly realized that the other Sith must have hitched a ride on it. Alistair's own words of warning merely confirmed her suspicions that they would not be able to outrun those dropships.

Von's mind whirled as she began to imagine all the possible actions they could take. Her right to choose was taken from her when Alistair spun their watery transport around to charge the Sith and their flying crafts. That left few options. She reached into her small survival pack at the small of her back and produced a small coiled rope. She also produced a tiny grappling apparatus, maybe the size of her palm. After securely tying the rope to the grappling hook, Von reached into the Force and prepared for her move.

The dropships loomed larger and larger as both sides raced at each other with all their power. Moving quickly, Von tossed part of the rope to Alistair while she tied the base end to her belt. The end with the grappling hook hung loosely in her left hand as she drew the Force in one more time. Then she called a small rock to her hand from the riverbed below. It was smooth, glossy, and roughly the size of her hand.

Perfect, Von thought as she tucked it into a small pocket in her robes.

The Zelton-hybrid turned toward Alistair and yelled, "Ready yourself, my friend!"

The golden-clawed Sith was finally equidistant from both the dropships and the Jedi when Von began to leap into motion. She sent multiple quick, short blasts telekinesis at the Sith on the ground, aiming to ensure that he couldn't interrupt her plan. Then she leaped out ahead of the water tornado, directly at the first dropship, the one carrying the other Sith. She tucked her legs and arms in and spread the stored Force energy over her body, creating a bubble around herself. She slammed into one of the dropship's engine struts with a colossal amount of force, her superdense body and the Force protecting her from what should have been a lethal blow. Still, something had to give way, and the universe decided that it would be the metal strut.

The wing bent back and ripped the engine it was attached to from its port nacelle to its exhaust. A torrent of flame and black smoke poured out of the wounded propulsion unit while Von was launched up a few meters by the impact. Her overall speed was slowed, but this was planned for. She dispersed her protective bubble and threw her grappling hook straight up...right into the flightpath of the second dropship.

Von heard the solid click of the grappling device attaching to the side of the dropship and felt the rope go taut. The slack in the cable was quickly consumed as Von waited for a second before she and Alistair would be pulled by the Imperial craft.