Hunger and Darkness

[Nine Lives]

"Asssss I have ssssaid...as long as the sword doessssssn't fall into the wrong handssss...I'm good..." the vampire replied slyly. "I'm well enough to travel now. Can even give a decent accounting of myssssself in battle."

The vampire watched with twitchy movements as @Lilla Syren bound the wookiee.

"Its good that he's bound...would have tried to ssssssteal our vital essence no doubt." Nine opined, voice going nearly demonic as she said the words 'vital essence'. (Too be fair, even Nine was not sure what the hell that was, or why it was so important to keep. She merely assumed it to be important in her fugue-state.)

The vampire, already worried the mimes would track them down and make them wear yellow, which she was deathly frightened of, decided to make haste and lead them out of the cave. With Nine, mostly out of danger for the moment and that wookiee Sith mostly a non issue after eating key memories, she decided now would be a pretty good time to make small talk with a former peer.

"Sssssooooo..." The Lovely Nine trailed, walking through the cave and retracing her steps. "Where arrrrre you from? I hail from Atrisia myselllllllf."

At least 'Boring Nine' was no longer calling the shots. That would have made the whole evening 'much' more overly somber than it needed to be. And they had had plenty of that already. Plus, Lilla looked like a fun person, and if Lovely Nine had her way, there would be a party. With cake.

She carried herself differently also. Regular Nine was always hunched, always fearful. Always ashamed. Boring. Boring boring boring! Lovely Nine hated boring.

She wondered a bit about how to get deeper into the Shadowlands.

"I'm conceerrrrned about where he hid the sword. I've beeeennnn in that area of the shadowlands before, come to thiiiinnnk of it. More than just predators there. My masssster was clever to conceal such a weapon there. The Wookiee was being cautious before trying to retrieve it. Likely working on orders from The Mimes. Bastards..." she grumbled, gliding through the cave floor ahead of her.

"My real name is Ni-Ne, by the way. Ni-Ne Li-Ves. 'Nine Lives' was an insult from a princess that I...'appropriated'...A little toooo on the noooooossssse in retrospect but damn if I didn't live up to it eventually. The vampire who turned me into this freak got the surprisssssse of her life, lemme tell you..."

She paused at having accidentally used one of Boring Nine's words. She didn't think she was a freak. She was something new. Something wonderful...

Something lovely...

Nine briefly wondered if Lilla might be interested in being a Psy-Pire, but she knew better than to try advocating for it with a Jedi. What if they put something in the water to destroy her purity of essence? Then they'd really be in trouble...

Maybe she could try showing how fun it was to be a Psy-Pire...free balloon rides for one...

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla wasn’t scared – and nor was she overly worried. But she was concerned. The Force, albeit not coming right out with it and demanding action as a result of a threat, well, it was at the very least nudging her. If nothing, it kept her on edge…on her guard. They’d overcome a couple of significant obstacles – but the situation had changed somewhat.

Firstly, they’d overcome the aforementioned impediments. This meant that they were faced with a different set of challenges. And, as Lilla was keen to say so often – the enemy of my enemy isn’t necessarily my friend. Especially when the common foe was no longer a threat.

Secondly, her ally was no longer the same frail old woman that she’d met in the forest. And even that person had to be considered a considerable force of nature.

So, she listened acutely and used the Force and her own senses to ensure she would spot any alarm bells before they even started to ring.

“Given you’re well enough to move, we should make haste,” Lilla said, keen to begin moving once more. As for the Sith, Lilla presumed he simply wanted to kill them – vital essence or no vital essence.

As they began to move, Lilla listened. “Atrisia – an historic planet with famed swordsmen. I have used some of their teachings in learning to use a shoto with my saber. As for me? I…I was found on Tatooine. I have no idea where I am from, just that I was found by Jawas aged five or so – and sold into slavery. I have no memories before that time, and no clues as to my real identity. Even my name is fake – given to me when I was about eleven years old.”

“What can you tell me of your master and…these Mimes. They do not sound familiar to me. As for the title Nine Lives, given names are no more than that – words. They don’t represent who we are. Knowing my real name would not make me a different person – even if it turned out I was some princess. I’d remain a Jedi.”

“So, name aside, what are you at the core? What do you hope to achieve?”

[member="Nine Lives"]

 

[Nine Lives]

"Oh, that'sssss perrrrrfectly alright, having a faaaake name..." Nine croaked as she walked. "Lots of people get by on an alias...rosssssse by any other naaaaame and whatnot...and you use Atrisian techniques! Alwayssssss a-good-choiccccccceee..."

Lilla then asked about her master...and what she was after...

"I had more than one...first was Albrecht Bo, a Jedi Shadow...he was the one who got me into the order...than came the Wookiee whose sword we seek. She taught me to hunt vampires...as for the mimes, they are disgusting looking silent clowns who pretend to be trapped in and pull things that are invisible and they frighten and irritate me because I think they secretly serve demons. They probably do...but I'm onto them!. Soon as I get some tinfoil they won't be able to read my mind...or steal my vital essence. Or yours, for that matter. You should invest in tinfoil."

Nine gave another thought and moments pause as she glided through the tunnels of the cave, before leaning against the rocky structure and folding her arms.

"What am I at the core? Someone with...loooooosssse...interpretations of being on the side of The Angels...a woman trying to maaaaaake the besssssst of a condition she did not asssssk for. If I could eat normal food I would...but I can't...so I have to com-pen-sate by being as merciful as posssssible during feeding. As for what I hope to achieve...I ssssssupposssse I could get back into vampire hunting. A lot of them are sadistsssss...but I'm more interested in continuing my private conflict with Dark Siders...before I was transssssssfoooormed, I was tormented for over a century by my captor. She used her power to keep me young...so I could suffer longer."

Nine turned to @Lilla Syren with a wry look, "So if you're worried I'll go Sith eventually...after that...not a chance. I could never abide such a philosophy after what I've been through. I'm not pure by any means...but I'm not them..." she asserted, staring into beautiful purple eyes filled with hope and belief and...caution. Nine didn't blame her.

Just then, a man in civilian clothes came barreling out of another route in the network. He was holding something. Nine got a strong surge of the Force as he ran by but it wasn't from him. It was from what he held.

"Huh. What's thaaaat allll about?" Nine asked turning back to Lilla. "How much you wanna bet that duuuuude stole something that's very dangerous?"

In truth, Nine was delighted for the distraction...it meant she got to hang out with the cutie Jedi longer. There seemed to be an abundance of them in this era.

"Hey wait a minute!" She called out to the guy, crawling onto the wall on all fours then onto the ceiling after him.

"Dude, stop! I just wanna talk! Whats that thingy you got?" She asked, getting a glimpse of what he held.

It wasn't a holocron. It looked like a fist sized chunk of amber...

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla nodded, but her eyebrows told a slightly different story. Her name was not an alias – which suggested she was hiding her true identity – but rather a title she answered to, given she had no way of telling what her real name was. Did it bother her? Sometimes – which was another way of saying ‘yes.’ It did not gnaw at her, but if and when she considered it, it was something that made her feel incomplete.

But she pushed these thoughts aside as she listened to the woman – who was oddly the same person, but no longer was referenced in her mind as the ‘old’ woman. Names, eh? Most of what she heard was valid and some…well if was plain confusing. Lilla refrained from disbelieving – tinfoil seemed an odd deterrent to mind-reading. Lilla had her own defence to such an intrusion – born out of a need to keep errant thoughts and emotions out – given she was a natural empath.

Lilla had an element of sympathy and empathy for the woman – to be kept alive just to be tormented was entirely cruel – but revenge? That was not the Jedi way. Not that she expected the woman to become a Jedi, nor did she judge her for her beliefs. Not being a Sith was a start – but, as Lilla was keen to lecture…the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.

Fortunately, Lilla was saved from having to debate the subject, when a man pushed past. Lilla also felt the Force, or some manifestation of it – and it wasn’t the man. The sword? Maybe – Lilla did not get a good look at whatever he was carrying.

“I think we need to ask a few questions,” she said, as her companion started off in pursuit. Lilla, for her part, closed her eyes momentarily and when she opened them, she felt at one with the Force. Extended a hand, she gestured with her fingers, as if beckoning someone. The effect on the man was to stop him in his tracks and he fell backwards slightly. Not all Force Pulls have to be dramatic!

[member="Nine Lives"]

 

[Nine Lives]

As the man fell backward the amber-like object that was in his hands tumbled out.

Nine felt a strong--immensely strong--signature, almost like it was alive. She sensed emotion from it.

Nine, still following the man on the ceiling, reached out to catch it but she was too slow and the object fell to the floor.

Her fingers just barely touched the chunk and her experience as a Consular told her what it was. She had never forgotton the texture.

It was Nullification Resin.

The chunk cracked as it hit the ground than shattered, and Nine felt immense heat in the cave...sweltering heat...the cave passages glowing gold.

From the shattered remains of the resin chunk a wisp of fire escaped from the shards, twisting in place like a tornado the size of a rope.

It was definitely alive...she felt emotion from the flame twister...somehow...

What was this thing?

She felt pure anguish...and an overwhelming sense of betrayal. Long standing betrayal...

The flame flew out of the tunnel, heating the ground as it sped across it. Nine dropped to the ground and picked up the man in civilian clothes.

"Okay, spill it...what was that?" Nine asked.

The man, who was fair skinned and bald, youthful looking, clad in simple shirt, slacks, jacket and boots in an all gray color scheme, with a bald head and brown eyes, stared at her. She grinned, showing her black, metallic textured fangs. He frowned. No ambiguity there.

"Ok...short story or long story?"

"Would the long story get my jedi acquaintance a piece of cake? Chocolate cake?" Nine genuinely wondered. "Will it be mime free?"

The bald criminal stared up at her.

"Wow, I really can't catch a break..." he muttered. "Ummm...no?"

"Damn. No cake for Lilla...can't guarantee absence of Mimes..." she sighed. "Okay...short story..."

"Purple-Eyed Woman hired me...never got her name...smoking hot though. Really skintight armor. Curves like a country road. She hires me, see? Says she'll pay me a cool mil to find this chunk of resin. I'm...sort of a grave robber for lack of a more tactful term for my expertise. I find old stuff...take it...and sell it on the black market. Or in this case, Miss Sexy-Purple-Eyes...not you though, your eyes are creepy, not sexy." he answered honestly, not daring to lie to a vampire.

"Heh, you aiiiinnn't a priiiize yoursellllffff chit-head." Nine replied. "You didn't know that was in there, in your little prize, did you?"

"News to me...hey, you single? Your eyes might be creepy, but the rest of you..." he said in a lecherous manner.

"Your'rrrreee noooot my-type."

"Is it 'cause I'm bald?"

"Partly."

He shrugged. "What's the other part?"

"You have no sense of timing. Though I'll give you points for trying though...okay, let's see what horror we've unleashed..."

Nine took the man by the arm, not roughly, but enough to let him know he wasn't going to flee. She went where she sensed power as she finally exited the cave into the night. She saw a glow in the distance and headed to it, knowing, bidding @Lilla Syren to follow as she went into the woods, seeing a very small section had caught fire and the flames where being drawn to the center...Nine and the thief watched in total fascination as the flames formed a humanoid figure, which shifted and solidified into the body of a woman, on one knee, arms both to the sides, head down. She had lightly bronzed skin, with a voluptuous, curvy physique and a main of flaming red hair. The area around her was scorched. She was naked.

The curvy, fire haired woman rose and Nine and the thief took an alarmed step backward as they saw the glowing orange eyes.

"What day is it?" The woman asked, her tone a contralto, but not as deep as Nine's.

"What year?"

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Whoever said life as a Jedi was easy? Or fair? Or even half-reasonable? Of course, Lilla always told her Padawans that the whole point of standing up for the greater good and following the Code was a life of selflessness. There were many walks of life where you could do good, where the end justified the means and you felt good about yourself at the end of the day. Where you could pick and choose which good you chose to accomplish.

A Jedi was afforded none of those luxuries. Not any one of them. More often than not, you did what was needed to be done because there was nobody else to do it. You drew every short straw and picked up the stick with the brown smelly stuff on it. And you didn’t mind. Not even once.

Today was, therefore a typical day. Having dealt with the Wookiee Sith, most might call it a good shift’s work. But there was no time to rest and things were about to tumble from the frying pan into the fire.

Nine was dealing with the miscreant admirably. Lilla did not let her guard down for even one moment and she kept a wary eye, in case her companion overstepped the mark. Results were important, but to a Jedi, how you achieved them was actually more important.

In a blink of an eye, they went from dealing with a potential thief to a…well, Lilla would have to think about that one. The amber cracked, whatever was contained escaped and the trio set off in pursuit.

Whatever they were chasing had an aura – and a powerful one. But what was it? Lilla was still unsure as she raced the ethereal being into the woods. She didn’t even register that cake had been promised – although her lack of a sweet tooth meant she hadn’t been a huge loss.

The energy had transformed into flames and the flames were now coalescing into a shape. Lilla stepped forward when common sense said go in the opposite direction. What was that? The flames became the shape of a woman and a second metamorphosis occurred – the fire now an actual figure.

Again, Lilla ignored conventional wisdom and she took another step forward. The questions were typical of someone who had been captive for a very, very long time.

Lilla ignored her queries for now. “Who are you, and why were you imprisoned?” she asked, her voice calm. In truth, Lilla had a hundred questions and nobody, she was sure, had all of the answers. But these felt the most important two right now.

[member="Nine Lives"]

 

[Syd Celsius]

(SELECT DIFFICULTY)

I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE

HURT ME PLENTY!

ULTRA-VIOLENCE!

NIGHTMARE!

ULTRA-NIGHTMARE!

YOU SELECTED: ULTRA-NIGHTMARE!


The woman with glowing eyes stared at her new hosts with deep suspicion, which only got worse when she eyed @Lilla Syren, an obvious Jedi, given her attire, and the lightsaber only confirmed it.

"I'm not going back in there..." she said to herself as much as she said it to the rest of them. "I'm not going back in there...I'm not going back in there..."

She backed off from them going up against a tree. The woman in the green robes, an incredible seven foot height, floated forward. The bald man in the gray clothes looked like he didn't mind his current situation all that much.

The Jedi obviously had no idea. None of them knew what was going on, that much was obvious.

"I...I'm an experiment. Created by Jedi. I am The Flame Geist." She answered truthfully.

"Holy...that's The Flame Geist!" the bald man spoke in astonishment. The flame-haired woman eyed the shady looking man.

"I asssssuuumme that tiiiiitle is im-por-tant?" the green robed woman with the beautiful face asked.

"She's a weapon, ladies!" he exclaimed. "Some kinda creature they created with Alkahest! There was this group of Jedi that hunted Dark Side Abominations, right? They also hunted Sith. Well one of them, they get this fit of insanity that lasts quite a while but they ended up coming up with all these weird formulas. She's the result of that..."

"Did she go crazy? And how do you know this?" The vampire turned to him, purple dot eyes. She sensed the touch of darkness upon her, but she herself was not one with the Dark Side. The Geist was confused sometimes, when she sensed such
murkiness...should she kill...or not?

"I...uh...might have robbed one or two of the facilities of the people who made her...they were long abandoned though, so...squatter's rights." he answered sheepishly.

"The Resistors of Darkness, where are they?" The Flame Geist called out, worry and betrayal still crossing her features.

The bald grave robber scratched the back of his head in discomfort. "Errr...hate to break it to you, but...they're defunct. They were destroyed fifty years ago by an infiltrator..."

The Flame Geist got weak in the knees, visibly distressed..."All gone?" she asked weakly.

She asked her real question again. "How long...has it been since the Gulag Plague?"

"Four hundred years..." he answered.

The Flame Geist's face crunched into an expression of horror.

"Three centuries..." the flame maned woman growled. "They put me in there for over three centuries..."

"For what, though? You lose it, or something?"

"I was put in that amber hell for doing what I was made to do..." she spat bitterly, rising. Her emotions were not normally all that intense, but three hundred years trapped basically in a rock had not done wonders for her temper.

"Yeah, she did her job, alright...did it a little too well..." the bald man added. "Jedi Council forced her creators to stop using her. They imprison her in Resin...If I had known...I'd have probably cracked it open myself..."

"They left me in a cave!" the Geist shouted, wanting to cry but unable to. "They left me in a dark cave and forgot about me!"

She rose up...She sprouted a series of mini fireballs which orbited quickly around her right hand.

"I'm not going back there...I'll die...I'll kill before I go back there..." the Geist snapped. "I'm not going back there...I'm not going back there...I'm not going back there..."

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla was used to incarceration – but had never had to deal with anyone who had been imprisoned in such a manner. But she was, in a very real way, used to the concept of slavery, which was not a million kilometres away conceptually. She knew how she felt each time she escaped her owners – the desperation to remain free and the dread at returning to her former existence.

So, she allowed the woman to speak – wondering how long it had been since she last had a conversation.

Lilla was not one to automatically believe anything that was said – but nor did she inevitably doubt. Facts were vital in these matters, and she would suspend judgement until she was in possession of more information.

She had no idea what a Flame Geist was precisely. Even generically, the Basic translation was a challenge for her. It was, she believed, some form of ghost or spirit or mind or intellect. Made of…flame no doubt. But an experiment? And a Jedi one too? Of course, something as specific as a noun can be loose in its interpretation – and Jedi could be any stripe from any era following one of a thousand different Codes – assuming they had one at all.

She turned as the bald man spoke – clearly, he knew something on the subject. As she suspected, full knowledge would be garnered from assimilating information from many different sources. Lilla was slightly relieved to find out that her companion was as uninformed as she was.

But the more she heard, the less she liked what she was hearing. A weapon of Jedi manufacture – maybe the work of Shadows?

Lilla was doing her best to follow the three-way conversation, parking her own questions as she listened and absorbed. The Resistors of Darkness were another new one on her. But the toing and froing of questions began to fill in missing sections of the mental jigsaw she was building. Timeline for one.

Which was when things escalated…quickly.

Lilla was unsure what connection the woman had to the Force, but suspected she was some form of energy that was linked to it in some way. And if she was an anti-dark-side ‘weapon’ she must be able to detect auras. Which meant Lilla’s instinct to connect to the Force herself might be construed as an aggressive act. So, she played a dangerous game. She relied on the Force to warn her of impending danger – knowing any alert would give her only a fraction of a second to react.

“I am sure there are many possible outcomes to this situation. And I’m equally sure we can find one that suits all sides that does not involve you ‘going back.’ Trust me, work with me. Talk, don’t act.”

[member="Syd Celsius"]

 

[Syd Celsius]

"That is easy for you to say." the Ghost of Flames spat bitterly at @Lilla Syren. But then she made her micro fireballs vanish. "But alright...I'll play along...for now."

"I strongly recommend maintaining a peaceful attitude. I'd be dead without that Jedi..." Nine Lives warned the glow-eyed woman.

"Her kind convinced my own makers to imprison me in what might as well have been a singularity. Pardon me if I'm a little suspicious." The Flame Geist muttered with a sour expression that followed her. She stared at the glowdot eyed woman in the beautiful robes.

"And what are you?"

"Something that finds the phrase 'Food for Thought' to be perversely appropriate to her situuuuuuation..." Nine answered.

The Flame Geist raised a brow in suspicion. "You have the look of a cat toying with a mouse."

The vampire gave a small smirk. "A cat, you say..."

The Flame Geist was keeping an eye on Lilla, though, waiting for her aura to turn to that cold Jedi determination that signalled an intent to bring in the one they were staring at 'For Questioning'.

She looked at the bald man. "And who are you?"

"Rex Rathtar. Grave Robber. Its never personal. Its always about money. Man's gotta feed himself somehow." Rex answered. "Say, uh...you single?"

The Flame Geist narrowed her eyes in searing annoyance. "C'mon, man, really?"

Rex held up his hands in surrender. "Shutting up now..."

The Flame Geist then stiffened, her magic nature detecting fast approaching, definitely Dark Side threats. She stared at the woods behind her, ducked a crossbow bolt and let off a fast moving jet of fire from her hands that blasted the branches above her, seeting a Dark Jedi ablaze. It seemed the Wookiee had understudies.

The man screamed as he fell from the tree, burning.

Nineteen more Dark Jedi emerged from the woods, red lightsabers switching on. Nine drew her katana and gave a smirk.

The Flame Geist turned to her new companions. She decided to make them at least able to withstand a bit of punishment, even as the Dark Jedi charged.

The spell she was casting would work on all three of them.

"Ashla, grant my allies power..."

If the strength spell's effects took, all three would be enveloped in an arcane red flame that would double their strength. It wouldn't hurt, and they could see as clearly through it as before.

A burst of lightning hit her body, but the psyonic shell held, and she turned in muted anger, conjuring a large fire twister that she sent forward at high speed, catching a dark adept too slow to dodge it and consuming him. Fireballs erupted from her hand and hit three more reinforcements.

At least she was not confused about what to do now that she was free...

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla sighed audibly. This was going to be a challenge. One on one? Well, maybe she stood a chance of reasoning with the Flame Geist. But here? And with her two companions – each with their own agenda? That complicated matters, and it wasn’t as if she could pull rank. But she had a duty to resolve the matter – even if the others present had their own ideas on the subject.

On the plus side, Nine was initially being supportive. Lilla wondered if having her health restored by presumably sating her hunger, she would be less inclined to submit to any innate needs right now, but despite the addition of a new challenge, Lilla did not lower her guard at all.

Lilla spoke slowly and calmly, her voice soft but carrying authority. “I cannot speak for others who may or not have been Jedi, but I have to accept the blame for what happened to you, given it was – at the very least – in the name of the Jedi. All I can offer you is the fact that I am not them. If you understand the Jedi Code, you will know what I am honour bound to do. I accept your suspicion and will work with the fact that you will not be able to trust me yet.”

“So, consider my deeds, not my words. Judge me on what I do, not what I say.”

Which was when the Force gave Lilla less of a gentle elbow, and more of a kick in the ribs. She turned from the Flame Geist. She needed to act but even in defending, she might appear hostile.

Fortunately the entity was on the same page when it came to sensing their potential foes, and as Lilla turned, she allowed her robe to drop to the floor and – as she extended her right hand – her saber hilt slapped into it with a pleasing thud and the blade activated with a snap-hiss, bathing the Jedi in a violet glow.

Closing her eyes momentarily, she entered Center of Being. The meditative technique would allow her to almost unconsciously defend from even the most flowing random attacks and feints – as long as she gave herself to the Force and did not try to override its guidance. She was a Jedi, after all – she would take a life only if she had to. Initially, staying alive was her primary objective.

As she did, she felt a burt of the Force around her. Given it was not dark-sided, she did not rail against it, and it felt akin to Force Valor – so she embraced its effects.

[member="Syd Celsius"]

 

[Nine Lives]

"Ooooo...guess someone likes to splurge on the FX now and then..." Nine muttered as everyone was surrounded by a strange red flame. She felt a surge of power and embraced it, as she drew her Katana.

The Flame Geist was generous with her gift, jets of it erupting from her hands and torching two more.

When three combatants surrounded her, Nine went still. Perfectly still, shrouded in the transparent red flame of the Geist's magic. She waited for her supposed killers to attack.

One struck in Two, and her sword easily raised to meet it, shrouded in the purple energy of her variant of Force Weapon, shifting near silently forward, swatting her first attacker aside and twisting to meet and parry the blades from the other two attackers, knowing she was in a bad situation. It was never good to be outnumbered like this. Two to one was bad enough, but three.

The three executed their attacks at the same time and even with her strength doubled Nine was forced on the defensive, being driven back even though she expertly parried the blows to her head and torso, both hands to her Katana, as she never shifted more than necessary to evade stabs and slashes, some of her makashi training aiding her defense, and she took advantage of The Makashi duelist's over-aggression, caught and twisted his blade to the side and punched him so hard she felt his jaw break under her knuckles and knocking him out cold, but was forced to back away in order to save herself from the twin strikes of her remaining two attackers,

In the distance she saw the naked Flame Geist had managed to grab a lightsaber and was warding off two opponents in form 2. She was not surprised by her style...if a living weapon was going to constantly fight Dark Adepts it made sense to be familiar with the form most optimized for lightsaber duels. The fact she was dueling them while naked was simply a small bonus to the Arch Psy-Pire. Who was backed up to her defense all the way until she was next to @Lilla Syren. Rex hadn't fled, instead pulling out two blasters and firing so fast that his own foes were forced to deflect constantly.

Nine batted aside simultaneous attacks with brute strength, her katana flashing in the darkness as the sabers attacks kept coming, and as she encorporated some Niman into her sword style, when she parried, she released non-lethal, purple psychic bolts at point blank range, hitting one and causing him severe nausea and his muscles to lock up, and the last thing he saw before the dragonhead pommel of her sword smashed into his nose and cheek, knocking him out was Nine's grinning face. Meanwhile, the Flame Geist had already skewered two with an elegant feint and diagonal slice that ripped their chests open.

Nine blocked a heavy blow, barely forcing it aside and headbutting the third opponent, making him black out from the pain as his nose shattered. She got no time to celebrate beating her odds, because five more showed up around her an Lilla, these ones with saber-staffs, all red. One dropped, screaming as she was roasted from behind by the Flame Geist who had managed to kill two more and noticed her.

"Really?" Nine taunted them in a demonic tone. "All these ones you throw at us and we are stiilllll alive?"

Rex got close to Lilla, having killed only one through an endless barrage of blaster fire.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla’s first response was always the same. Yes, a Jedi only drew their saber when they were prepared to take a life and yes, she had activated the blade. But that did not mean she intended to kill anyone. Her preference was to stall, to frustrate, and to talk and therefore reason with any adversary. If they could not be convinced to surrender, there was always the hope they might flee – realising the futility of their attacks. For Lilla’s defence was impressive. The down-side was an inability to be offensive at the same time – the control she exercised was designed just to avoid being hit. Attack required taking control of the duel away from the Force’s guidance. This allowed for disarming or disabling the foe but weakened the guard somewhat.

She spoke to those directly facing her. “Surrender,” she said, her voice calm yet carrying authority.

“We are born to die,” one of them said.

“Maybe you are,” Lila said. “But it is possible to be ready to die – and still prefer to live. And I think you do.”

“You are wrong!”

Leaping directly at the Sith who spoke, Lilla sliced out with her weapon. The ripping movement caught the dark-sider in the face, severing his head and cleaving down into his torso. Startled, the others stepped back.

But Lilla was moving again: this time, leaping lithely behind them, her body twisting as she descended, her blade swinging horizontally as she sliced the man in two.

“Are you so sure?” she said, awaiting their response.

[member="Nine Lives"]

 

[Syd Celsius]

The Flame Geist parried a lightsaber blow, whipping the blade from her left in a follow up attack to take the head off of the acolyte trying to impale her.

It felt like the old days. She didn't realize how easily she had slipped back into it until she was doing it. Except now Jedi were not exactly allies. The Geist was not certain what to do, and she had already killed fifteen by her estimate not five minutes out of the Rock. No question, she was born for this job, and not just because she had purposely been created to do exactly this. @Lilla Syren certainly was in her element, that now mildly irritating Jedi calm playing across her face.

She felt her throat tightening, felt the air supply her corporeal form needed being cut off. She dropped to her knees, her ability to focus her abilities starting to fade rapidly, like all flames, the geist needed air to focus properly. Her senses told her it was an acolyte behind her--

A red blade pierced the left of her torso, orange cracks of light appearing rapid across her body, the energy having done severe damage to her shell. She screamed in agony, force pulling the man from behind her and hurling him into the one driving his blade into her. She scrambled, pulling the blade out of her telekinetically, parts of her body already leaking fire as she parried and beheaded another acolyte, retreating into a nearby pool of fire that was spreading across the shadowlands, one that was rapidly threatening to spread. The acolytes still surrounding her went into a nuetral guard.

The Flame Geist felt her body sealing up in the intense flames she waded in. She saw one of them reach out in a grip and the woman dropped to her knees, but only for a second, the intense flames around her healing whatever damage the choke was inflicting, and this allowed her to rise, feeding off the flames around her even as she controlled them, her body still not fully healed however. A flick of her hand sent waves of flame towards the Acolytes, her patience just about rent.

She conjured elaborate, man sized twisters of flame around her, coiling like snakes into the sky.

"ENOUGH!" The Flame Geist roared in fury. "Maybe your dumbass corrupted brains can comprehend my message: I will kill all of you fething red bladed little chits if you don't FETH OFF RIGHT THIS FETHING SECOND! I WAS MADE TO DESTROY YOU! I 'WILL' DESTROY YOU! DECIDE!" the Geist shouted, eyes glowing orange.

Some acolytes finally found the fear of the gods and ran for their lives, though some were still too stupid and stayed, most menacing Nine, who had not yet killed anyone but had broken the jaws of many of her assailants.

The Geist, snorting at the acolytes tenacity, stretched out her hand, pointing it to the Acolytes.

A whole forest for fuel, its twigs literally underneath my feet," the Geist snapped, channeling her control over flames, and summoning dozens of mini fireballs the acolytes way...

"They never learn..."

 

[Lilla Syrin]

​Lilla was not focused on her allies — she had enough on her mind to deal with. She knew the resolve of the remaining acolytes was waning and if she could just tip them over the edge, they would scatter. If her two (or was that three) fellow defenders would allow them to retreat that was — and she wasn’t sure they would.

She needn’t have worried. The Flame Geist not only made it clear she was content not to fight to the last dark-sider, but her intimidating presence suggested they would leave the party well alone sooner rather than later. Lilla felt they were odd allies — and the end never justified the means, but she did know for sure that they were facing down the enemy, so for now, anyone against the acolytes was a friend.

Some fled — the wise ones in Lilla’s eyes. But not all, and the ones that chose to fight for whatever cause they felt justified would soon burn in this world, and potentially the next (depending on your beliefs). Lilla would have preferred them to run away — despite what mischief they may cause another day, but she could not be held accountable for their stupidity. They had been given chances, more than one in fact, and they’d ignored them. Now Lilla stood and watched as they perished at the hand of the Flame Geist.

She did not feel good, or victorious — all she felt was the fact she was still alive. It was a small mercy.

[member="Syd Celsius"]

 

[Syd Celsius]

The remaining Acolytes, at last, realized the Flame Geist wasn't messing around.

But it was too late to do anything about it.

The micro fireballs traveled through the air, ignited and guided by the Geist as they avoided her allies, torching many of the remaining acolytes and setting them ablaze killing many of them when their robes lit like matches, Zeyd cloth and the tissue and fat underneath might as well have made them candles. The ones not killed by the lethal fire assault fled into the shadowlands, disorganized.

Nine stared at the Ghost of Flames.

"Holy fething chit..." The Vampire remarked, realizing in this space, with all this fuel and kindling around them that she was out matched by the creature, who slowly reduced and then extinguished the flames.

The naked, flame haired woman folded her arms across her chest.

"They won't be back..." the Flame Geist grunted, but felt a sense of purpose in doing what she was made for. Even after all this time she still functioned exactly as the Resistors of Darkness had intended her.

She looked around at the charred corpses, felt a dulled sense of discomfort. She had been deliberately created with dulled emotions, but even that could not reduce the smouldering fury that had slowly built up, overwhelming that limit. She was out now. It was probably a mercy, her dulled emotions...if they had been like those of regular people she would likely be rabid. But her will had held. Barely. Just barely.

She was never going back in that cave.

Rex, who had stood still in fear from The Geist's rain of fire finally dared to speak.

"So..." he asked faux-innocently. "What now?"

"I get out of this fething forest. But first...I get my gear..." The Flame Geist answered in her contralto.

"How dooooooo you knnnnnoooow it issss stillll in-tact?" Nine asked.

"This is Kashyykk right? There's an old bunker the Jedi used to store...special items. Didn't even give me that dignity, the bastards...I got the dark dank cave..." the Geist muttered angrily as she stomped forward, her walk causing the ground beneath to smoke a little.

"We must be going to the sssssame bunker then..." Nine admitted.

The Geist shrugged as she walked ahead of everyone.

"I have the codes to get in..." she said to @Lilla Syren and the others. "So, the Sith Empire back? Or is it the Vong again? My money is on Mandalorians personally. I just wanna know who to worry about once I'm off this rock."

 

[Lilla Syrin]

One moment there was mayhem, the next calm. But then, fire was like that. Lilla wondered just how much devastation the Flame Geist could wreak, and if those that created her really knew what they were doing. Based upon what she’d just witnessed – probably not.

Of course, she could – up to a point – understand their worry in allowing her to roam free. Once the genie was out of the bottle, you had limited control. Putting the cork back may have seemed a sensible idea, but in no way a moral one. They created her and they had to somehow work with her to acclimatise her to a role that was less…lethal. She was sentient and had as much right to live free as any other race, regardless of how she came to be in the galaxy.

Lilla meant what she said before. She would not permit the woman to be incarcerated again – but that did not automatically equate to doing nothing. A middle ground was required.

The Jedi’s ears pricked up at the mention of a Jedi store here. There were certain links between the Wookiees and the Jedi, but she’d never heard of a cache being placed here.

She smiled at the questions the woman asked. “The Vong are about the only ones not to worry about. The Sith have been an ever-present thorn in different guises, as are the First Order – who have Knights of Ren instead of Sith. Then countless smaller or less expansionist dark sided governments and Empires. The Mandos? Well they’re just Mandos…and owe their allegiance to the highest bidder. Sadly, you need to worry about most folk to a greater or lesser degree.”

[member="Syd Celsius"]

 

[Syd Celsius]

"Oh, so its business as usual then. That's nice to know..." The Geist quipped in a bone dry manner, wincing at how enclosed the forest felt suddenly. Claustrophobia had kicked in. Nevermind the fact she was naked.

"Ssssssoooo...plan-ning to pick up old habits?" Nine asked she followed the Ghost of Flames.

"I'm not created to live as normal beings. I was made to fight Dark Side adherents. My skillset is not exactly 'marketable' outside of my purpose..." the Geist answered.

"You could at least think of getting an apartment..." Rex suggested.

"Who needs one when I have a ship?"

"Sure you still have one?" Rex questioned as he followed, keeping an eye out for all the dangerous animals. But the smell of a living flame kept them at bay.

"Trust me...no way they'd have gotten rid of a ship like that one...trust me." She replied confidantly.

"Must be a nice ship..." Nine remarked.

"It is. Republic Sienar Systems Star Courier. Modified..." The geist mentioned, before at last spotting the bunker entrance.

It looked pretty ancient, all things considered. But it was surrounded by tree grown atop its simple, squat entrance, two vantage ports cut into the stone it was made of.

"Here's the entrance..." Syd muttered at @Lilla Syren. She stepped forward, checked that the doorpad was still working, spotting the faded symbol of the order as she entered the numbers 0451 into the pad, and the door creaked open unsteadily as she went in. The Vampire and Rex followed silently after, noticing only dust and abandoned, overturned furniture, that went on some ways, parts of the structure clearly meant for gun emplacements. The Geist walked past all of this and turned a torch sconce close to the back of the bunker. The furthest stone wall parted, revealing a golden vault door baring a Jedi sigil. It was opened by turning a hand crank, and after she did so, it swung open, revealing an amber tiled stepcase that wound downward. The Geist shivered as the walls seemed to loom in on her as she descended the steps, until at the bottom she reached the entrance of a massive chamber, filled with various treasures of the old order. The Geist saw the sigil of the Resistors of Darkness in purple banners overhanging the gold and white paneled chamber, a Jedi Symbol, at the center of which was a pentagram with an eye at its own center Nine raised a brow. This place had definitely changed.

The Geist was interested in only one thing.

She saw it, mounted on a pedestal in a miniature spherical stasis chamber. Gold and red. Curved. With a blade guard.

Discarding the weapon of Sith-trained filth, The. Geist held out her hand, and the stasis chamber rumbled. After a moment...

(Zelda acquisition tune plays)

...the lightsaber burst out of the chamber and into her waiting hand, where a deep orange hued blade from the solari crystal within erupted.

"Now I just have to find my suit...can't go back into business without my suit...its unprofessional..." the Geist muttered, shutting her blade off, tossing it to Lilla as a gesture of trust that she wasn't going to turn on them. (The other implication one could interpret as being that if push came to shove she would not need it.) She continued walking, looking for her gear.

Nine grinned as she followed the Ghost.

"Lilla...I sense the Sword...its close...and...something has been done to it..." Nine remarked..."Not something bad, but different."

"So that's your name? Lilla?" The Geist pondered absently as she examined what had been added since. "Who's your tall friend?"

"Nine Lives..." Nine answered.

Rex turned and stared.

"What, like a cat?" he asked.

"Yep..."

"Did your parents name you that?" The Geist asked.

"No." Nine answered.

"That explains it..." the Geist joked.

"Hey!" Nine exclaimed, though in actuality she was amused.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla listened as the banter picked up again. She wanted to state that the Flame Geist’s purpose was, in essence, no different to that of a Jedi’s – but Lilla found ways to achieve it without killing unnecessarily. But to do so, right now, would appear confrontational and she believed she needed to gain trust before she could have that conversation.

They reached the bunker that, when pointed out, was obvious to see – but would have escaped detection for centuries, unless someone accidentally tripped over it.

Lilla gave the Flame Geist some space and slipped off her cloak, before offering it to her. “Feel free to borrow it until you find something your own size,” she said. She was unsure if it would be taken, but the longer the woman was in their presence naked, the more obvious her nudity became.

They headed into the bunker now, the entry code and door still operating after countless years. It was not designed as a vault, clearly, but doubled as one it seemed. Maybe that was part of the disguise. To hide something that, if discovered, would appear to be little more than something abandoned.

But the golden door signified their true focus and they descended steps down to a chamber filled with various Jedi relics. Part of Lilla wanted to commandeer them, but she’d allow the Flame Geist access to what appeared to be rightly hers – and she’d already struck a deal with the vampire. The man, however, would get short shrift if he tried to pocket even the smallest item.

Lilla sensed the Force being channelled by the Geist and wondered if the Geist and the vampire were after the same thing – and what would happen if they were.

She grabbed the saber hilt, thrown to her quite surprisingly, but the Jedi knew it was not given to keep, merely to hold. Instinct took over and she held the saber – feeling the balance of the weapon. She did not activate the blade – for one, it had no impact on the handling, given the energy was weightless, and because there was something very personal about using another’s saber without their express permission.

The vampire’s voice brought her back to the here and now, and the Jedi was pleased to hear there was no challenge to be made over the weapon. The sword was still at large and Lilla expected she may have to help locate it.

She turned to the Geist again. “Yes, Lilla – Lilla Syrin,” she answered. “Now,” turning her attention back to Nine, “To find this sword.”

[member="Syd Celsius"]

 

[Syd Celsius]

Acquiring: 451 Suit (http://starwarsrp.net/topic/136742-451-suit/)

Sword of Mercy (http://starwarsrp.net/topic/136915-sword-of-mercy/)


The Flame Geist walked while Nine and Lilla discussed some sword they were after, increasingly unnerved by the enclosed space. Her claustrophobia was serious.

All she could think about was how long she had been trapped in the rock as she walked through the golden chamber, felt the walls loom over her as she walked, now covered by Lilla's robe. She never understood people's aversion to nudity. A body was a body. It was matter. It either was used or decayed if left to its own devices. Regardless, she would wear it for now.

The Geist felt no deep sense of Nostalgia walking through the place. She had brought many of the items here personally, left them safe...to rot...like she had rotted.

Her becoming an archeology piece had been the cruel joke in the end. Something that might have been placed on a museum pedestal forever. But no...like a true secret, she had been left in the darkest place imaginable.

The Geist stopped at a display in the grand chamber, smiled as she stared at the Red and Gold combat suit on display, with a gold sash fastened to the waist by a pin shaped like a Jedi Sigil. The suit was chrome, so much so that it reflected things. The gold portions of the suit were situated in the middle of the chest, and creeped high on the arms and legs of the suit. Surrounding the display were ancient Frescoes of the Geist herself, depicting her creation under a starry night in an ancient Amphitheatre surrounded by hooded men in green robes wearing full face masks with pentacles that had the ancient Ashla symbol at their center emblazoned on the front of the mask. She hadn't thought back much to the day of her creation. There was pain...nothing but pain...and then consciousness...then knowledge. Of what she was...of what she was meant to do.

The Frescoes traveled upward in the chamber (like a flame, fittingly...) depicting the Gesit bringing fire to the enemies of the Jedi Order and Democracy, bathing Sith in flames, burning whole temples to the Darkness to the ground, forests as well to cut off Dark Adepts from escape. It looked fairly epic but also unpleasant. All this overlooking the display of her alchemized suit, made by her own hand. She approached it's transparent case.

"Rex, your blaster, please." She requested.

Rex handed her his pistol and she shot off the lock, opening the display...

(Zelda acquisition tune plays)

She disappeared with it behind another, larger display for a few moments, and then came back out wearing it. It was skintight, finding and hugging every curve. Rex was grinning and The Geist rolled her eyes at this, giving him the middle finger.

She felt normal at least. Enough to focus.

She sensed something strange then, now that she could think and calm down she sensed a strange familiarity to what she sensed.

"That sensation..." she paused..."Magic..."

"What? Whhaaaat magic?" Nine asked. "Is that what I'm sensing?"

"Yes..." she trailed, though the look on her face was uncertain. "Follow me..."

She started walking towards where she sensed it. It was behind a golden door. She twisted the crank next to the door. There was a hiss and the square door parted down the middle. The Geist was the first in. Nine was second.

It was a circular chamber. On a pedestal rested a long, wide bladed Katana of dark durasteel. It was strong with the Force.

Rex whistled. "Sweet relic..."

"You can't have it..." Syd said pointedly.

"That's my mastersssssss sssssword!" Nine exclaimed, walking up to it.

She blinked for a moment, swooning, then collapsed to her knees. The Geist went over to help her.

"Are you alright?" The Geist asked.

Nine's eyes rolled up in her head and she convulsed for a moment. Then she blinked, face taking on a confused expression.

She rose, looking nervous and ashamed, something about the Sword had undone her fugue state.

"I...I...did I hurt anyone?" she asked quietly, blinking her purple-dot eyes. Her demeanor had changed, no longer flamboyant and exhuberant, but grim and quiet like the old woman Lilla had encountered, while still retaining her youthful features. She pulled up her hood, hiding her face out of shame of what she was once more.

The Geist, in the dark about what was going on with Nine merely answered, "No. Is that common with you?"

"Not willingly..." Nine grunted remembering only the broad strokes of what had just occured. It was always hazy after Lovely Nine got through with something. She examined it.

"I don't recognize the type of enchantment on this..." she admitted.

The Geist saw a switch labled 'Ultraviolet' and went over and flipped it.

She stared at the sword in the new light.

It was a strange, almost algerbra like series of symbols, interlacing around a series of pentacles in an irregular pattern. The Geist's eyes widened.

"They've applied the Kolda-Bratha Calculus to this sword..." she said in a hushed tone.

Nine turned to the Geist. "Never heard of it..."

"Its a magic formula that affects time...this is is just an extremely small fragment of it..." the Geist answered, walking over to examine it...

"This is from the section of the formula that deals with its effects on tissue...I think...I think it..."

She examined the formula more closely.

"It...it 'rewinds' physical and mental ailments...retcons them out of existance..."

"So it wasn't the light that pulled me outta crazy town?" Nine muttered.

"Nope. Definitely alchemized though. High quality."

Nine straightened up her posture.

"I made arrangements with Lilla for this sword...it was what I originally came here fore, to make sure it stayed out of Sith hands. I intend to honor my bargain, Flame Spirit.

The Geist thought a moment, staring at [member="Lilla Syrin"].

"Well, as long as it stays in Jedi hands..."

Nine plucked the sword off its rest, offering it to Lilla, noting how heavy it was.

"As we agreed..." Nine said quietly, the purple dot eyes now the only thing of her face visible.

 

[Lilla Syrin]

Lilla knew the current situation was inflammable (no pun intended). The Geist was only recently released from incarceration, and who knew how stable she was? The man, well he was a mercenary and she did not feel she could trust him at all. And as for the woman she’d travelled the forest with? Well, she reserved judgement – once more not being in a position to entirely trust her. But she was where she was, and had to manage the situation as best she could.

Lilla noted how the Geist honed in on the combat suit and from the way it fitted, it was clearly designed for her – of that there could be no mistake. In many ways, it was barely better (again no pun intended) than being naked – leaving nothing to the imagination. Which did not affect Lilla, but Rex seemed even more distracted than when she was nude.

And then the Geist turned provider, leading them further into the bunker and through a golden door. Nine followed the Geist through, with Lilla and Rex bringing up the rear. Ahead, Lilla saw what Nine had clearly come for. Except it seemed to have an effect on her and she covered her face and kept away from the blade.

The conversation suggested some kind of enchantment was in effect and the Geist held it, showing a series of strange symbols – that meant nothing to Lilla. And nor did the Kolda-Bratha Calculus. Lilla was pleased to hear she wasn’t the only one in ignorance.

But it was clear the sword was alchemised and Lilla was caught by surprise when it was placed in her hands – which doubled when she felt the weight of the katana. She’d only be able to wield it with Force Valor, that much was sure. And as to its effect? Well, she’d have to experiment to find out what they were. A sword that heals sounded like an oxymoron, so there was clearly more to it thatn met the eye.

“Thanks,” she said simply. “I’ll protect it well.”

[member="Syd Celsius"]