The Wild Hunt

[Xilo Gale]

Xilo was not expecting for Zoya to hit herself, and looking at the aftermath all he could do was shake his head. They probably could've passed off the lie without her having to hurt herself. But the women was resourceful. That was one thing that Xilo couldn't deny. When given the rifle Xilo automatically loaded a round into the chamber but held the barrel of the weapon in his remaining hand. Like one would a cane or staff. He had thought about how he would react long before the imperials arrived. How they would attack them, how him and Zoya could possibly survive the attack.

So when the woman and the conscripts exited the speeder and began to draw near Xilo closed in on them as if he were an ally. "Of course. Your wildlife caused me more problems as you can see." Xilo said nodding his head to the remains of his cybernetic. "Yet I can see why your regular soldiers had problems with her." Xilo said letting the constripts go pass him as he neared the crusader not giving away his plan. His mind was blank, and his body fluid so when he got close enough he swung the rifle. Enhancing his strength through the force Xilo swung the rifle like it was a bat. The swing had so much power and speed behind it that wind could be heard whistling and it was aimed to knock the submachine gun out the crusaders hand. Then as it came back around Xilo would release the barrel allowing the rifle to fly back to its owner with a shot already loaded. Knowing that the women standing before him would be the biggest problem Xilo would jump forward to tackle her to the ground.

[member="Zoya"]

 

[Nyx]

Zoya caught the rifle flying through the air as the Crusader shouted in surprise as her own weapon was knocked out of her hand and she was tackled to the ground.
Before the conscripts could react, she slammed the butt of the rifle into one of their stomachs, and brought it across the face of another, finally pulling the trigger, accompanied by a splash of blood from the corpse of the third conscript. She began struggling with the two stunned conscripts, hoping [member="Xilo Gale"] could handle the zealot.

"Filthy alien!" the Crusader spat as she called upon the power of the Goddess flowing through her to enhance her strength as she struggled with the man. Her gun was nearby, but she could not spare a hand to reach for it, instead putting her power into her legs, aiming to kick him off of her and go for the weapon.

 

[Xilo Gale]

As him and the Zealot went rolling through the snow with Xilo holding her down he growled trying to hold her down with his one arm to no avail. He soon had feet planted into his chest blasting Xilo a few feet backwards. Landing on his back Xilo looked up at the sky, but drew on his anger and rage. The memories of watching his mother experimented on, and from his fathers torture. That little spark then grew into a flame, and then an inferno. Curling his body and pushing up Xilo flipped to his feet and drew his lightsaber activating the weapon. Xilo felt a slight pang of pain in his chest from the kick, but he drew on the pain adding it onto the already blazing inferno that was his emotions.

Using the force inwards Xilo strengthened his body and jumped the distance between him and the Zealot in a single leap. Midleap he heard the sound of a gunshot and as he looked over he saw one of the Conscripts falling. Bringing down his saber one would soon realize it was to cut the Zealot's weapon in half so it couldn't be used against him. If he succeeded in it Xilo would deliver a force enhanced kick to the bottom of the womans jaw.

[member="Zoya"]

 

[Nyx]

The Crusader let out a gasp of pain as his foot collided with her jaw, and she landed on her back in the snow, her head reeling. Who was this alien?! What was this alien?!

But she quickly recovered, and she felt her anger growing within her. How dare he lay a hand on her?!
She screamed as she channeled that hate into a wave of pure Force, releasing it as she jumped to her feet, and her anger grew as she saw her now-useless weapon and the corpse of her conscript.
She growled as she drew a long curved blade from her waist, twirling it in her hands as she stared down [member="Xilo Gale"].
"I'm going to enjoy gutting you, alien filth!"

 

[Xilo Gale]

Being blasted backwards by the wave of force energy Xilo hit the snow once again with a heavy thud. Using the momentum he rolled upon impact with the ground and ended on his feet once again facing the Crusader. He could feel her anger just from the distance between them, and it was magnificent. Finally someone on this ice ball that could give him a true fight. Someone like him. Though it was time to correct her, no longer would Xilo stand for being called alien filth. It was time to show his true colors. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath Xilo let the darkside flow through him his body set alight, and when his eyes opened they glowed a bright yellow instead of the sickly pale they were before. "I am not any filthy alien. I'm a Sith."

Wasting no more words Xilo dashed towards the women to meet her in close quarters combat. Falling back on his knowledge of Shii-Cho he lashed out at the women's right knee with his saber, but it was a feint as he spun his body and brought the blade down diagonally towards the Zealot's shoulder.

[member="Zoya"]

 

[Nyx]

The Crusader narrowed her eyes as the alien declared himself a Sith. She had heard of them, warriors who wielded the power of the Goddess but rejected Her. Knowing she was now faced with a heretic as well as an alien, her resolve doubled in strength. She was no ordinary Zhornee, she was a Voidwalker, and a Holy Crusader, and she was trained to deal with heretics.

As [member="Xilo Gale"] rushed towards her with his lightsaber, she snarled as she brought her blade to bear. As he struck at her knee, she recognized it as a feint, and brought her blade arm up. Her arm intersected with his, and her blade pierced his arm, even as his lightsaber went through her armor, and singed her shoulder, making her scream in pain.

 

[Xilo Gale]

[member="Zoya"]

The blade bit into his flesh, but it didn't go completely through the muscle leaving Xilo with a still functioning arm. As blood ran down the blade Xilo looked at his reflection in it. The pain would have made many give up, but for someone who spent years being tortured this was nothing. The pain that Xilo did feel was channeled back into himself adding to his rage making him stronger. Then as a stream of blood flowed down his arm Xilo licked it before spitting the blood straight into the women's eyes. If soap burned getting into someones eyes just imagine blood. Spitting blood in the Zealots eyes was merely a distraction as Xilo pressed down drawing on the women's own anger and pain to power himself. Slowly Xilo would keep using the darkside to multiply his strength in an attempt to completely cut through the Zealot. He'd bring the saber down in a straight overhanded chop. Though before the attack would land Xilo would step inside the attack planting his lips firmly on the Zealots as yet another surprise attack, and then bite down on her lip and yanking his head back to rip off the womens lip. Which he would follow up with a horizontal slash to bisect the Zealot.

 

[Nyx]

The Crusader's last moments in this world were of complete and utter agony, as her eyes were filled with blood, and her lip was separated from her body. She pleaded to the Goddess to save her, to heal her of this pain, then mercifully, it ended.

Zoya finished the last conscript with a shot to the cranium, and stared at [member="Xilo Gale"] as he ended the Crusader.
She had seen people like him. Those that enjoyed pain, that enjoyed inflicting it on others. They had sent her comrades to their deaths, and murdered her parents.

But she slung her rifle over her shoulder, and slid into the speeder. She stared at the controls, having no idea how to operate it. She frowned as she banged on the console, hoping it started.

 

[Xilo Gale]

The Zealot's final moments of pain stayed with Xilo as he rallied back the rage and excitement that the battle had caused. Needless slaughter would have made him no better than a wild beast. This murder had been in the name of a cause, but the smile stayed on his face. The women had been so confident, but she had fallen before a true user of the dark side. Shaking his head Xilo spat out the piece of the Zealots lip with it landing next to her body. It tasted disgusting and blood filled his mouth, the copper taste filling his sense of taste. The wound she had inflicted on him wasn't detrimental but it felt like a small sting to him. Even then he still had to cauterize it. Raising the saber and touching it to the wound Xilo simply grunted before turning to join Zoya.

"Don't hit it. I got it." Xilo projected into her mind as he hopped into the speeder, and went about activating the vehicle. "So what are those people? How do they know how to use those gifts?" Xilo asked as he finished activating the speeder and they drove off.

[member="Zoya"]

 

[Nyx]

Zoya huffed and slid to the next seat, holding tightly to the side of the speeder as it took off.

"They are the Holy Crusaders. Besides the Empress, they are my people's direct link to the Goddess herself. They police the commoners, and torture and execute heretics." Of course, heretics meant anyone who said anything unflattering about the Empress or the government.
"I know little of their training, but they are Voidwalkers; those blessed with the powers of the Goddess. Their techniques have been handed down for centuries, from the Goddess herself when she founded the Empire."

Crusaders struck fear into the hearts of all Zhornee, their powers the divine wrath of the Goddess.

[member="Xilo Gale"]

 

[Xilo Gale]

[member="Zoya"]

"Hmm I see. They are far from weak, that one even landed a blow on me. How do you insurgents fair with them? Or do you just hope to avoid them? Are there some Voidwalkers among you?" Xilo asked as he focused ahead of them. The speeder flew over the frozen tundra with little to no effort at a speed outpacing any that could chase them. "Considering that we killed them, there was no time for them to warn others. We should have a easy ride to this persons home. Pick them up and bring them back to the cave whether they want to come or not."

Knowing it may be an inappropriate question, but he had been helping the insurgents since they had found him. He at least deserved a bit of information. "How long have you been fighting the imperials?"

 

[Nyx]

Zoya sighed and looked away.
"We die. In droves." She looked at her hands. "The Crusaders snatch up Voidwalkers at birth, so there are none among us that I know of. We have no defense against them."

She glanced at him, really thinking about it. "Two years. Before that, I put in five years in the Imperial Army. Of my nineteen winters, the majority of it has been spent fighting."
As the speeder approached the village, she pointed to the square.
"She is staying in the town hall. Come."

[member="Xilo Gale"]

 

[Xilo Gale]

Young kids should not be forced to fight. Xilo's grip tightened on the steering yolk as his anger started bubbling once again. He understood pain, but there was no reason to make a child fight in your wars. "Don't worry they're not immortal as you just saw. They are still flesh and blood. You just have to be smart about the way you fight them. Remember there's no such thing as a fair fight. You must remember that you outnumber them. That power makes them arrogant, and that will be their downfall." Landing in the village square Xilo waited for Zoya to lead the way. The village was new to him, and almost archaic in a since. It was rare to see a village on any planet that still had such a air to it. There was no point in using the force to sense what was around him as there were to many life forms in the area. "Well I hope your battle ends soon. I know how war is."

[member="Zoya"]

 

[Nyx]

Zoya exited the speeder, glad to finally have her legs on solid ground. Zhornee were not meant to fly.

She walked through the village center, and knocked on the door of the town hall. A small boy opened the door, then squealed in fear as he saw [member="Xilo Gale"]. Zoya assured him it was fine, and told him to fetch the shaman.

A minute later, an extremely old woman walked to the door, and sighed as she saw Xilo.
"So, the outside world has finally found us." She said in fluent Basic.

 

[Xilo Gale]

[member="Zoya"]

Now that was the proper reaction. A reaction Xilo was more then comfortable with, it was something he had seen on the faces of his victims plenty of times. It probably didn't help that he was missing a arm. Shaking his head Xilo had almost turned his back on the door thinking the trip a failure. That was till he saw the elderly women come to the door. The look she gave him wasn't filled with animosity but more sadness and worry then anything. You can blame your Empress for that. She is the one who brought others to your planet. Not to smart considering all the wars going on in the galaxy." Xilo answered in basic. Since the shaman knew it maybe she wasn't from the planet. Maybe she had just gotten stranded here. Or she had learned it from another outsider. Nudging Zoya in the side Xilo nodded for her to go on. They were on a mission after all.

 

[Nyx]

Zoya once more did not understand what the two were saying, but the shaman turned to her and spoke in Zhornai:
"I know what you're here for. Come, we must help your friend before it's too late."

The group piled into the speeder, and the shaman asked a question of [member="Xilo Gale"].

"You are Sith, yes? I can sense the darkness inside of you, child. Tell me, what has our fool of an Empress done to Vullain?"
Shamans rarely stayed long in civilization, so they were behind on much of their news.

 

[Xilo Gale]

Xilo once again found himself piloting the speeder, but he threw caution to the wind this time and was pushing its engine to the max. A loud whining could be heard coming from the engine as wind whistled in his ears and his white hair flapped about wildly. Then the question came, he knew it would. "Yes I am a Sith, but don't take that as me being heartless. It's a personal choice." Xilo said to the women and rode in silence for a few more seconds before answering her second question. "Empress dearest set a bounty on our friend Zoya here, and I think... Not sure, but I think she's inviting some of the other powers in the universe to the planet to open negotiations. I'm not sure on that part, or whether if it was the Sith or Republic. What I do know is that she set up a bounty with the coordinates of this planet. She means buissness, she even offered trackers to hunt Zoya here. I answered the bounty so I could have a true challenge."

[member="Zoya"]

 

[Nyx]

The shaman cursed to herself in a language neither of them understood.
Then she looked out at the landscape, a sad look on her face.
"For three thousand years, your kind has had more of an influence on us than you can imagine." She said in Basic. "And now it looks like you are returning. I can only hope that it ends up better than the last time."

Zoya stared blankly at the shaman, wishing she knew what she was saying. From the tone, she knew it was fairly heavy.

[member="Xilo Gale"]

 

[Xilo Gale]

Xilo may not have understood the language the women had cursed in but he had felt the emotion behind it. It meant nothing good, but he kept his eyes ahead. "What do you mean by my kind? The Sith? The Jedi? You have to be more specific then that. I don't have any clue who you mean." Xilo told the women honestly. If the sith had been to the planet before he had never heard any stories of it. "How did it end last time? You don't seem to be to bad off. You should see the planets like Hoth or Mustafar. Then you'll see just how good this planet is in comparison."

Looking over at Zoya, Xilo projected his thoughts into her mind relaying the same information the shaman had just told him. Maybe the shaman didn't want Zoya to know, but she deserved a right to. She was the one in the snow fighting against the imperials. The information could probably save her life.

[member="Zoya"]

 

[Nyx]

The shaman sighed once more, even as she felt [member="Xilo Gale"] share a mental link with the girl in the speeder with them.

"Before I tell you, child, understand that this information goes against everything my people know. I leave the decision up to you, but if you tell this girl, you will change her life forever.
"Three thousand years ago, a woman descended from the heavens in a silver chariot. She looked like nothing the local Zhornee had ever seen, and wielded a blade of flames, which she used to lead the a tribe of Zhornee to conquer the other tribes and founded what would become the Empire. The Zhornee hailed her as the Goddess of the Snow, and even today, her descendents carry her blessings, the Voidwalkers, and her words found the basis of the Imperial government."

Zoya wrinkled her brow, waiting for a translation, feeling useless for not understanding the shaman.