Private Pick of the Litter

[Darth Ophidia]

​

Bastion - The Sith Empire

A fresh batch was brought from the rare corners of the galaxy. But these were not the mindless and broken masses of worker drones to be shuffled into the Imperial industrial machine. These were special; these were the ones that showed promise of aptitude in the Force. Most would go through the academies here on Bastion, on Dromund Kaas, and later to the more specialised academies, suited for their talents; wheat separated from the chaff, marching to the mills.

Some, however, had already been spied by nefarious minds and claimed for private testing.

This batch was one such

They had been lead from the Sith Academy in Ravelin to a dark transport, and from there to a secondary location. What greeted them when the transport opened was a hallway of dark, grey walls, the walls lit with red sconces. Quickly, the slaves were ushered out by black-uniformed soldiers and made to walk down the path until they faced a pair of white, double doors decorated with a large, red hand-print. A quarren male, his red skin covered in jagged tattoos, stroked his facial tentacles as he looked the batch over, then nodded and pushed the doors open.

The quarren barked as he put his hands behind his back and blocked the way into the chamber ahead. "Keep your eyes to yourself, hands at your sides, speak only when spoken to." He eyed them with his baleful eyes. "You will walk into the next chamber and line up elbow to elbow, face forward." Then grabbed one by the chin and tilted their head. "There, you shall be judged." forcefully releasing the slave, he motioned for them to step inside.

As they stepped into the room ahead, they would be surrounded by four great pillars, inscribed with red runes that shone even in the cold dimness. Half-way up on the massive pillars, there was a horse-shoe shaped mezzanine, on which there stood many dark-robed figures. Some of the figures leaned over the railing of the mezzanine and quietly discussed the small group of prospects brought in. At its centre there was a conspicuous gap of figures, and it emanated with a crawling, cold sensation. The slaves were made to stand shoulder to shoulder in the centre as the figures spoke in hushed tones.

The tattooed quarren closed the white doors behind the entourage of slaves, then moved to face the line of slaves.

"Here, and now, you will prove your worth." A click sounded from the gap above "Your mettle will be tested, and those who excel are given a chance, not merely at freedom, but at a path to power beyond imagination." A singular figure stepped out from the gap; slender and hooded in black. Her burning eyes shone out from under the rim of the fabric as she saw the six prospects standing there.

The quarren could see some looking up, and smiled as only quarren could.

"And one, before all, will be especially rewarded."

Ahead of them, under the mezzanine, a new door opened. The soldiers behind the slaves raised their weapons to urge them ahead, seemingly ready to open fire should they be too tardy. The figure standing above it spoke a single word, softly yet with disturbing presence. she said:

"RUN"

Cir'focri

 

[Cir'focri]

Cir’s eyes couldn’t hide the hatred behind them as the collection of slaves were shuffled off into the secondary transport. Of course she done what she was told, she was rebellious but she wasn’t fool enough to disobey the orders of a Sith. Inside the transport she looked over the other slaves, each of them had their own potentials; one built like a tank, a hulking figure of a man bald of head and quiet of nature. Second was another Twi’lek like herself, she was brought in at the same time as Cir but was far more outspoken and brash. Even when being moved to a second transport she was unruly.. Probably a problem. The next two looked similar, almost identical? Probably twins, Cir didn’t pay them much attention, one looked scared and clung to the side of the other who had a distant gaze in their eyes. They wouldn’t be much of an issue she concluded. Lastly, a male Devaronian, who radiated confidence. Wearing a cheeky grin he simply eyed the other slaves as he sat casually.

All of them obeyed the orders of the soldiers and Quarren alike. It was all Cir could do to keep her mouth shut, though her piercing gaze never faltered, she wouldn’t be intimidated by some lapdog. Never the less she obeyed still, with her hands balled into fists as they were escorted into the room and forced to stand shoulder to shoulder.

Her attention was immediately caught by those upon the mezzanine, over the dark figures. Those were probably who she was here to entertain. Her thoughts were interrupted as the Quarren spoke once more, with a slight tilt of her head to listen to him she couldn’t help but smirk deviously. Not only freedom, but power too.. What more could a girl want. Though that wasn’t enough, she would get that special reward, presumably from the female figure.

Just as she was beginning to dwell on where this new path could lead, ‘Run’ was declared. Acting without a second thought Cir crouched down and swept the legs of the shy twin she was standing on her right, trying to make her fall to his face, whilst at the same time she attempted to use the force to push out against the large human to her left.



And with that, she was off like a bullet..

 

[Darth Ophidia]

As they took off, two of the soldiers fired a salvo after the slaves. They were warning shots first and foremost, not aimed and deadly, but randomly shot in the direction the slaves were running. Yet, it made it perfectly clear what the stakes were. If they run, they might live, if they stop, they would certainly die by firing squad.

And all the while they ran, the masters of the Sith would be watching.

The large human stumbled to the side from the push Cir had given him, his shoulder crashing into one of the pillars closest to the door. Even so, he pushed his way out of the door.

The shy twin fell to Cir's sweep, and falling on her face. The one with the dead gaze stopped to pull his twin up, but found himself kicked off by one of the soldiers. He turned an ran as one of the Satwasin brought the butt of his gun down on the shy one's head. The dead-eyed one stopped for a moment to look behind, reaching out with desperation, and the shy one started to pull limply in his direction. The entrance then closed in his face. He beat on the double doors, screamed and pulled at the seams, but it would not budge.

He had escaped the firing squad, but his twin had not. Above, there was a shifting of plates and a low grow approachingl.

Then, darkness.

Ahead, Cir, the devoranian, the twi'lek, and the large human would be darting down a path that seemed endless. The twi'lek was quickest by a smidgen, followed by a tie of Cir and the devoranian, and then the large human.

The three first would then suddenly come upon a fork in the path where it split to three smaller paths; one left, one right, one ascending by a set of stairs. Light tumbled down the stairs from above, but the two side paths were shrouded in darkness. The twi'lek stopped for a moment, looking from one path to the other, giving the devoranian time to spring ahead and overtake as he sprinted down the right path, a sound followed by a click and a crash of metal. The twi'lek then made the choice to run up the stairs and into the light.

The large human seemed more intent on simply getting there and escaping the growing cacophony of crunches, clicks, growls and other strange sounds now echoing up through the hallway behind them.

Cir'focri

 

[Cir'focri]

Cir bore those behind her no mind, they were nothing but cannon fodder for the firing squad behind her. Thankfully her plan had somewhat worked, with one of the twins on their face they would most certainly be a good distraction not only for the guards but also for their other twin. Where the plan didn’t work, was the large human man had recovered much faster than she would have liked, but no mind he would come later. For now she was certain she had made an impression to the Sith Lords, all she had to focus on was getting out alive now. The rest didn’t matter.

Down the unending hallway she ran, her mind blank but her senses beginning to heighten. Sights, sounds, smells. Anything that could give her an advantage as Cir tried her best to focus herself on the current surroundings and naturally the other slaves. They would be forced to turn on each other no doubt, she wouldn’t be the fool who died for trusting one of them.

Once they got to the fork she finally stopped, infront of the human she placed her hands on her hips and took the opportunity to breathe deeply as the others ran ahead, thankfully neither had chosen what her instincts told her.. Which was to go left. The darkness was an all too familiar friend of hers, shielding her many times from harsh punishments for a time at least. Security could always be found within the darkness.

Without another gaze at the human she quickly darted off down into the darkness, whatever was down there would most certainly be better than the strange sounds coming from behind her. No doubt the Sith Lords had unleashed some beasts to keep things ‘interesting’. If only she could find a weapon of some sorts, even just a sharp piece of glass. So long as it was something short and sharp she would be ten times more confident, she had trusted her instincts took her this far there wasn’t much point to stop now as further she dove into the darkness.

Darth Ophidia

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Now, as Cir and the others had come into the gauntlet itself, they would find that the floor and walls were made of slabs of poured duracrete, perhaps ferrocrete. The ceiling was made with beams of duracrete holding heavy slates of black metal. In the fork, the ceiling lifted more than a floor up. The upward stairs were made of the same black metal as the ceiling. While the right path that the Devoranian had chosen went straight, it became apparent to Cir that the left path sloped down, then became level, then sloped down again, making a slow descent.

The large human followed Cir, seemingly reluctant to overtake her after hearing the sound coming from the other tunnel, but also refusing to lose sight of her or letting her gain too much of a ground. In his eyes glowed anger for what she had done to him in the start.

An inhuman scream echoed around them, and then another. They echoed off the walls and intertwined to a harmony of terror and pain.

A click from below, and the force screamed a warning at Cir as metal spears scraped and shot out from the seams of the walls, threatening to skewer her if she did not react at the appropriate time.

Far behind, they heard the jabbering, yipping, and high-pitched snarls of a multitude of creatures which stampeded down the stairs and turned the corner, pointing down at Cir and the large human, then charging after as a mass of yellow eyes, ripping claws and gnashing teeth.

The large human was forced to jump as a piece of the floor fell out from beneath him, and he pulled himself up the ledge while the small-gnashing creatures swarmed wall, floor and ceiling alike. They were just on his tail, and right behind Cir as well.

Cir'focri

 

[Cir'focri]

Cir stalked down the halls with a fast, yet still cautious pace. Whilst the darkness was an old friend of hers, there were probably many traps to be found down in these depths. Though she still plunged deep, being sure that this was the right choice to make. Even hearing the large human behind her she only looked to him to scowl and snarl at him, her lips twisting in frustration. For such a large man he was clearly a coward letting the smaller woman go first.

Just as she stopped paying attention to him she felt the warning and without hesitation quickly rolled forward, narrowly missing the spikes protruding from the walls. A low chuckle escaped from her lips as her suspicions became reality. It was then when the screams echoed around them, sending a shiver down Cir’s spine so she stopped and awaited for the next threat to jump out at the pair. It didn’t take long for the snarls to manifest into the small creatures charging them. With a smirk, she looked over the mass of gnashing teeth and yellowed eyes.

For now she didn’t move as she observed the large human jumping for his life as the very floor beneath his feet collapsed, it seemed that fate was providing her an opportunity. With the same smirk now becoming more insidious she looked to the human and mass charging her way. ‘’You chose wrong, human.’’ She spat out the words and with a fluid movement both hands extending from her body forcefully, using the force to send a more concentrated blast directly to the legs of the human, this time she wanted to make sure he would be on his face too. It was his mistake for following her after all, the least he could do was provide a meal to their new guests.

Without staying to witness her work she simply grinned and spun on her heel to run further into the dark halls, trusting in the force and her instinct alike to warn her of any further traps, of which, she figured there would be many.

Darth Ophidia

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The spikes that near impaled Cir had she not made her oh so clever evasive manoeuvre were tipped with barbs that would have made it very difficult to remove oneself from them, and the shaft of the spikes had similar spikes, part decorative, part practical should someone seek to grab and climb or pull on the now obstruction now blocking the path behind her.

The human had almost climbed out of the pit when Cir threw her telekinetic wave at him. He was pushed off and his hand just caught the ledge, but his fingers slowly slipped. She could hear him straining and then, his voice resounded from the hole as he fell, and fell, and fell into apparent nothingness. A solid portion of the graut jumped after him, but more followed Cir as she appeared an easier meal-ticket.

As Cir ran on, the grat were forced to bend and pry their way past the spikes. Some of the tiles around her seemed off and therefore to be avoided, but the Graut, once through, had no such reservations. And behind Cir, they triggered anything from spike-traps to falling pits.

At one point, a trap was triggered so close that the floor fell out from underneath Cir as well.

Ahead, she would be able to see the tunnel turning and a light, not unlike that which shone from the top of the stairs previously, appeared to fall on a spot ahead. Whether it was danger or safety, she was only left guessing. Beneath her, there was only further darkness, and the graut, while thinned out, were still flooding in behind her.

Cir'focri

 

[Cir'focri]

Cir couldn’t help but smirk as she heard the human falling to his death, not quite her intent but it was an opponent eliminated none the less. Seeing the swarms of creatures still trying to chase she was quick to turn around and run, she was no fool.. As far as she regarded. Still she had to be careful, these tiles were hiding something. Which was only confirmed by the Graut activating a myriad of traps.

Still as she ran but unfortunately another falling trap was activated just behind her which caught her feet. Quickly scrambling she tried to find her footing as her hands darted out to the ledge. Breathing heavily she looked over her shoulder at the swarm still chasing which caused a snarl of frustration. She had hoped more would die, or at least chase the human as an easier meal. Now was not the time to hesitate though.

Pulling herself back up she spotted the light ahead, so between that or falling to her death or more likely still being eaten by those Graut she decided to dart for it. Unfortunately her skills with the force weren’t refined enough to help her with this endeavor. She had only really had the chance to practice in private, when nobody else was watching. Hence she was limited to more ‘simple’ tricks like pushing objects or pulling them closer. So for now, she sprinted towards the light, being careful to avoid the panels that didn’t look right as she hoped the end of this part of the maze would soon be done with.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Cir would easily be able to climb out before the graut overtook her, but they were gaining on her even as many perished in the array of traps they sprang in their wake. But now that Cir was aware of the dangers that surrounded her, she appeared to skip past the traps on the floor.

But as Cir came around the corner and into the light she would find that the way went ahead at an incline. From the way ahead, just as the path behind her, she heard the chorus of yipping and yelling from graut scratching their way through the many traps. On the wall to her right, just under the light, there was a ladder leading up through the hole, through which the light shone.

And unless Cir wanted to fight the graut that steadily inched closer, she would probably have to climb.

Just as she reached the area of the ladder, and as the sounds of the graut came ever closer, another sound hit her ears. Footsteps, and they were running. From the opposite side, she saw the Devoranian, now with a wild look in his eye and a bad wound on his left arm. He looked at Cir, then at the ladder. The grin returned for a moment as he took a few bounding steps and leaped half-way up the ladder and begun to climb.

The yellow eyes of their pursuers now glinted in the darkness as they pressed on, but shied away from the light. Their hunger was contested by their hatred of the light.

Cir'focri

 

[Cir'focri]

Naturally with no other way to go once she had reached the light, as there was more yells ahead of her and only the ladder that’s where she would go. She hadn’t yet gotten a weapon so she couldn’t fight her way out. What she didn’t expect to see what the Devoranian. With a snarl she tried to reach the ladder before him but he was quicker. Still she followed, she wouldn’t try to pull him down just yet.. There may be more traps ahead that she would need him for.

Compared to him Cir looked rather well, she hadn’t yet received a wound and she hadn’t quite gotten the wild look in her eyes. There was a natural hatred and self-confidence there of course, from making it thus far. Apart from having a sweat covering her skin, she didn’t seem injured nor overly encumbered. As they climbed she looked up to make sure she wasn’t going to receive a boot to the face. ‘’I see you’ve also made it this far.. Well done.’’ Like the other times she spoke to the other slaves, she basically spat out the words at them. They may be one in the same as slaves, but as she saw it they were nothing more than obstacles.

If anything Cir was a survivor, she wouldn’t be outclassed by such amateurs. It was then, as they climbed, than an idea occurred to her. So she spoke, softening her tone to appear friendlier. ‘’We’ve both made it this far.. Why not team up? There is reward enough for us both.. And the rest are clearly too weak to follow? So… truce?’’ She tried to sound sweeter, hoping to pray on some instinct within him to ‘protect’ her.

Though the fact the Graut didn’t like the light was also causing something in the back of her mind to stir. In the dark, this seemed to be the clear way forward. The pair had both taken different routes, and seemed to have encountered the same traps and enemies. Ones that seemed, to be troubled by the light. So who knew what awaited above..

Darth Ophidia

 

[Darth Ophidia]

"Well look like you've had it easy"

The devoranean focused first and foremost on climbing, figuring he didn't have to outrun the Graut so much as he had to outrun Cir and leave her behind as bait. If only he got to the top, he would probably be able to kick her down to the little monsters. Then again, perhaps that wouldn't stop them

That was when Cir mentioned her suggestion of a truce.

He thought to himself, what did he have to lose? He could string her along, then cut her off as bait later on. Perhaps he could even play it off as saving her, and she would never see it coming. After all, from the looks of it she had taken the easy path. His had been laced with trap and dangers beyond imagining. The flamethrowers had been especially surprising. Nothing modern medicine couldn't handle.

He looked down at her and then nodded. "It's a deal."

The devoranean climbed higher, and as he did, he inadvertently blocked out the light. This allowed the Graut to pounce on to the ladder behind them. The little gremlinoids climbed not only up, but onto and over each other like a swarm of hungry teeth and ripping claws.

The devoranean made his way up and onto the top, turned to look, and cocked his head to the side. His right hand raised just a moment as surprise turned to shock and his head was reduced to bone fragments and blood spray by a swing of something heavy, accompanied by a female yell. He fell over just as the face of the other twi'lek from the beginning looked down at Cir. She smiled, looked to the side, and started pulling hard on something.

Slowly, that something, heavy as it was, threatened to cover Cir's escape and blot out the light that kept the Graut at bay.

Cir'focri

 

[Cir'focri]

Cir was climbing close to the devoraean so that if he did decide to try kick her down, she could at least drag him with her. She wasn’t going down without a fight after all. Whilst the idea of a truce was mostly a bluff, as it seemed both of them had the same idea of betraying one another later on, the question before his head was smashed like a watermelon was when. At least Cir didn’t have to worry about killing him now.

What she didn’t expect was to see the other twi’lek. Even worse, she had thought to trap Cir below. With a brief look down she leaned down to better kick one of the Graut square in its yellow eye before she started to make her way back up. The cover, which was obviously heavy.. Maybe she could use that somehow. Though it would slow her down, she at least knew the other twi’lek was relatively the same strength as herself, so chances are she would have quite abit of troubling moving the cover.

A plan in mind, Cir slowed the speed of her climbing as she focused using the force to pull down on the cover. Not so that it feel through or anything but more to make it difficult for the twi’lek to close her in. She wasn’t even going to consider offering a truce to this one, she would die. This was the first real threat considered by Cir, against her. With that her mind went calm, instead she focused now on pulling down upon the cover and the fury building inside her towards the Twi’lek woman. Soon, she would be dead.

Darth Ophidia

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The graut Cir kicked fell with a screech, taking another one with it on the way down as it greedily tried to save itself from the fall. They both vanished into the dark, writhing mass of the graut horde which congregated in the lightless patches beneath, flooding out of the shaded tunnels. Some of them had climbed up on the ceiling and were reaching for any limb that came too close, their claws staying just shy of Cir, but ever reaching.

As Cir focused on the lid and making it heavy, she could hear an increased volume and frequency of cursing, some in Basic, some in Huttese, some in Ryl, none of it nice.

The covered part remained more or less in place as the cover moved about another inch while Cir focused on it.

A moment of silence, then a thud of material hitting material. The cover moved again with a little jerk seemingly being leveraged, but on the second go there was a resounding crack as the leveraging rod broke. Followed by further swearing.

Even at this pace, Cir would have to climb quickly to stay ahead of the Graut which grew ever bolder and more creative in their pursuit of her. Now, some had begun to cooperate and stack on top of each other to better reach. Their clawed fingertips scraped against the metal of the ladder, and braved to enter the light for a few seconds before recoiling in fear.

Cir'focri

 

[Cir'focri]

Cir only allowed her focus to break for a moment, when she heard the other woman shouting and swearing. At least her plan was somewhat working so far, just over halfway up she glanced towards the Graut that were clawing for her, only egging her on to climb faster. She wasn’t going to die here, in some dark hole surrounded be some creepy creatures that wanted her for an easy meal. No way.

Once just past halfway up the ladder she finally stopped trying to pull the cover, instead she held her body close to the ladder and with a harsh thrust with her hands, and she tried to send a powerful push with the force towards the cover. Even if it didn’t do any damage it would hopefully clear her way. For as soon as she had sent the blast up, her nimble form began scrambling up the ladder, probably taking afew nicks from the tips of claws upon her arms and legs.

Upon reaching the top, she would try to crawl out and waste no time getting herself in a more favorable position. As for right now, she could have easily be stabbed, punched or attacked with anything really. If the Twi’lek was focused enough she could maybe even force Cir back down the hole. All these possibilities she was aware of as she moved as fast as her legs could carry, her goal to stay low to the ground once she was safe of the ladder to more easily defend herself.

Figuring luck wasn’t on her side, at least not right now she didn’t even want to try going for broken rod, yet. She had a brief plan which of course, involved her abilities as she didn’t exactly want to risk getting hurt in a one on one encounter. She had no idea what traps or creatures may be further ahead so she would have to be in fighting shape. Unlike the idiot Devoronean who seemed to run into literally every trap head on in hopes of being fixed later.

Darth Ophidia

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The lid went from being pulled down stuck to suddenly being free, then blasting off from its socket. It flew up, flipped a few times in the air, then crashed onto the floor inside the bright room upstairs.

It would seem the path was clear, and Cir could indeed rush the opening. The graut reached and scratched out for her with renewed vigour, but could only nick her skin and draw droplets of blood. Even those droplets were fought over as one graut took another's hand and bit down on its fingers to consume the blood on its talons.

The room that opened up to Cir was bright white to the point where it was difficult even discerning if there were corners. It was long, plain, with rudimentary weapons hanging on the walls. Anything from spear-like implements, to vibroblades of various sizes and designs, to chains, whips, knives with blades of glass, and blasters of different sizes.

The other twi'lek had jumped back when the lid had come flying, and rather than storm back to the drain, had run over to one of the spears and ripped it off the wall. On the far side, behind Cir, there were three switches, one turned down, two turned up.

She pointed it at Cir, standing her ground. The force coalesced around her like a field of protection, not wanting to let Cir throw her around like the lid now laying on the floor.

"I am not going back. It's you or me." Her body shifted "I won't!" and she advanced upon Cir with the long, knife-like point of her polearm.

Cir'focri

 

[Cir'focri]

Cir was quick to scramble up into the room, ignoring the scraps and cuts along her arms and legs now which bled into the brown rags she was told were her clothes. No matter, she had more important issues. As she climbed into the hospital white room she squinted and scurried clear of the hole, though she didn’t try to cover it while her eyes tried to adjust. Which happened just in time for her to see the other Twi’lek approaching her with the spear. Snarling she stood to her feet and put both her hands out infront of her.

With a flash of movement she pulled a chain and two daggers towards herself, flying just past the other Twi’leks head though it was clear it wasn’t aimed at her, not yet anyway. She grasped the daggers in either had as a third of the chain wrapped around her right forearm with the rest dangling on the floor. It wasn’t her usual choice but she had a plan in mind. Tucking one dagger behind her waist for later, she forced the second last chain apart with the force and shoves the handle of the dagger through before bending the chain back around.

Picking up the chain around two thirds of the way up she takes a defensive pose and starts to head away from the hole, trying to position herself so that the other Twi’lek would have her back towards the hole. This is where her attack would come in two prongs, she would try to force the Twi’lek woman back towards the hole in hopes she fell down, whilst she would use the chain to try and disarm her. Once close, she could use the daggers of which she was more than proficient in. ‘’You sealed your fate the moment you tried to trap me down there.’’ She spat out the words whilst she glared at her new target, allowing her rage to build inside of her. It would be useful for the coming fight.

Though the force that was coalescing around her would be an issue, it wasn’t something Cir had ever seen before so she wasn’t entirely certain how to deal with it. So for now she would attack as normal until she figured out all the purposes of this ability. Circling around to force the woman to put her back to the hole, her plan commenced. She quickly lashed out with the chain, her abilities to use the force were rather basic but it would serve her well. As she threw the chained blade she pushed out with the force at the same time, giving it extra momentum whilst her other hand let the chain unwrap from her forearm to give more distance but is ready to catch and pull it all back.

Darth Ophidia

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Whether the knives were meant for her or not, she still ducked out of the way of them as they came flying past her head, but it barely shaved a moment off her advance.

When Cir tried to circle her, she circled in return going toward the hole, but moving to place it between them. She knew her spear could reach across the gap, knives could not. Perhaps the chain could, but she was willing to bet that spear won over chains any time. Besides, she had enough of chains for several lifetimes already.

"I should have done it faster."

She stepped to the side to avoid the chain, not wanting to let her weapon touch the improvised scorpion tail that Cir was throwing out at her. She was not the strongest, not the biggest, perhaps even not the most experienced with the Force, but this twi'lek was there because she had been cunning and cautious. She had not survived by luck, but by making good judgement calls.

Now, she thought she would use those same good judgements to survive this fight.

As she stepped to the side, avoiding the chain, she saw one of the graut trying to claw their way up and stomped on its claw with her heel. However, she never let Cir out of her sight. Coming around the side of the hole, she lashed out with the spear in hopes of catching Cir before she had retracted the chain and dagger.

It was a swift stab, careful not to over-commit, but serious enough to pierce should it land.

Cir'focri

 

[Cir'focri]

Cir was more than happy to keep their current distance, it played to her plan so far. First she would try to disarm, then she would charge for the kill. That time wasn’t quite now though, for now she wanted to let the other woman build some confidence, allow confidence to lead to a mistake. Seeing her chain not hit its mark she couldn’t help but snarl as she spat out another frustrated curse. ‘’How do you want to die? Ill give you that kindness!’’

Both fortunately and unfortunately the other woman quickly jabbed out towards her, Cir could have stepped out to the way to lead to nothing more than a minor scrape, but that wasn’t her plan. Instead she feigned a dodge, allowing herself to be hit with the spear around an inch or two of the tip pierced into the flesh on the side of her core before Cir got away to safety. Her chain rattled, with the knife on top clattering around the ground as she hadn’t yet had the chance to pull it back. That wasn’t part of the plan. With a growl of pain she lowered herself closer to the ground, still keeping the hole between them. ‘’Gaah! Lucky shot, queen!’’ She spat out onto the ground in front of her, allowing a more desperate expression with just a hint of fear to show, trying to lure her in.

Though allowing herself to be stabbed did have another advantage. It added to the fury welling inside of her that now, that she tried to hide from her counterpart feeling, that would give up her plans. Quickly pulling the chain back to the same position as before, with part of it wrapped around her forearm for greater control whilst she began to swing the other end to build momentum. With the same verse the same as the last she lashed out again, pushing the chain with the force so it was more difficult to avoid, though she wasn’t going for serious damage. Instead the blow appeared desperate and wild, like she was trying to create some space for herself as the blade on the end was only intended to lightly slice across the other woman’s thigh.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The spear struck, and Cir appeared to fall down. This made the twi'lek confident that she could win this. After all, she was the one with the real weapon. The chains and knives appeared to her more like the tools of an entertainer than those of a killer. She should know, she had always been a killer, from her first breath her last, she would be a killer.

"You talk a lot."

She readied the spear for another thrust just before Cir made her swipe with the chained knife. The twi'lek stepped back, but felt the knife slice across the front of her thigh. It stung, burned, and trickled with warm blood. The strength of her leg was sapped, but she could still stand; she could still fight.

The blood trickled down her leg steadily, not to the point of immediate blood loss, but medicinal intervention would be necessary at some point. Her clothes, cut like a knee-long dress, was stained dark by the blood and clung to the skin of her thigh.

Leaning her weight on her uninjured leg, she turned the spear around to match her changed position, then lunged at Cir again, this time stabbing directly for the chest in a bid to end the battle before the odds turned against her. While she was committing to the strike, she did not overcommit, the length of the spear gave her a certain reach advantage.

Cir'focri

 

[Cir'focri]

Cir managed to keep up the more desperate expression throughout the brief first part of their ordeal, to her knowledge her plan was working. She had weakened the other woman but had also succeeded in luring her in closer. Another blow or two and she would be ready to go in for the kill shot.

Still trying to keep the distance between them, Cir slowly paced herself around to try and match the other Twi’leks positioning. Though not being an experienced fighter she was starting to get cocky herself, seeing the blood trickling down the leg and the clothing clung to the leg made Cir forget how dangerous this fight actually was. She wasn’t just toying with some other slaves in a hallway full of traps, this one was determined to end her and also had a deadly weapon.

What she wasn’t expecting after the weakening blow to the Twi’leks leg was for her to continue to push the attack so confidently. With a simple change of leg she was coming right back at Cir. Unfortunately for her the blow landed, with the tip of the spear piercing deep into her chest.

With eyes wide and her mouth agape, this blow was extremely close to being deadly. A battle of attrition was now out of the question as Cir would most definitely bleed out before the other Twi’lek. Whilst her mind went blank, focusing on naught but the pain her body went into auto-pilot. Dropping the chain from her right hand she grasped the spear and clung to it for dear life. She knew that so long as the blade remained still inside of her she would have more time. Plus, this was she had closed the distance.

Her chained hand grasped the shaft near the tip of the blade as a jolt of pain racked through her and Cir’s mind became her own once more. With what little muscles she had working on overtime to cling to the blade, she snarled at the woman and spat blood in her direction. Pure hatred now burned bright in her eyes, as she stared directly into the other woman’s eyes. She wouldn’t die to some low life that got a lucky blow. Not today. With a swift movement she reached behind her waist with her free hand, grasping the second dagger which she threw towards the other twi’leks neck, whilst channeling her rage into a force blast behind it. All the while, her burning eyes never moved from her opponents. Today, she would not die.

Darth Ophidia