The Bloody Shade

[Tanaski Yumi]

He gave a small nod to the police officer, kneeing down and placing his hand against the duffel bag, zoning out from the current scene, concentrating on the object in front of him. He let the force move through his body and onto the object, images slowly swirling through his head, rippling like water until a still vision came to pass. Non seem to be of much use initially, only flashes of being inside some sort of locker, once in a while the doors being opened for some thug looking fellows to grab equipment, typical gang stuff.

That was until something started to change, at some point the visions showing that the gang members were taking all the equipment out of the lockers, replacing it with something else. He wasn't able to get a good look at the items but one thing was for sure, they were defiantly of Sith or force using origin. Such seemed to continue for a while until finally the duffle bag itself was moved, being carried away through what felt like some underground bunker to a room, one that sent shivers down his spin.

It was a room that just screamed interrogation to a very scary looking chair was strapped the man whom was currently in the bag. From that moment he knew what was happening, this crime boss, who ever he was received a very unsightly end at the hands of these strange devices. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how strong someones stomach was the view of the mans experimental execution was hidden by several thugs and what he assumed to be the boss man himself, only the screams and twitching of legs being visible to Tana.

He had to grimace a little as the body was brought over, from their a group of henchmen dragged the bag out and into the streets, walking for some ways before dumping it down where it now stood. It was an unsettling experience but hopefully it would reap some benefits, Tana breaking away from his concentration just as [member="Laertia Io"] question his findings. "The gang, I think they have a safe house of some sorts nearby, not large but definitely used for staging operations from what I found, also, I think the gang has some sort of force related items, something that sucked this mans energy away". "I think Matsu was somewhat right, but I didn't really see much else, only the execution of this man, but I think we may have a lead we should be able to track this bag back to their safe house and look for clues there".

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Laertia Io]

"Sownd plann fer duh mominnt..." Laertia spoke quietly to [member="Tanaski Yumi"], stretching as she stood up--

Her cybernetic left arm suffered a phantom pain, and it spasmed, and this time she wasn't able to hide it, the arm jerking and whacking her in the head, knocking her to the floor, and a severe migraine started. Laertia pulled herself back up, her cybernetic arm smacking her in the face again, then trying to choke her as she struggled to get it under control, the world in a red haze, the pain in her skull agonizing.

"Laertia!" a familiar voice called out, accented and seeming consternated...

Arriving: Moya (http://starwarsrp.net/topic/138583-alchemized-biot-moya-virtu/)

Laertia turned her attention to Moya approaching her in her black dress, carrying a small duffle bag.

Laertia, red faced and completely humiliated, tried to maintain some sense of dignity, forcing herself to stand up, even as she fought her own arm.

"You forgot your medication..." Moya lectured gently, opening the bag and handing her a small white bottle. Laertia took it, as the pain and spasms in her arm subsided. Moya also took out her double-barreled shotgun and its holster and a small bandolier of shotshells, and handed it to the injured woman.

"You can't keep leaving and forgetting your medication Laertia..." Moya said worriedly, her face scrunching in deep concern. "You have to try and remember better, I know its difficult but this is your health we're talking about..."

Laertia nodded, half succumbed to the hyper-pheremones the Biot naturally emitted already. Her condition brought with it constant humiliation, even with the medication. Then again, she would sometimes admonish herself, what had she expected fighting a fully armed Imperial assault shuttle to the death? Even Obi-Wan himself wouldn't have tried to get away with it, she mused. She didn't like to admit it, but her injuries had been very much the result of her impulsiveness and poor judgement.

And now she was reduced to this: depending on an artificial life form as she was patently unable to make friends, an early life in the streets conditioning her to a natural mistrust of others in most cases, barring Jedi or Ursula.

It sometimes unsettled her, made her wake up at night in her pink colored quarters just how dependant she had grown on first Ursula, then this Biot's approval, who had the face of a woman she idolized. She feared it as a sign of some latent mental illness, this constant need for vindication from another, and she couldn't make the easy excuse of it being solely her brain injuries...she'd craved approval and love even before half a dozen pieces of hot, sharp metal had gone into her face.

Moya being programmed to care for her in an almost motherly fashion had been a request made at literally the lowest point in her life...one she constantly regretted in secret. She'd just been discharged, and had literally no one. She hated being alone, not just because it was like the beginning of her life, but because she now knew there was more than that beginning, more than a life of a loner. The Marksmen had been her family, or as close as she got to one...to see it breakdown and Ursula disappear, just when things were starting to look like she might pay a little more attention to Io, had been a cruel vice put to her heart.

Moya's brown eyes flooded with concern and emotion as she watched Laertia. No expense had been spared making her personality matrix. The last remnant of some mad artisan's attempt at creating the perfect decoy...but the person the biot had been made to resemble and draw fire from had been found sooner than expected. Moya had spent centuries in cold storage as a result.

The migraine at last went away. Laertia turned to her Jedi companions.

"Moya Virtu. Myy uh...caretaykuh..." Laertia explained, getting an idea as she popped a medicine pill into her mouth, immediately feeling intestinal pain. She needed to find better medicine, or have it fabricated. More cybernetic implants might resolve the problem entirely but Laertia knew the rules: More cybernetics would reduce her Force potential, and Io would never accept such a situation unless left without a choice in the matter.

Moya bowed her curvy figure to them, concealed in a long black dress that shimmered in the sunlight. "A pleasure to meet you both." she said to Tanaski and [member="Matsu Ike"]

Tanaski's assessment suddenly filtered in and Laertia got a bit of an idea. If the safehouse was close by...

"I gotz a sujjestshun..." Laertia spoke. "Thiss playce yooz menshuned...gotzta bee gardedd, ryte? Wellz...Moya heer iz 'extreemlee' goodz att perrsuashun. Shee canz handulz herrselff ina fyte too and we sneaky-sneaks inz too it, andz go ovuh anny evuhdinse wee findz, dhen cleerz out in tymez tuh intacept Darkmite's flunky at muh majic showw. Soundz goodz?" She asked.

"I once literally charmed the pants off someone. Not impossible--I mean, look at me, but doing that in under thirty seconds like I did is a ton more difficult than it sounds..." Moya said, folding her arms and smiling.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Laertia Io"]

The jedi master was focusing the force energies around herself... letting it leak out and guide her thoughts further back and more to watch and see as the alley they were in. She was watching it for a moment as she came back when someone else was approaching and she could hear Tana discussing it. "I see." She said it observing and was curious about it but she was moving with her eyes flicking back and forth. "It is alright, I know a thing or two about problems... but please we will continue when you are able to. Do not strain yourself." She said it looking at Tana and motioned with a hand towards the buildings. "If you could scout ahead, I will see if there is any healing I can offer her. If there are any dangers contact us Tana." THe jedi master said it while clasping her hands behind her back and she was looking at the biot that was well designed and on par with some of the ones that they had made with sasori but she didn't say anything about that instead offering an area for the girl to rest. "Just tell me if there is anything that you need."

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Tana gave the other shadow a small nod, getting back up and more then ready to depart, but their plans were brought to a grinding halt as Laertia's arm went out of control. He was half tempted to dive down and wrestle with the women's bionic arm as it spammed if not for his lack of knowledge in medical like areas. It was kind of jarring to watch, such a problem being beyond his control even if said problem was right in front of him, thankfully it seemed someone else was capable of standing up to the task, well kind of.

The sudden appearance of the dress wearing women put Tana on more edge then he already was, confused and also wary as they approached. It did not take long to put the two together, himself becoming a bit more relaxed as the 'droid' came off more as a very concerned mother then some body guard. "Well it is nice to bee you Moya" he replied giving the droid a respectful bow, "it certainly sounds like you have quite the experience, though I think you have a little bit of an advantage in the looks department". He assumed the droid could change her appearance, and being well a droid she did not age, real life women certainly had some stiff competition.

"Well I guess we can both go scout ahead, try and get a feel for what we may be u[ against, then we can put those charming skills you have to the test, you've got me a little interested". Perhaps he could pick up a few skills for himself, after all looking feminine himself did come with a few advantages. With a becoming hand gesture towards the droid Tana started down the road towards the safe house, going off what he saw in the vision but also through smell, the body had a distinct odor to it that the vampire could use to track.

[member="Matsu Ike"] [member="Laertia Io"]

 

[Laertia Io]

Moya smiled and bowed at [member="Tanaski Yumi"]. "Thank you. I had very skilled designers. Being a Vong creation comes with its advantages." Moya began to follow him and Laertia looked at [member="Matsu Ike"] before declining her offer to help.

"Thannkz Mastuh Eekayy, buut az I sayd buhfore, ain't no fixin what I gotz. Not a healy-healuh in duh galaxy dhat can fix dhis. Dheyve tryde, itz alwayz fayled."

To emphasize her point to Matsu, Laertia parted her hair a little to show the trenches on her scalp that were otherwise hidden. She quickly covered it back up and followed Moya. After ten to fifteen minutes of moving through a city still reeling from the wounds of an invasion, Laertia spotted the safehouse in the distance. Classic Darkmite. Guy always had a thing for gaudy stuff. By the looks of it, he'd taken control of what had once been a luxury cantina, shaped like an oval and capped by a brass dome and had four security guards dressed in luxury business wear, all black in color, with gold, swirling embroidery at the collars and sleeves. Given how close this place was to the actual crime scene it told Laertia how much Darkmite had changed. He was never so brazen before...she knew for a fact all his killings were conducted at least ten to twenty kilometers from his hideouts and strongholds to increase plausible deniability.

Darkmite must think he has an immense advantage. Arrogance...and ambition... Laertia considered privately. Laertia snuck by a nearby building, gesturing for Matsu and Tanaski to join her while sending Moya ahead to meet the guards.

The guards, a mix of humans and iridonians saw the beautiful biot approach and hefted their blaster rifles.

"This is a private establishment, miss."

Moya took on a look of faux exasperation and sighed, hands going to her hips.

"Awww, really...but I'm exhausted!" Moya protested. "I have been working at the office all day and all I wanted was a quick drink. I can pay, and well."

The guards, already being affected by the hyperpheremones, derived from Zeltron genetics, already were psychologically compromised. The pheremones she emitted were far, far more powerful than regular Zeltron pheremones. This was useful, because it was the one part of her design not known to the authorities...

And very, very few beings were naturally resistant to them, even Force Users in some cases.

"Our...our boss wouldn't like it, Miss..."

"Oh, I'm sure your boss isn't going to miss one little shot of Bothan Whiskey. I'll be in and out, I swear!" Moya claimed with a warm smile, making puppy eyes at them. Some of the guards got goofy grins, lowering their weapons slightly.

"Aren't there other Cantinas open?" One guard asked, still suspicious, but his will was faltering.

"All the cantinas I usually go to got hit during the invasion by stray starfighter attacks. Please? I won't be long...I've been working so hard all day...I just want to relax a little before I get home. You don't have anything against that, do you?" Moya asked innocently, swaying with her hands clasped earnestly in front of her, her emotional analysis of them telling her she had succeeded.

"Alright, one drink. But then you leave, alright? Our Boss will be pissed if he finds out we let you in..." they said.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Moya said as the guards led her inside the cantina...

There was a green flash of light that eminated from out of the Cantina windows. After a few minutes, Moya stepped out of the Cantina and waited on its front porch, gesturing for the others to come inside. Laertia hurried to Moya, staring inside, the well stocked bar counter joined by CCTV screens on its left, Laertia seeing more guards on the screens playing cards at a table, possibly above and below them. There was music pumping through the speakers very loudly. The guards that had escorted her in were sprawled out on the floor, unconscious, arcs of green lightning still dancing off their bodies.

"I took them out as quietly as possible. I don't think they know we're here. No other guards on this level..." Moya whispered to Laertia.

"Wut wud I dooz wit'outz ya, Moya?" Laertia asked rhetorically, smiling.

"Crash your ship?" Moya asked back dryly.

Laertia rolled her eyes as Moya grinned back.

"Vewy funni. Taanasskee, you got anything?" The ex-shadow asked Yumi.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Laertia Io"]

She nodded and was quiet... observing and allowing herself to sink into the background as they moved. THe white current hiding her from others before the jedi master was allowing Tana to show his skills and she wanted to understand more about the situation here. "Understood." She said it though but listened to the biot and Io... then was looking at Tana as she observed. She was spreading out the white current for the four of them to sneak around and find what they could but it wasn't exactly an easy feat even for her as she focused on the energies. THe illusions around them and concealing the four beings within the force but changing the visual sight to alter perceptions of who they were talking with or near. So everyone saw someone else.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Vong creation? wait didn't the Vong hate technology? That was a little confusing but he'd not push the subject, the droid did her job and seemed like a very reliable person to have around, didn't really matter who she was. After all that would be hypocritical considering he was a vampire that had become a Jedi. For now he was to just sit back and watch the show said droid would put on, eyes focusing on her little flirting and pheromone tactic watching with a small smile as the garuds slowly gave in, always a nice sight to see.

His smile only increasing when the two guards vanished into the complex, no sound coming from the building, only the sense of two life forces being put to sleep for a few hours. "Hmm she makes Natuka look like nothing with those sort of skills. guess it's go time". With a small force push the young man flipped into the bar entrance, looking around as [member="Laertia Io"] made her way in too. "I guess if you want to keep this place secret it would be ideal to have few guards up top, lessen suspicious, more so seeing as how close it is to the main streets". The classic hiding in plain sight, either that of the boss was just getting to egotistical and didn't think anyone would mess with him.

Not that it mattered, for now they were in and so far Tana didn't sense anything off, they were in more or less. "Okay so now it is time for sneaky sneak, your medical driod wouldn't happen to have a cloaking field with her too? Or are you both more in the mood for busting in cop style"? He would have prefered to do the fomer option but both Wu and Laertia were more experienced in this sort of thing.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Laertia Io]

Laertia Io grinned as [member="Tanaski Yumi"] made his suggestion. Seemed the young jedi could get his hands dirty.

"Copp Stylez, ya' sayy?"

"Better we do cop style. I was not made with a cloaking field unfortunately. My abilities are more...specialized..." Moya answered Yumi's question, though she curiously did not elaborate further.

Moya looked at Laertia. "What's the play?"

Laertia paused, paced a bit. It was times like this her criminal education came in handy, especially in regards to Darkmite.

"Darkmite wuz allwayz aboutz keepin hiz stuffy-stuffs nyce 'n' hiddinz...probablee gonna havv sumthinz buhlowz..." Laertia surmised, pacing back and forth. "Morr sykuryty buhlowz, iff dhat's duh cayse. Hmmm...Hee alwayz hadz ann exxtraa sykuryty offyse upp topz inn hiz jointz...I'll tayke buhlowz. Moya, you tayke topz. Mastuh Eekay, Knyght Yoomee, witch ov uss 'r' yooz goin wit' ?"

"I'd love to compare notes with an actual Jedi..." Moya grinned, pulling out a silvery lightsaber hilt and activating it. A blade with a black core and a dark green aura shot out. Laertia removed her crossguard hilt and activated it, and an unstable looking, pulsing green lightsaber blade shot out, followed by two smaller, just as unstable looking blades from emitters at the top of a scratched and worn looking hilt, in complete contrast with that of her caretaker.

Laertia headed to a marble stair case leading below while Moya took an elegant curving staircase up to the next level. It was left to [member="Matsu Ike"] and Tanski who they would choose to go with. As Laertia headed below she spotted a turbolift elevator guarded by two blaster turrets and her lightsaber went into a Shien opening and she advanced, the turrets opened fire on the intruder with heavy bolts.

Laertia prided herself on her Form One, but she knew when to adjust to the situation as necessary. Her green saber batted the heavy bolts back from her as she advanced, slowly, feeling the bolts travel through her connection to the Force.

She had never really understood the Force's motives. Thinking like a survivor from the street, she figured there had to be some kind of angle it was working. One doesn't get to the top like it did without working an angle or two. Was there gonna be a tax from it someday?

Laertia swatted a bolt back to its source, having to rely on her senses more than augmenting her body with the Force, and guide the blade to where the shot would travel. She'd never been able to learn Force speed or jump, despite her most sincere attempts. She privately wondered if that was the price for such a powerful teleportation ability as the one she had...

She remembered the rush of combat, even in this small dose, and the warrior came back. Suddenly, there was only the mission.

At least, until the next migraine.

Laertia punched the summon button for the lift, waiting for whoever came with her...

Meanwhile, Moya had decided to clear out some of the initial security to leave less work for whoever followed her to the upper level. At the very least, it would take the biot's mind off it's worries regarding Laertia.

She was doing the best she could, as her programming dictated. But from the moment she had first seen Laertia, despite her new programming causing her to care about her on sight, she knew she was dealing with damaged goods. Laertia had deep psychological wounds Moya had barely begun to address in the few short years caring for her. It frustrated her programming.

She remembered the first time they had met...

[File Playback]




Laertia followed the Master Shaper through a garden of his creations aboard his private living space station, which resembled a wide, black, flat mushroom in space. The floors and walls glowed and pulsed with amber veins, throbbing, amber colored nodules of tissue grown at regular intervals on the alien-curving floors and walls. Laertia, barely six months out of the surgeries that had saver her life, struggled to follow the Master Shaper, who barely reached her knee in terms of height, but wore an elaborate robeskin, the living clothing of his species. His name was UrRaa Grummp. He was the head of Grummp Design Branch, an artisan for organic weapons and assistant biots.

She had spared a Vong turned Sith a few days ago. It was a hard battle. Especially since her migraines had interfered at one point and nearly resulted in her death. But in the process, she had convinced the Vong to turn away from the Sith. She wasn't sure why at the time. She had never bothered with any of the others. But something told her to try with this one. So she had talked to him, convinced him that all his path would end in was his early death. He'd been stubborn, resisted at first, but once she had started to point out how it all seemed to end for Sith, he had gradually given way to conceding her point and surrendered his saber to her, going back to his family.

It had been an off day for her, when she had spared the Vong man three weeks prior. Normally she'd have simply killed him and move one. But after having her brain mangled she hadn't been feeling as harsh as usual. But it had paid off. The Vong's father, the Master Shaper leading her through the garden, had contacted her, wishing to give her one of his biots for free to assist her. He apparantly had something made by an ancestor. Something powerful. He had rewritten its original programming in order to help her out. More alone than ever, and desperate for something to trust, Laertia had accepted the Shaper's offer and met him aboard. He had some weird stuff. She had never been around Vong stuff before. It was completely alien to her sensibilities, so used to the crowded, jutting architecture of city planets. The grass under her felt oddly stiff, and looked blue. The super clear membranes that offered a view of the stars lined a circular chamber of artisinal creations, still gestating in their pods.

But one was special. Older than all the others, and hadn't even been made by this guy. He stopped in from of an emerald colored pod that resembled a web sack. Laertia saw something inside, humanoid, in a fetal position, hoses and wires hooked up to it.

She sensed a powerful Force signature from it, and turned to Grummp. "Iz dhiss itt?" Laertia asked, her very pale skin sticking out against her black clothes and the light emitting organs of the ship.

"This was made by my ancestor, a skilled Artisan who specialized in Jeedai Alkahest." Grummp answered. "It is a prototype combat model that's had additional protocols added to address your current situation, as well as the form and combat loadouts you requested. It will guard and protect...but only if you are worthy. But it has significant flaws...don't take it into battle unless you know your enemies or unless you have no choice...it has a chance of overheating...is there anything else, young Io? Any other programming you would like to add? The information needle is still in its brain."

Laertia looked around. There was no one else.

Laertia, driven to the brink by pain and loss of her place in the world, desperately needed a friend. Desperately needed a shoulder to cry on. It was only that fact that caused her to make her next request.

"I..."

"Yes?" Grummp asked in sincere concern.

"I wantz it tuh kare fer' me lyke I wuz a daughter..."

Grummp stared at her. Laertia stared back. Things were silent between them for about twenty seconds.

Finally, he simply nodded, impassively. He imputed the new directives into the biot's brain via a pedestal filled with buttons made of bone, with different symbols etched into them. He then triggered the awakening process.

The green fluid in the gestation pod drained quickly into nearby tanks made of Vong coral, the hoses unhooking as it was activated, currently a gray skinned, featureless humanoid covered in cold green ooze as the surface of its skin shivered, rippling like a pebble skipping across water, as the Shaper had it covered in a spare black robeskin.

Laertia stepped back a little, suddenly second guessing herself, but hiding it as the area of its head lit up green for a second and the whole surface shivered, taking on curvy, feminine features until it resembled a woman with golden tanned skin and very brown hair and dark brown eyes that blinked, the cold green ooze on it looking slick in the light as it stared at Laertia, who was suddenly unsure of the consequences of asking what she had asked for. But she was more surprised by just 'who' the biot looked like.

"Hello, Laertia. I'm Moya. Its great to finally meet you..." Moya said warmly, smiling a friendly smile. There was a strange mint smell from the residual coolant she had been stored in that made Laertia's nostrils burn.

"Duh saymez." Laertia replied simply. Her head hurt, and the issue of her face made her do a double take as she rubbed her temple.

"Whyy doo yooz looke lyke Moya De Lifte?"

"I was made in her image to serve as her decoy."

"Decoy? Fer wut?"

"The real Moya De Lifte was being stalked by a dark cult known as The Order of the Brain Demon..." Grummp explained. "De Lifte had this Biot fashioned in order to confuse and distract them while she sought a way to fight back. They found her before this creature you see before you could be properly utilized..."

"I nevuh kneww wut happind too Moya De Lifte. I uzed tuh studyz herr historyz az a knyght, but I nevuh kneww howw shee bitz itt..."

"They murdered the real Moya by sacrificing her to a lake of unholy black fire on Atrisia..." Grummp answered bluntly, further depressing Laertia. There goes one of her child hood idols.

"Are you alright?" Moya asked with all sincerity, still dripping green slime.

"Yeah. Jusst...didn'tz knowz dhat iz all."

Grummp folded his hands behind his back. "I trust everything is to your requirements, young Io?"

"Yess, Sirr. Thank yuhz vewy much." Laertia answered.

"Moya will explain all her technical specifications far better than I could..."

"Why doo yooz gott a Foyce Signachurr?" Laertia asked Moya.

"I'm an alchemized creation...I was made to be very hard to kill conventionally, so you're in good hands..." Moya assured her. "Shall we go? I can pilot your dynamic class, as you requested I be able to."

Laertia nodded, wondering more and more what she had gotten herself into, but she gestured at the ooze Moya was still drenched in.

"Yeah you're gonna wanna clean that off..." Grummp told the Biot. "Cleaning stations aren't far..."

Moya nodded, and left to make herself presentable while Laertia was escorted back to her ship in an organic hangar. While Laertia waited aboard her ship, she found herself thinking this might have been a bad idea. But having never gotten the attention she had craved from Ursula as a parent figure, she was too emotionally fragile to reject the biot's company. She was that alone. That friendless.

When Moya appeared half an hour later she was wearing a black, armorweave dress, walking confidantly to the old ship. After a half second of cowardice over whether to let her aboard, Laertia hit the ramp button and lowered it so the biot could walk aboard. As soon as it was aboard Laertia automatically hugged it, giving in to her lonliness...



[End Playback]


Moya pushed open two cherry colored double doors gently with her foot, walking into chamber that seemed to serve as a hub for other offices and looked like some type of security chamber. It had fifteen guards.

Moya smiled gently at them, her pheremones already in the air as the fifteen elegantly dressed guards, who had been playing cards, rose from the table and raised their rifles. All of them were either blaster rifles or slug throwers. She'd have to be careful. She brandished her black and green lightsaber.

"You sure I can't get any of you nice men--"

A blaster shot struck her in the chest, blowing bright green blood everywhere, making her cough it up before she fell face first to the floor, eyes open, seemingly dead, her lightsaber deactivating as it tumbled out of her hand.

"I can't believe you got one! And one the first shot too!" One of the guards exclaimed. "I thought we were dead!"

"Who the hell was that?" another asked going over to check on the "corpse"...

"Who? Try what?" said the zabrak man who had shot her. "Why is her blood green?"

They turned the Biot over, her eyes staring up at the ceiling. There was a green, smoking hole of non-human looking burnt and blasted open organs.

"What is she?" one guard called out.

Her hand shot up, startling them as green lightning arced off a clenched fist in multiple heavy bolts that smacked into everyone around her, knocking them out. She leapt up, using her electric judgement on the ones who had been caught off guard aheadof her, even as three more bolts managed to hit her in the chest before they all fell, blasting more away. Her dress could take pistol bolts, not rifles. More electric judgement flooded from her finger tips, hitting the rest...

Moya stood up, four large, gaping blaster wounds in her chest. The alarm sounded and she felt more coming to this office to reinforce. She hoped whoever had accompanied her was ready, she thought, as the four seconds necessary passed for the wounds to start reducing and closing themselves. In thirty seconds, it was as though she had not suffered damage at all, the only clue being the glowing green blood from what was left of the initial damage, her dress now burned and torn open slight on both front and back as she guarded in an Ataru stance, waiting for the retaliation...

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Laertia Io"]

THe jedi master watched the one go off while she stood there and was prepared for a fight. Her hand coming out as she focused the force into it and made a small barrier in front of herself that she could use. her lightsaber was on her hip and in some ways it could be helpful... a general thought was people wouldn't attack and would instead surrender.... A great idea but she coudln't be certain about that as she started moving behind the one woman. THe biot was going its way and Matsu motioned for Tana to follow her. She needed to observe this one and if there was a chance that whatever was going on in her head could become a danger she knew how to help in most cases or find a means to do it. This Laetia was proving to be a very interesting being indeed to learn about as the jedi master followed behind her. Hand coming up tpo deflect and reflect blaster bolts as a barrier appeared with her eyes narrowing. "Tana help Moya, I'll help out Io and we'll meet up hopefully."

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Tana liked where this was going, watching as Matus left telling him to follow the droid women, who he was starting to have small 'wonders' about. The last comment on being made for a certain purpose combined with her seemingly flirty like attitude did leave a little bit to the imagination. Not that is was his business, for all intense and purposes she was just a regular medical droid with 'other' abilities, he'd not really push the subject any further, unless it came up. He was an adolescent boy after all, such thinking was just natural... right?

As the two seemed to split up Tana contemplated going with [member="Laertia Io"] but was motioned to come along with Matus and Moya, keeping to the side as they encountered a group of guards. Seemed that these ones down here had become aware of the fate above, no sooner had the biot rounded the corner did she take a blaster bolt to the chest. He was about to ask if she was okay only to see her suddenly start blasting away at the other guards as they got close, having played dead for them. The distraction? just what he needed to join in, quickly placing the sights of his blaster onto some of the guards, taking silent pot shots while getting closer.

"You okay their? looks quite nasty, or are those non essential components"? He replied, leaping forward and sliding his short swords through one of the guard before he could do something stupid with a thermal detonator.

[member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Laertia Io]

Moya flipped over another guard as [member="Tanaski Yumi"] attacked his own as they burst in firing weapons. Moya moved swiftly, black and green blade flashing through limbs, but taking no lives, even as she sustained two more hits she didn't feel, blasting open her right shoulder and thigh as she unleashed another blast of electric judgement that hit another three firing from another passage. Her Ataru was an unusually precise variant, relying on cartwheels and somersaults as she dashed her blade through her enemies, sustaining another hit to the back, which she punished by whipping the blade through the shooter's weapon, then both hands.

A sword pierced Moya from behind, causing the biot to cough glowing green blood as she turned, stabbing her attacker through the thigh then punching him. She removed the sword from behind, spilling green blood as dropped it. No signs of an overheat coming on yet, for which she was greatful.

There was silence for the moment, Darkmite's office not far. Tanaski's earlier question finally filtered through as her latest wounds began to fix themselves, fibers stitching together or growing, sealing the wound until it was gone entirely.

"Only thing thats essential is my head really." She explained, wiping her own blood from her face with a nearby towel. "There also needs to be at least ten to fifteen percent of the rest of me remaining to fix itself. I'm sustained by the Force otherwise...my normal healing rate is about thirty percent that of a Gen'Dai. A Vong Alkahest Specialist made me with the aid of the woman whose likeness I now bear..." she explained, heading down the passage she had just cleared.

"Beyond taking care of Laertia, I am otherwise autonomous..." she continued, stopping in front of an elaborate golden door that was magnetically sealed. Laertia shoved her blade into the center, watching it light up as it started to melt the lock.

"So, how 'bout you, Knight Yumi? You're pretty skilled with that blaster. Most Jedi I've seen don't use them unless its an emergency..." Moya asked, genuinely curious as she melted the lock.

Meanwhile...

Laertia and Matsu had taken the turbolift down, and when it opened up, what awaited her shocked her.

It was an entire underground casino. The place was in full swing, scantily clad waitresses bringing high stakes players drinks, a gaudy, golden facade covering the entire area, various card tables and slot machines present. But somehow, it all felt wrong...

Laertia took a step forward, cautiously, this strange buzzing in the Force present.

Her blade went active, the unstable looking thing pulsating.

"I wanttz duh wunz whoo moydered Boss Razonn..." Laertia growled at everyone, still on edge from what she was sensing.

Instead of panicking or fleeing as she expected, the party seemed to fall silent, all turbing and fixing a dead glassy stare at Laertia and [member="Matsu Ike"] .

"...Please?" Laertia asked nervously.

The crowd of gamblers and waitresses, to Laertia's horror, started to melt in their clothes, the skin actually a type of wax that flowed out of clothes, revealing pitch black skeletons with Sith Alchemy runes on their bones. The wax created little spider like creatures that crawled quickly, squealing at their prey. Laertia's shotgun came out and blasted away at the creatures as she retreated back, the skeletons advancing with vibro blades, the flowing wax crafting horrifying monstrosities as well, some skeletons still wore clothes as they approached Matsu...

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Laertia Io"]

"Well that is something." SHe raised an eyebrow while watching them come at her and melt into creatures. THis was not what she was expecrting but she could handle it as her hand produced a lightsaber and the jedi master didn't speak. She had a plan.. kind of and focused the force until it came out in electric judgement. The purple pink energy cascading across the floor like a grid and some pops could be heard. The energy released wasn't enough to kill people but bugs and these things it could send them back across the room when the jedi master let the force energies dance around herself. She didn't bring her blade up yet but the things were and could be dangerous in these larger numbers.. she was pushing the force to repulse and break up the larger herds while Io moved and got to use her skils. The force coming out before she created a wall of cascading energy and crashed it into a small group to launch them into the air.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

Moya brought a new name to the work bloody fight, mainly by providing the blood. The way she fought was akin to his own mother, taking hit that she knew she could handle with ease and dealing a killing blow in return. It looked quite painful, but if it worked, well it worked, no point changing a tactic with such a good success rate.

He stopped thinking about it for a few seconds, his own blades dancing around and dealing death, slicing at the vital parts of the thugs when in range, his hard and sharp blade moving through their botched armor and skin like a knife through hot butter. They were powerless to stop the deadly duo, afterwards there being nothing but stewern bodies and limbs all around them, the sweet scent of blood filling the room.

He sheathed the now red swords, following the autonomous biotic further into the compound, listening to her each step of the way. "Healing hu? I wonder, sounds like it's not to far from my own abilities". All the wounds she had taken were definitely blow he'd be able to live through easily. "As for my skill in a blade, I am a Riben-Jin, it is stone like tradition for everyone of my people to learn metal working from a young and and made a blade, then learn how to master it". "These cortosis wakizashis are the product of my own hands from my early teens, though I also use a saber these two weapons are far more important to me, also in some cases more useful".

[member="Matsu Ike"] [member="Laertia Io"]

 

[Laertia Io]

Moya finally melted the lock on the door and listened to [member="Tanaski Yumi"] give his answer. She whistled at his weapons, finally getting a good look at them.

"They are extremely well made..." she remarked quietly, staring at them in fascination. "I confess I've never heard of your people but I can't help but admire how they imbue that kind of self reliance at such an early age...if you can work a forge, you're prepared for hardship in general...and if you can make something beautiful in the process..." she trailed, admiring the craftsmanship. "Laertia always admires good blades. She'd love to compare notes..."

Moya held out her own blade.

"This lightsaber belonged to the woman I was made to resemble...she was a Jedi Master named Moya De Lifte. She came from a family of them. They roamed the spaceways bringing what order they could to the outer rim after parts of it got hit by the Gulag Plague. I don't know how or where she got the crystal that makes the weird blade though. Still...one of the things I just couldn't bear parting from...but lets get going. I can't feel Laertia or Matsu." Moya remarked, suddenly worried, before entering the office of Darkmite.

There was a long red carpet leading set over a white tiled floor, which disappeared into tiled walls just as white. The color scheme was broken only by the golden glow of the security booth behind an elaborate and well made oval desk embroidered with black wood and gold filligree. Moya walked quietly through it, her lightsaber reactivating, the all white room creeping her out. The biot stretched out what limited Force sense she did possess for any sign of danger. She felt the subtle hum of the dark side here. It was strange she had not felt it before entering the room.

"I don't like this..." Moya whispered.

Her sense of danger finally went off. She turned, trying to shout at Tanaski to get out of the room but the security force field had already descended.

The walls slid open and Moya's eyes widened. It was an ancient design. More ancient then the clone wars. The droid body of General Grievous had been based on it. Infamous for slaying Jedi.

Pulse wave bows in their hands with vibro tips powered up and vibroswords were drawn.

Krath War Droids, their armor plating as white as most of the room was, as well as their internal mechanisms. Like scalpels descending on an abcess, the droids seperated her from Yumi, six attacking her, another six attacking him.

Moya force jumped over a slash, her black blade being blocked by precise parrys, followed by fast counter attacks that made her leap and spin in mid air repeatedly to avoid the stabs and slices that came at her from all directions, and Moya viciously slashed at the droids from all directions as she used the force to increase her speed and dexterity to evade their blows but the droids had a pretty staunch defense, and many of their attacks were getting disturbingly closer and closer to hitting. It was all Moya could do to evade the pulse wave shots as she leapt and spin and struck, but the droids seemed fiendishly well programmed--most of her fastest attacks only scored minor hits. Moya decided to go for the largest target, attacking the bows. The swords she could deal with. But not while also being shot at. This form could only use Ataru. And while she was programmed with a blademaster's grasp of the skill...she still didn't like going up against both sword and blaster at the same time. One or the other. Not both.

Especially when it was assassin droids targeting you.

Moya's black blade dashed through one bow, finally succeeding in a good blow. The swords swipes were hard to evade though, one had already gotten her free hand, which was regrowing fast, but she kept hacking through the bows and eventually managed to destroy all of them. It was only after this that she found herself on a more even footing, more easily spinning and twirling over and under their slicing motions, delivered with all the speed and precision of an industrial saw, her black lightsaber a dark fan orbiting and spinning close to her body, finally finding an arc that passed through Krath legs, not stopping her spinning movements, each attack linking into the other as she spun it around her one handed, black dress whirling as her blade chewed through another Krath head. But for every solid blow she managed to get in fifteen were blocked. She couldn't get exhausted, being sustained by the Force, but the longer this went on, the more dangerous it got. Moya leapt and whirled like a pinball, managing to get through the guard of another droid, before executing a spinning upside down leap that sliced through the torso of one droid behind her, their attacks, while just as fast, were less frequent.

Soon only three left were facing her. She sprinted towards them, her speed enhanced four fold by the Force as her black blade parried and struck back in equal measure. She ducked or parried the next six strikes at her head and torso, her blade striking off a head, then an arm, then another head. The last one fell parrying high speed slices from all directions before three of them dashed a z-pattern through it.

The hiss of another three lightsabers caught her ear, and she went into an Ataru ready as what appeared to be a series of heavily modified B-1 Droids, five in all, their metal a brighter white then the room itself. They were all armed with red lightsabers, each bearing a symbol on their chassis that Moya knew well. It was a jagged black crescent.

They all seemed to know Niman, their reflexes and speed lethal as they all moved in on her at once. Moya was deflecting and spinning with her blade as she retreated backwards the red blades of her foes striking like vipers all spotting the same mouse. Moya detected damage as the tip of one blade found a way past her guard and bit into her torso, leaving a trail of black smoke. Moya didn't dare stop moving, constantly keeping aware of her surroundings as the droids attacked. These were exceptionally well programmed lightsaber droids. They only attacked when they were sure their fellows were not too open. Moya realized she would have to get tricky. She dropped her guard a bit letting one impale her through the chest so she could cut its head off, grabbing and de-activating the one she had been impaled with, turning it on just in time to block and slice in half another droid.

One lightsaber passed through her arm cleanly, the one holding the red blade. Moya, unable to feel pain, let the arc of the blade that had dealt such a huge injury keep travelling downward, so she could yank her remaining blade upward also slicing her attacker in half.

She heard the tell tale click of nozzles too late.

The remaining droids, each armed with wrist mounted flamethrowers, sprayed Moya, and she took a full on blast of the stuff, squealing inhuman, shrill, pig-like squeals as she was torched, her flesh boiling and melting like stinking grease as she rolled frantically on the floor, trying to put the flames out, clutching her saber in a death grip as she writhed, the flesh burning off her completely and charring the silvery skleleton underneath everywhere, burning its dress off as it still continued to roll around, its glowing green, exposed innards, sparking violently as it tried to crawl away, trailing green blood and squealing. The remaining droids got closer, one striking at its head taking half its burnt skull off in one swipe vertical wise. The biot ceased to move, and fell down, still sparking.

The droids then went to attack Tanaski, stalking him with the same lethal precision.

But, it was a credit to Moya's design that so long as at least a quarter of it's brain remained.

Little fibers were allready growing out of the remains of its skull...

But Moya was, for the moment, out of commission.

Meanwhile...

(Hellboy Theme Plays)


Laertia gave a battle cry as she teleported around Matsu, violently slashing at whatever wax creature got to close to [member="Matsu Ike"] while she let off her own display. Laertia's blade danced through some of the nastier abominations before drawing her shotgun and blasting a huge cluster of them everywhere. She fought with a ruthless, horrific fluidity and precision, betraying the sheer mastery of the lightsaber she had obtained. Her blade ate only through the greatest masses, its unstable looking green blade smashing through forms too grotesque for words. Things that would send ordinary people running.

Matsu and Laertia were not ordinary. The power put off by the atrisian made the room shudder, and as strong as Laertia was, she knew she didn't hold a candle to Matsu. (Her abilities were more situational and required more planning to utilize properly then one might think.)

But wax could not be killed. And for however much Matsu's electric judgement might work, it still did not seem to be actually killing them. Something else was powering them. While Matsu repulsed the creatures, Laertia teleported around the room, looking for where the dark was concentrated greatest, slicing and shooting through the wax monsters until she stopped at a roulette table. It stank of the dark's putridness as she sliced it open, revealing some smalll obelisk with a crystal, fighting off monsters that attacked from left and right, her lightsaber turning even the magic wax to carbon after a few strikes. Laertia drew her shotgun, said a prayer, and fired both barrels at the crystal. The monsters shrieked, disappearing into flesh colored puddles. The skeletons collapsing on themselves.

It exploded, flinging her back, making her black out somewhat...



Laertia stepped off the Scarlet Phantom, mouth dropping, blinking back tears of shock as she beheld the green beauty of Dantooine for the first time.

There...there were leaves...and flowers...and lakes. She had known only the smog and cramped confines of Nar Shaddaa's alleys, or her barely working frieghter, which she had only flown once in an emergency. She'd painted her quarters pink with polka dots recently.

The bedraggled teen in the spiky jacket, her pale skin feeling true fesh air for the first time could only walk forward, her gray eyes, not used to beauty, were not certain how to comprehend the lovely sights. She walked forward nervously, hands clasped together in front of her. She made a slow pace, until she spotted red flowers. She nervously approached, having only seen the dry, corporate sold plastic flower bundles in the shops deep below, where she had been given her enhanced strength by that strange water spirit. She turned to Ursula, who stood formally, hands folded behind her back, her blue eyes fixed on Laertia, her expression neutral.

"Arr duh flowerz sayfe?" Laertia asked.

Ursula nodded. "Unless you have allergies."

"Oh no, no allerrgeez." Laertia answered back happily. She went over on one knee, keeping an awareness of where Laertia was, and sniffed the flowers. It was like those fancy store perfumes she sometimes stole to resell elsewhere. She touched the petals, feeling how soft they were.

As her eyes darted between the flower and Ursula, she knew she would never go back to Nar Shaddaa save to get her frieghter. She took a deep breath of the air, staring at Ursula. She wasn't sure she could trust her.

"Iff I doo dhis, iff I agwee tuh bee partz ov yorr groop...I cann leevz anny tymez I wantz? No stringz?"

Ursula simply nodded. But her face went stern.

"The training will be hard. I will not go easy on you. I will push you to be and expect only the best. If you are afraid of hardship, or discomfort--" she spoke warningly.

"I havv nevuh knownn annyting but hardshipp, sistuh. Don't worriez." Laertia replied firmly.

Ursula's next question caught her off guard.

"How many have you killed?"

"I tryy nott tuh ruhmemmberrz." The teen answered.

Ursula sighed and shrugged. "Can't say I blame you. Tell me, Laertia...what do you know of combat beyond that knife or your shotgun?"

"Attwizzian Kane Swarhds." The teen answered, seeing no reason to lie now that she had made up her mind.

Ursula's eyes went wide. "Who taught you to wield a Shikomizue?"

Laertia didn't answer.

Ursula sighed again. "Fine. Keep your secrets, Io. But you will have to learn to trust me some way or another."

Laertia then noticed the red chromium H-Type Nubian that they had flown in on. Her jaw dropped.

"Yooz gotz a sweet ryde!" Laertia exclaimed.

Ursula smiled. Faintly. "The Scarlet Phantom does have that effect on people."

"Its reel nyce. Dhatz noobiann, ryte?" Laertia asked, approaching it.

Ursula nodded. "An antique I upgraded. Do you fly?"

"Wunce..." Laertia replied, staring at the beyond lovely ship. "But I donn't flyy nuthin fanciez lyke dhis. I gotz a dyynamik klass fweightuh. We gotzta go back fer itt! I...I just got it flyin'!" Laertia said.

"Relax, Padawan."

"Paddawutz?"

"Padawan..." Ursula corrected tersely. "Its what we call our apprentices in the Jedi. I hope you're ready."

"Doo I getz a cool layzuh swarhd lyke yooz?" Laertia asked, mind reeling at the idea someone was mentoring her. She had never been mentored before. No one had ever cared to. That Ursula thought she was worth anything made the woman take on new dimensions for Laertia.

Someone gave a damn about her...someone cared.

Laertia decided then and there, as she stared at Sandraven smiling happily, making the smile Ursula had crack a little wider, that she would do her best to give a damn right back.

"Leed duh wayze, Ursy!"

Ursula raised an eyebrow. "Ursy?"

Laertia stammered nervously. "I ain'tz nevuh hadd a fwend..."

This revelation nearly broke Ursula's stoic facade. She felt the sudden urge to reach out, hug her and tell her everything would be alright. That she had friends now. But she had never been good at expressing that.

Instead, Ursula only nodded in agreement.

"I suppose I am your friend." she agreed. "Speaking of us being friends, I believe in giving my friends things to protect themselves..."

Ursula headed back to the ship and retrieved a small silver hilt with brown leather wrappings. She handed it to the nervous looking teen and Laertia took it. "But I aintz gott yoo nuthinz!" Laertia protested innocently.

Ursula shrugged. "Don't fret over it."

Laertia took it and activated it. A silvery white shoto blade snaked out of the hilt, and Laertia was transfixed. There was enough room for a two handed grip and the blade was two thirds the length of a normal lightsaber blade. Laertia swung it experimentally, keeping a safe distance from Ursula, who folded her arms and observed. To Ursula's clear surprise Laertia started spinning it one handed. "Be careful." Ursula warned.

"Nyce nyfe. Good kleevuh."

"You...you spin it as though you've practiced for weeks--!" Ursula exclaimed. Laertia beamed. She had impressed her teacher. She wanted to impress her...



Laertia lay inert on the ground, surrounded by collapsed skeletons and inert murder-wax. Her eyes were closed, her crossguard lightsaber lay a distance from her hand, and she was breathing...

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Tanaski Yumi"] [member="Laertia Io"]

The jedi master was moving and letting the force flow throughout her body. She could see what they were fighting and focused on it when she reached out. The reanimation itself was something that could keep coming back. Whatever was controlling it she needed to stop more as the girl went down. Laertia was on the ground and Matsu moved quickly to her side focusing the force itself to her willpower before she extended it and focused the force of will into a bubble around herself. Making force powers that were around but unable to match hers almost become nullified. SHe was looking at the girl though and focused on her wounds if she was hurt before picking her up and moving quickly.She got to the side and held a hand out making a wall of energy that would protect them for a moment while she was focusing the force in one hand then into the other hand to she could check the woman. "Please be okay, I might not completely be able to carry you out and fight."

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

It was nice to see someone who appreciated and liked the origin of his blades, quite a few people didn't understand or grasped hi culture very well, others thought it strange and a little weird to be dedicated to a particular craft and pine after it form a young age. "Thank you for the compliments, and I do not fault you for not knowing about my people, our home planet is far into what used to be the unknown regions, a few sectors away from the Chiss home world". "Also we have a only gained Hyper space travel in the last few decades, I am one of the few of my people to no live on our home world, even if I am mixed race". His mother being an Astrian energy vampirel, though he was fairly certain the Jin were very distantly related to them anyways.

As the bito show her saber he could not help but stare at it, such a nice fine piece of work, it showed wear but also care, Moya had certainly taken good care of the saber. "She sounds like a good women, and I could only guess that the crystal used is one of those rare ones that add certain properties to blade". "Making it stronger, more refined, unstable but letting sparks fly and so on, my own mother and sister have sabers with crystals that give extra properties, though the exact one in that blade I would not know". Perhaps some research was in order once this little operation was completed, every second Moya was becoming more and more interesting, along with her little Jedi daughter.

Keeping a hand on his blade Tana followed the medical warrior into the following room, it's stark contrast to the rest of the building certainly coming off as a bit strange, earning a cocked eye brow as the two entered, something felt wrong, out of place. That is when it hit, memories of certain tombs and temples from his youth, the long decorated hall ways, made to be distracting but often hiding deadly traps, this place was no different, but they had fallen for it already, a thud coming from behind as the door sealed shut, Tana quickly entering a defensive stance with his blades in wake of the now present droids ready to try and cut the two down.

They were fast, the initial swing from the assassin like being just missing the boys neck, Tana, quickly dodging to the side bringing his twin blade up to the side in order to block a two trust from his side, parrying them into one other before rolling forwards, turning around to face the group assaulting him. "This battle... will be quite a tough one, that much is certain". He launched into an offensive twist, aiming his cortosis blades into the head of the closet droid, only for it to dodge to the side expertly and come up with a counter, one that Tana ducked under before shooting a razor sharp ice spear into it's leg, throwing the machine off balance for a bit allowing him to turn attention to the two others stalking up behind.

It seemed his opponents were not solely close combat, several blaster bolts flying from their wrists attempting to hit the agile boy and close the gap for the kill, in times like this his blades not being the best defense, unable to deflect the blast, only block them. Which in itself was a problem, the flash and slight sparking effect from the impact blinding his vision for a split second with each hit, making the Jedi lose track of the enemy droids for a moment and that was all they needed to get in a decent hit. As a final blaster bolt came forwards so two did the droids, both going for quick thrust towards his chest, Tana using his blades to form an X, blocking the first blow and using the force to sense a strong electrical surge into the beings chest, knocking it away.

He was not so lucky with the latter one, a sudden pain erupting from his lung, the warm feeling of blood running along his skin and up his throat, a splash of the red live giving liquid leaving his mouth, splattering across the droids face. "Fucking hell... THAT HURT"!! Letting go of his blade Tana's hands clasped around the droids head, a metal crushing nose resonating from the beings skull as it gave way to a vampiric and force enhanced strength from the boy, it's central computer system being destroyed in the process, it's body falling limp, letting Tana back up and inspect the weapon now lodged in his left lung. "Ow ow ow ow ow, son'nani itami"

[member="Laertia Io"] [member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Laertia Io]

While [member="Tanaski Yumi"] killed the remaining droids off, the biot had regrown enough of its brain to stand up, with its flesh and muscles burned off the Biot's silvery organic platform underneath was exposed. Though it looked like it was made of metal it was nothing but tissue. Moya was advanced, but it was obvious she was not invincible.

Due to being burned by fire, it would be sometime before the flesh started to regrow, but it wasn't totally helpless. Moya spotted the young man with the sword lodged in his lung and went over.

"Its me, Tanaski..." The biot called out to him with a slightly electronic tone before it approached, inspecting the wound, using its medical files.

"Don't move if you don't have to. Its lodged deep, pulling it out improperly without the proper tools to treat it could kill you." The biot warned, flesh starting to spindle out in thin strands arcross its chassis, very slowly spreading downward. It went and looked for some means of treating Yumi, going over to the desk and spotting an emergency medical kit and opened it. Without a word she brought it over, the facial muscles building up as she injected a painkiller into Yumi's neck, dulling his pain as much as she could before she started.

"If you try and pull it out on your own, you run the risk of hurting yourself even further. You seem far too nice to die so early." it joked as it carefully removed the sword prepping the medical bacta foam immediately and injecting it into the wound to stop any bleedout, covering it in the high grade bacta bandages she found inside the kit. Most of the muscle tissues were done regrowing by the time she finished, starting to glow electric green and some of the outer layers of flesh had grown back on her arms. Not wanting to have a very awkward moment, the biot, parts of its silver skeleton still showing walked off to find some clothing, still sensing the darkness everywhere. It went back to the desk, spotting a control panel it had not before due to the urgent need to get the blade out of Tanaski.

The panel had labels. The biot hit the one labeled "wardrobe" and a wall on the side hissed open

(Zelda Unlocking Theme Plays)

It seemed to be a large gallery of mostly mens clothes, gaudy stuff made from the flesh of reptiles mostly, some gaudy, heavy fur coats and what looked to be a number of three piece suits, all in white. Moya scoffed at this, most of her skin regrown as she went through the wardrobe, naked due to her clothes getting burned off in the fight before. It was actually about eight aisles wide, with various styles on display in plastic packaging.

Her danger sense went active and she barely dodged the swipe of the red lightsaber from the female bodyguard wearing a chrome red and blue armored leotard and boots with gauntlets on her wrists as she surprised her from behind a trapdoor in one of the clothing galleries, which opened to a feeling of such foul darkness Moya visibly tensed at it. Her foe had black hair tied in a ponytale and pale skin, her eyes sulpherous from the dark side, skin pale with black veins.

Moya remained silent, the dark jedi giving an insidious grin as she charged with a swipe at the naked woman.

Green lightning slammed into the red blade, forcing the Dark Jedi to her knees, teeth gritting in surprise and rage as she blocked the electric judgement with her lightsaber, but Moya remained unworried. Better, more challenging opponents had tried and failed to block this attack. The green lightning streamed continuously against the blade, until the blade shorted out, slamming into the Dark Jedi, knocking her out as her simple, weathered hilt flew out of her hands. Moya knealt down and retrieved the blade, flooding it with electric judgement and meditating, banishing any trace of the darkness and then activating it five minutes later, her use of the Force having effectively cleansed the blade, producing a teal color.

Moya stripped her of her armor, putting it on and leaving her in a bra and underwear as she went back to the place the surprise foe had come from where she sensed such intense darkness. She saw a crystal the size of a baseball, colored red within, along with scrolls and etched bones. Moya dared not go near any of it due to flaws in her own design as she went back to Tanaski.

"Darkmite has a hidden chamber in here, with what I'm guessing are Sith artifacts..." she said, walking out to inform Tanaski. "I can't go near any of it. You should stay here if you are still too injured. Otherwise, I'm going to help Laertia and Matsu."

Moya retrieved a disk from the security station in the back before shoving her new lightsaber through it, then got her old lightsaber and headed down to help when she saw what waa going on.

"They're being attacked!" Moya hissed, sprinting for the doors, black and green lightsaber activating...


Meanwhile...

Laertia stirred awake, staring up at [member="Matsu Ike"] .

"Ursy?" Laertia called out sweetly, confused and forgetting where she was for a second before thinking through her brain injuries and springing up. She tried to teleport but was forced back in place due to the bubble over them.

The wax monsters were bashing against the bubble. There must be another artifact, something she had missed. She needed to think fast, but it was so hard, and the wax monsters scared her and she was starting to freeze up from the stage fright caused by her brain. Where were her rabbits? She wanted her rabbits. Not wax monsters. She started to shudder, experiencing a mild breakdown as she stared at the horrifyingly ugly things the enchanted wax made to try and break the shield. Her hands trembled as she struggled through the stage fright to concentrate. Rabbits. She needed a rabbit...

"Laertia!" Moya yelled, bursting through, letting loose with the emerald bolts that overloaded the enchanted wax, making it melt away and shudder around them, casting it everywhere in front of her. Her black lightsaber swiped through the thicker masses.

"Dhere's anudda artyfaact inn here!" Laertia shouted. "Yoo gotzta destroy it!"

"Where is it?!" Moya asked.

Laertia closed her eyes, trying not to shake from stage fright as she focused, reaching out as the wax regathered itself. She felt it in a chandalier above and pointed. Moya barely got off a bolt before she was hit hard enough by a wax tentacle to send her flying.

The green bolt hit the chandalier though and the artifact crystal within shattered. Every ounce of wax fell silent in the room, for real this time...

Moya rose up, slipping on some of the nasty wax, her spinal column resetting itself after the wax tentacle broke it slightly.

"You'll definitely never figure out how to do this in a magic show..." Moya joked.

Laertia didn't answer, still shaking from the stage fright her injured brain was putting her through. She fidgeted.

"Rabbitz..." Laertia muttered, eyes darting around, hyperventilating. "Werr arr my rabbitz...I wantz outz of heer annd I wantz my rabbitz..."

Moya sighed. "Deep breaths Laertia, deep breaths.."

Laertia could not stop hyperventilating. Hot lights, clapping crowds, everything she claimed to want and now she was scared of it. What if they booed her?

"I wantz myy rabbitz..." Laertia repeated quietly.

 

[Matsu Ike]

[member="Laertia Io"]

THe jedi master focused the force she had the mental strength to focus the energies and keep it going. She could focus herself though for hours or days even. The jedi master moved a hand to try and calm her when she woke up her words were strange but her mental state was frantic as Matsu tried to speak focusing the force into her voice to calm her and she didn't like treating her like a child. Well she didn't want to do it at least, this wasn't her child any of them but she was in needed and the jedi master reached out to try and sooth her as her voice came out. "Shh shh it is okay." She was looking at her and the biot came in to help as the jedi master repulsed with a look on her face. Thankful for it but she pushed the force to repel and try to get Laertia the help she would need. She could try and use Sakura maybe.. she had worked with Ronin to help his mind. "We'll try and do it then." She offered a weak smile though where they could be going. She was reaching out with the force itself and trying to find everything that she could, she could reach out and touch the girls mind trying to reinforce and help her mental shields. "Please." She said it and focused on the current, on the illusion as she searched for the rabbits holding on in her hand that was meant to be real enough of an illusion to help calm her.

 

[Tanaski Yumi]

It was kind of strange to see the biot in her factory new form, the robotic nature of the being making her seem more like a war machine then anything else, but still he did reorganize the voice behind it, giving a coy smile. "They got me good, so this is what it feels like to drown, ahah *cough*, kark it hurts, how does mother constantly ignore wounds like this", the wounds she managed to walk off were mind blowing after facing this non life threatening stab. He stayed still, letting Moya work her magic, the pain still quite present and not going away soon, it was quite the relief to have the needle inject a pain killer, once more the young boy able to rest somewhat easy.

"You'd be surprised how much punishment my body can take before going out, but It is nice to know you care". Finally the long metal blade was slowly and carefully removed, Moya injecting more medical fluids into him, helping his already inhuman healing factor. He let the biot continue her work, but by the time she had applied the bacta bandage the laceration and internal damage was already on the way to fully healed, his regular breathing returning, pain being numbed to almost non existence. Tana letting out a small sigh as the on field, standing back up and collecting his blades, but not before catching a glimpse of the half-naked droid, not an unwelcome sight but certainly unexpected.

He gave the female biot some privacy, waiting outside the room for her as they once again became clothed, a new sense of danger encompassing the complex, no doubt there would be more then that trap to deal with further down. Tana's little wait cut short as the sound of a light saber and clashing came from the room, followed by electrical crackling, making the young Jedi once again slip into a combat stance, slowly entering into the massive wardrobe like room, thinking that once again some trap had been triggered. Before he was able to walk any further the biot returned, dressed in a new outfit, warning about the dangers inside, "dark side artifacts, scary, I will come with you, my wound has more or lees regenerated, I am good to go".

With a hasty step Tana followed Moya towards the others, the sound and sense of battle reaching hearing range.

[member="Matsu Ike"] [member="Laertia Io"]

 

[Laertia Io]

Laertia's stage fright persisted, with the ex-shadow starting to hyperventilate until [member="Matsu Ike"] conjured an illusion. She saw Beskar and began petting the non-existent pet rabbit of hers. Moya finally approached, hand on Laertia's shoulder.

Laertia finally calmed down, sweating, trembling a little still as the illusion vanished. She looked at them both nervously.

"Thankz yooz..." she said quietly, teleporting her weapons back to her hand, though with great effort due to exhaustion. It had been a long time since she had fought like that. She holstered her shotgun, feeling the weight of her saber in her hand as she stared at Moya's slightly revealing leotard armor. "Where'dd yooz gett dhat?"

"Well there was this Dark acolyte in a hidden closet with another hidden closet in his office. Anyway, we fought and this armor looked a lot better on me...all my clothing sorta got burned off...so here we are!" Moya answered enthusiastically as [member="Tanaski Yumi"] made his entrance. "Hee lukks lyke he been troo a twashh commpactuh..."

"He got stabbed in the lung. But he's made of some pretty tough stuff...he heals astonishingly quick...and this is coming from someone who knows how to heal fast."

"Well, I'mm gladz yooz all rytez, Tanaski..." Laertia said as he came into the chamber.

Moya looked around stepping hard boots through dead, alchemized wax. "What is this stuff..."

"Dahrkmytez littul seekritt.." Laertia muttered, stepping her boots through wax and inert skeletons.

"How much you wanna bet all these skeletons are crime bosses?" Moya wondered, wandering through the ruined, lavish room.

"Hmmm...iff dhis wuz streett bettinz I'dd wagerr a gud twunny-gwand..." Laertia joked, looking for what Tanaski had originally seen on that dead corpse... She was very through, a life on the street breaking into fancy places telling her how these sorts of people think.

"Why have them all here? Why have them pretend they're gambling? Some sort of experiment? To see if he can pass his monsters off as sentient?" Moya theorized, dipping a finger in the inert wax and grimacing in disgust as she spotted a skull staring at her.

"Nuh. Nott himz..." Laertia trailed. "Dhis? Dhis weren'tz meantz fer uss...udda cryme gangz perhapz...maykes dhem tink dhere bossez arr styll alyvez...annd tuh keepz em az tropheez..."

"This Darkmite's starting to sound like a sick feth..." Moya replied.

"Ohhhh, yoo don'tz knowz duh halvez ov itt..." Laertia spoke as she came across the cashier office behind golden bars that had computer monitors flickering within.

"Dhis guyy...hee ekwatez powuh wythh munny. Hee treetz itt duh saymez...hee tinkz it cann bee boughtz...soldz...stolennz...evuhreetinz exceptz earnz..."

Laertia teleported behind the bars, running her hand over the computer screens, which displayed the hidden rooms by opening their doors. There were four in all, each resembled the same room Tanaski had seen the crime boss dying in in his vision.

Each wall in the room was inscribed with evil looking rooms.

"Seez? Treetz hiz powuh lyke hiz munny...alwayz keepingz emm close byy..." Laertia snorted, teleporting back out of the office.

"But where did he get the knowledge? 'Someone' gave it to him..." Moya assumed.

"Wee cann askz himm wunce wee reech emz...speekinz o whichh..." Laertia trailed.

Moya remembered the time. "We still have a while before the show. We'll be fine..."

"Nott whennz duh ownuh getz a load ov dhis..." Laertia replied with dry affect. "Carrpett cleenin allonez gunna bee moyduh..."