Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,193
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Nov 8, 2023 14:34:04 GMT -8
Further up the hall, the ghoulish saurian spectre in fresh pursuit sank talon tipped toes into the deck, arresting its own forward charge as it screeched to a halt before the rakghoul's rotten remains. Jagged ribbons of steel curled into spirals from where the hooked obsidian digits of its scaled feet had carved into the floor, filling the corridor with the acrid aroma of burning metal, though that stench was quickly overwhelmed by a wafting carrion reek that assailed the senses. By all accounts this corpse clad crocodilian figure had climbed straight out of the crypt, possessing an offensive odor of rancid offal and soured blue milk left to fester beneath the twin suns of Tatooine. Overhead the corridor lights finally seemed to settle, no longer afflicted by whatever vampiric force had leached the illumination from their blinking bulbs. Fully exposed, the man-hide draped draconian could be seen for what it was, a black scaled barabel with the cruel countenance of a Sith. The lightsaber wielding Zabrak that had severed the skein of the rakghoul's life seemed forgotten by this gruesome character that crouched in the still steaming blood of the bisected beast. The serpentine fifth appendage extending from the twisted terrosaur's backside slithered around to its front and dipped the end of its blade tip into the congealing puddle of filth of the sithspawn's spilled guts.
A second later and the animate limb retracted and brought its gore coated edge to the dastardly draconian's open maw, where a forked tongue emerged from between the razor sharp incisors that filled its black gums and slathered the serrated Sith iron spike in a coating of filthy saliva as it sampled the rakghouls blood, clearly unconcerned with the contagions contained within or the presence of toxins on the daggers oiled surface. Smacking its jaws, the saurian Sith spat a scalding wad of phlegm on the floor, before speaking mostly to itself. "Another failure." Its scaled snout scrunched into a scowl, then eased into a more contemplative state. Scaled shoulders shrugged beneath the grizzly vanity that sheathed them in corpse-canvas. "Ssstill, one ssstep clossser to successs." It looked up, finally noticing the red and black skinned zabrak with twin blood-shine blades humming from a singular hilt. The Blood Wyrm leered at the spike headed Sith with its own mismatched eyes, the right the bloody dark red common of its species, simmering in its socket like a low burning coal beneath the charred remains of ashen fire pit. The other was a protruding multi-faceted gem that radiated with an unnatural amethyst luminance, an ocular implant of arcane design.
A leathery creak sounded as the reprehensible reptile's scaled lips twisted upwards into a villainous grin that stretched its snout into a hungry expression, steaming rivulets of saliva spilling over its fangs to run down its chin and soil the front lapel of its filthy cloak. It stood, matching Craxious for height if not entirely for the measure of personal hygiene, the corruption of its thirsty spirit outdone only by the foulness of its physical presence. "My thankz." It hissed, holding a four fingered claw across its cadaver clad chest as it spoke. "You..." The nostril slits on the end of the lisping lizard's snout flared as powerful olfactory senses examined the Zabrak's scent and picked apart its very chemical composition like a some sort of sniffing super computer. "...sssmell familiar. Who are you? Hmmm?" Its razor rows of glistening teeth grit together tightly, slitting its own gums until beads of crimson formed on its lips. "Ssspeak."
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Darth Craxious
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 80
Affiliation: Clan Savage
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Post by Darth Craxious on Nov 8, 2023 16:07:29 GMT -8
Craxious did not move a muscle when the Barabel tasted the putrid blood. It looked like tar, but it was even thicker –almost coagulated-, and smelled way worse. The Zabrak knew when one was standing before an alchemist, a Sith apothecary: the creature felled was clearly his doing, the product of his dark and foul experiments. This scaled and fanged one was clearly a plaguebearer, an infestation of the Dark to counter the overflowing healing and flourishing of the Light. The Iridonian prince wondered if he was one of the Council, he who was called Dragus and was infamous among the infamous.
The prince turned off his blades, sending the silvery sabertstaff to his black leather belt again with a simple gesture. He did not vary his mien, but adopted an almost feline stance, ready to jump on his toes, even if he knew there was little to do against the scaled Sith if he was to attack him as viciously as he did to the now dead rakghoul. His red-and-yellow irises looked back at the putrid draconic. Could it be that this Plague lord had known his sire and progenitor in times past? A possibility he could not discard. Thus, he replied in all honesty, for the Barabel left no room for anything else:
“I am he who was once called prince Vallius, son of Savage. But, for the Sith Eternal I am Darth Craxious”
He said, nonchalantly, while crossing arms over the chest. Certainly, he had the coloring of the old Viox, and their markings were similar, but Craxious was lighter, leaner and nimbler -and far younger, obviously-, and the design inscribed on his flesh was slightly different: less angular, more fluid and slightly more ornate.
“No need to thank me for the fallen ghoul, it had to be done”
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,193
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Nov 8, 2023 19:06:27 GMT -8
The scaled brow above the villainous velociraptor's bloody right eye lifted with some incredulity, but a second sniff from his flaring nostrils followed by an sulphurous exhalation of noxious breath confirmed what he already suspected. Black lips rose and twisted outwards just a little further, until the scales of his cheeks threatened to split. "You're Viox'z pup? Well, well, it seemz az though my wayward little brother haz become quite the family man, absssent the Eye'z inssstruction." Either that or he simply didn't deny himself the pleasures of the flesh. He-Who-Hungers certainty didn't restrain himself in that regard, even if their choice in partners varied quite a bit. Slowly and in synchronous rhythm the saurian Sith's shoulders began to shift from side to side, whilst the spike capped tail attached above his posterior raised from behind his shoulders above his heinously hooded head and swayed back and forth the opposite way like a serpent subject to a snake charmers song. "I know sssweet Sssirona waz adopted, but you..." He leaned a little closer, the forked tongue in his maw extending past the forest of daggers set in his jaws to flick the air, further sampling the Zabrak's scent and a million different particles at once. "...yez, you are of hiz blood. I can sssmell it in your veinz."
That probing organ returned to the dark depths from whence it appeared with a noisy slurp as the black scaled barabel sucked down the salivation and blood pooling in his lower jaw, doing his utmost to supress a hunger barely held back in the presence of the rakghoul's freshly spilled viscera spread out across the floor.
"I sssuppose that would make me your uncle." Some of the villain's viral vehemence was replaced by pomp as he draped a claw across his chest and performed a mock bow, his mismatched gaze never leaving Craxious for a second. "Allow me to introduce myssself. Tiz I, Draguz, Sssith Extraordinaire and Massster of the Alchemical Artz." As he straightened the despicable drake drifted a little closer, well within claws reach. Strangely the slit pupil of the saurian's right eye began to spiral outwards from its centre almost hypnotically, and his words became heavy with compulsion. "Haz your father mentioned your dear ol'Uncle Draguz, hmmm? Of the Eye, or of the merry murder we made together?" There was a desperation for recognition in the devilish draconian's query. It was sad to admit that during his ten year sojourn beyond the edge of civilized space, his ruinous reputation had fallen into disrepute, his name little more than a fictitious warning the parents of the Outer Rim told their misbehaving children before bed. As you could imagine it was something of a sore spot for the now destitute drake, who was dependant on the coffers of the Sith Eternal purse to continue his research into the greater mysteries of his chosen profession.
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Darth Craxious
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 80
Affiliation: Clan Savage
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Post by Darth Craxious on Nov 9, 2023 1:11:48 GMT -8
The scaled brow above the villainous velociraptor's bloody right eye lifted with some incredulity, but a second sniff from his flaring nostrils followed by an sulphurous exhalation of noxious breath confirmed what he already suspected. Black lips rose and twisted outwards just a little further, until the scales of his cheeks threatened to split. "You're Viox'z pup? Well, well, it seemz az though my wayward little brother haz become quite the family man, absssent the Eye'z inssstruction." Either that or he simply didn't deny himself the pleasures of the flesh. He-Who-Hungers certainty didn't restrain himself in that regard, even if their choice in partners varied quite a bit. Slowly and in synchronous rhythm the saurian Sith's shoulders began to shift from side to side, whilst the spike capped tail attached above his posterior raised from behind his shoulders above his heinously hooded head and swayed back and forth the opposite way like a serpent subject to a snake charmers song. "I know sssweet Sssirona waz adopted, but you..." He leaned a little closer, the forked tongue in his maw extending past the forest of daggers set in his jaws to flick the air, further sampling the Zabrak's scent and a million different particles at once. "...yez, you are of hiz blood. I can sssmell it in your veinz."That probing organ returned to the dark depths from whence it appeared with a noisy slurp as the black scaled barabel sucked down the salivation and blood pooling in his lower jaw, doing his utmost to supress a hunger barely held back in the presence of the rakghoul's freshly spilled viscera spread out across the floor."I sssuppose that would make me your uncle." Some of the villain's viral vehemence was replaced by pomp as he draped a claw across his chest and performed a mock bow, his mismatched gaze never leaving Craxious for a second. "Allow me to introduce myssself. Tiz I, Draguz, Sssith Extraordinaire and Massster of the Alchemical Artz." As he straightened the despicable drake drifted a little closer, well within claws reach. Strangely the slit pupil of the saurian's right eye began to spiral outwards from its centre almost hypnotically, and his words became heavy with compulsion. "Haz your father mentioned your dear ol'Uncle Draguz, hmmm? Of the Eye, or of the merry murder we made together?" There was a desperation for recognition in the devilish draconian's query. It was sad to admit that during his ten year sojourn beyond the edge of civilized space, his ruinous reputation had fallen into disrepute, his name little more than a fictitious warning the parents of the Outer Rim told their misbehaving children before bed. As you could imagine it was something of a sore spot for the now destitute drake, who was dependant on the coffers of the Sith Eternal purse to continue his research into the greater mysteries of his chosen profession. "My mother is Narisa Novax"He said. The Barabel moves and mannerisms were followed by the Zabrak’s attentive eyes, whose posture relaxed slightly, weight passing from both to a single leg, tilting his hips slightly and arms falling to the flanks, hands clasped around the belt. "I was born from his loins, indeed"When the dark alchemist bowed, Craxious did as much, so ever slightly, lowering his horned head.“He did mention you, Lord Dragus. How could he not? But many details of your past and the Eye elude me”Viox had only mentioned the Barabel in passing to his son. Not much did Vallius know about the Alchemist or his work, but only a faint reputation. The senior Savage was far too self-centered to care to elaborate about a past collaborator, particularly one that was bathed in Darkness such as Dragus, whose power and acumen in the Sith arts was certainly not inconsiderable and could rival even Viox himself. Of the Eye he had heard, but his knowledge was fragmentary, the cult had long been lost in obscurity and, seemingly, Dragus, his so-called kinsman, was all that remained.“My master did know your work… Uncle Dragus: Darth Malvus dabbled as well in the arcana and the lost lore of yore” He added. Of Malvus, his Sith Lord, nothing he knew, but Craxious knew the purebreed could not be reached by the Force and that his malignant will seemed to be absent from the Galaxy. Felled by someone’s blade? An alarming possibility.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,193
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Nov 9, 2023 7:00:40 GMT -8
Raising his right claw beneath his snout, the capricious carnosaur scraped at his chin with a long crooked talon in clear contemplative consideration, flaking off a few molted scales in the process. "That'z sssomething, I sssuppose." Hissed the hateful Hakusar, manipulating his tail around to the front before plunging its bladed tip into the larger portion of the bisected rakghouls repulsive remains, lifting it from the floor as coils of gooey intestinal rope sluiced from the open cavity to further soil the previously immaculate floor. "Az touching az thiz reunion iz, I really mussst be off. Sssadly the affairz of ssstate and ssscience leave thiz humble High Lord of Famine with little free time of which to sssquawk sssocially with my fellow Sssith." With that statement expressed, the Hungering One turned on his heel and prepared to stalk back up the hall in the direction from which he originally arrived. Before he made it a single step, a static laced crackle of his comlink sounded and broadcast a radio transmission from a squad of Sith Troopers currently in the field.Gah! They're everywhere! FWAP!-FWAP! Keeping blasting! More static, and then... Milord, the hot labs are overrun! This is more than a containment leak! They're...Agh!"The transmission ended immediately after, suggesting the squad commander had met a rather unpleasant demise, especially if that chewing in the background was any indicator. Dragus scaled brow creased thoughtfully, his tail still holding the cadaverous mutant specimen aloft in the air as pungent ichor continued to weep from its opened belly. "That'z not good." The Great Devourer had assumed only one of his living specimens had managed to escape, having chased it for some length up turbolift shafts, through rodent infested vents, and finally down the corridor in which he currently found himself. It sounded like, dare he think it, he may have another outbreak on his claws. The Dark Apothecary doubted very much the Supreme Leader would be as forgiving this time after forbidding the mad alchemist from pursuing his experiments aboard the Nullus Beacon, due to a few previous...mmm, unexpected mishaps. He needed to deal with this quickly, and quietly. It was then that a rather brilliant idea wormed its may into his manipulatively maniacal brain.! He spun back around, unwittingly flinging the gory offering upon his tail against the corridor wall where it erupted in a filthy explosion of rapidly decaying meat and diseased bio-matter. The Blood Wyrm's gruesome visage was stretched into its signature sinister smile, granting Craxious a full view of the rancid morsels of carrion trapped between his predatory pleurodonts. "On sssecond thought, my mossst martially capable nephew, I think it iz far time we became properly acquainted. Be a dear an accompany thiz old drake down to hiz laboratory on deck 13." He waved a dismissive claw. "Oh, don't pay any mind to that transssmission. Stormtrooperz have a habit of exaggerating situationz to excussse their poor marksssmanship. Mossst can barely hit the broadssside of a sssandcrawler when itz parked right in front of them." He dragged his forked tongue over his bleeding lips, lapping up the vitae streaming across his scaled chin, then motioned for the Zabrak to to follow him towards the nearby turbolift. "They are rather tasssty though."
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Darth Craxious
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 80
Affiliation: Clan Savage
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Post by Darth Craxious on Nov 9, 2023 15:20:33 GMT -8
Seemingly Dragus had a true potential infestation going on: without checking it in, it could become unpleasant for the space station as a whole; having to deal with a plague of rabid rakghouls was no mere pastime. The Zabrak nodded, and followed Dragus into the turbolift. Craxious could sense the turbolence in the Dark. People were dying, in abject fear, levels below. The Zabrak Sith could almost smell the carnage, and it fed his power.
“I will follow your lead, uncle Dragus”
He said, flatly. It seemed so weird to call such a… fearsome thing his uncle, but it was better to remain silent on the subject and agree with the Barabel. Also, it would be better to remain in the good graces of the Dark Apothecary, one of the Council who ruled the Sith Eternal.
"You will have my blades to deal with such beasts"
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,193
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Dragus on Nov 12, 2023 9:08:42 GMT -8
"I sssuspect we shall need them." Replied the Great Devourer is an ominously dark tone, allowing the silence that follows and stalks them to the turbolift to say what he refused to put into spoken word. His assessment of the situation was far from truthful. He knows that, he knows Craxious knows that too, but lies are often far more comforting than truth. It's why he regularly wrapped himself in layers of deceit the same way a Hutt blankets itself in slime, until his perception of reality blends with the one he fabricated for sake of ease, and he too accepts those false version of events. But even the mistruths he attempts to sell to himself and others can't deny what any halfwit with a shred of Force sensitivity can feel occurring in the decks below, a writhing mass of feral instinct and diseased flesh as equally repugnant as the pestilent souls trapped within those putrid mutant husks. There are so many of them. Why are there so many? Even if containment was breached, he didn't have that many specimens aboard the station. Even if they infected every single trooper and deranged cultist that served as his menials upon that deck, they still would not have been so numerous. It was quite baffling.When the two Sith arrived at the turbolift, they found a squad of four Sith Troopers in red quadruple-layered gammaplast, each carrying a matching ST-W48 blaster rifle across their armoured chests. Their auras were so unmistakably similar it was obvious they were clones, first generation Nu-Jakes bred on Kamino, the Dark Apothecary's attempt at replacing baseline humanity with his own genetically superior template."Milord." Said the squad-leader, his voice cold as a killers, utterly void of the empathy that plagued the unmodified masses of the species they'd evolved beyond. "Get in." Demanded Dragus with a snarl as droplets from his bleeding gums slipped down his throat and rattled in his esophagus in the form of a wet gurgle. His pleased demeanor from moments ago had already been warped by the anger bubbling up from the depths of his disturbed thoughts, frustration and irritation intermingling into a slow simmering rage just beneath the surface of his light swallowing scales. The saurian Sith led his newfound family member inside the turbolift, taking a position towards the rear while the four troopers stepped in after them, their gleaming crimson clad bodies between the two Sith and the doors. When the mechanical portal closed behind the six occupants of the lift, a sense of weightless followed as it began to rapidly descend towards their destination. Running a forked tongue over wet lips, the black scaled barabel looked over at Craxious and stated simply what likely needn't be said."Prepare yourssself."
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Darth Craxious
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 80
Affiliation: Clan Savage
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Post by Darth Craxious on Nov 13, 2023 10:31:44 GMT -8
"I sssuspect we shall need them." Replied the Great Devourer is an ominously dark tone, allowing the silence that follows and stalks them to the turbolift to say what he refused to put into spoken word. His assessment of the situation was far from truthful. He knows that, he knows Craxious knows that too, but lies are often far more comforting than truth. It's why he regularly wrapped himself in layers of deceit the same way a Hutt blankets itself in slime, until his perception of reality blends with the one he fabricated for sake of ease, and he too accepts those false version of events. But even the mistruths he attempts to sell to himself and others can't deny what any halfwit with a shred of Force sensitivity can feel occurring in the decks below, a writhing mass of feral instinct and diseased flesh as equally repugnant as the pestilent souls trapped within those putrid mutant husks. There are so many of them. Why are there so many? Even if containment was breached, he didn't have that many specimens aboard the station. Even if they infected every single trooper and deranged cultist that served as his menials upon that deck, they still would not have been so numerous. It was quite baffling.When the two Sith arrived at the turbolift, they found a squad of four Sith Troopers in red quadruple-layered gammaplast, each carrying a matching ST-W48 blaster rifle across their armoured chests. Their auras were so unmistakably similar it was obvious they were clones, first generation Nu-Jakes bred on Kamino, the Dark Apothecary's attempt at replacing baseline humanity with his own genetically superior template."Milord." Said the squad-leader, his voice cold as a killers, utterly void of the empathy that plagued the unmodified masses of the species they'd evolved beyond. "Get in." Demanded Dragus with a snarl as droplets from his bleeding gums slipped down his throat and rattled in his esophagus in the form of a wet gurgle. His pleased demeanor from moments ago had already been warped by the anger bubbling up from the depths of his disturbed thoughts, frustration and irritation intermingling into a slow simmering rage just beneath the surface of his light swallowing scales. The saurian Sith led his newfound family member inside the turbolift, taking a position towards the rear while the four troopers stepped in after them, their gleaming crimson clad bodies between the two Sith and the doors. When the mechanical portal closed behind the six occupants of the lift, a sense of weightless followed as it began to rapidly descend towards their destination. Running a forked tongue over wet lips, the black scaled barabel looked over at Craxious and stated simply what likely needn't be said."Prepare yourssself." Craxious could sense the inform mass of mindless ghouls that was laying waste to whatever Dragus deemed fit to call laboratory –even if he suspected was more akin to a butcher’s stall-, and the hatred, fear and malignant hunger that was almost intoxicating. The Zabrak tried to harness all those feelings, to fuel himself. He flexed muscles of legs and arms, readying himself for what was to come. He did not verbally reply to his would-be uncle, simply nodded. He grabbed the lightsaber and prepared himself. His last thought before the carnage was glancing at the stormtroopers: he wondered what kind of men were those, even if they wore a markedly similar armor to what Lord Viox once fashioned his legions after. Interestingly enough, the Sith had a penchant for being unoriginal, red menacing armor. What a cliché. Then, he focused himself, delving deep into the Force and seeking to fuel his own hatred, source of his strength and prowess. With a touch, he divided the twin-bladed saberstaff into two smaller lightsabers, to wield them in dual fashion, for he presumed that would give him more mobility and speed: and against a moving wall of flesh equipped with claws, teeth and feral instincts those were much needed.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,193
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Nov 14, 2023 4:27:36 GMT -8
CHIME! A single note sounded as the turbolift lurched to a stop at its destination, followed by a whoosh of wind as the automatic doors slid apart to reveal the dark entrance hall of deck 13, where the Dark Apothecary maintained a research facility and hot laboratory. A putrescent breeze of rotten humid air was first to assail their senses as the atmosphere scrubbers of the lift struggled against the wafting stench emanating out of the connecting corridor. The overhead lights appeared to be entirely nonfunctional, casting the entire space into perpetual darkness. Four blaster rifles clicked up against the gammaplast shoulder plates of the Sith Troopers as they immediately moved to action like precise tinker-tanker soldiers, little more than play pieces in this deadly game of real life dejarik.
"Motion detected." Said the squad leader dispassionately. Four brilliant beams of conical light projected from the ends of their blaster barrels, while the tumour like protrusions on their right shoulder that served as motion trackers for low light environments such as this filled their helmet HUDs with targeting data.
"If it movez..." Hissed the drake lord through grit fangs, bursting blood bubbles on his lips as he breathed through his locked jaws. "...kill it. Now, advance!" As he snarled that last command, the hall lit up in a chorus of red light as streaming bolts of hot laser crisscrossed the deck, dispelling the darkness and exposing the fiends that hid in the shadows. Just as they had felt, there were rakghoul in record number, the same leathery fleshed creatures Craxious had encountered on the deck above. They shrieked in feral ferocity as they threw themselves towards the open lift, raising mutant arms that ended in claws more akin to farming sickles with edges as sharp as razor blades. They screeched bestial shouts from filthy mouths full of yellow teeth. Not all were naked either, many were wearing the tattered rags of cultists or patchwork armour of the troopers that had been assigned to the deck.
That explained some of what the Famine Lord was sensing, but not all of it. He still felt a greater swell of parasitic life further down the dark corridors ahead. As high impulse shots banged off gammaplast clad rakghoul, the troopers escorting the two Sith switched between the underslung quarrel launchers beneath their blaster barrels, firing heavy impact explosive bolts that transformed mutant flesh into gooey eruptions of sizzling gore. The squad steadily advanced out of the lift.
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Darth Craxious
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 80
Affiliation: Clan Savage
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Post by Darth Craxious on Nov 15, 2023 11:35:00 GMT -8
The younger Sith did not show any emotion as the blaster fire illuminated the chamber, and the ghouls charged forward, driven by their mindless hunger. Craxious ignited both blades and nimbly sped up his pace, leaving twin charred scars on the floor as he ran. He could sense, more than see, the writhing mass before him, but it did not matter. A Sith lord could see, could feel anything around them, and feed on its anger and wrath. Animal-like, beastly, the ghouls were many, but not as many as to defeat two Darksiders. The Zabrak raised both blades in unison when reaching the first ghoul, slicing its anxious front limbs, that fell. The beast tried to bite off Craxious’ own head, but he wasn’t there anymore, having simply moved to a side, bringing ruin to the infected beast’s flank, covering floor with entrails as it fell. The Sith moved onto the next ghoul, employing both blades in a deathly dance, for he moved swiftly, agile as a serpent; certainly, he did have some of Viox in him, but Vallius was quicker and less heavy than his progenitor –and still less powerful than the would-be emperor was on his late age. Sometimes, Craxious switched his stance and joined both sabers again, to face a particularly stubborn feral beast with a blur of hits and, at occasion, used the Force, throwing and manipulating one of the blades with invisible hands while he physically focused elsewhere, the freed hand crackling with lightning, charring the skin of ghouls, bursting it open in cancerous fetidness. He did not seem to care for anything but the carnage, and baring teeth he looked fiercely devoted to the slaughter at hand, did not seem to be bothered by the numerical disadvantage, at all.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,193
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Nov 17, 2023 6:19:59 GMT -8
To the untrained eye, the way the creatures threw themselves into the onslaught of blaster fire and Craxious' searing blades might have seemed random, but the Great Devourer could see a sort of primitive pattern in the way the packs approached. Four down the middle, four from the left flank, then the right. There was some unseen force driving them, a will behind the chaos, like the a Geonosian hive serving the whims of its queen. The pattern changed as the first few assaults failed, retried with greater numbers, coming at different angles. The narrow dimensions of the corridor funneled the majority of the creatures directly into the line of fire, and those that made it past were quickly brought down by the Zabrak and his twin blades. From the rear, the black scaled barabel lowered to knee and examined one of the still smoking corpses bisected by his all to eager horned headed companion. There was something familiar about the creature, something that set it apart from the others initially to reveal themselves in the dark confines of deck 13. The skull was elongated, almost snout like with course black whiskers jutting from its side instead of on the creatures leathery scalp. The teeth were longer and finer, more fang than jagged bone nubs. It was smaller than the one they had encountered upstairs, less man and more...mouse?Flexing his claws in a series of sinuous cracks, the Blood Wyrm slipped his appendage into the warm guts of the disembowelled beast and rutted around inside, until his talons found what he was looking for and tore it free. Held in his scaly palm was the small meaty lump of the mutant's heart, dead by all accounts but host to a colony of wriggling parasites, squirming in the rotten meat they had made host of long before the creature had undergone its recent transformation. Damnation. It was as he had feared, but certainly it accounted for the great number of the rakghoul he had sensed. Gritting his fangs until blood spilled from his lips, Dragus squeezed the pestilent organ in his palm until it squished from between his talons as a meaty paste. He rose back to his feet and wiped the soiled claw on his manflesh robe, mismatched eyes focused ahead where the troopers and Craxious had felled the last pack assault.The bark of blasters quieted as the rakghoul seemed to slither back into the darkness, retreating for now but surely not for long. Dragus placed his claws on his hips and shook his snout from side to side, the tail behind him flicking back in forth in angry agitation."Thessse aren't rakghoul." He finally said, though the words left a bitter taste on his forked tongue. "They're ratghoul." The Nullus Beacon's primary workforce of ranats that infested every deck, running essential systems from sanitation all the way up to serving the slop in the cafeteria galley, had become infected by the disease.
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Darth Craxious
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 80
Affiliation: Clan Savage
Traffic Light: Green
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Post by Darth Craxious on Nov 23, 2023 16:12:58 GMT -8
The Zabrak turned off his blades, again forming a saberstaff, and returned it to its belt with a flourish. He removed some gnarly bits that had fallen on his umblemished tunic; the fabric could not be stained, it was handmade.
"You mean the ranats are infected?"
Said Craxious, turning on his heels to face the putrid Barabel who styled himself as his uncle.
"They number in the thousands. Hundreds of thousands possibly. All the thralls could have been turned!"
This would be too much even for a cadre of Sith lords. His mind imagined the beacon floating endlessly, filled with the biten carcasses of Darksiders and filled with a myriad abominations that turned it into their home.
"What do you suggest... uncle?"
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,193
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Nov 24, 2023 7:32:14 GMT -8
"Let'z not panic jussst yet. They won't have had time to ssspread far throughout the ssstation." Pulling back the left folds of his man-flesh cloak, the black scaled barabel revealed the trusty satchel of alchemy supplies that rested against his left hip. He dug a filthy claw into the sack and rummaged around for a moment, then extracted his appendage and brought the comlink device his talons were wrapped around to the end of his snout. "Squeakerz!" He snapped. "Are you there?"
After a few static laced seconds the comlink device began to squawk with the rodent squeaks of the Dark Apothecary's trusted ranat assistant, speaking in a rapid-flurry of indecipherable squeals that the saurian Sith somehow seemed to comprehend, bobbing his snout as he listened to his hench-vermin's irate screeching.
"Calm yourssself, Squeakerz. The sssituation iz well in claw. Are you by chance near the Nulluz Beacon command centre?" Squeak-Squeak! "Good. I want you to lock down deckz 7 through 21. Blassst doorz and ray shieldz in every perimeter compartment, jussst like we had a hull breach. Be quick about it too."
Switching, off the comlink, he returned the device to his bag and returned his attention to Craxious and the four troopers in attention around him. He nodded his head, satisfied with the precaution he had taken, before addressing the group.
"That should contain the outbreak. We'd better get back to the lift before we get trapped down here too..." Before the twisted terrorsaur could complete that last sentence, a solid foot thick slab of magnetised quadanium steel slammed shut behind them, sealing off the turbolift. Red warning lights began to flash overhead, dispelling some of the dark whilst creating sinister shadows every time they beamed to life. "Ah, hmmm. I sssuppose I should have ssseen that coming. No matter. We might az well handle thiz sssituation ourselvez sssince we're already down here." He indicated the corridor leading further down into the depths of the deck they were currently with the point of his curling index talon. "Thessse deckz are attached to the Beacon'z northeassstern docking arm. My winter rossse Darth Assstera haz been working on a sssecret project in the far hangar found at the armz end. Sssomething called the 'Sidiouz', though I haven't the faintest idea what it could be. We may find helpful alliez in that quarter at leassst."
Turning around, the voracious villain focused his amethyst ocular lens on the ratghoul corpses still steaming on the deck. He scraped a crooked talon against the scales of his chin as he pondered aloud.
"Did you notice anything unusssual about the way thessse creaturez attacked? It waz almossst az if they were being coordinated by a central intelligence. If I didn't know any better I'd sssay a Nekghoul waz controlling them, but do ratghoul behave the sssame az regular rakghoul? I think it iz too early to draw a conclusssion. We should invessstigate the deck and sssee what we can find."
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Darth Craxious
The Sith Eternal
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Affiliation: Clan Savage
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Post by Darth Craxious on Nov 25, 2023 11:34:46 GMT -8
"They did follow patterns, from what I observed. Had a certain flow, some will behind it. Not that it made any difference"
He added, reassured.
"I will follow your lead, Lord Dragus"
Said the Zabrak, flatly. He hoped the putrid draconid would soon find a satisfactory solution. Craxious wondered how such a crazed mind, erratic and lost within its own ways, could be of any use, besides to sow chaos and spread torment. Dragus was not friend of any order and the younger Sith started to see why Viox might have parted ways.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,193
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
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Post by Dragus on Nov 27, 2023 6:54:02 GMT -8
Easing a claw down to his right side, the serpentine Sith Lord pulled back the folds of his man-hide robe to reveal a silvered cylindrical hilt with a hooked end hanging from a belt of sinew. He plucked the device from his hip and held it out to his side, preemptively wincing before he slid a scaled thumb over a protruding ignition stud on the casing. SNAP/HISS! A shrieking red beam of plasma lanced from the hilt's emitter out to a length of 1.2 meters, hissing and snarling with exaggerated audibility as the unstable dragite crystal housed in the duranium shell created an energy blade that was unusually loud, practically screaming in barely contained vehemence. When struck, the blade resonated and produced sound waves capable of disassembling anything near its wicked length at a molecular level, turning even the most precise slice into a gapping wound of ripped flesh. The dark draconian's features eased as he adjusted to the caterwauling blade's additional volume, holding it out in front of him like a lit torch as he led the troopers and Craxious further into the depths of deck thirteen.
Everywhere one looked there were signs of disarray, abandoned carts of medical supplies, cracked data-pads, dumped stacks of flimsiplast, which was to say nothing of the gore staining the walls and floor. The ceiling too, he noticed, as he allowed his mismatched eyes to linger on his surroundings. There were still plenty of ratghoul to be found, less numbersome than the initial waves that sought to bring them down when they first arrived. The Sith Troopers spread out as the group traversed deeper into the heart of the hot-labs, putting down any creature they saw with a flurry of lethal crimson bolts. They passed containment cells that formerly housed specimens, the doors disconcertedly left open, locks disabled or released despite the security precautions. Dragus stopped at one and examined a blood smeared keypad on the wall. As he suspected, someone had intentionally opened the cells, overriding the locks by entering the appropriate password: ewoklover69. He scowled, baring a mouthful of bleeding fangs. Strangely, the corpse of a rakghoul specimen could be found inside the cell, near devoured down to its rotten bones, and even those appeared to have been cracked open and the marrow supped upon.
"The ratghoul..." Hissed Famine, kneeling down to examine the half eaten mutant, probing its remains with claw and tail blade. "...they are eating the rakghoul. Remarkable." He exclaimed, rising to stand before turning to Craxious. "The viruz mussst have mutated. Thessse new creaturez appear to be afflicted with a dominate ssstrain that causez them to consssider themselvez a breed apart. I've never ssseen thossse afflicted with the disssease turn on each other like thiz. Absssolutely marvelouz."
FWAP-FWAP! FWAP-FWAP! Several of the troopers began to open up with their rifles, firing rapidly into the dark as their HUDs delivered targeting data provided by their motion detectors. "Contacts." Stated the squad leader in a murderous tone, taking a kneeling position so the four soldiers could deliver overlapping fire down the deck. It seemed like just a few at first, but these stragglers grew more numerous by the second, and the flow wasn't stopping. Dragus crossed the hall to a sealed door with a radiological warning sign marking it. He quickly typed in a passcode on the doors keypad with a few talon strokes, causing it to open with a whoosh. He then looked over his shoulder. "Come, Craxiouz. I know a shortcut." He then growled at the Sith Troopers whose blaster charges were clicking down. "You four, ssstay here and hold them off."
The door the Dark Apothecary had opened led into a laboratory of horrific nature, replete with tanks of alchemized fluid and gurneys with harnessed specimens bound to surgical steel slabs. The air was thick with the stench of anti-septic.
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Darth Craxious
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 80
Affiliation: Clan Savage
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Post by Darth Craxious on Nov 27, 2023 12:44:56 GMT -8
That a sizable part of Dragus' menagerie seemed to be free and roaming around did not seem to trouble the Barabel, but it did plant a seed of unease within Craxious. Looking at the draconid he could very well have crossed a wampa with a rancor and a sarlacc, creating some tendril-clad fur-covered monstruosity to make one of the Sith of Old shiver. He did want to dwell on such things, neither he desired to offend his would-be uncle. He did not even glance the troopers as they left, simply ignited his saber and followed the putrid alchemist. The laboratory was as... depraved as he expected. The Zabrak bared his teeth at some of the most horrific creations of the bloody apothecary, but he said nothing. The whole place was fully bathed in Dark Energies. The Force was manipulated to the extreme and beyond, nature twisted and corrupted by a malignant will. Craxious wondered how had Dragus ended here, in the Sith Eternal, and how a being of such infamy was still kept alive and thriving. He was powerful, undoubtedly, he was twisted and maybe useful at times, but Dragus was... a force of pure Chaos, one so dangerous that by mere error could drown a system in screams, blood and guts, after releasing some bubonic disease or turning the population into mindless drones of hunger. However, what he thought about it, he did not shared, and he remained silent. Craxious would rather please the Barabel than crossing him and, such, he followed his scaly tail through the gore-covered chambers.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,193
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Dragus on Nov 28, 2023 11:55:36 GMT -8
All manner of bizarre beast and curious creature were contained within the tanks of the laboratory. A hairless wookiee, a toothless trandoshan, a legless hutt... Wait, did hutts have legs? He couldn't recall. There were fusions of living things, and fusions of thing that were not. The room was a repository of nightmares given physical form, most of which remained sedate within the viscus depths of their containment tanks, save for those with their eyes sutured open that were forced to endure the torment of every waking moment. Dragus crossed the lab as the sound of blaster fire in the hall outside ceased and gave way to horrific human screams as, judging by all those shrieks of inhuman suffering, the Nu-Jakes were being ripped apart and feasted upon by a corridor full of hungry ratghoul. Finding a light-switch on the wall, he gave it a flick of a claw, awakening the overhead lumens that if anything made the lab more disturbing for being completely revealed. Deactivating his lightsaber, he returned the cylindrical hilt to his hip and approached a computer terminal, clacking his talons across the controls as he brought up a visual display of the decks cameras on the console screen. Practically every nook and cranny of the deck was host to filthy mutant vermin, and most certainly not the sort he typically preferred.
The Dark Apothecary lifted his gaze and focused his attention on Craxious as the Zabrak bared his teeth at a number of his unique and somewhat controversial creations. "Ah, admiring my work, hmmm?" He grinned with a pleasurable hiss. "Thiz iz where the magic happenz. Well, mossstly ssscience, a little sssorcery I sssuppose, certainly a great deal of gene manipulation and alchemical alteration. If you've been with uz any length of time, dear nephew, I'm sssure you've heard the dogma essspoused by my fellowz on the Council. Many a Sssith within the Eternal rankz have an eye towardz immortality, az though sssuch a thing could be accomplished. Tiz the ssselfish nature of the Sssith, I sssuppose, though a foolish notion if you asssk me. Everything diez in time, tiz the way of thingz. Even I will expire eventually, though I'm much too busssy to sssuccumb to the final sssleep any time sssoon." Drool seeped from between his fangs, spilling over his lips in scalding deluge, running down his chin as steaming ropes that soiled the front of his robe. Every syllable stressed spattered the console screen with spittle and flecks of blood, quickly obscuring the screen and forcing the drake to wipe away the grime with the filthy sleeve of his cloak. "Az any parent knowz, we live on through our children. Look around, Craxiouz, thessse are mine. A very diverssse and unusssual lot, I'll grant you that, but I love them all the sssame...in my manner. In the sssame way, my dearessst brother Viox livez on within you, my boy. You carry the Sssavage line within you, and perhapz one day your own litter of whelpz or chosssen apprentice will outlive you. That iz true immortality."
He returned his attention to the screen, clicking and clacking away until chips of plasteel began to break off the computer keys and become caught in the sticky layer of drool cooling across the Famine Lord's lapel. After a moment his right eye widened, then narrowed at the brow, clearly spying something of interest. "Successs, I've found jussst the thing that should help uz. Shelve B-12." Stepping away from the console, the saurian Sith stalked across the lab and pulled a shelving rack out from the wall, extending it halfway across the room until it rocked to a stop. On the second level the drake counting his way across from one to twelve. "Nine, ten, eleven, and here we are. Wonderful." Sitting on the durasteel rack were a number of pressurized cylinders, tanks approximately two meters long with a diameter a fifth of that. He patted the pressurized containers with a claw, before turning to explain himself to his fellow Sith. "Cyanogen gaz. Quite poisonouz to mossst speciez. You sssee I needed a number of Celegianz to keep my beloved blimp buoyant and they sssimply can't do without a sssteady sssupply of the ssstuff. We should be able to connect thessse cannisterz to the air-circulatorz for the floor." He scratched his chin with a claw, flaking away old scales. "That ought to do the trick. They'll be drowning in their own blood in no time at all, asssuming we can get to the maintenance corridor."
Taking a look around, Dragus spotted a repulsor sled and pointed to it with a claw. "Ah, there we are. You can load them all onto that. We shouldn't require more than a dozen. I should warn you, they are quite heavy." He said, before taking a seat, clearly not intending to help. "Normally I would asssist you of courssse, but I think I may have pulled a hamssstring during that earlier chassse on the deck above. I could do with a bit of a sssit for a moment. Remember, lift with your legz, not with your back."
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Darth Craxious
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 80
Affiliation: Clan Savage
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Post by Darth Craxious on Nov 30, 2023 2:05:16 GMT -8
"Trying to live forever is a fool's errand"
He said, flatly.
"It has only ended in too many a Sith failing utterly because they failed to see beyond themselves"
Craxious' gaze dwell for a moment on what looked like an unholy mix of Quarren and Mon Calamari. The brain was somehow half-exposed, pulsating, and long tentacles surrounded a circular mouth with jagged teeth. The body was lean and thin, covered in weird markings and having a singular bone estructure. He wondered how much wisdom laid behind Dragus' apparent madness and eccentricity.
"Having descendants is a... pecular thing. They can be a great success or a great disappointment"
He wasn't too sure of what Viox thought of him, if he thought anything or if he was still alive. Of his actual paternal figure, Malvus, nothing he knew, but his malignant will was nothing to be seen. Dead at least? Maybe so.
"I have a welp or two myself. I had concubines; males for pleasure and females for breeding. My noble sire thought I had to father a next generation..."
His thoughts wandered for a moment, before focusing back and looking at the cylinders. He snapped back into reality, snarling in what could be considered half a laugh and half a growl.
"Why using the legs when one has the Force, uncle?"
Craxious commanded unseen strenght to lift the cylenders from the rack, hand raised. He had lifted heavier things and, thusly, it proved no great challenge for him; even if it was a bit tiring to do it on its own after slaughtering a score of ghouls moments before. The Sith placed the canisters in orderly fashion where Dragus expected them to be placed.
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Dragus
The Sith Eternal
In front of the Empire, to all you Vader haters out there. We'll blow your planet up.
Posts: 1,193
Affiliation: Sith Eternal
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Dragus on Dec 1, 2023 18:55:56 GMT -8
It pleased He-Who-Hungers to hear that Craxious had taken the time to spread his seed and treat himself to a smorgasbord of sensual entertainments. Too many Sith let their lust for power get in the way of savouring the finer pleasures of life. Best to enjoy such things now before the Eye scoured the galaxy in cleansing fire. He made a mental note to introduce the young Zabrak to his harem of pleasure pawed ewok maidens after they dealt with this troublesome situation.
"Ah, the Force, of courssse! Good thinking, my boy. I knew there waz more in that head of yourz than just spikez. Siss, Siss, Siss." He cackled as he approached the loaded repulsor sled and placed his claws on the controls, manipulating the sled towards a set of doors on the far end of the laboratory. "Judging by what I sssaw on the sssecurity cameraz, reaching the maintenance corridor will be no sssmall feat. The Children of Decay are a prosssperous race, breeding rapidly in any environment. It'z what makez them sssuch ussseful labourerz. There will be at leassst a few hundred of the infected between uz and our dessstination. Once we're through thessse doorz, we'll need to make two leftz, then head ssstraight through the menagerie. After that itz a right at the garbage disssposal and we'll be there. Connecting thessse tankz to the atmossspheric systemz for the deck should be a sssimple matter. At the very leassst, I'm certain we'll find instructionz. The Sssupreme Leader haz a fondnesss for laminated inssstruction manualz."
Dragus lowered a hand to his lightsaber hilt, then removed it without drawing the weapon, thinking better. Speed would be their greatest ally in this endeavour. If they got bogged down fighting these creatures, even with their combined might, eventually they'd be overwhelmed by the sheer number of waves. They couldn't afford to tarry overlong. He squeezed his thumb talon on the repulsor control, setting the directional speed to maximum so that the sled would require no more than a push to carry it quickly in the desired direction. Listening closely, he could hear the scrape of claw and chittering of fangs on the other side of the door.
"I'll push the sssled while you clear the way. Hmmm, better take thiz." Reaching into his satchel of alchemical supplies, the drake lord retrieved a hypo-injector pre-loaded with a red-vial of liquid. He tossed the device to the other Sith. "It'z a vaccine I've developed. It should inoculate you againssst the worssst of the viruz, though I would ssstill advissse you do your bessst to avoid getting bit. Rakghoul disssease isssn't the only pathogen thessse creaturez will sssurely be carrying. Even before mutation, the ranatz were carrierz of all manner of disssease. Parasssite infesssted too, the lot of them. That'z why I don't eat them, usssually. They give me the worssst indigessstion." He returned his claws to the sled controls and gave his tail a warm-up snap. "Alright, let'z do thiz."
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Darth Craxious
The Sith Eternal
Posts: 80
Affiliation: Clan Savage
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Post by Darth Craxious on Dec 3, 2023 2:01:29 GMT -8
The Zabrak grabbed the vaccine mid air. He looked at it for a moment, then injected the red liquid by pressing the canister to his neck, releasing a needle that punctured his skin. According to Dragus it... should be enough. But one could never be too sure with the putrid apothecary and his alchemy. Grunting, he tossed the empty vaccine to a side. Craxious pretended not to hear about the draconid peculiar culinary habits, it was too much even for a Sith, and he focused at the task at hand, silently.
He ignited the saber and sliced wide chunks of the metal covering the walls, then commanded the Force to raise them over the ground. Without further ado, Vallius openned the door, that slide into its hingers without noise. A writhing mass of mutated putrid limbs and fearsome teeth and claws awaited, ready to torn both Siths to pieces. But, a Sith lord was no easy meal, less so the pair that was awaited. With a flourish, Craxious grabed the steel planks he had removed from the walls and now made apparent their purpose, with a gesture he placed them horizontally and sent them forward with great strenght. Propelled by the Force, the slabs turned into two enormous razors, their edges still burning hot from the lightsaber they cut like a scalpel through the ranks of ghouls, slicing scores of them like they were butter. A cascade of gore splattered the whole hallway, with limbs, heads and guts covering every surface. The howls, screams and agonishing yelling filled the room. Craxious turned to look at the Barabel. They could go on. And so they would, with Craxious using the slabs of steel to comb the surface of the hallways and his double-bladed weapon to clean up the corridors from those who had avoided the initial carnage. He moved fast and nimble and very rarely stood more than a moment on the very same spot. Feline-like, he slaughtered the cancerous mutants without emotion, like a hunter.
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