Private Dusty Tomes and Deadly Spells

[Darth Strosius]

Ziost.

The planet was still recovering from the two invasions of the past months, cities being rebuilt, refugees returning, defenses being reinforced and repaired, and not to mention the cleanup of the sites of battle and conflict all over the planet. Suffice to say, the old Sith world was in a state indeed. He idly made a note to try and get some of his cult to come and help with the efforts, but that was for another day.

Now, he had a task to complete.

"There, take us in for landing." Alisteri pointed out to the ruined building ahead, one of many now. That one was different however, being the top of a far older building than many others on the planet. An old Sith archive, full of ancient knowledge ripe for the taking. Well, recovery in this sense. Recovering ancient secrets and methods for future generations of Sith had always been a priority of course, but with the recent wars it had become even more important. The pilot simply nodded and began to bring the shuttle in for landing, the Acolyte leaving the cockpit to look for the other occupant of the vehicle.

Normally he would've simply undertaken this little excursion on his own, but plundering into an ancient Sith archive with limited knowledge was merely a recipe for disaster. Very deadly disaster without a doubt. He would more than likely need the help of another sorcerer just to enter the place, and he only knew one.

Arcturus Dinn , a fellow Sith that he had only met once and under...less than pleasant circumstances nonetheless.

Now though, there shouldn't be any matricide.

Hopefully anyway.

"We're about to land, are you prepared? I don't know what's down there but knowing Sith...well it could be anything."

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Sith and their barren worlds.​

​

This one was more icicle than desert, granted, but Korriban wasn't particularly warm despite its appearances and Ziost, well, it was definitely a tundra. A lovely occupied tundra. His recent excursions on Ossus had been met with a similar chill, though that was more owing to the winter it was undergoing than any permanent state of climate.​

​

As per usual, Arcturus had spent much of the journey out there locked in his studies. No golem-making this time, Nwit was back in his suite on Korriban where he could remain safe, instead he was pouring over a new tome he'd checked out of the Academy's archive. The musings of some mad men, most chalked it down to, but he'd heard tale from a smaller community of scholars that it was really one Sith's descent into the Netherworld told through unknowing eyes.​

​

He was only a sixth of the way through, but he could definitely get a feel for it being more of the latter. The Netherworld left a certain lasting impression on those who traversed it, he'd noticed, and these ramblings had the tell tale signs alright.​

​

The emergence of Alisteri had him tear his gaze away. He closed the tome over his thumb, holding the page in a temporary manner, and offered his fellow Acolyte a smile.​

​

"As prepared as I can be," he confessed, "Who knows what we'll find inside." Still, there was much he could mitigate with thanks to the treasure he'd been gifted from the time he'd traversed the Netherrealms himself. The most likely danger lurking inside would be some sort of spirit, Sith loved to guard their knowledge with such shades, but Arcturus didn't worry about such these days. He wasn't likely to come across a large enough horde for them to get through the protections afforded to him now.​

​

Procuring a slither of parchment from within his pocket, he saved the page properly and set the tome aside on the seat next to him. Then he rose up, shouldered his beloved satchel, and headed toward the ramp. They hadn't landed yet of course, but he was eager to leave. There was something exciting about exploring new ruins.​

​

"How have you been, Alisteri? It's been quite some time since our former excursion."​

​

Alina was a Knight now... At least someone was prospering as of late.​

​

Darth Strosius ​

 

[Darth Strosius]

Who knows indeed.

The Sith hardly left anything unguarded. Especially when said thing happened to be any sort of information, both in an effort to keep their secrets from the Jedi or whoever else may plunder it and to ensure that only worthy Sith could claim it. "Nothing that will be happy to see us and let us walk on in unmolested, that's for sure."

He stopped before the ramp, taking a moment to do a quick stretch or two as Arcturus got ready. The other Sith had been engrossed in some sort of book evidently. Should be plenty of interesting, potentially horrifying, reading material down in the archive.

Alisteri nodded, his gaze turning from the ramp to Arcturus as he spoke. "Quite some time indeed, too long if I may say so." He rolled his shoulders with a sigh before continuing. "I've been busy. Leading sermons, fighting battles, thankfully I did finally get back on a decent sleep schedule. I have a new holocron and it's been giving me a run through the wringer. Other than that, I can't complain." There seemed to always be something to do these days, for better or for worse.

He shrugged and nodded to the other Sith again. "What about you? Anything new? How is Korriban doing these days?" A part of him almost missed the planet, if only for the rich history of it.

It had been the place of his first duel against a Jedi as well, so there was some sentimentality.

Before he knew it the shuttle had landed with a small shudder, the ramp before the pair dropping to reveal the surface of Ziost. The archive, now more ruined from the recent battles than it had been by the many centuries, stood unyielding a short distance away.

"Do all Sith have a penchant for monolithic structures?"

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Oh he was certainly hoping to unearth some new reading material, that was for sure. There could be any number of untold delights awaiting them, past the defenses of the place, artifacts and knowledge that had withstood the test of time. But it didn't do any good to speculate on the specifics. Truth be told he was grateful to be given the opportunity to tag along, this was a nice break from Korriban and his regular studies.​

​

"Sermons?" That intrigued him. He didn't know too much about what went on inside the Empire, he hadn't been among their ranks in a very long time. If indeed he ever truly had. Until returning and becoming apart of the Eternal, Arcturus had mostly just stuck to Maliphant and whoever came his way. "I'm glad you're doing well. Stay safe out there man. It's easy to be caught beneath the tide of it all."​

​

With regards to himself he initially just shrugged his shoulders. Too much to talk about, too much he probably shouldn't talk about. No need for the rest of the Sith populace to be made aware of his failings. "All's been well, Korriban is the same as ever. Working on my projects, but nothing new there." He was a creature of habit, even if those habits had been temporarily shattered in the wake of the Ossus invasion.​

​

Back on track now though. That was what mattered, right?​

​

They disembarked alongside one another when the shuttle landed; his eyes were drawn to the towering structure as Alisteri made his quip. It brought a smirk to his lips.​

​

"Do you think maybe they're compensating for something?" he inquired, with a light chuckle, before shaking his head. "Maybe they just like the whole 'verse to know they're here." ​

​

He pulled his jacket tight around himself to stave off some of the cold, then set off through the snow toward the archive. "What do you know about this place?"​

​

Darth Strosius ​

 

[Darth Strosius]

He merely nodded and let out a small laugh as Arcturus told him to stay safe. If there was only one thing that he had learned in his days as a Sith, it was that Sith were hardly ever safe. They lived a deadly and dangerous life. Betrayal and enemies could await around every corner in the more diabolical and power-hungry circles. Of course, as an Acolyte he had no such worries.

There was a war to keep him on his toes instead of backstabbing comrades.

"Same as ever eh? You mean suffocating with the Force and full of malicious spirits?" Korriban had always felt like that in his mind. Like an ocean of the Dark Side, eager to swallow those that couldn't swim fast enough. A part of him was glad to hear that it hadn't changed. "Ah right, projects. Like that little...golem you had?" The proper word had eluded him for a moment. He still didn't know what to make of that little construct, animating anything with the Force was still so very foreign. It sounded almost too fantastical even now, and he had seen a ghost for Force's sake.

The archive, even as ruined as the exterior was, still protruded into the sky defiantly. Not time nor war could ravage it completely. Were he more poetic, he would almost see it as a monument to the Sith itself.

Alisteri scoffed and shared in the chuckle at Arcturus's remark, nodding in agreement with his assessment. "Maybe. Anything to keep up the legacy I suppose, be it in buildings and artifacts or on the bodies they left behind." Thankfully, the structure had been built to last. The entrance was still intact from what he could tell, no excavation needed.

The cold wind dug straight through his clothes and made his cape billow slightly as the pair began to approach the archive. He pulled a small holoprojector from one of his pockets and activated it, showing a small map of the interior. Well, some of the interior anyway, just the upper levels. "On the surface it's nothing too special. Somewhere for Sith to send their apprentices to fetch a random piece of information just to keep them busy. That is just the upper levels though. Beneath is an entire archive built back during the days of the Sith Empires of old."

He had never been to it of course, it was the sort of place that one only really visited when they knew what they were looking for. And had a bit of political pull to find it.

"Unfortunately, the defenses and guardians reawakened during the past few weeks of battle. So we won't be able to simply waltz on in and pull a book off of a shelf without losing at least a hand in the process."

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"Oh, all the suffocation. All the spirits." Yep that was Korriban through and through. Cold, sandy desert. Delightful. He didn't understand why Sith gravitated to it as a hub in truth, it was interesting and full of tombs and the like for people like Arcturus who enjoyed such things to investigate, but for most it was inhospitable. Quite frankly a pain. He wondered how many times a day they had to sweep. He shuddered to think. ​

​

"Yeah, Nwit... Love that little guy. Do you dabble at all?" He realized as he asked that he hadn't really specified what he meant by that. "In alchemy, I mean. You seem more the warrior, but still. Looks can be deceiving."​

​

Maybe he could show Alisteri a thing or two one of these days. It was always good to get more on the path, keep the craft going. More minds on it meant uniquer projects after all.​

​

Ears burning, he pulled his hood up against the cold and held it firmly in place. Soon they'd be inside and that would hopefully stave off some of it. Likely not all of it. Who knew when this place was last occupied or heated. He shuddered to think. Those poor tomes, some were probably suffering because of it.​

​

He turned his attention to the holoprojector that the other Sith produced, and observed the footprint of the building. Mention of a sub-structure had him nodding, it was often the case. Make it seem as though all the stuff worth taking was in the upper levels, keep it heavily guarded, put something there to keep them off the true trail. Then hide the true treasure in some obscure, hard to find basement. Jedi did it too with their valuable holocrons and confiscated Sith artifacts.​

​

"Alright, is there anything specific you're after in here? Just so I know what we're looking for." Not that he wouldn't be searching for things that peaked his own interest of course.​

​

Between the inevitable fighting.​

​

He wondered what sort of constructs might have been lurking within. Likely old droids, the aforementioned spirits... Maybe some creatures? Though given the landscape, maybe not. Okay, so probably just metal beings and dead beings then.​

​

"So, front door? Or do we search for another entrance..?"​

​

Darth Strosius ​

 

[Darth Strosius]

"Hm. I suppose it will never change." That thought was surprisingly comforting. Korriban would always be a spiritual home for the Sith, a testament to their order and sacred mission. Even if he could only really stand being on the planet for short spans of time, he was glad to hear that it hadn't changed. He had no idea how it even would.

Nwit eh? A nice name for the little construct, he supposed. "Oh alchemy? I have tried to get into it recently yes, I even managed to get a holocron to try and learn from it. Unfortunately, I apparently still have some other basic Sith things to catch up on learning before I can begin properly doing alchemy in any sense of the word. These days I have to be a warrior first you know, else I'll be a corpse."

The accursed guardian of said holocron had been insistent on that.

His question did make him pause for a moment, glancing back at the holoprojector before turning it off and slipping the device back into his pocket. They wouldn't need it until they got into the archive anyway. "Mostly I'm just here to ensure that the archive can be accessed in the future. I'll be looking for something to take back for my own uses of course, but I don't have anything particular in mind at the moment no." Finding exact information on what exactly was in the archive had been difficult.

It had taken an arm and a leg, not his thankfully, just to learn the location of the place. Evidently Darths weren't eager to share their little secret knowledge repositories anymore.

Go figure.

"Yes, the front looks intact enough to get in through thankfully. It's getting to the lower levels that will be the interesting part." It wasn't going to be easy. Even without whatever defenses were active down there, he had little doubt that there would be plenty of...puzzles and whatever else blocking their path.

Those ancient Sith loved their accursed puzzles and tests.

"We best go ahead and get in, it's only going to get colder out here."

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"I could always help give you some pointers one of these days," he offered with a light shrug, as they made their way toward the Archive, "When you're not busy being a badass warrior, of course!" Arcturus doubted he'd ever be considered even an adequate warrior, much less badass. He had his knife though, and he was good with aiming it. And he could handle himself in a simple enough duel with Makashi.​

​

Outside of that? Well who knew.​

​

He hadn't really seen the inside of a training room in quite some time.​

​

With nothing in particular to search for, simply an Archive to clean up and make functional once more, he nodded to the other Sith's words.​

​

"Alright, let's go..."​

​

It was cold. Very cold. And the sooner they were inside the better.​

​

As suspected the front door was in working order. It opened at their behest, and once inside some of the chill was cut off. Not all of it though. He paused on the other side of the door, peering through the darkness. Well for him it wasn't particularly dark, the ring on his finger made sure of that. But no light had come on. Not automatically at least.​

​

"You want to go up or down?" he asked, voice quiet. Then he shook his head, "Maybe we shouldn't rush, actually. Might be something on this floor to contend with first."​

​

It reminded him of their little hunt for crystals way back when. Force that felt like several lifetimes ago now...​

​

Darth Strosius ​

 

[Darth Strosius]

The masked acolyte perked up slightly at the mention of pointers. Now that was something he could appreciate, and he made a note of bringing that up for discussion in the future. He hadn't met another Sith that dabbled in sorcery, not any that he knew of anyway. Of course he had the holocron, but that wasn't the same as having a proper conversation with a likeminded Sith.

He couldn't help but scoff at the second remark, but he nodded. "Ah, thank you. From what I recall you're not bad in a fight yourself."

Thankfully the door worked, meaning that the archive evidently still had access to some form of power. With any luck that would extend throughout the building. If there were any elevators or whatever else, hopefully they still had power too.

The lack of light was a cause for concern however.

Of course he didn't mind the darkness, given that he could see in it just fine due to his...well 'new' physiology. The fact that the lights hadn't come on didn't bode well at first glance still. Either they were disconnected from the main grid or there's some sort of switch somewhere...which begs the question of who would turn it off?

"Yes...there may be some sort of guardian here. Better to go ahead and off it just in case we find ourselves need to make a hasty escape from the lower levels." Thankfully he couldn't hear any movement...yet.

Alisteri pulled the lightsaber from his belt and ignited it, the red blade standing out in the darkness. Hopefully it didn't draw too much attention. "We should only have to go down from here. According to what little information I managed to find, the only thing above this is maintenance levels. Well, maintenance levels and now rubble from the battle."

With any luck, perhaps some of the defensive systems had been in the destroyed parts.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Arcturus and fighting didn't exactly go hand in hand. Most of the times he'd been engaged in combat he'd sought the fastest way out imaginable - blinding them with his sand, throwing his dagger through their hands to make them drop their weapons, more recently forcing them to fall asleep with other, newer sand, that sort of thing. He'd enjoyed sparring with a few different foes during classes, but there was no real urgency to that, and they'd been fellow Acolytes, equally as new and as bad as he.​

​

One of these days he'd have to learn for real.​

​

"Thanks, but I have a long way to go. Hey, maybe you could give me pointers one of these days. Build each other up, that sort of thing." ​

​

So many Sith tried to be rivals, tried to undermine the other, make them weaker, but Arcturus thought that was foolish. At least at this stage in the game. They were each seeking to benefit the same ideals, were they not? Weakening their peers meant weakening their respective Orders in a way. Let the infighting be for the Knights and Lords who had planets to oversee.​

​

That wasn't to say a little rivalry was bad. It was good to push oneself, to make oneself stronger. But that didn't have to end in death.​

​

The ignition of his lightsaber broke through most of the immediate darkness, and his reliance on the ring waned. Thankfully it was more of a passive effect, it didn't burn his eyes to have sudden light. That was a definite benefit to having it alchemized rather than innate. The likes of Umbarans would have shied away from the sudden change.​

​

"Alright then, let's find and incapacitate any guardians on this level then we can head down."​

​

As if on cue the sound of mechanisms whirring in the distance rang out, then the stomping of heavy, metal feet nearing them. Some sort of hulking droid, no doubt... Arcturus reached for and ignited his own blade in a glow of red.​

​

Darth Strosius ​

 

[Darth Strosius]

"Step one of fighting as a Sith: Never fight fair or alone."

It was a hard lesson, and one that felt wrong to say even if it was true. He much preferred an honorable and equal fight, but that sort of thinking would only get one killed these days.

The enemy had no honor, and deserved none in return.

His eyes narrowed at the sound of movement, something mechanical. It made sense, droids were far easier to manage than Sith spirits or whatever else a Lord could come up with as a guardian. Relatively low maintenance too. "Case in point, that." Alisteri adopted a defensive posture, holding his sabre up in preparation to block any projectiles.

He moved forward slowly, his gaze sweeping over the room as he searched for the source of the noise. Given that we haven't been shot yet, it isn't in the front near the door. Meaning that it must be- A bolt of red energy lit up the darkness as it sped towards the masked acolyte, said Sith quickly deflecting it and sending it into the floor nearby. Ah, there it is. He twisted to avoid another shot flying towards him, ducking down to hide behind a large metal table near one of the many shelves in the room.

"Found it!"

The droid was certainly a larger one, being about the width of your average speeder and as tall as a shuttle. Thankfully it was slow, and the blasters mounted on its arms didn't appear to be anything special or heavy. More than likely it was meant as some form of guard exclusively, rather than any frontline combat droid.

It was some solace, but it now letting loose a steady stream of shots was not.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Well there was the problem... Arcturus had always tried to fight fair. If not fair then underhanded in a way which simply allowed him to evade, to get away without further conflict. It was simply who he was inside. But who he was had begun to change since Ossus... Yeah, maybe he'd have to employ this advice going forward.​

​

The noise caught them slightly off guard, but Alisteri took it in his stride. Arcturus ignited his lightsaber, preparing for whatever might round the corner. Certainly it was not some fleshy beast, with the whirring and the stomping, or he might have reached for his beloved dagger instead.​

​

When the giant construct came into sight he stared at it for a solid moment.​

​

"This would be a good time to know Ionize, huh?" he mused... But he didn't know Ionize, just another skill he lacked.​

​

Instead they'd have to deal with this droid head on.​

​

He shifted his blade into the path of the bolts which came his way, and braced his stance.​

​

"It's big, maybe we can use that to our advantage," He grunted as the bolts staggered him back some, "If we can get a leg out from under it, the rest should fall..."​

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But no doubt that would be far easier said than done.​

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Darth Strosius ​

 

[Darth Strosius]

The droid trudged forward, firing off bolt after bolt at a brutally steady pace. It wasn't able to shoot too many at one time thankfully, so they didn't have to worry about blocking a whole barrage at once, but it was surprisingly accurate. Alisteri jumped back as a bolt suddenly pierced through the table that he had been taking cover behind. Ah great, it's not dumb.

"I like the idea. One counterpoint though, "

He rolled out of cover, narrowly missing another shot as he did so, and sprang up to his feet. The machine was closer but it had one of its blasters dead set on him. ", we need to get around the fething thing first."

"Do me a favor and move now!"

The masked Acolyte blocked another bolt and grunted as he pulled a nearby table up to throw it at the droid. The table smashed into it, but it was unperturbed. It hadn't even paused in firing. "You go left, I go right, and let's hope it isn't agile enough to spin around too fast yeah?" Another shot deflected into the ground later and he was on the move again.

Thankfully. Alisteri was fairly quick on his feet.

One had to be when fighting a superior opponent after all. Especially when a head on fight would only end in defeat.

Or the loss of a limb.

Ducking and dodging around and under the line of fire that followed after him as he dashed to get around the droid was another matter entirely however. It seemed to be fairly good at tracking targets.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Pushed further and further back by the constructs' blaster fire raining against his blade, Arcturus made the decision to break away between shots and dropped into cover behind one of the many pieces of furniture in the room.​

​

Alisteri was right, their attack would have to be coordinated and precise if they were going to make this work. And even then, swiping its legs out from under it would only render it immobile, not unarmed. He let out a slow and measured exhale, and peered toward his fellow Acolyte who had also sought cover.​

​

"Alright, let's do this..."​

​

The idea of running toward a guardian droid wasn't the most pleasant, in fact it felt downright stupid, but what other options did they have in that moment? He certainly wasn't a Mechu Deru master, in that moment they could only make use of what they had.​

​

So Arcturus went left, and Alisteri went right, and the pair of them had to fight on through the bolts sent their way. Said bolts were a little more scattered now than they had been though, with the droid targeting individuals on either flank rather than ahead of it. As he moved, his eyes darted to the construct's legs in search of some sort of weak point.​

​

And then he unhooked a second hilt from his belt and tossed it forward, reaching out with the Force to apply pressure to the ignition switch. It was not a Sith's blade which leaped out from the emitter, this was most definitely a Jedi's lightsaber, a brilliant green light cast out against a sea of red.​

​

He knew that taking one of the corpses blades back on Ossus was a smart idea. Perhaps he should have taken them both.​

​

Darth Strosius ​

​

[ Apologies for the very late reply, I had a busy then sick week ]​

 

[Darth Strosius]

There was another advantage that the two Sith had over the droid, other than properly thinking minds and lightsabers of course. Rubble, overturned tables and furniture, even a few desks were littered around the room to use for cover as they tried to run and flank the hulking droid. Of course the blaster bolts could burn through most of said cover after a few shots, but they were on the move.

And their movement was another advantage.

The turning circle of the droid was evidently very wide, given that it was struggling to try and keep shooting at the Acolytes once they had made it around its firing arc. Not that well designed apparently.

Alisteri skidded to a stop, taking a moment to chuck a nearby chair at the droid to try and stall its turning even more. Anything to try and buy some more time to put it down. He glanced towards the other Acolyte as he noticed a green glow out of the corner of his eye, raising a brow in curiosity before quickly turning his attention back to the droid.

He could ask about the Jedi that was claimed from later, after they had dealt with this first guardian.

"Okay, so legs first then the blaster arms? We can just leave the thing on the floor if we stop it from shooting and following us." Better to get rid of it as quick as they could. There was no telling what sort of security systems the archive may have, and there was no telling if this droid could alert said system if there was one.

Better to be safe than sorry.

"What do you think?"

Arcturus Dinn

(No worries at all! I've been having a busy weekend myself, hope you get to feeling better!)

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

"Legs first," he confirmed, with a nod, they would be easier to get to and once at a lowered and immobile position the blaster arms could face a similar fate. Right now he wasn't confident he could get up there to where they were attached, the beast was hulking after all.​

​

The stolen blade darted out through the air, severing one of the hydraulic cables which helped to tether the droid's right leg to the rest of its shell. There were more wires and cables of course, one split wire does not a disconnected leg make, but it was progress, and it seemed to draw the attention of the droid moreso toward him than his counterpart.​

​

Arcturus ducked back down behind more of the scattered furniture, even as the secondary lightsaber wound its way back around toward him, pulled via the Force into his grasp. A hail of blaster bolts followed quickly after it, shredding up much of the overturned desk he was hiding behind.​

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His heartbeat caught for a moment, and a pained yelp broke free from his lips before he could hold it back. His right arm stung like nobody's business where one of the stray bolts had caught it and singed his flesh.​

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Not enough to make him back down though.​

​

Darth Strosius ​

 

[Darth Strosius]

Legs first indeed.

A moment of pause, to crack his neck and flex his hands. That was all he would need for preparation, but his fellow Sith provided a distraction. He was more than prepared to hop over his cover and weave through a flurry of bolts to reach the droid, but the bolts where not flying towards him at the moment. A fact that he was equally worried and relieved about.

Alisteri flipped over what furniture lay between him and the open and hit the ground running. He had not practiced throwing his weapon like the other had, thus he would not use such a technique. Range was his biggest weakness, but there was one trick that he had up his sleeves that would make disposing of the droid relatively easier.

As the bolt scorched Arcturus's arm, the masked Acolyte made his swing at the left leg of the droid. His other hand was not idle either, having begun to crackle with small bolts of lightning.

Shoot this you overgrown washing machine.

His blade impacted the metal joint of the left leg...and bounced off. It took a moment for him to realize that his lightsaber had no effect, other than drawing attention back to him. Quickly he thrust his other hand forward and shot forth as powerful a bolt of Force Lightning into the droid as he could manage.

"Hit it again!"

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Soon after the droids attention was once again yanked away, this time to his counterpart.​

​

Arcturus was given just a brief moment of respite before Alisteri's voice rang out toward him. He inhaled a slow breath, stemming away some of the pain in his arm, and then twisted to face the tattered desk once more. He peered over it, toward the droid and the leg he'd already made some headway against, and then tossed the lightsaber in its direction once more, igniting it and propelling it through the Force.​

​

This hit and run tactic might have been slow, but there was certainly some merit to it. A second cable was shredded under the heat of the saber's blade, and once again Arc moved away from the desk to duck behind another piece of furniture, this time a bookcase, before the saber could return to his grasp.​

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The second cable also wasn't enough to fully sever it, but there was a hiss as air and fluid pooled forth from the broken ends. In the aftermath it looked as though the droid was dragging that particular leg, unable to fully move or support it. Still mobile, but almost like a lame and limping animal.​

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Once more its attention switched, back and forth between the two as each attempted in their own way to bring him down and buy more time for their companion.​

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Darth Strosius ​

 

[Darth Strosius]

The lightning was effective enough to seemingly stall the one leg that Alisteri had attempted to cut off a moment ago, but not effective enough to stop the droid completely. Before he could bring his lightsaber up to try and get a slice in at the cables that ran between the leg and the rest of the droid, one of its arms slammed into his mask. Thinking quick before the barrel of the blaster was aimed anywhere near him, his free hand shot out to grasp the droid's arm to keep it in place.

A slightly strained whirring noise sounded as the droid's arm was held upwards, the other one still letting loose a spray of blaster fire at the other Sith. Wasting no time, he swung his sabre and severed the cables to disconnect the leg before rolling away and hauling himself over a piece of furniture before a bolt shot his way.

The masked Acolyte sighed in relief, an sigh which turned into a grunt as a bolt put a hole through the flimsy cover right next to him.

"Fething-" Well, no time to lose then. He moved quickly to dive behind another nearby desk as a flurry of bolts ripped his previous cover apart. Alisteri let out another breath and flexed his hand around the hilt of his sabre. The droid was almost rendered immobile, thankfully, given that two of its legs were disabled. The other two weren't strong enough to keep it moving fast, but they were enough to scrape it along the floor if need be.

The droid's blasters and accuracy hadn't diminished in the slightest though. "Hey Arcturus, I'm counting two legs down. Halfway there eh?"

Arcturus Dinn