The brothers watched the activity below, barely peeking out from the edge of the cave. Their apparent disappearance had seemed to cause some disturbance with the army below, and for a few moments they thought the natives might call off their search, but the Sith weren't that lucky and soon the warriors below resumed their ascent.
It was finally time. Trychon and Raezyr stood up, called deeply upon the Force and bent it to their will, using as a craftsman used his tools. They uprooted large rocks and boulders from their resting place and sent them careening down the steep hillside.
The climb was precarious enough without their Force-induced rock slides, but despite their heavy losses, the army kept making their way upward like a swarm of beetles or insects. The brothers did their best to guide the boulders and rocks in directions that the most damage could be done, but the enemy wasn't deterred.
After thirty minutes or so of this activity, Trychon paused to survey the damage. "Hold up a sec," he asked, peering through the thick clouds of dust below. Soon it began to settle. "I think we're making some real progress," he commented optimistically. "There aren't nearly as many as there were before."
Raezyr shook his head sadly. "It only seems that way, Brother." He pointed off to the either side of the pass, far out of range of their deadly barrage. He noted they were beginning to climb up the hills there and surmised they were going to attempt to circle around and come down onto the cave entrance from above. "At least that's what I'd do in their place."
Trychon was about to point out that a large number were still trying to climb up directly into their rock slide assault, but Raezyr anticipated that and explained. "Cannon fodder. If someone doesn't stay here, then we'd be able to escape back down into the pass. They're not nearly as dumb as we'd like them to be."
For a while, they continued their rain of death on the attackers below. It was less effective in causing mass casualties than it was earlier as many had found nooks and crannies to hide in or ledges to hide below, although it was effective in that the upward progress of the Meisosian army had nearly ground to a halt some five hundred meters below. The brothers used the time to rest, one person at a time.
"Why don't you head back down the tunnel and see if you can refill our water sockets," Trychon suggested. "I just drank the last drop out of mine."
Raezyr agreed. He took both of the water sockets and headed deeper into the cave while Trychon stayed at the entrance to keep the enemy pinned down. They both knew the were just biding their time. Soon the aliens would be in position above them and would come down. After that, the real fighting would begin. They'd have to slaughter hundreds upon hundreds of aliens in this tunnel. The odds were stacked against them for sure and they would probably die anyway, but at least it wouldn't be impossible. Their one real hope was that the Meisosians would get tired of throwing their lives away, give up and go home. Somehow, Raezyr didn't think that was likely. Stupid they might not be, but zealous to the point of insanity they were.
A mere seventy-five meters or so back, the big Sith found some water which had collected in the upturned shell of a long-dead spidac. He filled both of the water sockets and returned and handed the water socket back to his brother, who took a long pull from it.
"That water tastes better than any we've had around here for days," he said. Raezyr chuckled.
"What's so funny?"
"It's strange how the little things become so pleasurable when faced with a situation you might not live through," the big man replied. "It also makes me realize that having a cybernetic knee or leg really makes no difference in the end."
Trychon noticed some of the aliens below beginning to get courageous and try to ascend the hill again, so he sent another slide of rocks and boulders bounding down the hillside, taking some small pleasure in watching the natives dive for cover, and not all of them successful.
"So are you saying you'll get that knee replaced if we make it out of this?" Trychon chuckled.
"I suppose that's..." Raezyr began, but was interrupted when several medium sized rocks bounded over the cave entrance from above. He turned and peaked out, looking up the hill.
"Damn... they moved faster than I expected," he said. He surmised there must have been a trail or path on which they made good time, as approximately fifteen hundred Meisosian warriors were descending from the top of the hill about two hundred meters away.
The two Sith took sips of water and hung them back on their belts, drew their lightsaber hilts and backed from the entrance. In moments this tunnel would become a cave filled with the dead and dying as the two Sith fought for their lives, and the brothers began to prepare accordingly, getting themselves focused and ready, and using their anger and frustration as fuel for the Dark Side.
Suddenly an alien appeared in the entrance of the cave, and as quickly as he did, each Sith threw out a hand, releasing a wave of energy. The force of the blow sent the native forty meters out into the open air. He seemed to hang there for a moment before plummeting to his death hundreds of meters in the pass below.
The Sith flicked on their lightsabers, the snap-hiss loud in the quiet cave, waiting for the on-rush of aliens, but it didn't come. Suddenly there was a loud rumbling which seemed to come from all around, vibrating the walls and the floor of the cave. Several giant boulders fell into place at the front of the cave, a dozen meters in front of them. Dust and dirt and debris began filling the air, so thick it blocked the light coming from the entrance.
Their surroundings continued to rumble and cloud in the next few seconds until they could no longer see, yet they could hear the sounds of stalactites cracking and some small rocks hitting the cave floor. They had no choice to retreat backward, relying only on their Force awareness to guide them and keep them from being crushed or impaled as they headed deeper for safety.
Then it was over. They coughed and choked in the pitch black for a moment then covered their mouth and nose with the sleeves of their tunics. It took a few minutes for the dim light from their blades to pierce the thick dust, but as it settled, the visibility improved. Finally they could see the aftermath of what had just happened.
"I guess they really aren't as stupid as we had hoped," Raezyr said into the gloom as the two Sith stared at the sixty meters or so of rubble between them and the entrance to the cave, a cave that would now be their tomb. "Smart move to seal us in here rather than expend hundreds of lives and not have a guarantee of success."
"How long do you think it'll take us to dig out?" Trychon asked aloud while at the same time trying to make his own estimate in his head.
Between the two of them, they estimated it would take a week or so for a crew of twenty experienced miners, but since they weren't miners or excavators, accounting for their Force abilities, they estimated a week and a half, assuming they did not cause a greater collapse.
"And we have no food," Raezyr added. He looked over at the spidac shell where he had filled the water sockets. The shell was filled with mud now. "And we're pretty much out of water."
Trychon followed his brother's gaze. He turned and almost violently grabbed the younger Sith's arm. "Raez! Spidacs! Giant Meisos crabs!"
Raezyr stared at him blankly, not following the thought pattern.
"That thing didn't crawl across the desert. It came up from the depths!" the elder Sith said excitedly.
"That doesn't mean there's another way out," Raezyr said doubtfully after finally catching on.
"What other choice do we have?"
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