Private Rescue Rangers

[Trextan Voidstalker]

"At least here we aren't easy targets for the ones on the roof," Trextan explained. "They're here, I know they are," he added firmly.

The warehouses were not that abandoned. He suspected the crates and containers would be a mix of legal products and contraband being moved around by the Hutt cartels. For several years he had worked tirelessly against crime with the Jedi Justicar. It made his efforts feel in vain.

"Keep pressing on and..."

Trextan trailed off, eyes narrowing at the corridor ahead of them. He could sense a disturbance in the Force. It started to shift and swirl, reacting to something else.

Three blades of scarlet snapped into life at the other end of the warehouse. Three acolytes of the dark side of the Force rising in challenge. And a familiar face beyond them.

Kyra Perl Amani Serys Phalsi Drynchen Vaux Gred

 

[Kyra Perl]

A flash of Kyra's red hair slipping around the corner was all they might glimpse, the girl's eyes wide and full of determination as she ran... the opposite... way...

 

[Vaux Gred]

Vaux gave Phalsi a nod, and quickly Amani to pull her along.

"Thanks. Only carry a couple. Also learned the lesson the hard way too, kid." Vaux let the lone cartridge fall to the floor before replacing it with another. And then she saw the look on Trextan. Oh crud. That was the same face her brother made when he felt something was wrong in the Force. Why did it have to be...?

"Dar'jetii! (Sith/Dark Jedi!)" Vaux noticed Kyra run, but honestly there wasn't much she could do about that with these mooks around. She leveled her weapon and started to unload flechettes into one of the lightsaber wielders. Sometime people wondered why Mandalorians liked slugthrowers. This was why. Good luck deflecting a solid slug. "Did you know they were part of this!?"

Trextan Voidstalker Kyra Perl Phalsi Drynchen Amani Serys

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

She couldn't argue with Trextan Voidstalker about being targets from the rooftops. Given how many guards had already assailed them there would definitely be more before the day was anywhere near to being over with. When Vaux Gred spoke of learning the hard way, Phalsi gave a tilt of her head in acknowledgement to her comment. The next words from Trextan however gave the padawan pause as she reached out.

She couldn't feel anything at first, her senses tightly controlled before she felt the same. It was short lived however when the scarlet blades snapped to life. "Aw feth. A greeting party." She hissed, not yet drawing the other saber as her own continued to buzz and snap. She ducked low, wind whipping at her feet as she pulled from the force to launch herself towards the left side the remaining two as the first took shrapnel rounds.

She was crouched low enough and had put too much behind her jumping run, overshooting her intended spot and having to twist the lightsaber around her back to deflect a swing as she passed too close. Skidding, she pushed again, with much more control and backpedaled from her spot as one of the red sabers trailed after her.

Trextan Voidstalker Kyra Perl Vaux Gred Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Trextan Voidstalker | Vaux Gred | Phalsi Drynchen | Kyra Perl

And right when Amani had found her confidence, it slipped away just as quickly. The sudden dark energy made the hairs on her neck stand up, and her eyes widened as the presence was confirmed by igniting blades. The cold void of the dark side was still all too new an experience, and it chilled her to the bone.

“I-I don’t remember you mentioning that.” Amani stammered. Had she been alone, she would have fallen apart entirely. The padawan had never even been in a duel before, not a real one, at least. But, seeing the others spring into action reminded her of why they were here, and filled her with an almost unnatural impulse to act. Amani's eyes narrowed again as she whipped her arm forward, rocketing a Force push at the nearest acolyte. She rushed forward for a follow up, leaping downwards with a heavy two-handed strike, their sabers hissing loudly as they connected in a resounding flash of red and green. Her movements were uncharacteristically aggressive, and not the fluid motions of a trained Jedi. Amani was running on instinct.

 

[Acaadi]

Amani Serys

Amani?

He didn't think that he might have distracted her. He reached out on pure instinct when he felt her presence. They had taken Kyra from him. They were going to take Amani too.

Acaadi didn't even struggle against the chains. It would only tear his scabs and send blood dripping down his arms again. He slumped against the chains and sobbed, even that reaction caused more pain, shattered ribs burning with every breath.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

"I didn't know, no," he snapped. They asked as if he would have kept this from them. He might have been trained in the art of the Force by sith before being rescued by his father, but he didn't expect such a lack of trust. He should have done really, they didn't know him.

By contrast to the others he was almost resigned to the inevitability of Sith cultists emerging. He stalked forwards slowly, silver blade him before him. There were no acrobatics as he approached battle, just a stillness in the Force that came before he drew it around himself.

Trextan had fought through some of the bloodiest wars the galaxy had ever seen, meeting Ren and Sith in battle. His story was still to be told, his father's name was the one that carried all the weight.

"Surrender," he offered the cultist that approached. His saber hissed and spat scarlet. An imperfect crystal. There was no surrender. He charged forwards and swung at Trextan.

Sabers crackled and hissed as they met.

 

[Vaux Gred]

Vaux looked at Trextan, rolling her eyes under her helmet and going to reload her pistol. "Just asking. Let's see how they.... Osik.... Only six flechettes left." Vaux then took a breath from cover, and looked at Amani. She had her hands full, but Phalsi seemed to be in more trouble than her. The Mandalorian quickly came out from behind her cover, a round at the Sith.

"Hey, dar'jetii!" She would fire a second round, trying to remember not to waste them. This made her aim more careful. She was already trying to avoid the chance of Phalsi getting hit, but she had to make her shots count right now. She couldn't take the time to pull her other weapon right now.

Trextan Voidstalker Amani Serys Phalsi Drynchen Kyra Perl

 

[Amani Serys]

Trextan Voidstalker | Vaux Gred | Phalsi Drynchen | Kyra Perl

Acaadi?

A familiar presence pinged in the back of Amani's mind. It was definitely him, and whatever was happening, it wasn't good. A sudden torrent of thoughts and emotions flooded in as the gravity of the situation hit her all at once.

Unfortunately that distraction was all the cultist needed to get the drop on her. He pushed back against the bind with little resistance, her grip subsiding alongside her anger. With a flourish he disarmed Amani of her saber and knocked her to the ground. The padawan scrambled to the wall, "Please don't-" he moved in to finish it. She shut her eyes, reaching out almost on instinct.

It shouldn't have taken this long to hit her, right? She peeked her eyes open to see the blade trapped in place, the faint aura of the Force projected in a barrier around her. That was new. The cultist struggled against the barrier, and Amani, quickly realizing she had a second chance, began to focus her energy on maintaining it.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

Phalsi backpedaled, got her footing and caught the sith saber with her own in a side sweep before it could run her through. Her emotions were tightly held, but a mix of fear and adrenaline kept her moving. She didn't react at first to the sound of a familiar voice, a little wrapped up with her own fight before the scene behind her assailant caught her attention.

Then the alarm of a round coming her way had her leaping back once more as the sith took the hit in the side. Her eyes darted back to the other scene, left hand untangling from the small lightsaber grip while leaning forward into a stride. Her opponent dropped their guard, long enough for Phalsi to have the other lightsaber igniting into their ribs before pulling free and moving to the next one. She couldn't focus on the voice. She had to free up the other padawan.

"Hey there fethin chit-head!" Phalsi spat at the sith attempting to break the barrier around Amani Serys before she finished her step and jumped the distance between them. Both sabers were lit now, one in a reverse grip as she blocked the stab from them with an added kick.

The sith she had skewered failed to perish, gasping for air as she moved away but had dropped their saber and hobbling away like a lame duck.

Trextan Voidstalker Kyra Perl Vaux Gred Amani Serys

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Within a few blows, Trextan lost patience with his opponent. It was not a very jedi-like way to behave, but he was no longer a jedi. He switched the saber to his left hand. The cultist swung and Trextan could feel his premature jubilation and thinking he had an opening.

The flickering red saber struck the outside of his forearm and stopped. It burned right through his sleeve and crackled harmlessly against the phrik of his artificial arm. The cultist had a moment to consider his mistake before he was run through.

Trextan turned on instinct, sweeping his silver blade in front of himself and catching a blaster bolt from behind. He lifted his real arm and sent a telekinetic wave that sent the enforcers spiralling.

"I saw Kyra, get after her!" he shouted, covering their backs. There might have been some more cultists ahead, but Acaadi was chained up in the next warehouse building.

 

[Vaux Gred]

Vaux smiled under her helmet when the Sith was distracted just long enough for Phalsi to send a lightsaber through their chest. She was quick to look back, seeing where the Padawan jumped to assist her fellow youngling. The Mandalorian was about to jump in until she heard the gasping. She eyed the Sith, walking up and quickly wrapping her electro-whip around their ankle and pulling them back. The Mandalorian then roughly grabbed their head. "Thought you were lucky I bet." She then quickly sunk the blade of her Trayc'kal into the cultist's neck. The Mando gave it a twist before removing the blade, eyeing the Sith from behind her visor. "Too bad for you, I don't take chances."

She looked down at the lightsaber, picking it up before eyeing the last cultist. Trextan seemed to have his handled, which is why she thought last. She quickly ran up, pulling out her whip again and slinging its end towards the Sith, and letting it wrap their leg before pulling it out from under them. She'd let Amani or Phalsi finish them, but she did turn to Trextan when he called out.

"Right. I have four solid rounds left, so hopefully that's enough."

Trextan Voidstalker Kyra Perl Phalsi Drynchen Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Trextan Voidstalker | Vaux Gred | Phalsi Drynchen | Kyra Perl

With the others coming to her aid and the cultist now taken down, Amani was able to relax the barrier around herself. She quickly stood up and retrieved her lightsaber, igniting the blade now angled down at her would-be killer.

Conflict raced through her mind; It had seemed right, maybe necessary, to execute him. But the drive she had to finish the fight had gone now, and all she saw was a defenseless person before her. “You’re beaten. Now please, surrender…”

Amani looked to the others, retracting the saber and choosing to leave the cultist to them, it wasn’t her concern for being here anyway. Abruptly she turned on her heel at Trextan’s words, heading in the direction they had seen Kyra go, recklessly giving chase and calling out.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

Phalsi watched the last sith trip with the help of a whip, something that she was intensely interested in given it's useful nature. Amani gave them the option to surrender before running after Kyra. Perhaps sadly, or in their favor depending on the point of view, Phalsi was not in such a forgiving mood as she stood over the sith. "I was too nice to your friend. Learned from it." She shrugged, dropping the saber into their heart this time before grabbing the red saber and looking between the two parties that had formed.

She had heard someone say once to never split the party, but she couldn't recall were or why she had found it funny at the time. Shaking her head, she hightailed it after Amani and left the pair to their work.

Trextan Voidstalker Kyra Perl Vaux Gred Amani Serys