They Fall, We Rise

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

He glanced towards Neesa as she attempted to exit the Bridge.

For a brief moment he wondered if this ship would actually be able to hold up long enough to survive in battle. The engineers had assured him that it would, that most of the problems were with internal systems rather than the ships weapons or shields. Vrak wasn't entirely sure if that was the truth, but seeming as how the engineers lives depended on it he hoped that they would at the very least be clever enough not to lie to him. Eventually Neesa managed to squeezed herself through.

"This is pathetic." He remarked to himself.

Had that queen not held him on Naboo they would have had an entire armada by now.

Instead they were furnished with a single ship, a single vessel that was barely operational. He rolled his eyes slightly as he heard one of the engineers behind him yelp in pain. The Pureblood scowled, returning his attention to the holo-map as he studied their battle plan for the coming engagement.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

A single candle flickered in the middle of her floor. Neesa sat before it cross-legged with her eyes fixed on the flame. Having just one item available to focus the senses on was a good way to leave behind unnecessary thoughts and concerns. To free her of distraction and let her find that state of concentration for the challenge ahead.

This was a very personal ritual for Neesa, one she had never shared with another. It had been described in one of the first books Sitas had left in the room with an open window. Originally it had been a simple test to try and extinguish the flame with her mind. Shutting out everything but the goal had helped her find that connection to the Force and even as she grew she had returned time and again to this routine.

Both blades rested lightly across her lap. She carefully let her thumb trail down the edge of each blade in turn. They had never required sharpening, yet she always checked them before a mission if she had the time. The runes faintly glowed as she carried out the little ritual. She felt the power imbued in each. The sensation as the pad of her thumb crossed each in turn was unique to the rune.

The blood rune was a constant, insatiable thirst. The Thunder rune was barely contained energy, a thrum of power. The Stability rune was the opposite, it brought calm and focus at the faintest touch.

Taking up sorrow in one hand she closed her eyes. The air whispered the promise of death as her arm swung. The blade passed within a hair's breadth of the wick and extinguished the flame.



Neesa arrived back on the bridge just minutes before they would emerge from hyperspace. Close to the Force, she had let it warn her when the time was drawing near. She raised an eyebrow at the crew's novel solution to the door problem.

"I suppose that works," she muttered. She had some basic armour on. Nothing that would encumber her, but some protection to the chest that might save her from a stray bolt. She had a light repeating blaster pistol strapped to one hip and several small smoke grenades at her belt. There was a small satchel on her back with some light mines, a couple of breaching charges and some spare power packs. Her swords were of course with her.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

The ship dropped out of hyperspace with a sudden surge, the viewport immediately filling with the planet ahead of them.

Hovering just a bit away from the world, ominously hanging within the orbit, lay the three dreadnoughts that Vrak had spoken of. His lips thinned slightly as he spotted the ships, half expecting them to open fire in an instant. The thought was a bit silly of course, The Simus had deployed it's cloaking device the instant they had dropped out of hyperspace, marking them as little more than a blip on any sensors scans that the dreadnoughts were likely employing.

"They have not detected us, My Lord."

An ensign called out to him as they began to drift closer to the planet.

"I am aware." Vrak stated quietly, his gaze falling once more to the map before he turned towards Neesa. "Let's get to the hangar bay."

He would need to put on an atmospheric suit for their boarding procedure. This attack would not be a subtle one, it rarely was when he was involved.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

"Your turbolifts had better be working,” she said in a light-hearted tone as they left the bridge. Truthfully there was a touch of nerves at play in her more conversational manner. Typically she was meticulous in her planning, with numerous backup plans to cover many eventualities. In her first operation with Vrak he’d triggered the alarm which could have seen her caught. Then Siedra had nearly killed her back on Athiss.

Ship to ship combat was not her battlefield of choice. She was used to working out of sight. But this kind of scenario was about to become a lot more common back on Athiss and she couldn’t just sit on the side-lines.

Neesa was aware of the nerves, away that she was speaking unnecessarily. She was comfortable as long as it did not break the focus she had built in silence in her cabin. Soon the nerves would become more and turn more readily to fear. That she welcomed. She could draw on that and twist the Force with its energy.

It turned out the lifts were working. They arrived to a hangar bay with rows of scarlet massassi neatly lined up and waiting to depart.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vral watched the massassi as a few of them, rather comically, attempted to squeeze themselves into specially designed space suits. The hulking armor would keep the monsters safe, allowing them to breath long enough to get inside of the enemy dreadnought. There was difficulty however, mostly because the creatures were at best, clumsy, and at worse downright uncoordinated. The Pureblood frowned for a moment and then shook his head.

"Help them." He told one of the ensigns on the deck of the ship, motioning towards the Massassi.

If he'd thought he and Neesa could do this on their own he would have gladly left the creatures behind, but he knew that the Dreadnought would simply have too many for just the two of them to handle. He sighed slightly as he wandered across the deck, heading towards a locker that he quickly popped open. Inside was a suit, a basic armor that would allow him to breath in space and keep him protected from small projectiles.

He didn't bother going to a changing room.

Within a few moments Vrak had donned the armor, placing the mask over his face and letting the hiss of air sealing ring out.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Neesa had deliberated chosen form fitting armour, but it was not vacuum sealed. She had to layer on a more cumbersome suit and then fasten her weapons back over the top.

This was going to be a one way trip after all. If they didn't kill the Lord they would have to fight their way to the hangar or find one of the on board escape pods. One they were safely docked she could free herself of the suit whilst the first wave of massassi advanced.

The lumbering beasts were going to die in droves if the other side managed to get a defensive force between them and their goals. That was their purpose. To charge forwards through the smoke and hail of blaster fire and be the spearhead that broke the line.

Neesa imagined the scene as they found a transport. It became her candle flame. The focal point to build her emotional well. The tingle of nerves wasn't enough. She needed genuine fear until she felt those icy fingers run up her spine. Her mind seemed to sharpen, everything coming into focus: the heavy breathing of the massassi; the engines warming up with a low rumble; the weight of her swords.

It was time to start events rolling by killing a man. She had become quite adept at that.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

"It is doubtful that the transport will actually reach the dreadnought." Vrak stepped on board.

There was a reason that he had donned the vacuum suit, why he had forced the Massassi to put on similar garments. The Pureblood knew that at the very least the Dreadnoughts were outfitted with plenty of point defense lasers. The Transport was really more of a distraction than anything else. As soon as they got close enough they would eject themselves from the back of the vessel, launching themselves towards the enemy capital ship.

The tactic was not a subtle one, but effective. "The ride will be bumpy."

He told Neesa as the ships engines began to rumble. Noticeably, the rear of the transport did not close, nor did it seal in any air.

"Get ready." Vrak told her as he sealed his mask. "Blood will flow."

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

That core of fear swelled, threatening to change from a boon to her bane. Her fingers scrunched up into balls at her sides. This was now becoming so far removed from what she knew that she was starting to question the value in her being present. She kept the flame small, focused on the battle down narrow corridors and the bridge of the dreadnought. Neesa pushed aside all thoughts of floating free in space.

Trust in the Force, she told herself. The Force was there to be bent to her will, it would see her through.

Vrak would have noticed her apprehension she imagined, but she managed to keep her tone collection when she replied: "I am ready."

She grasped a rail beside her seat tightly as they took off. They were drop the AG in the passenger compartment as they coasted in. They would be subjected to any external forces placed on the transport with the inertial dampeners also offline, but it would stop the instant switch from 1G to 0G from disorientating the massassi as they departed the transport. She barely felt the acceleration as they pulled away from their ship, but the moment they were up to speed they switched the systems off.

The shuttle was suddenly a rattling, noisy chamber. Neesa felt the gravity dissipate and she was held in her seat by straps alone. Her stomach was suddenly forced up her through as manoeuvring thrusters were used to avoid laser cannon fire. Apparently if a shuttle or fighter accelerated at full thrust without inertial dampeners the pilot would be instantly killed. That was a nice thought.

"Nearly in range!" called the pilot.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak's face somehow managed to remain entirely neutral.

His stomach though was in the process of thoroughly being turned inside out. Starships had always been an interesting experience for him, especially when he wasn't piloting. Usually he had some measure of control, either through Sith Battle Coordination or because he was sitting at the controls himself, but here? Here it seemed like everything and nothing was happening all at once. Turbo-lasers began to fire, point defense cannons blared, and everything happened faster than he could even process.

The Siimus had decloaked and opened fire, the stealth cruiser launching everything it had at the two other vessels.
He could see the blares of energy as one weapon or another struck, great explosions that core across the hulls of the enemies ships. Surprisingly the dreadnoughts themselves didn't open fire for a few heartbeats, either too focused on the shuttle or simply mesmerized by a Capital ship just suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

The Pureblood waited a moment more, then saw a glance of hull as the shuttle floated and descended. "Go!"

Vrak didn't wait for an answer, he simply tromped down the deck of his shuttle and jumped forth, the grav boots beneath him sending him flying towards the dreadnoughts hull.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

She hadn't expected losing the concept of an up to be quite so disorientating. As she unclipped herself she managed to just about convince her brain that the shuttle was still oriented the way it had been before. That option went out the door with her.

She didn't realise her microphone was on with a string of profanities escaped her lips. Vrak was already heading away from them with a trio of massassi as she worked out what was going on. The shuttle was a distance away now, leaving her in the vastness of space. The stars were incredibly bright out here, the hull of the dreadnought dull and gloomy. She took a deep breath and steeled herself.

The dreadnought was down. That was the easiest way to place it in her mind. That was down and she needed to descend.

Right.

The hiss of the microthrusters broke the silence within her suit and she headed after the group of massassi towards the hull.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

There was a loud metallic thunk as his boots activated and grabbed onto the metal hull of the dreadnought.

His eyes wandered towards the 'sky' above him, lips thinning. Explosions bloomed throughout space, a dozen of them scattered across the two other dreadnoughts nearby, two of them striking out across the shimmering Shields from The Simus. He frowned slightly, watching as the cruiser moved quickly passed the dreadnoughts and opened another salvo with it's hidden weapons. More explosions bloomed, the dreadnought beneath him shaking as it fired it's weapons.

There was another thunk that ran through the hull beneath him, one of the Massassi landing just a few feet behind him. "Cut through."

Vrak said over the radio, his lightsaber igniting.

The usual snap-hiss didn't sound out of course, the void being absent of any air to carry the sound. His lightsaber plunged into the metal hull of the dreadnought, cutting a large swathe rather quickly.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

He was already almost through the hull when she touched down. That only served to bolster her determination. She drew from that core, using the Force to anchor herself more thoroughly before drifting along the hull.

The air escaped through the cuts, taking globs of molten durasteel with it. There was no pressure left to push the rough circles away when the cutting was complete. Neesa raised one hand and tossed them away from the hull with the Force.

Scarlet warriors dragged themselves through the openings. There was no blaster fire to ward them off at first. The nearest troops were too busy asphyxiating. Neesa followed through, once more struggling to deal with the sudden change of orientation, ending up on all fours as it turned out the floor was not in the direction she had expected. That was something to remember next time: check which way up the ship was and how its decks were laid out.

She pushed herself to her feet, drawing her blade and chasing after the forwards party. A field shimmered ahead of them but the massassi ran straight through. As Neesa passed through she was hit by the din of battle. The cries of massassi and the roar of blasters carried by the atmosphere held by the field.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

For a few moments Vrak lingered in the hallway.

The lack of oxygen, the lack of sound and everything else was somehow comforting. He glanced briefly at his lightsaber, then towards the battle that was raging just beyond the shield that had been put up in the doorway. He frowned for a moment, glancing towards the outer edges of space and watching one more explosive flash. Eventually he simply turned, shifting his gaze towards the battle and following after Neesa who had already joined the fight.

As soon as he stepped through the shield, the sounds of battle returned to him.

The clash was already in full swing as he moved forward, the rushing roar of a Massassi reaching him just as one of the warriors cleaved another in two. He scowled slightly as blood splattered across his visor, lips thinning as his off-hand came up and a crackle of lightning surged towards the creature.

It howled in pain as it collapsed, screeching. "Neesa!"
Vrak practically bit the word.

"The tower!" That was where they would find their target. The faster they were able to kill the Councilor the faster they would be able to end this.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

One of the massassi had picked out Neesa. Whether it was because the thing assumed she was a leader or an easy target she did not know. A notched machete, nearly four feet in length was it's weapon. Whilst she knew her blade would likely shear through the cheap blade she didn't dare block. Cutting the machete in half would only leave the top travelling in a straight line of its own accord.

Instead she let the weapon cut through the air with a woosh in front of her. The creature looked annoyed that he hadn't cut her in two. He drew back for another heavy swing and Neesa rushed forwards. The massassi was thick muscle as well as armour, but three quick swipes with her blade cut through its shoulder and knee. And then its throat as it fell.

Their own massassi had pushed forwards enough to open up a corridor that led in the rough direction of the tower. At least she thought it did, but her sense of direction had been tested by moving between different gravitational fields already.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak followed after Neesa. Unlike her his own sense of direction hadn't been compromised. He had studied the plans of these dreadnoughts and even traveled upon one before, that coupled with his natural sense of the force allowed him to track the Councilor to exactly where he would be. The Pureblood didn't bother deactivating his lightsaber as the two of them strode down the hall, no one yet standing in their path as they reached the end and a section of turbo-lifts.

He frowned slightly, glancing around.

The Massasis would be occupied by their own forces, but the ship shouldn't have been this empty. The Dreadnoughts were old, ancient by most accounts. They were Harrower-Class Dreadnoughts, ships that had been used by the resurgent Empire to strike against the Republic. They weren't the most advanced ships, and thus required a sizeable crew to actually use. "Something is wrong."

He told Neesa quietly.

"There should be more crewmembers." He frowned, gripping his lightsaber a bit more tightly as the lift doors opened before them.

An odd pit began to form in his stomach.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

In one hand she held a smoke grenade. Her thumb was over the activation switch. Her other held Thirst ready. Perhaps it was just the naming of the blade during the alchemy, but that blade almost seemed to have a will to be free of its scabbard.

The doors opened and there was nothing inside. She very carefully thumbed the secondary catch on the grenade back on and hung it from her waist. The lift looked inviting, welcoming.

"If they weren't sending anyone down, shouldn't they have locked off the lifts to stop us going up?" She asked. They surely had control of their own tuebolifts.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

He frowned again, slowly shaking his head. "Something is wrong."

Things didn't feel...right. A member of the Dark Council should have been a beacon, a bright burning star of the darkside that could be felt from even a mile away, yet Vrak could sense nothing. He frowned slightly, stepping into the lift without further hesitation, he motioned for Neesa to follow, readying himself in case there was some sort of trap. His lightsaber deactivated, his lips thinning as he pressed the button that would send them to the meditation chamber.

"I can't sense him." Vrak said quietly.

He had been in the presence of Lord Baltha before. He was Pureblood, and he was stronger than most.

"He should be like a burning light." His fingers tightened. "But there's nothing."

The Pureblood felt the odd lurch of the turbo-lift as they began to move up the spine of the ship.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Siedra had managed a powerful spell of discovery back on Athiss. Neesa had attempted to replicate the spell, but attempting to pick out an individual hiding their presence over the scale of a dreadnought was well beyond her.

Neesa moved to one side of the lift. She could well imagine that door opening to a barrage of blaster fire. She eyed Vrak's lightsaber. That was a way out of the trap if nothing else.

If he wasn't on his flagship then where would he be? His ships were in orbit it he wouldn't be back on Athiss. Perhaps it wasn't a trap, but merely an opportunity to take his ships and then end him and his personal guard with a well placed barrage from orbit. She knew it was a distant hope.

She cleared her mind of everything but the Force, gripped her blade tightly and watched the door.

"Let's see who is left then."

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak frowned for a moment, his lips thinning as the doors finally parted to reveal an empty chamber.

His hand immediately tightened into a fist, his gaze falling towards the throne that sat within the middle of the room. He stepped out of the lift with no concern, either thinking there wouldn't be any traps or never even considering the fact. As soon as Neesa and him stepped from the turbo-lifts the door behind them sealed shut, a loud hiss ringing out as the lift immediately shot down the shaft and rocketed down into the decks below once more.

"He must be-" The sound of a lightsaber igniting cut off his words.

From behind the throne stepped a Pureblood, too young to be Lord Baltha, too brash. Vrak frowned for a moment, attempting to recognize the man. He could sense his power, but it paled in comparison to that of any of the Dark Councilors.

An apprentice perhaps, a secret one.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Neesa didn’t turn to Vrak or even open her mouth to address the newcomer. She kept Thirst in her right hand and started to circle to their right. There was a hiss as Sorrow was drawn from its scabbard. As much as the snap-hiss of a lightsaber, that noise was laced with menace. She didn’t recognise the man. Certainly he hadn’t been publically announced as Baltha’s Hand as she had been for Sitas.

She kept both blades by her sides. The Isthl rune engraved on the inside edge of each blade glowed with a faint, pale blue light. Concentrating on that rune meant she could cast certain spells with a semantic gesture. She focussed on drawing the Force together, preparing to unleash a destructive manifestation of the dark side.

The young sith eyed them both and advanced a few steps towards Vrak. There, he held his ground. Neesa stopped circling and remained lined up with his left shoulder. She waited to see if the apprentice would speak or simply start the conflict.