---

Fa paused a moment, avoiding taking in any more of the place’s foul scent as she reached out with the rest of her senses. She knew what their target, Zora, looked like, as she had studied her dossier extensively before the mission. However, there was more than a single blue Twi’lek in the bar, and Fa did not want to risk staring. Fortunately, she did not need much time to focus in order to locate her. Even among the crowded bar, teeming with life, there was one whose strength in the force shined brighter than everyone else combined, excluding Fa herself. The Twi’lek, Zora, their target, was in a booth halfway across the room somewhat secluded in the back. Even without the force, it likely would have been one of the first places Fa would have looked, being that it was a rather…stereotypical hiding place.

Turning her head to Vebra beside her, she gave a subtle motion for him to stay put. “Wait here a moment. I don’t want to crowd her all at once. I shall approach, and if she is receptive, I will motion for you to join us. Otherwise, remain alert.” She instructed. Even from a slight distance, Vebra would still be able to react quickly if anything got out of hand. As well, it would likely be best for Fa to be the closest person to Zora if she turned violent.

Fa stepped across the bar at a slow, but constant pace. She made an effort not to appear threatening in any part of her expression or demeanor, and she kept her hands safely away from her weapons. The bar was not exceptionally large, so it did not take but a few moments for Fa to come close enough to reasonably speak to Zora. “I would like to speak to you a moment. I promise that I mean no harm; please, let me buy you a drink.” She said, hoping the confrontation would at least not immediately turn violent.

---

Xid watched Shiri dash to the right and apply her plan for distracting them. The droids fell for it, like he knew they would, and began to fire on each other in order to get her off of the one droid. With each hit into the heavy arm, he studied the effect and frowned. They strangely weren’t doing the amount of damage they were designed to. Narrowing his vision, Xid began to note the differences in their designs and realised all three were custom made. Why would the Empire want to risk using custom and personal droids on an assault on the temple? That’s when the apprentice’s words immediately snapped into place. They weren’t made to kill the Jedi, but to stun and capture them. Who ever owned these droids wanted them alive for some strange reason.

His hand tightened about his lightsaber while he moved to the outside of the droid Shiri climbed onto.

It’s attention barely noticed him as his Twi’Lek ally bounced off it and begin to block incoming fire. When her blade twisted to severe one of the droids in half, it moved and reversed backward to avoid being hit. Not fast enough through. The end of the lightsaber clipped the outer right side and seared an inch or two into the armored plating. Sparks flew from the gaping wound but it didn’t seem to slow it down.

As it backed up, the machine stumbled into the nearby pillar causing it to crack then crumble at its foundation. Large chunks of marble and stone splintered above then fell upon the padawans. Xid found himself nearly crushed by another chunk causing him to grind to a stop, almost falling over, and then alter his direction to the left on the ball of his foot. He exhaled in frustration when he found himself farther from his intended target, one of the droid’s joints. As he made his way toward the droid's new location, his mind was ticking off the weaknesses. A control matrix in the larger part of lower half, visional reception cables along the ‘spine’ of the Mark-i, joints along the legs and hand guns. The bad part, the models were of different sizes with the more squat one being the largest one while the more spider like one was smaller.

Xid’s blade found its mark as he swiped at the first Mark-i’s lower leg, cutting it in half and making it tilt to one side. However, both had ignored the mark-ii as the smaller one turned its head and fired at Xid with three repetitive bolts. Xid managed to duck out of one by lowering instinctively, then attempted to block the next one. He misjudged the angle as it clipped his shoulder, pain seared through his figure causing him to stagger from the impact. His yell echoed through the hallway, his attention distracted from the third one whistling at him and noticed too late. Unless Shiri did something, he would down and out before this fight even got started.

Khan vs Anaka, Heart of the Temple Room

The little twerp is trying to play psychological warfare, Anaka thought. She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the pathetic thought of a Jedi padawan thinking he could intimidate the bigger adults. It was sweet enough to vomit over. When Khan moved and blocked her blade, her anger grew. Even worse, the little brat began to gradually grind his blade down her own lightsaber causing her to unlock their blades and step backwards, creating distance. He had at least sought to make this interesting by moving his body into a narrow target and fell into a Makashi stance that she recognized.

If he wanted her as his kill, the brat would earn it.

Two Makashi users, each skilled and playing a game of chess, locked in the form of lightsaber blade combat where only one would live. Most would assume that the younger padawan was controlling her movements through pure aggression but there was more than one way to win a fight and control one’s movements. When Khan moved in, he twisted his blade into an uppercut at her face. Her foot jerked back then to her left, slipping just out of his attack range and circling the padawan. As he came down for a third strike she noted the semi and quick effort put into the downward attack at her head.

Her blade was at her side, waiting and tensed to react at the right time. Now it had come.

Her blade was right there to block it like a hidden snake ready to strike and immediately batted it away before it could hit her head top. Not wanting to take her chances that the padawan had faster reflexes than her, Anaka applied Force Slow upon him. She had developed it where the effect was gradual and the padawan would not notice it until she landed at least a strike or two. However, he was an Echani and she knew very little about the race or their abilities. Either way the Force Slow wasn’t as effective as it would be on a Republic Trooper, but it would buy her precious seconds in combat for about two back and forth rounds until the Jedi adjusted.

Many combatants focused on purely defending against physical attacks, rather than the ability to protect against telepathic force abilities that mess with and muddle the mind. It required a lot of mental multiple tasking and if one wasn’t trained to do it, they would find it difficult. In a life or death situation, this was critical. Force combat was full of hard counters, which why it was rarely ever used alone to win a fight.

At the same time, her blade made a fast slice across the padawan's chest region when she pulled back. Meanwhile, her feet pulled back in order to prepare to twist the blade about and block if he attacked once more.

Denso vs Nisk, Heart of the Temple Room

Nisk looked at his wound. It was a shallow one, the very tip of the Kiffar’s blade caught him along the hip and across the thigh front. Thankfully it only took off several layers of flesh rather than deep into the muscle and seriously cripple him. It super heated enough to prevent additional bleeding unlike actual, primitive blades used on the colony he originated at. His fingers tightened about his lightsaber as he rushes forward. The Zabrak bunched up his legs at the last moment and flips over the the knight, whipping at a slice at the head top before falling back down. He launches another strike at the Jedi’s side, before twisting away. If the Jedi didn’t get is blade to interlock then the Zabrak was likely to keep flipping about and push the Jedi toward the Droids.



Jayda’s keen ears listened to the muffled and dying war around her position, the struggle coming to its very peak and soon would fall silent. Her heart felt a pang of admiration and pity for the falling Jedi that would soon became one with the Force or become the unwilling subject to a Darth’s twisted whims. Like many conflicts beyond her understanding, her figure stood on the cusp of involvement where a perilous action could’ve sent her diving head into the stormy sea below or jerked her from falling over the edge.

In a world where politics could end a life, this gave Jayda an edge to survive by never becoming involved. An existence she found useful and painful at the same time. The apprentice’s footfalls echoed about her in soft, careful tones while her natural awareness kept tabs on her surroundings. Nose was poised for the heavy sweat of enemies to the silent steps of the Jedi creeping upon her blind spots, even for dirty filthy apprentices hoping to downsize their vast number.

About after a while wandering the corridors, Jayda noticed small figures moving ahead in the darkness. Her hand tightened and withdrew her hilt, careful not to turn it on, while she edged closer to spy upon them. One by one a small group of individuals had been led into the archives by two padawans.

Children.

The word singled out in Jayda’s mind. It stopped her hearts in their tracks and squeezed deeply into her rib cage, leaving her breath sucked in her throat and unable to release. Her mind stalled as memories flooded her attention and promptly her knuckles tightened their grip on her lightsaber until they were white. After a moment or two, her breath exhaled and her head shook. The memories faded from her attention like the nightmares they were as she gritted her teeth then moved toward the Archives entrance. It was better she caught the children than Sish did.

---

Zora took another swig of her drink then slammed down her glass. She had just started to slid to the booth’s end and slip away when her eyes caught the Tiss’shar coming her way. ‘Fucking great,’ Thought the twi’lek as she focused herself to remain calm. Her fear, use to running without a leash, resisted and tried to pull her to rush away. She would’ve listened if had only been troopers she was dealing with, but there was also a powerful Jedi walking her way. If she tried to escape, it would be the end of her.

The apprentice took another sip of her drink to numb the fear growing and wiggling within her. Her forefinger tapped the glass’ side idly while she flopped back into her seat, thinking feverishly about how to handle this situation. A right hand lowered to her hip’s right side and readied to grip it in the worst case scenario. She also had a few alchemy surprises up her sleeve if she needed it and could distract the force user long enough to escape untouched.

When Fa mentioned she merely wanted to talk, Zora grudgingly gestured for the Tiss’shar to take a seat across from her. Through it would be obvious she rather have been left alone. Sliding one of the drinks empty glasses to the side, the apprentice then spoke, “Alright, what brings you to seek out someone like me? I will warn you now, I got nothing you want or need.”



Elias had just finished checking his blaster when his ears caught Eyes’ comment. His head whipped up and his lips fell into a deep frown, his common, good natured grumbling followed shortly afterward. He hated going into the bar personally because it was unfamiliar territory. In missions like this, there was little telling what might happen or what trouble they might stir in their duty. Exhaling, he followed Eyes into the tavern as he held his arm for her to grip, letting her giggle and ‘fawn’ over him in just the right amount. He kept his face neutral because he pretty much believed if he smiled… over half his squadron would become distracted and blow their cover.

Only his grandchildren got to see him grin like a laughing fool after all.

Walking in line with the woman, he leaned into her ear and appeared to whisper affection at her. In reality, he was trying to get a beat on their target, “I see about three schutta that could be our target. One in the wee corner trying to hide and seek, and two groping those two thugs at the far table. My money’s on the hiding rat.”

When they arrived at the bar, he pulled out a small stash of credits. He then gestured toward the Human bar keeper for a strong drink for him and something suitable for his lady friend before paying the bill. The man nodded then popped behind the bar and came up with different drinks. Cradling his, Elias took his seat and sniffed it cautiously before giving her a look at the quality of it.

Naturally, she took in the atmosphere in an instant and, as a result, had an energy level matching the locale, which she used to metaphorically carry Elias along with her to her favorite place that wasn't the dance floor; the bar.

---

Fa took the seat across from Zora, and was quite particular about how she moved in the process. She was careful to keep her hands visible and not to move them near her pouches or blaster. Of course, she was more than ready to react a few instants before Zora if she made any sort of attack towards her. The Sith certainly knew that she was a Jedi, but there was no way she could know the extent of Fa’s capabilities.

“I think you would be surprised.” Fa answered in a notably calm, but otherwise neutral tone. “I would just like to start off being honest. I am not here alone. I have a friend with me; the Zabrak over there.” She said, motioning towards Vebra. “I would like for him to join in our conversation, but I did not want to seem like I was trying to threaten you. No, I am here primarily because I have an offer for you.”

Fa brought up her hands and clasped them together on the table to keep them within Zora’s sight. “I think I shall start with what is likely the most appealing part of my offer: amnesty. You can be forgiven for all past crimes against the Republic. We know that you were an apprentice under Darth Nyiss, and we know that you have fallen…far outside her favor. We want to know about her, and are willing to allow you to start anew in exchange.”

Denso shot one of his lightsaber blades upwards, the deep blue clashing with the fierce red of the Sith's weapon. He made another defensive movement, as Nisk lashed out his side with another attack. The well trained Jedi Knight blocked the blow, then swung with his other lightsaber, trying to lock the Zabrak's weapon between the blades. He could see the droids near them. He had to tread carefully around the fearsome machines, if he was not careful then they could fire on him with his back turned.

"You're a slippery one, Sith." Denso said with a smirk, then swung his right leg out in a sweeping motion as he tried to trip Nisk and take the aggressive apprentice off his feet.

Khan vs Anaka, Heart of the Temple Room

Khan was really starting to feel the pressure of the battle now. Each of his attacks was neatly parried despite the effort he was putting into them. He saw Anaka's next attack before it began, a slice across his chest shown by her body's shifting stance as plain to him as if she'd said it out loud. His own saber came up to parry it as he shifted back, but both his arm and his feet were seconds too slow. She scored a burning gash across his chest, though he was able to pull back enough to make it a shallow burn rather than a cut into his vitals or a bisecting blow.

Khan had to fight through the shock and the sudden pain spreading out from the wound as he attempted a shallow counter-thrust, but it was knocked aside without forcing her to give any ground. The sudden change in the flow of battle didn't make any sense to Khan. The Padawan had judged himself to be a near-match for the Sith in terms of speed and skill. He'd spent his entire life learning his own capabilities in combat and reading others, he knew he should've been fast enough to neutralize that attack. There was more to it than that. The Sith was radiating a sense of devious smugness, a sort of exultation at some secret.

Khan could feel his movements in his past attacks as slightly off, but why? Could Anaka somehow be using the Force to hamper his movements? Well, two could play at that game. Khan started making small flicks with his free hand, keeping his blade up and ready to parry any attacks. He reached out and started flinging numerous small rocks and bits of debris at his opponent. Precisely controlling smaller things was something of a specialty for the Padawan, so flinging the smaller rocks around was easy enough. But pelting Anaka with stones was only a secondary tactic. The real aim was to shift pieces of the rubble around them, making footwork more difficult for the Sith. Whether the pelting hurt or distracted her or not, once he felt like he'd created more favorable ground, he tried to press the attack again, shifting forward with as much Force Speed as he could and crouching low to make quick, short strikes at her legs.

“Of course Only fools play fair and expect to overcome the odds,” Nisk retorted. His body twisted and legs came to land heavily on the floor, his blade ready for another strike. His eyes caught the low sweeping leg of Denso causing Nisk to Jerk his feet up then back, flipping from the attack. It had been close when thanks to the Zabrak’s heighten hearing, he managed to catch the scrapping of the knight’s heel over the marble.

Nisk’s free hand reached out, the moment he landed on his feet, then ripped it back. A chunk that had fallen during the temple’s raid shot forward at the right side of Denso’s back with the intention of distracting him.

Denso watched as the Zabrak Sith caught sight of the approaching leg sweep, and in response flipped upwards and narrowly avoid the attack. The Jedi cursed to himself as he kept his eyes focused on the tricky apprentice. He watched as Nisk’s free hand jerked outwards, the sign of a Force power being used. He was not certain which one until he sensed something approaching him. He shot his eyes backwards and noted the large chunk of debris hurdling towards him.

The Jedi Knight propelled himself backwards with the Force, letting out a grunt as his body launched itself into the air, doing a flip. Denso landed cleanly, his weapons still lit as the chunk of debris rolled to the side with a loud rumble. He took a defensive stance, one blade forward the other slightly lowered, his entire body tilted sideways as he stared down Nisk. Then he swung out one his left hand, two of the fingers raised as he grasped the same chunk of debris that had been thrown at him, and launched it in Nisk’s direction.

Nisk’s teeth snarled in frustration. His breath slightly winded and heavy, his energy wading from the continual flipping and getting nowhere. He couldn’t keep this up for much longer. A pull at his attention as his sixth sense warned him, his head turned to spot the chunk of debris come back. His legs bunched, pushing off the floor moments before it reached him. He didn’t let it land on the ground. Instead, his right foot caught the edge then kicked over toward Denso.

As the Jedi dealt with the chunk, Nisk’s feet came to rest upon the ground and his hand shot out in a vicious gesture. Force Lightning rippled from his open palm then thrusts it at the Jedi.

Denso could see the frustration boiling on the Sith’s face, the Jedi watched as Nisk avoided the debris and flung them back at his direction. The Kiffar slide to the side, avoiding the chunk as it rolled past him. He planted his feet on the ground, then watched as the Sith’s hand rose up once more, and a fearsome bolt of lightning burst from his palm. The war hardened Knight had been on the end of Force lightning before, it was an overly brutal and flashy power, keeping the calmness through his frame, he rose both of his lightsabers up as the arc of lightning shot towards him. Then nearly held them against each other as they absorbed the lightning.

With another groan, he started moving his feet forward, his lightsabers raised in the same position as he parried the assault. As Denso began to close the distance he lunged forward with a yell, twirling both lightsabers as he bounded towards Nisk, aiming to strike the Sith with two consecutive powerful blows.

Nisk was beginning to slow down from the attacks, the acrobatics not the best for his race and drained large reserves of energy. His hand came to horizontally block the first strike coming at his right, catching it on the broad side of the blade. He shoved it away as the other comes from the direction. His foot steps back, bring distance, just as the blade grazes his thigh and his blade whipped out with a counter strike at the Kiffar’s arm, an attempt to slice it off and disarm him.

Denso watched as the Zabrak managed to block his first attack, the second swing grazes into the Sith’s thigh. The Jedi was put right back on the defensive as a counter attack came from Nisk. Denso brought up his lightsaber, catching the attack and blocking it from landing. He could hear the Sith’s lightsaber shimmer from how close the attack came to landing. Then with his other lightsaber Denso swung from the side, attempting to cleave it into Nisk’s unguarded hip and hopefully bringing this fight one step closer to an end.

With his energy running on low, Nisk cursed under his breath when the lightsaber blades locked. His muscles bulged and his hands pushed at the advancing blade, but he couldn’t get it to disengage. Denso’s arms pressed dangerously closer with each force as the blade pressed to his thigh causing the flesh to burn and sizzle on touch. Nisk let out a scream before he gave one last shove and pushed Denso away, leaving the surface of his leg burnt from the blade’s touch. He couldn’t risk jumping since he could barely stand on it.

His chest heaved up then down, trying to determine his options. All of them were slim and quickly drying up as the fight continued. His blade pulled up into a defensive position then darted his head to the nearest corridor, clearly considering an avenue for escape.

Denso watched as the frustration boiled over in Nisk’s expression. A scream escaped his opponent’s lips as the blade made contact with the Sith’s body. He could practically smell the lightsaber burning the Zabrak’s flesh, a scent the battle tested Jedi knew all too well. For a brief second it pulled him away from the battle at hand, memories flashing through his mind before he was brought back to the present by Nisk’s hard shove.

The Jedi stared at his enemy, noticing the man’s eyes dart towards a hallway. Some would call it a cowardly tactic, but it could be taken as a retreat. Still, Denso would not allow the Sith to get away. He shot his hand upwards, lifting his index and middle fingers off the handle. He reached out with the Force and then raised his fingers up rapidly, aiming to use the Force to push the weakened Sith hard into the ceiling.

Nisk had been distracted for a brief moment when his sixth sense flickered, gaining his attention. His head snapped back as Denso tried to move him and send him into the ceiling. The Zabrak’s own force countered it causing his feet to lift slightly from the ground and immediately fall back downward, landing hard. His leg crumbled a bit bring him down to one knee for a brief moment. A window of opportunity for Denso to strike.

Realising this, Nisk tried to push himself back up and quickly before the Knight could bring his blade down upon him.

The Jedi Knight saw the opportunity for a decisive strike and took it. He lunged forward, as he drew closer he brought both of his lightsaber blades down as he stabbed at Nisk. He wanted this battle to end, it was likely that he would have to fight more Sith while they were invading the Temple and he would need to prepare for that.

A sith apprentice on their death was like a cornered animal. Nisk was no different as his head lifted and spotted the Knight rush toward him, his eyes widened in panic. On instinct his free hand raise then released a stream of force lightning at Denso. His other hand lifted to block the attack heading to stab into his chest.

Denso watched as Nisk’s eyes shot open and he shot a stream of Force lightning at the charging Jedi Knight, a last ditch effort to save his skin. As the first sparks drew nearer, he rose one of his lightsabers up and blocked the lightning. Then with a grunt he thrust his other lightsaber straight down, aiming right at the Sith’s chest.

Nisk stiffened in his semi-kneeling posture, the scent of burning flesh and a stinging sensation rippled from his chest. His head tilted down to see the hilt of Denso’s blade protruding from it. Acknowledgement over the death about to wash over him seep into his expression while he slow lock eyes with Denso. His lips speak the last words he will ever utter again.

“Well done… Jedi,” his figure then slouches down and over, the lightsaber continued to cut the dead sith in half.

Denso drew the lightsaber back from the Sith’s body, then flicked it off, as well as his other one. He gave Nisk one final look, blinking at the last words which emitted from the now deceased Sith. He then cleared his mind of the apprentice, he had cut down many Sith before. Part of him was always saddened that they had ended up going down that path instead of becoming a Jedi, but he could not change that now. They had picked their side. He then turned back to the others, ready to defend the Temple more.

“Hahaa.” Zora bursted out laughing. It rattled her figure with the energy as she leaned over the end of the booth, her arm reached to clutch her ribs while they began to hurt from the motion. Gradually it died and her figure rose upright, her face turned back to Fa. There was a slightly mocking smile on her lips. Her hand reached for another glass and continued to play with the glass edge, her attention to absorb the information before she glanced at the Zabrak.

Her appetite for aliens had long ago been spoiled thanks to Darth Nyiss, the Red Sith a wild and experienced mistress in bed. A soft murmur came with the memory as she returned her gaze to the raptor like creature. A hint of mirth still lingered in her tone with each word, “First off, the Zabrak’s cute but I trust him as far as I can toss him. So, I rather he not join us. As for your offer, the Republic and your Council will not tolerate someone like me starting anew. If anything, they would lock me up after your ‘noble’ attempts to reconcile me into a civilian.”

She never removed her left hand from its position on her belt, but it had began to dangle over a set of dark colored babbles instead of her lightsaber. Each had a specialized, alchemy chemical with various effects from creating rage in normal individuals to a smoke screen. However, none were lethal since she expected a Sith to come around and anything overly dangerous ended up triggering their sixth sense.

“So your offer is pretty much pointless. You can’t guarantee the higher ups won’t bother overriding a Jedi’s ‘offer’ and imprison or execute me for a longer stay in power,” Zora replied in a bitter fashion over what she viewed to be a worthless offer.

---

Fa remained just as calm as she had been at any point in their conversation thusfar. Though, perhaps contrary to what Zora might have been expecting, she also became seemingly even more relaxed through Zora’s answer. Fa needed the information she had, so she had to adopt a strategy that Zora might respect, and would likely not expect from a Jedi.

“I think you may be pleasantly surprised by what I have to offer.” Fa responded. She did not hesitate for a moment in her response, and through at least her body language, showed confidence in her words. “One of the reasons you Sith are fighting the Republic is because you view it as weak, with politicians that work for their own gain through subterfuge and corruption instead of merit. I disagree with that sentiment, in general, but certainly you must admit that there are politicians or military commanders that would be more than willing to pardon a lowly Sith Apprentice in order to claim a prize as tempting as Darth Nyiss herself. Indeed, as a Jedi Battlemaster, I personally have the authority to grant you amnesty, though my motive is not political advantage. It may harm your pride to admit it, but I think you can recognize that Nyiss is far more important, politically and militarily, than yourself. I personally have hope that you can come to see the light after your second chance, but I also see the harm that can be prevented by stopping that menace.”

Fa gave a brief shrug, intent on making herself appear relaxed. In reality, if Zora did anything violent, Fa was ready to respond with what would likely be the most powerful burst of telekinetic energy that Zora would have ever witnessed in person. ‘And it is not as if I am suggesting to bring you to Coruscant in bindings. In fact, you do not have to come to Coruscant. I can offer to give you transport to a planet in Republic space with far less Republic influence. Or you could just stay here if you really wanted to, after you share the information you have. I imagine you want to stop living like a rat in this refuse pile of a moon, but I truly do not care where you go. I just want Nyiss.”

---

Zanna carefully stepped through the bodies and rubble, looking about in mild disgust. "Such waste. Would have been much better to force surrender." She sighed as she checked the alchemical substances hidden on her body, making sure that they were secured. It wouldn't do to have them spill free and spray about wildly. She wouldn't be able to make anymore for a while. A very short while, if everything went as she hoped, but nothing was certain in the political world of the sith.

"Might as well get this over with. Couldn't just stay on the ship, no. I had to go down here and capture some Jedi. Could've spent so much time making proper substances for the interrogations. But the Darth insisted that everyone goes down here and capture various subjects." Zanna complained quietly to herself, heading towards the quieter areas of the temple. The Jedi that were least likely to put up a fight would be avoiding the actual conflict itself. Which served her purposes nicely, and had the added bonus of making sure she didn't run into any brutes like Sish. Zanna's lip curled at the thought of the Trandoshan Lord. She moved more quickly towards the hallway, heading towards the emptiness of the halls.

She hadn't gotten far before she found her first survivor. A Temple Guard, unfortunately. The man was injured, breathing rapidly and irregularly as he held a wound in his side. Fear and panic rolled off of him in waves, increasing drastically as he saw Zanna. He lifted his blaster and fired wild shots at her in desperation. They all missed, some wildly, but Zanna flinched away in fear nonetheless. Adrenaline rushed through her and she automatically lashed out with lightning, pinning the man to the wall. She held him there for a few moments, dropping him as the adrenaline faded away. She made a faint face of disgust as the smell of charred flesh reached her. "Disgusting."

---

@Ellri

Nazca idly wandered the halls of the temple, whistling to herself. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. Her boring youngling classes were over and the only people who would play pazaak with her were nowhere to be found. Her eyes settled on an approaching temple guard. They usually had something interesting stashed in their pockets or along their belts. Not like the jedi all around them. She continued to idly walk along, looking up at the ceiling above her. As the guard passed her by, she gently brushed by him, hand going for whatever happened to be in his pocket. An unseen force grabbed her and rather sternly pushed her away from the temple guard. She gave an annoyed sigh, turning around to see the jedi that was tasked to follow her. They didn't trust her not to cause trouble after the first few times people's things went missing. Nazca eyed her follower balefully. "You could at least play pazaak with me. It'd help with the boredom." He merely shook his head, disapproval radiating off of him.

"Schutta." She muttered under her breath, earning an even sterner look. She began to whistle as she walked on, looking for something to entertain herself. She hadn't gotten a few steps before a muffled boom shook the temple. Everyone paused, then rushed towards the source of it, dozens of lightsabers being drawn in an instant. Her follower glanced at her for only a moment, saying, "Stay here." Before running off with the rest of them. Nazca stared after him for a moment longer, then snorted. "Yeah, like I'm going to stay around while the temple is exploding." She ran in the opposite direction, moving surely through the temple. She hadn't been here long, but she had memorized most of it's layout. It wasn't all that different from Nar Shadda, in terms of confusing twists and turns. She began to hurry as the unmistakeable sounds of fighting began to echo through the halls. That can't be good.

She made a brief stop at a secluded alcove along the way. Reaching behind the statue (some dead jedi. She didn't know who.), she pulled out a blaster and grinned. It was the last thing she had managed to get before they stuck her follower onto her, and it looked like it would be coming in handy fairly soon. She glanced around the corner of the alcove, making sure there wasn't any Sith (that would be the only faction with the guts to attack the jedi temple like this) around, before heading out again.

It didn't take her long to reach her destination; The Archives. Secluded, defensive, and likely low on the priority list for most attackers. Perfect for her needs. Unfortunately, as she made her way into the archives, someone was already there. Someone who wasn't supposed to be, judging from the hissing sounds of a lightsaber slowly cutting through something. Nazca slowed her approach, almost unconsciously sinking into a quiet crouch as she moved forward towards the sound. Her pulse began to pound and she gripped the blaster tighter as she rounded the corner and saw the sith, red lightsaber and all. Cantox's words sprang unbidden to her mind.

The first rule of hit and run warfare; Always shoot them in the back if you can.

Nazca smiled slightly, before aiming the blaster at the Sith's back. This is going to take several shots...why didn't I take him up on his offer of shooting lessons? Light side of the Force or what the hell ever, please let this hit. With that prayer sent away, Nazca fired at the sith, loosing several blasts in short succession.

Chell could feel the death around her. The echos of blasters and screams were the last signs that she received that they were under attack. The shaking from the explosions was her first inkling that something was happening. She had quickly jumped from her bunk and moved as fast as her body could move to the archives. Jumping over and threading between temple guardsmen marching to what was likely their doom was her second indication that this was really happening, the temple was being assailed. Echos of pain boomed through the force, both light siders and dark siders, screaming into the void, she felt it all. When she finally made it to the archives she discovered a young Twi’lek, wielding a red saber, dispatching the last of the blaster-wielding guardsmen outside of the holocron vault. She felt the anger begin to bud inside her, as a sentinel it was her duty to defend the archives. Seeing a corrupted Nerf like this in her domain was unsettling. Not allowing her training to crack Chell pushed her anger down and bared down on the young apprentice quickly. She leapt high into the air using the force to augment her jump and then propelled herself at an angle towards the young sith. The sith was only just barely able to block her powerful strike with his saber, clashing with Chell’s right handed saber. Unbeknownst to him however, she used two sabers. Using the force to pull her second saber into her left hand she quickly ignited it and swiped at the young apprentice’s right arm. Only superficially striking the Twi’lek he retreated back several steps. As Chell finally touched the ground she wasted no time in throwing one of the guardsman's corpses at the sith.

The sith was caught by surprise from the body and quickly sliced it in half, filling the air with the smell of burnt flesh. Chell was right behind the body however and used the force to push him off his stance. As the young Twi’lek staggered back Chell struck with her left hand with a downward swing. The sith was haphazardly able to block the strike but left his midsection exposed. Seizing the opportunity Chell cut from the inside out with her right hand, splitting the apprentice in twix at the hips. His saber immediately disengaged and his upper half slid off backwards, his bottom half crumpling forwards. Chell quickly grabbed the fallen sith’s saber with the force and clipped it to her belt, she would need to destroy the weapon later to ensure no other sith would be able to wield this younglings weapon. She looked back down at the sith, who was still alive. He was feeling the new bottom of his body with tears streaming down his corrupted face. She supposed everyone was pitiful in the end. Not wishing to make the sith suffer she quickly dispatched the man’s head and found her center again. She had long since learned to control dark urges but she often wondered if the council would take issue with a feeling of pity. Nevertheless, she purged the emotion and focused on her surroundings, looking for a new intruder to kill. She felt many sources of darkness nearby, but one particularly close, one dangerously close to the holocron vault. Throwing herself into another force augmented sprint she made her way to the new threat.

Chell quickly spotted another younger looking sith. Why they would send their youth to fight her, a middle aged Zabrak, was beyond her. Chell noticed she was trying to cut through the wall, an odd decision to be sure. Noticing a heap of two dispatched droids near the young woman. Chell reached out and grab the remains with the force, repeating her earlier maneuver, hoping to end this fight just as quick as the last one.

Though it was the weakest point in the holocron vault, the wall was nonetheless not easily cut. She had gotten almost entirely through the wall when she half-sensed, half-heard one of the beautifully wrecked droids near her move. Considering how thoroughly it had been disabled, it clearly did not move of its own accord. She immediately realized that the cause had to be rooted in the Force. Immediately disengaging the saber from cutting the wall, she turned about more than a little annoyed. At that moment, she spotted the droid swiftly moving through the air straight for her. With a quick slash combined with a touch of the Force, she slashed down, further dismantling it and rendering that attack impotent. “I suppose being left alone is not an option…” she muttered, facing the Jedi responsible.

Seeing that her previous trick was not going to allow her a quick kill Chell stopped her high speed with a quick and powerful use of force push in the direction of the sith. The push stopped her and allowed her to ignite her blades and fall into her Ataru stance. “You are not quite as weak as the other one I see. It makes little difference to me.” Chell said in her commanding tone as she then crossed her sabers in an X and charged at the sith. Using her left hand for defense she brought her right saber down into a powerful swing, using her momentum to attempt to knock down the sith’s saber.

The moment the Jedi charged her, Nimm held her saber down, seemingly ready for a classic attack. She had noted the jedi’s choice of wielding two sabers. Sure, she could probably protect herself against such, but she had little interest in doing so. Crouching ever so slightly she did her best to not make her plans obvious. When the Jedi was almost upon her, she leapt up into the air, twisting mid-air, slashing down at the head, knowing it probably would not hit. But at least it would disrupt any plans the Jedi had. She did however, aim to land somewhat behind the Jedi, but outside the immediate reach of its sabers.

Chell was at least expecting to make contact with the sith’s saber but was surprised when she instead jumped in the air and swung down at her. Chell was easily able to bat away the sith’s only half serious attack but was more concerned that she was about to be off balance. Using her off hand to match the sith’s saber Chell jumped to the right and high into the air aiming for the top of one of the data banks. This served to disengage herself from the sith but it also provided her another opportunity. As she used the force to hold herself to the side of the data bank momentarily she sliced off an edge of databank off with her saber and quickly grabbed it with the force. With her left hand she directed the chunk at the sith with a strong push then herself, jumped off the side of the databank towards the sith. Raising her sabers in front of her once again she crossed her swords and hoped to keep the sith from attempting the same evasion tactic by coming down at her at an angle.

Although Nimm could have evaded, she did not directly aim to do so. Keeping her left hand on her blade, she quickly flipped it into a reversed grip, then used her right to push the databank chunk off to the side at the same time. She repositioned herself ever so slightly, so that she could both block the strike as she held her reversed saber high, and so that it would be easier to redirect her foe. Even as she did all this, she began planning the next several strikes, estimating how her foe would seek to strike and the moves to counter those strikes with the minimum effort. She expected that her suddenly switching over to Shien would put her foe off balance in more ways than one.

Robes flapping at her sides violently, Chell was barely able to see the sith switch stances in time. She brought her offhand saber out in a wide left to right swing, hoping to use the collision of the sabers to disengage again. Her right hand went for a jab at the sith’s mid-section, mainly in an attempt to move her out of her stance. The loud crash of sabers came as expected and Chell twisted over to her left hand and wildly reaching out with her right blade. Landing on her feet away from the sith again. She seemed oddly experienced for a young girl, she wondered for a moment if this was even an original body or some other trick of sith alchemy. Pushing the thought aside Chell started circling to the right of the sith, switching her sabers repeatedly between a back hand and normal grip, hoping to make her intentions unclear. “I’m surprised girl, you sith usually would have lost their temper on the back foot. They do so hate not being able to unleash themselves. You could make a good jedi you know, no longer a slave to your emotions, in control of your faculties.” Still circling Chell was trying her best not to be terribly condescending but she was becoming annoyed with this sith. Chell’s skills were best used against groups rather than duels, however this was her duty regardless.

It was not particularly hard to see how the Jedi was attempting to taunt her, but Nimm did not care. She was not some brutish warrior, running on barely controlled rage. Only a Jedi would think that all Sith were that way. There were numerous exchanges of blows, all aimed at keeping the Jedi from being able to unleash a strong assault. Each circled the other, trying to outmaneuver the other. When she noticed the Jedi kept flipping her sabers back and forth between standard and reversed grip, she got an idea. That chunk of databank from earlier was not too distant. With carefully concealed motive, she redirected their combat so that the chunk was behind the Jedi. With a hard pull with the Force, Nimm yanked on the chunk, aiming to have it impact the back of the Jedi’s right hand, intending to have it hit the moment the saber handle was in the process of being flipped. At the same time, she kept her counterstrikes rapid so as to keep the Jedi focused on her. It did not matter overmuch if the chunk hit. Either it did, and the saber was potentially dropped, or the Jedi would merely be distracted by it and she could land a very special blow, a strike commonly called Cho Mai.

Chell’s taunting was having little visible effect on the sith, well if she kept at it maybe it would, it usually did anyway. Wanting this fight to be over with Chell was almost at a loss when the sith began moving after her. It didn’t feel right, the sith had been too unshaken. Chell blocked the first of several blows backhanded and then quickly dropped down and put as much of her force as she could muster into pushing the sith away from her. The sith’s saber came down and superficially cut her forearm as the databank hit her in the back. Between these two events Chell was forced to drop her saber and pull back as fast as she could. Bringing her right hand to saber and holding it in front of her she noticed her grip was considerably weaker. The force was allowing her to ignore the pain but it didn’t cover up the fact that her primary hand was now barely able to grip a saber. The nerf had tried to cut her hand off, Chell was no longer amused. Not bothering to attempt to retrieve her saber from the next to the sith she simply reached to her side and ignited the red saber. It felt wrong, it felt evil, it felt like pain, but it would potentially save her. Now wielding a blue and a red saber Chell redoubled her attacks. Not being able to directly clash with the sith using her right hand was a handicapped but she could still swing at her. Filling herself with the force Chell charged at the sith, spinning into two downward strikes.

The telekinetic attack worked exactly as she had intended to. Sure, she did not succeed at unhanding her foe, but that had only been a secondary goal, a potential bonus. If necessary, she would remove that hand later. When she herself was pushed somewhat back from the Jedi and the Jedi pushed herself away from her, she could not help but smile. This was a powerful Jedi. Not many Force Users could do that to her against her will. If she could be turned, she would make a powerful Sith.

It was clear that the piece of debris had hurt the Jedi. Not only did she drop the saber, but the spare saber, a red-bladed one no doubt taken from a weaker Sith, was held with far less confidence and firmness. She’d actually managed to hurt the Jedi with such a simple attack. The Jedi was clearly not pleased about that, for she seemed to pull herself together and launch a series of follow-up attacks with far greater intensity than before. “Yes… Use your feelings… Embrace your anger… It will make you stronger…”

Unlike her, the Jedi was clearly not used to controlling her emotions. Thus, blocking her attacks was easy. She easily picked up the Jedi’s dropped saber, clipping it to her own belt so as to have control over it. She did not hide doing so. In fact, she wanted the Jedi to see it. It would no doubt infuriate her.

“Ha! Vermin you mistake anger for the righteous fury of the light!” Chell half cackled out as she brought down her sabers and went for a wide left to right swing with her off hand then a clumsy bottom up swing with her now half numb primary hand. The blade unintentionally sparked the ground and left a molten gash in the floor of the archive room. She focused more of her force abilities into her right hand, trying to get back the skill she normally wielded her blade with. This sith was proving to be an annoyingly competent opponent. So much so in fact she was having a hard time remembering the last time one had given her so much pause.

“So it is ‘righteous fury’ you call it here on Coruscant. . . Heh. Out in the galaxy, its called ‘rage’. Most apprentices have to learn to control that. Or, in some cases, learn how to unleash it properly.” She shifted her attack pattern to focus on the weakened side of the Jedi, keeping herself almost constantly opposite from the Jedi’s good hand, rendering it obsolete, even as she kept hammering blows onto the saber, using her full strength to further weaken the hand holding it.

“Only a slave of the dark side would say such a grossly ignorant thing.” The sith’s constant attacks to her right side were becoming an issue for the jedi. Chell decide her best course of action was to switch her grip to her backhand, which only really made her right hand useful for blocking now. She also decide it would be best to circle around with a series of right to left attacks using her left hand to she could move her right side near to the wall. With her flank now less in danger of facing powerful and broad strikes Chell brought her left blade down in an attempt to occupy her opponents saber. She then put her focus on her left foot and with a kick to the sith’s chest let out a powerful wave of force, hoping to push the sith away and maybe even wound her. This intensity of combat was not something Chell was going to be able to keep going much longer. She was going to need an end game. “Tell me girl, when did the lords decide combat was beneath them. Retreating to their bloated imperial center leaving younglings to fight for them. Or are you an exception, and your master simply wishes to kill you!”

“Oh, there are several lords here.” She answered, keeping her attacks up on the right side of the Jedi. She kept her assault hard, mixing in a few Djem So strikes, powerful, carefully aimed strikes. “You might even get to meet some after I am done dealing with you.” With that, she unleashed a flurry of hard, two-handed blows, aimed to take advantage of the weakness in the Jedi’s hand. Not blocking even one of these strikes would lead to injuries ranging from moderate to severe, whereas blocking them would rapidly exhaust her opponent.

Chell was not very good on the defense, she was no soresu master. Her right hand was now barely able to move, the best she could muster was starting to burn the underside of her forearm. She was throwing a limp arm at the sith barely able to grip the liberated saber anymore. She kept trying to get a broad ataru strikes in in from the left while trying to lean more heavily against the wall to her right side. The only real offense she was capable of now was kicking out force pushes, most of which failed to get any sort of advantage open to her. She could not let the vault be taken, it was on her, it was her responsibility. Letting out a guttural yell she began striking with her remaining force at the sith with her still good arm and keeping her right saber up as little more than a shield.

The Jedi was cornered. Nimm knew it. The Jedi knew it. In a futile attempt to use the wall as protection, the Jedi had pressed herself up against it. Sure, it prevented Nimm from properly assaulting the weakened right side, but it also severely restricted movement. For now, it would be enough to continue the battering, looking for an opening that would allow her to incapacitate the Jedi for capture. “You do know what is inside that vault, right, Jedi?”

“Nothing meant for your mongrel hands!” Chell managed to yell out before gritting her teeth again. The pain of her hand was now seeping through her mental barriers, she couldn’t tell if her hand was broken or if that saber blow had cut the muscles in her arm. Regardless, she couldn’t keep it up anymore. She finally dropped the vile red saber and she suddenly felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She could feel herself get a second wind now that she was not longer having to focus so much of her strength on holding onto another weapon. Letting out another primal growl Chell used anything she had left and began swinging broadly from the left with a quick spin. This also served to move her slightly further away from the wall. While her arm was hanging at her side, near useless, she was still able to use her left hand effectively. But for how much longer, she didn’t know.

The Jedi’s counter-attacks were increasingly desperate and increasingly easy to predict. Even better, the Jedi moved away from the wall, which would leave her wounded side more open for assault. In between her blocks, Nimm reached out with the Force, pulling the discarded saber up and hooking it onto her belt beside the Jedi’s saber. No point in leaving any such behind. “Contained within that vault is the largest collection of stolen Sith artifacts in this part of the galaxy. I can sense them, feel how their influence permeates this structure. Concealed beneath the emanations from those primitive Jedi holocrons, but still there… If you reach out with your mind, if you search properly, you too will sense them. Sense their power...”

Once the Jedi was back out into the open, Nimm started her assault again. She had thought about how to do this. There were two distinct options of the non-lethal kind. Either she could dismember the Jedi, which would be rather enjoyable. Or she could provide plethora of additional—but less severe—wounds. It would be easier to go for the first of the two, but the Jedi was already weakened by foolish ethics. She would have a hard enough time as a Sith without cybernetic replacements. With them, she would probably not stand a chance of surviving, let alone thriving. That decided it for her. Multiple grazing wounds it would be. Wounds that would heal in time under the proper care, but still hurt. Pain would strengthen her, harden her for what was to come. As a bonus, she would make it clear she could have cut deeper each time, just to prove her superiority.

The sith struck Chell’s right shoulder with a glancing blow, adhering her skin to her robes. There is no pain, there is the force. Chell knew she wasn’t going to win this, it was her hope that someone else might be able to come and finish her work. She at least hoped this sith had been delayed enough that someone could get here. The vault needed to be protected at all costs. “Stolen! Your people did nothing but enslave and oppress the galaxy with them, we LIBERATED them. But you wouldn’t know that, your masters need to control you somehow. Even if I die, you will not be the beneficiary!” Chell let out one last yell as she used whatever strength she had left to dish onto the sith, hoping to at least wound her. Letting out a fury of kicks, punches, and slashes, followed up with force pushes in an attempt to beat the sith down.

“Your knowledge of imperial history is impressively lacking. But then, you are but a Jedi, so I suppose I should expect no better…” Moments after Nimm answered, the Jedi started kicking, punching and slashing. The kicks she did her best to disrupt, the slashes she blocked with her saber, but the punches she largely let through, figuring that they would hurt the Jedi more than they ever could hurt her. She did not even try to hide that she let them through. Though she did not wear full battle armor the way some sith did, she was not so foolish as to not have any sort of protection built into her clothes. Not enough to significantly encumber herself or overly restrict movement, but enough to stop some types of attacks from causing much harm. “Your knowledge of Sith artifacts, however, is even worse. The lies of your masters are clear. Being Sith is about self-improvement, nothing else. It is not the Sith who dealt the deadliest blow in the last war.” At this point, the Jedi kicked towards her belly, and she shifted slightly to the side, then kicked out herself, aiming for the Jedi’s other leg.

“It appears your knowledge is even more stepped in ideology than mine!” Chell cared little that her punches had little effect, she could at least tire her out some, anything. She had to help the next group carry on…. anything was going to help. Her own kicks were doing nothing but serving to injure her, the Sith’s body armor being too great for her weakened self to penetrate.But the Sith’s kick to her shin, that was unignorable. In retaliation for Chell’s efforts her leg snapped. Chell was a Zabrak, meaning not only were her bones denser but she could deal better with pain than other races. But this…… this hurt. Without saying a word Chell fell onto her back eyes wide still gripping her saber defiantly. Teeth gritted and head shaking, spit escaping her clenched teeth she managed to struggle out ”And…. You …. Have gained…. NOTHING!” Chell had nothing left to fight with except her clenched saber, her knuckles a lighter brown than her. “FINISH IT SITH!” Chell managed to get out more cogently than her previous words.

Nimm was surprised to see how effective her kick was. Her core intent had been to make the Jedi fall over, but she must’ve hit some sort of weak spot, for the leg bent in ways it was clearly not designed to bend. The look on the Jedi’s face was rather delicious. “Finish it? I have something far more entertaining in mind…” As she said that, Nimm quickly unleashed a short burst of Force Lightning at the Jedi’s forearm, causing the muscles to momentarily convulse, causing the saber to drop. She then quickly snatched it up. “I’ll take that. You won’t need that for a while.”

Having hooked the final saber to her belt, Nimm reached behind her back, detaching something that had seemingly been a part of her belt, a small curved piece of metal with a pair of protuberances ending in inactive red lights. She pressed a couple of buttons on her wrist unit and the lights lit up. If the Jedi had seen one before, she might recognize it as exactly what it was: a shock collar. “You will not be permitted to die for a good while yet, Jedi.” She batted aside the Jedi’s arms, then hooked the collar onto the woman’s neck. Though it could not be seen, the moment it touched the woman’s neck, four prongs dug their way into the neck, hooking onto the spine and locking into place. Though the prongs were coated in antiseptics, they did not have anything to relieve the pain.

After attaching it, she stood back up, pressed a few other buttons on her wrist terminal, requesting a retrieval squad for the prisoner, as well as a medical stretcher. With a broken leg, the prisoner would be unable to walk, not even when properly motivated by the shock collar.

The lightning didn’t hurt compared to the pain of her leg, if anything it was just making her more numb. Almost as if her brain was not allowing her to process anymore, it was as if it wanted to die. When the sith put the collar around her neck she felt nothing. Emotion, yet peace. Pain, yet the force. Death, yet the force. Chell was trembling with rage at the sith, but she couldn’t help but hear the tenants of the Jedi code, booming in her skull. Chell carried no malice, no hate, no rage, but her body was trying to resist her, force her, to feel. She could hold it back, but she could not act. “You will…. gain nothing…. from that vault, only your own demise… sith.” She had little strength to do little else, her body exhausted from the acrobatic form that was Ataru and bent onto the ground she could do nothing.

It was easy to sense the conflict within the Jedi, but Nimm did not bother with starting on playing with it. Right now, the Jedi would have to enjoy her pain instead. If they had been taught how to rule their emotions, rather than how to suppress them, they would have been far less vulnerable in situations like this. Instead, she stepped back over to the vault wall, continuing to cut it open while keeping an eye on the prisoner. Which wasn’t difficult. The prisoner was going nowhere. Both conveniently and inconveniently, the retrieval team arrived within minutes. As per their instructions, they had brought along a transport sled loaded with a reasonable amount of explosive charges, which she would install in the holocron vaults after recovering the sith holocrons and artifacts kept there. It probably would not destroy the primitive Jedi holocrons, but at least it would bury them within the rubble.

Chell could see the sith moving into the vault, no doubt awestruck by the magnificence. She could hear the distinct thuds of the troopers heavy boot heels, no they could not be allowed to taint this place as well. She might not be able to stop the sith but she could at least stop them. Chell summoned what little strength she had left and pushed herself on top of her still good leg, her broken leg put in front of her. She saw the throng of black clad troopers. She closed her eyes and reached out with the force, gripping the troopers around the wrists and suddenly twisting them. Three troopers immediately dropped their rifles and dropped to the ground, screaming through their speakers. Four approached this time and she sent a shockwave of air at them, sending those four tumbling end over end into several more, no doubt at least wounding them. But more showed up, she quickly redoubled her effort and pulled several of them head first into a databank. More troopers stepped over them and continued their march toward her.

Nimm could hear that the Jedi was not done with fighting from the excessive noises coming from outside the vault. She supposed she should not have been surprised. Seeing how she knew the Jedi could not get away, she did not feel the need to go back outside, though. Instead, she simply pressed a few buttons on her wrist terminal, activating the first power setting on the shock collar to help educate the Jedi. It would hurt, but not deliberate. She fully expected the retrieval team to get the idea from that. If not, she decided they would have to learn a lesson from that too.

Chell felt the excruciating shock from the collar and it made her stop her force assault to throw up. Her eyes widened and head shaking she had to take some of her focus onto blocking the pain. Looking back up at the now closer troopers she let the force build up inside her and she let out a massive wave of force energy. Knocking down several more lines of troopers she was only delaying the inevitable. Struggling under the pain she only had one more option. She closed her eyes again and began to focus on the databanks. She felt for stress and individual sections of the databanks and she began pulling them inward. The sound of creaking metal and exploding circuits filled the hall. She began screaming to help her cope with the pain as she pulled down two massive chunks of the databanks into the corridor the troopers were approaching from, no doubt crushing several.

It was almost impressive how the pain of the collar inspired the rage of the Jedi in ways Nimm had not been able to inspire earlier. Still, she did not need the troopers to die. Thus, even as she continued spreading out the explosives, she prepared amp up the power on the shock collar. She would definitely have to experiment more with Jedi and shock collars in the future. She stood in the opening she’d cut and watched the Jedi breaking things before she finally pressed the buttons to take the collar to the level it would incapacitate the Jedi, cause her to be unable to move on account of her motor control being completely scrambled by the raw energy flowing into her from the collar. She would probably end up knocking the Jedi unconscious with it later, but it would be far more enjoyable to take it up slowly. To see how much the Jedi could handle, how far she could go under pressure.

The pain. The pain went beyond any pain she had experienced since her knight trials. Every muscle in her body tensed up for a moment and she fell onto her back, unable to will her body into movement. The most she was able to eek out was a gurgling noise. She took a few moments to recenter herself to the pain, she could hear more troopers approaching from another avenue. It would only be a few more moments before she would be indefinitely subdued this time. She turned over to the sith as she began throwing things around the holocron vault, making her way toward the sith holocron vault yet deeper in the vault. She started crawling, having long given up trying to use her legs. Crawling through the rubble towards the still moving sith she did the last thing she could think of. Reaching out around her and grabbing the assortment of debris around her and with the last of her effort threw all the debris as hard and as fast as she could, hoping she could at least cut that bantha’s wrists.

A level of pain that would have completely incapacitated most people, and the Jedi still tried to crawl and fight. Nimm was pleased with her choice of taking this Jedi alive. Once turned, which she would be, the Jedi would make a half-decent Sith. Maybe not one that could be trusted, but still… She finished with the jedi by taking the shock collar up to a level that would leave the Jedi unconscious, but not kill her. The Jedi appeared to have planned to toss all sorts of objects at her, but that attempt failed the moment unconsciousness hit, the objects in question clattering to the floor, no longer guided anywhere.

At this point, the battered retrieval team came forth, finally securing the Jedi to the stretcher. She instructed them in that they should keep her unconscious for the transit, not being certain that they would realize the wisdom of that on their own. They did provide her with a replacement shock collar, fortunately. It wouldn’t do to capture someone else and not have the means for restraining him or her. Immediately after that, the retrieval team departed, taking the prisoner with them.

Only then did Nimm feel ready to move back into the vaults and get the things she’d really come here for. Having seen the insides of the vault, Nimm decided to enlarge the opening she’d made a little, so that it would be easier to get all the artifacts out at the same time. She started cutting into the side of the passage, only to twist around when a blaster bolt hit a nearby wall, cleanly missing her, but giving her the feeling that someone had aimed specifically at her. Someone that was a really bad shot. The next shot missed by a similar margin, but the third almost came close, so she deflected that one into the statue of some presumably dead Jedi. “Whomever you are, I suggest you come out. If you wish to live, that is... If I have to come and get you myself, you won’t.”

---

Hearing Talon telling them to scatter, Cerria ran for it, keeping herself hidden. She cursed herself for not having great enough fighting skills to help Talon, but there was nothing could be done. She reached the doors of the archives and silently slipped towards the door only to see another at the door. This person wasn't one she had seen before and she tensed.

”Who are you?” her voice was cold and held the emotions like she had before with Talon. Holding out her lightsaber in front of her, her finger was on the button ready to turn it on if she needed to and she had a strong feeling that it would lead to that and a battle.

“Put that way or you’ll end up hurting yourself,” Jayda warned, her eyes narrowed. Her hand hovered over her lightsaber and ready to snap it into her hand at the slightest provocation. She stay near the door for long while her boots clipped along the carpet floor, her figure stiff and alert because of the nearby Sith. One was over near the far wall of what appeared to be a library filled with information and a single vault that she assumed held something of value to the other. Another presence, a Lord, attracted her attention to another direction and flared up her guard even more.

However, Sish’s words refused to allow her to retreat until she had captured a Jedi.

Unable to tell if she was being sarcastic or was warning her, Cerria didn't let her guard down at the female. She discreetly observed the way the female stood and it was flaring up red flags.

”I would but I don’t like the way you are standing. Are you with the group is attacking us? Cerria kept narrow eyes on the girl’s form, watching for any sudden movements she would try. Hearing some commotion starting off in the archives behind her, she tensed up more hoping the children were safely hiding. Cerria absolutely refused to leave the doors open for more enemies to enter.

“I didn’t know it was a Jedi’s right to dictate and determine how an individual can stand,” Jayda’s tone held a bit of bitterness and edge to it when she spoke, “Then again, Jedi seem to be completely lacking empathy toward the feelings of others. As for your answer, what do you think? What do your eyes and the force tell you?”

”Everything is telling me not to let you through those doors” With her answer confirming she was an enemy, she had to fight if she were to start attacking, but she had to keep everything she learned in mind. She began to think of ways of disarming her quickly without hurting the still unnamed female.”I would surrender if I was you. I abhor hurting people even if they are an enemy, but i'm not afraid to do it if it is necessary”

“Apologies,” Jayda bowed in mockery, not taking her weapon quite yet and then raised upright once more, “I can’t do that. Unfortunately I was given a task and I much rather not risk being beaten to an inch of my life.”

With a quick flicker of her left hand, a table jerked from its location beside the padawan and immediately flew at Cerria’s left side. When Cerria reacted, Jayda’s right foot lead as her figure rushed forward. She drew her lightsaber and ignited it with a purple blade, the plasma buzzed in strength while she covered the distance. Her blade pulled back to her left and then lashed out low, aiming to cut at Cerria’s leg opposite of the incoming table.

Cerria gasped and jumped out of the table's direction letting it hit the wall and shatter. She clicked the button on her weapon. She quickly swung her arm to block Jayda’s attack, the sounds of their lightsabers loud enough to echo the walls surrounding them. Cerria jumped away from Jayda far enough to think for a second.

Figuring that the only way to end this fight was to try and disarm the female before someone got hurt, she began to think of ways of doing it without removing a limb. Her eyes went to the left leg and then her lightsaber.

Jayda snarled at the padawan’s retreat. Her blade continued the movement after it narrowly missed Cerria’s foot and twisted upward back to her front. The blade was set at a horizontal defense across her chest with the hilt at her waist. Recalling Sish’s teachings in a begrudging way, Jayda knew she had to go on the offense and started to cut the distance between them. Her right foot again led while she watched the Jedi try to puzzle something out in her mind.

’If I hit her leg just right to cripple it, I can end this fight quickly. I need to be quick about it, but she can't see me coming.’Cerria mentally said to herself. She looked at the shattered table that was jerked at her and her eyes brightened. Focusing on the table, the Jedi sent the table hurling at Jayda.

Shifting her wrist downward aiming her blade slightly to the left of Jayda’s left knee, she swiftly hit the area with the blade of her lightsaber being careful to make sure the limb was injured but still intact to her body. Cerria jumped a short distance away panting.

The zabrak was ready when the table came. Immediately her blade whipped out and sliced the table into half in an instance, her figure moved to the left from the side covered by the table. Her eyes turned to the sense of danger coming from her side, watching the table pieces tumble down. A flash of modest colors associated to the Jedi came into view when the padawan rushed past to clip where she was.

Her purple blade whipped back like a snake. It immediately it came backwards across her side and batted the lightsaber’s incoming blade, the two sparked on contact before it reached Jayda’s leg. The apprentice continued quickly forward several steps before she flipped back and brought herself into a defensive position. Her blade raised across her chest and dipped at a diagonal, the tip pointed at her hips. Meanwhile her legs widened to steady her stance, braced for another attack.

Cerria cursed mentally at her failed plan on crippling her. She watched Jayda dip down into a defensive position. This would be harder than she thought it would be. She took in surroundings in a discreet manner hoping to find something that would break the woman’s defensive position and concentration. Her eyes went to the somewhat busted archive door. She gained an idea, but pulling it off could prove very difficult. But if she broke the doors further, that would make the children and Talon even more vulnerable than they already are.

Her eyes left the doors, searching for another way and then her eyes went behind Jayda. If she could lead the female away from the room, she could fight her away from the children. She gained a small grin that was very unnoticeable.

”I think it's time we take this fight elsewhere.” Cerria send one of the half pieces hurling at the apprentice, before running at her. Seeing the female move the very side she wanted her to jump to, she rushed past her not looking back but did keep her senses on alert for an attack and her blade tilted up at a 45 degree angle.

Jayda didn’t want to risk another surprise attack as she slipped to the side, letting the table pieces fly by. Another blur of dull colors caught her attention when the padawan rushed by. She spotted the human darting for the exit causing her to snarl. Her force reached out then shot the tables just ahead of Cerria causing them to splinter and shatter on impact before she reached the doorway. Without waiting for the Jedi to recover, the Sith darted toward the Padawan with an aim to land a diagonal slice from her hips to her shoulder across the exposed back.

Cerria saw the attack coming from her peripheral vision and turned around quickly meeting her blade with hers. A loud echo sound surrounded them when they hit in a splash of color. Upon locking blades, Jayda’s momentum grinding to a predictable stop. This prevented her from advancing and possibly causing the two to tumble, cutting each other on their own blades. The Zabrak growled as she pushed, carefully, her advantage of strength over the less physically trained padawan.

”I'm not going to surrender without a fight sith” Cerria said coldly, no emotion still on her face, making her unreadable while on the inside she was panicking and pushing her body to keep fight back.

She looked towards the left and saw some materials that were left from the re building of the hallway after some padawans went a little over board in practice. She concentrated on making the heavy material move. Giving up on trying to get that to move, she turned her attention to other things and saw some chair pieces littering not far from the material. Concentrating, she got a back piece of the chair to fly towards them and aimed to smack Jayda upside her head and face.

Jayda sensed the incoming attack. Her eyes darted over her shoulder and the flicker of something flying at her caused the apprentice to disengage. She jerked to the side to attack and neutralize the surprise attack. Her blade unlocked from the Jedi’s, her body moved from her previous position and out of range, as she lashed at her right. The chair piece severed into smaller pieces then fell to the ground, harmless.

Cerria made a break for it. Her figure rushed down the right and towards the back exit. Her chest was rapidly beating in her chest as the lights began to flicker on and off. The force of the explosions was takings its tow on the temple. Cerria could tell none of her tactics were working to slow the Sith apprentice down and took a sharp, nearly knocking a case of old books down. She continued to run, not daring to stop.

The zabrak apprentice snarled when her eyes spotted the Padawan dart away and down a gap between the archives’ shelves. When she spotted the Jedi nearly collide with one, an idea edged into the apprentice’s mind. Her hands gripped tightly upon her lightsaber then slashed at the support anchoring the large, bulky thing in place. The metal hissed and burned into a metal stump as the shelf leaned toward the room’s wall. Using much of her focus, Jayda lifted a hand then applied it to collapse it upon the Jedi. At first, it didn’t move. With passing moments, the books rumbled and toppled onto the floor with some likely smacking Cerria on their way. The structure shook as Jayda showed visible strain in her actions to make thing fall.

Thankfully, it was one of the smaller ones and only reached about about 3.5 meters in height.

Cerria cried out in pain as a heavy book fell from out of nowhere and got her right in her lightsaber hand. A snap could be felt and heard as a bond obviously broke. She turned around quickly, looking on in horror as a shelf began to fall towards her. Falling backwards she used her force powers just enough to soften the blow it would cause, causing it to hit her right leg enough bruise it. Luckily she had turned off her saber so she didn't hurt herself as it rolled near her head.

Cerria met eyes with Jayda one last time before her vision blackened and she entered a void of darkness.

Jayda stepped toward the destruction, her breath shallow and exhausted. It had taken a lot out of her in order to move the shelf due primarily to the weight and thickness of it which mentally worried her. However, she managed to come of the conflict without a scratch and captured a Jedi. Her boot kicked away the Jedi’s light saber as she leaned down to check the girl’s pulse. Satisfied there was still life within the Padawan’s body, the apprentice began to remove the shelving and dig her out to bring her back to the collection vessel for the Jedi.

Zora eyed the Jedi, carefully. The raptor like alien was hard to read even with the force to help the sith, rather pointless when turned upon another force user. She took another sip from her cup, but the liquid didn’t pass through her lips as she wanted to be sober. Her hand already gripped something on her belt and carefully tugged the pocket top off, her fingers glided into brush something round and hard. It was a piece of Sith Alchemy she had created specifically for a quick getaway. They were numerous balls, each color a different function and effect, which would help her in a fight or escape.

She picked the greyish black one and the green. She had to be careful because Any little move would give her away and things could then get messy. Her eyes shifted to note the exits, each one pretty far save for one, as she leaned in more. Her lips smirked at the mention of Coruscant causing her to chuckle a bit before she replied, “I like living more and crossing a Darth, especially one like Nyiss, will risk lowering my life expectancy by a great deal. In addition, I agree that I’m not a big target like Nyiss, but if she was to be eliminated than do you really think I’ll be tolerated to continue my ‘second’ chance? I doubt it. Why both keeping a deal when you have what you want?”

Zora looked to the side briefly. From the Jedi Battle Master’s position, it would be difficult for Fa to see Zora’s arm moving and even harder to sense any true danger directed at her. Mainly because neither of the balls were directly intended to hurt the Tiss’shar but rather the environment. If the Battle Master got hurt in the process, that was just a plus.She hide them into her shirt sleeve and slowly rose.

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to leave. You can either stop me, causing a scene and get unwanted attention or let me.”

---

Shiri grinned as she managed to hit the droid as it retreated, making a gash in it a couple inches deep but not doing much else. She stepped away from it as it continued its retreat, bringing her lightsaber up to block the falling debris from the ceiling as the droid crashed into a pillar. Jumping out of the way of a large chunk of stone, she turned her attention to the other two droids in the room to check what they were doing, just as she heard Xid cry out. She started to head towards him to help, but another hunk of rock stopped her as it fell right in front of her.

That gave her an idea. She didn’t need to be right next to Xid to help him. She reached out with the force and grabbed a few of the smaller bits of stone falling around her, sending them into the last bolt heading towards Xid. As they blocked the bolt she let them fall, clattering at Xid’s feet as she called to him. “You doing okay?”

The bolt hit and embedded into the thick stone, leaving a scorched mark over the surface. It crumbled into the ground causing Xid to breath in relief then looked over his shoulder. The back part was blackened where the blast had scraped and damaged him, through it was only skin deep. Deep down the Padawan knew it should’ve been much worse than it had been, the worry festering in him over any captives and what they would face.

His knuckles tightened while he gave Shiri a smirk that didn’t even come close to what he was originally feeling, “I’m alright but don’t let your guard down. This fight isn’t over.”

With that in mind, his right foot lead him back into the fight. The Mark-ii once more fired on Xid causing him to kick off the floor and flip into the air. His arm swung and batted away the red blaster bolt, rocketing it into the nearest wall. He cursed under his breath at his lacking deflector ability to turn his opponent's attack on themselves. However he didn’t bother to dwell on it.

“Shiri cover me!” Xid shouted as he extended his hand, his feet landed on the floor and attempted to disable the Mark-ii in front of him.

The droids all narrowed their red glowing lenses upon the padawan. The two Mark-i began to adjust their arm guns then fired one shot each, both coming from opposite sides, right at Xid. Meanwhile, the first one was buzzing and twitching while he used Droid disable.

”Like you gotta tell me that…” Shiri stepped in front of the bolt from the droid closest to her and deflected it into a wall before jumping over Xid in a flip to stop the other one before it could get to Xid. The bolt deflected into the Droid’s ‘eye’ and the light that was there sputtered out. The droid made a confused noise as it randomly fired more bolts towards her, guessing at where she was. She ran forward and slashed at the Droid’s arms, aiming for the joints to try and sever the guns from it before falling back towards Xid to block anything from getting to him again.

Shiri’s blade managed to find a joint on the Mark-i’s arm gun. It came away easily as the other jerked to swiped at her rather than fire another bolt causing her to retreat quickly back or get hit. A deep, furious whirl emitted from its ‘throat’ while it tried to locate the two padawans. Meanwhile, the untouched Mark-i had rattled then with surprising agility charged at Shiri. The moment she moved or raised her lightsaber, it fired three blaster shots at her exposed body. It lowered its head to protect from any attempts to deflect the blasts back into its sight like the other one experienced.

All the conflict had gained the Mark-ii’s attention. Its head turned and spied Xid focusing on it, his hand still extended. A small cascade of sparks erupted from its head back. A long spray flashed out and over the spine, dancing over the back and onto the floor before it started to bare down on the smaller padawan. Xid increased his focus by tightening his hand into a claw causing the Mark-ii to then twitch and spasm in place. Then it tumbled, crumbling into a heap on the ground and completely disabled.

Shiri dodged out of the way of the blinded droid before turning to deflect or dodge the bolts fired from the other one. She hit one back at it, but it barely missed the droid, off by an inch to the left. Her hit on the other one was more of a fluke than it had seemed. She ducked and moved to the side to dodge the other two bolts, before the mark-ii clattered as it fell to the ground.

“Nice one Xid! One down.” She ran towards the one that was charging at her, the one she’d tried to cut in half before, and tried to do the same again, this time aiming for its left side as it would pass her.

Xid was relieved when Shiri came to his rescue. Disable droid took extreme focus and not a power meant for the battle field, often leaving the user vulnerable and easy prey for those more suitable for combat. Gradually his hand lowered from its extended position as he inhaled deeply, worn from the running and weaving through the combat field. His arms braced against his knees for a moment until Shiri’s words caught his attention.

His head snapped up and watched her dart forward. Not willing to leave her to deal with the Mark-ii along, Xid’s right foot started to lead him into the fray and began to follow. He didn’t get very far when suddenly sorrow and pain swept through his mind, filling him with a sense of loss. Any higher thought immediately ceased. His lightsaber fell from his grasp, deactivated and bounced to a stop. The world felt like it was on a tilt making him feel sick and off balance when he fell to one knee. His left arm propped up his hunched over figure as his mind tried to understand what he was feeling.

Deep down, Xid knew his master, Sela, had just died.

Meanwhile, Shiri’s strike grazed the droid’s armor while it tilted to the side. Another deep gasp heated across the droid causing its middle to crumble and spark from the damage. Its torso fell down as it toppled into the wall then laid upon the floor unable to walk anymore. Its left arm raised feebly then began to fire upon the Twi'lek.

With Xid crippled by the loss and Shiri distracted by the other droid, the blind one had rerouted its sensory into thermal. It then zoned in on Xid hunched down and unarmed as it adjusted its gun arm, aiming at the teenager and fired. The four shots streaked through the air at him but the padawan didn’t react to the threat. His mind was too numb to his sixth sense and locked in the realization he had just lost his master.

Shiri grinned as she successfully cut the Droid in two, oblivious to her teammate falling to his knees behind her. She easily dodged its last-ditch attempts to shoot her, and brought a large chunk of the already-crumbling ceiling down on top of it before finally turning back to face Xid and the last droid. Though, when she saw him crouched on the ground, not paying any attention to the droid that was still active, a pang of worry and confusion went through her. She went to kneel down next to him, her eyes meeting his as she waved a hand in front of him.

In the background, more of the ceiling dropped and promptly crushed the droid. It made a whirring sound then gradually died before it became still.

“Xid.. did you get hit? Are you alright?” She had barely gotten the words out when the droid fired at them. Acting as quickly as she could, she grabbed Xid’s arm and pulled him out of the way of the bolts, putting herself between him and the droid. She deflected two of them, but one hit her directly in her right shoulder and the other glanced off of her blade and grazed her forearms, nearly causing her to drop her lightsaber at the sudden pain. She took a step forward and gritted her teeth,examining the droid while trying to think of how to disable it.

She glanced back at Xid, a joking tone in her voice. “Are you ok? This droid’s a pretty good shot, considering I'm pretty sure I blinded it earlier.” Her shoulder was starting to feel a little numb as the full effect of the stunning bolt started working on her. She doubted she would go down from it, it was only one hit after all, but the fact that it wasn't lethal like she would have thought it'd be was disconcerting at the least.

Xid was lost in his own living hell within his mind. Shiri’s attempts to jar him from it failed as he ignored her waving hand, his eyes widen and stared into the floor with disbelief. Sela was dead. The words, as surreal they were to him, felt accurate to his instincts causing more pain to fill him inside. They caused him to tremble slightly before the droid took a shot. His mind snapped from his grief when Shiri jerked him to the side, the present slapped him in the face as he watched her get hit.

“Sela’s...she’s…,” He couldn’t bring himself to say the actual word as he tailed off. His eyes turned to the droid still slumped to one side and readying another blaster shot, “Are you alright?”

“I'll live...” Shiri trailed off as she spoke the words, not taking her eyes off of the remaining droid no matter how much she wanted to turn around and console her friend. “Xid, I'm sorry.” Master Sela was a good Jedi, and if Xid felt her loss then that could only mean she went down fighting.

When Shiri answered, Xid nodded then returned to their immediate threat, “It’s using thermal sighting. I think if I can get close, then I can disable it and reprogram it. Then we can use it for an ally, but the hatch at the bottom needs to be severed off.”

Xid pointed at the underside of the droid to indicate where the hatch was, “Any ideas of how to get to it?”

Shiri smiled as she looked to where Xid indicated the hatch was. “Yeah, I've got one. If we come at it from opposite sides, it can only really focus on one of us. and, with thermal it can only see the heat around it. Which means it should be blind to this.” As she finished speaking she picked up a few rocks from the ground and tossed them at the droid. They bounced off of its hull, but the droid didn't seem to react to them at all.

“Ummm...Good point, shall we?” Xid said as he moved to the right side of the droid, his left hand held out to seize a few rocks along the way.

The droid immediately turned its head to Xid’s direction and let off three shots at his torso. Instinct caused him to jerk the large chunks of rock up and let the blasts hit it, before sending it into the droid’s head. They clunked off and smacked into the wall beyond it.

Shiri ran up to the droid as it was distracted with Xid, slashing at its arms to try and sever its guns from it once she was close enough. She missed one of its arms as it moved to avoid her, but got the other one before it could back away completely. The robotic limb fell to the ground and the droid used its remaining arm to fire a few shots at her. She dodged them, getting behind the droid and slashing at it’s remaining arm. She didn’t sever it, the droid had started moving away from her again, but as it tried to fire at her again, nothing happened.

Xid had gotten close enough by now. His legs kicked out underneath him and his figure slid, ducking under the droid’s legs. His lightsaber flashed as he cut into the hatch, his figure jerked to the side to stop the metal from crushing him on the way down. His hand reached up for a handful of wiring then yanked down. Many of them were critical wiring powering the the droid and when disconnected, shut it down.

Shiri flicked off her lightsaber as she went over to Xid, holding out a hand to help him off the ground. “Good job, now let’s see if we can help the others at all.”

---

At this point, Fa had choices. Several more than she had expected to be presented with. The Sith was stubborn, as many tended to be, so she did not anticipate that she would be able to convince her to be cooperative any time in the next few seconds. So, this was going to have to be a capture and interrogate mission. However, unlike other Sith, Zora was not yet being violently uncooperative. The Twi’lek was certainly willing to fight, and was probably expecting to, but that did not mean that Fa had to start the fight immediately. They were currently in close quarters, which was exactly where Fa wanted to be, but they were also in the middle of a crowded bar. If she could help it, Fa wanted to minimize the risk to civilians. So, Fa had the choice of trying to detain her immediately, or letting her walk away. Of course, it was also mandatory that they not allow her to escape, but in the few moments that Fa had to think, a compromise did come to mind.

With more time, Fa might have been able to come up with something more elaborate, but for now, she reasoned that detaining the Sith just outside the establishment would be less risky to civilians than doing so indoors. Members of her team were at every exit, so there would be someone to ambush her no matter which way she went. When Zora stood up, Fa let out a sigh. “I am not going to stop you from leaving, Zora, but I believe you are making a mistake. The chances of Nyiss learning that you said anything are slim, and even if she did, I will be ending the threat she poses after this. You will be safe. Leave if you wish, but I can give you an offer that no one else will match. I can promise that we will keep the deal; if one does not honor their word, they will quickly find that no one else will be willing to deal with them in the future. It is in the Republic’s best interest to be honest.”

Fa fully expected Zora to deny all of her last ditch attempts at persuasion, so the next step would be to prepare herself to act. She did not make any violent moves just yet, but rather, she was going to wait until Zora had reached an exit. Fa could not pass on any orders to Vebra without immediately alerting Zora, so she would have to trust him to be able to pick up on the situation. As soon as Zora started to walk away without Fa, Vebra would certainly take notice. She had placed Vebra and his men under orders not to allow their target to escape, and she was not changing those orders. Vebra would need to alert their door guards to be ready to make the ambush. Since their mission was to capture her alive, Fa expected that they would try to surprise her by stunning her, perhaps with a concussion device. Fa was carrying a blaster pistol with her, and while she was no marksman, she could set it to stun and fire a few shots at the Twi’lek as she closed the gap. With combined fire from herself, Vebra, and Eyes, along with an ambush at the door, they could stand a chance of disabling her quickly with minimal risk to civilians.

[center][h2]~| Jedi Archives |~
~| Day 1, 12^th hour |~[/center]

Nazca cursed quietly. She had expected to miss but she hadn’t even come close. Rather than answer the Sith’s calls, she crept backwards into the archives. If the Sith was going to follow her, she wanted to be on the move. If the Sith wasn’t, she wanted to get another angle. She certainly wasn’t going to give the schutta an idea of her location. She may be bad at fighting, but she wasn’t a complete idiot. Nazca quietly moved backwards, heading deeper into the archives and moving towards the left. Ideally, the Sith would assume she had been scared off.

One could hope, right?

There was no surprise in Nimm’s mind when her words remained unanswered. She could pursue, but that would mean the risk of someone else taking her treasure. She knew without a doubt that the individual was no Sith, but whether it was a trained Jedi or some other form of weakling, she did not know. Or care. If it was a temple guard, he or she would die soon enough in any case. If it was a Jedi, maybe it would be foolish enough to enter the vault and she could pacify it then. Thus, instead of going out, she went deeper into the vault, keeping a part of her mind focused upon the interloper’s general location. With the rest of her mind and her body, she continued loading up the artifacts, more than a little pleased to note that many of them were stored in freight boxes already. She would hook them all together and stack them on the repulsorsled. Only then would she consider dealing with the interloper.

Nazca cursed again. She couldn’t just leave the bitch to rob the Jedi vaults, as much as she wanted to, and she couldn’t take her head on. What to do, what to do. She looked around, still moving quietly through the archives, and her eyes fell upon a group of dead imperial soldiers. Crushed by rubble and a lightsaber. “Someone put up a fight.” She murmured as she moved towards the corpses. They could have something useful on them. Ideally a thermal detonator or five. Searching the bodies only revealed four sonic grenades.

“These will have to do.” She tucked them onto her belt, moving more rapidly to the vault now. She didn’t have much time, and she somehow doubted the Sith just forgot about her. She’s never been that lucky. Nazca slowed down as she came closer to the vault, dropping into her crouch again. She peeked around the entrance to the vault, seeing the sith collecting more holocrons deeper within, their back turned to her.

Nazca reached down and primed the first grenade, counting out three seconds and slowly cocking her arm back as she did so. She didn’t know how long these were set, but it was more than likely only 4-5 seconds. At three, she heaved the grenade as hard as she could towards the sith, swiftly following it with the others. They weren’t drawn out as much, but the idea was to stun the Sith with the first one and keep them stunned with the other three.

As soon as the first one went off Nazca started firing her blaster at the repulsorsled. She wasn’t going to be able to take the Sith on, but she could at least hinder her robbing of the vault.

Her plan went exactly as expected. The foolish Jedi or Jedi minion—Nimm did not care overmuch which it was—was drawn in. Probably by some foolish need to stop her. A futile attempt, of course. She could sense the individual approaching. Not in the clear way one would by using sight or such, but rather a general presence.

While her prey prepared to do whatever was planned, Nimm kept “working” on her own project, ready to turn around at any moment. She had not gotten this far by being foolish. Thus, when the prey tossed something towards her, Nimm snapped around, her lightsaber already lit. She saw a small object flying her way and it took her but a moment to realize what it was. A grenade. More specifically, imperial army issue sonic grenade.

There were two general means of dealing with that that didn’t involve being affected by it. First, she could push it away (or back) with the Force. For an explosive grenade or a thermal detonator, that would be ideal. In a constricted space like these vaults, the sonic blast might still be annoying. Thus, her choice fell on option two: she slashed at the grenade, causing a momentary fizzle, followed by a tiny explosion as the grenade disintegrated upon contact with her blade.

At that point, she spotted the three follow-up grenades and was almost impressed with her prey. Unfortunately for her prey, they were all aimed at her, rather than spread out. Thus, she made short work of all four grenades. If they had been all tossed in different directions, one or maybe even two of them could have detonated.

This did not prepare her for what came next, though. Her prey had a blaster and fired it at the repulsorsled. There were some loud impact noises and a corner of the sled dropped, indicating that one of the repulsors was at minimum damaged, if not permanently disabled.

Nimm advanced towards her prey, keeping her saber in a defensive stance, ready to deflect any future shots. Considering the absences of a lightsaber, Jedi robes and any other form of uniform, Nimm concluded that this either had to be a recent recruit or a civilian. Time would tell on which of those. If the former, captivity would ensue. If the latter, death.

Nazca fired a few more shots at the repulsor sled, turning her attention to the approaching Sith. “Oh! Hi! You noticed that! I’m sure you’re the understanding type though. You know, the kind that won’t be angry just because my gun misfired. Stupid thing, should’ve gotten it fixed months ago.” She began retreating backwards, firing pot shots at the Sith and the repulsorsled. “So, if you don’t mind, I’ll just be heading out. Things to do, artifacts to save, you know how it goes.”

“Oh, I rather do mind...” said Nimm as she reached out with the Force, trying to pull the blaster from the interloper’s hands. She had a feeling the interloper was at least in some way Force-sensitive, even if the degree was uncertain. If the pull worked, it would clearly prove how pathetic her training was, or perhaps just how pathetic the interloper was. If that did not work, then she would find some other means of pacification.

Nazca clung to her blaster, digging her feet in. “Oh no you don’t. Didn’t your mother ever teach you that it’s rude to take people’s things without asking?” She couldn’t fire any more shots, they’d go wider than they already were. The Sith was stopped, which was a plus, but they seemed to be in a bit of a stalemate. “Did you have to cut all the grenades? I mean, couldn’t you have at least let one go off? For the sake of fairness?”

“That will be your first lesson of the day: Life is not fair.” At that moment, she rapidly reversed her pull on the blaster into a powerful push, so she could test the balance of her new toy. Not as fun a plaything as the Jedi from earlier, but she thought there would at least be some entertainment to be had from it.

Nazca yelped, quickly regaining her balance as the pull became a push. Rather than hold on to the weapon shoving her backwards, she let go of the weapon and ran for the imperial corpses. Ideally, they had more weapons for her to use. She instinctively ducked low, running in a crouch despite how useless it would be against a sith.

There was no need for Nimm to immediately pursue. Her prey was rather weak. There would be no escape. If she did not catch her, another Sith would. Or, of course, if she actually managed to hide, she would die with the temple’s destruction. She did not care which it would be. No doubt the girl would seek to find another weapon. Probably from the same source as the sonic grenades. Blasters, even the kind provided to imperial troopers, were inevitably vastly inferior to the lightsaber.

Instead, Nimm looked over the repulsorsled. One of the repulsors were damaged, but she lacked the tools to fix it. What she would need to do, is find a way to protect it from further damage. Fortunately, she knew just what to take. She went to the doorway and cut pieces of the wall—roughly plate-like—then attached them to the sled using the lightsaber to effectively weld them in place. Though it reduced the capacity of the sled somewhat, it would also protect it from further interference via blasters. Only after attaching that did she load the final few objects onto it, preparing for departure. She had naturally secreted several of the most promising artifacts and holocrons on her own person, but not one would be left behind. With that done, she prepared to leave, pondering what sort of surprise the girl had prepared in a foolish attempt to stop her.

“Damn it, son of a bitch, piece of shit…” Naza cursed at the imperial blaster in her hand. She couldn’t run, sith were everywhere and she was far more likely to get shot then actually solve anything. But what she could do is ruin this Sith’s day some more. Or, at the very least, slow her down enough that a jedi who wouldn’t be eviscerated instantly could deal with her.

She managed to crack the blaster open, taking out the core. Luck had been getting her this far. She just needed a few more moments of it. The core was sparking and vibrating alarmingly, but that was to be expected, given how she had just ripped it out.

She was waiting by the exit, listening to the telltale whine of the repulsorsled approach. She pulled back her hand, waiting until the Sith was just about to appear. Nazca heaved the core, hoping it wouldn’t explode in her face. She got her wish. It didn’t explode in her face. It exploded almost as soon as it left her hand.

The explosion knocked her backwards and sent her flying into a nearby wall. “Fuck!” She groaned, holding her head. “That didn’t go as pla…” She trailed off, looking at the cauterized stump that had been her right hand. Going pale as snow, Nazca gave a weak chuckle. “Sith’s Blood. That’s not good.”

The repulsorsled was just inside the new doorway to the vaults when Nimm heard a surprisingly loud explosion. Though nothing more than a few of the primitive Jedi Holocrons fell down, things did shake violently. She ignored those holocrons, looking through the opening at where the telltale signs of nearby the explosion could be seen.

She halted the sled, then walked past it to look out through the doorway she’d cut. What met her eyes was both expected and unexpected. To the left of the doorway, a few meters off beside one of the stacks, the girl lay on the ground. Her clothes were singed in numerous places from the explosion, and the floor around her was littered with parts from an imperial-issue blaster rifle. These parts bore clear evidence of it having been taken apart without notable skill or knowledge. It had not been destroyed by the explosion as some would have surmised.

But the thing that stood out most was the way the girl clutched her right wrist with her left hand. The right wrist ending in a stump, her face pale as snow. “That was foolish of you. I suggest you wisen up and surrender before you kill yourself.” her tone was both condescending, somewhat demanding and calmer than most would have expected from such a situation. The stump was cauterized, so the girl would not die from the injury. She would never be the same again, but that would be her lesson to learn.

“If you cannot compensate for your blatantly obvious flaws, then I can arrange for you to receive a cybernetic hand to replace the one you just blew up.” In saying this, Nimm let her opinion of cybernetic replacement parts show. She scorned such almost as much as she hated Jedi. Until the girl surrendered or was otherwise further incapacitated, Nimm would not reach for the shock collar on her belt. No point in giving the girl any advance notice.

Nazca gave a harsh laugh. “‘Blatantly obvious flaws’ like ignoring someone until they damage my only means of getting a good number of holocrons out of the vault? That was sloppy Sith. If I had been a better shot, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” She scanned Nimm’s form, looking for something to tell her what the Sith’s style would be. Two extra lightsabers, close together. Souvenirs. Nazca’s eyes widened in alarm, bordering on full blown panic, at the sight of the slave collar. “Surrender? So you can put your bit of fashion there around my neck? No thank you. I’ll just be leaving.” Nazca heaved herself unsteadily to her feet, wobbling only slightly, and began to move backwards. Running wouldn’t do her any good, and she would at least be able to react to some degree when she was facing the Sith.

“You mean this slave collar?” Nimm answered, tapping it with her empty hand. “That I keep in reserve for any who do not come quietly.” She was a bit surprised that the girl could recognize one while it was disabled and folded back. Perhaps she had experience with slavery?

Nazca sniffed. “You know, I can smell the bullshit all the way over here. You’re a Sith. One who gets mild pleasure from power over others. You’re going to stick that on whoever you can, which currently means me if I let you. Kindly go find someone else to get your fix on.” She kept moving backwards, keeping her stump close to her body.

“Ahh… I see the Jedi have begun indoctrinating you with their falsehoods about the Sith. Tell me, how much do you truly know of the empire? Beyond the standard republic propaganda, that is.”

“Same thing as everyone else who is caught in the middle. Power hungry assholes attacking emotionless assholes over control of the galaxy because their mothers never taught them how to play nice and share, each claiming that their religion is the better and true one. Not to mention, if you don’t agree they’ll either gradually make bad things happen to you or just kill you. I’m not dumb enough to believe that you salt houses, burn women, and rape fields. All of you at any rate.” Nazca replied, moving farther back. There was a range on these force powers, right? There had to be.

“Though your education is sorely lacking, at least the Jedi have not completely blinded you. I can work with that.” She noted that the girl was attempting to subtly sidle back, probably with the intent to flee, but Nimm did not make any move yet to stop her. It was not as if there was anywhere she could flee to. “You really should try to learn more about the Empire. You will no doubt find it… Illuminating.” Soon enough, Nimm would have to stop the girl’s nonsensical escape, but not yet. Besides, she needed to get this cargo back onto the ship. That was far more important than toying with this girl. She pressed a few commands into her wrist unit, both summoning a large squad of troopers and a few mechs to make sure no one interfered. The keying in was subtle, but she suspected the girl would still notice—and misinterpret—the gesture.

Nazca noticed the sith doing something with the device on her wrist. Whatever it was, the unwilling Jedi didn’t want to find out. While the sith was still in the middle of whatever she was doing, Nazca ran for it. She was heading for the cover to her right, hoping that the stories of Sith and Jedi needing to see you to affect you were true and that this sith didn’t have quick reflexes.

She had been waiting for the girl to run. It was inevitable. Thus, she quickly finished up the commands on her wrist unit and tossed the selfsame piece of databank from the previous fight towards the back of the girl’s legs. Or rather towards where the back of her legs would be in a few seconds, which was the time it would take for it to arrive.

Nazca glanced briefly over her shoulder to see what the Sith was doing and her eyes widened in alarm. A databank was zooming towards her at an alarming speed. She attempted to skid to a stop, ideally making it go past her, only to have it catch her in the back of the legs. Nazca rolled, crying out as her stump hit the floor, scrambling back to her feet almost instantly. She started to run again.

‘That girl really doesn’t take a hint…’ Nimm thought to herself. With that thought, she decided for more direct action. She stretched out her empty hand, willing the Force to choke the girl before she got out of sight. It would be much more troublesome to track her down if she did. She did not desire that trouble.

Nazca let out a strangled gasp, hand and stump instinctively going towards her throat as she was lifted a few inches into the air. She clawed at hands that weren’t there, feet scraping against the floor. It wasn’t working, of course, and her lungs were beginning to burn. Distantly, as panic swelled inside of her, she wondered why the Sith had taken so long to do this. Her movements became more desperate and wild as a darkness began to claw at the edge of her vision. No! Stop. Panicking would take away what little controls she had left.

She had one chance. Forcibly, despite the panic that racing through her, she began to slow her movements and kicking. Gradually, she made herself go limp and close her eyes, hoping the Sith would let her go before she actually passed out.

While Nimm could easily have killed the girl or knocked her unconscious, she kept firm control over exactly how much force she was using. The result would no doubt bruise, but it let the girl get just enough air in through her throat not to lose consciousness. As she maintained this, she dragged the girl back to herself. “Did I tell you you could leave?” A small part of her was tempted to attach the shock collar now, but instead she decided to go for something else. She kept the girl up in the air, but relaxed the choking just a little more, permitting her to speak. Not enough to completely free up her throat, though.

Nazca didn’t so much as twitch, keeping up the pretense that she had actually passed out. Given that the sith was talking to her, she didn’t expect it to actually work, but maybe she’d get lucky.

“Not even a Jedi would be fooled by that, girl.” She put away her lightsaber and seemingly reached for the shock collar to see whether the girl would keep up her act.

Nazca jerked in panic, eyes popping open as she attempted to move back. “Had to try. Thought you might be an idiot.” Her voice was only slightly strangled, given the force around it.

“The only idiots you’ll find around here are the Jedi. After all, they thought they were safe here.”

“Everyone has an area they think is safe from someone else. Then that person or another goes in and destroys it. It’s happened to the Sith before, it’ll happen to the Sith again. Always does. Then it’ll be the Jedi’s turn once more, and the cycle will continue.”

“If that happens to Dromund Kaas, then it is only deserved, for the strong will inevitably triumph over the weak.” Nimm fingered the shock collar, but did not unclasp it from its socket. “Now, you can either come quietly, or you can get no influence at all about how you come along. The choice is yours.”

“Oh, gee, thanks! I’m so glad that while you have me held in the air by my neck with the force, and the ability to strangle me to unconsciousness at a moment’s notice, I have influence in this situation.” Nazca replied with acidic sarcasm. “Let’s go Sith, I’m too tired to run anymore.”

“Good.” Nimm did note that—conveniently enough—the troops she had requested arrived mere moments later. “It seems your escort has arrived, girl.”

Nimm turned to the troopers. “It is time to return to the ship. Someone put some stun-cuffs on this girl. After you search her, of course. If she doesn’t behave, put a shock collar on her.”

If Nazca wasn’t already pale as snow, she would have paled further. As it was, she merely replied “Blah, blah, blah, you have a fetish for shock collars and control, got it.” Nonetheless, she behaved as she was searched and cuffed. “Really, two cuffs? I only have on hand, come on now.” She followed, stumbling slightly, as she was taken to the ship.

“While pain is an effective motivator, I have found that the promise of pain is even more so. Be glad it was I that captured you and not one of those who hold to pain applied being the only motivator.”

---

Anaka proudly smirked when her lightsaber found its target. The blade’s tip grazed and sliced into the robes, the smell of burning flesh whiffed into her nostrils as she followed through with the slice and then blocked Khan’s attacks. She secretly hoped it would’ve been deeper because the padawan’s reaction unsatisfactory and very predictable when he tried to rein in the pain. She inhaled sharply while she continued to gain the upper hand.

Her sixth sense kicked in when the first pebble came darting from the ground and at her. Her blade whipped up and sliced through the air, severing numerous pieces into dust or smaller pebbles. What little that wasn’t incinerated fell to the ground as Anaka’s eyes narrowed in anger at the padawan. Her blade reached in to slice at the padawan’s left shoulder to the right hip, using his split focus to try to get a harsher score at his expose figure.

Khan could see the anger growing in Anaka’s stance as she sliced the small rocks he’d launched at her to bits, noting with satisfaction that she seemed to have ignored or not noticed the others he’d shifted around on the ground beneath and around the two of them. With his body-reading abilities and the knowledge that she’d slowed his movements no longer tripping him up, splitting his concentration between controlling the pebbles and defending himself was less difficult for the Padawan than the Sith might think. He feigned desperation however, flailing backward in a seemingly panicked retreat as he continued flinging small debris at her face and arms while making the ground beneath her increasingly treacherous. Let her think the little cut across his chest had made him afraid and careless while stinging her pride more than her face.

Anaka held her hand to cover her face, the untouched pebbles bounced off and fell to the ground. A light layer covered the floor from dust and chunks not disintegrated were scattered at her feet. Her blade whipped about in a sort figure eight to cover one side then the other. Any pebbles or chunks that touched were immediately vaporized on contact. Her fury heated off her in waves as she tapped into the dark side, her eyes became a deeper yellow hue than normal. Upon seeing the twerp quickly retreat in panic, her lip curled into a snarl and her right foot stepped forward. A few chunks made a crashing sound while she approached toward Khan’s fleeing form.

Her head tilted upward for a moment then the wheels of her mind churned. She snapped her attention to the pillar that fell when Xid and Shiri shoved a droid through it, the thing crumbled and toppled into floor nearby. The Sith came to a stop after two steps and shielded her face from Khan’s fruitless attack, her eyes still fixed on his helpless form. She extended an arm to the largest pillar chunk’s direction and seized it with the force. It rose after a few moments as her voice spoke through the fight ringing out throughout.

“I’m going to crush you like the insect you are.”

Khan stopped flinging the rocks about as Anaka gave up her advance. He could read her easily enough and his attack was having exactly its’ intended effect of getting her to rely less and less on the cool-headed detachment that helped for Makashi and precision Force effects like Slow. On the down-side, it gave the Sith plenty of raw aggression and reason to just say, drop a big hunk of pillar on top of him. Fortunately it wasn’t exactly a subtle attack even without an Echani’s talent for body-reading and tactical prediction. While he didn’t have the raw power to shove the pillar away, Khan was just barely able to shift it as it hammered down and hop back from it to land in a crouch behind the chunk of stone.

If he’d read his opponent right, she had definitely gotten overconfident along with angry, and the shift had been slight enough that she could easily believe him smashed underneath the debris. It was a gamble to hope that her guard was down, but it was also the best opening he’d had so far. He cut a chunk of the pillar free with his saber and flung it in Anaka’s direction, then bolted out from behind the stone at full speed to re-engage her up close and personal.

When the pillar came crashing down with a loud, deafening rumble, Anaka smiled in satisfaction. Her arm recoiled to her side as she turned on her heel, her figure’s back turned to walk away from the corpse of the worthless padawan. In the back of her mind, she knew the Darth would’ve been angry at her if it was discovered she failed to capture a Jedi and instead crushed a potential subject, but Jedi deaths happened in confrontation. What the Darth didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt Anaka at all.

Her sixth sense snapped to Khan’s incoming attack. Her peripheral vision caught the white marble color as it rushed at her, her eyes widened and expression widened in surprise at the unexpected attack. ’He should’ve been dead!’ Anaka screamed mentally, her body twisted on the ball of her left foot and then kicked back to avoid it. Meanwhile, her left hand struck out to sever the already smaller chunk into a more manageable one on trained instinct. By the time the Sith realized what had happened, her right side opened briefly for a quick and precise attack.

Khan sensed and saw the opening as soon as he came around from the pillar, then lunged forward trying his best to seize on it. He ducked low as he came in and tried for a quick cut to Anaka’s knee, hoping to slow and debilitate her in battle. As soon as he made his cut he pulled back into a more guarded stance, ready to fight again and with none of the apparent fear or weakness he’d shown before.

The strike landed as flesh sizzled and burned, the blade tip caught on the knee side. However, it didn’t go deep enough to sever it completely thankfully. As the pain flooded her mind, her hand closest to Khan raised than jerked outward. Force lightning rippled from her clawed hand at the young padawan on impulse.

Khan’s ability to read his opponent and his now unhindered reflexes saved him once again, allowing him to duck and roll aside from the Force Lightning attack. He stayed in close as he tried to use the dodge to reposition himself to come at her from behind as he got back to his feet, attacking with a small cut to her left arm. He doubted he would really be able to outflank her, but the second point of the tactic was to force her to turn quickly on her injured knee and the unstable, rock-littered ground he’d created before as they fought.

Anaka tried to stay as stationary as possible. Her balance already wobbled upon the collection of rocks under her feet and unable to scatter them without splitting her focus, a dangerous thing at this point. She growled when the padawan rolled and ducked from her attack which ended abruptly. Another sting erupted across her arm when his blade darted across it, searing the flesh underneath, and caused her fight the impulse to cradle it. She twisted her blade about then stepped forward with a slice at just below his ribcage and if she struck true, it would carry from his left side to his right shoulder.

Khan stepped back into profile and twisted slightly to parry her low-line cut away from himself. He put more force behind the parry than he normally would, hoping that the damage to her sword-arm would make the shock of impact more painful. He stepped back from the Sith’s attack and quickly flicked his lightsaber up so that the point might cut a line across her body and face, though he was mostly trying to control her movements with it.

Anaka jerked back to avoid it, but felt the tip sear her skin. It clipped her face, leaving a charred and black line across her cheekbone and over her eye. She cursed as the pain hit her fully. Her figure wobbled a bit but managed to catch her balance over the pebble debris hindering her footing. At this point she wanted to choke the life out of the little twerp, the emotion battering and growing stronger in the back of her mind, while she inhaled to keep them at bay.

She was about to slice back at the padawan when something large and moving caught her attention. One of the larger chunks of roof was moving at her as Iblik, Shiri’s and Cerria’s master, tossed it at her. Impulse overrode her better logic in that moment.

Her figure twisted, exposing her side to Khan, and her lightsaber hissed on impact with the stone. It cut it easy into two causing them to crumble. Her arm swing back in hopes to protect herself from any attack the padawan might take in her mistake.

Khan was ready to take his chance and make her pay for her momentary lapse in concentration, flowing into a low crouched, fully committed thrust through her side in the hopes that her fractionally-better speed would be delayed enough that his last-ditch strike made it through. It wasn’t quite as suicidal as his initial training was screaming at him that it was, considering he could see her lack of focus on him and gauge the delay in her response due to her smaller injuries.

Anaka’s eyes widened in disbelief as she stood there, frozen in place. Her fingers loosen her grip before her lightsaber fell from her hand and her head tilted down to see the padawan’s lightsaber embedded deeply in her side. Shock entered her eyes when she realized she was already dead. The moment Khan’s blade retracted, her knees gave and crumbled underneath her causing her to fall into a heap at the Jedi’s feet. Any breathe she had left quickly departed in one last exhale while she died.

When Khan looked toward Iblik, the Zabrak held a tense posture and something red was sticking out of his chest. The end of a lightsaber. During his attempt to help Khan, the knight had left himself open to attack and the sith had taken advantage of it. When the lightsaber retracted, Iblik fell forward and landed hard on his knees as the sith smiled at his own win. Catching eyes with Khan, he promptly noticed he was outnumbered.

Quickly he retreated back down the way he came, hoping to escape being killed like the other foolish sith.

Upon hearing Fa sigh, or was it a snort as it was difficult to tell, she tensed and her fingers curled about her colored balls. She paused in her movement and stood standing just off her seat as the reptile Jedi spoke. The words continued to amuse her since she found it impressive that the Jedi believe herself influent enough to both threaten the Republic Senate into obeying and prevent the Jedi Council from countering her current deal, mostly because it was the council that held the power. If they didn’t agree with the deal, they wouldn’t back this obnoxious Jedi’s attempts to carry it out and then she was screwed. Besides, it was unheard of to her of any Sith making such a ridiculous deal.

Despite her calm demeanor, every nerve was alert and wired for survival in the event she was allowed to leave peacefully. Zora chuckled at the Jedi’s words, “There’s a still a chance of her both learning and killing you instead. On top of everything you’ve said, I find it very hard for a single Jedi, no matter their rank, to be able to something this huge. I rather take my chances living on this rock then piss off a Darth.”

With that, she decided to bide her ‘guest’ a good bye, “Thank you for the amusing story. It did make sitting here more tolerable and I haven’t had a good laugh for a while.”

She began to move toward the front door. Through Zora appeared casual, the moment she spotted movement heading toward her or got a sixth sense of danger then her fingers would tighten and the first ball would drop. Until then, she would slowly eased herself out into the busy streets and melt into the crowds heading to their morning jobs.

---

As soon as Shiri looked up from helping Xid get back to his feet, she saw Iblik’s form across the room crumple. Suddenly, it was as if the world were moving in slow motion, the sound around her fading out until all she could hear was her own heartbeat and then the soft thud of her master’s body as it hit the ground. Her mind froze, barely noticing the Sith was escaping down one of the hallways as she ran over to her Master’s side.

He was dead. Maybe not quite yet, but.. kneeling next to him Shiri could tell he wasn’t going to make it. Not unless there’s a healer nearby, or.. Cerria! She glanced down the hall leading to the Archives, half wanting to run down there as fast as she could to get her fellow Padawan, bringing her back to try and save their master. But, looking back at Iblik, she knew that he didn’t even have that much time left. She’d be abandoning him in his last moments if she tried to save him.

She took his hand, squeezing it hard to try and comfort him, in some small way. “Master, c-can you hear me?” She ignored her stutter as she tried to suppress the tears at the corners of her eyes, watching her master’s face carefully for any reaction at all. He was wheezing badly, unable to speak, but after a second she thought that maybe she felt his hand grip hers just a little more tightly. She wouldn’t allow herself to think she just imagined it. She took a shaky breath, unsure what to do now. There was so much she wanted to say, and even more she wished he could say to her. She brought the hand she was holding up to her chest, resting it and both of her hands over her heart as she closed her eyes, a couple tears escaping as she did.

“I’ll see you again, eventually. Hopefully not for a long while... so until then, I’ll never forget what you have taught me.” She opened her eyes again as she felt Iblik’s hand move up to touch her face, his fingers gently brushing her cheek before he let it fall back to his side as her eyes met his. His breathing stopped a moment later, a look of sadness now frozen on his face. Shiri stood quickly, wiping at her face as more tears fell. She glanced around the room quickly before shaking her head. She turned to walk down one of the halls at random, hesitating a moment before actually leaving.

“I can’t.. I can’t stay here right now..” She wasn’t sure who she was speaking to, but as soon as the words were said she took off running, winding her way through the halls of the temple. She had to be alone, to try and think, to try not to let her grief get to her.

Vebra watched with bated amusement from the dance floor the interaction between the two force users. Several times the Twi'lek shot him a glance and Fa motioned towards him. There was no way she didn't know exactly who and where he was, even an arrogant Sith watches the exits and threats. Vebra had to force himself not to glance at his two underlings at the bar, lest he give away their position, he just hoped Eyes hadn't had enough time to get hammered yet. Several times Vebra witnessed the Twi'lek reach below the table, perhaps for a blaster? He was much to far away to see what she was grabbing but she never pulled anything up, it seemed almost like a nervous tick. Just as he wondered to himself about how the conversation was actually going a young Zeltron female approached him. Blasted, do they seriously think I have credits on me?

Vebra almost immediately answered his own question before the young Zeltron began to get touchy with him. Vebra only played along with it for a few seconds of dancing before pulling the Zeltron up against him with her back against him. He whispered in her ear "I'm hear on business dear." The Zeltron immediately backed off him and gave him a sort of snort as she went to look for another payday. It was a shame really, she was quite pretty really. Turning back to his mission he saw the Twi'lek leaving the booth, not like she was in a rush, but she seemed ready. He knew she would likely run if he did, hopefully she hadn't spotted Eye's though. Vebra Then engaged in a series of chest and arm movements that could be considered dancing in some circles but in reality it was just an excuse to key his wrist communicator. He whispered into his wrist. "Ragged nerf is leaving, ready". Vebra continued his terrible dance maneuver and began looking for a path to the door. He'd rather not spook her but if it came to it he was closer than Fa was, not to mention a better shot to. Maybe Elias and Eyes could destract her for a moment while he closed in. If not there was still the team outside after all.

---

Sish's lightsaber came up just in time, deflecting a blaster bolt straight into one of the two Temple Guards attacking him. The man fell over with a cry, his blaster falling from his limp hand. Sish reached out a claw, slamming the other man into the wall. He fell, gasping for breath. The Trandoshan walked forward, grabbing the Guard by the throat. "Where are the other Jedi hiding?" The man spat in his face. Sish grinned, squeezing tighter as the man choked and scrabbled at the claw around his throat. "No matter. I'll find them on my own." As the man began to asphyxiate, the sith suddenly looked to the side grin widening. He had vaguely sensed a fight going on between his companions and the jedi, and was beginning to sense his fellow sith dying. "I might have a use for you after all." He dropped the guard, leaving the man to gasp and choke. "Where are you..where are you.." He muttered, moving his head side to side. His eyes widened in excitement as he pin pointed the source of the fight. "There you are."

Sish strode through the halls, dragging the Temple Guard behind him. He continued following the fight loosely, tracking the dark and light sides he sensed fighting close by. More of the sith died and Sish's footsteps moved faster and with more excitement. These jedi were going to put up quite the fight. The Guard muttered curses and insults as he was being dragged along, which Sish ignored.

The Trandoshan activated his lightsaber as he walked down the hall, pulling his victim behind him. He picked up the Guard by the back of the neck, holding him up as he entered the room. He grinned looking at the Jedi in the room. "Jedi! You know how this goes. Put down your lightsabers, or I'll kill this innocent, defenseless, prisoner. Simple choice really, your morals are your life."

---

Zanna wandered the halls, looking for a Jedi. So far, her theory had proved annoyingly false. No matter. She’d find something useful to bring back to Nyiss. She had to, otherwise she’d be left on the planet or worse. She was poking around another hallway when a Twi’lek suddenly ran in front of her, panting hard.

Zanna, hiding her surprise and adrenaline at the sudden appearance, drew her lightsaber and activated one blade. No sense in revealing that it was a saberstaff just yet. The Twi’lek was a Jedi, she could sense that much. Hopefully one that wasn’t very good at fighting, or she would never get the chance to even earn her place on Nyiss’s ship. Zanna held the blade across her chest in a defensive position, eyeing the Twi’lek. “Surrender Jedi. Make this easy on yourself.”

Shiri wasn’t sure where she was going. Sith could be felt everywhere in the temple, and yet she still ran, hoping to be left alone if only for a few minutes. It was stupid really, running away from Xid and the others as if she could outrun the fact that Master Iblik was dead. She just couldn’t stay there though. She shut her eyes and ran as fast as she could down this next stretch of hallway, slowing down only as she sensed she was about to hit a wall. She skidded to a stop, her breath coming in heavy, lopsided gasps as she simultaneously tried to catch the oxygen she needed and attempted to keep the tears that still threatened to blind her at bay. Her hand went out to the wall she’d nearly crashed into to steady herself as she thought. Thinking was the problem though. She had to put Iblik out of her mind if she wanted any chance at surviving this onslaught to mourn him later.

A few seconds had passed, probably, since she stopped by this wall. She hadn’t sensed anyone close by when she’d been running, so the sound of a lightsaber being activated and a voice speaking to her so suddenly made her jump as she snapped her head up to look around for the source of the noise. A red Sith stood before her, blade drawn and already fallen into a defensive stance. Great. “You mean, surrender to make this easier for you, right?” Shiri’s voice was airy as she drew her lightsaber from her belt and ignited it in one fluid motion. She couldn’t deal with this right now, not when she was on the verge of falling apart on her own. “Sorry but, you’ve got no such luck, Sith.”

She stepped away from the wall, her right hand falling comfortably to her side as she held her blade loosely with her left. She took no stance, but simply stood aloof for a second as she sized up her opponent. She had to end this quickly. They were about the same height and probably evenly matched in terms of physical strength, but other than that she couldn’t tell much about how she would fight. “Only one way to find out then…” She muttered quietly to herself as her grip on her blade tightened before she rushed at the Sith, aiming for a head-on strike at her right shoulder before jumping away to the side and circling around to get behind her opponent.

“It can’t be both?” Zanna replied, suppressing her fear. There would be a time to use that later. She waited for her opponent to attack, heart thumping in her chest. Old fears died hard. When the attack did come, she was ready. Her lightsaber caught the blow, a shower of sparks flying as the Jedi’s blade slid off her own, and she immediately lashed out with her own blade as the Jedi leapt back. She circled with the Twi’lek, watching her movements. Zanna filled her body with Force Speed, waiting a moment more before attempting a slow on the Twi’lek and slashing at her right leg. Debilitating, quick, and non-lethal.

Shiri saw the attack coming and stepped out of the way, the Sith’s blade only barely missing her as she noticed her movements slowed down. She kept moving, her lightsaber at the ready as she stepped in a slow circle around the Sith. “You could surrender instead. It’d be just as easy, and I’d grant you a quick death as opposed to whatever the Sith have planned for those they capture.” As she finished speaking she stopped moving, hesitating for a second before falling into a more defensive position. She could just run again. She doubted this Sith would be able to keep up with her if she did. “I have a pretty good idea of what the Sith plan to do with those few Jedi. Not that you’d be treated any better by the Jedi if anyone lets you live.”

“How hypocritical. You call us monsters then promise to treat us the same way if given the chance.” Zanna replied. Thankfully the Jedi had stopped circling her. It had been annoying to say the least. The Jedi was slowed, she could tell that much. Excellent. She pushed the Twi’lek’s chest with the Force, then immediately pulled at her left leg and took a step forward, slicing at the Jedi’s left side.

Shiri went with the force as the Sith pushed and pulled at her, doing a backflip as she dodged out of the way of the strike. “Treat people the way you want to be treated, Sith. You come here and attack us in our Temple, killing and capturing my fellow Jedi on whatever sick whims you have. If you get captured by one of us we’d just be returning the favor.” She ran forward and aimed to disarm the Sith, striking the Sith’s blade and pushing to the side. “That’s not hypocrisy, that’s fairness.”

Zanna flooded her veins with speed, dodging backwards. “Isn’t that a bit against your precious code? ‘There is no emotion, there is peace’? Seems like revenge torture is quite emotional” Zanna taunted. This was dragging on too long. She could keep going through her force speed, but eventually she’d screw up, like she always had in the past. Then she’d die. She wouldn’t get another chance, like in the Academy. There were no second chances in this fight, it was win or die. She didn’t want to die. The idea of it terrified her to her core. Zanna gathered her fear and frustration and launched it at the Twi’lek, lightning crackling from her fingers as she shot it at her opponent.

“Well, calling it ‘revenge torture’ sure makes it seem that way.” Shiri ignored the taunt, bringing up her lightsaber to block the lightning heading towards her, but she didn’t react quite in time. The lightning deflected at a weird angle, hitting her on the side of her face as she cried out in pain. She fell to her knees, dropping her lightsaber as she moved her hands up to hold her head. The lightning had caught the edge of her face and then hit her right Lek, and as she curled in on herself she felt around to try and figure out how badly she was hurt. She could hear the blood pulsing through her head, and her right eye refused to open.

As she began to get over the shock she calmed down a little. It was just lightning, and while it hurt she wasn't seriously injured. At least that's what she told herself. Her Lek hurt more than she could remember it ever having felt before, and her vision was blurred and tinged with red as she gently pulled her eye open with a hand. She was more hurt than she thought.

A wave of relief rushed through Zanna as she saw the Jedi fall and curl into a ball. The fight was over. She immediately yanked the fallen lightsaber to her hand, tucking it into her belt. She wasn’t wasting this opportunity, no matter how over the fight was. She cautiously approached the Twi’lek, lightsaber at the ready. “It’s over Jedi. Surrender.” She commanded, lightning crackling in her hand again.

As Shiri heard the Sith speak, her left hand reached out to take up her lightsaber again, only to find it wasn’t there on the ground beside her anymore. She glanced up at the Sith, her right hand covering her injured eye as she did. Despite the injury, she quickly noticed the lightning in her opponent’s hand and her own lightsaber now clipped to the Sith’s belt. Her mind raced, jumping from idea to idea, yet she knew nothing she thought of would work. Without her lightsaber she had no chance against this Sith, and even if she just tried to run she’d just get blasted by lightning again. She was dead.

It only took her a second to reach this conclusion, but even as she looked back down at the floor and said the words, she couldn’t accept it. “Mercy… please, mercy.” She’d rather die than become a prisoner of the Sith, or so she’d told herself a dozen times, but her fear overpowered her. She brought both her hands to her face now as she started to cry. She’d failed as a Jedi. She was too emotional to get into a fight when she’d run into this Sith, and she’d ignored her instincts and teachings as she fought. She should have just kept running. “I’m sorry, Master..”

Zanna froze in place. Her lightsaber shook slightly as the Jedi’s begging stirred up memories. A young Sith crying out as he was beaten: for mercy, for his sister, for it to stop, for his parents. His sister lying dazed on the ground with a black eye and broken nose, unable to pick herself up, much less protect him. He needed her, and she could barely muster the energy to turn over and spit out blood. She was weak, so weak and pathetic and they were going to die here in this barbaric-

Zanna snapped out of her reverie, her emotions running wild. Anger, fear, grief, and hate all raged inside her, the lightning in her hand crackling dangerously. Smaller bolts leapt out as her control deteriorated. Zanna stared at the crying Jedi a few moments in silence, then gave a deep sigh. Her lightning disappeared, sparking into the ground, and she hooked her lightsaber on her belt. She rustled in her cloak for a moment, bottles gently clinking, before pulling a small jar of powder. Kneeling in front of Shiri she grabbed the Twi’leks arms gently but firmly, pulling them away from her face. “Stop crying. You’ll stop the powder from taking hold and then you’ll never stop hurting.” Her voice was gently insistent, using the Force gather the powder. “Open your eye, I can make it numb.”

Shiri pressed her palms against her eyes, trying to control her tears, but it wasn't really working. As the Sith took her hands from her face, she didn't try to fight the movement. She just blinked her uninjured eye in confusion as she listened to what the Sith said, bringing her gaze up to the Sith’s face before she spoke. “Why would you..? I can't open it right now, it just won't.” She blinked her tears away as best she could while trying to get one of her hands back. She could pull her eye open again, though that almost hurt as much as the lightning itself had.

Zanna ignored the question, examining the Twi’lek’s eye. “I’m going to have to open it for the powder to go in. Do some sort of Jedi meditation or whatever, cause this is going to hurt.” Zanna reached up one hand and pried open Shiri’s eye. As soon as it was open, she used the force to push the powder into Shiri’s eye, closing it again. Her hand covered the Jedi’s eye, pressing in the powder. “I’m going to have to hold it there for a moment, make sure it takes hold. Or you can, if you prefer.” A few moments of silence passed, then Zanna spoke.

“I’m Zanna. Who are you?”

Shiri let out a breath as she tried to center herself before the Sith began to put the powder on her eye. She was able to keep still at least, if not block out the pain. She reached up and moved Zanna’s hand away as she said to keep pressure on it, doing it herself as she answered the Sith’s question. “Shir’inilim... or, just Shiri.” She sat in silence for a moment until she thought enough time had passed, removing her hand from her face before she spoke again. “Thank you, I guess. Though I’d still like to know why you’re helping me instead of just dragging me off to wherever.” Her voice was calm now as she studied Zanna’s face for any answer to her question, the look in her eye the only thing betraying the curiosity that was eating at her now.

“Everything I can remember being told about Sith and all my experiences with up until now have led me to believe you’re all heartless. Incapable of compassion or care.”

Zanna chuckled slightly. “You mean all the information told to you by propaganda to prepare you for war with us, and the soldiers you fight who assumed that it was a fight to the death didn’t prepare you at all for all the different types of Sith there are? Weird. Sith tell me the same things. Jedi are all emotionless robots who kill and weaken the galaxy, so on so forth. What governments strive to hide and what people fail to realize, is that both sides are just like the other. Hopes, dreams, fears, loves, we both have all of it. It’s only our ideologies that are different.”

An explosion sounded in the distance and Zanna started, looking around in alarm. There wasn’t anyone nearby, the hall still empty of anyone but them. She looked around more cautiously, hoping no one had seen her slip up, or at the very least would assume it was an act. She glanced back at Shiri, shaking her head slightly. What was she doing? Helping the enemy, who had promised to kill her horribly, and chatting with the Jedi about philosophy as if they weren’t mortal enemies? What’s more, she wasn’t acting to get the trust of jedi either. She was going to get herself killed. She focused herself again, pushing aside whatever had made her show mercy to the Jedi. “You were right about one thing though.”

She stood, gesturing down the hall. “I am going to drag you off wherever. Please don’t run. You will not enjoy what I’ll have to do to stop you.”

Shiri shook her head as she stood, holding her hands up in front of her in a ‘I give up’ kind of way. “I’ll go quietly. I already know I don’t have any chance of getting away now. Don’t really want to either..” She spoke the last part quietly, waiting to follow Zanna’s lead.

Zanna didn't reply, wordlessly gesturing for Shiri to walk ahead of her. They made their way quietly to the ship, each wrapped in their own thoughts.

[/hider]