But With A Whimper...

[Ruby Wilded]

Ruby strained to overcome the effects of the sonic blast. Her ears still ringed like church bells. Sight blurry and everything she saw spun in triplicate. The girl pulled herself up on all fours. The best manageable at the moment. "Wherrs mmm swrd"? Ruby crawled forward looking for the blade but a few feet from her. Fueled by the raw hatred building up within her to overcome her bodies crippled state. It felt like everything was being pulled to the right as she had to actively fight the feeling of rolling. Ruby struggled on though, determined in her resolve to get this son of a scum pool. Her sword came in to sight, reaching out to grasp it. With a few fumbled attempts the hilt was gripped on to tightly.

Ruby again pulled up, this time to a knee. She used the sword to balance herself and continue to full height. "And you are just an insane dog who needs to be put down. Bomb a government building, a military outpost. NOT INNOCENT PEOPLE"!!! Ruby let go of whatever chains remained. Fully embracing the darkness to run free and wild with abandon. The power she needed coursed through her veins. The Dark Side heeded her call and came with more and more power, crashing like a mighty tidal wave at her. It would consume her at this rate, body and soul. Ruby flung out both arms, blood leaked down her cheeks like tears. An explosive Force Push shot out from her hands. One great enough to send [member="Craig Locke"] flying away.

[member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Animus Malgus"] [member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Craig Locke]

Locke saw the woman get up on her knee and scream at him, then raise her arms up. He could guess what was coming up as he saw blood run down her face. "You made me like this...", he whispered, beginning to slightly tear up. He attempted to raise a gauntlet to counter the wave of Force energy he knew was coming, but was too slow.

Locke went flying, off the building, out of the block. Mid-air, his mind switched back to Weapon mode as he checked his injuries, counting several broken ribs that would need a couple of days before his healing factor, another modification, fixed him up. But it was time to focus on the present. His descent was already occurring, and he knew he wasn't strong enough in the Force and had no modification to his body that would let him survive a fall of this height. Down, down he went, until his Infiltrator came out of nowhere underneath him with nearly 300 feet fall still left. Weapon quickly braced himself with the Force. This, he could survive.

Locke hit the ship's damaged hull, hard. He felt his ankles break and his shins fracture, but registered no pain as endorphins flooded his body, stopping his nervous system from recognizing the breaks. Crawling, Weapon felt for the hatch on top of his ship and flung himself in, falling into the cockpit. Quickly, ignoring all temptation to curl up and rest, he plotted a course out of the Undercity and the planet. The man would have to wait a while until the heat died down. His ship began to move...
[member="Ruby Wilded"] [member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Animus Malgus"] [member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Mythos]

The blast of Energy as Animus was coming down from the improvised hole into the cantina hit him full force as he was coming down blasting him to a wall.
Animus took some time to recover from the blast, luckily when he broke the wooden walls of the Bar place and landed outside in the floor it broke his fall and no bones or serious injuries would take him.
It was then Animus felt the presence of [member="Darth Ferus"] and it gave him strength, Ferus was here, he was fighting alongside him.... he would rather die than let his Lord down. "You will see what i can do Lord Ferus... i won't disappoint you. " Animus mumbled under his breath as he rose from the ground and leapt back up to the roof of the cantina.

Suddenly he saw the man jump into a Ship, He was escaping. The ship began to move... It was now or never, do something insane or have nothing to claim to have done, Bravery, Courage... Violence.

Animus leaped to the Ship, Lightsaber in hand and landed in the shutting cockpit and began slicing through the Ship's outer cortex.


[member="Craig Locke"] [member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Ruby Wilded"] [member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

Amid the din of counter-terrorist enforcers sweeping civilians off the street, Sage's commlink pinged noisily. He clicked open the encrypted channel for the Hands, Voices, and Shadow of the Dark Lord. It was Darth Ferus with a request for Sage to order a lockdown of all air traffic to thwart the escape of the bridge bomber. It was a costly move, but if the terrorist were caught, the boost to civilian morale would be priceless.

"Consider it done, Lord Ferus," Sage remarked.

Sage's next call was to trusty old Miles, the Coruscant Naval Defense Coordinator. Miles worked with directly with Coruscant Air Traffic Control to divert all incoming and outgoing air traffic, so that planetary shields could be engaged. It might have seemed like a Herculean task to some, but for Miles it was just another day at the office. The procedure was enacted so frequently due to space debris and asteroid collisions that Coruscant Air Traffic Control had it down to a science.

In a short while, the skies over Coruscant were barren of ships, and defense shields over the city proper were engaged. Any vessels that were unlucky enough to fly through them would find themselves seriously damaged, and likely unable to fly past Coruscant's atmosphere. (Att: [member="Craig Locke"])

Sage activated his commlink once again and crispy informed the leader of the Sith Assassins, lest he send his own men into the shields.

"Darth Ferus, deflector shields are now engaged. Inform your pilots to steer clear of them."

[member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Ruby Wilded"] [member="Animus Malgus"]

 

[Craig Locke]

Locke was crawling into the simple medbay in his cabin. A syringe of bacta was needed soon, or he would not be likely to walk for a while. Craig found it and was about to inject himself when an alarm was tripped, a blaring klaxon echoing throughout the ship's speakers. His wristpad lit up and read, "FOREIGN OBJECT ON HULL DETECTED. LOCKING DOWN ALL EXTERNAL ENTRANCES AND BEGINNING EVASIVE MANEUVERS."
Locke quickly grabbed the leg of a bolted down cot as the ship began to barrel roll, over and over again, sending unsecured materials in the medbay flying.
"FOREIGN OBJECT DISPLACED", his wristpad read, and the ship stopped spinning. That was that. He injected the bacta straight into his neck vein and sighed.

Another klaxon blared, and the wristpad lit up again. Locke sighed and looked at his monitor again. "WARNING: AERIAL DEFENSES DETECTED. CLASS V: DEFENSE SHIELDS. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: RESIST AND EVADE." Craig got up and, shakily, crawled over to the cockpit. His ship had reached the surface of Coruscant, and was plotting a way to a hidden area. Most likely one of the abandoned sewers or power stations that littered the planet, left to droids or mutants. He, in the meantime, would lay low and try the latest Sith code that an informant gave him on the planetary shields. If that didn't work, well, he could just hack. It might take a while, though. The Infiltrator blended in rather well with the various Sith ships flying around, so he could probably travel for a while without detection. His ship automatically plotted a path to a far-off sewer while releasing a surface EMP pulse, frying the hull in case a tracking device was placed as it tried to remain incognito...
[member="Sage Bane"] [member="Animus Malgus"] [member="Ruby Wilded"]
[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Only if the ship had gotten away. Darth Ferus had let go of [member="Craig Locke"] to avoid the rippers shot, but this only angered the Sith Lord. As soon as the ship of this terrorist came into view, both hands came up. All of the might of this powerful Sith reached out to the ship, gripping it through the Force.

With this, the ship would not only be held still, but unable to fly away, fry any tracking devices, pr even do a barrel roll to flip off [member="Animus Malgus"] . All of his attention would be in holding the ship, his body visibly straining as he kept the metal vessel from flying away. So much attention was there he did not notice [member="Sage Bane"] 's call about the shields.

The terrorist would not get away.

 

[Mythos]

With his lightsaber being the only thing holding Animus to the ship, the ship suddenly stopped moving. Attempting to throw him down was impossible now. He jumped to the cockpit and put his lightsaber through the cockpit roof and began to tear at it vertically. Somehow the thought of imminent death by falling of however high he was did not disturb his concentration. Little did he know that it was [member="Darth Ferus"] that was helping him, would not have mattered, he took this as a Test of his abilities.

His body was still a bit sore because of the blast of energy he had taken but he would not see this rebel fly out like the others. The sky was alight with the deflector shields of the core, This made Animus even more confident in his strike and pull on the cockpit attempting to make a hole in it.

This was no Juyo, or Art Style. This was His Strength On his Strike and Determination of the strike and pull that would lead him to Victory, that would kill, or defeat all who stood in his way as the lightsaber sank deep and began to tear.

[member="Craig Locke"] [member="Ruby Wilded"] [member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Craig Locke]

The ship's pathway to the sewer was interrupted as it jerked to a stop, engines straining. A klaxon blared again as Locke sighed, flexing his now somewhat operable legs. His wristpad read, "WARNING! TOW BEAM AND/OR A FORM OF STATIS HAS BEEN APPLIED TO THE VESSEL!" Weapon cocked an eyebrow. They really didn't want to let him get away, did they? A Force user, probably a Sith Lord, was holding him down. He could sense it. He had just the contingency plan set for this scenario, however.

Locke grabbed a comlink hooked to the control panel of the cockpit and spoke into it. It was a PA system, linked to the exterior of the ship, and could be heard for miles around.
"Allow me to leave or I will make the jump to lightspeed right here. And in case you're technically unsavvy or just moronic, you don't want to see what happens when something in lightspeed collides with another object. Even with your planetary shields activated, I will kill millions just by the fallout." Locke said all of this calmly, as he was dead serious about it. The ship had the gravitational safeguards that did not allow for hyperspace travel on a planet, too close to a gravitational source, or into an object removed. Locke's heartbeat was also linked to the ship, the device activated at the start of this run. If he died, or his heart went under or over normal parameters, the hyperdrive would go off. It was a foolproof system. His hyperdrive was his last-ditch weapon, impossible to tamper with, and extremely fatal when applied. The Force statis that his ship was in would not be able to contain the Infiltrator. The hyperdrive itself was also rigged to blow in case of tampering, physically or with the Force, sending the hyper core into detonation. It was a lose-lose situation for the Sith and a win-win for Locke. He held a remote that could wirelessly activate the hyperdrive and added to the comlink, "Do not attempt to disable the hyperdrive remotely. Do not attempt to sway my mind to surrender. Do not fire upon this vessel. And for the Sith lackey upon my hull, slashing away with his saber, do not enter my vessel. All of these will lead to the activation of the hyperdrive. You will release this vessel and deactivate the planetary shields. If any sign of resistance is shown once I leave the atmosphere, I will turn around and make the jump to lightspeed straight into the nearest government building. You have 5 seconds to comply." Locke smiled darkly. The entire area, in homes, bars, clubs, wherever, heard him. They would know that the Sith failed them, or, in their final moments, that they were responsible for their demise. Craig held one finger over the button to make the jump to lightspeed in the cabin and another on the remote, waiting for the Sith on the hull to jump off and the grip to be released...
[member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Sage Bane"] [member="Animus Malgus"] [member="Ruby Wilded"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

A smirk formed on the Sith's face as [member="Craig Locke"] spoke. Here he was, demanding. After blowing up a bridge and hurting many, many people. Many people that Ferus did not care about in the slightest. This was all for public's opinion. But there was still something he could do. Five seconds was all he would need. The hyperdrive blowing up would be a far, far less problem than the fallout from a lightspeed crash.

Though, Ferus, not being a pilot or knowing much about ships, didn't care or know the numbers to begin with.

With the ship in his grasp he did the one thing he knew he could do. Crush it.

Well, not the whole ships. The only part that truly mattered when it came to flying, or hyperdrive.

The engines.

Both hands that were open closed instantly, and a sickening crushing noise could be heard, even by [member="Animus Malgus"] , as the engines were crushed in far less than the five second time limit. There would be no light speed flying for this terrorist, and more importantly, no blowing up the hyperdrive. With that, he would let the ship go to it's eventual descend towards the ground. And ships weren't known for being large bombs when crashing, even with a hyperdrive. Otherwise, no one would ever shoot down a ship to begin with.

[member="Sage Bane"] [member="Ruby Wilded"]

 

[Craig Locke]

"WARNING: ENGINES CRITICALLY DAMAGED!"

Locke ticked as he heard the engines screeching, being crushed. "Crude." He could still activate the hyperdrive, utilizing the gamma radiation to create a sort of an atom bomb, but that wouldn't have the same effect as a jump to lightspeed would, which was now virtually impossible without the engines. He wasn't going to sacrifice himself for a body count that small.

Locke's annoyance quickly gave way to rage as he reached into a compartment in the cabin, producing a lightsaber. He stumbled back over to the cockpit. He couldn't be defeated. Once they discovered who he used to be, he would be tortured, turned into a weapon for the Sith yet again, his barely healing mind broken again until irreparable. He would rather die than let that happen again.

As the Infiltrator descended into the populated ground below it, Locke activated the lightsaber. A red blade sprung up, a souvenir of his time with the Sith. He was going to kill himself with it, almost poetically, like the Sith that he had killed for this sabre knew that his vengeance would extend from beyond the grave. Locke felt all the hands of his kills, soldiers, assassins, politicians, Sith, Jedi, and just regular people close around the blade with his hands as he squeezed, gripping the saber tightly...

But then the ship crashed.
[member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Animus Malgus"] [member="Sage Bane"] [member="Ruby Wilded"]

 

[Ruby Wilded]

Ruby was in awe as the terrorist flew away from her. Blown clean off his feet and sailing off the block to who knows where. It was not her intention to do this. Knocking him down was the goal. Surrendering to the Dark Side gave things a boost no one could have expected. Anger was a powerful tool, and Ruby was filled with it. "Power". Ruby clenched her fist tightly. A drop of blood landed down on her wrist as she did so. No mind was paid to it. Nor the rest staining her face. "If only I had known this is what it felt like sooner. I would have given in sooner". A wicked smile took form, she liked this.

Basking in it would have to wait though. Ferus' command still stood to apprehend the bomber. Ruby took off in chase of the falling foe. She'd only catch up to [member="Craig Locke"] and [member="Animus Malgus"] to see them flying off aboard the roof of a starship. Keeping up on foot even with her great speed was impossible. She needed something that could fly.

One swift theft latter and Ruby was in pursuit of the ship on the seat of a swoop. Hot pursuit. A few hundred meters ahead the ships engines seemed to explode. Something must have hit them but it was luck on her part. No escape now. Ruby pulled back even harder on the throttle, gunning the engines to red line. The ship quickly lost altitude, digging into the metal and duracrete until it came to a halt. Fire licked from the remains of the engines. The whole thing was a right off but the pilot would still be alive. Ruby brought her swoop down for a landing next to the crash, jumping off at a low speed and letting it just go off to where it pleased. "Malgus are you alright"? Ruby ran for the cockpit, the terrorist was priority but she still cared enough to ask him too.

[member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Mythos]

Animus had let go of the ship, and braced the impact of his fall somewhat with the force, but he still hit the Duracrete bouncing hard and with severe laceration over his body.
His Armor was busted, broken in shoulders, kneecaps and back, Animus suffered blunt trauma to the head, but nothing more than a big Bruise.

His right elbow however was Broken, and the impact had broken 4 of his ribs. His right disc was dislocated and his Leg had suffered severe lacerations upon impact in the Duracrete. Animus however, was still awake and conscious.

When he heard the voice of [member="Ruby Wilded"] close by he nodded softly holding his body and in severe pain. "Get the Bastard, Then call me a Combat Medic." He said with a groan, he was in pain and injured, But the Mission was more important than him. "Did i do alright master?" Animus whispered with a fleeting voice, his consciousness fading, Pain washing over him like a tide of needles and death. He would not die, but he could not stay awake for long. [member="Craig Locke"] [member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Craig Locke]

Locke was in a dark place, apparently. Or maybe it was his mind. He couldn't see anything, or talk. Or move, for that matter. He could only think. What happened? Everything was really fuzzy. He remembered a lightsaber....then a crash...but all those things seemed far away. He just wanted to sleep. He let sleep envelope his body like a black blanket, drowning his conscious...

Locke passed out completely, the wreckage of the Infiltrator surrounding him. His body had been wrecked to the limit, even with his enhancements, and were a Sith to confront him, Craig would have little to no defense to muster. A fleeting thought struck his mind as he was pinned underneath the steel and titanium of the Infiltrator...
Weapon...

 

[Ruby Wilded]

"Right! Just hang in there. Help will be on the way in no time". Ruby stood at the bow of the ship, which was smashed in like an overripe pumpkin. She made a quick call to Ferus for aid on a wrist Comm "Master Ferus. I'm at the crash about to nab the terrorist. Malgus is hurt though, he needs medical attention badly. Can you please call for aid Master"? Ruby wasted no time in waiting below. She hopped up on the prow and made headway to the cockpit. She could see through the cracked windows the brutalized man she hunted. A hole was already made through one of them, cracks ran deeply in all the others. Must have been Malgus' work. And of course no lack on part of the crash itself.

Ruby drew out a small blaster usually hidden from view. Trying to stab this fellow with a sword wasn't going to go down all to well if he put up a fight. As likely as he lost his weapons in the fall he was sure to have more hidden away in his ship. "Alright you in there. Open the cockpit. Else your life is forfeit". Ruby knelt down a good ten or so feet away from the man, she could see he was hurt badly. "Make it easy on yourself. Open up and surrender with your hands up".

[member="Craig Locke"] [member="Animus Malgus"] [member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Craig Locke]

Was that white noise he was hearing? Locke didn't know that a Sith was holding him at blaster point. In that state, even if he knew, he wouldn't have cared. A picture started to form in his head, replacing the void that was once there. Was that his dad? Craig couldn't tell, but it looked like he was holding his arms out, waiting for a hug...but it couldn't be.
His father was dead.
A silent tear went down Locke's chin as the emotional part of his brain, the part hindered by implants and surgery, came alive in a violent explosion of color.
Father...
[member="Ruby Wilded"] [member="Animus Malgus"] [member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Ruby Wilded]

Target was unresponsive to the calls to surrender. Ruby didn't waste any time here. She climbed a little further to the hole Malgus cut into the ship. It was dangerous sure. But he was already pinned in the pilots seat under some metal and wiring from above. Getting him disarmed and disabled would make it a lot easier for the authorities to wrap this up once they arrived. She could already hear the sirens closing in. This terrorists run was over. Ruby jumped down into the ship. With a blaster in hand and sword at her side just in case. "Surrender. You're beaten. No one else has to die today". Ruby noticed the lightsaber clenched in his fist. She'd seen dozens of them on other Acolytes, Knights and Masters. Most preferred them cue to their cutting strength. Almost anything could be opened up with one. A good sword like the one she got from Ferus. With real weight behind the swing made for a stronger strike, slower in most hands. In a Forcer though, deadly. "Drop the saber".

[member="Craig Locke"] [member="Animus Malgus"] [member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Craig Locke]

Where did you go, Father...
Locke was running through the corridors of his childhood house, searching for his mother, his father, anybody that used to live there with him. He reached the doorway of his parent's room and stopped. A figure was standing in the doorway, cloaked. Locke approached him carefully. The hood came up.
It was a Sith, distorted to almost nightmarish qualities, and Locke fell back in shock. The Sith smiled and raised his arms up. "Weapon...who do you hate?" Tears already running down his face, Craig chocked out, "The Republic."
"Weapon. You are not a person. You are a tool. Your sole purpose is to serve us. And you have not done so recently. You have disobeyed your programming. So now I will break you again." Locke tried to get up to run, but now the hallway was impossibly long. The Sith laughed, voice almost demonic as he unleashed a barrage of Force Lightening on Craig...
He was still asleep, but now he was groaning, and as Ruby approached him, the moaning turned into screaming in agonizing pain as he thrashed around, dropping the lightsaber...[member="Ruby Wilded"] [member="Animus Malgus"] [member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Ruby Wilded]

Ruby almost jumped back as he screamed. Certainly did flinch. There was something seriously wrong with this guy, past all the injuries he was sure to have sustained in the fall and crash. The saber fell out of his grip, whether he listened or was out of it she hadn't a clue. Ruby wasted no time in grabbing the saber from the floor. Clipping it onto her belt for safe keeping. He'd be sure to carry more weapons on him, so Ruby methodically checked his person, removing grenades, blasters and other weapons. Tossing them back or more carefully placing them down. With no weapons to harm anyone or himself he was finished. And it was time to end this once and for all. "Master Ferus. Target immobilized and no longer a threat. Its over".

[member="Craig Locke"] [member="Animus Malgus"] [member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"Be sure to tie him down and bring him to the temple. I'm sure [member="Sage Bane"] and I can figure out a fitting punishment for this terrorist." Above where [member="Ruby Wilded"] , [member="Craig Locke"] , and [member="Animus Malgus"] the Assassin simply watched through narrow eyes. Animus was hurt, obviously, and a medical crew was dispatched for him. Craig, however, would not find such comfort. Troopers would be sent down for Wilded to use, each completely obeying her order.

She had done well, it was only fitting she would be given control for now.

 

[Ruby Wilded]

"As you command, Master". The Temple, it would be a secure place to hold him. The mention of Sage Bane also sent a shiver down her spine. She'd never met the Sith Lord, only heard rumors. He was supposed to be quite a dark and sadistic person though. The horrible things he would do to this man. The troops Ferus supplied arrived. Ruby could see their ships landing out from the cockpit. Some of the local law enforcement too. They rushed out, scrambling over the area to secure a perimeter. Others of their numbers were coming up to the ship, climbing its broken frame. "Game over terrorist".

The troops dropped in through the hole made earlier. Ruby commanded them to restrain the target and ensure his injuries didn't take him before justice was served. Engineers got to opening a proper hatch to remove the injured captive. They acted quickly and professionally. It was weird for people to be listening and doing what she told them. Something the girl would have to get used to. With [member="Craig Locke"] secured they hauled him out to the grimly lit underworld and away to one of the ships. Ruby as she stepped out of the wreck saw [member="Animus Malgus"] being taken aboard another ship. She wished to speak with him before he left for medical treatment but there was no time. She had orders from the one person she could never disobey.

Ruby stepped up on the ship with one foot. Turning back to face the guy in charge she figured of these men, other than her. "Keep this crash site secured. I'm sure someones working to get this mess sorted out. So uhh, wait for orders".

"Yes sir".

Well that was the end of it. Ruby boarded the ship proper and they blasted off for the Temple. It was Ruby one, terrorist scum none.

[member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Sage Bane"]