[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Valiens Nantaris"]
There was bloodshed, chaos and plenty of explosions. Due to the speed of their assault and the significant firepower they had deployed, the Eldorai had the upper hand at present, having inflicted strong casualties upon the corsairs, though their own troops were far from unscathed. When it came to numbers alone, both groups were about even, though the Eldorai compensated this with better training and equipment. Then again, their mission was not to take over the planet, they were above all here for one thing: The lost Eldorai.
Still, the battle was still raging and the base was very large. Not to mention there was a very confusing maze of mangroves, swamps and caves that, as the Eldorai soldiers moved in deeper, made for a very claustophobic battleground that was ideal for ambushes, especially since unlike them the pirates knew the terrain well. "Lady Seraph, the scum is retreating into the forest towards the caves. We're taking heavy losses from ambushes and mortar fire," a transmission from one of her Host Leaders came through her comm.
Kaida gritted her teeth as she tried to stand, leaning against some debris. "Pull the troops back for now and secure the base," she ordered curtly, picking up her communicator. "Captain Aelrindel, I'm sending you new target coordinates. We're going to roast the pirates out by dropping incendiary bombs on the forest. I want a firestorm burning it down." Extreme? Well, Kaida did not think so. Doubtless a number of pirates would be able to flee to the caves, but a great many should perish in the inferno. Moreover, putting a good chunk of the forest to the torch would serve as area denial, meaning they would find it more difficult to carry out a surprise attack on the Eldorai.
"Affirmative, ma'am. Glory to the Goddess." Kaida did not respond to that and cut the connection, instead choosing to focus upon the simple fact that she had taken a rather severe beating. Indeed, she could barely stand and the pain had become simply agonising. Taking a very deep breath, she tried to focus and pull at the tangled web of the Force as she sought to harness her Sciia. Kaida had started dabbling in Force healing, but that was an ability she was far from proficient in, so instead she called upon her cryokinesis. She panted, but managed to will cold moisture to spread across her open wounds, washing away the blood and cleaning them, then, exertion evident on her, willed her power to seal them. Needless to say this was accompanied by drastically lowering her body temperature to an almost unhealthy level. Doubtless this would be little more than a band-aid and she would need actual medical attention, but it would keep her going.
It was at this point that the Angelii soldier Coryth had sent reached her. "Lady Seraph, Jedi Mistress Elaris requests your presence immediately. We've...found captive Eldorai!" the soldier exclaimed, seemingly out of breath, shock and surprise evident in her words.
And so the truth spreads. In another time Kaida would have been happy about that. "Take me to her. No word of this to anyone outside of the unit. Understood? Good," she ordered gruffly, limping slowly past the debris and the dead bodies that were strewn across the wrecked base where fighting was still ongoing. A few captured pirates were being put up against the wall and summarily executed through a hail of blaster bolts, though Kaida paid them no mind. She ultimately found Coryth along with a few freed slaves. Even after all she had seen, it took Kaida a moment to realise that, yes, these were Eldorai. Who evidently came from a planet that was not Kaeshana, no matter how mind-boggling this was.
The slaves looked frightened, badly beaten and malnourished, bearing the scars of abuse and heavy labour. One of them, a woman, was dark skinned and had short white hair. The latter did occur amongst Eldorai, but on average they had fair skin...those on Kaeshana. Likewise she had what Kaida surmised to be tattoos, though she could not discern their meaning. "Get them some water," she ordered a minion as she approached them. "I am Kaida Taldir. You're safe. We'll take you away from here...away from the scum," she said very softly in Eldarai.
However, the slaves did not seem to understand. The dark-skinned girl just looked at her blankly, and started talking in her own language, similar, yet very different. It vaguely sounded like Eldarai...and yet it did not. As if were a very bizarre dialect that had taken thousands of years to develop. Feeling a bit frustrated Kaida pointed a finger at herself. "Eldorai. Ashira's children. Kaeshana," then pointed at the young woman. She repeated the same words in Basic, then abruptly took out a knife and wrote the words out in the sand.
The woman looked rather puzzled for a moment, then seemed to understand...to an extent at least. "You...help? We...Xioqui...monkeighs...take us." Kaida placed a gentle hand upon the woman's shoulder, which made her flinch and shudder slightly, so the Seraph quickly withdrew. A trooper came over at last and handed the girl a glass of water. The former slave looked suspicious until Kaida took the glass and had a sip herself, proving that it was not poisoned or something like that.
"We are from Kaeshana," she wrote down into the sand, keeping it in Basic since it seemed that was easier for the girl to understand.
"Me Nahuatl. Ty...Tygara. You our people?" the girl managed to write out in a crude script, her hands shaking a bit less.
"Get our cousins to the ships and give them medical attention," Kaida ordered, making a gesture to a couple Eldorai soldiers and medics. Somehow she had the feeling that communicating would be so much easier if Chesna Chinue was around to help translate, as annoying as that woman was! "We're pulling out. Corsairs will be rallying again soon." Their lost cousins...the revelation was earth-shattering. Far behind her the forest was bathed in flames as from high above the Gunships dropped their bombs, creating a firestorm.
