"Get the Climate-Controlled Body Glove, Zxyl said," Selika muttered to herself. "If you don't, you'll regret it, he said." Selika pulled off her helmet and wiped away the beads of sweat that were collecting on her forehead. "Swapping out the air conditioning for a cloaking field seemed like such a good idea at the time."
The first few matches the arena had featured had been bad enough, and those just featured the typical weather of this part of Uskil. This time, however, was even worse. Selika could see the signs of the magcon field that ringed the upper structure of the stadium just as she had in her prior match, but this time it was being used to keep an oppressive level of heat and humidity in instead of out. Selika guessed that Idiris, in his infinite wisdom, had decided that the environment he would simulate was Sweatalot VII, the lesser-known Humid Moon of Endor. Not only was it filled with heat and humidity, but the arena was also teaming with life everywhere. A dense jungle of plant growth hid a wide variety of animal life forms, with flora and fauna blending together in a roiling maelstrom of life energy when seen through the Force. The only sorts of jungles that Selika liked were those of the urban variety found within the ecumenopolises of the Core Worlds. The joke told around the halls of the Pinnacle on Aliso was that the Plagueian throneworld was selected partially because Selika favored the planet's cool, dry climate and dearth of wildlife, as that was about the extent of "nature" that the Consul could tolerate. That was an exaggeration, but it wasn't as far from the truth as Selika would ever like to admit.
In the moment Selika had paused to take in the world around her, the beads of sweat reappeared on her brow. Swearing under her breath, the Dread Lord wiped at them again and replaced her helmet. Selika triggered the helmet's environmental filtration system, hoping it might remove some of the humidity, though she wasn't all that confident it would work. "Idris, I swear I'm going to make you regret this," Selika complained. Moving slowly, she walked carefully away from the arena wall and the now-closed door she had entered through and set off to find her quarry. Pushing out her senses, she could discern the moving, hunting presences of the various beasts that inhabited the arena from the "background noise" of the living jungle, at least well enough to try to avoid them as best she could. Assuming that her opponent had likely entered the arena from the opposite side as in past matches, she made her way in that direction.
Selika had walked about eighty meters before she first sensed one of the jungle predators focus its attention in her direction. The simple mind made anything more than a heightened focus on Selika impossible to discern, as there was no thought behind the decision, just instinct. Selika reached out, touched the mind, and projected the smell of a chirodactyl she remembered from her times touring the Iron Menagerie. Along with the scent of the enormous apex predator, Selika also created the illusion of a large shadow passing over the jungle canopy within the beast's mind. The animal seemed to waver momentarily and then slink away in the direction it had come from. Whatever it was, it seemed to have no desire to risk a conflict with a larger predator for a possible meal. Selika released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, again resuming her strides across the arena.
It happened several times more, Selika sensing an approaching predator and using an illusion to scare them away. Idris seemed to have spared no expense in populating his newly crafted jungle with claws, teeth, and talons. At least all of them appeared to be animals confined to the ground, with nothing she had seen or sensed so far capable of flight. Not that it mattered all that much, as danger could come down from the jungle canopy above just as quickly as from the undergrowth below. Sensing yet another predator with a heightened focus on her, Selika reached into her memory and created the scent of the Krayt dragon that she recalled from Zxyl's stock house.
"Emperor's black bones, what the kriff is that smell?" Alaris yelled out of the jungle. "I can taste it!"
"Alaris," Selika mused to herself with a smile before addressing him directly. "Sorry, thought you were a nexu." Selika allowed the sensory illusion to melt away, stepping out from behind a large tree into a small clearing where the ground remained uncovered. Alaris also followed her lead, pushing through the ferns that dominated the small clearing's edge from the opposite side.
"I'm going to be smelling that for a week," Alaris complained, shaking his head.
"It's not much worse than the stink of rotting jungle," Selika pointed out. Upon closer inspection, the clearing wasn't devoid of plant life. The ferns growing here seemed to have died, rotting into the ground with a pungent smell hinting at decay.
"True," Alaris agreed, his eyes also taking in the decomposing plant matter. "You'd think Idris would hire gardeners capable of actually keeping this jungle alive for a few days."
"One would think," Selika said, feeling it was odd for the plant life here to have died so quickly. Setting aside the concern for now as unimportant, she unclipped her lightsaber from her belt. "So, I guess it's treason then?"
Alaris let out a short laugh. "I mean, you had to assume it was coming sooner or later," Alaris replied with a smile. "I guess Idris just accelerated the timetable."
"It seems so uncouth," Selika lamented with mock indignation. "I would have thought it would have come with a Palpatine-esque, 8-dimensional dejarik strategy that would have stripped me of all my resources, power, and support, culminating in me taking my own life after realizing just how thoroughly I had been outplayed."
"However, it happened," Alaris explained, "You would have been alone at the end. So, I guess this suffices as much as anything else would?"
Before Selika could offer some pithy reply, the ground around them shifted with a rumble. Both combatants turned to face where the noise had come from. The vines that had seemed to form part of the jungle undergrowth were uncoiling, moving in a way that plants generally did not. A gaping maw filled with sharp teeth was revealed within, and then the mouth that held them spoke.
"Not alone, never alone," came the halting speech. This was no beast, not mammal or lizard, but it was a predator nonetheless. One that was far more dangerous to the two Plagueian Sith that now faced it. The writhing mass of the plant-based predator towered over them, tentacles forming much of its body.
"What the hell is that?" Alaris demanded.
"Son of a Hutt, Idris brought a drengir here!" Selika yelled. Before she could explain more to Alaris, Selika felt a dark presence slam against her mind as it tried to force its way through her mental bulwarks. She could see Alaris out of the corner of her eye, clearly under the same mental assault.
"Nourish us or be one with us…the choice is yours," the growling voice of the drengir spoke again.
"Ok, new plan," Selika offered through gritted teeth. "Fight the scary plant monster instead and avoid getting eaten and/or brainwashed. Deal?"
