Ask One Of Those Days

[Sevrin Valtiere]

Utapau was in desperate conditions. While most of the planet had been evacuated, there were still pockets of facilities that had survivors left behind. While most of the immigrant species had been moved through connections offworld, many of the locals were stuck. One of these facilities was at the bottom of a valley with hundreds upon hundreds of the infected surrounding it.

Sevrin had arrived a few hours prior, but he wasn’t too pleased with his prospects. His keen eyes could pick out the compound from where he stood, and his sensitive ears made out all the growling and pounding against the door. If he focused enough, he could hear the frantic screams coming from the inside of the compound to pinpoint where there were frightened survivors.

The Sephi remained in the shadows for now, lurking around a boulder on an overlook that gave him the vantage point. He had to quickly formulate a plan or the infected would break through the flimsy gates that stood between them and the compound. The external gates were already down.

Silver eyes quickly flicked over to a speeder convoy parked below. It was clear that a rescue party had been sent and quickly dismantled before everyone could leave. Sevrin focused on the speeder, calling the Force to begin collapsing the back of the vehicle to make it cave. He would next attempt to ignite a fire to hopefully draw the infected away.

It sounded like a decent plan in theory...

 

[Thane Veren]

Thane was seriously questioning why he had taken this job. He understood that the pay was far above and beyond any job he'd ever taken before, but there was a reason for that: it was suicide.

Apparently in the evacuation of the planet, some noble big shot or other had left behind his mistress - hard to keep your affair covert if your side dish is on the same special evac ship as you apparently - but the guy had apparently been willing to cough up the money to pay a mercenary to go back in.

Thane was the chump who had bit at the offer. Packing up his gear, bringing along his beskad and full pack of gear, he'd set out. His ship had landed far enough away from the massive sinkhole to be unheard and he took his speeder the rest of the way.

He stopped a reasonable distance away and made the rest of the trip on foot, coming to a stop at an overlook, looking down at the task ahead of him and cursing quietly under his breath.

His eyes swept over the area, but he failed to notice the Sephi Jedi who was also scoping out the area, even as he made the first inklings of a distraction.

Instead, the Mandalorian promptly started trying to plan his own distraction. Opening fire would certainly do it, but he'd prefer something that didn't put hundreds of angry psychos on a collision course for him.

His eyes settled on his choice. There was a speeder not far from the rear of the pack and he decided it would be as good a target as any to detonate. He shouldered his rifle and let the sights fall on the area where the fuel tank should have been, slowly squeezing the trigger.

Boom.

The detonation was quite impressive, and the creatures began to turn to look toward it, their attention turned away from the buffet (or booffet if you prefer) inside the building.

Rolls

 

[Sevrin Valtiere]

The speeder barely began to collapse under pressure when a shot rang out. The Sephi whipped around to look, eyes narrowing as he spotted the figure along the ridge line. The Jedi focused back on the explosion, using the Force to ignite a bigger inferno and spread the fire through the other speeders. He collapsed the other engines, the explosions resulting in a massive flame that drew the zombies. The cracks and pops held their attention.

Meanwhile, the Sephi crept along the ridge and leapt from where he was. He landed gracefully without a sound near what he could see was a Mandalorian. In case the man whirled around to shoot him, he held his hands up to show he meant no harm.

“Don’t shoot again,” He stated simply, the origin of sounds likely to lure the infected. For now the first row walked directly into the fire, unconcerned at their bodies melting and falling apart. There was a ditch on the other side that they fell into, and they wouldn’t be able to climb back out.

The Sephi didn’t wait to see what the Mando would do, another leap taking him down to the level below. It took him no time to make his way closer to the compound, and he drew out his saber to make short work of the infected that remained around the compound. He could only hope that all of them continued to be distracted long enough to give him time to bail the survivors out.

 

[Thane Veren]

Thane's rifle spun around to the figure who appeared behind him, but whoever it was wasn't bleeding from the mouth and or have any other indications that he was infected. Plus his hands were up, so he clearly wasn't there to loot or rob. Or at least pretending not to be.

Thane's rifle slowly lowered as he looked at the other man.

Who are you? he asked, but got his answer a few moments later. The man moved down toward the infected and then ignited a saber, slicing easily and cleanly through any that came his way. Surely, that must have been a convenient thing. Dang, how'd Thane end up with one of the wizards?

Unfortunately, the infected didn't seem to be preoccupied with the explosion for long. They started turning toward the flashing light of the saber and the shrieking of their kin as they died drew attention away and back toward the Jedi.

He swore again under his breath and looked around at his surroundings to decide what happened if he decided to... ah, it needed doing. Thane's position was far better than the wizard's and he had a better chance of escape.

He growled and took aim, pulling the trigger and opening fire on the horde. And that was when everything fell apart. The cliff that the Mandalorian had taken position upon completely gave way under him, sending him tumbling to the ground. He supposed if there was a bright side, perhaps it would distract the creatures from the Jedi. Unfortunately, his odds of being eaten just went up drastically.

Rolls

 

[Sevrin Valtiere]

Sevrin was down in the fray when he realized that the infected were turning away from the speeders. The display caused a rare form of expression on his face where his eyebrows rose and there was a sliver of concern. This was further amplified when the ground gave way beneath the Mandalorian, the collapse drawing even more attention from the infected.

The Jedi doubled back towards where the other man was, using the Force to launch a powerful blast to send back a horde of zombies. Slightly less than half of the mob began to turn away from the fire, but even that was a sizable amount.

He had a plan of action, but a glance over at the Mando suggested that he had no jetpack. Bemused expression on his face, Sevrin instead moved to plan b, channeling the Force again to shift the ground before him. A crack formed in the earth as he worked to create a makeshift trench.

“I need to focus! Cover me but with a melee weapon!” He called out to the Mando. The idea was to create a ditch for the infected to fall into while they came their way, but any loud firearms would alert even more of them. The ground rumbled and moved and he could only hope the Mando could cover him long enough before they were both overwhelmed. Even with his skills, he was outmatched by a horde this size.

 

[Thane Veren]

[

A melee weapon? Thane wasn't a fan of that, but he supposed it made sense. No point in drawing more attention. Granted, that meant he had to get up close and personal with these things.

Then the ground began to shift. It cracked and rumbled and Thane's eyes went wide. Sure he'd heard about what the wizards could do, but seeing it was something else.

What the... he mumbled, mouth hanging open slightly. Focus, he admonished himself, letting the the rifle fall to its sling and drawing his beskad.

I hope you know what you're doing, he said, stepping forward and hacking down, slamming into the head of the first infected. The skull caved in, blood spraying across his visor as the creature went to the ground. The next was moving in and he stepped to the side, sending another blow down that slammed into the space between the neck and the shoulder. He placed his boot against the creature's chest and yanked the blade free.

He took a step forward, slamming his shoulder into the creature's chest to knock it down before sending the short blade backing into the creature's neck.

He glanced back over his shoulder, seeing what the wizard was doing. I am not getting paid enough for this, he thought to himself as he took a step back to reposition so that the creatures surging forward wouldn't be able to surround him nor would they be able to get to the Jedi.

He could see more of the creature's beginning to turn their heads in the direction of the dynamic duo, and Thane's gut dropped.

We've got about 15 seconds before I'm not going to be able to hold them off anymore! he said, strong concern quite obvious in his voice.

 

[Sevrin Valtiere]

Sevrin had a deadpan look on his face when he answered the Mando's doubts almost immediately, “Rest assured that I am at least marginally more useful than a Mandalorian without a jetpack,” The quip was as calm as the surface of a frozen lake, and just as frosty.

Nonetheless, the Mando was proving useful in fending the infected off for now. Sevrin kept his focus trained, entirely unfazed by the growing numbers heading their way. The fissure was finally deep and wide enough and he stepped backwards, “Come over to this side, if you please."

The Sephi calmly waited, watching for the Mandalorian to take a running jump to leap across the very wide fissure he created. It took a second before Sevrin casually remembered to share some very important details, “I will ensure you do not fall into the pit,” Blank gaze stared back as he watched with vague interest.

Provided the Mando did as told, Sevrin would coil the Force around him and yank him over. The infected would keep running at them, falling into the ditch and failing to climb back out. Sevrin began to walk off.

“Stand there and do things to keep them coming your way, I’m going to try and get into the compound,” The Sephi left little option for discussions. Thankfully for the Mandalorian, he only had to distract a small group of infected that were still coming. After that, he would have to quickly book it before anyone from the speeder group spotted him.

 

[Thane Veren]

Thane wasn't finding a great deal of humor in the Jedi's words as he tangled with the crazies, trying to avoid being bit or otherwise eaten. He'd have a jetpack if he weren't so poor... but he was poor.

And he was wishing he had a jetpack now as he looked at the chasm that had been created. He should have thought this through more as he realized there was no way he was going to make it across that gap.

I'm not a wizard, he said shortly, looking at the gap that was far too wide for him to jump across with magic powers.

Even with a helmet on, the Jedi would be able to sense how unexcited he was about simply jumping across the way, but the growling behind him was enough to convince him that he had no other choice. After all, the guy had ripped a hole in the ground and shoved crazies around without touching them... he could probably do this.

He growled in annoyance and then ran, leaping across the opening and feeling... something grip him. He looked down but there was nothing there, and that only made things all the weirder. Oh, he didn't like this at all.

Behind and below him he could hear the splatting and crunching sound of the infected's bodies breaking as they hit the ground, an unpleasant reminder of what would happen if this invisible grip disappeared.

When his feet hit the ground, he was almost tempted to drop to his knees and clutch the dirt in celebration, but that probably would have been a bit dangerous right now. Floating wasn't something he wanted to repeat again soon.

Keep them coming his way? Well that felt a bit better with the crevice between he and the infected, but he never loved being bait.

Fine, he said, wiping his beskad off and sliding it away before pulling the rifle up from the sling. He was just lining up his first shot when more chaos broke loose.

A blaster shot tore down and landed directly in front of Thane, sending him scrambling for cover. On a ledge above the pair, Thane could see the silhouette of at least three people. In his moment's glimpse he got the impression they had been here a long time. They looked filthy, thin, and angry. Survivors and raiders who had been surviving the overrun, perhaps? It didn't really matter to Thane, they were shooting at him, and that meant they were targets.

We've got sentient contact! he called out to the Jedi.

 

[Sevrin Valtiere]

Sevrin was almost to the compound when blaster bolts started coming their way. The Sephi was unfazed, deflecting a few back at once as his saber was already out. The Mando’s warning also gave him a clear heads up. His eyes narrowed as he approached closer towards the sentients, holding his hands up with saber still gripped.

“We’re here to help get you out!”

This was met with more bolts coming his way. He deflected those easily enough, but it was clear this would likely be a bigger hurdle than dealing with the infected. Sevrin opened his mouth to speak again but he could tell the survivors were preparing to shoot again.

Sevrin gave a gentle nudge of the Force that would make them all comically topple backwards. He didn’t waste any time, running forward and jumping clear over the last remaining barrier. The Sephi had no idea how the Mando would get over, but that was also not really his problem. He trusted in the man to be resourceful enough to figure out a way in. Or he could simply leave, which Sevrin found more probable.

He could already hear the cursing and complaining from the people on the roof that he toppled. Sevrin’s focus was on the innocents that were trapped inside, and he could hear them already. He cut through the chains on the door and made his way in.

 

[Thane Veren]

Thane's rifle swung over to take aim at the attackers on the rooftop, but the wizard seemed to be handling it just fine. He knocked them down and Thane was forced to make a decision: keep shooting the infected or start shooting the scavengers.

And ultimately, he decided to do a little bit of both. He sent a pair of shots downrange at the infected, drawing more into the crevice and hitting two. Scorched flesh bled out onto the ground as they crumpled, and Thane sprinted to the barrier on the far side. Hissing and moaning seemed to follow him as he made his way over, letting his rifle drop to his sling once again as he leapt up. He grabbed the top and climbed, hoisting himself up and flinging one of his legs over. It wasn't half as gracious as the Jedi's fluid leap, but he hit the ground on the other side without being shot or eaten.

His rifle was in his hands again immediately and he ducked behind cover, scanning over the rooftops from over the sights of his rifle before darting toward the door the Jedi had cut open.

Ahead, he could hear screaming and more growling. A bad sign. Not to mention he expected the hostiles to be coming in behind them at any moment.

The Jedi would see the horror first. A woman was screaming and crying, barely holding the door against a group of the infected. Outside a much smaller body was on the ground being fed on by the creatures that had managed to make it inside.