Nobody Expects...(The One Sith Inquisition)

[Thallai Brawsta]

Thallai kept her glare until the man she had ran into force lifted her bag back into her hands, which caused a look of surprise and consternation to cross her face as the force user walked past her. Her surprise grew as the man he was with identified his companion as a Sith Acolyte, evidently being discreet wasn't as big a priority has she had been told, not on this mission. Turning, she face the man who had spoken. "You're right, we do. Could you and your friend wait a moment, please?" she asked politely, not sure of the rank this one held. After a response, she went inside and ordered a room, paying for with the funds she had been given before heading up to her room and changing back into her armor. She hadn't felt an ounce of force sensitivity from either of them, but she could probably chalk that up due to lack of training, as she still had no real master at this point.

Once safely back in her armor, Thallai holstered her Bryar Pistol where it was supposed to be, hidden under he cloak, and hung her saber from her belt before hurriedly leaving the hotel to catch up with the two she had met, for lack of a better word, outside the hotel. "Sorry I snapped at you, I was under the impression we were supposed to be discreet and I was trying to keep you from paying too much attention to me." she said to the man she had run into, her tone less arrogant, but not truly apologetic. "I'm Thallai Brawsta, they sent me here as back up." After introducing herself, she fell silent unless asked a direct question. She knew that she had been sent to help put down a rebellion, but had expected something more stealthy if they weren't just sending in the army. Unless they wanted to show the might of the Sith, that was certainly something she could understand.

(Sorry for the short length, didn't have much time to write today.)

[member="Jack Mirrikh"]

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

(You're fine, [member="Thallai Brawsta"])

"You're right, we do. Could you and your friend wait a moment, please?"

This statement caught Ryken by surprise, as was evident with his slightly open mouth and the confused look on his face. He was mystified as to why this lady would want them to wait, but something in his gut told him to wait. He watched her walk away and then casually walked outside to find Jack. Spotting Ryken, Jack raised his hands up as if to say What's taking so long??

Ryken called Jack over and explained what happened. Jack was equally confused as to what was going on, but he resigned himself to rub his forehead in frustration and wait. It didn't help matters since it took her "forever and a day" to reappear, but everything made much more sense when she did show up again. She was a fellow Sith sent here to help. Ryken said to her,

"Ah! It all makes sense, now. You're correct in that this isn't exactly the stealthiest mission. The best way to describe today would be a hunt. However, this is practically covert ops compared to what the army would do...I figured it'd be safe around here at headquarters to divulge that simple information. We can certainly use all the help we can get. We're heading out to investigate the sewer access maintenance tunnels for any established hideout nests. Not exactly glamorous, but the sewer system works differently here, so it's not going to be too incredibly messy. I'm Ryken, by the way. Say hi, Jack."

Ryken smiled as he playfully bumped Jack on the back. Jack shot a narrow-eyed glare at Ryken and then made direct eye contact with Thallai. His expression softened, but he was still reserved around her.

"Hi. I'm J--...Jack." He realized just a tad bit late that Ryken had already introduced him in a manner of sorts and that he was just repeating himself. Sigh

"We should probably get going. We've lost enough time already." He looked her up and down once before turning and walking outside. He tried to hide the fact that he was blushing. He wasn't entirely sure why he was feeling over-embarrassed. He simply was, so he tried to hide it.

 

[Thallai Brawsta]

Thallai listened quietly as Ryken explained the mission and introduced himself and his companion before they started toward sewer access. "Apologies for the enforced delay." she said as they started on their way. "What's the plan when we get there? Just force our way in or what?" she asked politely. This was her first mission with the inquisition, much less her first time really acting as a fully fledged Sith. The combination was making her more nervous than she usually was and was leading her to ramble a bit. Stopping an irritated sigh before it could escape, Thallai resolved to use this opportunity to learn and improve. Besides, she'd be much more effective once they were actually dealing with the rebels. Combat was something she had a lot more experience in.

[member="Jack Mirrikh"]

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

(Sorry for the late reply. Something really sad happened and I've been caught up in some manic depression. I'm fine, now, though.)

"We have clearance from the government to gain access to the Department of Sanitation. From there, it's a straight shot to the sewers. It's not glamorous work, for sure, but this is one of the only spots left that all or some of the rebels could be hiding. Someone had to go down there and, well, positions filled up fast. We'll be on our own while traversing the underground, let alone if we run into rebel forces."

They reached the Department of Sanitation and, to Jack's surprise, the forward offices were actually pristine. It turned out that the sewer system was an expensive project, as a typical system would not work in this city's frozen environment (according to the front desk help). The sewer would consist of many temperature-controlled pipes inside wide open rooms. Littered between these cavernous rooms of pipes were hallways, corridors and a scattering of maintenance rooms. It seemed as though the assumption of uncleanliness associated with the name "sewer" was enough to keep most ignorant people away. This showed a major oversight on behalf of the government, but it's not like word easily got out. Being such an expensive project, officials simply signed off and forgot about it AND the process was largely automated with only a few actual maintenance workers....This sudden realization made Jack think of a possibility: that the maintenance workers were either oblivious to anything that went on far elsewhere in the other tunnels and rooms...or any number of them were in on the rebellion.

They were given access to the tunnels via ladder shaft. Ryken went down first, then Jack. No sense risking the newcomer first. When all three of their boots met concrete, they looked around. Other than the shaft of light coming from above, the tunnel was only lit by blue, softly glowing discs set at intervals along the wall. At one end of the hallway was a fork in the tunnel that lead two different directions. Down at the other end was one of the open rooms containing large swaths of pipe up, down and along the sides of the walls and floor. Jack spoke up.

"We should probably split up. Which end do you want to check out, Ryken?"

"I'll take this corridor and let you get a good look at all of the sludge in those pipes. Maybe it'll give you some PTSD." Jack glared daggers at Ryken. He didn't want the man saying anything like that in front of the present company. However, he then smiled along with his glare and replied,

"Stay safe, drekhole. I call dibs on killing you myself." With that, Jack walked down the hallway, but not before Ryken had the last word.

"Get in line. Besides, I'm SURE someone else would take another couple of months with a teacher-killer to promote you to Inquisitor." Ryken turned to [member="Thallai Brawsta"] and asked. "So, who would you like to follow?"

 

[Thallai Brawsta]

(It's okay. Take all the time you need.)

Thallai followed Jack and Ryken in silence as they headed to sanitation. Having grown up in an orphanage, being dirty didn't bother all that much. She could see why it would bother most, however, so she didn't comment on it. However, the sanitation department turned out to be much cleaner than Thallai had expected, much more tidy. The assumption that it would be dirty and gross even in the offices didn't hold up for even a second, and she wondered how many people refused to even look at the place just because of what it was. And fully automated as well. Either the workers were in on the whole facade, or the rebellion had kept themselves very well hidden. Either way, it was time to get to work.

Thallai descended the ladder last, but not before unbuckling her cloak from her armor. She wouldn't need it in the sewers and it might very well get in the way. Once she was the bottom, she listened to the exchange between Jack and Ryken before turning to face the more senior member. "I'll go with you. You don't seem to be force sensitive and I may be of more help to you than I will be to Jack." she said, her voice calm as she explained her reasoning. "May the Force serve you well, Jack." she said to her fellow acolyte before she turned to follow Ryken into the tunnels.

[member="Jack Mirrikh"]

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

"You could tell I wasn't Force sensitive? Shucks. Was it the eyes? Were they not evil enough? Was it the lack of black varicose veins? I really should work on paling my skin for the part."

Ryken glanced sideways at her with a smirk on his face. He didn't skip a beat when it came to playfully ribbing Acolytes. It was the Inquisitors and Knights that you had to be much more careful around, let alone a Lord or Master. They paused at the fork while Ryken checked left and right. The left lead towards a dead end, but had a couple of doors to check out. Best to sweep this area before delving deeper thought Ryken to himself. He walked took the left turn and checked the first door on the left. It was unlocked, but it was devoid of anything noteworthy. He exited and then tried the only other door at this end of the hallway. It was locked, which lead him to turn to Thallai and ask,

"Can you sense anything or anyone inside?"

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Jack went on his own "merry" way. It was nice to know that Thallai was the pleasant and polite kind...at least, when she wasn't deceiving and running into you. A small pang of jealousy streaked through his mind, but it was gone quickly. He sort of kind of wished she would have gone with him, but it only made complete sense that she go with Ryken. He jumped from one of the platforms and landed on a sewer pipe. He had to catch his balance for a couple of seconds, but he righted himself quickly enough. Looking up, he could have sworn that he saw a quick wisp of movement from one of the adjoining hallways. This piqued his interest, so he swiftly traversed the rows of pipes and Force Leaped into the hallway.

The game was afoot.


[member="Thallai Brawsta"]

(At this point, just make up the story as you see fit. Does your character successfully use Force Sense? Are there or aren't there people behind that door? Do whatever and my npc, Ryken, will react along with snippets of Jack's adventures. We'll all three meet back up together later. Also, are you enjoying your time role playing on this board?)

 

[Thallai Brawsta]

Thallai gave a half smile at Ryken's teasing and shook her head. "Your terminology. Too cheerful." she said, her tone amused as she followed him down the tunnel. She remained silent as the inquisitor checked the open doors, but when he asked her if she sensed anyone on the other side of the door, she stepped forward and focused on the room beyond the door, her eyes closed as she reached through the force. "I don't think..." she started to say, before something caught attention. "There's something. Life. Several lifeforms. It's hard to tell them apart. I think they're close together. There's...a lot of strong emotion, but I can't tell for sure what it is." she said, before shaking her head and opening her eyes. "I need more practice, but no reason not to go in there." she said, drawing her bryar pistol and blasting the handle.

Holstering the pistol, Thallai kicked the door open and stepped inside, looking around. The reason she had been having trouble telling the lifeforms apart, and the strong emotions she had sensed, became immediately obvious, the two people making out couldn't have been closer together without merging into one being. Other than that, the room, which appeared to be some kind of supply room, was empty of anything important. "Carry on." she said, frustrated with herself as she turned to leave the room, only to feel what felt like a warning through the Force. Turning, she drew her saberstaff just as a blaster bolt impacted with the armor covering her shoulder. "Guess we should deal with this." she said, igniting the blades of her saberstaff and blocking another blaster bolt. Both the man and the woman were holding blaster pistols she vaguely recognized as being a pretty common model.

Stepping forward into the room ahead of Ryken, Thallai blocked another two blaster bolts with the blades of her saberstaff. She was sincerely glad she had chosen a dual bladed weapon rather than the more common single-bladed lightsabers, otherwise she'd have at least one wound by now. The man and the woman went in separate directions as she approached and Thallai went for the woman as she was closer, hoping Ryken could handle the other. She felt another blaster bolt hit her armor as she swung her saberstaff, but it was the last shot the woman would be firing. Thallai's saber sheared through her wrist, sending the hand holding the blaster falling the floor as the woman recoiled with a cry of pain. Grinning in satisfaction behind her mask, Thallai gave the woman a sharp kick in the gut to drop her before turning to see how Ryken was doing with the man.

[member="Jack Mirrikh"]

(Let me know if I'm moving things along too fast. And sorry for the delay, havent' been so well lately. And I'm definitely enjoying my time here. =])

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

[member="Thallai Brawsta"] (Sorry. Landscaping gig and real job OP...4 to 5 freaking days. I'm so sorry....That ambush you wrote was well done. I wasn't even expecting the way that turned out. )

There was neither style nor grace in Ryken's movements. He swiftly and efficiently spun, dropped into a crouch and was unloading disruptor bolts into the man's chest. It was as though the gun simply appeared in his hand, he was so fast. Soon enough, the man was dissolving into a pile of ash and the woman had been dealt with. He stood up and holstered his pistol. Stepping over the ash heap, he gruffly searched the pockets of the distressed woman. His face was darkened with negative emotion and he lacked empathy for the would-be killer.

The only noteworthy thing he found was a datapad in her jacket pocket. Satisfied with that, he left her to suffer alone in her misery. Whilst he poked through the datapad, he flicked his gaze up at Thallai once, dropped his sight back down to the datapad and then said in a frustrated tone.

"You know, a simple Force Push would have solved that problem in an instant. It may be better to learn your Core Force Powers before you come back out into the field..." and he left it at that. He found what he wanted and passed the datapad to her while saying, "Good tanking and aggro maneuver, though. Here's their map of this sewer system. Think of this as an easier lesson: 'Figure out where we are, where we need to go and lead the way'. I'll keep an eye out for more ambushes...But, first, I need to call this in. Keep looking at the map."

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Meanwhile, Jack reached the far end of the room and stood in the opening to a hallway. A foot could barely be seen and heard sharply turning and running down a corridor.

"Hold it!" yelled Jack. Of course, the running only became louder and more desperate and Jack was too far away to be heard by Thallai and Ryken. He chased wholeheartedly after the mysterious stranger...only to turn the corner and be faced by three newcomers. They were all dressed in full black and sort of in a ninja style. Jack came into their view and they instantly struck marshal poses at him. Behind them, a short person in a brown work coat just kept running on. The person only turned once to look back and Jack realized that the runner was female.

Jack was not one to back down. He charged towards them and they raised their vibro weapons to meet him...

 

[Thallai Brawsta]

[member="Jack Mirrikh"] (Don't worry, I know how work can keep one busy. I wound up being kept busy all weekend and with E3, I've no idea how much time I'll have to write.)

Thallai was silent as Ryken looked through their prisoners pockets, taking the datapad when offered. "I know them, but my training is still far from complete and they are not yet fully reliable. If it hadn't worked they might have been able to deal one of us an injury." she said calmly as she looked over the map. It looked like the place was a bit of a maze, but there was one room that was larger than the others, possibly a reservoir or something similar. It was certainly big enough to be a meeting place and it looked to have two entrances. "Can we send this to Jack? We might be able to time it so that we pincer that room if we can co-ordinate." she said, handing the datapad back to Ryken before she turned her attention back to the female she had injured.

Picking her up by an arm, Thallai opened her mask before speaking. "I'll give you one chance. Take us to your friends and I'll let you live out the rest of your days in a jail cell. Refuse and you'll spend the rest of your pathetic life as my witless pawn. Your choice." Thallai said, her tone cold and unyielding.

"Go to hell, Sith." the woman ground out, spitting at Thallai.

Thallai just sighed, then brought her free hand up to force the womans mouth shut and turn her head to the side. "Very well. One way or another, you will serve the Sith." she said, before she sank her fangs into the womans shoulder. The fight had put very little drain on Thallai and what she drained from the woman restored it, but that was not the point. When Thallai drew away, the woman was dead, her no longer beating. Yet still she struggled against the Sith's grip. "Be still." Thallai ordered and what was left of the woman obeyed, all movement ceasing. Releasing her, Thallai closed her mask and turned back to Vyren. "She may be of use, if nothing else she can take a few blaster shots or such for us. Anyway, we need to head back to where we split up, follow a pipe with a red line and take a left, that'll take us to a monitoring station, I think. We should be able to see what's in that big room there." she said, awaiting her superiors decision.

 

[Jack Mirrikh]

Ryken had seen plenty of this and that in his lifetime, but it was moments like this that that he knew he had only been grazing the tip of the galaxy's iceberg. His flight or fight instincts had kicked in at the same time that he saw [member="Thallai Brawsta"] clamp her mouth around the shoulder of the debilitated woman. Worse than that came the squishy and bone grinding sound that confirmed that Thallai was, indeed, biting into the living tissue of the disadvantaged woman. He could not help but watch with horror etched on his face as she turned the woman into...well, a sort of zombie-vampire slave something or another...it wasn't easy for Ryken to come up with a good name right now, for obvious reasons, but the implications of what she was doing was still unnerving to a mere human such as he.

He cleared his throat and averted his gaze. No need to appear uneasy in front of the vampire. At best, he would be seen as "intolerant". At worst, he would be considered easy prey...He sniffed once and then looked back after he heard her step away. He almost felt bad for the new state of being that the woman was now in...Almost.

"That's, ehrm...(he cleared his throat once more)...good. Very good thinking, Thallai. That sounds like a true and proper strategy. I think you'll make a fine Inquisitor...someday. I'll give Jack a call, but I wouldn't be surprised if we don't get a link-up down here in the sewers. If we don't get a hold of him, though, we should probably set up to take it on by ourselves. We have to assume that we're on a clock, now that non-covert fighting has been instigated." He keyed his comm link and tried to set up a connection with Jack.

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Jack swung his blade left and right in defense as he charged at the lined up ninja warriors. They each would take a slice at him before nimbly swirling and dodging to a side. He came to a stop and swirled around 180 degrees to find them crouched together in a tight knit defensive grouping. He used a shove from the Force to send their group sprawling apart. Readying his blade, he ran at the nearest one. This particular warrior must have been the least skilled of the three, for Jack ran up, batted his vibroblade to the side and brought his knee up to the man's covered jaw. The blow sent the ninja warrior back upon his back.

*FSST!*

Two throwing stars came streaking through the air and embedded in his armor. No damage was done but, then, they both burst forth and enveloped him in a black, oily cloud of deep smoke. He used a Force breathing technique to avoid breathing in, but he could only maintain it for so long, since he hadn't taken a preparatory breath. Now, he was in good enough sorts that he could use this smoke to his advantage. The attackers may or may not have known that he could still sense inside this thick fog. So, he could also tell that one of them was now charging the plume of smoke.

This next man might have been skilled, but it was all too easy to capitalize on his over-confidence. The warrior rushed forth to deliver a deadly slicing blow upon where he had figured Jack to be inside the cloud. Jack had tried to keep his lightsaber in the same relative position, but angled the rest of his body away from his last position to confuse the attackers. This meant that he now held his lightsaber in his left hand. He sensed the ninja come at him into the smoke screen.

He swung his lightsaber in a distracting manner and spun it around his back and switched the lightsaber back into his right hand. This made it appear, to the attacker, as though Jack had just done an impossibly spin. Therefore, the ninja warrior was caught off guard and easily sliced in half as he passed. It was amazing how modern weapons turned a long, drawn out fight of long ago into a short ordeal. He used the Force to conjure up a wind to push the smoke screen into the other two. The youngest and most inexperienced ninja was audibly upset. The man yelled at Jack in anguish and hatred and then charged forward through the smoke screen first. He would not heed his friend's warning that was uttered before being quickly cut off by the need to cough up smoke that came to meet him.

Compared to dueling Darth Erebos, this fight was a cake walk. It was very surprising to see the difference in difficulty between the time in which he would regularly duel Darth Erebos and now, out in the real world. Slash, slash, swipe, flick, dodge, parry, sidestep, sidestep, lunge. He avoided the attacks with ease. Not enough to make his opponent look foolish, like a master would be able to do. However, it was enough to infuriate the young aggressor. Jack had enough. He Force shoved the man into the wall and was about to stab him when the other one joined in. Jack merely had to raise his right foot and point it at the stomach of the charging ninja warrior; leg parallel to the ground.

The Force kept Jack's form solidly planted like a sign post in the ground. The ninja's body folded around his foot and leg and Jack could actually hearing a crunching sound. The younger one began to get up while the older ninja crumpled to the ground, hugging his stomach. Jack conjured up purple Force Lightning to suppress the young one before coming forth and running him through with his blade.

Jack grasped the final ninja warrior with the Force and brutally rag dolled the man's own body into both walls, the ceiling and the floor until he would not move anymore. Blood cascaded off of the once black material as the body remain limp and suspended, by the Force, in mid air. He threw his saber with the Force into the body, recalled it and then dropped the body.

His lightsaber retracted back into the hilt with that old familiar sound and then...

Silence.

Silence.

*Beep a Leep*

Jack looked down at his communicator and answered. Ryken wasted no time in explaining the situation and uploading Jack's map with the new data. Ryken made it clear that they needed to move, but he didn't know that Jack had just fought well for his life. So, instead of telling them, he decided to make them think he was just taking a long time traveling through a big sewer. Instead, he sat down on top of a nearby crate and practiced some energy regen and empowering techniques and stances to prepare himself for the coming events.

 

[Thallai Brawsta]

(Writing this, I realized that describing Force powers can get kind of redundant. Lack of experience, I suppose.)

Thallai smiled at the praise, though the mask she wore concealed the expression. It was part of reason she wore something to obscure the lower half of her face, it made it easier to keep a grip on her emotions if she didn't have to worry as much about them showing. Once Ryken was done with his communication, the apprentice gestured to her new minion. "Lead." she commanded. The zombie headed out in front of the two inquisitors and shambled down the hallways, with the occasional comment from Thallai guiding her down the appropriate pathways. Fortunately, they made it to the monitoring station without trouble, and Thallai reached out the force again, trying to sense what was on the other side of the door. This time the occupants were easier to sense, and when she was done she laughed quietly.

"Six people in a monitoring station? Subtle." she said, smirking as she drew on the Force until it was getting difficult to contain before releasing in a wave of force that blew back the door onto the first two people inside the room while the other four looked on in shock. "Kill them." she ordered to her zombie, who charged mindlessly at one of the remaining four. That one recognized her as one of his allies and tried to subdue her without blasting her, leaving the other three to Thallai and Ryken. "Shall we, then?" she asked in amusement as she ignited her saberstaff and lept into the room, the blades whirling about Thallai as she deflected the rebels blaster bolts. Stepping forward, she swung her saber down and sliced one of the blasters in two before delivering a punishing kick to the rebels chest, sending him back into a wall before she turned to face the last two.

(Let me know if you want me to change anything.)

[member="Jack Mirrikh"]