Sith Empire: Gand Adventure (My Apprentices, and any Sith that are interested)

[Allyson Locke]

As she followed Ashin, she knelt down and picked up one of the seeds. She looked at it and thought about how similar she was to it. Spencer remembered how beautiful the flowers were that Sirella had created when she put energy into them. The padawan wondered if because of the energy Ashin, Sirella and Phylis were putting into her if she would sprout and become something amazing. The Drop ship moved and Spencer shoved the seed into her tunic. She was nervous for this; Ashin had explained how this time it was going to be difficult – Spencer felt the village was already a feat and a half. Either way, she was rested now and her full energy was back in place.

They had finally arrived; the blonde ran her fingers through her hair and brushed back a few strands behind her ear. She was nervous, but it was easy to hide it behind feeling everyone around her. They were excited and wanting more, Spencer didn’t understand the emotions of the Sith, but she hoped one day she would. In the end it would help her be better…

Her footsteps were brisk as she followed behind Ashin, she remained close to the Dark Master as she listened to the woman’s words. Her hazel eyes making contact with each of the Gand in the room, they were unlike humans – but she had a quick lesson on them to make this a bit easier on her. Like before, Spencer closed her eyes and allowed herself to get lost in meditation. Reaching up, Spencer watched as the threads of the Gand’s force connection (even though they weren’t wielders of the force) spiral, they were thin and barely noticeable, but she had learned to search for them. Her own threads reached out grasping each one binding them to her and in the same process she found Ashin’s and did the same.

The binding of the padawan’s force threads allowed her to be a conductor of the force for Ashin and to help influence the Gand in the room. Taking a deep breath Spencer continued to pour out her force energy giving every ounce of herself to the task.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya rolled her eyes at the Findsman. "Great, as if force wielding plants weren't enough, we have bugs as well." she muttered, descending the steps to stand a few feet adjacent to Darth Apparatus "We're not going anywhere. If your mists foretold that we were coming then they would have also told you that resisting or presence like this will fail." No sooner had the words left her mouth than the Gand scattered before the Togorian that joined their defence a little late to say the least.

She racked her brain from the creatures name, Sirella was right that they needed to at least show some mercy to the resistance if this was to work. "Piraiba!" she barked, his name suddenly coming to her "Give them a chance to change their minds before you start throwing them around." It was too late though, his action only gave the Gand more encouragement to fight against them. Though the findsman had scattered at first before the huge togorian they returned quickly enough and Anaya could feel their rage and their hurt at loosing such a valued comrade, they began to advance, their weapons raised.

Delving deep into the dark side of the force she bellowed "STAND DOWN!" The words causing a shock wave that hit the Gand with incredible force, knocking one or two from their feet. She didn't want them to stand down, she wanted to fight them but orders were orders and she had to at least give them a chance.

 

[Soeht]

Anaya had spoken too late. As soon as Piraiba felled one of the Gand, they began to act. First, they took a defensive choice in collectively stepping back. Janwuine, though, stood his ground. After Anaya knocked down several Gand, they began their counterattack. Many of them surged forth to attack. However, several of their stronger warriors targeted Sith that had made themselves notable.

A Gand geared much like a bounty hunter attacked @[member="Piraiba"] from afar - relying on his blaster rifle for reach. Rotyv Xiffyt was his name - having done enough in his life to warrant a surname and given name. The accurate precision of his shots would have been telling enough of his skill as each sped toward Piraiba's head - definitely threatening the feline Sith's life.

Meanwhile, a Gand holding a blaster pistol in one hand and a vibrosword in another charged toward @[member="Anaya Fen"]. Kulsso Lyroo was its name, once again having enough distinguishing accomplishments to stand above the average Gand. As Kulsso ran toward Anaya, it fired several times at the Twi'lek. The Sith Knight now got the fight that she wanted.

For @[member="Darren Shaw"], he fount himself faced with a particularly nasty Gand. Moving with extreme agility and speed, Yuahnk sped toward the Dark Jedi as if to begin melee combat with him. Sporting two vibrodaggers, it seemed as if this Gand was geared more toward quick and dirty fighting. That much became apparent, though, as Yuahnk threw one of the vibroblades in hand at Darren's chest - aiming for a quick victory.

Janwuine glared at Darth Apparatus for several seconds. The Sith Lord could tell that he was particularly powerful - and if he fell to the Dark Side he would have made an excellent Sith. However, the Gand's convictions seemed to be absolute as Janwuine began the attack first. With his shockpod, Janwuine swung it down on Darth Apparatus. Quickly, the Sith Lord drew his lightsaber and held it up to cut the shockpod. However, all the lightsaber did was stop the staff from hitting his body - apparently it being made of lightsaber resistant material. Swiftly and without warning, Janwuine released the grip of one of his hands on the staff and jabbed the Darth in the chest. The punch struck him and thus caused the Sith Lord to be knocked back into a rusted column. Still standing and holding his lightsaber, Darth Apparatus was ready to continue fighting Janwuine. However, the newly formed crack in his armor was enough of a sign for him to be cautious when dealing with the Gand Findsman.

 

[Garza]

OOC: sorry guys i was caught up in RL stuff.

IC: Darren fought the Gand when one of them ran up to him with vibrodaggers Darren used the force to pull the thing into his blades in the prosses he was stabbed in the arm where therewas one of the slits of his armor. the blades didnt pierce his skin but they did leave a welt on the inside of his arm. Darren yelled and threw both of his white blades in a circle around himself taking 3 out that had come up behind him. he heard three slups to the floor.

 

[Soeht]

While Darth Apparatus had been thrown back, Janwuine quickly turned his attention toward another nearby target. @[member="Darren Shaw"] would have found himself being the target for this incredibly powerful Gand - one that was not simple to kill even with the lightsabers he controlled telekinetically.

In a flash, Janwuine charged at the Dark Jedi. As a Force sensitive, and likely a trained one too, he did not fear the lightsabers that hovered near Darren. His tremendous frame would have dwarfed Darren. With unbelievable strength, Janwuine swung his shockpod - which was unable to be cut by a lightsaber - down at Darren. The Dark Jedi would have had to fight with all he had to just survive, lest he wished to be touched by one of the pods that could certainly knock him out.

Meanwhile, Darth Apparatus quickly got himself up. Dust fell from his body, all of which having been kicked up after his impact against the old column. He still gripped his lightsaber, ready to continue his fight against Janwuine. Without wasting any time, he rushed toward the Findsman - yet had already begun to move too late in order to assist Darren against Janwuine's attack.

 

[Garza]

Darren saw the Giant Gand move towards him. He was incredibly fast for his size, and was not scared of his lighsabers. He could tell by the look in his eyes that he was not at all happy. Darren saw the shockpod coming towards him. It wouldnt be cut by his lighsabers let alone his sith sword. Darren knew this would test his strength and skill and more. he mutterd under his breath "You have got to be kidding me."

Darren used the X block with his "Wing stance" that was where the tops of his hands were facing down but the blades were pointing up. He jumped back and block at the same time not wanting to get over powered by the strength of the giant. he was about the size of a Small Rancor. his Shockpod fell between his feet with out hitting him. He knew that he was lucky.

Darren reacted fast with his prosthetics and the force to stopped himself under the feet of the Giant. sliding on his knees and swiping the blades between the knees causing him to fall or to weaken his stance.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

She had given them their chance, but Piraiba had wiped any though of reconsideration from their mind the moment he had attacked. Anaya descended the stairs fully as the gand named Kulsso ran towards her firing, she batted his bolts aside and back to his comrades, a bored expression on her face as her hand reached out to grasp the gand by his throat with the force, picking him up she threw her saber towards his legs, aiming to sever them before bring the blade back through his midriff with the force.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

PARLIAMENT HALL

The hall was permeated by sounds of distant violence, and by Spencer's efforts. Ashin wove her strength into her informal apprentice's Jukre tuning. That Spencer had come into her life was too powerful a stroke of luck to be anything but destiny. After studying the mentalism of the Amphi-Hydrus, and once Spencer became more familiar with influencing the minds of the insectoid Gand, well...

It would be a mistake to say the possibilities were limitless. They were specific. Specialized.

Today Gand, tomorrow the universe.

But somehow the Parliament was proving more difficult than the hostile village of Amphi-Hydrus, for no reason Ashin could fathom. Her grandfather's holocron might have provided some insight, but she had given it to Darron Wraith. The benefits of that action outweighed the costs in almost all circumstances, but there were times in Spencer's training when Je'gan's holocron, a blue pyramid combining features of Sith and Jedi architecture, would have been very, very useful.

The Gand Parliament's willpower strained against the combined efforts of Ashin and Spencer, and Ashin realized, to some surprise, that she would need to accelerate certain options in Spencer's training. As voices rose around them, she turned to Spencer.

"They're turning against us," she hissed, eyes wide and desperate. "We need to push harder!"

 

[Sven Talith]

Palace
Okay, so apparently when you blow up the wall to a palace it immediately alerts almost every single goddamn person in the immediate vicinity. This is what Sven had been dealing with for the past ten minutes, he had been shooting and slitting the throats of about two dozen Gand. It had been hard, and more than a few places on his body were now either gushing blood or broken. His ribs were particularly mangled and broken, though that hardly seemed to slow down the young man. For a few seconds the Emperors son stopped his slaughter, noticing that no more Gand were approaching him.

Finally he sighed, and replaced his sword and pistol in their respective place. As he relaxed Sven realized that he was lucky his mask was separate from the rest of his armor. The heavy cloth that made up most of the joints in his quite had been ruptured in several places by one thing or another, with blood quickly coagulating into place.

Luckily Ammonia wasn't deadly on skin contact and the bio foam that filled his wounds would prevent any massive damage, though there would likely be some slight unpleasantness later. The assassin shrugged and tapped the chin of his mask, as long as he was wearing this he would technically be okay...in theory.

Sven shrugged slightly, his mind clearing. He still had a job to do here, the Gand Dictator needed killing. The Emperor's son moved through the fortress, jumping over another wall and sneaking into the innards of the citadel.

 

[Piraiba]

Chaos ...

With Piraiba and his 'Sabertooth' squad dropping in behind or perhaps nearly on top of the Gand group, it put them between the Sith Juggernaut and his deadly Sith Compatriots. Yet Piraiba's one kill was quickly over shadowed by the four men he brought with him. They each fired a few rounds selectively with their heavy blaster repeaters in an attempt to not gun down the Sith on the other side of the Gand. This thinned out many of the Gand, but they ceased fire as the two groups of fighters quickly intermingled.

Piraiba was crouched low to the ground with his hand still on the throat of the dead Gand under him. He looked up to see Darren drop three remaining grunts. Now only the smartest, and highest trained of the group who had dived for cover or charged different Sith were still alive.

Suddenly the midichlorians in the Togorian's body had given him that gut instinct of danger. A feeling he still didn't quite understand even though his father had explained it to him. To Piraiba it was always just that, a gut feeling like what a soldier might get. It had kept him alive his whole life, but a fully trained Sith knew it was what heightened their reaction times as if they could feel a fraction of a moment into the future. The Sith Apprentice truthfully was in a blissful blood lust of adrenalin, but even so he didn't think about the situation. He simply let his reflexes and his instincts guide him, which allowed the feline to pump his left left and arm to literally throw himself out of harms way just in time.

Rolling back onto his hands and feet, the Juggernaut looked up for that brief moment to see who had fired at him. He hadn't seen it happen, but a couple of the Sith Shocktroopers behind him had. They laid down rapid fire at Rotyv with their repeaters, which forced the Gand to fling himself behind cover. Suppressed, the Gand, had only enough time to land a glancing round on one of the shock troopers which made the said trooper fall to a knee.

With a snarl Piraiba threw his energy into his back legs and dropped his body low into a four legged run. Normally armor of such heavy nature wouldn't have allowed for it, but his prototype had full plates replaced for multiple plates that could slide along each other when he flexed his torso down. This allowed him the four legged strides that propelled him over a nearby wall at alarming speed for his weight and size.

Out of sight, the feline Sith moved around with attentions to flank his advisory while he was suppressed and the other Sith were dealing with the Gand leader.

 

[Soeht]

@[member="Darren Shaw"] seemed to make a good attempt at disabling the Janwuine. However, the skills of one of the greatest warriors the Gand had to offer proved to be too great for that attack. As Darren's lightsabers slashed at the Findsman's knees, the Janwuine jumped into the air - thus evading the attack. Immediately, the Janwuine kicked both feet at the kneeling Dark Jedi's face. The force behind the kick would have been enough to crack the helmet if it struck.

Darth Apparatus continued to make an approach to the Janwuine. Just as it appeared as if Darth Apparatus would have been able to sneak up to the powerful Gand, the Janwuine (whether his kick struck Darren or not) used the Force to propel his giant body up into the air and back. The Janwuine landed just behind Darth Apparatus and swung his shockpod staff at the Sith Lord.

Reacting quickly, Darth Apparatus pivoted his body around to face the Janwuine. He brought his red lightsaber up to meet the shockpod staff just before it could have touched his own helmet. Darth Apparatus slid back half a meter due to the strength of the Janwuine. However, he held the Findsman at a standstill - for the moment, though.

@[member="Anaya Fen"] could have discovered quickly that the Gand, in this situation, were not to be easily felled. Once she threw her lightsaber at Kulsso, the dexterous Gand threw his lower body back and up - using his neck as the pivoting point for this movement. The lightsaber missed his body, both as it rushed toward his body and flew back toward Anaya.

While the pain of having the Force grip his throat was still there, Kulsso did not seem to be suffocating. Because of this, the Gand lifted his blaster pistol and aimed it at the Sith Knight. With accurate yet uncanny precision, Kulsso fired several more plasma bolts at a Sith that might have been multitasking a bit too much to effectively parry them.

By the time @[member="Piraiba"] would have arrived in any position to flank Rotyv, all the Sith Shocktroopers that attempted to suppress the Gand were dead. Whether the Sith realized it or not, the Gand were not pushovers. They were experienced killers that most likely have seen much more combat than many of the Apprentices and several Knights have.

While Piraiba was out of sight, Rotyv was also a Findsman - a Force-using Gand. Rotyv quickly repositioned himself to face where Piraiba might have emerged into his field-of-vision. He stood next to where the Shocktroopers were. Black scorch marks and shrapnel imbedded into nearby objects surrounded him. With Rotyv's fingers on a trigger, Piraiba might have found an explosive welcoming if he continued down the path he was currently on.

 

[Garza]

Darren's attacks missed. He was about to curse when the giant came back down to smash his face in. If his wouldnt be wearing his mask you would see that his eyes got very wide. Darren had to move out of the way. he wouldn't block it. Now way in hell he would. Darren used the force to propel himself backwards. he turned his blades off just for a split second.

When he backed up he ran into some Gand that started to yell at him. Darren raised his Hands at the three Gand and unleashed a torrent of lightning upon them. He saw the skeletons show out from their bodies. Darren ignited his blades again to see The Darth slide back from the hit of the Giant. He growled at the thing and threw his left blade at him. It was to give Apparatus some time to gather himself.

Darren yelled at him. "Fight one person at a time man!" Darren's blade returned to him. after ether hitting the thing or missing. Darren then walk forward to the thing catching his blade at the same time.

 

[Daxton Bane]

Team C

Daxton closed his eyes beneath his mirrored helm as his drop ship entered the atmosphere, leading the way for hundreds of similar ones as they began the assault on the stonghold of the Gand Dictator. The seals of his environmental suit were air tight, just like those of his company as the air on the surface was poisonous to anyone foolhardy enough to breath it.

As soon as they landed, the troops began deploying defensive formation against the entrenched defenders. Chambering a round into his Chimera, Daxton roared a Sith Battle Cry as he led his troops into the charge to take the walls of the stronghold and establish a beach head.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Parliament

Panic washed over Spencer, she watched as the aura around Ashin start to change. The woman was not happy about the situation that was occurring. Spencer felt the strings lacing her fingers starting to loosen; the Gand was rejecting her influence. They didn’t want to be controlled; they weren’t as easy as the village on Mon Calamari. The parliament had their well-being on their mind as well as the rest of the planet. Spencer reached out trying to get a tighter grip on the threads that connected the Gand to her, they continued to slip through her fingers. Ashin’s voice pierced her meditative state, she knew that they were in trouble now.

Hazel eyes opened wide as she attempted to see what was going on, instead though the meditation continued and Spencer felt herself fall deeper into the state. The brown faded in her eyes turning them a deep green as she continued to peer into the force feeling it and becoming apart of it. The threads that she saw, the connecting factor that brought everything into the living Force became clearer. She didn’t reach out with her hands this time, she pushed forward her own strands of the Force pulling every end and winding it tightly with her own.

I have to find a way to make this work...everything and everyone is depending on me...

You can influence their emotions, make them feel what you want them to feel...You could choose what they feel...

I can’t....

Running out of time make a choice Spencer common!

Suddenly, Spencer pushed forward with her desire to make them feel what she wanted. The ends of her force strands pierced every Gand strand and hit the core of their connection of the Force. She watched as her soft blue threads quickly changed the color of the Gand’s force threads into the same color as her own. She took over their energy and their connection to the living force. It was easier with Ashin’s influence also being there and that the Gand weren’t strong with the Force. Slowly as she dove deeper into their connections she started to receive things from it. Her mind flooded with memories from every single Gand in the room. The padawan was in a place she had never been in the mind. The unblinking eyes started to dart back and forth as she focused on the strands that were no longer belonging to the Gand. She entered dangerous territory with what she had done...

This sort of control...this attempt to force the emotions she wanted them to feel, the way she stripped them of the life force making it her own and tethering them to her -- all was very dangerous and far from the teachings of the Jedi.

Everything is going to be okay...the strangers...I and this woman are here to save you -- stop your resistance...we are your saviors.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

And peace settled over the Parliament.

"That was...perfect, Spencer," said Ashin, looking around at the suddenly docile Gand. They began to debate again, but this time their focus rested on the potential of their new order once the Dictator was overthrown. "See how you've reminded them that the true focus of their anger isn't us, but their Dictator, their oppressor. You've given them freedom. I couldn't have done it better myself. Spencer, you are a marvel."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer smiled as she heard the words of praise, she was doing well and the Gand were listening to her. Part of her though ached, she didn’t like what she had to do. Spencer continued to tell herself she had to, to save her and Ashin because if she didn’t the Gand would have overwhelmed them. Of course, when Spencer actually thought about it she knew the truth deep down inside. She wanted to do this; she knew if she did Ashin would approve of her.

The Gand were docile and Spencer was now filled with their memories watching the course of their lives and how much the dictator was a common enemy. She even noticed who was friends with the others or enjoyed different activities. Still unblinking, Spencer attempted to talk to Ashin, but it seemed her voice was lost in the meditation. Telepathy was the only way she could communicate with the Dark Master.

She tried to loosen the ties of the force with the Gand; she wanted to give them some room to feel for themselves after the control. The threads weren’t untying and when she did become loose she watched as the already brittle thread started to fall apart. She was quick and tied herself back to the Gand and she started to panic again.

Ashin, I-I think I went too far…I don’t see an end to my ties and a beginning to theirs…

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Oh.

Well, we can fix this.

Ashin closed her eyes, and a low, droning hum filled the Parliament hall. She stretched out to touch Spencer's efforts, to take a portion of the burden, but the powerful connections which Spencer had forged rebuffed her. She could snap those connections, but that might injure or kill the Gand...and risk shattering Spencer's mind.

This is why I hate working with prodigies, she reminded herself, probably outside of Spencer's mental hearing.

She connected herself with the Gand to a greater degree than before, grimacing under the weight of the effort required. A specialist she was not; a prodigy she was not.

Focus on what makes you, you. Focus on what separates you from them. Blot out their emotions. Quickly!

It might already be too late.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer panicked as she watched as another source filled the void. She knew the force threads that were starting to mix with hers and the Gand’s. Spencer smiled knowing that she could rely on Ashin to save her from this mess, but on the other hand she could feel the strain on Ashin. Spencer wanted to pull the ties from the Gand, but she worried about Ashin.

What about you?!

She had to find what made her, herself though Spencer had lived her life relying on everyone to give her the feelings she needed to feel. There was never a time she actually had her own emotions, she could never focus on them. Spencer attempted to do that now, she tried to pull memories from her own mind and use them to filter away the Gand. Since they were all connected, Ashin would be able to catch glimpses of Spencer’s memories. They poured into the girl, mostly being her mother and her minimal life on Dathomir then her growing up with her twin brother. There was never any talking or lips moving in the memories with her brother – they mostly communicated via telepathy. The soft blue threads that tied Spencer to the Gand started to release. Spencer still held on as she spoke to Ashin through their minds once more.

I’m fine now, I can handle the rest of it by myself – I’m okay now.

The Gand threads started to turn red again showing that they were themselves. Spencer continued to pacify them like she had been before waiting to see if they would revert back to how they were before Spencer cut into their minds.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Parliament Hall

Silence fell across the hall, and Ashin sagged into the chair of a parliamentary page. "There we go," she said. "There we go. Now we just need to hold this until they finish taking down the Dictator. And trust," she said after a long moment, "that Apparatus and Piraiba and the rest can hold off the Findsmen and the Dictator's forces."

But it wasn't that simple -- it could never be that simple. Exar Kun had strolled into the Senate and done much what Spencer and Ashin had just done, but he hadn't needed to forge consent out of that, nor stability. There would be outrage, in hours or less. There might even be violence.

In that time, she needed to make it very, very clear that the Sith were here to stay. In a way that wouldn't destabilize the artificial calm.

They were Gand -- very used to hierarchy. Very used to command. And their brains were in a passive, receptive state.

The Dark Side swelled in her, and she grimaced as she began to drive a new idea into their minds. Mentalism was not, strictly speaking, her forte. Each brain was different, and terribly alien.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer didn’t know how long it was going to take them, she remembered how she felt when she strained herself on Mon Calamari. It was easier this time around though, it was as if her body was becoming more conditioned to the effects of the mental connection. Still, Spencer didn’t know how much longer she could go. Suddenly, Spencer felt the surge over power near her. She had sensed it before and knew it was Ashin. Her vision darted towards the strands that connected Ashin to this web of connections. The color changed and Spencer knew exactly the change that was happening.

The strain was on Ashin now and Spencer allowed herself once again to fall deeper into the meditation. She somehow managed to figure out how to sprout smaller strands from the heavy strands of her force. The thick strands splintered and moved towards the darkened Force strands of Ashin and started to weave themselves around them. Ashin was now in Spencer’s domain; here Spencer controlled things despite the Master’s power. The small threads then sprouted from the already splintered strands that encased Ashin’s and started to burrow in. Spencer’s force power helped push forward the message Ashin was trying to convey.

Deeper and deeper Spencer felt her mind melding with the Force. The young woman was a part of it ever since her and her brother conception. They were made with the Force her existence was by the will of it. Spencer felt at home in this deep meditation – it was as if she found that happiness she had been looking for. Everything she had, she gave to Ashin and her message for the young Padawan understood the mind and the memories of the Gand , she knew exactly how to deliver it to insure the message was understood.