It did not take more than a few minutes after Lea shouted before the other prisoners trooped in to eat. Lea did not really pay them much heed, but made some space as they moved to sit down. When something hard bumped into her leg, she instinctively lashed out with it, but whatever it was was fairly heavy, so it did not move much. She did not think her reactionary kick was very visible above the rim of the table. She had no idea what the source was, but a quick glance underneath the table revealed some sort of droid of a design completely unknown to her.

She had no way to know of its source, but she resolved not to speak of it at the moment, not yet having the information necessary to figure out what its purpose was or where it came from. While she did not mind the company of the Jedi who had been in one of the other rooms, neither did she speak to them. It was enough for her to continue eating, for her hunger was unusually strong, as if her entire reserves had been drained when the Darth had experimented upon her.

About ten-fifteen minutes after the others arrived, Lea suddenly felt full and very tired. Getting to her feet, she shuffled over to her bunk, climbed atop it and lay down to rest, falling asleep within minutes.

Navi’s light, armored shell felt Lea’s foot lash out and kick him. Immediately the droid bunkered down and braced himself against the incoming hit, his legs resisting the harsh attempt to get him to move like some unwanted snerf. He followed his it with a series of rude clicks and whirls that were clear protesting remarks over his treatment. Even his laser was pushed out and ready to give Lea a hot spot on her leg for the transgression, through it was more of a bluff than serious consideration. It was set at the lowest setting, but even if it hit true and made lasting contact, the effects would hurt considerably. Through only an idiot or one that didn’t feel pain, wouldn’t move their cooking appendage when something hot was pressed against it.

To Koren, if he caught it, he would hear Navi calling the young girl a worthless meat sack and piece of organic waste found within the refresher in his irritation. His optics glared at the female who peered quickly down to spot what she had hit then quickly returned to her meal, unfazed by the little droid’s warnings and insults. For a moment, the little droid stood there until his body was quickly lifted up then pulled near the Echani padawan’s seat.

"Shh, careful! We can try and get someone who knows what you're saying to listen to you but not if you get caught!" Khan stated in worry, then placed him to the side where he would stay out of trouble.

Buzzt, beep… skt! Navi cursed at Khan, the droid’s irritation showing in his word choice rather than his tone. Not that the boy could understand him. Koren would catch something around along the lines of useless organic and Lea started it as the droid forced himself to settle down. His legs folded up and underneath his hexagon shaped form among the the padawan’s lap, patiently waiting for any conversation to start over the escape. At least he hoped something would be discussed through he had little hope.

He was gradually growing more negative the longer he remained in their presence, his frustration and impatience piling up, as he thought about Xid in the tank. It was starting to seem like a mystery how the Council managed to last this long and why they hadn’t lost the war sooner.

Navi let the Jedi begin their meal while he lifted upright to gently crawl over Khan’s upper thigh. His movements likely felt strange and odd, tickling even, when he edged toward Koren’s direction. On route, the little droid then nudged Denso’s foot who was likely also sitting down to eat but paid the Jedi little mind for the moment. By the time Navi reached a sitting Koren, then poked the Jedi in the leg to gain his attention. He then buzzed and clicked about Xid, seeming to hint in his word choice the Jedi didn’t do much to prevent the technician from getting injured, while he also what they were aiming to do. he didn’t bother to keep tabs on Lea, still being upset with her, when she seemed to excuse herself from the bench and moved toward the bunks to rest. If Xid hadn’t been in the kolto tank, the boy would’ve insisted on seeing if a full body scan or blood testing could’ve been done to determine the cause of his ally’s sickness. However, Navi had little issue leaving the woman to battle out whatever was happening to her. A perk of being a droid and not a Jedi, the way he saw it.

Vebra began to wonder if he had even left the war at all. This place reeked almost worse than any bar on Balmorra, even the freshly used blasters smelt right. Come to think of it, Vebra couldn't actually smell anything other than old blood, booze, and..... pheromones. Yeah, that was about right. He supposed all hellscapes with functioning bars were the same. After all, time and time again, people wanted to drink and forget for awhile. Scanning the room for Twi'leks Vebra quickly found his first at the bar, arguing with a bartender. He figured that was as good a place as any to start his search.

Vebra began moving towards the bar, ghost-like with his cloak swaying behind him. While he had ditched his gear and shoulder pauldrons in a tactical camouflage made of garbage outside he was still a physically imposing figure, even with his cloak hiding away most of his body. Vebra could feel his Beshkab weighing heavy at his hip as he felt several eyes turn their attention to him. While he didn't look particularly suspicious in a place like this, he still knew a few bodyguards had likely picked him out as a likely trouble maker. Surveying the rest of the patrons as he made his way slowly to the bar counter.

He could see several waitresses that fit the bill for the lead but he somehow doubted she would debase herself in her own eyes with such a menial job, he knew the type that would be willing to rip off the person that gave them a job. He also caught a glimpse of another Twi'lek fitting the bill on a far wall flirting with a human. If the bar Twi'lek didn't pan out she was his next stop, if he was being honest with himself he actually suspected that one over the bar Twi'lek. Vebra made his way to the bar and set down his elbow on the bar next to the Twi'lek and putting his hand on the small of her back. She was clearly angry with the bartender, arguing with the Besalisk about the price of a drink. The Twi'lek sort of jumped when he did that but she quickly just looked at him with a rather annoyed face. Vebra then said rather evenly "I don't know what's going on here but if you're arguing with the bartender about a drink price, you might want to reconsider. He's just doing his job."

The Besalisk then looked to Vebra for a second and then turned back to the Twi'lek. "Listen to your Zabrak friend here, he knows whats good for him. Pay my price or go find somewhere else to make your drink for you." Vebra used the aliens talking as his opportunity to get a quick whiff of the Twi'lek. Bingo.

Right as the Twi'lek opened her mouth to retort Vebra quickly moved his hand to the back of her head, hoping to knock her out on the counter and carry her out. She was quicker than the armored Vebra though. As he managed to get her head in the palm of his hand she had managed to pull her blaster and fire into his gut. Vebra immediately winced and instinctively brought his hand to his abdomen. Gritting his teeth and forcing himself not to double over Vebra took his left hand and grabbed for the now fleeing Twi'lek. He managed to touch her leather coat before she managed to begin sprinting for the door. Vebra threw himself out of the chair using what leverage he could with his feet and again only managed to touch her coat tails. He fell to the ground still clutching his stomach and began scrambling to get up. But he also realized that now he had the attention of the whole bar. Not good.

~|Day 2, 19:18 - 19:25 GST |~
~|Koren, Prisoner Complex (Aurek)|~

Koren laughed as the little infuriated droid continued to buzz at people all around the room before he turned his attention to himself. Climbing up Navi complained about Xid, the condition he was and that it was somehow Korens fault. "Xid made his choice, I did all I could. You know what Xid can be like sometimes. I can only guide him and mentor him, I can't make his choices for him." Then, speaking as quickly as he could - he would deal with any recordings later - he detailed his escape plan. Which everyone seemed to be bothering about.

"I need all of you to be ready tonight. I'm going to stretch my legs for a bit, explore around-" He turned to Navi. "-I'm going to need you to lie in waiting in the Secondary Control room. Start working on a program that will mess with the ships systems and allow me to close off certain corridors so I can create a path for everyone here. By mess with the ships systems I need a program that will direct their attention away from the path we're going to be taking." He turned to everyone else, before they could object. "This is a one man job, I'm going to disguise myself as a trooper and I will be going alone. The less people to take part int his till the final moments the better." He turned towards the older Jedi such as Denso and Kara. "You two, not to boss you around or anything, are going to need to move Xid and help the younglings. If me and Navi can manage it we'll find the sabers barring that hopefully we'll manage to get some form of weapons to you. Though-" He turned specifically to Denso. "-No offense, but in this instance I recommend Kara takes the modified training saber. I've seen her fight. You'll need that."

He stood up. "So, we clear?"

---

~|Day 3, 00:30 - 1:30 GST |~
~|Koren, The Kaggath|~

The door had opened exactly as Xid had said it would, it wasn't an overly complex design as far as security doors went. Most Jedi worth their salt would eventually be able to figure it out, thankfully Xid had sped that process up. Thinking back to him, he was the main concern. Denso and Kara would need to pull them from the tank early, likely leaving some of his wounds intact and requiring further medical intervention. Though they could always get that when they got off the ship. Looking up and down the corridor he prevented himself from reaching out in the Force, this was one of those times as little use as possible was better. While a Sith would need to be casting their senses to discover him, if he was doing the same he would likely be detected more easily. Thankfully years of training had his other senses well honed.

In a low crouch he clung to the wall of the corridor, slowly creeping along. He had left his robes behind, remaining in tight fitting black clothing. For what he had in mind it would not do well to be wearing too much to then leave lying around. Besides this left Xid or Kara with more applicable clothing should they so choose, if not the best fitting. It took him too long to find the quarters for the troopers... with several close calls. All in all he had remained undetected as he entered the bunkroom. Leaning in there was only one occupant who stood dressing in his armour. Walking in and hitting the lock button on the door the trooper turned around with a start.

"What are you-"

Koren waved his hand, distracting the troopers eyes, making him more susceptible to mind tricks.

"You do not need your armour or weapon."

"I do not need my armour or weapon." The trooper dropped his half cocked rifle.

"You are going to go to the mess hall and grab something to eat."

"I am going to go to the mess hall and grab something to eat."

"You will tell no-one you saw me."

"I will tell no-one I saw you."

Smiling as the Trooper walked out of the room, still in a somewhat trance like state Koren moved over to the locker and apprehensively began lifting out pieces of armour as he slowly put it on himself. Stretching slightly once he had it on, it wasn't very comfrotable. No wonder they were grouchy all the time. He raised his helmet above his head, and down over his face. As the hud and commsystems activated he let loose a breath he didn't know he had been holding. So far so good. He picked up the rifle and walked out the door, it took all his self control to remain standing up straight and not try to cling to the shadows. Took even more restraint not to raise his weapon in alarm as he walked straight past another trooper.

Well, time for phase 2.

It was time.

The turbo lift buzzed and hummed quietly, filling Jayda's ears. Her arms crossed over her chest and tightly held their position, her back pressed harder against the metal to draw strength from it. She could easily feel the small box rumble by each level on to its destination. Mentally she counted each second when it passed, her thoughts accompanied by the clicking of her swaying lightsaber hung by her belt. Inwardly, she mused bitterly about the fact there was such a thing as Sith practice chambers onboard the ship when clearly few sith would use them. Unless they were training a newly gained apprentice or a turned Jedi, there was only one she knew of, Nazca, through she suspected it wasn’t an earnest change and her motivations had more to do with helping the Jedi in the end. Despite her unorthodox methods and emotional state, Jayda had a distinct feeling the woman would forever be loyal to her friends even if they weren’t to her.

A trait that could cost someone their life should a Sith test the limits.

Pushing the thoughts away, Jayda’s focus returned to the matter at hand: how to deal with Corr and survive this ship. Her right hand slipped into her left sleeve and slow withdrew the vial she had gotten from Zanna. The liquid was murky and thick, the anti-clotting agent swirled along the clear barrier when she brought it closer to examine. Paranoia seeped in her mind about the authenticity of the contents through without it, she wouldn’t be sure she could make Corr’s death look like an accident. Unlike Jakali Harcor, this apprentice had actually sought to do her harm and made himself an obvious threat to her existence within the ship. She doubted he would’ve allowed her to become strong enough to defeat Sish which meant as long as he was alive, she would never relax.

Sish’s last words echoed to remind her that the shit eating lizard would never accept her absence of action either. If he decided to finish the very job he started and kill her, Jayda doubted she would last very long. Through a straight up fight without him holding back would’ve proven to her how much good his training had done. Uncrossing her arms, she pressed a gloved hand to her mouth then bite down on the material. Gradually she pulled it off finger by finger before she removed the top, pressing her nail tip into the solution. She jerked it to the side until it coated the edge then back again rapidly, repeating it about nine more times until each finger was coated lightly. There was just enough, her pinky emptying the last bit.

Jayda stepped out from the turbolift, her hand placing the glass vial into her robes, when her ears caught the howling of animals within their confinements. Their shadowy figures pacing their cramp, tight cages while they growled in anticipation. Eyes seemed to glow in accuration at her agenda, secretly knowing that blood was going to be spilt and their fangs flashed their greed. Muscles moved in the familiar movements all those born to kill knew well. They followed what was natural while Jayda began to realize she couldn’t.

This through provoked an envy from her over the mess she was in.

Corr’s back was turned when she silently entered, unaware of her presence yet. Jayda moved silently than death itself as she drew nearly, her hands ready to strike.



Howls and cries erupted throughout the pen area, their sounds increasing at the smell of cooked flesh and blood. Their figures rattling their cage bars just outside the chamber’s semi-thick walls as they overwhelmed Corr’s last scream. The Red Sith was crumpled in a heap a few feet away where he laid motionless and dead. It appeared like a wild animal had escaped its cages then tore the reckless apprentice into pieces save for the nub at his hand. The wrist was severed by a lightsaber, the edges blackened and charred, while his own weapon was still clutched in his hand. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to draw his second weapon, when Jayda had attacked him then paid the price for her recklessness.

Her left hand had used tutaminis to block the incoming attack but held it too long. The weapon, as she was pushing it away, scalded her hand and took off several layers that would need time to heal. It was also proof of her hand in the apprentice’s demise. Jayda’s figure was hunched down and breathing hard, her eyes stared forward while she fought past the pain. Sharply inhaling, she forced herself upright onto her feet while she edged toward Corr’s disabled weapon. Ignoring his dead eyes judging her crime, she moved toward the animal pens to select a believable scapegoat. One that she could easily dispatch in her current state.

In the back of her mind, Jayda knew if she kept this up than one of these incidents were bound to get her killed. It was only a question of which one.

---

The more time Navie spent on this ship, the more he hated it. Besides himself, there was something dark and unsettling lurking within the vents and using it to navigate throughout the ship in much the same fashion. Strangely enough he couldn’t get an accurate read on the thing to tell if it was living or not which left him rather puzzled. It was as if smoke was given life and left to explore the ship, seeking out any worthwhile victims that were stupid enough to isolate themselves. His sensors detected that sulfuric reading through the source was still a mystery. Something that made the droid relieved he had managed to avoid it so far and still continue onward to the control room.

The vents, however, were still a pain to navigate in while trying to avoid the being. Thrice already, Navi had to stop, reverse and follow another route in order to meet his destination. These continual detours had added up to a little over half an hour causing the droid to be slightly late to where he was suppose to meet Koren at. Finally entering the vent just above the consoles, the little droid edged to an exit only to pause and whistle a curse at his luck. About five troopers were currently within the room and standing right where he needed to be.

If Navi dropped down, he was highly likely to be seen by the troopers within. It also meant Koren (if he wasn’t already there) was about to walk into a highly tense and dangerous situation, the little bot pacing slightly causing one of the men to look up toward the room in curiosity. Immediately he stopped, his frame hunched away from his slotted peep hole.

~|Day 2, 19:18 - 19:30 GST |~
~|Khan Sainen, Prisoner Complex (Aurek)|~

Khan stopped eating and listened as still and attentive as he possibly could despite the still very present allure of food to his mostly empty stomach. The plan seemed good to him, although then again he had never plotted a prison escape before. Still he did his best to memorize all the details although he was a little disappointed at his lack of a role in the escape. Then again he figured that in an emergency he could at least help open the doors and operate the lifts and fight if it came down to it.

Besides, if they had to fight it would just complicate the escape. So he sat and listened, nodding occasionally and displaying sharp interest with his posture, but tried to make it a little relaxed in case that was the sort of thing others could pick up off of the cameras that recorded them and spoil their attempt or something.

---

~|Day 3, 2:00 - 2:15 GST |~
~|Khan Sainen, Prisoner Complex|~

Khan couldn't sleep any longer. He was far too wound up about their future escape attempt to try resting anymore. He tried meditating, only to find he couldn't stop from fidgeting and losing focus either. So he switched to meditating in the Echani manner, running through several forms and movements though not the most acrobatic ones so as not to disturb others. Still, after a while he found his mind growing restless. Deciding he would rather not spend the time waiting in isolation, he went over to the Medical Bay to talk to Xid. Khan wasn't sure if Xid would be able to hear him in the tank full of kolto, but it was probably pretty quiet and lonely for him in there anyways and the Echani needed someone to talk to at the moment.

He froze as he walked in only to notice that the tank was empty and Xid was gone! He searched the room first, even trying to look behind the tank on the off chance that he'd somehow missed the young Jedi Knight. No, he was definitely gone! Entirely not in the room. Forcibly slowing himself down and keeping himself under control, Khan padded back out to where the other room and looked to see who was awake, his eyes settling on Lea first. He walked over to her and leaned in to whisper so as not to alarm the others or wake anyone who might still be asleep.

"Xid gone! He's not in the tank anymore or anywhere near where we're supposed to be! Also we're supposed to be escaping tonight! C'mon and help me look for him before he blows the whole attempt up! I'll fill you in on the details!"

Upon waking up, Lea Rahn knew two things for sure. Firstly, she had no idea how much time had passed. Secondly, she did not feel in the least bit rested. In fact, she could feel all sorts of aches. She had the distinct feeling of chills that comes with a fever, and her elbows and calves definitely ached a lot more than they had before. That was anything but comfortable. What was the Darth doing to her, and why?

She crawled to the end of the bunk, then gently jumped down, wincing slightly on landing, as the back of her calves stung, as if something wasn’t assembled right there. Kneeling down, she probed it with her hand, but could not feel anything wrong through her robes. In the dim light of shipboard night, it wasn’t easy to see. Most of the light in the prison came from below and had the distinct red tinge stemming from the crimson hue of the transparisteel floor.

While she could have thought more about her condition, she found herself unable to do so as a frantic-looking Jedi came wandering in. When he spoke of Xid being gone, Lea’s heart jumped. Who had taken him out? Who had the authority to do so? She hoped that would not lead to his death, for his injuries truly were severe.

When the excited youth next spoke of escaping, Lea didn’t know what to think. How exactly were they planning to do that? She’d tried numerous ways the past couple of months to no success. She knew the security on this prison was less than optimal, but she also knew Darth Nyiss well enough to know that that was but a small part of her trap. A trap for the Jedi, a challenge for the Sith.

She found herself dragged along without much of any chance to object. Not that she would have objected. Not waiting to see whether he knew how to open the doors, Lea called on the Force to open the doors from halfway across the room. At first they were slow to respond, but she wasn’t going to be stopped by an obnoxious door, so she put slightly more effort into it, fueling it with her burgeoning irritation. Moments later, the doors to the turbolift slammed open.

Fortunately, the exit the Echani had dragged her to wasn’t in one of the bunk rooms, so the sound of the doors slamming open probably didn’t wake anyone. Or at least not everyone. There probably was an easier way to open the doors, but Lea did not see any reason to delay for such. The door mechanism was obnoxious. It deserved to be treated this way if it thought to stop her from finding Xid.

Lea jumped down the shaft, assuming that her companion knew how to use the Force to dampen any such landing. It wasn’t that far, after all. But when he did not follow, she pressed the up button on the turbolift, letting him get on before sending it back down. ‘maybe his master forgot to teach him force jump?’ she thought to herself, while trying to figure out why he had not jumped.

Once at the bottom, she turned to the echani. “There are two ways that we can do this search. Either we search each and every room till we find Xid or we get caught, or we find the surveillance room. There must be one. There we can find the recordings of who took him and where. Which would you prefer?”

She let him think for a few moments, then continued. “whatever you think is best, we can do. You can explain about this escape plan as we walk there.”

Zanna strolled into the combat chamber with an unconscious and heavily chained Sithspawn floating behind her as she walked. It had cost three Imperial troopers their lives when the first dose of sedatives hadn't worked, but they had finally got the beast changed and sedated. WThe beasts seemed to be particularly loud tonight, but that may have just been her imagination. As she finally rounded the corner to the animal pens, she paused, took in the sight of Corr's tore apart body and Jayda's state, and then dropped her own package with a loud thump.

"Sloppy. But effective." She commented as Jayda whirled around at her, lightsaber drawn. The Red Sith merely arched an eyebrow. "And what animal are you going to claim caused rather neat severing of his hand and cauterizing of his wrist?"

Jewel transfixed Shiri with a harsh stare once Lea had left. Shiri was altogether far too Jedi for her liking. Her morals were firm, and would not be so easily broken down. She had thought that the Jedi might be vulnerable to love, an emotion not directly negative, but it was clear now that when faced directly with it, she simply brought her stoic Jedi anti emotion ideals up in defence. She was also clearly blind to logic and causality, but then, the young often ignored history. It was possible that what Jewel had said about Xid would bear fruit later, especially since Lea seemed to have taken it to heart to some extent, but for now, Jewel switched to a different approach.

“You’re going to die here.” Jewel stated bluntly, venom evident in her voice. “You might think that being stoic and holding to the Jedi ways is a show of strength, but it is not. Your stubborn refusal to adapt is nothing more than petty request for death at the hands of the truly strong. For now at least, the Darth wishes you to live, but make no mistake. Her protection is the only reason you still live at all. Maintain your will as you do, and you shall suffer until the Darth’s patience runs out.”

“You’re such a cliche, ya know?” Shiri smiled as she spoke, not really caring what her words would yield. “I know sticking to my morals isn’t a show of strength. How can you show strength in a situation where you have none? What I said before still stands. I may not be as physically strong as you or as adept with the Force, but I’m more determined than you to reach my goals, and my conscience and mind are clear. Is it a refusal to ‘adapt’ when I won’t just give up and bow before you? And what does it say of the ’truly strong’ that they find it fitting to pick fights with those they consider weaker and beneath them?”

Shiri’s smile broke out into a wide grin as she continued. “You’re a classic bully. Someone who believes the only way to rise up is by stepping on others, asserting your own ‘authority’ and patting yourself on the back in your mind, because if someone else tried to pat you on the back you’d throw a hissy fit in fear of losing the ‘power’ you had gained, in fear of returning to the ‘weakling’ you once were.” Shiri adjusted herself for a second and then jumped up so she stood facing Jewell.

“You said it yourself, the Darth wants my fellow Jedi and I kept alive. Believe what you will, I know my situation well. As long as I’m on this ship, my life is forfeit anyway, so as long as I have left I will never give up. Try whatever you like, kill me if you want. Make me a martyr. It only proves. me. right.”

Shiri’s words cut to core of Jewel’s being, and she set her jaw, clenching her teeth to stop from snapping out a hasty response. It was infuriating, but there was nothing to gained by breaking now. She was not a raging lunatic like Sish. She was controlled. It took a moment to ensure she was in control, but when she spoke again there was no trace of the rage boiling just below the surface. Instead her tone was calm and piteous

“Is that really what you want? To die for a cause that will soon be gone, remembered by no one for your pathetic sacrifice? Even the Jedi look down on such waste.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t lash out at me immediately. Are you holding back your emotions?” Shiri made a fake gasping noise and put on a neutral look. “The Jedi may look down on that, but I believe that if it spurs my allies on then it is worth doing. The point is, nothing you or any Sith on this ship could possibly do to me will deter me. I’m going to make a change, a splash that will ripple through this whole ship, maybe even beyond it a bit, and no matter how you try I won’t break. Which is what’ll drive you crazy.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.” Jewel said coldly. “But since you are so insistent on casting me as the violent monster, when I have made every effort to be civil… I shall oblige you. Just remember that you chose this for yourself.” With that, Jewel used the Force to pull a jagged knife from its sheath on a nearby display into her hand. “I will give you reason to hate me. I understand that on your species the ‘lekku’ are particularly sensitive.”

Jewel rose slowly from her seat, towering over Shiri. Her face remained a passionless mask, but her anger was radiating from her, and her eyes were taking on a sickly yellow hue. She grabbed Shiri’s body with the Force and flipped the girl over. She expertly pinned the girl down with her knee, ensuring she wouldn’t be able to squirm free. She was ready to use the Force to make sure of it if necessary.

Then she took Shiri’s left Lek in her hand, gently initially. She knew that it would hurt just doing that, and also that she would have to avoid the section nearest Shiri’s skull - cutting there would cause permanent brain damage. Instead it was the lower section being gripped. She brought the tip of the blade tantalisingly close to the flesh, enough that she would feel it, but not enough to cut. “Still don’t care what I do to you?”

Shiri felt herself go pale as Jewel retrieved the knife and pinned her to the ground with the Force, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything right away. She bit hard enough that she could taste a hint of her own blood as Jewel took hold of her left Lek and placed the blade close enough that she could already feel the sharp edge. Still, her words before weren’t a complete farce, she wouldn’t give in very easily. She let out a breath, and in a voice much braver than she had thought the wriggling fear under her skin would allow her she smiled. “Nope. Won’t even try to get away.” She closed her eyes and cleared her mind, waiting, almost calmly, for the pain to come.

Jewel wasted no time at all. The very tip of her blade pierced the skin of the Lekku with a swift efficient stab - cutting down to the nerve heavy flesh within. She began to pull the blade along the lekku, cutting a clean slice as she went, ever closer to her skull. She was going to stop about halfway, before she started doing permanent damage, but the girl didn't need to know that. The thought that Jewel might not know or care enough to stop short of cutting into her brain would just add terror to the pain.

Shiri jumped slightly at the sharp pain the knife caused as it easily pierced her skin, clenching her jaw tightly to keep from screaming. It was hard to keep the little calm she had, especially as the knife kept getting closer to her skull. Th-this Sith knew that there was a limit, right? The pain was excruciating, and Shiri could feel herself losing blood as it poured slowly from the cut. It was all she could do not to fight, to just stay still as she felt herself tensing up and trying to relax. With her effort not to scream she was holding her breath, although that just made her heart beat faster.

Heartbeat. Focus on heartbeat. Shiri repeated this thought to herself as she forced herself to relax, breathing slowly. She didn’t trust herself not to scream still, so she kept her mouth shut, but the pain was beginning to become constant enough that she could drown it out with the sound of her heartbeat, to an extent. Her heart was still racing, even though she had calmed every other part of herself. Could it just be fear? As soon as the thought crossed her mind she knew it was true. She was scared, terrified even, but of what? Not of the pain. That, so far, was not as bad as it definitely could be. She was still in control of herself, though she was struggling to stay so.

She wasn’t afraid of the Sith either, this woman was only trying to prove a point because Shiri had managed to piss her off. Shiri sighed internally as the knife stopped at about the halfway point of her Lekku, the Sith did know to stop. She thought about taunting her again, although that did seem kind pointless at this point. She opened her eyes and waited for Jewel’s next move.

A growing sense of irritation filled Jewel as the girl continued to resist screaming in pain. It was clear as day that she was feeling intense fear and pain, the emotions were washing through the Force and over Jewel. Yet still, she remained silent. Jewel reached across and grabbed the other Lekku, forcefully this time, squeezing hard as she brought it into position, Though Shiri would be unable to see, Jewel’s eyes had taken on a distinct yellow tinge.

She brought the now bloody edge of the blade to contact the flesh of the lekku, and pressed in with the tip once again. This time, she went deeper, cutting down the length faster and with less care or precision.

Shiri took a sharp breath as the new pain started, hissing it out slowly as she still resisted screaming. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes and she tried to reach up and stop the knife’s progress, her hand only loosely wrapping around whatever part of Jewel’s arm she could reach as she remembered that she said she wouldn’t try to escape this. But, fighting back wasn’t an escape, though it could lead to one. She felt dizzy as she collected her thoughts, her hand still trying to stop the knife as she used her other arm to try and push Jewel off of her.

Jewel pressed down harder into shiri’s back with her knee when the girl tried to fight back. Withdrawing the knife and letting go of the bleeding lekku, she grabbed the wrist of the hand Shiri was trying to push her off with, twisting it up behind her back quickly and sharply. Simultaneously, she raised the blade of her knife and stabbed down into the shoulder of the arm Shiri was trying to stop the knife with. She was not at all gentle, sinking the blade deep into the flesh. “Spirited. If only you would put that to good use.” She said bitterly.

The girl continued to remain silent, but as Jewel twisted the blade, she could feel Shiri's mind starting to slip. It wouldn’t be long now until the Twi'lek lost consciousness. Not really the result Jewel wanted, but a result all the same. One more twist of the knife and Shiri went limp, consciousness gone to escape the pain.

Jewel wasted no time retrieving some Kolto laced bandages and seeing to the injuries she had inflicted. It would do nobody any good for the Twi’lek to bleed overly much, and Jewel could already see she would have to replace the cushions on that particular couch. That was marginally less important than taking the prisoner back and having her placed in the medical ward. She needed to be healed so Jewel could do it all again after all.

After a few minutes of rest, Jayda knew it was time to rise and finish the job. Gradually, her mind ignoring the dull ache in her very stiff bones, she pushed herself up to her feet with her wounded palm cradled against her waist. It still stung like hell when the cloth brushed it, her body flinched in reaction as her teeth clenched back the hissing curse under her breath. Inhaling sharply she listened to her two hearts thump loudly against her thick rib cage when she began to work out the kinks and walk toward the deceased Sith apprentice. She felt a shiver down her spine creep down her spine causing her teeth to tighten in resistance to her growing fear at her mistake. How was she going to hide this? The question was shortly pushed to the side for the moment, unable to tolerate distraction and let her become sloppy over it.

She braced her unwounded hand against the wall and balanced herself, her wounded arm shaking slightly when she pulled it from its resting place. The Zabrak started to lean over then touching the cold flesh, placing the fingers along the section of the neck were most humanoids held their pulse. Silence. The flesh didn’t betray any signs of twitching or breath letting her acknowledge he was officially dead. She gave a small relief breath until her ears caught the sounds of someone approach before whatever they had been carrying was sent thumping upon the floor. Quickly, Jayda’s figure jerked upright with her hand drawing her lightsaber hidden under her slightly tattered robes and spot Zanna.

"Sloppy. But effective." Zanna started, her eyes looked at the body then back at her. Clearly, Jayda could see the wheels turning while she put the facts together as anyone could when they stumbled upon the scene. The lightsaber activated and humming in her ears, she deactivated when the Red Sith raised an eyebrow then added an undeniable fact that she was considering an answer for. "And what animal are you going to claim caused rather neat severing of his hand and cauterizing of his wrist?"

“I’m in the process of cleaning the mess up.” Jayda stated calmly, through her appearance was anything but that. Her robes had cuts perfectly aligned to a lightsaber while she managed to disarm the bastard then slice him up. The only thing she hadn’t counted on was him keeping his secondary blade hidden and revealed it when he twisted about to ‘elbow’ her. She barely caught the blade when it tried to take off her head and now, her palm suffered about 2nd degree to minor 3rd degree burns as a result. Hiding her hand, her eyes focused on the yellowish, hideous creature then turned back to the Sithspawn laying at Zanna’s feet.

Her feet started to pull from the wall and approach the chained beast, stopping just within a foot of it. Something about the brute was familiar causing her to look up at the fellow apprentice. “This creature… he’s similar to the Jedi, the Kel Dor. Instead of being concerned with what beast I’m going to use, maybe you need to be worried about your own actions and the result of them. We were expressly told not to harm the Jedi prisoners which if my suspicions are correct… you failed not to follow.”

Jayda hadn’t put away her lightsaber and held it at her side, loosely. Her eyes seemed to demand for the Red Sith to explain while she stood there quietly.

Zanna shrugged, slightly uneasily. "Darth Nyiss gave me permission to experiment upon the Kel Dor. I made sure to explain that a death might result from such an experiment. If she still sees fit to punish me for the waste of a Jedi Prisoner, I suspect I will be much more humble next time we meet. If we meet at all." Zanna gave a wane smile, not bothering to hide her worry and fear at the idea of being killed by the Darth. "Regardless, we have much more immediate problems. Problems that need to be solved quickly. Fortunately for us, there are plenty of carnivorous beasts laying around." Zanna looked around briefly, spotting Corr's severed hand, and quickly Force threw it through the bars of an animal. As it began to savage and devour the hand, Zanna used the force to drag Corr's body closer to the cage, throwing the confused Zabrak a knowing smile. She pulled Corr's lightsabers to herself, tucking them into her robes. No sense in wasting them after all.

She concentrated on the lock next, quickly pressing on the correct buttons needed to open the cage. Sith might need access to animals, after all, and they shouldn't have to wait on a non force sensitive. Force Pushing the beast against the far side of it's wall, she gestured and sent the rest of Corr's corpse into the cage. Another gesture, and the door was closed and locked. The beast was let go, and it leapt upon the new source of meat, snarling and growling as it tore into the Red Sith's corpse. She felt a slight twinge of disappointment and pity. As a Red Sith, he should have been so much more. He should have been able to beat a filthy impure. He deserved a better end than this. But such was life, and Zanna turned back to Jayda with her usual smirk in place.

"There. Evidence is disposed of, and by the time anyone gets here they won't have any signs of actual combat. Leaving our story as the only one available. If they even ask about him." Zanna nodded to the remains of Corr. She picked up her Sithspawn with the Force again and started walking down the hall, looking for an empty cage. "You know, if you keep getting injured, I don't know when we're ever going to begin our lessons." She called amicably to the Zabrak.

The Sith lord strolled through the halls of the Sith sector alone, she needed no guards here, she really didn't need guards anywhere with her status. She only brought them along with her when she went into the Jedi cells, if she were to go in by herself then the Jedi might believe her deceiving appearance meant she wasn't strong. Then maybe they would try to jump her and see how badly they had screwed up with their misconceptions.

In both of her hands clenched tightly were a pair of training lightsabers, her own real weapon sat on her belt hidden from sight. The faux weapons were a necessity for today's planned dealings with the recently turned Nazca. She didn't want to hurt the girl too badly, and if she did get hurt then it would be entirely her fault, Vivithe wasn't planning to give a crash course on combat. Nazca was not ready for anything like that, she'd need to learn how to actually hold a lightsaber first, taught like a child.

As she walked towards the Sith quarters she narrowed herself to where the new apprentice was. It was the faintest glimmer of the Force, yet rift with potential, like that of a Force sensitive that didn't know it could harness such wonder. Vivithe pinpointed the girl's location in one of the rooms, likely resting, the Sith lord took a step inside the room, the door automatically coming open.

"Hello again, Nazca, hope you're enjoying your new dwellings. Also hope that you got some rest because now you're training will begin. Come along, you have much to learn." Vivithe said, more of an order than asking like she did with the Jedi.

Khan tried to stay wary of any sort of danger and scan the hallways as he walked, though he was sort of distracted by the thought of what might have happened to Xid to cause him to disappear from the kolto tank. He wasn’t actually sure what they would do once they managed to find Xid if he was really in trouble, but they had to try and do something didn’t they?

In the background, low at first but rapidly gaining in volume, was the noise of marching boots. That was clear it could only be one thing, Lea reasoned as her body tensed slightly. Being so close to Khan, the boy could easily tell she also had heard it and that it concerned her for obvious reasons. Without much of an explanation she leaned to whisper into his ear, applying a bit more weight on his small body, “We have to do something, distracted them or hide. Else we’ll never find Xid if we’re tossed back into the cells every time.”

They were going to be discovered after all? No, Khan couldn’t let that happen while Xid was still missing. Lea was obviously still too weakened to serve as the distraction and at the moment he couldn’t think of any place to hide, so there was only one thing he could do, at least as he saw things. He eased Lea’s weight off from around himself and ran towards the troopers shouting and waving his arms and generally being as noticeable as possible as he took off away from the other jedi. Khan was reasonably fast for his size, and if it came down to it he could probably fight off the troopers who caught up to him, at least for a while. Meanwhile Lea could hopefully either hide or continue the search for Xid. They probably wouldn’t kill him or hurt him too badly if he was captured, just throw him back in his cell. He hoped.

Lea didn’t stop him, knowing it wouldn’t have done any good. She was silent as she pressed herself against the wall, allowing herself to become as small as possible, while the troopers spotted Khan. The head guy shouted, his blaster raised while her took a warning aim. “Halt, stop right there.”

When the boy didn’t, he looked to his companions then gestured for them to fall out. Their boots rushed across the metal flooring, echoing their location to Khan rather easily, while in pursuit of the younger Jedi. However, he was faster and quickly started to pull away. Now left alone, Lea made a breath in relief then pushed herself upright to continue her search for Xid. She was sure the boy would escape unharmed and so, she didn’t worry about his well being because the Darth obviously didn’t want them dead. At worse he would be caught and placed back into the cells.

The training area had been empty, so Ven'ren had taken to training there alone, but now mild curiosity drew him towards the sounds coming from the beast pens. He chose to still stay out of sight. Straight corridors do not have specific hiding spots aside from staying behind corners, but one can still stick to those, to shadows and simply stand in places people are less likely to turn their heads towards. Ven'ren had become reasonably proficient with all those tricks in later years.

Two apprentices were in the animal pens. He had not really spoken to either though he had seen them in the passing, and believed he could place their names at least. He did not approach them though, in case they were doing something they did not want to be disturbed in. Or something they didn't want people to know about.

The apprentice shrugged off her statements and question far too easily, stirring Jayda’s alarmed as Zanna explain. "Darth Nyiss gave me permission to experiment upon the Kel Dor. I made sure to explain that a death might result from such an experiment. If she still sees fit to punish me for the waste of a Jedi Prisoner, I suspect I will be much more humble next time we meet. If we meet at all."

Didn’t take you long, did it? Jayda thought when she heard the apprentice had already made ties into the master of the ship. It didn’t help she was still very much aware it was the Darth who determined who lived and died, her mind recalling Sish’s severed arm as punishment when he failed to follow basic instructions during the fight with the Jedi. It had been enough to put all the Sith on alert since.

The smile that crossed Zanna’s lips didn’t seem to reach her eyes, prompting even less faith from Jayda that she was completely faithful she had immunity. Jaydw wouldn’t have been surprised if the apprentice was forbidden to take another subject for a long time. Her thoughts were turned away when Zanna then added more, focusing on the current issue at hand. "Regardless, we have much more immediate problems. Problems that need to be solved quickly. Fortunately for us, there are plenty of carnivorous beasts lying around."

Jayda’s eyes studied Zanna’s figure turning about, her hand pulled out and gripped the Red Sith’s hand then tossed through the door and into the nearest cage. The hand made a meaty landing before the beast was immediately on it. Fangs and claws digging into the meat, rending it into pieces then vanished down its throat moments after. Jayda was impressed at the speed while she stared a bit longer. Her ears caught Zanna start to drag Corr’s body causing her to head to snap, her arm still cradled against her middle, as she tossed her a knowing smile that made her spine shiver. The Red Sith paused to draw both his lightsabers into her grasp then stashed them into her robes. With another set of gestures, a cage door open and the evidence was devoured shortly with greedy, satisfied sounds.

Through Zanna was pleased with herself, Jayda wasn’t completely sure about this disposal while listening to the Red Sith. "There. Evidence is disposed of, and by the time anyone gets here they won't have any signs of actual combat. Leaving our story as the only one available. If they even ask about him."

Seeming to approve her plan, she nodded toward the remains then proceeded to put her sithspawn away. Her eyes scanned the cages, looking for an empty one, as she made a statement that caused Jayda’s eyes to narrow. "You know, if you keep getting injured, I don't know when we're ever going to begin our lessons."

A hint of disgust dripped into her tone when Jayda replied, her body trailed cautiously behind the Sithspawn and Zanna. She knew if that beast woke up ahead of time, he would’ve been a force to reckon with. A adapt fight she was, but not an invincible one and even their combined skill set she doubted there it would’ve helped. “If I recall right, Sith apprentices rather avoid confrontation at all costs. Preferring to tilt their engagement in their favor and win through deception rather than purely brute strength. With the lessons I did give, you’ll be able to know when a fight is coming, isn’t that enough of an advantage?”

They entered the far right penning area. Their presence caused the creatures to howl, growl and bray at their presence. Red eyes watching them move silently through the imprisonments which were more like crates than anything. Their conditions cramped and suffocating that Jayda was forced to hold her breath sparingly, dulling her nose to the thick musky created by the yet to be cleaned hay being tasseled about. Jayda spotted the rear pen was unused and the door left open as if expecting them, the pointed the thing out to the Red Sith. Her hand raised to the direction when she spoke.

“The left rear cage, farthest into the wall is open. It seems a beast was never returned for a day now.” She couldn’t help but think about the reasons, through she didn’t verbally ask for Zanna’s thoughts over the subject and merely stopped at the doorway.

her mind thinking about the reason only to remain quiet in her own thoughts while she remained nearest the entrance. She inhaled once then caught a scent that didn’t belong. One not old or animal in nature causing her head to turn to the darkest shadow just down the corridor nearest the pens. Her eyes adjusted to the low lights, allowing her to spot the masked man standing there unnervingly still and mimicking Sish more than she realized, her throat let out a subtle growl. She didn’t like those that sought to stalk her. Her boots retreated quietly backwards then shifted toward very hallway where the figure was hidden. Each step was carefully made to look casual as her good hand pulled toward her side and hung there within sight, hovering over her weapon in caution. Through unknown to the Sith apprentice, she wasn’t about to use it.

If she made it past him without so much as a reaction, her arm whipped out to reach for his throat. On managing, if she wasn’t interrupted, the Zabrak would abruptly slam his back into the wall and speak in a low warning voice. “If you’re stalking me, this is your only warning to stop it. If you’re not, then I suggest you start by telling me why you’re here.”

---

The group Khan and Lea had encountered were on patrol. Their job was to ensure the Jedi didn’t escape the ship and required little effort since the prisoners seemed content with remaining in their cells. Something a few men thought odd but then again, the Jedi were emotionless and thoughtless drones at best. They didn’t feel anything or so they grew up believing within the Empire. Highly trained, all four troopers marched easily through the metal hull and continued their route until Khan darted into view. The Echani’s white figure appearing from seemingly nowhere, his arms jerked upright and waved, his voice shouting and calling for their attention. Abruptly, the once relaxed men came into full alert. Thier fingers tighten about their blasters held at their sides and raised them up a sharp snap to their masked faces. All four cocked and ready to fire onto the Jedi. One, the very trooper in charge it seemed stepped, stepped forward then spoke an order. His voice was raspy through the armored mask covering his face, his hands keeping his blaster at the ready to fire. “Halt, stop right there.”

Naturally the boy fled. The trooper’s finger squeezed, releasing a energy shot into the place Khan had been earlier and nearly clipped him. They were set on stun through it didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt when it hit. The boy could easily spot their intentions thanks to their movements and positioning of their hands, giving him a greater advantage since Aliens were fully studied by the troopers within the Empire. Their figures took off after him, missing the girl hidden away in the corner, in their attempt to capture him. With little place to go, he would easily be trapped and surrounded by the four men. Another three blasts rang out followed by shouting. The first shot was aimed at Khan’s left shoulder, the other two aimed for his back middle. When the padawan reached the end of his current path, he would come to a dead end and realize he was trapped when the troopers quickly appeared.

Naturally they would underestimate the boy as one shouldered his blaster then came closer and reached to snag the neck collar of Khan's robe.

The desert planet’s evening was cold and light was dim, making it difficult to tell a fill pocket from an empty one for the youngest. It didn’t help this was Aaran’s first time stealing and so his nerves were growing more rattled by the moment. It took all his effort to keep his eyes staring straight ahead, not turned to study the cloak, while Roth kept look out a few feet away. The bothan leaning heavily against one of the houses with his arms crossed, watching them for several moments then turned to the distance. He looked like a child waiting for someone and many individuals barely gave him a second glance, their own tasks too important to take stock of their surroundings. Even the loaders barely noted his presence.

Timidly, with Bol gripping his other hand tightly in comfort, and leading him along Aaran’s hand reached into the Tiss’shar’s cloak pocket. His hand parted the opening then dug in deeply, seeking that familiar solid shape of a purse or other worthily valuable. Instead there was nothing. Aaran’s eyes widen in surprise and teeth clamped down in alarm that Bol looked concerned even with his long mouth and dark eyes. Without thinking about his tell, the youngest snapped toward the middle and shook his head to tell the other boy there wasn’t anything there. Bol had been about to pick up the pace and create some distance when Fa moved lower and spoke, her voice a whisper. “If it is credits you want, I have a job for you.”

Though the Tiss’shar didn’t sound angry with them, possibly because they hadn’t gotten anything, the two boys halted with dread in their tracks. Bol was terrified but tried to stay calm for Aaran, knowing if the alien was connected to the Hutts than they would suffer badly as the space slugs were the law in this wasteland after all. Forcing himself to speak, Bol took the lead in inquiring what the Tiss’shar wanted, his face turned to unwillingly face her and his fear easily palatable to her vision thanks to the slight trembling. He decided to play stupid and hope for the best while he pushed Araan around toward his back protectively. Inside he was hoping Roth would come up with something to save their skins before the creature before them ripped it off.

“I’m not sure what you mean, Mr…?” He inquired, assuming she was male since he had never met another of her kind and her cloak easily hid her face.



Jeik had been arguing over her hard earned credits when a bastard Zabrak came up from behind her. The moment he touched her back, she assumed the worse and her hand lowered down underneath the bar and gripped her blaster sitting at her hip, ready for any funny business. It seemed like whenever someone saw a Twi’Lek, they always thought easy prey. Boy, were they wrong when they met her and she made sure the lesson stuck with them for a long time. Often shooting off their very jewels so their reason to fuck with her was gone.

The Zabrak spoke in a mediating way, her eyes studying him a moment to memory. "I don't know what's going on here but if you're arguing with the bartender about a drink price, you might want to reconsider. He's just doing his job."

Naturally the bartender agreed, adding his own suggestion after exchanging wary glances with the stranger. "Listen to your Zabrak friend here, he knows what’s good for him. Pay my price or go find somewhere else to make your drink for you."

Jiek leaned, slightly, while she heard Vebra step around toward her exposed back. This wasn’t the first wise guy to attempt to get the jump on her and she never counted on the last one being the final one, something you learned on a waterless planet. Her fingers were subtly edging her blaster out of her holster and hung loosely from Vebra’s sight. When his palm pushed forward to strike at her head back, she leaned to the left and let it clip her face side. At the same time, her hand jerked completely out, pointed into his gut and pulled the trigger. A red bolt fired into his gut before she pushed off the bar stool. He might’ve been a Zabrak but even they had their limits, she smirked thoughtfully while she decided to cut and run. His fingers scratched her leather coat just at the very edge of his reach while she bolted for the exit.

As he was getting up, she twisted her navel then fired off another blast into his position. The Trandoshan and Zabrak abruptly turned, spying the commotion, and didn’t bother to catch the Twi’Lek when she slipped through. She promptly mumbled about Vebra being a bit too grabbing causing the Zabrak in particular to seize Vebra up. He wasn’t the only one, several other individuals, including those near the table, reached for their own blasters. It was unclear who fired first but in moments the bartender was hitting the ground behind his bar when blasters started to fire creating an all out bar fight.

Ven'ren watched as one apprentice was coming towards him. At the point when she is close enough he thinks about what time it would be on the ship right now, and starts saying “Good evening.” but has no time for further formalities before her hand shoots out to his throat. While she had looked casual enough, Ven'ren was not a man to strongly hold the assumption that people would not attack him if they very well might attack him, and so he was not completely taken by surprise.

He he takes a small step away to avoid her attack, forwards and to the side compared to her, the only direction he could easily move in, standing by the wall as he had. He also gets his hands up, redirecting her arm away from himself with his lower arms, also serving as a yielding gesture.

“Oh no, there is no need for that.” He says with his slightly hoarse and oddly melodied voice, but he does not sound particularly distressed. “ I mean no ill. I was just coming here to train when I heard you from the beast pens, but I wished not to disturb. Might have been important.”

Zanna glanced sharply back at Jayda, detecting the hint of disgust. "Tell me, Jayda, did Corr tilt things to his advantage? Did he use something other than brute strength and minuscule intelligence against you? No? If I were to tell you that I was going to assault your mind, would you have any advantage against me in that fight? No? Do not assume that just because most of your enemies act one way that they cannot act another way, and you should not prepare for that. Do not assume that knowing something is coming is the same as having an advantage over it. Those are both good ways to get yourself killed. I came to you for training because I recognized a weakness and decided to fix it. You already know my reasons for choosing you."

She merely gave a brief nod of thanks at the Zabrak pointing out the empty cage, and quickly forced the Sithspawn into the cage and locked it, ignoring the rest of the animals. "Some Jedi probably killed it. Oh well. It's replacement will be more than enough of a challenge for them."

The Red Sith turned around to see Jayda attempting to slam another Sith in the wall. With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, the Red Sith used Force speed to quickly walk from one end of the pen to the other. "Jayda, don't kill him. He was just standing around." She smiled apologetically at Ven'ren. "Forgive her. Corr just tried to kill her, and she had to recently fight for her life. She's a tad bit...jumpy. As such idiotic weaklings don't deserve a burial, we fed him to the animals. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go."

~| Day 3, 02:44-02:54 GST |~
~|Khan Sainen, Kaggath |~

Khan wasn't sure how he had avoided those last few blaster bolts and kept running, but somehow he had managed it. The troopers were past where Lea was hiding and focused on him now and that was all that mattered anyways. Now he would just have to get away and give them the slip so he could-

be trapped in a dead-end hallway with four angry, armed troopers chasing after him. That was alright, that was fine, he just needed to come up with a plan to neutralize them and escape. How could he best take on four of the Empire's soldiers unarmed, in the hallway's tight confines while they were armored and armed with blasters? A few plans of action came to mind as he reached the end of the hall and by the time the guards had caught up to him his mind was made up. He turned around and let the first one approach him. The trooper's posture was only slightly wary, more casually annoyed than anything else as the blaster was shouldered away and he reached out a hand to snatch and haul at Khan's robe. Khan let him reach his arm out all the way then struck at a weak point in the elbow joint of the armor twice, an initial shock with the edge of one hand towards the back of the joint to jolt and relax the tendons there then a hard strike to the same joint to break the elbow before the fool inside could react. He stepped further in, positioning one leg to unbalance the first victim's base of support as he reeled from pain while shoving him with both hands and his whole body towards the others that had him cut off from escape.

Using every bit of force speed he could muster while the unfortunate trooper with the broken arm was sent sprawling towards and into his co-workers as a distraction while Khan tried to close the gap between himself and the remaining three before they could bring their blasters to bear on him. As he reached the next nearest soldier he rammed the heel of his palm against the enemy's helmet to tilt his head back then jabbed the his fingertips into the gap where the helmet met the armor as hard as he could to strike at the neck. His efforts were met with a ragged choking gurgle as the trooper sagged and clutched at his throat in a near-faint. Years of training honed into instinct told him to whirl and lash out with a low scything kick to the side of a third soldier's knee and send him staggering as he tried to attack from behind with a second quick kick blowing it out sideways. By now the fourth trooper had untangled himself from the first with the broken arm only for Khan to use a mix of Force Speed and his half-trained abilities at Force Jump to slam a flying knee into his helmet with unusual force, knocking him hard into a wall. While he was dazed Khan snapped a kick against his head to knock his head against the wall again, leaving him sliding into unconsciousness, or so Khan hoped. Just in case he snatched up a nearby blaster, checked to make sure it was still on stun and pulled the trigger on all of them point blank until he was sure they were out and not just temporarily debilitated.

He'd been stupidly lucky that he hadn't taken a hit, but he was pretty sure his hands and knee would be swollen up with bruises and that last kick had made him tear something. Ontop of that he had to take a second to let all of the post-combat rush drain out of himself, then tried to decide if he should go looking for Lea. He crept much more slowly and cautiously back down the hallway, eyes scanning for her as he went while also looking for any place that might be likely to help him find Xid.

Naturally, when Ven’ren appeared in her eye corner, her attention had shifted. So she barely registered anything Zanna had started to lecture her about before she had moved and attacked the apprentice. The first thing she noted how easily he side stepped her incoming hand, his lower arms moving her motion toward the side and away from pinning him against the wall. Her purple eyes darken in distrust while noting how quickly he had reacted. At first, she was almost certain she would’ve wrapped her fingers around his throat and held him there for questioning. She mostly was determined to gain the answer to why he was stalking her. She let her arm be rerouted back to her side through her other hand hovered nearest her lightsaber, ready to pull it despite the injury on her palm, and gritted her fangs in reaction. It was a predatory reaction, one from her childhood.

“Oh no, there is no need for that.” The masked one stated, his voice hoarse in sound but held a slightly rhythm to it that could almost be a melody. It was clear far from concern or alerted making Jayda realize her tactics hadn’t gotten her point across in intimidation.“ I mean no ill. I was just coming here to train when I heard you from the beast pens, but I wished not to disturb. Might have been important.”

Jayda had been about to reply when the faint scent of sex, chemicals, blood and another scent mingled in her nostrils through the animal’s stronger musk. It was followed by the sounds of footsteps rapidly skirting along the corridor toward the pair. Her voice was the final piece that caused Jayda to identify it as Zanna and her feet retreated a few paces at the other apprentice’s word. Through the Zabrak forced herself not to growl at the almost seeming orders being spoken to her, wisely keeping her lips quiet and let the apprentice come up with the lie for the future. She didn’t like it since her outburst on the vid made it seem she was becoming more and more like Sish.

"Jayda, don't kill him. He was just standing around." Zanna made a smile, one that looked more like a Iridonian Apombax (reptile like feline) staring down a rat trapped against the canyon wall. Despite the attempt to look passive and genuine, Jayda’s ears listening to the rest while the apprentice made to leave. "Forgive her. Corr just tried to kill her, and she had to recently fight for her life. She's a tad bit...jumpy. As such idiotic weaklings don't deserve a burial, we fed him to the animals. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go."

When the Red Sith moved, Jayda didn’t speak and watched her leave. She had already obtained the proof of Corr’s demise when she cut off his black braid and intended on presenting it for Sish should he ask. Through if he didn’t, the apprentice already had plans on how to dispose of it within the following day. Her ears caught the sounds of wild beasts ripping their newly given meal then guzzling down the remains rapidly making them vanish by morning. Unless the Sith said anything more, Jayda started to walk away and followed Zanna’s wake.