OBJECTIVE: 1; The Last Stand
LOCATION: Enemy Ba(nk)se
ALLIES: Mandalorian Empire
ENEMIES: Dar'Manda Forces
{7/20}
---------------------------------
She wasn't sure what was faster- her heartbeat or the pounding of her feet against permacrete. Maybe they were evenly matched. Lined up, coordinated, synchronized. Or maybe she was just hearing the echo of her steps, the double-patter of her heart and the blood rushing in her ears. That was a possibility. Oh, there were countless possibilities, all out there, waiting for her to ponder them, to wander into their ideas. But Kadala did not reach for a single one. Did not try to grasp them with her sweating, clammy hands. If she had, they surely would have fallen from her grip, slipped away despite magnet-graced gauntlets. What would have been the point? What could she have-
Something screamed at her to focus. It stuck pins and needles into her shoulder, drew with red ink upon her abdomen, and threatened to trip her tired feet. Out of practice, she found herself thinking. Two teeth tried to bury themselves into her bottom lip. They yelled out nonsense- bantha chite about distractions and decoys. She did not want to listen. Kadala kept running, kept launching herself across rooftops, kept moving. Moving away from the quiet that refused to be silenced. Blood roared so happily within her veins, racing her, daring her to go faster, faster, faster. Who was she to deny her soul of what it desperately craved? Who was she to let the memories return?
The wind whipped past her, whirling away from her rushing form. Every part of her felt like a blur. Like she was breaking the sound barrier into bits. Of course she wasn't moving that fast in reality. Of course. But feelings were feelings, regardless of their rationale. Kadala felt like a leaf on the wind as she launched herself off one last roof. Her momentum carried her forward, over one final edge, sending her in a collision course to the concrete. The impact was jarring- she could feel her jaw rattling in response. Every breath in the sequence of events that followed came with a shudder, a heaving of her whole body, evidence of the fact that she was overworking her living vessel.
"Frack," she muttered, oxygen catching and clawing the inside of her throat. Yet... she did not allow her weary soul to rest for long. It was fleeting, the repose. As ephemeral as could be. I've got a frakkin' job to do, the young Skirata reminded herself, scowling once more. The rush had temporarily ceased. What remained was ruined comfort, something she did not care for. Busying herself was the only way to evade the inevitable flashback session. Let's see about those defenses, she thought, starting to reach out with the force. She used it to push at one of the bank's windows. Gently she nudged it, attempting to gauge the strength of any possible reinforcements. As she had anticipated, the dar'manda had indeed covered up the dark glass, deeming it a structural weakness.
But they hadn't strengthened it enough. She could feel the support pressed against the glass, could feel its stress, the desire it seemed to have. Like so many things before it, it craved the release of destruction. The end of a cracked existence. And who, oh who was she to refuse to grant its wish? Power surged through veins, trickled down her forehead with the sweat, gathered in her limbs, and around her like a barricade. There was no structure to her use of the force. No rhythm, no rhyme. Just instinct barreled alongside anger, an often disastrous, dangerous concoction. Kadala took one final dose of rage before launching herself into the air.
When she crashed into the window, the cacophony chorus chimed in, a clamorous swan song worthy of bleeding ears. Her own cry joined the mix soon enough, equal parts pain and defiance. Cracked glass slipped around her, accompanied by splintered wood and mangled metal, split pieces assaulting her armor. A few bits managed to slide between durasteel plates. They did not make her swear as much as the sudden shifting of her shoulder, the dislocating of bones did. How had she forgotten the injury?... She hadn't. The memory was there, nestled amongst every other moment of her life, threatening to overwhelm her. Then what was her excuse for the reckless abandon which she carried herself with? What excuse did she make as she plummeted towards a scrambled group of men?...
It could be worse. It could be worse.