Public The Shadow Over Bespin [Open]

[Malakai Shorn]

Jerec Asyr , Irina Volkov, Zephyr Krayt, Ven Asher , Onrai , The Major
Ceri , Darth Carnifex

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Journeying through the pale, winding halls of the mining colony, what with his motivation to escape the surprisingly fast... TOMBSTONES. Brief interactions with them through the station brought more and more into his path it felt. A stray thought wondered as to how many were on board, how many did he have to kill to get back to his own ship? Were the benefits worth staying any longer?

"Huh?" Malakai sputtered out, his foot catching on something. Stumbling forwards, he glanced down and over his shoulder. A root, in the middle of the station? Attention drawn around the corner, a thumping repeatedly sounded. Peering at his wrist-pad's display again, with the path set out for him, the thumping was directly on the shortest route to where he had to go.

Rounding the corner, he was immediately brought face to face with Ceri . The sounds were leafy, but there was a punch behind him that was unexpected. Circling, he was glad to note that the victim was another one of those obelisk carrying quadrupedal. Content with that knowledge, he did ait at least, to see the result anyway.

And just as suddenly as he had stumbled across the scene, it ended.

"Uh huh..."

Over his shoulder, he gave off another glance before he started off again. "Let's go... This way," Malakai suggests, wrist-pad receiving another glance.

Ascending through the city, the amount of 'Tombstones' increased, the apparent source of the beacon, where they were thickest. The Force ripped through them, bowling them into each other and out of the way as he passed, presumably with the plant woman in tow. When one got too close, his saber flicked, carving through their peak at eye-level, or carving through the undercarriage.

Fighting through one of the archways onto the open plaza, on the other end more of the creatures emerged, and he caught sight of the Ithorian in the midst of battle. Coupled with other survivors fighting, Malakai didn't waste his chance to leap into the fight.

As was typical of his forebearer, both his hands raised, and he bent the Force to his will, and many of the Tombstones that invaded the plaza came off the ground. Raising, immobilized and free for the survivors to kill with whatever weapons they had available.

 

[Cyran Vaas]

Cyran rode down the rather empty streets on the floating city. Looking around at the discarded remains of the locals as he hovered past on his speeder bike. It was pretty spooky to say the least. He wasn't really sure where the head to until he was notified by his scouting probe droid. Letting him know about a signal directing people to some luxury high-rise of sorts.

With that really seeming like the only real guidance to go off of Cyran would embark towards the high tower they seemed to be stationed at. The revving of his speeder echoing through the city scape as he did. But that noise drew unwanted attention.

As he tried to close in on his destination his probe droid alerted him to movement up ahead. That's when Cyran saw it, or them. It was a pack of... monoliths... on legs? "What the hell?" Uttered Cyran behind his helmet. There was three of them scurrying into the street he was on ahead of him. One of them Spotted Cyran on his speeder, he heard a mix of groans and chittering clicks as it communicated with the two others by it. All of them looking at Cyran and eyeing him down. Scuttering down the road towards Cyran he flinched some as they ran towards him. Droning loudly as they darted towards him almost as if in a frenzy to see which one could reach him first.

It seemed as though the folks in the high tower had to way. "Prowly, help me find another route!" He said to the droid though his coms with it. Shifting gears he hastily reversed some and aligned his speeder with an alleyway. Shifting gears into drive he turned the throttled and sped off into the more cramped path. Checking the rearview mirror on the the left he saw the three monsters scrambling into the ally after him. Almost tripping over each other as they made their sharp turn. "Gross..." He uttered to himself.

Irina Volkov | Darth Carnifex | Zephyr Krayt | Jerec Asyr

 

[Jerec Asyr]

...he activated his jetpack and headed to the overlook where he landed on the railing surrounding the edge of the platform and fired blaster bolts towards the legs of any of the creatures that were within his range. After a few moments, he stepped down off the railin
g to get to a closer range where he could use his flamethrower.

"Good evening." He greeted the other there before unleashing a burst of flamethrower on the nearest monstrosity.

Fighting through one of the archways onto the open plaza, on the other end more of the creatures emerged, and he caught sight of the Ithorian in the midst of battle. Coupled with other survivors fighting, Malakai didn't waste his chance to leap into the fight.

As was typical of his forebearer, both his hands raised, and he bent the Force to his will, and many of the Tombstones that invaded the plaza came off the ground. Raising, immobilized and free for the survivors to kill with whatever weapons they had available.

Ragged cheers rose as a Mandalorian joined in, flamer aflame. The survivors shouted again as a piratical-looking young man called on the Force and lifted tombstones off their clicking claws for ease of disposal. Vibroblades and maintenance torches sheared legs off the obelisks; blasters pounded at the stone. Jerec stowed his blaster to save charge. He hacked into the tombstones without finesse. The burnt-orange lightsaber might as well have been a machete. Admittedly he was struggling to find calm. He didn't trust himself to call heavily on the Force, so he helped drag the dead tombstones by hand. They made fantastic barricades between the standing plinths.

By this point the survivors had turned the central area into a decent fort that restricted the tombstones to only two approach vectors separated by ninety degrees. The fort's walls comprised the original circle of tall ornamental plinths, and dead tombstones choking the gaps. Some tombstones tried and failed to get over, and wound up funneled to the two entrances. Choke points, really.

 

[The Major]

Location: Cloud City
Morale: Low (In Combat)
Outfit
Equipment: Datapad, FO-COMLINK Mk I, FO-LIPSTICK Mk I, Stun Baton
Darth Carnifex | Jerec Asyr | Malakai Shorn | Cyran Vaas | Veino Garn | Irina Volkov | Ceri | Onrai | Ven Asher ​

!PEW-PEW!​

!BANG!

!GEH-BOBOBOBOBOH!​

::AAUAAAUGH::

Like in so many parts of the city, desperate combat broke out in yet another street. That last First Order Stormtrooper squealing as both he and the obelisk monster took a tumble over the edge of a platform and slid down beyond the edge of a structure before falling, falling, falling into the cloudy embrace of Bespin proper in particular peeled out louder of the dim of this firefight concerto. It was enough to make the blood seize in one's throat.

The platoon had fallen back and fought a fighting retreat to the shuttle. Not to fully flee and relinquish control of the city, but to make use of the heavy weapons and rotary cannons of the gunship as a defensive line as more the creatures committed themselves thoughtlessly. Advantages for now meant that attacks could only filter in from direction, making for a deliciously placed chokepoint. Disadvantages meant that if they were overwhelmed then the platoon would make a pretty delicious meal.

Nevertheless, the Major and her troopers held their ground and poured blaster fire on monster after monster —waiting in a lull to gather their marbles to make a concentrated push into the now dead heart of Cloud City.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

If the Lich Lord of the Sith was still capable of smiling he would have, but what greeted Irina's acceptance of his hand was the same stoic indifference that had greeted her arrival. Together they walked away from the Palace perimeter, the hordes of monolith-horrors followed after them once their dark master's attention had been diverted away.​

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The palace was safe for the time being.​

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Carnifex and Irina walked through the empty streets side-by-side, passing by the scenes of the Lich Lord's assault upon the city's once numerous denizens. The corpses of some of his monolith-horrors were strewn about the streets as well, a few of them were freshly slain. Eventually, they could hear the sound of action and conflict echoing down from the open plaza of Apex Overlook. The Overlook itself was many stories above street level, and Carnifex craned his neck up to look at the lip of the plaza platform.​

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Reaching out with the Force, he carved an octagonal portion of the street out from under him. He willed it to rise up into the air, carrying both him and Irina into the sky towards the plaza. At their approach, the tide of horrors dwindled to nothing as the creatures retreated into the darkness of the city. They would continue to attack those who were not at Apex Overlook, their minds still bent towards their primal purpose to kill and consume.​

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The sight of Carnifex and Irina rising up over the edge would be visible to anyone at the Overlook, along with the oppressive sense of darkness and dread that accompanied it. The platform he had raised moved forward onto the overlook and then crashed down a few feet from the lip. ​

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Carnifex's brilliant eyes swept over the assembled defenders, looking at them like one would stare at an ant.​

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He then raised his right hand and unleashed a wave of scarlet lightning towards the portion of the defenders who were not wielding lightsabers.​

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Veino Garn | The Major | Cyran Vaas | Irina Volkov
Jerec Asyr | Onrai | Malakai Shorn | Ven Asher
Ceri | Rekha Kaarde | Zephyr Krayt​

 

[Aaran Tafo]

As the scarlet lightning flashed, the might of the Lich Lord, the Galaxy's most prominent candidate for the title of Sith'ari unleashed upon those who were several magnitudes his lesser arced downwards. There was the sound of wrenching metal and the snapping of pipes. As before the former Emperor's strike could land and no doubt wreck unholy havoc on the brave souls who would stand opposed to him. A series of metal pipes impaled the ground in front of the less defended few.

On their own, it would be put a paltry defence against such power. But there was a certain level of trickery going on. The laws of physics dictated that lightning typically followed the path of least resistance. It was only under the command of someone as fanatical as Darth Carnifex that such power could be directed and controlled. But it seemed that somehow, the crude barricade that had been rapidly erected was infused with something. The Force technique imbued within them reminding lightning of how it should typically behave. Drawing the brunt of the attack, absorbing the lightning and grounding it. Allowing the survivors a desperate few seconds to defend themselves or get out of the way.

It was not a direct contest of the Dark Lord's will. For that would be a dangerous contest of power that few could match. But using the natural laws of the universe against him was another matter.

"When I am confronted by the evils of the universe, I will rejoice."

From behind them came a voice, a hooded figure, clad the traditional robes of a Jedi. As Aaran Tafo stepped out from the shadows. Having only recently arrived to the floating city on his usual wanderings throughout the Galaxy. Imagine his surprise when he found the usually bustling city bereft of life and crawling with abominations. Fighting through them had been a chore, but it seemed that he was not the only one here putting up a resistance against the depravity before them.

His own barrier was enough to halt the attack, if only briefly. The metal melting into red-hot slag under the former Emperor's assault. But it was enough to save the precious lives that still tried to defy him.

"For when I am done, there will be one less."

Blade in hand, the Battlemaster calmly strode forward. Positioning himself in front of those who were unable to readily defend themselves. one hand reaching up to pull down his hood as he simply stared at the Sith'ari. Eyes defiant as he simply dared him to come and face the Warden of Peace.

Veino Garn | The Major | Cyran Vaas | Irina Volkov | Jerec Asyr | Onrai | Malakai Shorn | Ven Asher | Ceri | Rekha Kaarde | Zephyr Krayt | Darth Carnifex

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Rekha was met on the platform by screams and miners pleading to be taken from the city.."What what..I just go there, what is going on...now"

Razu lifted his hands to eeryone trying to get them quiet, "Capn it looks like invaders."

She blinked, "of course it is" Why wouldn't it....did she not just get warned a few weeks back that there were whispers...well the whispers were now shouting. "Ok......." She looked back to her ship, "Jared...." The tall burly first mate filled the door, "yesum.."

She smiled, "Jared, start taking everyone over to the platform be careful..." She looked around, "Go with Jared, take only what is important leave the rest...he will get you to safety...I'll go look at the invaders..."

She made sure she had her blasters, both were charged. She began to look like on of those old vigilantes from the holos.....gunslinger...yeah yea that is it.She nodded and made her way through the halls to get to the lift to take her to the upper streets....Goddess protect me only you know what I'm walking into.

Veino Garn | The Major | Cyran Vaas | Irina Volkov | Jerec Asyr | Onrai | Malakai Shorn | Ven Asher | Ceri | Zephyr Krayt | Darth Carnifex | Aaran Tafo

 

[Darth Ananta]

She Lives In Red Light​

Though her interest had been piqued early, to awaken at the side of her chosen, Irina's face was now set with disinterest. Their trek through the streets reminded her of the separation in perspective between herself and the professed Sith'ari - of what could be considered terrifying. Long since had illusions and personal terrors fallen out of favor among the Sith and practitioners of the dark as their machinations turned towards physical monstrosities and perversions of life, opting not to instill the instinct of terror but to demonstrate a superiority over the natural.

Even the very blast of lightning, which illuminated her pale face with its red sheen, that Darth Carnifex had levied on the Cloud City's defenders was a display of power - as would all things tend to be as subtlety in skill continued to fade.

For her part, the Sith remained relatively silent, the slow arch of her brow at the arrival of a voice she could not recognize, that of Aaran Tafo , being the only indication of her continued interest. A gaze held by ink-black eyes swept over the faces of those she could see, making an internal assessment to the risk she might face if a more direct conflict were to arise, before settling back on the man who moved in defiance to Carnifex. Chalk-white lips curled to a smirk that touched at the corners of her eyes - she had never met this stranger before, and her absence had created a vacuum in her awareness of credible threats from the Jedi, but found some degree of amusement in such bold confrontation.

"Is this what you have become, an inspiration for your enemies to strive to best?" She asked, tilting her head to the side as she cast a sidelong glance at her partner. "The shortcomings of a hunger for power and influence without fear, I suppose." She said as her gaze returned to the Jedi.

"How about you, hm?"

"What do you fear?"​

Veino Garn The Major Zephyr Krayt Jerec Asyr Ceri Cyran Vaas Onrai Ven Asher Malakai Shorn

 

[Ceri]

Veino Garn , The Major , Cyran Vaas , Irina Volkov, Jerec Asyr , Darth Carnifex , Onrai , Malakai Shorn, Rekha Kaarde , Zephyr Krayt,

Ceri wasn't much of a fighter.

Really, the whole 'trap the creature in roots'-thing was a bit of luck. Picking between staying alone with the dead thing or following Shorn seemed to be a pretty easy choice then. Especially since that one seemed prime for the whole 'combat warrior killer' specialist vibe. Maybe if Ceri stayed close and behind him he'd sort this problem out for them.

Yes, yes, good idea.

So Ceri nodded quickly to his suggestion and followed along.

The rest of the streets weren't in better shape, really. Devoid of life. Ceri wasn't sure how it had happened. One moment she was in a queue to order a sandwich, the next she was whacking that thing over the head with a stick.

No, really.

The events in between were a black blur.

By the time Shorn and Ceri reached their destination she realized they weren't the only ones alive. No, there was a whole fethin contingent of misfits trying to survive here. Shorn immediately lept into battle. Ceri... well... Ceri just blinked and took careful steps to be in the background. Once she realized they were trying to put up some cobbled-together walls she finally started contributing herself.

Pushing loose objects against one another, from chairs to airspeeders. It wouldn't be enough, Ceri knew that instinctively. But she could help, couldn't she?

A shifty glance over her shoulder (making sure nobody was watching) and she touched the gaps in between. Brushing her hand here and there, focusing, and slowly she alchemized some of the larger chunks of metal together. It was chitty craftmanship, really. Rave would be laughing tears. Except... who was Rave?

All of this meant that Ceri was quite distracted.

She missed the arrival of Aaran Tafo and even before that missed the fact that a Lord of the Sith was shooting lightning at them. This was the main reason that while most were getting out of the way... Ceri was still staying put, haphazardly trying to fuse more plates together. To give the people behind the barricades more time to get away.

Only once she started to smell something strange did she pause.

"Do... does someone smell something burning?"

Oh, yes. Some of the lightning had gone through. And right now her hair was on fire.

 

[Cyran Vaas]

Right, left, left again, forwards. Cyran on his speeder bike kept trying to shake off the nasty monolithic monsters that chased after him. However, from his spot he noticed up on at the Apex Overlook an arch of red lightning shot out towards it, or was it coming from it? He couldn't really tell from his angle.

However, this mild distraction made him done goofed. Looking ahead he almost ran into a dead end. Realizing that he'd missed his turn in the tight alleyways. "Damnit!" He hissed behind his helmet. Looking behind him the trio of monsters poured into from behind closing the distance. He wouldn't be able to beat them to his turn, he was gonna need to fight his way out.

Rapidly turning speeder to face him he shifted into first gear, revving loudly he charged forwards toward the monsters. Shifting up gears quickly to gain blistering speed towards the trio. Over his shoulder he grabbed the handle to his force pike and upholstered it with his right and. Holding it diagonally towards the ground he activated it. Electric crackling and hums generated from the weapon as he dialed it to a max setting.

From his low readied weapon he sliced upwards at the first monster, slicing through two of Cyran's right. A loud groan of pain filled the alley as he quickly moved the weapon over and with the same momentum cut off the two legs of the second one on his left side. With his arm and weapon crossed over on his left side he did a powerful horizontal strike at the last one. Almost ramming into it with his speeder from how close he got as he bisected it just above where it's legs met the rest of it's body.

With that done he quickly grabbed the breaks and "slid" to the side. Holding his leg out as his boot grinded against the pavement to balance himself as he rapidly slowed to a complete stop, looking out at the tree monsters that he passed through. The two with the legs removed scrambled around on their two remaining ones. But couldn't keep balance and were pretty helpless. The last one had already collapsed by the time he looked back. Their top half having slid off onto the pavement.

Spoiler

Ceri | Irina Volkov | The Major | Jerec Asyr | Darth Carnifex | Rekha Kaarde | Zephyr Krayt

 

[Zephyr Krayt]

The rag-tag group of people all fought for the same cause: to save what remained of the people in Bespin. There were several of them from all walks of life, united under a single task. Based on the presence of a lightsaber, at least one of the defenders was a Jedi or Force user of some kind. For others, it was not always so obvious what their affiliations were.

Zephyr developed an instant camaraderie with those he deemed to be temporary 'allies' and hoped he earned at least some trust in return from his efforts in taking down some of the creatures. If nothing else, his identity as a Mandalorian ought to hint towards which side of the fight he was on, given the broken relationship between the Sith Empire and his own people.

Peculiarly, the monstrous beings seemed to back down but it soon became apparent why in the following moments. He turned to face the open face of the Overlook where a sound like nothing he had ever heard before, almost a rumbling but not quite, grew louder and closer until the two Sith joined them at the Overlook. There was barely time to react before there was a surge of lightning heading towards those more defenceless against such an attack but a quick thinking Jedi seemed to save them from such a fate.

It was the first time he had ever had the misfortune of coming face to face with the infamous Sith'ari whose imposing figure and crimson red eyes offered much to fear. However, the Mandalorian was primarily angry, not just at Carnifex but at everything he stood for. As a foundling with an Imperial past, he had pent up a lot of hatred towards those who persecuted the Mandalorians who had taken him as one of their own but he was not about to act on such feelings and instead remained planted where he was, in front of those who weren't as fortunate to be in a beskar shell.

Zephyr turned to face the direction of a voice as someone who was more obviously a Jedi stepped out into the scene and his gaze followed the man as he made the first stand against the Sith lord. In support of the Jedi, he moved a few steps towards his newfound ally but didn't actively try to antagonise the Sith.

Darth Carnifex Aaran Tafo Ceri The Major Irina Volkov Jerec Asyr Rekha Kaarde Cyran Vaas Malakai Shorn

 

[Jerec Asyr]

Two concentric circles made up the apex plaza: the edge and the inner perimeter. The latter was a full-fledged barricade fort now that the defenders had piled the tombstone creatures between pale ornamental obelisks. More tombstones lay dead outside. Jerec stood on the barricade, gripping abstract statuary for balance, saber lit, and watched Darth Carnifex engage.

The octagonal platform had landed at the edge, outside the barricade circle. Jerec weighed options as a Jedi came to wrangle the big Sith Lord. He had zero love for the Jedi, but against that bulky lich he'd take all the help he could get.

With a glance, Jerec took in the new arrivals. Zephyr Krayt, fresh but holding back; Ceri , applying the Force to strengthen the barricades; Aaran Tafo , squaring off against the Sith; and the pale Irina Volkov, who reminded Jerec unpleasantly of his ex. The Jedi looked young, strong, brave, and capable of buying the rest of them some time.

Jerec grimaced with both sides of his neck and hopped off the barricade - on the inside, away from the fight. His broad stable feet thunked down on the stonework.

"Time to bail," he growled, doing his best to rally the couple dozen folks inside the barricade circle. "We've got enough firepower to make it to my boat. Hangar Seven."

He unplugged his multispectral radcannon, which had maybe four shots' worth of charge, and headed entirely away from the fight. The bulk of the survivors and defenders who'd swarmed to his position came along in a swarm. They burst out of the barricade circle opposite the Jedi versus Sith fighting and crossed the ten or twelve meters to the entry of the nearest gallery hall.

Jerec glanced back. "Ryv a jaggath," he grumbled, and passed the multispectral radcannon to Ceri - along with his ship's access key. "Get outta here, lady."

He hefted his lightsaber, lit it up again, and headed around the barricade circle. Back toward where the Jedi kid was facing down two probable Sith armed with virtually nothing but self-righteousness and a dream.


OOC summary: Most of the survivors are heading for Jerec's ship in a decently-armed group. Jerec is coming to join Aaran against Carnifex and Irina to buy them time.

 

[Ezekiel Graenge]

Scene: The Queen Amelia, above Cloud City.
Starring: Ezekiel Graenge | QT-P13

"I repeat, this is CEC-two-four-eight-two-five-eight-dash-two-two-two to Cloud City Space Traffic Authority, how copy?"​

​

This had to be the fourth or fifth time that he'd tried to raise the local spaceport authority on comms and so far it was as fruitless as the other attempts. Zeke huffed an aggravated sigh, frowning as he looked over at the little astromech socketed in next to him. "The kark do you think is going on out there? I haven't even seen air-speeder traffic."​

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Berrww... The droid beeped, expressing his anxiety. Zeke frowned at his answer, pausing in thought. "We'll pull down closer. Might be violating a few air traffic zoning laws, but I'm not exactly sure there's anyone to care." He nosed the Queen Amelia downwards towards the city scape below, decreasing his speed steadily as he peered at the streets with a deeply uneasy feeling.​

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"Cutie switch us over to public comms, we'll see if we can hail anyone here at all."​

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The astromech buzzed for a moment before chirping an affirmative. Zeke keyed down the transmit key once more.​

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"This is Ezekiel Graenge, captain of the Queen Amelia to any station, anyone out there?"​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Darkness rises and Light to meet it," idly spoke Carnifex in response to Irina's inquiry. He seemed to show very little interest in his attack being foiled by some clever Force manipulation, watching instead as the inhabitants within the blockaded section of the city began to disperse and flee. He could have easily continued his attack upon them, it would have taken very little effort to do so, but he held his hand aside and allowed them to clear. For those that stood before him were of more interest than the feeble-minded proletariat that he had preyed upon so far.​

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Especially the Jedi.​

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"But the Light stretches itself too thin, and Darkness thrives in the gaps left behind." Carnifex reached up to grasp the choker of his robe and tore it aside, revealing sarrassian iron armor inscribed with blasphemous Sith runes. At his waist was clipped a single lightsaber, large enough to fit comfortably in the Lich-Lord's hands. He did not reach for it yet, rather opting to cross both arms over his broad chest as he stared down at the Jedi, now two, and the lone Mandalorian who stood beside them.​

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"Let us test their mettle, I would see what these champions are made of."​

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Carnifex made no gestures but at his unbidden command, the skies above Cloud City began to darken and roil with thunder and lightning. A shroud of shadow descended upon the entire city, plunging it into nightmarish darkness as scarlet lightning split the sky with malevolent screeches. Some bolts of lightning even crashed into distant skyscrapers and other structures, carving great chunks out of the buildings and scattering debris down into the streets below.​

​

In an instant, the lightsaber at Carnifex's side tore itself free of its magnetic moorings and flew towards the first Jedi that had arrived. The red blade snapped violently into existence, Carnifex's hand now wrapping around the hilt as he rushed forward to join it and swipe down from the top left to bottom right with the intent to hew the Jedi Knight in twain.​

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Veino Garn | The Major | Cyran Vaas | Irina Volkov
Jerec Asyr | Onrai | Malakai Shorn | Ven Asher
Ceri | Rekha Kaarde | Zephyr Krayt | Aaran Tafo
Ezekiel Graenge ​

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino paused and let himself dangle, more or less invisible from the side of a building near the top of the structure. He had been picking his way meticulously through the city, recording everything and gathering chemical samples from the clothes, the dust, the air, anything he could fit into a small test-tube to slide into his pack. He had no way of analyzing it now, but the Underground and ORION had a few labs set up that could go through it.

Dark Side sorcery was what his instincts were telling him, and the strange eye-like creatures some sort of Sithspawn or mechanized element. It was too late for the people in this part of Bespin already, but information could perhaps help prevent anything from the future. Thunder and lightning cracked outside and the Dark Side chilled the air.

He adjusted the settings on his visor and began to work his way quickly towards the top, where he could sense the onset of the combat. This was power finally unleashed after being held in abeyance. He crawled up and over a barrier to watch the situation.

That was if he was anything like the expert at analysis and memorization he was meant to be, Carnifex. The other, he didn't recognize. But he did recognize the few Jedi trying to hold them back. Wild and desperate, but also very outmatched.

Veino rolled his neck within his armor and let the Force Cloak drop from around him and instead of dispersing his presence to be invisible, concentrated it into a brilliant flare of Light within the area, hotter and brighter than a star. That might just serve as enough of a distraction to buy the others some time. That done, he breathed in and then out, hurtling himself away from the side of the building he dangled from. Pushing both out with the Force surging in his legs and pulling towards the others simultaneously. No lightsaber yet, just the handcannon that he used to fire a quick barrage of energized flechettes at the back of the Sith to clear a landing before he hit the ground in a tight roll.

He came to a crouch, knees deeply bent and feet rooted heavily onto the platform. He spoke then, in the ancient language of the Sith. "Nu sua tave anuloti."

Distract, disperse, keep them off balance. The unexpected and unknown were the true weapons he aimed to wield rather than blade or bolt. Distract their focus, disperse their attention, unbalance their expectations, strike hard, and then disappear. He was under no illusion they'd be able to take the Sith down, not here, unprepared, and not at this point when all the cards were in their opponent's hand. Still no information on how Carnifex had returned from the grave however many years ago that was.

It was already a lost battle, but they could at least get the rest of the survivors out and the information and disperse it. Dark were the secret machinations of the Sith, and little known, but if they could share that information and knowledge, they could at least be more prepared for the next time.

 

[Onrai]

Meanwhile, while this had all been happening, Onrai had managed to finally coax one of the Beldons close enough to Cloud City in order to effectively get a genetic sample. The gas-filled creature slowly sank back into Bespin's atmosphere as the probe containing the genetic sample of the creature returned to her. It was simple enough - for now. As she began to withdraw from the lower levels, it became obvious that a lot had happened without her having noticed.

Hopefully none of those other people would interfere with her attempt at leaving the platform.

Darth Carnifex Veino Garn The Major Cyran Vaas Irina Volkov Jerec Asyr Malakai Shorn Ven Asher Ceri Rekha Kaarde Zephyr Krayt Aaran Tafo Ezekiel Graenge

 

[Aaran Tafo]

As the two Sith turned their gaze to acknowledge his presence, the younger Jedi, rotated his shoulders, loosening muscles and alleviating any of the tension that was beginning to well up from their tensing. It was hardly an ideal situation. Either one of the Sith in front of him was liable to give him the fight of his life. Both together was not something he could see himself feasibly winning.

But as he heard the patter of the various civilians making their escape. He released a breath he did not realise he had been holding. Tension fading as he reminded himself that victory was not the objective. He simply had to hold the line until the others were safe. Then he could focus on getting the hell out of here.

Sparing the briefest of glances towards Irina Volkov . The Jedi pursed his lips, his stance and body language indicating that he was giving her statement some thought. "Is it not the duty of the younger generation to try and surpass those who came before?" He asked, raising a brow. Before his mind turned to her next question. He was fine with acknowledging what he feared. It was mostly an abstract thing anyway. Not exactly an easy thing to turn against him in a conflict such as this.

"Stagnation." He admitted, giving the slightest of nods. "Not a big fan of it."

Normally one would consider admitting such things to a Sith to be a poor tactic. But in his mind, it was just an attempt to keep people talking, monologing. Engaging in pointless grandstanding to waste time and energy so others could flee. And it seemed that Carnifex at least considered Aaran to be worthy of his attention. Making a suitably dramatic entrance. The grip on Arete tightened as the storm gathered overhead. His breathing slowed as he forced his beating heart to follow a more regular tempo.

No emotion. Peace

What was happening could not be changed. All he could do now was keep his wits about him and survive.

Of course, when the Lich Lord charged directly at him, The Warden of Peace knew that his work would be cut out for him. Time slowed to a crawl from his perspective as the Sith'ari lunged forward. The Force lending the Knight the speed he needed to raise his blade in time to intercept the strike that would have cleaved him in half had be been a heartbeat slower. Free hand moving to the back of Arete's blade to give him the strength and leverage needed to not be knocked clean off his feet by Carnifex's blow.

Instead, he rolled with the impact. Allowing it to push him back and gain some distance as he considered his next move. Ignoring how arms were numb from the brief clash with the former Emperor. The hyper-awareness of any seasoned fighter kicked in. Brain working overdrive to keep him alive.

Behind the Dark Lord. He could see another figure launching themselves upwards, firing a salvo to distract the Sith. And with an exertion of will. Aaran did the same. The melted slag from before, still red-hot and liquid would surge forward. Propelled by his will. Launching itself at Carnifex to bury him in molten metal.

He doubted that the attack would do much more than be a brief inconvenience to Kaine. But it was not his intention to claim victory. Such a feat was still far beyond him. And death was still a possibility. But he would make the Dark Lord work for every inch.

Darth Carnifex | Irina Volkov | Jerec Asyr | Ceri | Malakai Shorn | The Major | Rekha Kaarde | Cyran Vaas | Zephyr Krayt | Ezekiel Graenge Veino Garn

 

[Jerec Asyr]

APEX OVERLOOK
ENGAGING: Irina Volkov
NEARBY: Darth Carnifex vs. Veino Garn and Aaran Tafo

Nobody, so far as Jerec could tell, was engaging the pale and somewhat spectral-looking Sith, the one who might be behind the lightning storm or start tossing hell around any moment. He couldn't quite decide what she was. Ghostling? Actual ghost? Normal humanoid in strange lighting? Just a lady who owned too much makeup?

Corporeal existence was a simple thing to test. The Ithorian mechanic brought up the blaster in his off hand, sighted at her, and pulled the trigger a couple times. He had a lightsaber, a nice simple burnt-orange one, but a lightsaber was just one tool in the toolbox. Sometimes the best solution was a hammer drill, not an exacto knife. Nothing against exacto knives, of course.

 

[Ceri]

APEX OVERLOOK
ENGAGING: Irina Volkov
NEARBY: Darth Carnifex vs. Veino Garn and Aaran Tafo

By the time Jerec Asyr came over, she had already managed to dunk her head in a nearby cask of water.

Very convenient.

It still had burned half her hair off though and the skin was more akin to bark than actual skin. Ceri didn't seem overly worried about it however, so maybe the best thing to do was not comment at all.

Jerec glanced back. "Ryv a jaggath," he grumbled, and passed the multispectral radcannon to Ceri - along with his ship's access key. "Get outta here, lady."

"O-h okay. Yeah, yes, I can do that!"

It made sense. Ceri wasn't much of a warrior, at first glance, best to get her out of the way and have her help the civilians. She understood the logic behind this, even if some unseen part of her felt insulted. For some reason. Either way, she did exactly as she was told. Escorting the civilians to the platform that Jerec's ship was on.

"C'mon, we need to get outta here!" One of the civvies exclaimed as they saw Ceri dally on the platform. "No... no, it's okay. Lock the doors. If we don't return or those... things start appearing... gun it." She passed the access key over to them. "I am gonna go and... help... some way."

Every part of her thought this was a bad idea.

Somehow that made it the only idea worth considering.

She took a detour, passed that first creature she had trapped in the roots. The creature she had seemingly killed. But what seemed to be the case and what was actually the case were two different things altogether. She managed to jump on top of it, as it struggled to get out of the roots she had covered it with.

Then Ceri closed her eyes and used the Force.

Chalk it up to a combination of Mind Rub, Alchemy and Plant Surge, but the end result was the same-

One young lady with a rad cannon charging back on scene on top of one of those pyramidian creatures. Top to bottom covered in roots that seemed to be digging into it and animating it against its own will. Freaky stuff. Either way, as Jerec shot at Irina, Ceri aimed to do the same from behind.

tl;dr

Spoiler

• primed the civvies for evac
• brought back an old friend
• pew pew with rads

 

[Darth Ananta]

Human​

A simple nod signaled her approval of Darth Carnifex 's assessment, though the lack of enthusiasm perhaps belied some degree of skepticism. Her attention, however, had been held primarily on their Jedi foe - one Aaran Tafo - and his answer. Perhaps he viewed her as something of an orator, and perhaps in another life she might have been, but Irina's vice had always been to dedicate her every word, each and every drawn breath, to some scheme. The question she had posed, while fitting of some kind of villainous prose, was in fact as genuine a curiosity as one would draw from her - her repertoire, her interests even, had always been in the psyche of her victims.

Especially in their fears.

It was what had set her aside from the man she'd paraded through the streets with before this quaint confrontation - he was blunt, almost predictable, where she preferred to play with her food. And, as if to exemplify this, even as she'd contemplated the myriad of ways to pierce through the Jedi's bravado with his self-proclaimed anxieties the Sith Lord at her side had lept into action, saber in hand. She'd hardly the time to consider whether she might throw her own lot into the mix when Jerec Asyr made his move. While it wasn't unheard of for a master of the force to avoid one shot from a blaster, or even a slugthrower, at range without much to alert them besides a basic degree of danger sense, it was another thing entirely to anticipate multiple successive rounds in a short space of time.

Needless to say, while Irina did, in fact, jerk to the side and out of the way of the initial blaster bolt that might've otherwise struck her, the other rounds found quick purchase at center-mass. A small frame, and a rather small amount of mass carried by it, meant even the most generous of protections would have left her feeling the brunt of the kinetic force behind the impact - which she most certainly did, staggering back as she gasped out for air. The incendiary nature of plasma on cloth was quickly realized, burning away at the robes that she'd wore, revealing underneath the armor she'd been laid to rest in during her confrontation with Prazutis so many years back. Clear scorch marks were visible from the heat on the phrik surface, and the scent of burned flesh underneath wafted up with the smoke produced from the burning robes - which she quickly shed as she turned to face her aggressor.

"Quick to the trigger, aren't we?" She asked with a strained voice, a frown and expression of discomfort etched into the features of her face.

Skilled with the tools to invade one's mind she may be, there was no denying that any level of mental combat required a certain degree of focus - focus she was temporarily lacking in the shock of such an underhanded blow. So she did the next best thing - a small, pale, hand lifted and exerted some uncoordinated degree of her antagonized will through a telekinetic push through the force. Sure, it wasn't graceful, but then neither was most of improvised combat.

Veino Garn Ceri Onrai Ezekiel Graenge Zephyr Krayt Cyran Vaas The Major Malakai Shorn Ven Asher