freedomliveson

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

An uncomfortable silence settled into the entrance hall, Yerbol not helping burst the discomfort on account of the pain that was currently residing in his ribs. He hadn't told Aria about his struggles to breath properly, but he assumed that when he had suddenly collapsed to one knee a couple of times during their battles in the sewer and gasped for air, she could figure out he was fighting a losing battle against his injuries. There was, of course, no other option than to keep plowing forward until Illesia was stopped. The details were a bit fuzzy, but thankfully Voldon was there to spark a discussion on how to proceed:
"The tower's security protocols are reactivated, so civilians are sheltered in place." A hacking, purposeful cough rang through the air, prompting a sigh from the Elder.
"Thanks to Junoco."
"Bloody right." He mumbled with a mischievous smirk, monitoring the status of the tower through his datapad.
"We've accounted for the gangs, but the Xiis...they're nowhere to be found. I would have assumed that their target was here, but they haven't announced their presence." Yerbol spoke in a coherent line of reasoning for what felt like(to him) the first time in decades:
"They will. They stick to the shadows, but when they're ready, they'll strike. That means we need to hit them first when they're not prepared to deal with us."
"And how do we find them?"
"Force them to play their hand early. In every instance we've faced off against the Xiis, they were prepared for our attacks, anticipated them really. If we can tease them out somehow-"
"We're not going to endanger her life." Voldon protested.
"But that's where Illesia is headed! If we can get to Saresh first, set up some kind of trap for her to walk into-"
"I can help with that!" Junoco raised his arm forcefully in the air, waving to emphasize his willingness.
"The system has a few things I could play around with...by my stars this place is bloody awesome! Stun grenade launchers coming out of walls? Cryo blasters hidden in cameras? I knew this was a secure location, but wasn't expecting such...firepower." Another grimace(a common expression for the Battlemaster) crossed Voldon's face as he pondered the plan.
"Unless there's something else we can do? Because other than waiting for Illesia to strike, I don't see any other option." Voldon grumbled something under his breath, his right foot tapping listlessly on the ground for a few moments before he ordered:
"Stay at the entrance. Guard it with your lives. Junoco, you're with us. We need to get to war room on the third floor." Yerbol rose shakily, allowing Aria to help straighten him out.
"I assume you can fight? You made it this far against thugs. Will the Xiis be too much for you?" The Champion walked to an exit on their left, calling out to the Elder:
"Let's hope that they can survive what I have in store for them."

____

"They're here!" A male hissed, head peering out for a moment to survey the expansive main hall before he attempted to crash through the door that separated the maintenance room from a small hallway that led straight into the open. As his shoulder was millimeters from barging in, a powerful gust of energy slammed his back into the cold marble, Illesia shaking her head.
"That only means we should take things slower."
"Hunger!" A female uttered, her teeth chattering in bloodlust.
"Use your hunger to fuel you." Illesia placed a genteel hand on the girl's shoulder, nails grazing her skin.
"To make you stronger. Powerful." The female nodded in submission.
"Wait until they head upwards, out of sight. Then kill the soldiers. Quietly." A slight snicker came from the leader's throat.
"Soon after, we'll have what we need. Soon. Oh so soon."

_____

"An inconceivable notion!" General Laer slammed both palms on the large square table that dominated the center of the room, rising to his feet, face flushed, horns almost ready to be ejected from his skull.
"And what other choice do we have, General? Allow these monsters to break down the doors of the tower and slaughter you? To leave you to the gangs that will eventually find their way in and let THEM have their way with an Alliance cabinet that was just formed? No. This is the only course of action we can take." Voldon calmly asserted, his experience in dealing with high ranking officials in crisis situations giving him a icy determination that wouldn't be broken by raised voices and ignoble sentiments. Saresh had worn a similar expression to Voldon's while the trio(and Junoco) explained the premise of their plan, staying silent until after Voldon's final justification, then choosing to speak:
"So allow me to clarify this." She motioned to the smuggler.
"This...Junoco fellow is going to use the defenses in the senate tower to thin out the numbers of these 'Xiis', seeing as they won't be expecting resistance due to their perceived victory in crippling our infrastructure. Their leader, a powerful Force user, is after my head in particular, which means that I should be in my office awaiting her arrival. Once she does, she'll be ambushed by the three of you and I'll escape using an emergency hatch, where I'll be able to wait out the death of this woman." When the Chancellor spoke the plan aloud, it seemed risky, dangerous and somewhat reckless, but it appeared that this would be the best course of action...for now.
"We're asking a lot of you, Chancellor. I'm aware of that. But I'm also very aware of the immediate threat the Xiis possess. If they kill you, they'll be coming after the rest of the Cabinet, which would throw this already new government into chaos. We need to put a stop to them now." The ten cabinet members assembled took wary glances at each other, weighing the Elder's words with non verbal communiques and a few hushed whispers. Saresh allowed them to speak before she made the decision:
"Fine. We'll go through with your plan. The Cabinet members will receive the maximum security allowable, correct? I can't be the only one who gets a safe room to hide in."
"Come now, Chancellor, don't you know your own security protocols?" Junoco asked with a chuckle, which dissipated almost instantly upon a stony gaze.
"Right, right, of course. This 'war room' is outfitted with thick shutters and miniature defense turrets along with a stun gun just below the threshold. It should be more than enough to let those bloody blue people know that they should stay away." Yerbol felt a twinge in their bond, looking to his partner and asking:

What is it? If you've got something to add to all this, go for it...or maybe I'm just reading your feelings wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Yeaaaahhh, definitely tomorrow. Sorry :/

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Boy do I know the feeling! xD

Post coming later today, but if not, then tomorrow. I've got kids who are asking about rewriting their papers

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Feel free to get us to the tower :)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

"And you live as if hell were continually at your doorstep." Voldon shot back with a half teasing smile at the on edge Twi'lek.
"Which is a good mentality to have when your planet is under siege." The Elder rose from the bed and onto his feet, joints popping as he rolled his shoulders and kicked his legs out.
"Age." He mumbled bitterly before he walked to Yerbol's side, the younger Force user's eyes closed, his chest rising and falling far too slowly for his liking. Then again, he was alive. That was a victory.
"Ari, come." He brought her to the entrance of the med bay, looking out at the crimson emergency lit hallway before telling her:
"I'm going ahead to the Senate tower. I have a feeling that they'll need all the help they can get. Stay with Yerbol until he gets better and then join me at the soonest possible moment. Send any Alliance forces that pass by to the undercity. I'm sure that the security chief could use all the help they can get." As his left foot exited the medbay, he swiveled around to ask:
"The hacker, Junoco. Give me his contact information. His offer for assistance might be called in." After receiving the information necessary, he nodded a goodbye before stalking back into the darkness, which was punctuated every so often by a distant shout or the firing of a blaster rifle. Two Alliance battalions passed by the med by, one leaving a couple of soldiers behind to guard the place out of both concern for the citizenry and preserving a place to help nurse their own back to health if needed. Other than those two squadrons, however, there was no other activity, leaving a chilling, empty silence to sink into the bones of those who were wrapped in it. Conversation was sparse for a while, but about forty minutes after Voldon's departure, Yerbol's eyes opened.
"Where..." A Twi'lek came to his side and cautioned him to not move too quickly nor expend energy until the bacta had "taken full effect". Upon looking down at his slightly mended body, fragments of recent events floated through his mind. Her torture, the way she dug her fingernails into his back every time she took a small piece of him, the rescue, Ari...
"Ari?" He called for her, taking her hand in his own as he looked into her dark eyes with momentous relief, his own icy blue irises returned to their normal, healthy state.
"How long has it been? I mean since they took me." When he was informed that it had only been a couple of days at most, he chuckled, then promptly winced at the pain that shot through his abdomen and up his ribcage.
"It felt like time had just forgotten about me. Years could've passed and I wouldn't have even noticed." Cautiously he sat up even further in the tank, still holding onto Aria's hand firmly.
"Illesia has that effect on people." He grimaced, gripping her hand even tighter as he brought it up to his lips, kissing it gently before releasing.
"She wanted me to forget about who I was and wholly give everything to her. I kept refusing, so she kept digging." He motioned to the wounds on his back and chest.
"She can...take your very essence from you." He shook his head and rephrased:
"Remember how Renso talked to us about the Force? How it can be manipulated, even taken from other people? I think he knew that from his experiments on the Xiis. All that talk about consumption and devouring and power...Illesia embodies that. That's why the other Xiis follow her. I think. Because the other Xiis don't seem to..." A sudden wave of light-headedness prompted him to lay back, but he continued to speak:
"can't use the Force. She can, though, Ari. To the point where she can just suck the living energies out of a person. If she keeps up at her current rate, she could become more powerful than the Elders, more powerful than even Renso or your father or...well, maybe even Revan himself." Yerbol attempted to leave the tank, but was shooed back in by those who surrounded him.
"No, don't you get it?! She's out there RIGHT NOW and without us fighting her she's going to slaughter this world without a second thought! I NEED to get out there, I NEED to-" Another bout of light-headedness and he was back to almost prone.
"I can't...can't let her..." His eyes closed once more, slipping into a needed sleep that according to Denali he needed to at least function in the capacity necessary for their occupation. Pushing him any further would only be a risk, the doctor proclaimed.

___

"This isn't good." Junoco ran a shaky hand through his mussed ash brown hair before typing furiously on the datapad he had brought, Voldon slicing another thug to pieces at the entrance of the tower before responding peevishly:
"What?!"
"Security protocols on the Senate defense systems are out."
"HOW?"
"I don't know, I don't know! It's going to take me a bit of time to restore turret control, so give me a bloody second or two!"
"You've got sixty." Voldon spat a stream of blood onto the ground before wiping his mouth from the solid blow to the face he had received from one of the grunts that had decided to storm the Senate tower. The Xiis were indeed a problem, but another had spawned from their inflicted chaos: street gangs that once were rivals bonding together to overtake a fragile government. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but for it to occur now was...unfortunate timing. Thankfully Voldon had retrieved Junoco and gotten him to the Senate tower just in time to help Alliance forces repel a host of gang members that were unloading military grade firepower on the defenseless symbol of their new government. While this first wave was gone, there were small shuttles dropping even more thugs at the opposite end of the walkway that connected the tower to the spaceport.
"HURRY UP."
"Not helping! Not helping!" Junoco frantically hammered away for another few seconds before throwing his hands up into the air, datapad nearly crashing to the ground.
"HA! HA!" Whirring and clicking could be heard from beneath the entrance, six mechanized laser turrets popping up to deliver suppressing fire against the incoming vagrants.
"Droids are coming up next!" He shouted gleefully as the surviving Alliance troops fell back inside.
"Seal the entrance."
"Already on it!" Junoco complied with Voldon's command, heavy metal shutters slamming into place.
"Good. Sergeant, can you make do with guarding the entrance?" A red headed man no more than the age of twenty six nodded, smiling in relief.
"Excellent. This should be over soon." Voldon withdrew his comm unit and rang for Aria, telling the Champion:
"You two need to get to the tower now. Junoco is sending you coordinates to a network of tunnels that'll have you here fast. Stick to the shadows. There's a lot of traffic on the main thoroughfares."

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Update: I'm almost halfway done with essays, so will post later in the day.

Update on the update: save me xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Hey, I like that she wasn't cowering at the Tuk'ata! XD

Post will be delayed until Monday I'm afraid. I'm behind on essays. Have a great weekend!

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Heh, I love how grumpy she is xD
To be fair, she IS surrounded by crazy blue people

Post coming tomorrow :)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

So forgive me for leaving you to describe the battle with the thugs, but I figured that

-It wouldn't take that long with vengeful Ari/tuk'ata/Voldon
-I also needed to do some more set up before the confrontation with Illesia

Feel free to get us to a med center so Yerbol can...you know, fight xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Yerbol took a sideward glance at his lover and managed to form a smile, bloodshot eyes widening a bit.
"Not...with y..ou..around...they...won..'t.."
"You found an exit point, yes? Then we move." With Aria in the lead, they made their way to the elevator and found themselves in another sector of the undercity, the familiar sight of smokestacks and run down tenements giving Voldon some comfort in knowing they weren't too far off from getting Yerbol to a med bay.
"Keep in front and make sure the hounds stay at the rear...unless you want to lug him around yourself."

Their trek was far too quiet, an eerie silence threatening to break at any moment with hostility. There were groans from the creaky foundations of building, the occasional group of homeless or other unsavory characters that were hurrying from one alleyway to the next, casting glances mixed with curiosity and fear at the party before ducking out of view. Thankfully there were street lamps that illuminated the walkways they followed, Voldon occasionally stopping not only to have Yerbol rest, but to check his nav unit and ensure they were on the right path. A couple of times the Elder thought he heard a howl or a scream in the distance, but dismissed the noises as part of the already seedy underbelly of the capital world. Near the end of their journey, they arrived at a sloping ramp that led down towards an elevated walkway that curved east towards the security office. From their vantage point, they were able to see the chaos that was currently unfolding on the walkway.
"Bloody thugs." Security personnel at the entrance to the undercity were hiding behind cover, popping out to deliver blaster fire to a group of thugs on the side of the walkway closest to the party of Force users.
"Taking advantage of the ch-" The street lamp bulbs fizzled and popped, the entire undercity consumed in a disconcerting darkness. Thankfully a couple of moments later, the bulbs came back on, but at extremely lower brightness than before, a dull, hazy orange glow serving as the only illumination. Voldon could feel a rippling in the Force, like someone had a thrown a meteor in a lake and they were beginning to feel the effects. Before Voldon attempted to give orders, the walkways shuddered and rocked, smoke billowing from underneath them. Acrid scents wafted around them, intermingling with the blood and refuse that were already present, creating an atmosphere Voldon was all too familiar with.
"Aria, clear a path for us! I'll do what I can to shield you, but take those thugs out, NOW! Get those hounds out in front as well!" With his free hand, Voldon gestured upwards, bringing a light blue sphere into existence that took shape around them.
"Move in sync with the shield!" He barked as he plodded down the ramp, teeth clenched as his physical strength began to wane from carrying Yerbol so great a distance. They would have to carve the thugs up as quickly as possible. There was no other option.

___

"What on Ryloth's name is going on?!" Saresh stormed out of her pitch black office, emergency lighting casting a red glow on the reception area located just outside where she had been working a couple of seconds ago. Two aides burst into the room, one of them blurting out:
"The undercity just lost ninety percent of it's primary power!" The other aide added:
"The upper city lost sixty percent and-"
"Get General Laer and Major Zem in the war room NOW!" A massive Zabrack pushed aside the aides, unbuttoning the top collar of his Republic uniform as he told the Chancellor:
"We're already on it. Security personnel are being sent to the undercity and additional troopers are being called in from barracks planetside to patrol both upper and lower cities."
"Laer, what-"
"I don't know, Tyne, but we're going to find out." Saresh gave a confident nod before responding:
"Then assemble the Cabinet together in the war room."

___

"This is it." Jarrick stepped away from the access tunnel, gesturing to it dramatically with a relieved smile cast in his employer's direction.
"And this will grant us access to this 'tower'?"
"Absolutely. With all the transitions in power, these tunnels got forgotten about. It'll lead you into the maintenance rooms, which are only a couple of flights of stairs up to the main hall. We've tried getting up there ourselves, but ah...well, you don't care, do you?"
"Correct. But I am veerryy grateful for your help." Illesia calmly placed a hand on Jarrick's cheek.
"And I always show my appreciation." She sunk her fingernails into Jarrick's cheek, his eyes rolling back into his head as Illesia took her other hand and jammed her talons into his chest, breathing in deeply before exhaling, dropping the body to the ground as she wiped the residue on her black leggings.
"That will never grow old." She giggled innocently, looking to her compatriots, who were grinning with malevolent intent.
"Come. Power awaits."