Tension on Tund [Mikhail / Katarine]

[KitKat]

Deat sweet Katarine, the world is not as kind as you imagine. She frowned as the atmosphere changed. Nice going Katarine. Your flirting with danger has landed you in a hostage situation. Great. Alright new plan. Do what he says and get the hell away from all of this the second you can. Good plan. Yea whatever you wanna tell yourself Kat...

Her grabbed her arm and drug her toward the door. She felt the skin pinch and knew there would be bruises there. Well assuming she lived long enough to form bruises.

"I'm a lot more use to you without a broken arm. " She tugged her arm in an attempt to free herself of him though did not stop moving in the direction he was forcing her.

Yep a very VERY long day.

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Yes, Mikhail's words were a bit harsh. However, his words were not entirely true. He did care about her safety, to some extent. Jedi Master though she might be, Imperials and Sith were pouring onto the world in droves. Not to mention the fleet in orbit. Her ship would be tractor beamed, or shot to pieces - if she even made it to her ship in the first place. Mikhail hardly felt any sense of loyalty to the Empire. Resentment, more than anything else.

He most certainly would have let Katarine go free if he thought she would escape without a scratch. Yet, he found the fact that he had come to care - however small the care might be - about her disconcerting and sought to push her away emotionally. Better she didn't think he was the good guy, else she would start expecting him to do the right thing. And he would just disappoint her in the end.

Shorn loosened his grip, his irritation lessening as well. He muttered something that might have been a "sorry" and dragged her out the door.

The streets were chaos. Toongs were in various stages of shock, greed, and horror. Some stood still with slack jaws, others ran about screaming, while a choice few busied themselves looting what they could in the midst of a worldwide crisis. Shorn glanced up at the sky. A Star Destroyer hung, menacing in its immensity. From it descended dozens of dropships. Mikhail grimaced. There would be a lot of dead by the end of this day.

He and the passive but dissident Jedi made their way toward the hangar where Mikhail had parked his freighter. The guards at the front gate looked either terrified, or ready to blast the head off the first person who came too close.

"Halt!" One said. "Nobody gets past! There's a planetwide lockdown."

Mikhail turned to Katarine. "See? And what would you do if I wasn't here." His attention returned to the toongs. He waved a hand, his mind sprung forward and closed about their thoughts like a fog. "We have proper access, it's okay to let us through."

"You have proper access, it's okay to let you through." Both guards' eyes were glazed and the lead one's reply was sluggish.

The two Force Users moved into the hangar, where Mikhail swiftly found his freighter. Outside, he could hear the distant whine of blasters. He hurriedly boarded the ship, pushing Katarine into the co-pilot's seat while he dropped himself down in the pilot's own. He activated sublights and the ship sped up and out of orbit in less than ten seconds. His transponder codes were active, matching up with one of the two Champions of the Empress. There would be no questions from the Imperial Fleet for Mikhail Shorn.

He avoided looking at @[member="Katarine Ryiah"] as the ship broke orbit, busying himself with punching in hyperspace calculations.

 

[KitKat]

The streets were chaos. The screaming was like sharp knives to her heart. She wanted to help these poor creatures and shield them from any more misery on this planet. Instead she was running presumably sparing her life at least a little longer. She felt like a coward. She hadn't even attempted to resist the man pulling her forward. Could she best him? Maybe, maybe not but she could put up one hell of a fight. In the end though it would all be for nothing. Even if she could bring herself to harm Mikhail, and a very deep portion of her knew she never could, she would never be able to stand against a conquering army. The locals on the streets were as good as dead weather she ran or fought. It was the truth but it didn't make it any easier to live with.

One mind trick latter found her sitting next to him and miraculously leaving with ease. She would have to ask him what exactly this champion title was. For the moment she was busy beating herself up over leaving people who needed her help. Her mind wandered to her little droid aboard her ship and she blinked a few times to avoid the water works. The little guy had been her only company for months now. He was gone just like they all were. Dead before they even knew it.

Where he wasn't looking at her Kat was busy studying @[member="Mikhail Shorn"]. She couldn't read his face but she didn't feel any immediate impulse to kill her, yet that is. Maybe he would take her to whoever his boss was so they could deal with her. Worry about that when it comes she decided. For now she remained quiet and simply watched the man next to her.

 

[Lord Ghoul]

The tense silence between the two stretched on. The stars also stretched, their white pinpricks bending around the cockpit before the ship catapulted into hyperspace. Mikhail leaned back as they escaped safely. Yes, being Champion of the Empress did indeed have its pros. Like being answerable only to her, for starters. Though Mikhail much rather would have preferred it if he was answerable to no one. The dental, however, would be horrible.

Shorn still avoided looking at Katarine. Did he feel guilty, perhaps? Yes, that might be it. Angry at the Sith, again, for being so... Sith. The muscles in his jaw clenched and unclenched.

"You're mad at me." He tried to concentrate on the swirling of hyperspace and failed. "What else was I supposed to do? Leave you to get captured? Because we know the Sith are so gentle with Jedi." He pounded the control desk with a fist in frustration. "Damnit! Every time I try to do something good it just blows up in my face. Why bother anymore?" He growled. He seemed to be talking to himself more than her now. She had shown kindness to him, who numbered among the Jedi's sworn enemies. Now Mikhail cared. It was as simple, and complicated, as that.

Yes, perhaps the allusion to Mikhail's willingness to burn down worlds for people he cared about was all too true.

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

She watched him as the silence stretched on. His reaction startled her. She wasn't mad at him at all. Wary perhaps and fascinated but not angry.

Those kind instinct kicked in immediately. Without thinking she reached across the gap between them and took his hand. The dizziness started but it did not effect how sincere she sounded. "I am not angry with you. You saved my life by getting me off the planet. No matter what I thank you for that." She searched his face with her deep green eyes. "Thank you. "

After a moment she let his hand go and let her eyes wander to the stars. "It's what you plan to do with me now that has me worried. I really can't take you gloating that your side won today." She smiled, hopping the sarcasm would make him feel better as it so often did her. Truthfully she really was worried but he didn't seem to want to hurt her.

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Shorn wasn't in a gloating mood. Or a joking mood either, strange as that may be. The cursed Soulsaber at his hip sent these damn annoying meltdowns of negative emotions, but it offered him such power that he could not escape its grasp. Caught in a web, and liking it. Kriff me. Mikhail was nothing if not mercurial.

Her touch was reassuring, sort of, but her persistent kindness was infuriating. Shorn didn't want to care anymore. He'd taught himself not to. So why did he keep having to crush all this empathy? He had become such an apathetic, hollow shell of a man, filled with a shallow water of anger, anguish, and loneliness, that the thought of caring again was... distasteful.

"You're kriffing welcome," he said darkly. He turned to her, his eyes serious. "What do you want me to do with you?"

 

[KitKat]

She frowned, wondering what she had done to cause such a mood but didn't ask. Men were cranky sometimes she guessed though she was smart enough to guess that saving her had broken character and he was now battling out why he had done it. Kat was a Jedi teacher and investigator so she was used to causing people to think about the nature of things.

Ignoring his bad mood she shrugged. "Drop me the first place you can so i wi be out of your hair. In the meantime tell me what this champion thing means. "

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

It wasn't that Mikhail had broken character so much as that his actual character was broken. He naturally has trouble dealing with this.

"Sure," he grunted. His eyes narrowed as she asked about his Champion title. He didn't like titles. They made good targets on his back. However, they also allowed him more mobility and freedom. Sometimes, he thought about going for Emperor if only so he could stop being ordered about. But then he would have to watch his back nonstop. No, he would rather be stuck on in a cave with a Mandalorian and ysalamiri than be Emperor.

"It just means I only answer to Ashin." His tone of familiarity with the Empress might give some pause. He had known her before she was Empress, if not well. "It's not important."

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

"Fair enough." She sighed, thinking of the people she had to answer to. She literally couldn't have done a worse job on this assignment. She hasn't accomplished the goal and she had been captured by the enemy. At least she thought that's what he was doing. Probably could leave that part out of the report. This would mean a pay decrease. As if the Republic paid her well.

A chirp sounded from her pocket. With a glance sideways to read his face she pulled the small communication device out and clicked it. "What?" For the first time her tone was slightly annoyed.

"Master Ryiah, thank the Maker. This is Master Salvin. What is happening on Tund?"

"Someone in intel isn't doing their job that's what. "

There was a pause during which a lot of static came over the line.

"The Council needs to debrief you.."

She cut him off. "Inform the Council I am returning to my origional assignment and will report in whenever opportunity arises."

Again there was a pause and when his voice came back it was softer, like he was speaking to a very ill child.

"Master Ryiah... Kat.. Don't do this. You are throwing away a career on a ghost hunt. You are needed back home."

"Home is where the heart is Master Salvin."

She cut the communication and let the device fall beside her in the copilot seat. Unable to bring herself to see if he was watching her she rose from her seat and left the controls. In the other room she blinked back the tear drops welling in her deep green eyes. Now was not the best time to lose composure. The Sith in the other room had already tried to turn her once, if only jokingly. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The Jedi wouldn't be comming for her and when she did report in she was probably looking at a court Marshall. She couldn't help but feel betrayed. The Jedi were the only family she had and they were turning their backs on her.

The tears started again and she brushed them aside with her slender fingers. Now wasn't the time for this. She took another deep breath and turned, intending to return to the copilots seat and figure out if the Sith Champion intended to free her like she suggested.

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Mikhail could not pretend as if he had not been listening in, nor did he wish to. His Jedi... companion? Hostage? Friend?... no, he didn't have any friends, well, whatever she was to him she was clearly upset. Her conversation left Mikhail wondering about this original assignment of hers. She left the copilot's seat to go somewhere. That had Mikhail worried for several reasons, one among them definitely being sabotage and/or something of similar destructive nature.

The Sith slipped out of the pilot's seat - no need to pilot anymore as they were already in hyperspace - and silently exited the cockpit. He stood with crossed arms as she turned around. Shorn's blue gaze bore into her, but he saw only redness and... tear tracks? Leaving to go cry in the other room didn't mask her Force aura, though if she had tried to mask it Mikhail probably would have been unable to pick anything up. He was not an empath, nor very skilled at telepathy. However, he could still sense some sort of grief, but he had no idea what emotion caused the grief.

Pale eyes watched her for a moment, impassive and cold, before Mikhail finally spoke. "We're on our way to Onderon. It's the closest Republic system, since we're technically not at war we shouldn't have any problems. I'll drop you off there and then head back to Sith Space. It'll be a while." He pointed behind her. "There's a guest bed near the cargo hold."

He started to turn around. Why should he care about her tears? Wasn't he already doing enough for her? Hadn't he already fulfilled his debt? But there is something innately moving about a woman in tears that made men want to tell her everything would be alright. Damn neanderthals. Of course everything wouldn't be alright. Shorn knew there wasn't any master plan for the galaxy. It was just life and death. And pain. He turned back to her.

"What's your assignment?"

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

She turned around and stumbled backward slightly when she caught sight of him standing there. She hadnt felt him there, or maybe the other emotions were so strong she hasn't been paying attention. Either way he had surprised her.


Ah Onderon, she knew it well. "Thank you." Really she didn't know what to say. She would be dead if not for him and though she understood compassion she had not met many Sith who would have taken her to safety like this. It was all very odd, whatever this thing between the two of them was.


"Deep sea fishing on Mon Cal. You know what they say, there is no challenge quit like netting the big one." She smiled, though it faltered by the look he had. She assumed it was displeasure at her answer, not her tears.


"I was looking for someone." There wasn't much more to say. It wasn't unusual for Kat to be gone from a Jedi homeworld for months at a time. She was a Jedi Investigator and spent a great deal of time undercover. However the Jedi were different these days. Darron Wraith was now an "unquestioned" leader and had appointed her a council position. He also wanted her home more so she could become a watchman to one of the Republic worlds. Kat wasn't sure she could handle being so involved in the war like that. Undercover she got to help those who needed it no matter what side they were on.


Her deep green eyes flickered to his pale ones. They were beautiful and complimented his handsome face nicely. She watched him, wondering why it should feel so odd for him to help her and why he should be so uneasy about her kindness towards him. "Do you ever wonder if everyone has it wrong and maybe the Force and its different sides isn't the problem but rather the people using it are? Forgive me for being philosophical but I may never have the chance to speak with you again."

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Mikhail's flat look in response to her lie about the Mon Cal fishing gained him only one little reply. Looking for someone. Yes, Mikhail once looked for someone. Alexis. He found her alright. She tried to shoot him and in his blind reaction, he killed her. And then he murdered her husband. And after the blood- Mikhail closed his eyes, trying to shut out the memories. There were reasons Shorn tried to keep up a mask of apathy. He feared the despair within himself. Despair and madness, that is. His jaw muscles tightened. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into Katarine's beautiful green eyes. A cold knife pierced whatever scraps of a human heart remained in his chest. However, his pale eyed gaze did not waver.

The Sith leaned suddenly on the doorframe into the cockpit. "Yeah. I wonder sometimes, but then I see the madness of the Sith. We're dark. And... we're not good people, Kat...... I'm not good. I am selfish and vindictive and don't give a damn about the rest of the galaxy." But I think I might care about you. "We'll probably meet again." And we'll probably be trying to kill each other. Whoever said the Force is just lied. It's cruel. Just like everything else in the galaxy.

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

"You can't be all that bad. You could have let me die back there and chose not to. Just because someone is cruel at times doesn't mean they can't be compassionate other times. That's what the Jedi don't understand. It's not black and white. Nothing is that simple."

She shrugged, still looking at his pale eyes. "You can't be afraid to let yourself be good either. Just like the Jedi are so afraid of being bad they blindly do horrible things in the name of light."

She sighed and glanced away from him finally. He was right they probably would see each other again... On opposite sides of a battlefield. "You are right. We probably will see eachother again."

She was staring at the wall but not really seeing it. Her mind traveled to James. The Council pronounced him dead and yet she refused to stop looking. Perhaps all the Jedi were fools, even her.

"Anyways I'm guessing you don't want to spend the ride debating philosophical errors with me. So do you want to pkay charades or something?"

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Nothing is that simple....yes, but I wish it was.

Katarine's words drew a chuckle from Mikhail, his dark mood faded a bit, replaced once more with a mask of charm. "Charades? Sure, why not."

The Sith promptly crossed his arms, hunched and bent his knees to make himself shorter, and then made an incredibly pompous face while lifting his nose in the air and simpering, "What... am I?"

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]

 

[KitKat]

Katarine giggled as he bent forward and put his nose in the air.

"Honestly you look like most of the Jedi Council right now."

He really did. Most of them came off as know it alls and that drive Kat insane. She hated politics and the Council was nothing but politics. She would be declining the invitation to join them .. Again. They wouldn't stop asking.

@[member="Mikhail Shorn"]

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Mikhail stood straight and made a game-show buzzing noise. "Wrong answer! You'd be looking for 'Toongs', buuut, I guess Jedi Council would be a pretty close second. Although the only one I ever met liked making grand speeches about the righteous justice of the Force and its all abiding mercy and compassion." Shorn smirked, remembering his encounters with Darron Wraith, the Grandmaster.

"The uh, Sith 'council' is a lot more like a bunch of puppies, fighting and whining all the time. Well," Shorn amended, "Puppies that can kill you with a single thought." He shrugged and pointed at Katarine, while moving to sit at a nearby table.

"Your turn."

@[member="Katarine Ryiah"]