Chapter 25 - Carnelion IV Part II

(So I want some feedback for this idea. After this arc, I want to skip to the Raxus Address which is the formation of the CIS. The Clone Wars wouldn't start right away but this would be like the pregame to it. I would do a few arcs that revolve around the pre-Clone Wars events and then skip to Geonosis. Let me know what you guys think. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!)

The Limitless survivors were surrounded by these nightmarish creatures. They appeared extremely hostile and… hungry.

Tyler shivered. "I don't like the look they're giving us." He unsheathed and ignited his purple lightsabers.

Obi Wan followed suit. "I am not sure that we can talk our way out of this one."

Beowulf turned to Tyler. "Guild Leader, what do we do?"

Tyler stood tall and turned to his remaining guildmates. "Ready your weapons. We are going to have to fight our way through this. Make sure you keep your masks on tight. If you inhale the gas, you won't make it."

The two padawans and the rest of the guild members readied their weapons.

Suddenly, there was a screech. All of the creatures raised their weapons and responded with a battlecry. Tyler decided to inspect them.

*Fisher, Mutant*

*Level 60*

Tyler sighed. This would be a piece of cake for him but his guildmates would struggle. They are only in the mid 50's at this point. They aren't above level 70 like him and his padawan.

Tyler raised his right lightsaber and shouted. "Everyone form a defensive circle. All tanks and melee capables in the outer circle. Ranged DPS and medics in the middle. Do NOT let them break our formation."

Everyone moved into their formation and got ready to defend against the onslaught. Although it was important for them to get out of the city as quickly as possible, they first needed to deal with the attackers at their front door.

The Fishers charged forward. Some were throwing spears while others were charging in with sharp and blunt weapons alike.

As they clashed with the Limitless circle, the players were surprised. The Fishers were much weaker than they thought they would be. Most could be taken down with a few attacks and skills. The 4 Jedi handled the larger ones with ease thanks to their insanely high levels and their absolutely broken weapons.

After a few minutes, the group of Fishers was starting to thin out. However, they did not seem to have any intentions of letting up. Tyler noticed this. "Everyone charge forward and finish this. Don't let them get away!"

He leapt forward swinging his lightsabers like a windmill. He mowed down the Fishers with ease. Then he continued forward, leaving a trail of death in his wake.

In his signature fashion, Kai was leaping from one Fisher to the next as he slid his lightsaber into and through their torsos. He would definitely get a gold medal in the Olympics.

Obi Wan and Anakin were just as effective but they were much less flashy. Anakin's prowess with the force was still impressive nonetheless. He is the chosen one after all.

After another few minutes, the remaining Fishers were dead. All of the guild members gained a few levels since they were fighting enemies above their level. In addition, there was a horde of them. They were all surprised since they had not experienced a leveling speed of this magnitude as of yet. They now understood some of why Tyler was over level 70 while they were not even level 60 yet.

Tyler stood tall in front of everyone. He was about to announce their plan to move out but they all looked exhausted. It would seem that fighting enemies above your level is extremely taxing on stamina.

He sighed. "Alright everyone. Let's take a breather and then we will move out. We all need to be ready for anything."

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief before plopping down on the ground. Many of them had mats in their inventories to have something to sit on when they are out in the fields. Being comfortable while resting is the key to recovering your energy. Aside from that, refreshments such as water had a small stamina recovery boost.

Tyler grouped up with Beowulf, Obi Wan, Kai, and Anakin. He turned to the Jedi. "Listen closely guys. In the upcoming war, shit like this will happen all the time. The most important skill you can have is recovering when shit hits the fan."

Beowulf nodded. "I've been doing this for 13 years. It comes with experience."

Tyler smiled. "Well Wulf, would you like to take lead in this discussion? You definitely outrank me in terms of experience. And in the words of a certain Captain, experience outranks everything."

Beowulf laughed. "I love that quote, that show is a classic. Anyways, let's get started."

The three Jedi were confused by this interaction but the two players shrugged it off and he continued after pulling up his holomap. "Fortunately, we were able to take scans of the planet from orbit so we have a complete topographical holomap of the surface. If we didn't have this, we would be SOL since the gas is interfering with communications."

Tyler nodded and Beowulf continued. "Anakin, let's see what you've got. This is a military operation. Our objective is to reach the Closed base and gather intel. We have 23 men and no transport. The only hardware we have is what is on us and anything we can salvage from the LAAT's. What do we do next?"

Anakin thought for a moment. None of his training has challenged him like this yet. This reminded him of the problems he would face when he was messing around with engineering.

After thinking for a bit, he had an answer. "From our position on the map, our destination is the closest safe zone. We would have the best result if we were to continue the operation. It seems that the enemies use physically based weapons and not energy based ones. If we can fabricate some light shields using the armor plating of the transports, we should be able to defend against their attacks. Maybe we could set up a formation where we have those with shields on the outside and attackers behind them."

Tyler smiled and nodded. "Kai, did he miss anything?"

Kai grinned and nodded. "Just one thing, I think. Although the shortest route to a safe zone is indeed to the Closed base, it also brings us through the center of the city. It is likely that the highest concentration of enemies would be located there."

Beowulf nodded. "That is good. Unfortunately, there is one thing that both of you missed. What about this environment poses a challenge?"

Kai and Anakin looked around. Anakin noticed immediately. "The gas is reducing visibility… WAIT THE GAS! How could I forget?"

Beowulf laughed. "It's alright. Draco and I are here after all to cover for your mistake. There should be spare gas masks and oxygen tanks in the cargo holds of each LAAT. We need to be prepared for when, not if, someone's mask gets damaged or someone runs out of air. Regardless, well done padawans. In a few years, you both will probably be capable of leading a battalion of your own!"

Kai and Anakin smiled. "Thank you."

Beowulf smiled. "You are very welcome young ones. You too, Obi Wan. I hope you learned something too."

Obi Wan nodded. "Anakin is the type to think outside the box. I would have never thought to use the plating to make shields."

Tyler laughed. "It seems that the master has learned from the student."

Obi Wan smiled. "Master Yoda has told me that a true master is an eternal student."

(Anyone know what game that quote is from and who said it?)

Tyler nodded. "That does sound like something he would say. Anyways, everyone drink some water and eat something before we move out."

A few minutes later, everyone was refreshed so they got started. The four jedi got to work on cutting the larger pieces of plating from the downed LAAT's. Tyler felt physical pain as he did this. Each LAAT costs 85k credits which approximately equates to $340k! This was over a million dollars worth of aircrafts.

Other players that had the engineering subclass worked on finishing the shields. They cut them down into smaller pieces and welded handles onto them. After an hour of hard work, the shields were bȧrėly passable but they would serve their purpose.

They created 10 shields from the plating. They could have created more but that was all they needed. These 10 shields would be given to the 10 players with the highest strength that weren't protectors since they already had shields. They don't always use them but they have a few in their inventories.

The formation that they fell into was a triangle. Tyler took the point, Kai took the left face, Anakin took the right face, and Obi Wan brought up the rear. Guild members with shields filled in the gaps on each side and then the remaining 5 players stayed in the middle since they had the best medic skills.

Tyler started moving forward. "Alright, MOVE OUT!" Everyone readied their weapons and shields. The four Jedi didn't hold shields since it would be unnecessary.

The area they moved down seemed to be an avenue. It was a wide street with destroyed speeders and dilapidated buildings lining the sides. The gas limited visibility so it appeared straight out of a horror movie.

Buildings would creak and groan as they walked through. Sometimes, they would hear something topple over and sweat would roll down their heads.

The cold air also didn't help. They were shivering even though they were dressed warmly. The occasional gust of wind would send a chill up everyone's spine.

Suddenly there was a loud groan. All four Jedi looked in the same direction as the force screamed in horror. A huge piece of debris was falling through the air towards their group.

Tyler froze. "EVERYONE FUCKING SCATTER!" The four Jedi raised their hands and closed their eyes. They reached out with the force and felt for the debris. Locking onto it, they sent out a wave of telekinetic energy. With their four efforts combined, it came to a quick stop just a few yards above their heads. In unison, they waved their arms to the side and sent the debris tumbling away from the group.

Tyler sighed and plopped down on the ground. His breaths were fast and deep. "That was fuċkin scary."

Obi Wan put his hands on his knees. "Indeed Draco. Thank the force that there were four of us."

Tyler hopped back to his feet after calming down. "Form up everyone, let's get back to it!"

Silently, everyone fell back into formation. The atmosphere was somehow even more tense than before. They all thought that the main threat would be the Fishers. The dilapidated city added a whole nother layer to this challenge.

They continued forward for another few minutes. It started to weigh on them all that there has been no contact with the locals yet.

Tyler started to feel like the strings of the force were being pulled taut. "Get ready, we are gonna have some company." Everyone nodded.

As if on cue, the sound of windows breaking could be heard. Everyone looked up to see it raining Fishers.

The shield bearers raised their shields and deflected the attacks. The protectors charged forward and performed a shield bash. In doing this, they sent a few Fishers flying each. Their targets were in a staggered state.

Tyler jumped high into the air over his guildmates. He raised his lightsaber over his head and switched into a backhand grip. He let the force flow through him and harnessed the power of his emotions. The fear, the hate, the anger, the frustration, it dripped off of him. As he landed, he yelled and stabbed his saber into the ground, releasing a pulse of force energy.

With his fine control over the force, he was able to concentrate the blast on the Fishers. They were blown to pieces from the sheer strength of the attack.

Obi Wan ran up to him. "What the hell was that?"

Tyler smirked as his eyes flickered yellow for just a second. "This is what happens when you let your emotions run rampant, allowing the dark side to flow through you. I let the dark side feed on my anger and fear before gripping it by the neck and bending it to my will. I have no plans of falling to the dark side my friend. You should know all about what I did from our excursion with Darth Revan on Moraband."

Obi Wan sighed. "I see… I hadn't thought of it in that way. I have definitely had better control on my emotions ever since Moraband but I still steered clear of the dark side. Have you been teaching this to your padawan?"

Tyler nodded. "Of course. A Jedi that is in control of his emotions and can use them to boost his power is a Jedi that is grasping the fullest extent of his potential."

Obi Wan sighed again. "I'll have to trouble you to give Anakin and I pointers some time."

Tyler smiled. "It would be my pŀėȧsurė, Obi Wan. Aside from Master Fisto and Kai, you two are my favorite people in the Order. Master Fisto was my teacher after all."

Obi Wan laughed. "It is good to hear that you hold us in such high esteem. You are a great friend to have."

Tyler puffed out his ċhėst a bit. "I am pretty great, aren't I?"

Beowulf rolled his eyes. "Did you really have to go and inflate his ego even more?"

Everyone laughed. Tyler's shenanigans will never get old. He has a way of keeping things fresh and lively. He definitely keeps everyone on their toes since not even he knows what he will do next.

Tyler shrugged. "Alright, enough talk. Form back up and let's get out of this shit hole."

Everyone perked up at that. No one wanted anything more at the moment than to get out of this city.

As everyone was moving back into formation, there was a ground shaking roar. Stomping could be heard approaching the group. Everyone turned to the origin of the noises.

Out of a thick cloud of gas in the street, a huge Fisher emerged. It was easily 30 feet tall and massive. It was juiced out of its mind. It had sharp claws and jagged teeth. Standing around it was a group of smaller Fishers. They did not look as scary as the big boy but were definitely more dangerous than a typical Fisher.

*Fisher, Mutant Juggernaut, World Boss*

*Level 65*

*Fisher, Mutant Hunter, Elite*

*Level 64*

Tyler sighed. "Ah shit. Of course there is a world boss in this city."

In MMO games, there are several varieties of enemies that one can encounter outside of dungeons. The typical enemy would be a normal mob. Above that is an elite. They typically have more HP, possess greater combat prowess, and do more damage.

The highest level is a world boss. They are essentially juiced up elite mobs that are virtually impossible for someone to solo. World bosses have a very large range of variation when it comes to strength. Some are only slightly stronger than elites in terms of raw stats, but others can be many times stronger. They are, without a doubt, a force to be reckoned with.

Tyler turned to Beowulf. "I haven't really got any experience with bosses in this game yet so you take the lead."

Beowulf nodded. "Of course, Draco. Alright, all non-tanks drop your shields! Tanks move up and occupy the enemies. Assassins attack from the flanks, gunners, attack from behind the tanks, and medics stay back to provide support. Last, but not least, Jedi, go nuts."

Tyler and Kai grinned. Seeing this, Obi Wan grimaced. "This is just splendid."

Tyler laughed crazily. "Gladly. Let's fuċk shit up!"