Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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"One's only rival, is one's potentialities"

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Planet: Yavin 4
Location: 45° Pro-grade Orbit, Yavin Station
Year: 851 ABY
Objective: Location and "Extraction"

"Approach nominal..
Docking Sequence commencing..

Docking Sequence completed."


The thunderous sound of the docking port clamping together with the station roared through the IM-005. "Pressurization complete.", rang a cold, tinny female voice throughout the corridors of the ship. A seal was released from the ceiling of the bridge of the IM-005, as a bed shaped door opened downward towards the floor. Vashti, the Ersatz Fox, lay on the bed. Seemingly lifeless, her cybernetic eyes were not illuminated. "Arrived at destination: Yavin Station. You are still early for your meeting with the security head Renar Bolkash. You are to meet him on Security Level Oh-One-Oh-Seven at twenty-three hundred, Standard Galactic Time." Vashti's body was connected directly to what seemed like a morgue medical bed. The wires ran out through the base of the bed, different vibrantly coloured leads, all connecting to different ports in her "skin". Vashti heard a slightly pop in her head, as she does every time she awoke from Recharge. Her vibrant blue eyes exploded to life, like a neutron star igniting behind tempered glass. "Welcome to Yavin Station, my name is Renar. Come report into Security, details have been forwarded to you.". The wires connecting her to the bed were now releasing steam and disconnecting from her body as she stood, retracting like a snake into a hole. She turned her head 180° once to examine her surroundings, then proceeded to prep for the mission.

Vashti's boots sunk into the moist dirt, rather muck, of Yavin 4. Being in the thick of a tropical jungle was not how she wanted to spend any of her days. The Intel Renar had provided her wasn't much to go on, making her trek on the surface seem more like a roll in the sandbox. Renar's reconnaissance team had reports of Sith movement in the area of an old Galactic Empire facility. The kind of highly trained Sith personnel that accompany a high level Sith Master. Rumours had it that the Sith had knowledge of Cybernetics and Force usage, and how to utilize the two together. Vashti desperately needed this wisdom, more than the credits that the O.R.C was offering for the retrieval of the Sith target. She needed it more than the risk of being Black-flagged, by not only the O.R.C for not keeping contract, but Renar also informed her of possible Jedi involvement as well. Having the Jedi tracking her down, was the last thing she needed. She had remained concealed to them thus far, and the Sith as well.

The optics in Vashti's FOX helmet was set to thermal, and the red and yellow glow of her Cross-guard lightsaber was cutting through the thick of the flora. She made her way through the forest, with buzzing in her ear. "They were last seen entering Galactic Empire ruins, perhaps setting up a base camp. It seems like a good spot for it, scans indicate that the ruins span down 50 kilometers underground. Would be hard to detect and rogue signals emanating from down there. We're lucky we spotted them we we did. Renar, out.". Vashti was relieved to have his voice out of her head, she was ready to sever the comms link between her and the station anyways. They were not going to like what she had planned, if she found the Sith Master hiding on Yavin 4.

The HUD display in her helmet was indicating she was at the satellite coordinates provided by the reconnaissance team, only off by about two clicks or so. Vashti turned off the thermal optics in her helm and initiated zoom optics, scanning the exterior entrance of what seemed to be an old artillery factory for the Empire. There were no signs of life on the outside, but Vashti could sense the faint odor of the Force wafting through the area. There were also signs of battle along the walls of the facility that looked to fresh to be history. Vashti engaged the sound dampeners on soles of her feet, tucked any loose fabric away and slowly began to make her way to the entrance. "Alert!" "Alert!". After three steps she was interrupted by the triggered proximity alarm of the IM-005, which she thought was odd, as it was safely concealed about 20 kilometers away.

"Alert: Proximity scans indicate Jedi starship entering the area of operations. Unable to perform bio-life scans on-board. Would you like me to patch ocular vision through to the ship's optical system?"

It had a good reason to be going off so viciously.

"Confirm."

IM-005's telescopic lens focused on the Jedi starship, landing about 15 kilometers North of the IM-005. From what she could tell it seemed like a small fighter, maybe a bomber class. Which wouldn't be able to carry anymore than ten men inside of it. Nothing she needs to worry about, unless they are accompanied by a Jedi (Or several, knowing her luck). That, would make things a little more difficult. Vashti reverted her vision back to her own body's, and charged up the servos in her legs. It would be best not to alert anyone of her presence, especially if the Council is involved. She was best to perch and wait it out, until something indicated her that she needed to act. The pressure building up in the servos in her legs reached their peak and Vashti crouched down to the ground swiftly. As soon as she lowered, she sprang up in a violent take-off, as the servos exploded the energy they had just rapidly stored. Vashti landed up in one of the two-hundred foot trees of Yavin 4, and hunkered down.

Switching back on the thermal vision of her FOX Helmet, Vashti perched in the tree. A predator waiting, watching and calculating their next move. Waiting for her Sith prey to walk unwittingly into a fate they didn't even know existed.

@[member="Zakan Dan']
 

Zakan Dan

Guest
Z
Yavin 4 was not one of his favorite planets. It was muddy, damp, and had the peculiar effect of making Zakan sweat no matter the temperature. Even worse, with the moon being immersed in jungle life, it was often too crowded with life signs to make force tracking easy. Hence why Sith renegades liked to hide away on this planet, making his job harder, and muddier, than it needed to be.

And speaking of hiding Siths, Zakan’s thoughts quickly turned to the mission-the reason he was here on this swamp planet in the first place. The Jedi Council had set him on the trail of a high level Sith Master who was rumored to be hiding out in Galactic Empire ruins. The actual name of this master was unknown to the council, but it seemed like Zakan might receive outside information from an unknown republic contact. That worried him. The council hadn’t elaborated on the nature of this aid, which gave Zakan the feeling that he wouldn’t like whoever, or whatever, this help entailed. In fact, something smelled off about this entire case. It seemed like the council didn’t have nearly any information to go off of but, someone had contacted the order from the planetary base requesting aid. Apparently that was all that was needed for the council to step in and send him to investigate.

“Sir. We’re commencing the landing sequence.”

Zakan glanced up from where he sat. Time to go. He stood up, brushing out the creases in his long brown cloak and checking if his lightsaber was properly secured to his belt. As always, it was. He peered out the window, noting the massive trees and dense forest. Landing deep wouldn't be easy, and could be detrimental if he needed a quick escape, but he had faith in his pilot. “Get me as close as you can to those ruins, Jack.” He said. “Above treeline preferably.”

“Yes sir.”

Zakan mediated as the ship veered off. He worked on settling his mind and preparing for the upcoming battle. His mind became quiet as he worked on clearing out thoughts that did not pertain to the mission. There is only the mission. There is only the Force. Barely a minute later, it seemed Jack had his position. He reopened his mind as Jack carefully maneuvered around the massive trees and towards a cliff face. The engines roared as the ship carefully set down on an outcropping that jutted out from the face of the cliff. The rock platform was no wider than 100 feet and only extended out from the cliff about half that amount. It would have to do for a quick landing. Jack had set them down skillfully but Zakan was not a fan of the position, it wouldn’t be much use if he needed a quick evac. Besides, he was the only one needed down on the ground anyways. “Once I’m off, take the rest of the team and head back into orbit. I’ll call you if I need to get off the ground quickly.”

Jack looked like he wanted to argue, but thought better of it. “Right, sir.” Came the curt reply. Good man. The ship thrusters hummed back to life, and the ship slowly lifted off the face of the cliff. Once the small fighter had disappeared into the upper atmosphere, Zakan went back to grounding himself in the force presence of this planet. He needed to locate the position of the Sith. He walked to the edge of the rock and sat down crossed legged in the direction of the old Galactic Ruins. Breath in. Breath out. Slowly the force signatures of the plant life and natural inhabitants of the planet blended together and faded from his mind. Breathe In. Breath out. Zakan reached out with the force-what was different, what didn’t belong here? Slowly, a dark presence began to tickle at the edges of his mind. Zakan zeroed in on it, calling its presence to the front of his conscience. He did not need to meditate on the signature for long. The force signature was obvious, Sith. The high amount of corruption suggested at least Master level. His eyes snapped open. He had his trail.

Zakan stood quickly and put his hood up, the cloak keeping his face and body obscured. He leapt down the side of the cliff, pushing off from outcropping to outcropping until he landed in the squelching mud of the forest floor. The force signature lay dead ahead, in the direction of the old ruins. So it seemed at least some of the council’s information was true. Zakan began walking calmly forwards, following the force trail that only he could see. As he passed under a particular set of trees, another force signature struck the back of his conscious. Zakan froze. Above? Had he read this wrong? The new signature was odd, almosted muted or warped, but it definitely had Sith undertones. Were there two-a master and an apprentice? The situation could be far more dangerous than he originally thought. How had he missed this strange signature the first time around?!

Zakan’s slowly hand crept under his robe. He gripped the hilt of his lightsaber tightly as he walked forward, portraying an air of normalcy and acting as if he had not noticed anything. His mind worked as he walked. Should he go forward and confront the master first? No, that could lead him open to an ambush from whoever was above him. Damn. Zakan frowned beneath his cowl and took a deep breath. The situation could spiral out of control if he wasn’t careful, it would be best to confront the closet situation first. Trust in the Force. He needed to know who was above him. Without any warning, Zakan suddenly leapt up the trunk of the nearest tree, force pushing off every step. He reached the canopy in a second, and his eyes met those of a women’s perched in a nearby tree. Zakan landed on a thin branch, the green blade of his lightsaber making a satisfying hum as he ignited it.

“Who are you?!”

[member="VashtiVeridian"]
 

Inyari Yavek

Guest
I
Yavin System​
Yavin IV​
16:38 Galactic Standard Time​
Objective: Exploration and Adventure​

Inyari pulled back the controls on controls of her Nu-class Shuttle, and dropped herself out of hyperspace, this was her last mission as a member of the Exploration Corps, charting a hyper lane from Kashyyyk to the edge of Sith space, ending in the Yavin System, although she wanted to get back to the temple as soon as possible she couldn't resist the opportunity to do a little exploration first. Yavin IV had an interesting history, the site of both Sith and Jedi temples just begging to be explored, she couldn't just let the opportunity go to waste, a couple hours couldn't hurt.

Inyari set the ship down as close to of one of the temples as she could, eager to get looking, but first she had a bit of house keeping to do, she backed up the freshly mapped Hyperlane to her datapad and then deleted it from her ship's computer, even if there was no one else here as far as she could tell Inyari didn't want to risk giving any Sith a backdoor home. Next was to gather her few affects that she had brought with her, the most important being her lightsabers, a pair of large metal constructs, having found four kyber crystals it would have been a shame to let any of them go to waste, so using what she had on hand she managed to make two saberstaffs, she wasn't the most adept as using them, only having spent a little time training with a regular practice saber as a youngling, but four blades gave an opponent a lot to think about, she hoped that would be enough for anything she might run into here. Shutting down the ship properly and dropping the ramp Inyari set an alarm on her chrono, just long enough for her to satiate her appetite for adventure.

Stretching Inyari took a deep breath and took off the outer layer of her robe so that he skin could breath better and help keep her cool in the humid jungle she started making her way towards the massive structure with a spring in her step, everything about here just go her more excited, the earthy smell in the air, the sounds of the wildlife, it was great, everything she wanted. Inyari opened her mind to the force and started probing the area for anything of immediate interest, usually artifacts of Jedi or Sith stuck out in the force, although as her mind wandered she felt something different, people, one seemed like it was almost snuffed out, or at least trying to hide, and it was dark, twisted and ugly, the other one, though, it felt slightly familiar, she remembered something similar to it from her time at the temple it must be another Jedi, she had to go see what what was going on. Ignoring the Temple and running passed it into the jungle she started looking for where the two were, not taking the time to think she grabbed at her sabers, ready to ignite them at the first sign of trouble.

Inyari heard someone speak from only a little deeper in the jungle, "Who are you?!" And while it probably wasn't meant for her she replied anyway.

"Hello! Do you need any help?!" Inyari shouted into the jungle

It was an insanely stupid idea, now the dark presence, would know she was here, along with the Jedi who was probably tracking it, best case scenario she just annoyed a Master with a Sith Holocron, worst case, she just might have found her way into a fight between a pair of powerful force users, and only having the training of a padawan she was probably going to be in some deep poodoo if that was the case. But having committed it was too late to correct her mistake so he began preparing herself mentally for a fight and slowed down to a stealthy walk, good enough to perhaps slip away from a normal being, but if the pair could sense her then it probably wasn't going to do her much good, and she also hoped that the Exportation Corps patch sewn on her robes wasn't going to mark her as an easy target. As she crept closer, she circled around looking to distance herself from where she shouted from, just in case she could throw them off.

She got to the source of the presences only to see nothing, she could still feel them, they were, they were right on top of her, the realisation hit her as she looked up to see shaking branches and realised that they were in the trees, not having the acrobatics training to leap up with the Inyari realised the massive disadvantage she was at and started looking up through the leaves, trying to figure out who was there, and what they were doing.

[member="Zakan Dan"] [member="VashtiVeridian"]
 
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Vashti found her self staring at the bright green blade of a Jedi's saber, through her FOX Helmet it was tinted even more green. With the green aura reflecting off her armour it was apparent at this time she had been ambushed. The sun of the Yavin system had already set and her night vision optics of her helmet had activated some time ago. She switched off the green tinted optics and switched over to thermals, to track heat signatures.

"Hello! Do you need any help?!", ran another voice from below. Much quieter, Vashti did sense her coming but figured it was the Force signature of a lesser being. She must be new, is she with this Togruta? She must be accompanying the Jedi who was balancing on the branches before her. But why would she have asked if they needed assistance? This detail might work to her advantage. She could attempt hold a hostage situation to ensure her escape from the Jedi, but that would completely blow her plans with the Sith. Wait, Vashti, where they here for the same reason? Did the O.R.C call in the big guns of ...the Silver Jedi Order? Vashti didn't think the O.R.C had that kind of pull, but she had seen stranger things in her 200 or so years of life.

Vashti engaged the bright head-lamp on her helmet, which was pointed at the Togrutian's face. Vashti was staring into the Jedi's eyes through her lenses and focusing all of her Force energy on concealing her aura. Pushing down the traces of Sith inside of her. The plan was to reveal her ties to the O.R.C as a simple bounty hunter, hired to track a bounty. Simple story.

Vashti had already calculated that employing a strategy which involved her two Cross-guard lightsabers would end catastrophically. She would have to play the fool, and use the deception skills the Sith taught her well during her days as an Interrogator and Torture Specialist. She would have to play the role of unknowing, unassuming Bounty Hunter, solely hired for this task. She started to weave her web, "Do you always recklessly ignite that thing? I am assuming by the colour, you're not the Sith I'm looking for. Were you sent by the O.R.C as well? Renar didn't mention Jedi.", rang the processed voice through her helmet, disguising her true voice but still revealing that she was female.

Vashti grabbed a semi-rotten fruit that was nestled in the armpit of a branch and trunk. Some kind of wildlife must of left it there while being seduced by the plethora of other, fresher fruit that hung by their heads. Vashti didn't need to look at what seemed like a child below them, her augmented AI brain had already performed the calculation for a perfect trajectory. She tossed it behind her, a perfect arc upwards and it fell almost unnaturally fast towards the child below. "Is she with you? Seems young.", she added as the fruit tumbled quickly in the dark jungle towards the young girl's head.

Vashti didn't speak often, but when she did it had a purpose. She focused her Focus energy again on concealment of her Force Aura, and even more energy on passing along the semi-deceptive words. With a little infused Force Concealment, the words might be taken with enough credit as to not severely question her.

[member="Zakan Dan"] [member="Inyari Yavek"]
 

Zakan Dan

Guest
Z
Zakan hesitated only a second, his eyes flicking back between the helmeted figure and the falling fruit, before diving towards the jungle floor. Ugh, how complicated could this mission get? He had felt the presence of the newcomer before they had spoken. They were definitely force sensitive but, Zakan couldn’t risk that it was just some unprotected youngling down there.. He bounded down the trunk of a tree, gaining speed until he was beneath the fruit. It was only about 20 feet from the youngling’s head, better act quick. He leapt out, slashing his lightsaber in a green arc and cleaving the fruit into two. The pieces fell harmlessly on to the muddy ground around the girl as Zakan landed in a heavy crouch behind them.

He quickly spun around and addressed the newcomer. “Youngling! What are you doing here? It isn’t safe!” Despite his words, Zakan quickly realized that the girl in front of him was no youngling. A padawan maybe, that would explain the force signature, and the lightsabers she gripped. Wait, the council would of notified him if they were sending a master and padawan team to assist him, and he had received no such notification. So not a padawan then. Zakan thought. His eyes tracked the two sabers she was holding and the front of her robe until catching sight of the patch on the front of her robe, Exploration Corporation. What is she doing out here?

Not that it mattered. The situation became no less dangerous, he could not afford to lose focus. Zakan cast his eyes upwards, watching for any more tricks falling from the sky. Ha. You claim not to be Sith and yet attack children at your leisure? Very convincing. He tried pinointing the women’s Sith signature but found that it had been altered, no trace of darkness left. Well in that case… it seemed he would have to take this women’s words at face value, at least for now. What had she said? Something about being sent by the O.R.C? So a hired bounty hunter then. If this was what the council had meant by receiving outside help from someone on the planet, Zakan did not want it.

“That was a bold action for a simple bounty hunter.” Zakan shouted up in to the trees. “You claim to be hunting the same Sith I am and yet, all you’ve done to prove yourself is attack a child. I hope you can see why I am less than inclined to believe you.” Even if this woman really was hunting the same target as him, Zakan decided he would not aid her. She was a loose cannon and Zakan did not want the girl beside him to get swept up in her actions. It would be safer if he distracted her and allowed the young girl to escape. Then he could figure out all the details.

Zakan kept himself between the strange bounty hunter’s presence and the girl, rotating his body so that he had a view on both of them. The masked women was still hiding up in the trees. He glanced at at the girl besides him. “Whoever you are, I suggest you head back to your ship. You are deep in Sith territory here, go quickly.” He said sternly in a low voice. That was right. Even if the bounty hunter claimed not to be a Sith, she was still dangerous. And there was still the matter of a real Sith master hiding out there. This place was too dangerous for Exploration Corp. member, lightsaber training or not.

[member="VashtiVeridian"]

[member="Inyari Yavek"]
 

Inyari Yavek

Guest
I
Inyari looked up and focused looking with her mind's eye rather than her actual ones, force sight was a useful skill for someone like her who spent far too much time digging around in dark places looking for whatever kind of interesting things she could find. Up in the trees through the leaves she could see two humanoid figures perched on branches, one looked like, like a droid almost, but had a rapidly fading dark aura that disappeared after a couple of moments, either they were hiding it, or the strong emotions that lit them up in the force were fading as the calmed. As she continued to look it became obvious that the non-Jedi person was a cyborg, and not just a normal one at that, they had a full body replacement, she had heard stories of another full body replacement cyborg that fought in a war almost a thousand years ago, nearly bringing the Republic at the time to it's knees, Inyar decided that even if this person wasn't a dark force user or a Sith like she originally thought they were still incredibly dangerous.

She turned her attention as the pair continued their conversation she looked to the other person in the trees, a Togruta who was pretty obviously a Jedi like she sensed before from farther away. They were holding their lightsaber out, that must have been why there were such strong feelings, the pair must have been about to fight until she showed up.

Inyari's focus on the Togruta meant that she missed the cyborg throwing the fruit down at her and fell flat on her back out of surprise as the Jedi jumped down and sliced the fruit in half before it struck her.

'Holy kriff.' Inyari thought to herself as she pulled herself up off the ground. 'What did I get myself into?'


Instead of asking what what going on, or thanking the other Jedi, the first work out of Inyari's mouth were. "Hey! I'm no kid, I'm just a late bloomer." She was eighteen galactic standard years old, she just looked a couple years younger.

She then, after defending her slightly wounded pride started to actually ask what was going on. "Bounty hunter? Hunting a Sith? What's going on master?" Inyari thought that it was probably best to address them a bit more formally since she may have just screwed something up pretty badly, she also started to tell him why she was here. "I know I'm in Sith space, that's why I'm here, I was instructed to chart a hyperlane here in case we ever need to attack this system. And I heard there used to be a Jedi temple on this moon, I wanted to take a look at it before going back to the Temple on Kashyyyk."

Wiping the dirt off she continued to speak, "I know how to handle myself, when I get back the them temple in being re-admitted for training as a Padawan." She had just a touch of pride in her voice, be it was clear she was happy to be having another shot at what she spent the fist part of her life train for.

She quieted down and spoke again. "I could feel them for a moment, they were dark and twisted before it disappeared. But I can still see them, just not in the force, what's going on master?" The whole situation felt very wrong but she could place her finger on why, other than maybe the supposed bounty hunter in tree above them, but her gut kept telling her that if she went back into that jungle alone bad things were going to happen.

[member="Zakan Dan"] [member="VashtiVeridian"]
 
Vashti had successfully got the Jedi out of her face by throwing the fruit down at the aspiring Padawan. The way the Togruta reacted, you would think that she had tossed an ion grenade down at her. He must be on edge, and there was a good reason why. He revealed to her that he was hunting Sith as well, and the "child" must of just happened to stumble in at the wrong time. Vashti was relieved that the bait worked so well, the Jedi did not notice the lightsaber on her hip and the other tucked away on her waist behind her back. She quickly collected the two hilts and proceeded to initiate the mechanical storage holsters her outer thighs. Two rectangular racks slowly pushed their ways from her body, the upper part of her mechanical legs. Vashti quickly stored her sabers out of sight and the racks closed back into her legs as if they were never there. With her "red-flags" away, she proceeded to jump down after the Jedi.

Having a cybernetic body, such as Vashti's, one tends to forget how much they truly weigh. Vashti's feet smashed down into the muddy surface, in between the Togruta and the little teenager. There was a brief release of pressure from the servos in her legs that was audible when she landed, throwing up a some mud on impact. It was hard to make a soft landing without the use of the Force, three hundred and fifty pound bodies will do that. She corrected her stance the stood straight up, with her armour on, she stood as tall as the blueish white, with a dash of green aura Togruta. "You need to shut that glow stick off before you attract attention from the boys inside that Empire Factory.", she nodded her head towards the ruins that were about five hundred meters ahead. They were hard to spot out to the naked eye, but any expert in the field would be able to spot out the indications of a hidden bunker. "The Outer Rim boys didn't mention sending in Jedi backup. I don't need the help, and I definitely don't need you alerting my targets. I'm sorry, I don't need to prove myself to you. I was hired by someone to be here, whether you like it or not."

Vashti turned her body and leaned over the teenager ever-so slightly. Hey cybernetic eyes had already identified the two saber staffs on her person. The crystal signatures were quite strong in these tools. Judging from her age, she wasn't being overseen yet. "You're surrounded by Sith, child. What else did you suspect?". Vashti increased the lights of the "eyes" of her FOX helmet, to get a better look at the girl's face, which created a animal like silhouette of bright red eyes in Inyari's perspective. "Sith love young-lings like you, they're easier to convert..". Vashti returned to her tall stance and turned back to the Jedi, trying to disregard any indication that she was anything but a Bounty Hunter. "We could use this little one as bait."

[member="Inyari Yavek"] [member="Zakan Dan"]
 

Zakan Dan

Guest
Z
Zakan did not have time to answer the padawan’s question as the bounty hunter crashed into the ground between him, spraying up mud on impact that soaked his the bottom of his cloak and sleeves. The fox masked women created quite the indent and Zakan finally noted what looked like a fully cybernetic body, which explained all the weight and the strange force signature. This also showed him that her entire body was a weapon, making her much more dangerous than he originally thought. He tensed, ready to attack as soon as the cyborg made a threatening gesture towards the girl, but, it seemed she preferred to tell him off instead.

Her comment stung, and right now with her between him and the young girl, turning off his lightsaber was the last thing he wanted to do. But, through gritted teeth, he noted the wisdom of her words. Being stubborn would do nothing but escalate the situation and potentially alert the Sith master to their presence or provoke the bounty hunter into doing something stupid. He flipped the saber off and tucked it back into his belt. She should do well to remember that I am still a fully trained Jedi, lightsaber or not. Just because he wasn’t armed with a lightsaber, didn’t mean he was any less capable in a good fight.

Zakan resisted the urge to roll his eyes when she also suggested flippantly that he was her backup. As if the Jedi would ever support someone like you. The cyborg had some nerve. Which was only proven more when she casually suggested next that they use the girl as bait. “Of course we-you are not going to do that.” Despite his carefully controlled voice, Zakan was fuming inside, how dare she. But, as much as he hated it, Zakan understood why the bounty hunter had suggested that. It was entirely true what she had said about Sith liking to corrupt young ones, and a padawan age girl would be hard to resist. But, that didn’t make him any less disgusted by the fact that the cyborg had brought it up. Unlike bounty hunters, he obey the code of his order, and more importantly his own moral code which would never allow him to do such a thing.

“This padawan has nothing to do with this mission, she is an innocent bystander who owes neither of us any loyalty.” His orange eyes met the ones of behind the mask of fox sharply, before turning to the Padawan over her shoulder. “In fact, I think it would be best if she left now, before becoming involved with something she should not be caught up in.” He hoped the padawan took the serious tone behind his words to heart. This was no place for her to be, especially not when the situation had already spiraled out of control.

[member="Inyari Yavek"]
[member="VashtiVeridian"]
 

Inyari Yavek

Guest
I
Inyari watched as the cybernetic bounty hunter jump down and slam into the jungle floor in front her, they had to have weighed almost three times, Inyari's own weight judging by the force of her impact, it was unsettling to to say the least and only served to unnerve her even farther. Inyari felt a lump forming in her throat, every instinct was screaming at her. 'Something's wrong! Do something! Protect yourself!' It was pretty obvious by the look on her face, the white knuckle grip on her saberstaffs, the bead of sweat she could feel forming on her brow, they way her eyes were darting around, and a hundred other little signs, she felt jumpy and unsure of herself, what was cause of this? The bounty hunter defiantly had some sort of effect on her, but one person couldn't be making her this uncomfortable, could they? Watching the other Jedi put away his lightsaber, deescalating the situation for the moment did nothing to ease her mind, it actually made it worse, now she was the only one with a weapon out if someone attacked, or the cyborg turned out to be untrustworthy.

"Master, i-if you don't mind I'd like to stay with you, I-I don't think I'd be safe alone out here." Inyari's voice was a little more shaky now, she even stuttered a little, denoting just how on edge she was, as if her body language, and aura in the force wasn't doing a good enough job at showing that already. "I-I'll stay out of the way and won't cause any trouble I promise!"

She really didn't want to go alone, especially now that she knew there was a Sith master around here somewhere, she felt like she was kid again, having some sort of bad dream, she could tell the other Jedi only wanted what was best for her but he would probably be sending her to her death if she went alone. Inyari figured she could probably take an apprentice, or some troops if it came to a fight, but a master, kark no, she's be dead unless she got so insanely lucky that it was all but completely impossible for her to ever escape.

Hoping that becoming part of the plan might be a good way to get the Jedi to let her stick around Inyari suggested. "The bounty hunter has a good idea, I just wanted to dig through the temples around here, they probably say my ship land, if I look like I'm alone they might approach me, and then you two can attack them while I get somewhere safe."

The plan was pretty reasonable, while also being insanely dangerous and stupid at the same time, Inyari was untested in lightsaber combat against another trained user, never mind a Sith master, if things went wrong that chances of her getting hurt, maimed, or killed was pretty high, or just like the cyborg's orgonal plan, she could be used as a hostage to get away, or ever worse, although Inyari doubted that she would, be swayed by the Sith and fall to the dark side.

[member="Zakan Dan"] [member="VashtiVeridian"]
 
Vashti was surprised by the reaction of the kid. Even though she was visibly shaken, she had the courage to offer herself essentially as the sacrificial lamb. Vashti removed her modified TL-50 repeater blaster from the holster on her back, turning towards the ruins of the Empire. "It can't be that bad of an idea, she doesn't seem to think so.". Vashti didn't mind trying to push that option, it would provide so much distraction during any infiltration. She would be able to slip away and continue her mission in solidarity. At least she would be able to use their abilities to get in, and do a quick slip out before it's noticed.

"Alert! Alert!", chirped the early warning system in her helmet. Scans from her ship, the IM-005, were picking up bio-signatures moving up to the surface from within the ruins, "Estimated time to surface... five minutes.". Vashti scanned the exterior walls of the building closest to them, and spotted an opening small enough for a person to fit through. More than likely this was there point of transition from the jungle. Vashti turned to face both of them and shut off the lighting on her helmet, the group fell into darkness, minor highlights being given off by the reflection of the pale moon. "Whatever you're going to do, it better be quick. We have company moving their way from the sub-terrain under those Ruins.". Vashti began taking slow steps towards the weathered entrance of the ruins, the servos in her legs made a loud click and her movements fell silent. There was a very narrow cliff above the stone doorway that she could use to ambush anybody coming out of the ruins, or stay silent if necessary.

"I know what I am going to do, we don't have time to argue."

[member="Zakan Dan"] [member="Inyari Yavek"]
 

Zakan Dan

Guest
Z
As soon as the bounty hunter had moved away, Zakan hurried over to the padawan and grabbed her arm. “Are you sure you want to do this?” He whispered urgently. He could tell she was scared, she was practically shaking, and for good reason. The Sith master coming out of those ruins was a huge danger to her, especially if she posed as the prime target. He couldn’t even guarantee that he could protect her. But unfortunately, Zakan also knew that he couldn’t make the padawan change her mind-no matter how he desperately wished he could.

The padawan was in charge of her own fate.

Zakan met the girl's eyes and was surprised to find that her gaze held determination despite her obvious fear. Zakan had to respect that. She was a brave little one. “If you’re sure…” He started again. “Only engage if you absolutely have to. I want you to focus on getting away as soon as the Sith reveal themselves.” Hopefully he and the bounty hunter would peak the Sith’s interest more. And if not, a lightsaber to the face definitely would. He placed his hand on the young women’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. “Be strong. Trust in the force.” And with that, Zakan left the padawan to get ready on her own. She will be fine.

Zakan headed off towards where the cyborg was last seen. As he approached he noted the bounty hunter’s ambush position and focused on doing the same. He pulled his hood over his montrals as he moved forward, eventually placing himself in a shadowed corner near the ruins entrance. Zakan then entered a half meditative state, where he concentrated on concealing his aura, making his force presence less noticeable to anyone who wasn’t looking. Once that was done, he had nothing to do but wait and count the amount of force signatures that were headed towards them.

[member="Inyari Yavek"]
[member="VashtiVeridian"]
 

Inyari Yavek

Guest
I
Inyari swallowed the lump in her throat, at least she would have backup from this Jedi and with them she was pretty sure that she would be able to make it through relatively unscathed, but even then her that nagging voice that was the force wouldn't stop.

'You aren't safe. Things aren't as they seem. Your scenes decisive you.' The force whispered in her ear, the hair stood up on the back of her neck, but Inyari just took a deep breath and calmed her emotions some, she was getting the chance to do what she always wanted to, act like a Jedi and not a glorified navigator and scout, so things were looking up for her.

"I'll be fine master, don't worry about me." She said regaining some of the confidence in her voice, before running forward into the ruins, opening her mind up farther trying to tell what was out there and who was coming up from below, whatever it was, it was dark and twisted, undoubtedly the Sith master, that the Jedi and the Bounty Hunter were after. But at least the ruins were interesting she wished she would have more time to explore and see what might actually be buried here after this long millennia. Despite calling it a ruin the former temple was in an impeccable state and was almost perfectly structurally sound, it was without a doubt that whoever built this place knew what they were doing.

[member="Zakan Dan"] [member="VashtiVeridian"]
 
The three of them sat in the murmur of the dark forest, waiting for something unknown. Chirps of tropical birds and the faint echos of ground-dwellers made the scene almost surreal and serene. If Vashti was more in-touch with what part of her remained Valkyri, she might of been able to respect this quiet moment. The darkness and the still of the air. The Silence and the white noise.

"Signatures within 10 meters.. 5 meters..", instructed the AI from inside her helmet. Vashti turned her head over to the Togruta, and then to the Padawan, nodding to both. The indication was clear, whatever was to come through that doorway, was about to make their first appearance in the show. Vashti was hoping to let them play out the scene a bit when they submerged, this would allow them to at least quickly assess the situation. Vashti knew she could remain silent, and dead to the Force for a short while, but it wasn't herself she was worried about. The fact that the Padawan even remained will set off those Sith who emerge. Hopefully, they would be dull to their senses long enough for Vashti to develop some form of tactic.

Faint footsteps could be heard in the distance, echoing through the corridors out to the jungle floor. They slowly became louder, and it was apparent that the Master was not alone. Emerging out in a marching order came a group of well-armed Sith Troopers, followed by a shorter cloaked individual. Vashti couldn't make out the appearance of the Sith Master, the cloak was drawn too far down and the darkness of the jungle did not contribute well. The optics of her helmet tagged each individual member of the squadron below and displayed a total head count of sixteen, including the master.

"The transport will not be long, secure the area and prepare for the arrival of the drop ship!", screamed what seemed to be a female voice coming from the dark, flowing cloak. Most of the squad dispersed around the area, looking for any potential threats. Two Troopers remained back, and seemed to be securing some cargo that they had brought out with them. The Sith Master seemed distracted, slowly looming around the site, as if she was looking for something. Vashti knew instantly this was not a good sign for their cover, as she could know see the Sith Master summoning her Lightsaber to her hand through the Force. "You two, come to me.", the Sith Master commanded to the Troopers securing their goods.

Vashti slowly slung the TL-50 repeater onto her back and began unhousing her Cross-guard lightsabers. She placed them back into their rightful homes, on her waist and lower back. After securing her most valuable tools, she pulled her Heavy Blaster Pistol from it's holster and turned her head over in the direction of the Togruta. With a quick flash of the lights in the eyes of her helmet, she indicated, We should probably get started.

[member="Inyari Yavek"][member="Zakan Dan"]
 

Zakan Dan

Guest
Z
He quietly gripped the lightsaber under his cloak and took a deep breath as he counted the amount of troopers rapidly surrounding them. He estimated at least a dozen, not including the Sith. Between him and the bounty hunter, the troopers likely wouldn’t pose much of a threat, it was the master that worried him. The cloaked figure looked small and unassuming but Zakan could feel the dark force radiating off of them, their corruption ran deep meaning their power was strong. Zakan watched the Sith command two of the troopers to remain with her as the others carried off some cargo. Huh. After this was over, it would be wise to investigate what the troopers were doing and report back to the council.

The cyborg made a quick signal and Zakan nodded. Understood. Let’s get this show on the road.

Not wasting any more time, Zakan ignited his lightsaber and leapt out from behind cover. He swept his cloak aside and twirled the green blade in a circle, making himself a big of a target as possible. He was sure that the Sith would be expecting or prepared for a Jedi of some sort, but the addition of the cyborg might give him an edge. Hopefully the Sith master would be drawn to him first and then the bounty hunter could get in some surprise hits or pick off the remaining soldiers.

As he hoped, the Sith master reacted first to his presence, the red lightsaber immediately hummed to life. “Jedi…” A dark feminine voice hissed. She turned toward the two troopers that were accompanying her. “Get him!” She screeched.

The troopers charged with their blaster firing but Zakan easily deflected them as he moved forward. A deflected shot took down one of the soldiers, and a quick slash took care of the other. Zakan continued moving, vaulting over a broken stone wall and flipping over the other troopers who were quickly assembling. He landed and twisted, killing two more before the Sith Master lunged at his back, lightsaber at a deadly downward angle. Zakan caught it with his own blade, the red blade crackled with energy as it pressed against his green.

The power of the Sith was strong and Zakan could feel his hold wavering, especially as the troopers closed in on his back. Zakan dropped his guard, freeing one of his hands in order to force push the Sith away. Her deadly blade came inches within his face before she was rapidly blown backwards, flying back 10 feet and landing in a semi crouch, lips peeled back in an ugly snarl.

[member="Inyari Yavek"]
[member="VashtiVeridian"]
 

Inyari Yavek

Guest
I
The Sith and her troopers didn't emerge where she expected, and so Inyari was caught slightly off guard when she say them, but that did give her an advantage, she had the drop on the them, but she wasn't certain in her abilities with a lightsaber to just jump in, not yet anyway, the Jedi was holding his own against the Sith for now, so she turned her attention to the troopers behind him, they had dropped their cargo in order to use this opportunity to shoot Zakan in the back. The bounty hunter was still doing her own thing, probably trying to set up a shot, or sneaking off to complete their own objective, she still wasn't sure about them, not with the nagging feeling in the back of her mind. However now wasn't the time to worry about the bounty hunter Inyari pulled out her saberstaffs again and crouched in a bush a few paces away from the troopers and reached out with the force, eight invisible hands reached out ripped the blasters out of the remaining troopers' hands.

When she felt the surprise overwhelm the temporarily weaponless troopers' minds Inyari launched herself out of her hiding place and activated her lightsabers, the four blue blades twirling in her hands and she quickly had two dead troopers on her hands, three and four were quickly behind them as the other four grabbed their sidearms and started firing, from four different angles. Inyari was barely able to keep up with the hail of blasterfire, she had to make sure that along with the blaster bolts she didn't also hit herself with a blade.

The Sith hissed at Zakan, "Your apprentice I presume. Lucky for her she won't live long enough to see her poor master dead, unable to protect her, or maybe she'll live, and I'll show her what real power is, not your patheric." She was clearly taunting him, trying to make him lose his focus on her so that striking a killing blow would be easier.

It was only now that Inyari realised that the five of them were locked in a stalemate, they couldn't put out enough blasterfire using sidearms to overwhelm her, and Iyari couldn't find an opening to break out of this position, she'd need to wait long enough for at least one of them to drain a power pack.

[member="Zakan Dan"] [member="VashtiVeridian"]
 
The glow of all the lightsabers danced across the canopy of trees around them. A myriad of humming, screams, grunts and blaster fire erupted from the scene below Vashti. The Togruta had taken on the Sith Master head-on, which wasn't what she expected. The younger Jedi had also taken on a squad of the Sith Troopers, handling a good majority of them on her own. At this point, it was obvious to see she had expended a lot of effort to do so and was struggling to keep up with the remaining Troopers.

Vashti aimed her Heavy Blaster over at the group the the young Jedi was handling, firing two bolts which both landed on one Trooper, taking him out of the equation. Vashti slung the Heavy Blaster back in it's holster as she engaged the servos in her legs. Time to get what she came for, without any trepidation. The servos in her legs released a great force of power which launched her into the air towards the Sith and Togruta. While performing a mighty flip during the arc of her jump, she seized both of her Cross-Guard Lightsabers and activated them. Mid-flip the T-shaped blades of Red and Purple came to life, adding a new hue to the already eerie light show among the trees.

Vashti pushed her blades in front of her, into the position to gore the Sith's torso if she connected. Vashti could already see that the Sith had heard her preemptive strike and had started to shift their body, pushing the Togruta away with a mighty push of the Force. The Togruta was not blown far away, and quickly recovered to his feet, without harm. At that moment, Vashti could feel her heavy frame slamming into the forest floor. With the sound of shrill hissing, a blast wave of mud blew away from the two figures as the three blades clashed together mightily. The blast had generated enough force to blast the FOX Helmet from Vashti's head, revealing her flowing, fiery hair and cold robotic face for the first time. Vashti's bright, pale cybernetic eyes met that of the Sith before her and she could start to feel the excitement well up inside of her. "Help the child.", she yelled out to the Jedi Master.

Vashti didn't wait to see if the Togruta had followed her request, although she meant it more as an order. The Sith she had seeked for over two years now stood before her and inside of her Sith head was the knowledge. Knowledge to guide one to the path necessary for her revival. Vashti leaned her pressure into the Red lightsaber, countering the pressure being met with the Sith's very own purple blade. "Play time is over, Sith.", Vashti pulled her purple lightsaber back, keeping her red blade matched, and took a downward swing at the Sith Master. The dark cloaked figure quickly phased backwards, with assistance of the Force. The Sith was clearly a bit shaken, as she was not expecting someone from behind. "Another Jedi? No.. I sense something else in you. Sith..?", the dark voice hissed. "Neither.", and with that one word, Vashti's arm exploded in a throwing motion. Over her shoulder flew the red shaded lightsaber, flying with blinding speed at the Sith. The Sith barely dodged the laser projectile, as it grazed her torso leaving a cauterized rip and small flame on her cloak. Vashti watched the red saber become lodged into a tree behind the Sith and wasted no time. She charged with her purple saber clutched with two hands, ready to end this. The Sith matched her pace and began to charge at her, meeting her blade with Vashti's. The two exchanged blows of the saber, with a purple haze of light flowing around the two figures. Hisses and roars danced around the two as the sabers met each other with every move. They had met at a stalemate and were pressing their blades against each other's, starting at each other in the face. Vashti released one of her grip of one of her cybernetic hands from the hilt of her blade and proceeded to quickly grip onto the Sith's face, her other hand still managing to fend off the Sith's saber. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

At that moment Vashti released her power to the Force, revealing herself, and concentrated onto the Sith's mind. Screams could be heard from the Sith, painful and horrible screams. Vashti didn't hear any of them, as she was now deep inside the Sith Master's memories. A dark red aura formed over the two of them, as the Sith continued to scream in agony. Vashti's mind probe was digging deeper and deeper into the vault of the Sith's memoir. It only took her a few moments, but she had found it. The exact directions to "The Man" who would help her become whole again. A well kept secret within the darker side of the Galaxy. The dark aura forming around the two of them then pushed it's way up around the individual's heads, becoming a haze. With a quick flash of light, the Sith screamed again loudly. The haze had now formed into red ribbons of light, wrapping around the Sith's head and becoming intertwined with Vashti's. The ribbons were flowing softly in the air for a brief moment, then violently retracted into Vashti, disappearing.

This rush made her release a loud gasp and her grip from the Sith's head. She had done it. The knowledge that was in the Sith's mind, was now in her's. It was time to finish the job and escape hastily. The Sith knelt down in pain before the cyborg, gasping for breath, struggling to regain composure. Vashti now saw no purpose for the Sith now that she had what she wanted. While turning her eyes to her red lightsaber plunged into the blazing tree behind them, she summoned the ignited hilt back to her hand through the force. The cross-guard lightsaber then whizzed over the shoulder of the Sith at a tremendous speed, landing in the grip of Vashti's cold, robotic hand. And with a quick stroke, sent plunged the blade into the side of the Sith's neck, bringing it through to the other side. There was a hiss and then a loud "PLOP!" sound as the Sith's head rolled in the mud below.

Vashti breathed in deeply, turned off her lightsabers and placed them back on their hilts. She ran her fingers through her red hair, moving it away from her face and turned to where the other two would of been fighting. The reactions on their muddy faces will dictate whether it was time to go.


[member="Inyari Yavek"][member="Zakan Dan"]
 

Zakan Dan

Guest
Z
Zakan stood momentarily stunned as he watched the bounty hunter unleash her purple and red blades upon the Sith master. He had not trusted her before, but this was still unexpected. It seemed his first instinct in calling her a Sith, might of been correct. “Go help the child!” The now redheaded women shouted at him as she pushed the Sith back. Her shout drew his attention away to where the padawan was fighting off the troopers amd Zakan quickly rushed to her aid.

The padawan had been dealing with the troopers pretty well considering her lack of training, but her lack of experience wielding dual saberstaffs was turning out to be dangerous. Zakan quickly dispatched a couple soldiers who had their back turned and then side stepped around the rest putting himself in front of the young women. The two of them quickly dispatched the rest of the troopers who were quick to fall back as soon as they were overpowered.

Zakan let out a breath as he cut through the last soldier. He was about to turn and address the padawan when he felt a disturbance in the force. His head snapped over in time to see the bounty hunter and the screaming Sith. The bounty hunter’s aura was much darker now as well, further confirming his suspicion that she was a disguised Sith. Zakan didn’t know exactly what she was doing and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out. Any sort of forced mind reading was frowned upon by the council, and judging by how much the Sith was screaming. Extremely painful as well. “Stay close.” He murmured to the padawan, not taking his eyes off of the bounty hunter.

Zakan watched as she finished up and sliced off the old Sith masters head. The bounty hunter turned towards them expectedly. He made no move to attack her but did not deactivate his lightsaber either. “I assume you got what you came for, Sith.” He said calmly. “I think it would be in your best interest to leave now.” She was not his target so Zakan was not required to engage her. The Sith he had came for was dead so officially, his job was done. Zakan was not eager to engage the Sith bounty hunter, especially with the padawan so close. It would be better for all of them if he could just get back and report to the council everything that had happened here.

[member="VashtiVeridian"]
[member="Inyari Yavek"]
 

Inyari Yavek

Guest
I
"I knew it, I karking knew it!" Inyari shouted in a very un-jedi like way. "You're another karking Sith!"

Inyari realised that this was what the force was trying to warn her about, and the feeling of darkness from the supposesed bounty hunter wasn't a flash of extreme emotion, it was their dark side aura, they were hiding it from her and the Jedi the whole time. She actually felt a bit of anger at the deception and had to fight to quash it before acting, it wasn't the Jedi way to act out of anger, but still even as she calmed her self she couldn't not act, it would be just as bad acting out of anger, letting this Sith get away without a fight.

"NO! Surrender now and you won't be harmed!" Inyari said as she twirled her saberstaffs.

Inyari reached out with the force and started to grab at the bounty hunter Sith, trying to trap her in place, focusing so hard on her opponent's body to try and keep them locked in place hoping that Zakan would use the opportunity to take action, one dead Sith was impressive, two, or a prisoner was even more so. Part of her was also doing this for vain reasons no only did she want to bring this Sith to justice, be she wanted to look good in the eyes of the counsel, hoping to make them realise their mistake in putting her in the Exploration corps to begin with, she wanted to prove that she was just as strong as any other Jedi, she was good at surpressing it normally but her jealousy at the other students who had been picked as apprentices while she was left at the temple tended to boil up at times like this if she had been picked she might be strong enough to do this herself and the Jedi who stood with her wouldn't feel the need to try and protect her.

[member="Zakan Dan"] [member="VashtiVeridian"]
 

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