Crisis on Ithor [Republic]

[Serah Oricion]

Yusan forced every bit of strength he had as he bolted the last ten meters to the ships ramp and looked at Olaf. "What are you gonna do to save them, the city is falling and there is no way that you'll stop it from doing so. I dont think your all powerful force will hold stop this city from falling. But if you have an idea ill be glad to put myself in the way of danger to help those that need it Jedi." He waited for someone to give him a solution, a way to help the falling city below them.

@[member="Olaf Freesa"] @[member="Vexander Graves"] @[member="Arumi Zy"] @[member="Daella Apparine"]

 

[Soeht]

Following her allies, Daella eventually boarded the same shuttle as everyone else. She stood by the door and helped assist others aboard as the floating city continued its increasingly rapid descent. She looked to @[member="Olaf Freesa"] when he voiced her concern for the people of the floating city. More shuttles from the city began to take off in the distance - presumably carrying more of the dark side cultists.

Calmly looking out to the city as the shuttle took off and sped away, Daella’s only words in regards to the situation was, “The cultists planned for this. If there are any to save, they are likely waiting to drag us down as well.”

Then, Daella turned her eyes to the small squadron of shuttles that carried the cult away.

“Pursue them,” she requested, almost as if an order.

As the Ithorian’s shuttles continued to fly to the distance, the floating city plummeted to the planet’s jungle-covered surface. The impact threw tons of dirt and debris into the air and flattened a vast amount of the jungle - which was sacred to traditional Ithorians.

@[member="Vexander Graves"] @[member="Arumi Zy"] @[member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Vexander Graves]

The young man helped the team hop into the shuttle and once they were all inside, he just heared at the words @[member="Daella Apparine"] had to say. The assestment of the situation seemed quite logical to Vex, the cultist were planning on this and if there were ithorians left, they would be cultists.

Below the shuttle, the young padawan could see the whole floating city crashing at the jungle below... he knew that such event would upset the more traditional ithorians... those that were not tainted by the darkside. It was difficult to understand how even a small lure away from the lightside could have such repercussions.

Vexander's gaze fell upon the shuttles trying to escape, the ones that had the remaining cultists. Knowing that they were in pursuit and that the terms of the mission changed, the corellian placed his rifle and ammo aside "Seems we walked in right into a trap... could there be a leak in the ithorian council?" the padawan didn't wait for a reply, he unclipped his training saber and took out his helmet in preparation for what was about to happen.

@Arumi Zy @Yusan Fenn @Olaf Freesa

 

[Soeht]

When @[member="Vexander Graves"] suggested that there might have been a leak in the Ithorian Council, Daella advised him with, “That is not our concern. We’ll inform the diplomats of what happened at let them act as they wish.”

After saying that, those that were working with the Ithorian Council to bring up terms to usher Ithor into the Galactic Senate were informed of the trap set at the cultists’ floating ship. The shuttle continued to pursue the fleeing cultists. They did not fire back.

Once several minutes have passed, the shuttles dived toward the planet’s surface toward a giant canyon. The cultists landed at the mouth of a cave. Daella’s eyes narrowed on the cave as the cultists ran into it.

“We’ve been told to continue our pursuit until we subdue them,” she said with her lightsaber hilt at hand, “Land.”

@[member="Arumi Zy"] @[member="Yusan Fenn"] @[member="Olaf Freesa"]

 

[Vexander Graves]

exander nodded at the comments of @[member="Daella Apparine"]. "Very well, my lady" Said Vex in a polite way acknowledging the order... especially since itt was true, they had to focus at the task at hand.

Finally, the pursuit was coming to an end; and the corellian padawan proceeded to ignite the training saber, that, although it had less power than a real saber, it would allow to subdue the cultists without problems.

The young man took a deep breath, he closed his eyes and allowed the Force to fill him completely... he was going to need it. In just a few seconds he could feel the strong breeze that the Force brought when needed.

With his eyes completel focused in the entrance to the cave, the young man waited until the ship was in the ground to jump out and head into battle.

@Arumi Zy @Yusan Fenn @Olaf Freesa

 

[Selena Halcyon]

Selena, ever the Shadow despite being an exile, diligently had pursued these cultists for some time now. Her relationship with the Ithorians was stressful to say the least as they were not fond of her going down to the surface of the planet but had been letting her take a few journeys to go after those dark cultists who were defiling it. Tracking is all it had been really. They were a slippery group and a dangerous one. She actually had been doing a fair job tracking them down lately, she thought as she climbed through the underbrush.

Shock struck her as the floating city exploded not far away from her but far enough to pose no threat to her life. The Ithorians had said that the Jedi and Republic were coming to lend them aid, something she had been telling them to do for weeks. This was unexpected though, and certainly not the actions of the Republic or Jedi. From a distance she could place shuttles zipping through the sky heading not too far from where she was. Perfect, she thought, I can group up with allies.

Surging over the landscape she ran to where the Republic and Jedi groups would be moving. As the shuttles landed on the ground she was waiting for them.

 

[Daral Tal'Verda]

"Understand, I do." He responded, pulling his shoto from his side and into his right hand. The training blade was not as powerful as the real deal, but it would keep him alive for now, and that was what mattered. He took a deep breath and tried to find some calm in the force. While not entirely successful, he did find enough to ease his worries.

As the shuttle reached the ground, the goblin-like being leapt from the shuttle, his brilliant sky blue saber ignited as he jumped forward onto the jungle floor of Ithor. Instantly a blaster bolt made its way towards his head, only to be deflected with a quick turn of the wrist. The same technique was used for the next five bolts that came from an Ithorian.

Drawing energy from the force, the Jedi reached out, grabbing a average sized rock and hurling it at the Ithorian to knock the bellowing alien out cold. He'd done that with ease, and without taking a life.

 

[Serah Oricion]

Yusan walked slowly as he started towards the cave entrance that loomed a few meters away. The Jedi Padawan @[member="Olaf Freesa"] had rushed ahead of him and went on further down the cave. Yusan though stopped as he reached the downed ithorian and looked at it before pulling off his saber and igniting it, which he then sunk into the Alien's head. Once the thing was good and dead he continued onwards and was ambushed by another Ithorian who had evidently seen his treatment of the unconcious alien, whom might have been a friend.

The Ithorian ignited its blade and charged forward at Yusan, bringing the blade down at thim, it was obvious due to the stance the the Ithorian had assumed he was a student of Form two. The same one that Yusan had learned in his short amount of training. But Yusan had something more to use against this ithorian, a mixture of form two and his Echani fighting techniques. Yusan gripped the blade tight and brough his blade up to block the strike and push it off to the side before moving in closer and strike with one had at the alien's chest with his hand. Of course this was only a feint but the Ithorian fell for it, losing its balance as it back up and Yusan used that moment to send a wave of force energy at the thing and knock it off its feet. Of course this was only a weak one that had knocked it off its back in its off balanced moment, to which Yusan followed up with a charge and downward stab of his blade.

The Ithorian had recovered though at that point and blocked the blade before moving back and distancing himself from Yusan. It now scanned the area and grabbed at a soccer ball sized stone and sent it flying at Yusan's chest, which struck him and sent him to the ground. It then charged forward itself but was struck by its own tactic as the stone was sent into its face as it closed within a yard of its target. It stood dazed for a moment but that was all Yusan needed as he shot up and extended the saber into the Ithorian's neck. He glared at it and smiled speaking once before bring the blade to the side and out of the Ithorian's neck, his words being. "I got you, now die cultist scum." @[member="Olaf Freesa"] @[member="Selena Halcyon"] @[member="Vexander Graves"] @[member="Vexander Graves"] @[member="Daella Apparine"]

 

[Vexander Graves]

It didn't take long for the ship to land, and the shortest of the Jedi around to rush into battle. His skills with telekinesis were quite good... however, Vex was amazed at the fact that he rushed in without even waiting for backup, didn't look jedi-like to him; but there was the possibility that his training was not into that stage?

At that moment, it didn't actually matter, pondering in such things was something that he had to do later on because he remembered seeing different things in his visions... and a different way of life as a Jedi... nevertheless, he had to focus in the task at hand.

Thinking about it actually made him lose time, and the senator who came along rushed into battle... it was interesting to see a politician jump into action like that, however; what Vex witnesed later on was quite amazing: with one quick move, his pulled out a lightsaber and killed the ithorian who the small padawan left uncouncious... a smart move but unexpected. The padawan raised an eyebrow and under his mouth cover his jaw dropped... not because the kill but because he just looked at a Force User disguised as a Jedi... Last time he checked something like that in the archives, it was the late Emperor of the Galactic Empire... a Sith Lord, who was in disguise and that made the Republic Crumble...

"Politicians..." said the young man, without strong emotions pouring into his mind... but with a slight amount of curiosity.

Vexander proceeded to enter to the cave and saw the fight between the politician and a cultist... With amazing speed, the young man rushed in and decided not to take part of that battle, since he had to focus in other enemies that would be rushing into battle... and it was actually a good thing that he did so... just as he passed the politician, an ithorian came out with his weapon in hand with intentions to attack at @[member="Yusan Fenn"] .

Feeling the intentions through the Force and foreseeing the outcome of the upward slash, Vex placed his saber in the way by just raising the blade horizontally above his head and locked his lightsaber with the cultist's red blade... the ithorian cultist was reckless and he left his lower part without guard... taking the momentum, the padawan quickly took his hilt with both hands and pushed the ithorian back throwing him out of balance, and quickly performed a lower slash at the belly of the enemy hoping to disable the sentient being... but the cultists were somehow trained in an above-average way. With a swift move backwards he dodged the attack.

Vex tried to remember what Master Syn taught him: analyze, find a weakness in the technique and exploit it... Just like when he was actually with a sniper rifle but this time, with his lightsaber. However, the ithorian didn't give him enough time, he once again rushed in just like he did when he attempted to attack the senator; however he had know his blade down realizing his mistake last time. Taking advantage of his size and the lenght of the blade, he attempted a thrust at the chest of Vexander. The young man barely had time to place his blade in front and moved it to his left deflecting the blow. The timing was almost perfect and it allowed Vex to roll over his right shoulder, once a complete revolution was completed, he was in the back of the ithorian who didn't have time to turn around... with a upward slash, Vex burned the back of the ithorian cultist and he stunned the sentient being completely since he was using only a training saber.

Small drops of sweat were released from his beard, and it wetted the mouth cover a bit... taking the lightsaber with his right hand, he used his left to release it revealing his whole face "By the Force... this thing was taking by breath away..." said while looking at the cultist laying on the floor... Vex knew that he would be outcold for quite a few hours, but that didn't take the threat he possed behind, nevertheless, it was not the Jedi-Way to kill just like the senator did before. Doing one last glance at the downed cultist, he decided to let it go "...I thought we didn't have to kill unarmed or uncouncious enemies..." said while looking deeper into the cave, but the comment was aimed at the senator "Do you really have to strike them down with such joy?"

@Olaf Freesa @Selena Halcyon @[member="Yusan Fenn"] @Daella Apparine

 

[Serah Oricion]

Yusan looked up from the dead Ithorian and considered the question, thinking over it carefully as he looked at the man. Why was it that the killing left him with such an feeling of excitement and simplistic feeling of joy, why was it he was never haunted by those kills but he was haunted by the deaths of those around him. It was a question he thought on deeply for a moment before walking up to the man and looking at him and speaking. "Because, if i did not take a certain outlook on these kills they would haunt me like the deaths i had caused and had witnessed in my past. The cultist had been ready to take the lives of millions and why should they not suffer the same fate that they were ready to cause. You should not take a life if you are not prepared to lose your own and only knocking them unconscious would not teach them that. I will leave the one you incapacitated alive but think on what i have said. And stop looking at me like im a Sith or suppose to act like one of your fellow Jedi, im neither and my training in the force is from Neither." He started on further down the cave with that said and in the air. @[member="Vexander Graves"]

 

[Vexander Graves]

Vexander remained silent while he listened. The thoughts of the senator were quite interesting, he didn't agree with everything he said but he understood why he said it. As a member of the military, he had to kill targets with just one shot, and he even had to take out a few ithorians with his sniper to keep the docking bay clean and safe for the team to return to the shuttle.

The young corellian followed the senator further down, he didn't seek to lecture the man since he didn't have any authority over the politician, but he did wanted to understand and to ease what he thought was a misunderstanding.

"But they will not learn anything if they are dead..." whispered the man while looking around and increasing his senses for any sneak attacks "...do not get me wrong, sometimes we even have to take out the life of someone who represents a bigger threat... what I just do not share is the joy in killing someone. That can affect the psyche of a person regardless if they can feel the Force or not."

@[member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Alan]

There were cries of pain, extinguished after a moment. There was a man, or rather, practical beast in the center of a large group of cultists, some wielding vibroblades and some with lightsabers. Tracyn's face was scarred and covered in soot, blood, and ash. There were pockets of skin where explosions had ripped into him, and his armor showed the wear of the battle as well. He faced a numerous amount of cultists, but he seemed to almost enjoy putting them down. One came at him in a overhead stabbing motion with his vibroblade. Tracyn brought his blade upwards to meet his, arcing his to the side. He ripped the vibroblade from the Ithorian's grip, and turned to stab it into a charging one. He grabbed the vibroblade, and turned to the defenseless Ithorian, wiggled the blade, and then plunged it straight through his neck.

Turning to a female and two males, Tracyn grabbed the first Ithorian, plunging his thumbs into his eyes, rendering him blind. He grabbed the said Ithorian's lightsaber, jamming it right between his gouged eyes. Tracyn grabbed the female by her arm, mid swing with a lightsaber, and crushed her hand with his crushgaunted hands, as the name implied. There was a vicious snapping sound as she fell to her knees. Tracyn went behind her, and grabbed her massive head, and gave it a sharp twist before she fell to the ground. The last, was decorated moreso than the others. Tracyn clipped his lightsaber back to his belt, and put up his hands as the last Ithorian picked up a sword, and then a lightsaber. He ignited the lightsaber, standing still for a moment. Tracyn bucked at him, and then the Ithorian made his move. With one foot, he instepped and came at him in a horizontal chop with the lightsaber, before stepping again and coming down at him a smash with the vibrosword. Tracyn rope-a-doped under the swing, and then stepped to the side with the crashing sword. He was fast, he'd give him that. He stepped on the sword hand as it clashed against the ground, and then broke his hand as he turned the vibrosword upwards. The Ithorian roared out in pain, but didn't exactly give up the grip of the sword. So Tracyn, locking the Ithorian's arm behind his back, swung him by his shoulders, face first unto the blade. He grabbed the lightsaber, and sliced him in half before his upper half started to descend onto the sword, only to keel over and fall to the ground. At the end of the affair, Tracyn was bloody, and had...more or less committed murder.

"Who's next?"He said in a growl, feeling his fellow Jedi near him. Although they probably didn't leave bloody and battered Cultists in their wake, with the possibility of dead ones either.

 

[Selena Halcyon]

Selena was not far behind the padawan and the senator, as well as the Jedi Knight who was not far away. The dialogue between the former two certainly was interesting to her. The padawan spoke well. The idealism was good. She appreciated such from the young in the walk of the Jedi, eventually it would get tempered with reality but the start of idealism was nice. She remembered her old days when she would have said much of the same things he would have. He did have a point about the mindset of the senator. And to an extent the killing.

As if intentionally juxtaposed against the dialogue came the other Jedi Knight. His actions course, brash and overly violent. Just watching it made her wonder even more about her state of being an exile. She pushed that away though. She could not linger on her state of being in regards to the Jedi Order. Instead, she would focus on the reality that stood before them. Did she have authority here? Not necessarily, but her status as a Jedi Master still existed. Respect for that position might still exist. Part of her knew that dialogue was pointless at this moment, they had a mission to attend to. However, she was torn. This would be quick, she told herself.

"Knight Tracyn Ordo, I know not who trained you but I am certain he would be ashamed by such a display. Return to the shuttle and protect our way off the planet should we need to flee." Her voice hard, forceful, but devoid of any noticeable signs of emotion for none existed behind it. Simply authority. Her silver blade snapped into life as she drifted towards the cave where the cultists were hiding. Her white cloaked form and silver blade moved slowly. Her focus on the task at hand. Subduing a threat to the galaxy.

 

[Alan]

Tracyn turned, dragging his activated lightsaber on the ground. It's not that he was ignoring the Jedi Master, it's just that...he didn't hear her. He was too focused, too concerned with his next kill. The entrance to the cave protected him for a moment, before he turned back to the Master. It was then he first became aware that he wasn't the only person around, besides the enemy. Enemy. They were cowering in fear in the cave. Tracyn grabbed one, and placed his lightsaber to his neck. The cultist, a weaker willed one, pointed deeper into the cave."Thanks."He said swiftly, before breaking the Ithorian's jaw and throwing him out of the cave. To the outsider, it would appear that a great beast threw the Ithorian out of a black pit, with a blue glow fading as it went deeper into the cave network.

Tracyn stepped quietly, his armor clinking slightly as he came through. He turned off his lightsaber, feeling a presence nearby. He could smell them. Taste their blood. He didn't need the force to turn and grab the man's hand as it came down with a large sword. A few more came back, holding blaster rifles. Tracyn turned the Ithorian with the sword, and for the next several seconds, used him as a Humanoid shield. Tracyn placed his hand, his favorite hand at the nearly-dead Ithorian's stomach."Sorry, but I needed a light."Tracyn said, shortly before activating his wrist-mounted flamethrower, a thing that most and probably all Jedi would disapprove of having. The napalm-infused flame coated the Ithorian's stomach, and spread through his attire like a madman. Tracyn kicked him towards the ones with the blasters, before grabbing unto the top of the cave, a stalactite hanging down. He kicked one in the face, and felt his bones break. The other one on the ground, was met with a quick and brutal end as he landed on his neck, killing him instantly. The one with the blaster bolts riddled with him and the fire still clung to life, but Tracyn paid him no need as he grabbed the broken Ithorian, and pulled him up to the top of the cave. The entire ordeal lasted in darkness, and the shadows trekking across Tracyn's features matched him to a fault.


Tracyn exited the cave in under 30 seconds, and threw the Ithorian with another broken jaw, and most likely skull, next to the other. He sat on a rock outside the cave, shuddering with adrenaline and bloodfever, and what Mandalorians like to call the general pleasure of taking a life. He rocked back and forth, trying to calm himself."Clear."He said to no one in particular, and then glanced around, noticing a female nearby. He narrowed his eyes, not truly focusing on anything but...well, killing people right now."And you are?"Tracyn said, his hands shaking, showing the hand that he was trying to hide behind a poker face of anger. He was afraid of what he was becoming, and it was obvious.

@[member="Selena Halcyon"]

 

[Tefka]

Deep within the jungles of Ithor, a green clawed hand gripped a brown tunic as a small creature bent over in agonizing pain. A great disturbance in the Force had been felt, and thus pressed this creature to make his way to to the tops of the trees. Jumping and lunging with great precision, this creature found itself peering through the leaves and towards the sky.

A city had fallen.

"It is time to go home," it muttered, disappearing from view.

 

[Serah Oricion]

"Forgive me for showing a bit of joy in the killing, its a primative feeling that i have tried to shake before but couldn't. I dont mean to say i like killing, no i hate it... but theres that rush of adrenaline and excitement in a fight that overwhelms me and makes me enjoy the dance of blades. It keeps me from hesistating when i fight and from holding back, because if i did i would have died a number of times in my past. Tell you what Jedi, find me after the mission and ill gladly have this conversation but right now i think we have a job to do." He gripped his saber tight again and let his mind reach out and search the area ahead of him as he walked. @[member="Vexander Graves"]

 

[Daral Tal'Verda]

"If hate killing, you do, then do not kill those who can no longer fight back." Olaf stated, looking back at @[member="Yusan Fenn"], his eyes narrowing as he looked back at the Echani politician. Perhaps time would forge Olaf into a man capable of killing, but for now he would abstain from doing so, he was not a butcher. Awaiting @[member="Vexander Graves"] to reach him, the small padawan silently awaited something to happen.

@[member="Tefka"] @[member="Tracyn Ordo"] @[member="Selena Halcyon"]

 

[Soeht]

Once the shuttle landed, Daella immediately exited the vehicle. She held her lightsaber blade high and charged toward the mouth of the cave. She ignored the Ithorian that @[member="Olaf Freesa"] knocked out and attacked one holding a red lightsaber.

The hulking Ithorian awkwardly fell as Daella quickly disengaged. He had pushed far too much forward in order to resist Daella. She then summarily impaled the Ithorian in the chest with a somber gaze.

Another Ithorian before her dropped his lightsaber and held up his hands. Daella then adjusted a knob on her lightsaber. Without a word, she walked up to the Ithorian and struck it on the back of his head. This left a slight burn mark on the back of his head as if a sunburn and knocked him out. Daella then readjusted her lightsaber back to lethal levels.

The cultists at the mouth of the caves had been routed or killed. Daella looked back at the argument among @[member="Vexander Graves"], @[member="Yusan Fenn"], and Olaf. However, her attention shifted again toward @[member="Tracyn Ordo"] as he massacred a group of Ithorians.

Before entering the cave, Daella noticed @[member="Selena Halcyon"]. He placed her left hand over her heart and gave a small bow to the exiled Jedi Master. Yet by that time, Tracyn had already ignored her and entered the cave. Daella began to follow, yet as she took the first step her stopped in place. Her eyes widened in shock and continued to be such until after Tracyn exited the cave and sat atop of a rock.

After giving a glance to Selena, Daella stepped forward and said, “Ordo, please remain here and protect the shuttle.”

 

[Alan]

The blood stained warrior looked solemn for a moment, a large ringing in his ears. He was dizzy, and disoriented. He needed to lay down, was the best way to describe his current physical well-being. He turned towards @[member="Daella Apparine"], seeming to look straight through her. His breathing was shallow and his words were slurred, as his mind was still in the war. War. War was all he knew, war was what he was brought up with, war was what he would die with..he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He stood up, looking at the two injured cultists. He stood over them, a looming shadow over the two. They scrambled away, muttering for mercy and forgiveness. He turned back to Daella, his mind, after a few moments, processing what she said. He reached up to his face, wiping some blood and...burnt flesh away so he could speak.

"Yeah, sure..sure..I can do that. I can definitely do that."He said, slowly lumbering towards the shuttle. The world was spinning, and he felt like he needed to throw up. He was reminded of the fact, that he was still being slowly poisoned, thanks to Circe back in the derelict ship. He eventually reached the shuttle, and sat down. Just sat down, on one of the exterior edgings of the ship. He looked down at his bloodied hands, bits of bone and flesh lingering on them. He was covered in blood, and not exactly a pretty sight. He gave a deep sigh, and leaned his head back on the shuttle, trying to collect himself for the time being.

 

[Soeht]

Once @[member="Tracyn Ordo"] gave his word that he would stay with the shuttle, Daella turned away and began to walk into the caves. She walked past the bodies of the cultists that Tracyn killed. She glanced over each one with a still, stoic look.

The trail of bodies ended eventually, though. The deeper Daella traveled, the darker the caves became. Light dimmed to the point that the eyes strained to see - at least, those that had not been acclimated to living in such dark conditions.

Further from within the cave, a low rumble of voices could be heard. Those not used to the Ithorians language would have been unable to make out even the most basic of words. Yet, there was panic and fear - strong emotions that could fuel the dark side.

Daella continued to press forward with her yellow lightsaber in her right hand. It gave some light to guide her path further into the tunnel. She kept her head high, and only after walking for well over a couple minutes did she turn back once to see any of those that had followed.