Vaulthunters

[Balaya Praelior Zambrano]

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

This jedi wasn't running which was god and seeing her calmness was even better. Balaya stepped forward again and lashed with the whip a second time while she moved again. Her hand motioning for the ones around her to enter the ship. "No words, fine little jedi fine. We'll play while your friend gets settled in with the others. She'll talk and help us eventually, tell us what we need to move further across the galaxy." Her whip lashed while she went for the feet, her taloned hand crackling while she prepared to fire off an arc of lightning. Elara let out a scream from inside when she was being chained up for Corvus to hear.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus continued to hold her ground. The benefit of relaxing and not becoming agitated or debate with the Sith was that she was able to fall deeply into the Center of Being. She was therefore able to unconsciously defend against her attacker.

Had she not been so immersed, she would have reacted to the whip, but instead the Force guided her to ignore it as it flicked at the ground some five centimetres in front of her still wet boots.

Instead she was able to put her mind to her eventual escape.

Balaya spoke again – taunting her – whilst at the same time instructing her troops to board the ship. Corvus did not consider saving Elara. Not, she told herself, because she was a coward but because it would be futile. ‘I am NOT a coward,’ she repeated in her head. Deep down, somewhere in her subconscious mind, she was trying to convince herself of the fact.

Surely she’d counselled both VlPER and Kana against running off and joining a war just to avenge the death of others. She’d reminded them of their duty as a Jedi – a commitment to the peace of all, not an individual. And she’d wondered at the time how she’d react.

She was now trying to convince herself that she was doing this because she was a good Jedi, not a weak one.

She was snapped out of this train of thought as the Force did what it does when you trust in it. She became instantly aware of the taloned hand crackling and her body adjusted to react to the threat the moment it came.

Had Elara not chosen that exact moment to scream, Corvus would probably have dealt with the threat with relative ease.

[member="Darth Praelior"]

 

[Balaya Praelior Zambrano]

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

Balaya let the lightning arc off her hand when the girl for a moment seemed to react to the scream. Her arm going back a little to reel the whip and then lash out with the beam deactivating so only the strands to guide it continued forward to try and lash her face. Her mind going towards chanting in the back of her head now while she slowly started to work a spell and focus letting the purple eyes track and gleam with their cybernetics. The rest of her body was moving while vong biots shifted to prepare and attack. Her gila stomach well within range for exorcist style projectile and the tongue while out of range was strong and able to still attack as the fangs of the mouth while it slightly hissed in her mouth.

Elara was in the ship screaming while she stood there with the Blackblades restraining and attacking her, she screamed into the force while they were working on hurting her. Still making it painful but they were trained by Kaine to keep people alive and able to function while delivering lots of hurt and pain. It was their specialty and then there was just everything else she could do while screaming out physically. "CORVUS!!!!" Her scream ripped out of her chest and her mind was fuzzy with it before she hunger her head and panted taking in large gulps of air. She had faced worse, she had been through worse for her master just now she could let out the pain while she pushed it to try and share with Corvus.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus felt the pain of Elara. Calling her name out like that was agony for the Corellian.

Were it not for her faith in the Force, she would have been so distracted that Balaya’s attack would have found her an easy target. Not that she avoided the Sith’s strike entirely.

Her shoto – Elara’s shoto – instinctively moved to track the Force lightning. The lash of the whip was avoided but not without losing her footing. As she fell, her Teräs Käsi moves kicked in and she performed the leaping vermok to allow her to at least land on her feet. Well, one foot and a knee - and the knee felt as if it had been twisted in the landing.

At least she presented a smaller target in this position.

Corvus knew when the tide had turned. She was never going to win this battle but there was a war to be won and dead Jedi tended to play no part in that.

From the crouching position she combined the speed and moves of Teräs Käsi along with Force Jumps and Force Speed to move as far away as she could quickly – and by moving in random directions, she hoped to present a harder target to hit. Once she could reach that rock they’d hidden behind before, she’d have cover.

’I’m not deserting you Elara,’ she thought as she moved, the shoto still in motion to block whatever may be thrown at her. ’I’m not.’ The warmth of the stream of tears on her face were contradicting her as she made to escape.

[member="Darth Praelior"]

 

[Balaya Praelior Zambrano]

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

Balaya watched her run, the jedi was going and while she was strong she was no longer fast. Balaya did the only thing she could think of as the lightning stopped crackling and her hand came up. She spoke the spell as her tongue flicked across her teeth slicing it. The gila stomach pouring up her throat as the caustic spew shot forth spraying the area. The blood from herself and the creature sent it in a wide spreading arc that coated the ground in blood and vongspawn. She didn't need to chase Corvus if it got on her, the blood trail would feel like a small burning sensation but it would be unnoticed. Balaya was pushing her power to propel the blood and vile virus through the air.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

The Force told her she was in trouble, she didn't need to look to know that. She could sense Balaya wasn't chasing her - but something was. Some thing, not someone.

Vaulting the rock, Corvus dived into the river they'd swam through previously. She didn't know exactly why, but it felt the right thing to do. As she reached the river bed, she was aware the rising dawn light was being shut out by something on the surface of the river. It went dark and she was aware that something was coating the water.

Exercising Breath Control, she moved to the deepest part of the flowing water and remained there, closing her eyes and using Force Sight to check her surroundings. Under other circumstances it would have been nostalgic. Just like the underwater caves on Corellia.

[member="Darth Praelior"]

 

[Balaya Praelior Zambrano]

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

Balaya moved slowly to the rock and stood there as she looked at the vong bile making small things on the rocks and ground. Her boots crunching but she wasn't looking at the being. If she had gotten some of the blood she'd be able to find the jedi later but that wasn't important as she looked around the water. "Have fun little jedi, I'll be back and there are others who still are around." Balaya started heading back as she tapped a talon on the one crate scratching a rune across it. Elara was on the ship, she had done as needed and now to see if this one took the bait.

The others who had been working with Elara were here as well and she'd have to push them, have to apply pressure to them but for now she'd let her trip from Ossus back towards Alderaan. Elara was there on the rack as she entered the ship and sealed the airlock with a hiss. Balaya focused on sending all she could through Elara for Corvus to feel and watched the river through her familiars eyes, its false aura still pulsing with the lightside. Lightning coursed through her apprentice getting another scream of pain and calling out Corvuses name as the ship started to take off.

From the river the corellian bird, her familiar squawked while it perched and waited for Corvus to get it. Its one foot clutching the fallen saber and ready to fly off.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

The Sith woman cast a long shadow over the water. Once she’d left, Corvus waited for a while longer. In her head all she could hear were the screams of Elara. In terrible pain and it was all her fault.

The moving water managed to flush whatever was on the surface downstream and finally she decided to risk surfacing. The Force told her that the coast was clear but she was still wary.

When she dragged herself to the bank of the river, she flopped down, exhausted. As she lay there, Elara’s pet flew down and landed beside her. The bird had the shoto she’d dropped in it’s claw and dropped it beside her.

Corvus picked it up and stared at it. Elara’s shoto. She must have looked at it for almost an hour, turning it over, worried about what was happening to its owner.

“I’m sorry,” she managed and the tears flowed once more. She stood up, clipped the shoto to her belt and faced towards the Academy, walking very slowly at first. She put a hand on the shoto and finally picked up the pace. “Time to face the music.”

[member="Darth Praelior"]