Icy-Hot
The planet of Mustafar had long been reclaimed by allied Forces, and yet here they were cleaning up stragglers. With the fall of The Sith, there was numerous opportunities to snuff out the remnants that had scurried off to their shadowy tombs, or hidden fortresses. It was where her specialization lent itself. Clandestine military action against the Sith sounded great initially. It sounded like she would be able to stop them in their tracks, make it so that the suffering imposed on her would not be imposed on others. And then there was the reality of it. What wasn't spoken about.
Aayla knelt in the stack of two other Jedi Shadows, eyes briefly transfixed on a bit of blood that dripped from her fingers. Beyond it, the still open eyes of the slain Sith Acolyte. Looking up at her own Silver hues; was she changing? Or was she doing what she wanted to all along? There was a particular amount of... Conflict, doubting her mind. Until a firm hand grasped her left shoulder.
"Stratza. You made it quick, that's all you can offer them if they still maintain their allegiance to the Sith we'll have time to decompress after; keep your wits, and your thoughts...'
The other Shadow said in a low voice, glancing around them before nestling herself under the low cover they maintained outside of the Sith Encampment. While remote, they maintained a pretty decent amount of security; including the security that the very landscape of Mustafar provided at times.
So far, the intel had been up to par. Decent to Good Security, with a relatively unprepared personnel count. In addition to that the compound they were going to destroy may or may not house an undisclosed number of slaves. Finding this location was the result of interrogating a captured Sith Acolyte; claiming the location held a prize that the young mans Master was hiding away from his peers.
Luckily for them, with the Sith Lord slain in war, the remnants of his forces were left relatively unguided... That's where they came in.
'As if we should be babying her at a time like this, if he hit that alarm they could've destroyed whatever evidence, or leads there are to find inside. Stratz, if you're good to go push on to the Slave Pens. Free who you can, but keep them contained until we've set the explosives and searched for whatever filthy artifact the Sith had in his possession. If you're spotted girl, don't hesitate; you've been on warzones, these people are the enemy. Do not forget that.'
The Masked, gruffy sounded older woman briefly scold/commended Aayla, and she could only nod in return; masked herself; they wore black robes that were specialized for Jedi Shadows, simple but effective face coverings coupled with the taut hoodies that could be attached; in Aayla's case she would also wear a black cap to conceal the ivory white locks that grew from her scalp. Her hair was always going to be an easy call on identity, and dying it for every mission was just out.
"I'll do what I must, don't worry about me Iris..."
And with that, she would step around her cohort, making a brief fist as she skulked off in the direction of the Slave Pens.
The intel was well enough, and Aayla would eventually come to an turboshaft, below there was a subterranean corridor and in that corridor was where at least twenty slaves were kept. She was able to get their without incident, and use the codes from the turncoat to access the elevator without issue. As such Aayla would enter, taking a cautionary look behind her before taking both of her sabers off of her waist and pressing them together. She made sure to try to make as little noise as possible even though there wasn't any good reason to do so.
Though just before the door opened, she felt it. Not quite Dark Jedi, but ready, and prepared to fight. She inhaled sharply as the turbo-lift door opened, spinning both sabers and lining up a deflect well before she herself had a chance to see it. The bolt careened from her saber and bounced off multiple walls in several cells. She might have dropped the ball on that, she didn't realize her Force Concealment was failing. Losing her clarity could've ruined the mission for her team... Though, they were still in business.
Moving from the elevator, the saber would remain in motion as she noted who, and where her opponents were. They weren't Force Sensitive. Likely slaves that chose to serve in return for... Well, whatever it was the Sith whispered in these poor fools ears. Now inside, and aware of the location of her opponents, she would look from the shooter to his associate. They weren't kids, that was for sure. All the same, she felt as though she had shed enough literal blood for one day. With both sabers active and swinging, Aayla could almost feel a matrix of clarity when she performed even the most mundane of movements with her saber. Side-stepping and moving her saber in concordance to throw him off. With her speed, and tact, his next shot missed completely, ricocheting off of the wall, but hitting his associate this time in the back.
And that was that that, Aayla would rise the weapon rapidly bringing it up across his midsection, his face scrunched up, and she would look him square in his eyes as the lights went out, watching him fall to a knee then flat on his back. She felt out within the Force, not feeling any other actively hostile lifeforms, but would turn twice to look at the cells. To her surprise most were empty, but to her true surprise was the fact that ALL were open.
This wasn't a Slave Pit... This was a dormitory.... With regulars as guards? 'Stratza' hadn't deactivated her saber yet, and was ready for the heavier, and quite frankly angrier Twi'Lek when he finally made his move. He had been hiding ever since the doors opened. It made sense then, he had forced them to distract her? She took the impact head on from the side, and let herself stumble back two steps before performing a quick backflip and reclaiming her stance. She planted her feet briefly, letting the saber spin and contour her form momentarily. With that she and the Twi'Lek would begin a series of violent exchanges while some of the others in the Subterranean 'Hallway' simply watched, cheered the fighters on, mumbled incoherently to themselves.
What was certain was that most of the people in this place had reason to pick each others side over Aayla's. And yet she had to have this fight. She should've called for backup, but wanted to prove something to herself, as such she would continue the fight as it was. Seemingly, Aayla seemed to be getting easily overpowered by the taller, stronger fighter.
Amanda
