Animals

[Zef Halo]

Fear.

Just like Lord Fa had implied was a potent emotion, a source of energy, a source of strength. Funnily enough, that statement would be put to the test very soon.

The trio's path led them to a wall. An obscure unison of various junk scrap. Certainly not a product of long decay and the passing of centuries. No, this was man made. Maybe not man but certainly made deliberately by a sentient. Maleagant, once again the boldest, approached it swiftly and as if his touch upon the surface of the artificial brought the storm upon them.

The storm of these Cthon. Creatures Vitor believed had existed only in his bedtime stories.

It was fear that saved him from being dismembered, proving Lord Fa's initial theory right. The fear had kept him on the edge and it came to no surprise when a blade of red plasma came into materialization splitting one of the Cthon wide open. From the gutter that splattered around, Vitor had been blinded to the other Cthon that jumped upon him and tackled him.

The acolyte fell hard on his back, the saber deactivated in his hand. He would've become a meal for the monster if it had been Vitor from a few months ago, the same Vitor that was saved by his Master from the cannibalistic savages on that cursed planet in the middle of nowhere. Today Vitor was no longer the man who had to depend on others, today he would rupture the Cthon's flesh with his own mouth if he had to but not remain helpless.

The bludgeon came in hard towards his face but a swift warning from the Force diverted the attack to his left shoulder. The spikes upon it dug deep into his flesh and the silent cry he howled ignited the flames of anger and hate. Just like an animal surrounded by the maw of death, so did Vitor raged and demanded to cause the same harm to his assailant. A vicious, unstable blast of Force sent the Cthon flying aimlessly into a nearby wall.

​

[member="Tai Fa"] | [member="Maleagant"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"] | [member="Maleagant"]​

​

In chaos and madness a lone voice stayed silent and calm.

Lord Fa was a cautious individual, this caution had served him well in this instance, when Maleagant walked up to the wall and was repaid with his boldness by the screeching sound of Cthons bursting out of the wall. They were ugly, yet, it was strange how well-groomed they were compared to their usual kin.

One of his allies was pinned to the ground, while his acolyte already made short-work of the first one attacking him.

From the span of his wing lightning erupted. It cackled, twisting and turning in the air, before it hit the first Cthon straight in the head, there it would sizzle flesh and bone. But while he was focusing on lending assistance to Maleagant, he did not notice the fourth beast circling around.

It attacked him from the side - only the blur flashing in from the edge of his eye warned him - he rose up his other wing. Which caught the brunt of the salvaged wooden club, as it came burrowing down at him.

The force of the swing send him careening to the side, where he dashed against the wall.

The pain called for anger and anger called for rage. Rage is a potent power, but never let it consume you. No. Ride the anger and fury like a wave, carefully balancing yourself in the moment.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

There was a lot of shrieking going on. Cthon war cries and nonsensical jabbering. But it sounded dull, far away. Maleagant blinked in confusion. No, it seemed he hit his head pretty hard on the ground. Garbage pathway or not, it was still durasteel underfoot. Old durasteel, but still durasteel. There was ringing in his ears and fog in his vision. Above him, he could make out the faint outline of the Cthon that landed on him. It was holding a rock in both hands, preparing to strike the killing blow by caving Maleagant's head in. No, wait. That wasn't a rock. There were no rocks down here. That was a toaster oven. And it must have been a prized one, too, because the Cthon had polished it. So well that it was shining... Or rather, reflecting light.

Maleagant's vision sharpened. What light source could it possibly be-

A burst of lightning struck the Cthon, forcing Maleagant to remember that he wasn't alone down here. That had probably been Lord Fa, Avendahl did not look like the lightning type. The lightning was cut short, however, so instead of being flung off of Maleagant the Cthon started spasming wildly. Its toaster slid out from its hands and clattered to the ground, followed by the Cthon himself shortly after. With the Cthon in the midst of electro-convulsions, Maleagant struggled back to his feet. The thing was probably still alive. Whatever. There would be time to consider that Cthon and the military applications of toaster-based weaponry later, right now there was a battle afoot.

The first thing he saw was Avendahl flinging a limp-looking Cthon into a wall. There was a horrible bone crunching sound where it landed, suggesting it might not be returning. The second thing to catch Maleagant's eye was the club-wielding Cthon that was bearing down on Lord Fa. Maleagant was too far off to close the distance. Normally this would have called for some long-ranged space magic. Maleagant, however, was a creature of instinct. An MSD-32 disruptor pistol was yanked from its holster and discharged a hot second later, lancing the Cthon through the side. The force of the shot sent it teetering off away from Lord Fa, where eventually it collapsed and started screaming mindlessly as the disintegration took place.

Just because Maleagant had stopped pretending to be Pollux did not mean he threw out all of the Givin's old weapons. That would have been wasteful.

 

[Zef Halo]

The complete focus upon his own fight had left him ignorant of the details of the others' fights. Either Vitor had still to learn or he had been fully confident in the two other Sith's capabilities to fend off these monsters. Up till now, the acolyte had believed the Cthon were nothing more than childhood scare stories. Apparently they were much more than that.

Vitor stood up from the ground and grabbed his fallen lightsaber hilt. He looked around at the aftermath of their short battle. Slowly the rage within him was subdued replaced by the acolyte's usual composure. He also felt his crippling fear gone from his system.

"So, do they usually wear tuxedos?" The former miner asked as he moved his left arm testing it. It hurt like a queen. He'd be careful not to use it unless he completely needed it. Medical attention could come later. "More importantly, if this place is completely abandoned why did it seem they had prepared for an ambush?"

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Tai Fa"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"] | [member="Maleagant"]​

​

Lord Fa calmly pushed himself off his slumped position.

His wing was carefully tested and found suitably healthy to be used - nothing broken, which was a good thing indeed. There was no use for him here, if he had a broken wing after all. The wailing of the Cthon did not seem to pass fast enough. Which was not a completely surprise considering his molecules were slowly disintegrating from his side towards the rest of his body, that was a... slow death.

Not efficient at all.

The Thirriken wandered over, head cocking slightly in curiosity, before that same wing lashed out. The edge of his feathers rigid and sharp, cut straight through the wailing beast's throat and silenced him.

"Thank you for your assistance." Lord Fa calmly said to Maleagant. It did not even come to mind that he had helped his associate before, so it had only made sense to assist in kind.

His attention was elsewhere already.

The big wall of garbage for instance.

"It seems someone has been busy here."

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

"No," Maleagant replied flatly to Vitor. He did not holster his gun immediately, instead half-turning around to shoot the Cthon that had been knocked off of him in the neck. No screaming this time. Small bursts of lightning could only kill ambiguously. Maleagant preferred to be thorough in the way only an illegal disruptor pistol could be. "Might be that they were expecting more bounty hunters. Probe droids."

With that settled, Maleagant returned the gun to its holster and checked his flashlight. No damage, thankfully. He didn't bring a spare. Maleagant did not fancy traveling by the glow of his lightsaber again. Not if there were a newer, more murderous breed of Cthon running around down here. The Shi'ido walked over to the one Vitor had bisected and nudged the severed upper torso with his foot, flipping it over. His eyes narrowed for a minute, examining the seemingly elongated fangs, the sharper claws, the intricate web of dark lines tattooed into its body. Eventually he voiced his observations.

"Those tattoos. Those are supposed to be unique to the Nightbrothers of Dathomir."

He wasn't familiar enough with Cthon to say conclusively that their features had been enhanced much in the same way a Nightbrother's might be on exposure to Dathomiri magic. Maleagant wasn't ruling it out either, but until he was sure he wouldn't comment either way. Most people would not have expected Maleagant to be familiar with Nightbrothers, their tattoos, or anything pertaining to Dathomir... But here he was. Clearly certain strains of Force Theory usually unexplored by Sith were being considered by the Shi'ido criminal.

How fun.

 

[Zef Halo]

Indeed, Maleagant was right. They might have been expecting more of the probes and hunters. In that case, the hunters and probes had reached somewhere beyond this point.

Vitor clipped his lightsaber hilt on his belt and inspected with his foot the Cthon that had been killed after the acolyte's force push had blasted him into a wall.

"Witches of Dathomir, Coruscani underworld, dressed up Cthons. This is getting even more messed up by the minute." He commented. "If they were expecting your bounty hunters then the hunters had reached further ahead."

"We probably still have a long way to the source of this madness."

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Tai Fa"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"] | [member="Maleagant"]​

​

After ensuring the execution of his little monster the Thirriken waddled over to where his associates were standing.

They seemed to be quite interested in the remains of the Cthon.

With some measure of curiosity he studied the remains himself. Of course, he had little on-hand experience with the Cthons, so he wasn't completely sure how they were supposed to look. But the clean uniforms, the smokey ink engraved in their skin were quite difficult to miss, even for a layman. Lord Fa's studies were mostly about the Sith, most of it found in the ancient libraries of the Graush fortress they had uncovered months ago.

A lot of valuable information and knowledge hidden away in dusty tomes and ancient repositories.

But this meant that Tai had little experience in.. Nightbrothers?

"I am aware of Dathomir, but what are these Nightbrothers you speak of?" The Thirriken inquired politely, before pushing his attention away from the corpse and towards the wall of garbage blocking their path.

Quite annoying.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

"Zabrak thralls of the Nightsisters," Maleagant explained rather quickly, apparently ignoring Vitor. "A few are empowered through their magic. Longer horns, physically stronger..."

He trailed off as if remembering something. From what he read, the process was also supposed to make the Nightbrother less sympathetic and more violent. Practically only a few steps away from being completely feral, if he was honest. But if that sort of magic were applied to Cthon, he was sure the change in sympathy and violence would have been mostly lateral. Cthon were already beasts. Yet whatever they were exposed to seemed to have made them faster, stronger, fiercer, and more intelligent. Maleagant saw no need to burden his companions with the technicalities. He had a reputation for being taciturn to uphold.

Maleagant shrugged his shoulders, appeared to feel a dull pain, and then started massaging his right one. "These Cthon might have been exposed."

Only might have. Usually those empowered either exploded when they died, or a green mist of Spirit Ichor was expelled from their bodies and they lost their considerably fiercer features. The halved Cthon corpse displayed no such phenomenon. Nor did the one Avendahl had flung into the wall. They would have sensed that. Were the Cthon being exposed to something else or just being bred and trained into stronger, more intelligent beings? Whatever the case, it was clearly being orchestrated by someone with origins on Dathomir. Those were not tattoos that showed up just anywhere.

Well, whatever. They'd figure it out. They usually did. "We should keep moving."

The Shi'ido meandered back over to the wall, lightsaber cracking to life in his hand. He began to carve an entrance.

 

[Zef Halo]

When Maleagant scurried off through the entrance he had made with his lightsaber, Vitor was quick to follow. The grasp of fear had been cut off the moment the young acolyte had sliced the first Cthon in half. Face your fears and you would learn to overcome them. Apparently this cliche phrase was not far from the truth at all.

The Helix Syndicate boss had filled Vitor's mind with thoughts. The man seemed always in a hurry down here, knew way too much, even more than his Thirriken Lord, it seemed. The acolyte was curious to how did Maleagant knew so much. Perhaps, it was the fact that he owned a massive network of information brokers ? Or perhaps something else. It made Vitor keep an extra eye on his associate. He wondered if Lord Fa had thought the same.

"Any idea how further more till we reach this stash of knowledge ?" The acolyte directed his question at Maleagant.

[member="Tai Fa"] | [member="Maleagant"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Vitor Avendahl"]​

It didn't truly bother Lord Fa that Maleagant knew more than him about this subject.

In his experience one could not know everything there was to know. You had to pick and choose, you had to make sacrifices in one area, if you wished to excel in others. Perhaps his focuses were less interesting for his associates - truly the wisdom of Feng Shui and how to brew a perfect cup of tea weren't of interest to them, but this had been his choice. A choice that Tai didn't mind at all and was happy to have made in the past.

The Thirriken did not have a lightsaber and lightning was not very effective in this situation. As such he simply waited patiently for Maleagant to cut a path through the wall of garbage for them all.

In the meantime he made sure to watch their back - the last thing they wished was to be sneaked up on, while they were focusing on that wall. Having another gaggle of Cthon jumping on their backs while they weren't paying attention would probably be embarrassing for all of them involved.

The snap-hiss of the lightsaber was followed by the sizzle of metal being cut around.

Wouldn't be too long.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

On the other side of the wall, the garbage path ended abruptly... Then began again several feet ahead of them. There was a neat, perfectly cleared square where refuse had once completely obscured the durasteel pathways. Had all that garbage ended up in the wall? Maleagant didn't see where else it could have possibly gone. The Shi'ido cast his eyes about the area suspiciously. At the very least it didn't seem like they were going to have to deal with Cthon jumping out from garbage walls again. Now he was expecting them, though. If they jumped down from one of the rotting buildings that crowded around this path, Maleagant would be ready. No one got the best of him twice in a row. Usually, anyway.

In response to Vitor's question, Maleagant inspected his datapad. "Shouldn't be long now..." So impatient. If Vitor had better things to do, he should have stayed home. Maybe rearranged the furniture in Lord Fa's office, or whatever it was the Thirriken usually had him doing.

"It looks l-"

An arrow shot out from somewhere in the darkness, perhaps above the trio and to their right if any of them had been paying attention. It embedded itself in the garbage wall with a light thud. Just above where Maleagant had carved an entrance. How convenient. It started beeping rather loudly.

 

[Zef Halo]

They stopped in front of a clearing where the path ended, unnaturally. Maleagant seemed to be busy with his datapad when the tingling sense of danger crept through Avendahl's spine. If it was an arrow for his heart, it would've struck him. The acolyte's precognition capabilities were still meager at best. Fortunately for him, the whistling sound of an arrow passed by over the trio of Sith's heads and landed upon the garbage wall behind them.

Then it started beeping.

With a dumbfound look on his face, he looked at the two of his associates for some sort of guidance. Beeping noises were never a good sign, it reminded him of nasty explosions to follow.

"Is it a good time to run now ?"

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Tai Fa"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"] | [member="Maleagant"]​

​

Tai was paying attention to their surroundings.

It was the only thing he could do with the task of cutting through the wall being handled by Maleagant. Of course, sharp eyes noticed immediately that the trajectory of the arrow wasn't leading into them, but they also noticed that the arrow was... strange. The beeping only tipped him off more that this was a problem.

A big one.

Already a blue iridescent hue projected itself across himself. A strong barrier that would keep the damage off of him, but that wouldn't help either of his two associates.

"Run. Now." the Thirriken retorted swiftly, before his form blurred and he practically jumped through the cut hole and back from whence they came. Presumably the others were also with him, before the explosion triggered itself and they were bathed in hues of fire and the explosion launched them further up ahead.

Tai crunched against a wall, the only reason nothing broke was because of that same barrier.

But it hurt regardless. His little form slumped across the wall and there he crumbled on the ground, while groaning just a little bit.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

Instinct was a fickle mistress. Since Maleagant had ventured away from the junk wall when the arrow hit, it did not seem prudent to run towards the exploding arrow. The moment the beeping started, Maleagant had begun running away with nothing more than a rude grunt offered in answer to Avendahl's question. There would be time for witless banter after he had escaped certain death. Maleagant took several large strides before diving head-first into an alleyway. He heard the explosion behind him, feeling the air get sucked in. His ears were ringing. But by all appearances he had emerged relatively unscathed. Perhaps some minor singing to his back...

Speaking of a burned ass, he hadn't seen which direction Vitor had gone in. Maleagant dimmed his flashlight as he steadied himself, rubbing an ear with his other hand. If they were being watched by someone with a longbow, better to not give away their position. "Vitor?" At this point, Maleagant assumed that Lord Fa had been quicker than him and got out of range. Though if that explosion had caved in the garbage wall, the Thirriken would have to find his own way through.

Quality bonding time with Avendahl.

"Where did you-"

As Maleagant turned towards the end of the alleyway, another arrow landed right in the entrance. It stuck oddly out of the ground, as if held there by some sort of magnet (or adhesive?) and then began its rude beeping once again.

 

[Zef Halo]

Whelp.

It didn't take more than a second before Vitor would dash away from the dreadful noise of the arrow just like Maleagant. He could hear his Master say something but in the heat of the moment, Avendahl was deaf to it. The fiery explosion sent him flying into one of the ruined building's walls and this time the acolyte could not luckily escape the damage upon his left shoulder. It cracked obnoxiously as he hit the wall, an instinctive tap at the Force had saved his skull and spine breaking.

As the dust dispersed from the explosion, he barely heard Maleagant utter his name. Ear drums whistling and sight blurring out meant that this was a close call for the acolyte. He had an intense headache and barely fell down on the ground when he stood up.

"Here. Where's Lord-"

Beep.

Beep.

Beep......Beep.

"Can't you send it away somewhere with the damn Force?!" Vitor roared knowing well that his capability to outrun this one might result in his death.

He felt like a caged animal on its way to the slaughterhouse.

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Tai Fa"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"] | [member="Maleagant"]​

​

Tai blinked once, twice and a third time, while trying to make out the shapes in front of him.

Two of them, one was carrying a light and the other one had amber eyes... ah, Maleagant and Vitor coming to his aid. It was always a beautiful thing to behold when two trustworthy associates showed their loyalty to- Why was burning eyes raising a club? Since when did Vitor carry a club in the first place?

The Thirriken blinked again and suddenly the image became crystal-clear to him.

Two more Cthons and one of them was holding a flashlight. Focus, his eyes snapped back towards the second one right when he clubbed him over the head with the piece of driftwood.

Another time.

One more.

The thunking stopped and Lord Fa sank into a deep state of unconsciousness. Later on, if he survived this, he would probably groan in indignation, especially once he found out those two hooligans started dragging him away by his robe across the dirty ground. None of that was going to come off easy out of his fabric.

Where they were taking him?

Who the hell knew at this point.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Vitor Avendahl"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

Of course he could throw it away with the Force. If Vitor had just waited another second instead of asking such incredulous questions, he might have seen it happen. Maleagant's hand shot out as he directed the Force to his will. The arrow shuddered where it had landed on the ground before being yanked free, spinning wildly as it was flung far away from where Vitor and Maleagant had been standing. It vanished down an adjacent alleyway and, after another few seconds, exploded as well. There was a tumultuous sound as part of an already rotting structure collapsed in that area, then it died. Maleagant turned around and proceeded deeper into the alleyway.

It was a dead end, but whoever was out there wouldn't be able to get a shot in on them here. The angles weren't right. The best they could do was keep sticking arrows in at the mouth of the alleyway, but the range on the explosion would never reach far enough to get them. Plus, those arrows were probably expensive. Someone who lived down here hardly had the means to stock up on them easily. They'd play a more conservative game... But this was all guesswork. Rather than camp in the alley and wait for Lord Fa, they would need to deal with this insidious bowman.

Maleagant was beginning to piece together who could be taking shots at them with explosive arrows. His conclusion wasn't pretty.

"We need to get into this building and find out where he is," Maleagant coldly informed Vitor. Was he talking about the sniper or Lord Fa? Difficult to say. Priorities were always subject to rapid realignment. That said, finding Tai Fa would be easier if they didn't have to deal with exploding arrows every five to ten seconds.

The building to their right had a giant, gaping hole blown into the side. Unfortunately it was about two stories up.

Observant as ever, Maelagant looked at the chosen entrance and then back to Vitor. "Can you climb?"

If Vitor could not, this wouldn't be the first time Maleagant had abandoned someone who had outlived their usefulness in a cold, dark alleyway.

 

[Zef Halo]

Vitor had all his attention upon the new arrow to be able to notice anything else in his surroundings. Like the clubbing of Lord Fa, for example. He might've seen it in his peripheral vision but had not made sense of it at all. Not until Maleagant finally dealt with the arrow by sending it away and causing destruction in a place adjacent to where the three Sith were.

Vision blurring from time to time while his left shoulder was really making it impossible for him to move it, the acolyte still managed to quickly shuffle towards the dead end of the alley with Maleagant where they would not have to deal with the arrows.

Avendahl looked up at the opening in the building. It was approximately two floors up.

He gave a short glance back at his associate and with a Force imbued jump landed in the opening. Vitor had been training.

"Can you?" He retorted from above before turning his eyes in the darkness of the building. The hilt of his saber in his right hand itched to slice and dice their enemies.

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Tai Fa"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Vitor Avendahl"]​

In the meantime Tai Fa was not getting any of this, because he was still very much unconscious. It wasn't anything personal, of course, anyone who was personally acquainted with the avian Sith knew that he was always ready to assist his friends and associates. But this time around it was just out of the question. He might have been a wise and powerful Sith Knight, but there were limits that every sentient being simply needed to adhere to. Like the universal law that after getting knocked out, you needed to stay unconscious for at least a respectable amount of time.

Because why get knocked out in the first place, if you don't at least stay unconscious for some time?

Exactly.

So while his friends were off dodging and flailing about to evade explosive arrows, Tai was currently being dragged - quite roughly - through shards of glass, rough brushed durasteel and rocks.

Perhaps a shattered duracrete foundation or something else.

Tai Fa could not tell, because Tai Fa was unconscious. Which was already stated before, of course, but it was an important piece of the narrative and as such had to be repeated as often as possible.