Swimming on Kamino (open to Remnanty folks*)

[Velok the Younger]

OOC/ I'm aiming for something duellish, and I don't mind being dogpiled, long as the focus is on a personal sort of scale.

IC/ Like a veritable Darth Orcus, Velok breached from the waves, fountaining spume and gasping for air. He gulped a breath and dove back down -- he'd fallen short of his goal -- only to arc up for another try. This time he used the Force more thoroughly to accelerate himself. With a powerful kick and a titanic splash, he jetted out of the steel-gray sea and plopped onto a convenient walkway. The pylons beneath the cities of Kamino tended to be connected by such walkways, regardless of utility or practicality, but he wasn't about to look a gift nerf in the mouth. Not even if he misjudged the landing and found himself halfway through a railing.

He tore the railing apart in a businesslike way and stood for the first time since he'd dived off the ramp of an old Sekairo stealth transport -- old, but still undetectable by pretty much anything on the prowl, up to and including a crystal gravfield trap and yo'mama. Though he squinted through the rain, he couldn't see the ship, which had maintained a good solid distance so as to avoid detection by happenstance. That distance had made his swim inconvenient. So had age, and weighing as much as, again, yo'mama.

Velok shuddered like a wet dog. Water flew everywhere. He gestured and a door opened. He went inside.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Velok the Younger"] |

Waiting on the other side of the door was a hooded figure. Lifting her gaze up from the floor, Avedia Lacroix rested her eyes on the Whipkid with a fiery glare. Having sensed the arrival of the Sith through her powers in the dark side, Avedia looked upon Velok the Younger with contempt. She did not appreciate it when others interfered in her plans. With a Saberstaff held in her left hand, the Sith Lord's thumb hovered above the ignition button of her weapon, itching to activate it and run the blade through the Whipkid before he could complete whatever dastardly plan had brought him this far into the Rishi Maze.

"You're a long way away from home, stranger. What brings you to Kamino?" She would at least give him a chance to explain why he was here before making a decision on whether to strike or not.

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra groaned, rubbing her eyes as she knocked at the quarters of [member="Max Fel"], trying to get the man's attention. She was just as aware of a presence as [member="Avedia Lacroix"] had been but unlike Avedia she had not run off to deal with whatever that presence was. In truth, she wanted to go back to sleep and enjoy the comfort of bed but it seemed whatever had arrived was enough to warrant concern in her mind. Her hand drifted to the flask she had on her, drinking from it and welcoming the taste, though unlike usual it was not filled with rum but rather a drink to help her wake up a bit made from her flowers.

Her body slumped against the wall while she waited for the Knight to get up, securing her hands over the rather plain clothing she wore for an Imperial Knight or rather a force user at all. Of course, she had her sabers, the Echani warstaff and a long bladed weapon at her waist like normal, but other than that she looked more like a spacer than a Knight. She wondered what it was that was touching the back of her mind like this, curious about what had shown up. The last one to show up had come with what it wanted them to believe as intentions to aid the Remnants but did this one come for the same purpose.

What she mostly thought about was if this presence was dangerous. She had only recently arrived on the planet and in no way knew this place like she knew her home on Alderaan. There she was able to control every aspect of her surroundings, but here she was in a place that she only knew on the surface. She had no connections to the force to draw power from as quickly as she could in her home, and the best she could do was fight on her power, which while she was able to would not be preferred.

 

[Arahael]

Max was lying in bed, reading messages on a datapad. He tried to stay up to date with Bastion as much as possible, though he was sure those he had delegated tasks to would do a good job. Family were of course telling him of interesting anecdotes, though he didn't find himself too torn from being away from family.

Sitting up, he turned on the planetary news. The most that was relevant to Kamino itself was on how life could change due to the Imperial Remnant. Switching the channel, news of conflict on a large scale were trickling in. Surely there was more content than could ever be covered. It was weird to think that these conflicts were just a jump away.

A knock came at the door. Looking at the security feed, he could see it was the Grand Master herself, [member="Alexandra Feanor"]. "Coming!" Max shouted as he grabbed the armour in his hands, then went to open the door. "Master Feanor, do you need help with anything?"

[member="Avedia Lacroix"] | [member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Sergius Maro]

Sergius Maro was stationed at the Imperial Capital Kamino, on the down-pouring planet he was ordered to patrol the large disk-like platform cities with a small platoon of a little over a dozen stormtroopers. He would have been drenched in the pouring rain of the city, if he wasn't in an AT-ST walker. It wasn't as grand as he would have preferred, he had much wanted to take charge of a legion of troopers and an AT-AT..... But a small platoon and an AT-ST would have had to die for now. Inside the walker, he sat comfortably next to the pilot. Still safe from the downpour as his stormtroopers stood out in the pouring rain drenched in their white and black armor.

"Ugh... Why'd we have to be stationed on guard duty out here?!" One of the troopers began to complain towards another

"I don't know, but it's not fair that the Lieutenant is the only one that's not going to get trench foot!!!"

"Well, he's also the only one not wearing a suit of full body armor, so I wouldn't be took harsh on him!!"

"It's still not fair.... I want to pilot one of those things!!!"

"Well you aren't authorized to, so shut up before Lieutenant Maro gets angry that we're talking about him like this!!"

[member="Max Fel"], [member="Alexandra Feanor"], [member="Avedia Lacroix"], [member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Avedia Lacroix"] [member="Sergius Maro"] [member="Max Fel"] [member="Alexandra Feanor"]

Threat assessment:

Sounds of a walker, moderate distance, up on an unknown platform. Not a pressing matter unless it happens to get line of sight. Keep moving on general principle while outside.

Sense of general alarm, with an undercurrent of the Force. Someone here has taken notice of my arrival, apart from the woman in front of me. Not a pressing matter at this exact moment.

Woman in front of me. Human, petite I think, young, armed with an unignited lightsabre. I outweigh her by a significant amount, I'm much taller, but she does not appear or feel afraid. Angry, perhaps. Contemptuous. Prognosis: this is someone to watch.

Or poke with a stick.

He'd paused in the doorway as he perceived and then saw her. From inside his soaked under-robes, he produced a deactivated lightsabre of his own, a simple thing. Behind him, maybe ten metres down the walkway, part of the torn-up railing twitched.

"I'm in search of a snack. My gratitude to your superiors for accommodating me."

He turned sideways at the last moment, and a section of metal tubing -- a vertical railing-brace, maybe four feet long, sharpish at both ends -- shot past him like a spear, aimed at the woman's midsection. As it passed him and got through the door, the brace twisted sideways. It shed a little momentum via air resistance, potentially faking out the timing of her counter, and its sidelong flight might catch her a glancing blow if she dodged in the hallway's confines. He'd learned long ago that one-shot kills rarely worked, perhaps because they engaged an enemy's danger-sense more acutely. The key to taking down someone with this level of confidence in the Dark Side was to wear them down by attrition, by causing a number of small injuries and prodding them to expend disproportionate power. All else being equal, that would be his strategy.

TL; DR: four-foot length of metal coming at you sideways.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Velok the Younger"] | [member="Alexandra Feanor"] | [member="Max Fel"] | [member="Sergius Maro"] |

Instinctively, Avedia forward so as to dodge the incoming railing and get closer to her opponent to engage in a Lightsaber duel. The mid-way feint caught her off guard. As she was coming out of the roll, the railing caught the back of her heel, thus breaking the rolling movement. It wasn't a direct blow to her feet, but it was enough to break her roll and cause an immense amount of pain that shuddered up along her leg and through her spine. Climbing onto one knee, Avedia begun to feed on the pain that ran up through her body, seething from the emotion that it brought out of her: hate.

Thumbing the ignition button of her Saberstaff, the twin-blades danced out to the left and right as she rose up to her feet. Shrugging her heavy Sith robes off her body, Avedia revealed the esoteric tattoos that ran up along her arms and back. Twirling the blade in front of her, the Sith Lord walked forward to engage Velok in Lightsaber combat. The dark side of the Force flowed through her body, providing enough strength to walk towards the Whipkid without being hindered by the glancing blow to her right foot.

 

[Sergius Maro]

Some of Maro's guards heard some loud noises, thuds, whooshes, crinkling, the works. Maro could faintly hear it as well in his walker, he squinted his eyes and put his hand to the side of his ear to hear better. Two of the stormtroopers looked at eachother then at the AT-ST. Maro opened the cockpit of his walker, rain now drenching his helmet, and pointed at the two troopers

"You lot!!! Go check it out, I don't very much fancy what I'm 'earing!" He anounced before closing the cockpit door and rubbing on his arms to warm up from the rain

The two stormtroopers looked at eachother, then both gave a sigh in unison. They went down to one of the other platforms to wear the noise was getting louder, and louder, and louder. They had finally reached a point where the noise seemed to be a few feet away, and when they turned the corner their they saw the two Sith fighting. The troopers were at first confused by what they saw... Turned to look at each other, then shook the awe away and realized that they were still intruders.

"INTRUDERS!!! BLAST THEM!!!" One shouted as the other called up Maro on the comms

"Lieutenant Maro.... We've located where the noise is coming from!! Their appears to be two intruders on one of the lower platforms!! I think we're going to need reinforcements down here!!"

[member="Avedia Lacroix"]
[member="Velok the Younger"]
[member="Max Fel"]
[member="Alexandra Feanor"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra's eye drifted off to the right, the ear piece she wore going off with chatter and she sighed as she looked back up at [member="Max Fel"].

"It would seem we have some visitors. I would ask you come with me Max, I am unsure of how many there are and who they are, something I would like to find out and deal with before too many get themselves in trouble. Now if you will excuse me Max." She said with a quick voice before changing her focus to the comms and placing a hand over the transmit button.

"Whoever is in command of that sector, seal off the section and post your troops outside of the sealed sector. This is Grand Master Feanor, I will deal with our unwelcome guest without putting more lives in danger... recall any troops engaged too. I have a bad feeling they are in over their heads." She had no evidence for the feeling, but had felt the use of the force more than enough times to tell when it was beyond the range of a few troopers. And if there was two intruders, she could only imagine the danger that they were being put in by fighting a force user of skill in an enclosed space where they cant flank the individual.

She was unsure if [member="Sergius Maro"] would comply, after all he had no reason to, but the hope remained. "Ever fought a dark sider max?" She would ask quickly before pushing through the doorway and down the hall, expecting for max to follow her towards [member="Avedia Lacroix"] and [member="Velok the Younger"].

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Avedia Lacroix"][member="Sergius Maro"][member="Alexandra Feanor"]

As she came toward him, he backed up onto the walkway again, into the rain. Above, the bulk of a massive Kaminoan structure should have blocked the deluge, but powerful winds sent the rain across his vision on a nearly horizontal course. He staggered against the gale, despite weighing as much as he did.

Behind him, at the far end of the walkway, the other door opened, a voice shouted a phrase or two, and his danger-sense sang. Without hesitation, Velok sidestepped through the twisted gap in the railing and dropped to catch the walkway's edge with one massive hand. His bulk jolted his grip, but Whiphid hands were the binary load lifters of the organic world. The two stormtroopers' blasterfire slashed through the place where he'd been standing, straight at the other Darksider. He deactivated his lightsabre so as to present a less visible, less appealing target than the tattooed woman with the sabrestaff who was now facing both troopers.

The four-foot-ten woman who weighed about as much as his breakfast this morning. And who, for the moment, would now have to negotiate with not just the blasterfire, but the rain-slicked walkway and the wind.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Velok the Younger"] | [member="Alexandra Feanor"] | [member="Sergius Maro"] | [member="Max Fel"] |

Avedia stood in the doorway, torrential rain and gale force winds assaulting her, as she watched the Whipkid expertly launch himself over the ledge and hold onto the railing. With the rain soaking her, the black combat vest that she wore stuck onto her body, authenticating her curves and bringing her body temperature down to near freezing. With the dark side of the Force flowing through her, Avedia fought against the bitter winds. Despite this, her chalk white skin seemed to become even paler, further defining the story that had been inked onto her body by the woman that had shown her the ways of the dark side.

Through her rain soaked hair, Avedia spotted the red bolts of energy that came towards her. She expertly maneuvered her Saberstaff to intercept the bolts to either side, but felt herself buckling to the left off the rebound of being shot at. Aiming to stagger herself into the doorway, rather than being blown off the bridge by the winds that attacked her, Avedia bumped her shoulder into the cold, unforgiving frame of the door, drawing blood from the sharp incision made by the razor sharp durasteel. Gritting her teeth, the Sith Lord focused her gaze with malice upon the Whipkid, searching for him with her Force Senses.

Which she found the Whipkid hanging onto the railing, Avedia reached out with her powers and coiled an invisible hand around the railing from which Velok hung from. Seizing control of the railing with the power of the Force, Avedia swung her hand forward like she was punching, and heard the railing snap under the duress of the assault. Stepping away from the doorway and walking forward, Avedia made her way to where the railing was, so as to confirm with her own eyes what had happened to the mysterious individual who she had felt was in alignment to the dark side himself. As she walked forward, the two Stormtroopers who had fired upon Velok kept jogging their way forwards to join the High Inquisitor. She felt their fear at being in her presence and she drank it in with a smug grin.

 

[Sergius Maro]

Maro received the transmission from the Knight Grand Master and gave a nod "Yes Grand Master, as you command...." The Lieutenant called up his two troopers in response and gave them as well as his other troopers their orders "DO NOT ENGAGE HOSTILES!!! I repeat, DO NOT engage hostiles!!! I have di-rect orders from an Inquisitor herself!! Our orders are to seal off this sector and let none leave!! Right, get to it men!!" The troopers near the two intruders ran off and Maro's other guards placed themselves around the the large platforms. Maro himself, comfortably safe inside his AT-ST pulled out a pair of binoculars to watch the Grand Master of the Imperial Knights deal with the intruders. If need be (despite his better judgement) he'd fire a few blasts from his AT-ST to reinforce the Grand Master. Though hopefully if he were to comply to her orders, she could put in a good word for him to get a promotion ( )

[member="Avedia Lacroix"] | [member="Velok the Younger"] | [member="Alexandra Feanor"] | [member="Max Fel"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Avedia Lacroix"] [member="Sergius Maro"]

The strength of Avedia's grip shocked Velok - the sound of squealing, ripping metal. His probing errand had drawn out the Empire's Force-users, as hoped, but he hadn't expected to find an actual Master. Such things flashed through his mind as he fell. By the time he vanished under the water, he'd reevaluated the mission's likelihood of success sharply downward.

Cloaking his presence as best he could, he jammed a rebreather into his mouth and adjourned.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Velok the Younger"] |

Avedia thumbed the ignition button of her Saberstaff, lowering the pommel of her weapon as she observed the darkness below. Although she could hear the ocean beneath her, she could barely make out the waves that assaulted the station's hull. She certainly couldn't tell what happened to the intruder. Reaching out with her powers, Avedia searched the Force as if to confirm whether or not the intruder had died. She found nothing. Felt nothing. A satisfied smile appeared, replacing the hardened, angry one that had been there before. He must have fell and died in the water, the fool.

Hooking her Saberstaff onto her hip, Avedia turned and made her way back along the bridge into the shelter of the station, deceived into thinking that she had murdered Velok the Younger.