What they thought had turned out to be a decent decision in taking an alternate route ended up only taking them off course. While the first town only had a vague understanding that there was something wrong with the off-worlders, the next two were completely unreceptive. They were forced to resort to slaughtering the majority of the population of both to just get to some fresh water.
Their saurens were becoming completely disobedient, and only through small Force shocks were they able to get cooperation from the beasts at all.
Meanwhile, Raezyr had run out of the plants that he had been using to create a simple salve for his knee. They assumed that the plants were only cultured in the large cities. Things were looking worse and worse as time went on, and the Siths' own patience was at an end.
They paused at the top of a hill to get a look at the terrain they were headed through. Trychon shocked his mount to get it to face his brother. "I don't know how long we're going to be able to ride these things, Raez."
Raezyr merely grunted.
"There's no telling what sort of resistance we're going to find when we get back to Rodas, either. With you in this sort of shape..."
Raezyr clenched his teeth. "If I'd known this was going to happen, obviously I would have handled things differently."
"You realize there's a strong chance that we may walk sometime after we get off this planet too?"
"Don't talk to me like I'm a moisture farmer, Trych. We wouldn't be in this mess if you'd been a little more hesitant to let go of your datapad for the first time since I've met you. 'Oh, I guess I won't need this, since nobody's got any computers for me to slice... never mind the fact that it's the only way we have off this forsaken rock.'"
Trychon paused. "Oh this is about to get nasty."
"You're damn straight it's about to get nasty if you don't get off my back already... I..." Raezyr was cut off by his own realization that his brother was no longer looking at him. Instead, he had shifted his attention to their flank.
Off in the distance was the one thing they had dreaded for days but had up till now somehow avoided. There was a growing cloud of dust that could only mean a very large group of riders was coming their way, and the chances were that they weren't riding the slow four legged creatures either.
--------------------
After quick tactical deliberation, they had made their way towards the most imposing hill that they could, hoping to at least reduce the directions the horde could attack them from. Their rides were beginning to struggle mightily, and were taking nearly constant shocks to obey.
Finally, when they were still a klick away from their target, Raezyr's sauren stopped and snapped at Trychon, who was able to avoid the attack, but only by rolling off the back of his own reptile.
Raezyr quickly stabbed his lightsaber through the heart of his beast, then quickly rolled off to the side himself to avoid the retaliation of the other animal.
As much as they'd ridden the saurens, there was not much that one alone could do to stand up to the two Sith, and they were able to take it down quickly. The larger problem for them lay in the cloud of dust in the shrinking distance, which was becoming more clear. They could now see individuals at the front of their pursuit, but not enough to make out how many they would face.
They took off on foot, with Raezyr grumbling something about the situation being his brother's fault for bringing it up. Despite the younger Sith's leg, they were able to keep a rather decent speed. They were still a few hundred meters from their goal when they had to turn to face the incoming spears.
The world around them became a blur of dust, claws, jaws and spears punctuated by alien gibberish, sauren screeches and screams of dying Meisosians and beasts. Just underneath was the constant hum of their energy blades, wreaking destruction and havoc on their attackers.
Raezyr, drawing deeply on the Dark Side not only to aid his attack and defenses but to dull the pain in his knee, took to the ground, diving and rolling, coming up underneath a beast and opening it's gullet as he passed. He rolled to his knees, avoiding the sauren as it collapsed and removed the head of it's rider before turning his attention to the next attacker.
Trychon's double bladed lightsaber whirled in a blur of red and black as he pushed himself into the air much higher and faster than someone not aided by the Force. The two aliens bearing down on him futilely attempted to block the energy blades with their wooden spears, but their upper torsos landed on the ground while the rest of their bodies remained seated upon their mounts anyway.
The elder Sith landed nimbly and threw out his hand toward another figure looming up out of the dust. Bolts of lightning shot from his fingertips, the crackling electricity adding to the already cacophonous din of battle, as well as adding the smell of ionization and burning flesh to the smell of blood and dust.
Raezyr gave his shorted blue bladed lightsaber a side-arm throw, guiding it in a long arc and taking out three warriors in it's path before returning to his outstretched palm which caught the hilt deftly.
All that remained of the opposing force were a few riderless sauren. It was short work to take them down before they could mount an organized attack as they had seemed to do back in the city at the corrals.
And like that it was over. The two Sith stood there and surveyed the carnage.
"I count 40 warriors and sauren," Trychon noted. He looked down at his chonometer. "30 standard minutes... felt more like 30 hours," he said panting. He looked over at his brother.
Raezyr wasn't paying any attention at all. He was staring down the way the riders had come. Trychon followed his gaze. In the distance, he could see an army... maybe a thousand strong in his quick estimate, all marching their direction.
"We can take them," Raezyr said flatly.
"You're joking right? We got lucky here..."
"Let's get to the hills... we need a bottle neck where their numbers are not an advantage," Raezyr explained.
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