RPG When Humans are the Enemy

[Raiha]

[COLOR=MediumTurquoise][i]Rena bared her teeth and trotted after Ben, tail wagging like a banner. She could sense his worry, but other than that she felt nothing much. However.... ...that feline feminine intuition was certainly picking up something on the radar. Something big. Something bad.

She hissed quietly through her fangs and put on a slowly changing alteration of speed. She passed through the crowds of massing clones carefully, weaving in and out, Ben and Crystal following as best they could. Soon, she could sight the sense clones and came to a screeching halt. Her claws dug into bare rock and she stopped instantly, tail plumed, eyes wild with energy, her tongue lolling out slightly.[/i]

".... .....what'sgoing on?"

"My powers are being blocked.. ....something's interfering."

[i]She inhaled deeply, her amber purple eyes closing, lashes obscuring her view. Instantly a scent flashed across her mind and her tail flew up, eyes snapping wide open again.[/i]

"Humans."

[i]Ben turned to look at her.[/i]

"Blocking our energy?"

".....but not my other senses. They're crippling any sort of psychic energy. ...good thing feminine feline intuition remains. ........ ....bastards."[/COLOR]

[Boba Fett]

[color=green]Jedgar hurried through the labyrinthine tunnel system, attempting to find a middle ground between speed and stealth. Were he to be too slow, the clones wouldn?t be warned in time and the humans might win the battle. If he moved too fast, it was possible a human or cave scorpion might hear him and attack.

Gripping his dagger tightly as a result of his worry, the weasel clone reached the end of the small passageway that he?d been jogging down and cautiously peeked into the cavernous chamber that lay ahead.

This cavern was lit by glowing moss, which cast an eerie glow over the entire area as if it were the surface. The room was dotted with further tunnel openings, which lead in every direction but up. Aside from a few dead cave scorpions, random scavengers and common insects, the cavern was empty.

Wracking his brain for the right tunnel to take he failed to notice two humans sneak up behind him. Each was dressed in brown tunnel camouflage and carried unnecessarily large laser carbines. One of them clamped his hand over Jedgar?s mouth, which the other pressed the barrel of his weapon to the back of the unsuspecting clone?s head.

[b]Scout 1[/b]: ?Struggling, making any sound or resisting will get you killed. Put your hands up and turn around slowly.?

[I]Jedgar, still shaken by the suddenness of his capture, began to comply. They hadn?t seen his dagger, which he?d been concealing by pressing it against his chest. As his hands began to rise above his head, he began to tense.

With speed that would impress all but the most physically fit human, Jedgar whipped his dagger up and pushed the laser carbine away from his head. The man who was holding it fired out of nerves and seared the earth ceiling with a blast of blue energy. His partner reached for his pistol, but Jedgar kicked out with his right leg and sent the human flying into the wall. He hit a protruding rock with a sickening crunch and crumpled to the ground, where he lay still.

Without pause, Jedgar stopped pressing his dagger blade against the carbine barrel. The scout who was holding it was exerting all of his strength in an attempt to point the weapon back at his opponent. This caused him to overcompensate and swing his weapon down to the ground. Jedgar grinned, and severed his opponent?s jugular vein with deft slash from his blade. The carbineer crumpled to the ground, bleeding profusely.[/I]

After wiping the sweat from his brow, Jedgar took the first carabineer?s belt and tucked the other human?s pistol into it. You could never be too heavily armed in these tunnels?

Just before he entered the cavern, Jedgar heard voices coming from one of the nearby tunnels. Sure enough, out of one of the tunnels came several Chameleon clones, a Panther, a bird of some kind and an armadillo-looking creature. He only recognized one, the chameleon clone with silver amorphous bracelets.
Ben.[/color]

[Ben]

[I]"Ben."[/I]

Ben perked his head up. He thought he had just heard something.

[I]"Ben."[/I] Jedgar repeated quietly. Jedgar was no Senser, but he knew that Ben would notice his name being silently repeated. [I]"Ben."[/I]

[I]"Who is it?"[/I] Ben called out.

"Who's what?" asked several people at once.

[I]"Jedgar. Jedgar. Jedgar. Jedgar."[/I] Jedgar repeated. Since he couldn't project his thoughts, he'd have to have Ben pick up on them.

[I]"Jedgar?"[/I] Ben said. Jedgar could hear his words in his head.

[I]"Yes, Ben. I'm here."[/I] he said. [I]"Tell your friends that I'm coming out. I didn't want to surprise anyone."[/I]

"A friend of mine is coming out from hiding." Ben said to the others. "Don't be alarmed."

"Oh, that's who you were talking to, isn't it?" said Crystal.

"Yes."

Jedgar stepped out of the shadows, his bloody knife still in hand. Alaris' eyes went straight to the dagger. It was an interesting design, and it gleamed despite the blood showing on its surface. Crystal's eyes darted to the human belt and weaponry. Rena took it all in. Then she snorted.

"Weasel-clone." she quickly identified him.

"Pantherborn." he inclined his head. She purred. Recognition of her kind gave her great satisfaction. Alaris was still eyeing the dagger warily and Jedgar did little to put any apprehension to rest.

"This is my friend, Jedgar." Ben explained. "I assume he's here to help."

"Well, actually, Ben." Jedgar said quietly. "I was looking for the way back to the Capital. You just happened to be nearby." he grinned.

"Why are you going to the Capital?" asked Ben.

"There have been more human movements recently. I just killed two scouts. Earlier on I saw what must have been a thousand humans, with armored vehicles and the like."

"Which way were they headed?"

"That way." Jedgar pointed, unknowingly, in the direction of the human base. The very place that Ben and his companions were going.

"Oh, [I]damn.[/I]" said Alaris quietly.

"What?" asked Jedgar.

"That's where we just came from." said Alaris. "We were nearly swarmed under by cave scorpions. We still have no idea how many humans were there in the first place."

"We should probably get back and report to the Elders." said Crystal.

"What about the Chameleon Leader?" said Ben.

"This takes precedence. We need to inform the Elders of what is going on." declared Rena. "We can't fight a major battle with just us, and we can't get more clones without the Elders' consent anyways."

"So, let's go then." said Jedgar. He half-turned, and then stopped. "Wait...which way are we going?"

[Raiha]

[COLOR=MediumTurquoise][i]Rena slid around the weasel clone seductively, her voice a low purr. Her tail whisked around his, rubbing gently, then trailing away ever so slowly.[/i]

"I would go see the Elders again... ..but I might be tempted to break things."

".......oy."

[i]Ben looked skyward. The last meeting, still fresh in his mind, had been nothing short of a grand disaster. Either way, he didn't think she was the best diplomat to send. Crystal landed next to Rena and preened.[/i]

"Me too."

"......send me."

[i]Everyone turned to look at the armadillo clone in surprise. He had been relatively quite during the whole conversation, and the appearence of Jedgar. Rena grinned, showing her pearly whites with great pleasure.[/i]

"Good idea."

[i]He nodded and was about to leave, when Ben interfered.[/i][/COLOR]

[Solo Tremaine]

[color=#503f86]Alaris hesitated as Ben moved to stop him.

"Someone has to," the pangolin said with a slight smile.

Ben didn't return the gesture. "Alaris, there's something dangerous in these caves. If my Senser abilities are completely blocked, there's no telling what it could do to something without any psychic protection."

"You think it'll make a difference whether I go alone or not? If it kills me, it kills me, but at least I'll have tried." Alaris gripped his sword tightly. He knew very little about the Senser abilities themselves, but knew they were a force to be reckoned with. He felt uncomfortable whenever Ben sent him a telepathic message- the thought of someone with the ability to kill him without being anywhere in sight frightened him.

But he would never admit that.

"If we back out of this battle there'll be nothing left to return to. The humans won't stop their counter-advance until they reach the Capital, and by that time it'll be too late to warn the Elders."

Alaris knew full well that if human reinforcements were arriving at their stronghold, it owuldn't take them long for that force to push back and almost certainly kill any clones left standing at the front line. Rayea...

Ben closed his eyes. "Just wait a second..."[/color]

[Ben]

"Just...wait...a...second..." repeated Ben, slowly pacing. "[I]What to do?[/I]" he repeated silently to himself.

Somebody had to go and get more clones. Alaris would be better suited, having a wealth of military knowledge; he knew what was needed. But Ben didn't want anyone traveling alone who couldn't handle a human with psychic abilities. Could Alaris handle them? Could any of them, other than Ben? Ben tried to picture them all in the situation.

He could see Rena, hissing and spitting as a human held her against a wall, taking aim with a laser. Ben pictured Jedgar lurking around a corner, only to be discovered by a human's wandering mind and being stunned, then killed. He saw Crystal desperately take a shot at a human, who brushed away the bolt with a thought and fired back at her, killing her. He could not, however, picture Laris being caught in any one of those situations. For some reason, it just didn't seem like it could happen. Ben hoped he was right.

"Alright." he said. "Alaris, you go. You know what we need and how to get it." he glanced at the others. He didn't want a repeat of the last time Rena went to the Capital, and Crystal's presence would mean little to anyone there. Jedgar had just arrived, and Ben needed someone he could really count on in case things went wrong. He trusted no one more than he trusted Jedgar. The chameleon-clones would be needed if only for the strength of numbers. Their stealth capabilities were a plus, too. "Do you need anything?" Ben asked.

"Just be safe, Ben." he said, and took off.

Ben turned to the others. "We don't know what's out there, so let's be careful."

In a case of extreme irony, Ben fell to the ground, having taken a laser shot to the shoulder.

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]Alaris hurtled through the tunnels at break-neck speed, dodging rocky outcrops and leaping over hidden pits in the ground. He had to get back to the Capital- nothing was going to stop him, not even his own death... if he could help it.

As he entered a larger chamber, two burly cave scorpions turned in his direction and hissed venomously. Instantly, Alaris whirled his sword through the air and brought it crashing down onto the first one's back, snapping the exoskeleton and spraying green innard-juices everywhere. the second crawled quickly over the injured body of the first, a claw's reach away from Alaris' heavily armoured tail.

When he hit the ground he spun on his heel, his tail whipping across the side of the scorpion's head. It stumbled sideways, giving the pangolin enough space to maneouvre his flambard right inbetween the leviathan arachnid's jaws. It spluttered and hissed in pain for a few seconds, then lay still.

"Great, who's next?" he joked quietly to himself as he began running back towards the Capital again.

Thr further he went, the warmer the air became- he had to be reaching the Capital soon.

Suddenly, he felt something slide across the back of his neck. He halted his run and hurled the sword round his back, attempting to hit his assailant.

Looking back, all he could see was a black tunnel.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Alaris, it's probably just water."

[i]"Or is it?"[/i] a voice growled. Alaris froze. The voice wasn't coming from the cave. It was coming from inside his mind.

"Who are you?"

[i]"Who I am is of no consequence to you. But I have a proposition for you nonetheless."[/i]

Alaris' grip tightened on his sword. "Forget it, I'm not interested."

He tried to run ahead, but fell flat on his face. His feet felt like lead weights, hardly moving despite the amount of effort he put into it.

[i]"Such a shame. And here I thought you were a prime example of human ingenuity. I really don't want to have to kill you just yet."[/i]

"What do you want?" Alaris tried to keep his voice from shaking as much as he could, but knew ultimately it was ridiculous to even attepmt- this guy was inside his mind.

[i]"Ah, fear... such an interesting emotional state. Tell me clone, why do you try to reach the Capital?"[/i]

Alaris gritted his teeth and slowly pulled himself to his feet.

"To... kill... you..."

Grabbing the hilt of his sword, Alaris raised it above his head and brought the pommel crashing down against his own forehead. The voice in his head let out a single yell, then disappeared. Satisfied, Alaris felt his body become limp and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.[/COLOR]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=MediumTurquoise][i]Rena saw Ben's expression change for the worse, and she reared on her hind legs, screaming aloud. It was a hoarse dull cry, that swiftly rose to a fever pitch, nearly shattering the stone around them. She landed on all fours again and snarled, her hackles rising like a mane.

Her body crouched, spine curving upwards, scanning the area, her eyes narrowing. The infared vision of her kind sharpened and she saw a dull red shape hiding nearby. With one leap, she cleared the barrier between them, landing on his chest, ripping with her claws.[/i]

"............ .......die."

[i]Rena snarled again, and reared, raking her claws down the stone walls until they sharpened into long thin points. The sound nearly drove the dying human insane...but then she bit down on his neck, clearing his mind forever. Then she turned and scanned once more, padding back towards Ben. Once she reached him, she nuzzled his wound, then opened her mouth, rolling him over with her nose. He shivered, but remained motionless. Her jaws closed gently around his neck as she picked him up, easing him onto her back.[/i]

"Hold still."[/COLOR]

[Ben]

[I]"With my neck in your mouth? I wouldn't even think of moving..."[/I]

"What am I to do with you?" she asked.

[I]"Reprimand me for being careless?"[/I]

Rena swatted him in the face with her tail.

"What should I do about the injury?" Rena grated.

[I]"Eh, just leave it for now. By the time we get to the human place, I should be okay."[/I] he shifted his weight on her back. [I]"I could get used to being carried."[/I]

Rena bucked under him and drove her shoulder blades into his back. Ben winced. [I]"Ow."[/I]

"Should we get going, then?" asked Jedgar quietly. He had wiped his dagger off in the sand, and it was sitting at his side.

"If you think you can keep up." laughed Crystal, taking to the air. Rena took off as well, with Ben riding haphazardly atop her.

Jedgar smirked and jogged towards a side passageway. He knew [I]all[/I] the shortcuts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[I]Somewhere in the caves....[/I]

"Ah, fear... such an interesting emotional state. Tell me clone, why do you try to reach the Capital?"

Jake Peterson was sitting in a sheltered alcove high above the floor of the caves. He had been searching the area with his mind when a clone suddenly intruded itself upon his probing. A pangolin? What in the heck was a pangolin, he wondered. He lost his concentration for a moment while he thought about this, and didn't realize the clone's response until it was too late.

"To... kill... you..."

Peterson felt the blow as if it had been dealt to his very own head, and he fell from the rocky shelf he had been propped up on. THUD. He landed ungraciously on the stone floor, dying upon impact.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"RESPOND, DAMNIT!" Kione roared into the headpiece.

When no reply came, Kione threw the communication device away in frustration. The dampening field that he had set up to keep the clones' powers from detecting them was affecting his powers as well, so he could not locate the scout by using his powers. He smashed a button on a panel in front of him. "Reilly! Get in here!"

Instantly an armed soldier stepped through the door and snapped to attention. "Yes, Sir?"

"Take a squad of men and find Peterson. We don't want the clones finding him and exploiting his powers. He's not responding by communicator. He probably went and overextended himself. Find him and bring him back. Kill any clones you come across."

"Yes Sir!" he saluted smartly and headed down to the barracks.

Kione turned back to the window overlooking the battlefield. He picked up his headset again and put it on. "Companies two, six and nine, go and clear the field of debris. That includes all cave scorpion carcasses and the clone filth. Kill anything that's not dead yet with extreme prejudice." He glowered down as several hundred men marched out of the lower levels of the fortress to begin their grisly task. "We want our guests to feel welcome, don't we?"

"Yes, Sir." came the crisp reply.

Kione marched over to the side of the room and pressed a button on one of the panels. A series of images sprang up on the screen; scenes from the caves being relayed by spy cameras. Nothing was happening, and Kione thought that odd. There had been a mismatched party of clones traveling together just a short while ago. Where could they have gone to?

Suddenly, one of the screens crackled and then blacked out. A few moments later, another one went out. Kione depressed a few more buttons. Nothing helped; the cameras were being interrupted or destroyed by something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I hate human technology." said Rena, tossing the final camera to the ground and then stomping on it.

"Is that the last of them, Jedgar?" Ben asked.

"Yes, I think so." Jedgar looked around the cave, and the stepped carefully into the next one. His eyes, trained to detect inconsistencies, saw nothing out of place. "There's none in here."

"Are you sure?" asked Crystal. "We don't want the humans to know what we're doing."

"I'm a Detector," Jedgar replied. "I can tell when something isn't right. Those cameras have sharp edges, and they really contrast with the cave walls. It isn't difficult for me to pick them out."

"The base isn't far from here." said Ben. "We'll have to be careful when we get there, though. We don't know how many humans there are, and there may still be cave scorpions to deal with."

"Let's just hope this Alaris fellow isn't lying down on the job." said Jedgar.

"No, I don't think he'd do that."

[terra]

At the mention of Alaris, Crystal glanced back over her shoulder uselessly. She felt uneasy leaving anybody alone at this stage of the game, but they could do nothing else. Their numbers were dwindling by the moment and Crystal was beginning to feel trapped. It was as if the sheer numbers of the humans were so powerful that their scent was in the air, an oppressiveness that was beginning to make her feel like every step was an effort. And the fact that they were hundreds of feet underground didn't exactly help much.

Crystal said nothing about her mental state to the others. She knew that the psychology of war was half the battle. Well, she didn't know from experience. But she'd read about it somewhere, and it certainly was proving true.

They travelled the last five minutes in near silence, Crystal beating her wings unnecessarily, just to have something to hear. She closed her wings to drop softly beside the others as they drew near to the base. She didn't have to be a Senser to know that everyone was feeling slightly unnerved.

"Why is it so quiet?" Crystal said, her voice barely above a whisper. The group had slowed automatically as the number of scorpion, human, and clone carcasses littering the ground had increased, indicating their proximity to the last battle. The numbers were frightening; it hadn't been this bad on the surface, and she couldn't have imagined participating in this battle. But though a certain stench of death pervaded the area, all was silent.

"Someone's clearly gained the upper hand at the base," Ben said. "And it doesn't seem to have been the clones." He thought back to his last cut-off conversation with the Chameleon Leader, knowing it would probably be too much to even hope he was still alive.

Crystal winced. She'd known that had probably been the case all along, but there was always the hope that somehow, everything had been taken care of. Well, they were here now to finish off whatever they could. "I take it you can't sense anything coming from there," Crystal said. "Something's still messing with your sensing ability?"

Ben nodded.

"What are we waiting for?" Rena purred, and she looked ready to leap into the fray once more.

"We can't just walk in there," Ben said. "We have to have a plan. I've been coming up with one on the way here ..."

Crystal knew she should be paying attention to whatever latest strategic brilliance Ben would try to outline, but she was distracted by the shadow of a thought of a movement. She directed her sight towards a particularly bloody mass of bodies, where she could've sworn she saw something scuttling --

"Aahh!" Crystal knew their stealth was their greatest asset right then, but the moment she'd recognized there was a human scout in the cave, a blinding pain had overtaken her brain. She shut her eyes to fight it, no longer able to contemplate what was happening around her.

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]"Nngh..."

Grit scraped against his teeth, tasted horrible. He tried spitting it out, but his facial muscles felt numb.

He couldn't move.

[i]"What the hell did I do to myself?"[/i] he thought, willing himself to get up. He had to get to the Capital.

His limbs ached and throbbed as if they'd been electrified. He could feel sticky, half-dried blood on his face. Slowly, as he started to regain feeling, he pulled himself to his knees. Next to him was his Flambard- he reached for it and desperately tried to wield it back onto his back. It was a struggle. He'd never felt so weak in his entire life.

"Come on, you bastard!" he growled at himself. "I can't fail now."

He dragged his right leg out from underneath him and rose to his feet. The caves around him seemed to swirl, move in and out of focus. He closed his eyes tight,ly trying to rid himself of the concussion.

As quickly as he could manage, leaning against the wall of the cave, he started walking towards the Capital. As he passed a small opening, an ominous clicking sound echoed through the corridor. He stretched round. A lone, adolescent cave scorpion clashed its claws together.

"Oh..."[/COLOR]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=MediumTurquoise][i]Rena's mind reeled, but didn't succumb to blinding pain like she would have liked. Instead she felt some words of comfort invade her mind. And then they were replaced while everyone around her screamed in agony. Her own mouth moved to the words she had recognized from a song years ago.[/i]

"Give me something that is real."

[i]And there was something real. Ben had slipped from her back and the cave scorpions were advancing. Correction. They were dead. She had leapt forward, her claws rending armour and flesh alike. Broken down, pouring out of the sockets, fluid of life and death, gushing all over her fur, soaking her but filling her with an enormous surge of energy. Life force flashed before her eyes, than swarmed into the ground where it belonged.

The human scout was here. Staring her down, while the others struggled to maintain control. Rena took one step forward and he crouched back. His hand raised.[/i]

"Don't even think about it *****."

[i]Her eyes flashed brilliant blue and silver, and she threw back her head and roared. The sound of her voice was healing. Ben stood shakily and Crystal's head cleared. Someone else heard her roar, and gained heart. She took another step forward, her mane shaking with the combined rage of both her own attack and the attack on her companions. Without a qualm she rushed him, in a blur of light and black fur, so fast he didn't have time to think about the sudden pain in his chest. He looked down. Blood blossomed from his chest like a flower, and then something else came from it as well. His own heart, impaled on her claws.[/i][/COLOR]

[Ben]

Ben watched as Jedgar, Crystal, and his small band of chameleon-clones got back on their feet, slightly dazed from the human's impact. He had been able to ward off the attack with his own powers. Limited as they were in their effect on the environment, within his mind they were still quite potent. The human had been powerful, but his technique lacked finesse. It was akin to bludgeoning someone's mind with his own. Not at all like the more natural, subtle way the clones normally did such things.

"Is everybody okay?"

"I'm alright." replied Jedgar, absently cocking his head to one side. "I wouldn't want to do that again, though."

"No problem here." said Rena, letting the human drop. She dropped the heart onto his back.

"A little shaken, is all." replied Crystal.

"Good, because we've got incoming." said Ben tensely.

A couple of cave scorpions were picking their way through the littered cave. Pausing every now and then to investigate corpses, but, finding they were dead, continued inevitably towards the heat they detected coming from Ben and the others.

"Ergh, I [I]hate[/I] these things." grumbled Crystal.

"I'm getting tired of them as well." said Ben.

"I find them rather entertaining." said Rena, baring her teeth.

Ben grabbed her by the arm before she could jump into the fray. She gave him an annoyed look that spoke volumes. He quickly removed his hand. "Let's not precipitate anything yet. We don't know who might be watching."

She snorted, but refrained from butchering the oncoming scorpions. "So what do you propose that we do?"

"Let us take care of it." he replied.

Ben went over to the chameleon-clones and had a hurried conversation with them. The leader of the group nodded, and they all slowly faded into the background. Jedgar turned his head as he heard the chameleon-clones moving away from them. His trained eye could see the slight impressions that they were making upon the ground. Crystal could hear them, too, but faintly. Rena sat down and closed her eyes meditatively.

Crystal moved over a bit to where a cave scorpion lay with its stomach cut open. She peered over the top and could see the small pack of cave scorpions moving closer. Their antenna wavered back and forth, searching for some sign of body heat. Suddenly, the sound of swords striking carapace could be heard, and Crystal could see the scorpions get into an uproar. They flailed about, searching for their attackers. Their antenna apparently detected their body heat, however, and the group began chasing the chameleons that Crystal could not see.

"The other chameleons will keep them occupied." said Ben, right beside her.

Startled and annoyed, Crystal took a quick jab at Ben's head with her fist, which he caught, quite amused. "Don't [I]do[/I] that!" she hissed.

"Sorry, it's just fun." he said.

She was about to retort, but at that moment they heard Rena's familiar growl and a cave scorpion's distinctive shriek. The shriek was cut off quickly, followed by a contented purring. Ben and Crystal both ran back to where Rena and Jedgar were. Rena was standing in the middle of a cave scorpion, covered with its internal organs and practically glowing with happiness.

"What happened?" demanded Ben.

"Oh, nothing." she replied, stepping out of the carcass.

"Jedgar?"

"She drew a scorpion to us by raising her body temperature with some sort of meditation. Then she lifted it up and drove her claws right through it. The whole thing sort of fell apart on top of her."

"Lovely." replied Ben, rolling his eyes.

Jedgar shook his head incredulously.

"What?" asked Rena innocently.

"How did you ever get the Caretaker position?"

"She probably killed all the other candidates." Crystal said wryly.



"Wow, and she's not even from around here." said Ben.

"You mean I was [I]right?[/I]"

[Raiha]

[COLOR=MediumTurquoise][i]Rena sniffed distainfully and shook her fur clean, licking her paws snippitetly.[/i]

"[b]I[/b] happen to be a Pantherborn. [b]We[/b] are considered to be trustworthy, loyal, proud, and cunning."

"And so humble too!"

[i]The Pantherborn shot Crystal a venemous glance, before purring and sitting up, her tail twitching lazily, catching Ben on the ear.[/i]

"There were no other canidates. They were all afraid of the consequences. Like. ....insanity."

"Well, I guess you weren't."

"Yea, I embraced it."

[i]Crystal could hardly believe it, but then again. It made alot of sense, considering Rena's current track records. About 200 cave scorpions and a human on her list of dead. And counting. Rena stood up, stretched and curled around Jedgar, rubbing against him like a common housecat.[/i]

"I love me."

"Gah."[/COLOR]

[Boba Fett]

[color=green]Jedgar leaned against the damp but firm cave wall, scowling at Rena with his ash grey eyes. While he was impressed with her unique combat skills, he wished she could come up with something less messy. Odorless would be a plus too, he thought as the putrid stench of shredded cave scorpion intestines began permeate the stale air of the tunnel.

Eager to distance himself from the bloody, mutilated carcass of Rena's latest kill, the weasel-clone walked briskly towards the chameleon clones, which were cautiously circled around three cave scorpions which were fighting back-to-back. Drawing his double-bladed dagger from its sheath, he bent his knees and sprang upwards. As his head neared the ceiling, Jedgar grabbed hold of a protruding root and pulled himself onto it as one would sit on a swing. From this vantage point he observed the Chameleon clones, of which he could only make out shadows and faint outlines in the dim light; continue to infuriate their foes by appearing and then disappearing randomly.

From behind him, he could hear Ben and the other clones talking softly. He hoped Ben would find some way to end this whole affair quickly, he was growing hungry?[/color]

[Ben]

The Sense Leader, a massive shark-clone standing some eight feet tall and weighing over 270 pounds, was worried. None of his Sensers knew this; none could pass his mental defenses and his face was incapable of portraying emotion. What distressed him was that the abilities of his Sensers were somehow being blocked. The whole bunch of them, powerless outside of their own minds. Something must be stopping them, he had reasoned, and it was not built by the clones.

The clones had evolved their psychic abilities in the time since they were created. It was a swift evolution, but the clones were not hesitant about that sort of tampering. After all, it was in that way that they themselves had come about. Recently, in the past ten or twelve years, humans had been discovered with psychic abilities. Their powers were largely unsophisticated and unfocused, but were forceful enough that it usually required several talented Sensers to stop one.

That, or one very broad stroke of luck.

Without the aid of their normal psychic abilities, the Sensers fell back on mostly projectiles. Longbows, crossbows, and assorted other devices made up their main armament. It a Senser could not use his or her powers, their best bet was to pick off their opponent. Those developed in the mind were not always the most stalwart of warriors. The Sense Leader carried in his hands a simple mace, dangling slightly from the end of a long chain strapped to his waist. With his powers, the Sense Leader could redirect the mace as he pleased, and could manipulate it at a speed much greater than momentum alone could achieve.

"Grim." said a nearby Senser.

The Sense Leader turned sharply and motioned for silence. "Grim" was a nickname he had been given the Sensers. With his cold, dead eyes and passive face, it could only be assumed he was having foreboding thoughts.

Grim motioned further up into the tunnel, and pointed to where a clone's ear would normally be. His subordinate nodded; they couldn't chance a human further up the tunnel hearing them. The two grasped each others' wrists, forming a link.

[I]"The cave Listeners sent word."[/I] the clone reported. [I]"They're picking up an unknown frequency, something they're uncertain about. Many of them aren't even sure if they are hearing something."[/I] he paused momentarily.

[I]"Continue."[/I]

[I]"They think it may be some sort of wave that's inhibiting our powers. Those who were certain that they were hearing something contacted the Sighters. There's a large device not far from here. It shows up brightly to those with thermal vision, and the formation of the caves makes it likely that the wave may emanate from there."[/I]

Grim thought the idea over. A psychic jammer? Some sort of machine that stopped the Sensers from using their powers...

[I]"Let's go and get it."[/I]

With that, the two of them broke contact. Grim motioned to the hundreds of would-be Sensers behind him. Time to get their powers back.

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]Alaris stymbled backwards, barely able to keep his balance as the moderately-sized scorpion crawled towards him. His sword tapped the ground in front of him- the muscles in his arms burned as he tried moving them. His fingers felt numb, hardly able to grip the handle of the sword.

The scorpion lashed its tail at him, narrowly missing his shoulder thanks to a dazed slip into the wall.

"Get it together, you idiot!" he screamed at himself.

Taking a deep breath, he lunged forwards. the end of the blade pierced through two plates of the scorpion's exo-skeleton and hit the rock on the other side. Green ooze spilt from the creature's body; some spurted stickily onto Alaris' armour. Its mandibles twitched open, its eyes staring up at him with desperate malice. The claws' movements slowly began to die down.

Alaris spit a mouthful of his own blood onto the creature's dying body, then wrenched his sword free.

"Wretched creature." he hissed, hauling himself towards the Capital. With each step he took, his body ached a little more but his mind became clearer. His movements, although pained, were less sluggish. It had to be an after-effect of slamming himself in the head. He thanked his ancestors for giving him a hard enough head to withstand it. He gingerly ran a finger across his brow- it was swelling, and the boney plate had cracked.

Brain damage?

Heh, it wouldn't affect someone like him much. He didn't have that much brain to lose.

"Come off it, Alaris, you're better than that..." he muttered, whirling around a corner. In the distance, he could see crystal veins creeping along the walls. He was almost there...[/COLOR]

[terra]

Crystal watched as the remaining cave scorpions were slowly picked off by the Chameleon clones, slightly mesmerized by the flickering appearance and disappearance of their bodies. Their methods were interesting, to say the least, and though Rena had thrown herself into the battle with her typical excitement, Crystal had absolutely no desire to join in. Here they were on the edge of the human base, but it somehow seemed that they'd hardly progressed at all; they were fighting cave scorpions, and it seemed like they'd been fighting cave scorpions forever. Crystal's eyebrow quirked as she realized that it couldn't be a good sign that she was actually bored in a fight with cave scorpions. Or maybe it was; the first time she'd seen the majestically horrifying creatures, she'd nearly been paralyzed with fear, and now it felt like she could take on two single-handedly.

Crystal turned away from the fray and nearly screamed. Only a few feet away stood those lifeless eyes and rows upon rows of teeth that she remembered quite vividly from the clone city. The Sense Leader moved his mouth in what might have been something of a smirk; he clearly recognized her, too.

Before she spoke, Ben stepped forward, also seeming to hold in a gurgled exclamation of recognition. "Sir!" he said. "What are you doing here?" His voice was soft, an urgent murmur that reminded them all how close they were to the humans. Jedgar drew a bit nearer to listen to the conversation; even Rena noticed the large new group of clones on the scene and paused in her bloodfest.

Grim explained the situation to them in a few terse sentences. Crystal nodded along though, to be honest, the whole idea of psychic powers and blocking them seemed like a lot to her. It was one of those moments she was glad she was born simple.

The moment the thought passed through her head she was also glad that psychic powers were being stopped at the moment, because that would've given Ben quite a laugh.

"We need to destroy that jammer," the Sense Leader finished.

"Do you have any idea where it's located in the human base?" Ben asked.

"We haven't been able to pinpoint a specific location," Grim admitted. "But the signals seem to be emanating from the right side of the base rather than the left."

Crystal bit her lip. It wasn't a hell of a lot to go on, and she was remembering the pain that had shot through her mind just a few moments ago. If that was the power the humans had harnessed, she was not looking forward to ever experiencing it again. She felt obliged to speak up.

"It would be difficult enough to enter the base even if the humans hadn't found a way to master psychic powers," Crystal said. "As it is, it'll be nearly impossible. Humans are guarding the door, the second anybody gets anywhere near it we'll be blasted in our minds, and shortly after, in our chests."

"And they're guarding the door with lasers," Jedgar added from the sidelines. "The second we get into range, we'll be shot through."

As they were speaking, a chameleon-clone who'd been standing guard at the nearby entrance to the caves scampered up to the group. "Bad news," he said grimly. "Scouts are telling us it looks like humans are headed this way. They'll be at the caves within half an hour."

"How many?" Ben asked.

"No one can give an exact number yet, but it looks like it's definitely more than our current force can deal with," the clone replied.

"That clinches it," Grim said authoritatively. "We have to destroy their psychic jammer way before they get there, or we'll be torn apart."

[Ben]

Ben knew that Grim was right, but what could they do about it? All they had were a bunch of powerless Sensers, a small force of chameleon-clones, and the mottled group of clones that made up his group. There was another force of clones on the other side of the caves, behind the human base. Armadillo-clone and chameleon-clone forces, a few still recovering from their last battle. Unfortunately, they had no way of contacting those clones to make any sort of coordinated effort.

Ben looked around. His chameleons and Grim's Sensers all had ranged weapons. Some had daggers or hand axes strapped to their sides, but not enough to make hand to hand combat a particularly effective tactic. He considered their few options, talking over random ideas with Grim.

"Alaris should be coming soon with more troops, but that still doesn't really help us. The human psychics will be able to overcome just about any purely [I]physical[/I] force we can muster."

"Are you the only one of your kind, Ben?" asked Grim suddenly.

"What do you mean by that?" Ben said quickly.

"I mean, are you the only chameleon-clone who is also a Senser?"

Ben quickly cast his eyes over the Sensers, who had taken up positions among the littered corpses and sat waiting for some command. Gorilla-clones, different kinds of bear-clones, other aquatic clones, and several other kinds. But there seemed to be very few reptilian Sensers, and none of them the chameleon variety.

"I don't see any, Sir." Ben replied uncertainly.

"As I suspected...." Grim murmured. He stared off into the distance for a moment, his beady eyes seeming to search for something.

"Sir...?"

"I've got a bit of an idea, Ben, although I'm not quite sure how well it will work. It involves you, obviously, and it may just be our only chance at the moment."

"I'm ready, whatever it is." Ben clenched his fists in anticipation.

"If you were to change your skin to match the cave wall, you may be able to get past the regular human guards undetected."

"But Sir, the psychics-"

"Do not interrupt me." Grim said calmly. As always, his face showed little or no emotion. Ben shut up instantly. "If you were to clear your mind of all thought, you may be able to deceive even them. If you could lock your thoughts and memories away in some small corner of your mind and shield them, you could possibly get inside and locate the generator. Maybe even stop it."

Ben looked at him uncertainly. Did he have it in him to do as he was asked? [I]Was[/I] he even [I]asked?[/I] Or was it an order? Was there any other way?

"Is there any other way?" Ben's voice was almost plaintive.

Crystal's ears piqued when she heard this. Was Ben trying to dodge responsibility? She walked nonchalantly over towards the two, and pretended to inspect the claw of a fallen scorpion. Jedgar was still sitting from the hanging root of some massive tree, aloof from everyone else. He was busily munching on something that one of the Sensers had handed up to him. It smelled suspiciously like fish.

"Just about the only other option is for us to retreat, and abandon those forces across the way to be slaughtered." Grim was very blunt, and Ben realized that the other clones had no way of knowing about the human reinforcements. A good deal of them were his own friends and distant relatives. And he was sure that Alaris had many acquaintances among his own forces as well. They would all be gone if he was to just pick up and leave.

"Fine. I'll do it."

Grim nodded. "The rest of us will do whatever we can to assist you. We'll harry them with arrows and bolts and the like. We may even be able to salvage some of these armadillo-clones' siege weapons."

Ben wasn't listening, though. Already he was concentrating all of his mental focus on cramming all of his thoughts, memories, ideas and feelings into some imagined "box" in his mind. He then erected mental defenses about the box, covering it with some sort of emptiness, some undefinable void of thought. The task was indescribable, as was the feeling it brought about; the lack thereof, actually. The only thing remaining was a shielded thought of the mission ahead of him.

Acting on that one thought, Ben ran towards the end of the sheltered entryway they were situated in, sliding to a stop just before giving himself away to the humans. He slowed his pace significantly, so as not to make any sound, and went on his way along the cave wall towards the base. His body instinctively shifted to accommodate the colors of the cave around him. His world had vastly simplified itself. Past the guarded thought of his immediate mission, Ben's body was running on instinct. At this level of thought, the humans were the predator, beings ready and eager to kill him. He was prey, easily dispatched; speed and stealth almost his sole resources.

[I]"Get to the base. Find the generator. Avoid being seen."[/I]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=MediumTurquoise][i]Rena smirked to herself, playing with her tail, and inspecting her already iron sharp claws for any sorts of chips or cuts. Crystal preened quietly, while Grim eyed the two girls with a wary eye. They were far too relaxed for anything useful. But perhaps there was a reason.[/i]

"Rena. Why are you so calm?"

"....Ben'll make it. I've known him long enough to be aware of his skills."

"Such confidence. ....the way of the feline."

"You bet your ass."

[i]She yawned and stretched, showing all claws, all teeth, and the prickling guard hairs of her fur. Crystal laughed at her, and stretched her wings as well, yawning in that oh-so-infectious way.[/i]

"How long have you two been working together?"

[i]Rena and Crystal exchanged a slightly bemused glance.[/i]

"Two days?"

"Or is it three?"

"We sort of lost track of time. What with all the-"

"Killing, and plundering, and uh- ..."

"Massacring!"

[i]Grim settled back, crossing his arms.[/i][/COLOR]

[Boba Fett]

[color=green]His fish nearly complete in it's disturbing transformation from glittering scaled creature to skeletal remains, Jedgar hopped down off the root he'd been sitting on and landed gracefully on the cave floor. The clones were finally, after what seemed like an eternity of mindless instinctive combat with the cave scorpions, at rest.

Rena was sitting back and relaxing, the bird [i]- He could never remember her name ?[/i] was preening again after briefly stopping to consult with Grim, and Alaris was supposedly bringing reinforcements. If Ben didn?t have the wave generator offline when the reinforcements arrived to assist with the human horde that was reportedly approaching...

He didn?t want to think about the slaughter that'd ensue.

Although Jedgar had never known Ben to fail, this mission would be an extraordinary test of his powers. Should he die, it was almost certain that their entire party would perish.

[i]At the first sign of trouble, it'd be best to slink off and let the others make their heroic last stand. He'd be looking out for himself, as was the weasel clone way?[/i][/color]

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86][i]CRASH![/i]

Alaris yelled an apology over his shoulder at the owner of the cart he'd burst through, sending various bits of small cargo flying over the ground. Clones stepped back as they saw his bulky form thundering through tunnels, caverns and tiled rooms as he sprinted towards the Elders' Chamber at the heart of the underground city.

He didn't srop his speed once, even when rounding the steep corners of the higher cavern tunnels. He ignored guards, punched through doors and dodged females carrying children as best he could until he arrived at the massive doors, inside which lay the ones who'd decide the outcome of the battle.

The two bobcat guards flinched slightly as Alaris ground to a halt in front of the doors, gasping for breath and trying to stem the blood which still oozed from areas of his body.

"I need to see the Elders." he hissed.

The two guards looked at each other cautiosly, then back at Alaris, who was giving both a murderous glare and considered reaching for his sword. If he had to fight his way in, he would. He had done so this far.

"Fine." The bobcat guards moved aside and pushed open the solid-framed doors. Alaris muttered a quick 'thanks' before storming inside.

The remaining Elders looked at him in shock.

"What's the meaning of this?" one old horse-clone spluttered, aghast at Alaris' physical state.

"Sir, we need reinforcements. The attack on the humans-"

"Hold it!" a grim-faced wolf barked. Alaris recognised him as Doseta, the clone in charge of the Elders' messangers. "You can't burst into the Elders' Chamber unannounced and expect us to-"

Alaris slammed his fist into the oaken table frame and yelled at the obstinate Council member. "My name is Alaris of the Armadillo-clones! I've just come from the front line, where the humans are tearing through our defensive formations like a mole through dirt and if we don't get any reinforcements as soon as possible, we're going to be annihilated! Is that clear enough for you?"

There was a tense silence. Alaris glared up at the Elders, hoping one would be smart enough to take initiative. Doseta cleared his throat and turned at address the Council.

"With the Elders' permission, I'll send word to have every available military unit in the Capital ready to leave." He turned back to Alaris, irritated but still keeping his composure. "Assuming you're still fit to fight, I will escort you back to the front line."

Alaris let out a tiny sigh of relief. It wasn't over yet, but at least he'd be able to give them a better chance of survival. All he wanted now was to get back to the front line.

"Yes, I'm ready."

Doseta clicked his fingers and the two bobcats appeared by Alaris' side.

"Gather the troops. We're leaving immediately."[/COLOR]

[Raiha]

[COLOR=MediumTurquoise][i]Rena's sensitive ears pricked, the sound of thousands of footfalls reached her ears. Instantly, she rose to her feet, her tail lashing like a scourge. Grim stood to attention.[/i]

"What is it?"

"The clones are finally on the move. I can hear them."

"What do you hear exactly...?"

"Packs of hyenas, clones I've trained and trained with. I can hear the prides travelling as a group. Everyone of the feline strain has been held back until now."

"Maybe they'll be just like you...."

"Hyena clones like to follow the bigger cats. Finish off anything, fan out, regroup. It'll drive the humans crazy."

[i]Jedgar had never seen her so blindingly happy. As to why, he had no idea. People would die, creatures would fail. And her children, her students, underground, could have already died in the wait. But no, she was elated. Overjoyed. Flying to the moon.

She roared aloud, and the call that followed shortly after was no echo. Crystal looked up.[/i][/color]

[Boba Fett]

[color=green]Far from an echo, Rena's blood-curdling roar was answered with the ear splitting shriek of an eagle. The entire group looked up, amazed. Through a tunnel entrance in the roof poured eagle clones flying in tight formation. Jedgar couldn?t remember when the last time was, before he ran into Crystal, that he'd seen an eagle clone in the tunnels.

Yet now eagle clones were pouring down into the tunnel through the roof like water. It was truly an awe inspiring sight. These avian predators would surely bolster the large clone army advancing up from the clone's city.

For the first time, Jedgar saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. It was as if a tiny rip in the dark veil that'd cast a shadow of doubt over the situation had continued to tear until the entire cloth fell away, leaving a beautiful sunrise in it's place.

He pulled the pistol he'd taken from the dead human scout from his belt and smiled. The tide was turning. Jedgar could feel it in his veins. Perhaps this long struggle, the war he's grown up with, would [i]finally[/i] end?[/color]