Springing a Leak

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

The Togruta swept forward.

Vrak didn't hesitate in moving against him. The man was a traitor. There was no sentiment to be had, there would be no sadness when he passed. As far as Vrak was concerned Visith was already dead, long forgotten and disregarded.

Their lightsaber clashed in an instant.

The battle was fast, faster than one might have expected. Their lightsaber flicked high and low, dashing towards legs, arms, even montrals. The Togruta kept pace with Vrak's every moving, blocking when he struck out, flicking his lightsaber back only to immediately strike again. It was clear that the Alien was skilled, his blade meeting Vrak strike for strike. Yet there was something wrong. He moved slower than usual, less fierce. Vrak frowned as his foot darted out.

He struck the Togruta's knee, a blow that should have been easily countered.

The Pureblood kept up his assault, swiping his lightsaber forward.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Neesa almost compromised her balance to avoid the swipe of a menacing polearm. She didn't have any armour on to speak of. Only the jacket around her chest would take a blow and that was primarily for small knives or handheld blasters. The weight of those weapons and the force behind a strike would cut her in two regardless of what she wore.

As she ducked under the polearm she came up on the other side with wicked intent. Her unnaturally sharp swords nicked and cut at the shoulder of the massassi until the arm hung limp. It lumbered back away and she permitted it to do so. No use in a fight, it was more help to her as it collided with one of its own allies trying to join the fray. Two stumbling together now. Two more coming at her from each side. This time she took the easy route. A splinter knife left her belt of its own accord and rushed to meet the nearest.

It stuck fast in the massassi's neck. His eyes bulged as his legs collapsed beneath him. Yet his momentum carried him forwards. Neesa leapt straight up as the dead warrior collapsed and slid across the ground perpendicular to the second one's line of charge. She landed back down on its back as the other slowed its charge. The extra height gave her the reach to slash for its head. Using the dead as a boost to strike at the living. The second time she had used such a heartless tactic today.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

He kicked again.

The Togruta let out a below of pain as a loud snap rang out within the hall, his knee bending back and the Sith toppling over. There was a loud thud as he fell to the floor in a clatter, his lightsaber slipping and then dropping as well.
Vrak scowled. "WEAK!"

His blade sliced down and through the mans throat. In one quick move he severed the Togruta's head, slicing through the ground and carving a tiny ditch within the rock. The Togruta went limp on the floor, his body collapsing into itself. In the instant he died something happened. An odd sort of...pulse, ran from his skin, rushing through his veins and pushing lines all over him. Vrak looked down for a moment, scowling and kicking the body to the side.

"Siedra." He cursed her.

She had done something to him. Had she forced a betrayal? Had she been controlling him? A frown pulled at his lips as he glanced towards Neesa.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

“What was…” Neesa managed to say before backing away from a polearm. She couldn’t meet the massassi with strength, but bringing both blades down caught the hooked blade and drove it down. The massassi thought to charge instead. Its polearm was pointed down and outside of Neesa’s line, but it pressed on, looking to flatten her with his shoulder.

She stepped aside and swiped upwards. The massassi ran on. “That?” Neesa finished off. She let her blades hang by her side. The runes at the base of the blades glowed and the blood seemed to soak into the weapons. With every kill they felt more a part of her, an extension of her being. She sheathed them and stepped forwards, seemingly unconcerned with the hulking warrior behind her. As it turned its brain caught on and it reached for its neck to try and stop a gout of blood. It was in vain.

She could feel the faint tremors in the Force where the spell had come apart. She dropped to her knees and her fingers danced a quick gesture. A basic revelation spell. It was too late, whatever had been had returned to the Force.

“We take the holocrons and the data and make for the catacombs. I saw Siedra. If she is close then she feels our forces will soon be overwhelmed.”

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

"Magics." He spat.

Vrak didn't need to know Sith Sorcery to recognize it's signs. He could tell from the Togruta's already withering corpse that he'd been more than touched by Sith Alchemy. He had no idea what she had done to him, nor could he tell without thorough examination, but it was more than clear to him that Visith had been changed. He bit back another curse, knowing that it wouldn't help things any. His head shook from side to side as Neesa spoke, though he knew she was right.

"She could have done it to others." Every servant, every guard, everyone would have to be checked. "Changed them."

A sigh escaped him. 'She could be controlling them."

This was a set back far greater than the loss of any Massassi, the loss of the knowledge that they had stolen. If what he suspected was true...then it meant that anyone could be under Siedra's thrall. The implication did not bode well for him, and as he slowly turned away from the corpse and back towards where they had stashed the holocrons he couldn't help but feel a small pang of concern.

This wasn't good.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

“She was too quick to start dismantling the network of informants I had built,” Neesa agreed. “I didn’t think she could do something like this. It seemed she was up to the challenge we laid down.”

It was odd that this didn’t perturb Neesa. Her life had been a series of challenges, of impossible tasks. Siedra thought herself above them. That she had held more of the cards than they had realised would only make it that much satisfying when she was brought down. In the end they always came crashing down, leaving more room to Neesa to move up into. Her ambition ran deeper than even Vrak knew. Sitas saw it for what it was, he’d helped to mould it. The old sith thought he could control it. She guessed they’d find out one day.

As they headed back down the stairs she considered a response. “I could probably detect the work, but not quickly. On my own I could only screen one person at a time. We need to get the data and holocrons back to Sitas. They wouldn’t attack him at the city. He might know a better way to weed out her puppets.”

They had to get away with what they had stolen. Otherwise the odds were perhaps stacked in her favour behind a point they could fight back from.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

They reached the small cache of data in little time. "We will see."

There was an extreme edge to his tone, anger. Neesa would be able to tell that this prospect unsettled him more than anything else. The idea that any one of his servants could betray him at any point...it was enough to put him off-kilter, at least for the time being. He pulled one of the Holocrons from the small storage space, offering it to Neesa. They would once again have to split the two devices up, that way if one of them got caught the other could still escape.

"Whatever she has sone." Vrak said as he pulled the other Holocron free. "Perhaps we will find a clue of it withing these holocrons."

He shrugged. "It would explain why she wishes them returned."

This attack was, after all, a bit too much even for her. She was using an entire military force to try and seize what was hers once more. He had assumed at first that the holocrons were just trinkets, but Siedra wouldn't do all of this over a simple set of financial documents.

No, there had to be more.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

“You would think,” Neesa complained, “that these days they could fit data onto a much smaller drive.”

It wasn’t a particularly heavy disk. About the size of a hand and a cm thick, but even a small weight could compromise her balance. She found a place in the middle of her back where should could hook it to her belt.

“How much did he know?” she asked. “The one you killed.” With the data disk on her person as well as the holocron, she gathered up a bundle of stun mines. An almighty crack reached them. That had been the main door. The invading force would have to come up a few levels before they could find the stairs that led down to the catacombs. As they left Neesa left the first stun mine on the back of the wall on the way into the narrow stairwell. Every moment counted and laying out early would lay out a few massassi and have them moving with more caution. Or perhaps Siedra would just force them on even faster.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

"None of them know everything." He was not a fool. "He knew this parts in my little games. The tasks I had him do, the information he needed, nothing more. A few glimpses into the minds of the others perhaps."

He had no idea what the slaves talked about when they were alone, though he doubted any of them shared too much with one another. Gossip was just as deadly in the slave quarters as it was in the Council chambers. The servants that he held knew that better than most. They were smart, educated. Vrak made sure of it so they men and women beneath him would actually be useful instead of simpletons that couldn't even add a pair of shoes together.

"She must have others." It was the only way.

His head shook as he tucked the holocron away, Nees and him moving down the hall.

"We will escape." He told her. There was no more need to fight, not now. "Then solve this new problem."

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

They were only half way down the staircase when she heard the stun mine go off. There was a roar of frustration and the sound of heavy, limp bodies tumbling down the stairs. The stairwell was necessarily narrow, carefully placed by the architects such that it's existence was hard to find from most floors.

"Faster," she urged. Now she bounded down two to three at a time. She couldn't keep up a sprint. Massassi could keep running for days on end. Right now they needed to put some ground between them and their persuit.

There were plenty of places to hide in the catacombs. Even a tunnel that led deeper than Neesa had pushed before. But hiding likely wouldn't work if Siedra came down after them. The Nagai imagined she would have methods of seeking the pair out under any conditions.

"That one!" Neesa called out when they reached the bottom. She pointed towards a relatively narrow tunnel, one of five, that branched out from the stairs. She paused only momentarily tonout down another stun mine. More to mark the pace of their followers than anything else.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

He quickly moved in the direction that Neesa pointed him in.

This was her element far more than it was his. Vrak didn't go skulking around catacombs, he didn't rush around the underground like some sort of escaped slave. His game took place within the Palaces of Athiss, the grand halls, this...this was just depressing. A sneer crossed his lips, his eyes following the lines of the walls as he rushed forward. His lightsaber gave off the soft glow it always did, a light that would at the very least show him through the dark.

He twisted as they reached another fork, Neesa pointing him to the left.

Another bang reached out towards them, a sign that they were still following.

Vrak quickened his pace, and then suddenly felt a pressure upon his mind. He frowned for a moment and motion for Neesa to stop, bringing himself against one of the walls and cutting off the power to his lightsaber. Silence pulled through the catacombs for a moment, only his and Neesa's breathing ringing out.

"WHERE ARE YOU VRAK!"

The shrill voice bounced through the Catacombs.

"I CAN FELL YOU HERE!"

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

It suddenly felt as if their breathing was incredibly loud, unbearably so. Just a modicum of light reached them here. After a few moments she was able to make out Vrak's silhouette and the opposite wall.

Siedra's voice rang out through the catacombs again. This time she recognised part of an incantation. She felt a subtle shift in the Force. She was trying to find them. Neesa new one to hide a presence, but it wasn't one she hadn't practised.

No time like the presence.

As quietly as she dared, she spoke the incantation. Her white fingers twitched in the darkness. Like a coming wave she felt Siedra's spell moving through the Force. Neesa finished just as the wave crested and fell over them. And seemed to wash over them without leaving much of a disturbance in its wake.

She let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. With the back of her hand she slapped Vrak's chest and then started to pad away. Siedra might have divined a rough direction at least.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

"I detest this." He said quietly stepping after Neesa. He was not made for walking through tiny catacombs or rushing across dirt. He had been made for killing, not running away. His fingers tightened slightly, a ball of rage forming in his chest.

Siedra would need to be punished for this mess. She would need to be brought to heel.

His lips thinned slightly. They would have to accelerate the plans they already had in place, push things faster than they had first expected. His head shook from side to side as he glanced towards Neesa. He considered for a brief moment sending her back, seeing if she would be able to kill Siedra within the dark of the catacombs. He eventually let the idea drop, mostly because Neesa was still a valuable tool, and one that wasn't technically his at that.

Eventually they reach yet another fork in the road, this time he could hear the sound or roaring water not far from where they were.

"A river?" He asked quietly.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Neesa nodded. "One that you don't want to get dragged into," she murmured. Whilst she was well used to avoiding persuit in the dark, she did not like the constant uneasy sensation she experienced. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, as if Siedra was literally breathing down their backs.

"I once put a tracker in it," she explained. "In case a slave was compromised by Siedra and used it to get messages out of the building once we'd implemented the blackout."

Neesa slowed right down. The path ahead was broken and cracked. Through several holes the sound of rushing water became loud. If he looked down through them he might catch a glimpse of light reflecting back.

"It went ten miles east before I lost it, never one resurfacing."

Neesa placed another stun mine and started to walk. She had a route planned that would bring them back to the surface near the cliffs south of the tower. She couldn't help but feel that her blades weren't done for the day yet. Siedra had overwhelmed their forces too thoroughly to consider trying to fight back any further, but it wasn't necessarily their choice to make.

She didn't even consider that Siedra might have had a connection to the holocrons that gave her a rough notion of the direction of her quarry.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Despite himself he was rather impressed by Neesa. He had known that the girl was good, but this was showing him a whole new level. He couldn't help but wonder where Lord Sitas had found her, what training he had put her through, and just how loyal she was to him.

None of the questions were relevant now, but they would be in the future.

"Where did Lord Sitas find you?" Perhaps she would not be in the mood for Small talk, but Vrak hardly cared. It was doubtful that Siedra would hear them with the sound of the river growing louder and louder. Vrak was curious, and if he was going to die he at least wanted the curiosity solved.

"Zygerria?" That was where most got their slaves. "Somewhere else?"

As he followed along Vrak watched her closely, as if trying to read her.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

“Ord Radama,” she replied. “I was trying to steal from him.” Thin lips made a tight smile in the darkness. “He spreads his influence quite wide I believe and looks for potential.”

The path ahead had crumbled further than when she had traced out this route. Obviously she hadn’t done it all herself. The catacombs spread far and wide. She’d managed to acquire some probe droids and sent them down to map it all out. She slowed her pace and held a hand out behind herself just in case he bumped into her in the darkness. That would have been a rather unsatisfactory end.

She pressed herself up against the left-hand side of the narrow tunnel. There were precious little handholds on the smooth wall behind her, but she tried to feel some out to keep her balance.

“At the very least that means there are places we could go off-world out from Siedra’s gaze for a time if required. I worked with him for years before he decided to bring me back to Athiss and formally train me himself.”

Neesa wondered if she was revealing too much. The truth was that people never took an interest in her, which made it very easy to reply. She had always been the invisible street rat, or the alien slave hidden in a robe. Even Sitas had refused to train her himself until she had proved herself to him, despite how quickly she learned from the tomes he left in the top floor of his mansion with an open or how she outgrew the swordsman he had sent to train her within two years.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak wasn't too concerned with Siedra's reach.

She could strike at them here, but Lord Sitas' fortress or even his own? No. That would have been a calamity, though perhaps heading off world for a time wouldn't be the worst of things. He could claim that Siedra had brought violence into this first, press his advantage in the Council and force them to punish her.

It was not a bad idea really. "We'll see."

He said quietly.

"Leaving Athiss can be dangerous." He knew that from experience, though of course it all depended on where you went. He had created several outposts all over the galaxy now, Dromund Fel, Hoth, even Coruscant. Small listening posts and hide aways that would come in handy in the future. "We would have to make sure our advocates in the Council remain, ours."

He frowned for a second more and then continued. "But perhaps it's the right thing to do."

As far as he knew Siedra had no holdings off-world. She had always been far too much of an isolationist.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Neesa was growing more confident that pursuit had been left behind. As she reached more solid ground she pushed off the wall and started to stride out ahead.

"Need enough time to work out what we have and how we can use it," she replied. It wasn't really worth stating, but it seemed right to say something as she picked a less cautious pass through the tunnel. The walls and floor were becoming less smooth. More handholds on the wall, but trip hazards in the dark.

What Needs didn't know was that Siedra had returned above ground, but was still following the trail of the holocrons through the Force. She was just thirty metres above and twenty metres behind them.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak glanced around them for a moment.

They were moving into a section of the catacombs that seemed to be more caves than actual catacombs. he wondered briefly how long these had been here, likely centuries. A frown pulled at his lips, eyes darting back and forth until they settled on Neesa. "It has to be the holocrons."

He mused to her.

"She wouldn't care this much about financial data." That much was obvious. "This strike is about something else, something more."

They would indeed need time to open them, inspect their contents and perhaps even learn from there. There was no telling what kind of information they could gleen, especially considering just how much Siedra seemed to value what was within. "How much further?"

He was eager to get out.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

"Hmm." Time and distance were a little hard to track in the darkness. It felt like they'd been travelling for hours and covered miles, but she knew it would be far less.

"Just up ahead the tunnel widens again and starts to slope upwards. A few hundred metres and then there should be a roughly cut staircase up to a cave. We can head through there to the far side of the cliffs and signal for a transport. Assuming she hasn't brought more gunships."

Her hand patted the angular object in her cloak. "There has to be something on them that would tip the scales..."