Mission Deep Rooted | Pt. II

[Tansu Treicolt]

CORUSCANT | UNDERWORLD
02:15:30 IN THE MORNING
...following the events of the shootout in the Senate Plaza
​

The upper levels of Coruscant were beautiful and every bit the opulence and splendour that constituted the twin’s conception of the galactic capital. And there’s been an exciting shootout with a senator within the first half hour of their arrival!

But deep beneath the lowest stratum of traffic, far under the glittering facades, was another view of Coruscant. One the twins hadn’t expected.

It seemed as though sunshine never penetrated the lower levels , which was a tricky concept to grasp. Daylight could always be counted on back home; nowhere escaped Concord's dawn. Here, the night seemed endless, and the only sources of light were flickering eon holo projections advertising unseemly goods.

And if Tansu looked up, it wasn’t the spectacle of cross-hatched traffic that steadily travelled through the upper level’s clear blue skies. Here, sky hoppers and banged-up looking cruisers careened dangerously through a thin miasmal fog. Everything about the lower levels had an edge of mystique to it that made Tansu feel overcautious. No natural light felt foreboding, as though every exchange here was meant to be unseen or clandestine.

There were a few glow sticks in protected wire cages set here and there on buildings, but after centuries of use they were so weak that they did little to relieve the gloom. The regular citizens, however, revelled in the shadowy façade of the dark passageways and narrow corridors. Many were unaccustomed to the light of day or didn't wish to be seen clearly.

Most citizens avoided the group. The only attention they got were from beggars who set upon them, asking for food or money, and the wary eyes of gangsters that seemed to constantly evaluate if the upper dwellers had any worth. For the most part, however, they remained unbothered.

The first entrance to the Enclave was a bust. The Atrisian noodle shop had collapsed long ago, and nobody had bothered to repair it. Or even move the debris. The closest alternative, according to their directions, was a tunnelled manhole a few blocks over. It promised to descend at least ten levels. The group found it, stood around in a cirlce, hmm’d a bit, made brief eye contact, and then wordlessly and unanimously agreed that a turbolift would be a better choice to access the lower levels and the other entry points for the Enclave.

It was this turbolift they occupied now. Wide enough for the descendents to stand in, but not wide enough for it to be comfortable. To add to the discomfort, the lift looked and felt ill-maintained. There were buttons missing from the panels, random umbilicals spilling out from where the emergency call panel had been installed at some point, and perhaps worst of all were mysterious substances pooled in each of the metal box’s corners. If anyone looked at the liquid too long, it might have moved.

The screen meant to dictate which level the passengers were on was nearly illegible. It was faded and the updates to the numbers were delayed. Squinting, Tansu had no idea if it said 4588 or 1300 or anything in between. It would have been just as useful not to have a screen at all.

After what felt like a few minutes of the lift taking them down, Tansu gave up trying to read what level the lift had them on.

“Just how many levels are there on Coruscant?” Tansu asked, and clutched Amos closer. She’d let him walk around without concern on the upper levels, but down here she was worried he’d get catnapped or step in something hazardous to his paws. Or get chased by another overgrown rodent. The first thing Amos saw below levels was a giant armoured rat, tried to chase after it, and gave up the instant he realised he was the prey in the situation. He’d hurriedly come meowing back to the group, anxious to shake his spiked pursuer. If things like that let themselves be seen, Tansu couldn’t begin to imagine the terrors responsible for the sounds in the shadows.

Suddenly, the turbovater’s repulsorlifts died and their entire world came to an abrupt stop. Unbalanced by the jarring end to their descent, Tansu stumbled back. Amos made a noise of discomfort and pushed out of her clutches.

After a beat of shocked silence passed, Tansu blinked. “Are we..stuck?”

The lift answered by sliding its doors open. It seemed to trust that it had dutifully arrived wherever it was supposed to.

Unfortunately, it hadn't—not entirely. When the doors groaned partly open, they revealed mostly blackness. Thick ropes of wires, metal pipes, rebars, concrete, and dribbling silt were all anyone could see through the half-opened doors. Only about at shin-height did the wall end, leaving the passengers with less than three feet to squeeze through and an unseen drop to their destination.

____________________________________________________________
Kyric | Talin Treicolt | Dax | Damien Dooku
ATTN: Sinestra | Sahar | Brutalis
____________________________________________________________​

​

 

[Kyric]

"Only one way to find out," Kyric said, then dropped onto his chest. "This is usually pretty dumb, so only do this if it's life or death." He shimmied out through the small gap between the two floors. Halfway out, the kiffar's body bent down as the floor disappeared completely. "Well, that's unlucky. Please hold." He somersaulted forward into a smooth roll, tucked his knees to his chest, righted himself during the fall, and landed a perfect three-point landing.

Sadly no one could see him in the shadows.

He lifted a flashlight and activated it with a flick of his thumb. The light swayed from left to right, revealing overturned counters in abandoned cubicles constructed every ten feet. "I think this used to be some kinda Shoppin' Sector," Kyric called back after his cursory examination. "S'bout a ten-foot drop, so take it slow. Bend your knees right before impact and all that."

His light traced the passage of a few small rats through a nearby window, only losing them once they disappeared through a tiny hole in the corner. Nothing else moved. He couldn't feel anything. The only thing he could hear was the distant drip, drip, drip of forgotten pipes Kyric assumed responsible for the muddy brown streaks all over the floor.

Kyric detached the holoprojector from his belt and activated it. The Chieftain's map data on Coruscant proved impossibly accurate from the Kid's experiences, leading him to assume his father and BD-8 spent countless hours exploring their homeworld together.

The idea brought a smile to his face.

The distinct lack of data on this sector rectified that immediately.

Looks older than other condemned sectors. I'm curious how long it's been since someone's been here. Kyric strode a bit deeper into the complex. Worker droids stood in random groupings of two to three on every corner as if expecting an assignment. The slight distinctions between droid and organic left the kiffar uneasy as he studied them in the darkness. Their thin, geometric joints gave them an unnatural quality more akin to undead than the inorganic when viewed within the lightless depths of the Lower City.

Staring out into the darkness beyond his flashlight's reach, Kyric's hand hovered a fraction of an inch closer to his saber hilt. They were in uncharted territory. What he hoped to be an abandoned market could very well be a den of undeath or depraved Dark Side cultists, and Kyric could not be sure what was more likely.

"Enclaves, of all places," he sighed. "I coulda' brought them to a dozen different temples, yet they're huntin' for enclaves." His free hand slipped back into his jacket as he turned and waited for the others. "Unlucky indeed."
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Chaos Main Characters: Talin Treicolt | Tansu Treicolt | Dax
Supporting Antagonists: Sinestra | Brutalis | Sahar

 

[Dax]

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Dax grimaced as he watched Kyric disappear through the gap. Hoping either twin shared his reservations, his regard bounced between them. Their faces were about what he should have expected. With a sigh, his grimace gave way to a defeated, sulking frown. Quiet muttering followed, cursing this vicious cycle of wonder and peril.

"S'bout a ten-foot drop, so take it slow. Bend your knees right before impact and all that."

Ten feet down. His eyes strayed contemplatively from any particular focus, slowly bounding from place to place. That was about the length of his ship's boarding ramp, more or less. Suddenly it didn't seem nearly as bad, though it remained a complete leap of faith. What if Kyric was bad at estimating distances? What if he got lucky on the way down? Dax looked at the flickering control panel by the door, and his frown returned. There wasn't another way up or down.

Damn.

Dax removed BD-9 from his shoulder, and with one forceful exhale, dropped low and slipped himself through the gap. Weightlessness seized his stomach as he plummeted toward the ground. His knees bent in preparation, anticipation sending a surge to every nerve in his lower body. Impact forced his legs to bend further, gravity pulling his head toward the floor. Torquing his torso, Dax managed to eat all of what was meant for his head with his arm and shoulder instead. Resonating across the empty layer, the fleshy thud he emanated betrayed how hard he'd fallen.

"For krike's sake."

A labored grunt heralded slowly him to his feet. His right hand skipped across his clothes, summoning a small dust cloud. His left arm throbbed, stiff from the impact. Shoulder rotations ensured the ligaments were still in place. A lack of excruciating, mind-drinking pain told him nothing was broken.

"I hate elevators."

 

[Talsin Lota]

Gang: Tansu Treicolt | Kyric | Dax | Talin Treicolt
Non-gang: Sinestra | Brutalis | Sahar

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Pretty sure you are not supposed to say that." He mutters as he crouched down and tried to follow Kyric's movements through the pitch-dark gap. It was impossible. Which made it more terrifying, but at least they weren't hearing Kyric being torn apart or have him scream. You needed to appreciate the little things.

"Doesn't it usually summon some horror show?"

Dax went next and it didn't sound nearly as smooth as when Kyric landed. He grimaced there and glanced up at Tansu. No karking way was he going to let himself be showed up in front of her.

"I will go next."

He settled on his side... and then rolled right through the gap. His hand immediately lashed out against the metal support beams, using the Force to make his grip sticky and basically attaching his touch to the surface. It slowed down his movements as Talsin slid down until his feet hit the ground next to Dax.

Quiet and poised.

"Mm, that wasn't too bad, was it?" Addressed to Dax in a cheerful manner. It was no wonder that Tansu wanted to punch his lights out every other day.

 

[Talin Treicolt]

“Don’t you poke at him.” Talin snapped. “Only cool when we do it.”

Annoyance was amplified by an uneasy churning in her stomach. Pallid skin was more than the harsh lift lighting. They had only had a taste of the lower levels higher up, and she didn’t think they needed to see much more. Nevertheless, the unknown was the only way forward. With a grimace, the blonde dropped to her bottom, then into the free fall. A hand caught a tumble that would have mirrored Dax.

“Ow.” She complained, shaking out her wrist.

Turning, a tsktsk called for their furry companion and talked him into the leap, making way for her sister. A wild grip snatched him by the scruff when he landed behind her. In this place, they were never like to find him should he get away. Talin pushed past the two boys to move towards Kyric’s flashlight. It was a blinding beacon in this pit.

“Gosh, it feels wrong to be here. Like ya know when you’re tippin your neighbors bantha and waitin’ for him to come out with the shotblaster? Except way less excitin’.”

A darting gaze looked both ways.

“Where d’ya reckon we go from here?”

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

Talin defended Dax from Talsin so she didn't have to, and everyone slipped out through the skinny space to the shadows below.

She exhaled and took a sparing look at the goop in the corner. It jiggled and she wanted nothing more than to be out of this tiny metal box. Yuck!

Kyric, Dax, Talsin, Talin, and even the cat, were all gone. She didn't like being last. Not at all. Not unless she reframed it in her mind as intentionally waiting, so she could pull up the rear.

Tansu imagined that if she poked her head out first, the turbolift would decide to continue its descent at just the right time and decapitate her. With that reasoning, it seemed going feet first would be the better choice. She made a noise of resignation, and shimmied to the edge of the elevator. Sliding out on her back until halfway, she kept her hands pressed against the upper part of the blockade. Silt responded to her pressure and dribbled onto her face and neck, and she had to turn to cough it out. Then she let go, and let her feet do the searching. It was only because of Kyric's light did she have any indication where the ground was, and bent her knees just before impact.

Still, she Oof'" through it, and fought against imbalance's pull, wobbling until she got her footing.

"Wish I coulda seen how all y'all looked after that drop." She muttered defensively, if anyone was scrutinizing her landing.

It was more than just dark wherever they were. All the shadows felt as though they had a mass of their own. This world's existence had bent and warped through time and screamed inhospitality.

"Someone comes out with a shot blaster here, I don't reckon they're shootin' just to scare down here." Tansu murmured, dusting herself off and reaching in her back pocket for some kinda glow stick. As if she had one. She didn't.

"But you're really acknowledgin' the corn," The saying was a family favourite — recognizing an observation that was by all accounts impossible to ignore. Corn stretched for miles, and were many feet tall on Concord Dawn. It was impossible not to acknowledge it.

"Hey," she said suddenly and stuck out an arm. Her steps stopped and she straightened.

"Y'hear somethin'? Hear that?" The cat meowed in response to the darkness. "Shht! Amos. Stop"

____________________________________________________________
Talin Treicolt | Dax | Talsin Lota | Kyric
Sinestra | Sahar | Brutalis
____________________________________________________________
​

 

[Brutalis]

This was foretold...

Brutalis had little patience for prophecies and the whispers of fate given by the seer and fellow Darkside Elite member Sinestra . He was a creature of action, fueled by raw instinct and the thrill of combat. Attributes that were doubly increased by the parasites attached all over his green scaled figure. Orbalisks. Yet, when word reached him of the arrival of the foretold ones, the new Jedi, his interest was piqued, if only for the opportunity to unleash his brand of terror upon them. I have never tasted Jedi before.

From the depths of a rather wide dark alley, Brutalis observed with a predatory gaze as the elevator shaft illuminated briefly with the arrival of the unsuspecting Jedi. His lips peeled back into a sinister grin, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, anticipation coursed through his veins like wildfire. He cared not for their noble cause or their supposed destiny; all that mattered to Brutalis was the hunt, the thrill of the chase, and the fear he would instill in those who dared to cross his path. Yet still he had a mission to complete as well. The Jedi were to be taken alive and minimally harmed. They had a purpose according to the greater plan. This was a buzzkill for Brutalis, but also a begrudging challenge.

Positioning himself strategically in the heart of the alley, where the darkness was most suffocating, Brutalis awaited the arrival of those destined to cross his path. Obscured by the shadows and fixated on unsuspecting prey. From the depths of the dark emanated a wet, slopping sound, reminiscent of flesh being torn and bones being crushed. Something was chewing.

Enemies: Kyric Tansu Treicolt Talin Treicolt Talsin Lota
Allies: Sahar Sinestra

 

[Kyric]

“Gosh, it feels wrong to be here. Like ya know when you’re tippin your neighbors bantha and waitin’ for him to come out with the shotblaster? Except way less excitin’.” A darting gaze looked both ways. “Where d’ya reckon we go from here?”

"Hard to say," Kyric flashed his light into a second storefront, then over another decrepit and non-functional turbolift. "We need to look around. See if we can find another lift, or maybe a maintenance hatch. Each sector has at least a dozen ways in or out in the event there is a large-scale emergency." He peered back at those behind him and considered the gathered teens. Not one of them felt useless, but a faint chill running down the length of his spine made it difficult to believe some of them could be trusted in the depths of the unknown.

"Double check your commlinks," Kyric clicked the little device in his ear as he spoke. "Make sure we're all linked up." His voice sounded from the communication devices of those already prepared, a final warning to those who hadn't. "We're going to split up for now into three groups and search each sub-sector before moving on to the next. BD-9 should be able to transmit live map data to us as Dax explores, so we won't lose track of what's been searched."

The self-appointed leader of the group turned on Dax. Though the kiffar knew little about him, or Talsin for that matter, Kyric trusted the boy's familiarity with his droid. "Dax, you and Talin will search sub-sector 1A," he turned from them to Tansu. "You'll take your new tagalong," he winked at the Tetan, "and go check out 1B. I'll clear 1C, then we'll all reconvene and clear 1D together. I know that'll take the most amount of time, but it's also the most thorough, so I don't wanna hear a lick o' complainin'. Now get to work."

Kyric departed to his delegated workspace at that. He didn't want to give Talin any time to voice her dissent at being separated from her sister. It wasn't the kiffar's first choice given how well they did work together, but the inclusion of two unknown variables made it all the more difficult. So he chose to trust Tansu to look after her new friend and Dax to survive Talin's poorly-considered schemes.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dax | Talsin Lota | Tansu Treicolt | Talin Treicolt
Sinestra | Brutalis | Sahar ​

 

[Dax]

"Mm, that wasn't too bad, was it?"

"I've had worse," Dax claimed, shoulder rolling beneath his grasp. No mind was given to Talin's attempts at defending him.

"BD!" his voice echoed up the unlit elevator shaft. Outstretched hands awaited the BD-units descent. After a beat of anticipation, metal met waiting digits with a muted clunk.

<Ten feet was a slight underestimation,> BD-9 chirped while placed on Dax's shoulder.

"Doesn't matter. We all made it."

<Optical sensors detect signs of discomfort among sixty percent of our current party.>

"We're fine, BD. Trust me."

Another grimace crawled across Dax's face when the creature the twins called Amos yowled into the featureless distance. Squinting, he tried to make out anything their pet might have been affronted by, though to no avail. That bad feeling he'd mentioned on the lift crawled its way back under his skin, commanding the hairs on his neck to stand upright. This time, the feeling of impending trouble was practically supernatural.

At Kyric's request, Dax produced the small communicator from his pocket and began fidgeting with the dial. Quiet echoes of Kyric's voice along with a flashing blue light confirmed their link.

"Dax, you and Talin will search sub-sector 1A."

Dax's regard shot up with an intelligent; "Huh?" A double-take went between Kyric, the Twin, and back to Kyric again. "You want me to go with her?" Despite their moment of bonding back on the ship, Talin was still the crazy schutta that had stuck a blaster in his face over nothing. Not to mention nearly getting him killed up on the surface. Considering the alternatives didn't really give him much to protest with. Kyric was the only one who could go alone, Talsin was a stranger, and he imagined Tansu was likely wary about his possession to the point she'd refuse.

Damn.

"I—" Dax stammered nearly eight syllables before conceding; "Fine." A pointed glare quickly locked onto Talin. "Just promise me you'll keep it in your pants unless it's absolutely necessary," he remarked crudely regarding her blaster-happy tendencies. A deep breath once again allowed him to push forward through a barrier of reluctance. "Come on."

____________________________________________________________
Fellow Chaos Protagonists & New Guy:
Kyric Talin Treicolt Tansu Treicolt & Talsin Lota
Let Me Live Pls:
Sinestra Brutalis Sahar
___________________________________________________________​

 

[Sinestra]

Meditating on the cold floor of the Massassi Temple on Yavin IV, Sinestra swooped into the fathomless ocean of the Force for answers; signs to guide her in the quest of reshaping the galaxy. And soon enough, in the depths of the ethereal, the coalesced shadows began to part. One by one, the shades took shapes before morphing into silhouettes, each having a single distinguishable feature: a burning, fiery head of hair; a pair of dichromatic eyes; a Tetan purple mantle; and then two were identical--both with a stalk of corn over one ear. Behind them, lights flickered over the rain-drenched streets and alleys of Coruscant's underbelly.

Sinestra stepped out of the shadows and her vision materialized before her eyes, bar for the silhouettes. A sprawling patchwork of dull megablocks and rundown buildings, bound by dingy streets winding around in chaotic twists and turns--often ending nowhere, like worn threads knitting it all together from a total collapse. Though there were no clouds above, the soft pitter-patter of rain hummed over the horizon; the source of precipitation was trapped moisture bursting through cracks and crevices on unmaintained, colossal pipes carrying water on the levels above.

She shuddered. Not from the acrid chill in the air, but from memories pouring uninvited. As gloomy and as hopeless as the Coruscani underworld was, Sinestra remembered it was here, in this unclimbable chasm of darkness, where an eternal legacy was first forged; a blade of beaming hope cutting through the shadows here and eventually beyond the stars, a weapon of the Light. The Sword of the Jedi -- Ryv Karis. She had read the datacrons, chronicled mostly by Auteme , some by Bernard of Arca, telling the tales of the Sword and the fledgling, at the time, New Jedi Order. The Order she once called her own and these same heroes she once sought to emulate.

Suddenly her ears began to ring and her vision to double. She placed her hand on the cold wall beside her for balance, her shoulders lurching forward under an unforeseen weight. Echoes from the past, of the Sword and the Light, reverberated through the ethereal, lashing out in defiance against the darkness of her intent, of the new future she sought to forge. The past clashed with the future, seeking to keep out of her reach the figures from her vision. Sinestra fell down on one knee, her head swimming. I can not fail. I must not.

She seized the trembling fear, turning the weakness into strength. Into anger. Rage, rage against the helplessness, against weakness. The fury combusted the dark side into a powerful explosion pulverizing the echoes back into the spacetime tear from which they had emerged. With a labored breath, Sinestra stood back up on her feet. As despondent as the Coruscani underbelly was, she knew well that the roots of the New Jedi Order ran deep here.

Adjusting the hood over her head, Sinestra lunged from one roof to another, guided by the Force. There was no future if she could not seize the present. She had called upon others among the Elite -- Brutalis and Sahar -- for this quest, and the three had split in different directions. The order, naturally, had come from the Emperor; the Dark Side Elite were only as tight-knit as the Emperor commanded them to be. The dark side rewarded individuality and competition, the strong over the weak. Each one of them strove for their own ambitions and to be the Emperor's Chosen.

Her shadowy figure darted by a worn-down sign: sub-sector 1A.

Kyric Talin Treicolt Tansu Treicolt Talsin Lota Dax

Brutalis Sahar​

 

[Talin Treicolt]

scooby doo adventure crew: Dax Tansu Treicolt Kyric Talsin Lota // badeyes: Sinestra Brutalis Sahar

Dax's crassness was met with a string of her own, a slew of curses and jokes about what his kin thought about the thing in her pants. Begrudgingly, she did trail behind, following Kyric's instruction. Crumbling edifices and billowing smog engulfed them as they emerged from the plaza, but her gaze remained fixed on Dax's retreating figure, eyes narrowed with a mix of disappointment and defiance. A flicker of hope had blossomed in her heart back on the ship, but it withered on the vine in the face of the darkness ahead.

As their companions' footsteps faded into the ether, Talin found an empty crossroads when she glanced back, the silence heavy as a bale of hay on a weary mule's back. Instinctively, she reached out along the roots that connected Tansu and herself. But where once there had been a lush garden, now there lay only barren soil, her sister's presence snatched away like ripe fruit plucked by an unseen hand. An ivy of apprehension choked attitude. The distance between her and her partner was closed with a long stride.

"Hey, reckon I'll flick this here switch for a bit o' light," She warned. A blue glow encompassed them a few moments later, its low hum offering reprieve from the oppressive silence. "Worse than a bat midday. Man, I sure hope we ain’t stuck down here for a while. Aunty A is gonna kill me and Tan if we don't catch that shuttle in a few days. Well, I guess she can't kill us if we already d-"

Nervous rambling was interrupted by a darting shadow in the corner of her eye. Freezing, her gaze snapped left. An empty streak laughed at her panic. Had she imagined it? A quiet thud a moment later assured her she had not.

"Chit. What was that? Amos? Didya get lose, buddy?" Horror stricken, Talin turned to Dax. "What if it is Amos? Oh gosh, what if it's another person stuck down here?! We gotta check it out."

 

[Talsin Lota]

Talsin breathed out in relief at not being paired with Talin Treicolt

He didn't really know Tansu Treicolt that well, but anything was probably better than her sister. They didn't really have a lot of luck together. First the initial meeting at the marketplace. Then the collision that destroyed his speeder and caused him to spend a few nights at the hospital for a concussion and broken ribs.

The confusing part was when Talin didn't leave with Dax as Kyric suggested and instead her sister left? W-wha... and Tal turned around to squint at... Tansu Treicolt ?

"You told me your name was Talin!" He hissed at her quietly as he took her by the elbow and tugged her with him in the direction that Kyric had divided them to. "It's a good thing I didn't call her Tansu yet! I would have looked ridiculous."

"But I am sure you would have enjoyed that."

Tal said with a groan as he unclipped his saber and pulled out his own flashlight. It was way too dark here.

"Any other land mines you left for me that I should know about?"

Sinestra Brutalis Sahar

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

A tilt of her hat's brim in Kyric's general direction acknowledged the deployment of teams. Her commlink had been shoved deep into her pocket. She dug for it, blew off some cat treat crumbs, turned it on, and copied the way Kyric lodged it in his ear. It test beeped and she thumbsed up.

Kyric volunteered to go solo, which made sense, but didn't sit right either. Maybe because Dax had said he had a bad feeling about their predicament on the wrong floor? The others didn't know yet, but Dax had a penchant for feeling disaster. He was wearing some of it on his belt.

Dax and Talin were paired off, and Tansu made an indiscernible noise at the back of her throat. Like the start of a cough. Her heart sunk at the intentional separation from her other half. That woulda never happened back home. The only consolation wasn't her partner, but how her partner was referred to.

Tansu absolutely gloried in the public announcement of Talsin being her tagalong. He'd see it in the wide, smarmy smile she flashed at him and the narrow glint in her eyes. She became a trail of tittering when he grabbed her elbow and all the realizations of her untruth dawned on him. His face!! Even in the dark she could appreciate his dumbfounded slack-jaw.

"We haven't been able to do somethin' like that since grade school." She laughed at his expense.

"You couldn't go with Talin anyway, what would you guys call each other? Tal and Tal?" Tansu snorted. "Stupid."

Once she stopped chuckling, their footsteps were the only sound. Ricocheting from one crumbling wall to another. Each pillar that remained in tact was painted with a purple 1B.

She bent to scoop up Amos when Talsin cast a light on their path. She didn't want him finding trouble before they did. He was too little!

"I heard somethin' back there.." She muttered and chewed her bottom lip. "I reckon that'd be the only other landmine."

A few more paces and she scowled. No doors or turboshafts or anything helpful showed up. At least, nothing that took anyone to a whole other level on Coruscant. If they wanted, they could take the stairs to the food court.

<Not much luck in 1B yet.> Tansu sighed into the comm. <Justabunchabandoned shops.>

It was when Talsin's flashlight shone over the food court sign that she grimaced. There was a sound that didn't sound like a sound at all, more like a sensation? Like something was snapping under her skin and the dripping, slopping wet of blood splashed out on the pavement.

"That's what I heard earlier.." Tansu murmured. She spread her senses out. While she couldn't use the Force to detect an exit, she could use it to —-

Tansu recoiled and took a heavy step back. Amos found a way to nestle under her jacket somehow and flat against her back. Talsin's light spun right in front of them, cutting through the shadow to illuminate just one small part of the thing that seemed giant, green, scaly, and like a dental nightmare. A face.

She screamed and all her senses were assaulted at once. Smell, decaying meat! Sight, rows and rows of teeth! Touch, nothing but the cold grip of darkness! Taste, metal in her mouth (she'd bit her tongue in surprise). Hearing, oh, hearing how had she missed it? Teeth on bones, sloshing saliva. Crunch, gnash, chew!

____________________________________________________________
Kyric Dax Talsin Lota Talin Treicolt
Brutalis Sinestra Sahar
____________________________________________________________
​

 

[Kyric]

Each pass of Kyric's light illuminated another inconsequential detail of the derelict mall. The pillars in sector 1C were marked a gaudy green that reminded the kiffar of the long rows of cornstalk back on Concord Dawn. His earlier tension melted away, as for a moment, he pictured himself lost in those fields instead of trapped beneath millions of tons of duracrete. Not a care in the world but whatever menial task provided to him by his caretakers.

To think I opted back into this chit. Kyric took hold of a slightly ajar blast door and forced it halfway open. Offering a cursory search of what turned out to be a non-functional security office, the boy sighed and returned to the thoroughfare.

Better this than shucking corn on a farm forgotten by the galaxy, Kyr.

He rolled his eyes. Fair enough.

The distant echo of what sounded like a lightsaber ignition stopped Kyric in his tracks. He turned back the way he came, putting serious consideration into investigating the noise. But nothing else happened. No one came over the commlink, so the boy returned to his search. Several minutes later, he wound up at the end of the main corridor he'd been following. All the shops were sealed up tight. Not a single blast door, maintenance hatch, or turbolift to be seen.

"Damn," Kyric turned back as Tansu's voice came through the commlink.

<Not much luck in 1B yet.> Tansu sighed into the comm. <Justabunchabandoned shops.>

<Copy that. Same over at 1C.> Kyric responded. With no other course of action, the kiffar began the trek subsector 1D. He made it some fifteen feet before a shrill scream echoed throughout the darkness. <What's going on? What's your position?> The kiffar hit the gas immediately. He sprinted full-tilt in the direction of the disturbance. The higher pitch made him think it had to be one of the twins, but there was no way to be sure until he got there.

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Protagonist Enjoyers:
Dax | Talin Treicolt | Tansu Treicolt | Talsin Lota
My Own Personal Antag?:
Sahar ​

 

[Dax]

"That isn't Amos."

Foreign apprehensions were thick in the air. Dax paused, unfamiliar with the feeling. Was it fear? He turned to Talin, immediately connecting her terrified expression to the strange, interloping sensation. Is this the Force? he wondered. Tansu Treicolt had explained it, but he still struggled to grasp what it was. A feeling? Knowing things you shouldn't? In any case, Talin's unease was clear and mutual.

Slowly, Dax pulled the blaster from his belt and pointed it toward where they'd seen the blur. His eyes struggled to adjust to the shadows of the alleys and crevices in the dilapidated square. An overwhelming feeling of being watched emanated from every dark corner. Blaster sights twitched from place to place, nerves insinuating every nook to be a threat.

Communicator in hand, Dax relayed; "Someone is here with us—"

A shrill, feminine scream from elsewhere nearly ripped the skin from his bones. He swung around, horrified countenance locked toward the way they came. "I think that was your sister."

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Fellow Chaos Protagonists & New Guy:
Kyric Talin Treicolt Tansu Treicolt & Talsin Lota
Let Me Live Pls:
Sinestra Brutalis Sahar
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[Brutalis]

Tansu recoiled and took a heavy step back. Amos found a way to nestle under her jacket somehow and flat against her back. Talsin's light spun right in front of them, cutting through the shadow to illuminate just one small part of the thing that seemed giant, green, scaly, and like a dental nightmare. A face.

She screamed and all her senses were assaulted at once. Smell, decaying meat! Sight, rows and rows of teeth! Touch, nothing but the cold grip of darkness! Taste, metal in her mouth (she'd bit her tongue in surprise). Hearing, oh, hearing how had she missed it? Teeth on bones, sloshing saliva. Crunch, gnash, chew!

A scream was let loose.

The gruesome scene unfolded in the dim light of the abandoned alley way, shadows flickering across the grimy walls. Brutalis, the massive Mantellian Savrip, towered over the remains of his latest victim. The grotesque alien carcass, mangled and partially consumed, slipped from his bloodied maw, landing with a sickening thud on the cold concrete floor. His jagged teeth, stained with the alien's lifeblood, glistened ominously as he lifted his head, dark red droplets splattering around him. His heavy brows furrowed, casting deep shadows over his fierce, beady eyes. He sniffed the air, nostrils flaring wide as he caught the scent of something new—something different. His gaze sharpened, locking onto a small, trembling figure standing just within the entrance of the alley way. The diminutive female, not even half his height, seemed frozen under his predatory stare.

A slow, sinister grin spread across Brutalis's face, transforming his visage into something even more terrifying. His lips pulled back, revealing rows of deadly teeth in what could only be described as a shovel head smile, cruel and mocking. The intensity in his eyes grew, pupils dilating as adrenaline from the orbalisks surged through his veins. His breaths came faster, heavy and ragged, each exhale a guttural growl that reverberated through the oppressive silence of the alley. The air thickened with tension, a palpable sense of impending violence as Brutalis took a deliberate step forward, his massive frame casting a long, menacing shadow over the terrified female.

He let out a loud roar that visbly shook the loose objects in the alley. Force Bellow.

Tags: Tansu Treicolt Talin Treicolt Kyric Dax Talsin Lota
Objective: Intimidate Tansu and capture her.
Allies: Sahar Sinestra

 

[Sinestra]

With a loud crack, the comlink in the fiery-haired man's hand snapped open before the parts convulsed, held by an invisible grip, and shattered to smaller bits and pieces. The sound of steps followed and the shadow contours of the alley up ahead began to part way for the light-armored visage of Sinestra.

She flicked her wrist and the broken comlink was flung from the man's grasp away to the side. A cruel smile curled her dark lips as the seer's orbs of sulfur sized up the two companions before her: they appeared as mere silhouettes in her visions, but she had recognized them the moment her gaze fell on the duo.

Sinestra drank in the fear emanating from the pair, reinvigorating herself through the dark side. "Your friends are safe as long as you comply." she jerked her head in the direction of the shrill echoing across the dark streets. She did hope they were safe; Brutalis was not named for his gentle hugs, surely.

"But only one of you two will leave here alive." the Mirialan made no move, clearly indicating this was to be decided between the two. She couldn't help but test them; the Force stirred around them like a vortex, their potentials limited only by their ignorance and character. Each one of the duo could be shaped and sharpened into a blade of the dark, a tool in her hands. And yet only one would have the ruthlessness to achieve it.

Dax Talin Treicolt
Kyric Talsin Lota Tansu Treicolt
Brutalis

 

[Talin Treicolt]

"Is this an absolutely necessary situation?" The words were a hiss, quiet enough to stay between her and Dax.

There was something about the mirialan that pegged her more than just some lunatic in the lower levels, driven mad by the lack of light. She reeked, like she had slept in the stalls, but the sensation carried beyond what Talin could physically understand. It was menacing... something akin to what she had felt on Jedha. The Darkside. That didn't make sense. Not here, in the heart of the Alliance. Nothin' about this was good.

The teen wanted to recoil, wither away in fear. The desire evaporated with the piercing scream of her twin. It evoked a temper gifted by their father, a memory beside it. They were six years old, bruised and battered, standing in front of their school. Some boy had thought it smart to stick goo-goo gum in Talin's hair. No side won the fight. Maynard had given them a right lecture, but finally, with a twinkle of pride in his gaze, stooped down to meet the pair. He took both their hands and intertwined them.

"I'm proud of y'all. You did what I woulda done - protected each other. Treicolts watch each others backs. Even when you're scared. Even when it's hard. There's gonna come a day me and mama ain't around. You two gotta look out for each other. Promise me. Cross your hearts."

The elder had put her big girl face on, squeezed Tansu's little hand in her own, and swore it. It was an oath she intended to keep.

Brandishing the saber in one hand, Talin took a threatening step towards the woman. Her form was sloppy, amateur; but rage painted her expression. The free hand crept from her side to holster. She began to inch away from Dax, a declaration they wouldn't be playing by the rules laid before them.

"How 'bout you let them go and crawl back to whatever hole you came from, before this gets messy?"

jinkies: Dax | Kyric | Tansu Treicolt | Talsin Lota
bouta learn: Sinestra | Brutalis

 

[Talsin Lota]

Friendly-ish: Dax | Kyric | Tansu Treicolt | Talin Treicolt
Enemies: Sinestra | Brutalis

"Yeah, I can feel it too..."

And that's when everything went to shit. His light illuminated the big green scaley monster and Tansu lost it, screaming high enough to shatter glass and his ear drums at once. It would have been an amazing opportunity to tease her about it if not for the fact that Tal was barely keeping it together himself, at most he managed to unclip his saber while trying to keep all of the beast in the sight of his light.

This was more difficult than you would imagine because Brutalis was so large.

"Tan- Tan- we need to get-" Every alarm bell in his psyche rang clear and his body took over. The terror was shoved way deep into some hole where his nightmares of a bloody black night on Teta resided. He stepped forward and pushed Tansu out of Brutalis' line of sight.

Later on he'd claim it was because he knew that Tansu had little Amos with her. The little furry creature wouldn't be able to withstand the attack. Nothing else was relevant. This meant that Talsin, lightsaber or not, was frontally blasted by Brutalis' force-assisted scream. It send him flying backwards into a nearby convenience store sign.

Forty percent off on all-

The sign crunched and crumbled under his weight as the wind was knocked out of Talsin.

"F-feth." He whispered as he got back to his feet and felt a twang of pain through his back. Hopefully he hadn't broken anything. "That the best you can do, lizard boy?!" Talsin screamed heroically at the creature. The fact his voice had an edge of panic to it would not be lost to the Dark Jedi. He ignited his lightsaber and slashed with his hand, using the Force to try and trip up the huge bulking monster.

The bigger they are the harder they fall.

Hopefully.

 

[Tansu Treicolt]

​

<What's going on? What's your position?>

<Ky—> Slack-jawed and paralyzed by the sheer sight of the incredible toothy, scaly mass, Tansu couldn't find her voice after the scream. Just move her lips noiselessly. It felt like air bled out of her, evaporated by the sudden static that crackled through their commlink. In her heart, she knew that sound meant Talin no longer shared the same frequency as the others. And that just heightened her fear.

"Tan- Tan- we need to get-"

.. back to the others! Before she could put volume to her fill-in-the-blanks thought, Talsin knocked her from her position.

Tansu stumbled to the side, and just as she thought she might catch herself and not crash down on her side, a thousand storms converged into a single moment.

Within the corridor, the shadows thickened with the impending roar; an electric tension prickled her skin and warned her of what was to come. From the jaws of the goliath gator, a cataclysmic thunderclap roared out and tore the very fabric of reality. It surged like a tidal sound wave and crashed against the Tansu's senses, wiping her from her feet. She crumpled to her knees, hands over her ears, and forced her head down to make herself small enough for the sound to wash over like a stone in a river.

A futile attempt. The noise carried a primal power, raw and unbridled, echoing with the fury of the darkside. Each echo layered upon the next, creating an endless cacophony of disorientation and awe. Around them, the corridor could hardly withstand the decibels. Cracks spider-webbed across the glasteel and duracrete, splitting and widening with alarming speed. Panels and lights flickered on and off, struggling against the overwhelming vibration. The floor buckled and heaved, tiles popped loose and skittered across the shaking ground. Metal beams twisted and contorted, their anguished screeches piercing through the din.

The entire corridor seemed to be disintegrating, collapsing inward as if it could no longer bear the weight of the bellow's might.

And then it stopped.

Even in the vacuum of silence after the roar, the bellow resonated within her chest, a deep, thrumming bass that rattled her ribcage and skull, threatening to shatter her very being. Blood trickled from her ears and nose, and she put a hand on the ground to steady herself, and another reached around to her back, awkwardly patting at the mound of nerves hidden beneath her jacket. Amos was terrified and squirming uncontrollably.

She heard what sounded like Talsin's voice, but she couldn't decipher the words he said above the loud ringing in her ears. All she could do was see how the lines of light moved and shimmered, shadows responding to his violet blade. And feel. She could feel The Force and how Talsin shaped it against the giant creature.

It inspired Tansu to do the same, and gather up her connection to shimmer around her outspread hand and out in an invisible shape to crush a hammering blow to the belly of the beast. Quickly, she scrambled to her feet, unholstered her blaster, and raced to Talsin's side. He probably couldn't see, and he shouldn't have been looking, but she was fixin' a glare at him for pushing her out of the way and tryna be a hero.

And even though she couldn't hear, she was pretty sure she could speak. Kyric's question still hung on the line unanswered:

<It's ugly in 1B — surprise monster in the corridor!>

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Kyric | Talsin Lota | Brutalis
Talin Treicolt | Dax | Sinestra
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