Snippet #2035560

Death. These creatures certainly reeked of it, yet by all appearances none of them were dead. Empathy watched them approach with great apprehension, her lightwhip already activated and creating a slowly rotating silver halo above her head (and her companions' too). Taking a moment to note the glow of the whip, she was dismayed to see that the Krayt Pearl in the handle had lost much of its power since the last time she had used it, which also happened to be the last time Emp thought she'd see Consular Arcturas. What was once a brilliantly sharp and gleaming silver was now a dull, pulsing silver, almost gray. It was most likely all the hyperdrive travelling the lightwhip had been subjected to in the recent months, that and lack of use which drained her ill-gotten Krayt Pearl of its vast store of power. Well, she wasn't completely worried, having extended the handle in order to retain the original electrowhip battery as well, for this very possibility. But if the Krayt Pearl was forced to expel its remaining strength too quickly, it would explode quite terribly.

Shattering glass broke her line of thought as several living bodies fell from the nearest building, landing near the driver's side of the speeder. Two or three of those bodies even landed in the speeder, but they seemed occupied enough untangling themselves from the seats and each other to be any immediate threat. Empathy focused on the knot of people (though she wasn't sure they could even be called that) coming for her. With a subtle flick of her wrist, the whip came down diagonally across the first attacker's chest, leaving a sizeable gash that would have felled any normal individual. To her astonishment, the thing only paused for a second while the whip struck, then continued plodding forward doggedly. A hard grimace crossed Emp's face as she assumed a more aggressive form, not entirely accustomed to the more violent attacks employed by a whip-wielder, but she still knew how to use them.

Another flick of the wrist, and this time the whip didn't strike glancingly. In a burst of singed flesh, the creature's right arm was cleaved off, but it still kept coming. Exasperated, Emp struck again, this time taking both its legs off. Believing she found a way to fend off her attackers, she quickly incapacitated two more with the same strike, then suddenly she felt claws raking down her shin, though most caught her boot. Without a second's hesitation, she brought that same foot up and brought a crushing heel into the prone creature's skull. Finally, it stopped moving, much to Empathy's relief.

"The head!" She cried wildly with this sudden discovery. "Go for their heads!"

With a snap, the silver strand of plasma struck out at the nearest foe's neck, severing the head from the body completely. The mass of bodies pressed in too close after she recovered her equilibrium, and Emp was forced to leap up and backwards onto the boot of the speeder. Now having the high ground, and the apparent advantage, she twisted the whip around to bring it about in one sweep to take out the creatures that were within range of the sinister nine-foot whip. Empathy never completed the motion, as two hands just happened to grab both her Lekku very roughly.

A piercing scream escaped the young Twi'lek's lips, permeating the air with more than just sonic noise, and breaking a few of the nearer windows (not to mention cracking the speeder's windshield and shattering its mirrors). All of the attacking creatures seemed momentarily stunned upon hearing her scream, and the creature behind her even relinquished its cruel grip on her Tchun. In the next instant, the whip came around, even duller now, and wrapped itself around the neck of the creature that grabbed her. The lightwhip was dying, she knew, and the Krayt Pearl was already heating up the handle. It was time to be rid of it, lest she be caught up in the explosion. Almost the entire length of the whip had wrapped itself around the creature's neck, and, tugging on it once, the beam intensified to an even brighter silver than it had originally been. The creature lashed out at Empathy as she turned to leap off the speeder to her Master's side, several claws catching her Tchin (her right Lekku) and drawing a shallow yet rather long line of scratches down it. A whimper followed as she managed to roll off the speeder to the ground near Arcturas' feet, before she gave into the shock of her injury, for even that scratch caused her great pain.