Public Evening The Odds - The Great Hunt (Jedi)

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Bastila Sal-Soren​

Lorn's boots pressed soundlessly into the damp dirt, each step measured and patient. His shoulders were squared, but the tension there was impossible to miss. The glow of Bastila's blade ahead painted her in a restless violet haze, and every time her saber hummed against the dark, his jaw tightened a little more.

The forest pressed heavy around them, choking with the stench of wet rot and musk. The cries of Sithspawn clawed at the edges of the night, weaving between the trees like phantom echoes that drew closer with each passing step. Lorn's hand stayed on his hilt, fingers steady, but his breath drew slow and controlled through his nose, as if disciplining the anger simmering just beneath his calm.

"Keep it down," he muttered, his voice low and flat, carrying the weight of command even without looking at her. "Noise carries. You're lucky to even be here with me. Thank your sister for that." His gaze cut briefly to the back of her shoulders, cold and hard as iron. "Maybe you'll learn something worth keeping this time, like how not to shoot someone in the back."

The words left him like a blade drawn across stone, sharp and sparking with old resentment. He didn't linger on them, nor did he give her the satisfaction of watching his expression shift. Instead, his head tilted slightly, listening.

That was when it came: a growl, low and guttural, vibrating in the air like the promise of violence. It rolled through the underbrush ahead, too close, too deliberate. Lorn froze mid-step, his weight shifting instantly into a fighter's stance. His golden blade hissed to life, casting his face in stark amber light.

His eyes sharpened. All thought of Bastila's presence abandoned, his attention locked forward. The night itself seemed to hold its breath; something was hunting them.

 

[Bastila Sal-Soren]

Bastila
Tags: Lorn Reingard​

Bastila stilled as the growl rippled through the dark, her head turning fractionally toward the sound. The violet glow of her saber hummed steady, its light sliding over the slick bark of trees and the low sweep of ferns trembling in the unseen wind.

She didn’t rise to his words, not that he would hear anyway. She repeated his words silently and mockingly to the airfully. A slow glance back was all else she allowed, her eyes catching the flare of his blade as it burned into the night. For a heartbeat she weighed a reply, but she kept her lips pressed tight, the Force alive with the jagged edge of his feelings towards her. Then she exhaled through her nose, quiet, measured.

“You were going to start hurting people, Lorn,” she murmured, voice barely above the hum of her saber. “You were arguing with a Force Damned Goddess.”

The undergrowth shifted again, closer, the sound of something massive moving low. Bastila eased her stance, made sure her weight was balanced, and angled her saber downward as she let her senses spread out like a net. The hunger in the dark was impossible to miss, it was a pulsing, feral intent closing in around them.

She squared her shoulders, eyes narrowing. “There,” she whispered, chin tilting toward the thicker shadows ahead. “It’s circling.” A slow guttural click was followed by the sound of dripping liquid and a thing began to emerge from the treeline.

 

[Connel Vanagor]

TITLE
Sedesia
Rally Point

Michael, Gabriel, Azrael, Sariel, Raphael, Jeremiel, Connel, Raguel SERAPHIM
[Any text in brackets signifies comm-link usage and not face to face conversation]

He knew of Colette, and frankly the brow surprised him. Was this some sort of power trip for her? They were about to go into a vulnerable war zone(in a manner of speaking). Then the drop of said brow alleviated that concern, and he was glad his mask was on, she wouldn’t see his embarrassment as his initial reaction.

Enough of that… mistakes happen…

When she was telling of the situation that they were going into, Connel took that moment to let his carbine hang sling, pull out a Mobile "Bodycam" Datapad from one of the pockets of his web gear. He then pulled the comm chip out of the side of the device, slipped it into the side of his mask, in the area of his goggles and offered the device to her(Colette).

When you are ready, press the “red” button and you will see what I see.

With that, he puled his weapon again and began to move, but not before looking to Kyrie. You got "drag"(rear guard)?

TAGS • Jared Starchaser • Katarine Ryiah • Kyrie Blaze • Reina Daival • Colette​

 

[Colette]

Connel Vanagor / Katarine Ryiah / Kyrie Blaze / Reina Daival

"You know best."

That much was true. Colette could sense the emotions in her apprentice's words. She couldn't name them, but she felt them all the same. Not that it mattered.

She grabbed Connel's device with an affirming nod.

"Good idea, thanks," she said, patting herself down before withdrawing her pad to slot in the chip. "We'll keep our eyes and ears out for trouble. Stay safe out there."

Connel then grabbed the stranger's attention before Colette could. She focused on Reina instead. While she wanted to say she trusted her apprentice, she also remembered the last time she lost track of her.

Colette's eyebrows tightened, her lips pursed. If these enemies took Reina, there would be no escape. It would mean failure — as a protector, and as a teacher. Again. Some part of her wanted Reina nowhere near this mission. But coddling her wasn't an option either.

This was the balance every teacher had to master, or so Colette had come to believe. Too much, and you smother them. Too little, and you lose them. In the end Reina wanted to be here or she wouldn't have signed up. Colette could find strength in that. She furrowed her brows once more and gave her apprentice a nod of respect.

"Remember, just like we practiced," Colette said and put her hands on her hips. "Simple movements. No twirling, no throwing. Hit and run, death by a thousand cuts."

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Bastila Sal-Soren​

Lorn's lip curled into a faint snarl, his breath harsh through his nose. "I wasn't going to hurt anyone," he shot back, his voice low and sharp. His golden blade flared to life with a snap-hiss, filling the trees with amber light. The glow carved deep shadows across his face, highlighting lines etched by sleepless nights and battles won by a hair's breadth. His eyes quickly scanned the treeline, hunting for whatever lurked there.

"You'd act the same," he went on, his words gritted, heavy with unspoken memory. His gaze snapped back to her, sharp and unyielding. "If Dominic Praxon or your siblings were possessed by some ancient entity walking out that door, you'd do anything in your power to stop it. Don't pretend otherwise."

The forest seemed to press tighter around them, breathless and watchful. A low growl rippled through the air, closer this time, vibrating in their bones. The Force flared cold in his gut, a sharp, undeniable warning that an attack was already upon them.

The beast broke cover with a shriek, massive and jagged, charging between them in a blur of claws and muscle. Lorn moved instinctively, his boots tearing at the mud as he dove aside. The rush of displaced air and the stench of wet scales whipped past him. As quickly as it had appeared, the thing vanished back into the dark, swallowed by the trees.

He rolled to his feet in one fluid motion, blade raised, his chest heaving as his eyes burned through the darkness. His voice came hard, raw with anger and a deeper ache. "You had no right to do that," he said, not shouting, but each word hit like stone on steel. Though his eyes never left the trees, bitterness laced every syllable. "I have to trust my own wouldn't stun me behind my back."

 

[Bastila Sal-Soren]

Bastila​

Bastila’s saber snapped back into guard, violet light washing over the churned mud where the beast had vanished back. Her chest rose and fell quick, but her voice came sharper, louder than she meant.

“Oh, don’t you dare put it all on me.” She threw him a look over her shoulder, eyes narrowed, blade humming between them like a barrier. “I didn’t want to have to shoot you but if you had taken a second to actually stop you would have seen that everyone was on edge with you, if I hadn’t done it you would have ended up slicing through the whole Vanguard. You’re not some martyr, Lorn.”

The forest groaned with another distant shriek, branches shuddering overhead, but she pressed on anyway, she ignored the mention of Dominic and how it plunged deep into her gut, anger tugging her words out faster than caution.

“And don’t act like you’d have done better. If the shoe had been on the other foot and it had been Briana, or Brandyn, and I was endangering everyone and the mission you’d have dropped me too. Don’t pretend you wouldn’t.”

She shifted her stance, catching the rustle of movement in the underbrush, as the beast again moved at speed towards them, forcing Bastila to backflip out of the way of the creature’s advance. Her saber sliced downwards as she went and made contact enough to fill the clearing with the brief smell of burnt flesh, yet even then her mouth didn’t stop. “You keep telling yourself I betrayed you if it makes it easier. But I saved your life and Ala’s, whether you like it or not.”

A branch snapped from behind them. Bastila turned back toward the dark, jaw tight, violet light quivering as her saber angled low. “Force forbid I have to tell Briana of your sulking all mission.”

Tags: Lorn Reingard​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Bastila Sal-Soren​

Lorn's teeth bared, a grimace fighting a snarl as Bastila's words cut through the night. His grip tightened on the saber, its golden light casting sharp lines across his face, highlighting the wear etched there.

The underbrush exploded again. The beast tore through, a wall of claws and muscle barreling right between them. Lorn pivoted almost lazily, his saber flashing in two sharp arcs. His blade scored across scaled flesh with a hiss of searing meat, but he barely glanced at it. His eyes remained locked on Bastila.

"I'd have restrained you," he snapped, his voice like flint striking steel. "Not stunned. Not like that." His saber swept down again as the beast whirled past. His feet stayed steady, even as mud sprayed up at his legs. He wasn't rattled; if anything, his focus sharpened under the chaos.

"Ala is my responsibility." His voice cracked on the word, the heat in it heavier than simple anger. "I could have fixed it. I had to try." He struck at the beast again as it lunged, his movements precise, almost mechanical, yet turmoil bled through the edges of his stance.

"And now she's just gone. Locked in some detention cell with that thing still inside her. What am I supposed to do now, Bastila?" His chest rose hard with each breath, anger and grief tangling in his throat. "How am I supposed to just let her go? You took away any opportunity I had to fix it."

The beast shrieked, retreating a step into the dark. Lorn stood rooted, saber raised, its golden glow burning against the black. His eyes locked on Bastila's, haunted and unflinching.

"Go on then," he said, his voice low but raw, almost trembling under the weight of it. "Tell Briana about my sulking. She'll hear the same thing from me. I would say it to her face, and you know it."

His blade hummed in the silence that followed, but his words seemed louder than the beast's growl. His rage and grief hung heavier in the night than even the monster circling them.

 

[Bastila Sal-Soren]

Bastila​

Bastila’s saber angled up as the beast lunged, her violet blade carving a streak across its flank. The creature recoiled, shrieking as it vanished back into the trees, but she hardly noticed. Her pulse hammered in her throat, her focus locked on Lorn.

“Oh, so you would have done it better? Of course you would.” Her voice rose sharper than she intended, snapping out into the dark like a whip. “Restrained me, taken me in, saved the day. All neat and tidy, without a single mark on your conscience.” She scoffed, a bitter laugh catching in her throat as she shifted her stance. “That would not have worked, Lorn, and you know it. You were ready to tear the galaxy apart for her.”

She turned half toward him, eyes burning under the purple light. “You think I don’t care what happened to Ala? You think I haven’t replayed that moment over and over until it drives me mad? I didn’t take your chance away, I took the only chance any of us had left to save her.”

The branches above rattled with another guttural cry as the beast regained its fearless nature, but she didn’t flinch. Her words came hot, fast, as if the beast itself could wait while they circled the same wound.

I didn’t want to hurt you. Stop telling me I did, like it was some petty strike to remind you I could. It wasn’t. I stunned you because you couldn’t see past Ala’s face long enough to realize she wasn’t there anymore.” Her blade thrummed, a high, angry note cutting through the night. “So if you want to stand there and spit at me about how I ruined your chance to be the hero, fine. But don’t you dare act like I don’t understand what it feels like to lose someone.” Her breath came ragged, violet glow trembling faintly as her grip tightened. The monster growled again from the treeline, circling closer, creeping up behind her in silence un-noticed but Bastila’s eyes stayed locked on Lorn.

“She’d just repeat what I’m saying right back to you.” She didn’t take any notice of the shadow now casting over her. “Lorn! You are the Jedi Order’s greatest hero. Start acting like it and accept that just because you didn't like the decision made, doesn't mean it was the wrong one..."

tag: Lorn Reingard​

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Bastila Sal-Soren​

Lorn's knuckles whitened around his saber's hilt, the golden light flickering with his sharp breaths. Each of Bastila's words cut deep, like a blade. For a moment, he tensed, ready to lash out, to bury her accusations amongst the night's other poisons.

But nothing came. Her voice carried the undeniable weight of truth. He couldn't deny it; she was right. He had been ready to tear the galaxy apart for Ala, blind to everything but her face, the memory and the loyalty he owed her. In the hollow silence between Bastila's words and the monster's circling growl, the stark reality pressed heavily on him.

His jaw worked, and his breath hissed sharply through his nose, yet no retort formed. His eyes flicked to Bastila, a younger, less seasoned warrior, but she stood there with a clarity he desperately lacked. Her saber remained steady, her words proving sharper than his own anger, wiser than he cared to admit.

The treeline erupted again. The beast burst forward with a roar, hunger and fury driving it straight into the clearing. Lorn's body moved before thought, his saber flashing in a downward arc that split through hide and muscle. The creature shrieked, staggering back, molten blood spraying the mud. Its bellow rattled the trees as it collapsed into the dark again, thrashing into silence.

Lorn stood still, chest heaving, the amber light from his saber washing over the churned earth. His shoulders slumped slightly, the raw energy of the fight draining from him in ragged exhales. He glanced at Bastila, just briefly, his expression caught between stubborn pride and something much rawer, more exposed.

"You're right," he admitted at last, his voice low, worn thin. He looked away, his eyes fixing on the shadows rather than meeting hers. "I... I let my emotions get the better of me." After a long pause, his grip tightening on the hilt, he added, quieter still, "I just... I've lost too many. It's hard to let go. Harder still to watch someone else pay for it."

He shifted his stance, settling back into a defensive guard, as if trying to bury his admission beneath the discipline of readiness. But the words hung there between them, heavier than any physical strike.

"Don't mistake me, Bastila," he said, his voice softer now, devoid of its earlier harshness. "I'm sorry. For doubting you."

 

[Kyrie Blaze]

Objective: Hunt Creatures
Location: Sedesia
Outfit:Armor
Tags: Katarine Ryiah | @ reina daival | Connel Vanagor | Colette

As they were ready to break out one of the forward team approached Kyrie and stated that she would be assigned as rearguard. The Jedi were placing a lot of faith in Kyrie. That made her both proud and a little nervous. Though she hadn't done anything as daunting as face these types of Force hunting creatures, Kyrie knew that she had instincts and combat training that came out whenever she was in trouble. She also knew that she held herself to a high degree of honor. Kyrie might not be able to keep the Jedi's back completely safe, but it would not be because she abandoned the task.

"I've got your back," Kyrie stated confidently as she imagined the lead pair would be off on their way quickly. Though she knew that the funny tingly danger feeling would alert her well before her armor systems would, she raised a hand to the side of her head and activated the sensor suite built into the HUD system. It was very unlikely that anything would sneak up on her. She just hoped when a threat showed she would be up to the challenge.

The self-declared leader of the group seemed to be content with allowing the point team to head off and didn't seem concerned at the moment with Kyrie being at the rear of the group. She instead focused on the last member of the team. She gave the younger woman some last-minute encouragement. Kyrie guessed that meant they would be moving out soon. "And if you hear me yell duck get down quickly. It'll be a barrage from my rifle that cuts through the terrain. We can follow that up with slicing and dicing."

 

[Bastila Sal-Soren]

Bastila​

Bastila held her saber low, its violet glow trembling faintly across the churned mud. The forest was still again, save for the whisper of leaves in the wake of the beast’s fall. She exhaled, slow and steady, eyes tracking the shadows before they slid back to Lorn.

His words landed heavier than she expected. She studied him for a moment, the rigid set of his jaw, the way pride and grief warred behind his eyes. Her lips pressed thin, but the sharp reply that rose in her throat never left.

Instead, she gave a small nod. “I know,” she said simply. No sermon, no sharpness; just the truth carried quiet.

She shifted her stance, shoulders squaring as her focus pulled outward again. The Force still crawled restless with hunger around them. “We can save the sorry for when we’re clear of this place,” she murmured, stepping past him, violet light stretching into the black. “It won’t stay dead for long.”

Lorn Reingard

 

[Connel Vanagor]

TITLE
Sedesia
Rally Point

Michael, Gabriel, Azrael, Sariel, Raphael, Jeremiel, Connel, Raguel SERAPHIM
[Any text in brackets signifies comm-link usage and not face to face conversation]

Wasn’t much left, if anything at all, to say. They had people to protect, and to protect them, they needed to move out, now. He did not like the idea of hunting animals, but they needed to get rid of the problem in one way or the other. They had no choice but to act swiftly. The safety of their people depended on their ability to eliminate the threat before it could escalate further. Reluctantly, they prepared themselves for the task ahead, knowing that time was of the essence.

Kat didn’t have a lot of experience in this, she had told him just in her look, so he said to her quietly.

If I hold up a fist, stop. Otherwise, just keep’em off me… not to pull rank on you, Master. He nudged her playfully. I just don’t want to see you get hurt… not saying I don’t want to see others get hurt… but…

Yes, he was rambling… just like his father used to do around his mother.

Sweeping left to right and back, he looked for any and every possible clue he could find. There were tracks, but they were erratic… then he saw something… then pointed two fingers back at Colette , then to his goggles and looked at some broken branches.

See that?

TAGS • Jared Starchaser • Katarine Ryiah • Kyrie Blaze • Reina Daival • Colette​

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Jared looked over to the Noble child, this was going to be a trip. Having someone with the power that the Noble family had? It could make a lot of problems. BUt, well, it wasn’t like being a Starchaser made him any less of a target. His family had a good connection to the Force, but not as strong as say the Skywalkers of legends, but still something to not be messed with.

“They may not look like much but those things, I’m not going to let them get in close.”

Jared pulled out his rifle, the one he had for years, and readied it. Looking up as the Screechers were flying around, he took a breath, and released it.

Squeezing the trigger, his blaster fired several shots at the gathered. The goal was to take them down. If he got their attention? Good.

Aris Noble Taam Moghul

 

[Lorn Reingard]

Tags: Bastila Sal-Soren​

Bastila's answer landed between them, quiet and steady. There were no barbs, no fire, just the plain truth. It disarmed Lorn more than any of her usual sharp words could have, leaving him standing in the amber light of his saber with a surprising sense of relief.

He gave a short, deliberate nod, his gaze meeting hers for just a moment before returning to the restless darkness. "Fair," he murmured, his voice low, more an acknowledgment than an agreement. The tension that had been coiled in his shoulders began to unwind, replaced by a steadier resolve.

The night wasn't finished with them yet. The underbrush rustled again, closer this time, the air thick with the scent of predators. Lorn stepped forward, his blade angled low, boots sinking into the churned mud as he moved to stand beside Bastila. He was no longer shadowing her, no longer keeping his distance. They were side by side.

The forest erupted with screeches as more Sithspawn surged from the trees. Lorn moved with a quiet ferocity, his golden blade cutting clean arcs through flesh and sinew. His expression remained calm, even as the air filled with the coppery tang of blood and the acrid bite of ash. He fought with the precision of a man born for this work, unyielding, yet his eyes would occasionally flick to Bastila, tracking her movements, gauging her skill in the deadly dance.

Hours bled together in a haze of violence and shadow until the clearing was littered with the twisted forms of their attackers. The Force settled again, the primal hunger finally receding. Lorn's shoulders relaxed, his saber lowering, its golden glow dimming as he deactivated the blade.

He glanced at Bastila again, her violet saber still humming softly against the oppressive blackness. His expression was unreadable, except for the slightest upward turn at the corner of his mouth. It wasn't quite a smile, but it held the weight of acknowledgment, of earned respect.

Without a word, he offered another nod. This one was not the curt gesture of a commander to a subordinate, but the quiet recognition given to an equal.

As they turned and moved deeper into the night, pushing back the Sithspawn's hold, Lorn carried with him something unexpected: a new regard for the youngest Sal-Soren, and the quiet certainty that she had thoroughly earned it.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

Tags: Connel Vanagor Colette Reina Daival Kyrie Blaze

If I hold up a fist, stop. Otherwise, just keep'em off me… not to pull rank on you, Master. He nudged her playfully. I just don't want to see you get hurt… not saying I don't want to see others get hurt… but…

Katarine chuckled at him. She had never been one for ranks to matter, probably because she'd trained during the original rebellion and ranks were all but non-existent. To this day she didn't really know if she was worthy of the title Jedi Master. All she knew was that a Jedi Master had bestowed it upon her and she supposed that must mean something.

"You're the boss." She winked at him and glanced over her shoulder to see that the others were with them. The team set out and soon they were finding tracks and broken branches.

"It looks like they are moving ... north?" To her at least, the toes seemed to be pointed north.... but one of the others could verify.

 

[Reina Daival]

Tag: Interacting with Colette Kyrie Blaze
Nearby: Connel Vanagor Katarine Ryiah

Sword

And so the red-head had just stayed silent. Ready to follow the group as she kept a tight grip on her sword. Tracking on land wasn't something that Reina was too experienced with. Whilst she was a hunter, it had always been more aquatic. On her grounds. In her element. This was going to be a different beast but at the same time, Reina would be lying if she said there wasn't a part of her that wasn't eager for this. To be skulking through the trees for their prey.

Of course, the broken twigs were enough for Reina to know that whatever they were hunting had been this way. And that was when Reina came to a realisation of her own. There were ways to track in the water that applied to on land as well. Scent. Like a shark smelling blood in the water, animals on land could smell as well. Predators could smell out prey and prey could more often than not smell out the predators.

Well, whilst Reina couldn't exactly help with smelling out what they were looking for, she could at least try to stop it from smelling them as she closed her eyes, focusing on the Force. It was her way of being able to contribute, not that she was telling anyone. Best to be seen and not heard in her eyes. And so she focused on the wind, as a few beads of sweat formed on her brow as she brought any and all breeze near the group of Colette , Kyrie Blaze and herself to a halt. She could have tried for Connel Vanagor and Katarine Ryiah but the distance would have been pushing her a bit much.

Spoiler: OOC Notes

: Means written/typed communication : < Means Sign Language communication >

 

[Colette]

Reina Daival / Kyrie Blaze / Connel Vanagor / Katarine Ryiah

Duck when told. Colette gave Kyrie a thumbs-up and then withdrew her pad when the message from Connel came through. The soldier was seeing disturbed shrubs and deep footprints leading away from them. Colette's lips pursed. She pressed her knee into the ground and began to look around the area for any traces of her own.

She couldn't see anything immediate, which worried her the most.

"They're close," she said with a frown. Her eyes darted back to the screen. "Thanks for the update. Keep an eye out."

Colette locked the device and attached it back on her belt again. Connel remained in her earpiece, but his feed did not.

It was almost as if on cue. She turned to motion for her companions to stay vigilant when the situation began to devolve.

First came the sound. A low, guttural rasp that rolled through the undergrowth followed by a roar that rattled her chest. The ground shivered with its weight. Colette slung the rifle off her back and grabbed it firmly in her hands.

Then the beast struck. It tore free from the shadows a few meters behind them, a blur of muscle and sinew. Its hide was thick and mottled, bristling with ridges that caught the dim light. Four legs ended in claws curved like sickles, gouging the dirt with every step. Its jaw snapped wide open, revealing rows of yellowed fangs, each one catching the light like shards of broken crystal. A reek of iron and rot poured from its breath.

"Voxyn!" Colette called out, her rifle at the ready to take the first shot.