Private In the Dark of the Night

[Darth Insatious]

Insatious seemingly found pleasure in seeing Ki'an and definitely Cas in duress or pain had almost turned into a pastime for him. Seeing Ki'an completely lose all manner of hope from this reveal told the Dark Lord that he had managed to break the Mandalorian mentally.

However, with that said, his enjoyment was short-lived when Cas somehow managed to break free and Insatious would have punished those who placed him in cuffs if Cas hadn't killed them for the Lord. Reacting within seconds, the sudden breakout from Cas had Insatious snap his attention to the Jedi Knight, only to be flung back through the air and into the opposite wall almost 80 or so feet from where Ki'an was.

Slamming into the wall with a loud thud sound, Insatious snarled from the impact, bringing back memories from their fight on Voss. Dark red mixed in with black smoke started to form around him as he rose from his kneeled position. Right as the dark red and black smoke covered Insatious completely, the sound of a similar ignition sound from a second blade. Following the second blade getting ignited, a deep red crimson glow filled the dark smoke, turning it more red than black.

Rushing towards Insatious, the Jedi Knight would see the skull-shaped mask on the Dark Lord, giving him an eerie appearance. Block the first attack from Cas through the smoke, following by Insatious in all his glory, releasing a loud eldritch hiss. Following up the block, Insatious came at Cas with series of follow-up attacks, showing superior speed with the Force and surprisingly suppleness. While Insatious agility wasn't on par with Cas as a younger combatant, he was still impressive for a man who has lived for as long as he had.

Surprisingly, none of the Death Troopers attacked anyone, standing only as silent spectators... for now.

When Cas managed to break free and go on the offensive, taking out the guards holding them both. Neither Arlen nor Aspen was hurt after the fall due to landing on the corpse of the beheaded Imperial guards. Lilliana, now awakened from her slumber, rose from her kneeling position and turned to look at the two wailing children. For a few seconds it looked as if she recognized both her kids, but then she just walked past them and Ki'an nonchalant grabbing one of the guard's blasters that had skipped across the floor.

With a blaster in hand, she turned to Ki'an and the crying children and walked back, stopping in front of her husband. If Ki'an didn't do anything, she would execute him on the spot, pulling the trigger without a hint of remorse, or so it seemed. If Ki'an still hadn't done anything to stop Lilliana, he would feel the barrel of the blaster against his forehead.

However, weirdly enough, no shot was fired, instead, Ki'an would feel the barrel actually start to shake against his forehead. If Ki'an looked up, he would witness an internal struggle, no a straight-out fight of control over the mind and body of Lilliana. With tears rolling down Lilliana's cheeks, she was visible showing her mental struggle on her facial expression, grimacing painfully with one hand on the side of her head.

"T-take. Ou-argh! Pl-please, m-my love, take them. Take them far away!" struggled Lilliana, switching back and forth between her two personas and personalities. "Go... please. GO!" Cried Lilliana in persisting pain as she fell down on her knees, a hand to her head, bend over before the Lilliana that Ki'an knew was gone, replaced by the daughter of Insatious.

With the blaster in hand, she raised her hand to shoot and kill Ki'an.

Ki'an Vizsla Cadere

 

[Ki'an Vizsla]

It hadn't taken a lot for the Mandalorian to concede. Even after only a short amount of time in a cell, all hope had been stripped from him and he had come to accept his fate, much to the dismay of his Jedi ally who had enough spirit for the both of them combined. However, Ki'an was aware of his own capabilities and expected any actions he took would have little outcome other than providing consequences for himself so he took what he viewed as the sensible option, though he respected Cas' courage.

His chest rose and fell with deep, heaving breaths as he tried to come to terms with his whole world being torn apart. For a few moments after the latest revelation, his attention was turned inwards to his own thoughts and his eyes were fixated on the ground. He was so tuned out of the situation that he didn't look up and realise what was happening until several guards were already dead; his gaze quickly scanning the room to make sense of the situation.

The Jedi had seen an opportunity and taken it. With a lightsaber in his hand, a small amount of hope reignited within the Mandalorian who quickly scrambled to his feet in time for Cas to free him from the restraints. Still in a blind panic, it took painfully long for Ki'an to gather his bearings and form a plan. In which time, while he stood there, gaze darting around the scene, Lilliana began to approach him, prompting all focus onto her. "Lily..." He backed away from her as she scooped up a blaster, his own gaze shifting to one of the nearby blasters from the fallen guard.

With the weapon against his head, he attempted reasoning before he would be forced to take a more aggressive approach. "Lily, I know you're in there. Please... I love you." He hoped his words would have some effect on the now-stranger who stood before him. The following internal struggle she experienced was painful to witness but with the momentary lapse in personalities, he saw an opportunity. He grabbed her by the wrist and twisting it, causing the pair to struggle between each other for the weapon for a few moments.

As the victorious of the confrontation, Ki'an took a few steps back and aimed the weapon at his wife, flicking the setting to stun. He had never expected to be faced with the situation that he was but he hoped that with the lives of their children at stake then she would forgive him - if he ever got to see her in the capacity of which he knew her again. "I'm sorry." He told her with genuine remorse before pulling the trigger.

The sound of his youngest daughter calling out to him grew closer as she pattered across the floor towards her parents, sobbing. His gaze lingered on Lilliana for a moment in shock before he turned around and scooped up Aspen to soothe her. His instincts led him to his son who had remained where he was in quiet upset but upon Ki'an's approach he rose to his feet and raised his arms, demanding to be picked up. Armed with one blaster and a child didn't fill him with great confidence and he didn't suspect arming himself would a second child would remedy the issue.

The exhaustive ordeal was far from over as troopers began to close in on him. With an exasperated sigh, he raised the blaster to aim at them but couldn't settle on a target. He didn't want to risk getting shot with his children at such a close proximity so he hesitated in making a move. "Please." He implored to their humanity.

Cadere Darth Insatious

 

[Cadere]

Cas breathed a metaphorical sigh of relief at the sight of the kids landing safely... on the corpses of the guards. Granted, it wasn't ideal, but they were safe. With that peace of mind, the Kiffar's focus returned to buying Ki'an the time he needed despite his previous injuries beginning to play up. The black and red smoke caugh Cas off-guard but he persisted, continuing toward the Sith Lord. Trusting in the Force, Cas swung his blade horizontally through the smoke only for it to be blocked. As the smoke dissipated, the Jedi's brown eyes laid upon the familiar mask fitted on Insatious' face.

The speed of Insatious' counterattack managed to catch Cas off-guard, for the Sith Lord had never matched his speed to this degree before. The first attack, Cas blocked the first strike by lifting his blade and angling it in a diagonal position, then proceeded to jump back and perform a chain of backward handsprings to avoid the fury of Insatious' attacks.

Thankfully... or more accurately, suspiciously, Insatious' Death Squad remained complacent. He expected them to attack him alongside the Sith Lord but... nothing. What were they waiting for? Cas' thoughts returned to the present once he realised Insatious' attacks began to slow. Using this small window, Cas used it to return attacks to Darth Insatious - using his natural speed and enhancing it with his connection to the Force, Cas hopped into the air and delivered a flurry of kicks toward Insatious' head in order to disorient him before finally landing and continuing his offensive, barraging the Sith Lord with a mixture of lightsaber attacks and kicks.

Then they started moving, his peripheral vision caught sight of the Death troopers closing in on Ki'an and the kids. Eyes returning to Insatious, Cas wound his free arm back, the Force coiling around his hand and arm, before he thrust it forward and unleashed a telekinetic push in Insatious' face. Without even looking to see how much it effected him, Cas spun around and dashed in Ki'an's direction with a burst of Force speed. When close enough to the Troopers nearest to Ki'an, he jumped in between two and performed a split kick, catching them off guard and knocking them opposite ways.

"We need to go!" Cas instructed, throwing Arlen a quick glance and quickly scooping him up. Sorrowfully, he cast a look toward the stunned Liliana desperately wanting to go back and help her. Cas held his arm out, lifting his index and middle finger from the grip of Insatious' lightsaber hilt and tried to use the Force to summon the the unconscious Mandalorian. A Death trooper, appearing in Cas' eyeline, struck at the Jedi's arm which he quickly pulled back and swung his lightsaber in a backhanded motion, cauterizing its upper torso. With some experience on the battlefield, he knew when to cut his losses and retreat, rescuing Arlen and Aspen as well as escaping themselves was a big enough victory. Though deep down, he knew it wasn't enough.

Cas then turned to flee, hoping Ki'an was behind him or even better: ahead.

Darth Insatious Ki'an Vizsla

 

[Darth Insatious]

Theme

If it hadn't been because Insatious wanted to destroy everything Cas held dear and then continue to twist and tear his very mental psyche apart, piece by piece, he would have been impressed by how Cas had improved since the last time they met.

Blow after blow they kept coming at each other, trying to outmanoeuvre the other's attack. Insatious moved back when Cas jumped into the air to kick him, placing enough distance just to be out of reach from the kicks and mixture of lightsaber attacks and kicks. Insatious had gone back into Form II, producing highly precision parrying and redirecting every single blow from the Jedi Knight. Insatious was clearly testing Cas, waiting for the right moment to strike as he dodged and weaved like the flow of water.

The moment Cas looked back, Insatious went it at the opening, going for a quick thrust, only to sense the incoming force attack. Within nanoseconds of Cas launching his telekinetic wave of force energy, Insatious disappeared in a cloud of black and red smoke, in order to dodge the dangerously close telekinetic blast in his face.

The smoke shot into the air with a high speed, crashing into the floor, where Insatious reappeared kneeling by his Death Troopers. The Death Troopers surprisingly just took the kicks, getting knocked back by Cas aggressive kicking. Insatious just stood there, watching as Cas started to flee towards the exit door of the room calling out to Ki'an to follow.

If Ki'an didn't follow, he would feel a storm of pain as electricity caused through his body from lighting shooting out of Insatious' fingers. However, if he followed the Jedi Knight, nothing would happen to him and they would find themselves in the corridor like earlier when they were brought through the ship to the very room they just left.

They now stood in a T-intersection, with one corridor leading them straight on, down a long hallway with many doors on each side with what looked like another T-intersection at the end, though one had stairs going up. The corridor going left was the way they came from and would lead them straight back down to the prison. The left leading corridor was also a long hallway with two other doors leading back into the room they just left. However, at the end of the hallway, they could see a turbolift, though there were no signs outside it, telling them where it could lead.

Meanwhile, Insatious just watched his two prime prisoners leave without trying to stop them... and that was the plan. Walking in front of his Death Squad, he waited maybe a few more second and then turned to look at his elite Jedi hunters. "Zudyti Savimi" ordered the Sith Lord in Sith speech almost nonchalant. Every single Death Troopers launched themself towards the door that Cas and Ki'an exited, weapons at the ready and would appear in the hallway the two escapees was in, though how far Cas and Ki'an had made it away was unknown to the Death Troopers.

Ki'an Vizsla Cadere

 

[Ki'an Vizsla]

With a defeated sigh, he lowered the blaster and his grip loosened on the weapon as he was prepared to surrender again, conscious of his son who had an arm wrapped around his father's leg. While he knew his children were not at risk of being killed due to their relation to the Sith Lord, there was still a risk to himself. He was not afraid of being killed in order to protect his children but if he died now then his death would serve no purpose and he would be of no use to them dead.

Before getting the opportunity to surrender, the Jedi returned to save his ally from re-capture. Ki'an was quick to react and moved away from the group that had surrounded him, backing away to the corridor behind them after quickly realising Cas had taken Arlen. As he moved away, his gaze returned to Lilliana who lay motionless on the floor. Regretfully, he knew he would have to leave her behind. To stay and attempt to bring her with them would be near impossible. She would've understood.

With little fighting prowess without his armour, he didn't want to antagonise the troopers so avoided instigating a fight by threatening them. Once at the entrance of the corridor, he turned and ran, trusting Cas would be behind him. When he came to the end of the corridor which split into two, he glanced down both sides but waited for Cas to catch up.

"Do you know where Aerin is?" He asked his daughter in his arm who had been squirming to be released from his grasp. Thankfully, Cas had the less problematic and clingier of the twins rather than the fiercely independent one who wanted nothing more than to walk on her own. "Ship." She replied plainly, distracted from her attempt at escape for a moment while she answered. With little more information to go on, he took the right turn to the turbolift.

The thought of leaving his wife and eldest daughter behind pained him but he had the opportunity to save his two youngest children so he would take it. Once they were safe, then he could think about rescuing the remainder of his family but for now, he focused on the present.

Darth Insatious Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Cas followed closely behind Ki'an, holding Arlen close to his side. He was still sore and in slight pain with his injuries not having been healed yet, however, the adrenaline coursing through his body was persistant as well as the Force that Cas had channelled within him, allowing him to push on. The Kiffar felt a pair of eyes burning into the side of his face, casting the toddler a sideways glance, he saw the child stare at him with a look of inquisition. Through the currents of the Force, he could sense the boy was mistrustful of him - but he didn't attempt to fight him off. Flashing the child a smile, Cas attempted to reassure Arlen.

Finally coming to a stop at the T-intersection alongside Ki'an, Cas' shoulders raised up and down as his panting and the hum of Insatious' lightsaber filled the silence. When Ki'an made a right, heading toward the turbolift, Cas followed-suit seeing as he was carrying one of the Mandalorian's children, it was the smart choice to let the father lead.

Nearing the turbolift, a cold feeling proceeded to run through his body which caused the Jedi Knight to stop in his tracks. Turning his head slightly, the Jedi Knight caught a glimpse of the Death troopers turning stopping at the T-intersection to catch sight of the Jedi and Mandalorian. His head whipped forward and he picked up pace to get to the turbolift - as much as he wanted to fight, it was too risky right now with the children in the vicinity. The Kiffar repeatedly tapped at the button to summon the turbolift, hearing the multitude of footsteps grow louder the faster he pressed. "Come on, dammit!"

With the lightsaber at the ready, Cas spun round and prepared to hand Arlen over to Ki'an and fight off the Death troopers, securing the Mandalorians escape. Thankfully, the sound of a ding was music to the Kiffar's ears as he backed up into the turbolift and it began its descent to their destination. Cas was silent for a few moments, glancing at Arlen a few times before ultimately comforting the child by handing him over to his father during the brief calm.

"We're going to the Armory. Figured you'd need your beskar back." Cas stated, breaking the silence. The Jedi Knight went quiet again, before letting out a troubled sigh "I'm sorry that we couldn't-- I tried to--" he struggled to find the words "They were on me so fast." referring to the Death troopers. Even saying it aloud, apologising to Ki'an didn't make him feel any better. He'd failed him, and failed on the promise he made to get everyone out of this. Though, they needed to keep moving forward, there'd be plenty of time for Cas' guilt to drown him later.

Darth Insatious Ki'an Vizsla

 

[Darth Insatious]

Escape from the Death Squad theme

The Death Troopers rushed out of the large room, appeared in the t-intersection scanning for Cas and Ki'an. Locking eyes with the escapees, the troopers with stun staffs and stun batons in hand, charged down the hallways. Right as the two entered the turbolift, one of the Death Troopers jumped forward with the help of the force and threw his electrostaff as a spear. Both Cas and Ki'an would watch as the doors closed right as the electrostaff was slammed into the centre slid of the doors.

Fortunately for them, the doors had closed and the turbolift was descending, leaving behind the pursuing Death Troopers... for now. However, none of the monstrous-looking troopers rushed off to find another way down to cut them off. The trooper who had thrown his staff in an attempt to impale Cas or Ki'an pulled out his electrostaff and handed it to one of the others.

Cas and Ki'an would suddenly hear a loud sound of doors being pried open with brute force above them. The trooper had actually managed to force the shut doors open with brute force and aid from the Force itself. Taking back his staff, every single Death Trooper dropped from the now pried open turbolift doors and just dropped after the turbolift, free falling.

Cas and Ki'an would then feel the entire turbolift shake as multiple Death Troopers crashed on to the roof of it. Those who had landed on the roof of the turbolift proceeded to jab their electro staffs or stun batons into the small flat console controlling the turbolift. It was clear, that they were trying to make it short circuit, losing its ability to break and ultimately kill both.

Again and again, the console had a great many voltages sent through it as sparks flew off every time the Death Trooper's connected their weapons with the console. The lights started to flicker violently with each electrical shock blasted the console on the roof of the turbolift. The buttons went on and off and the scariest part about this whole ordeal was the fact that they still had to ride the turbolift for a good fifteen to twenty minutes if they wanted to get down to the floor containing the armoury, troop quarters and other sections within the same category.

Ki'an Vizsla Cadere

 

[Ki'an Vizsla]

The Mandalorian held his arm out to take his son who wrapped his arms around his father's neck to cling to him as he sought soothing after being away from his parents. He nodded in agreement at the mention of his Beskar. It was the only way he could fight with what little confidence he had and after feeling as weak and powerless as he had the last day, it was sorely needed. "Don't beat yourself up." He offered a small smile to the Jedi. "It's not your fault." He attempted to reassure him despite not wanting to talk due to aching inside that threatened to show through the cracks in his voice.

The noise from above sounded less than reassuring and was soon followed by the terrifying shuddering of the turbolift. As the lift continued to shudder with each blow to the control panel, the situation became evermore terrifying for those inside. Ki'an acted quickly to do the only thing he could think to do in the circumstances. It wouldn't remedy their situation but he hoped it would be of some aid for the group. He handed Aspen to Cas rather than peeling the other twin off of him who he then shifted to hold against his hip.

He forced the panel off of the buttons, though not without a fight, digging his fingers in hard enough to cause them to bleed. The panel dropped to the floor, exposing the wires within. "Arlen, let go a moment." He spoke gently but with urgency as he pried his son from his neck and lifted him over his head and placed him on his shoulders to free both hands. He pulled a wire which caused the lift to come to a violent halt and he had to steady himself, though he instinctively held onto his son to prevent him from falling if he let go.

He worked carefully to avoid getting exposed to live electricity but after a couple of painful moments he rewired the circuit to reverse the direction of travel and overrode the limit set on the speed so it travelled upwards at an abnormally fast speed, prompting him to bring Arlen down from his shoulders to have a better grip of him in one arm while he held the wall to steady himself with the other.

Cadere Darth Insatious

 

[Cadere]

Ki'an continued to surprise him, especially due to his forgiving nature. However, Cas could still sense the turmoil within him and simply smiled back, opting not to say anything more he remained uncharacteristically silent. During the descent, Cas sensed the unique signature the Death troopers' eminated and glanced toward the turbolift's ceiling seconds before the lift began to rumble from the added weight.

"Ugh! Do they ever give up!" he growled, squeezing the hilt of Insatious' lightsaber. He watched as the abominations within the Force struck at the control panel, trying to malfunction the turbolift, Cas prepared to go up and fight them off but he was then handed Aspen "Wha--?" he stammered glancing at the girl. Immediately, she began struggling against him "Hey, cut it out... I gotta-- wait! Lemme just-- ugh!" Aspen continued to struggle while Cas fought for control to hold onto her, completely oblivious to what Aspen's father was currently up to.

Staggering, the turbolift's directional change nearly caused Cas to nearly fall but fortunately it surprised Aspen enough for her to stop her struggling. Quickly Cas backed into the wall opposite of Ki'an, hugging it with his back and holding Aspen tightly once he realised what Ki'an had done. The speed of the turbolift's ascent, sent tremors through both his and Aspen's body causing the two to shake. As the quartet neared the top of the turbolift shaft, Cas held Aspen closer, hugging her tighter just before they impacted with the ceiling causing a jerk within the turbolift's interior. The sounds of bones crunching and grinding, as well as the tearing of flesh and splatter of blood was audible for everyone to hear, making even Cas cringe.

"Nice thinking back there... I'd have just fought them until there was one of us standing." he confessed, making a slight joke out of it. The Jedi Knight approached the panel of the turbolift, it was still trashed but it looked like it had enough juice to re-route the turbolift's direction. Turning his head to face Ki'an, he asked "Reckon you can bring us back down? We still need your armor and I can't protect all four of us." Cas stated outright, not stopping to think if his words offended him. Right now, this was a matter of survival, even more so with the children at stake.

Once Ki'an had manipulated the controls once again, the turbolift returned to its descent. After around fifteen minutes and constant frustrating elevator music that was all disjointed thanks to the damged speakers, the turbolift stopped at their desired destination and Cas was the first to step out - Aspen struggled every once in a while, but she began to calm once she probably realised Cas was a "good guy". Unsurprisingly, as they trailed their way through the lower decks they were met with opposition but thankfully it was the lower-class of soldiers that Cas was easily able to dispatch despite his injuries and growing exhaustion. After some searching and interrogation from the soldiers left alive, the quartet managed to locate the Armory...

Darth Insatious Ki'an Vizsla

 

[Darth Insatious]

Escape from the Death Squad theme

The sudden break made the Death Troopers on the roof fell to their knees, while those free-falling slammed on to the lift's roof with a loud clang sound. As the turbolift started to ascend at a rapid speed, moving faster than what it normally would run at, the Death Troopers hammered against the control panel in an attempt to make the lift shortcircuit and fall into the bottom.

Upon impact at the very top, completely crashing into it, it was a miracle that the lift was able to run, given the fact that Ki'an had made it go faster than it would normally. With that said, the sounds of bones crunching and grinding, as well as the tearing of flesh and splatter of blood was audible for everyone to hear and the dreaded and ghastly dark side connection to the force seemed to have been snuffed out like fire.

Once the lift, although very rockily, down again, there were no sound or ruckus from the roof of the lift as they made their way to the correct floor. However, as they left the half-working lift to find Ki'an's armour, the otherwise completely dead and broken bodies of the Death Troopers, many with broken bones, started to twist. Twist and shake, crack and squirm.

The twisting and turning grew only more violent, bending their already broken bodies into unnatural positions as death rejected these monstrous beings from the afterlife. A horrible, but primal roar filled the turbolift shaft, hallways and echoed throughout the surrounding interior that Cas and Ki'an moved through.

As the four trailed their way through the lower decks, they were instead met with lower-class soldiers, but not because of the reason they might expect. They would find Imperials actually flee from Cas and Ki'an and many just closed doors behind them, blocking Jedi and Mandalorian from taking any alternative routes than the main hallway. Now, this might seem like a tactical thing done by the Imperial, but the truth was that much simpler, as the Imperials had also heard the roar and knew what had been unleashed.

The thing about Death Trooper's when they turned, they didn't just kill their target, but anything that stood in their way, to get to their target. The same screeching roar could be heard again, somewhere in the direction of the turbolift and it had gotten closer to where they were.

The crew members in the armoury had not given much of a fight, despite the Jedi Knight's injuries as they just sat and let Ki'an grab whatever he wanted. His armour wasn't hard to find, though it was just dumped in a corner like some second rate armour. The type of weapons wasn't really something to cheer over, as it was mostly equipped with standard blasters issued for Imperials on a Star Destroyer.

Yet again, the unnatural screeching filled the interior, giving Cas and Ki'an a pretty good indication, that the Death Troopers was on their trail and gaining in on them. However, they were unable to pinpoint how far or close the troopers were and even sensing them was off as they technically were dead in the force.

When they finally left the armoury, they found themselves in a bit of a wide hallway and the corridor running down the way they came from and continued down the right side of them to another part of the Star Destroyer. The hallways going down the right side of them lead to somewhere deeper within the ship and most likely further away from the top or hanger. The left corridor going let them back towards the lift and where the Death Troopers probably were. The third hallway and the widest with shut closed doors on each side of it, led them towards the hanger and was an alternate route, but also a detour to getting back up to the top of the ship.

However, right as they stood and had to decide which route to take, down the left hallway, around a corner, the twisted and broken shapes of Death Troopers appeared. Where before, the helmets had teeth but been shut closed, unable to open them. Now though? They stood with mouth agape, releasing their downright chilling screeching roar at Cas and Ki'an.

With many of them broken bodies, some of them were only able to lumber after Cas and Ki'an, but four of the group of eight were still able to sprint as they charged down the hallways in order to get to Cas and Ki'an.

Just to make their luck worse, a squad of Imperial guards had finally found the escapees, coming from the opposite end of the wide corridor, as they began to fire at Cas and Ki'an.

Ki'an Vizsla Cadere

 

[Ki'an Vizsla]

The Mandalorian had been in one too many battles to get disturbed by the gruesome sound above them. It was disturbing but he showed no indication of it being so in his expression. "Work smart, not hard." He replied in a humourless tone, still reeling from the situation he had witnessed with his wife minutes earlier. He nodded in response to the following question and shifted his grip on his son momentarily to use his hands more freely while he sorted the mangled wires to resume their mission.

In the lift, the lights continued to flicker and the distorted music was more than unnerving as the lift staggered to its destination. Given that Cas was the one with the more useful defence at the moment, he allowed the Jedi to take the lead, opting to stay somewhat behind him. He stopped and turned back to face the lift upon hearing the guttural roar and shared a concerned look with Cas. He wasn't well versed on the Dark side himself so he never knew what to expect - every experience was a learning curve.

The Imperials retreating from the troopers didn't fill him with much hope either. He ran towards the armoury, keen to stay one step ahead of their adversaries. He aimed his weapon at the nearest person to him in the armoury but there was little resistance so he placed Arlen on the floor, who immediately raised his arms, begging to be picked up again. The Mandalorian quickly got back into his armour, a welcome relief, and picked up his son again before giving a nod to Cas to signal their continuing of their mission.

Luck wasn't in their favour as they left the armoury and were faced with opponents on either side. He never thought he'd see the day he'd be relieved to see Imperial guards but they were a welcome sight compared to the horrors at the other end of the corridor. Now with armour, however, he stood more of a chance against their enemies and was more confident in doing so, as conveyed by his body language. He was not the strongest fighter but when he had to be, he could push himself, and there was no better motivator than protecting his children.

Ki'an unleashed a flamethrower on the nearest Death Troopers, hoping to keep them at bay, though if they could survive being crushed then who was to say they couldn't survive nearly anything? With that in mind, he rolled a grenade through the legs of the forefront troopers to reach those behind, hoping to incapacitate them one way or another.

Cadere Darth Insatious

 

[Cadere]

The familiar cold returned, chilling his bones, Cas' body spun around once the gravelly roar reached his ears. No way. It couldn't be... right? But with how the past few days had transpired, it was more of a miracle if those creatures had died "They survived..." the Kiffar muttered in complete disbelief. He met Ki'an's concerned look with his own before turning and picking up the pace. The minimal resistance from Insatious' troops and the fact that they actively hid spoke volumes of the threat the reanimated Death Squad posed. If Cas hadn't already faced these freaks of nature firsthand a handful of times, even he'd be nervous right about now. The comforting thing though, was that once they died a second time - that was it.

Cas stood guard as Ki'an retrieved his armor, holding Aspen firmly as his eyes narrowed for any signs of the Reanimated troopers. Their growing growls and shrieks indicated how close they were getting though. Their was a sudden shift within Ki'an once he re-equipped his armor, the Mandalorian seemed to be more confident, more motivated - whether that was due to the retrieval of his armor or the fact that he now had to fight harder than before to protect his children, or maybe it was both, he did not know. Regardless though, Ki'an's reignited fire bestowed Cas with some comfort knowing that his ally would most likely put up more of a fight.

With the concurrent arrival of both the Imperial troops as well as the Reanimated Death troopers, his resolve hardened as he too was prepared to fight as hard as he could to survive this. The arrival of the Imperials was beautiful luck, they would be nothing but fodder for the lightsaber he carried and hopefully the equipment on Ki'an's armor would keep the Death troopers at bay. "Here's a tip, they only reanimate once." Cas stated before glancing toward the Imperials at the other end of the corridor, taking aim at the group and preparing to fire. His eyes cast a brief look at the girl at his side, forcing him to accept the harsh reality he couldn't be reckless with his fighting now that he was holding a child.

Shifting into a Shien stance, well as much as he could considering he was holding a child with one arm, the Jedi Knight cast Aspen a sideways glance "Could you do me a favour and close your eyes? I don't wanna be anymore responsible for years of repressed childhood trauma than I probably already am." Aspen said nothing except for blankly gazing at Cas with the odd couple of blinks. Who was he kidding? As if a toddler understood the concept of trauma. The first blaster bolt caught him off guard, his fast reaction time kicking in and allowing him to swiftly move his head and avoid getting shot helped him out a lot.

Cas then began deflecting the incoming fire, redirecting every bolt as much as he could - returning fire and hitting the soldiers with her own bolts, proving fatal for them. Eventually the power cells in their blasters depleted, roughly at the same time, giving Cas the break he needed from defending. During the small window he had to engage in a proficient offense, the Jedi Knight placed the hilt of the lightsaber into his mouth, keeping it in place between his teeth. Cas used his now free arm to stretch it to his side and with cooperation from the Force, he tore through the metallic wall in the ship's walls and peeled a piece of the durasteel wall from its surface. It was an imperfect piece, its edges jagged and sharp, perfect for Cas' plan.

For a few seconds it floated in the air until the collective sound of cells clipping into blasters notified Cas that it was time. Now throwing his arm forward, the floating piece of metal followed its wielder's command and moved in tangent with Cas' arm before exceeding it and headed straight toward the Imperial troopers' direction at breakneck speed. The Kiffar quickly covered Aspen's eyes as the sharp metal tore through the thighs and waists of the squad of Imperials depending on their height, their blood scattering and painting the walls of the corridor, effectively killing them or rendering them immobile.

He hated to put an end to these soldiers in such a brutal, torturous way and he knew his actions would effect him deeply later on but right now it was life or death, survival. And he would do what he had to to get Ki'an and his children out of this alive. Spitting the hilt back into his left hand, Cas prepared for what came next.

Darth Insatious Ki'an Vizsla

 

[Darth Insatious]

Survival theme

The Imperial troopers did not stand a chance as Cas proceeded to decapitate the attacking soldiers, all grumbling with a heavy thud sound. However, the Jedi Knight did carve a bloodied path directly to the hanger and a way for them to escape the Star Destroyer. Although, it was also a way for them to find their way back up towards the top to get Cas' lightsaber if they thought their luck was with them.

Ki'an had the right idea directed towards the wrong opponent. As the zombified Death Troopers, at least those who still had the ability to sprint, charge Ki'an, the fire did little to them. In their state, they didn't feel pain nor fear, but just the unending hunger of flesh. Taking the flames head-on, all four sprinting Death Troopers launched through the flames with razor-sharp claws piercing through the armoured gauntlets. If Ki'an didn't react quick enough he would get completely overrun and slammed into the ground with all four Death Troopers pouncing and tearing at his armour.

If Ki'an somehow managed to dodge or find a way to get his child in his arm away from the pouncing Death Troopers, he would watch right in front of his eyes as Arlen was torn to pieces. However, if Ki'an or Cas found a way to save Arlen from getting slaughtered, the Death Troopers would continue to tear that the Mandalorian, clawing and biting at anywhere they might get purchase and soft tissues. Luckily for Ki'an, his armour protected him from attacks, though not for lack of trying.

The remaining four lumbering Death Troopers had only made it half the way over to where Ki'an and Cas was, but if the two men didn't get a move on, they would soon have to deal with all eight zombies. However, because of Ki'an's grenade, he managed to blow up the lumbering trooper's legs off in a fiery explosion. While their armour took a good chunk, it did manage to blow a couple of feet off or bits of legs, forcing them to crawl.

Ki'an Vizsla Cadere

 

[Ki'an Vizsla]

It was beyond far from ideal that they were carrying the twins while having to deal with so many adversaries. It meant they always needed to be one step ahead because they were protecting the children who couldn't defend themselves. However, he had not expected the Troopers to remain entirely unaffected by the flamethrower when they pounced towards him. Instinctively, he turned his body to the side to take the brunt of the force and threw his arm out, throwing his son towards the Jedi with little warning other than a "Catch!" before he was shoved to the floor with a grunt and pinned under creatures who clawed at him.

For the most part, he was relatively well-protected but there were still some spots between his armour where he was more vulnerable so to protect himself he released the concealed blade that lined the side of his vambrace and slashed at the Trooper nearest to his arm, trying to release himself from their grasp. He yelped as the claws tore through the fabric of the shirt between his shoulder and wrist, leaving a deep scratch. He promptly sliced at the arm with his blade but it was apparent by now that they didn't feel pain. The only option they had was to incapacitate them which was proving to be hard.

The Mandalorian strained under the constant pressure of the Troopers who sought to tear him up, struggling for control which he was sorely losing. Thankfully, Cas had dispatched all of his opponents and had been relegated to babysitting duty but given his affinity to the Force, he was able to provide assistance through the use of a Force push to push the Troopers off of him. Ki'an quickly got to his feet and scooped up one of the children if they were on the floor before running in the opposite direction to the Troopers.

It was the first time he saw the scene behind him which littered the corridor with mutilated corpses. It was hardly a new sight for the Mandalorian but he wondered how his Jedi counterpart would fare in the aftermath - it seemed far from standard Jedi practice and he knew they were pressed for options so it was an act of desperation which could likely have long-lasting consequences.

Cadere Darth Insatious

 

[Cadere]

Seconds after catching the hilt in his hand, he heard Ki'an's voice call out to him - "Catch!" - "What?" Cas spun around to see Arlen's small frame high in the air and coming straight toward him. Reflexes taking over, Cas immediately stretched his arm out toward Arlen and when the toddler was close enough, he curled his arm, wrapping it around Arlen's small torso and bringing him in close to Cas' side. That could have gone horribly... Cas admitted to himself.

Relief warmed the Jedi after managing to catch the twin, his attention then returned to Ki'an who was currently being dogpiled by the more able bodied Death troopers. Brows furrowing, Cas took Aspen's arm and flipped her onto his back like a backpack. Thankfully, the girl instinctively wrapped her arms around Cas' neck to stabilise herself and even more fortunately so, her tiny arms barely phased him. Cas thrust his arm forward and unleashed a telekinetic push to knock the reanimated troopers off of Ki'an. Once Ki'an was up, Cas turned his back to the Mandalorian and allowed Ki'an to take hold of Aspen as he passed. "Sorry kid." he apologised, knowing Arlen would rather be with his father.

Cas followed behind Ki'an as they fled in the opposite direction of the Death soldiers "You good?" he asked Ki'an, almost breathlessly. The row of legless bodies they passed was a difficult sight for the Kiffar, even more so was the fact that most of them were alive and either groaning or howling from the pain Cas had bestowed on them. Covering Arlen's eyes, the Jedi felt a pit in his chest as the guilt attempted to overwhelm him. To make matters worse, Insatious seemed to have left some kind of Dark side effect on his lightsaber, with similar effects to a vergence. Needless to say, it was beginning to have negative effects on Cas and he was unsure with how long he'd be able to stave off its effects. "I need to get my lightsaber." he announced, failing to elaborate on why.

Ki'an's grenade was a nice and welcome touch, slowing down some of the troopers with the removal of their legs and thankfully buying them enough time. As they made their way through the halls, Cas took the time to clear his mind and focus on the currents of the Force as it flowed and ebbed around his body, electrifying his skin and body hairs. The Jedi Knight would then focus on the special connection he shared with his Kyber crystal and followed its trail. With that, he took the lead and overtook Ki'an, heading toward another turbolift that would take them up to the same floor his lightsaber was being held.

Again, resistance was minimal which made Cas wonder if Insatious had plans in store for the two... regardless, they were in the home stretch now. All that needed to be done was to recover his lightsaber and return to the hangar, hopefully the ship was still there... or they could take another one. It didn't matter. Adaptability was a useful trait Cas held. As the turbolift began its ascent, he turned to Ki'an "I don't want to put your kids in anymore unnecessary risk. When we get to the floor I need to be on, you make your way to the hangar and if I'm not back in a certain amount of time. Leave without me." Cas demanded in a tone indicative that he wouldn't budge on his stance.

Darth Insatious Ki'an Vizsla

 

[Darth Insatious]

Post theme

Cas' attack connected with the pouncing Death Troopers, releasing their dead screeches, slamming into the armoury and disappearing for the time being. Normal Imperial Troopers tried to stop Cas and Ki'an from continuing but did little to stop them in their path. The four out of the eight Death Troopers that had their feed and legs blown to pieces had no chance to catch up to them and soon lost sight of the duos.

However, the remaining four troopers quickly recovered and dashed after Cas and Ki'an's scent, though the duo was still far ahead of the troopers. When Cas and Ki'an entered a new turbolift that would send them back up, the last four dead Death Troopers finally managed to find Cas and Ki'an. Charging, running wildly towards the still open turbolift. Those that managed to survive Cas and Ki'an's attacks were jumped by the Death Troopers with one remaining of the four still gunning for the open turbolift.

Just as the door closed to the lift, they could hear the Death Trooper slam without a care for its own safety, into the metal door.

However, with the turbolift ascending through the Star Destroyer, they had finally managed to escape the undead Death Troopers as they had no way of catching the scent of any of them.

Upon arriving back at the floor level of the Star Destroyer and where they could find hallways leading them to the hanger. However, they also had the option of taking the opposite way and try and find Cas' lightsaber, which was somewhere in the Star Destroyer.

The amount of discipline and self-control Cas had to have, in order to keep Insatious' lightsaber from overwhelming the Jedi Knight with flashes of gruesome horror the Sith Lord had used the sabre for. If they split up, Cas would continue to meet the opposition of Imperial guards stationed on the ship, trying their best to stop Cas from continuing. However, a Jedi Knight such as Cas wouldn't find it too difficult to make his way through the Star Destroyer. He would soon sense his lightsaber further off the long hallway he was running through, though he would also feel the Dark Side radiating behind the door up ahead. To make matters worse, his mental strength over Insatious' lightsaber started to be challenged over who had the control.

The moment he opened the door, leading into where his lightsaber was supposed to be, Insatious appeared right on the other side, coming in with a powerful vertical attack from above. The vertical attack came out of nowhere as Insatious' signature in the Force had been completely hidden within the Dark Side, surrounding the room Cas was headed for.

Insatious quickly followed the first strike with another, using the flow of his first attack to put a lot more power into the second attack and would knock Cas' back, if he blocked it. If the second attack connected, knocking Cas back, Insatious would go for another series of blows, pushing the Jedi back and on the defensive.


If Ki'an agreed with Cas and headed for the hanger, he would also find resistance, though nothing he couldn't beat or would provide enough of a challenge to keep him from continuing onwards. With that said, when Ki'an entered through the final blast door to the hanger, he would be met with the last people he might have expected or wanted to meet.

Standing in the middle of the hanger, straight ahead of Ki'an, stood the same batch of Dar'mandas, waiting for him with weapons drawn though not aiming. "Did you really think the Lord of Hunger would let you leave, just like that?" Asked the leader, almost humorously. "The Lord of Hunger would like to tell you, that he's not without mercy and would let you and one of your kids pass if you kill one of them" explained the leader of the Dar'manda group with crossed arms.


However, if they stayed together, they would both find them at the last door, keeping them from where Cas' lightsaber was being kept. Right as the door was opened, they both would get launched back down the corridor from an extremely powerful telekinetic force wave. Sending them 30 to 40 feet back down the corridor. Everything around Insatious started to creak as pieces of walls, floors ceilings and whatever else around the Sith Lord, was torn free. What happened next was Cas and Ki'an getting bombarded with interior ship pieces, flying at incredible speed towards them.

Ki'an Vizsla Cadere

 

[Ki'an Vizsla]

His head turned back to Cas momentarily when he was addressed but for a good while he said nothing, his mind blank, unsure what to say. How could he possibly agree to being fine after all that had happened. He said no words but made an unconvincing "Mhmm" before returning the question with a "You?" He knew it couldn't have been easy for the Jedi to commit an act as gruesome as he did and while he cared about the other, he currently didn't have many thoughts to spare for him, being too drowned in his own.

"Okay." He replied with a hint of hesitation, uncertain why the lightsaber was of such value as he was not well versed with the nuances of the Force and its auras and knew that kyber crystals were surplus. Still, he didn't question the other who had already helped him to the point they were at. After this, he expected he may well be indebted to the Jedi for the rest of his life.

The conversation died down, partly because they were focused, on a mission but also because there were no words that could be said in such a traumatic situation. The usually chatty Mandalorian was eerily quiet and Cas didn't seem too upbeat either.

The demand to leave came as a surprise. "What?" He replied instinctively before continuing. "No, I- I'm not going to leave you." He replied incredulously. Cas was as much someone else's child as his own children were and he dreaded to think of how Cas' parents, presuming they were still alive or at the very least his Master, would feel if he had brought their son or former Padawan into the situation then abandoned him. "I'm not leaving without you." He concluded with a gentle stubbornness.

To allow Cas freedom to use the lightsaber and the Force, he held his arm out to take his son back who practically threw himself at his father's open arm. While Aspen was the far more gregarious and talkative of the pair, she often had periods of unusual silence when around her brother which Ki'an was unaware was due to the Force bond between the pair, allowing them to communicate on another level, unbeknownst to him as a non-Force sensitive.

He remained behind Cas, offering at least a small amount of protection from behind since he could take blaster bolts to the back and provide an early warning while still having his children protected from the front. The sudden forceful push backwards was an unexpected shock but the armour took most of the kinetic energy and landing on his back protected his children from any harm.

The Mandalorian groaned and released one of the children so he could push himself into a sitting position but upon seeing the shrapnel launch towards them he scooped up the twin and got to his feet to retreat while dodging the oncoming projectiles. "Is this lightsaber worth your life?" He asked Cas, breathlessly?

Cadere Darth Insatious

 

[Cadere]

In the Dark of the Night​

"I'll live." Cas answered nonchalantly, though he appeared unphased on the surface the reality was quite different. Cas' injuries from the Death Soldiers as well as their time in their cells took a toll on the Jedi Knight's body, leaving his muscles sore and tight, every movement he made was borderline torture for him with his body screamed in agony at him through his pain receptors. Not to mention the effects of Insatious' lightsaber, his Kyber crystal was bled and forced to serve the Dark Lord, which meant it most likely rejected any Force-sensitives that wielded it - and that included Cas.

Inside the turbolift, Cas shot Ki'an a glance of both apprehension and confusion. "Is this the grief talking?" "Are you crazy?" "You have two of your children with you. Don't risk their lives for me." all these thoughts streamed through his mind until Cas' gaze returned to the front. Huffing, air released from his nose and refusing to make eye contact with the Mandalorian "No." he said bluntly, handing over the boy to his father, refusing to allow the Mandalorian to risk not only his but his children's lives. They'd come this far, but Cas knew he couldn't carry on further with Insatious' lightsaber, lest something bad happen to him.

Cas noticed that as he exited the turbolift, Ki'an continued to follow him, frustrated, his head whipped around and glared into the Mandalorian's visor "What are you doing? You need to go!" he exclaimed in exasperation. Finally at the location where Cas' connection to his Kyber crystal felt at its strongest, the doors slid apart and the familiar frame standing on the other side stirred a quiet "Fu--" before he was abruptly cut off when an invisible wave sent both him and Ki'an flying back. After hitting the ground, Cas rolled backward and stopped on his front which allowed him to see the piece of debris coming toward him forcing Cas to roll to his side.

"Mine! Not yours!" Cas snapped back in response to Ki'an, igniting Insatious' lightsaber he shot up to his feet and moved toward the Sith Lord. Slicing through any kind of debris that made its way to him, one that slipped passed him travelled in Ki'an's direction which forced the weakened Jedi Knight to quickly avert its direction with telekinesis. Stretching his arm out, the piece of metal curved around Ki'an, missing him by mere inches. With his guard dropped, a piece of debris managed to clip Cas' shoulder and draw blood as it shot out the cut in his wound. Yelling out in pain the feeling was far more intense due to his already existing injuries, but he wasn't deterred, his attention returned to Insatious and he continued slicing through the pieces thrown at him.

Since Ki'an seemed to be too stubborn to leave, Cas had an idea. Establishing another mental link between the two, Cas projected a message into the Mandalorian's mind "Ki'an-- Need you-- inside-- room-- find-- lightsaber!" with Cas injured, exhausted and currently being affected by Insatiou's imprint on the lightsaber, as well as focusing on defending both himself and Ki'an, the message would be received like a radio with faulty signal but hopefully it was comprehensible enough for Ki'an to understand. Once close enough to Insatious, Cas would strike first, albeit slower than his normal attacks as a result of his current state. However, Cas hoped to engage Insatious head-on and distract the Sith Lord enough for his assault with the ship's materials to slow down or stop altogether and allow Ki'an the window to get inside.

"Must really bother you, huh? You had me on a platter and you still couldn't kill me." Cas taunted Insatious maliciously, continuing to strike at the Sith Lord "All these chances you've had over the years and still nothing. You sure you're as powerful as you say you are?" then the Kiffar grinned with the corner of his lip stretching wide "Or, maybe, I really am just better than you." hopefully both Cas' attacks and taunts would work long enough.

Darth Insatious Ki'an Vizsla

 

[Darth Insatious]

Post theme

There was no maniacal laughter or some big evil taunting speech from Insatious as he tore the corridor to pieces and sent it all flying towards Cas and Ki'an. Insatious could see Cas' attempt at attacking him way before the attack would connect because of how wounded, physically and tired out he was. The Sith Lord just watched and waited for the Jedi to finally get over to him, dropping the force attacks giving Ki'an a breather as Cas' attack made Insatious block the Jedi's first strike.

Cas got no response but felt the Dark Lord's slithering grasp tear through what must already be a pretty considerably weaken mental defence on Cas. The sickening red glow from both lightsabers coloured the white skull-like mask in red, making the shadows dance. Starring into the skull-like face of Insatious, Cas would see nothing but the pitch-black darkness where his eyes would have been. Even though Cas had seen the Sith Lord without his mask, any indication of an old man was gone when that mask was on, as if he had been swallowed whole by the monster that was Insatious.

Insatious purposefully led Cas deeper into the room he and Ki'an wanted to enter in the first place, leading the Jedi way from the Mandalorian. However, by leading Cas away from Ki'an, also gave Ki'an free access to enter the room as well.

If Ki'an entered the room, while he couldn't sense the dark side anywhere near what a force user could, he felt the pull of the dark side another way, a strange eerie way. The Mandalorian would feel a weird heaviness to himself like he was carrying double the weight of what his armour weighed. The deeper Ki'an went into the room to search for Cas' lightsaber, whispering voices of a girl's voice started to creep into his mind. The whispering was just on the cups of being intangible for Ki'an to understand.

The room itself was quite large, not as large as the one they were led to earlier but was large enough to have a fight in one end while Ki'an moved around in the other end. The room was mostly outfitted with tables, all filled with all manners of tools, relics, lightsaber parts, droid parts and a few datapads all powered down.

There weren't any beds or chairs and it felt extremely impersonal with a sense of clinically clean to the place. The closer Ki'an got to one of the tables having both disassembled and whole lightsaber hilts littered on it, the girl's whispering in Ki'an's mind grew only louder and more chaotic in his head. The whispering suddenly stopped as Ki'an stood right in front of the table that most likely would have Cas' lightsaber, however, all sounds around him had disappeared completely.

The disappearing of sound was as if he had entered the vacuum of space as he couldn't even hear the loud fighting between Cas and Insatious. Not only did the sound disappear, but the girl's whispering turned to words, speaking to Ki'an as if she stood in the room.

"Can you see me?"

"Hello"

"Can you find me, I'm trapped"

"I'm here... behind you, look"

The last sentence of the girl's voice in Ki'an's head sounded as if the voice came behind the Mandalorian, yet if he turned, no one was there and Ki'an's mind was filled with echoed giggles of the girl. The giggle merged into a whisper, "I'm right behind you".

"Don't be scared, I just want to play a game with you. You just need to open me" spoke the whispered girl from a Sith Holocron in the middle of the table right beside where Cas' lightsaber was. "Is that your kids? Maybe we can be friends. I'm so lonely"

Not only would Ki'an be affected by entering the room, but his two kids actually started to react with the displeasure of not knowing why they were feeling discomforting. Both started to whimper and writhe and did not want to get deeper into the room.

However, if he actually walked away from the table and out of the room, the bodiless girl's voice disappeared along with the sickening feeling from the dark side of the force and sound returned to him.

Insatious both kept up with Cas' attempt at fighting him but also showcased to be much faster, given the fact that Insatious wasn't exhausted, wounded or under the constant attacking influence of Insatious' lightsaber like Cas was. Insatious moved with flowing grace around Cas and in a way testing the Jedi's last fighting spirit.

The Sith Lord was fully aware of where both Ki'an and Cas was at all times as he fought with the Jedi. Insatious wanted to see what the Mandalorian would do

Ki'an Vizsla Cadere

 

[Ki'an Vizsla]

The Mandalorian didn't take the blunt chastising from Cas too harshly. He knew the other was stressed. They both were. He just couldn't bring himself to risk leaving the Jedi behind after he had given so much to help him and his family. Now he held an unspoken loyalty to the Jedi, even to the point of his own detriment.

He pressed himself against the wall to avoid the debris that was launched past Cas when he missed it. "It's just a lightsaber, Cas!" He urged the other to flee, unable to see how one weapon could be worth risking his life for. Still, both were too stubborn to do anything otherwise and then came the foreign sensation of having a voice in his mind that wasn't his own.

Ki'an didn't say anything in response, unsure if Cas would hear him, but his actions spoke for him as he saw an opportunity to retrieve the lightsaber, he quickly took it. Once deeper into the room, he was overcome by an unusual, indescribable feeling which made him uneasy. He walked deeper into the room, in search of the lightsaber, each step growing heavier under a strange sensation.

He grew more and more uncomfortable as an indiscernible voice began to flitter into his head, growing louder the further he entered the room. He didn't know a lot about the Dark side of the Force so he didn't know how to quantify what he was experiencing which he assumed was as a result of it.

What began as discomfort soon grew into fear as the words of the voice became apparent and were almost taunting him after facing the potential loss of his own daughter. For a moment, he hesitated but continued to search for the lightsaber in spite of the creepy, unusual circumstances surrounding him which had now begun to effect his children.

At the voice telling him it was behind him, he quickly whipped around but there was no one there. His breathing grew heavier as adrenaline began to trickle into his body again. He did not have the benefit of reaching out to Cas telepathically so was on his own as he continued his endeavours, though he looked around to see if Cas noticed what was happening.

"Shh." He hushed his kids, trying to offer them at least the small comfort of reminding them of his presence. His gaze shifted to the holocron but he knew better than to mess with that which was unknown to him - especially when the Force was involved.

Ki'an moved Aspen into his other arm with her brother momentarily while he took the lightsaber hilt and fixed it to his belt. He moved his daughter back to her original position and headed back towards Cas & Insatious, wanting nothing more than to leave the harrowing situation.

Cadere Darth Insatious