Siege of Fort Bloodbrand

[Syd Celsius]

Wearing: 451 Suit (http://starwarsrp.net/topic/136742-451-suit/)

Armed with: Wind and Fire Wheels (Twin Blue bladed Lightsabers)

Ship: Scorched Earth (http://starwarsrp.net/topic/136853-scorched-earth/#entry1868997)


"Miss Celsius?"

Syd looked up from her examination bench, the ancient bell in her hands being set down. The bronze skinned woman fixed bright orange eyes on the man who disturbed her in the quiet lab where she had taken up a job guaging both the age, type, and value of an artifact, which she had gotten quite good at. Plus, a lab was far quieter than a battlefield. It gave the ghost of flames time to contemplate.

The lab was spacious, built sturdy and easily cleaned, rows of tables holding objects from the Gulag Era. She had quickly proven herself indispensible at identifying Sith Artifacts and having them tagged for Jedi Retrieval. She had likely saved someone's life doing that. Even the smallest trinket made by the Sith often hid a deadly surprise. It was often a curse of some kind. Sometimes just handling an object could invite doom.

(BFG Division by Mick Gordon plays for a few seconds)

The one who had interrupted the normally formal and stiff woman with the fiery red hair wearing plain, scholarly clothing gulped a little as Syd fixed eyes on him. He was one of the delivery men for the independant company that transported the artifacts to the lab she worked at near the Silver Rest in his mid twenties, light brown hair cut smartly, and wearing black and red clothing. His face had a gaunt sort of handsomeness to it but he was quite lanky in frame, not a lot of His name was Drav. He had gotten to know many of the researchers, including her recently, but otherwise had no actual association with the lab itself and didn't work there at all. Syd, though not at all experienced in these sorts of things, suspected Drav had a bit of a thing for her...he normally got so tongue tied around her, and more than once while dropping stuff off he got nervous and dropped supplies when she walked by. Syd was not sure how to react. No one had ever liked her before. It was a new experience. Syd sort of liked him back. Sort of.

"Yes, Mister Reeth?" Syd answered back without looking up from her work, dusting the caked on dirt from this old bell in her hands. She was wearing a long, white sleeved shirt and brown slacks, her hair tied into a tight bun. A simple pair of glasses were also on her face. They did nothing for her, but they did not interfere with her vision and they served to humanize her. She was not at all human but that had never been a deterrent to her trying to be. The only sign she wore something else was the skintight gold chrome-covered gloves she wore.

"You got a package, Miss Celsius. It...uh...was delivered to another researcher by mistake..." Drav muttered nervously, as he quietly headed over to her desk in the darkened lab, handing her a small, white box with a green label.

Syd examined it, felt a strange tremor in The Force.

"It was..." Drav trailed, stammering for words. He had no idea what, or who, she was. But she made his legs go to jelly when he was near her. "I think I might have put it in another box that had your same initials by mistake. I double checked the manifest before I left, and realized you had a parcel that wasn't in your delivery box...sorry about that..."

The Flame Geist studied his reaction with interest. She had been studying people on the street, when she walked among them in disguise. Especially lovers.

It was so strange, the mechanics of attraction and how they could resemble the mechanics of fear. The quickened pulse. The gulping of saliva. The indecision to stay or flee. Syd was fascinated by all of it. It was almost as time consuming, learning the minutiae of social interaction. It was nearly as time consuming as properly learning to do her first magical ritual.

He is rather cute... she mused. But she lacked the experience...

"Thanks Drav. You...you have a nice night..." Syd said, practicing a pleasant tone."

"Y-you too Miss Celsius..." Drav stammered back quickly heading out of the large lab while Syd opened the package and felt reduced surprise at seeing an old trinket of her creators, The Resistors of Darkness. But it wasn't just any trinket. It was a the signet ring of one of her literal creators, The Man in White.

If there was anything, anything at all that could break through Syd's emotional limitations, anything that could elicit genuine rage, it was the man who kept her in a chunk of nullification resin after creating her to start with. Syd remembered her training, even though the memories of that amber void haunted her thirty seconds out of every day. She slowly, slowly calmed herself, but her emotion on the matter still caused the packaging to burst into flame. The Ring, which displayed the Jedi's Insignia., was pearlescent. Her hands glided over it.

Piercing cold went through her as a silvery blade erupted through the area where her heart would be. She had never felt this weakness, this coldness before. She tried to gasp, tried to move but the psychic shell that allowed the Geist to possess a female appearance rippled like water as she was completely paralyzed. The smiling Nagai in thedark green armor came into view as she sat in her chair impaled, completely helpless. Syd couldn't even move her eyes.

He was taller than her, muscular. She hadn't sensed him. He hid his prescence well

Syd cursed her foolishness. The package. The rage. They knew it would distract her, whoever had sent it. Knew it would be the only thing she could focus on. Just enough to do whatever they had done with this blade.

She didn't feel magic. This was ordinary, whatever it was. It was reacting to the magic she was composed of, however, which was just as bad.

"Wow...it actually worked..." her attacker marveled. "Y'know, when they told me about you...they said don't underestimate you. They actually said it..." he gloated, her shell rippling constantly. "Said you weren't human, said you would kill me if I made a mistake. But I didn't make any mistakes, did I?" he asked, grinning at the helpless Celsius.

"Consulted a witch about you. She suggested I use Mandalorian Steel...something about disrupting your molecular structure based on what I told her. And wouldn't you know it. Worked like a charm.

The man reached into his gear and pulled out a knife, single edged, with a glint the Flame Geist instinctively could not mistake for any other metal.

Phrik. Phrik was lethal to her. She'd have maybe minutes to live if she could not find a heat source. Not only that. It would destroy her psychic shell.

Syd at last knew how serious this was. Someone had provided intel, very detailed intel to this man. She was helpless. Utterly helpless. Syd had never imagined she would die this way. She had always figured she would finally burn out completely on a battlefield. Not sitting down in a lab.

He pulled out a minature, floating drone camera from his belt.

"I'm gonna film your death. Way you'll go, that'll have to hurt morale..." the Assassin grinned.

Syd could not move. Could not use her powers as it currently hurt too much and her focus was too disrupted. The Assassin grabbed her by her hair and pulled her head back.

"To the Silver Jedi Order, the Sith Empire sends a message: No matter what sentient horrors from the Plague you dig up, you only slow the triumph of the Dark. And now you can watch as this fragment of The Gulag Era dies--"

Syd felt the metal that disrupted and paralyzed her slide, as a grapple cable hit the hilt of the blade he had stabbed her with, pulling it out to both their shock. The cold feeling ceased and Syd was out of the seat, catching her would be killer's hand as the phrik knife came down, her enchanted touch burning the dark aligned assassin, who screamed in agony as she used her knowledge of martial arts to artfully flip a man many times her weight to the ground, punching him brutally as each blow burned his face, the jet of fire from both ends of the wound catching him ablaze. Her assassin was burning alive, skin melting as she continued punching him, the fire burning her clothes off.

The Flame Geist stood over the blazing body, feeding off the flames the wound in her torso sealing, hiding the burning light within. The band keeping her hair in a bun burning away like her glasses. Her clothes had burned off fully, revealing the skin tight red and gold chrome suit, the red concentrated mostly at the chest and torso, the gold covering most of the arms and legs.

Syd turned, wondered who had bailed her out, and found a stunned Drav, holding a small mag grapple, the blade still attached to it, face white from shock, mouth agape.

Syd sighed, "Not that I'm not ungrateful for the last second bailout...but...why did you come back?"

Drav stammered, still in too much shock except to say "I, uh...um...um..."

Syd's danger sense flared. "Hold that thought."

Syd turned hand outstretched, flame swirling around her hands as a pair of doors on the other end spilled open, revealing black robed men and women, some white armored Mandalorians. Syd used the not exhausted fuel of her first attacker's body to create a literal wall of fire that she pushed outward, shouting for Drav to run while she ducked the blaster bolts and Force Lightning that came through the wall. Everything behind her was on fire as she floated after Drav, catching up to the now absolutely panicking Drav as he bolted down one of the old, art deco style passages, backing up against the wall when he spotted her, sweating from fear.

"W-w-what are you?!" he stammered.

"Look, skip the twenty questions and listen!" Syd exclaimed, hands on her hips "They are here for me, and that is sure as hell not all of them. Without me, you will never reach the front lobby. Thanks, by the way."

"N-n-no problem..." Drav muttered, too freaked out at the possibility of dying that his brain did not register her new clothing fully

"We have to get to my office..." Syd said, striding ahead of him quickly, her senses alive with danger now. Drav followed, jumping at every sound. It wasn't long before they were both fired on as they tried to turn a corner by white armored Mandalorians. She barely managed to pull both herself and Drav back from the charric bolts. Charrics would kill her as much as Phrik would. No question. They were coached.

She put a finger to her lips at Drav, her other peeking from cover, large blasts of flame erupting from it and drenching two mandalorians in flame. Drav went wide eyed, as the previous attackers they had fled the examination room from came charging at them. Syd spotted them, with a gold chrome flick of her hand she conjured a rather large, highly condensed fire ball she she sent at them at high speed, some dodged it, but most didn't, and they were engulfed in fire, the flames trying to spread to surviving Dark Jedi and Mandalorians but they barely avoided it, firing heavy sonic rifles at them. Syd had no choice but to grab Drav and hurl herself against the wall, concentrating with all her might to phasing the both of them through. They phased through to the baroque decorated cafeteria.

Drav pulled away, freaking out. "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" Drav yelled, trembling, sweating in terror. Then, in a quieter voice, he asked, "How did you know what was on the other side?"

"Errr...I didn't. I was cornered..." Syd admitted floating past the lunch tables.

Drav went chalk white and only followed her in silence past large, heavy oak tables for dining.

"We must hurry. They're no doubt planting charges. Which gives me an idea..." Syd muttered, then whispered a spell and concentrated.

"Ashla, send a swarm of serpents to attack my foes..."

Her torso rippled, stomach bulging and distorting unnaturally, something shifting underneath the shell as the swelling wriggled and shifted upward as her jaw pulled down like melting plastic as fiery, golden serpents erupted out of her throat, splitting off into five each and loitering around the walls were enemies were gathered.

Syd's distorted shell went back to normal and she gestured the terrified Drav to follow her to the cafeteria exit. Drav bolted when the det charges blue the walls behind them and the attackers chasing them yelled in surprise as the fiery serpents struck at them.

Syd looked down at her hands and chanted.

"Ashla, grant your servant a Rapier..."

Her body rippled like water, as a fiery rapier construct coalesced into her hands as she exited to another, much older section of the Labs, revealed in the choice of heavy timber support beams and colums to hold up an expansive, blued steel chamber that housed the offices of the researchers. Two dark Jedi in heavy black armor blocked their path.

Syd flew at them at high speed, executing a diving thrust with her rapier that both dodged, swiping at her with their own long bladed lightsabers. Syd used her natural ability to float and fly to execute unnatural dodges and twists that caused their attacks to miss her utterly. Her sword construct could withstand lightsabers but not for long. She had to end this quickly.

It bothered her, however, that they had not tried using lightning or even a push yet. Just attacking her so fast only her flight skill allowed her to dodge their blades. But then they both held out their hands, and Syd gasped, her strength and focus starting to leave. She needed air to be effective. Deprive her of air, and ninety percent of the problem is removed.

Syd started to black out, unable to get a good breath. She felt herself being lifted up, suspended, her body starting to fluctuate and ripple. Their red blades struck out, but Syd barely deflected, their blades instead scratching her torso, letting jets of flame leak out. They struck again, but Syd, now close to blacking out, still managed a block, her face starting to bubble...

Drav's magnetic grapple hit the gauntlet of the dark adept on Syd's left, yanking the saber into the dark jedi's comrade, who yelled in surprise and stumbled as Drav yelled and charged, jamming the Mandalorian steel blade he had stolen earlier into the side of the stumbling Sith, caught off guard by unexpected badassery, as has often happened in this way of life.

The chaos was all Syd needed, she flew into the torso of her remaining attacker, impaling him through a weakpoint in his armor. Syd breathed in sweet air, her shell ceased rippling and bubbling. She turned and looked at Drav.

"You okay, Drav?"

Drav stared in shock at the dead Dark Jedi at his feet.

"Drav?" Syd called out calmly but firmly.

Drav noticed her and nodded. "I-I'm fine, Miss Celsius."

"Syd."

"Huh?" Drav asked shakily.

"After saving my life twice in one night, you call me Syd." She replied with a smile, floating towards him.

Drav managed a weak smile. "Sure, Syd...sure..." he whispered, holding her stare. He looked around. "Who the hell are these people?"

"I don't know...but they know a hell of a lot about me..." Syd grumbled. Her danger sense flared, and she shielded Drav, the sonic bolt hitting her. Syd scresmed as her psychic shell sagged and started to melt all over a screaming Drav, feeling nothing but pure agony as they both tumbled to the ground, large bubbles erupting and collapsing across the surface of a melted looking body. Drav pulled away screaming from the wounded Syd as one of the other surviving Dark Jedi stepped out of the cafeteria, scorched and burned and angry looking, focused on Syd and not on the green suited delivery man who dived for the sonic pistol on one of the dead, heavily armored Dark Jedi, opening fire on the surprised assassin, who was too injured and wasn't fast enough in time to dodge the sonic bolt that hit his head and burst it in a shower of gore.

Drav dropped the pistol. "If there is any more after that I'm gonna be pissed..." he got out, craning his head towards the wounded Celsius, who staggered up, her psychic shell completely distorted by the sonic bolt, giving her a warped, malformed appearance, like a wax statue in the process of melting. The left half of her face looked sagged all the way to the neck, showing the teath and the part of the shell meant to look like the inside of a mouth. Fire leaked from the corners of her eyes due to the destabilization.

Syd breathed fire on the corpse of the man Drav had just killed, setting it ablaze. The deformed creature in the chrome suit staggered to the burning body, holding out a hand and letting the flames hit it. Slowly but surely, she stopped looking melted after a few minutes and her shape rest to that flawlessly athletic looking figure.

"We'll have to put you into protective custody..." Syd mentioned, turning to him. "And that's three times you saved my life."

"I am panicking so hard right now. I can barely breath..." he whispered.

"That is only adrenaline. That is normal." Syd assured him flatly, still not versed fully at emotional cues. "And you never did say why you came back..."

Frankly, Syd was astounded they had missed him. The one variable that caused the whole thing to turn sour on them. But it was the will of the Force, humbling her like this. She had been so close to such a common, pedestrian form of death that it actually scared her this man was the only reason she was alive.

"Well...I..."

Syd raised an eyebrow.

"I...uh...I came back because y'know, I get off from my delivery job soon and I had some time off...I...I was going to ask if you wanted to catch a movie...with me?"

Syd blinked. "Why me?"

"Well...I just kept noticing you..."

Syd blinked again, examining him.

"Okay."

It was Drav's turn to blink. "Huh?"

"Yes. I will go to the movies with you." Syd clarified, smiling a bit. "As a living flame, I admire brazenness."

Drav almost started to babble incoherently but Syd interrupted him with a single coy smirk she had been practicing for weeks in front of a mirror, gesturing to her skintight combat suit.

"I'll be wearing this..."

"Okay..." was the only word that escaped Drav's mouth as Syd smiled again.

Syd smirked and floated up to her office, getting out her comlink and her lightsabers.

"This is Syd Celsius to any Jedi knight nearby. The Bail Organa Memorial laboratory has been attacked by Dark Jedi. I need any Jedi here immediately to help investigate motives and source of the attack. They tried to assassinate me..."

Syd shut off the comlink and floated back down to Drav while waited for reinforcements from the Silver Rest.

"So, what Movie did you have in mind--?" Syd asked, wanting to get to know her first ever date's tastes...

[member="Kahlil Zambrano"].

OOC: I'm posting this as a set up that leads us to the forbidden planet Kahlil.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

A deep sigh.

Kahlil stared up at the ceiling from his bed, a bored expression on his face. He had been floating along in space for a couple of days for patrol, jumping through lightspeed to various planets to help the locals with any issue that required a Jedi. But today there had been no such calls. No need for a mediator, no pirate attack. Just a boring day floating through space until his alarm went off.

Eventually he got up, his stomach growling from hunger. It was about lunch, not that it was easy to tell what time it was being out in the blackness of space. He stretched his arms overhead, his palms easily pressing against the roof with his height, before stepping back out into the common room. "R6, can you start the oven for me?" There was an array of annoyed beeps from nearby as a short astromech slid out. R6-G9, sliding around.

"I know I know, I'm being lazy. But come on, you can easily turn it on from here. Save me a couple minutes. Please?" The young man clasped his hands before him and bowed his head, as if begging. Though he was grinning all the while. Eventually R6 let out it's version of a sigh and did as it was asked, turning on the heat through an access point in the common room. With a wink as thanks the Epicanthix went into the kitchen to start cooking up a grilled cheese, something simple for him to eat.

He had been humming a tune as he watched for the bread to brown enough when R6 started screeching from the next room. "Bud, calm down. It's just some smoke, nothing to be worried abo-" There was a loud crash from outside his ship. Something had hit them. A frown took over the young mans features as he finished the sandwich, placing it on a plate to eat later. No alarms had gone off, so at least his vessel wasn't injured.

"What's going on R6?" Kahlil had only just asked the question when the door that lead outside, into space, suddenly opened. Panic went through his mind as he glanced over, fully expecting to be sucked out into the void of space. Instead, he found himself facing several blaster wielding men and woman of various species pointing the weapons at him. Spaceclaw. He recognized the symbol on their shoulders. A group of pirates he had interfered with just the other day.

"Ah, hey. Again. I just shut the stovetop off, so I could probably make you all some grilled cheese if you want?" A kind smile remained on the young man's features, which was only met by a sneer from the Trandoshian named Spaceclaw who acted as captain.

"You know why we're here, foolish Jedi. You were far to easy to track. Keep your hands up, we're going to sell you to the Sith."

A sigh escaped the Jedi as he raised his hands, still offering the kind smile. "Ah, come on. We could sit down at discuss this over some grilled cheese, hmm?" There were some chuckled from the pirates, overconfident and dark chuckles. They really thought they had the upper hand in this. "Last chance." Even with the ever present smile, his words came out threatening.

"Last chance? You're outnumbered and outgu-Ah!" Without warning the ship suddenly lost it's gravity. Good timing, R6. The pirates were immediately thrown into disarray as they started floating, unable to keep their aim on the Jedi. With that as an opening Kahlil brought his hand up and unleashed a push from the Force, sending the pirates back into the passageway they had attached to his ship.

Then gravity returned. Kahlil, having already prepared for it, landing on his feet while the pirates thudded to the ground. "Good to go! R6, break us off and jump!" More annoyed beeps from the cockpit before the airlock closed, just as the pirates were about to open fire. Another wrenching sound signified the pirates airlock breaking off of their ship, and within moments streaks of white formed outside the glass, signifying they were in hyperspace.

The young man grabbed his sandwich and made it back to the cockpit, glancing to R6 with a grin. "You disabled their ship right?"

[Affirmative beep]

"Good, let the authorities know."

[More affirmative beeps, but sarcastic and snarky.]

"You already did? Ha, always a step ahead. Alright."

He leaned back in his seat, idly munching on his sandwich. Then his com went off. He raised a brow curiously as he flicked on the message.

"This is Syd Celsius to any Jedi knight nearby. The Bail Organa Memorial laboratory has been attacked by Dark Jedi. I need any Jedi here immediately to help investigate motives and source of the attack. They tried to assassinate me..."

"Connect us through R6 and plot a course." He finished off the grilled cheese with one last bite before the line connected.

"This is Jedi Padawan Kahlil, I'm on route to your location. Are there any other foes? Are you still in danger?"

 

[Syd Celsius]

"Who do you think these guys were?" Drav asked, as the pair looked over the burned bodies. First Responders had not yet arrived. They had been traveling through the facility taking note of who had been killed, checking equipment, anything that might betray their allegiance.

Syd summoned a lightsaber to her hand, flashing on its extra long red blade.

"A little unorthodox...used to be pretty popular with the Cult of Ragnos though..."

Syd looked again at the corpses, the fire. In the lab she had not been herself. Here...it was a different story.

As Syd's sense of self had grown since being freed from the Nullification Resin, she had begun to long to find some way, any way, of breaking the programming that compelled her to hunt and kill Darksiders. But there were multiple problems with this desire. The first being that the programming had been weaved into the very formula that allowed her to exist in the first place--it couldn't be safely undone without undoing her also. She could ignore it, but it was difficult.

"It has to be someone who knows a lot about me, or someone who learned about me from someone who knows what I am. But these guys could have come from anywhere. You can't tell any more who is sending who to kill who unless you're the one doing the sending." Syd complained to Drav. It had all used to be so simple. You knew who the enemies were. Now everybody had assassins.

"You still haven't said what exactly you are..."

"A relic of a bygone era." Syd answered. "A relic trying to learn not to be one."

"You don't seem like a relic to me." Drav responded, concerned.

Syd chuckled grimly. "That's nice of you to say. Thank you."

"I meant it." Drav said. "Is that why you didn't die when that guy stabbed you?"

"Yeah. But I don't know what he used. Where's that blade? The one you took?"

Drav spotted the Sith whose heart he had punctured, and removed the blade. Syd floated it to her hand, examining the sheen.

"What metal is this?" Syd asked.

Drav peered at the finely wrought blade. "Its Mandalorian Steel."

"I've never heard of it."

"Its relatively new. Maybe...maybe you're...'allergic' to it."

Syd mused at this. If Phrik could kill her, it wasn't unreasonable to assume that there was at least another metal that could hurt her.

Still, how could whatever witch the assassin had consulted have been so dead on accurate--?

The message of [member="Kahlil Zambrano"] came through. Syd answered eagerly.

"Negative, Padawan Kahlil. All hostiles are down. I'm secure. Just get here soon. We got dead Sith, Dark Jedi and...and..."

Syd stopped as she stared at a Mandalorian corpse in burned white armor.

"No...it can't be..." Syd whispered, examining the corpse.

Drav, sweating and still freaked from nearly dying, uttered a confused "What? What is it?"

"This Mandalorian...he...he's from Clan Hades..." Syd answered. "They captured the man the Resistors forced to help create me..."

No way this was coincidence. Syd spotted an intact holodisk and took it.

"Dead Mandalorians also." she said a second later into the comlink. "They really tore this place up trying to kill me. I'll be outside. You can't miss me."

Syd turned to Drav. "So..." she trailed innocently, twirling and floating in mid air, gesturing Drav to follow her up the steps to her office. "How does next weekend sound?"

"Next weekend sounds perfect." Drav admitted, getting more used to her by the moment, smiling a little.

"You alright? Killing that Sith?"

"Sith fried my aunt in one of their damn wars. I ain't losing sleep." Drav assured her as they walked into her sparsely furnished office. It lacked the personality of the other researchers at the lab, being a drab room with a desk and a computer, both secondhand. Syd inserted the disk into her termonal and began to type. She immedately got an access denied message.

"Damn!" Syd snapped, removing the disc. "Military grade encryption. This software just can't handle it."

"After the movies, did you have anywhere special in mind?" Drav wondered.

"A nice walk?" Syd suggested, broken from her train of thought. "I'm sorry. I've never dated before..."

"Its fine. I suck at dating myself..." Drav assured her.

Syd felt an emotionally reduced relief that he understood. She smiled. It was natural, unforced. Most days she didn't smile. She didn't smile the first twenty years of her existence. She had only gotten the hang of it recently.

"I look forward to watching The Super Ice Rockets of Mandalore The Ultimate with you..." Syd said warmly. She had never watched a movie. She didn't even know how a movie normally went. Now that would change.

The pair were soon waiting out front of the burning, domed lab, watching the night stars for Kahlil's ship.

"You think they'll be mad at you?" Drav asked. "For burning the lab down?"

"Probably..." Syd glumly confessed. "And I was so enjoying the quiet..."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

A sigh escaped the young man once he got word back. [member="Syd Celsius"] wasn't in immediate danger at least. Though, having Sith and Dark Jedi messing with a Jedi lab always boded ill. The com was cut and Kahlil leaned back in his seat, glancing over to R6, who was busy going through the systems. The droid was always good at taking initiative. Soon enough, live feed from where Syd and her friend were came in.

A lab. On fire.

Kahlil almost jumped from his seat, looking between the feed and his droid. "What's going on there? Syd, is she still alive?"

[Affirmative beeps]

The feed changed to where the pair was standing outside the lab, seemingly unharmed asides from the assassination attempt. Another sigh escaped the young man as he leaned back into his chair. Well, at least they're safe. Though the Silvers will be plenty mad about the loss of the lab.

"Damnit. How much longer?"

[10 min]

Well, at least they'd get there soon. "I'm taking a quick shower. Turn on the water for me?"

[Angry, sarcastic beeps.]

"Come on, we only have a little bit of time left. I gotta make every minute count! And this hair doesn't stay so silky smooth without some effort."

[Resigned beep, followed by a clever quip]

Kahlil laughed. "Oof. You can be pretty mean when you want." The young man grinned before standing up to head towards the shower. "But, thanks R6."

As per his instructions, the water was on by the time he entered the room. It was as simple as the rest of his ship, but it worked for what he needed. The Jedi shrugged off his clothing and got in the shower. And immediately regretted it. "R6! Heat it up! Gah!" A trill of beeps sounding far more like a laugh was heard before the water went up to the right temperature.

Once it finally was warm enough he let himself relax, letting the water wash over his face. He had recognized Syd. How could he not? She was part of the reason he had left the Sith those years ago. Would she recognize him? More importantly, if she did, would she try to fight him again? He cupped his hand over his mouth, his brow furrowing in the thought. The last thing either of them needed was to be fighting one another while a darker force went against them.

Soon enough, his ship landed at the spot requested, and the boarding ramp lowered. Kahlil, dressed in simple clothing with his lightsaber hooked to his side, waved casually with one hand while he dried his hair with a towel in the other. R6 slid down beside him, tilting it's head around to take in the destruction. "Hey. You guys still alright?"

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd, upon seeing [member="Kahlil Zambrano"] step off, looking like a Jedi, could only feel a moment of genuine, stunned surprise that a Sith had clearly turned away from the Dark Side. She had never witnessed it personally, heard it only through anecdotes or by second hand. It was so strange, seeing him in the light rather than the darkness. Syd for the first time actually noticed that the urge to kill him was gone. When he had been Sith, it was like a constantly nagging urge to roast him even as she had tried to genuinely reach out to get imput. (and NOT in the comedic sense.)

Now that he was a padawan from...from whatever investment he had once been for whatever Sith that had been training him...no urge to kill. Not even the desire to try an extremely quick and mild neck snap.

It frightened her for the first time, how her hostility could just shut off, just like flipping a switch. She didn't mind...if anything she was glad it had not ended in death for either of them. He had been the first she had ever talked to.

"Zambrano..." Syd said floating forward to him, his face reflected in her red and gold chrome suit. "An unexpected development. But not unwelcome. Yes, we're alright. Thankfully me and Drav were the only two in the building other than the ones who tried to kill me..."

Syd held up the holodisc she retrieved. "Its got military grade encryption. Archeological studies are my specialty. Hacking is not, unfortunately."

Drav posed a question as he stared at the blaze behind him.

"How did they get here in the first place."

"They were hiding their presence." Syd explained. "But it would have taken considerable skill to maintain being hidden long enough to sneak up on me. They must have used a stealth vessel...and done all this at the last minute, on the fly, little planning...attacks on Force Users have a far better chance of success if the attacker encorporates spontaneous tactics...its much more difficult to sense...coupled with the fact that they distracted me...it was damn effective. If it hadn't been for Drav, I'd be dead." she admitted. "Sometimes the cheapest tactics are the ones that get the job done. Mandalorians from Clan Hades were present also. I thought they were all dead..."

Syd folded her hands as she floated back and forth in front of Kahlil.

"Their ship has to be stealthed. And small, small enough to not risk raising too many red flags...that or they could have stolen a republic ship...in which case we could put out feelers for stolen ships within range of this world. But I think my killers were a little more careful then that. Oh well. I have a ship with alchemized sensors. Its not fool proof, but if there is a stealth vessel here...I have a good shot of spotting it..."

Syd paused. Her reaction to his redemption had barely bordered on dull surprise. He deserved more than that.

She landed on the ground.

"It is good to see you are no longer with the Sith..." Syd said, as warmly as she had practiced in a mirror. "If I had full emotions, I would be ecstatic. But it is good to see you again in general."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

R6 acted before Kahlil did, sliding right down to the disk. A polite set of beeps erupted from the machine as it opened a dock to take in the information, much to the young Jedi's surprise. The droid had never been that nice to him. Was it because they were new people, or was it because the droid really didn't like him. Kahlil shrugged off the thought as he turned his attention back to what [member="Syd Celsius"] was saying.

"Skilled Assassins and Mandalorians of a dead clan? Well, they're not of the Empire. From what little dealings I had with the Assassins that work for my father, they don't work well with others. And certainly wouldn't work with Mandalorians." He rattled off his own thoughts on what they could be, idly scratching his chin as he did so. But when Syd mentioned an alchemized ship that would better track, he paused.

"R6, work on decoding that on our ship. When you're done, follow us. For now, I'll head with Syd." His gaze flicked to Drav. While Syd seemed to be thankful for his help in saving her life, where they might be going next would only leave him in danger. And he didn't seem like much of a fighter. "You should stay with R6, make sure nothing bad happens while we make sure that data is secure and intact. Syd and I will find their ship and hopefully be able to track them down from it."

His gaze flicked back to the woman before him as she floated back to the ground and.. Complimented him? Or at least tried to. It brought a smile to the young mans face none the less. They would be able to work together after all. Without a second thought he reached up and patted the top of her head. "Same to you. At least now I'm in a position where I can help you. When this is done and over with, we should work on breaking those orders left in you, yeah?"

 

[Syd Celsius]

"Were it only that simple..." Syd sighed as [member="Kahlil Zambrano"] vowed to help break her programming. When he reached out to touch her head, Syd started to warn him her shell was enchanted to burn any dark adept who touched it before remembering he wasn't a dark adept.

True to form, he wasn't harmed. She was relieved. It was a dull relief, but it counted.

She turned to Drav. "So long for now, Reeth."

Drav nodded. "Watch yourself."

Syd smiled and floated off to her nearby starship, a heavily armed and armored Star Courier with the name Scorched Earth on the side. Syd hit something on the belt and a hatch opened in the back and she flew into the only place she called home, though now even this place could get haunted by her claustrophobia, leaving the hatch open so Kahlil could follow her inside.

The interior, once utilitarian, had some signs something with an actual personality inhabited it. Various baubles from a dozen different places lay in collections on non-vital tables. (Syd seemed to have a fascination in particular for shiny objects)

Syd turned on the engines and the ship powered up, the primitive looking, red LED displays flaring to life while she made flight checks.

She didn't intend to actually fly, but she needed the height to scan properly. The sensors worked but they could be notoriously unreliable if using them in the wrong conditions.

She slowly made a sweep, following the results on the computer closely as the vessel made a full circle turn in place. The computers spotted an inexact anomaly, and Syd had to constantly adjust to follow it, and narrow it down. But the area was in a patch of woods a kilometer or so from here.

Syd turned to Kahlil. "Feel like a pleasant woodland stroll?" She joked.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Sometimes it's not a matter of being simple or hard, but the belief you can." If they ever had time to talk, outside of the threat of death, Kahlil would open up to [member="Syd Celsius"] about the challenge of removing the shard of his Father's soul that had been placed inside him. The dark seed that could of at any moment taken his body and erased him from the galaxy as he was. It was a horrifying thought, one that truly limited his skill as a Jedi.

But he was freed, eventually. Perhaps the Geist could be too.

He raised a brow as the neared the ship, tilting his head to better see the name. ".. Scorched Earth? You sure you don't have a sense of humor?" Kahlil turned his head to the woman with a wide grin, hoping to see a similar response.

His attention on the ship wasn't on the scan. The computer would let them know. Instead, he was glancing around at the few things she did own. It was.. Nice. To see her have some form of free will. Their last interaction had her longing for freedom, but to see she had at least some made him hopeful for her future. "So, Reeth is cute, hmm?" The young man glanced her way, curious on her reaction.

But before he could, the scan beeped. A forest huh? "A pleasant stroll? Certainly. Shall we walk there from here, or take the ship?"

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd only smiled a little at the question [member="Kahlil Zambrano"] posed about the name of her ship.

"I wish I had thought of it..." Syd explained while she narrowed the signal. "It was custom made by my creators. The one who spearheaded the effort to make me, The Man in White, had a...offbeat sense of humor."

Syd chose to say no more on the one who had effectively exiled her the first time around. There was so much she never knew about him. So much she had never bothered to ask.

"So. Reeth is cute, huh?"

The question threw her off for a second as she further honed the signal. Syd recorded the exact spot on a data pad, and set the ship down, opening the ship. She didn't like being in enclosed spaces more than necessary. A walk might be nice.

"He...is cute..." Syd answered hesitantly as she began the trek to the Forest on a stone trail. Her suit reflected everything around her as she floated off the ground and then stopped, remembering to try and act more human, landing and walking again.

"He's my first attempt at dating. As I was not created for that sort of thing I have never had reason to learn about it. So...I'm in unknown waters..." Syd admitted as she approached the forest line. The trees stretched high over her and even Kahlil. Syd tensed, sensing death, and her blue blades went active.

"Aside from this suit and a crossbow, nothing I originally owned in the beginning was made by me. It was all...supplied..." Syd explained as she followed the stone trail right into the woods, spotting a dead silver ranger with what looked like a weapon clutched in his hands. Syd went over to examine it, shutting off her left blade and holding her right over the body. He had been decapitated.

"Unexpected scout in their path. Took him out quick. Far enough away that I didn't sense it..." Syd trailed, picking up the weapon...

(Zelda Acquisistion Theme plays)

(New Weapon Obtained)

Weapon: AUTO-CASTER

Spoiler

Ancient sniping weapon preferred for its silence and stopping power. Capable of automatic crossbow bolt fire that is powerful enough to penetrate a good number of medium armors even today. This particular model has been outfitted with a night scope

Syd picked up the extremely lightweght weapon, inspecting it. She had been born with knowledge of how to work bow-type weapons, but not anything else. So far, she found she was a pretty terrible shot with everything else. Part of her suspected it to be deliberate on her creators part. Another way of limiting her, making sure they had options in case she went rogue. The irony of it being that she had never even considered rebelling.

Syd admired the rustic finish on the weapon, indicating it had gotten many years of use.

Syd looked down its Night scope. She saw a small, nondescript frieghter in the distance, the type used for cargo, of corellian make. Most patrols wouldn't have given it a second glance, especially considering it had no weapons.

Syd did not trust it would be that simple. She floated up, still looking through the scope. Sure enought, she spotted directional mines, pointed outward at them.

Syd flew silently, manuevering through the trees, the enclosed setting making it harder to focus. She perched on top of the ship, then began slowly, carefully moving each mine out of the path with telekinesis.

"Its safe... still...these assassins have been pretty prepared so far, despite failing..."

Syd concentrated, and phased through the hull spotting very sparse and stripped settings. This ship had been for the mission and nothing more. She walked to the hatch, disarmed the mine attached and opened it.

"They seem to want to make it a challenge today..." Syd joked to Kahlil.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Ah, her creators. Kahlil frowned for a moment and glanced away. He wasn't intending to bring up bad memories for [member="Syd Celsius"] . He'd have to apologize for that later, if he had the chance. The young man followed her out, his hands casually in his pockets as he glanced around. She hadn't lied, the forest was nice. He did laugh, though, when she mentioned what she was and wasn't created for.

She was nervous. That was a good sign.

"I'll give you some tips, if you'd like. Not that even I know what I'm doing when it comes to that." He was smiling, pleased with the idea that another could be more then what she was made for. That despite what others had set out, they can choose their own paths. The conversation dropped though, once she pulled out her sabers. He had let himself grow lax, trying to speak to Syd like a friend when they weren't in friendly territory.

He'd have to watch that.

"They must of been here for a while then." From his hip he pulled free the large revolver, checking it over once. Best to use the more unorthodox means to deal with these assassins. They'd be prepared for a Jedi wielding a saber. His brown gaze turned around the area, a frown on his face. So far, nothing. If they were the Assassins he feared, the pair wouldn't sense them anyway.

Kahlil blinked as she went up, lifting his head to watch. "H.. Hey! If they're here they'll be able to shoot you- and you're gone." He let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand as he walked under her, at least until he noticed the mines. Ah, so that's what she was doing. Smart. Once the path was clear he walked to the ship, blinking again as she phased through.

For a moment, he was glad they hadn't actually ended up in a fight all those years ago. It would of ended horribly for him.

Once the door opened he chuckled a bit at her joke, mostly from surprise. It was nice hearing her have emotion. It made him think she wasn't as broken as she thought she was. "Yeah, they certainly di-"

Death.

It was just for a moment, but that was all he needed. With no warning he reached forward, using the Force to take hold of Syd and rip her from the ship with his free hand. The other came up, dropping his gun as his brow knitted together. A beep, and a shimmer. Within the ship a secondary explosive went off. Frost. The entrance froze over, the ship froze over. A cryo mine.

Kahlil's barrier formed around Syd first, covering her from the blast. He wasn't as fortunate. The barrier spread, but not before his outstretched arm got hit with the cryo, immediately frosting it over. His arm went immediately numb, dropping as he gritted his teeth. It was a lure. "You alright? They'll be here any second." He knew this method. They wanted to capture the pair alive.

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd was caught by surprise, a half second slower at sensing the danger than [member="Kahlil Zambrano"] had been. Her ability to sense could never go beyond a certain limit. Unlike his.

So much had been sacrificed in her creation. Their her ability to learn magic and use fire was considerable, she had only a few core abilities in the Force. It was the tradeoff.

She still felt the cold, even though @Kahlil shielded her from it. Still felt her psychic shell contract unpleasantly at the temperature drop. He asked if she was alright. But he was the one injured. It was a sign he had truly changed.

Grasping his numb arm, Syd concentrated, carefully raising the air temperature around the affected limb. It was not a quick fix, like healing but heat therapy could still be quite useful in the right circumstances.

She too knew this tactic. She stared at the frozen entrance and scowled, hefting her auto-caster as he warned her.

Her danger sense flared and it was her turn to save Kahlil, yanking him out of the way of a cryoban bolt. She knew it was cryoban because of the strange, frost blue blaster bolt and the way her psychic shell instinctively recoiled at something with that much cold. She whipped her scope to spot a Mandalorian whose stealth field had failed when he opened fire. A click from her autocaster and three bolts pierced the visor. That was when the whole forest erupted in stun bolts and cryo bolts. Syd felt the Mandalorians, their cold intent. Their armor even whiter than that of a stormtrooper's, the symbol of their clan, a black, three headed dog emblazoned on the chestplate, their blaster weapons gold plated.

Syd squeezed off a few shots with the caster, injuring some but was forced behind cover, conjuring a fireball, which she steered blindly into the direction the fire came from. The warriors easily dodged it, and in fact, some sprayed the area the ball impacted with cryo fluid.

Syd peeked from cover nailing one in the armpit as he fired at Kahlil. Syd could not properly focus the massive bursts of flame she was normally capable of, due to her claustrophobia. And given the destructive potential of her flames, starting a forest fire would be highly frowned upon. As her own creator had once put it: "Forest Fires are only for if you are in a hurry."

She took that advice seriously still, despite its source.

She saw another squad moving in from the West and made them scatter, emptying her auto caster their way, tossing it aside, and, with great effort, floated up and began flying through the trees, sending small micro fireballs down and drawing their fire away from Kahlil. She landed behind a massive tree, at last activating her blue blades, deflecting the large bolts away, though she was often forced to simply fly out of the way of some shots. She spotted Kahlil as she took cover above in the upper branches of a tree. The sudden attack had left her scrambling for a plan. But she did come up with one, even as she used her Force flight to leap frog from tree to tree.

As she landed in the branches close and above Kahlil, she fought past her claustrophobia, hiding behind the upper tree trunk. She pointed to Kahlil and chanted a spell.

"Ashla, hide my allies rrom the outer eye."

If it worked, Kahlil would be bathed in harmless transparent flames. He would still see himself. Its just that no one else would. Syd launched another small fireball blindly in the Mandalorians direction, to distract them from a now hopefully invisible Kahlil...

A good deal of her magic dealt with empowering others, rather than herself. Some of her more notable incidents involved the final blow being struck not by her but by others she had enhanced magically...the spell would last thirty minutes but hopefully they would not need that long to resolve this ambush...

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil took a breath. Stay calm. Breath. His arm hurt, but [member="Syd Celsius"] 's flame thawed it some, giving him some control of his hand again. He'd probably end up with some severe frostbite, but there was no time to think of that now. He was pulled aside as another shot came by, his eyes narrowing slightly. Stealth units. They were hunting from the shadows then? The Jedi avoided staying in cover, pulling his saber out.

Cryobolts were no different then normal bolts, when it came to his lightsaber at least. And there was nothing that caught folks attention more then a man waving a blue glowing sword. He took another breath, closing his eyes. They would be useless against enemies that could hide. The Force would guide him. His movements were subtle, tight to his form, but he moved, either dodging the shots as they came at him or knocking them harmlessly away. It was a bit more difficult with one hand, but he made it work.

His eyes opened when Syd moved, flying overhead. "Wait, don-" Another shot cut him off, his attention pulled away as his saber flicked in front of him. Damnit, they needed to stay together. He continued to defend himself. That's all he could do with his saber against so many people, defend. And then, he was gone. The shots stopped focusing on him, firing randomly around him.

Like they couldn't see him.

It took a moment, but he realized it. Syd had made him invisible. He smirked, if only to keep his composure. He side stepped out of where the Mandalorians had last seen him to a place he wasn't being shot at. With him gone, most had turned their guns on Syd. There was his opening. Kahlil turned off his saber, sucking in a breath as he hooked the weapon on his side.

Then, he lifted his hands. The air rumbled and roared under the call of the Jedi as the Force suddenly began to act. It took a moment as Kahlil's brow knitted together in focus. He wouldn't of been able to do this if he hadn't had the time to concentrate. All at once the pressure in the air increased as he brought his hands down. One by one, their assailants were force to their knees as gravity seemed to increase, then they went flat, unable to move.

Kahlil crushed them with the air itself, though not to the point it would kill them. His only goal was to force them into immobilization so the Gheist could decide what to do next.

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd flew through the trees, drawing the blasters towards her again, when she felt [member="Kahlil Zambrano"] do something to the air. Being a flame entity, she naturally sensed changes in air flow. The blasters stopped and Syd landed, staring at the white armored Mandalorians that were weighed down by Kahlil's power.

For just a moment and no more, Syd felt a reduced relief that her first encounter with him had not ended in fighting, just as Kahlil was certain it would have ended badly for him. Syd was convinced it would have ended just as poorly for her: The power to control air could be incredibly deadly to a being that did their best damage surrounded by oxygen...

Somehow, the universe seems to find a method of bringing mutually assured destruction. Didn't matter how powerful one was. There was always a way to "lower the health bar" so to speak.

Syd had felt mortality before but rarely. But as she had grown more and more self aware, the more of an identity she had begun to craft, the more unpleasant the prospect of death became. Tonight had merely reinforced that unpleasantry.

Syd walked toward who appeared to be the lead Mandalorian, his bone white armored kneeling frame reflected in hers. His helmet differed from the others in that a small, stylized image of a three headed dog adorned the forehead.

"Clan Hades. I'd heard you all disappeared after the end of the plague." Syd noted.

"In hiding. Not disappeared. It pays to maintain a low profile these days. You yourself seem to be getting to that realization from what we've observed of you."

"Not low enough..." Syd snorted. "How much did the Sith pay you?"

The Mandalorian did not answer.

"Your attempt failed. You will rot in a cell. If you tell me, I'll ask the authorities to show some leniency. They might even let you serve out your sentence in cryo."

"Too late. Been unfrozen too late long. Death's Realm will have new arrivals before long."

"Which Darth hired you?" Syd asked. When there was no answer, Syd had to stop herself from doing this how 'Early Her' would have done it, namely, burn his face until he talked.

"Why take the job? Your clan knows better than anyone what I'm capable of. You worked alongside my creators often enough."

"What better enemy than an old ally?" The Mandalorian asked. "Times change, Geist. We all gotta make that money somehow."

"The name is Celsius. Syd Celsius."

(Clip of Bond Theme plays)

The kneeling Mandalorian looked around in confusion. "Any of you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Syd asked, confused.

"Never mind, Syd. You know the rules of the game. You've been playing it long enough."

"I didn't want to kill your men. I don't want to kill you."

"Nonsense. You are a weapon, Syd. Its in your nature to kill. To want to kill. Does it ever bother you, Syd? How little seperates you from a psychopath in prison for doing the same thing?"

Syd expertly hid at how deeply his words wounded her.

"I never killed innocent people."

"When it comes to the Jedi and their view on the issue of who is right or wrong, I've found it can be immensely flexible for what they perceive as acceptable measures against which is considered evil...especially when its convenient...I mean, somebody who believed in what the order spews made you, didn't they?"

"That was a different time. The followers of the dark side were out of control--"

"Hey, you're the one who burned them all, not me."

"The more flak you give me, the worse it goes for you with the Silver Jedi." Syd warned.

"Every single one of the people you fought didn't have more than two years to live. That's why my clan is so dangerous, remember? We know we are already dead. And Clan Hades does so enjoy bringing more to Death's Realm."

"Your clan won't get paid for a failed hit." Syd remarked coldly. "If this was supposed to be your big debut, then you failed miserably. I shall spread word of your incompetence and folly to any clan who still remembers when you were honorable. You guys are rusty. It shows. You been in your freezers too long."

This seemed to change the Man's tone very quick.

"You would not dare! We would hunt you so fervantly you wouldn't be able to go near a civilized system!" He exclaimed.

"Buddy, I just got done making sure your friends got sent to the Oversoul served up medium rare. If you wanna keep chasing me and dying, I can just picture it..." Syd remarked grimly. "A nice few squads armed with the perfect weapons and they still get owned by two Jedi. You'll be the laughing stock of the clans."

"But you can avoid all that...scandal...but simply pointing me and my friend to the dummy who's just gotten themselves a free barbeque."

"I underestimated your cunning." The Mandalorian said after a few seconds of silence.

"I will take that as a yes..." Syd replied curtly. "Now. Who among the Sith hired you?"

"It wasn't the Sith..." The Mandalorian answered. "That was a false flag operation. We were to kill you, retrieve your suit, and bring it to Fort Bloodbrand."

"Fort Bloodbrand? What planet?" Syd demanded.

"A place that saps at the life of even the strongest in the light. A planet no one of the Ashla would dare follow. A Sith world, of course."

"Your. Employer. Now."

"We never met her before. She never gave a name. Tall, black suited. Purple eyes..."

"Purple eyes?" Syd asked, disturbed by that last bit before turning to Kahlil. "Thoughts?"

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Can't say it does." Kahlil let out a sigh as he continued to focus on the task at hand. Keeping the Mandalorians in their armor pinned down and immobile. A conversation between [member="Syd Celsius"] and this leader of the Hades Clan went surprisingly well. For a moment, he thought there would have to be more violence. He didn't know how Syd would do things. Their last meeting was, after all, her trying to control her urge to set him aflame for being a darksider. He smirked a little at the thought.

"We'll have to figure out who she is. Purple eyes isn't a common trait at least. Only question is now what do with these lots? I'm defaulting to your lead my friend."

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd listened, processing this new information that she had taken in.

No sooner had [member="Kahlil Zambrano"] noted that purple eyes was not a common trait that she flashbacked to an earlier incident, much earlier. It was the night she had been first freed on Kashyyyk, when that graverobber Rex Rathtar had accidentally destroyed the chunk of nullification resin she had been trapped inside. He had mentioned something.

A woman with purple eyes who wanted to acquire her. Had paid Rex top credit. So much had been going on with her mentally, emotionallly, that she had put off following up on it...she had been so disoriented being in the new century she had to get her bearings, actually get a foothold before she could even think of going after whoever was after her in turn.

But now it seemed that Purple Eyes didn't feel like waiting anymore.

Syd then pondered what to do with The Mandalorians. But what was more significant was that Kahlil had called her his friend.

"Ehhh...give them all to the authorities for processing. They're someone else's armored headache now."

Syd, though, still fixed on how Kahlil had called her friend. That was two friends she had now...Wu and Kahlil.

She could only feel it on a reduced level, this friendship. It was deeply frustrating, now that she thought about it: She could only "sort of" like Kahlil and Wu, and she was uncertain how to feel more than that. It had never been a cause for distress before, as she had never been made to have friends. Now...now it genuinely was.

She wanted to know what that was like. To genuinely, deeply care for someone, as opposed to just "like".

Syd turned to her captive Mandalorian. "Coordinates?"

The Mandalorian gave them. Syd memorized them for the journey ahead.

Syd got out her comlink and signalled the other SJO authorities to their location. They arrived after about eight minutes in combat shuttles, Jedi and soldiers securing new prisoners.

Syd, in the meantime went into a meditative position in mid air, chin resting on a fist.

"I have the coordinates to the planet. Nasty place, from what I'm gathering. I could use someone there with me, but I'll need a day to prepare...I'm not going to go chasing the fething weasel that sicced these guys on me right this second. If you are still game for it, I...I could really use a friend for back up there."

It felt good saying the word, and saying it with the ability to realize she was not alone. That she could count a former enemy as a friend was almost too much for her programmed mind to wrap around.

Something warmed in what passed for Syd's soul as she gave more thought to this next task...

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil followed with [member="Syd Celsius"] , keeping quiet around the Silvers and generally avoiding any contact with them. He seemed rather uncomfortable about the whole scenario, but he at least trusted the Geist's reasons for involving them. Once the Mandalorians and Silvers were gone, he let out a sigh. The young man rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, watching the shuttle disappear into the atmosphere of the planet. Syd's question is what snapped him out of his own mind.

He glanced over with a rather large and goofy grin. "Ah? A friend? Look at that, the Mandalorians were rather wrong about how you are." He winks before reaching a hand out, and raised a pinky. "I never got to do this as a kid, so go with me. We'll find this purple eyed lady and take care of her. Whatever that means. I got your back." Kahlil's grin only widened into a more genuine smile.

"Pinky promise."

 

[Syd Celsius]

Syd smiled at [member="Kahlil Zambrano"] and his gesture. She had never done this gesture either and was of course eager to do so, as she had seen others do.

Hesitantly, Syd took his pinky with her own. It was so strange.

"I am lucky to have a friend to help me on this..." Syd mentioned stoically.

She still felt a strange guilt about her previous desire to kill him. It was so unnatural to her, the desire switching off like that.

"I shall spend tomorrow preparing..." Syd said taking her pinky back. "When you yourself are ready, signal me...and thank you for counting me as your friend, Kahlil."

Syd floated into the sky, her crome covered body reflecting Kahlil and the forest below while she used Force Flight to speed off into the air.

Meanwhile...

The Amalgam watched from far off through her sniper scope, perched in camouflage on a tree with a great vantage point of the trap, her foul, corrupt presence in the Force. She was naked, her body resembling wood bark in order to blend in better in the night forest.

The Mandalorians had failed. Unexpected interference at the last moment had prevented Celsius' execution, just like her unexpectedly acquiring an ally had completely fethed the ambush.

By the Bogan, just how bloody hard was it to acquire a magical chrome catsuit? It was essential to what she was planning.

She sneered as Kahlil expressed his friendship toward Syd. Oh, the poor, young fool. If only he knew...

Still, the disgusting display illicited something...



The Monster watched beneath the eyes of The Lie, staring at Uri Udinia, who stared back at the Lie with a troubled smile. She had just survived a deadly, protracted duel with something that had attacked her in the dead of night in the deepest part of the temple. A creature with a horrible lamprey like maw.

She was distraught, on the verge of a panic fueled breakdown. The Monster felt guilt at having scared her. The Lie was distraught for Uri's safety, though the Lie hid it well.

"You must learn to be faster, and to increase your pain tolerance." The Lie said sternly.

Uri's bright, wet green eyes went downcast and The Lie reached out in a rare moment of bonding.

"But I promise that security around here will be increased. That will 'never' happen again."

The Lie put a hand on her shoulder. The Monster wanted that hand to be hers. How she longed to escape...fully escape...

"You did good surviving such a powerful opponent however."

Both the Lie and the Monster within smiled as Uri smiled back, her chocolate hair tangled and frazzled from the deadly fight with the hideous beast that had temporarily escaped the Lie...

"I'll be watching you, Uri. You have my word on that." both The Lie and The Monster said in unison.

Both the Lie and The Monster felt relieved as Uri smiled again...it was so rare for her to do so. They both enjoyed seeing her smile...



The Amalgam slowly, carefully retreated from the tree, silently disassembling the blaster rifle. Now was not the time to strike. Too many hostiles.

The creature resembling wood bark hid the parts carefully in its body, transformed into a Wookiee female with albino fur after it had gotten a kilometer away, heading to the Republic Shuttle whose owner it had slaughtered and sacrificed to the Brain Demon. It would need to warn the defenders of Fort Bloodbrand that trouble was coming...