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[SIZE=11pt]The salt flats of Ingo were race tracks today. Here, in the desert, racers and fans were gathering to enjoy a day of racing! Large stretches of bleachers lined the track, save for the more desolate areas of the raceway which would be captured on holo and projected on the big screen. There was notoriety to win, and… prize money, too.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]A lot of prize money.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Bets were already being placed, and the race was already in the process of being rigged. An unnamed party had quite a lot at stake—and everything to lose. So, they were well prepared to make sure that didn’t happen. A few members of the pit crews had been strategically placed, and they did their best to blend in. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]After all, their expenses were running higher than normal. Orchestrating prison breaks wasn’t cheap. On Wobani, the wheels were already in motion…[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Objective 1: [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Race! Get your speeder ready and try your best to win! But watch out, it won’t be easy. You wanna buy some pit droids eh? Don’t forget to stop at Ingo Speeder Shop! Please reference the map here. You may take up to two of the turns listed on the map per post. Please indicate which lap you are on![/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Rules: [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]No weapons.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The racing craft must remain fighter scaled. No light freighter sized craft.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]The racers have to fly between sets of pylons.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Objective[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] 2: Pit Stop! Grab some snacks and snag a seat in the stands to watch the race.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Objective[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] 3: Not on my watch! Protect the spectators and foul any attempts to sabotage the race.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Objective[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] 4: “Congratulations. You are being arrested. Do not resist.” Local authorities have contacted the SJO with an urgent plea for help on Wobani. A high security prison has turned into a war zone. A prison break is in progress—and a few violent criminals have already escaped the compound.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]Apprehend the escapees and help restore order![/SIZE]
Objective: “Congratulations. You are being arrested. Do not resist.” Local authorities have contacted the SJO with an urgent plea for help. A high security prison has turned into a war zone. A prison break is in progress—and a few violent criminals have already escaped the compound.
Caedyn Arenais stood aboard the CR90 Corvette feeling an edge of anxiety as it began to descend down towards the surface of Wobani, en-route for the Prison Facility that the Order of the Silver Jedi had received a distress call over. The Government Officials of the World, whatever the form they took, had requested the assistance of the Silver Jedi due to an out-of-control prison riot, turned escape attempt.
Given the nature of the mission, Caedyn had brought his Bo Staff in place of what might otherwise be considered killing tools. A non-fatal combatant practice, the avoidance of killing prisoners seemed the better route to take considering they were already within the disciplinary facility that was meant to hold them. Intercept and subdue, those were the objectives, pure and simple. Were the prisoners to get away, they'd cause all sorts of trouble for the system no doubt.
Taking in a deep breath, Caedyn glanced around the crew and fellow team. He wasn't certain whether there were other vessels descending upon the objective, but the Prison Guards hadn't all fallen back to the perimeter and were otherwise unaccounted for. This either suggested they were killed in the conflict or being held hostage by the rioting inmates.
"Five minutes out from objective. We'll hit the ground and then bug out. We'll be on call for your extraction. Be advised that local authorities have the compound blockaded and are exchanging fire with hostiles. LZ will be hot".
Two squadrons of Blue Jay interceptors and a squadron of LRAD-ORs were deployed from the carrier. One squadron of Blue Jays dove down into the atmosphere with the LRAD-ORs, while the other squadron created a screen around the Falcon. Alongside Mon Calamari soldiers pulled from Oraim Mei, a few Lightbeam droid tanks were stored in the LRAD-ORs. Their many legs would help them serve a non-lethal role in containing prisoners, while its primary cannon could easily destroy makeshift fortifications. And in one of those LRAD-ORs was Rick.
As the dropships and their escorts descended, Rick noticed that there was another Jedi-aligned vessel approaching the prison. Consequently, he initiated an open comm network with the other ship.
[You're here to contain the riot, correct?]
In the meantime, the half-dozen dropships had broken the cloud layer and approached the complex. Small fires raged throughout the complex, and many of the walls were visibly dented or even torn. The dropships descended to land in a large clearing amidst the jagged, rocky hills surrounding the area. Troops swiftly exited the opening doors of the LRAD-ORs, as well as four Lightbeam tanks. Then, they switched their weapons onto their stun settings, and began to walk up towards the complex about a half kilometer away.
A call of help from a prison, a prison break was in process and required immediate action. Thankfully stardust was very well suited for knocking a few head in
Arriving via drop ship, she looked out of the window to the hangar below already seeing multiple fires likely started by the prisoners in their bod to escape from the prison. Looked to her guns she started setting them to stun, for once she wasnt intending on killing anyone, grinning she thought about a few things. maybe she would br able to use her lightning...maybe or use her flame to scare them she wasnt sure yet
Arriving at the setting area she hopped out and started walking waiting for others to gather
Objective 4 - Be the law. Allies: [member="Stardust Solus Skirae"] [member="Rick Kaloo"] [member="Caedyn Arenais"]
" You need to chill out man."
A strong shove with a graceful movement was all that was needed to place a criminal on his back. Placing the end of a wooden staff head on the criminals chest Malcolm smiled. Smoke escaped his lips with a simple exhale and another puff of an unidentified inhalant stepped into the lungs. " Don't resist. Listen to me. I don't want to hurt you, Brother." He crouched down and looked the criminal in the eyes. " But I will, If you plan on hurting everyone else. Ya hear me?" The tube rested between his lips as more smoke then stepped out of his nostrils.
Dealing with criminals petty or large was always a task. Leaving the man on the ground the Atoan moved on with a jog letting a security guard take over. This was only the outer region of the complex. The deeper prison compartments had yet to be restored to order.
" Why we bringin tanks?" The thought escaped his mind as reinforcements entered the scene.
After the downfall of the First Order, Star Tours remained more or less stagnant despite the bulk of the ships on routes in former FO space being re-routed to evacuate civilians outside FO space, with the result that some of them ended up being in ORC and Confederate worlds, such as Terminus, Eriadu and so on, so forth. With that being said, Dunames, as a pod racer, mostly raced on ex-FO worlds and this was the first time she raced this far out of western Wild Space in years. Of course, since this race strictly enforced a ban on weapons, she had the two machineguns stripped from the Gyaban 789 she used and, as soon as the race started, she thought of the boost to get ahead from her initial position in the middle of the pack but remaining mindful of not coming in at the first turn too quickly. So she hit the brakes pretty close to the first turn, and thus tried to take that turn on the inside even though it was more taxing on the steering system. That left her exposed to attacks from the other racers, but she held on for a bit before trying to accelerate ahead after the turn.
The approximately six dozen troopers and four droid tanks approached the outskirts of the prison.
As they approached, Rick noticed a man asking him about the presence of the Lightbeam tanks. At first glance, Rick suspected he was a criminal. However, he soon realized the man was with the Jedi, observing the wooden stick and the unconscious criminal beside him.
"We're not firing the main guns of the tanks unless the prisoners hijack a laser cannon." replied Rick. "Instead, we're using the long legs of the tanks to stun the criminals."
After concluding his reply, Rick put his focus back into marshaling water. There were no nearby ponds or lakes, so Rick had to use water vapor in the air. However, the area near the prison was only mildly humid, so it took a considerable effort for Rick to create an effective liquid. But eventually, a bubble of water about the size of a starfighter formed in front of Rick. Sweating due to the strain of maintaining the bubble, Rick used the Force to push the bubble towards a nearby wooden storage shed, which was rapidly deteriorating due to flames. With a heave, he dropped the bubble on the shed, putting out the fire nearly instantly.
As Rick prepared his next bubble, the troops and tanks moved into the prison's side entrances, preparing to encounter any early escapees.
Luna V sat placidly inside the box that had been designated specially for race sponsors. The HRD had come to observe; Locke and Key Mechanics had their own speeder in the race today. She glanced up towards the large holo-display that sat where everyone in the stands could see. The reflexes of the racers was impressive. As a droid, she was capable of making calculations very quickly–but it was a stretch for her to understand just how an organic brain could do the same.
Their speeder whizzed by and she attempted to gauge its speed.
Very impressive, indeed. But it appeared that their driver would need to catch up—the craft from Star Tours was currently in the lead. No matter the outcome, this exposure was good for Locke and Key. Their speeder was sleek, the design streamlined for speed. No doubt, this would lead to more orders for their wares. She was certain that [member="John Locke"] would be pleased, even if it meant much more work.
Speeder races were something that Reggie never had the chance to watch back on Tatooine and a chance to never arose since becoming a Jedi. This would be a new experience thay he was sure to enjoy.
With some popcorn and soda for his snack, Reggie found his seat and watched as the race started. The speed of the vehicles combined with the skill the racers had made for interesting entertainment. The determination to win the racers had made it even more difficult to guess who would win. Reggie was excited to see the end result.
One Sith Reconnaissance Corps Operation Retribution
They were in the way and they got what they deserved.
That's what he was told.
That was the explanation of the mass grave and the bodies being put into it, wrapped in sheets and neatly tagged around the neck with a simple number. A number was all the people had been reduced to in life, a number and a hole in the ground, side by side, neatly formed. They were members of a separatist, rebel group. Or at least- to the One Sith, they were. They'd been in the way, really.
And then came along, a spider, weaving it's web.
They didn't like the spider, so they sent the spider back to the One Sith in a box. The spider, being a Sith Knight. To say that the death of a Sith Knight on a emissary role caught the attention of the hierarchy of command was an understatement. Their response was quick and brutal, efficient in ways that people who ran corporations could only dream of.
The responsible parties, their families, and anyone who knew them, were now in a big hole in the ground.
And Tulan helped put them there.
An intake of air, sharp and distant, followed by a streaking sound of a metal object, and an explosion sent Tulan flying through the air. A rocket attack. Peppering the ground were returning mortar fires. Metal tears from the weeping, grieving, bereaved. Angry at the men in black who had come and taken away their friends, their family. Tulan lay on his back, his face numb on the right side below his eye. Serious trauma, no doubt.
He wondered what his wife would think if he died here. If they would even tell her.
He blinked, staring up at the gray sky.
He lay on the ground, not unable to move, but simply accepting that he deserved it.
He was a bad man.
He deserved this.
Present Day
He stared over the salt flats, watching the pod racers pass, hands in his pockets. Sunglasses reflected the zipping machines, the ecstatic fans. But despite all the happiness, the excitement, there was that tingling at the back of his neck. Something was off.
Ingo had always had an outlaw presence, a rebellious streak of some kind from it's populace. It's people were divided, never really rallied behind anything more than their shared plot of land floating through the galaxy. Tulan lifted up his glasses and turned to examine the crowd.
And that's when it hit him.
If someone wanted to affect the upcoming few months of the circuit races and the money going into them... they'd probably be down in the pits. And so, Tulan, trying to suppress the feelings of guilt and remorse, headed downward. He wore plain clothes, dark browns and blacks. As if Tulan would ever wear bright colors to begin with. He touched the pistol under his arm, hoping to avoid using it. He came to the pit crew area, stealing a clipboard to look official.
Part of blending in was simply acting like you belonged.
Hopefully he'd find out what was causing him to tick.
Wearing: Nurse's Outfit (Darth Phyre's Armor located close by.)
Armed with: WESTAR-35 Pistol
Three hours prior to the riot...
Lyli Drajin had been a contract killer for years. She had left piles of bodies. Old young, human, not human, it didn't matter. She had been a cold blooded killer. Her death was required. She'd escaped the last four supermax prisons they had put her in. Syd had been a last minute addition to the staff, transferred there about a month prior to intercept her, but that was only part of the operation.
Lyli had been hired by a powerful Black Sun crime lord to kill a mid level boss in the organization about to turn State's evidence on him and identify him and his cohorts. She was also to help him escape. Both were in the same Prison. The Crime Lord they had gotten on Tax Evasion but he was due out in a few months. But the man turning on him had been a trusted enforcer, who was facing life in prison after getting caught red handed for murder. He had been offered the sweetest deal a man like him in his situation could possibly hope to get: Testify against his boss, who was guilty of much worse, and serve only three years. The Crime Lord, a particularly repugnant Hutt named Arcuruss also wanted out, since he knew he would never be able to convince anyone it wasn't him, as well as having a desire to spite the authorities. He had a number of contacts the SJO had never been able to identify.
Her task was three fold: Kill and impersonate Lyli, as she already had dead or alive status, pull off a fake hit in Lyli's place, then help the Hutt 'escape' to trick him into giving away the supposed secret escape route that no one could find that the Hutt had been smuggling contraband and prisoners in and out of. Lyli had been inside a few weeks prior, using a fake Nurse Identity. Syd was using this also, and had even picked up a thing or two about treating wounds without the Force, even a little bit about surgery. She had been made to learn new skills quickly.
She had not gone into it with her usual youthful appearance, instead using fire to reshape the shell to a middle aged version of it, her normally fiery orange-red hair a dull red like the color of dry blood and tied in a bun, skin tone given a slightly darker tan, wearing a black nurse's outfit, basically a black jumpsuit with the medical wing insignia on it. She had gained a frosty, no-nonsense reputation with the prisoners.
There was a complication to this. No one knew what Lyli looked like. There were eighteen female nurses on the staff besides her. A Bothan had died just learning she had infiltrated the staff. Thus it fell to Syd.
The Bothan had learned the Hutt had known when the riot would occur, and planned to use the confusion to escape. Of course, her mission was a special job for The Silver Shadows, and the riots would have been impossible to stop beforehand anyway (and might have triggered even sooner). Make no mistake: No one had wanted the prison break attempt to occur. But a combination of underfunding, all too real corruption, and a population containing those violent enough, crazy enough, and determined enough to take on a full fledged military backed by people who kill other people with their minds had practically made a mass breakout attempt inevitable. Unavertible no matter how many desperate, last minute safeguards were in place. The military would have been needed eventually.
When the rioting had started, the prisoners had siezed weapons. Some, started the commotion in seperate places to seperate and force the guards to address multiple issues at once. The rioting had spread like a cancer throughout a once state of the art facility. Syd had been in the mess, pretending to drink water (Actually clear cooking fuel for barbeques) when the fighting had broken out. She had been careful not to be seen fighting and had done her best to find every nurse. All except for one. That was the one she had to kill, and to be honest, it was a bit of a surprise who her target had turned out to be. She had gone to her locker.
Staff other than guards were not allowed to be given weapons. Only the Warden himself had known she was here. He had gotten an unregistered Westar 35 Pistol with a holster past customs. Syd removed the boxy blaster pistol, testing its weight in her hand, as well as a small travel bag holding a necessity. Finding the cell of the enforcer had not been hard, but reaching him before the killer did was paramount. And reaching it without drawing the attention of the other prisoners was especially key.
Syd had made liberal use of her Force phasing to facilitate this, using it to go through barriers she otherwise had no clearance to, noting how many guards were dead. It angered her that the prisoners had done this, so Syd had not hesitated to shoot any stragglers in less inhabited areas, assuming anyone not in their cell and holding a weapon was an escapee. She had gotten a chance to know some of the guards. They were not cruel to the prisoners. They hadn't deserved this, their bodies shot or butchered. Some of the more depraved among them had fixated on her during her stay, so she took extra care to shoot them in particular as she came across them in her flight to that cell, especially because they described with disturbing pride how they mutilated their victims. Some of the sick feths had even made detailed sketches of the sick things they had done. Syd could only feel a greatly reduced sense of emotions normally but even she had wanted to be sick...
Syd began to creep quietly down a passage as she heard some voices, going by slashed and shot up prison staff. The prisoners had gone berzerk, killing with abandon, mad with revenge. Where she wanted to go was just beyond but a gang of prisoners were torturing guards close by a few open cells, and Syd could not, in good conscience, abandon them. Syd set her bag down and took out her pistol, approaching a door of thick steel bars, quietly moving so she could phase through it, her head and body melting through the bars.
Click. As she moved forward the hand holding the pistol got caught between the bars (Come with me if you want to live: 800 XP).
The prisoners, in their bright orange uniforms turned. The prisoners, armed with siezed rifles, turned and pointed them at her, and away from the guards they tortured. Syd was faster, opening fire, the red bolts smashing into unarmored victims. Syd barely dodged the return fire, using a dead body for cover as she recklessly fired their way, hitting some of them, but with nowhere near the accuracy she was used to with a crossbow pistol. Blasters were new. Some took disabling shots, others were killed but it was all very sloppy on Syd's part.
The oppressive prison interior, rumbling from fighting with the SJO lit up as blaster fire was exchanged. Syd did not stop firing until she was empty and the survivors had fled or were lying on the ground from imprecise but still disabling blaster wounds. She got up from the corpse, picking up blaster clips, checking on the guards sprawled out on the floor that they had been beating to death. They were unconscious. Bleeding out. Syd had a way to heal them but it was magically oriented and would take too long.
Syd looked down. Their wounds were serious. They would die without immediate treatment.
But that Enforcer was in danger.
Phyre had cared only for her goals. Leaving them to die to catch that assassin might have far reaching effects. So might not reaching that aassassin.
And these men were dying in front of her...
Syd, something that resembled the faintest hint of compassion making her defy everything her programming said about following orders, went to retrieve what was in the travel bag, stripping off her uniform, trying to ignore her unease at having to put it on before she was ready, psychologically speaking.
In her hands was a white and gold chrome combat body glove she had purefied. An armor that had belonged to the being they had murdered in an extremely bloody and painful manner to create Syd.
Darth Phyre's armor gleamed immaculately even in the dingy setting. She tried not to call it that. Phyre was dead, and Syd was by no means eager to bring her back.
Hilariously, it was now the only way to save their life probably. An armor that had belonged to someone who was a merciless, sadistic butcher even by the standards of the Sith...
Syd braced herself and slipped it on. It fit like a glove, displaying the figure of an athlete.
Syd doubled over in shock as the magical effect spread across her shell, turning fire to blood and muscle tissue, her whole body rippling in response to the magical change.
A heartbeat was felt in her chest. Sensation, the whole rush of now unsupressed emotion hit Syd as she tried to get a grip on it all, having to really draw on the discipline of the Jedi code, hyperventilating.
She hadn't really realized just how angry she was until being actually forced to confront it. She was glad she hadn't been wearing this under her nurse outfit when the prisoners had started taunting her...Syd might have snapped and killed them then and there. As it was, she was struggling to contain her indignant fury at what the prisoners had instigated, and what they had put the guards still alive through. She wanted to kill them all. She knew better than anyone how dangerous an emotion that was and fought it with the code, getting her breathing under control as her flesh stopped rippling...
She rose, turning her attention, her middle aged appearance making her the spitting image of her Sithspawn self and went to the men, kneeling next to them. She had been paying attention to the healers, trying to figure out how they did it.
She slowed her breathing, enforcing a calm that was nearly impossible to maintain, and opened herself to the Force. For the first time, she tried, really tried, to touch the light...
It was like someone sent a power surge through her. She almost coughed and lost concentration, but regained it. It was so...different from how she normally experienced the Force, which was a turbulent boil of energy. Here, the power wasn't boiling...it just flowed straight and unstoppable, but calmly, like a stream rather than an ocean.
A soft, glowing blue light exited out of a mouth that opened by instinct, becoming a ray she shined on one badly wounded guard, whose burns and cuts slowly, but surely began to seal up. A strange, giddy excitement began to fascinate Syd as she turned the ray of blue light from her mouth on the second victim.
This was the first time she had ever used the Force to heal anyone. This was the first time she had ever truly touched the light itself, rather than indirectly, with magic. She continued the healing until the act tired her out.
It wasn't perfect of course. She had sealed up the serious lascerations and burns but it seemed she could not fix the broken bones or serious bruises. Her healing had saved their lives, but simply wasn't at the quality of a fully trained healer. But they would live.
Syd lifted them as carefully as she could, but locked them in a cell, activating a lockdown shutter manually over the cell to protect them.
There was clapping behind her. Syd turned, cursed.
It was the nurse she had been tracking. She was youthful, pale skinned, with bright, curly red hair in a tight coif and freckles. Her skin was very pale, in an equally pale white combat body glove. She held in her hand the head of the Enforcer, a Wookiee male who had iron gray fur in life.
Lyli Drajin tossed the head to the white garbed Celsius.
"Nurse Celsius?" Lyli asked mockingly. "Come quick! I can't revive the patient!"
Syd frowned, stepping back in surprise as she felt the Dark Side in this woman for the first time. Powerful and entrenched. No wonder she had such a kill record behind her. Syd had not planned to face a Dark Jedi, and she was currently stuck in human form...
One of the most significant and ongoing weaknesses of her nature as the Flame Geist was that she really only had one offensive Force Power, and a slew of magical abilities to supplement. But her force powers could never get beyond the strength of a knight as a Geist, with the exception of her pyrokinetic abilities.
This limitation did not carry over to being human, but she was still stuck with few offensive options.
Fortunately, fire was a really, really good offense.
Syd merely folded her arms, still getting used to having a heartbeat, and floated off the ground a meter.
"I have to admit, you play the very image of a sweet, caring nurse, Lyli. I was totally fooled." Syd admitted.
"I should have known the SJO scum would send someone to stop me..." Lyli replied haughtily, her voice light and clear as she pulled out a scratched, weathered looking lightsaber, a blade of light crimson sliding out.
"But you are too late, Jedi. I have already killed the target. I could feel your weak light as you healed those men. You are strong in the Force. But I have been doing this for a long time."
"I don't doubt it..." Syd replied. "But since I've been given orders to kill you, you aren't going to be doing it for much longer..."
She gave a flourish of her red blade, crystal blew eyes going sulphur.
"Prove it..." she sneered.
Syd examined her stance. It was Niman.
Syd pulled out her blaster and fired as the Dark Adept leapt for her, red blade whipping downward. She deflected the strike, the enchanted armor resisting the cutting power of the blade...and cried out in sheer agony as she still felt the heat transfer. It was thin. Designed to giver mobility and saver her life, but not spare her any pain.
Syd's athletic ability allowed her to dive backward, phase through a cell door to keep out of reach, still in great shock at feeling human pain, so much so she could not call on the flames. Lyli viciously cut through, using telekinesis to try and hurl the cut away bars at Syd before she phased through the wall of the next cell, fleeing the red lightsaber of the assassin, nearly blind with pain. Lyli wasn't stupid however and chased her outside the cells forcing Syd to fire at her again to buy more time for herself. By sheer circumstance the cell she next phased into had a guard impaled by what looked like a small, straight, double edge vibrosword, designed like an Atrisian Jian. He must have been one of the guards. The insignia on the hilt was the same as that of the prison. One of the new guys she had been getting to know. He had a family. Bastards! They'd killed him with his own weapon!
Syd hoped the SJO tore these jerks a new one. They didn't just deserve it. They'd earned it.
Syd grabbed it, unsticking it, just in time to phase into another cell as Lyli cut through it, catching her blade with crude bluntness, letting it slide to her right as she elbowed her attacker out of the cell, wincing at the pain in her elbow, which was a fresh shock.
Lyli's head snapped back as she stumbled away, Syd summoned her focus for a spell, holding out her hand, hissing in pain.
"Ashla send an unruly flock to harrass my foes..."
A burst of purple light exited out of her hand and multiple fiery bird constructs of purple light flew out at Lyli. They could not hurt her, but they harrased her from all sides, blocking her vision, a screech from the Dark Jedi erupted and she slashed away all the constructs with her blade...
...and found Syd about to decapitate her. She barely parried the expertly delivered thrust retaliating with a fast slash at Syd's stomach that she barely managed to clear. Lyli then snarled and made her hand take a grasping gesture.
Syd gasped in pain, almost blacking out as she was hoisted off the ground by invisible wrath, Lyli smiling in triumph as Syd struggled to resist but failed to break the grip, choking.
Lyli telekinetically ripped her blaster away, pulling Syd forward. "Let's see how loud you scream..." Lyli suggested in a sinister voice.
Syd wasn't sure what else to do except call on the light, using her nearly gone focus to send a surge through her body. She called on it willingly, eagerly, half because she really, really, needed it to survive...
The other half just because she wanted to experience it again. That strange calm in the middle of the storm.
Lyli snarled, about to jam her lightsaber into Syd's heart and end it when the light erupted out of Syd's mouth, but this was different, brighter, and white in color.
Lyli screamed in pain as her access to the Dark was disrupted, dropping a coughing Sud who scrambled back up, grabbing the sword as Lyli attacked her again, but Syd was ready this time, deflecting her strikes with a one handed grace as she retreated backward, giving Lyli a cold stare that said "You will die at my hand and there is absolutely nothing you can do to save yourself."
Syd got a little of her confidence back. A little.
"Your Niman isn't the best. Not the worst, certainly, but definitely not the best." Syd remarked, goading her.
Lyli didn't take the bait, instead guarding. Syd frowned.
"So, not a complete moron..." Syd noted under her breath.
But it was still time to finish this.
Syd blinked, conjuring a wall of flame towards Lyli from behind forcing her forward into striking range. Lyli blocked however, once she did so, and tried a mental attack, trying to send an unending wave of ghastly horrors into Syd's head.
Syd snarled, going backward, clutching her head. Normally this would not have worked so well, since her reduced emotions left very little in the way for such an attack to feed off of. But while human.
All her hidden fears, her phobias came unbidden, sending her backing away from Lyli in near hysterical fear, unable to focus on anything but her fear. Lyli smiled demonically and strode forward, thinking she would take her time killing her...
Syd had almost droped her weapon, so afraid of Lyli she could not even scream. A part of her knew she had to break that fear now or she was dead. That part began to recall the Jedi Code, playing it over and over even as Syd fell to the floor, crawling away from her in horror. The part that wanted to lived called on it for strength.
It reminded her, in the instant before Lyli's raised saber came down, that no horror this girl could conjure up compared to the horror she had already experienced.
Her focus reasserted itself in the last instant, stopping Lyli's blade with her arms as she shot up, headbutting her, opening her mouth and focusing the light out of it to make Lyli scream at the much stronger, more focused exposure, thrashing about in Syd's grasp as her own blade was forced against her.
In the microsecond before the red blade burned through Lyli's head, she saw Syd become familiar with a new emotion...
Guilt.
(Plasmid Acquisition Theme plays)
Effect: HUMAN (ENCHANTED)
So long as Syd wears the purified armor of her Sith persona she has all the strength and stamina, as well as the resiliance, of a natural human who excercises regularly. This enables her to learn new Force Abilities while wearing it, but also increases the risk of her remembering things from her Sith days. However, though she is fully human her very essence has been so heavily altered by magic so many times some effects remain. She has full nightvision and learns the powers of her chosen alignment far easier. Removal of armor transitions her back to her Geist state, losing the ability to use any force powers she learned wearing it, as well as any indications of her alignment beyond bare minimum.
Effect: PURITY (LEVEL ONE)
Now that Syd is human her alignment now swings more obviously to the light. For being guided by compassion enough she was able to temporarily overcome her programming, Syd has grown a bit as a Jedi. Her presence has the ability to eventually calm down weak minded beings and animals will now hesitate to attack her.
Power: HEAL
An unusual variant that manifests as a ray of blue light emitted from Syd's mouth, this light can heal certain serious wounds like cuts and burns, but not others, such as bruises and broken bones. Only good for healing others. Power improves as character advances.
Power: FORCE LIGHT
An unusual variant that manifests as a ray of white light emitted by Syd's mouth, this light can disrupt a Dark aligned beings ability to call on dark powers. Currently can disrupt a dark being only a few seconds. Light is also capable of temporarily blinding others for same length of time.
Syd dropped the body, then looked at her gold chromed hands...
Killing had never hit her like this before, and she wasn't sure how she would be able to bear the disgust.
Regardless, it did not change the fact her compassion had cost the Enforcer his life. She had never willingly defied directives before. But she could not watch those guards die. It was what Phyre would have done. She desperately did not wish to be that wretched monster again.
But there went the testimony. That bastard would walk...
Unless...she got creative...
Syd picked up the red lightsaber, feeling the hatred in it. Lyli's hatred. It felt awkward in her hand. She recited the litany of purification on the object and got through it without effort, purging the evil within of its owner's malice with the light aligned magic. But the blade color did not change, remaining that same light crimson.
"Huh..." she trailed, ataring at it in confusion before clipping it to her belt..."I guess my sins have to manifest somehow. Forgive, but not forget it would seem."
Syd left the cell block, bent on getting to the Hutt. She grabbed her pistol as she left.
Auteme was among the small cadre of Jedi and others tasked with keeping the peace in the stands of the racetrack, but if she was being honest she didn't think she'd be of much use. Discounting the fact that she wasn't a very good fighter -- or Jedi, for that matter -- it was unlikely she'd be needed. Ingo's people were often more focused on fighting the harsh environmental conditions rather than each other, and considering the planet had no full government or much structure it made it an unlikely target by any force, even one considering attacking the Jedi.
Still, she needed to do her job.
The teenager leaned against the wall at the shady entrance to the hallway at the very top of the stands, her eyes scanning the crowds for a moment before flicking to the holoscreen showing the racers, neck in neck as they passed the next turn. It reminded her of the time she'd gone Go-karting with her dad. Probably not as cool... perhaps she should learn to drive a speeder or fly a starship. Later.
Auteme closed her eyes and took a deep breath, focusing her senses and reaching out through the Force. There were a great many people here, making it harder to sort through all their presences, but she was confident she'd be able to locate any malicious or dangerous sentiments among the observers. Hopefully.
"Roger that Falcon, We're currently inbound from Kashyyyk and are descending upon the objective now" The response of the CR90's Co-pilot would come in over the comm's of the Falcon's bridge, [member="Rick Kaloo"] having been sent the vessels transponder codes as confirmation in being part of the Silver Navy and associated with the Order of the Silver Jedi. Caedyn himself was just along for the ride, no real authority in rank or even considered a Jedi Knight as his training didn't fall under the curriculum of the Jedi despite being on equal par in his own right. As far as he was concerned, he was just glad to be able to come along and help; his girlfriend [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] could do all the responsible stuff where the Silvers were concerned. Not to mention his father.
Turbulence took to the sides of the descending transport as they broke through the atmosphere of Wobani and began to descend through the clouds. Their landing would be at the rear of the blockade set in place by the local authorities, now being bolstered by the armada of reinforcements sent down by Rick Kaloo. Various Silver Jedi were being guided to the surface of other craft and Caedyn got the impression he wouldn't be the first to be arriving on sight. With him, were a hand full of Antarian Rangers who'd been brief on the situation, though weren't under Caedyn's command at all and had their own job to do. He himself feeling some sense of anxiety, given that he both wanted to do his part but also didn't want to get in the way of official procedure.
The CR90 Corvette landed however and the squadron of troops all disembarked followed by Caedyn. The Local Authorities were on station and an officer waited to greet them with an update on the situation. "The Prisoners have made contact and are demanding safe passage off world, they claim to have hostages and there are still security personnel unaccounted for inside; we're not taking any chances but we can't allow these scum to go free either" the man informed the Rangers whilst Caedyn listened, a little deterred by the officers language. "It looks like they've managed to get a hold of the Guards weapons. We're not certain the nature of what was kept in the armory but several of our people have already been downed trying to get close to the main gate. Possible snipers positioned in the sentry towers overlooking the eastern courtyard too...".
[member="Rick Kaloo"] [member="Stardust Solus Skirae"] [member="Malcolm Oro"] [member="Syd Celsius"]
And then the determination to win of every racer involved made the race a hotly-contested one. A series of much tighter turns than the first one made all racers slow down, so good acceleration and brakes were key, even if it came at the expense of the ability to take hits, so the Polydroxol driver was even more vulnerable because the Gyaban 789 traded "defense" (as the ability of craft to take hits was usually called in the podracing world) for greater handling ability. Also, the second "checkpoint" was after the second turn but before two more tight turns: the third of these turns was not quite tight enough to qualify for hairpin status, and the fourth one after that was a 90-degree turn, which then later gently curves before the hairpin at Checkpoint #3.
Ura had heard about this race a while back, and was really hoping for an awesome time. She had been working hard on an old swoop she found in the Silver Landing's repair yard, and had put just as many hours into her as she had when the Razor Tail was shot down. The swoop was more akin to an airspeeder at this point, and was built tough. Ura didn't really need straps in her seat, but she had moved the fuel very, very, very far away from her. The repulors had been replaced with airspeeder versions, as were the controls. It just cam more naturally for the pilot. Somehow, she wasn't nervous as usual. Maybe this was just her element. The Lervon had also seen [member="Reggie Faayare"] earlier, so maybe knowing a friend was their also helped. Either way, it was time to race!
She almost flowed into the pilot seat, quickly setting things before the signal was given. Once it was given though, she gunned the racer to top speed. The swoop darted off, managing to take a place in the middle before the first turn. She heaved the crafted wide into the turn, using the species g-tolerance to help he hit the turn on the razor edge. Was it a smart move? Maybe not. Was it a good choice though? It seemed to be as she managed to slide up a place, and quickly placed herself between the pylons, if barely. She had to be more careful.
Coming to the second set of turns, which she decided to call the "Acklay Head." She'd have to break to take it, but she had a plan to take this set of turns. If the other racers followed a smart play at least. The old swoop was tough. It could take some friendly bumping, but she hoped she wouldn't need it. Now though, Ura hit the breaks, starting on the outside before turning and shifting to the inside of the first part of the turn group, and pulled the same maneuver for the second. She had what might be the second and third hardest turns coming up. Now though, she just crossed through the second pylons.
The Prisoners that had been left in charge of the armory had been hearing the distress calls, the requests for back-up. Their leader, a tall chiss male with floppy, uneven hair and Mandalorian Clan markings on his face hefted an old T-21 Light Repeater at the mag-sealed door everyone else was pointing their carbines at. The armory was not just where the prison weapons were kept, but where the contraband weapons were. With the hidden tunnel out of here, the contraband problem had gotten worse. A Mandalorian Ripper and bowcaster made of parts in the machine shop had been confiscated. That it wasn't actual models was another issue. Whole weapons could be relatively easy to catch getting in. It was the individual parts, often mismatched, that could be hidden until assembled or disassembled as necessary that were the real problem. No one could find and stop the source.
Some of the guards were still alive, tied up and gagged, some having been deliberately blinded by the more vicious ones. One of them had been listening to the sounds outside the armory. She heard the chaotic sounds of fighting, then a new sound, one nearly everyone here knew and had learned to dread, just as criminals thousands of years before them always had.
It was a hum moving through the air, the ping of energy bolt clashing against the blade.
Sure, some of the mystique of the Force Adept had faded, knowledge of how to kill one that had once been jealosly guarded now available to nearly anyone with a grudge. But just because you knew how to do something does not mean you could pull it off. Time and again, the best laid plans, the best weapons, the finest assassins and battle droids credits could buy...all had failed to kill one lone adept. The reports of adepts murdering whole squads of people, sometimes numbering in the dozens, were as common thousands of years ago as they are now.
Thus, you learned to dread that sound. Because that sound means someone is going to die. And more often then not, the person who died was not the person making the sound.
The hum got closer to the door, then stopped. The pilfered commlink of the Mandalorian Chiss beeped.
All the other prisoners looked at him in dread. He stoically removed the link and answered the ping.
"Go ahead."
"Everyone outside this room is dead." the voice of the woman on the other end stated flatly.
"That voice...I know that voice. You're the nurse who treated my broken nose last week."
"You and your boys are about to get a fethton more than a broken nose if you don't cooperate. I give you one chance. The same what these men and women out here were offered. Give up."
"Feth off. You aren't the first adept I've killed." He snorted.
"And I'll be the first adept to kill you." The woman's voice spoke coldly. "Are your friends listening? Anyone who throws down their weapons will be spared. Anyone still holding a weapon when I get in there is fethed."
"You get in here, Jedi or whatever you are, I gun down every last guard."
There was silence on the other end. Nothing happened for a few seconds.
Behind the prisoners however, Syd had already phased in through a bare wall, her pistol aimed squarely at the Mandalorian's head when she fired. He fell forward as the back of his head exploded.
Only one man had dropped his weapon before she had entered.
As the others wheeled on her, Syd's lightsaber came out, its light red blade slapping aside the dozens of red bolts as she adhered to the defensive principals of Form Three, only moving as much as necessary, carefully moving forward, her senses telling her when and where to move her blade. The panic of the prisoners was increased because they saw the red blade, because that usually meant not only were they about to eat it, they would eat it painfully. Some started screaming in terror, firing as fast as they could at the woman in gold and white, but it was hopeless, they were too crowded, and Syd moving through them to fast, her red blade nicking weapons, then heads from shoulders, then torsos in half as she moved past them, deflecting the bolts, some of them hitting the ones who had fired.
The surviving prisoners courage at last failed them, some dropping their weapons and surrendering. Normally, Syd would have just continued killing. But the same thing that had overwhelmed her programming compelled her to listen. Wordlessly, she pointed to a far wall and the survivors lined up there. Syd shut off the blade and went over to the freaked out guards tied together around a support pillar. She undid the gag on one man.
"Relax, I'm SJO, not Sith..." she assured them.
"I believe you..." the guard said. "No Sith would have let those men live."
"Any useful intel you can give me?" Syd asked, undoing their bonds with telekinesis.
"They siezed two of the towers in the east courtyard before we were herded in here. They have sniper rifles up there."
Syd muttered a little as she helped them up one by one.
"Where did you last see Arcuruss The Hutt?"
"The Slug. I saw that bulging bastard in the library before all this happened. I hope you skewer his ass with that fething laser sword."
"Force willing." Syd agreed. "Listen, can you hold down the armory?"
"Well, they took most of the guns...but even they couldn't grab all the ammo. Holding this place should starve em of it fighting your buddies." another guard answered it. "You might want to use some of it, yourself..."
Syd decided to take him up on that, looking around. Most of what was left was prison issue blaster carbines and light repeaters, neither of which she knew or currently had the time to learn how to use. She had barely started to get the hang of pistols. Once nothing on the guard's side impressed her she started looking through the isles in the contraband section. She saw stuff that had no business being in a prison, stuff that had no business being on the fething planet.
Syd's eyes widened as she picked up an X-8 Night Sniper pistol. Yeah, the smuggling had gotten out of hand. Still, useful.
"That belonged to the chiss whose brains you decorated the room with..." one of the female guard's added. "Found it in his cell three nights ago."
Syd thought about it a moment and set it aside, but removed its scope going over to the prison made bowcaster, a basic tube with a pistol and the bow like magnetic acceleraters made of seperate materials. Syd detached the stock to it as well as what appeared to be a hair trigger that came from another weapon entirely. Then she set to work on her own pistol, disassembling it and reassembling it with the new parts. The stock was a collapsible rail type that hugged the back thanks to a magnetic clasp. The scope was a computerized targeting model, able to be fitted to multiple weapon types. The hair trigger had been thankfully just the right size.
"I'm going to remove the threat from the watchtowers. If I run into any survivors along the way, I'll ferry them to you."
"Let some of us go with you." the first one she had spoken to suggested. "We can help."
Syd shook her head. "No. I need to look like I'm on my own. I...uh...I'd rather not get into it."
I messed up... she thought to herself. Her moment of compassion might allow that Hutt to walk.
But how many like him had she killed simply because the lightsaber was red? How many like him had she killed simply because they had had the Force at all? There would always be another Hutt Crime Lord. A forest never ran out of termites...
Or termite-eaters, in Syd's case. It was actually rather depressing, when one put it in that context.
"Hey, be careful!" The female guard called out as she started to leave. "You're not the only Force Adept here. There was a Sith Assassin we had fitted with a neural disruptor! He used some kind of ultra thin lightsaber! I saw him get it when the breakout started."
"Thanks for the warning!" Syd called out.
Syd turned and unlocked the armory door and began to head east, past dead or wounded men missing their limbs. She wasn't using fire. She didn't want to aggro them any more than she already had (even with taking into consideration what she had seen some of them do.), and even if she did, The Hutt, might decide she was too powerful to trust. He might be willing to hire and trust a Dark Jedi. He would not be willing to hire and trust a Dark Jedi he didn't think he could control. She must show power, but not too much.
Switching her pistol to stun, Syd approached the connecting route to the east courtyard. She was greeted by a welcoming committee guarding the doors to the courtyard proper on two different stories, already controlling the security checkpoint.
Hey, guys, its that nurse!" One of the prisoners laughed as she got behind a space in an archway.
"What's she wearing?" another one covered in scars asked
"I dunno. Looks like cosplay. Hey Nurse Syd, you cosplaying?!" A rodian prisoner called out.
Syd, unfamiliar with this form of entertainment, could only silently mouth a confused "What the feth?"
"You got two choices!" She called out. "You either get out of the way, or I make you."
"You in what army?" another prisoner jeered.
This was answered by Syd opening her mouth toward them when she stuck her head from cover.
A bright ray of light flashed from her mouth, and they were all stricken blind by the bright flash, that was when Syd opened fire, rushing forward past the blaster shots as she sent a large blue stun bolt into one man's head, flinging him backward into a wall. Syd, unfamiliar with this new power, did not fully understand all its effects, but she had heard manifestations of the light were capable of causing temporary blindness. It only lasted a few seconds however. Some were already shooting at her as she moved forward, forcing her to hit them with that bright ray of light from her throat again, then stunning them. She wasn't exactly sure what was making her act so merciful...normally these people would all be bacon. She kept stunning them, the hair trigger letting her fire as fast as possible. It was then that the weapon overheated and would not fire, and Syd caught a bolt to the ribs.
Horrible pain enveloped her, making her stumble, forcing her to dive into an empty cell as bolts pelted her position, the enchanted armor slowly working, but Syd, not used to being human was nearly blind with pain. One of the prisoners got close to her position. Syd sprayed the direction with fire before the pistol overheated again. The healing effect worked, but slowly. Her pain diminished just barely enough for her to sense the coming threat. The red lightsaber came out as three tried to surprise her. A barrage of bolts pelted the weakened Syd, her form three barely keeping them from her head. The pain threw off some of her deflection and bolts managed to nick her leg, dropping her to one knee, still deflecting.
Syd gathered her strength and used the light again, blinding them and allowing her to stagger to them, swatting aside errant bolts and jamming her blade through one and swinging it into the other two, before retreating again into the cell. The wound was not fully healed and Syd did not know how to heal herself, certainly not with the force, and she certainly had not any medical supplies.
Gaining the ability to really think past the pain, Syd felt the prisoners about to converge, and sucked up and phased into a different cell to buy time. No rule against using magic...
"Ashla, send a swarm of serpents..." Syd whispered the spell.
By instinct her hand shot out, a bright orange light being emitted from the palm. Fiery, serpent constructs slithered out of it in a pile and scorched the floor as they slid across it. She heard screams as the constructs attacked along with shooting. But the pain in her side would not abate.
Uncomfortably, Syd started to recall Sith techniques for ignoring pain. She could not truly tap into them without drawing on the Dark however, but there were plenty of ways they were able to tolerate pain without the Force. A Sith Warrior would be useless without the ability to take a punch without the Force. Darth Phyre had enforced learning those techniques.
Syd was so tempted. It would solve so many of her problems currently.
So easy to reach out...to call upon them...
Fresh revulsion at who Phyre was and what she did filled her with disgust. She ripped away from the temptation as they got closer after destroying the constructs. She whispered the speed spell, and darted out like running water, firing her pistol, which had cooled off, sweating from the pain at being forced to move, barely able to focus and aim, nailing a few more with red, lethal bolts this time, blasted open a head or two. A burst of light from her mouth blinded more of them, causing them to get turned around in sudden confusion hitting some of her own as Syd hit the floor, hitting the rest of them.
She rolled on the ground in pain, the armor still not finished, but she was well enough to get up and walk, barely.
Syd headed to the east courtyard, seeing many close to the wall defending the prison against SJO incursion. She saw shots coming from the large watchtowers and straining, trying to fight past the pain, Syd floated upward, aiming her pistol. She spotted three, two on the first tower and one in the second. She took aim, the scope magnifying and highlighting her targets. It was hard to stay on target (Antilles: 70 XP) but once Syd was sure she opened fire, confident no one would hear it, given the amount of fire the prisoners were pouring over the walls just to keep their position from being over run. The sky had red bolts of energy flying overhead, and it was all the newly human Syd could do not to be awed.
One bolt penetrated the glassteel and slammed into the head of one, and the second hit a spine.
Pain in her side made her fall out of the sky, and she barely managed to stop herself from hitting the ground in time, and was inches from hittin pavement, and a warning in the Force made her roll in mid air, tumbling to the ground and aiming through the scope at the third sniper who had shot at her. Syd fired before he did. His chest was drilled into by the bolt and he fell from the tower, dead. Syd spotted fires from a homemade petrol bomb and with a blink of her eyes allowed it to both increase and quickly spread, then making it a large gulf that seperated her from them, cutting them off from the main building. They turned in horror, realizing they were pinned.
Syd fled into the building, getting out an encrypted commlink and sent a burst transmission to SJO personnel as she ran.
"All SJO personnel. Snipers in east towers are neutralized."
Syd then made a break for the library.
[member="Malcolm Oro"] [member="Rick Kaloo"] [member="Stardust Solus Skirae"] [member="Caedyn Arenais"]
Objective: 1 - Play catch-up Kat!
Location: Race track
Vehicle: Standard pod racer
Kat had worked on her pod racer for weeks, tweaking, adjusting and just having a lot of fun with it. She was never really one for piloting or racing, preferring to actually build the ships and racers than you know, race them. However, this was a chance to try something completely new and Kat was intrigued in how much skill one needs to be competitive in the racing ring. She had done plenty of flying in the past but this was going to be much more intense, something that she was looking forward to. Keeping her podracer clean, polished that made it stand out from the clunkier, grubbier racers that were lining up. They were clearly driven by much more experienced racers, however, she had a few tricks and tips that might give her an edge in this race.
"Beep. Beep. Boop." The race had begun, Kat pushed forward on her controls and the engine cut. Something went wrong, everything was showing red or at least not responsive. Growling to herself, Kat wasn't sure what was going wrong but everyone had a massive lead on her now! She really had to pull it out of her butt. Tapping furiously at her controls, Kat figured out that the engines were overfilled with fuel when she got a bit too eager. Resetting and losing some fuel meant that Kat could then launch her podracer forward. Able to finally get off the starting line, Kat felt her racer speed forward into the race. She was behind but that meant nothing in podracing, things could change with a drop of the hat.
"C'mon, c'mon... just need to make some time up in the corners!" Kat muttered loudly to herself as she took the first turn hard. Not braking as much as she should have or would have normally, it caused her to drift somewhat and then she powered forward at full speed. A sharp turn came before the second turn, Kat turned harshly again and then slowed down as she started to overtake some of the other racers. It was still a long way to first place but she was starting to feel better.
Sniper fire....it caused started to momentarily halt in fear, remembering what had happened on commenor how her life was nearly ended. However the yelling of a ranger got her to find some suitable cover as she crouched low and peeked put firing a few times at the assailants, taking a deep breath to calm herself she steeled herself and drew a saber igniting it with a snap hiss before roaring as she blocked a shot and moved up a few feet before getting down again...these snipers were irritating her! Getting ready to move again she looked up to see commotion in the towers, the hail of blaster fire coming to a stop as she slowly started moving forward and grinned listening into her ear piece as she saw flames arise
hell of a job! I'm moving in right now as we speak, if possible we can link up and carve a path for our guys to get in
She responded, taking a running start for the wall, throwing a grapple for the tower as she jumped onto the wall and started climbing up hoping to get a better view from there
The crowd cheered as the racers sped along the track and they watched their progress on the big holo. But little did they know, there was about to be even more action than they'd bargained for. Really, though... crowds loved crashes. On the high salt cliffs, someone else watched the race... a sniper. As the Star Tours racer, driven by Dunames Lopez, began to round the third checkpoint, a blaster bolt would come her way.
And as the purple speeder of MG Limited (NPC) followed on her heels, another bolt. This one hit, causing the speeder to spin out and swerve—right into the race path of the other drivers coming up from behind. Look out!
A sniper attempted to hit her, but she was able to cause a near-miss because of the acceleration required to get out of the tight hairpin, with a hole on the ground. Even though at least two other contestants were falling behind the MG Limited purple pod, the sniper was positioned at the top of the hairpin because it was the best vantage point thanks to the need to brake, and to brake hard. Some debris now littered the hairpin behind checkpoint 3 after the sniper-induced crash, but the next three turns between checkpoints 3 and 4 were hard corner turns, and with one less contestant, she was more vulnerable than ever, especially since she was still near the lead. Meanwhile, the crowd went wild when the collision happened.
