Bowling For Siths [Tikzha]

[Josh Dragovalor]

The Jedi would gaze toward the Sith when she made that statement, as he would let out a sigh and manage to find time to hold up a finger in an unruly gesture - but the smirk on the Jedi's face would tell that he was joking around, of course. "I'll get you back for that one later" He would tease, the smirk becoming playful a moment. But immediately, the expression changed when a shot was trained on him and he would bat it aside with the blue-laced blade. Quickly, Josh would charge through the ranks, raising his lightsaber to deflect shots as he did so, before leaping into the air as he neared his target and driving his lightsaber square into his head - direct between the eyes. When it was clear the man wasn't going to be getting up, he would kick the body aside and turn to block another volley.

It was an odd sight to see - a Jedi fighting like that. Not for all of them, of course. It was generally something you might see with a Jedi Shadow - or even more commonly seen with the more militant Jedi of the Republic's Jedi Order that had started just before Josh had become Grandmaster, and had been a factor in him leaving - but for Jedi outside of that field, it wasn't something you saw often. It was more ruthless and merciless of a style. More effective in many ways, sure, but it was a contrast especially for the Jedi Master known for his more non-lethal style if he could help it. But he'd hinted toward it before... Slavers couldn't be left alive. Dealing with them swiftly and fatally was the best course of action. A quick death was too good for them, he knew. But unlike a Sith, he still couldn't bring himself to make them suffer beyond the couple of seconds it took to bring an end to them - no matter how many hostages they took or killed or both in an attempt to use them against him in battle.

A little later in, after he'd projected his message to her, and Ophidia had suddenly barked her orders, the Jedi had happened to make his way behind her at the time, just by chance while he was fighting, mainly deflecting bolts while waiting for Ophidia to close the gap on friend and foe - seeing as he'd already taken out a few obvious enemies before she had done so and from here on out, it was a little more clouded. She would be able to hear a light guffaw from the Jedi at that statement, a genuine laugh - not something you generally heard in battle but it was there all the same.

"That first part could be taken in so many different ways" Sounded in her head jokingly, but when the Jedi managed to lock eyes with Ophidia, he did manage to shoot her a nod in thanks. This, of course, meant he now had full freedom to fight without worry of killing off their allies. Though he did have to admit he found her way of doing so, as well as motivating them, funny. He had fought in wars on the Republic's behalf before. He had commanded troops. He had delivered speeches to motivate them, because like them - he knew why they were there, he knew that many of them had lost family, or had family or friends they wished to protect. Back then, Josh had used that to motivate them, to spur them on. Being able to identify with them was an odd thing coming from a Jedi... But it had worked all the same.

Of course, he was no longer a part of the Republic, no longer an Admiral, and no longer commanding troops. But he could still appreciate a good motivational tool when he saw one. Even if hers was rather... Unique.

But he could see the effects of her words immediately. The shots toward the Jedi had decreased, he had noticed, and if any of them were dumb enough to shoot at him anyway, well... Ophidia would probably have killed them anyway if he hadn't killed them by accident. The Jedi would charge again, this time a clear target in his sights - one of the slavers who had continued shooting at him. The Jedi would bat away the blaster bolts they fired at him as he ran, the Force enhancing his agility as he would take off at sprint, before suddenly coming to a stop in front of the man and slashing horizontally - aimed right at his neck. The man was lucky, having managed to duck. But was he?

Apparently not - as the duck had played right into the Jedi's plan. No sooner had the man ducked that the Jedi's boot would rise up, striking the man square in the jaw with a hard punt, the slaver's form squaring up straight and staring up at the lights with their hands up, guard down, and completely vulnerable as the Jedi would slash through their midsection, quickly turning when another slaver would pull out a vibroblade and attempt to attack the Jedi. Quickly, the Jedi would fall prior to the strike, landing on his back all of a sudden before suddenly tilting to the side and sending a foot crashing into the slaver's skull, stunning them as well and leaving an unguarded moment for the Jedi to slash through the slaver's side. Side shots left it open as to if they survived or not, but it would certainly take the slaver out of the battle - and it had done the job.

What was on Josh's mind right now, of course was... How many of these guys were left? And where were they keeping the rest of the slaves? It would be an easy escape for Ophidia once the slavers were dead, and an easy route to freeing the slaves and escaping for Josh as well.

But somehow, he doubted every slaver was in this room alone...

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

A pair of bounty hunters shouted in protest as gravity left them. Their bodies shot up against the ceiling, slamming into the arched surface before being dragged back down on the hard floor by Ophidia's telekinesis. Their armours did very little against blunt force coupled with the power of gravity, and the shouts were silenced. Rather than just dropping them, the Rattataki threw the limp bodies at a third, adding a third to the pile that now crumpled against the wall. She would have continued, had not a shot streaked past her hood and seared a the fabric on her shoulder. Far too close.

As Joshua passed behind her, she swiped a few mock cuts after him to keep the charade of their fight present. She did not reply to his nod, but turned her attention to to a fool with a plasma grenade. He had intended try taking out both the Sith and the Jedi with a single attack, thus claiming fame for himself. However, when he was about to throw, he would find that the grenade did not leave his hand. Rather, his fingers flattened around it as though they were made of gel. Bones cracked as the hand moulded itself into a perfect sphere around the grenade. Then, it detonated. His form was sucked into the blast with a warped scream as his body imploded and then scattered.

With a number of threats dealt with, she turned her eyes on the fight around her ship. Her droid had picked off a few, but he was not a pure combat droid and he was outnumbered. Her body turned, and her body vanished. Her presence was still in the room, but she was nowhere to be seen. Then, a flash of red, the hiss of a lightsabre, the fall of bodies. Three of the guards gunning for her ship fell headless on the ground. Once more, she was gone. Every now and then, there was a flash of red and an obscured figure blinking in and out of existence. To a Jedi, she was not impossible to keep track of, but it would require focus. To the untrained, however, she was a ghost.

It cost her energy, but it saved her time and terrorised the opponents.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

To him, the charade had been dropped the moment that they had separated when the need for it, being to give the illusion of being preoccupied by one another to avoid either one of them from being shot in their prior, rather compromising position, had ceased. What did it matter if they were no longer fighting, when they could focus on killing their enemies and accomplishing their goals? Her troop would be easy enough to say that common sense demanded that the one thing standing in front of their goals were the slavers, and fighting one another was a waste of time, while their enemies wouldn't live to tell the tale. And if the Jedi found out? So what? He didn't care. The ones with brains would understand the reasoning. The ones that were blind, merciless killers? Their opinion didn't mean a damn thing to him, and they were the ones who had ruined the Jedi Order that he had grown up in to begin with. But he supposed whatever made her feel secure in keeping this charade up... It was only the Republic idiots who had a "Kill all on sight" order for Sith, after all, it didn't effect him. Tikza had done him no wrong, he had no reason to bring her harm. But if that was what she wished... So as they passed one another, he swiped at her in kind, heeding her desire to keep the act up as he passed. Their lightsabers would impact for a quick moment and sparks flew between them, but it wasn't long before he fell on the next idiot who had decided that shooting at the Jedi was a good idea.

It was there (Once he had stabbed a lightsaber between the man's eyes) that he realized that someone was trying to throw a Plasma Grenade. But before he could get to them, he noted that their hand seemed to be stuck to it, and the explosion only took the would-be thrower. Tikzha's work, he would bet. He smirked faintly toward her, noting her little disappearing act. He'd have to make note of that for later...

The Jedi would use the commotion she was creating to sneak up behind several of the slaver forces, leaping in from behind them and slashing through one's back, before cutting down another via their side, and then ducking a vibroblade slash to stab through their chest. As one tried to jump him from behind, a SNAP HISS could be heard as a lightsaber would suddenly protrude from behind him and impale the would-be backstabber. Josh smirked a bit as he would spin the second lightsaber in his hand for a moment before deactivating it and putting it away. He didn't need it full time right now, but he certainly did know how to use it when the time came...

One idiot would decide to leap onto the Jedi's back, to try and stab him with two small daggers in their hands. But before they could do a thing, a blast of energy radiated from the Jedi as he let out a fierce battle cry as he used Force Repulse to send the poor sap slamming straight into the wall. If he was still living, the Force-controlled lightsaber spinning toward him that would cut off his head would make sure that didn't stay.

The numbers were thinning out... He was pondering now if there was a chance they could make a break for it and accomplish their goals... Or perhaps they should stay and continue to increase their chances.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Thinned out was not enough. She needed to set an example, send a message written with the tip of her lightsabre; the crime lords would know that the Sith were not to be trifled with. She could keep up her dance under the cloak of shadows for a little while, but had to stop. It drained her of energy, she could not afford to let her guard down. After the last flash and streak of red, she remained standing. Her breath was heavier and her stare a little more intense as she looked about the room. She noted the remaining persons, who was on which side? What was the situation?

Not counting herself, Joshua, her droid and her prize, there were a dozen still alive. Which was close to one tenth of the original populace of the room. Five of the twelve remaining were hers. Two of the five were badly hurt, three were still fighting. Out of their seven adversaries, three were badly injuried, but still fighting. Two still were pinned down behind pillars, probably low on ammunition. Two more were mobile and fighting, probably looking to escape rather than win.

The factor of Joshua could account for all seven, but they seemed more focused on fighting each-other than fighting the Force Users, again fortifying her idea that they were more focused on escaping than actually winning. After all, they were lowly mercenaries, not some sort of royal honour-guard. Another thing Ophidia did notice was that the two who were pinned down were hiding behind one of the pillars she had cracked while fighting Joshua.

Slipping behind cover, she focused on the cracked pillar and reached out through the Force. She bit her lip in focus, and the masonry cracked, shifted, then fell A portion of the stone ceiling collapsed down, crushing everyone beneath it. Light streamed in, along with a torrent of water from the pool in the floor above. That ought to shift the dynamics of combat.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

Spoiler

Sorry it took so long to reply. I've been quite busy with FO-stuff and school work.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He didn't care about sending a message at this point. He was here for the slaves, and to destroy the slavers before they could enslave anybody else. But if she wanted to send a message about fear and Sith and all that? She could go ahead. So long as it didn't interfere with their work, she could do whatever. He noted her disappearing and re-appearing trick, and pondered it's similarity to his use of the Current. With training, perhaps he could use the move to strike from the shadows himself, even if it did take quite a bit of energy... The question was, was it worth the energy intake? The Jedi Master was a monster on the battlefield, stealth wasn't really needed unless he could potentially be overwhelmed. In this case, with the numbers not being all that bad right now, it wasn't necessary. But perhaps he could figure it out for another day...

Well, if this got him anything, it was a few things to think about, he supposed. Ophidia was certainly quite adept though... Both in regular Force skill, and with the Dark Side.

The Dark Side...

He had to wonder...

Coryth was nowhere to be found, and Circe was too dangerous to trust...

Perhaps?

He would ponder this later. For now, they had a job to do. Five were still fighting, though some were notably injured. Josh would watch though, as two more who were pinned down were suddenly taken out when a torrent of Force Lightning would bring down part of the ceiling. He also noted the water coming down, and his eyes gazed around the area, looking for spots of high ground in case the water levels became too high. His lightsaber had been waterproofed from a mission back in the Republic, but water would restrict his mobility as well. Quickly, he would turn as two of the slavers would break and try to take the Jedi from behind, but would find themselves stunned and sent flying into the walls as the Jedi would let out a scream and unleash a repulse of energy of his own, in the form of Force Repulse. His expression had changed, it had become fierce, completely business minded... And just in time as the attack had drawn the attention of some of their remaining adversaries. He noted that one of the Force Repulsed had broken their neck on impact, and the other was badly wounded if not near dead already. He knew Ophidia would probably finish him off whether he bothered with him or not, so he would brandish his blade and make his way toward the remaining ones, whether they were fighting Ophidia's men or beginning to take aim at him...

Play time was over. There was no smile, no smirk. No flirtatious jokes. He had a job to do.

He continued to note places where he could move to if the water levels got any higher. He'd need it if he were to find his opponents in the water and pick them off.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The torrent coming down from the floor above was not tremendous. It flooded the floor up to one's knees for a few minutes, but rapidly drained out through the doors. The floor was pitted with little ponds where the battle had damaged the floor, and shallow pools where sitting arrangements dipped into the floor. A scream of panic cut through the scene as a female Devaronian tugged on a chain securing her to the wall. Her feet were submerged in a pool of water, the chain attached to her collar was trapped under a piece of rubble along with a bounty hunter. She pulled with all of her might, but the stone and metal did not budge. She was not a singular case either. There were several slaves who had hidden through the fight, but now scrambled for their escape. Some of them lay scattered throughout the room, victims of stray bolts and the blasts of grenades.

Darth Ophidia took another survey of the room, inspecting the new dynamics of combat. With the two she crushed and two more taken down by Joshua, she waved at some of her own to get out of there. Two of those still able grabbed the two wounded ones and started pulling them out, the third gave them cover-fire, but soon fell as he got shot in the throat and torso. He stumbled back, landing in one of the pools. The remaining targets were three, plus the one Joshua had left alive, but badly injured. Ophidia could see one about to run, two more trying to move to a new cover position while laying down covering fire.

The Sith Lord focused on the singular one as he turned to run. She focused in on his neck, constricted, then made a violent yank. She turned, making a throwing motion towards the cover where his two comrades were moving. If the yank did not kill him, then the landing did. The body clashed against a wall with the sound of a wet towel before falling another two metres to the ground with an equally disturbing sound.

Ophidia moved towards the wall opposite of the entrance, where she would carve her message. Her eyes were fixed on the masonry and the grip on her lightsabre shifted.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

It seemed his strategizing to check for high ground wasn't necessary, as the water seemed to stop rising at a certain point, or at least was slow enough that it wouldn't get far anytime soon. Well, there went that. Oh well. It wouldn't have been a problem for him, either way, just another addition to the terrain to account for. For now, he knew that Ophidia could cover the slavers while he handled the other side of this job. His senses wafted through the room, noting that several slaves scattered around were dead from blaster fire, causing the Jedi to wince, his fists clenching and shaking from frustration and guilt. At the very least, the others had likely gotten out of the room. He just hoped there was more that had escaped then there was dead... Although he knew there was likely more slaves scattered around the building, waiting to be freed. He'd made a mental note to find them before he and Ophidia made their escape with their respective slaves.

His gaze moved to the slave who was trapped, her chains putting her in a bad spot. Immediately, the Jedi Master would toss his lightsaber, using the Force as a means to cause it to spin and fly toward the chains and slice them, freeing them. As the lightsaber would fly back to him, he would quickly block a blaster bolt heading toward him from a slaver who had hidden for most of the battle and had picked just then to peer out and fire at him. The bolt would fly back and hit them in the face - and down went the slaver. Josh's gaze moved back to the slave. "GO! NOW!" He screamed toward the slave with a fierce tone of voice, motioning toward the exits where others had escaped.

He then looked to where Ophidia had been taking the attention of the remaining ones, and as he had expected her to do - had finished off the one that had been injured - leaving two more that were ducking behind cover. Cute. He watched her begin to carve something while he turned his attention to the cover the last two had hidden behind. Holding up a hand, he would clench a fist and swipe it to the side, the cover they were hiding behind flying roughly away, with a rougher, almost furious edge to it in comparison to his usual use of his abilities. The death of the slaves had definitely shaken and effected him, and while he was able to temper and control his emotions for the most part, if he'd thought of mercy for the slavers before, that was gone now. As the slavers opened fire on the Jedi Master, a second lightsaber would fly from his belt, the second blue blade activating the moment it was brought to his left hand, he would fly upon them, aggressively attacking them head on batting away bolts with the two lightsabers before he met them head to head, and with a few swift motions, the heads of the two remaining slavers rolled.

He stared down at them coldly for a moment, no remorse in his expression. These people didn't care that those slaves had died... They only wanted to line their pockets. The world wouldn't miss them.

Josh would walk toward Ophidia, not too close, but enough to speak with an indoor voice.

"What're the odds that was the last of them?" He spoke calmly, but with a cold, serious hint to his voice. "They've probably got at least one or two holding the remaining slaves encaged close by. And it wouldn't surprise me one bit if we find a welcoming committee at the exit. If that's the case, it'd be best you get your people somewhere near the exits while I get the last of the slaves. Once we do, we can meet up and deal with the last of these bastards, if there's any left. From there... Your folks can take your friend and get out of here safely, and I can get these people home. I've got a contact, I can handle them. The main concern's getting out of here" He would add as he would peer over at her, then toward the rooms exit, then back at her. He didn't care if she was a Sith, right now his concern was getting out of here with their hides, and their goals, intact.

"Thoughts?"

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

She did not take her eyes off the wall as she traced the tip of the lightsabre over the masonry like a brush. The cut she left was not deep, but it was certainly visible enough to read. While laboriously cutting the worlds and symbol into the surface, she listened to Joshua's words. Her voice in reply was even more dry and factual than usual as she was focused elsewhere.

"The camp holds a tally of 168 guards and mercenaries. I bought off 60, leaving 108. The In this room there were 119, of which 55 were mine, plus five watching the ship, which accounts for all of my 60. The 64 stationed in this room have perished, as well as 52 of my own. That leaves me with three men here, one of which is barely alive. Plus Three near my ship, my cargo and my droid. Meanwhile, the remaining populace of the slavers should count 46 vs. the two of us and a whole lot of angry slaves."

As if to accent her point, she finished her writing with a flourish. Sparks flew from the end of her blade as she pointed it down and turned to Joshua. While this was a very emotional matter for him, it was mostly a logical problem for her. Which, considering their respective creeds, was quite ironic.

"I estimate most of the remaining slavers will find the decimation of their camp to be far too demoralising. Rather than hole up, they will go for the ships and flee. The bolder of them may try to snatch a number of slaves during the commotion. Considering the situation, I also estimate they would go for fewer, but more valuable slaves."

She turned around and her eyes trailed up to the ceiling where the bathwater had formerly flowed through the collapse. If she were to keep prized slaves, then she would keep them somewhere up there.

"Find the most precious slaves, and you find the slavers. As for the bulk of the slaves -workers and the like- You will find those in the cellars unless they are being punished."

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

What was with these Sith and carving things into walls anyway? The lightsaber marks on the bodies of the slavers were a pretty clear indication that a Force User, most likely a Sith seeing as Jedi didn't normally slaughter people with lightsabers (Josh just happened to be an exception this time around), had probably done it. But eh, whatever made her happy, he supposed. The Jedi would lean with his back against the wall, his arms relaxed behind his head as he listened to her briefing on the situation. He had to admit, he was rather surprised about the number of slavers left, and his brows furrowed. "My scouts are karking idiots..." Josh would mutter under his breath with a roll of his eyes and an irritated sigh. If he'd known about those numbers, even he wouldn't have come alone unless he really had to. Even Josh - as headstrong and stubborn as he was - knew when he was incredibly outnumbered and outgunned. He had caught a lucky break when it came to Ophidia buying off a good deal of them, it seemed. Luck wasn't usually on his side, so this was a rather new thing to him.

It was ironic, indeed. But then again, Josh had already spent plenty of time being criticized by Jedi in today's orders for not thinking like a robotic being that only focused on fulfilling a goal and nothing else. Quite frankly, he didn't care. They did things their way, he handled business his way. Perhaps a long time ago, he would have cared more about their opinion on his methods. But as soon as you're stabbed in the back after 16 years of service once...

"Might as well let the ones not carrying slaves go. I don't like the idea myself, but time is short if we're to make sure they don't get away with cargo" He would respond, and casually shrugged. "When I spare a slaver, I usually see them again anyway. They won't live long. As for right now..." He began as he peered up at where she was looking at. "We could put stock in the idea that they'll leave the lesser slaves alone in favor of more precious cargo, and mount an assault on the ones retreating to their ship with slaves. The downside is, if we're wrong, the slaves could very well pay for it. Alternately, we could split up, one takes the ships, the other gets the lesser slaves out and to safety before joining the former in the assault. Downside is, we'd be divided up further then we already are since your men appear to be out of commission."

He let out a sigh. "There -is- a third option, though it's risky and not ideal. We could free the lesser slaves and have any combat bodied ones take blasters from the bodies of the slavers and join us on the assault. Unfortunately, their combat expertise may vary, and we risk casualties to the people I came to help. The risk may be greater then the reward in that aspect.

Do you have any suggestions to add?"

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

As Joshua commented on the fallibility of his scouts, she turned her eyes down to glance at him. Normally, the numbers were far less, and no doubt his scouts had reported something more akin to the norm. The numbers had swelled because it was known that a representative of the Sith would come eventually, and that they were none to fond of Hizdo's later initiatives.

"Or just not very good at their job. You really can't trust anyone these days."

The smile that spread on her lips was positively wicked. There were several paths they could take, as Joshua mentioned. She considered each in turn. Her men were never meant to survive, and those who did would have their memories wiped before she had them drafted in the OS Armed Forces. To her, they were cannon fodder, a distraction meant to die while she made her extraction. Of course, things had become a little more complicated since then.

"I say we break out the slaves and arm them. Let them fight for their freedom. I am sure there are many willing to die for that cause." -and for revenge.

As she talked, her hands ventured to her back, where they clasped in a military fashion. Her index finger traced over to a com device on her wrist. It sent a simple message, encoded in colour, to her pilot-droid: Code orange: 'Take the ship to orbit, remain out of sight'. She would rather not risk her ship being hijacked in a daring escape and her prize held as a last source of income for some low-life Zygerrian scum.

"Splitting up at this point would be foolish."

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Something told him it was more then that, but his irritation with them for the incorrect info had spawned his words for the moment, and not fully rational thinking. Their information was critical, and a wrong diagnoses could have spelled the failure of the mission, if not his demise. In truth, it was likely that the information was simply a bit dated, and wouldn't have accommodated for added security thanks to Ophidia, though if Josh would find that out himself was a mystery. Probably not. Their intel couldn't be perfect, would be his assumption, but it would be likely the Jedi Master would be more careful in future, and likely be more inclined to bring help next time if possible. Granted, it wasn't wise to begin with... These solo missions he was doing would end up getting himself killed eventually. They were reckless, and he'd been told that a hundred times by now. But he didn't feel comfortable bringing his Padawans on such dangerous missions, and there wasn't many people he could trust...

By her smile, he knew what she was going to suggest before she said a word. The slave option. He didn't like it, and really only brought up the option because he knew the moment she said "angry slaves" that she would have brought it up either way. He frowned when she highlighted that option, and folded his arms as he muled it over for a moment, seeming to be considering the pros and cons and potential consequences. He knew she'd pick that option, it was just how the Sith worked... No care for casualties, just so long as they got what they wanted.

"Not the most ideal choice considering it'd potentially defy the point of liberating them to begin with if they die, but..." He trailed off as he paced around, the gears in his head turning. It was a habit from his Republic days, when Grandmaster Halcyon had made the Jedi no more then glorified soldiers... An era that he hated with every inch of his being.

"The slavers will be on the run, no? Trying to grab what slaves they can and make a break for it. They won't be looking for a fight, they'll be looking for a way out. More people on our side shooting means more ground covered, means more slavers taken down and less slaves kidnapped, especially if we focus on the ones that are taking slaves who won't be as capable of shooting if they're trying to drag off slaves... We can let the ones just trying to escape without slaves live if they don't attack us or try to disrupt our operation, again, I'll probably run into and kill them later... Less parties shooting at us and the slaves, the ones we're shooting at unable to shoot back while struggling with their cargo... More results, casualties kept to a minimum. You get your friend out, and I get the slaves out alive" He mused aloud, and then finally took a breath.

"Alright" He decided as he looked at her. Not ideal, but if they played this right, this could still work. "We'll offer the ones we liberate the option to join in on the assault. If they cannot or do not want to, they stay in the back and out of the way of fire. Us and the ones who volunteer can stage the assault" He spoke as he would head off without another word to grab the slaves. Time was of the essence...

As for her last statement, he would turn to look at her, and simply said two words before continuing on.

"I agree."

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

As Joshua had his back on her, Ophidia rolled her eyes and pulled the hood back up over her head. She knew how it was to be in chains. She had once broken out of her cage and put those who would suppress her to permanent sleep. The sentiment she discovered then had never left her; she would rather die than see her captors escape. It was not a matter of justice, of righteousness; it was a matter of reclaiming ownership of oneself. Those who did not fight were broken, and they would always be slaves to someone or something.

She followed, keeping an eye out on their rear to make sure they weren't boxed in. She also mentally mapped their progress through the structure's interior, thereby keeping track of short-cuts and potential blockades. Even with a band of angry slaves, they needed to make a tactical approach. If they got stuck in a bottleneck, then their support would be gunned down too quickly to make a difference. Which, in turn, would make freeing the slaves a waste of time.

Slowly, but surely, she let Joshua gain more and more of a head-start on her, before she used the architecture to hide. Her presence became nil as she slipped into the shadows and dusty corners.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Of course, none of Josh's reasons for sparing certain slavers (The ones who didn't take slaves with them) were emphatic at all, surprisingly for a Jedi. The main reason was tactical, wanting to focus on the ones taking slaves to reduce casualties and ensure more success. But... There was another reason why as well. Truth be told, he knew full well what it was like to be confined and caged. Perhaps not as an actual slave, but being confined for years and being used as a sort of test subject... He had a pretty good idea of what slaves went through. And he despised the slavers for that.

No... None of these slavers would be getting out of this alive. Some of them just might delay their deaths by running without taking hostages, but in the end... They would always end up back at another slave camp. And what would that slave camp have? More slaves, and more slavers. The question was, how did he have these slavers lead him back to another encampment where he could put them down once and for all? Easy. The tracking devices he was carrying would do the trick. It seemed they both had plans cooking in this instance.

As he went, he would look back for a moment, noting that Ophidia had disappeared. While he didn't stop, wanting to get to the slaves as soon as possible, he would reach out to try and sense her. Sith were always known for one thing, after all...

If the moment came that he was unable to sense her anymore, he would stop and wait for her to make her presence known, though he wouldn't wait long as time was of the essence. His hand was clasped around his lightsaber as he went, prepared for attack from either friend or foe. Either way, the Jedi Master could see the place she'd pointed out coming up. They were close, he just hoped that Ophidia could stick to the plan.

She was right, after all. Splitting up would be a waste.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]