Springing a Leak

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

"Indeed." Siedra would know that of course, she had to kill Vrak at all costs. The Council would scrutinize this incident, and if it was found that Vrak was still alive to accuse Siedra things would not end well for the woman. Such things were quite obvious of course, that was why she had sent so many for what was technically few. The woman was not a fool, he could at the very least give her that. Another sigh escaped him and slowly his finger slipped from the hilt.

The knife went clattering onto the table.

"Let the soldiers fight on the walls." He said plainly. "We will wait."

He wasn't being a coward, simply a realist. By the time Siedra and her goons made it over the walls they would be tired and worn, Neesa and Him would be fresh. That would allow them a better chance at cutting their way through to Siedra herself.

"She'll want to strike the final blow. Hubris." It would be her undoing. As it had been many others.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

"Very well," she agreed. Massassi were there to fight with their lives after all. "We need to keep that stairwell clear. If their numbers are too high I've no real intention of making a bold yet doomed last stand. I can lose whatever they send after us in the catacombs."

Could Vrak? She wondered. Her loyalty was enough that she wouldn't give him up, even if Siedra had them surrounded and made that demand she wouldn't. There would probably come a point, she decided, when she would leave him to have her own skin.

Neesa took a bag from the corner of the room and laid it out on the conference table where their first plans had been set in motion to dismantle Siedra's power base. Her swords were unwrapped and laid out. A bracer of splinter knives, a dart gun, two pistols and some small stun mines. Several vials of poison too. She started the meticulous process of coating her blades in a poison tailored to massassi biology. It wouldn't be fatal to her, but she wouldn't be fighting if she nicked her skin.

"If necessary we can use the catacombs to flee, thin their numbers or even find somewhere to hide and let her minions pass us before doubling back to find Siedra."

She didn't think the last option would be necessary, she would come for Vrak personally as he had said. She knew those catacombs well. Even the council that supported Sitas was a dangerous place.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

He suspected that no matter what they did the Catacombs would eventually have to be used.

There was no way they could face Siedra's numbers head on, and with how determined the woman was she would surely send in everything that she had. A frown pulled over his face. He wondered briefly if he could win in a fair fight with her.

A Kaggath, the ancient ones called it.

The ritual was a sacred one for Purebloods, for all Sith really. A fight not just for your possessions, but your very status. Everything you were, everything you had, was put on the line. All of it for a single fight that was supposed to be nothing but lightsaber and the force. No armor, no help, nothing. The last one had occurred long before Vrak had ever been born, the practice long since having fallen out of favor even here on Athiss. There was simply too much to lose.

He frowned and then shook his head. Siedra would never accept, and he wasn't entirely sure if he would be able to win. "We'll let them get to the keep first, think us cowards and then flee to the catacombs."

There they would thin Siedra's numbers, it was the only way.

"We should not underestimate her." He said again as he slowly rose from his seat. "She is smarter than most on this world."

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

It started as a tightness in her chest. She felt her pulse quicken next, then that twist at the base of her gut. Fear was the be welcomed. It was a primal, central part of every sentient. She could no mot excise it than she could her own beating heart. Neesa had never had the luxury of allowed it to rule her.

She took that passion and used it. Like ice injected into her veins a cold focus spread through her. That emotional peak honed into a weapon she could use, could draw upon.

A rumble ran through the floor. She paused what she was doing merely to reduce the risk of spilling poison over herself.

"Well they've applied the gunship," she said in an off-hand manner. A brace of splinter knives was wrapped to her left forearm and another at her belt. A pistol sat in the small of her back and on her left rump. Blades were hung from her belt and a final curved combat knife slid into a sheath between her shoulder blades.

"They've dropped massassi on the third floor balcony," came a call in her ear. They're making their way down."

Neesa looked to Vrak as she started to stretch out her shoulders. Perhaps a little warm up wouldn't hurt.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

The Pureblood scowled.

He had always wondered what the Ministry of War would bring to bare if they were truly pushed. Athiss had no real army, just a bunch of families with different personal guards. There was a militia of sorts of course, something that was supposed to protect the planet in case of discovery, but it wasn't much more than the average Planetary Defense Force on any outer rim world. It was still more than Vrak had access too, just not an entire army.

That at least meant they had a chance. "Let's go."

He moved passed Neesa and into the hallway.

There was another rumble that ran through the small fortress as a missile struck the top levels, a howl echoing down the hall as a Massassi warrior began to strike against his foes. Vrak half turned, glancing in the direction of the cry. He wasn't sure if it was one of Siedra's Massassi or his own, though he supposed that it didn't really matter in the end. He already knew things would be tight. His lightsaber quickly found it's way into his palm.

"If you get a shot to kill her." Vrak told Neesa. "Take it."

He wasn't one to stand on ceremony or honor. If Neesa could kill Siedra, then it was just fine with him.

 

[Neesa]

"I will," she replied plainly. She hadn't needed permission. Whilst her fued did not go back a long way she had learned to despise the Lord quickly. They turned up a winding staircase and the din of battle grew. The largest battles were now taking place on the ground around the stone walls. A handful of elite soldiers coming from above was still a deadly threat.

As they entered a long corridor she could hear the whine of the engines. It was close, taking shots at the open windows. A group of massassi were battling hand to hand. At the sight of Vrak two broke away and screamed their challenges.

Neesa's pistol snapped up and fired two quick shots. It wasn't very fair, but they wouldn't have much time to be outraged by it. Barely a heartbeat.

"Might be best if your rally yours ahead. I'm going to see how close that gunship is."

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak didn't "rally" his troops so much as he forced them to do as he pleased.

The Elders called it Sith Battle Coordination, and it was the one technique of the force that Vrak truly had a natural gift for. The others he'd always had to practice , always had to work at, but this, this was something that just came to him.

His hand waved forward, pulling the nearby doors shut with a loud slam. There was a loud roar just beyond as one of the Massassi began to charge him, but his eyes slowly fell shut and he began to concentrate. Power surged through him, the force rushing out in a wave. He felt the Massassi's thoughts, it's rage and anger, the bestial nature that rushed through it. Within half a heartbeat he seized the creature. For a second the Massassi continued it's charge, and then suddenly it whirled about.

In an instant the lumbering hulk smashed into on of it's brothers, cleaving and hacking with it's vibroblade.

"Kill them all." Was the singular directive he gave the creature as he slowly opened his eyes.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Neesa felt the brush of Vraks consciousness as he expanded his influence through the Force towards the massassi. She darted through them. They mostly ignored her, content to smash into the largest targets and swing their heavy blades.

A scarlet hand reach for her and Sorrow snapped out of its sheath. A glint of the blade and a cut appeared from wrist to elbow and the hand rapidly retreated to the sound of howls. Not that they lasted more than but a second. Powerful toxins stopped the nervous system from firing in a few moments.

Neesa made her way through the melee and out the other side. The balcony was ahead and a long corridor ran to her right with wide open windows letting in the dusk light. The search light from the gunship as it drifted long looking for targets was far brighter.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak was not yet powerful enough to control armies, he could barely contain the one Massassi, but as he folded himself down into a sitting position and began to concentrate he stretched his will to a second of the warriors. The control was tentative, and not complete, but it was enough to force a suggestion upon the creatures mind.

"Kill." It wasn't so much a command as it was a directive.

The creatures beneath his reign howled, roared, and then suddenly turned upon their brothers. They did not strike at just Siedra's Massassi, but everything around them. They rushed forward like rabid dogs, sword slashing high one minute and then low. They cut, bit, and clawed indiscriminately, not caring what got in their way. Their maws opened to roars, their teeth bit down to shred the flesh of their own kin. They were assaulted from all sides, both Siedra's and his own troops seeking to take down the raging hulks.

"Kill." He commanded even as the Massassi attempted to flee. "Everything."

Another roar, and the creatures continued their rampage.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

She kept pressed back into the shadows as the gunship as it strafed around the upper level. Its heavy cannons rang out again as it found some targets. If it was still trying to clear the upper levels Neesa reasoned they had more troops that could be deployed from the air. This old structure had never been build to fend off an assault from the air. She waited until it was in sight before moving down the corridor ahead. They'd barely used this section of the old buildings since using it as a command centre. There were still dusty tables and chairs from the last faction that thought to renovate it.

One of those cannons swivelled towards her. But of course it had an infra-red sensor or something else that could cut through the darkness. She swore as she ran. The laser cannon turned to follow her, before the entire gunship tilted and tracked sideways to follow her. She had no defenses against that kind of firepower. Her eyes scanned ahead, looking for anything she could use. There was little cover between her and the gunship and what walls there were already had smouldering holes in them. She pumped her legs hard and dove behind a supporting column that looked heavy enough to take some fire.

The gunship kept moving along, red laser fire leaving a trail of destruction. It went nearly twenty metres before realising it had lost its target. Would it bother searching for just one person? That searchlight started scanning back in her direction. Neesa risked a glance and tried to formulate a plan. Her pistol was of no use here. It had four engines on the outside of its body, all rotating and pointing down to keep the heavy ship hovering. If there was a weak point it was those. Well, there were plenty of rocks around at least.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak didn't dare expand his reach further.

The Two Massassi were barely under his control, they dug into their comrades, biting and killing as best as they could. As soon as one fell Vrak pulled the next into his grasp. Sweat began to bead across his brow, his concentration began to strain. The effort of control was more difficult than one might have thought, and the rage that bore the Massassi's thoughts was almost ridiculously strong. He let out a gasp as another one of the Massassi fell, pierced through the heart by a lightsaber.

His eyes snapped open.

"That wasn't her." His lips immediately thinned.

Had she brought other allies? Sith? His fingers curled slightly, the Battle mind connection now broken. Vrak slowly cocked his head to the side, reaching out with the force to try and sense whoever it was that was there. He frowned slightly when his suspicions were confirmed. Whomever had killed the Massassi was not Siedra, this one...this one was more wiled, uncontrolled than his great Rival. His lips thinned for a moment and slowly he stood.

The Saber-staff ignited in his hand with a loud snap-hiss, and slowly Vrak stalked forward.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Neesa broke left then reversed her momentum and threw herself back into cover. The torrent of laser fire threw up a wall of dust and smoke. She pulled her clothes tight around her mouth and nose, but that was exactly what she had been after. Closing her eyes she focused on a head-sized rock. She rolled it away from them through the cover and then lifted it out the window.

She sensed confusion from the pilots. She didn't know why, but their impact alarm had gone off and they couldn't see the small rock bobbing towards them from above. With great care she slammed it down into the front left engine from above. There was an almighty crash and the engines was suddenly spouting raw bursts of fire. The gunship listed away from the building.

Neesa darted forwards, coming to rest on the ledge. Her left arm reached out towards the cockpit as the gunship tilted away. Both pilots were suddenly pulled from their chairs over the console and into the window. A simple trick, but levers and buttons were pushed that should not have been, leaving them no chance to get the ship back under control. It rolled away and dropped like a stone for the ground. It crashed on a formation of massassi trying to break through a gate, splattering them across the harsh rocks.

Neesa felt a piecing gaze upon her. She looked out, her eyes drawn to a slender figure at the head of another formation of massassi heading towards their citadel slowly. Siedra. Neesa dropped back into the dust cloud and headed back. The battle was still going so she dispatched a few massassi from out of sight to thin their numbers and change the odds.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

The figure that wandered through the door was as expected; Not Siedra.

Instead it was a man, a Twi'lek garbed in black robes. There was a lightsaber in his hand, already ignited. Blood splattered across his red skin, his lips pulled back in a snarl. Vrak tilted his head to the side for a moment, eyes wandering across the young Sith.

"Now." Vrak said as he began to step forward, his own lightsaber giving off that low thrum. "Who might you be?"

The Twi'lek didn't say anything, just let out a sneer.

The man waited half a second longer, and then burst forward. With a single great leap and a roar the Twi'lek bounded forward and struck down with his lightsaber, the weapon swinging down to catch the end of Vrak's Saber-staff. A scowl pulled across the Purebloods face, his leg quickly pivoting to the side to push through his assailants momentum. He twisted to the side and pulled himself to the left, swinging the other end of the saber-staff towards the mans legs.

His blade quickly met with the Twi'leks, a hand reaching out to grasp his arm.

Before the Twi'lek could grasp him Vrak pulled back, his free hand coming up and a torrent of lightning unleashing from his fingertips.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Neesa pulled a spare power pack from her belt. Her left hand was half way to the blaster when three massassi peeled off and charged in her direction. The dust had started to dissipate, the last of the evening light cutting through the haze.

She made an instant judgement and droped the blaster. She ran to meet them head on, but pushed off her right and darted to the left. A heavy sword cut the air where she had been. The Force lifted her higher and she pushed off the far wall with both feet. Sorrow and Thirst stayed in their sheathes, instead she used her long knife to arrest her momentum by slamming it down into the back of a massassi .

It stumbled back but her momentum carried her swinging around. With both legs she kicked the middle soldier who went stumbling away.

Yet rather than press the attack she landed lightly and drew both scimitars. The massassi behind her slumped to the ground whilst will reaching for the embedded hilt in vain. She let this pair make the first move. It was, after all, a warm up.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

The Twi'lek dropped to the floor with a heavy thud, his lightsaber rolling away from his smoking corpse.

Vrak looked at the Acolyte for a moment, his lips thinning. This was...wrong. Siedra was, like him, not a council member. Nor was she anything close to a Master. He knelt besides the body for a moment, his hand drawing away a piece of the dead man's robe. A tattoo was revealed there, Siedra's mark. This made no sense. Was she taking apprentices already? Vrak had done so in the past, but it was not a common tactic. He frowned.

Perhaps she was taking lessons from him.

Slowly the Pureblood pressed a finger against the small comm-link in his ear. "Neesa. Siedra has brought...apprentices. Be on the lookou-"

There was a sudden jerk of static within his ear as the Temple once again shook, though from what he could not have said. He felt a rush of energy behind him, the darkside coalescing in one point and then suddenly bursting out. He spun on his heel in time to see the wall behind him explode into a thousand pieces, a figure stepping out from behind the rubble flanked by two Massassi warriors. For a second confusion pulled across his face, he expected Siedra, but instead found someone else.

"Visith?" Vrak asked in disbelief, spotting one of his own retainers step through the cloud of broken rock.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

"On the lookout for what?" The reply did not come over the communicator. There was no blood on the scimitars she gripped tightly, but her tunic had fresh stains down it. Her face and hair were covered in dust from the laser cannon fire. Just a white stripe across her forehead where she had wiped it away from her eyes.

So much for being a warm up. But if the upper tower didn't hold out then their defences at the base wouldn't last either. With the gunship down they could probably hold out against the reinforcements when they came.

"Siedra is down on the ground, a distance away still," she added, wearily appraising the newcomers.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak heard nothing over the comm unit, his lips thinning as he watched Visith step through the broken and crumbling wall.

The man was a Togruta, a former slave that Vrak had freed from Zygerria. He had trained the man, or rather let him be trained for the past five years. Visith had been instrumental in half a dozen plots and assassinations. The man was a keen combatant and even keener strategist. He was no match for Vrak himself of course, but he had been well worth the money paid for and invested in him. The Pureblood scowled, the grip on his lightsaber tightening.

"You cur." The word was spat onto the ground.

This was the thanks kindness got you. The thanks that you would receive for helping someone rise. His fingers tightened again, his hearts pumped faster, his eyes darting towards the Togruta even as he wandered closer.

"It seems!" His voice boomed out, amplified by the force itself. "You have forgotten yourself."

His words echoed down the hall.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

The thunderous echo from down the corridor came from the roar of massassi engaged in a brutal exchange. It fell silent in three heartbeats and was followed by a controlled call of: "Man the outer walls. They'll be sending more."

Thin shafts of light made it in from the balconies now. The sun low in the murky sky, the dust in the atmosphere scattering it's rays. The detritus kicked up by the initial assault on the upper walls reduced what as left to lazy fingers that probed the darkness of the inner structure.

There were no feetsteps as Neesa approached, just her slender silhouette framed by the dull ochre light. She still had the cloth wrapped around her mouth and nose against the dust.

"Upper levels are secure for now," she said in a muffled voice. "An old friend?" She asked, raising one eyebrow.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

"No." Vrak said to Neesa as she came up behind him.

The Togruta still lingered in the newly formed doorway, though he slowly stepped forward out of the debris along with his two Massassi guards. Vrak let his eyes follow the man, distaste filling his mouth. He couldn't quite believe the betrayal, not because it was so unexpected, but because he'd thought it would come at a much later date. Visith had always been ambitious, but to strike now? Before Vrak had any real power here on Athiss? Before he even sat on the council?

It was a mistake on his part.

"Just a slave." His lightsaber burst into life. "Just a slave."

He repeated the words. "Take the Massassi."

The command was a simple one for Neesa, she had likely fought a dozen of the creatures by now. As for Visith? Vrak had personal business with teh Togruta that needed to be taken care of before they could make their departure into the catacombs.

 

[Neesa]

Now came a difficult, tactical decision. Neesa hadn't come here equipped to fight a war. Siedra had reacted far more quickly than they had anticipated. A bold move that required exterminating every life in the building and retrieving everything stolen from the archives. Risky, but they had pushed her into it.

She had limited supplies. A handful of massassi could be downed quickly with darts or poisoned throwing blades, but splinter knives were fragile things. On the other hand if she fought them all by hand it would take time and risk an injury. Killing them quickly also ensured she could come to Vrak's aid and turn a potentially challenging encounter into a very brief one.

The togruta eyed them both suspiciously. There was concern there, but easily overidden by his anger at Vrak's words. Neesa was starting to understand that the Sith altered the course of events with his voice more than through action. Her place was was different. She mostly observed, but there was always an act at the end of any plan. Normally with bloodshed involved.

The massassi charged, three abreast. Each in heavy ornate armour and a polearm that ended in a wicked blade at both ends. Neesa held her ground and mentally mapped out her next move.