Step in, hold your breath, and hang tight (Underground/OS Resistance)

[Coren Starchaser]

Buying time? Sure, if Coren even knew what the world outside of this connection was, he’d be more than happy to buy her time. But right now? Snakes-For-Arms was holding him, and he could feel the karker in his mind. And he didn’t like it. The connection did make the way the Force drained the life out of the other a whole lot easier. It wasn’t unlike the connection he had with his late wife, Kelly, when they were … Right Pain.

Pain in the head. He kept pulling with the Force, trying to rip the aura from the Sith. If one were to see Coren’s eyes, they were going from the dark blue-gray of a storm to the full dark that a hurricane would bring at noon time when it made landfall. He wasn’t at the point where there would be flashes of lightning in his eyes, but it wasn’t far off. Starcahsers, all of them, knew that the Dark Side ran more powerful in their family than the light, it was a curse. What his daughter was doing, he had no idea. Right now it didn’t matter, the thoughts were being scared up, of Kelly, of Jared, of Kaia, as [member="Sage Bane"] was diving into his mind.

He knew that one of the first thoughts that was taken was the way Coren cared for [member="Spark Finn"], the way he wanted to protect that one and would turn the galaxy over to make sure she was safe. Was that more than just friendship and protection? Coren didn’t even know.

That’s when the mind shard hit. Coren felt the mental blast rip through his head, and a pained scream erupted from the Corellian’s mouth, from his entire being. It would blast out in the Force, and feed back along the shared link with Sage. He was trying to hold onto the Drain tentacles, to hold on to consciousness.

It wasn’t working.

 

[Sage Bane]

A dark smile spread across his face as Sage listened to the music of Coren's screams. He could almost taste the pain that his Mind Shard inflicted on the Jedi. During their training, Matsu Xiangu had taught him how to thoroughly enjoy pain. The pain of others, as well as your own. You could drink it in, like an exotic beverage, and twist it into something exquisite. Raw pain could create a heady mix of sensations that became almost pleasurable. That was the trick to withstanding tremendous amounts of it, as he had done in that Selvaris gla during the fitting of his arm.

Now that Sage knew the power of Force drain, he could train himself to use it, perhaps on some Force-sensitive slaves, plucked from his brother's detestable Tourism Center. Better yet, if he wanted revenge on the Jedi and his blonde cohort, he now had fodder. The names of his friends and family were all there, lingering in Sage's mealy gray matter. He easily throw their names to some One Sith slicers, Jared, Kaia, Spark, to see what bubbled up. Perhaps put out some bounties.

While Coren was busy screaming, Sage used his last ounce of strength to rise from his knees. He was wheezing like a Kessel miner, and although he had broken his opponent's concentration, severing the siphon, the Sith Knight had no more energy left to fight, much less apprehend traitorous cloners. His mental powers were dulled, his Vong arm had collapsed. He needed rest. Although he hated the appearance of weakness, there wasn't much to do, but retreat.

Reluctantly, Sage dragged himself out of the cantina, pushing past some port authority droids who had begun dragging away the torsos of some of Coren's men. Defeated, he began to make his way back to the docking bay where his Corvette was stationed.

[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Sage Bane"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

There they were. Huddled at the Northeast corner of the spaceport. They were nervous looking travelers who had packed efficiently. She couldn't sense their rattled-looks but she could see it in the security system she was mentally hooked-up to.

Pushing down her own worries with what was happening to Coren and snake-boy, she pushed away from the wall and quickly made her way through the throngs of people toward the huddled group. Luckily for her, they weren't right next to the sith's transport.

Of course, the four-eyed girl didn't know that.

After hurried introductions and confirmation of code-names, she lead the group toward the exit transport. Pulling her comm from her pocket, she sent a message to Coren, trying to keep down her own anxiety levels. A simple message. She didn't want to distract him if he was still fighting.

::Have package. Proceeding to exit point. You alive?::

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He could feel the consciousness slip off. He was watching, removed as his body was just not cooperating. The Drain he had performed had given him a boost, but it wasn’t connecting, the mind shard had seriously put him out of whack. Trying to calm the part of Coren that was removed from the body, and ethereal. The part of him that could fix the body. He could tell that [member="Sage Bane"] was running, and if there was a part of Coren that could connect to his body right now, he’d say something witty, like ‘yeah, you better run’. He really needed more offensive powers that didn’t make a connection.

More guns, was the answer, obviously.

He heard the comlink beep. Right, [member="Spark Finn"]. Hopefully she got the precious cargo. He was still working on calming the Force, and breaking down that mind shard that splintered him. He knew what to look for in the future, but right now? It was calling himself back. He pushed out in the Force, trying to find her, trying to give her a nudge. An all clear, and if it wasn’t clear for her, get the mission done. He’d be…

Fine?

Just a hurdle, really. He could start to feel a bit of motor control again. Whatever that shot was, he wasn't going to be taking it again.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Coren Starchaser"]

The refugees were wrapped, packaged, and well on their way. Clearance codes should get them through sith space just fine and if not, cloaking would kick in until the quick jump to hyperspace.

She felt that nudge from Coren in the force as she back-peddled through the space station toward where she saw him last. Instantly, she breathed a little easier. But she knew something was off. She was beginning to read more than just surface stuff on his little nudges, which was saying something considering she had zilch skills as an empath.

Eyes behind glass lenses zeroed in on Coren's recovering form. With some help from some hijacked maintenance droids, she managed to half carry, half drag him to a public transport. She finally allowed herself to relax just a tad more when the fasten seat-belt sign went off and the beverage service started.

#TheEnd