Private Remnants of the Forge

[Aadihr Lidos]

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The Ashen-haired youth took offense to the Baroness's action.

With a burst of reinforced preternatural speed, the jaw and lower mechanics of what was once the mandible crumpled inward, leaving the grotesque visage even more disfigured; the boy's momentum carried both of them back and crashing into the throne, denting it.

At the same time, a dull thump and subsequent coughing of Aadihr betrayed the lapse in the Baroness's concentration.

The half-construct tyrant reached back to grip the ashen-haired boy's neck, plasma claws igniting along the razor's edge of would-be fingers, and pulled herself and Aris Noble into the air, hoisted by the cables and tethers that attached somewhere unseen high above.

The boy was resilient, the heat of the blades doing little - what a shame that a specimen have a heart spoiled by softness.

As the pair lifted from the dented throne, another sudden jerk emerged, accompanied by a pained shriek, the weeping, wailing lilt of gutteral cybernetics were a lamenting cry of the once-living woman, reverberated through the grand hall.
"-s th-s wh—t w— hav— b——n r—d_c—d t·? Hav— w— b—n f·rsak—n? All ·f ·_r l—gacy l—ft -n bāstārd-z—d ·rphāns tāk—n as _ards ·f the —n—my?

S·l·mo·n! I w-ll c_ll th-s imp—rf—ct c·py ānd w-ll bu-ld y·u a v—ss—l w·rthy of y·ur l—gacy - with st——l ānd c-rc_-ts th—y w-ll n·t be l—d –str–y!"

She wept for the boy she attempted to strangle if not behead, as if it were a child of hers terminally ill.

Empowered by bastards and lead by the blind and weak, this white-haired vessel was a sad copy of what she had hoped to awaken to. Even the hair seemed to be an insult to the memories of the black hair of her people.

Aris Noble | Vera Noble

 

[Aris Noble]

Metal caved, but she wasn't stopped. Aris gritted his teeth, fully about to swing again, and again. Over and over if that's what it took. Aadihr couldn't be brought any more harm. He didn't want that for Aadihr. Even as Aadihr coughed as his lungs refilled, Aris didn't stop. His eyes narrowed as he was lifted from the ground by the claw around his throat. He reached up, both hands grasping her forearm. He'd shatter it, break it off, then snap her head from her shoulders. That had to be the way to make her shut down, right?

For all his planning, though, the following screech blocked out his thoughts. He visibly winced, even as the dampeners Zaiya Ceti had made him worked overtime. This close, this loud, it couldn't stop his ears from ringing and his mind from going numb. His grip tightened on her arm reflexively, but it wasn't enough. He was in pain. The ringing continued, stopping him from even hearing her or the others. Hearing anything.

It'd pass soon enough, but he needed to keep moving. Keep fighting.

Aadihr Lidos | Vera Noble

 

[Vera Noble]

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Tag: Aadihr Lidos Aris Noble

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Vera's eyes widened as the sound ripped through the chamber—a wailing, metallic shriek that sent a jolt of nausea twisting through her gut. Her whole body tensed, instincts screaming as the abomination's claws burned brighter, dragging Aris and Aadihr higher.

No.

Her hand snapped outward.

A rush of freezing energy surged through the air, a sharp, unnatural chill that cut through the stale warmth of the room. In an instant, thick ice erupted across the abomination's maw, sealing it shut before another sound could escape. The wailing cut off abruptly, muffled beneath a jagged layer of frost. The chamber fell into eerie, stunned silence — save for the distant hum of machinery and the ragged breathing of her companions.

Vera didn't waste a second.

The snap-hiss of her lightsaber igniting cut through the quiet like a blade through silk, her emerald blade bursting to life in a vibrant arc. She was already moving before the first flicker of green light reflected off the abomination's metallic limbs.

She lunged.

The Force howled through her veins, her speed turning her into a blur as she closed the distance in a single, precise motion. And then, she swung. A sharp, brutal slice aimed directly for the creature's outstretched arm — the one keeping Aris suspended in the air. The moment her blade met resistance, she pushed harder, a burst of kinetic energy behind the strike, determined to sever the connection, to free him before it was too late.

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[Aadihr Lidos]

The Ashen-Haired youth's grip exceeded the fracture threshold of her Blackstone limb, cracking and shattering the shielding and beginning to wrench the arm, stretching cables and metal and age-old sinew.

Frost enveloped Baroness's face, muting her wailing, sobering her suddenly. She looked at the child struggling against her grip, in pain from her scream. As far as she knew, this was the last of his legacy, and she was hurting it. The crimson shine in her augmented eyes softened, loosening her grip even as the arm was in the process of being wrenched apart by the considerable strength of the heir.

Then the slave slashed through the unarmored limb, severing her connection to the legacy, the remnant of a remnant of her Lord. Her weeping continued, no longer a keening wailed but a distorted son of mourning.

The thrum of the factory nearby grew louder, the myriad pillars of the grand hall begun moving, revealing their role as massive pistons.

Lady Xythera's sorrow fed into the stump of her arm, crackling with red lightning. From the conduits connecting her nervous system to the factorum, she redirected the flow of power, of electrical current to her - surging with negative charge, turning herself as the breakpoint in an open circuit.

With both force-lighting and a surging, self induced arc flash from herself to the slave-girl, discharging like tears along the distorted sobbing! arcs of red and brighter, hotter, exploding lines of light jumped towards Vera Noble - a twin storm surge of Force Lightning and an Arc Flash with Vera as the arc fault catalyst.

 

[Aris Noble]

He was free.

And falling. Aris blinked as he was released and the arm was removed, sending him right back to the ground. He couldn't do anything midair. For the brief moment he was falling, he actually couldn't do anything. Or maybe it was the panic in the back of his mind as he saw the lightning. It sparked out before he could do anything, before he landed, before he could bring about the weapons sealed in his markings.

He didn't slow or hesitate, though. A blade formed, a dagger that he threw right up for her, connected by a chain so he could either tug himself to her or her down. He had to trust Vera could defend herself.

Vera Noble | Aadihr Lidos