Wearing/Equipment:
XoXo
Location: New Way/Temple
Tag:
Brandyn Sal-Soren
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Baros Sal-Soren
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Teyla Sal-Soren
It was like he hadn't heard a word.
Was it possible that there was some sort of dampening field present that would distort telepathic communication? Cybelle didn't feel suppressed but she wouldn't have put it past the New Way to employ tactics that involved broad spectrum force nullification versus individual treatment. Especially, in a hostage situation that most of the world didn't seem to realize was happening. The auburn-haired Jedi Knight made short work of any opposition in the halls. She avoided being shot, stabbed, or any other manner of violence through a slow side-step that took her just barely out of the path of a blaster bolt or a fist. Her presence nor the men she left knocked out in the closet had not gone unnoticed.
<<Stand down, Mr. Sal-Soren. I'll be there in—>>
Minutes.
Seconds.
Parts of a second.
Time dragged through her as if they were days or weeks that passed in the span of a heartbeat. She heard a distant crack. Felt the pressure of it, but, none of the pain. It didn't belong to her. Her heart sank as she dispatched another one of her would-be dispatchers by letting him use his own energy to catapult him over her shoulder. It was too long. It was taking much, much too long.
Her heart beat against the ribs as if it were a caged hummingbird.
He was hurt. Badly. She could sense that much—Feel it. His essence was spinning closer to the void in the next room. The doors opened unexpectedly and a female stood before her with blood on her unform. She didn't emit a signature, not truly, and topaz orbs went flat when she realized that this was one of the assassins Baros had mentioned. An automaton, programmed to kill, without question.
"Jedi Elyance…We weren't expecting you. Regardless, you're too late."
The assassin rushed toward her. Cybelle had just enough time to grab the hilt of her saber while she was caught in the shoulder and pushed back down the hall. There wasn't a moment to move or breathe before sharp fingers began to jab at pressure points, either to kill, or immobilize her. The armored robes she wore absorbed some of the kinetic force and puncture but it still caused the young woman to give a muffled cry. The fingers of the automaton dug deep into her side, trying, to break through her suit and instinctively go for her most vital organ: Her heart. Through the fourth and fifth rib.
Her light-saber burst to life in a flare of comforting green light and bore a cauterizing hole through the assassin's shoulder. Cybelle pulled it to the right and it tore through burning metal and neu-skin before she reared back and kicked the abominable thing away. The force of it sent the bot flying, chest heaving, while blood trickled from the side of her suit. The nanites had already begun repairs. She didn't think anything was broken, but it hurt. It wasn't bleeding as badly as it should have been but robot fingers had a significant advantage toward human skin.
Tawny eyes followed the assassin that was slowly climbing back to their feet. Something moved out of the corner of her eye. Like a heat shimmer. It was a small flying drone but that was the only opening the female oriented robot before her needed. She charged again, but Cybelle was ready this time. Lithe footsteps took her to the side and she caught the droid by the injured arm and slammed her down into the ground with enough force to crack the marble tile. She pressed her knee in to the back of the of the assassin and pulled on the arm. Repeatedly, reminding herself that this assassin wasn't a person.
She wasn't hurting a person.
The assassin reared up in an impossible fashion and struck back with her elbow. It clocked Cybelle in the jaw and she could instantly taste blood in her mouth while she stumbled back. Frustrated, feeling, life slip away in the background…
Feeling Baros Sal-Soren die slowly…
Tears pricked at her eyes and her hand flew out to send the robot away from her. It had the intended effect but the Force lashed out in a way Cybelle had never known. Throwing the assassin away from her with such velocity that she crashed right through a window and into the outside world. Her first instinct was to follow the threat…But… That was just adrenaline. Her heart knew where to go.
She could hear a woman crying out from above.
Over and
over.
Cybelle followed the trail of blood. The elevator coming down was so very, very slow. She tried to clench her jaw and keep tears from falling but she already knew half of what she might find. How could he be so foolish? Why hadn't he listened? Waited? Stayed with her? She could have protected Baros from all of this if he had only given her the
chance.
The doors opened and Cybelle stumbled out while her hand slammed into the control panel to deploy her nanites so that it would shut down the elevator.
"Tey—M-Mrs. Sal-Soren!", the young Hapani called out breathlessly, carefully, trying to multi-task while not allow the sight that greeted her to overwhelm her senses. A wife holding her dead husband. Someone who had been a thinking, breathing, living human being just an hour ago. Cybelle dropped down near a woman that she had always wanted to emulate. She couldn't…Baros was gone. Cybelle didn't need to check his vitals to know.
She could feel it.
Mrs. Sal-Soren was holding her husband, but really, it was an empty vessel. Baros wasn't there anymore.
"I know this is…Please…Please forgive me. Let me help you."
Cybelle reached for Teyla. She didn't try and take Baros from her but there was nothing that could stop the young Jedi Knight from silently weeping. Mr. Sal-Soren…He had paid the ultimate price for his transgressions. He was a fool. But, a fool who loved his family from the beginning to the very end. He loved them so much that he had brought a literal war to their society. He loved them SO MUCH that he ran headlong into danger, knowing, how he would end.
She knew now…He'd known all along.
He was gone.
Teyla was…
fading. They'd been too late even before they'd left the safe house.
"…Please forgive me."
Cybelle scooted closer and with or without consent and took a syringe from the small pack at her waist. It was a bacta-injector that had been diluted to account for those with allergies. More and more the young woman ran into people that didn't have a tolerance for bacta or kolto. She pressed it against Teyla's neck without asking and let the empty cartridge fall. Next—Came her hand on Teyla's shoulder. One of the first things she had learned to do at the Shore was heal.
Heal herself, heal others, body and soul.
"I know...I know he's gone…but you have to fight. Fight the way he fought for you. All Mr. Sal-Soren wanted…All he wanted was to see you survive. Fight. Please fight…For him. For you. For your children. For everyone that loves you.", her words were as steady as they could possibly be, pouring, from a heart that could only absorb the trauma. The temptation to bring him back the way she had been saved on Exegol was strong but…She didn't know. Cybelle, didn't know how to do it without crossing the line and taking in the Dark Side. Even then…
"I'll fight for you, Teyla. I'll do everything I can…"
"But I need you to fight with me."
Hope. It was a soft, flicker. It was quiet. But it was all Cybelle had. Everything she had done to stop Baros from getting in over his head had gone impossibly wrong. Back up was nowhere to be found even though she'd sent multiple calls for help. In the moment—She was all they had.
And Teyla Sal-Soren was all that mattered.
Her eyes closed and a soft light began to emit from the palm of her hand. One moved to join the other and she was met with a startling sense of fatigue. Almost, like when the Force had been severed. Cybelle fought through it and let the Force flow through her like the mighty river she knew it to be. She poured everything she had into Teyla. Imaging healthy cheeks, a warm smile, and happy tears versus the agony that was less than a foot away from her. It didn't take long for Cybelle to realize something wasn't right.
She was healing Teyla but she was tiring thrice as fast with very little result. It was enough it seemed to keep her from worsening for the moment but the pain…Cybelle could only imagine that.
All she could do was take it into herself. Just as she had done a thousand times before—But this wasn't like every other time. It was raw and coupled with emotional anguish that had turned into a numbing wave. Cybelle could barely breathe through it.
But she would.
Had to.
"Just…Hold on. Please. P-Please."