The Last Of Us

[Onley Xiangu]

Trismegis​

Mid-Afternoon​

The wind had just died down again.

Advancing out from underneath a rocky overhang, Onley ran his hand absently over his face to ensure none of it had been sanded away by the planet’s extraordinary weather patterns. He hadn’t encountered anything for hours - not even a large animal. The occasional bird flew overhead, perhaps a small creature flittering away before Onley could see it. But no real sightings, and certainly nothing sentient. He’d never been anywhere that felt quite so desperately lonely. Getting his bearings, he once again set out for the caves he’d been instructed to find.

As an Acolyte he’d learned from his mother, eschewing the formal task of training by observing her actions from under her careful wing. His Father had taught him many valuable lessons as well. This made his Knighthood something of a funny situation. He had a more careful control of the Force in his own right but unlike many who left their masters behind...his were bound by blood. Matsu had quickly stepped back from the task of training him but nonetheless - she always had something for him to do.

Perhaps to keep him out of trouble.

Dropping down from his leap over a massive fallen log, he landed gracefully in silence on a plush mat of moss. Though he still felt like the last man in the galaxy there on that lonely planet, the Force twinged slightly as if he weren’t quite as solitary as he thought...

[member="Perth Levov"]​

 

[Perth Levov]

Trismegis.

Perth knew little of the planet – except that it Was in the Prymis system. And in truth she wasn’t even sure this was the right place. But she’d puzzled over a clue in her notebook for some time. It was overwritten a couple of times – as if to emphasise its importance. But it was not as simple as a location or even a set of coordinates. Rather, it was a list of facts that she had deduced led to Trismegis.

1K – 3P – 1P – 1M – 32H – 320SD - 18,896D

She had decided this meant one K-type star, three planets, first planet, one moon, a thirty-two hour rotation, a 320 standard day year and a diameter of just under nineteen thousand kilometres.

Trismegis was the only planet that fitted all of the requirements – as long as she’d done her detective work adequately. But the main reason she’d chosen not to progress this specific clue before was the fact that this was all she had to go on. No location, person or even continent was listed. She had no idea if she was looking for a sect, a person or an artefact.

But the fact it was encoded and emboldened made her believe it was worth the long-shot. And the risks. She had found out the hard way about the spatial sinkholes. An invisible gravitational anomaly, they give off immense gravitational shear, threatening to crush her ship into a compressed ball of metal. Somehow she’d managed to pull clear the moment she encountered the first one and had recalibrated her ship’s sensors to plot a course to avoid them.

As she approached, she noted the planet’s surface. A fifth was water, a smaller percentage was semi-volcanic and the vast majority was forest and mountains. And that didn’t account for whatever she couldn’t see. And the weather was going to be a challenge. Already her scanners picked up that the planet was windy – ranging from a slight breeze through to winds measuring hundreds of kilometres an hour.

What was more interesting was the lack of life-signs. No cities or even abandoned villages. No animals or people. Or at least, only a few of each. And according to her scanners, there were…precisely 33 humanoids currently planet-side.

Sighing heavily, Perth wondered how valuable her journey was. She could spend years searching and still find nothing. Perhaps what the clues led to had already been removed? Or died?

Perth put her ship into auto-pilot having set a relatively low orbit – low enough to make out features of the planet but far enough not to alert anyone below she was flying overhead. Once she managed that, she closed her eyes and meditated. She’d performed a similar task before – on Endor. She reached out with the Force and looked to touch every living thing she sensed as she circled the globe. After a dozen passes she felt a faint presence.

It was minor, but it was better than nothing. So she took manual control of her ship and pointed towards the source of the disturbance. Below she saw rocks and the occasional bird and wondered if she’d been mistaken, when she felt the sensation again. Much stronger this time and moving – albeit slowly. So she honed in on whatever the Force was pointing her at and – risking exposing her presence – got so close to the planet’s surface that she was able to see individual trees.

Finally, frustration got the better of her and she found a small clearing and brushing trees as she landed, she set the ship down. The repulsorlifts had barely finished hissing when she was leaping from the lowering landing ramp. She was dressed in her normal attire – a close-fitting body-suit and a more bulky hooded cloak that allowed her to hide the twin sabers she wore at her belt. Both were jet black and complemented her hair and contrasted with her pale skin.

Her transparent irises scanned the treeline that surrounded her ship, the branches still rustling from their contact with her ship. There were no visible clues so she exhaled deeply and trusted in the Force to guide her – setting off at a brisk pace. She was seeking someone – but her noisy arrival meant that person might now be looking for her.

[member="Onley Xiangu"]

 

[Onley Xiangu]

They said that 99% of ownership was possession, and where a planet was concerned possession meant standing on it with one’s own feet with the capacity to defend it. Those who built could say ‘mine, mine, mine’ all they wanted but the time would always come where someone with enough confidence and manpower would attempt to make them prove it. It was the nature of a predatory universe, once which House Xiangu had learned to thrive in by being the more insidious of their kind. A polite smile, a kind word, a socialite’s grace to hold the tongue when it was necessary - it was good to be underestimated.

But Onley had just a touch more of his Father’s blood when it came to how he approached a threat.

Of course, no one coming here would realize that slowly but surely the Xiangu family was claiming the system as their own. Nonetheless, when the small ship blew by overhead as if giving voice to the twinge in the Force with its droning Onley couldn’t help but follow, couldn’t help but act as if someone was trespassing.

If his mother was The Spider, he was the The Tiger - graceful and beautiful, but far less sinister than the insect. He would overtake prey and hold it by the throat until it expired in his jaws, struggling and begging when it should have been resigned. Stalking through the woods in the direction the ship had gone, he listened to the characteristic tick, tick, tick of a ship as its engines cooled. He slowed. He listened. He heard something move.

In a flash he’d burst from the treeline, eyes locked on some stranger. A woman. Her eyes were eerie, small and staring. His lightsaber had burst to life as he did from the treeline, its blade rattling in his palm as he stared at her.

“Funny place to run in to someone,” he said quietly, still as a leaf with no breeze. “What brings you here?”

[member="Perth Levov"]​

 

[Perth Levov]

The ship’s engine had not yet had sufficient time to cool and her eyes had only just become accustomed to the light – as she peered into the darkness of the treeline that produced shadows that an army could hide in – let alone an individual.

But she was versed enough in the mantras of both Jedi and Sith to know that her eyes could deceive her. She, of any of the Knights of Ren, understood that. Their lack of understanding in her chosen field of expertise was a little frustrating. Their focus was typically on the saber and physical manifestations of the Force.

So she’d been largely self-taught – relying on notes or whatever information a gatekeeper might share if she managed to locate a Holocron. Which meant she had abilities the average Ren could never comprehend. Which was pleasing in one sense but frustrating in another. Had she tapped the full extent of the dark sided magic, or was she just a rank novice? The lack of calibration of her abilities was a matter of daily annoyance.

But she knew that her abilities left her vulnerable. She required total concentration even for the simplest of spells and she would be too easily cut down by even a Padawan whilst she focused. She flexed her artificial arm unconsciously. It was a daily reminder of her shortcomings. She’d lived through one duel by the skin of her teeth and knew she needed to broaden her expertise but could not find anyone within the Knights of Ren to be a suitable Master.

She scanned the shadows once more and before she switched to consider her surroundings by sensing with the Force, someone emerged into plain view. Was it him or the sound of his saber snap-hissing into life she noticed first? She was unsure. Either way, he’d surprised her – although that was not something she would readily admit to, least of all to him.

So she slowly turned to face him, willing her every emotion to remain calm and collected. Recently she’d taken to making risky decisions. Her forays into sites indicated by her notebook were becoming more and more bold. Subterfuge and stealth had given way to a more direct approach. Maybe her confidence outweighed her abilities? Perhaps that had always been the case?

A debate for another time.

She considered the young man that faced her. He could not have been significantly older than her but his Force aura, that she now sensed, was far stronger than hers. She kept her eyes fixed on his and ignored the weapon in his hand.

“Would you believe a scavenger hunt?” Like so many of the best lies, there was enough of the truth to ensure she was entirely believable. Plus, it was sufficiently enigmatic a response she hoped to initiate a conversation and allow her enough time to better understand the situation she faced. Assuming he didn’t strike her down of course.

[member="Onley Xiangu"]

 

[Onley Xiangu]

Spoiler

Sorry its not pretty! Phone posting.

A sense of humor. That was refreshing.

He considered her for a moment, still low and predatory but relaxing back on his heels - less prone to pounce. Though it was instinct to protect the planet from intruders, no one coming here would consider themselves such. This woman was not here to trespass against House Xiangu. Following this train of thought he backed off, the saber siphoning closed to leave them in the enormous silence that swallowed Trismegis.

“A scavenger hunt?” he repeated, drawing closer.

He observed as he went. He was bad at estimation and there were a thousand species that looked outwardly young despite actually being hundreds of years old, but she at least appeared around his age. He'd already taken stock of her eyes but realized they weren't small, just lacking pigmentation around the pupil. She had a strange ease about her despite the situation and that intrigued him more than anything else. He was an exceptionally casual Sith and found the term ‘evil’ a little trite and dramatic. That along the way he also filed that she was attractive in a sort of exotic way didn't cross his features. He may have been a pig, but he was at least respectful enough not to gawk as if she were meat.

“I like games. What're we looking for?”

That she hadn't once implied that he was invited didn't seem to have crossed his mind.

“My name’s Onley by the way.”

A breeze stronger than the ones preceding it thus far whistled through the branches highest in the canopy. He wasn't concerned quite yet, but if their study of the planet had revealed nothing else it was that the wind here was not something to trifle with. If it kept up, it would be time to find shelter again.

[member="Perth Levov"]

 

[Perth Levov]

Spoiler

Phone posting never is

Perth appraised the man as he approached her. He covered the ground with grace – a predator’s gait would be an accurate description. Her training had taught her to understand body language, especially when it related to fighting.

And like many hunters his demeanour was a diversion as he closed the gap between them. His calm voice, his conversational manner and his languid stride spoke of being relaxed whereas she suspected he was not precisely on edge but he was at least wary of her. And she was of him.

She nodded when he spoke of a scavenger hunt. She’d said it and wasn’t going to take it back, so to nod her affirmation gave him no new information. She was prepared to afford him an element of ascendency but she was not going to let him take control.

It was like a dance. In many societies, one gender led – more often than not the man. But the dance of the Echani was somewhat different. It was inexorably liked to fighting and was a sure-fire way to learn about the other person. But neither had control – unless it was a one-sided affair of course. So she would give and take the lead, weighing him up further and understanding his motives, strengths and of course weaknesses.

It was not a hostile act – but instead an instinct born of her genetics and also her upbringing.

“Who said a scavenger hunt was a game?” she asked. Her voice was slow, languid almost. It was a feint but not overdone. She knew he would know she was playing. The question is, was he prepared to join in? She suspected so.

“And the best part of the hunt? I don’t know what I’m looking for. It could be you – but I doubt it. Not unless you’re a few thousand years old. But I suspect I’ll know it when I see it. Or sense it.”

She was leaking clues purposefully. She hadn’t confirmed she’d joined forces, but the maths had crossed her mind when she sensed him. Two would find whatever she was looking for twice as quickly. And in letting him know it was in some way Force related, she was teasing him that she was prepared to play ball.

“And I’m Perth,” she added as the wind caught some branches high above their head and caught her attention before she returned her translucent irises to Onley.

[member="Onley Xiangu"]

 

[Onley Xiangu]

Who said a scavenger hunt was a game?

He cultivated airs of playboy foolishness, a vacancy bordering on stupidity, because it allowed him to get close before he sank his claws in. Of course he obviously wasn’t totally immune to his act since women (and men) were a constant distraction, but he was more observant and intelligent than he was given credit for. This one however...she almost seemed to treat their conversation as part of the spar, an extension of his declaration when he’d leapt from the cover of woods in challenge. It made the warrior in him playful, but eager.

He almost looked affronted when she implied he wasn’t what she was looking for - oh that inexorable male ego! He was obviously what everyone was looking for. But still it was part of the game, a joke to level the playing field, an entrance.

Perth. Perth, perth, perth… meaning from the thicket. Fortuitous.

“If there’s something worth looking for on this planet, I don’t know what it is,” he admitted, obviously truthful. “But I do know where it would probably be.” His move of the chess piece.

All of the sudden a gust of wind whipped through the canopy above them, smaller branches ripping off their bases and crashing to the ground from the Force. A chorus of ominous groaning creaks sounded as ancient trunks bent, signaling something much more powerful was on its way. Of course. “We can talk about it, but first...we should run,” he said, just as the thud of something far off rumbled through the earth to be felt under his feet.

He took off with or without her but she seemed far from stupid. As the shuddering crash of dozens of trees flattening under the force of a deadly wind thundered behind them, it would be obvious he was giving friendly advice and not trying to lure her to some deadly trap. It was all he could do to try and outrun the wind long enough to find shelter. Leaves ripped from their branches whipped against his skin, digging and poking at him though he barely felt them in his scramble to find some entrance to the caves below. They’d barely begun to map the planet and therefore he had no idea where an entrance could be but if he didn’t find one soon he would be a far less handsome pancake squashed under a tree trunk. He may have had the Force, but not even a Sith Lord could outrun a disaster created by nature.

It was right as he was picking through the ancient, massive roots of a tree that he would disappear right out of Perth’s sight. Dropping through an entrance hidden in the base of the tree, he found himself - disheveled and dusty - at the mouth of one of the massive tunnel systems built by a civilization long past. There was enough light to make out the cave paintings on almost every inch of wall, but within a few feet darkness took over.

[member="Perth Levov"]​

 

[Perth Levov]

Echani culture held the belief that to know one fully, you must fight them. Fighting was not only self-defence, but a form of communication similar to art. And nowhere was that more prevalent than an uncanny ability to read body movement. So much so that they could even read feelings and emotions – although this typically required a combat scenario.

Of course many were skilled at hiding body language – but to an Echani trained from birth to read such signs (often as a way to distinguish between identical siblings, which were plentiful) she found his posturing fascinating. There were two stories being told by the young man – for to an Echani it was as informative as hours of talking.

One was definitely put on. Maybe for her benefit exclusively, but his confidence with the façade suggested it was a mask he regularly wore. It was hard to explain to a non-Echani how to spot the signs. It was a delay between voice and facial signals. It was a contradiction between tone and body movement. It was a blend of all of these things. She was certainly no mind-reader (at least not without the Force) but she could understand so much just by watching.

His bravado was, it appeared, a smokescreen and she surmised it was linked to her previous belief he was a predator. It was his way of luring the unsuspecting prey closer. But given her upbringing, she enjoyed the interplay and it made her even more keen to understand the person behind the fascia. All predators had an edge and she was keen to find out what his was.

She was disappointed when he shared his lack of knowledge as to what she might be searching for, but it was eclipsed moments later when he confessed he knew where anything of note might be found. If it was bait, she took it – willingly. She didn’t come all this way to walk off empty-handed, or at least not until she’d done a thorough investigation.

Once more the wind caught her attention, this time it was stronger than before and hinted that worse was yet to come. She punched a button on a small hand-held device she wore attached to her belt and her ship took off, programmed to settle into a low orbit until the storm abated and she recalled it. It was not a moment too soon as it wobbled and took out a few trees of its own before gaining serious altitude – its aerodynamic shape a benefit no doubt. Which was not something humans could boast of, so she looked back at Onley before nodding at his command.

She didn’t need to be asked twice and took off after him, allowing the Force to boost her speed slightly, not wishing to go so fast she would not be able to control her movement. Trees were uprooted and large branches fell all around them as they progressed. It was hard to call if the wind was louder than the sound of crashing trees – not that she truly cared.

One limb just missed her head as it was ripped from its trunk as she ducked at just the right time. Onley was outpacing her but she daren’t go too fast and risk running straight into a tree. So she saw him disappear around a large tree and…quite literally disappear. Fortunately his aura told her where he was and she headed straight for a wide tree and at the last moment saw the opening at its base – mostly hidden by small branches and moss. She jumped in and landed as gently as she could, given she was unable to tell how deep the drop would be.

Standing and straightening herself, she removed a few twigs from her hair and a leaf from her mouth before smiling. She pointed at the cave paintings. “A clue or just the inhabitant’s version of interior design?”

She peered down the gloom of the tunnel that stretched out in front of them. She knew she was windswept. And she knew she was covered in a mixture of dust, mud and moss. But she didn’t care – they looked as though they'd arrived here by design, not accident.

[member="Onley Xiangu"]

 

[Onley Xiangu]

He didn’t think much of her windswept, muddy aesthetic when she ‘joined’ him in the subterranean tunnel. He looked much the same as he picked a twig from within his hair, pushing the black strands back with his fingers as he got his bearings. The earth shuddered above them as the forest flattened on the surface, the gale whistling above the hole they’d both dropped in to. It was eerily quiet, removed down there.

Igniting his lightsaber to illuminate the drawings Perth had drawn attention to, his dark eyes ticked over their story. Much of it depicted the wind outside, the way the people had learned to live until the weather had simply grown stronger to outwit them. Other parts simply highlighted what daily life must have been like for them, the meandering tales of a people who thought this would matter to someone else. Being humbled was rather foreign to Onley, but for a split second he contemplated the anonymity of every person who’d helped draw that mural and how one day he would be lost to time too.

He rolled his shoulders.

“I don’t see anything about some mysterious important item,” he replied by teasing, spinning the saber in his palm again as it shut. The light from above was dreary, but the gloomy passage ahead seemed to glow with a blue light at last bright enough to see by as he slowly moved forward. He realized that the blue glow was from a huge overgrowth of mushrooms along the walls, their glow a natural lightsource. “But that doesn’t mean anything I guess...woah…” The end of his sentence was sudden as well as his abrupt stop when the end of the passage they’d fallen in to connected with a cavern so huge he had no chance of seeing the bottom. Even more amazing was the way it was surrounded by concentric walkways - like some great planetary esophagus, rings of cartilage for them to carefully walk on lest Trismegis swallow them whole. He couldn’t imagine the time or technology it must have taken to build this place.

“Think we’re on the right track though. Would you look at this?” It reminded him of an ancient, primitive subterranean Utapau. Though he had no clue what Perth sought he couldn’t imagine this wasn’t the sort of place to find it. Whatever group of people had spent their lives hollowing this place out certainly meant it for something.

[member="Perth Levov"]​

 

[Perth Levov]

It was a good thing she was not vain, as she dealt with the random objects that had found their way into her hair and mouth and then pressed on. Beyond impairing her abilities, she didn’t care how she looked. Not now.

Not given the risk they still faced.

She looked up. Not that she could see anything, but the noise above forced her to consider how dead they would be if they were still above ground. And given they were in an underground tunnel made of mud and stone, they weren’t out of danger yet. Not in her mind at least.

Her companion activated his saber but she did not feel threatened. She’d only just met him – but if he wanted her dead, he had plenty of opportunities with far less risk. So she relaxed as he used the light to illuminate the drawings she’d previously spotted.

As she should have expected, the majority of the drawings reflected the storms they could hear right now. It was common for ancient civilisations to draw what they feared most – typically large predators but on this planet, nature was the real killer.

She had actually forgotten about why they were here and felt slightly embarrassed when Onley reminded her. “It’s likely they were primitive and whatever we’re looking for came after their time – or they were ignorant of its existence. If it’s still here of course.” Her voice trailed off as she realised how long the odds were that they would find anything of note. But she had to try at least.

She considered this as she walked forwards, wondering why the Force had drawn them here. It saved their life for sure, but beyond that, it was clear who ever lived down here was of no use to them. Which was when she saw the cavern. Whoever built this was hardly primitive – and the design was too intricate to be natural.

“We’re clearly expected to move forward but I wonder what the pattern is for? I mean a simple bridge might get us across but this is way above that. Unless whoever built it had an eye for aesthetics? I mean, most Temples are functional but the builders can’t help but make them ornate. So I’m hoping this is a positive sign that we’re heading somewhere significant.”

[member="Onley Xiangu"]

 

[Onley Xiangu]

If you spent enough time with something you got to know all its secrets. With each readthrough or viewing a little of its mystery was unraveled. It got less complicated each time until there were no questions or surprises left to discover. He found that to be exactly the opposite when it came to people.

Perth grew more complex by the second. At first he’d measured her for a warrior, undoubtedly. She read his body language rather than his words. Her ease near him when they dropped in to the tunnels was interesting in and of itself. He’d lost all inclination to attack her and she clearly saw that in him, responding in kind at least for the moment. Her intelligence wasn’t all that surprising either. It was easy to assume a skilled warrior would be a meathead or little studied in other subjects. But her reasoning as she analyzed the cavern’s design was another note in his mental checklist about her. She wasn’t boring - he hated boring.

He did his own thinking before responding. “It almost seems weather-related. We’re not that far from the surface. Maybe the concentric walkways along the edge were meant to funnel water where they wanted it when there was heavy rain. That and it seems as if this system might be a lot larger than I would ever have guessed - I can see open archways pretty far down,” he said, leaning as far over the edge as he dared standing next to a near-stranger. “Sort of reminds me of Utapau if you’ve ever been there. Just tons of people living in holes dug in the ground.”

Truly, there was no indication of which way they should go and the array of choices was dizzying. But the Force had brought them here. Who was to say it wouldn’t guide them further?

So he just took the winding pathway, one hand running along the wall to keep his bearings away from the edge. The tattoos covering his hands seemed to ripple in the phosphorescent light.

“So, Perth. I noticed it was instinct to fight me instead of flee when we ran in to each other. Where are you from?” No one could accuse him of beating around the bush.

[member="Perth Levov"]​

 

[Perth Levov]

Perth listened. Her upbringing taught her to be strong and to be a leader – but she’d learned for herself that to presume you knew everything was a potentially fatal flaw. And especially when dealing with someone who had so far proven not to be an enemy but could not yet be considered a friend. It was better to learn than to teach in these matters. The more the man spoke, the more she understood him. And the more she listened, the less she spoke. So in turn, the less her companion learned about her. And she was Echani and learned so much from simple conversations. A fellow from her planet would be deducing much about her, even in her quiet moments – so culturally she was not being obstructive.

So it was not an antagonistic approach, there was no malice intended. It was entirely practical and besides – if he enjoyed talking about himself, where was the harm?

She considered his explanation. Her head cocked to one side as she listened and processed the information. She was no geologist and so took his words at face value. She was disposed to believe his account but would not risk her life on the validity of his assumptions.

And there was the look of a vastly oversized plug-hole to the walkways ahead. It was ornate, but she could see the logic of the premise – it was all a matter of perspective.

She straightened her head before removing a twig from her hair that she’d previously overlooked. “Utapau,” she repeated, non-commitally. “Heard of it, never been there.” None of the clues in her notebook had referenced the planet or any occupants, so she’d had no need to visit. The closest she’d come to investigating it was some research on an old warrior that used sabers but was not gifted with the Force. A general in a galactic war way back in history.

And then the man was moving and she followed, allowing a short distance between them. She noted his hands and her curiosity got the better of her. “Tell me about your tattoos.” It was a very direct question but her tone reflected her wish for knowledge. She was clearly as interested in why he had them as much as about the tattoos themselves. And aware that he’d asked about her, she knew she would get little back unless she began to share information, she added, “Why would I flee?” There was a wicked smile playing on her lips now. “And equally why should I have fought? But please tell me about the tattoos first. And as for where I’m from? I’m Echani. Formerly of the military until I discovered I was Force sensitive.”

As an Echani, she was predisposed to telling the truth. Not for any moral reasons but because a fellow Echani would spot a lie from outer space. So she reserved falsehoods for when they were necessary – and right now the truth served her well enough.

[member="Onley Xiangu"]

 

[Onley Xiangu]

He was cognizant, at least in part, of the way she rolled the question back on him. There was some part of him that considered being close-lipped but talking about his ink didn’t put him at any risk and it was part of the tit-for-tat that occupied their time as they traveled deeper in to the planet.

Sense of humor intact despite his pride, he laughed at her half-answer. “Just seems like either of those options are most of the galaxy’s answer to a new situation, at least in my humble experience. Speaks to a certain discipline.” But he could tell that no amount of pushing would get him an answer without sharing first.

Even dressed as he was in a shirt with long sleeves there was no hiding his tattoos. They curled out from the neckline of his shirt to reach towards his ears, and one could assume there wasn’t an inch left uncolored of the skin underneath his clothes. Some were reminiscent of something traditionally Atrisian like the ones on the backs of his hands: the Hrosma tiger tattooed on the back of his right hand and fingers roiling over the bones as they floated over the uneven rock wall, the demon covering the left staring out as if the ink might come to life, its hands curling over Onley’s knuckles as if pulling itself out of the Netherworld. Others were decidedly modern like the mountains rolling around the back of his neck.

“At first it was cultural. A lot of people on Atrisia get tattoos through hand-poking the ink under the skin with sharp wooden sticks. I got one and then I suppose it became an addiction,” he said, glancing down the wide mouth of one of a dozen paths as they ventured downwards. “Some of them I got just because I liked the way it looked, but most of them mean something. The back of the left hand is the pet my Mom gave me when I was a kid. Tiger almost killed me once on an expedition when I was younger, got it tattooed on me to remind me not to let my guard down. Things like that.”

About three levels of spiral down, he paused outside a tunnel that seemed particularly cold. It wasn’t unnatural per se, but he wondered if it meant there was another outlet to the surface this way driving a draft through this particular passage. Taking the right to follow it, he returned to his line of questioning, as casual as it was. “So, your turn. Obviously you’re no stranger to a fight.”

As if the earth had a sense of humor, something shifted with a thunderous groan. He couldn’t tell what direction the disturbance had originated from. Though Onley was not particularly worried about the system collapsing around them considering the apparent age of the place and how it had survived what was ostensibly thousands of years undisturbed, the way the dirt on the floor trembled at whatever it was still troubled him.

[member="Perth Levov"]​

 

[Perth Levov]

Theirs was an odd relationship already. There was give and take – which was common enough in any partnership, but they hardly knew each other and here they were, underground and in what was truthfully a precarious position. Yet they progressed, talking as if there were no challenges ahead and as if they trusted each other. Yet both knew the other could use the Force at a moment’s notice and potentially end the other’s life.

Perhaps that was what allowed them to build up a level of trust so quickly. If either wished the other dead, they had plenty of opportunity already. Perth smiled as a result of her internal machinations. Life as a soldier was far less complicated. But she would never go back, even if it were possible. And slaying the woman sent to bring her back to the fold was never going to count in her favour.

Aware she was digressing mentally, she focused on Onley once more. And his tattoos were of significant interest to her. She imagined manipulating a mind to make the victim imagine they’d come to life. Of course, that only worked if the person in question sported tattoos. But what if she had them? They would present an excellent distraction if nothing else. In her head, an idea was forming.

“You’re Atrisian,” she said, her memory banks checking why that sounded so familiar. And oddly there were two reasons. She wondered why the Force acted so inscrutably.

“I mention it, because I use two sabers. And that’s a style that originated in your capital city – or one of the large ones at any rate. And one of your old sayings is something I read.” She was referring to the notebook she’d copied so painstakingly. Most of the notes contained were clues – either direct or oblique – but every now and then, there was a helpful hint or saying.

She closed her eyes and looked to picture the page in her mind. Sure she had recalled it from memory, she looked at Onley.

“There are three ways to defeat your enemy. The first, and most obvious, is to better him in a trial of force. The best way is to have him destroy himself. The middle way is to destroy your enemy from within. Judicious application of the middle way shall make your blows more effective if you later take the way of force. From the middle way it is also possible to push your enemy onto the path of self-destruction.”

“Which is also a long way round to explaining who I am, or rather who I was. I’m Echani. Well, half-Echani and half-Thyrsian. I was raised to serve in the military. Oddly we are encouraged to push feelings aside when we fight, so I never understood I was connected to the Force. I never appreciated the power I had but was actually not just ignoring but rejecting. Once I found out, well…” She smiled and looked at the back of one of her hands. “There was no turning back.”

“But although I use a saber when needed, I have my martial arts training to fall back on should I require it.” Satisfied she’d answered his question, she mentally moved on. “I feel as though it’s my turn to ask you a question now.” At that point the rumbling was sufficiently loud to be a concern. “And I guess I ought to ask if you know what that was, and how worried we should be.”

[member="Onley Xiangu"]

 

[Onley Xiangu]

Eventually the rumble faded away, just moments after Perth asked whether she should be worried. It was a question he couldn't have answered anyway. He had done a little mapping of the shallower sections of the planet’s tunnels, like this system. But all of them seemed to have their eccentricities. This one was no exception. For the moment however, he returned to their forward momentum and their conversation.

He might have guessed she was from a warrior culture even before she'd quoted Atrisian philosophy considering her seeming naturalness when he'd posed something of a challenge only a little earlier. In her mind his appearance might have been nothing more than an aggressive ‘hello’, the opening to a preferred method of conversation. But Echani was interesting indeed. It did not get more disciplined, more all-encompassing than their particularly single-minded culture. Himself? He'd chosen the life of a warrior and though he loved it he imagined he wasn't quite on the same level as the world she had come from.

And still their conversation itself was the kind of battle he imagined her people might like - a casual game, about learning and not survival.
Something like the Middle Way. Let your opponent destroy themselves, but gather the tools to do so yourself should you need it.

“I'm not sure,” he said in reference to the rumbling, content enough in its ceasing to just hope it was the earth settling. “It is your turn though.” He was okay with the give if he could take in equal measure. There was no pleasure in winning against someone less equipped. Information was no less valuable and if their casual partnership turned sour they should have the same weaponry. “So, shoot.”

Without warning another rumble rocked the walls, this one much louder and more powerful before - all the sudden - something massive and powerful shattered through the ceiling directly in front of them and then disappeared in to the floor as it tore through it with sheer momentum. He'd been unable to see details save for a head sharp and metallic and a body that had looked almost worm-like. Looking over his shoulder at Perth quickly before taking a step forward, he glanced down the new hole in which the creature had disappeared. “Oh feth,” he breathed as he saw the same animal - or at least the same kind - crawling up the tunnel wall back towards them. It was disgusting to look at it but furthermore it was huge, maybe three meters long with strong arms and legs that allowed it to shimmy up the wall like some lizard. And fast. “Back the way we came!” he shouted, turning to get out of the cramped passageway to find more favorable ground to fight on.

However...it seemed that wasn't to be, for the second he turned around he saw another of the same creature slithering on all fours around the corner they'd just taken in traveling down the passage. When it saw them it stood to its hind legs. “Time to see that Echani heritage in action!”

Turning to take on the lizard coming up the hole, he ignited his saber and swung as its clawed paws came over the lip in an attempt to break its climb. One came off and the lizard-thing screamed so loud it nearly deafened Onley in the small space. He swung for its mouth but it closed it just in time for it to blend in with the rest of its metallic face. His saber did nothing to the silver skin there.

[member="Perth Levov"]​

 

[Perth Levov]

Perth was disappointed he could not tell her why the rumbling happened. She was not keen on things she did not understand. That made them predictable and that therefore made them dangerous. Her life was about understanding – and reacting appropriately.

She therefore frowned slightly at his response and had to bite her lip when he offered her the opportunity for a second question – when her preference was to ask the same one again, given the rumblings had re-started.

But before she could come up with a wisecrack, or ask a further query, events overtook their conversation.

The Force warned her – but given her relative inexperience, she presumed it was the general rumbling it was keeping her on her toes about. But once the creature emerged, she knew the caution for what it was. Their lives were in very real danger.

Anything that could tunnel through rock, at that pace, was a real threat. And given her few abilities were focused on person to person interaction, she was wondering what she had in her arsenal to combat the creature. Fortunately her instincts kicked in and bypassed her conscious brain. She was Echani. Further, she was Echani and trained to use a light saber.

Without thinking, her two sabers were in her palms – and with a twin snap-hiss, the two scarlet blades were illuminated. In the relatively low light, their unique feature of appearing to sparkle was even more pronounced.

“Feth indeed,” she echoed as a second creature appeared. She hoped the head was the best protected part of the body – as it looked like it could withstand a saber blow. Hopefully its body and limbs were more inclined to be penetrated by her twin blades.

Her training with the saber was solid – no more and no less. So she tended to wield them as if they were vibroswords. But given her innate ability to predict manoeuvres, thus far it had been good enough.

So she stood her ground, allowing Onley to deal with the creature that was now behind her – as she focused on the one directly in front of her. And true to her training, she did not strike first, but rather waited to see how it attacked and where its weaknesses were. Behind her came a terrible scream and she presumed it was from the worm-like creature – but she was not distracted. Instead she focused on the creature as it coiled its body before a snake-like attack and an attempt to bite her head.

It was a sound move from her opponent – she was trained to appreciate combat after all. In coiling, it concealed its range. But she was able to sway to avoid the impact and then she waited. Did it have a second attack in its arsenal, or was it so high on the food chain that one method invariably sufficed.

She would not commit until she knew for sure.

[member="Onley Xiangu"]

 

[Onley Xiangu]

The beast at Onley’s feet had found distinct advantage in working from within the tunnel it had created. Usually the low-ground was without a doubt the disadvantage but between the creature’s anatomy and the tight quarters of the passage it had just the right things to tip the scales in its favor. Even one arm down it fought with some combination of anger and self-preservation that suggested it was intelligent enough to consider them intruders and not just something to attack because it was there.

Meanwhile behind him the creature focused on Perth doubled down when its first strike missed, once again coiling as if to strike though this time it tilted its silvery head to reveal a mouth dripping with something caustic which it proceeded to hock at the woman. It narrowly missed, the bile hitting the rock wall next to her and sizzling menacingly, as if daring her to let it touch her and see what it would do to flesh. Enraged, the creature facing her slammed its massive tail against the ground, shaking the tunnel and trying to make her lose her footing as it hocked another ball of acid at her - this one much aimed far better than the first.

The one in the floor dodged all of Onley’s swings at the free time, and the Sith Knight switched up tactics as he heard the acid sizzling. Each passing moment made the small passage more dangerous, and with his free hand he attempted to clear them a path by directing a massive streak of blue-purple lightning from his fingertips. It crackled over the worm-like monster’s flesh, causing it to writhe despite itself. The convulsion caused it to lose its grip. Onley only watched for a moment as it tumbled down the tunnel.

“Got one,” he called by way of grabbing Perth’s attention without distracting her unnecessarily from her clash. Leaping over the tunnel-mouth left behind by the first creature, Onley started down the passage much quicker than they’d begun their journey. This opened up in to another chamber - much smaller than the first, but with the same idea of a massive opening downwards surrounded by a spiraling walkway hugging the walls.

If Perth was fast enough the creature could probably be fooled in to tumbling off the side. And if not, Onley would give it a little push.

[member="Perth Levov"]​

 

[Perth Levov]

The creature had a Plan B all right. And it was sufficiently different to Plan A to draw Perth’s admiration.

In her culture, fighting was something honourable. Killing for the sake of killing was at best pointless and at worst unsavoury. You fought worthy foes – and in doing so you better understood them.

And losing was not in her thoughts as she tackled the beast – whilst her mind railed against its natural tendency to extend the encounter to know as much as she could about the creatures. There was a bigger prize at stake and this was a foot-soldier in the scheme of the battle.

So she avoided the first spit-ball of acid – or whatever corrosive material it was – with relative ease. Her Echani training allowed her to predict the move and swerve out of its way with time to spare. Its second attempt was better thought through and Perth realised these were truly sentient creatures and not simply prisoner to neural impulses.

As the ground shook, her instinct was to steady herself, which meant her stance was more solid and less flexible. Which is clearly what the creature intended as its second projectile came at her. Perhaps the first was a feint, to manoeuvre her into this situation, or maybe it just had a better aim second time around? Regardless, the globule was coming straight for her and she was forced to throw her forearm in the way of it.

Instead of the smell of burning flesh, there was the aroma of acid damaged cloth, leather and circuitry. Her prosthetic forearm took the full force of the damage and she immediately sensed lowered functionality.

Not knowing anything about the creature’s psychological make-up, she knew she had limited weapons at her disposal. She did not plan to engage it hand to hand, and so her damaged hand was raised and from its finger tips a few rblue sparks were immediately followed by an arcing of blue lightning. Her aim was a little off, but given the creature was so close, it made little difference. She caught it where one might imagine an abdomen to be and the energy spread over its skin, burning the flesh and forcing it to judder. With a simple move, she stepped forward and gave it a swift kick. It fell backwards, still writhing and fell back down the tunnel it had emerged from.

She looked to Onley, carefully clipping one of her sabers back on her belt and holding the other in her good hand. She glanced down at the damage to her forearm. “He fared worse, believe me.” There was a small smile on her lips, she was clearly enjoying herself, despite the injury.

“Not what I planned when I woke up today, but it’s good practise. It shows me where I need to develop. My skill-set is quite specific and this environment and these creatures are not what I’ve spent my time learning to deal with.”

She smiled a little broader now. “Not that I’m looking to meet more of them, but at least I know how to combat them now.”

She kept pace with Onley as he speeded up. Clearly getting past these creatures was a new priority.

[member="Onley Xiangu"]