Private Cooked Well-Done for a Sithspawn

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Cain Sevu

Tatooine. Sucked.

It was hot enough to roast a man alive, he was sweating everywhere, there was sand everywhere, and Gatz was more frustrated than he'd been in a long time. He was on a simple assignment: Tatooine held an old listening post out in the Dune Sea, perfectly positioned to monitor the Sith Order. Just like with his assignment on Hoth, the job was to get that old technology up and running for the Galactic Alliance.

Child's play for a man with his technical skills.

But even inside the cavern-turned-bunker, it was hot enough that Gatz was pretty sure he was cooking himself well-done. He was miserable, and warm, and gross—just like every other crazy sapient being who spent more than five minutes on this dustbowl of a planet. Already, he was fantasizing about leaving this damn world behind him. That and a cold shower. Or, like, a swimming pool.

And as long as this particular assignment went smoother than his assignment on Hoth did, he'd be out of here in less than an hour. No broken down ship, or Sith this time. Just some old wiring, and a dead generator to get running. Then he could call it a day, and feel good about getting something productive done.

But when had his life ever been that easy?

 

[Cain Sevu]

Unlike a certain Jedi approaching heatstroke, Cain didn’t have any particularly strong feelings to muse over.

If anything, the heat was a welcome departure from Lianna’s cold underbelly. She’d much rather cook under the combined UV of twin suns than risk freezing to death in some alley again. Far too many of her nights had been spent curled up, staving off frostbite for her liking. It was a fate Alicia had more or less "saved" her from, and now she found herself forever at the woman’s beck and call. A war dog to be sicked on whomever posed the slightest inconvenience.

With her cloak drawn to just beneath dust rimmed googles, the girl stood at the precipice of a dune, stagnant against the currents of sand. A cave- and suspected Jedi base of operations- sat nestled in the valley below in clear view.

Wordlessly she made her way down, unhurried and unbothered. She didn’t plan on this taking long.

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Cain Sevu

Getting the generator running hadn't been too bad. Gatz was kind of impressed with how little repair it had needed after all the years of disuse, mixed with the harsh environment. He supposed being sheltered inside the cave helped a lot, but it still wasn't in a controlled or safe environment. But, aside from the odd womprat-chewed wire, it had cost him very little work to get running again.

The actual listening post itself, however, was in much greater disarray. Every piece of tech in this cavern was far older than he was, and though he had the technical know-how to get it operational, it still took much longer than if he were playing around with something modern. It was frustrating, especially with the heat trying to snuff him out, but he got the job done.

He had just screwed the last panel back onto the console, when he felt something from outside the cave. Valery again? He dismissed that immediately: he'd have recognized Valery's presence in the Force in his sleep, and this lifeform was neither as recognizable or as overwhelmingly powerful as she was.

With a sigh, Gatz resigned himself to stepping out of the cave to greet whoever had come all this way. He was trying to be hopeful that it was just some wanderer, but... he had a bad feeling about this.

"Uh, howdy?" Is that what they said on Tatooine? "You're a long way from Anchorhead!"

 

[Cain Sevu]

Cain certainly didn’t look like much of a threat. The girl had a rather unimpressive and diminutive frame; One almost entirely drowned in a simple beige garb. At worst she looked like a some lost scavenger who could probably use a ration bar or two.

The girl slid her googles off her face, letting them rest around her neck as sand drained from the lenses. Her eyes briefly flashed up towards Gatz before turning to the cave. She lingered a moment before brushing past the man wordlessly. It almost appeared she didn’t understand whatever he was saying.

Either way the girl ended up in the cave, admiring Gatz’s work with a measure of indifference. A finger dragged across the generator before she crouched, tilted her head, and seemed to deliberate a moment.

Suddenly her hand crushed through the metal screen, gutting the wiring in one fell swoop. Her arm returned free of injury as the power quickly faded, plunging the two back into a state of darkness.

Probably not a wanderer.

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Cain Sevu

Gatz didn't know what he'd been expecting. Maybe a greeting in return, or some kind of acknowledgment? But he got nothing, and instead, the young woman in question just brushed past him like he was something that was in her way. It felt eerie, and it only made Gatz worry more. She walked through the base like she had a purpose, and that bad feeling he had only compounded upon itself.

He suspected what she was, long before she found the generator.

"Yeah, that's a pretty old piece of tech. Probably from the days of the Galactic—"

She shoved her hand straight through the old screen—entirely unprotected, like she was wielding a weapon and not flesh and bone—and the lights strung up on the ceiling of the cave died.

"...Empire." Gatz sighed, "there's no talking about this, is there?"

His hand gripped his lightsaber, but didn't draw it just yet. Though the chance for diplomacy was basically dead in the water, Gatz refused to be the person who struck first. He was supposed to be beyond that now. He was supposed to end the conflict, not start it.

He was a little concerned this was a conflict he couldn't quite end, though.

 

[Cain Sevu]

Gatz's remarks were met with a pointed look.

Clearly the girl wasn't much of a conversationalist. She was here to kill, and the man in front of her was here to die. It was a transaction that really didn't need to be bogged down by idle chit chat.

Her attention briefly dropped to the weapon at his side as his hand retreated. She'd seen such instruments only twice before. The man who'd freed her from Stygeon Prime had notably wielded one; a cylindrical metal base capped with angry fire.

It was something to be cautious of.

The girl straightened, beady red eyes regarding Gatz with an almost clinical analysis. Out of nowhere, with specter-like silence, she charged at the man. The Sithspawn operated at an inhuman speed, aiming to disarm Gatz before he even had the chance to draw. After that it was just a matter of touch; gouging out his force presence and leaving behind a husk for crows to pick at.

She was a bit of a one trick pony.

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Cain Sevu

Yeah, talking seemed out of the question. Honestly, Gatz was beginning to wonder if this woman was even capable of it. He'd met mutes before, and even knew a little sign language, but he somehow doubted that was going to be received any better. This woman was clearly hostile, and he had clearly walked into a situation that was now FUBAR. And now, he had to figure out how to get himself out of it.

Fixing the listening post was beyond question now. Even if this woman wasn't Sith, she now knew of its existence, and so the advantage granted by its secrecy was no longer—

The Force alone saved his life.

The woman moved fast. Faster than he could for sure. If not for the headstart precognition had given him, she'd have killed him right then and there. As it was, he barely threw himself to the side in time, crashing down into the hard stone floor of the cave, and cutting his brow open. His lightsaber, which Gatz had been trying to reach for, went clattering away from his grip.

Shit.

He stood carefully, immersing himself fully into the Force. He couldn't see where his lightsaber had fallen—not with the lights dead—and so now the Force was the only defence available to him.

 

[Cain Sevu]

The man dived to the floor, evading her porcelain hands right before they could strip him of life.

Annoying.

In response Cain straightened, the only part of her to remain visible being the two bloody lenses coloring her eyes. Eyes which sought out Gatz's body the next moment, splicing through the veil of darkness with ease. Measured steps then took her to where his lightsaber laid on the ground, the girl's head turning in careful inspection. It did look strangely familiar.

Like a drip through a cracked valve, a memory resurfaced for the girl, chopped and splintered by more than just time. Dark cloaks. fiery swords. confusion- Pain. For the first time, her face warped into some kind of expression, lip pulling up into a snarl. A renewed bloodlust slugged through her veins like ice water.

She decided then Gatz's death would be painful and slow.

Turning to the man and where he now stood, the girl growled in an inhuman octave. One hand curved with claw-like attachments extending from her nail beds. It seemed with every moment the line between human and thing continued to blur. Her eyes locked on Gatz once more before she lunged, aiming at his face with the intent to maim.

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Cain Sevu

His head hurt, pounding from his brow, now dripping blood.

Gatz only had a few seconds to take stock of what was around him. His lightsaber was somewhere laying uselessly on the floor—he couldn't see it because this crazy lady had killed the power, and therefore the lights. There were old rocks and bolds strewn about, probably from a cave-in many years ago. Those were probably the best weapons he had.

As the very aggressive woman turned to face him, he threw one of those boulders at her with the Force. By pure luck, he launched it right as she lunged for him a second time. He didn't expect it to actually kill her, not considering her speed and strength, but he was hoping it would give him a chance to get around her and make for the exit. This mission was a bust, and there was no point in trying to get the listening post up now that this (probably) Sith knew its location.

There was no point in sticking around to die, either.

His male ego wasn't so fragile that it couldn't stand running away from a fight he couldn't win. Even if he'd still had his lightsaber, Gatz wasn't sure he'd have this brawl in the bag. But killing this woman really wasn't his goal anyways. The most important thing was alerting the Jedi Council that the Sith knew of this base, and that they could potentially know of others.

 

[Cain Sevu]

She almost seemed surprised by his audacity.

With the boulder clipping her shoulder and forcing her from her war path, the girl staggered, chest heaving in and out in rapid succession. For a moment she simply stayed put, bloodshot eyes remaining on Gatz as if she intended to skewer him in place.

And she most certainly would have if not for the blonde hair.

The girl seemed to lag a moment; whatever memories had been dredged up by the lightsaber continued to drip down like a facet. For a brief instant Gatz's face seemed to blur, superimposed with someone else's. Someone familiar, but hazy. Her eyes softened in pained confusion. There remained a drumming blood lust in her body language, but for some reason or another the girl seemed unable to act on it. She didn’t want to act on it.

And that was unacceptable.

Her jaw clenched, silencing a growl, confused and afraid by her own inaction. Alicia would not be pleased. At best, she'd be stuffed back in a cage to rot like Alicia had promised.

If Gatz wanted to run, now was certainly his chance to.

Gatz Derrevar

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Cain Sevu

The Sithspawn mostly dodged his boulder, and his heart sank into his stomach. But then she staggered, and he took it as his cue to get the hell out of there. He sprinted around her for the exit. His foot clipped something, and it bounced across the ground with a metallic clang. With an intake of air, he held his hand out and called the object to his hand. He was rewarded by his fingers closing around a durasteel grip he knew all too well.

His lightsaber.

But that still didn't give him the confidence to fight a woman far stronger and far faster than he was. With his Jedi weapon in hand, he probably stood a fair chance if he delved into the Force. But Gatz didn't want to take that chance—there was still no need to. Fighting this Sithspawn would accomplish nothing in the end. The Sith still knew of this base, which meant it was useless, and the Jedi needed to know that their listening posts were potentially compromised.

He couldn't tell them that if he was dead.

The sharp sting of daylight struck Gatz's eyes as he exited the cave, his boots hitting sand instead of smooth stone. But he didn't stop there. He kept moving for the dunes he'd parked his ship behind, all the while keeping his senses attuned on the cave and the woman who was still within.

<Arfour,> Gatz spoke into his commlink, <get the engines spinning now! I have an unwelcome guest on my tail!>

 

[Cain Sevu]

Cain’s heart drummed like a rabbit’s against her ribs until all the girl could hear was the rush of blood.

Somewhere amidst the sensory overload, her target had manage slip away. Unfortunately still very much alive.

With a violent shake of her head, the girl forced her memories back into submission, eyes sharpening once again.

“No.”

The growl was soft, inhuman, and rusted. It was not a sound she looked remotely capable of producing. And yet all she did was turn towards the exit, watching Gatz with the same beady red eyes.

Like she was searing his image into her mind.

Gatz Derrevar