Public [Ask] Making A "Clean" Living.

[Grigonju]

​

CORUSCANT​

Level 100​

For such a seemingly soft-natured woman, the ferocity of Tella's attacks was actually starting to unnerve him. He had to admire her abilities and was impressed. The dead rat that lay before him, impaled through the eye, was a ghastly sight but Gri felt more of a sense of admiration than disgust. He had considered Jedi to be refrained and only turn to violence when necessary but this woman seemed different.

The dying wails of the other two rodents were quickly replaced by the snarls of two more. Gri hoped that these were the last. He knew that there would be more to fight off beyond the gate he had inspected but the onrushing rats seemed to never end. Crouching down to offer more support on his arm holding the barrel, Gri aimed his rifle at the final two opponents. He could have taken a shot there and then, the first animal in his sights, but he waited.

Finally firing, the bolt shot through the soft flesh of the first's neck and continued until it burnt a hole in the head of the second. Simultaneously, the two dropped, adding to the pile. Looking through the lens a moment longer, Gri finally let out a sigh and relaxed his shoulders. "Where the kriff did all these come from?" He had never heard of a pack of hive rats this considerable. Getting up from his knees, now damp from being in the water, he gave a firm yet congratulatory pat on Tella's shoulders. That was his equivalent of saying 'good work'.

Looking into the tunnel once more and then around at the other openings, he checked to see if they were truly alone at last. "Still at the entrance and there were that many?" he said, gesturing to the mound of corpses they had left in their wake. It was evident that this was a job for more than just two but he wasn't about to admit that he didn't feel they could do it. He'd be having strong words with whoever had hired them. Though, Gri had a habit of expressing himself without the need to verbalise anything. Once he got the money, they would become real acquainted with his 'chats'.

TAGS: Tella Voland​

 

[Alasdair Voland]

(Kek wrong account ignore)

 

[Tella Voland]

Tella sighed with relief as her partner took out the two remaining hive rats, the entrance area to the sewers now filled with the smell of burned Hive Rat flesh. She accepted the pat from the not-Mandalorian with surprise, but rewarded him with a genuine smile in return. That was something that she had not expected from the tight-lipped man in battered armor who was more than passingly good with his guns. Was he genuinely a softie underneath that hard exterior? She found that kind of cute in a way.

Still…what I sensed from before…

Taking out a small container of water from beneath her robes, she carefully washed her hands, then pulled out a small loaf of bread, chewing it as she pondered a response to Gri. She found it helped quite a bit when using the Force extensively, being well-fed and hydrated helped to prevent headaches and over exertion, and she felt that they might need it more.

There are not just creatures down here, someone is manipulating them. They would not have acted in such coordinated unison on their own initiative, at least not at that level. Nor would they have chosen to fight to the death over simply scurrying away.

She rubbed her forehead after finishing off a piece of the bread, then spoke thoughtfully.

“No, while these rats may look ordinary, there is something greater behind the scenes agitating and driving them. It seems that whatever it is, it did not want us to get beyond the entrance, hence hitting us hard here to prevent us from further investigating to try to drive us off…”

She glanced at the two doors to their right, pausing for a moment and closing her eyes.

As I suspected…

“There are not any more of them behind the two doors now. It seems they were driven to attack us. The way is clear…but I would have to venture forth to know more. Well, at least we know why they are paying so much, and we have a clear exit should we need to take it now.”

Grigonju

 

[Grigonju]

​

CORUSCANT​

Level 100​

Standing in sewage with the bodies of deceased mutant rats surrounding them wasn't exactly Gri's idea of a picnic spot but the woman clearly thought otherwise. A fight was tiring but he had never seen anyone take a snack break mid-job before. Maybe it was a Jedi thing. After all, wielding the Force was bound to put strain on the user, and from what he could tell, It required a lot of concentration on Tella's part.

After she was finished, Tella explained what she had felt before they had become preoccupied with giant rodents. "You mean the vermin answers to someone?" The creatures were feral, virtually untamable, but from what she was saying, something had found a way to influence them. If this was the welcoming wagon, there must be something held within the catacombs of the sewers that someone does not want others to get their hands on.

Gri turned to face the gate too, returning the rifle back over his shoulder. He quickly cocked his blasters to check the power cartridges before returning them to their holsters. Approaching the durasteel hatch, Gri inspected it for a way through. She was right, something smelled off about the whole thing. It also explained why there were only the two of them - fewer witnesses to whatever they found within if there was something more sinister than a simple infestation. That could also mean that Gri would have to be more aware in the event that the pair would get double-crossed.

He gently knocked on the metal as he turned to his companion. "Fancy using your magic to get this thing open?" The gates were heavy with no clear way of opening them. In place to prevent flooding of the tunnels, he presumed that they would be controlled elsewhere in the plant but after viewing the woman rip ferrocrete from the ground using her mind, he figured that she was all the key they needed.

TAGS: Tella Voland​

 

[Tella Voland]

Tella nodded at her companion’s question.

“Someone or something...it is hard to tell from this distance. It is clear they do not want us to finish this job for some reason. And I have my suspicions about whatever happened to the first team the CSF likely sent down here…” She replied grimly.

Walking over to the gate, she put her hands against it, listening for a moment. The skittering and the scratching that had been audible before was now gone. Either the Hive Rats had fled from immediately beyond it, or they had found some way to make it to the entrance, likely through the pipe from earlier. It was “safe” to open, as “safe” as anything in this nightmare of a sewer was.

“Yes, I think I can get it open.” She stated, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

I could rip it open with telekinesis or cut it with my lightsaber, but both require a lot more effort and energy. My mother told me to be smart, and I can tell why if this is only the beginning.

She opened her mind to the Force and just let herself trace the electricity flowing into the gate, following its path easily and with precision towards what she felt was the button that activated it. To be extra sure, she extended her senses to include a kind of “Force Sight” to where she felt it was. It was not a button, per say, but rather, a lever on the other side of the door. Carefully pulling it with telekinesis in the Force, she flipped the switch down.

She was rewarded with a series of vrrrrrrrs as the gate slowly began to open, gate(s) plural she soon realized, and she stood back, hands on her lightsaber as she did so. Just because she did not sense anything did not necessarily mean anything was not there, especially considering what had already transpired.

Luckily for her, nothing else occurred, and it revealed a long, dimly lit tunnel ahead of them, where she could see nothing yet with the remnants of her Farsight. She hope that meant well…

 

[Grigonju]

​

CORUSCANT​

Level 100​

Gri felt uneasy that someone had the ability to command the rats to carry out their bidding. Not being animals that were easily domesticated, that suggested something else was at play. If it was due to a substance administered to the creatures, they could have a larger-scale problem on their hands. If something like that got into the water system and circulated around the planet, there would be chaos. With Tella getting a bad feeling, it could also be related to the Force - something that was way out of his ballpark. Targets that could move things with their mind would prove even more difficult than a regular job and he wasn't equipped with anything that specifically combatted against that. Perhaps that was something he should look into.

He watched and waited as the woman placed a hand on the metal hatch. After a moment of silence, the gate opened with a whirr and revealed more of the tunnel. From what he could tell, Tella had been correct about no more hive rats in the immediate vicinity - thankfully. Stepping through the threshold, Gri kept alert for any sign that his blaster would need to be drawn again, his hand close to the handle. "So what's a Jedi doing taking bounties?" he asked, slowly making his way between the two gates and arriving at another room. He didn't look to the woman as he spoke, his eyes darting around the sewers from behind his visor. There were also no heat signatures detectable so he felt more at ease than solely relying on the words of a psychic.

Looking deeper into the gloom, the corridor extended into what appeared to be another room and there was a door to his left. "It would've been real helpful if they gave us a map of this place," Gri said, mostly to himself. He supposed that their job was to exterminate all the vermin; they needed to check everywhere. It still would have been courteous to provide some way of navigating the place. Although, it looked like he had a walking navigation system working alongside him.

TAGS: Tella Voland​

 

[Aculia Voland]

As Gri walked through the archway, Tella responded as she followed him, giving him a slight smile, even though the man’s head kept darting from side to side, looking for any hint of danger.

Well, that’s wise, he does not have the benefit of the Force to warn him about things, he has to keep his head on a swivel.

“I’m not your ordinary Jedi. Not an official one at least, although from what mother has taught me, my training is as or more extensive than that I would have gotten at the Temple here to begin with. My presence here on Coruscant was…unexpected…and I did not have a lot of time to prepare. Hence, the bounties, and maybe doing a little good for the people here.” What she said was quite a summary, but mostly accurate. She wondered how much good working for the Coruscant government, or indeed, the Alliance, was if these conditions were allowed to persist to begin with.

She let out a slight laugh when he referenced the possibility of a map. With how things were on the lower levels, she had learned expecting any kind of competency from the local government beyond doing the bare minimum to ensure their superiors on the upper levels did not take too much of an interest in them was quite a folly.

“I have not been here too long, but it is clear that this government only works for some sections of the people…sometimes.” She sighed as the two of them continued walking down the tunnel. She kept her senses alert just in case, she did not sense anything living.

Eventually, they came upon a larger open section with a small pool in the center, a ladder strewn across it haphazardly leading to a door, and a path further down into what looked to be a large open area. Glancing across the pool, she saw a lot of construction and repair materials. She began to get that cold feeling again as she looked at the metal door.

“Building supplies…that ladder…I think some of the maintenance workers were here…and they left in a hurry. And there’s…it’s not alive, but there’s something about that door. Something not right behind it. I do not relish the thought of opening it, but…I think we will get some clues of what went wrong down here if we do.”

Grigonju

 

[Grigonju]

​

CORUSCANT​

Level 100​

Gri listened as the woman explained, not pressing further into the matter. He was always a private person and respected other people's reservations about opening up too. After all, they were there to complete a job, not become friends. As long as they helped each other to get through the task at hand, that was what was important. From past experience, working with others usually got in the way and was more hassle than a solo job but Tella seemed more than capable of taking care of herself. There had been only one person that he would've considered a teammate but those days were gone and so was the man Gri used to be.

The tunnel forward seemed like the most obvious route to take but after the woman mentioned the door, Gri thought it best that they check it out. Pressing a button on a panel to the side, the door slid open and the sight caught him by surprise. Thankfully, he still adorned his helmet but it was almost like he could see the stench emanating from what lay before him. Flies buzzed out into the main room, energized by their recent meal. The floor was damp with the blood that had seeped into the stone, the cold grey now a dark maroon, bordering on black. What was once people was now a pile of mangled flesh and bone, strewn carelessly across the corridor. They were shredded beyond recognition but a blood-stained scrap of fabric with a logo on confirmed who the organs and limbs belong to.

"Well, we've found the CSF crew," he said solemnly. He looked upon them, unmoving. He would say that they should be returned to their families but it wasn't even possible to distinguish what belonged to who anymore. Pressing the panel again, the door slid shut. Gri turned to Tella, his back to where the bodies were. "You shouldn't have to see that." He paused for a moment. clearing the image from his head, before walking down the open tunnel, expecting the Jedi to follow.

TAGS: Tella Voland​

 

[Tella Voland]

Tella could not help herself, she was an inquisitive person, and when Gri told her not to look at it…she should have listened. Her mouth opened wide for a moment at the sheer ferocity of the CSF officers’ deaths, and she felt bile rising to her throat. She managed to force it back down, visibly gulping as she did so. They had been murdered with such purpose that traces of the Dark Side still lingered here. Turning to follow Gri, she was silent as they walked towards the larger, open room.

That looks too vicious even for Hive Rats. What on Earth is down here and what causes the CSF to hire mercenaries rather than storming this place with as many men and blasters as they can find?

As she and Gri moved into what appeared to be a main control room, her sense of danger flashed. Something, behind them. Using the Force to enhance her speed and strength, she tackled Gri, hard, and threw them to the side behind one of the walls. A few moments later, a massive explosion occurred behind them, metal and rock shrapnel eviscerating the air they were standing in just a few moments ago, the way behind them collapsing in fire and ferrocrete.

“What the spast…???” Tella sputtered, collapsing on top of the man’s back as they both hit the ground.

That was not the end of their troubles, however. As the two recovered, an unholy cacophony of screeching could be heard throughout the room. Tella froze, covering her mouth and motioning for Gri to remain silent as well.

Oh no.

Pale, hellish creatures began to appear out of the water and various nooks in crannies, disturbed by the explosion in their domain, oversized bat-lizards with large ears and even larger claws. Corridor ghouls, the bane of any explorer of the lower levels. And very sensitive to sound.

She watched, frozen, as two of the creatures immediately moved by them to investigate the source of the explosions, while the others listened watchfully.

Those CSF bastards. They had to have known what was down here.

Grigonju

 

[Grigonju]

​

CORUSCANT​

Level 100​

Gri was caught off guard as the woman crashed into the back of him, sending the two of them hurtling to the ground. Before he had the chance to turn back and yell, a thunderous sound was followed by rubble collapsing into the entrance of the central room they had just entered. Unless rats had learned how to use explosives, it confirmed that someone was behind whatever was going on in the sewers. In quick succession, high-pitched shrieks reverberated around the chamber as bony creatures slinked toward the sound. He followed Tella's example and did not make a sound. He stayed very still on the ground. Although there were only two that investigated the cave-in, Gri's helmet showed the heat signatures of around two dozen ghouls.

Luckily, the chalky hounds did not have eyes so they would not be noticed if Tella activated her saber. However, being more sensitive to sound and the large number of them, any little noise and they could be swarmed and end up like the CSF crew members they had just come across. Allowing the Jedi to get off him, he cautiously got to his feet, wary that the metal of his armour could alert them of their presence. Luckily the blast had masked the sound of them falling and Tella's words. Thanks to the size of the room, he had a plan that would avoid damage to the pipework of the surrounding walls but he doubted it would take all of the beasts off the board. They would have to reduce the numbers first.

Signaling with his hand for Tella to deal with two close by, he crept back towards the entrance where two had investigated. Their escape was now blocked so they couldn't return the way they came. He couldn't help but get the feeling that maybe someone knew of their presence and had sealed them in to be disposed of by the corridor ghouls. One sniffed at the rubble, its wide ears standing tall on its head to listen for the slightest of sounds. The other had lost interest and began walking away.

Approaching the inquisitive one, Gri slowly drew his hands near before he rapidly clamped a hand around the hound's muzzle and released the blade from his gauntlet into the animal's skull as he did before with the hive rat. Freezing in place as he prayed no sound would give away his location. After a moment of silence, he gently lowered the dead ghoul to the ground. Intermittent screams from the animals navigating the room sent shivers down his spine. It was an unsettling sound and he found himself very conscious of the sound of his own heart and breathing. Getting up off his knees, he made his way towards the second target.

TAGS: Tella Voland​

 

[Tella Voland]

Tella followed her partner cautiously, and although not having the benefit of technology, could clearly sense the creatures…almost “smell” them, in fact, tainted as they were by the Dark Side. While she doubted they were friendly to begin with, this level of coordination and the sheer amount of them, in combination with the explosives tactically set off to trap them, confirmed what she feared. It was a Force User, and they were most definitely not a Jedi or a Grey like she was. A Sith…or a Dark Jedi.

But not as strong, I think, as me. At least not directly. Hence the use of puppets.

She carefully observed the second of the pale beasts as Gri made his move and finished off the first. She was not going to take any chances, not with him right there. As he stabbed the first one with the blade, she reached out with the Force, gritting her teeth as she did what she knew had to be done.

Lifting the creature into the air by its neck, and forcing its mouth shut with the Force to prevent it from screaming, Tella silently held the beast in the air, squeezing her hand more and more tightly until the beast’s neck snapped softly. It spasmed around as it died, but since it was suspended in the air, it made no noise as its life was ended. She lowered it to the ground gently, silently, letting out a sigh under her quiet breath as she did so. A horrible way to go, even for a beast.

Thankfully, we do not seem detected, for now…

 

[Grigonju]

​

CORUSCANT​

Level 100​

Clearly, his hand signals needed work. Before he had even had the chance to sneak toward the next ghoul, it was raised in the air, its bony legs struggling to find anything to grab onto as it struggled to breathe. It was unsuccessful. The limbs dropped limp as a snap jolted the beast's head to the side. It was still offputting to see such violence come from the hands of the young Jedi. Whilst his job often involved the need for violence, it was not something Gri took pleasure in. It was only a means to complete a job.

As it slowly drifted to the ferrocrete, Gri looked back to the other two that were at the south wall of the room. He wasn't sure how long they could keep this up without being noticed by the other hounds but he still needed there to be fewer. The sound of water droplets rippled through the air as Gri approached his targets. Like before, he grabbed the muzzle and wrapped his other arm around the neck, his forearm pressing hard against its larynx and grasping his other arm. His legs wrapped around the beast, restricting its movement as it writhed in his hold, now maneuvered so Gri was sat back against the wall with the dog held tight against him. After a moment of struggling, the resistance stopped as its body fell slack against him. He made sure to maintain the pressure for a little while longer before softly placing it on the ground.

Barely giving himself time to rest, he set his eyes on the next close by. In a strong strike, he slashed his blade along the underside of the neck from behind. Gri managed to catch the animal before it fell but the ghoul let out a gentle gargle with its dying breath. As he placed it on the ground with its kin. The screech of another, intrigued by the quiet sound, sauntered over to inspect. It made clicking noises as it listened for the hint of life. The bounty hunter froze in place, knelt on one knee beside the corpse. The eyeless head came within inches of his face, almost as though he were looking the pearlescent creature straight in the eye from behind his visor. It sniffed in conjunction with small noises, trying to discern what was before it, saliva drizzling from its jaws.

TAGS: Tella Voland​

 

[Tella Voland]

Tella crept quietly behind Gri, well aware of the fact that he found her powers disturbing when used in such a way, but she really did not have much of a choice. She supposed she could have tried to mass influence the creatures away, but that would tire her, and with the Dark Force Wielder still ahead, she had to conserve power. Or she could have manipulated the light and sound waves around both her and Gri, but the problem is when you deflect them away and become invisible, you become deaf and blind as well, something she could handle but not Gri. She was skilled with the Force but she had a lot to learn tactically, she could not think of a better solution.

As Gri took out two of the southern ghouls, she froze as one transfixed itself on him and got within inches of his face, drooling and looking for its next meal. Tella reached out with the Force, afraid for his safety, using that emotion to channel her next use of her power.

9+5=14, DC 12, beaten.

With her fear amplifying her use of the Dark Side, the creature froze in its tracks once more, its neck snapping as it fell to the ground slowly in a limp, although this time was harder for Tella to pull off thanks to not having a complete direct line of sight with the creature. Gri, being directly next to it, would have been witness to the vicious crushing and crackling of bone and sinew as the ghoul struggled for a moment, then died.

That's not going to do me any favors...

 

[Grigonju]

​

CORUSCANT​

Level 100​

Gri was starting to think that Tella enjoyed snapping the necks of the beasts. There were other ways she could've helped than the cracking and grinding of bone as the hound felt its insides crunch in its final moments. He couldn't imagine the pain that the creature endured before it slumped down at his lap. Killing was part of his job but he always aimed for a swift death, only resorting to pain if it benefitted him such as extracting information or showing he meant business. Corridor ghouls were non-sentient and couldn't be reasoned with in the same way so he disliked the idea of torture.

After a couple of seconds, Gri got back to his feet and gave a slight nod toward Tella in thanks. From his belt at his waist, he unclipped a thermal detonator and raised it to the Jedi, hoping she would understand what he was meaning. Once they managed to attract the creatures to one location and catch the majority in the explosion, the remainders would be easier to pick off. He found himself thankful that he left Kaliah aboard the Lighthawk. If whatever was influencing the animals in the sewers had managed to exert its will on her, he wouldn't have been able to kill his friend. Not only that, but the nexu was a ferocious opponent and she had the capability of tearing his throat out.

Despite killing five of the ghouls, the room was still swarming with their malnourished forms creeping in the darkness, small screeches and clicks creating a bone-chilling chorus. He withdrew one of his blasters as he primed the detonator. The beasts were about to become very aware of someone's presence and he imagined the predators would go into some sort of frenzy. It was better to act quickly before they realise the source of the sound wasn't food and that the air around them was aflame.

TAGS: Tella Voland​

 

[Tella Voland]

Tella could tell she had disturbed Gri with the second Force Crush, and internally winced but tried not to show it on her face, lest he think she was even more inexperienced than she already was. She was unsure if she succeeded, and thankfully Gri seemed to move on from his slight look of disgust. He did not say anything, which was understandable, but from his cue and from her own senses, she could tell he wanted to lure most of them to an area and then blow them all up. Smart idea…something she should have thought of!

Well, the man does look like he has a decade on me, he would know more just from experience.

She nodded, and looked above the pool of water before them. There were a variety of rusty pipes which she thought she could bring down with a relatively moderate effort. Closing her eyes and sending out tendrils of the Force, she began to pull on the pipes to bring them down, causing a large amount of splashes that would hopefully attract the ghouls to jumping in the water where the thermal detonator could turn them all into cooked ghoul via heating the water to scalding steam.

Roll: Critical success.​

Not only did she masterfully rip the pipes free of their holdings, she managed to pull a significant amount of rocks along with them, and was able to stagger drop them into water carefully, as if to emulate living creatures suddenly jumping into the water. The ghouls would be almost certain to investigate now, most if not all of them.

Grigonju

 

[Grigonju]

​

CORUSCANT​

Level 100​

Understanding what Gri was hinting at, Tella got to work manipulating the worn pipes above them with the Force. He stood firm as he watched the metal begin to move subtly at first before the pipes and some rubble plummeted down into the dark pool below. Almost instantaneously, the ghouls darted their heads in the direction of the noise before they sprinted to the source, their lanky bodies clambering over each other to get their claws on the 'prey'. Once enough had gathered at the centre of the area, Gri hurtled the primed detonator amidst the mass of creatures. As it hit the surface, an eruption of sound and blinding oranges engulfed the horde. Pained shrieks drowned out the silence as crimson tongues licked at their flesh.

Those closest to the blast were lying dead in the water and others were thrown back by the force. Gri watched as a wailing ghoul slowly dragged itself away from the epicentre of the blast, succumbing to the flames as it dropped into the sewage, making an audible hiss as the now corpse was extinguished. The bounty hunter began shooting at the ones that were still clinging to life. One that had been thrust into the wall had regained consciousness and was getting back on its feet. Just as it was about to bound toward the gunfire, two blasts sent the hound to the ground as it slid on the wet surface. It seemed like their plan was working and they had taken care of most of the creatures.

As the screams fizzled out with the fire, Gri turned back to the young Jedi. "That went surprisingly well," he said in his usual monotonous, gruff voice. His mind couldn't help but think of whatever was behind the goings on in the sewers. Someone had to be pulling the strings and he was not attuned to the Force but Tella appeared to have the inclination that the dark side of the Force was present. As he faced the woman, a corridor ghoul lifted its head from the floor weakly beside them. Before it even had a chance to plant a paw on the ferrocrete, Gri greeted it with a blast to the head. It dropped once again.

TAGS: Tella Voland​

 

[Tella Voland]

Tella offered a sigh of relief as Gri put down the last of the corridor ghouls. This battle was finally over, and if her senses were correct, they just had one more to go through and this horrible job would finally be complete. She offered Gri a brief nod before she cautioned him.

“Yes, it did, but the next fight will be more difficult I fear. There’s a dark presence between us and the way out of here…and something else I cannot make out right now, but it’s…” She struggled to find the term for a moment. “...unnatural. Whoever or whatever, did something to a creature. Tortured it. Experimented on it. And it is…in great pain.” She managed, head aching from the empathetic backlash she felt, and she could not help but put a gloved hand on her head for a moment.

After regaining her composure, she looked at him with a serious expression on her face, her blue eyes now cool with focus.

“We may have to make a run for the exit when we go up against them. For now, the opponents have been manageable, if a lot of them. But there may be a Dark Jedi and…whatever that thing is. I may not be able to protect you against both at the same time. You could really get hurt…!” She warned, her voice carrying an edge to it. “In all honesty, they should have sent multiple Jedi down here…I have a feeling this is one of their problems they never got around to cleaning up.”

Grigonju

 

[Grigonju]

​

CORUSCANT​

Level 100​

Tella was clearly pained by the agony that the mysterious creature had endured. Thoughts of what the purpose of the swarm of sewer dwellers were trailed through Gri's mind, trying to put together the pieces to see the plot at large but he had no such luck. Though it sounded like the remaining foes would be difficult to overcome, it seemed that whatever they were about to face deserved to be put out of their misery and end their suffering.

Gri's head cocked slightly as she spoke. Did she not think him capable of protecting himself? He wasn't some whelp who needed to be cared for. "You just worry about yourself," he assured her. "If we have to face whatever is in here at the same time, you should go for the Force user and I'll focus on the beast." It made sense for Tella to combat the 'Dark Jedi' since he had no experience in dealing with the Force. Big monsters: he could do.

Now both of his blasters were drawn, he checked their charge once again, a habit he learned the hard way on an old mission. It was better to make sure he had enough power in the cartridges than to be caught by surprise in the middle of a firefight. "Well, we're all that's here. You ready?" he asked her. With his blasters held up to his chest in preparation for use, he followed her deeper into the tunnels to whatever was looming in the darkness before them.

TAGS: Tella Voland​

 

[Tella Voland]

Tella pursed her lips and looked at Gri with concern for a few moments, looking like she was going to say something, before she shook her head and nodded. If he felt okay with it, he felt okay with it, and he would likely push on even if she insisted he stop to begin with. She just prayed to whatever deity was out there that he would not get hurt.

“I will do my best.” She replied, voice humble and slightly nervous. This was the first time she was going up against someone who was not her mother. And this time for real.

It became more and more chill as they ventured deeper into the sewer system, although perhaps that was just Tella feeling the pull of the Dark Side. Hatred and insanity stalked this place, the mind of a madman who fell long ago and was almost as much of a beast as those he commanded. She ignited her lightsaber, the pale blue blade illuminating the darkness, as she moved forward, deliberately stepping ahead of Gri as if to shield him. He might get irritated at her for that, but that was better than dead.

As they stepped into a large, open room, the lights suddenly turned on to their full magnitude in contrast to the dimness they had been accustomed to, and Tella had only seconds to react to a powerful blast of Force Lightning aimed directly behind her at Gri. Shielding him completely, she dug her feet into the ground and dropped her saber, the blade falling to the floor unignited as she raised both of her hands to try to catch it and throw it back, or at least block it.

-----Determinant-----

Tella was able to stop the lightning as she had been trained, letting it flow unimpeded through her as she channeled it back through her other hand and added her own dose of angry power to it. She flung it back at the source she felt, and was rewarded with the hum of a lightsaber and a snarl emanating from the other side of the room as the man's saber was struck by it, forcing him back and disorienting him before the dark power faded.

"Well, aren't you a skilled little kitten?" The dark robed human wielding a red-bladed lightsaber in his hand hissed, then laughed, voice bellowing throughout the large room. "Looks like it's your lucky day, Mandalorian. That should have killed you, but you have a little guardian angel. Too bad your luck runs out, now."

Gesturing behind him, a huge, hulking figure strode forward, the ground shaking as it did so. It was a rancor, but not your normal one. It was huge, almost double the size, with metal plating fused into its skin, and some kind of containers with a horrible green substance of some sort surgically grafted onto it. Long, deadly claws appeared as if they were like steel, tearing apart the stone floor as it lumbered forward.

"You and your little CSF friends have disrupted my studies, but at least this time it looks like I will get a little bit more of a challenge. A Jedi and a Mandalorian, working together, how fun!" He chuckled, raising his hand in an attack gesture. The rancor bellowed, and began to run towards the two of them.

Grigonju

 

[Grigonju]

​

CORUSCANT​

Level 100​

The duo walked through the labyrinth, emerging into yet another chamber. Gri noted the woman making her way ahead of him but he didn't mind. It made sense tactically for her to take the front and she had proven time and again that she was more than capable of taking care of herself. A flash of blinding light joined by a vicious crackle caught him off guard. Though his blasters were poised, he was lucky that the Jedi blocked the lightning and redirected back at its creator.

The red blade of the assailant illuminated his smug grin beneath the hood of his robes. Then came the monstrous figure from the shadows behind him, the glow of the lightsaber reflecting off the metal that armoured its ginormous form. The ground shook as its claws cracked the stone below it. Gri paid no mind to the ramblings of the Dark Jedi, focusing on the rancor that yearned to attack. The name he kept calling him made him uncomfortable but he had bigger priorities.

After a signal from its master, it hurtled toward them with a bellow and a ferocious expression. Its small, lifeless eyes craved their blood as it lunged forward. Gri began to run at it, throwing himself down to slide between its stumpy legs, sitting on his hip as one leg was outstretched in front of him. He swiveled as he cleared the underside of the creature and began firing at its back, noting the canisters containing fluid and aiming at them.

TAGS: Tella Voland​