Ascendancy: Assault on Bastion

[Arage Bao]

[member="Loxa Visl"]

As the Mandalorian staggered a lull in the fight was created.

Just for a brief moment where weakness turned into opportunity and allowed Malvern to act. Concentrated fury turned into unbound anger, where the Kelborn Commander tried to regain his honor and press his advantage. Deep, uncontrolled slices in the air as the beskad wooshed to cut something off from the Witch who dared to touch him.

Here the Kelborn had all but forgotten about Khal behind him, who already raised his blaster - strong, heavy and energized plasma clashed against the nutrition cage on his back.

Contrary to popular belief those cages and the ysalamiri inside of them were fragile to a wild degree. Usually it was possible to take them out with one focused strike, but Khaleel wasn't ready to take that risk. Instead the heavy repeater kept bursting out and burning through the cage.

The Force lashed back out inside of him... like an elastic string suddenly bursting.

 

[Blackthorne]

Sounds of beskad ringing against phrik filled the hall, strangely echoing beyond the reach of the ysalamir's bubble. Loxa met him swing for swing, parrying the deadly edge of the man's weapon with the unyeilding strength of the staff. He persisted, pushing her back with a strength she could not possibly match, though the Priestess had her own strength she exceeded his capabilities with her speed. Another glancing blow across the helmet gave him pause.

It was all that had been needed to put the man's greatest asset in this battle down.

Loxa felt the waves of power return and suddenly the voice of the Gods were in her ear again. Driven by their will and the aphotic energies afforded her, the Sha'Matri lifted a hand to grasp the warrior with the intangible. Her eyes filled with the glow of the ether.

"Dos inbal ofii'ya l'Phraktos. Lu'oh'udtila natha nesst an'yui?"

His body lifted from the ground, rendered immobilized. The man called out, cursing her in his own native tongue, and surely had his helmet been removed he would have spat on her. This was not a time for accepting what was. Raising her staff to bear the pointed tip at the man's throat.

"Balagoth orn inbal dosst quortek."

The illumination of her gaze changed then, shifting from that baleful lantern hue to a putrid, heinous green. The energies suffused along the length of the staff and coiled forth around him, peeling from his flesh and body the corporeal entity residing within. There came no screams, only a rattling gasp as the last parts of his soul left him, coalescing in the air around the end of the staff, encircling the shattered orb that once resided there to form a new crystal of dully glowing green.

A deft clattering announced the crumpling of the General's empty corpse to the ground. Loxa blinked the light from her eyes, seeing Khal in a strange haze of partial red. The Mandalorian had managed to leave his mark behind in the form of a slice just over her right brow, clean back across the side of her skull. It bled freely.

Loxa released a slow, heavy breath.

<<This one has what she came for.>>

And perhaps a little bit more.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"] [member="Ignus"]

 

[Figure In White]

Leos watched the fight. It was, well, somewhat quick? Fights typically weren't long and drawn out, from his experience. That said, his Guard hadn't arrived yet when it was over, leaving him standing there with the two that had just fought and defeated the Mandalorian. Awkward, at least a bit. It had seemed they'd come specifically for something, but he hadn't seen what it was, so he could only focus on the fact that they had come there at all. His eyes drifted over each in turn, and then looked towards the felled Mandalorian. The downside to his choice of using the Ysalamiri was that it could be easily killed in a fight with more than one person.

"Impressive," he said, lifting his hands to offer two light claps. "Though I'm curious what was so important that it got you to run a battlefield to get here."

He lifted his hands to indicate the place.

"Wherever here is. I'd wager you know what this place is, though. Mind filling me in? I am Ignus, by the way. Don't mean to be rude, I apologize."

Eyes drifted from one to the other as he waited. Somewhere above the Guard were making their way to his position, but he would be between them and the outsiders, so there was nothing to worry about.

| [member="Khaleel Malvern"] | [member="Loxa Visl"] |​

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Ignus"] | [member="Loxa Visl"]​

​

He turned to look at Ignus for a moment.

Armored visage which left everything to the imagination and with a voice that spoke of endless hours of diplomacy. But then his attention was pulled away by Loxa, he was about to retort when he noticed the blood flowing in a steady fashion from her wound. Brows furrowed in... an emotion, before Khal stepped towards her and left Ignus at the edge of his peripheral.

There would be enough time to deal with that one later.

Malvern clicked with his tongue in annoyance after he had a better look at the sliced wound, scratched in a single cut across her scalp. She knew, then, that if it hadn't been for the Sith standing nearby... that there would have been words.

Those words would be had at a later junction.

Instead Khal bit himself softly, letting blood well up as gift freely given. The tips of his fingers were already red and he brushed her head around the wound, where his skin touched hers she would feel a burn slowly spreading itself out. In the wake of the burning aura was fresh skin with the wound knitting itself, but it hurt because there was always a price to pay.

<< A man stands between us. >> Malvern responded in ancient Paceanth. << This one feels movement above us. >>

Furrow became scowl as the wound healed but Loxa's expression suggested discomfort.

<< Do we fight? >>

 

[Blackthorne]

Loxa was ... tired.

Not something she felt often but given the circumstances of the battle and the setting, it gave the Priestess pause at Khal's words. Pale golden eyes watched him for a moment, shutting against the sensation of fire along her skin as the man worked his own sorts of magic. So they had come up against yet another obstacle? This one unknown but arriving en force. Likely one of the Sith invading party - a group they held no chance against should they choose to fight.

<<No,>> replied the Zabrak to her companion, tone quiet, eyes opening to gaze upon the one in question, <<we have no quarrel with these people.>>

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Loxa Visl"] | [member="Ignus"]​

​

Malvern inclined his head.

In this he would let her make the final judgement - perhaps it was not the right decision or maybe it was the only right decision left to them. Difficult to judge when the blood was singing and the heat rising in his veins. If there was one thing that Khal was aware of, it was that his judgement skewed a little bit... once a battle was upon them. It was only natural to let her make the decision, then, when she was more level-headed than him.

"Names have power in them, Ignus, but I suspect this was not your given name." Khal finally addressed the man himself. "Once this was a place of worship and a place of rule... no longer."

A shrug of the shoulders.

"It is nothing but dust now. Held together by false steel and promises. Do you intend to bar us from leaving?"

 

[Figure In White]

"They do, which is why I didn't give you my real one."

And why he didn't remove his helm. Showing his face could be detrimental for all he knew. This place meant something, but it didn't seem Mandalorian in make. It could have been Imperial, but he didn't know for sure and it would take him time to find out. He hadn't been paying close attention as he followed them down into the bowels. What he had was what was being given to him, and what was being given to him was absolutely nothing, which meant that he was going to bar them from leaving until he was given the answers that he sought from them. Chiefly he wanted to know their name and why they'd come.

"That depends on if you force me to do so, and on whether you answer my questions. Answer them and you'll likely have no quarrel with me. Who are you, and why did you come here?"

It wasn't a difficult question to answer. If they refused he knew they were hiding something. People that were hiding something were suspicious and worthy of being detained. He could hear the boots of his Guards drawing closer now. Soon he wouldn't be alone.

| [member="Khaleel Malvern"] | [member="Loxa Visl"] |​

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Ignus"] | [member="Loxa Visl"]​

​

Coiled claws scrapping at the thin veneer of civility and restraint bucking under the pressure of barely contained wildfire.

It was only Loxa's hand curling itself around his, giving it a little squeeze, that stopped the building of power within him and his attempt to wipe Ignus across the room. Instinct had moved him, but the Witch knew him better than most and even the subtlest twitch of shoulders was enough to tip her off on his thoughts.

Not often did someone question him, but today there had already been enough fights.

Sadly.

Perhaps some day there would be retribution, blood spilled in anger and offered up to the shadows coiling in the corners. But it would not be this day, this much Khal knew know while he drew patience from her warm touch.

"Sha'Matri of the Skarsovi Witch clans." Malvern introduced after a moment of thought, raising her hand with his a fraction to signify who he was referring to.

"Duster."

If Ignus had any extensive unsavory business dealings within Hutt Space or beyond they might find that name attached towards an organization.

The Exchange.

Large, spanning many sectors across the Galaxy, unassuming in its creeping spread and disciplined unlike the Black Ties or other rabble.

"She had left her staff here in this room and could not return while the Mandalorians' strength was at its apex."

Head cocked at the Sith standing in front of him. Clearly that apex was waning and a new power was slowly rising in this part of the Galaxy... would it last?

A good question.

 

[Figure In White]

Leos did not delve into the realm of Hutt space. The unsavoriness of the place made his skin crawl. They were a class of individuals that was far beneath his desire to associate with, except perhaps for the Bounty Hunters. They had their particular uses. Regardless, neither of their names struck a chord with him and he saw no reason to Force them to stick around, considering he'd been told where the woman was from. If he needed to find her later, he knew where to go to look. If he found her, it seemed likely he'd find Duster there too. The way the two interacted with one another made it more or less obvious to him.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Inside the helmet he smirked, but he stepped into the room and motioned for his Guard to clear the hall. They did so, and he motioned with his hand for them to exit if they so wished to do so. He had no reason not to allow it.

"You may leave."

When they were gone he was going to make note to have his people look into the two of them. Extensively. And he was going to find out just what the place they were in was a remnant of. He had his suspicions, but those were not enough to warrant action. Leos relied on facts, not possibilities. It wouldn't be hard for him to find out more on them if it was out there, and it wouldn't take him long to find out the nature of the Temple, either, as the information would either be gleaned from the holonet or planetary records. But for now, they could leave.

| [member="Khaleel Malvern"] | [member="Loxa Visl"] |​

 

[Blackthorne]

A calm, level gaze of gold watched the armored man with no trace of impunity or judgement. The Sha'Matri was a voice of Gods, it was not for her to judge others. Then, at the dismissing tone given, she loosed her fingers from Khal's and drew her hand shortly up towards his elbow with a faint tugging gesture for him to follow.

<<No more words,>> intoned the Sha'Matri quietly to her companion, <<we go.>>

Leading the Underlord past the man who did so raise his ire, Loxa bade [member="Ignus"] a respectful farewell with a dip of her head, "Namaste, Ignus."

As they moved by she gave a last cursory motion with her hand towards the discarded white robes on the floor, calling them back into her possession. Staff now firmly reclaimed in the other, the pair strode into the hall and out of sight. There would be no waiting or distractions. They were at their ship and leaving Bastion behind without much further ado.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]