Ruin and Blood: Raid of Ryloth (PM to Join)

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

His relationships with the Ministry of Trade were quite warm.

This wasn't much of a surprise, of course, as most of his attention was on trade and investment. Those were the true weapons within the Galaxy - sure, weapons won battles, but it were credits and merchants who won the real wars. Because no matter what happened, they got their due one way or another. Even in the One Sith this had been true, when looking at Alric Kuhn and the Titan Industries.

Nations come and go, but corporations were there forever.

At least in his opinion.

The engine room, on the other hand, was devoid of personnel. As were the corridors and hallways that led to it - this was because the yacht was not heavily staffed and because the staff that was on board, where currently focusing on the deck. Bringing out food, drinks and standing at attention to the every whim of the government officials lounging about.

If Lord Fa was anything it was a gracious host.

Finally, then, the Jedi Master - a Twi'lek by the name of Dayla Hadjah - stepped up for a conversation with the bird of the hour. She was not part of any of the big orders, not the New Jedi Order nor the Silver Jedi. She had long since left the Silvers and joined a regional coalition of like-minded Jedi, they were still in the beginnings of their formation and Dayla was currently attempting to shore up support for her movement on Ryloth.

Truly a boon if she succeeded.

"Master Jedi." Lord Fa inclined his beak in respectful greeting.

"Lord Fa, thank you for this."

Was that suspicion in her eyes? Why did her hand shake... and why did she not notice?

 

[Darth Ophidia]

An unprotected engine room? They were just making this too easy. It reassured her assumption that the bird was on board with blowing up the pleasure barge. A small voice in the back of her head contested the idea, but she did not pay it any mind. They required a spectacle, and a spectacle she would supply. What better than fireworks? Nothing better, that is what.

The poison would begin to take effect. It started rather mildly, with small tremors and unsteadiness of the hand, shortness of breath, and increased thirst. Then, a numbing feeling would spread as the nerves were paralysed and the muscle stiffened. The toxins would spread into the chest, where it would either seize the lungs and asphyxiate the target, or the heart, which would lead to cardiac arrest. In some rare occasions, it would circumvent the chest and go to the brain, where it would effectively lead to memory-loss, lack of attentiveness, and total body paralysis. It was altogether an unpleasant circumstance.

Ophidia wired her bomb meticulously into the core. Blowing up the batteries would likely lead to further combustion of its internal components, not to mention several electrical fires. She synchronised the bomb's trigger to a remote detonator and squeezed the deadman's trigger. If she released, this whole barge would start its descent to hell. With a casual stride, she moved for the main deck.

Her breathing was steady; her eyes focused. She did not repeat the plan mentally any more. Now it was all about doing, and in her mind there was only a silent attentiveness. In her belly, however, there was a sputtering fire that longed to be let loose. The cold fires of her hate felt how she prepared, and it sparked in anticipation of use. She casually opened the door to the main deck and stepped out. Her left hand opened, the trigger released with a clink, then fell dead and thumped heavily on the floor.

Then came the shudder, the screams, and the roaring flames. Eyes turning, mouths open - gasping. Flames licked up through the floorboards as pleasant daylight rapidly turned to a blinding flash. Pleasant music was torn asunder by the crack and boom of a blasted engine.

Ophidia covered herself momentarily in a shield of the Force to protect herself from the inevitable shrapnel. Now to make the bird look like a hero.

[member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

The poison did little to numb the Jedi's reflex.

Two seconds before the explosion it, the Twi'lek half-turned around with certain horror spelled around her expression. What happened next would surprise Lord Fa until the end of days. Even with her suspicions, even with the poison starting to work throughout her system, she stepped before him.

"Get behind me!"

She shouted coarsely before a shield projected itself as a shimmering light in front of her.

The explosion rocked next.... and without the poison she would have saved both of them. But as the flames and the burst washed over her shield, it wavered and then it sizzled out. The explosion rocked over here and broke her neck before she could do anything else, she was launched by it against Lord Fa and Lord Fa fell to the side of the barge itself.

It was careening and falling, but he held himself just right with the corpse of the Jedi wearing down on him.

Feth.

Tai pushed her off, trying to raise himself by his cane... everything hurt... his ears had a ringing to it and so he did not hear the screams. But through the smoke his sharp eyes recognized the predatory walk of an assassin.

Everyone was dead.

Everyone but him.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The explosion was about as marvellous as she had anticipated it would be. Though, perhaps a notch more powerful than she had intended. Of course the Jedi put herself in harm's way, as they do. That was why they would fail. With a wave of her arms, the assassin dispersed the smoke and falling dust to give herself a clear view. She plucked the lightsabre from her side and glided over to the side of the barge where Tai Fa now was. Her presence was domineering, though she spoke no words. Each step was light as snowfall, but left a tremor of the impending.

A yellow blade snap-hissed into existence from the curved hilt.

"Tai Fa, are you ready to meet your fate?"

Ophidia did not distort her voice. In her experience, some clients could feel carried away in these schemes. Letting them know her true voice allowed there to be a lifeline to remind Tai Fa of what they were doing.

"Ni'hu jemalau ka fonol bo Rd'ok!"

She really did not have an understanding of what she was saying, but she had learned the pronunciation of the phrase for this very occasion, and it ought to be convincing. The yellow lightsabre twisted into a ready thrust, and the assassin lunged at the bird. She would make this look real, feel real.

[member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

Lord Fa was calm.

Internally anyway.

But the point of the exercise was not to seem prepared and competent. No, this was a struggle for survival, a heroic battle against all odds where he returned victorious. A moment that would be retold over and over again, until it fell into legend - or that was the idea anyway, how it would work out?

Who knew.

"From the very moment I was born, assassin." The Thirriken responded, the words were calm, but there was terror in it as smoke rose and curled away from them.

From the depths of the cane a blade emerged. Hidden away as it often was amidst aristocracy who had need for elegant defensive measures. It was solid songsteel with a sharp edge around it and as he flurried it in the air, a bright tone illuminated the chaos of the very moment.

Any spectators would see Lord Fa rising above his fear and terror by the tune of the blade.

"Come then."

The assassin lunged and the peacock stepped to the side -- a micro-second too slow and the lightsaber burned a hole in his robe, smoke rose and internally Fa frowned.

Expensive fabric already ruined.

He retorted with a song of his own, the edge already slicing through the air and singing soundly towards Ophidia's side.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The bird was better than she had first anticipated. Yet, she saw more than a handful counterattacks to be utilised against the slash of the songsteel blade. He may be good, but the form he used was her home turf. The art of the fine blade and the form of contention was the dance she had polished to perfection in order to combine balletic artfulness with deadly precision. A true assassin was not a mere merchant of murder, but an virtuoso etching her message into flesh and shaping fate in its image. As such, she would marr him into something beautiful for Ryloth to adore.

In response to her thrust, Tai Fa had re-positioned and lashed out in a slash at her side. She followed up her initial lunge with a series of quick steps and a quick turn, as she maintained the line. The yellow blade of her lightsabre whipped up over her head, while the tip arced down to protect her side by cutting into the singing blade's trajectory and diverting it. Then, never stopping, but simply flowing the tip through motions of the wrist and elbow, she lashed the yellow blade up at his face.

If the plan had been to kill him, then this would have been where the second sabre emerged as the first caught his attention. But it was not. That second blade was reserved for another time; another circumstance.

Around them, smoke billowed from the hole in the deck. The wind tugged on their clothes, threatening to shove them both off into a nasty plummet. It was certainly dramatic enough.

[member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

Lord Fa had no doubts that even in an equal battle Ophidia had an edge on him.

She was experienced and powerful in all the ways he was not, so even if he had been investing all his strength and energy and focus into this battle? All he would maybe have managed was a pyrrhic victory over her, which would leave both of them dead or wounded beyond measure.

But this wasn't real.

Not truly real.

As his singing blade was glanced off and the tip of the yellow fire brushed up towards his beak, the Thirriken took a step back and let the wind's force whip his cloak around him. With a twirl of his axis it dashed into the burning fire and instead of burning through, the cortosis fibers would presumably disengage the saber entirely.

Still turning around his point of balance one of his wings came out of the left field to bash Ophidia over the head as her momentum carried her towards him.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

No, this was not real; it was theatre. They were performing a play that far too easily could result in dismemberment or death. And she knew, she was the one who would have to take the plummet. Death scenes were always the most dramatic.

She had not anticipated the cortosis lining of Tai Fa's cloak, but it served as a good warning should they ever stand truly at odds. Ophidia was about to plant a kick to the bird's legs when she just caught a glimpse of the wing coming from the side. She saw it, and chose to take the hit, knowing it would hurt. Her head turned prematurely to avoid the brunt of the force, but it still rang in her head.

She stumbled back a few steps as she regained her balance. The curved lightsabre hilt was swiftly clipped to her belt while one vibrodagger was drawn, and then another. She shifted the short blades in her hands as her stance changed. From the erect fencing stance, she sunk into a slightly more crouched, but equally light-footed fistfighting stance. It was not fixed and waiting, but rather a flowing combination of light steps and hand movements that kept her guard unpredictable.

Then suddenly a quick step forward. She was still out of reach with her short blades, but her front leg extended into what appeared to be a low, forward kick into thin air. One thing she learned early on was that telekinesis was not limited to her hands. Any appliance of force she could imagine was possible - She need only will it.

[member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

The push came as a surprise.

There wasn't much to do than get thrown of his little feet and be launched in the air. Pain welled up from the sudden pressure exercised like a punch, but this wasn't the first time the Thirriken was in a fight or the first time he got punched. Mid-air Lord Fa adjusted his trajectory, twisting his little form.

It was obscured by the wide robes and feathers, but suddenly a glint of steel flashed through the air. Blades dashing from his wing and robes and speeding at Ophidia.

They were faster than usual, propelled as they were by the Force.

Within the span of a second the blades went flying and Lord Fa dropped back down on his little feet, talons clicking gently against the durasteel, while his blade was at ready to launch an assault.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Moves and counter-moves, the bird sure was showing her a few of his tricks. This was not the first time Ophidia had seen this form of knife toss, but the execution was excellent. She ducked and rolled to the side allowing one of the blades to strafe her arm for effect, cutting through the fabric and drawing a fine line on her skin. A mental note was made not to leave the blade behind, or to terminate the evidence left on it, should there come to be a proper investigation.

She made her coutermove: In her roll, she picked up a piece of twisted metal shrapnel between her feet, seemingly a plate that had once held tiny and delicious portions of food. With a flick and a switft kick, she launched the plate at Tai Fa to draw his attention. Immediately after, the Force surged through her muscle and nerves as she bolstered herself for a burst of speed. She followed behind the plate to close the distance. Before entering melee range she feinted a step to the outside before ducking down and slipping to the inside of his guard.

The dagger in her right hand, held in an icepick-grip, shot out for his blade arm, attempting to hook it and keep it out of the way while the other, in a straight stabbing grip, came up at his craning throat. If she truly meant to kill him, then she would have gone for the side of the chest and armpit. The stab for the throat and face, however, looked much more dramatic.

[member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

Balance was crucial in a battle.

Lose your balance for only a moment... and the battle could be over before you knew it. At this point the Thirriken was acting as much on instinct as premeditated planning - the moment the plate was launched against him Lord Fa wove his wing and pushed back against the plate with his mind.

This wasn't a disaster.

After all, Tai never hid his force sensitivity as such. It was simply obfuscated in the lightside instead of twisted in the dark. In this sense a force push would do nothing to ruin his reputation. It wasn't a display of power or anything else that would attract attention, but its focused effort would give him the edge in this acted duel.

Presumably.

Maybe it would dash into Ophidia's head or maybe it would give him a few more seconds to react to her barrage of attacks, who knew?

Sadly her reflexes were fast enough to dodge the diverted shard. Coming in fast, she managed to hook Lord Fa's wing away, before he could react. It was brushed away and the edge of her blade came too close for comfort, it was only the twist of his body and leg, that made it edge into his other wing.

It cut, blood welled, but then the Force enhanced his strength.

Little Thirriken foot kicked straight into Ophidia. A Thirriken alone was stronger than they looked, but a Thirriken who specialized in strength enhancement was another beast entirely.

If it landed, it would feel like a herd of banthas had run into her.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Blades whirred with their supersonic vibrations as she hooked and stabbed. She did expect him to push some sort of counterattack, but she could not anticipate the sheer force of it. While kicks were powerful and useful, they required enough of a shift in body-weight and momentum for her to catch a glimpse of it coming, even with his alien physiology. She knew she could not stop it or avoid it entirely, and why would she? This was about fabricating a believable victory, after all.

She took the kick to her abdomen, but rather than accept the full force of it, she let the left side of her hip turn slightly while her right foot pushed away from Fa. Her torso buckled forward, allowing the abdominal muscles to brace for the impact. In combination, these factors took the edge off the kick by putting her in a similar momentum to the kick. Thus, power that would be put into damaging tissue was spent pushing her away. The twist of her hip also gave her some resemblance of control over how she would land.

As the kick launched her back with the force of charging banthas, Ophidia's body twisted in the air. Her arms crossed in front of her to form a guard, but also to centre her balance. When she landed, her feet skidded over the metal surface, trying to accumulate enough fraction to stop, but she was forced into a controlled backwards roll, leaving her on one knee. Her arms still remained in the crossed guard.

Ophidia's abdomen ached as muscles fought against a temporary paralysis. The pain surged and it took much mental fortitude to keep her from lashing out irrationally. She needed her wits about her; she needed to stick to the plan.

Again, the Force surged through her body to give her speed. From her knee-standing, she darted at the bird again. Her step was a little slower, but she moved less predictably in her zig-zag pattern as she closed in.

[member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

Blood was covering his wings, seeping in rich oily texture.

It wasn't something he was used to seeing and the fact that it was also staining his robe was annoying him intensely. It was this loss of focus for a moment that prevented the Thirriken from pressing his advantage when it was available to him. Instead of pushing Ophidia further off balance, he was just able to see the flurry of movement from her side to get ready himself.

Zig-zag maneuvers made it difficult to pin-point where exactly the figure would come out on.

But luckily Tai did not need to localize exactly where she was. All that he had to do was judge the distance between the two of them, once she was close enough that an attack would be on hand... the Sith called upon the Force. Almost immediately his feathers, tail, entire body mass became rigid and the edge of his feathers unnaturally sharp.

Then he turned, spinning across his own axis and turning himself into a whirlwind of focused shrapnel and metal darting in and out.

No matter which direction she had decided to come into, there would be blades and edges waiting for her.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

Left, right, feint.

Half-way, Ophidia's form split in two: One form visible to the naked eye, but entirely incorporeal. The other, practically invisible, leaving only specks of dust being kicked up. The visible form went left, the other went right. She put a bet in her visible form drawing more attention than the invisible one. Her shrouded form made a greater circle to give herself a moment to consider her approach.

Daggers at the ready, she tried to slip around Fa's guard while he was distracted. Her incorporeal form dashed into the whirlwind of blades and she let it disperse in a rapidly dissolving puff of smoke. Ophidia's legs tensed as she pushed back against her momentum. Leaning back, the razor sharp feathers cut through the air where her head and throat had been. Throwing herself back, she let go of the shroud and tumbled into another backwards roll to get out of the way. With another rapid movement, the threw herself to the side and quickly flicked one of her daggers at Tai's form.

As she rose to her feet, the shroud wrapped around her form once more and she took a few more steps back. It was about time she got out of this situation and left him with his victory. Soon, indeed.

[member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

It was a tiring exercise in truth and it took a lot of focus to pull it off correctly.

But in exchange it was one of his more effective tactics - which was only shown once more when his bladed edges cut straight through the illusion and left it in ashes and smoke. If Tai had approached this situation in any other way, he probably would have been impaled by her daggers through her real form from the side. But instead the shrapnel of sharpened feathers and blades were everywhere.

This made it more difficult for her to approach him, even when he wasn't entirely sure where she was.

At least, until Ophidia made her move and had to bounce back almost immediately, when she couldn't find a good point of access for her blades. Her form dissipated into shadows again, but the dagger was already flying - it was caught just so by one sweeping talon and redirected from his internals. It still managed to cut him though, which made him lose focus for a brief second.

Enough that Tai jumped up and curled his robes around him, making himself as small a target as possible. From there, within a split second, his momentum shifted as his wings pushed themselves out... propelling himself forward.

This in an attempt to smash himself into the general area Ophidia had been just a second ago.

If he landed successfully - from Tai's form would usher forward a repulse of kinetic force, three-hundred sixty degrees and lashing out into all directions.

 

[Isaac Rennek]

It had been a long journey that had taken her to Ryloth. The Jedi Padawan was born on the planet, but had not returned since she had left to become precisely that - a Jedi Padawan. But since then the Jedi Order in its traditional sense had dissolved, and only fragments of varying beliefs remained in various installments across the Galaxy. The New Jedi Order was perhaps the beacon shining the brightest, yet she had no contacts there. Did she just walk in and say ‘hi, train me?’ From what she had heard, rumours and hearsay of course, they were quite different from the Jedi she had been brought up with.

To add to her concerns she had failed her mission. A diplomatic mission, the first she had been sent on her own, had let her descend into doubt and disappointment. Maybe she was not worthy after all. Maybe this was not her path. For a time she had taken up with a smuggler gang who turned out to be manipulative pirates. Unwilling and unaware she had been dragged in as an associate to their crimes. Could she simply return to being a guardian of peace and justice after something like that?

The short answer was yes. This was the very reason she had returned to her roots. To find purpose and meaning, and to do good - something a wise woman had told her once. It was the call of a Jedi coalition forming on Ryloth that had the young Twi’lek return home. Dayla Hadjah had not quite become another mentor to her, her schedule was already too busy to play that part as well, but she had become an inspiration. Maybe even a friend?

Vanja knew of the meeting. She wasn’t attending herself, she had stuff to do. But she wasn’t far away. In fact, she had been on her way to meet another representative of Hadjah’s coalition, who was to cut her stay short. Vanja would support her in a project elsewhere on the planet. But the sound of a large explosion sort of had a way of shifting one's priorities.

Parking and securing the speeder became irrelevant, and Vanja leapt out from the vehicle and sprinted towards the barge, or rather what was left of it. What met her eyes were the sight of [member="Darth Ophidia"] and [member="Tai Fa"], locked in combat. She felt like she should know who the bird was. Had Hadjah mentioned him? She didn’t remember and she didn’t have time to go digging through memories. Instead she was caught staring in awe of the blur of combat unfolding in front of her; a black, cloaked and obscure being vs Birdman. She was a little too late to realise she needed to help, but soon she would be on her way.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

The dagger clipped him and gave him a sense of direction, that was good enough for her. Especially seeing as she had taken a few steps after throwing the dagger. Thus, she had given him bait. Holding back and using the cloak of shadows simultaneously proved to be quite an arduous task, and it was depleting her resources fast.

Tai did his launch, an interesting manoeuvre, she had to admit. It was the sort of movement an alien physiology greatly benefited from and that threw most near-humans off guard. However, she would not let herself be tricked by his physiology any further. The nature of his feathered form was becoming evident to her. This knowledge was a great asset for the future.

In response to his plunge at her prior position Ophidia took another step backwards and crouched. The hands, one still holding a vibrodagger, came up to her head and with a swift movement, she launched herself over the estimated point of the bird's landing. As she did, her body twisted and both hands went to the vibrodagger, held like a singular fang. As she was about to land behind him, her hands came down in a fell swoop to jam the dagger into the back of his shoulder. In her focus, she became visible to the naked eye.

However, the point never drew blood. Ophidia's feet barely touched the ground before the pulse of force seized the dagger's momentum. The metal surrendered to the greater force and dismantled the dagger's construction. Ophidia's arms darted up to cover her upper torso as she was flung away by the blast. Air rushed past her as she quickly gathered what she could about her trajectory. The energy she formerly used to bolster her speed and hide her form, she now pushed into bolstering her strength and hardening her physical form as her muscles tensed.

She crashed into the barge's railings and broke through rather than being broken, herself. The barge became smaller, smaller. To top it off, she let a scream escape her lungs. The dotting of the 'i', and the crossing of the 't'. Then, her body broke the surface of water. It hurt, but that was the price of a convincing act. Through the water, her burning eyes stared at the shadow of the damaged barge floating away.

It was good enough.

[member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Vanja Del'Vaan"] | [member="Darth Ophidia"]

There was little in the way of enjoyment at his victory.

Every single feather on his frame hurt and there was blood all over, seeping deep into the texture of his robes and spreading down to the durasteel floor wherever he waggled. There was little doubt in his mind that Ophidia had been holding back with him... so had he, simply because they couldn't see a Sith making battle. No, they had to see a Paragon of Justice, a gentlebeing who rose up to the occasion and fought off the vile assailants.

Difficult to get it right, but with the feeling of pain sinking down his bones Tai thought he had played his role quite well. The barge was descending, slowly now as emergency procedures automatically engaged and allowed the vehicle to crash... gently into the ground, where it softly tipped into a nearby building.

This was, coincidentally, also nearby where Vanja had stopped to look at their fight.

Only one survivor revealed himself to her.

Limping from the burning wreckage was Lord Fa, now once again a cane holding him in place, wounded and weary of the battle done.

In the distance alarms rang, the authorities would be here soon and with them the show... had to go on. One way or another they accomplished much here today.

 

[Isaac Rennek]

Whatever theatre had been staged, in the midst of all the chaos, death and shock of it all, Vanja had not thought to further investigate it. She did not think twice. Even if she did it was doubtful she would view the bird in a different light.

The barge came down, taking a portion of the city with it, spelling even more death. Hope was all she had, that whoever had been onboard had made it. It was weak and stripped of realism. When finally [member="Tai Fa"] emerged, Vanja ran towards him.

She'd stop at him, putting a supportive hand on his shoulder, as it to make sure he was alright but in her haste probably hurting more than helping. "Are you alright?" Her eyes were darting all over the scene however, hardly taking a break to land on Fa longer than a split moment.

She left him, beginning a light job towards the wreckage. But she stopped, slowing her pace as she arched herself backwards to ask Tai Fa. "Master Hadjah, where is she?" She couldn't be dead. No, she was there somewhere and she needed Vanja's help. Although the bird likely needed medical attention of his own, she could only tend to him after she had gotten the Twi'lek Jedi out of there. He would understand.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Vanja Del'Vaan"]

Anywhere else Vanja would have received a cold reception for her touchy hands.

But in this moment it was important to be sympathetic and understanding and having the capability to rise above the occasion. So, instead as she touched him... the twi'lek would feel the little body slowly leaning into her touch - almost as if it was getting hard for him to stay upright without any assistance. At least until she asked him how he was doing, this was equally important.

In a reaction to that question the Thirriken steadied himself on his cane again and let her hand fall to her side with no purchase anymore.

Before he could reply Vanja already swept past him and towards the burning rubble. It was as he had expected then, once she named the Jedi Master, this was one of hers and that brought opportunity.

​

"Fire engulfed her.​

Death came to us all today.​

I barely survived."​

​

"Close... you were to her?"​

​

The Force coiled around her... yes, this one was a Padawan then.

In truth Lord Fa did not possess the same intense desire as other Sith to corrupt Jedi. It did not fit his plans usually, it had no rhyme or reason to and more often than not was more of a complication than anything else. But in this situation... in this very moment, it was as if the Force - the Darkside - was whispering to him alone. Tai coughed, blood welled up and he spit it out to the ground.

He did not enjoy the sight of his own blood in that moment.