Private Headaches and Jailbreaks

[Kita]

Kita could've sworn her head had been ran through with a javelin.

It was annoying more than anything, especially now that the pain had shrunk to a lingering taunt at the edge of her vision. If she thought about it too much though– attempted to chase the feeling into the murky waters of her mind– the ache would just flare up all over again, seizing, curling, and pressing against her temple like thorns ready to pierce through skin. And then she'd be right back to square one, fighting the urge to slam her hands into the wall or scream bloody murder into a pillow.

She had been nothing but pent-up emotion lately, and for good reason. Today marked almost a week now since she'd woken up with a splitting headache, no idea who and where she was, and then happened to be promptly taken captive by a bunch of pirates. She'd fought tirelessly to piece it together; why she was here, what happened, why she felt such a sinking loss in her bones. But alas there were more pressing concerns now. Chiefly, how the hell she was about to get off this ship.

With her knees drawn to her chest, Kita traced a spoon through the inedible sludge at her feet and tried to keep from making a face. Her captors had given her little to no information to work with, allowing her already disheveled mind all the more room to catastrophize. Maybe this was a simple ransom? Maybe her family was about to cash out and she'd go home to waiting arms and fierce protection in no time.

Kita paused her tracing and let that daydream flicker out like the rest.

There was only one thing she knew with a hundred percent conviction. The next time they opened the door, she was making a run for it.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

The pirate vessel began slowing to a halt before violently ripping from hyperspace, pulled by an interdiction field laid by a pair of Thanaton-class Corvettes.

Darth Anathemous stood upon the bridge of the lead ship, observing the vessel carefully, Masked visage staring back at her against the glasteel viewport. Unfortunately, the readings were not as she nor her crew had hoped. It was too beat up to be an Alliance vessel, nor was it a model produced for long range military use. From the look of it, she suspected it to be some manner of patrol craft that had been heavily modified long after it's construction.

"Transponder records indicate it may be stolen" A nearby bridge officer informed.

"Not an alliance infiltrator then, they'd have a false transponder. Pirates, perhaps?" She theorized, her modulated voice denoting frustration.

"She's recovered emergency thrust!"

"Oh? Ship's got some fight, I'll give her that. Full power to ion-cannons and dispatch boarding teams, I'll handle them myself. I refuse to have pirates in my sector, I will not squander The Empress' gift."

"Aye ma'am"

The Corvettes were swift in their chase, enough for the lead vessel to broadside the pirate ship with ease. However, this ship did not simply pound away at the enemy with ion-cannons like it's sister ship. Instead, a group of boarding pods were quickly thrown at the fleeing criminals, swiftly cutting through armor and disgorging teams of SB-H Commando Droids, deploying through clouds of smoke in which they would shoot or cut down any resisting pirates.

But among them, dressed in sleek battle armor and cloaked in silk befitting her station as Governor of this system, Anathemous swung her violet saber with a ferocious grace, constantly batting away incoming shots so that her droids may move freely, sometimes ripping weapons away from pirates who would then be grabbed and pulled away for interrogation by the onslaught of metallic soldiers. Their cloaked master had no idea why they had run into her trap instead of the intended target, but she was determined to take some back to Echnos, to answer this question themselves.



Kita

 

[Kita]

In the span of a few moments, her odds of ever getting out of this stuffy cell seemed to actually change for the better.

At first, Kita couldn't tell if the periodic ripples in her soup were real, or if she happened to be losing her mind at a faster rate than expected. But the moment the power cut out-- only to be replaced by an aggressive, blinking red-- it was fair to say something was up. At the very least her skills of deduction could take her that far.

Shuffling to press against the bars, the girl finagled her way to a better vantage point, enough to see a hallway flush with commando droids and warring pirates. Immediately her stomach flipped in an odd combination of hope and anxiety. This could turn out bad for her. It really could. There was no guarantee whoever just commandeered their ship would be an improvement. If anything, there could be just as many cell bars in her future as there were staring her in the face right now.

Kita, however, preferred stubborn optimism.

Without looking away, a frantic hand felt behind her, fingers wrapping around her abandoned utensil. Fitting it between the bars, the spoon arced in the air before finding its target, dinging the chassis of a powered-down droid in the corner. Her efforts were rewarded with a slew of angry binary as the droid turned its optical receptors towards her. A pointed look she promptly ignored.

"What's going on? Who are those people?" The girl demanded.

With her first weapon of choice currently thrown to the other side of the room, the girl instead reached for the soup bowl. Quickly discarding its contents on the ground, she pressed her back to the hallway's blind spot.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Anathemous and her droids were making quick progress, their movement unnaturally fluid, their precision rivaling many competing models with ease as they fanned out into small groups, moving as if they were but one mind across numerous vessels. They were of her lover's make, some of his finest even work, and so she had every confidence in their ability, rarely needing to give orders. Like each and every droid under her command, she moved with purpose in her role, often attracting the brunt of enemy fire, or employing the force to shut doors, forcing the enemy into choke points that did not previously exist.

They would eventually split further, a few teams rapidly approaching the bridge, While Anathemous led a charge into the steel depths in search of anything that could determine whether these pirates merely criminals or in fact rebels sympathetic to the alliance.

With this in mind, they fought their way towards the cargo hold, or at least where she suspected the hold to be.

She was in fact wrong, if only by a little. A wrong turn led her into a particularly dim and rank part of the ship, rust growing ever more common as they advanced.

Eventually what few pirates remained in this place had fallen or were themselves captured.

One of them was brought before the Sith as her fireteam neared a heavy blast door, The violet saber held dangerously close to his throat providing a harsh contrast to the red emergency lights all around them.

"The door," She spoke with an eerie calmness, jutting her chin towards it.

"What's behind it?"

"Brig...! It's the brig! For prisoners-" The pirate stammered.

"Prisoners? Where are you taking them?" Her calm was beginning to fade, new suspicions coming to light.

"I dunno! Well, Sometimes the captain hauls slaves n' such"

"Slaves."

She pulled her arm back, saber leaving a crescent trail as the pirate's head was abruptly separated from his body.

Slavers, she thought, people like her master.

The droids were quick to plug in and slice the locking systems, opening the door for their master as she took point, eyes scanning the dim brig for life, as did her senses. The droids gunned down the last two guards, she didn't even need to raise her lightsaber this time, and so she let the blade disengage as the weapon would float back into her belt.

There was one lifeforce she could detect, and all the cells were closed, so she tracked them through the force, arriving outside the door.

Only, there was something her senses could not see.

"Is someone The-EEEERE-!"

She slipped on the prisoner's soup, landing on her back just outside the girl's reach.

"Dank... farric...!"



Kita

 

[Kita]

Kita blinked once. Twice. Thrice.

With the bowl raised over her head and posed for attack, Kita stood in an awkward slouch. She remained there a moment, the muscles in her face working through the absurdity of what just happened. Slowly and entirely unsure of herself, she lowered the bowl, letting the item clatter against the duracrete floor. There was a helmed woman at her feet. Someone who had just torn through the body of the ship with the speed and destruction of a tempest.

Kita felt her breath hitch. Her instinct was to jerk away, to flee, cower, do whatever it took to minimize attention— and yet she remained in place, very obviously staring. Green eyes darted to the weapon on Kaila's hip a moment later, something cylindrical and ornate. A fluttering sense of understanding danced behind her eyes, but never formed into a cohesive thought. She knew what that weapon meant in a former life. Not that it did her much good now.

Her chest rose and fell in sharp, uneven breaths as the adrenaline took her. "Language…" she muttered, still managing a truthful reaction through her shock.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Still on the floor, her masked face slowly turned away from the ceiling towards the sound of somebody's voice.

"This is your soup... isn't it" She sighed, voice modulator converting it into more static than breath.

The droids caught up soon after, one of them looking toward the prisoner with it's empty, glowing eye-plate before turning to offer a hand up to Anathemous, who took his three-fingered hand with a grunt as it pulled her up by the arm in a way that one's brother in arms might.

"Thank you, SB-4..." She hummed defeatedly, recognizing the droid by distinct vibro-blade scar under it's optical sensor.

"Roger, roger"

Then the pair turned towards the prisoner, heads tilting almost in unison. It was peculiar to see only one prisoner aboard a slave ship, and so the woman suspected there was more to it then that. A ransom perhaps? If so, the girl must be someone important, or at least the daughter of someone with a lot of money. Ironically, her secretive dealings within the Haxion Brood could have easily seen her picking up where the pirates left off if that were the case, However, the nature of her illicit business had changed some since becoming Governor, and this one looked... young. Taking money from some puffed up nobleman was one thing, But threatening a child? That, and slavery, were beneath Anathemous. They deserved to live the life that had been taken from her, and she would not steal that from anyone else.

"Are you alright...?"



Kita

 

[Kita]

Kita nearly shuffled away as the masked face turned to regard her. To the girl's credit though, while Kaila was busy engaging the droid, she tried her absolute best to orient herself. She stunk of distrust and fear, but there was also an undercurrent of hope in her stooped, prey-like posture. One which seemed to grow more firm as the mystery woman appeared to be sincerely polite.

She wanted to know if she was alright? Like genuinely?

"I-Yes. I think so."

Kita looked down at herself, as if to ensure she wasn't falsely reporting. Her eyes then fell to the patch of soup staining Kaila's cloak.

"Are you?"

Much like Kaila's assumption, her clipped accent pretty much affirmed she was upper crust. Someone who had seen more silver spoons than metal bars in their life.

Speaking of…

"Would you mind uh- assisting me?"

Kita placed a hand on one of the bars in reference. Whether or not Kaila could be trusted could wait until she was outside the cell.

"Did my family send you?" the girl finally asked, trying and failing to keep a note of optimism from her voice as she tried to get a better look at the woman.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

"I've had much worse" She chuckled at the girl's newfound politeness.

"Though I think this cloak needs washing"

Anathemous held out her arm so that the arriving droids could pull the soggy cloak from her shoulders, revealing the armor underneath and a second lightsaber on her opposite hip. While she was certainly well equipped and of a strong, agile build, at least her cloak no longer gave her the appearance of a vulture looming over the poor girl.

"Would you mind uh- assisting me?"

"Did my family send you?"

"Ah fear not. I'll help you ashore, just promise me you won't do anything stupid like attack me or my droids"

She approached the bars, feeling the hinges with a slender hand before deciding on the exact course she'd take to free the girl. After a moment of considering, she opted to simply step back and let her sorcery handle the rest.

"Well, I'm afraid I don't know of whom you speak, not yet. Perhaps we can contact them aboard my ship"

"Stand back, please" The droids all stepped several paces away whilst the sith waited for the mystery girl to do the same, after which she reached out, first with her hands, then with the force.

Kita would be able to see in real time as the door's hinges seemed to unscrew themselves, coming loose and falling to the floor in sets until at last the door was being held up by seemingly nothing, until a slow gesture of the woman's wrist sent it hovering down the hall a short distance, loudly clattering to the steel floor where it could cage her no longer.

For her part, the masked woman simply stepped aside, giving the girl room to leave without fear of being grabbed. She could run, if she truly wished, Anathemous made no attempt to stop her from moving freely.

Instead, she was busy with a commlink, raising her vambrace to speak into it.

"Anathemous to Bridge, inform team Besh that Aurek is evacuating a hostage, and deploy Zero to the hanger for exfil"

And with that, they would begin their march to the pirate's hanger whilst being carefully escorted by the droids, a pair of them rushing past to take point much further ahead so that their organic charge would be kept at a safe distance if the fighting resumed on this level. All the while, the only living beings here would walk past the remains of pirates, both the droid's and sith's handiwork on display, although it was not the worst it could have been. Everything that had been touched by lightsaber was done so with efficient precision, with the exception of the door guard from earlier.

"By the way," The scene's architect spoke up after a time

"I didn't catch your name"



Kita

 

[Kita]

So, the veil of her past wasn't about to be miraculously divulged in one fell swoop. The girl’s expression collapsed before firming into a schooled line. It's fine. This was fine. At least she had help now. And the mystery woman definitely proved helpful. Within a matter of moments some form of sorcery rendered the lock useless, slicing through the bonds that Kita hadn’t been able to so much as flex for the past couple days. The kid couldn't help but gap in both awe and appreciation before stepping over the threshold. The woman before her was all the strength and power, and fury Kita wasn’t.

“How did- uh- Thank you.” Anathemous? Her lips ghosted through the letters, trying and failing to commit to the right pronunciation.

Instead of running, Kita flocked towards the looming figure before her, shuffling past the carnage she’d left with a wide-eyed apprehension. A small, dark part of her shifted like embers awakening at the sight. Was that satisfaction? Kita shook her head, dispelling the thought just in time to see a familiar item now in the clutches of a dead pirate.

A rifle.

Her rifle.

Or at least she thought it must be. It was the only item she had on her before this whole conundrum.

If you were strong, you'd take it back. If you were anything like the woman who just saved you, you'd take it back.

With a hardening expression, Kita moved forward, pale hands wrapping around the ornate stock before tugging it free of slumped hands. Her fingers ghosted over an insignia, almost missing the woman’s question. The girl paused, her back facing the woman.

“I don't know.” she admitted after a visible conflict played out on her face. Her grip on the rifle tightened. She should know her own name, shouldn't she?

“I don't remember.”

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

Anathemous stopped the formation with a single, raised fist, the droids all taking a knee while they watched for foes. But their master was not looking forward, rather, she turned to regard the girl as she wandered among the bodies. But to what end? She would have assumed such display of death would frighten any child, but perhaps the shock of it all had dulled the girl's senses, or she was already accustomed to it, desensitized by previous displays.

Then the girl picked up a rifle.

It was the correct thing to do, in her opinion, even if unexpected. While she had no plans of letting any harm come to the child, it was never good to trust one's own protection solely to another, and so this rifle would serve her well. Based on these observations, she was already beginning to appreciate the girl for her pragmatism and remarkable resolve when faced with these difficult circumstances, But it was her answer that became the catalyst for something much more personal.

“I don't know.” she admitted after a visible conflict played out on her face. Her grip on the rifle tightened. She should know her own name, shouldn't she?

“I don't remember.”

Anathemous swallowed.

"You... are like me, then" Her words were more a thought, hummed aloud in a slow, somber realization as she cautiously approached.

The mask was pulled away, silken hair falling over her shoulders like wavy fields of grain, flanking a face that seemed almost too young to belong to one who commanded ships and armies. Yet her eyes, though fiery in their glow like twin-suns amidst the dull emergency lights, were softened and battered by many years of hardship, and a deep understanding of the very pain this girl must surely feel.

"We've both lost something of ourselves, haven't we" Her voice was soft now as she gently squeezed the young girl's shoulder, free of the mask's modulated interference, the difference almost night and day.

"I'm so sorry, no one should have have to suffer a lose of memory-"

There was movement in the corner of her eye, and Anathemous spun around to put a hand up just before an ambushing pirate shot at them. But to his horror, the burst of fire he'd spat stopped mid air, hovering before the sith's outstretched hand as they thrummed and shook violently. She clenched her jaw, glaring daggers at the pirate while concentrating on keeping the things suspended and harmless.

"It's a fine rifle," She spoke to the girl through grit teeth

"Use it...!"


Kita

 

[Kita]

Like her?

Something about that establishment made the girl inch closer, just in time to see Kaila unmasked. Suffice it to say, it was not the reveal Kita had anticipated. She was young for one. Far younger than seemed reasonable.

And so much kinder than what Kita was used to.

It was to the point the kid wasn’t sure how to take the pelting sincerity. It could probably go without saying that none of the pirates had seen fit to emphasize her situation. To finally feel justified in being wronged was... alleviating. Comforting.

Kita opened her mouth, about to spring into more questions only to be interrupted by the whirr of a blaster shot.

Even before the prompting, her hands fell to the rifle, slinging it into the right configuration like a reflex. The bullet blistered skin, digging its way into the arm socket of its victim in the next moment. Incapacitating but not lethal.

Oh. At least her muscle memory seemed to stay intact. That was definitely something.

Kita paused, soaking in the shock of the moment before she finally relaxed her grip and let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. “Holy chit.” Adrenaline pumping, it took a moment for the girl to realize her crassness- to which she followed up her expletive with an apologetic cough.

“You saw that right?” Her attention turned to Kaila, as if she had the chance to miss it.

Kaila Irons

 

[Kaila Irons]

The words hardly even left her mouth by the time a bullet tore through the air beside her, then through the arm of their assailant. The girl had gunned down a man before even her droids could, as they were quickly engaged by pirates from the doorways of lightless rooms nearby. The sith turned to regard the girl from over her shoulder, unsure whether to feel somber that this child was forced to adapt to violence so quickly, or impressed that she had.

Whether it was the force, muscle memory, luck or some combination of the three, she did not know.

But it required further investigation.

Though it would have to wait, as battle was still upon them. If the girl was so delighted in this brief act of revenge, there would be plenty more where that came from. The lead droids were exchanging fire a short distance from them, but in the chaotic labyrinthine confines of this decrepit vessel, there were too many nooks and crannies to watch all at once.

“You saw that right?”

"Fine shot," she replied quickly

"But you're not out of hot water yet, let's move!"

The sith would wait until everyone had moved to a safe distance and she had room to step back before releasing the hot plasma from stasis, those inanimate shots all hitting the wall behind where they once stood in a shower of sparks that lit up the entire room behind them.

"I have a ship set to meet us at the hanger. If we can get you there in one peace, we'll leave this place and try to find your parents"

It was clear to Anathemous that the nature of her mission had changed. For as enslaved as the alliance was to the force and it's overpowering will, they would never knowingly engage in slavery or ransom, and so this ship had no connection to the core worlders or their jedi. There was nothing of value to Anathemous and her agenda here, and so this was now a rescue mission.

"Besh to Aurek," She spoke into her commlink, using the force to shut doors behind them and expand her senses to locate pirates.

"New mission, rendezvous at the hanger and secure our extract. We're leaving"

Then she slid the helm over her head once more, summoning a lightsaber to her hand as the sounds of fighting drew closer.



Kita

 

[Kita]

Dangerously emboldened, Kita gave a firm nod, boxing her nerves deep, deep down. She didn't want to be a useless, defenseless dud, not while in the audience of someone so antithetical. And so she followed Kaila’s lead, hugging the rifle to her chest. There was a sense of rightness as she held the weapon between both hands. Safety. Power. Assurance. Kita did not resent the feeling. She spared a glance at the woman’s own weapon when given the chance, still unable to beat down an intrusive feeling of familiarity. Stars..why did everything have to be a riddle.

As they peeled down the corridors, Kita measured her breathing, hope coalescing with every inhale. That was until a pirate rounded the corner. Several of them at that, all with various impromptu weapons and surging with fury.

“Chit.”

Clearly recognizing the true threat in the room, only one split off to engage Kita. To which the girl yelped, raising the butt of her rifle in defense only for it to be wrestled from her and then promptly used to cage her against the wall. All that bravado evaporated in an instant, her chin resting on the stock of the gun as her toes struggled to make contact with the floor. An endeavor which was made all the more difficult by the snarling face pressed up to hers.

Fethfethfethfethfeth

Flailing a bit pointlessly, what little muscle Kita had flexed in a desperate attempt to free herself.

Kaila Irons
​

 

[Kaila Irons]

They rounded a corner to see the lead droids in shambles, the remains of a nearby Ion-grenade alluding to their fate, spitting sparks in it's last defiant breath before it too fell silent.

The pirates responsible were quick to seize the initiative as Anathemous and their escaped prisoner walked into the ambush with the other half of their escort lagging behind to secure the rear, although soon it too would come under attack as the formation reemerged inside the contested mid-section of the vessel. They wielded a varied array of vibro-weaponry and cheap blasters, quickly forcing the invading imperials into close quarters.

If it were not for her current predicament, Kita would have witnessed something very rare.

A sith who willingly placed themselves on the defensive. And mastered it.


The violet saber was quickly joined by a smaller shoto, it's blade a fine crimson that almost blended into the red emergency lights that flickered in and out. Anathemous took a deep breath and held the shoto close to her chest in a defensive Form One stance, using it to bat away incoming blaster fire up into the ceiling where it could do no harm to Kita, or back from whence it came to drop nearby pirates. Her second blade, the longest of the two, was held symmetrically with her outstretched arm, waiting for the opportune moment.

Over time the enemy would see the effectiveness of their ranged assault diminish, trying to circle the sith only for her to sidestep and weave her way through the fire in a circle until they had accidently put their own backs to the wall, at which point she began to close the distance as she crept forward.

With no choice left, those wielding vibro weaponry pushed forward, only for most of them to be swiftly cut down as she abruptly transitioned into aggressive, agile Jar'kai that took the form of broad sweeping attacks. Too quick to take advantage of the brief opening, one of the pirates mistakenly gunned down their own man, then unwittingly backed himself into a corner with the remaining pirates.

With Kita now behind her however, the sorceress was free to use the force more efficiently.

One saber was telekinetically flung into a controlled spin as it sailed forward, decapitating two men while her shoto remained in her grasp to fend off those who survived the attack.

When the first blade returned to her hand however, cutting down a few more in it's wake, one of the last pirates simply side stepped, taking up an electro-staff and thrusting it towards her, battering her defenses with a longer reach and strong blows that quickly overcharged the blade-drain module in her primary lightsaber, abruptly shorting it out and forcing her to leap back across the room with aid of the force.

It was only then that she heard Kita's struggling, spinning on her heel to grab the assailant via the force in the same way she had done to enemy fire before, locking him in a suspended stasis.

"Look for a knife!" She called out, hoping that kita's assailant had one in his belt, only to be interrupted as her own opponent caught up, staff entering a violent lock with her saber that forced her knees to bend.



Kita

 

[Kita]

Kita's legs swung forward, trying to find purchase in the man's abdomen-- anything to create a degree of separation. Her panic furled over itself like it couldn't quite all fit in her small body.

Knife.

Her mind obsessed over the word. A litany to keep her from fully succumbing to the cold fingers of fear digging into her shoulder, attempting to keep her limp. Paralyzed.

Hurt him or you'll die.

Conveniently--at the same time as that realization--the pirate relinquished his hold. Kita didn't question what was happening; failed to question exactly how the man was yanked away like a rag doll without so much as a fingertip of physical contact. Instead, her hand dove toward the reflective blade sticking out from his belt and slashed upwards. The result was a brutal gash from chest to chin. Deep enough to not be survivable. Kita felt entirely removed from the action, hovering there for a moment as if it were a dream. The rifle clattered back into her arms soon enough though, waking her up with a rude suddenity. Trying to ignore the squeezing feeling in her chest, she spun towards Kaila, only for her eyes to go wide with shock once more.

The girl panicked a moment, unsure how to help--hardly realizing her hands had already found her rifle, angled it up, and fired a shot. One aimed towards the head of Kaila's attacker.

Kaila Irons
​

 

[Kaila Irons]

The first kill was often the hardest. Anathemous remembered this well, just as she remembered how easily the other apprentices faltered when faced with the opportunity to secure their first. To secure their future.

She remained, they did not.

Now Kita remained, and the pirate assaulting her did not. She knew this because the man's lifeforce quickly faded from her senses. This freed Anathemous to face her own opponent, who had just overpowered her guard and slammed the shaft an electrostaff into her nose. But the sith was now free to release the other from her unseen grasp, using her empty hand to punch her own opponent in the gut, her metal infused bones adding weight behind her fist such that breath left his body all at once.

Before she could rip the staff from his hands, a loud sound rang out from behind, the harsh reverberation throughout the small room causing her to flinch. Slug throwers weren't particularly common in the places Anathemous frequented, so far from the Mandalore sector and it's primitive barbarism. But then Kita's rifle was a rare exception, sleek and gilded, befitting a display case even more than the hands of a noble lady. And yet, good hands they were. The bullet had sung true, and now the large pirate lay on the floor, blood quickly pooling on the floor behind him.

The lightsaber in her hand deactivated as she turned to regard Kita, wiping blood from her nose as she looked over the girl's handiwork.

"You alright...?"

Physically at least, she hoped. Mentally it was hard to tell whether the girl would simply be unfazed via some damaged psyche or if it would hit her all at once when the adrenaline wore off.

Either way, she was alive. That's all that mattered for the time being.

The hanger was up ahead, and the droids pulling rear security were coming up behind them, having dealt with the enemy flank. She just needed to hang on a little longer.

"We're almost there, This will all be over soon"



Kita

 

[Kita]

Kita fixated on the slow-growing crimson, a heart rapidly beating against her rib cage. Tearing her eyes from her work, she managed to focus on Kaila and her question with serious effort.

"I- yes- Yes, I am fine."

She didn't need to be told twice before moving alongside the woman, suddenly overcome with deep, ample gratitude. Who's to say it wouldn't have been her blood staining these floors if Kaila hadn't shown up when she did.

She owed her life to this woman.

And so, Kita stuck like glue to her side as they continued their path forward, her knuckles growing white against the stock.

"Thank you." She muttered, quiet but wholly sincere.

Kaila Irons
​

 

[Kaila Irons]

The girl wasn't fine, and she could see it. There was contemplation behind Kita's eyes before they were torn away from the scene, be it questioning herself for killing a man or realization of her own capabilities, Anathemous did not not know. But the girl had survived for it, and she hoped they would see it in time.

"Thank you." She muttered, quiet but wholly sincere.

She nodded deeply to the girl who was quick to fall in beside the taller Darth like a little shadow, although one with a serious bite behind it.

"I did what needed to be done, as have you" The sith stated, hoping it might soften the blow of what Kita had done, but not discourage her from future violence if need be.

The two were quickly passed by the remaining commando droids of Team Aurek who rushed to check for hostiles at the end of the next hall, only to continue on ahead toward some boxes where they began to draw enemy fire away from doorway as the group proceeded into the hanger. It was here that The Masquerade touched down, engines loudly whining and heavy molecular shields eating up small arms fire as the droids battled their way to the extract, joined by a second team who began diverting the enemy's attention deeper in the hanger.

Anathemous stopped to peak around the corner.

"That's my ship. A second will pick up my droids, right now our priority is to get you safely aboard and figure out how the hell you got here"

Trying to minimize the risk to Kita, she then reached out with the force to rip a wide panel from the wall, grunting as she jerked it free and let it hover. It appeared just thick enough to shield them from incoming fire.

"They can't pierce this, as pirates are lightly armed, preferring to frighten their victims into submission."

She would turn to the girl, her expression one of focus and urgency.

"We'll use it to cross. Are you ready?"


Kita

 

[Kita]

Kaila's words helped, taking that unidentifiable negative emotion heavy in her chest and folding it into next to nothing. And so she moved a bit lighter, tucking into the Sith like she was the only lantern in a graveyard.

Her eyes widened as the panel was wrenched clean off the wall—another display of the esoteric power her savior seemed to possess. Instead of fear, there seemed to be a glint of fascination in her eyes.

Kita nodded, a small but severe motion.

Fear has been her close companion ever since she'd woken up. It consumed her every thought, her actions, her world. But now, looking at the woman she stood next to it evaporated like water on sand.

At Kaila's signal, the girl bolted, rifle cradled to her chest as they made their way to the ship. A new, entirely superior emotion seemed to awaken in her then. Hope.

Kaila Irons
​

 

[Kaila Irons]

"Right then, on three..." she took a deep breath, knees bending as she placed the makeshift shield beside them and prepared to make a run for it.

"One..."

"...two"​

"...three!"​

The pair bolted, rounds immediately thumping loudly against the barrier, Anathemous' metal bones creating an equally loud ruckus with each thunderous step that followed Kita's soft pitter patter against the steel deck. Running while using the force in this way was tiresome even for one so physically trained as she, but they were able to reach the courier in time.

She waited for the girl to proceed up the boarding ramp before throwing the loose panel aside, but suddenly dropped to one knee as a shot grazed her leg. Yet with no time to retaliate, she simply followed the girl inside, shouting for her co-pilot.

"Zero, get us back to Echnos !"

A series of electronic chirps and beeps followed in confirmation as her BB-unit fired up the engines before the boarding ramp had even fully closed.

Anathemous would grunt as she walked into the living quarters, a large circular room in the ship's center that doubled as a briefing room with a table that could just as easily serve dinner as it could a tactical display. The sith tossed her mask atop the crescent shaped seating nearby, taking a cup of tea from the table that had apparently settled while she was away, causing her face to scrunch up at the bitter taste as she passed through and climbed the short set of stairs into the large cockpit.

"Give me full rear shields and inertial compensators, evasive maneuvers only. I want us gone soon as we can cloak"

Already the hyperdrive was roaring to life deeper within the ship, and soon only stars could be seen as they passed over the battling ships. Kita was free at last, and soon they could jump to Echnos were a new life might begin.



Kita