[IC] Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath

[Rtron]

Sish Meets Koren, Day of the Sacking, 12:26 GST.

Sish charged into battle, leaping into the fray with a powerful force jump. He landed ontop of one unaware padawan, still staring in shock at the wave of Sith. His, fatal, mistake. Sish's great weight, increased by the armor he was wearing, crashed onto the human's head and shoulders, the latter cracking and splitting open as it was driven into the ground. Looking around at the other Jedi around him, who were rapidly being drawn into combat with his fellow sith, Sish grinned. As two of them activated their lightsabers and advanced upon him, Sish gathered his rage and disgust at their mere existence and let out a Force scream. One, caught unprepared, flew backwards into a pillar and judging from the way she slumped to the ground and the blood stain on the pillar, she appeared dead. The other one, another human, was able to defend himself and settled into a Makashi stance. "Ohh, cute. The weakling thinks he'll be able to beat me."

Stepping off the corpse of his first victim he assumed the Djem So stance, lightsaber up high. Before the Jedi could attack, Sish moved in on the offensive. He slammed his lightsaber down in a hammer blow, driving his opponent to his knees as he tried to block. Sish's kick caught him in the chest, his claws sinking deep and demolishing bones. He tumbled away, gasping for breath when he finally stopped moving. Sish yanked him back over, stepping on his broken chest. As the Jedi screamed, the Trandoshan bared his teeth in a grin. With a quick two slashes of his lightsaber, Sish removed his opponent's arms at the shoulders. "Can't have you getting any ideas when I leave you, can we?" Sish asked as the Jedi howled. Grinding his foot down to draw out one more scream, he stepped off the Jedi, leaving him to die.

The girl was still alive. He could hear her moaning as he walked by. Stopping, he picked her up by the throat, tightening his claws till blood ran freely. "Now you see your weakness. Now you see the power of the darkside.Too little. Too late.” He drove his claws into her stomach and dragged upwards, gutting her like a fish. Dropping the corpse and stained with blood, Sish headed to his next objective.

The Comm Tower.

It took several minutes, and several troopers for Koren to arrive at the Comm Tower. All the while he had been focusing to repress the memories the feelings. The scars far greater than anything that could have been left on him physically, and that he'd always wear refusing to alude him. The best he could do was focus on the task at hand or the likes of his failure would happen again, and again. Entering the room it was still abandoned, however it likely wouldn't be for long. He had passed several hints at Sith patrols heading in this direction doing what he could to distract them, which is where causing illusions came in handy.

He slowed, and stopped in the middle of the comm tower. There was nobody near by, he closed his eyes as he concentrated allowing the Force flow through him, rejuvenating his cells. Refreshing his whole body as if he had just been in a deep sleep, then he sensed the presence behind him. Lighting his blade he swing it around once in his right hand before entering an opening stance, blade in a cross guard from right to left, right leg slightly before his left. "It is rude to interupt, Sith."

Sish activated his own lightsaber, holding it in a casual stance as he examined the Jedi before him. He was covered in more blood, having met a few non-Jedi along the way here. Disappointingly, he had to deal with them quickly, feeling a Jedi heading towards the Comm tower as well. Hurrying upwards before the weakling could delete all of the information Sish needed, the Trandoshan was soon right behind his prey. Unfortunately, the Jedi sensed him before he could strike, and turned around.

Sish grinned in response. "Not as rude as it is to delete information that was promised to your guests." Immediately Sish grasped his lightsaber in both claws, and lunged forward in a horizontal sweep, at the Jedi's midsection. One dead Jedi that could have been taken prisoner wouldn't be noticed.

"You aren't a guest, in fact I am sure your presence here is quite-" He rolled to the right over his right knee following up with a sweeping strike to the waist of the larger Sith. "-Illegal."

Sish blocked the strike, and swung a hammer blow down towards his opponent. "Then call upon your laws to save you. I'm sure they'll stop the slaughter down below."

Swinging his blade around, side stepping the downward blow (And feeling the clothes along his right side heating up) he continued spinning his blade through a nearby switch, window shutters closed as the lights went off. Leaving them in darkness, the Sith and Jedi only visible due to the ignited lightsabers in their hands. "I would, but you just can't find a good lawyer these days."With that he performed a feint slash to the Siths left, however pulled back and went for an upward slash on the right intending to go through his arm.

Sish brought his lightsaber up to block the left feint, and immediately stepped the same direction, narrowly avoiding being cut by his opponents lightsaber. He responded with a diagonal slash to Koren's left shoulder. He wordlessly snarled at the Jedi, grinning in the darkness..

Again, dodging rather than blocking, he turned in a piroette his blade low forcing his foe to either take a step back or jump. Either or he had his next move planned, as subtle as possible while he was spinning in one direction he was lifting a nearby holocommunicator and sending it spinning in the other direction around chest height to collide with the Sith.

Sish stepped back, avoiding the blow. He heard the whistle of something coming through the air and snapped his head over to look. Upon seeing it, the Trandoshan's lightsaber whipped out, and cut the item in half. "Pathetic." Drawing upon his ever present rage, the Sish sent a force push towards the Jedi. If he wanted to dance around, fine. Sish would help him dance around.

Absorb and deflect Koren went with the push, however he landed on his bad leg and winced slightly, hoping that the Sith didn't pick up on it. He had to plan his next move, he flicked off his blade before then doing some hand work and igniting it again. However an identical light was in both his right and left hands, and both slashed towards the face of the Sith at the same time, moving over to catch his head between them.

Sish noticed the wince, and his grin only grew only more predatory. However before he could press his advantage, the human created another blade in his hand. Sish switched from a two handed grip on his lightaber to a one handed grip stepping back as the blades swished in front of his face.

Koren smirked as the Sith made the predictable move, twisting the handle on the real blade, the blade briefly flickered out of existence before becoming longer and slashing through the face of the other Sith slashing through the reptilians cybernetic eye and elaving a black score mark across his face where the heat from the lightsaber burned through some of, and marked, the flesh.

Sish didn't scream, he just snarled in anger as his eye was destroyed. His style abruptly switched and he unleashed a flurry of Force speed enhanced random attacks striking at his opponent. Koren defended against the lightsaber, but left himself open for Sish's clawed strike to his face. With the full force of Trandoshan strength and Force speed behind it, Koren was out cold by the time the Jedi hit the ground he was out cold.

Sish didn't bother hitting Koren while he was unconscious. It wouldn't do any good and besides, he was unconscious. It wouldn't bring any pleasure either. Hefting Koren over his shoulder, he exited the Comm tower and grabbed a trooper trying to run by. "Go secure the Comm tower and everything in it."

[Heat]

~| Day of the Sacking, Day 1, 11:50 GST |~
~|Jakali & Zanna & Jayda|~

Jayda’s eyes had been staring at the Echani since he had fallen. It was ironic to her how his figure looked completely at peace, crumbled against the far wall and slumped over in unconsciousness. She was breathing hard, but not enough to pant in exhaustion. The rapid hearts started to dull and calm once more when the conflict ebbed. Her thumb paused for a moment over her switch while her feet moved carefully toward him. When her body started to bend at the waist, Jayda winched at the pain shooting up her side causing her to grit her teeth tightly and breath in sharply. Her mind taking a moment to dull and fight through it, she crouched downward over the Jedi’s crumbled figure.

Gently, a surprise to find in a monster like the Jedi deemed the Sith and those who opposed them, her finger lingered over the throat to find the faint pulse. It was bumping steadily. Relieved she hadn’t killed her quarry, her eyes narrowed upon the arm where he was slashed rather well. Blood started to stain his padawan robes as he just laid there, motionless, with the rest of his body scored several times by other numerous wounds.

Content with her examination, she flickered the lightsaber off. The blade died in an instant. She reached out and gripped the Jedi’s wrist in her hand, pulling his arm across her shoulder. When he was secure, she forced herself upright again, flinching when her side flared fresh with new agony. Spotting the Jedi’s lightsaber sent flying a bit from his location, she held out her hand and summoned it to her hand then clipped to her belt.

Her ears heard a sound causing her to jerk her head toward her right.

Zanna walked carefully back to the ships, where the Jedi were supposed to be dropped off, the Twi’lek padawan floating in the air in front of her. While she was fairly certain that there were no more Jedi hiding amongst the rubble of their home, she wasn’t taking any chances. “Everyone has to go to the temple to capture Jedi, even if you’re terrible at combat. Doesn’t matter if that increases your chances of dying by three trillion.” She muttered under her breath, nervously tugging on her face tentacles. She didn’t feel comfortable here, where someone could easily murder her with one simple lightsaber attack. She had gotten lucky that this was merely a padawan and she knew it. A real knight would have eliminated her without the faintest bit of effort on their part.

As she finally entered the area where the prisoner ship was, she noticed two more Sith. One was a Zabrak, carrying seemingly another human Jedi, the other was a human carrying another human. Zanna merely noted with disapproval the missing hand. The recently missing hand. “Is it so hard to not damage the prisoners?” She asked.

“She tried to put up a fight, and she didn’t succeed. Your prisoner looks like she let you take her away without even asking you not to do it.” Jakali said back, a grin on his face, the grown woman he had managed to capture hoisted over his shoulders. He would have liked to avoid taking one of her hands off, but he had to make a quick decision. She was still alive, albeit occasionally grunting in pain.

“And besides, it is a hand, not like she lost an entire limb.” He added, not saying to anyone in particular. Though his eyes lingered on Zanna for a moment, the hatred he still held for her briefly boiling up, it would have been so easily to strike her down then and there, but the time wasn’t right. It also might have given the wrong message to the prisoners if they saw Sith murdering each other right in front of their eyes.

“You really think now is the time to squabble?” Jayda spoke, her voice slightly strained from the wound and her own burden to bare. She adjusted again and shifted the Jedi higher up on her shoulders where he laid across. Sadly, she couldn’t stop her one side from slouching so to ease up pressure on her other side, the one where the wound laid. Slowly she started to walk back the direction she had arrived from though she was sure the trip would take longer at her slower pace.

“The Jedi could still be around and if they hear it, it’s likely they will engage us. I don’t want to worry about my back getting slashed because you were too busy arguing to give a gunsos not to get killed.”

Inside, Jayda’s slip into her native language made her realize she was rattled. Mostly because she had gotten sloppy and unless she could hide it from Sish, he wouldn’t like that one bit. That meant new scars later for allowing weakness to show. She inhaled, breathing through the hurt, while listening to the other two and her surroundings.

“Not a squabble, just a conversation. She asked a question, I gave an answer then made an observation.” Jakali said, glancing Jayda as she walked, struggling to move from her injury which the Sith was curious of how she acquired it. Perhaps a Jedi injured her? He followed her, eventually catching up with the hobbled apprentice enough to walk alongside her, his prisoner still straddled on his shoulders.

“No need to worry. Jedi are never the aggressors, and those that are are the ones we want. If any of them tried anything then they’d quickly realized just how outmatched they were,” Jakali said, looking at her as he spoke. “And besides, it would be criminal for me to allow them hurt someone like yourself.” Speaking in his most charming tone of voice, remembering she was an apprentice, a swayable one possibly if he played his cards right.

“I’ve heard of your master's methods, I don’t believe that he would appreciate your current well being either, he’d make it even worse, and that’s quite shameful.” He added, shaking his head, the thought of a master beating their apprentice reminding him of his own past.

“Strange for a Sith not to think of his own goals and instead, showing concern for others. Isn’t compassion what Jedi are known for after all?” Jayda commented, her head turned and raised an eyebrow at the Sith. He was handsome in his own way but she knew, deep down, he was likely to be like most others. His goals came first and his show of kindness set off her instincts, causing her body to briefly tense. It didn’t help she hadn’t any interaction with other Apprentices since becoming Sish’s only four months prior and this made her very new to this game. A disadvantage that could end up costing her more than her pride in the end.

She could’ve relaxed if the man had self motives, greed or lust, behind his comment, but his comment made no such hint. When mentioned Sish, though not by name, her lips curled up into a snarl and bore a fanged tooth. “I got sloppy and it will never happened again. I’ve survived worse at his claws, namely in the last eight years, so the pain will not be new.”

“Perhaps it is compassion, perhaps it is empathy.” Jakali said, having paid careful attention to Jayda as she spoke, his eyes noticing how she reacted when her master was mentioned.

“I got sloppy too, once. But I survived. ” He added, then scratched his chin with his robotic limb, the one that had been taken from him so many years ago. It was odd how similarly Jayda’s treatment under her master was to his, he almost felt bad for her, and he wondered too if Sish would go far enough to actually remove her limb for failure.

Jayda noticed the robotic arm, her eyes narrowed her focus and settled for several moments on it. “Is that how you lost your arm? Due to failure and sloppiness?”

Her tone, unlike in the past would hold sympathy, was indifferent to his absent limb. Sish had broken bones, maimed her identity as a Zabrak and worse, but she knew deep inside he would never severe a limb. It would cripple her too much for his liking and defeat his objective to making her stronger. After all, if she couldn’t beat, than what was the point of being his apprentice?

The thought lingered on her mind and her feet stirred into a slightly faster pace, thinking running from the truth was possible.

Zanna simply shrugged indifferently in response to Jakali’s barb, content to let him believe what he will. Assumptions will get you killed.. She thought idly, noticing his brief hatred. Control is good. And dangerous. She kept quiet, still carrying her Twi’lek through the Force, as Jakali tried and failed to get on the good side of the Zabrak. Something to note. She’s as wary as I am, though far less subtle about it.

Before Zanna could make any comment of her own, Jakali’s prisoner spoke up. *“Tze’tlesu ayt ido yol kasluat. Shuree terli besin uael ido ul’don cuf ido ah’n kep’le minta.” She laughed, a humorless sound, before continuing in Ul’Zabrak. ”I couldn’t fight and he knew it. He just couldn't take taunting, because he's a little bitch. He even sounds like one, trying to sidle up to you. Do me a favor and stab him in the face?”

Jayda's eyes shifted towards the Jedi, her face not amused, as she replied in basic. "Brave words for being carried by your captor and already injured, Jedi. Let's hope he doesn't understand Ul'Zabrak else he might deem it suitable to take a finger or worse for punishment."

Nazca snorted. And then make me useless for your torture and conversion? I don’t think so. Besides, he’s too stupid to understand it. Isn’t that right you big dumb shit eating whore? Nazca spoke to Jakali, smirking. For all her brave words, Nazca looked terrible. Her eyes were lackluster, the pupil’s dialted, she was shivering despite being covered in sweat and looked deathly pale, her breathing rapid and shallow.

"You're assuming physical torture is the only meaningful sort. Mental and emotion doesn't require you to be in one piece after all." Jayda countered, her arm slipping around the Echani giving and was forced to push him upward again. Her teeth gritted and let out a small hiss of pain, sharply inhaling to push through it. "Besides, you won't be alone in your misery."

And make me an insane vegetable unsuitable to tell info and conversion? Doubt it. Nazca smiled nastily as she heard Jayda’s hiss of pain. “Aww, did the jedi give you a boo boo? Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s only a sign of your weakness and all your lovely friends, dumb shit with the robot had here and the red whore over there, will stab you in the back as soon as they’re able. And the face. And the chest. And the arm. You’re going to regret not doing me that favor, mark my words.” Nazca gave a mocking laugh at the last sentence. ”Oh joy, I just love knowing that all these innocent, young, padawans are getting tortured along with me! Thanks for that piece of comfort you bitch.

Jayda didn't retort. Instead she ignored the filthy mouthed human and focused on the Sith carrying her, "Seems she thinks highly of you. You should've just knocked her out or severed more than a wrist, though it might not matter. She could die from the shock along before we arrive."

Nazca narrowed her eyes in the general direction of Jayda’s voice, slung over her captor’s shoulder as she was. “**Shuree Fro'Jeff res'Sharen fro'dyne ayure? Gin tze’onore sharee.” Nazca spat on the ground, and continued. ”You’re no better than your master, are you? You get pleasure from torturing those weaker than you, don’t you? You’re nothing. A whore. A slut. How often do you go down on your master? Daily? Hourly when you can? You’re nothing more than some Sith’s bitch, pretending to be a warrior with some shred of honor left.”

It wasn’t the insult to her honor or whorish comments that finally snapped her placid behavior. It was the comparison to Sish that managed to strike the spark in her hatred as she stopped dead in her tracks abruptly, letting Jakali’s walk continue and bring her face to face with the Jedi. all the zabrak could see was the dark, reddish hair in a short cut.

Jayda’s hand strike out like a snake before either of the other two could stop her. It gripped the woman’s jaw line and ripped her face upwards, facing the growling Sith baring her fangs in a primal snarl. Her eyes laced with fury and utter hatred. The emotion seeming to spill from her facial expression, heating the air around her, as she was ready to keep pace with the man should he not stop.

“You never compare me to that monster again.” Jayda’s tone was icy and firm, her patience close to shattering. Her nails bit into the flesh, drawing blood and tightening with each word. It seemed that she was ready to rip the force user’s jawline right off while she rattled off her warning in Ul’Zabrak. “Geti shuree meni’hime sharee yide sharee’i joku’le, ni shar meni’fro'tlesu nit rebut sharee shar….”

With that, Jayda made her vice grip firmer briefly and released. The little indentations began to drip blood down the curves of her cheeks when the Zabrak pulled her gaze away, her body moving away to let the sith walk away. She hoped the message was gotten this time.

Zanna didn’t say anything, merely watching carefully, storing away what she had learned here and ready to stop the Zabrak from killing the mouthy prisoner.

Nazca’s eyes were very wide, and she didn’t move a muscle as Jayda spoke, painfully forcing the criminal to look at her. When she was finally let go, Nazca’s hand went to her fresh wounds, and she simply stared at the blood on her fingers for a moment before adding one final comment. It was spoken quietly, with none of the flamboyant, brash, yelling before.

“****Jeful, jendoslu, slaret coila slaret.”

Jakali did not understand a word that was being said from the prisoner he was lugging around. He could tell it was another language, likely the Zabrak’s, judging by Jayda’s reactions. He did not stop her and simply stayed silent, not even showing any emotion on his face as he waited for a moment where he could speak a few words.

“You hold much anger and hate, Jedi. You sound just like a stereotypical Sith. Though if you were one, you’d be one of the weak ones that gets snuffed out in the blink of an eye.” Jakali said, his voice and figure calm, though his next move was not as he stopped in his tracks, twisting the injured Jedi on his shoulder towards the ground, planting her back down on the hard floor.

“Her words are just weak threats with nothing to back them up. I could have taken off her whole arm, but that might have been too much.” He added as he glanced at Nazca, then unholstered his lightsaber but did not ignite it, he simply wacked the Jedi right on her left temple with the metal handle, enough to knock her out.

“You need to know when something is too much.” He said, holstering his weapon and hoisting the captive back over his shoulders.

“What exactly did she say to you?” He asked Jayda, genuinely curious.

Jayda was quiet. Her body stopped, curiosity mostly, at what the man was planning on doing as she watched him finally knock the crude female out. She couldn’t help but wonder the reason yet wisely mentioned nothing of it in her next words. “Between the basic and Zabrak, I thought it was obvious she was provoking me. Her words to me were mild compared to yours and only one I considered worthy of aggression. Called me several unpleasant names and the last part was something I refuse to be compared to. She’s lucky. If she had met me during Sish’s trials, then I would’ve killed her in my hatred.”

She was calm again when she spoke, partly grateful Sish wasn’t there.

“It was your master she compared you to, was it not?” Jakali asked, almost certain that he was correct. “If it was, then you are not like him. He would have killed the Jedi in an utterly barbaric fashion in his rage, you showed restraint, that is not something he would have done.”

“You’ve not seen me at my worse.” Jayda said bitterly, leaving the answer vague as her mind filled with memories. Most dominant was the screams of men, women, and children who she murdered out of mercy because she wasn’t strong enough. Her eyes shifted down to her claws, the very one that ended those foolish enough to believe they weren’t harboring a monster in their midst. She could relive the light dying from their eyes and the zabrak child’s painful expression while she slowly choked the life out of her. Jayda shuddered, letting her hand fall back to her side where she briefly wiped away the blood on her trousers. “As for restraint when it comes to Sish… if he didn’t, I wouldn’t have been alive today.”

“Strength comes from many places. For your master, it seems it comes from complete lack of control. His emotions are a storm, powerful, but undirected and eventually coming to an end. For others, they bottle their emotions, waiting to direct the power they give them. You bottle your emotions, waiting for the right time to use them. Especially your hatred for your master. You may hate your master, but you can’t deny he’s given you the tools to survive. Albeit in a savage manner. Otherwise, like you said, you’d be dead.” Zanna nodded towards Jayda’s outfit. “You were one of the ones on the frontlines, weren’t you? Very few apprentices could have survived that, running into the teeth of the Jedi and all their guards. From the sounds of it some of the Sith, hand picked by Darth Malgus, didn’t either. That’s an accomplishment, something to remember.

“As for your worst..” Zanna shrugged. “Everyone has their worst moments. It’s part of becoming a Sith. You do things the Jedi would have long ago put themselves in exile or killed themselves for, and then you move on. Because you’re stronger.”

“She is correct. You are strong, we are all stronger than those fools.” Jakali said, nudging towards the unconscious Jedi on his shoulder, then he glanced towards Zanna, locking eyes with her for a moment as he continued forward towards the shuttles.

“I didn’t expect something like that from you after that comment from before, truthfully. Appears I was wrong. I may have misjudged someone so beautiful.” He blurted out, his tone with a hint of playfulness to it.

Zanna opened her mouth to give a reply, then Jakali finished his sentence her mouth snapped shut in surprise, her eyes a bit wider than before. Is he..flirting with me? Despite her best efforts, she could feel a blush( the Red Sith equivalent at least) on her face. She jerked her eyes away from his, muttering. “I just don’t like potential converts being ruined before we have a chance, or people being bitter about things that make them strong. The road may be hard, but the end result is well worth it.” She sped up her pace, passing the human quickly, before things could be made worse.

Jayda rolled her eyes at the flirting occurring though she pondered a bit on Zanna’s and Jakali’s words. It was hard to believe they understood anything at all about her. To her, this was survival and it just happened the strong survived it. If it had been different, if she never met Sish, then everything would’ve been different. Her eyes stared ahead as they drew closer, their trip coming to a end when the scene of chaos and war filled the scene toward the shuttle. Already several Sith were bring back their prizes, delivering them into the ship and going back out for more.

Her eyes caught Sish’s figure already exiting the ship. Immediately she tried to hide the wound on her side and her favoring her other side, straightening her spine with a sharp breath. Her hands tightened to bite off the desire to slip back into a more comfortable gait while she held her prisoner on her shoulders steadily.

*Don’t listen to this whore. I put up about as much fight as a baby beast.*

**I thought Zabraks had honor? There is no honor in you.

***Now, I suggest you hold your tongue or it will now cost you it!
****Remember, bitch, blood for blood.

[Rtron]

~| Day of Sacking, 12:44 GST |~
~|Sish & Jayda\~

Sish walked through the devastation that had once been the Jedi temple, his prisoner hefted over his shoulder. It was merely an annoyance that he couldn’t see out of his other eye once more, as Sish had made himself used to only having one eye before getting a new one, just in case this very situation arose. As he drew closer to the ship, he began to make out the trio of Sith that were dropping of their own prisoners, one of them being his unwilling apprentice. Sish’s eye narrowed, and he sped up his pace a bit. Can’t let her get manipulated into something enslaving or lethal right off the bat, can I?

As he drew closer, he could immediately see that she had been injured. He would have to wait to ask her about it however, as they were loading up all their prisoners into the care of Sith Lord Jewel. One after the other the Sith dropped their prisoners off, and then headed back out of the ship. Sish handed his prisoner off to the troopers and then quickly caught up to Jayda, catching her by the arm and bringing her to a stop. “What happened.”

Jayda eyed Sish outside the corner of her eye, noting the damage to his cybernetics as he too laid another Jedi down. She was mildly surprised the lizard was willing to take one alive since he viewed them as weak and pitiful, expecting him to murder any he crossed paths with. For a moment, her face briefly tightened before she leaned down to lessen her load. The Echani was easily shouldered off where's he left him to crumble into the marble floor, limp and almost lifeless. Only his breathing seemed to eliminate the possibility he was dead.

She looked over her handiwork. His arm was still bleeding from where she scratched him and the frayed robes mingled with the wound, left unattended to. It would be a reminder of their clash.

Relieved to feel the weight no longer hindering her, Jayda stepped away to return to the temple. She had gotten a fair distance until she felt sharp claws wrap tightly about her arm, grinding her to a full stop. She flinched at the touch and her head flipped about at the source, sending a snarl in his direction. It was Sish. Her eyes oozed hatred while her skin crawled under her shirt. At her side, her other hand ball up in reaction.

His words seeped into her ears as she attempted to jerk her arm from his grip. "None of your concern."

He grinned at her reaction, merely tightening his grip and keeping her there. “I disagree. And unless you want to stay here until we have to get on the ship with Nyiss, you’ll tell me what happened.”

Jayda sighed and answered, feeling his resistance to her escape. "The Jedi got a slash in when he came in close, but he still lost. Isn't that what counts?"

She stood there waiting for his react and judging if she needed to brace herself. Her hearts thumped and rattled her chest while his grin seems unmoved from his muzzle. This wasn't going to end well and all her instincts were screaming to get away.

Sish let her go, his grin going a bit wider at her obvious way she prepared to be struck. “Very well. Be very careful when you talk to the other Sith. They always want more than what they just ask for, and they are far better at manipulating than you and I.”

"I can take care of myself." Jayda hissed as she felt him let go. Her nerves slowly relaxed while he continued to lecture her, her eyes rolling at his attempt to make her learn at him.

"They are no more dangerous than you. The only thing they seemed able to do was flirt and lecture me, something I much rather avoid again."

She ripped herself the rest of the way from his grip and turned on heel to quickly leave. The longer this conversation went on then the more dangerous it would become, something she had learned in the last month.

Sish sighed. With a minor gesture, he yanked her back towards him with the force. “I would have thought you would have learned by now.” She slammed into the ground, as Sish watched. “I’m more powerful than you.” Jayda was lifted back into the air and thrown into a nearby pillar.

Jayda felt something tug at her ankles and without delay, she felt her legs jerked from under her as she skirted backwards. The friction scratched at her exposed flesh and her nails dug into the marble, finding little purchase. She had barely time to protect her head from cracking down upon the hard ground when he deployed his nasty, dirty trick.

"No..." She whispered as his lecture filled the temple, his word continuing with his lesson.

Her refusal to be tossed was casted aside easily by the stronger Sith, her body smashed against the pillar when he lifted her up once more.

“As long as you continue to be arrogant, careless, and sloppy, I will always be more powerful than you. You are about as much of a threat to me as your brother was. You just scream less.” He slammed her into the pillar again, cracking the stone beneath her back. Sish walked over, irritation clear across his face.

Jayda bit back a scream just when her back slammed against the pillar again. Pain rippled through her nerves but no bones broke. If she had been more human, she was sure it would've been another matter and Sish wouldn't have given a damn. Her body slumped over when he stopped, feeling the stone spider webbed where she impacted hard. Jayda was panting at the air lost within her lungs while her ears caught Sish's claws clicking closer.

Her head weakly lifted to face him. Jayda was ready trying to resist him with her own force only to feel it cast away, her attempts to lower his damage failing due to keeping her temper under control. The two apprentices word echoed in her memory. They were bitter and stinging barbs when compared to this scene, her weakness more obvious to her then before. Her lip curled up in fury at his approach.

“If the Jedi was able to wound you, and you still follow their path of obsessive self control, how do you imagine you’re going to beat me?” She was slammed into the ground at his feet.

Jayda's arms jerked at the ground, trying to rise, before he slammed her into the floor. Like an unwillingly pinned animal at its master's feet.

“You’re nothing but a pathetic weakling, and you know it. This isn’t your world anymore. This isn’t even similar to your world. If you want to live, you’ll listen to me and maybe, just maybe, be able to claim the vengeance you seek.” He sent her skidding across the floor, back into the temple. “Use your head or die. It makes no difference to me.”

The last slam made her cry out in pain when she was tossed against the far temple wall. She slumped on her side, finding it hard to breath and move, each fiber screamed in torture from each stirring. Gingerly she managed to push herself to sit upright and unmoved. "Then why not end?"

The words had slipped out before she considered the consequences.

Sish walked over to her, and crouched down. “Because I know there’s strength in you. And I will draw that strength out, even if I have to make you rely solely on hatred to see you through every moment you’re my apprentice. You want to kill me? Tap into that anger, that hatred, that sorrow for your brother’s death, at the right time. When you’re strong enough to hold your own against me without it, then you will be able to try to kill me, and then I will allow you to end it. One way or the other.”

Sish's word raked across her pride when he settled beside her. She continued to bare her teeth as she waited to receive another blow. Only it never came.

He stood up, and started walking back into the temple. “I’m going back into the temple, to see if I can kill or capture any more Jedi. Do what you will, but be back here to go to Darth Nyiss’ ship or I will leave you on this planet.”

Jayda just sat there, letting Sish casually walk into the temple once more. She watched him leave and followed him with a resentment filling her features. When he finally left, she tested her strength to pull upright. Half way up, she felt her leg give and bring her stumbling back down causing her to curse abruptly in Zabrak, sitting there to gather herself up for a second try. Ignoring her pain, she managed to limp upright then follow behind at a distance. She wasn't about to return to the ship to lick her wounds, the least smart thing though, she wouldn't get very far, very fast.

[Ellri]

~| 17:30 GST |~
~| Aboard the Kaggath |~

There was hardly any sound as the shuttles landed in the Kaggath’s hangar. Compared to the hangar, the shuttles weren’t very large, but they was more than big enough to hold the people they held. The first shuttle opened up immediately, disgorging a good number of imperial troopers, who immediately formed up into columns before the ramp on the second shuttle. When it opened up, the twenty-odd individuals within disembarked. Or rather, almost half of them were unloaded, seeing how they were both unconscious and strapped to hoversleds. The rest were all Sith, though at least one was dressed more like a Jedi than as a Sith.

Once they were all outside, they all started moving off, heading towards the recently built prison complex. The moment they left, technicians started going over the shuttles, ensuring that they were in peak condition for whatever use they would see. Busy as they were, they failed to see the small droid that somehow had gotten onto the troopers’ shuttle disembarking, slinking off into the ventilation system.

When the turbolift arrived on the prison deck, a good distance away from the hangar, the troopers escorting them split off, taking the still-unconscious prisoners to the prison itself. Due to the relatively small size of the turbolifts up to the cell complex, the prisoners were split up, with just a couple being sent up each turbolift shaft. Each prisoner had a trooper escorting it, making sure the artificial coma was maintained.

~|~

Lea had been making the most of the “free” time she had after being moved into the prison complex. While she hadn’t been able to leave the cell complex itself due to the guards on duty those hours being annoyingly strong-minded, that had not kept her from exploring the cells themselves. She would have a couple of uncomfortable bruises from her attempts at tricking her way past the guards. She really hoped there would not be guards on duty at all times, as that would make escape very difficult later.

Her first impressions of the cell complex had been fairly accurate. There were no easily removed panels, no practical escape routes. Whatever means the Sith used to provide fresh air, it could not be used as a route for escape, at least not without a lightsaber. Most of the floor, she’d found, was constructed from the same red-tinged transparisteel. She estimated it was at least ten centimeters thick, which was more durable than the windows on most capital ships. Whomever had built this place had not spared on expenses. While it was still relatively easy to see through, that much transparisteel still distorted everything that was on the other side a little. Only in the clear transparisteel floor in the center chamber was the distortion minimal.

It hadn’t taken her long to figure out that not only was the Kolto tank in the medical chamber empty, but also completely dry, with no evidence of ever having held any Kolto. She had serious doubts about it being filled up anytime soon. Both before and after her capture, she had learned enough about the Sith and the Empire to say that they would not want to waste Kolto on prisoners without good reason. There was a good supply of less effective medical supplies, though. None of it could really be used for any sort of efficient improvised weaponry, but at least there would not be much chance of her or the other prisoners bleeding out.

The quality of the sanitary facilities had surprised her quite a bit. They might not be particularly private, but they did have warm water and all the normal necessities, which was far more than most captors provided their prisoners. She’d heard from her uncle once that you were lucky if the Hutts bothered to make sure there wasn’t anything actively trying to kill you in their prisons if you were unlucky enough to end up there. The idea of complete sanitary facilities was apparently utterly foreign to them.

She had also selected a bed some distance from the turbolifts, to ensure that she would, hopefully, not be the first pick for whatever Sith would come to torture them. She didn’t really have many hopes of that working, but she had learned that some Sith were not known for their habit of planning far ahead. Some, she’d learned, barely planned beyond the present. She had no doubts that unless someone managed to rescue her or she found a way to escape, she’d eventually have to deal with all the Sith this “Darth Nyiss” brought in.

When the other prisoners arrived, she had been sitting in the center chamber, doing her best to meditate. With the countless deaths and the destruction on the planet below, that wasn’t too easy. Though she had never been there personally, she still felt it when the Jedi Temple was blown up, for it generated a sort of ripple in the Force. She had felt it when the Imperial troopers brought the other prisoners up. Even unconscious, they had a subtle presence in the Force. Only when the troopers had departed did she get to her feet. Even when they had passed right by her, she had ignored them, just as they had ignored her. There were far too many of them to overpower, especially with her unarmed, so she did not want to prove a threat of any kind.

After they left, she had gone to look at the prisoners, trying to see what sorts they were. She vaguely thought she might’ve seen a couple of them years before, but could not be certain. All she had to do then, was wait for them to wake up. There was no point in even trying to wake them up. Security would probably be fairly tight the first couple of days in any case. Somewhat more forward in the ship, a deck further down, she could sense the presence of many Sith, one of them being the familiar presence Darth Nyiss. There were many others, but seeing how they were all unfamiliar, she could not quite determine how many there were. She knew she would not want to encounter them all at once, though. There was no way to tell what sort of people they were, let alone things like species or even gender. The Force did not speak of such to her.

[SimplyJohn]

~| Day 1, 17:41 GST |~
~| Aboard the Kaggath, Main Prison Complex |~

It wasn't until his head hit the floor that Som realised he was beginning to come to, and immediately he felt the worse for it. Part of him just wanted to sink back into the serenity on the endless slumber the medications had brought upon him, back the other part, the part trained by his grandfather, told him to harness the pain and use it. Focussing Som let his consciousness surface, letting the pain guide the way through the blackness that was sleep, until finally he could feel the sensations of his body once more.

The pain was even greater than he'd first thought, but that just meant there was more material for the Mirialan to work with. The highest concentration was in his jaw and as he tried to grind his teeth together the burning sensation became a nova. He could feel a couple of the teeth wobbling against his tongue and knew that he'd probably have to remove them before an infection set in, but that was something to worry about later.

The next greatest source of pain was his back, just along the bottom of his ribcage. SHifting himself on the floor Som tested his limits and there didn't seem to be too much give trom the fragile bones, so the damage was probably just the heavy bruising from where he'd been smashed against the shuttle by the Sith, along with whatever had happened to his during the flight from the Temple. And despite everything else, he knew they were most certainly no longer at the Temple, unless the drugs had kept him suppressed for a far longer time than he'd first guessed.

Laying on the floor Som reached out as best he could with the Force, trying to gauge the state of his surroundings before revealing his awakening to those nearby, just in case the Sith were waiting for him to show signs of recovery before attacking once more. Best to play possum and let them await their sport a little longer. It wasn't like they could get any angrier with him for making them wait a few minutes more. His sense told him nothing useful though, the heavy pall of darkness which seemed to hang over everything he sensed made it impossible for his limited control of the Force to pierce the shadows. All he knew for certain was that wherever this place was, it was a place corrupted and dedicated to the Dark Side in ways he couldn't even begin to imagine.

With nothing better to do, no way of learning more about his circumstances and unwilling to simply lay on the cold floor awaiting execution Som pushed himself up into a seated position and took a deep breath, which he almost immediately regretted. Coughing several times, causing flares of pain to burst inside him each time, Som tried to clear his throat of the noxious vapours he was breathing, only to realise that the flavour was not from the air around him but from within his own body. Most likely a side effect of whatever chemicals had been used on him, the traces of which he could still feel lingering in his blood.

Blinking his eyes open Som glanced around the dark chamber, trying to see whether there was yet hope for escape or freedom. Or failing that any sign that his death was going to be of more use than mere entertainment for some twisted perversion of nature.

[Rtron]

~|17:45 GST|~

"Fuuuuuck." Nazca groaned aloud as she slowly regained consciousness, bringing a hand to her head, the most immediate hurt. Well, she tried to at least. She ended up just poking her head with her stump hand. "Fuck." Nazca repeated, sitting up and covering her face wit her remaining hand. "My back hurts. my head hurts, and I'm missing a hand. Either I just had one of the best nights of my life, well aside from the missing hand bit, or my memory isn't lying to me and I'm on a Sith ship." She smirked slightly as she removed her hand, looking around at the decidedly air tight, and surprisingly comfortable looking, prison. There were only two people awake, a green alien and another human girl, the rest were one or two familiar Jedi (Nazca groaned again at the sight of Xid and Shiri), all unconscious. "So. Definitely on a Sith ship. And we're probably going to be tortured. Repeatedly. Fun times. I have to say though, this is the nicest prison I've ever been in. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll try to torture us through excessive niceness and fun?" She sighed, clinking her remaining finger rings together. "No, I don't believe it either."

She stood up and began to wander the facilities, going through the same motions Lea had undergone, and coming up with the same results. No easy way out. She stared down at the clear floor, eyeing the familiar shape of the room below. Nek take it. Solidly built prison and an arena?. We get to watch out friends fight for their lives, knowing we can't escape to help them! She returned to the rest of the group, sitting cross legged and staring at her two conscious cell mates. "Well, how'd you two get captured? I tried to duel a Sith," She waved her stump back and forth in the air, "when I didn't even know how to properly swing a lightsaber. On the bright side, the human with black hair, stubble, a robot arm and a scar over his eye, both on the left side, can't really take taunts. So if you want to piss him off, just start calling him a Hut'uun, coward, who is only brave enough to try and kidnap children. Throw in a few comments about him being a Schutta, and a Son of a Sow, and walla! Irritated Sith. Maybe he'll damage me, more that is, and get killed by someone higher up. One can hope."

[SimplyJohn]

~| Day 1, 17:46 GST |~
~| Aboard the Kaggath, Main Prison Complex |~

@Rtron

Tilting his head Som glanced over at his new companion, noticing the scared human girl lurking nearby for the first time as he did. The girl looked in a very bad state and Som doubted she'd been like that at the Temple, so unless there were prisoners from the lower city levels being held wherever this was then perhaps she'd been here for a while. It may be worth asking the girl what she knows of this place at some point, the Mirialan thought to himself, pushing the thought aside as he turned to consider his more talkative roommate.

"I do not believe that 'pissing him off' would be the best approach when dealing with any Sith, as my own wounds can attest to." As he spoke Som could tell that his jaw was beginning to swell, his words coming out mumbled and distorted by his barely functioning jaw.

Reaching up he quickly probed the bone with his finger tips, wincing slightly as the soft tissue sparked with pain at his touch. Fighting passed it the Mirialan ran his fingers down first one side of his face then the other, but could find no problem with the bone itself, although the joint felt a little looser than normal from where the Sith had struck him with her armoured hand. Perhaps some ligament damage? Som wondered to himself before letting his hand fall back down into his lap.

With nothing better to do Som took a long, deep breath, holding it for a second before expelling it again, clearing his lungs before breathing deeply once more. The foul stench of the chambers fell away from his senses as he began to focus his mind more clearly with the breathing exercises and Som could feel himself gaining full control of his body through the Force. His grandfather's teachings had served Som well in developing his hibernation trance techniques back in training, and hopefully even a low-level trance would help his mouth heal a little faster without having to place himself in a full sleep.

Turning his attention back to the more active of his two human companions Som nodded his head towards the walls. "How do you know we're on a ship?" He asked curiously, "They could've just armour plated the walls to make it more difficult for us to get out."

[Ellri]

~| Day 4, 11:30 GST |~
~| On Alderaan |~

The signing of the Treaty of Coruscant was a humiliation for the republic and the Jedi Order. But with the Empire holding Coruscant hostage and threatening its destruction, they had no choice. Sure, they knew the Sith could not literally destroy the planet, no existing weapon could, but they could readily ravage it and render it uninhabitable. A persistent and well-directed fleet could easily exterminate every lifeform and obliterate all structures upon its surface. Thousands of years of history could be erased in a matter of hours and days. That alone, was reason enough for the republic to sign the treaty. The fact that they were hard pressed to resist the Sith advance on other fronts in the galaxy was another.

The Jedi in particular could not comfortably stomach the treaty’s harsh terms, but they had no choice. Not if they wanted to see the countless billions of souls on Coruscant survive. It was with all those thoughts in mind that the representatives of the republic and the Jedi order signed the treaty, creating what everyone knew would be an uneasy peace with the Sith Empire.

~| Nearly one day earlier (Day 3, 14:30 GST) |~
~| Aboard the Memory of Coruscant |~

The ship hadn’t been out of hyperspace more than a couple of minutes when the signal to clear the aft hangar floor came in, indicating that someone was coming in for a landing. At a velocity well above regulation, the small fighter/bomber shot through the hangar shield, practically slamming into the deck, then screeching across the floor in a slight arc, with bright sparks flying out where the metal of the landing gear ground against the floor. But no matter how chaotic and haphazard the entry seemed, the ship rotated just the right way, coming to a halt right in the middle of one of the designated parking zones.

The moment it stopped moving, the canopy opened up and a someone who could only be a Jedi leapt out, landing several meters away. In the eerie silence following his ship’s landing, the sound of his boots hitting the deck seemed almost deafening. Despite his robes covering much of his body, there was no doubt in the eyes of any observer that he wore armor underneath. At the same time, the hangar technicians returned to the deck, continuing their work, even as a few others started working on the Jedi’s ship, checking it for damage and preparing it to be raised up into the docking racks.

He habitually kept his hood up, leaving his face in shadows. When he got to the doorway between the hangar and the rest of the ship, he grabbed a nearby crewmember. “Where are Jedi Masters Novan and Tetsu?”

The crewmember, a Corellian human in her mid-twenties, seemed a bit off-kilter, perhaps by his brusque tone and not exactly subtle landing. “Umm… Try Jedi meditation chambers. Top of the central tower. They might be there.”

“Thank you. May the Force be with you.” He politely said to her, then let her go on her way. He did not hesitate in finding his way to the nearest eligible turbolift. Though he had not before been aboard the recently renamed Memory of Coruscant, he’d been on numerous Thrantas before, and he knew the modifications made to this one well. Once he got to the top of that turbolift, he went to the next one, leading up to the Jedi meditation room and sparring chamber.

“Masters Tetsu and Novan.” He bowed respectfully to them. Though he rarely dealt much with the rest of the Order directly, they did hold higher rank than him, no matter how influential he’d been in getting this ship refitted for this mission. He did not know them very well, but had heard nothing but good things about them both.

“Coruscant will soon be ours once more. The Order's best negotiators will get the best out of this bad situation. We have all heard of the destruction the Sith unleashed upon that world, about how they destroyed the Jedi Temple. I have sensed that there is more to this. Have you sensed the same in your meditations? What say you to checking that out?”

[Dervish]

-|Jedi Temple, Tolun Fi’s Lab, Day 1, 12:07 GST|-

Darth Nyiss finally made it to the door behind which Tolun Fi’s lab should be present. It was evident that the door had a great deal of lightsaber damage to it. The lock was beyond repair. Part of a blue lightsaber protruded through the door, apparently half way through cutting a hole. It seemed Tolun, or however else inside, had initially decided to lock themselves in, but then chosen to attempt escape after all. It would only slow the Darth down.

Rather than pull her lightsaber to assist in cutting the door open, which might frighten whoever was on the other side into thinking a Sith was coming to fight them, she chose to use the Force to open the door. Noting that the blue lightsaber had finished its upward stroke and the majority of the sideways stroke needed to cut an, albeit messy, rectangular hole, she gripped the still white hot edge of the cutout with the force, and tore it towards her. The intent was to bend the metal around finishing the creation of the opening in a dramatic, swift and suitably nonviolent way. It proved to be a fairly significant feat of telekinesis, given the strength of the doors metal, pushing Nyiss hard, but not beyond her limit.

Unlike the rest of the Jedi in this forsaken soon to be crater, Darth Nyiss actually cared what Tolun Fi thought about her. He was a fellow scientist after all, and in many ways she did not see him as an enemy combatant, rather a peer. He was also, so she had been led to believe, one of the few Jedi that would not immediately totally condemn her simply because she was a Sith. And so, when she had finished bending the metal open, she tried to look as relaxed and nonthreatening as possible. Her lightsaber was still on her belt, and Sela’s lightsaber hung near the back of her belt where it would be concealed.

“Tolun Fi?” She said, her voice sounding as though she was not in a battleground but a friendly conference. “Its a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”

Death, as it turned out, was far more polite than the Kaminoan could have anticipated. He had watched the Sith Lord's feat of strength with the Force, seemingly effortlessly peeling back the blast door from where Tolun Fi had been cutting. The unbalancing thing was there was nothing aggressive about this Sith, and she certainly could have injured him had she hit the door with a strong enough Force push. Instead her efforts were controlled, almost delicate. It was a curious situation he had not anticipated, and his mind reeled with implications. She sought me out. She knew I would be here. Curious, how does she know who I am, and why the polite formality? he wondered, lightsaber still active but resting by his side, a precaution rather than a sign of overt aggression. Her clipped high voice suggested a high degree of educated sophistication.

"I'm afraid you have me at a loss, Lord...?" he inquired, his tone neutral.

"Darth Nyiss." She corrected, emphasizing her title, though with no annoyance in her voice.

Nyiss had known that Tolun would not know who she was... But some part of her was still disappointed. She had it on good authority that he had studied several of her works - that was to say, the often highly lethal, always exotic strains of biological weapons she had used on those occasions the Sith Empire had required her on the battlefield. Each one of them had always had her personal signature, a particular junk string of DNA, to mark it as made by the same person.

"I'm sure you don't recognize my name or appearance, but you might recognize this." She produced a small datapad from her belt and brought up the image and analysis of her bio-weapon signature, holding it up for Tolun to see.

"Those little toys were fun while they lasted..." She began in a slightly wistful tone. "But I find myself in need of a fellow scholar, to aid in a far more important, far more complex work of science." She was genuinely complementary, truly believing Tolun her equal. She tried to avoid her eagerness at the idea of working with someone who could actually keep up out of her voice.

The Kaminoan recognized the strain immediately. He himself had collected samples after a bioweapon attack and the electron microscope had revealed an identical pattern. Not that he needed it to recognize the name; he was intimately familiar with Darth Nyiss' work, and she was quite the prolific author in Imperial journals. It was a conflicting thing; one one hand, Darth Nyiss represented everything he opposed, but she was also someone he himself had come to admire in a way for her scientific acumen. He imagined the sensation would not be unlike finding out your favorite movie star owned a slave fighting ring and had sexual congress with your mother.

"I do know your name, I just never had a face to put to it until this moment." he said, still observing the rotating plague displayed in front of him. His gaze turned to the Darth when she expressed interest in looking for a collaborator. My, what an uncharacteristically strange day I've found myself in.

"While I am always pleased to meet a fellow scientist, and apparently you've come to admire my work as I have yours after a fashion, I'm afraid the slaughter of my colleagues has put a damper on my spirit." he gestured to Master Sela's lightsaber on Nyiss' belt. "I was quite fond of Master Sela, for instance. I can't imagine whatever proposal is on your mind is altruistic by any means. " Tolun Fi said, his tone even, unemotional.

"I'm sure its no consolation." Nyiss began. "But your friend died well." She hoped that he wouldn't hold that against her. She was only defending herself... She would keep her enjoyment of the act hidden of course.

"I wish we could have met on better terms, but I'm afraid my proposal is the only way you will leave this building alive. I'll not strike you down myself, but there are many others here that would. If you'll agree to come with me now, you'll not be harmed, I have the authority to ensure that." Much of the enthusiasm had gone from her voice now, this seemed too much like blackmailing him.

Her enthusiasm returned when she spoke of her project though, as a way of spinning it in favor of the Jedi views came to her mind. "If you can help me bring my project to fruition though, there will never again be a need for conflict. Jedi, Sith, neither title will mean anything. The galaxy will be united at last."

"Master Sela is one with the Force now." Tolun Fi conceded. "I would be amiss if I said I wasn't curious about this project of yours, and since I'm left with little choice, I might as well entertain my curiosity and go with you." He glanced past her and around. "I can sense the Dark Side everywhere, the Temple is regrettably lost. Either I die here in this tomb in the making, or later. Perhaps what you intend to show me will actually be worthy of my participation, if your aims coincide with my own standards. Given your manners and evident respect, I at least owe you the opportunity to see what it is you came all the way here to show me." He deactivated his lightsaber, giving it a final glance before tossing it to Nyiss. "I had always found combat a resort for people incapable of finding a better way. It comes as a pleasant surprise to meet a Sith willing to engage an ideological foe in dialog. I admit, you hold my interest."

Nyiss caught the lightsaber in her free hand, making sure to keep its emitter pointed away from her. "Good. Follow me. I'm sure you'll be intrigued." She said, clipping Tolun's saber to her belt alongside Sela's as she turned on her heel. She didn't intend to knock the Jedi out unless necessary. It was important he keep operating of his own free will as long as possible. And after all. It would hardly be polite to drug him now, after such a reasonable conversation.

[Frettzo]

~| Day 3, 14:30 GST |~
~| Master Tetsu Aboard the Memory of Coruscant |~

Kinsakwi rose and opened her eyes. She rested her gaze upon the cloaked Jedi and waved, a smile stretching her lips. "I have not made your acquaintance yet. I am Jedi Master Kinsakwi'tetsu, though I can see you already know me. What's your name?" She straightened her robes and hid her hands under the wide sleeves. Her smile vanished and she assumed a neutral expression, sparing a glance to Master Novan before going back to the new Jedi.

"I must admit that I have not felt anything out of the ordinary in my meditation, but I am sure there is more to it. I'm waiting for a list of confirmed casualties in order to confirm my suspicions-" She paused for a moment, "The Sith may have taken some of the younglings. Being mere children, they may be easily led toward the Dark Side."

[Rtron]

~|17:48 Prison complex, Kaggath|~

Nazca shrugged at the badly distorted words. "Well, judging from the state we're both in," she gestured towards Som himself, "I don't think they particularly care about how how much pain they put us through, so long as we're still useful. If we're going to get put through pain, might as well take some satisfaction from it, right?" She watched curiously as Som went through his deep breath thing, seeming to go into a brief trance. While her fellow prisoner did..whatever he was doing, Nazca glanced around again looking for anything she may have missed. There was nothing. It was still as tightly sealed and annoyingly inescapable as she thought it was the first time. "Har'chaak. Why can't they have been cheap with these facilities. Not that I'm complaining about how this is far better than the Hutts, but couldn't they have at least left a screw loose to the ventilation system or something?" She muttered, mostly to herself.

She glanced back at Som as he asked his question. "Well, where else could we be? This doesn't look like a prison run by the Coruscant Police and I doubt the Sith had a secret prison on Coruscant the Jedi didn't know about. So they had to take us off planet. We can't have been unconscious for them to have taken us to another planet, as everything still hurts like it recently happened, right? Your jaw, my hand or lack thereof. I bet I still have blood stains on my cheeks from where the Zabraki bitch dug her claws in." Nazca gestured to the now scabbed over puncture wounds. "We haven't been out long enough to recover from our wounds, even the minor ones. We have to be on a ship, getting out of Republic space as quickly as possible. This is a ship, or I'm a Gamorrean." She looked at the girl in dirty robes. "You look like you've been here longer than us. What's your name?"

[Ellri]

~| Kaggath |~
~| 17:49 GST |~

It did not take a genius for Lea to figure out that she was being spoken to, which was a good thing, seeing how she wasn’t one. She had never believed herself to be any sort of genius. Sure, there were countless who weren’t as smart as her, but also a great many who were considerably smarter. She eyed the one who’d spoken to her, and older girl with a recently cauterized stump where one of her hands should’ve been. She couldn’t see any special traits to her, so she decided the girl was probably human rather than near-human like she herself was. Of course, she couldn’t be sure, though. Some of the near-human species looked exactly like regular humans. “Rahn. Lea Rahn.” she answered.

“And yes, this is a ship. It is either a Gage-class transport or a Terminus-class destroyer, not quite sure which. You’ve all been fortunate enough to become the captives of Darth Nyiss. Or unfortunate enough, perhaps, seeing how we’re all captives of the Sith. I don’t know much about how different Sith keep their captives, but compared to the way most prisons are set up elsewhere in the galaxy, this place feels like it has much better standards. If that should be any indication as to how well we’ll all be treated as prisoners, there is some hope we’ll not all simply be killed. And if you’re in doubt, it has been something like six-seven hours since this ship came into orbit above whatever heavily populated planet is below.”

She thought for a bit. “That hand of yours. I assume it was cut off by whomever captured you? What was he or she like? If we’re to get out of here, we had better know as much as possible about our captors.” Although Lea had been captive for a good while, she had not seen any of the other Sith involved in whatever had been going on down there. From her numerous sessions under Darth Nyiss, she had gotten a decent image of what that woman would and would not do. Chopping off hands wasn’t her style. Part of the problem with being a captive for so long was the sense of relief that came with being exposed to anyone, even one’s captors, rather than the confines of a cell. The past couple of weeks, the Sith had been more distant than usual, so the time alone had been longer. The first month, she had frequently tried to escape. Sometimes she had even managed to hide for much of a day before being recaptured. But she had never managed to get off the ship, let alone far enough away to avoid recapture. Recently, she’d mostly given up on trying to get away. It was too difficult. But now, with these new prisoners, escape might be possible. She would have to assess options for such as she learned more about them.

“Oh, by the way, what are your names? It is only fair seeing how I told you mine.” she asked, letting go of her idle thoughts from the moments before and paying attention to the others again. It would take time to get used to once more not being all alone most of the time. As she spoke, Lea could see more of the prisoners waking up from whatever had been used to incapacitate them.

[Fallenreaper]

~|Day 3, 14:30 GST|~
~|Lyric, on board the Memory of the Coruscant|~

Introductions had been short and sweet over a day ago, the two masters currently awaiting for the new flood of arrivals into their ranks before officially getting to work. That meant hours on end of sparring, mediations and examining the skills sets of each other for the mission’s success. Afterwards, master Novan had read a report over the Twi’Lek’s exploits only to frown at the over cautious nature she displayed and found it to be a future conflict he was sure would surface should something go wrong. He aimed to deal with that when the time came however. Pointless when it might’ve not happen as he currently mediated with her in the chambers, his figure about to rise when he sensed another presence arrive. His eyes never opened from his crossed legged position upon the hard floor. Nor did he speak because Master Kinsakwi spoke the same question he wished to know.

His nostril inhaled the budding smoke from his ciggarra stemming from his mouth, his teeth gently chewed in his normal habit. His breath slow and calm, letting the soothing sensation wash over before exiting from his trance. Her greeting was friend but Novan’s expression remained neutral as if he knew was what about to come. In truth, he rarely expected good new though his reaction was never negative. He usually grinned when he was right afterall and ease the tension in any messager, their duty grim as it was from the start.

On hearing the terrible news, his words cut the air with a firm but gentle tone. “It’s possible as younglings would’ve been shipped off to Korriban immediately due to their accepting nature. Knight, how many causalities? Bodies recovered and has a Jedi with the ability in psychometry to examine the ruins and discover some of what happened there?”

He already knew the answer but felt the need to ask, despite the oddness of it. A bad feeling had washed over him after the temple was destroyed and it didn’t make his mediation a fitful one, after all he hide it well, so it was little surprise he was learning where it came from. His body stirred and rose upright, his mediation ceased when his eyes opened to absorb the Jedi Knight’s image. Eyes still cutting through him, Lyric paused long enough to return Kinsa’’s look and flipped back to the Knight for his answer.

[Heat]

~|Day 1, 12:42 GST|~
~|Xid & Jakali & Sish|~

What was happening?

Xid kept asking himself the same thing over and over. His boots slammed hard against the temple floor, echoing with each step, while his head flipped about wildly. His lungs was already burning from the distance as he felt on the verge of getting sick, his body slowing when he came to to open area. Damage was clear that the battle had arrived here. Scorch marks from blasters, lightsaber skidmarks, and crumbling architecture were scattered over the once pristine marble floor. A cold sweat drenched his skin and robes, the Darth’s presence still left him more than merely rattled. It left him with a sense of utter dread for his old master.

His mind came up with the battle scene occurring in his absence, struggling not to pull back and return, trusting his master would survive. On top of that, Navi and him had gotten separated which left him even more vulnerable to attack. He only hoped he didn’t encounter any troopers, or worse Sith, on his way to seek help. Someone had to be left alive after all and not dead.

Panting heavily, his eyes swirled around the abandoned area. He almost walked right by it, his eyes spotting the metallic surface and damaged leg of a droid fling into the corner. Xid gave a little smile as he approached it. His eyes studying the thing and raising his hand, gently touched it and letting his Mech deru flow through it. It was heavily damaged but salvageable.

“Alright. Just hang on Master Sela, don’t die, please don’t die on me.” Xid whispered in panic. Hastily he gripped the thick slab that had toppled over it and braced himself, inhaling once before gritting his teeth and shoving at it. It didn’t budge immediately. His eyes closed while he strained to remove it, the debris finally sliding to the side with a loud grunt. It crashed into the side causing him to pant heavily, every bone in his body ached, and his head twisted about to see if his actions had been noticed.

Nothing for now, his mind returned to his work quickly managing to get two droids up and running before the first Sith arrived.

Sish was covered in more blood, having found more Jedi and non Force users in the temple. However, it had been far too long since his last victim, and he was getting impatient. As Sish rounded the corner, following the sound of crashing and banging, two things happened immediately. He saw there was another Jedi, working on a droid, and two more droids fired upon him. Sish’s lightsaber came up and deflected the blaster shots. When he finally had a moment, Sish struck quickly, using the force to throw one droid at the Jedi. Before he could throw his lightsaber at the other one, snarling as it moved out of the way and got a couple shots off, hitting him in his chest and being absorbed by his battle armor.

“Surrender. Or don’t. Please don’t.”
It was natural to Xid while he working on the wires, his fingers familiar with the slick outside and flexible structure as he moved into the connecting slot. The droid’s arm moved slightly, signalling he was doing something right. It thrilled and tilted its head, looking at the boy before the sound of blasters made his head whip about. His eyes instantly caught the sight of the intimidating Trandoshan draped in a bloodied, tattered robe from the conflict within the temple. Expression widening in fear, Xid quickened his pace in trying to get the machine up and running. It wasn’t easy with all the damage compared to the others and he barely noticed the movement outside the corner of his before pain erupted over his side.

His body, thanks to the droid impacting his side, crumbled like wet paper. The droid flipped and landed on top where it pinned him down. Xid cursed his luck. His muscles flared in pain when it snapped into the floor and he could feel the metal slice into his flesh, warm blood spilling over his forearm. He cried out as he felt the wound ooze, struggling under the droid’s mass. His head jerked to the Sith’s words, his lips curved into a disbelievable look. Surrender? Really and what, get mauled? Xid wasn’t too enthusiastic about getting dismembered.

His head turned to the droids still left, the one he was working earlier being unable to raise but could still fire with one arm. They stirred and targeted Sish within their sights.

Xid smirked, lightly. “I suggest you run, Sith…”

Jakali had entered back into the Temple a short time after Sish did. He initially did not intend to follow the reptile, but he was partly interested in observing the brute’s methods, and if needed then interact with him. He had remained silent the entire time, carefully measuring every footstep as he followed from a sizeable distance behind, down each corridor, around each corner. He was certain his presence had yet to be detected.

A smile nearly came upon his face as he watched Sish dart around a corner, followed immediately by the sounds of metal clanks and blaster bolts. He wasn’t certain what was happening, but it may have been that Sish had encountered droids that were defending the Temple, it was the most likely instance he could think of after having pieced together the hints he was given. Then he heard a loud bang, like one of those droids had been dropped to the floor.

Jakali kept a distance, but now crept along the wall on the opposite side of the battle scene. He could hear well enough, Sish interacting with somebody, a Jedi it seemed. The scene perked his curiosity as it unfolded, so he waited like a predator that set a trap, ready to emerge from around the corner, storming an idea in his mind.

Sish smiled at the pinned Jedi. “Okay.” He cast Force Speed and bolted towards Xid, moving faster than the droids could fire if only just. The Trandoshan slammed into the droid over his opponent, neatly slicing it in half. Using the force he slammed the droid that had dodged into the one Xid had been working on. He snarled again as the Knight rolled away, getting ready with his lightsaber. “Lets see how well you fight without your droids.”
Xid’s expression twisted into horror when he spotted the sudden appearance of the Sith right above him. The pressure increased as he felt his rib cracking, the bone giving out and busted. The skin underneath turned purple and his voice screamed out against the blow though he couldn't breath. His body rolled to the side and narrowly avoided the clawed foot nailing him where he was. Reaching for his side, his lightsaber jerked into his palm and he clicked it on.

The blade buzzed to life while he eyed the Sith. His droids, the only defense, gone. Xid took the opening posture for his style and braced for fight until the bitter end.

Sish grinned at Xid as he braced. He gripped his own lightsaber in both claws then lunged forward, still sped up with Force speed, and slashed horizontally at the Knight’s chest.

Xid’s skills were lacking, his speed no match for the Sith’s attack. The blade tip grazed his chest causing the Jedi to holler in pain and recoil at smelling his own flesh burn. Cloth and flesh stung while his free hand jerked to his wound, thankful it wasn’t bleeding. Sweat poured down his skin when he realized how terribly outmatched but his eyes held firm. His hand tightened and jerked, causing the nearest droid to jerk and fire into Sish’s back. Taking the distraction he shot forward and slashed at the exposed side should the Trandoshan turned to defend himself.

Sish laughed as he heard Xid cry out in pain, getting ready to attack again. Then blaster fire hit him in the upper back, absorbed by his his armor again. Can’t take much more of this.. Whirling around, he threw his lightsaber through the droid. Immediately he tried to turn around, but Force speed had worn off and the Jedi slashed through the Trandoshan’s armor, drawing a roar of pain from Sish. He slashed at Xid’s face with his claws, leaping back and trying to draw his lightsaber back to his claw.

Xid jerked back far enough to limit the damage. It didn’t spare him much suffering when the tips clipped his nose bridge creating a vivid cut just under his eyes. His hand however jerked out and summoned the Sith’s lightsaber to his hand briefly, enough to pour a bit of his Mechu Deru through it. His eyes flickered in triumph for a moment when he disrupted the crystal base rendering the weapon useless. Sish’s hand gripped the hilt from Xid’s grasp, the Jedi still putting distance between him and the Sith.

His feet stumbled, tripping over his hasty, his balance tumbled backwards causing him to fall upon his ass end. His lightsaber switch off in his panic and prevented injuring himself, Xid started to crawl in reverse to put more distance between the two before Sish realized his weapon was useless.

Sish stalked towards Xid, trying to activate his lightsaber. He clicked it twice before realizing that it wasn’t working. “You clever little bastard.” The Sith said, jumping backwards. Sish held out a claw, and attempted to force choke the Knight.

Xid felt his throat tighten and his hand trying to pry the invisible force off his neck, his own force trying to push back with no luck at all. His air slowly slipped from his burning lungs. His head started to become heavy and light headed, his focus drifting away. Frantic, his eyes flickered about to seek a way to turn this situation around. He spotted help immediately in the form of a droid hand lingering near Sish’s leg. A piece discarded and forgotten among the battle. He poured what force he could and since it was nearby, it twitched then clamped down on the sith’s heel back. The fingers’ grip was light at first and almost laughable. However, the longer it held… the stronger the pressure got until it started to tear and dig into flesh, ruining the back tendon to cripple the Trandoshan.

Jakali appeared from around the corner, having watched the scene unfold until he felt it was the perfect time for him to intervene. With every noise he had heard he inched closer to the corner until he was out in the open, though he stopped quickly, after assessing the situation at hand after two seconds or so. With his organic arm raised he used the Force to fling Xid off of his feet as the droid hand was digging into the poor Trandoshan nearby. Though he did not release his grip on the boy, he instead focused more and slammed him hard into the wall, hopefully hard enough to jiggle the Jedi’s weapon away from him.

Then, with the Force behind him, he surged towards the moved Jedi, though he careful not to try using his own weapon, after having observed how the boy manipulated Sish’ lightsaber. So he instead moved a foot into him, planting him to the ground. His eyes beaming onto the fallen boy like a star’s rays. He briefly considered checking up on Sish, but the creature was tough, if he was hurt that badly by a little droid hand then did he really deserve to be helped?

Sish was distracted from the force choke, Xid being automatically released, as he looked down at the hand squeezing his heel. The Trandoshan could feel the grip tightening, and leaned down to quickly rip the hand off and throw it off to the side. By that time, Jakali had arrived and had incapacitated the jedi.

Xid was disappointed when his counter had failed. When the forced released, he had spent a moment coughing before raising to his feet and tried to thrust his lightsaber through the Sith’s heart. Only instead of hitting his target, he was abruptly flipped backwards and knocked against the wall. His head hit the solid surface roughly sending agony within his skull followed by a daze sensation filling his vision.

His hand released his lightsaber on the impact and it skirted a short distance from where he crumbled. Trying to get back up quickly, he was promptly pinned to the ground where someone dug a foot into his back. Xid grunted and winched at the pain flooding him. The rib protested at the movement while he tried to push up but physically it was impossible.

Seeing no other option, his hand jerked out and tried to summon his lightsaber to his hand.

Jakali glanced down at the boy, he was impressed that he had given Sish such a strong fight, the reptile was no weakling. He watched the movements of the pinned Jedi, noticing a hand jutting out towards the Jedi’s lightsaber, but before anything could be done, Jakali shifted his footing and planted his other foot onto the hand. One on the back, the other on the hand, it worked well enough, he figured. With his organic hand he motioned for the Jedi’s lightsaber, pulling it towards him and out of where it could become a danger if Jakali slipped up and let the boy gain ground.

“If you aren’t going to let me go, then finish me off.” Xid spat with venom in his voice, his eyes hardened at the Sith around him. His sight counting the droid parts scattered and reached out to sense their condition. Slowly he tried to put together the damaged droid hand from Sish and connect it to a nearby arm, a leg reached for a foot, and all the time his body struggled under the sith to keep attention focused on him.

“Why the hell did you attack the te-” Xid’s words stopped within the middle of his sentence when a dread washed over him. In that moment, sorrow, pain and loss filled his core. That could only mean one thing… Sela had been killed. His free hand slammed into the floor, his words soft but audible to both. “No… she can’t be dead.”

“She? Which one of the dozens of Jedi that we slaughtered? You tend to lose count once you hit triple digits.” Jakali asked the pinned Knight, mostly using it as a taunt though he wasn’t certain who exactly the boy was speaking of, maybe a master or a friend, it didn’t matter.

Xid’s eyes tried to snap behind him, trying to spot the owner’s face but couldn’t manage to face him. “It wouldn’t matter to someone like you who dies or lives. Sith only look out for themselves and never once benefited anyone outside themselves. So just kill me and get it over with. I shouldn’t be any different than the others you so willingly cut down.”

“Oh, if you only knew, young Jedi.” Jakali said, then hit the boy on the head just hard enough to knock him out, not any more to cause damage. With that Sish and he headed back to deliver the new prisoner.

[Sundered Echo]

~|Day 1, 17:30 GST|~
~|Darth Nyiss, Aboard the Kaggath|~

Darth Nyiss stepped elegantly off the boarding ramp of the small, heavily laden shuttle onto the deck of the modest landing bay in the Kaggath. A small formation of armored Imperial troops awaited her, not so much for the formality as to be ready for the unloading of the Jedi.

“Take them to the cells.” Nyiss ordered simply.

There were many Jedi to move, and though they were all still heavily sedated, there was always risk involved dealing with Force users. Best to get them somewhere reasonably secure right away. Of course she’d not sully her hands with that menial work. She had better things to do, and began to stroll towards the bay exit while the men scurried into the transports to collect the Jedi. She almost pitied the Jedi. They would be quartered in specially designed cells, which were a decidedly unpleasant place to live. But then, they would, in a way, be safer than the Sith quarters, for all the Sith were to some extent sharing rooms, and she had made it common knowledge that she was relaxing a certain imperial law for the duration of this trip. That law being the one concerning the murder of fellow Sith. She would not be enforcing the punishments usually enacted on a murderer, for the Sith here were of sufficient calibre to defend themselves against attack. And if they failed, then as far as she was concerned, they deserved their fate.

She was beyond that pettiness however. She would be staying in her much enlarged quarters, a deck below everyone else. No other Sith would be staying there well, not right away she thought, one corner of her mouth curling into a smile at the thought that one of the other Sith here might prove able to keep up with her… Appetites. Though there would likely be other frequent visitors. The Alchemy labs and artifact storage were part of her quarters, and anyone desiring to use them for themselves would have to come and ask her in person.

For her personal experiments, she had already selected several of the Jedi. A fairly interesting sample to be sure, perhaps not the most ideal, but then Jedi didn’t exactly grow on trees. She would work with what she had, and she had enough for now. With Tolun’s help, she was sure the experiments would come to fruition. She would also be interested to observe if their experiences at the hands of the other Sith would have any effect on it all. She had given a general order to the lesser Sith to try to keep the poor prisoners alive, after all, this was not a pleasure cruise, and if she’d wanted dead Jedi, she’d’ve just left them in the temple to be buried by the pyrotechnics.

Another of the things she had made sure was known among the Sith, was that whoever gained her attention would receive one of three Holocrons in her possession, to learn as much as they could from it before someone else managed to get on the good side of her whim. Completing the actual objective of this journey, turning the Jedi to the dark side of the Force, would of course be looked on favorably by her (she was quite interested in the methods to reliably convert Jedi). But that was by far not the only means to impress her. Feats demonstrating knowledge or masterfully executed plots against fellow Sith were also something she considered with some anticipation. Then of course there was the personal route. Some Darth’s liked to appear professional, or maintain airs of extreme superiority to pander to their egos, but Nyiss didn’t care for such things. That kind of arrogance led to a rather lonely existence, and Nyiss favored interesting company over fanciful displays of ego. She didn’t hold out much hope that any of the Sith would be able to keep up with her intellectually, but she was always open to surprise, and there were always the more base passions.

Her train of thought trailed off as she realised she had reached the turbolift to her quarters already. She stepped in and pressed the key to take her to her quarters. Her venture had begun successfully, only now did the truly interesting part begin.

[Vesuvius00]

~| Day 1, 17:50 GST |~
~| Aboard the Kaggath, Main Prison Complex |~

Shiri woke up slowly, an echo of pain in her head and body making her want to stay in the oblivion of sleep. Unfortunately as she started to make out the words and voices around her she forced her eyes to open. She sat up and looked around slowly, taking in the scene around her and wondering what she should do. They were in a prison cell, according to one of the others who was speaking, and hadn't been there long either. Nazca was awake, and had been talking as well. Shiri also recognized Xid among those who had yet to wake up, although he seemed a bit more injured than most of the rest.

"Well, this is great." Shiri said, standing up. "Nice to know what's going on, even if it's bad news, right? I'm Shiri by the way, If you don't already know me." She walked over to the doorway, looking out at the complex. She wasn't trying to think of ways to escape yet, she just wanted to know more about where she was right now. It looked like there was another room across the way with more unconscious people there, though Shiri couldn't tell if anyone was close to waking yet. "Does anyone know how long it's been since the attack started?"

[Fallenreaper]

~|Day 1, 17:50 GST|~
~| Aboard the Kaggath, Main Prison Complex |~

His body was numb when he woke, his body flared in resistance at his attempt to stir it and his voice seemed lost to the cracked dryness. Already many of the other Jedi, knights to padawans, were either awake or stirring from the drugged induced slumber. A headache was already budding in his skull back. Though he wasn’t sure if it was because of the hard pounding by the Sith he took or the drug laced through his immune system, a dull and hopefully harmless side effect compared to other possibilities that could’ve happened.

Gingerly his body started to sit up, his fingers reached behind his head and touched the small lump on the back side. It hurt causing him to hiss in pain. He recoiled his fingers immediately, the hurt ceased, when his eyes started to focus once more. He looked about to see numerous some familiar faces and some strangers all around him. Slowly he started to pull his feet underneath him, rising upward to stand in a wobbly fashion. Twice he nearly fell as he jerked his hand out, trying not to winch at the pain in his side. It hurt so bad. He knew something was cracked, possibly broken, when he inhaled deeply then releasing it.

Feeling his legs grow steady, he spotted the first familiar face nearby: Shiri.

It seemed they were trapped within some sort of prison with little way out. At seeing the Twi’lek edging near the door and stare at it, he came to a stop right next to her. He leaned into her ear and gently whispered, forgetting to warn her about his presence. “I might be able to figure out how to open them, but I don’t think it’s wise to do it when there’s cameras watching.”

When she turned to look at him, he gestured with his head at the hidden and protected camera all around their cells.

[Rtron]

17:42 GST

Aboard Kaggath,

Zanna gave a small sigh of relief as she entered the Kaggath, glad to be away from the fighting of the temple. Now she was in her element, and she relaxed a bit. For a very short time. Her stress levels skyrocketed as she learned that not only were the punishments regarding murdering other Sith essentially nonexistent, but she was also forced to share a communal room with all the other Sith that weren’t attached to masters. She didn’t let the other Sith see that of course. Before her careful facade of nonchalance could fall apart, she quickly left the room. This isn’t good. Not only will other sith be more tempted to not bother with subtlety and just try to stab me, the ones in my ‘communal’ room would probably just stand there and watch.

While she was fretting, she wasn’t paying attention to where her feet took her. When Zanna looked up again, she was in the hallway where the Sith Lords and their apprentices would sleep. Each with their own room. She thought, somewhat bitterly. Looking up at the sound of someone’s limping steps, her eyes widened slightly at the state Jayda was in. For a moment, she didn’t say anything.

“Did he give you those too?” She had seen Sish’s ‘lesson’ to the Zabrak.

“It doesn’t concern you.” Jayda growled, her face scrunched up in pain at what mere words had caused.

She already knew the full extent of her injuries. It didn’t help her struggle to control her anger had made her much more sloppy and that was enough reason to get to her room soon, her figure too close to the verge of collapsing as it was. Weakness wasn’t something best shown on the outside though when she was alone, it was never a worry. Now, it was another matter. Her hand raised to steady herself against the wall while her clothes looked beyond merely sliced and gaping holes revealed both new and old wounds littering her body underneath. The fresher ones were mostly lightsabers but it seemed a few blaster shots had by passed her guard, something rare, and cut across her side, shoulder and lower left leg. It was part of the reason she was struggling to walk right.

Pausing, she continued to glare at the red skinned woman. “What do you want?”

Zanna didn’t immediately respond, looking over Jayda’s injuries with a critical eye. After a few moments, she reached into her robe and pulled out a small jar, filled with a blue cream. “You can save your pride for later. Anyone can see that you won’t make it to your room. I’m going to get close, to help you get to your room. When we get there, I’ll help you put this salve on. It will help you heal faster, and hide those injuries from Sish.” She put the jar back into her robes, raising a hand to forestall Jayda’s denial or questions. “I’m not doing this out of the kindness of my heart. We can help each other. I saw how Sish threw you around without putting the slightest effort into it. I can help you with that weakness. Using the force is my specialty. In return, I want you to teach me how to duel better with a lightsaber. It’s my weakness.”

She approached the Zabrak, moving quickly as she saw Jayda slowly crumbling. Propping her up, Zanna looked about, keeping the distaste of having an impure’s blood on her locked far away. It wouldn’t do to let Jayda sense that. “Where’s your room?” She asked, while noting all she could pressed against Jayda. Two hearts? Interesting. One’s about to burst, from the feel of it.

Jayda had prayed she would've been able remain upright, but her body had other plans. Instead her leg gave out as her eyes widen in surprise, her claws scraped the metal on her way downward. For a moment she was certain she was going to land on all fours and nearly colliding face first with the flooring. Instead a body, the Sith, slid under her arm and stopped it.

The Zabrak flinched when she came into contact with the woman, her teeth bared as she looked feral enough to lash out. However she knew she couldn't or she would've crumbled.

At hearing the exchange offer, Jayda glared at the sith, studying her for something deeper. "Such a small price for a large favor. How do you if I'll even make it through the day? Or it would even be worth it?"

She didn't mention her suspicions that the sith could possibly not allow her to make it past the day. The laws of killing each other was clearly obsolete among the ship's residents and Jayda aimed not to be among the victims, her eyes never leaving her unwanted aid.

The Red Sith was ready to drop Jayda in a heartbeat if it looked like the crazy bitch would attack her. However, all she did was ask questions. Zanna chuckled at Jayda’s suspicions, easily guessing what the reasons for her unwavering eyes and questions were. The same reasons she was extremely stressed and wary herself. “Relax Zabrak. If I had wanted to kill you, I would have already done so. We both know that you couldn’t fight off a child right now. You’ll make it through the day. Simply because if you die, he goes on living and finds a new apprentice, and you never get to kill him. I don’t know why you hate him, and frankly, I don’t care. But you won’t let yourself die until he does, anyone can see that much.”

“And you’re right. This might be a complete waste of my time. But I trust you more than I trust any of the other sith, only because I know you need me to teach you better Force skills. You need me, for now at least, and thus you won’t be trying to kill me during our training sessions. And you can rest relatively assured that I won’t try to kill you because I need you to help me fix my weakness. Besides, you’re learning from the lizard. As much as you hate him, you have to admit he’s effective at killing. And I do have one more request that I’m fairly sure you’re going to reject immediately, but we’ll get to that when we get you to your room. Where is it, by the way?”

Jayda had considered pushing the red skinned kasluat* off but thought better of it. At least until they made it to the room. She pushed a little more weight upon the sith, the only blood on her was from the earlier Jedi as Sih hadn't beaten her enough to draw it, not concerned with messing the woman's appearance.

Her arm reached out to point to her room. "There. Just help me to the room and I'll mend on my own, I don't need your help."

Her feet stumbled slightly, mind dimming slightly from her exhaustion, her body sparked with fresh pain causing her to pause unexpectedly.

“Yes, you don’t need help. And I’m dark blue, not bright red.” Zanna replied, biting back her irritation at the damn impure Sith’s stubbornness and helping Jayda to her room. As they reached the door, the red Sith tried to open it. Rather than let her open the door, the Zabrak tried to shove her off. Zanna gave up trying to be nice. She launched her own mind against Jayda, slamming into the Zabrak’s mental defenses and stalling her mid shove attempt.

Jayda froze. Her body tensed and twitched, feeling like ws crawling on her brain. Her nerves recoiled in instinct as she tried to force herself away from the Sith, her muscles refusing to listen to her. Her eyes lit up with realization at what the Sith had down, mentally chiding herself for her weakness, as she tried to hobble a makeshift defense.

For a while (at least that was how it felt during the mental battle), Zanna pushed against Jayda’s mind, finding no purchase to make Mind tricks work. After a few minutes, the Red Sith found a chink in the inexperienced sith’s defense and slipped through, freezing Jayda in place. She leaned over to hiss into her ear, wary any other Sith finding them in this delicate situation. “If you promise to stop being so damn stubborn. accept my help and the original deal and at least consider my next request, I’ll let you go and we may be able to get you into your room before you collapse, we attract unwanted attention, or both.” She released Jayda enough to talk.

Jayda felt her anger boiling underneath, her skin tingling with it, yet she pushed it down. Stifled it for now and tried to push, feebly back, only to realize she wouldn’t be freed. Many things could’ve happened, from her being forced to slice her own throat to being puppeted back to her room where death was much easier, but all the scenarios in her mind ended in death. There wasn’t a single one that didn’t. She mentally jerked at hearing the Sith’s breath passing into her ear sending fear down her spine for the moment.

Her hearts increased rapidly in pace with each word the Sith uttered. When she felt the invisible fingers release, her tone became low and dangerous, though there lacking threat power behind it. “Do I really have a choice?”

“No, not really. I don’t want to be here forever because of your damn pride, so I’ll just leave you to crawl until someone who actually wants to kill you. If you accept we’ll go into your room, I’ll put you down, and then we’ll work on getting you in better shape.” Zanna replied, still hissing quietly in Jayda’s ear.

“Fine…” Jayda submitted, her head leaned back into her chest as she ceased fighting. However she was already still struggling to retain use of her hand, ready to send it into the sith’s lower neck should the chance present itself and get even for the humiliation at being forced into this position though she only had herself and Sish to blame. “Get me into the room before someone decides to finish what the Jedi started.”

“I’m in your head, remember? I’m not going to let you slam your hand into my neck. Besides, you’ll get your revenge when we train. I am terrible at lightsaber combat.” The Red sith reminded Jayda. Zanna opened the door, guiding the Zabrak to her bed before letting her go, both mentally and physically. She cautiously reached into her robes again, ready to dodge if the Zabrak tried anything, and pulled out the Jar from before. “Can you even move enough to apply this yourself?”

Jayda reached for the bed with her arm, settling herself into a slouching sitting posture, then began answering the Sith. “I’ll figure a way to. I can’t mend all of them else Sish will become suspicious and you’ve already witness how that turns out. The stuff has to be applied to the new lightsaber and any blaster wounds before I went back into the temple. The only problem would be reaching the ones on my back. I encountered a Ataru Jedi, so he manage a score on my back and aimed to crippled. Sadly, for him, it didn’t end that way.”

She placed out her hand for the jar, gesturing for Zanna to pass it and continued to talk. “Speak about the other part of this deal and quickly.”

Zanna shrugged, handing the jar over to Jayda. It was her master, she knew him best. “I want to share this room with you. Before you start yelling ‘No!’ let me finish. I don’t have any alchemy supplies, they’re all in Nyiss’s quarters. I obviously don’t want to kill or manipulate or enslave you, as I could have easily done all of that when I had you in the palm of my hand. You can have my lightsaber every time we end up sleeping at the same time in here, locking it away from me however you see fit.”

“I’ll even sleep with some sort of noise making device around my ankle so you know whenever I’m moving if you’re that paranoid. Besides, this gives us a quiet place to practice your Force powers at any time, rather than one of us hunting the other down. You’re doubtlessly going to get injured more by Sish, and I can make more of that salve and stronger variants of it, ensuring you’re never this weak again while on this ship. Something you can surely see the benefit of. Any other rules you’d like to add for me to stay here?”

Jayda took the jar, setting it down, then started to peel away what remained of her robe. She removed the top layer off easily as there was little left, mostly shredded beyond salvation which made her sigh. There would be need a very clever excuse to why she was no longer wearing it. She no longer lingered on the matter when she heard the sith’s next part of the bargain, her expression immediately scowled at the suggestion despite the offers of crippling herself to make the offer better.

Clicking open the jar after she removed her last layer, her scars were easily seen on display. Some new, most old, mingling over the very surface of her body until they seemed to make a primal designs of sorts. “And how do you intend to keep Sish from learning of your stay here? As much as he wants me to interact and experience other apprentices, I get the lingering sense he doesn’t want me to do anything stupid to keep myself from getting killed. A fact by letting you stay would definitely be. Not to mention I rather not have my room filled with poison which you might have an immunity for as I can see many ways you can do that without needing your lab.”

Zanna’s eyes widened in surprise as she saw the scars. By the Force… She was taken from her surprise as Jayda replied. The sith composed herself, rolling her eyes at the last statement, before answering each statement. “Don’t try to keep it from him. Just tell him the truth. I can teach you how to better use the Force than he can, you can teach me how to fight better, and this was one of my requirements. You added several rules to assure that I wouldn’t murder you.” Zanna shrugged. “Failing in that, I assume you can lie well enough to convince him. Say something along the lines of ‘I saved her life, so now she’s sleeping in my room to protect me’. Like what the wookies have.”

Jayda became rather aware at Zanna’s reaction, though she expected it, and fought the desire to cover up. It was a full history of Sish’s lessons and misery, depicting her as a survivor during his hardest attempts to break her. It didn’t kill her but it didn’t make her much stronger than she was already, a bitter acknowledgement in her mind. She naturally countered the all too shoddy explanation and reason. “And how does this wonderful deal come about in being brought up without clear flaws on my part, namely without showing I didn’t learn from his lesson.” She spat the last word out in disgust, then continued.

“As for the life debt, that doesn’t matter much unless it’s cultural or race base, something Zabrak don’t have. In his eyes, it could easily be seen as ‘honorable’ which is a Jedi thing. Something that will likely get me killed rather than concrete your little plot.”

Zanna bit back a growl of frustration. “I don’t even know what his ‘lesson’ was so I can’t come up with something that he’ll believe. If you’re worried about flaws, simply make it so that I approached you while you were walking towards your room, and you knew you could kill me at any time as you’re the better lightsaber duelist and have solid mental defenses, but you could use work on the finer points of the Force while I could use help with lightsaber combat. If you’re worried about the life debt looking ‘honorable’ say it never hurts to have another loyal servant, especially now that the laws are lax. That’s a suitably Sith thing to say. As for your constant paranoia that I’m going to kill you, I want you to listen very carefully to what I’m going to say.”

Jayda looked spectacle about any of the apprentice’s suggestions working as she mulled over the information, trying to make it. Sish might’ve lacked finesse in politics, but survival and less complicated things would’ve not escaped his notice. Else she would’ve escaped his lessons far easier. His last lesson was about sloppiness. A fact she didn’t learn was something Sish would be furious at, his next lesson far worse and likely leaving her bleeding this time. Inhaling, Jayda didn’t speak. Instead she continued to selectively smear the blue goo over the freshest wounds, careful to avoid ones there before she reentered into the temple. It helped he rarely forgot things and her attention detail was almost flawless.

“I don’t want to kill you. If I wanted you dead, you would have slit your own throat a few minutes ago, and I would be in another part of the ship by now. I don’t want to manipulate, genetically experiment, torture, interrogate, rape, or whatever else you imagine I might be trying. I applaud your paranoia, it’ll help you survive this ship, but you have to admit what I’m saying is true. If I wanted anything other than this deal from you, I would have taken it while I was in your mind.”

Jayda’s actions paused within mending herself, her head snapped to the list, not liking the mention of all the terrible options she could do. When the red skinned woman finally finished, she spoke. “His lesson was about being sloppy, a matter I didn’t learn which will make his next one more an example of what he means and will draw blood. As for why you want to bunk here, I take there’s a deeper reason to it which likely means life or death. Else you would’ve been hiding away in the labs, working until you fell asleep as the excuse, rather than ask me of all the apprentices to bunk with. I’ll figure the flaws into the lies but there’s one thing about Sish, he is easy to lie to but doesn’t mean he’ll believe it. I learned that the hard way.”

She paused for a moment, debating about how to mend her back or if she should risk just hiding it, then passed the jar over to Zanna. The lid closed. “The mental training he would believe though he might end up wanting to observe it, something I can’t figure a way to discourage him from without looking guilty of something. As for the deal, I’ll set the rule and results including how often you can have access to this room and when. It won’t be a permanent situation which means you won’t be sleeping here all the time, just a day on and few days off. If you can’t survive that, then nothing I can teach you would matter.”

She shifted in her seat and moved back, scooping back against the wall where her wounds touched the cold metal. The natural reaction to the tender injures flickered across her face and melted quickly, her face normal once more. “You’ll stay here once a week while we’re on the ship and always in my presence. You will not have any lab equipment or lightsaber, I’ll end up confiscating it before hand. As for sound device, I don’t think that will needed. If you can sneak up on me, I’m getting lazy with my skills. Any attempt to dominate my mind, outside lessons, then I’ll send a lightsaber through your skull and end you. Is this clear so far? As for the lightsaber combat, you won’t question my methods or the fact it will be Soresu, a purely defensive form.”

Already Jayda was readying bracing for the Sith to become rather pissed and end her life in a fit. Her hand, the one out of the way, closed about her lightsaber with the intent to counteract should things go wrong.

Zanna listened impassively to all the rules Jayda established. She hid her fury at how this filthy little impure talked to her down deep, where it wouldn’t be released until the time was right. I may have misjudged you….never again. She noticed the pain, though only for a split second as it was gone almost as soon as the Zabrak let it show. The Red Sith sighed as she saw Jayda’s hand on the lightsaber, running a hand through her short hair. “Dark side preserve me you are the second most paranoid person on this ship. I’m more interested in surviving than killing, so if you say Soresu that is fine with me, though I will be practicing my preferred Ataru form. And with the Sith, it always means life and death. Now turn around so I can get your back. You can’t train me if just leaning against a wall makes you flinch.”

Jayda was surprised how well her negotiations went though she had a feeling if she slipped up, Zanna wouldn’t have much trouble making her her jedonslu** in the worse way. Some sith death was too short a punishment for being weak and it wasn’t something she was willing to experience herself. Eyeing her for a moment longer, the Zabrak leaned up and flipped herself about though her hand still itched to hold tightly to her weapon when she released it. It was a risk. She leaned her body from the ship’s wall and twisted about, exposing her spine. Her hands gripped the covers while she waited for the touch and possibly vibro blade to be slipped into her ribs.

Zanna took the salve, spreading it liberally across her hands. When she finally reached out, noting the terrible damage the lizard had done to his apprentice, and the shame in her posture. The Red Sith’s fury was diminished slightly in sympathy for the Zabrak. She stopped immediately when, as her hands touched the Zabraks’ back, Jayda tensed and stiffened. “Relax I’m not going to try to…” Zanna trailed off, realizing another reason for the sudden reaction. Her next words were quieter. “You haven’t had any friendly physical touch in a long while, have you?”

She began to gently spread the salve across the worst of the wounds on Jayda’s back.

“No… He was the last to touch my skin. After that, I won’t risk any more pain again from anyone. So, yes, I’ve not had ‘friendly’ physical contact for over two years.” The Zabrak said, feeling the cold tingle from her wounds spread from contact. She couldn’t help the reaction as it was a normal as night and day to her now. Sish’s treatment had made it difficult to allow any sense of contact against her bare skin, her body temperature rose and mind was rapidly becoming aware how much Sish had injured her. These wounds, however, went beyond the surface and sank into her core.

Zanna was quiet for a while, continuing to gently spread the salve. Hatred. That’s all that keeps her going. Impressive. “Then why let me? I mean, lets face it, I had to fight you tooth and nail just to get you to let me help you to your bed and listen to my proposition. So why let me? We’re soon to be reluctant roommates and training partners, not friends, and despite my constant and logical evidence to the contrary, you seem fairly certain I’m going to try to kill you at some point. So...why?”

“Why didn’t you just kill me? It would’ve been so easy as I couldn’t fight back and one less threat in the future, a fact you can’t deny. You could’ve easily went to any of the others who have their own bunks and make another offer, yet it was me you came to. “ Her head twisted about to look at the sith, her eyes fired up with a mix of hatred and determination. “I’m not afraid of dying. It’s letting him live is what I will not allow and I will feel the breath exit his corpse when it does end. However to do that, I need to live pass anyone that get in my way. That means training in areas I lack and you can provide. If you think it’s anything else, you’re dangerously mistaken.”

Zanna met Jayda’s eyes, willing herself not to look away or show the fear that went down her spine. Oh yes. I won’t underestimate you again. She finished spreading the salve over Jayda’s wounds then stepped away, screwing the lid back on. She tossed the jar onto Jayda’s bed before turning to leave. “Keep the jar. You’re going to need it in the future, I suspect, and I can always make more.” Zanna paused in the doorway, looking back at the Zabrak. “I respect your drive. But don’t make the mistake of assuming my own desire to fulfill my goals is any less. I’ll see you when it’s time to train.” With that, she left.

Jayda waited until the sith was completely gone. Her eyes watched and finally turned away, rested on the jar nearby. Her hand reached to clasp the jar and examine it, her words speaking to no one. “We’ll see which of us kills the other first in the end than.”

[Howler]

~| 21 minutes after prisoner arrival on the Kaggath |~
~| Aboard the Kaggath, Main Prison Complex |~

Breathing hurt.

He became aware, first and foremost, that he was breathing, followed immediately by the jagged drag with each one of them. Something punctured, he was sure--echani knew their bodies, knew how to listen and what to say, and Arix could tell immediately that something wasn't right in his chest. Would he, he wondered, have woken up without it to draw him back? Without that sharp catch-drag-pierce of pain every autonomic breath? Considering how much he hurt everywhere else, he wouldn't have doubted it.

But it was more than the hurt. It was that awful knowledge that he had failed, first and foremost, that set his teeth on edge. He'd fought, he'd killed, and ultimately he'd lost. Much as he wanted to believe it had only been from weakness, from exhaustion, it didn't change the fact that his cheek was against cold durasteel, his saber was missing--he'd lost it, what kind of Jedi lost his saber--and he'd failed. What could he have done? Who knew. Who cared. Obviously something else, the right thing, because this couldn't have been how it was supposed to end up. He could hear talking in the background, the gentle murmuring of scared voices, but he wasn't scared. Not really.

He was furious.

In his mind, she fell again. The whirling saber, the Sith rolling past her, the three of them it had taken to cut her down. The zabrak he'd dueled, who had punted him across the damn hallway and left him unconscious. His fists balled at his sides, his teeth clenched, and with a low, dull snarl he slammed his hands against the steel below in a vicious jerk that left them throbbing and left his chest feeling like it had been stabbed. He needed the vent, needed the moment and the flicker of pain to clear his head, and against that backdrop he was able to let it go and focus like she would have wanted to. Focus enough to ignore that jag of pain that she would never tell him that again as he sat up, face flickering impassively against the pain, and took in a ragged breath.

Good. Enough about step one. Now, two through ten.

Opening his eyes, he saw exactly what he expected to see--a smattering of scared padawan, rag-tag and roughed up. What did they see when they looked to him, he wondered? If he was concerned for his outburst, he didn't let it show--Focus, as his master would have said. Master yourself, master your surroundings, master your world.

"How many of us are there?" He managed to croak, coughing and wishing he hadn't before repeating it a bit more clearly. Whatever the iridonian had put into her kick had lingered--he could practically feel the treads on his ribcage. "How many of us made it? Is everyone alright?"

Stupid question, but if he was lucky they'd know what he meant. He wondered if they recognized him, that jerk from the saber training hall. Some of them looked familiar but he couldn't place them off the top of his head. Not while it was spinning like this.

Welcome, a snide little part of him smiled, to the rest of your life.

[Vesuvius00]

~| Day 1, 17:52 GST |~
~| Aboard the Kaggath, Main Prison Complex: Shiri, Jakali & Xid |~

Shiri jumped at the sudden whisper, and turned quickly to see Xid had also woken up. He nodded his head toward something, and Shiri just barely glanced in the direction he indicated and whispered back to him. "I wouldn't worry about that right now. We need to know what we can't do before we figure out what we can do." She smiled slightly at him and spoke a little louder. "I'm glad you're awake, but you should probably lie back down. You're a lot more injured than the rest of us."

Xid blinked and looked at her, his eyebrow raised as he frowned at the door. He knew he could easily open it without much trouble but doing it around the cameras was a bad idea. Sighing, his hand rubbed his head back and replied in a casual volume. “I’ll be fine. I was only sliced up, pinned and had my pride broken a bit. the droids were the ones I felt rather bad about actually, their deaths weren’t very merciful at all or quick.”

He flinched a bit when the fingers touched his bump on his head, his voice hissing in pain. “It’s nothing that is important really. Though I’m curious as why they didn’t kill us. It can’t be good at all, don’t you agree?”

“No, not good. Nothing to do with Sith ever is.” Shiri noticed the hiss and looked at Xid, worried. “You seem to have had a better fight than I did. I’m still not quite sure exactly what happened.”

Jakali moved towards the prison complex, following in close proximity, four armed soldiers, each clad in armor which kept their anonymity total. The Sith didn’t care the tiniest bit who the men were, just as long as they were able to do their jobs, which what he was asking of them was a very, very simple one that even children could do. He entered the turbolift, the soldiers entering it in silence. As the lift moved towards its destination, the bunks in the prison, Jakali rose the hood over his head, well enough to keep his identity hidden, he didn’t need anyone disrupting his plans.

Then, he entered the bunks, the soldiers spreading out behind him, he rose his normal hand, keep his other under cloak, and motioned at two of the Jedi inside, a young Twi’lek, Shiri, and Xid, a human. Right after he made the motion the soldiers moved towards the Jedi, two on each one, before he entered the complex he had precisely instructed them to be careful with handling the prisoners he was going after. If any of them didn’t follow that instruction then he would have been forced to punish the soldiers, severely, but they followed well enough, simply approaching the Jedi with their weapons in plain view as Jakali stood with his arms crossed, waiting in silence.

Then once both of the prisoners were under control he exited the room, his lackeys following him out as the door sealed shut once more. He brought them to another room, one much more private than the bunks, away from curious eyes. He already had the room set up, a square table in the middle, two chairs on one side, one on the other, two plates of well cooked food on each of the plates. An odd sight on a Sith ship. Other than that accommodation the room was barren.

“Please, have a seat.” He said as the prisoners were brought into the room, then with a hand wave he dismissed the soldiers, the four men exiting the room as the door automatically shut behind, leaving the two Jedi and the Sith inside.

Shiri stepped back a few feet when she first noticed the Sith and guards. When they started coming towards her and Xid, she wanted to run back to the room she had woken up in. The others there would probably be able to help them to overpower these few. Unfortunately, as she finished coming up with the idea they were already surrounded by the guards. She followed them, giving up momentarily on the thought of running as they were led through the hallways.

When they got to the room, she hesitated for just a moment, considering running. a guard pushed her into the room and she recovered just as the door closed. There were two meals set on a table in the center of the room, and the Sith told them to sit. Shiri took a few steps until she was standing behind one of the chairs, and then waited to see what Xid would do.

Xid went wide eye when spotted the Sith entering the prisoner area, his force presence seeped into his core as the young man turned about immediately. He hadn’t even answered Shiri when his expression became grim, managing to utter a single sentence. “We’ve got company…”

His blue eyes watched the four troopers spread out and single the two out, his jawline tightened while he tried to figure his way out of this situation. It seemed there wasn’t one unless he aimed on getting blasted from one of the blasters the troopers held tightly to their bodies, all four pointed at Shiri, their fellow Jedi, and him. Inhaling slowly, he complied to the gestures made by the men. They moved out of the arena and into the hallways, traveling the length of the ship to only the force knew where. With each step he was nervous and that anxiety grew, his head flickered side to side trying to memorize his surroundings though he knew it would fade during the event that was to come.

When they came to a stop, he never expected to find the table, chairs and two hot meals waiting for them within that single room. Xid just stood even after the man spoke, requesting them to take a seat, his figure was on guard for something to happen. “I think I prefer to remain standing.”

“Suit yourself,” Jakali said as he moved towards the table, then pulled out the solo chair on the opposite end where Shiri was standing, he took a seat, then lowered his hood, revealing his face to the Jedi. Recognition was not an issue, when he ‘helped’ Sish capture Xid he had his hood up and the boy never got a look at his face anyway. “This food really is quite scrumptious though, better than the slaw they serve you in the bunks. Had a chef cook these meals just right, if you aren’t having any then I’ll take it, though I’m sure you’re hungry.” He added.

“Please, have a seat my dear.” He said, locking eyes with Shiri, a friendly expression on his face, both of his hands folded together on his lap below the table.

Shiri met the Sith’s gaze, but stayed standing. Honestly, she was pretty confused. She would’ve liked to ask Xid for help, but in front of a Sith that would be even more than embarrassing. Finally she decided to sit, but not before muttering a few curse words under her breath. She didn’t want to give this Sith any real reason to attack either her or Xid, so she’d comply for now.

Xid watched her sit, though he tried not to let the disappointment seep into his gaze, and remained standing. His eyes looked at the man some, squinting though he couldn’t understand why something felt familiar with the sith before him. He folded his hands into his sleeves while he began to ask a question he wondered if he would regret later. “I get the feeling you've separated us from the others just for a meal. It’s not Sith to be generous without a motive behind it.”

“Is that so? Can I not enjoy a fine meal with people I have yet to meet. One must enjoy the simpler things in life, food, wine, friends, love.” He said, not turning his head, instead raising his organic arm, twisting the fingers slightly as he used the Force to lift a single piece of fruit off one of the plates. He then grasped it out of the air and ate it in one bite, a ‘mmm’ noise coming from him as he chewed it down, signaling his enjoyment of it, whether that enjoyment was genuine or not was not known.

“It’s a pessimistic view to assume every action has a sinister motive behind it.” He said as he used the Force once more to raise a jug from the floor next to the table, a finer type of wine. He uncorked it and poured into an empty glass in front of him, then glanced towards Shiri, locking eyes with her once more.

“Would you like some?” He asked, picking up and taking a sip from his own glass.

“You’re kidding right?” Shiri said, glancing at Xid. Great, I did something wrong, and now I can’t undo it… “Pessimistic. So you consider yourself an optimist?” Shiri didn’t know why she bothered asking the question, she didn’t know why she had even hesitated to run before. Perhaps she could make useless conversation with this sith until they were allowed to go.

“Sith aren’t exactly known for their generous nature. In fact, quite the opposite. Torture, greed, and worse. I believe if you were angered, you would be little different than any of the Sith who raided the Temple.” Xid said, his tone cold and firm in his belief.

“More of a realist. One who sees that very same Temple burning while we speak. As for anger, it’s a natural emotion, I try to control my anger the very best I can.” Jakali said, then finished the glass of wine. He put his arm back into the other where it seemed he was folding it but he was instead setting his finger near a device on it which would call in the guards from outside of the room.

“Tell me, do you remember anything of the raid?” He asked, still not turning his head. His gaze was upon the table, but from time would focus onto Shiri, his voice still calm and cool.

Shiri stayed silent, trying to think through what was happening so she could be sure of her actions. The sith was talking more to Xid than he was to her, yet by her count he never looked at Xid, instead constantly glancing at her. When he asked them what they remembered of the raid on the Temple she smiled, just slightly. “So that’s it. And here I was all worried.” She mimicked the sith’s posture, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning back in the chair, staring him straight in the eye. She didn’t say anything else yet, she wanted to see his reaction first.

Xid inhaled, his mind already realizing the Sith spoke the truth. His gut had been feeling it all this time though he pushed it to the side, hoping he was mistake. Something terrible had happened to unbalance the force and this sith seemed to make sure he knew what it was, a fact that did little to help him tame his emotions. His fingers tightened but remind hidden under his robes, making it difficult to note, while Xid merely stared harder at the man across from him. “Does it matter? Besides, I rather forget it as it’s in the past.”

Quietly, Xid took a step close to Shiri and unfolding his hand, he place it upon her shoulder. When she looked at him, he gave a small smile before returning his stern gaze back to the sith before him.

“It’s quite hard, well for me, personally to forget it. Twisted, desecrated corpses, still twitching Jedi, soldiers that mowed them down laughing and congratulating each other. Younglings with holes in their chests from blaster bolts, like the holes torn in the walls. The smell of burning flesh filling the once beautiful temple. Some Jedi still alive begging for mercy, yet it is not given. Mercy is an odd concept.” Jakali said, looking right into Shiri’s eyes before he pressed the button on the device within his robe, within a moment the four soldiers who had accompanied him stormed into the room. One of them moving to slam the metal butt of his blaster rifle into Xid’s stomach. The other three with their weapons raised, all at Xid, Jakali still keeping the same pose.

Xid’s head jerked to the side when the doors opened. He was expecting the troopers arrival as the first one thumped into his stomach, sending him to kneel over and crumble. A yell of surprise escaped his mouth, his wrapped about his middle when the air was knocked from him. Without thinking, his instinct kicked in. Xid’s hand raised and did a force pull right at the first trooper, tugging it to the side and causing the man to be tossed into his nearby companion.

The other troopers still standing kept their weapons raised, they were waiting for the order from Jakali who was now standing and facing the action. He gave none and simply watched how the scene unfolded, his mechanical hand near his lightsaber on his belt. He didn’t think he would have to use it. He had given the solders exact orders, they would fire their weapons when he said so. His reassurance? The prisoners were Jedi, they never killed those they had already beaten down. Jakali’s wrath was what to be feared if they didn’t listen.

Shiri jumped up when the troopers entered the room, and hit one over the head as it aimed at Xid. It managed to grumble something at her before it got knocked over by the trooper that Xid had thrown into him with the Force. The remaining standing troopers aimed at Xid, but didn’t fire yet, so Shiri went over to where Xid had doubled up on himself and put an arm around him to help him stand, but not before swiping a fork from the table and concealing it in her hands, a hidden weapon.

Xid was coughing hard, trying to suck the air back into his lungs. His raised hand had came to rest upon the floor and slowly, his body stopped rattling from the blow. Raising his head, he spotted that Shiri had struck out at one of the troopers that Xid had crashed another into. It was a surprising fluke on his part which made him smile lightly at Shiri’s reaction being quicker than his own. His ears caught her boots making her way to him and pull his own arm over her shoulder, supporting him upright again.

“Thanks.” He rasped out through catching his breath. His eyes caught something shiny in her robes, but avoided staring at it, trying to figure out how to get a hold of one of the trooper’s guns. He couldn't use it or aim well. However he could lower the threat from the weapons which made their chances of coming out unscratched greater.

Jakali continued watching the scene, though in one of his ears he heard noise from behind, before he could do anything the Twi’Lek girl has gone around the table to help Xid. Well at least he knew of their relationship, they cared for each other, and that was something he could manipulate. He rose his organic hand in an instant, channeling the Force to pull Shiri backwards, planting her against the wall. Then he spoke to one of the remaining troopers that was still standing.

“Move over towards her now, put the barrel of your blaster to her temple, your finger on the trigger, she so much as moves then you end her short life immediately.” He said, his voice still calm, he had to adjust his plan a bit, but was still perfectly composed. The revelation he had just seen gave him a different idea. The trooper did as the Sith asked, scrambling towards the girl and sticking his rifle up against the left side of her head.

Xid finally managed to gain purchase on his feet before his world was sent into chaos. His head darted about to see Shiri smack into the far wall, the force pinning her there. Horror filled his gut as he heard the orders being called and the trooper move quickly into position, pressing the blaster tip into her head. Without thinking, his feet moved against his will, bring him to interrupt the trooper as his hand reached out. It touched the metal and his mind focused on his Deru Mechu, sending a spark through the gun before jerking the weapon away. With his force he sent it right into the wall in much force as he could muster, the pieces immediately cracked and shattered on impact near where the sith was currently placed. He hoped the sudden sight of an incoming blaster would cause him to lose focus and release Shiri.

Jakali blinked and the Jedi was in a different spot, throwing himself at the trooper in a fit of pure aggression. Before the Sith could say anything he had a blaster flinged at him. He rose an arm in reaction, the weapon bouncing into the nearby wall and pelting him with pieces of metal. He grunted as the pieces land on him, momentarily releasing his focus on the task at hand. He managed to bark out an order, his voice raised.

“Fire at him, blaster set to stun! You, don’t just stand there, get your hands on her! ” He barked at the two remaining standing trooper as the Sith shook away any fragments on his body. The troopers doing as their superior ordered, one raising his weapon and setting to stun before a finger pulled the trigger as the other lunged at Shiri.

“Shiri, down!” Xid shouted as he pushed her down, his hand jerked to send a plateful of food right into the armed trooper’s face. The man jerked and still fired, the blaster shot nicking the Jedi’s shoulder.

Shiri Had gotten Xid on his feet, and then suddenly was slammed against the far wall, the impact making her lose what little of a plan she had made. She heard an order from the Sith, and immediately froze, closing her eyes and trying to think. In the next few seconds though, she heard metal being smashed and more yelling, and then she opened her eyes and Xid was pushing her to the ground. She scrambled back up after a second and dodged the trooper that had lunged for her, managing to trip him and kick him in the head as he fell. She took the fork from her robes and threw it at the Sith as hard as she could, hoping he wouldn’t notice until it was too late and it would hit him in the eye.

Jakali ducked right as the fork whizzed over him, clanking into the hard metal wall behind him. Then when he was on his feet he rose his hand towards Xid who was already stunned from the blaster bolt. Then suddenly, lightning shot from his fingertips, a cruel blue color which reeked of the Dark Side of the Force. He took no enjoyment in the act, but the situation was getting out of control. He had enough control over the lightning that he could keep it from killing the young Jedi, as long as he knew just when to stop. He suddenly spoke as the lightning streamed towards Xid.

“Step away from him girl, I can very well end his life, you hold his fate in your hands. Move away from him, towards the door. Now.” He said, his tone harsh.

Xid screamed when the force lightning hit him, his body seized up into a ball. His hands shook while he tried to get past the nerves being set on fire. He didn’t want to look pitiful but he knew he did, his figure unable to unfurl while he kept screaming from the pain, nearly drowning out the Sith’s commands. If it kept up, he would soon pass out cold.

Shiri watched in horror as she saw Xid get hit by the lightning, and glared at the sith as he told her to get away from him. She looked at Xid again, trying to make a decision, when she saw the blaster on the ground near him, dropped by one of the guards earlier. She grabbed it off the ground and quickly fired a few shots at the sith, backing towards the door as she did.

Jakali began to slow down with the lightning as he watched Shiri move away, then he noticed she was going for the blaster and moved to act but before he could several bolts from the weapon were screaming towards him. By the time he had his lightsaber in his left hand one of the bolts already hit him, striking into his right leg, causing him to grunt in pain and surprise. As he ignited the blade another bolt zoomed right past him, he had enough experience with deflecting blaster fire that he was able to block the final shots flying towards him.

“Stop her, shoot her!” He said under pain as he felt the spot where the bolt hit him, searing right through his cloak and clothing. Thankfully it didn’t hit a vital area or he would have been in trouble. He then stepped, well more hobbled to the side before focusing all of his energy in the Force on the table behind him, it levitating off the ground as he sent it towards the door with another grunt, hoping that it impacted and blocked it off before the girl could reach it.

Xid was drifting. In and out of awareness, his mind numbed by the pain coursing through his veins that he was sure he would die if it continued. His body couldn’t move. His mind couldn’t think. Worse of all, he couldn’t help Shiri and it was terrible in his mind, more painful than the lightning raced within him. He barely noticed the force lightning had stopped when he stopped shivering. His mind tittering on blacking out, he focused on Shiri in his efforts to get up on his feet. He was wobbly and weak as a newborn, his eyes shot to the nearest trooper. The plate that had shattered when he rocketed it into the one trooper’s face was still scattered around and one partially large piece caught his attention. A voice, thick and heavy, not apart of the presence echoed within his head.

‘Don’t focus on the means, Xid. Just the result or you will fail to reach it at all.’

Xid jerked his hand up, the piece rose up and in the next moment it few to the man’s head. Xid meant to stun the trooper but the man moved, his throat exposed. Instantly, the shard was lodged within the trooper’s throat. The man looked as surprised as he was, the trooper’s voice gurgling while he collapsed upon the floor. That wasn’t what Xid intended to do, his eyes unable to remove them from the man as he scrambled to the fallen trooper. His hands trembling and tried to stop the crimson rushing forward, his expression set in fear and guilt. “No… no... “

Shiri kept shooting at the sith, even when she felt the door at her back. There was no way she could think of to open it, but also no time as the sith used the force to throw the table at her, hitting her hard and pinning her to the door for a moment. She pushed it away enough to slip out from behind it, and then saw Xid crawling across the floor towards a trooper that was lying on the ground. At first she thought he was going to take a weapon from it and help her, until he started trying to stop the bleeding from it’s neck. “Oh, no. Xid!” She dropped the blaster and rushed over to him, trying to pull him away from the fallen trooper.

Jakali blinked as the table impacted with the door, catching the girl in the process. She managed to slip away from it without any serious injuries which was a relief. Then he turned his attention towards Xid and the dying trooper, a shard in his throat as his life painfully slipped from him. A smile crept onto his face as he started towards the scene, Shiri now near him trying to pull Xid away who was in hysterics.

He clicked off his lightsaber then clipped it to his belt, realizing he wouldn’t need it for the immediate future, both Jedi on the floor in a pathetic display. He rose his hand, then focused on the dying trooper, choking what remained of his life out of him. The eyes underneath the helmet open in a state of death. He then moved towards the now corpse and yanked his helmet off, revealing the dead human underneath, a bloody wound in his throat, the shard still embedded inside. The Sith tossed the helmet to the side, then spoke.

“Do you see that, Xid? The eyes? In a state of death, they are even open. I finished him off, a small act of mercy, But you did most of the work. Your emotions allowed you to overpower him, a grown man, highly trained and selected over dozens of other candidates. Now he’s just another corpse,” He said, placing his arms behind his back as he walked, his eyes on the two Jedi then the other troopers who were showing signs of life. “You did what was necessary. If you didn’t stop him then he would have hurt Shiri.” He said as he glared at one of the troopers as they both rose to their feet, picking up their weapons.

“The Jedi would have looked down upon you for this, possibly even reprimanded you. I won’t.” He added.

Shiri had finally managed to get Xid away from the body as the sith pulled the helmet off and taunted him. He started leaning against her, mumbling about how that wasn’t what he had meant to do. Shiri put her hand over Xid’s eyes and whispered gently in his ear. “I know, don’t look at him. It wasn’t your fault, and I don’t judge you for this. There are many who have done worse.” Shiri continued to hold him, and looked the sith in the eye. “I’d call you a schutta, if I didn’t think you’d like that. Who would reprimand a mistake?”

A struggle and war over his conscious raged, his ears filled with words from both the Sith and Shiri. His hands had long ago released the troop’s now dead body as she pulled him away, his body shaking yet too weak to resist. He leaned against Shiri and looked at the Sith, his eyes filled with regret and pain. He slowly turned to Shiri’s words while she scowled at the sith and reprimanded him in her sassy way, his pain lessening just a bit at the death. However he couldn’t get the dead eyes out of his head. His head turned to the dead trooper with the cold skin and pale complexion, never able to move again and knowing it was his fault. “I’m sorry Shiri. I didn’t mean to kill him…”

“It’s not your fault.” Shiri repeated to Xid, pulling him to his feet and supporting him, staring at the sith and daring him to do anything else to them with her glare, not bothering to say anything else to him.

“I’ve been called worse, my dear.” Jakali said as he glanced at both Jedi then at the now three remaining soldiers, the third the man who Shiri had knocked down having walked over and joined the others. It had not gone how Jakali wanted it to, but he still learned some things about the two young Jedi.

“I feel our meeting has met its conclusion, now lets head back to your quarters where you can join the others.” He said to both of them with a smile, before giving a nod to the soldiers as they moved behind Shiri and Xid, nudging them towards the door and out of the room as Jakali followed behind, moving the table away from the door.