Faction Hunting Grounds | Diarchy

[Viari Banu]

The metal men (droids) stalked the plains below, sweeping across the terrain in a cleansing wave. Their heavy frames drummed a metallic rhythm that kept even the earth awake. He had tried to approach one a few days before, but the thing had simply ignored him and when he pressed the issue it almost hurt him, and now there was a dozen.

They encircled the herd of Piket he'd been hunting, while the metal men stood like sentries scanning the fields with cold precision.

Viari recognized the formation for what it was: a defensive posture meant to dissuade any predator from striking. But it would take more than that to deter a hungry Rishii. The beasts were as slow and cumbersome as the droids themselves. He had brought down one of the larger ones yesterday, a kill that should have sustained him for a month and two of the hounds days before that. However, he'd neither had the time nor the strength to claim it. He'd taken enough for the evening and the morning, leaving the rest for the hounds that prowled below.
Those creatures were cunning - quick to learn, quick to exploit. Why risk life and limb when the alien hunter would do the killing for you?

He spiraled lower toward the grassy plain, wings cutting the air in tight arcs until he hovered within stooping distance. A newborn was in his sights. Ordinarily, he would have left the young alone, targeting only the weak or the old. But whatever these metal creatures were, they would try to stop him. He needed to end it quickly and escape.
Timing his descent, the Rishii caught a cushion of air beneath his wings, adjusted his angle, and folded them tight. Xitli plummeted like a missile, talons poised. He struck the neck cleanly - the sound, a wet crack thrilled him. A perfect kill.

The herd wailed. The nearest beast kicked out in panic, but he was already gone, carried aloft by the wind.

---

Later, Viari perched on the branch of his chosen roost, a Bank tree with a commanding view of the surrounding terrain perfect to prepare for the next evenings hunt. Below, the hound creatures tore at the remnants of his hunt. He might have called them allies, if not for their insatiable hunger.
The irony was not lost on him. Still, the question lingered; if they weren't meant to be hunted, why keep them in open fields?

Maybe he would someday get his answer, little did he know that day would come sooner than he could have expected.

Diarch Reign Diarch Rellik Saul Whesai

 

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre's grey eyes narrowed slightly as she followed the movements of the metal men across the plains, a faint crease forming between her brows. The droids moved with chilling precision, their cold, unfeeling rhythm a stark contrast to the life of the Rishii below.

"Machines…" she murmured softly, her voice carrying a subtle edge of disapproval. "They have no understanding of balance, no respect for life. Their order is imposed, not earned. They don't protect—they dominate."

Her gaze flicked to the Rishii, observing his careful, instinct-driven strikes. "You move with purpose, with instinct, with honor," she continued, voice gentler now but firm. "These…constructs cannot grasp that. To them, the herd is just a problem to solve, not a living, breathing part of the world."

She let her head tilt slightly, her eyes returning to Viari. "Do you feel it too? Does the presence of these metal men change the balance, even from above? They are not guardians—they are intruders."

Her tone remained calm and reflective, but was threaded with a quiet, resolute dislike—the kind that came from seeing how cold and lifeless tools could make what should be alive.

Viari Banu

 

[Viari Banu]

Hunting Grounds​

The voice pertified the Rishii, his talons tightening around the trees branches and body rigid. His ear tufts moving through the wind as he remained still and silent. The voice wasn't distinctly hostile, at least not towards him, he heard shouts of anger from the farmers before. Instead, their voice was projected forwards towards the lockstep of metal men. Constructs they called them, that had no meaning to him but intruders. That was a word he understood well.​

​

Mustering his courage he turned to look at the individual, a woman, human. He hadn't taken the opportunity to preen this morning, his feathers and beak still bloodied from the evenings kill. As she continued to speak he cocked his head to the left, the way she spoke reminded him of his father. "Hello... friend." He chirped nervously. It wasn't guilt that made him nervous, only the fact she had somehow sneaked up on him.​

​

He allowed himself a moment to glance back and consider her words, he closed his eyes helping him focus. He wasn't a stranger to the powers she described, his own pilgrimage and limited training received from his father taught him the basics. Although, if anybody was to ask, he would say it was always there and all he had to do was listen. The wind around those 'machines' was cold and hollow like the deepest of caves, the air in their lungs absent or at the very least stagnant like death.​

​

Viari turned his head back and replied, "Constructs are not friends? Viari is friend, are you friend?"​

Note: Mimicry (where relevant) matches the OP's colour.

Iandre Athlea

Div created by Makeb​

 

[Iandre Athlea]

She remained still when the Rishii spoke, careful not to disrupt the fragile trust forming between them. His greeting was hesitant, but genuine—and that mattered far more to her than appearances. The blood on his feathers, the tension in his stance…those told a story she didn't yet need to pry open.

Slowly, she lowered the hand that had hovered near her lightsaber, making sure he saw the motion for what it was—a choice toward calm, not conflict.

"Hello, Viari," she answered, voice soft but steady. "Yes. I am a friend."

Her gaze flicked briefly to the constructs below—cold silhouettes marching without breath, without life—a quiet discomfort pulled at her expression.

"Those machines…" her jaw tightened just slightly, "they do not understand friendship. They follow commands. Nothing more. That makes them dangerous."

The wind tugged gently at her cloak as she looked back up to him, meeting his wide, avian eyes without a hint of threat—only earnest intent.

"You warned them away. You chose to protect life rather than take more. That means more than you know."

A faint breath of a smile touched her lips.

"And I am glad you asked." She placed a hand over her chest, bowing her head just slightly. "I am Iandre. And yes—Viari is a friend."

She tilted her head, curious and kind.

"Will you come down? We can speak better without the machines listening."

Viari Banu

 

[Diarch Rellik]

Boots pressed into the prairie soil with steady, unhurried steps as Rellik came to stand beside Iandre. His gaze lifted toward the Rishii in the tree, then shifted briefly toward the line of metal figures sweeping the plains below.

"These droids don't belong here," he said, voice level. "They're privately owned, from a wealthy rancher a few miles away. His herding automatons occasionally wander the plains, but they have no authorization to be here. This is a nature reserve."

A faint crease formed in his brow as he tracked their pattern.

"They're too far out. Too aggressive. Either their tracking systems malfunctioned, or someone tampered with their route programming."

His gaze returned fully to Viari.

"Hello!" he bellowed out. "I am Rellik, nice to meet you."

Putting one hand behind his head and with a big smile he asked Iandre - "That one seems interesting ay?" Then his gaze shifted back toward the marching machines, expression sharpening just enough to show he hadn't forgotten the problem at hand.

"Once he comes down, we'll handle this together. Before they harm anything else. We can even go give the head of house Vandar a visit."

Viari Banu Iandre Athlea

 

[Viari Banu]

Hunting Grounds​

Listening? Viari consider her words staring at the metal figures with renewed suspicion. He assumed - perhaps wrongly - that the machines simply could not comprehend his words, they spoke in a pattern but it was not one he could easily discern or understand. It was not organic, more mechanical? His gaze returned to the human, as Viari cautiously hopped down from one branch to the next, and stopping about half way.​

​

Another human joined her, it made him hesitate and freeze. They outnumbered him now and the womans delicate movements drew his attention to the device on her hip. Despite still being beyond their immediate reach, he arched his back slightly forward, as if to lean in and get a closer look. He had not seen one like it and yet he still recognised the individual components, the igniter and hilt particularly. He had seen his father use a device like once, to ward away predators during a hunt that had gone awry, it never drew blood but the recognition those Krak'jya's eyes was enough to tell him it was dangerous. He blinked allowing himself to refocus on the pair and speak, "Hello friend, Rellik!" He repeated, matching his earlier enthusiasm.​

​

"Good meet friend Landre, friend Rellik." He chirped shifting focus to Rellik and his big smile. The pair appeared to know one another, maybe they were part of the same tribe, meaning he likely carried a similiar weapon, although he seemed much more concerned with the droids than he did with him. A good sign that brought Viari to the dry earth. "I am Viari. You want talk?" He said more confidently, waving a wing in greeting. His feathers bristled slightly, an instictive reaction more than a conscious one, there was a old Rishii proverb; run from what flies and fly from what runs and right now he was very much fighting that advice for a chance. A chance, that they might indeed be friends and know something about his father.​

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Iandre Athlea Diarch Rellik

 

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre's grey eyes followed Viari's careful descent, noting the hesitation in the Rishii's movements and the subtle intelligence in his assessment of their presence. She stepped a little closer to Rellik, letting her hand brush lightly against his arm—a quiet gesture of reassurance and affection.

"You're right about the droids," she said softly, her tone calm but carrying a quiet certainty. "They shouldn't be here. Something's interfering with their programming, and we'll need to handle it carefully before anything—or anyone—gets hurt."

Her gaze flicked briefly to Viari, attentive but unthreatening. "Hello, Viari," she added gently, a faint smile lifting her lips. "You've got sharp instincts. It's good you came down. We'll make sure these machines don't cause harm while we figure out what's going on."

Iandre shifted closer to Rellik, her hand resting lightly atop his. "I trust you," she murmured, her voice low but steady, "and I'm glad we're together in this. You always notice the things that matter, even when the rest of the world is distracting."

Her eyes returned to Viari, scanning the Rishii with a mixture of curiosity and patience. "We're not here to hurt you or your home. If you'll let us, we can work together to guide these droids back where they belong—and keep everything safe."

She gave a slight, encouraging nod, the faintest warmth in her tone reserved entirely for Rellik. "And once the droids are handled, we can make sure nothing else disturbs you or your plains. You're not alone here."

Viari Banu Diarch Rellik

 

[Diarch Rellik]

Rellik gave Iandre's hand a brief, grateful squeeze before his attention returned fully to Viari. The Rishii's mimicry drew an unexpected laugh from the Diarch. It wasn't making fun of the creature. Just celebrating how unique they were. He tilted his head slightly, trying to match the tone and rhythm. "Hello, friend. I want talk." he said, echoing the cadence as best he could, his grin widening. It wasn't perfect, but it was close enough to show the effort. Doing his best to bond.

"You've got a good ear," he added warmly.

The humor lingered for only a moment before his expression steadied again, eyes flicking toward the horizon where the rogue droids swept across the reserve. He turned towards Iandre.

"We need to grab one droid by the back of the neck and get its memory chip. We can check its update logs and see what was changed about it. But we should get going."

Smiling and turning back towards the Rishii.

"Viari, would you like to come with us and shut down the droids and then go talk to the farmer with us? We can spend some time together and friend Rellik can learn more about you."

Viari Banu Iandre Athlea

 

[Viari Banu]

Hunting Grounds​

Viari wasn't quick to answer, first processing their words and trying to make sense of what was being requested of him. For starters, it seemed these metalmen were droids, whether that was a collective term or a particular species he could not tell but he supposed it wasn't all that important. Sanctuary? Given the context, he supposed this might be another word for territory, perhaps a special type of territory. With that in mind, it seemed they were asking for him to help them persuade the machines to move on. Something he vehemently agreed with, it would make his life easier and they were nothing but bandits in his eyes, certainly not friends!​

​

"Viari can help! Friend-Rellik have questions?" He chirped eagerly head flicking towards a spot on the ground. "I distract? Hunt?" He added pouncing forward and stamping his talons in the dry dirt as if pretending to leap onto the back of something. He looked back up at Rellik then quickly switched to Iandre.​

​

"Not alone. Who else friend-Iandre?" Viari questioned, managing to speak without resorting to mimicry. He wondered if Iandre was referring to the farmers or some other group he had not yet encountered.​

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Diarch Rellik Iandre Athlea

 

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre's hand brushed the hilt at her side, not out of fear, but reflex. Old muscle memory, etched deep from too many years fighting against metal armies that never tired. Her gaze followed the line of rogue droids marching in formation, and though Bastion's wind swept clean and cold, she could almost smell ozone and burning durasteel.

"You would be an excellent distraction," she told Viari evenly, meeting the Rishii's eyes with a small, steadying smile. "But this isn't a true hunt. They don't feel the chase like you or I do. Droids move because they're told to—not because they want to. That's what makes them dangerous."

Her voice stayed calm, but her pulse betrayed her, quick and sharp beneath the surface. She could still hear the mechanical cadence of blasterfire in her mind—B1 chatter breaking into static, the synchronized steps of droidekas rolling to flank.

"During the Clone Wars," she said quietly, her gaze still on the horizon, "I fought hundreds like those. Thousands, maybe. They don't hesitate. They don't care about surrender or mercy. You can destroy a hundred, and another thousand will replace them. You stop thinking of them as enemies…and start wondering what kind of galaxy builds something that can't stop killing."

For a heartbeat, the weight of it lingered—that old, buried ache that she rarely allowed to surface. Then she drew in a slow breath, the faint hum of her saber grounding her again.

"Still," she added, softer now, "I've learned that even machines can be understood. Rellik's right—if we recover one's memory core, we might learn why they've gone rogue. And that knowledge is worth more than another pile of scrap."

Her eyes returned to Viari, tone warming again. "If you can keep above them—watch their movement, warn us if any flank—that would help more than you know. We'll handle the rest."

A faint spark of her usual composure returned, the soldier's calm settling back over her like armor. "Ready?" she asked, glancing between Rellik and Viari, the green glint of her saber reflected in her memory. "Let's end this quickly—before they start to remember how to aim."

Viari Banu Diarch Rellik

 

[Diarch Rellik]

Rellik stood with them on the rise, his cloak lifting from his shoulders on its own, unfurling into the air like a living shadow that had already scented the tension of impending violence. It hovered behind him in the air like a flying pet.

With a smooth motion he drew the Spear of the Star-Fallen King into his hand instead of his saber. The weapon able to do much from this distance to the droids. The spirit of the Kiev'arian warden inside a nice calming force. He wanted to be the balance to the stirring he sensed in Iandre's pulse.

It was clear to him that she harbored a lot of resentment from the clone wars against droids. That much he knew. Yet, she seemed to carry a fire against them that she never did for any other of their enemies.

His eyes squinted ever so slightly as he thought on it. It was his duty to ensure her well being. Was there more he could do to ease her trauma?

He would let her lead in this moment. Watch her, study her form against the droids. Did she let loose and annihilate them? Is that what she felt she needed to do?

"Hmmm" - the partial grunt coming out without him realizing. He decided to divert to their new companion to ensure they did not feel left out of the plan.

Rellik glanced toward Viari, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as his cloak dipped in acknowledgment behind him, almost like it approved.

There was something genuinely refreshing about the Rishii's enthusiasm. That playful little pounce he did earlier lingered in Rellik's mind in a way that made the moment feel… lighter. Not childish. Not foolish. Just pure, life living in its natural place.

"We can help each other, my new friend," he said softly. "I will have your back… and you have mine. Together home stays safe. If you choose it… this can be home and we will work as a team to make it safe." The Diarchs eyes and smile were genuine and approving.

His spear angled slightly toward the ridge line where the droids continued their mechanical march.

"And when the moment feels right to you… then you pounce. But stay safe. I care about you Viari."

The cloak hovered protectively behind all three of them like a silent guardian waiting for the cue. "Iandre, I await your order."

It was the Diarchs quiet way of seeing how violently she approached the situation.

Viari Banu Iandre Athlea

 

[Zinayn]

Zinayn strode through the tall reeds of grass on the hillside, palm out to feel the surface of the plants and the life that flowed inside. Down on the plain below, he could make out the bald head of Diarch Rellik shining in the sun next to the calm presence of Iandre. And a bird. Iandre was always one to make new friends, it seemed. His brow furrowed as his eyes flicked to the swarm of droids farther out, looking as if they were herding some creatures.

A minute later, the Chiss had completed his approach and came to a stop behind the Diarch and his fiancée, as Iandre had updated him recently. "Diarch, Iandre," he greeted smoothly, inclining his head slightly towards both of them before turning to examine the bird with the cold, calculating gaze Chiss had. "I see we have made new friends?" he inferred without looking back at his two allies.

Viari Banu Iandre Athlea Diarch Rellik

 

[Viari Banu]

Hunting Grounds​

A distraction? He knew this word well enough to know what it meant and couldn't help but feel a tinge of regret. She either cared enough to try and keep him out of danger or thought he would be too much of a burden against the machines. He didn't voice his frustration but his ruffled feathers spoke volumes. He decided it was the prior and was about to speak when friend-Iandre provided much needed context.​

​

Viari flinched in guilt, his eartufts disappearing beneath the cushion of creamy feathers. The air around friend-Iandre reminded him of his father, when the topic of his mother was raised. It wasn't so much anger, but remorse for those who had been lost hers was more abstract, less direct and her words suggested a much larger conflict than the one that claimed his mother. Without a word, he stepped forward brushing his wing against her knee, a simple gesture but one he hoped conveyed understanding and support. He watched closely, as she ignited the blade the superheated plasma washing over him in waves. The brilliant green blade was met with recognition in Viari's gaze, his eartufts flicking back to attention.​

​

Dimissing any doubt the Rishii turned to friend-Rellik, the reflection of the sun making him out to be a shining beacon. He listened attentively, tilting his head to one side as if to direct his ears closer. His words resonated within him, this wasn't home but that didn't mean it couldn't be home away from home. Second home. "Viari like flock... chirp... Team!" He chirped, without hestitation and a quick forceful strike of his talon against the dirt. If they could cause chaos - draw the prey's ire - he might be able to make quick surgical strikes, not unlike hunting with other Rishii back home. Maybe he could even get this memory core thingy, if he attacked the neck which seemed all to obvious to the predatory fledgling. He glared at the droids, calculating the distance between their team and the prey.​

​

This state of intensity was broken adruptly when another friend entered the scene, Viari leapt up fluttering back as head swivelling around in panic. "Ack!!" He cried. The blue figure had taken him by surprise, so focused was he on the intruders that he forgotten to keep an ear open for something sneak up behind. It took him a second to calm down, his tail flicking and wings slightly sprawled, and yet, despite being startled the Rishii welcomed the newcomer warmly, "Hello Friend!"​

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Iandre Athlea Diarch Rellik Zinayn

 

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre stood steady beside Rellik as Zinayn approached, the wind tugging at her cloak and stirring the grass around their feet. The tension rolling off her had softened only slightly, but the green of her blade still cast a faint glow across her features—a practiced calm masking older, deeper storms.

Viari's sudden panic at Zinayn's arrival made her lips twitch in quiet amusement, though her free hand instinctively reached down, brushing her fingers reassuringly along the Rishii's wing. The gesture was soft, instinctive, grounding.

"It is alright, Viari. He is a friend."

Zinayn's calculating gaze flicked over them, and Iandre inclined her head in greeting.

"Zinayn. Yes—a new friend. And one with sharp instincts." A small smile touched her lips as Viari straightened proudly at the praise.

The droids marched below, precise and cold, and her expression darkened just slightly—not anger, but recognition. Memory. The echo of metal marching through dust and fire.

She felt Rellik's eyes on her before he spoke. Felt the concern beneath his composed exterior. He knew the truth of it—that no matter how many years lay between her and the Clone Wars, the silhouette of a marching droid formation still stirred the parts of her that remembered being too small for her armor, too young for a battlefield, and still expected to survive it.

She inhaled slowly, meeting Rellik's gaze first, then Zinayn's.

"Master Aisha used to say the Force will always show us our old wounds… to remind us that we are not finished healing."
Her thumb brushed the activator of her saber, steady and deliberate. "These machines… I know they are not battle droids. I know they are only misdirected. But all the same—" Her voice lowered. "—I have lost too many to droids ever to take them lightly again."

Iron met sunlight as she lifted the blade slightly, ready.

Viari's wing brushed her knee again, earnest and warm. She glanced down, and this time her smile held genuine gratitude.

"Thank you, Viari."

Then she looked to Rellik—her partner, her anchor—and the tension in her shoulders eased. "I'm ready."

To Zinayn: "We disable one, pull its memory core, and find out who tampered with their directives. No unnecessary destruction. Precision only."

To Rellik: "On your mark. I'll take point—but I'm not doing this alone."

The green blade hummed, steady and sure.

Despite the past, despite the ghosts, she stood unshaken—surrounded by the man she loved, the trusted comrade she respected, and the strange little friend who had already claimed a piece of her heart.

And this time, she wouldn't face the machines alone.

Viari Banu Zinayn Diarch Rellik

 

[Diarch Rellik]

Rellik's smile sharpened the moment Zinayn stepped into their little circle of tension. The Chiss' calm was its own kind of reassurance. A great friend in his own right.

"Zinayn," Rellik greeted with an incline of his head. "Good to have you with us as always." The Diarch's voice was bright and happy.

That was all the prelude they needed.

He stepped forward, the wind tugging at his tunic. His eyes gazing up towards his cloak in the sky and then to the ground.

With a smooth, almost theatrical motion, he flipped the Spear of the Star-Fallen King in his grip and drove it into the ground at a perfect forty-five-degree angle.

Electricity skittered instantly along the metal, running in thin streams over the grass. The earth vibrated, quiet but alive.

Rellik placed one boot on the angled shaft.

Then the other.

For a heartbeat he stood there, balanced on the spear like some pirate king perched on the mast of his ship, cloak billowing behind him, eyes fixed on the distant line of marching droids.

He looked at Viari, grin widening into something bold, daring, inviting.

"Let's fly, friend."

A controlled storm erupted outward, a circular burst of Force and lightning that sent Rellik rocketing forward off the spear like he was riding a witch's broom straight into battle. The blast rattled the grass but left his companions untouched, a precision shockwave meant only to propel, not harm. A mischievous laugh could be heard as he propelled.

He shot across the plains in a streak of golden energy and crackling static, spear ripped free into his hand mid-air as he angled toward the front of the droid formation.

Viari Banu Iandre Athlea Zinayn

 

[Zinayn]

Slightly amused by the bird's shock at his arrival, Zinayn held up his hand towards him, palm out, as a sign of peace and greeting. Then his expression was back to one of focus and calculation, listening to Iandre's words as he looked at the group of droids in the distance. A hit and run attack would be best for this objective; there was no need for prolonged combat to obtain a simple memory core.

He watched with undisguised interest as Rellik mounted his spear like a broom and shot off into the sky. The Force was a mystical thing, and the moment reminded the Chiss that it was one puzzle that he likely would never be able to fully understand.

Zinayn, unlike Viari or Rellik, did not have a means to fly, and as such would have to travel on foot. He crouched down low to the field, gathering the Force in his lower body, before pushing off and racing towards the droids with unnatural speed. Already, his eyes were scanning the droid formation, seeing if they had any suspicion of the doom that was coming down on them from above in the form of Rellik and his magical spear.

Diarch Rellik Iandre Athlea Viari Banu

 

[Viari Banu]

Hunting Grounds​

Viari chirped in amazement friend-Diarch's technique ticked all the right boxes for the young Rishii, it was flashy, explosive and involved flying... or was it falling? He couldn't really tell and he didn't much care, flying sounded cooler and that was that. With this in mind, Viari couldn't allow a ground-walker to outclass him, he couldn't claim to be a Rishii otherwise. It was one of the few traits they had that allowed them to stand out in the universe.​

​

With shake of his tail, Viari pushed himself into the air starting with a low glide until his feathers picked up on the warmer rising currents. He adjusted himself turning towards a small outcrop of rocks nearby and began to ascend. It took him a few seconds, he wasn't mature enough yet that powered flight was a reasonable expectation but he wasn't big enough either that gravity weighed him down but once he was proper airborne his shadow chased behind the bolt of lightning that split the ground beneath him.​

​

Meanwhile, his looked aside catching glimpses of the blue blurr that rushed into the Droids battleline. Their explosive assault seemed to put the herd in disarray, and for a second he readied his talons to make a diving assault. It was instinctual more than willing, he saw an opportunity and the hunter inside him wanted to take full advantage but fought the urge, telling himself these things weren't food and he couldn't just charge in. friend-Iandre said they were dangerous, and he knew to listen to ones elders so instead he begrundingly stayed aloft, until a glint of something caught his attention.​

​

Viari perceived something they did not. On the flat plains of Dantooine he could spot prey miles away, he had a commanding view, one many could only dream of. It looked like a crescent moon hovering just above the ground, pale yellow painted over with heraldry and symbols that had no meaning to him. However, the large turrent, and long polearm scorched in flame didn't look particularly pleasant to deal with. For now it was stationary, but that could change and he feared for his friends lives if it did and that meant breaking his promise, if only temporarily.​

​

Breaking a promise was the lesser evil and Viari surrendered himself to raw instinct. He scanned the target rich environment, watching the droids starting to move into formation in response, a few stray beams of crimson light ate chunks into the dirt falling short of either target. He spotted one reaching for something, it looked like a steel orb. He hadn't a clue what this device was or it's purpose only that it probably wasn't anything good so he dove down and went for it's neck.​

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The metal wasn't bone, it did not give away to his kinetic force and the Rishii flinched in pain, feeling the kinetic energy push back into his bones. Realising the danger, Viari tried vaulting back to get airborn again but the pain was enough to make him hestitate and a cold grip wrapped around his ankle. Viari hissed resorting to his beak, it could crush bone rend flesh but this shiny hide was much too thick. He scratched the paint before it threw him to the ground. The Rishii instinctively adjusted themselves, spreading wings and using his tail to regain enough of his balance to roll back onto his feet. It was a good thing too, as the distraction had made the droid drop the device and the air pressure changed, pulling the droid back into the imploder before it detonated.​

​

Viari was knocked back again, his ears ringing leaving him dazed and confused. Thankfully, many of the droids seemed to be ignoring him for the moment, perhaps mistaking for local fauna or simply not a threat.​

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Diarch Rellik Zinayn Iandre Athlea

 

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre felt the machines before she fully registered their shapes — a low, rhythmic vibration rolling through the ground, the heavy groan of overloaded servos, and the scraping whine of construction-grade limbs adjusting to new directives they had never been designed to execute. These weren't battle droids, not soldiers programmed for war, but the corrupted, repurposed shells of agricultural and industrial units whose hydraulic cutters and reinforced claws now moved with the unsettling precision of creatures mimicking aggression. And yet, for a single heartbeat, her mind betrayed her, letting the mechanical rhythm overlap too perfectly with another memory — one made of blaster lines, marching feet, and a firing line she had survived by inches. The old instinct to brace, to anticipate the first shot, flickered through her before she forced herself back into the present.

The field blurred into clarity with practiced discipline. Rellik's cloaked silhouette streaked across the plains like a bolt of lightning, launched skyward on a tide of his own making. Zinayn's motion cut parallel against the grass, a blue streak whose footwork traced patterns she could almost predict before they formed. Above them, Viari's wings dipped erratically as he tried to regain height, shaken from the imploder's shockwave but still scanning the ground with determined focus.

It happened quickly — too quickly for anyone but her to sense in time.
Viari faltered.
The air shifted around him in a way she knew intimately — that thin, dangerous moment when a fall turned from harmless to lethal.

Iandre didn't think; she moved with the same instinct that had kept her alive through a war centuries earlier. Her hand swept outward, golden light erupting in a curved shield beneath the young Rishii just as debris and shrapnel surged upward from the imploder's wake. The barrier held firm, absorbing the brunt of the blast and softening the earth beneath him so he hit ground rather than ruin.

"Viari—up you go. Try again. Keep height where you can."

Her tone was steady, controlled, not brittle with fear — but the Force still hummed with the echo of it, the same protective instinct that had once flared when she shielded clone troopers from falling debris during a siege long ago. Sometimes she wondered whether those years had ever really left her. Sometimes she feared they never would.

She turned back toward the threat with a hard blink, grounding herself again.

A cluster of corrupted machines was reorienting, their crane arms hissing, their cutting beams flickering to life in jittering arcs of red-orange heat. They swung with jerky, half-conscious precision, their hazard protocols scrambling into patterns that felt uncomfortably like flanking maneuvers. Her mind briefly overlaid old imagery—voices calling out firing arcs, the synchronized shift of a droid battalion lining up their first volley—but she banished it instantly. These were machines meant for harvest and construction, not the war she had lost so much to.

She raised both arms and sent a concussive wave rippling outward. It crashed into the first line of machines with a heavy, thunderous impact, knocking them back into a tangled heap of limbs and smoking circuitry. Another cluster attempted to circle Zinayn, their weld nozzles sparking enough to melt through durasteel plating. She focused, and stasis washed over them like invisible frost, locking gears and servos mid-motion so they froze in place, trapped in their own corrupted directives.

"Zinayn—your left corridor is open. Take it. The command relay should be northwest of your position."

Her attention flicked toward the largest unit, the one Viari had spotted first — a massive stabilizer drone sitting low to the earth, its heavy frame ringed with soil borers and hydraulic arms built to split bedrock. Its hazard markings were faded beneath scorch and dirt, but its size and the humming torque building in its engines made her pulse tighten. It wasn't a turret in the military sense, but its rotational mass could carve a trench straight through Rellik if she let it finish its spin-up cycle.

She surged forward in three powerful strides, coiling the Force beneath her boots until she launched herself upward and slammed both palms into the ground. The earth erupted into a curved barrier, a wall of stone and packed soil rising just as the stabilizer unit spun its borers at full speed. The impact cracked the air, metal screaming against her improvised shield, earth buckling but holding long enough for momentum to neutralize.

Dust washed over her armor, settling in pale streaks along the gold accents as she rose through the fading cloud. Her lightsaber ignited with a clean snap-hiss, golden light catching the swirling grit around her.

"Rellik—this one stays with me. Take your angle while it's grounded."

She didn't spare him a glance; she trusted him too deeply to need to. Her awareness tracked him all the same—the wild electric trail of his advance, the spear humming in his grip, the echo of his joy in the Force like a living flame. Zinayn's motion was steady beyond her left flank, carving a precise path toward the command relay. Viari's wingbeats were unsteady but rising, the young one pushing through fear with courage she hadn't expected but deeply respected.

"Viari—eyes high. If more units activate, you'll see them before we do."

Her voice softened for only a breath, her stance deepening as she tilted her blade toward the stabilizer's exposed joint.

"Stay close. We finish this cleanly."

And with that, she advanced—not with the desperation of a survivor reliving an old war, but with the calm, deliberate confidence of a commander forging a new future on her own terms, refusing to let ghosts of battlefields past determine the outcome of the present.

Viari Banu Diarch Rellik Zinayn

 

[Diarch Rellik]

The world below tilted as Rellik cut through the air, still riding the momentum of his earlier launch. Wind roared past his ears, the plains streaking beneath him in gold and green. Near him, high, circling, the near-sentient cloak from his father drifted like a guardian, its awareness stretched across the battlefield, ready to descend wherever danger struck. When Viari was knocked back it went to move but the Diarch popped a hand out and waited. Watching with a silent pride and diligence as Iandre helped catch him.

There as he streaked across the sky he saw everything. Iandre breaking the stabilizer's spin with a rising earthen wall; Zinayn carving along the flank, and Viari aided. The big machine strained against Iandre's wall, its borers grinding sparks into the soil.

"Rellik—this one stays with me. Take your angle while it's grounded."

Rellik twisted his body, one hand snapping back. A Force shove detonated behind him. His whole frame lurched as the blast of power kicked him forward, spear-tip tilting toward the grounded behemoth below. His cloak latching back on and wrapping around him like another set of armor.

"Beautiful work,"

The spear drew a trail of crackling light as he descended, the Force compressing around him, sharpening his trajectory into something between a dive and a lightning strike. Air pressure built at his front, rippling in concentric waves that rolled across the grass below.

Impact came with a thunderclap.

The spear punched into the stabilizer drone's top plating with a violent, resonant crack, lightning discharging in a burst that spider-webbed through the machine's housing. Servos seized. Torque died. The entire frame convulsed once, violently and then slumped under its own weight, locked and helpless.

Rellik yanked the spear free in a hiss of metal shredding. Rellik's grin tilted downward toward Iandre. "Hmp. Good work dear."

Zinayn Viari Banu Iandre Athlea

 

[Zinayn]

Zinayn found himself surrounded by droids, their sawblades whirring dangerously as their corrupted protocol urged them to try and cut up the intruder. As he was about to unsheathe his katana and bring them down, he felt an exertion of power in the Force from Iandre and the mechanical noises slowed, the droids now barely moving. Following Iandre's direction, he looked to the northwest, and as she had said, there was a relay antenna enclosed in a tall fence guarded by some heavier looking bots.

He took off again, the surrounding grasses blurring as he sped towards the relay. The heavies straightened to their full height, blasters coming to bear on him from hidden compartments in their arms. Crimson light streaked towards him, flying by his sides and his head as the enemy targeting systems attempted to account for the high speed of the target. In a second, Zinayn was upon them, his katana imbued with the Force slicing easily through the droids' plating, leaving torsos sparking on the ground.

The fence stood before him, about twice his height. Now that he was closer, he could hear the buzz of the electricity coursing through the metal, which would be a problem for a normal person trying to get over it. Zinayn simply leapt over it with the help of the Force. Spying the control console of the relay, he got to work on figuring out how to shut it down.

Viari Banu Iandre Athlea Diarch Rellik