Private Edge of the Abyss

[Ana Rix]

Ana made one very undignified sound on the way across.

Then the Wookiee caught her.

The impact was solid enough to rattle her, but not painful, broad arms hauling her in and setting her down on the wet stone with far more care than she had expected from something that size. For half a second, she simply stood there, blinking through rain and adrenaline, reacquainting herself with the concept of ground.

"Right," she breathed, still catching up to events. "Apparently that worked."

Behind them came the sound of impact, metal, movement, and Mistral's continued refusal to die in sensible ways. She turned just in time to see him recover and pull himself up as if this entire sequence had been merely inconvenient.

Her thoughts flicked immediately to the others. Aya. Seastone. The wounded women. Inside the fortress, with blasterfire and whatever else was moving through it.

"I really hope they're having an easier time than we are," she muttered, though she doubted it.

Then Mistral said run. So she ran. Or at least moved into a fast, careful pace that respected both urgency and the fact that one bad step would send her skidding into disaster. Her boots searched for traction with every stride, arms balancing instinctively as she tried to keep momentum without becoming a cautionary tale.

"I'm moving," she called back over the storm. "And if I slip, I'm blaming all of you."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

He looked at it and was moving as his eyes stayed ahead and the wookiee was working to clear the areas. Getting them a path but also rounding the side of the wall to the larger areas. The sheer cliff going away as it was a tight squeeze as Mistral and the wookie were climbing and using their boots and hands to bounce back and forth, to ascend to a better place that would let them move around. "Noted." He said while he was moving and came up higher to launch himself at the fortress wall. A small gap there as he jumped in to hold himslf and there was the sounds of more blaster fire that could be seen from some of the buildings and the guards towers they had been sealing aimed at attacking forces trying to climb up.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana kept moving because stopping seemed like the worse option.

The path narrowed, rose, twisted into something that felt less like a route and more like a punishment designed by hostile architects. She followed the space the Wookiee cleared, trusting momentum and proximity more than confidence, boots slipping once before catching again on wet stone.

The flashes of blasterfire above made her duck instinctively, though she never fully broke stride.

"If any future investigation starts like this again," she called between breaths, voice tight but intact, "remind me to pack for unexpected situations."

She grabbed a rough outcropping, used it to steady herself, then pushed onward after them.

"Smoke grenades. Climbing gear. Possibly a shuttle."

Another burst of fire lit the wall in sharp white flashes. Ana flinched, then kept going.

"And something waterproof."

She didn't look back to see if anything was still chasing them.

That information felt actively unhelpful.

Instead, she focused on the next foothold, the next handhold, the next few meters that had to be survived before the ones after them mattered.

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Mistral chuckled a little to that as he moved and was able to clear more of it. THe towers were sealed from their movements and he didn't stop but he was also finding a way to look through the courtyard between lightning flashes. The image of Seastone and Aya moving with the other three as he didn't motion or draw attention where he was moving and he motioned to the wookiee to help with Ana as he was moving. One hand going to a throwing blade that he was able to throw to get the islanders attention as she was running towards the doors of the fortress with the others between the flashes. The blasterfire all around getting more concentrated in areas where they would be able to avoid. "We are going to want to move."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana was already moving.

Wet, windblown, and one bad step away from becoming a cautionary tale, but moving nonetheless.

So when Mistral called that they were going to want to move, she shot him a look that managed to carry irritation even through rain and exhaustion.

"I am moving," she called back, breath tight but voice still sharp. "This is apparently just my fastest responsible speed."

Even so, she pushed harder.

Her next steps came more quickly, boots striking stone with greater urgency as she tried to match the pace they needed without surrendering entirely to gravity. One foot slipped on the wet surface, skidding half a step before she caught herself against the wall with a hand and kept going.

"See?" she muttered under her breath, more to herself than anyone else. "This is why I pace."

Another flash of lightning cut across the courtyard below, blasterfire following it in scattered bursts. Ana didn't look long enough to process any of it.

She fixed on the path ahead and accelerated again.

"Just keep choosing routes that don't kill me immediately," she added, voice dry despite the strain. "I'll do the rest."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

He gave a nod before he was rushing and keeping himself at the ready. The moment came before they were running through the rain and he slammed into the doorway with the wookiee to bash it down so that they would be able to get through. The wookiee going first and then Mistral as the other was recovering shoulder slammed into the doors. Letting them clear the towers as he could see the others on the ground moving and someone was tossed off a tower as he lept up and over the body as it slammed into the stone in front of him. He brought his blaade out while he slashed into another jumping thing with the wookiee roaring behind him. Catching him at the last moment aas he kicked the things off of his blade with a nod.

 

[Mistral]

double post