Private The Master of Puppets

[Nyaeli]

Location: Border Planet
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Kahlil Noble Capris Halcyon Rhemti Totriddiam

"I may not be able to control them, but I can control everybody else," Nyaeli told herself with a sinister grin, as she listened to the screams of agony slowly fading out of existence in the distance. Her attempts at manipulating the Drengir to do whatever she pleased had thus far still failed, but luckily they weren't intelligent enough to understand the alternative. Rather than controlling the Drengir to lash out and devour whatever she wanted to be destroyed, she brought her targets to the Dark Side life forms instead.

Through the amplification of her Attani implant, she could reach so many. And while the Drengir were not to be controlled, she could feed their range and hunger with powerful illusions and emotional manipulation. It was only a matter of time until they couldn't be stopped anymore.

They are ravaging your world. Come together and fight them.​

Her words entered the minds of villagers like a whisper, but one they couldn't ignore. It kept repeating itself and with every iteration, it forced its way deeper inside their minds until they lost all control. The fight that followed was a futile one — even a singular Drengir would have easily wiped them all out, and she had spotted several ravaging their way through town. Soon enough, nothing remained of the village, and Nyaeli lured the Drengir out and towards her next target. A larger city this time.

But now that she felt more confident in her abilities, she made her way through the streets as well, her crimson blade drawn and her eyes searching for more people to fall victim to her mind.

​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

The Drengir.

They were spread across more worlds than he expected. But for them to be rampantly devouring whole cities was thus far unheard of. It was frightening how much of a threat they became seemingly overnight. And all the more reason for Kahlil to intervein. He pulled down on the controls of his freighter, aiming it down towards the nearby space port on the world.

He could already feel the darkness heading for it.

His gaze shifted back, towards the pair of Padawan's he'd brought along. Perhaps he shouldn't have, but they were both experienced. More than most, as of late. "I've a new rune for you, Capris. It'll be important for this." He raised a hand, quickly scribing it in the air. A classic shield, with a line through the center. "Protection. The Drengir affect the minds of all around them. We'll be going through to evacuate the city. Mark anyone you find with it, right on their forehead, and it will help keep their heads clear. Rhemti, you'll be assisting her. If they get unrulily from the visions, knock them out. There is no margin for hesitation on that. Understood?"

Capris Halcyon | Rhemti Totriddiam | Nyaeli

 

[Rhemti Totriddiam]

"Heard, Boss." Rhemti nodded, his normally goofy smile gone from his two toned features. This was no time to joke around and have fun; this was serious. His hand rested on this hilt of his saber, red knuckles turning almost pink as he gripped it tightly. There were people down there; families; children; mothers; fathers; grandparents. The fact that so many people were being hurt or worse... He didn't want to think about it, but it helped him to focus even more. He had to.

The Nautolan glanced to the female padawan beside him, regarding her curiously. They hadn't conversed much on the journey over, he honestly wasn't quite sure what to make of her. But she was Kahlil's padawan too, even if he didn't know her, Kahlil trusted her, and that was all Rhemti needed to know.

"I'll follow your lead." He nodded to her.

Nyaeli | Capris Halcyon | Kahlil Noble

 

[Capris Halcyon]

Tags: Nyaeli Kahlil Noble Rhemti Totriddiam​

Her jaw clenched. Tight.

It was no secret that her last run in with The Drengir left much to be desired. Xa Fel had been her first mission, and not exactly a raging success. Even after the fact the planet seemed intent on haunting her, a sting of failure reawakened anytime she drifted back to what had transpired. Back to the sheer number of lives lost.

Roused from her thoughts by Khalil, her eyes thinned over the newly scrawled rune. The glint of interest that could typically be seen in them sobered by the situation at hand. She couldn’t fail. Not this time. With arms squared over her chest she dipped her head. Protection. Noted.

It was then her focus drifted to her counterpart. One she’d neglected to speak a word to since dispatch. Not like that would’ve changed things. It was never her intention to come off as aloof and yet she somehow always managed.

Regardless, she gave the male padawan a quick once over. A Nautolan close in age to herself, Rhemti if she remembered correctly. He seemed to share her blatant conviction, and for her that was a solid enough first impression.

"I'll follow your lead."

“Good.” Cocking her head in acknowledgment, she motioned them to the ramp, hand ghosting the hilt of her lightsaber. “Stick by me, we need to move fast- get the word out and cover as much ground as possible.”

Setting a foot firmly on solid ground, the blare of city-wide alarm systems welcomed their arrival.

Already plunged into a state of emergency.

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Border Planet
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Kahlil Noble Capris Halcyon Rhemti Totriddiam

"Jedi."​

She could feel them approaching as a freighter broke its way through the clouds and descended down towards the city spaceport. The Drengir hadn't quite reached it yet but were closing in fast. If she was somehow able to gain more control over them, she'd have cut off the spaceport long ago to prevent people from escaping the planet. But the Drengir were hungry enough, and with a high concentration of civilians around the spaceport, it was only a matter of time before it fell.

The Jedi, however, were an unexpected nuisance that had to be eradicated for these plans to succeed. The Drengir would be quite a challenge to take down with how many were present, but she needed to do more.

You shouldn't have come.​

Through the Force, Nyaeli began to attempt what she was most proficient at — reaching out, controlling, or torturing the minds of others. One of the Jedi in the group, likely the Master, had a mind she could not penetrate at. It either meant he was incredibly skilled at mental shielding, or his biology provided a natural defense against it. The others were not as immune though, so both Rhemti Totriddiam and Capris Halcyon would feel the Sith reaching out to their minds to force those words inside. It was merely the beginning of what she had planned for them.

...

"Run! Come on!" the voice of a young man called down the street, as he tried to direct people away from danger. Drengir were close behind and had already pinned down several civilians who were either too slow or too scared to run. They were breaking their way through homes and shops, killing and devouring anything in their path.

Would the Jedi be able to stop them?

​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

It wasn't just Drengir. Kahlil could feel it in passing. Another mind looking to get into his. He wasn't worried for more obvious reasons. For himself. His gaze drifted to his Padawans. They'd be fine. They had to be fine. The Master turned his gaze back out to the city. Panic could be heard in the distance. The Drengir were already working their way into the city. Kahlil raised a hand, letting a sequence of runes form before it, flashing briefly in the air. Runes Capris hadn't seen yet.

"If the Sith finds you, protect each other and run. Contact me immediately. You're not to fight. Focus on getting the people out."

Then he pulled the runes closer, and disappeared. Short range teleportation as he rushed through to try and get to the edge of the panic. The Drengir. He raised a hand, bringing forth another sequence of runes between the Drengir and the fleeing people. A column of flame, burning into existence before spreading like a wall.

"Get to the Space Port, run! Evacuations are underway!"

Rhemti Totriddiam | Capris Halcyon | Nyaeli

 

[Rhemti Totriddiam]

"Sith?" Just as Rhemti turned to glance at his disappearing master, just as the word left his lips, he felt it.

<You shouldn't have come.>

The young male grimaced, almost in pain, head-tendrils curling and writhing in response as the phrase forced its way in. A brief moment of frustration rose and then vanished, replaced by that same, overoptimistic goofball energy that kept the elder Totriddiam brother going. He sassed the Sith.

"Well that's your opinion!" He knew the Sith probably couldn't hear him, but he said it out loud, a wide grin across his two toned features as he allowed his own words to empower him. That dark gaze of his turned to the female padawan alongside him, flashing a mischievously courageous and reassuring smile. "Lets get these people out of here."

Capris Halcyon | Nyaeli | Kahlil Noble

 

[Capris Halcyon]

Discretion was evidently not the way of the Sith.

Mirroring Rhemti's reaction the girl recoiled; the sting of the dark side netting her senses. While her thoughts immediately caved to cynicism, her counterpart seemed to put his own spin on things, quipping back at the disembodied voice with ease. Heh. It was deserving of a chuckle.

Snark aside, her expression hardened once more, suddenly hyper aware of the lightsaber stationed at her hip. "Yeah- best not wait for things to get worse."

With that said, she dug into the city's confines, ushering people towards evacuation while tossing out the occasional rune to those dragging their feet. There was no margin for hesitation, no time to waste on arguing. Slipping through the panicked thrum of evacuees like water, her eyes scoured for any tell-tale signs of vegetation. The aggressive kind.

Suffice to say she didn't have to look awfully hard.

Like a ruptured dam, their immediate vicinity was intercepted by a surge of vines. Sentient ones- clambering over each other with an ugly vengeance to reach anything with a pulse. Her breath hitched with a level of anxiety she’d rarely felt before. It wasn’t like her- to panic- to freeze, but overwhelming dread rooted her in place. It was as if she was staring straight into the pleading face of the woman she’d left for dead on Xa Fel.

The haze only cleared when she came to the abrupt realization her inactivity also happened to put someone else at risk.

"Shit- Keep them from your face!"

Barking out a warning to her counterpart she replicated Kahlil's barrier of flames with her own hastily scrawled rune.

Nyaeli Kahlil Noble Rhemti Totriddiam

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Border Planet
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Kahlil Noble Capris Halcyon Rhemti Totriddiam

From afar, Nyaeli watched and felt the battle between the Jedi and the Drengir unfold. The Master had separated himself from the Padawans to help those they otherwise couldn't reach, and while that complicated the advance of the Drengir, she now saw opportunity elsewhere. Through the Force, she continued reaching out to their minds, pushing against and scratching away at their natural barriers in an attempt to push inside and drive them insane.

But it would be so much easier if they were terrified.

As people ran away for safety following their intervention, Nyaeli was struck with an idea that would hopefully accomplish just that. The mental bombardment almost immediately weakened as a result, and all around them, civilians suddenly froze up and began to scream in agony. The Jedi were naturally far more resistant but the already frightened citizens were not.

Kill the Jedi.​

Her words echoed into their minds and without any way to stop her, they all turned. With shards of glass, blunt weapons they could find or even just bare hands, the people now charged the two Padawans like a horde of zombies. Their eyes were filled with a mixture of pain, fear, and rage, as they followed their Master's will and attacked the two Jedi.

But of course, she couldn't just leave the Master alone. From her position in one of the taller flats, Nyaeli raised a hand and crushed the supporting walls of houses on both sides of the streets. Stone and debris collapsed into the path of the fleeing civilians, trapping them behind Kahlil and the incoming Drengir.

How would they escape now?

​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Oh. Well this wasn't good. Kahlil's gaze only glance briefly from the hungry maws before him to the trapped people behind him. That wasn't good at all. He set his jaw before turning his gaze towards the Drengir. Fine. Whoever was pulling the strings wanted to play? His saber extinguished as he instead closed his eyes. Reached out his hands, pulling the invisible wires that bound all things in the Force.

Behind him, the rubble lifted. Slowly and steadily, pulling above the road to let people flee. His other hand pointed towards the Drengir, and with no hesitation he brought that same power down on them. Gravity, crushing down on all of them all at once. Forcing them towards the pavement to keep them from their hungry charge. At least long enough for the civilians to run.

Capris Halcyon | Rhemti Totriddiam | Nyaeli

 

[Rhemti Totriddiam]

"Wha...!" Rhemti's pupil-less eyes widened as the civilians turned on them both, not only that, but vines spread and surged at them from behind, only to be blocked by Capris's hasty wall of flame. The Nautolan stumbled in surprise, stepping back as the ensorcelled citizens neared. One with a shard of glass came at him, his hand bleeding as he swung the improvised weapon about. Rhem sidestepped as the person came at him, swinging his hand around to lightly strike at the back of their neck, effectively knocking them out.

He caught the knocked out citizen, laying them down on the ground gently before picking up and tossing away the glass shard. "Are you okay, Capris?" Rhem surged forward, behind her as another hostile citizen drew close. He grappled the woman as she tried to break a glass bottle on Capris' shoulder, pulling her arm behind her with one hand as the other landed on the back of her neck, effectively knocking her out as well.

"We've got more than angry flowers on our backs. Any bright ideas?" He glanced at the wall of flame, brow knit together. He'd never fought Drengir before, seen a dead one and tried to help cleanse the area after it was dead, but he hadn't yet attended 'Drengir: Strategic Survivals and You' class.

Nyaeli | Capris Halcyon | Kahlil Noble

 

[Capris Halcyon]

Capris pulled back from the woman's strike, now seemingly fighting a war on two fronts. She shot Rhemti a grateful look. God could this day get any better? With a brief blink down towards the now incapacitated woman Rhemti's words clicked.

"Mind control." She breathed the words through gritted teeth. Peachy. "They're under some form of mind control. Whoever we're dealing with must be plucking the strings." Reiterating the girl sat on the revelation a moment. But Rhemti hadn't asked for her hypotheses, he needed solutions. Ones they could act on.

The girl's brow furrowed, "We bait them. Get the civilians to follow us to the evacuation ports, and then- uh reassess." It was the best she could think of. They couldn't fend off the drengir without civilians fighting their way into the crossfire. Plus, the blood-lust of those around them all but ensured they'd track the Jedi like dogs. It was just a matter of staying ahead of the mob.

Nyaeli Rhemti Totriddiam Kahlil Noble

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Border Planet
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Kahlil Noble Rhemti Totriddiam Capris Halcyon

Despite her best attempts to overwhelm the Jedi, they proved to be a lot more difficult to take down than she anticipated. The Jedi Master had summoned the Force to not only allow civilians a route of escape, but he kept the Drengir pinned down at the same time. Even without having fought him directly, she knew that she couldn't defeat him, so her corrupted gaze shifted to where she still saw an opportunity.

The Padawans.

They had worked together to cleverly draw the civilians away and towards the spaceport, but it wasn't over yet. Rather than trying to mind control more people or direct beasts at them, she targeted Capris Halcyon specifically this time. She lacked the strength to assault both Padawans, but all of her efforts shifted into forming a bridge between her mind and Capris', hoping to not just find a way inside, but splinter the woman's mind.

She needed to slow them down, and this was the only way to do it.

But knowing that her Master would likely be quick to interfere, she finally turned to him as well, and from her lookout high above most buildings, she pulled apart the facade of a nearby building, hoping to send all of it crashing into him. And if it didn't work, she hoped to at least set the Drengir free again.

​

 

[Kahlil Noble]

This wasn't just some Sith.

Kahlil's gaze turned up towards the building as it was ripped down, sent crushing towards him. The others he was trying to defend. His lips thinned. She was trying to keep him away. And he'd fallen right into that trap. The toppled building came crashing, and the most he could do was brace for it. And protect the other people there. His hand moved, lighting up the sky with a dazzling array of runic shapes that flashed a bright blue the moment the sequence was finished.

A shell formed around the civilians and him. A barrier to keep them all safe until the rubble settled. But right now he was trapped.

Another rune flashed, this time as a light as he glanced to the others here.

"Anyone hurt?"

Scared faces, but no one shook their head yes. Good. He gave them the calm smile he always had.

"Alright, then we'll work on getting you out."

Nyaeli | Rhemti Totriddiam | Capris Halcyon

 

[Rhemti Totriddiam]

"Okay." Rhemti sighed in relief once they'd successfully gotten the civilians to the spaceport. It took a little time, but he finally managed to calm them down or knock them out with a mixture of the force and knowledge of pressure points. The Nautolan turned to the other civilians hiding there, asking their aid; to watch and help those that had just been controlled, making sure to reassure that they were no longer under a spell and wouldn't cause anymore harm.

"That should be it." The Nautolan was panting slightly, having just finished running around to help handle the frightened civilians. "Ready to head back out there?" Rhemti looked to Capris, wanting to make sure his companion was all set to go. Earlier, the run in with the Drengir had seemed to spark something in her.

Nyaeli | Capris Halcyon | Kahlil Noble

 

[Capris Halcyon]

The intrusion was like a cleaver to the brain, Capris nearly doubling over in response. oh. Oh shit. A deep-seated panic blossomed in her chest, feeling the tendrils of the dark all but clambering their way into her mind. Rhemti was a world away, his words void in the abyss of her mind.

The girl was under siege, and she was losing big time.

Lashing out blindly at Nyaeli's raw strength, her desperation was cavernous, sinking deeper and deeper into the quicksand Nyaeli had designed for her. She needed a solution, a weapon to fight back. Now preferably.

Valery.

The realization was as swift as it was empowering. She'd prepared her for this back on Mobus hadn't she? Maybe it was time to apply those skills.

The link had been forged, she simply needed to fight fire with fire. Bracing against the tether between them, Capris grit her teeth clawing back at Nyaeli's mind with concentrated force.

Kahlil Noble Rhemti Totriddiam Nyaeli

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Border Planet
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Kahlil Noble Rhemti Totriddiam Capris Halcyon

The Jedi Master was trapped.

She hadn't been able to kill more civilians there because of the shield he formed to protect them, but they couldn't move. Drengir were still nearby, waiting for them to get out so they could be slaughtered, and they would need some time to get out of the rubble as well. This allowed Nyaeli to shift her focus entirely to the two Padawans, and begin her mental assault.

Her target, Capris Halcyon , did not feel prepared to resist her — she became desperate, and anxious and fought wildly against a coordinated attack. But right as Nyaeli felt a path inside opening up, something changed drastically. A powerful barrier formed around the young woman's mind, and suddenly there was no light at the end of the tunnel.

She fought back.

Nyaeli gritted her teeth and was forced to sever the link completely to ensure Capris could not retaliate. It meant losing her grip over the Padawan's mind as well, but she had other methods to finish this. For the first time today, Nyaeli drew the hilt of her lightsaber into her hand, and jumped from one rooftop to another, until she was able to launch herself into the air and down towards where the Padawans were evacuation the last of their group of civilians.

This is when she spotted Rhemti Totriddiam standing alone, panting slightly from exhaustion.

A wicked grin spread across her features, and with an immensely fast corkscrew, she closed the distance and lashed out with her crimson blade in an attempt to skewer the young Nautolan.

​

 

[Rhemti Totriddiam]

"Capris?" Rhemti's face twisted in concern as his companion nearly doubled over. He knew not that her mind had been invaded by the sith, only that she seemed in pain. Their mission was forgotten for a brief moment as he took a few steps towards her, knowing full well that the evacuation effort wasn't something he could do alone, nor was he about to.

"Are you okay?" Just as the words left his lips he felt it; a disturbance. The current around him, the force, it urged him forward as he sensed the danger. But in a momentary lapse of judgement he turned instead, to look up at the hostility heading his way.

He didn't move fast enough. A yelp of anguish wrenched itself from the Nautolan's throat as he barely dodged out of the way, a sizzling gash cut through his side as the Siths' lightsaber struck him. It all happened in the same moment; the siths attack and his concerned question for Capris.

Rhemti rolled across the spaceport floor, taking a sharp breath through his teeth, barely stopping himself as he came to a knee, hand firm against the wound on his side.

"Boss was right.." Rhem hissed in pain as he tried to collect himself, slowly standing up. He reached for his lightsaber hilt, sidestepping so as to put himself between the sith and the civilians if he could. "There is a sith here..."

Capris Halcyon | Nyaeli | Kahlil Noble

 

[Capris Halcyon]

Tags: Nyaeli Kahlil Noble Rhemti Totriddiam​

As soon as Nyalei allowed her the smallest bit of slack, the girl was sucked right back into the crossfire. A moment too late at that. Ah- Look who finally decided to show up.

"Rhemti-" Echoing the nautolan's own show of concern, Capris slid from the Sith's warpath all the same, coming to stand still beside her counterpart. A single once-over revealed a rather nasty laceration to his side. One which, if they were to survive this, would no doubt require immediate attention.

So. She gave it her immediate attention.

Quickly scrawling out a rune in the air between them, the girl barely considered what would come of it, as if working off pure instinct. By standard definition it was a protection rune, albeit modified with few improversions. If her intention were to properly manifest, the wound would clot and seal. Not a fix-all by any means, but at the very least it would give Rhemti some reprieve. Hopefully.

It was with that her attention was allowed back on Nyalei, answering Rhemti's remark with one of her own.

"Great- just when things were starting to get boring."

 

[Nyaeli]

Location: Border Planet
Attani Implant: Link!
Tag: Kahlil Noble Rhemti Totriddiam Capris Halcyon

Nyaeli slid across the ground with murderous intent in her corrupted eyes after her blade had struck its target. She wasn't able to kill the Padawan and bring the fight down to a duel with just one enemy, but the Nautolan looked hurt. Nyaeli could feel it, and she knew that with enough pressure, she could finish what she started. It had to be done fast though, as with every passing second, the likelihood of the Jedi Master interfering was growing as well.

Then there was the other Padawan — the one who had resisted her earlier mental assault. Now, she watched as the young woman utilized what looked like Sith runes, but they felt very different. Its energy focused on the Nautolan, and the Azuran immediately understood what was happening.

Not wanting to give them time to heal and coordinate, she extended a hand and attempted to send Rhemti flying with a telekinetic burst, before charging at Capris. Her blade came up, and with great power, it was slammed down diagonally, aimed across the woman's chest in an attempt to kill.

You'll both die here
​