Maeva’s arms crossed as she stared at the holo of Vigo.
“I know you said it’s dangerous, but I have reasons to go there.” She paused for a moment, her eyes glanced towards to her datapad. It was showing different slides of weapons that could be found on the planet. Among that, it shifted over to the possible Brotherhood members that was going to be there. A certain Mandalorian had appeared.
“Besides… I know someone who’s going to be there. I’ll be safe.”
He was silent a moment, his grey eyes staring in silence as he thought,
“I trust you know how. You are resourceful.” Again, he was silent for a moment, thinking over the orders given from The Herald herself. “Communications are… restricted due to the weather. We are operating out of the Tempest Crown Cantina. Go there for safe haven if you need it. I’d like to be notified of your arrival.”
Maeva gave him a reassuring smile, all of her sharp teeth beaming at him, “I will and don’t worry! What can go wrong?”
They both knew, deep down inside, a lot.
Maeva glanced at her wrist comm as a habit to hide her internal anxiety. Her amethyst eyes with silt pupils scanned the area. The Sakiyan eyes can sometimes make some people feel unnerved. She assume if she had the void black that Evereni has, it may have made her job harder. She kept a watch on her surroundings. It didn’t help she was about twenty minutes early. After all, what she learned in the military, ‘if you’re on time, you’re late.’
Jaz paced back and forth in front of the ebony desk of the Hand of the Empress. The office was dimly lit, and a holo projection had just finished. Behind the desk sat Vincent Brujah, a quizzical look on his face.
“So, what do you think? Are you feeling well enough to take on a mission of this nature?” the Sith asked.
The Mandalorian took a moment to consider it. He had taken things easy since his injury. Doctor’s orders and all, but really he felt as well as he ever had. He pulled a datapad from his pocket and looked up information on the mission. The idea itself was simple enough. Go to Nancora. Find some riches. Secure them. Protect them. Bring them home.
“If I could ask, what’s stopping you from taking this one? Seems right up your alley.” Jaz asked Vincent.
The Sith smirked.
“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t be too far away. In fact, you can catch a ride to Nancora with me. However, my business is a fight. It sounded much more appealing to me than some credits, or weapons, or whatever it is you may find.”
Jaz nodded at the Warlord. Of course he’d choose a fight over a treasure hunt, but he’d want to make sure that the Clan was well represented anyway. Jaz scrolled through the roster of Brotherhood members set to attend the hunt. He saw his own name listed. How diplomatic. Vincent had signed him up before he even agreed. Then he spotted another name: Komilla Lap’lamiz. His head snapped to the Sith.
“Did you know?!”
Vincent gave his friend a shocked look.
“Know what?”
“Don’t toy with me, Vincent. Did you know that Komilla is going to be there?!”
The Sith audibly gasped.
“I had no idea!”
As Jaz turned away, Vincent smiled a sinister smile, and then he waited. Jaz kept scrolling through the list until his heart sank. Another name that he was very familiar with: Maeva. The Mandalorian snapped his attention back to Vincent.
“Fine! Let’s go! NOW!”
Komilia rolled onto her back. The morning light was creeping in through the window. She threw the covers over her head. She had been having such a nice dream until some damn bird started beeping.
Wait…beeping? Komilia threw the covers off and reached for her comlink which was beeping louder now that she had been ignoring it.
“What?” She fumbled for the activation button and a projection sprang to life. In bold letters at the top Another chance…please, don’t waste it. She took a deep breath and kept reading. Well, she’d at least get some credits and…her heart skipped a beat.
Explosives! She was hooked. “Thanks Daddy” she blew a kiss at the comlink as she turned it off. As she put on her armor she wondered who else would be there. It didn’t matter. She was excited and scampered off to start the fun.
Drethak stood across from the Imperial officer as a star chart flickered through interference on the holo display. Weather patterns and broken communications signals crawled across the projection while several markers indicated the gathering point.
“Imperial Intelligence flagged this operation after the last mission devolved into chaos,” the officer said. “Multiple operatives converging that make for a volatile mix. Additionally, the promise of weapons and credits tends to bring out the worst in people.”
Drethak listened in silence. The officer shifted the display and several names appeared along the edge of the holo.
“You are familiar with some of them.”
Jaz appeared first. A well disciplined Mandalorian. Recently injured by actions taken by Komilia. Komilia followed and Drethak’s gaze lingered a moment longer.
“Komilia. Daughter of the Justicar. She has been unstable recently,” Drethak added.
“Observe,” the officer continued. “If discipline fails again, prevent it from becoming another embarrassment. That is all.”
“Understood.” The Dashade rose from his seat and headed to the landing pad.
The ramp of a Lambda class shuttle sealed behind him with a hydraulic hiss. The shuttle lifted into the storm while the distant world waited below beneath thick cloud cover and fractured signals. Others had been drawn by the promise of weapons and profit, but Imperial Intelligence had a different interest in the gathering. Drethak sat in silence in the dim passenger compartment as the shuttle turned toward its destination.
Elaine emerged from the shadows with her marred Nexu slowly walking in beside her in a sort of low, stalking stature.
Elaine and Callé had spent a great deal of time recovering from their last assignment in the forests on Seraph. Not only did Elaine have to work back up to her prior strength, but she also had to learn alongside and help her nexu who is now blind.
Elaine looked at her current objective on her holo-pad.
She looked through her colleagues for this assignment. “Jaz, Drethak…” she paused, “oh,” she softly exclaimed, “Komilia as well.”
There was one more name she was unfamiliar with.
Hopefully this ‘Maeva’ pulls their weight. I don’t have time for babysitting. She thought as she put away her holo-pad.
Travel Timeskip!
Maeva sighed in frustration at her screen on her datapad. The map was outdated. Of course it was, it was only recent that the Shroud had took control of the territory. Then the unmistakable sounds of vehicles arriving, one by one. The team members had started to arrive, if not eerily almost at the same time.
Her eyes laid on Jaz and she realized a huge mistake.
She had been so busy putting out fires back home that she forgot to message him that she was going to be here.
“Jaz! I- Um…” The Evereni started to stammer. She looked to the other members before glancing back to his visor.
“I’ll explain later, okay?”
Jaz almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but it all started making sense pretty quickly. That night in the hospital, when he had startled her and her hand went to a thigh… he had almost forgotten in the heat of the moment. She had been so vague, but looking back at it, almost perfectly clear that there was more to her than he understood. Seeing her as she was now made it clear, she wasn’t just a nurse… she was armed to the teeth. Still, he was very glad to see her, especially that she was not only safe, but seemingly prepared for what would come next.
“I have to admit, I think I liked the idea of the bakery better for our first date, but I suppose this will do.”
He looked around and saw the others arriving, but they weren’t within earshot just yet.
“The woman that put me under your care? She’s going to be here. In fact, she’s approaching now.” he sighed. “I’m not going to let her hurt you… or me… or anyone else that doesn’t deserve it. I will do my best to restrain my anger with her, for the sake of all of our safety…”
He could feel his anger swelling within him as he turned and saw her getting closer.
“…but if she jeopardizes that safety in her own arrogance and ignorance, I will not hesitate to drop her. She is a loose cannon, and there’s no telling what mess she’ll get us into. So… I need you to be on your guard, okay?”
He took a deep breath in.
“When this is all over, we can have a nice talk over those cinnamon rolls I promised you before.”
Drethak stepped into the gathering without drawing attention to himself. He settled in as his eyes moved across the group and took in their spacing and posture. The tension between Jaz and Komilia was already there, exactly where it was expected to be. It did not concern him yet.
His attention shifted to Maeva. He had studied her file, but this was the first time seeing her in person. The awareness in her stance matched what he had read. He inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment.
“Magistrate Maeva. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
His gaze moved toward the Mandalorian. “Apologies for the interruption. You are looking better than I last saw you, Jaz.”
Komilia skidded to a stop near the gathered troop of people without a care in the world. Stepping through the whirling dust she saundered over to everyone.
Noticing Drethak she playfully slapped him on the chest. “Look at this! Getting the gang back together.” Her helmeted gaze lingered on Jaz and the woman he was standing by. His armor looked the worse for wear but the woman, whom she didn’t know, seemed to be impressed by it.
“Look at you! Looks like you got yourself a little sweetie.” Komilia gave a polite nod in her direction. “So, we ready to get this show on the road?”
Drethak used the back of his hand to brush his chest off where Komilia had slapped it. Almost as if to keep her “luck” from rubbing off on him.
“Lady Komilia, welcome. I trust your travel was smooth getting here?” The Dashade inclined his head in a polite greeting.
“It was wonderful. Glad to see you again. What have you been upto since we departed?”
Drethak noted the familiar and carefree tone in her tone. Oblivious as always.
“I have been occupied with a few missions and a mountain of paperwork. Although nothing of any real note.”
His gaze swept over the group before returning to her.
“You seem eager as always. As you can see, Jaz and Maeva have already arrived. We are just missing Elaine Conrat.”
“Oh goodie!!” Komilia hopped up and down at the thought of her bestie being here. “This is gonna be fun!”
Elaine made no haste to convene with her teammates. She arrived with a slow and confident walk.
There was no smile on her face and her brow was slightly furrowed. The Equite had been stewing on the anger she pointed towards her former master, Sykes, for the irreversible injuries her beloved companion sustained.
The first person she noticed was the all too familiar Duchess Lap’lamiz.
For a moment, Elaine forgot her troubles, the nerve damage in her back, her blinded Nexu, her brother… for a moment she felt a glimmer of happiness, a feeling she had not felt in a long time. A soft smile crept onto her face.
That feeling swiftly faded as she saw the remainder of her associates.
Drethak, as menacing as she remembered though she would never admit it.
Jaz, a superior that she felt she could at least somewhat trust not to stab her in the back.
And the new girl, well, new to Elaine. At first glance, Maeva appeared to be around the same age as Komilia and herself so that was a little reassuring.
“Greetings. Glad to see you’re all here already.” The young Equite spoke simply. You could tell Callé was on edge as he huddled close protectively around Elaine, flicking his head around in the direction of each prominent sound he heard.
“Elaine!!!” Komilia squealed as his embraced her friend. “This is going to be great! We’re going to have so much fun and afterwards I’m taking you out for a crazy night on the town.” Komilia looked around at the companions.
“There is a town here, right?”
Elaine was surprised by the sudden embrace.
“I-It’s good to see you too your highness,” she stammered, unsure what to do or say in this situation.
Komilia released Elaine and nodded politely at the appropriate greeting given her status as a Duchess.
“Alright, we all here? Let’s do this!”
“This… can be considered a date?” The Evereni-hybrid sounded confused. If this can be a date, then hoo-boy, the movies and books she had read was wrong. Maeva listened to Jaz as her gaze went over to the three other members that was on the way.
The flashbacks of severity of Jaz was when he arrived to her, Maeva wasn’t sure if she was able to help. She was glad they managed to get him almost as normal as possible, though he seemed to be moving around great. She never met him before the injury so she can only assume he’s back to normal. Or hasn’t complained otherwise.
Mandalorains.
“Okay…” Maeva was all she could say when Jaz gave her the warning about the other armed female. Who happened to be a Mandalorian as well.
No matter, Maeva’s generally on her guard around people anyways. She still doesn’t even fully trust Jaz but had been open with the idea of trying.
Then the Dashade had called her Magistrate as she noticeably cringed.
“It’s recent! And I… can explain later,” she glanced over to Jaz before looking back over to Drethak.
“I-it’s nice to meet you.” This was too weird. Professionalism was not her forte.
She liked it better when she was just a nobody. Now, she was representing Clan Taldryan and that was unnerving. Maeva stayed quiet and by Jaz as the female seemed rather extroverted which made her want to slowly want to curl up into a ball on her couch, only for that desire to be made worse when she called her ‘Jaz’s sweetie’. At least she wasn’t talking to her after that comment.
Maeva’s eyes widen as she whispered to Jaz while Komilia was busy squealing and hugging the other female, “Highness?!”
At least both females are egar to get the ball rolling. She did not want to be here longer than she needed to be. Maeva started to walk towards the direction where they were suppose to find some loot and assumed the others will followed.
-# <@466040899970007041> <@971875986654257162> <@111293136042504192>
Jaz tilted his head slowly to the side at the word “Magistrate” from Drethak. He slowly turned his head towards Maeva, then back towards Drethak, and then back towards Maeva again. “Magistrate”? Curiouser and curiouser… but he didn’t feel like he had the time to put a lot of thought into it in the moment. He’d just have to take Maeva at her word and that they’d talk about it later. After all? What explanation did she owe him, really? She had never said what her “second job” was… he just wouldn’t have guessed that.
After a moment he shook his head from side to side to snap himself out of his stupor. For once, he was at least partially familiar with everyone in the party. He first spoke to Maeva.
“Well, aren’t you just full of surprises today? At least we’ll have plenty to talk about at that bakery. I do hate awkward silences.”
He then nodded to each of the other party members as he said their names.
“Drethak. Elaine. Komilla…”
Of course, the cute act. The reason that she managed to get away with all of her treasonous actions.
“Oopsie, but look! We did the thing we were supposed to even if I permanently damaged or killed half the team!” he thought to himself in a mocking tone.
Vincent shouldn’t have sent him here. This was a bad idea, or was it just one of his tests? He had to push the questions aside for now.
“I don’t know anything about a town, or a place to party, but I do know that we have a goal. I’m here to see to it that we complete that goal; smartly and safely. The sooner this is over, the sooner we’re paid and can focus on more enjoyable things.”
“Jaz is right, we need to get a move on.” Elaine stated.
Drethak clasped his hands behind his back and proceeded to follow Maeva without another word. Jaz seemed to be handling the situation well. Komilia’s head seemed to be in the clouds per usual. Elaine’s presence felt tense, but otherwise calm. This may go well after all.
Maeva was glad it wasn’t windy. There was sand and ash everywhere and the sand would be harsh on them. They were micro pieces of all those that died here, the buildings, the vechiles… the list was too long.
The Evereni’s brows furrowed as she glanced into the ruined building. The lights were already on but flickered every now and then. There was no signs of life save for the small creatures and critters.
So there was still some power. Her eyes glanced to the sky for a moment. They had insane storms so it would made sense that there may be something freaky going on that she wouldn’t understand.
“Beggars can’t be choosers?” Maeva gave the group a weak smile before climbing over a broken building piece and went inside.
Not too far in, they had found the jackpot. Several different durasteel crates. Some bent from the damage over time but it looked like a cute bump than actual damaged.
“Excuse me,” She said towards Elaine and her nexu as she tried to walk around them.
Upon opening, a few had weapons, and other few had different artifacts. This was what the Shroud wanted? She bit her lower lip.
No. She mentally shook the thought out of her head.
“We should move them into the transport.” She closed one of the bins and lift up one side.
“Who can help me with this one?” At least it was one of the lighter ones. She quickly glanced over to the bin that Komilia was near by and saw some shuffling underneath the bin.
“Careful with that one, I think there’s some scorpions gathering in the sand underneath that one. I should take on home!”
Drethak inclined his head slightly toward Maeva. “As you wish, ma’am.”
He stepped past the others and moved toward one of the crates. He drew closer mostly to get a closer look. His eyes passed over the contents of the open containers. There were weapons, miscellaneous artifacts, and also explosives mixed among them. That shifted the situation slightly.
His gaze moved to Komilia for a brief moment. This one will require closer attention with these present. Drethak bent, lifted the crate with ease, and turned to follow Maeva without another word or drawing attention to the explosives.
Jaz looked around the inside of the broken building, never taking his eyes off of Komilla for more than a few seconds at a time. As Maeva pointed out the crates, his tone seemed to lighten somewhat. This would work, and knowing Vincent and his love for Sith artifacts, this might even get him a raise or some kind of medal or award.
“Good find.” Jaz said to Maeva as he began inspecting crates.
He opened one of the crates and found it full to the brim with explosives. His eyes widened beneath his helmet and he quickly closed the box. If he knew anything, he knew that this crate couldn’t be trusted in the hands of the young Lap’lamiz. He looked at the group and spoke.
“This one is a bit heavy. I’ll take care of it.”
He reached down and lifted the crate from the floor by himself. He made his way towards the hole they had entered through, but as he approached it he heard noises outside. Gently, he placed the crate on the floor and reached to his pack, pulling a pair of electrobinoculars. They hummed as they came to life. After a moment, he pulled them away from his helmet and spoke, now more quietly than before.
“We have company…”
Elaine watched as the rest of the crew took charge of a few of the cases. She ducked down and stepped over some debris. She noticed a few of the cases were buried in under a variety of rusted support beams.
Elaine reached out into the force and shoved the metal beams to the side of the crates.
As Elaine and Callé approached, she let out a dissatisfied and disappointed sigh. I hate being used for the dirty work… she thought as she picked up one of the ammunition cases with a quiet grunt and struggling grimace on her face.
It was then when she heard Jaz’s warning. She gently and quietly set the crate down, crouched, and unclipped her single lightsaber from her belt. Looking out the way she came in with anticipation. She was looking forward to releasing some of her anger out on something.
Callé look around in the general direction the sounds were coming from outside the building.
“Why are you all looking at me?” Komilia huffed at the distrust while she giggled internally. She had a hunch there was going to be more people coming after this score.
While everyone else had been busy looking at the crates and figuring out what to lift she had quietly placed a trip laser explosive by the door. She had figured they’d call in a pick-up or, at the very last, sneak out the back.
“I wouldn’t go by the door.” She half coughed as she was feeling a little nasty given they were being mean and she had been nothing but friendly. She did go over by Calle and put out a hand to keep the Nexu back from the door.
Elaine looked at Komilia and analyzed her expression as the young Mandolorian held back the blinded Nexu. Elaine then looked back at the door Komilia had come from then back at her friend.
“You didn’t… please tell me you didn’t…” Elaine said with concern.
“I did.” Komilia winked under her helmet.
Maeva glanced over to Komilia by the door before she focused back on the crate. Weird. What was she doing by the door?
Once Drethak and Jaz was heading that way, she saw the set up that Komilia had done earlier while they were distracted by crates.
“Stop!” She shouted before she looked back to Komilia with a ‘what-is-wrong-with-you’ expression before back to the men, “it’s rigged! If we have company, we need to get out of blast range, now.” Maeva was already walked towards the opposite direction from the trap and pulled out her blaster.
Drethak sensed lifeforms outside, but could not make them out. He noticed Jaz picked up on it too. The Dashade stopped just shy of the doorway as Maeva called out. He looked down at the trip laser. I wasn’t paying close enough attention to her.
He backed up a few steps and placed his crate down next to a pillar. He scanned the room and found a dark corner towards the rear. Drethak stood facing the door, clasped his hands behind his back, tilted his head up slightly, and closed his eyes.
The Force began to drawn in toward him as he focused on the outcome of the battle to come. He focused solely on winning through force and destruction.
Jaz’s eyes widened as Maeva gave her warning. Slowly he turned to Komilla, who still looked quite proud of herself. He sneered beneath his helmet.
“Gods, is this what Vincent feels like all the time?” he asked himself
As he stared down the girl in the Mandalorian armor that she almost certainly didn’t earn, he noticed a scorpion crawling up her abdomen. It crept its way up her body, looking as though it was going directly for the space between her helmet and her armor. For a moment, and only a moment, he considered letting it.
”Maeva warned her. It’s not my fault she’s oblivious. Maybe this is what’s best for everyone.”
After a second he growled at himself for allowing the thought. Was he no better than her? As he growled he raised his right arm and pointed it at her. To the others, it must have looked like he was about to fill her body full of whistling birds. He could almost feel a collective gasp, then he pressed a button on his vambrace with his left hand.
The Dur-24 Wrist Laser attached to the vambrace screamed out as dual lasers fired from his wrist and made near perfect contact with the head and body of the scorpion as it crawled onto her shoulder, missing Komilla’s shoulder by millimeters. The scorpion screeched as most of its body vaporized and the rest of it fell to the floor.
“You should pay closer attention. The lady warned you about scorpions.” he said before turning to the rest of the group. “Everyone away from the door. Get to the back corner with Drethak next to that support pillar, if any of this building lives through the explosion, that should be the spot.”
The Mandalorian made his way to the area he had pointed to, pulling his WESTAR-35s and preparing for what came next.
“Oh you moofmilker! You could have hit me!” Komilia jumped as she brushed the headless scorpion off her armor. She glared at Jaz. “You have no class.”
She went over to where Elaine was crouched down. “Seriously…men…not a brain cell amongst them.” She looked down at her vambrace.
“Three…two…one…” The door was kicked in. They had enough time to register the face of the lead man before the explosion tore open the wall. The door flew off its hinges, sailing over their heads to become impaled in the wall. The man didn’t even have time to act surprised before he was evaporated.
The other attackers were thrown back away from the building. Komilia peaked up to see the doorway was now several times larger as cement blocks slowly tumbled down. She could tell through her visor that some of them still survived. Thankfully a decent wind was blowing the dust out of the way.
Two Weequays made their way through the rubble of what used to be a door.
“I swear I heard some whiny brat before the bomb went off. Make some more noise so I can find you better!” Kade stood there in the dust, gaunt and worn. His leathery features set in a permanent scowl with a cigarette hanging from his lips.
“Keep it down, Kade or they will find you first.” Rax stood unevenly, like one leg was shorter than the other. There was a twitchy grotesque looking scurrier clung to his shoulder. Both the creature and Rax looked ready to bite. “Easy now splinter. We will have some fun yet.”
As the dust began to settle Kade spotted Jaz and Komilia in full Mandalorian armor. “Check it out, Rax. We just got ourselves a bigger payday than the original score.”
“I call dibs on the blacked out armor,” Rax replied.
<@466040899970007041> <@679032520699805708>
Almost as soon as the two Weequays came into sight, Jaz fired the WESTAR-35 in his left hand without taking the time to even fully aim. His armor to weapon tracking system did most of the work anyway. The blaster screamed as a ruby bolt darted across the room and into the head of the one named Kade. His body fell to the floor with a dull thump. Jaz turned his attention to Rax.
“Well, you were right about one thing. We found him first.”
The Mandalorian raised the WESTAR-35 in his right hand at Rax. His finger was on the trigger and ready, but he didn’t squeeze it just yet. Instead, he spoke to the Weequay again.
“Maybe you’d like to take a moment to reconsider coming after this armor?”
“Shut up, both of you!” A male Zabark iwth orange and black markings looked around and he grinned at seeing Elaine. “Ho, a Force User?” His yellow eyes glanced to Elaine’s belt and a soft snap-hiss as a red blade illuminated the room. He grasped his own light saber.
“Here kitty kitty, pspspsps-” The Zabark teased as there was a menacing growl behind him, a black Vornskr emerged, it’s venomous tail lashed around. Elaine would be able to sense that the Zabark was very excited to see a Force User. He relinquishes in challenges. As for the Vornskr?
They simply like the taste of meat. They both started to charge towards Elaine and Callé.
“||Enough talk!||” A massive Herglic with strong armor spoke Huttese as she picked up the ruined door and sent it hurling towards the Dashade at an ungodly speed. “||I’ll get big guy, get the rest!||” Drethak would sense that there are a few Force User among the enemies including the Herglic, but the strongest one had yet arrived…
Maeva was hiding by the crates. Her being dark skinned and wearing dark medic armor had helped her stay hidden in the shadows. She glanced around for a good spot for her to shoot. The talk with Komilia will had to happen later. She holstered her blaster for a moment as she silently stepped on a crate and leapt up, her hands caught the edge of a steel beam as she pulled herself over. She then unclipped her blaster and took few shots at the Herglic. She knows Huttese so she assumed the Herglic was the boss.
-# <@971875986654257162> <@111293136042504192> <@466040899970007041>
“I don’t know you! Keep your hands off my armor!” Komilia screached as she drew his grandfather’s lightsaber. The emerald blade sprang to life as she jetted over the debris in the room and began wildly slashing with her saber.
It was unrefined and effective. The remember Weequay looked stunned for a moment before his various pieces dropped haphazardly to the floor.
“That’ll show you!”
As Maeva fired her shots at the Herglic, a large Devaronian wearing black armor and a cloak walked into the room. He raised a hand and the bolts stopped in mid-air. His bright yellow eyes turned to the Herglic as he spoke to her in Hutteese.
“||If you have any sense in that tiny brain of yours, I would recommend you duck… ||” he said.
The Herglic hit the floor and the Devaronian released his grip on the bolts and watched them crash into the wall behind them. He looked down to see Kade lying dead on the floor, a hole in his head still smoking. His attention turned upward to the rafters and Maeva, the one that had fired the shots at the Herglic, and for all he knew, the one that had killed Kade. He snarled at her as he reached to his side and pulled a saberstaff. The twin crimson blades screeched to life.
“You will be punished for that…” he said as he swiped upward and sliced the rafter in two.
The rafter creaked as it tried to hold, but the building was old and nearly ruined in the first place. With a loud “SNAP!” the rafter gave way and Maeva came tumbling towards the floor with the broken wood.
Elaine reached slowly for her double-bladed lightsaber while looking directly into the Vornskr’s eyes, having a complete unspoken dialogue with the beast as the perpetrator’s charged the Equite and her Nexu.
Within a split second, Elaine exhaled a sharp, high pitched whistle and both Callé and the Vornskr lunged for the attackers.
Both creatures tackled a different target and plunged their fangs into them, unleashing carnage upon their respective prey.
That left one more for Elaine to deal with. The lightsaber wielder. Elaine arose from her crouched position, held out her double-blade with one hand.
With a sinister smile, looking directly into her attacker’s eyes and into his soul, she ignited both ends of her lightsaber and charged towards him.
Maeva quickly scrambled and jumped at the same time as the rafter is falling and her fingertips barely grasped at the other one. She gritted her teeth to refrain from flailing because it would make her more likely to slip as she adjusted her grip on the edge. Her blaster had fallen with the rafter so, hanging with one hand, her teeth gritted harder as her arm was burning, she got out her slugthrower and aimed it the Devaronian.
Her eyes were focused as she pulled the trigger. The loud shot echoed through the room. She quickly reholstered her slugthrower, not knowing if it hit or not, and focused on pulling herself up.
The Herglic was running after the door to attack Drethak, but the Vornskr charged as it went for the Herglic’s leg. It’s teeth started to crush her armor. She yelled as she grabbed the Vornskr by the scruff of the neck, snapping it, and flung it towards Callé. The tail stood no chance against her armor.
“You schutta!” The Zabrak howled, and charged to Elaine. He blocked the double saber attack, his free hand rose and the rafter that had fallen was thrown towards Elaine.
The Devaronian’s eyes widened as he saw Maeva pull a slugthrower and fire it at him. In an instant he darted away, but not quite quickly enough. The slug grazed his left shoulder as he moved out of the way of what would have been a shot to his heart. He growled out in anger and pain, turning back from a small distance to face the woman hanging from the rafter.
“You just don’t learn, do you?”
He postured up as if he would rush back in at Maeva before she could pull herself up to the rafters again, but was distracted briefly by the sight of the Herglic’s own Vornskr attacking her. That problem was quickly resolved, so the Devaronian turned back to Maeva. He raised his saber to take a swipe as he rushed in on the hanging woman. As he got close enough to strike, Jaz raised an arm and shot a cone of flames at the Deveronian. He screeched as he was forced back and away from Maeva.
Drethak felt the danger before it lifted into the air. His focus snapped toward the doorway. He reached out in the Force to snatch it from the air. The door caught for a fraction of a second.
BAM!
It slammed into his chest and knocked him back into the pillar behind him. The impact to his head rang through his skull. For a moment everything went dull and quiet.
Sound came back first followed by the awareness of the room. He pushed a breath through his teeth and forced himself upright. His jaw tightened as he struggled against the haze that tried to settle in.
His eyes focus on the Herglic. Electricity sprung from his hand but his balanced faltered. The lightning made contact and had almost missed. Drethak couldn’t get his head straight. His focus struggled as a concussion crept in.
The vulnerable Nexu was knocked off of his prey and pinned by the dead Vornskr as he thrashed around, trying to get free. The Weequay Callé was pursuing, stumbled to his feet and drew his blaster as he slowly made his way to the pinned Nexu.
The Weequay laughed. “Stupid cat.”
Elaine’s greatest strength was also her greatest weakness. She found herself distracted by Callé’s misfortune and found herself violently taken back by the rafter thrown at her. Her head took the brunt of the blow and began to bleed as a result.
She stumbled backwards and found herself fallen onto one knee. Her head was throbbing and spinning as she shook it to clear the dizziness.
Ugh! she thought, I will not be made a fool of!
Elaine wiped the blood from the side of her face with the back of her hand. She reached out a single hand towards Callé and strenuously lifted the corpse off of her companion and threw it to the side. The young female then turned her attention back to the Zabrak with a furrowed brow and cautiously charged him once more.
Callé arose to his feet and shook off the debris from the floor out of his fur. As the Weequay approached, he took a misguided step and crunched a few pebbles a little too loudly while also raising his hand with his finger on the trigger, aiming the blaster carelessly at the Nexu. The sound caught the feline’s attention and he pounced without hesitation. The Weequay caught off gard by the sudden impact, fired his blaster but missed.
Once again, the Weequay and Callé were on the ground. This time, the Nexu went for the throat of his perpetrator.
Maeva pulled herself up fully and tried to look at her surroundings from her location.
‘Drevdea, help me.’ Maeva silently prayed. There was a few that were injured already and they were still occupied so she couldn’t help them right now. She readied her slugthrower, aimed at the horny guy Devaronian, and pulled the trigger.
The Herglic bellowed at the Force Lightning attacking her. Her armor had started to crap out but she could feel her muscles tingling slightly.
“||You ugly toothed bastard!||” She yelled as she ran straight to Drethak to body tackle him straight to the floor.
Elaine stumbled backwards a few steps and regained balance, this time she made sure her footing was sure. She blocked the oncoming attack with her own lightsaber, the blades locking for a moment as both Elaine and the Zabrak ground their blades against one another, filling the immediate vicinity with a violent crackling noise.
Elaine pushed off the Zabrak’s blade with her own and step a few paces back before drawing her blaster from the holster on her thigh. She rose the blaster and aimed at the Zabrak in front of her but when she pulled the trigger, the blaster jammed and sent a sudden electric fritz through the handle and into Elaine’s hand causing her to hastily drop it causing a clatter as it slammed into the floor.
The sudden impact on the blaster caused it to fire and shoot a few feet away from the Zabrak’s head, the blaster bolt ricocheting a few times around the room but somehow missing everyone in the vicinity.
As they stayed busy, Komilia and Elaine gets a weird sense that they are being watched now and then. But it was a passing sensation. Though, Komilia would be more bothered. If she paid attention, she may have noticed the crates being moved into the shadows.
Maeva wasn’t sure. She had been so occupied to what’s going on and Komilia rigging the door with a trap, she never made a head count.
Was there less crates than before?
Jaz, with the help of his helmet and his sharp eye, he saw slight movement behind the Sith. He would’ve seen someone rapidly appeared only for a moment for their hands to grasp the edges of the crate, and to be hidden in sight.
The crates numbers are slowly dwindling.
-# <@971875986654257162> <@679032520699805708> <@466040899970007041>
The Devaronian snarled as he looked up just in time to see Maeva point the slugthrower and pull the trigger. He tried to move, unnaturally quickly, but once again he was in the line of fire. This time he knew he wouldn’t be quick enough to save himself. Against his better judgement, he threw his lightsaber up to block the shot. One of the crimson blades intercepted the slug just in time, but as expected, it did not deflect. Instead, the already hot metal melted into a liquid form and hit his armor in three different places on the chest. The armor managed to stop two of the smaller liquid metal beads, but the largest of the three penetrated. He howled out in pain and anger as the metal melted through his skin and entered his upper chest near the left shoulder.
How were the crate numbers going down? What was going on? More Force Users? She had heard rumors of those that can hide in plain sight.
Were they possibly outnumbered?
“Wait, hold on!” Maeva quickly said using her gentle and calming voice. The Evereni-hybrid held up her hands. Her hold on the slugthrower’s grip had became loose as it aimed towards the ceiling.
“You can take the crates and - ” She continued to use her soothing voice as she reached to underneath her thin medic armor with her free hand and showed her black Kyber crystal necklace she had on.
“This used to belong to a Nightsister, you can have it after you let my friends go. I can… even patch you up. After they leave.” She released her hold on her necklace as it hung over her shirt. She maintained eye contact with the angry Devaronian as her hand reached to behind her to the side of her backpack and there was a soft click. She then showed that she had a bacta container kit on her.
The Devaronian’s face changed from anger to confidence in a matter of seconds. He instantly recognized that the necklace was a rare kyber crystal, and now she was offering it up just to make them go away. How truly pathetic. He approached her closer, getting within an armlength of her. He pulled his saberstaff to his side, standing it up vertically so that it was clear that he had no intent to strike her with it. Then he reached up with his free hand.
“Give me the necklace, then we can talk about your unconditional surrender…” he hissed.
Maeva nodded as she set down the bacta container kit in front of her. Then with her free hand, she removed her necklace as she held it. He would be able to sense the Kyber crystal as it slightly hummed with life. She clasped her hand on his, the crystal now between their hands and yanked him forward towards her to force him lose his balance. In a swift move, she pressed the cold barrel at his head and pulled the trigger.
Blood splattered on her as she kept a firm hold on her necklace.
May Drevdea judge you fairly. She released the grip on his hand and kicked his body off of the rafters. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blaster was heading towards her and ducked but it hit her outer thigh as she winced. She could feel the burning sensation on her leg and the smell of her burnt pants.
She can patch up later, her eyes darted around to gauge the remaining enemies…
Even before Maeva went to hand over the necklace to the Devaronian, Jaz had noticed the crates moving, but no one there moving them.
”Karking Force users…” he thought to himself.
He could only assume that there was one person there, lifting and moving the crates one at a time, but he couldn’t track what he couldn’t see. He’d have to guess where the enemy was. He lined up his arm and sent a volley of 4 whistling birds just above the center of the crate. They dug themselves into the wall behind the crate without making contact with any being. Jaz cursed under his breath about the same time that a blaster fired from one side of the crate. On the other side of the crate, the whistling birds were enough to freak out the other enemy, who quickly dropped his side and lost his cloaking. A Kessurian. HIs eyes were wide as he looked down at the dead Devaronian. He grabbed his invisible friend by the shoulders and shook him until another Kessurian appeared.
“Let’s get out of here before we’re next!”
The red skinned Kessurian dropped his side of the crate and holstered his blaster. Both of them darted out the door. Jaz tracked them, WESTARs raised, but he couldn’t get a clean shot at them. As they exited the building, Jaz saw them pick up one the crates that they had already managed to sneak out. The lid to it bobbled and Jaz saw that it was the one before packed full of explosives. The Mandalorian turned to Komilla.
“Komillia! Those guys are trying to get away with our box full of explosives!”
<@679032520699805708>
At this point, Callé had already managed to sink his teeth into the neck of the Weequay with vicious vigor. When the life had vanished from his prey, the Nexu listened for his master and made his way back to her.
Elaine and the Zabrak maintained concentration on each other as they slowly circled one another, waiting for the maximum opportunity to attack.
As Elaine focused on her attacker, she was still aware of what was happening regarding the theft of the crates though she chose not to engage at the moment.
“Then I’ll see them in hell!” Komilia spun around to face the bandits. Her HUD clicked over and spun up their path. She leaned forward and let fly her jetpack mounted rocket.
The missile darted through the building, flew true through the door, and connected with the box of explosives. The resulting fireball engulfed the bandits.
The Zabrak refrained from jumping out of his skin when the dead body of his boss had landed next to his feet with a thud. Angry yellow eyes had slowly changed over to the one of fear.
“Frack this!” The Zabrak said as he started to run the opposite direction of where they came in and found an opening of the ruined building to get the frack out, leaving behind the Herglic.
Oh no you don’t, Elaine thought as she ran up beside the dead Vornskr, cut off the stinger on it’s tail with her lightsaber while keeping her momentum towards the Zabrak, and used the Force to lift and violently spearhead the stinger towards her target, plunging it into his shoulder blade.
A sinister grin crept onto Elaine’s face as she continued to pursue her wounded enemy. Callé listened and felt within the Force his master’s presence and followed behind her.
Komilia flew backwards stumbling over the crate behind her. A loud crack rung out as her helmet connected with the concrete.
Komilia was dazed as she shook out her head. “That was pretty…”
The Zabrak howled in pain as the venom pumped into his blood. He staggered forward from the blast but he was far enough and his armor protected him. Foam formed at his mouth as he fell to the ground, his body convulsed and the eyes rolled back to his head. He was obviously having an aggressive seizure.
It wasn’t long after that until he stopped breathing.
Maeva hands went up to her ears in a dreadful attempt to protect them from the explosion. The shockwave had sent dust and sand everywhere and she couldn’t see anymore.
The hybrid barely hear the pained Zabrak’s howl over the ringing of her ears and she wondered who that belonged to. She quickly tried to see what was going on while the dust settles.
Jaz smirked beneath his helmet as Komilla tumbled backwards. He had braced himself just enough to keep himself upright through the shockwave of the blast outside. He quickly scanned the room. The Devaronian was dead. The Zabrak was dead. The two Weequays were dead. The two Kessurians outside were basically vaporized. All that was left was the Herglic that was terrorizing Drethak.
Jaz raised his arm at the woman as she prepared for another attack on the woozy Dashade. The tracking system in his helmet locked onto her. He prepared to fire at her, but first, he wanted her attention.
“Hey! Say cheese!” he shouted at her.
The Herglic turned around, snarling at the Mandalorian, but her eyes widened as she saw Jaz press a button on his vambrace. All 8 of the whistling birds he had left shot out simultaneously. They screeched as they flew through the sky. All eight of the beskar projectiles penetrated her in various parts of her body. Blood shot out of eight different holes and splattered onto the floor. Her expression remained one of shock as a stream of blood ran down her forehead from one of the birds that pierced her skull. She fell backwards with a dull thud. The fight was over. Jaz immediately turned to Maeva.
“Are you okay?! I think Drethak needs help!”
“Ah, y-yea,” Maeva stuttered as she slipped off of the rafters and landed below, she landed gracefully but winced as the burn on her leg stung.
She ignored it as she hobbled over to Drethak and knelt by him. She reached behind her and got out a small object that looked like a pen until she clicked it on. A beam of light shine at the ends.
She checked his pupils and frowned as one of them was not reacting to the light.
“He has a concussion, but it doesn’t seem that severe. Still, we should get him to-” She stopped as she realized where they were.
Do they even have hospitals or something set up?
Vigo, for the love of all dead-
“Drethak, I’ll give you some pain killers and anti-inflammatories to help you not feel too much of a kist until you get to a proper hospital or medic center.” She glanced back to the crates. Well. At least only one was damaged.
“I think we should get him in the shuttle and finish loading it with crates, is anyone else injured?” She glanced towards the female Sith, her nexu, and the female Mandalorian.
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Elaine looked at Callé then to Maeva. Elaine wiped the blood and sweat from her brow with the back of her hand and pulled out a small black cloth to cleanse her hands.
“Only flesh wounds, nothing serious.”
Elaine knelt down and examined all over her Nexu’s body looking for any injuries. Seeing that there were none, she gave him a good rub on the head. A quiet happy roar sounded from the creature and as she stood back up to face the rest of the group.
Komilia bounced back to her feet. “Right as rain. Anyone else need to blow up?” She looked around eagerly.
Jaz looked around the room and saw that everyone but Drethak was in manageable condition. He sighed a sigh of relief that things had gone as well as they did. It could have been so much worse. Jaz reached down and helped pull Drethak to his feet.
“I’ll help guide him back to the shuttle. If anyone else was out there, those two explosions should have been enough to scare them off. Either way, I’ll keep my eyes open for any other danger.”
He looked to Maeva.
“Nice shot on that Devaronian. I guess we do have a lot to talk about.”
He had noticed her limp and saw the wound to her leg. He brought his hand up to her chin and guided her eyes to his. He spoke again, with a more gentle tone.
“Are you sure that you’re okay?”
“A-ah. Well… I have a lot of bacta so can help with the discomfort if you want. Just let me know.” She gave Elaine an awkward but friendly smile.
Maeva turned to look at Komilia and stared at her. She remembered Jaz’s warning and decided it would be best not to utter a word.
Jaz helped Drethak on his feet as she kept a watchful eye on him and watched his walk, to make sure he wouldn’t topple over. Maeva was strong but she wasn’t sure if she would be able to catch the Dashade if he toppled over.
Maeva heard Jaz’s compliment and she hoped that was a good shot. It was basically all she can do besides bandaging people up.
“Oh, thank you. Yea… I guess I need a hotel room?” Maeva chuckled and seemed sheepish. She wasn’t sure how long the date was going to bed and it was a bit of a travel from Kasiya to Seraph. She glanced down at her hands and saw a bit of blood splatter. She figured there was more on her face.
“You weren’t so bad on the Herglic…” Just how much would she be able to reveal to him? She had a bit more time to figure that out.
Jaz touching her chin and turning her face so they can have ‘eye contact’. She looked to his visor and felt her muscles slowly start to tense. Her brows furrowed in confusion when his voice had lowered and soften.
“I-” She stopped. Her heart was pounding faster than it was when she point-blank shot the Devaronian. What did he mean? The wound on her leg stung like a schutta but she had went through worse and it wasn’t that bad.
Did he mean about her killing?
She would need to find hotels. Their date was possibly going to be long. Very long.
Drevdea, what have I done? This is all so confusing… was this why you banned commitment for your followers? Did I anger my goddess?
“…. yes…?” Maeva hesitantly answered, confused to the direction of the question.
She didn’t like the confusion and quickly went to her weird coping method, “did you know that bodies hit rigor mortis about two to six hours after death but depending on environment?”