Mission Rotten Core

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Tag: Jasper Kai'el | Maran
Outfit: This

Dreidi had been tagged onto a Jedi Knight and his student. She wasn't sure what to make of either of them especially since she wasn't exactly great at understanding the Jedi around here yet. Dreidi remained quiet on the ship, just looking around, adjusting her gear and ensuring that she was prepared and set for the mission. A supply mission, that was simple enough, she could handle that and her talents with stealth and ability to teleport meant that she could end up in and out of a place without letting anyone aware she was ever there. If everything went according to plan but that was never guaranteed.

Looking at the other Padawan, she seemed a lot more inexperienced. Still using a training saber, which seemed unusual for someone of her age, unless she was a recent recruit or particularly unskilled in Lightsaber combat. It was clear her Master wanted the Padawan to stick close to him, Dreidi wasn't too sure where she would fit inside this pairing. However, she would help out the best she could, her skills made her a bit more versatile, though she could not be a healing or buffering style of support.

"How do we plan to get the supplies to them? I can't teleport with them, unfortunately." Dreidi admitted as she wrung her hands in nerves of not being confident with her abilities and admitting. She was never going to lie about her limitations but sharing her weaknesses was never a comfortable experience.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

(wrong character)

 

[Makko Vyres]

"What's going on?" Makko asked.

Makko was several hundred meters from the camp. Someone had decided it would be a good idea for him to see the work done by the New Jedi Order without placing himself at risk. An entire platoon of soldiers was between him and any danger. He just had to push a hover cart of supplies.

He was with the platoon commander, his radio office and staff. Whilst he hadn't heard the report coming back from the camp he had felt the sudden shift in the mood.

He didn't get a proper reply.

"Sergeant Flaye, escort Padawan Vyres back to the dropship. There may be contact with the enemy."

Contact, Makko thought, sounded much nicer than what they really meant. An enemy that they had engaged. There was more to this than the soldiers were letting on, but they were not here to report to a padawan.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil blinked in surprise as Capris rushed forward. He wasn't too surprised, but he wasn't too sure what to think. He couldn't think. Wait. His saber disengaged as he nodded to his Padawan. The woman was alive. Barely, but alive. Panic filled the Force around them from- Oh. Oh no. Realization set in why he wasn't on as much guard as he should've been. The darkness weighing on them all was clouding his senses.

Something unnatural was happening. And it all happened at once. The plants animated, striking out around them towards the Padawans. Towards Valery. The Darkness, the visions they brought. He could feel them trying to probe into his mind. Overwhelm him further than he had been. Probing at the minds of the students to try and show them their darkest fears and most twisted thoughts.

The Jedi's blade reignited in a silent flash of white as he cut out, right through Valery. "Don't let their whispers in!" For a moment he was thankful of his biology. None of the whispers could truly reach his mind. It was the only reason his blade could cut through the vines and leave Valery unharmed.

"Back to the ship! Capris, Bee, help Cora!"

Valery Noble | Capris Halcyon | BB-610 | Corazona von Ascania

 

[Iris Arani]

"Yeah, cool as a cuke. .. What's a cuke?" Unless that was cucumber. Oh that was probably cucumber. Maybe she was a little too nervous. Iris took a breath. Closed her eyes to focus instead on the colors. Let her emotions bleed out and blend so she could relax. It only took a moment for her to center herself. They had people to protect. Her eyes opened as she gazed towards the village as they passed by overhead.

"We can't just scare them off. And we can't just kill them. The Alliance can't protect these people yet, not until the Maw is pushed away. What do we do when we can't always be there to protect something that can't leave?"

Zoar

 

[Capris Halcyon]

LOCATION: Xa Fel
TAGS: Valery Noble Kahlil Noble BB-610 Corazona von Ascania

​

Zeroed in on the women, Capris’s jaw clenched in deliberation. The frantic ramblings that seemed to pour from her were all too suddenly paired by metaphysical dread. One that made her intent abundantly clear.

To warn.

Without so much as a second to prepare, a brutish green limb slammed down on the girl, shaking the ground on impact. A move that, if she hadn’t rolled clear of at the last possible moment, likely would’ve buried her under a fresh mound of dirt. Shouldering her newly awakened panic, the girl straightened, muscles tensed in anticipation of another ambush. A plight already shared by both Valery and Cora.

At break-neck pace, she moved to free the other Padawan, trusting Bee to follow with a string of panicked binary. “Dammit- hold still.” In a single fluid motion, the girl brandished her saber, slicing down on the vines binding Cora’s wrists while leaving the ones strangling her midriff to Bee’s capable.. uh hands? “Keep the vines clear of her face Bee. Don’t let them get past you-” Fighting to keep her tone free of the uncertainty wringing out her gut, Capris offered a hand, ready to pull Cora up from the undergrowth. Though she tried to harden her expression, a look of genuine concern for Cora managed to worm its way in.

Still, instead of asking anything along the lines of ‘Are you ok?’, she opted for a terse “We gotta go.”

It was only then Kahlil’s warning came into fruition, manifesting in an abrupt assault on her senses that almost had her reeling. One hand shot up to her brow in response while the other still tried to pull Cora free, fighting against an onslaught of visions with gritted teeth.

Sandy floors. Red plasma meeting green, struggling with a deafening screech to take any ground. An encompassing sense of failure, bold and painful.

Rapidly blinking away the residual image, her patience wore razor-thin, the girl suddenly lashing out at the encroaching vines with an almost feverish aggression as she toyed the line between reality.

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Xa Fel
Tags: Maran , Dreidi Xeraic

"No questions, master."

Right. Maran was still nervous about combat. She wouldn't be running off on her own at least, which was relieving.

"How do we plan to get the supplies to them? I can't teleport with them, unfortunately."

"Well, theoretically we're just landing and getting supplies out of the cargo hold," Jasper informed her. "No teleportation needed. A DF Marine has been on the ground with a band of escaped slaves who have a temporary camp that we'll be dropping by."

Slavers were the worst kinds of people.

Jasper had gotten good first-hand experience with them when he went off into exile. He had fought a good number of them in the Outer Rim, so he had gotten pretty accustom to how vile they were. Accustom, not tolerant. There was a special place for people who owned slaves in the next life, or at least he hoped so.

It wasn't long before they were above a makeshift camp, cobbled together scraps and tarps that vaguely resembled tents. The civilians present were dirty, garbed in tattered dress and shambling about aimlessly, almost like zombies. The only thing life like about them was their sunken eyes. One woman seemed to approach the ship first, a blue Nautolan in light armor. She was clearly the marine that they were anticipating. Jasper was quick to land the Lonestar 1 and get the cargo bay door open, walking down the ramp to meet her.

"Master Jedi," the soldier greeted, her voice seemingly exhausted in tone. "Glad to see you. Supplies?"

"Blankets, light arms, rations..." Jasper listed off, "Stuff to get keep them going. It won't be long until extraction is possible. One is in the works now... but this will have to do. I have two padawans here with me ready to help."

"Good," the trooper nodded. "It's been hell out here. I'll give these folks the good news."

Jasper was able to get a better look at the men and woman here. Many bore gruesome scars, many seemingly afflicted by the use of the darkside. That alone was enough to make his stomach turn, but the few with shackles still bound to their ankles and wrists really cemented that feeling. He turned back to Dreidi and Maran.

"Right, let's get these supplies out," he told them. "And if anyone comes up with bindings of any kind, lets take a moment to remove them."

They wouldn't get to start before one of the ex-slaves had shambled their way up to them, an older twi'lek woman rapped in a tattered blanket. Maybe she was old, at least. It could have very well been the effects of stress that made her look in her fifties.

"P-please, Master Jedi," she pleaded. "My son... Th-they did something to my son. I-"

She couldn't finish her sentence, but Jasper understood. Her son was ill, the most likely cause being darkside affliction. They had been warned of such a thing when departing to provide relief. It seemed that they would be dealing with it first hand.

That was a terrible revelation.

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: Xa Fel |
| TAG: Valery Noble | Kahlil Noble | Corazona von Ascania | Capris Halcyon |

As though the karmic gods of the galaxy were chastising him almost entirely out of spite, BB-610 was left in utter disbelief at just how much he'd started to miss the layer of stress and anxiety that had blanketed the Bastion only moments prior to their exploration. He would have reclaimed that discomfort in a heartbeat if it meant ridding the atmosphere of this horrid fear plaguing the planet; he wanted to be home, to see Vera, to not have to sit and watch as the color drained from Valery's face the moment their situation grew all the more critical. His scans never failed him. Never. The blips that fizzled from his internal wavelengths weren't a sign of inconvenient malfunction, nor was the headache inducing buzz of a signal jammer present. BB-610's systems remained fully operational, much to his disdain, because that meant facing the grim truth: the people of Xa Fel were dying, and they were dying far faster than any of them had anticipated.

He didn't want to interfere. He was a simple astromech among four lightsiders, gifted with the Force and much better equipped at physicalities than he was. So BB-610 simply stood still, knowing full well that their attempts were a lost cause, having delayed the inevitable in the best of cases as the sickly woman's breathing slowed, labored and biting to look at. Diseased grass rustling, swaying unnaturally as the droid's array of photoreceptors alert him of movement beneath their feet. Head tilted to settle his central optic behind him, BB-610 was given no opportunity to unravel what had happened, as the vines had had absentmindedly stood over abruptly swung into the air, lifting the astromech with them and flipping him skyward until he came crashing back down onto the damp floor with an unceremonious THUNK.

Shaking himself to get his bearings, BB-610's attention is fixed on the vicious overgrowth binding Corazona's wrists, ruthless and forceful as they secure an uncomfortably firm grip on the girl. Naturally, BB-610 backed up, optic widened and motor whirring, shrieking out in fearful binary. Frozen in terror and trembling uncontrollably, it wasn't until Valery's attempt at freeing her Padawan scored her a similar fate; staring at the horrifying picture before him like a deer caught in headlights, some sense was finally knocked into his servos as BB-610 impulsively charged forward and rolled towards her, squealing and pleading ever so desperately as he cried, 'Vaaaaaaal!', droidspeak crackling with an overabundance of fright.

There was something. These vines-- they were a part of something bigger, connected to a creature his databanks couldn't even begin to decipher. With the brambles snaking past him, BB-610 could only hastily deduce that they were attracted to organics; whispers, Kahlil had screamed of. The droid was hearing nothing of the sort. Panicked, confused, it felt perverse for him to not understand what was happening. He boasted a broad collection of knowledge spanning all across the galaxy, and he had no idea what was unravelling before him.

"Capris, Bee, help Cora!"

Whipping his head around to face the Padawan in question, BB-610 made haste in helping Capris, silently begging that Kahlil could handle the tendrils curling around Valery. Hearing the comforting hum of Capris' lightsaber, the astromech focused on the vines squeezing around Corazona's midriff. Welding torch re-emerging with a click, BB-610 burst its embers onto the flora, spreading throughout its grip and setting it ablaze. With an ear-piercing shriek from the monster towering above them, the vines hastily retreated, unfurling before its flames could reach Corazona, allowing the Padawan to fall free in thanks to Capris' handiwork.

Despite their combined efforts, it appeared as though it had equated to a mild setback at most. This creature- it felt pain, but its regeneration had all but reset their progress back to zero, flames snuffed out with repeated smacks against the ground. With Kahlil telling them to run, BB-610 opted to - reluctantly - linger behind, welding torch igniting again and again to keep the intruding brambles at bay, perched in front of Corazona to keep her safe while she - hopefully - recovered.

They had been freed. They could go. Retreat, abandon what was clearly something much larger than any of them could manage. Chirping hurriedly at Corazona to run, it was when BB-610 turned to escape that he realized Capris had doubled down on slicing again and again, each swing more powerful and graceless than the last. Chassis trembling and fight-or-flight screaming at him to leave, the astromech called out to her ever so nervously, itching to run as she stood her ground. Crying out once more, he finally rolled up to her, bumping into the back of her legs as his utility arm flung out, grasping onto her streetwear in a desperate attempt to tug her away.

He was scared. Panicking. His specs were designed to operate well under pressure, but that had been back when he was designed as a mindless drone. He felt now. He felt alive, and he felt that heartwrenching anxiety that he might not get to see Valery again if this didn't work out. Artifical whimpering, screaming as loud as his voicebox had allowed him as he swerved in front of Capris without even thinking.

Tool-bay disk sliding open, a small tube housed within spurted out ropes of oil, splattering across the ground and caking the vines in glistening grease. Body leaning forth, the tip of his torch kissed the fuel, and in a matter of seconds, the entirety of the greenery before them had erupted in flames, swallowing the flora and spreading across the land in wildfire. He knew it wasn't a permanent solution. A probability run had told him all he needed to know about their odds.

But as the opportunity presented itself, the most he could do was try to ground Capris further into reality, to disperse the whispers Khalil had mentioned, to help. Shrieking loudly to grab her attention, BB-610 nudged into her one last time, before rolling forward and speeding back to the Bastion.

 

[Zoar]

//Like... a cucumber? It's a saying. I think.//

Staring down at the village, Zoar tried to spy any potential bandits. He was afraid, of course he was afraid, but his fear was a small thing, compared to the fear of the innocent people below. They needed help. They needed Jedi.

Though, what Iris said next put a bit of a damper in that line of thought.

//N-no, you're right. We can't just scare them off.// Zoar mentally kicked himself. Stupid. //Um... I don't know. You make it sound like there's nothing we can do. Not without... going pretty far.//

He looked expectantly at his master, waiting for her to correct him. Waiting for a perfect answer.

- Iris Arani -

 

[Iris Arani]

Iris raised a finger, and gave a calm smile.

"When we can't protect someone, the least we can do is show them how to protect themselves. We're going to help them fortify their town and teach them how to at least fend off the raiders and pirates. A town that can put up a decent fight is enough that the pirates won't bother them. They just need to survive long enough for the Alliance to get here."

It wasn't ideal in the slightest. If she could, she'd have herself and Zoar stay until the Alliance did arrive. But Jedi couldn't be everywhere all the time. And this seemed to be a good time as any to teach Zoar that it was okay to have limits. And how important it was to know what they were.

"So, before we meet them, what do you think they should learn?"

Zoar

 

[Maran]

Wait teleport?

Maran stared at Dreidi for a moment before glancing to Jasper. He seemed to at least understand what that meant. People could teleport? That sounded.. That was horrifying! Did that mean people could just randomly appear where they wanted? When they wanted? Oh by the Force was no where safe?

No, wait. Escaped slaves.

Her expression turned more sour at that. Slaves. People were enslaved. That was still a thing that happened. They talked about it at the Temple, in classes. But to see it first hand. Inwardly the Padawan shivered. She already didn't like where this was going. But the people needed help. She followed after her Master, keeping close to him. To help with the supplies. Totally not for protection.

Then she saw them. The runaway slaves. She gasped in horror. Then immediately covered her mouth. She was a little shit to a lot of people, but she didn't want to be to them. Not with everything they'd gone through. But she couldn't help herself. She shied away behind her master, trying to hide her shame. It took a moment before she came back out to help actually give out the supplies.

And help with removing the shackles. That was the hardest part. She actually didn't know how. She stared at the one she was working on, trying not to seem any more incompetent than she already did. Man she hated this feeling. Her gaze drifted up to watch Jasper for a moment. She opened her mouth, ready to at least ask for help when the woman spoke.

"H.. Her son?" Her voice came out meek as ever. What happened to her son?

Dreidi Xeraic | Jasper Kai'el

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Capris Halcyon BB-610 Valery Noble Kahlil Noble

There'd been a pause in the air, as if the rotten world of Xa Fel itself had been holding its breath. On the next exhale, chaos broke through the dam like a geyser.

Ensnared in the tangle, Cora could feel her strength waning by the moment. Struggling only seemed to drain her energy reserves quicker, and her vision had grown fuzzy by the time Valery had called her name. Her senses had dimmed, but she was aware enough to feel her Master's presence rushing towards her like a burning light. A light that was soon smothered as the vines swarmed over Valery, eager to feast on her stronger being.

Even the familiar hum of a lightsaber seemed so distant, and Cora stared at Capris' desperate struggle to free her through a partially lidded, glassed-over eyes.

“Keep the vines clear of her face Bee. Don’t let them get past you-”

Dark hair. Capris had dark hair, like Cora's younger sister. The vacant expression of the blonde's face tilted into a hollow smile. She wasn't looking at Capris anymore, but at Fantine. Fantine was always so cheerful and full of life—what was she doing looking so serious and frustrated? What was that look of dire concern in her dark eyes? Everything else fell muted into the background, Kahlil's shout and Bee's shrieks going unregistered as Cora hallucinated seeing her sister overlain onto the other Padawan.

Fantine's hand extended, and Cora found herself reaching out to grasp her forearm with a trembling grip. She looked down to where Bee was, but she didn't see the droid—she saw Emile, her youngest sibling. Just a toddler, he was perched on the ground with his tiny, chubby hands wrapped around her leg. In Cora's addled mind, BB-610's desperate cries melted into a toddler's terrified wail.

Fire.​

At the sharp snap of a finger—which was really the sound of Bee igniting his welding torch—Fantine and Emile were engulfed in flames. An excruciating shriek rang in Cora's head, heard by her alone, but it felt so real. Even the visceral warmth of the fire could be felt as it burned the vines around her, both an illusion as much as it was an element of reality.

Of course, Capris and Bee weren't burning. The other Padawan was fighting the disturbing visions that assaulted her own mind, and the astromech was fighting back his own panic as they both tried to tug Cora free of her entrapment. To Cora, they were her dear siblings, skin melted and blackened as they burned in the fire that surrounded them. It wasn't just Fantine and Emile—the vines had disappeared, and all that was left was Cora, immobilized and surrounded by the seven charred husks of her siblings.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.

Dominic. Volkhardt. Fantine. Marilla. Lukas. Anselma. Emile.​

Cora counted them out, arranged youngest to oldest in a grisly display of what she held most dear reduced to ash.

Then, all at once, the illusion broke and reality came rushing back with a roar of chaotic energy. The sound of Capris and Kahlil's lightsabers hacking their way through flora grew clearer, and Bee's panicked whistles and beeps finally reached her conscious mind. Capris and Bee had freed Cora from the vines with their combined efforts, and the blonde Padawan was now bracing herself against the ground as she gasped for air and tried to blink away the horrors she'd been shown.

Panicked adrenaline surged through Cora, urging her on as she scrambled shakily to her feet. So the fire had been real after all—fear lanced through her and she stumbled forwards, only to see flames licking at the snarl of vines and not at anything humanoid.

Bee's shriek forced her attention and her movement, and Cora found herself grabbing Capris' wrist. "Fantine, we have to—" No, this wasn't her sister. Though the illusion had fallen away, her mouth moved of it's own accord. "—need to leave, now, it's not- something's wrong, not real." Tension had tightened the delicate features of her face, and she regarded Capris with a certain type of sisterly concern as she babbled.

"It's not real." Cora breathed, as much for Capris' comfort as it was for her own. Her head whipped back in the direction of the Bastion as Bee cleared them a path, then over to Valery and Kahlil. She tugged Capris, stumbling in the direction of the Jedi Masters.

 

[Osarla Ridor]

GENERAL RIDOR OF THE 222ND
CAMPAIGN TO CLOSE THE CORRIDOR || RELIEF RUN
XA FEL || GADF CAMP OUTSIDE SLAVE ENCAMPMENT
Adric Rocheford || OPEN

It didn't matter how many times Osarla was asked that question Master or General, each time, she felt pitched back to the split between The New Jedi Order and Alliance. When she'd been forced to choose one over the other. The simple question burned with the same intensity as that life choice.

Until Gabriel had come of age, and she'd rescued Sion, she'd been prepared to leave the life of the Jedi behind. But with two Padawans, well, one now, it had drawn her back to a world that she'd been mentally distancing herself from in favour of the decisions a General sometimes had to make. Her temporary discomfort lasted less than a second, and she made her choice given the context of the day. "General."

Adric's astuteness to the situation was appreciated, and she nodded as they walked. Unfortunately, speeders would draw too much attention. The masters and attached soldiers, only four, would have to cross the distance on foot.

"Good idea, but we'll have to be brief about it, our interactions have to be limited." She grimaced, the unease of their plight was obviously settled across everyone's countenance. "We have roughly an hour window from our observations. Which is why we're deploying now." The signal had given the green light to all teams dispersed around the logistics camps. Those responsible for the drops would be approaching their designations within the next five to ten minutes. "By the time we arrive, the Maw's slavers are typically distracted with their dinner and the numbers patrolling the camp are less than half the standard rotation."

The ground sloped perilously near the camps, purposely making it quite hilly to dissuade attempts to escape. It was hard for exhausted persons to climb..right? Whatever the rationale, Osarla was sliding down a dusty trail to crouch at the bottom and peer into the settlement. She made a gesture that sent the attachment of troopers to the left.

Now that they were within arms reach of the camp, the devastation was nigh palpable. Dark dread crept through the air, pulsing and alive. It was so intense that she had to gasp. The pressure was astounding, and as solid as she was, the obvious wretchedness that bred within the walls of the camp was impossible to ignore.

"May the Force be with us.." she murmured, hardly audible beyond the range of Rocheford.

It was one thing to encounter miasmic oppression on the battlefield, where fear and hate were rampant and weaponized. It was an entirely different mutation here — the ruination of innocence by the morally bankrupt.

 

[Valery Noble]

Xa Fel

​

Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Ship: The Bastion
Weapons: Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble BB-610 Capris Halcyon Corazona von Ascania

Darkness.

With every passing second, Valery felt herself slipping away into it more and more, as vines wrapped themselves around her entire body and drained her of her energy. The poison injected into her veins was making her feel numb, and she could feel the Dark Side lashing out against the barriers of her mind. Through the cracks that quickly formed, images were forced inside that targeted her deepest fears.

They made her relive that day she lost him. They showed her... Vera.

All alone, scared, and running. Something is chasing her, and getting closer fast but no matter what she tried, Valery couldn't reach her. She couldn't scream, she couldn't run, she couldn't help. What was stopping her? Who was stopping her? It was getting closer again to her little star. She looks so scared.

It was going to-

No!

Valery gasped for air as Kahlil's blade severed the vines that had kept her entangled. She fell down to hands and knees, trembling, and with her eyes wide from shock. "Vera!" she screamed, but once she felt the heat of the raging fire around her, and spotted Kahlil calling out to the others, she was pulled back into reality. With every bit of strength she had, Valery pushed herself up to her feet, drew the hilt of her weapon into her hand, and ignited its two violet blades. It didn't matter how much weaker she felt or how much danger lurked around her — a fire had ignited inside of her that couldn't easily be tamed.

"We need to get them out of here!" Valery called to Kahlil before she sprinted not towards the Bastion, but towards the group of Drengir trying to go after the people she would protect until the end. Her hand came up, and through the Force, she tapped into the flames BB-610 had created, twisting and turning them into an even more dangerous inferno that she directed at the Drengir, but also at the path between them and the Bastion.

Vines lashed out at her in response, but she either cut them down or burned them down with her own intense fire.

However, as the group began to approach their one way off this planet, the path was cut off by one of the small homes at the side bursting wide open, as a large Drengir forced its way through and into their path. They were surrounded, and even more Drengir appeared to limit their ways out.

"The Harvessst will be Bountiful."​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Chit.

Kahlil's gaze shifted as the ground ruptured and the creatures themselves finally emerged. He'd never seen them before, but the Dark was strong. Frightening. The Padawan's were already pulled into their cruel visions. He could already feel the one Valery was in through their bond. Thankfully she pulled herself out. And started spreading fire. The Drengir pulled away, hissing loud.

"Capris! New rune!"

It wasn't the ideal place to teach her anything, but it'd help. He traced one in the air. Fire. The Force swelled as he scrawled it in the air before it erupted. Another quick trace, and the flame scattered around them as a barrier between them and the plant monsters outside. Their ship was cut off for now, but there was still a chance to get on board and get away.

"Find a way to get us back to the ship!"

Capris Halcyon | BB-610 | Valery Noble | Corazona von Ascania

 

[Slayton Wyse]

He paused what he was doing and watched the datafeed right as Ocano was.

An understatement indeed.

"I am seeing it, alright."

Wyse had been a Petty Officer back in those days. Barely in charge of his own boots, much less the little squad he had been responsible for, but he remembered when Stoneheart had been invoked then too. It made sense. You couldn't trust someone influenced by the Darkside. The Jedi could afford trying to take Sith alive and convert them, but the GADF didn't have that luxury.

Even a Sith Acolyte was usually more than a match for an entire squad.

Trying to take them alive was a death sentence.

"We will do what is necessary, Ocano. If the villagers turn on us..." Armored shoulders raised in a non-committal shrug. "We will just have to drink harder when we are back on Coruscant."

Hopefully it wouldn't have to come to that. But the Commander knew better than to try and be hopeful. This Galaxy? Sometimes it felt like it went out of its way to dash your hopes. He tapped his comms and switched to a private channel between Ocano and him. No need to worry the kids about it. "We can try and put the supplies at the border of town. If we can avoid being spotted by the villagers..."

Maybe they could avoid any escalation at all.

Teshi Ocano

 

[Pyke Lazar]

______________________________________________________________
D E A D M A N
XA FEL | SLAVE CAMP PERIMETER
MISSION VIDE CONTINUUM SERVUS VERSO || TASK FORCE NULL
______________________________________________________________

[SUFFER LIKE A RAT IN THE SMOKE]​

"Navy?"

“Sure.”

"Heh." Pyke snickered from the fog, arriving suddenly without the courtesy of elaboration. An amused grin parted as he came into view, revealing the ivory eminence of his teeth. Servos whirred beneath the crepitation of bone-to-cybernetic receptacles as his shoulders rolled. "If she's Navy, then I'm the fuckin' Chaplain," he asserted vulgarly, arms spreading in an exaggerated gesture as if to emphasize his flippancy.

"'Place is a real dump, huh? I almost didn't get off the shuttle." Humorous countenance faded slowly as Pyke noticed the green figure, his regard sweeping the Jedi up and down with distrusting scrutiny. "Oh," Pyke emitted with nonchalant surprise. "We're with a glowstick?" displeasure was tangible in his tone.

“We just got the green to go.”

Eyes shot to Cordé, brows raised to frame a mock look of startled merriment. When she winced forth an apologetic whimper, Pyke obnoxiously erupted with a brief guffaw. "Oh, c'mon. No way she's that dumb, right?" he postulated with the accompanying assumption that she wouldn't instantly perk up to 'green' as if it were her designated slur. Momentum carried a derisive smile to greet Xashe as he walked ahead insouciantly at the behest of Cordé's indicating fingers.

"Xashe Tistya, Cordé Sabo. Nyla Ven. I'm your intel."

Pyke flinched and turned toward his sudden third ally. Her smile was met with an unenthused stare.

"Yes, Pyke Lazar I'm your intel and I totally didn't forget to mention you. Please handle the wall and the emplacements," Pyke mocked in a very poorly-done imitation of a female voice.

"No problem my comrade-in-arms Nyla Ven, that's why I'm here."

An indignant, dismissive wave of his hand sent him off toward the encampment once again. "Damn wizards," he uttered quietly.

“Remember, first orders are not to engage. We drop, and we get out.”

Boots scraped against the sediment, grinding to a halt as if the reminder had paralyzed him. After a small beat's worth of a delay, Pyke's right foot traced a curve behind his other, and he pivoted to face his allies with a whirl.

"Hold on, so this isn't a liberation!?" Expectantly, he shot each of them a glare. "We're just gonna leave them some shit and hope they make it count? That's an unbelievably dumb plan. Contraband just increases the likelihood they're gonna get skewered. You sure you heard Central correctly?"

---

ALLIES | GADF | NJO | SLAVES | Cordé Sabo Xashe Tistya Nyla Ven | OPEN
ENEMIES | BROTHERHOOD OF THE MAW​

 

[Adric Rocheford]

Osarla Ridor

It was difficult.

But Adric was more used to it than Ridor because of his experiences. He had less frontal battlefield experience, yes. This was made-up by being beyond enemy lines almost exclusively since he had been made a Jedi Master. The things he had witnessed... you didn't wish that on anyone. The Sith were a menace in war, but in some ways they were even worse in daily life.

Every moment was infected by inequity and disgrace.

"Steel your heart, Ridor." He murmured as his eyes closed and he tried to penetrate the thick cloud of the Darkside. This was difficult, because it was basically everywhere.

Around the village, yes, but around them too.

"It will get worse before it gets better. But this is the price of inaction." If the Alliance had acted decisively earlier? They could have avoided a lot of this. But that was talking with hindsight. "When as a nation you become so used to being a shield... you forget it becomes impossible to protect those beyond the reach of the shield."

Eyes opened up again and met hers.

"I cannot get through the darkness. What we see with our eyes is only one facet... I am concerned we might be missing something, because we are so focused on the surface level."

 

[Capris Halcyon]

LOCATION: Xa Fel
TAGS: Valery Noble Kahlil Noble BB-610 Corazona von Ascania

​

Bee’s and Cora’s pleas more or less fell on deaf ears. Ears that were already occupied by a sickly warble of interference, keeping both her body and mind suspended.

It was only when Cora pulled at her with such earnest, insistent that she move, respond, or do so much as anything to get them closer to the Bastion that reality came surging back in full. Heat licked her ankles, its intensity magnifying as she wrestled with the lingering aftertaste. Chit, that had to be fire. Reunited with her senses, recognition ghosted her eyes as she caught Cora’s own. Wait, who was Fantine?

Kahlil gave her no time to dwell on the particular question however, instead calling on her newly reattached attention.

Pitched from one extreme to another Capris opened her mouth to argue before promptly snapping it shut. She knew what he wanted from her. It had to be done, half-assed or otherwise. Sure, things could go explosively wrong, but they’d just have to run the risk.

“Step back.” Tossing the warning out to both Cora and Bee, her brow knitted in concentration, “And uh- possibly brace yourself. I can’t promise this’ll be clean.”

Plainly aware of the mounting pressure, she tensed, recalling what little knowledge Kahlil had imparted beforehand. Clear your mind, center your intent, will it into creation. With eyes closed a line emerged from the air, faint but volatile. Freeze. It was really just some loose intimation of what Kahlil had done but only at a fraction of his ability. She stifled a look of amazement..and a small self-indulgence of pride.

Given the context however, Capris seemed to perhaps sidestep one crucial precaution. To not emotionally charge your intent.

With all the subtlety of a geyser, serrated pillars of ice erupted from the ground, tearing the landscape to metaphorical shreds. However uncontrollable, she was successful in flattening the barrier, erecting something of a bridge for them to scramble across.

Wincing at the aftermath and sufficiently sapped of her energy the padawan faltered before squeezing Cora’s hand in confirmation. “Let's go.”

 

[BB-610]

| LOCATION: Xa Fel |
| TAG: Valery Noble | Kahlil Noble | Corazona von Ascania | Capris Halcyon |

Infected, diseased, it didn't take a Force-sensitive to know that something was very, very wrong. The ground shook, destabilized and layered in an ocean of murky moss and rotting soil that dribbled with the desperate swaying of bloodthirsty vines. Thankful for his lack of a nose, blissfully ignorant of the mind-numbing smoke of charred brambles weaving its way into the lungs of those hugged by a wall of sweltering fire. BB-610 was petrified, caught frozen in the midst of panics he was powerless to stop, unsure of just what those around him were suffering from. Whining with wavering binary, pleading desperately for the Padawans to run, to snap out of it, to live another day, the droid visibly perked up at Cora's recovery - shaky as it were - as he hurriedly nudged her along, like a dog pawing helpless at its owner.

Rolling as fast as his motors could carry him, their path is blocked by another one of the floral beasts, not sparing a second in snaking its appendages towards the group it had cut off. Screeching in visceral horror, BB-610 swiftly swerved back around, only to see the first monster dragging its grotesque body through dancing flames, shrieking ear-piercingly as its thirst urged it past the blistering burns scorching its form. Hiding behind Capris' feet and only daring to peer around through glimpses of morbid curiosity as the five of them stood surrounded, brutish in their mannerisms as vine after vine slam violently against the barriers Kahlil had cast.

“Step back. And, uh- possibly brace yourself. I can’t promise this’ll be clean.”

Glancing up at Cora as he backed away, the droid's body is shaken, head jolting along the curve of his chassis from the powerful surge of crystalline ice sprouted from the ground beneath them, conjoined with Kahlil's magic as they formed a makeshift bridge. BB-610's flight instinct finally took over, speeding forth as he crossed the frosty overpass. He could see Kahlil and Valery ahead of them, and there was nothing he wanted more than to feel the safety of the Bastion's interiors, to feel Valery's arms wrap around his body to soothe his fears and melt his anxieties away, just like she always did. He wanted this to be over, he wanted her to be okay. He wanted to be okay. He wanted to feel safe, and secure, and not a moment is wasted looking back at the monstrosities flanking them, or at the fires consuming the poor woman they'd left behind, or at the Padawans trailing after him, cobbling together and failing to catch up to the speedy BB-unit.

Valery... had asked him...

"Bee, can you keep an eye on the Padawans as well?"

BB-610 halted in his tracks, an unidentifiable pang welling at his core. Circuits warming beyond comfort in the droid equivalent of hyperventilating as he repeatedly glanced between Valery and the two girls, wrestling with intrusive thoughts. He loved Valery. More than anything. He hadn't known if he could love-- if he should-- and she had vanquished any semblance of doubt in his mind. With twelve different photoreceptors at every sector of his body, it was clear as day to spot a mass of vines hastily stretching towards them in a feral attempt to snatch up whatever remnants they could manage.

Good droids... follow orders, don't they?
He's spent his entire life being told he's bad.
He wants to be good. He wants to be good for Valery.
He can be good, can't he...?

Biting against his better judgement, ploughing past second thoughts, the astromech hastily rolled back the way he came. Speeding past the two Padawans, his optic glared at the encroaching vines. Scared out of his mind, internal equipment rattling from just how much he was shaking, streams of smoke began pouring out of ducts attached to his tool-bay disks, the droid's spherical body beginning to rapidly rotate in place in order to faster mask the area in a blanket of fog, completely clouding the bridge in layers of thick smoke. BB-610 knew that those monsters could sense those attuned to the Force. By enveloping them in mist, however, the tendrils wouldn't be able to simply branch away from him to ignore the droid in favor of the others. Advanced photoreceptors granting him vision through the smoke, BB-610 readied himself...

... as he threw himself in front of the brambles inches away from Capris and Cora's feet, not having detected him as they collide against his shell with a thud. Smoke dispersed by a group of angry brambles, their frustrations were promptly vented as they chose to curl around BB-610's body, hoisting him in the air. Warbling loudly, the petrified droid attempted to retrieve his welding torch, but the vines clinging to him had firmly blocked the tool-bay disk housing it. Having to instead use one of his available disks, his electro-shock prod is emerged in its stead, primed with crackling static as it presses against the vines with a hiss. For a second, it appeared to work, with the beast's grip loosening, only for double the amount of appendages to latch onto him in spite.

crrck. crrraack. The sound of steel denting under their overwhelming pressure rang loud through the air, crushing the droid as sparks flew and equipment snapped. Blue optic beginning to flicker as BB-610's alarms blared out in warning, the monsters finally released him as the vines haphazardly tossed him forward, screeching across the ground with more sparks, gliding from sheer velocity until the astromech SLAMMED against the Bastion. Severely damaged but still functioning, BB-610 peered up, glitchy droidspeak beckoning the five of them to hurry in hopes it had bought them enough time.