They Fall, We Rise

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Neither happened, Vrak spoke first, stepping in front of Neesa so she knew not to attack yet.

They needed information above everything else. Lord Baltha should have been here, that was the information that he had received. It was reliable, at least as reliable as anything he could get from Athiss now a days. He frowned slightly and moved towards the Apprentice. The Other Pureblood seemed to tense as Vrak approached him, his lips thinning and his hand pulling a lightsaber free from his belt. A small smile curled at Vrak's lips. At least the boy knew what a threat was.

"Where is Lord Baltha?" Vrak's voice reached out over the bridge of the ship, echoing slightly in the empty space.

The Pureblood simply stared at Vrak, his eyes flicking towards Neesa for half a second. Then his lightsaber sparked into life with a loud snap-hiss.

It seemed they wouldn't be getting any answered.

"Don't kill him." He told Neesa as his own lightsaber ignited. "We need answers."

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

She took another step to her right. Removing the chance of killing the apprentice meant altering the nature of the spell she had begun to cast. She circled for a few more steps, concentrating on what she had built. Some of the energy dissipated back into the Force as it was altered to avoid raw, physical damage.

Two quick steps closed some of the distance and the scarlet blade came around to block her path. Neesa stretched out with the fingers around her left blade and yellow streaks arced out. What was going to be a blast of energy was a flare of light that lashed across the apprentice’s shoulder.

He grunted in pain, even as his muscles spasmed. She pressed the advantaged home, three quick swipes and the pureblood was being forced to give ground.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak didn't fight, at least not at first.

The Pureblood was pressed and pushed back, forced to give ground to Neesa at every turn as she swiped her blades again and again. He watched them with no small amount of satisfaction, if only because he could test the mans worth without ever having to lift a finger.

The apprentice swiped forward, his lightsaber arching, and only then did Vrak step in.

Half a heart-beat thudded in his chest, Vrak moving forward as he rushed into the fight. One end of his saber-staff clashed against the Pureblood's weapon, stopping it from striking Neesa's leg and giving her ample opportunity to disable the other Pureblood.

They didn't have time to play games, not now.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Vrak didn't delay his entrance too long at least. Two collisions of blades in and a small voice started to question if he was going to sit this out entirely. She hadn't missed him darting away from Siedra whilst she was still fighting, but he'd mostly redeemed himself by dragging her out from beneath the caving entrance.

The next maneuver was delicate. Too much power through the Barshall rune and his brain would be mush. She was too close to try a spell of binding. Sabers screeched as they held firm against one another. The apprentice tried to back away from Neesa's strike, but she was too quick.

The flat of the blade struck his temple and there was a loud 'pop' and the rune glowed yellow. The apprentice staggered away, losing his grip on the lightsaber. His legs buckled and he went down.

She gave herself a nod at the well weighted strike. He was down and concussed, but not unconscious.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

The moment the acolyte fell to the ground Vrak moved forward.

His foot bashed into his head the moment it peeked up, his heel coming down to slam the already concussed man back against the metal floor. His foot then came down on his chest, pinning him in place with a sneer and snapping his lightsaber forward towards the mans throat. "One move."

Vrak's lips turned to a sneer.

"You die." The acolyte seemed to open his mouth to say something for a moment, his fingers twitching for just a moment, but the heat of the lightsaber stopped him. The Pureblood's stared at one another, both men knowing that one had already lost. The Sith Knight smiled for a second, keeping the blade in place at the other man's throat. "Lord Baltha."

The acolyte scowled. "Where is he?"

That was really all Vrak needed to know. All that he wanted.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

The acolyte said something particularly rude. Even Neesa - who had grown up on the streets - felt her eyes widen at the remark. Time was not something they had. Lord Baltha's massassi would keep on fighting as long as the Lord was alive. His ships would continue to operate under his command. Their own vessel was advanced, perhaps could even win the battle if the systems held together. Even under the best of conditions it would not come out of this without significant damage.

Neesa had no love of torture, particularly when carried out with no planning or preparation. Over time a captive could be brought to come forward and give the information almost willingly. That wouldn't happen in a few seconds so they would have to be crude.

"I could take off his fingers, then he wouldn't be able to do that," Neesa suggested. Her swords made no sound as they were slid back into their scabbards. However her knife made a very distinct sound as it was taken from her belt. It was almost an artform in itself to make that slow, threatening sound with just a blade and some leather.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak peered down at the other Pureblood, glancing towards Neesa.

"No." Pain wouldn't be very effective unfortunately. Most Purebloods on Athiss endured some form of torture in their training. They were beaten, broken, brought to the very edge of life. It was a part of their training as much as using their lightsaber. The Elders always insisted that it made one strong, but Vrak had always assumed that it was more of a power-play, a way for the Elders to show that they were in charge and could do as they pleased.

Slowly Vrak reached down.

"If you will not speak." Vrak said flatly. "Then I will take what I want."

Slowly the SIth Knight reached down towards the other Pureblood, his fingers lacing over the mans face. The Force began to knit between them, thin lines of power that seemed to stretch and encapsulate the two, then suddenly, Vrak wrenched back.

The other Pureblood let out a loud gasp as Vrak tore the knowledge he wanted from the mans mind.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

As Vrak stepped away Neesa moved over the acolyte. She placed the heel of her boot on his chest and looked down at him. There was almost pity in her look. Perhaps more idle curiosity.

The Sith's eyes rolled back and his arms twitched. Vrak had worked quickly, too quickly. She could still feel the cracks in the acolyte's mind. The information had been anchored deep, yanking at it had torn many threads.

She moved her boot up his chest to his throat. He didn't even protest as she pressed down until he lost consciousness. She left the broken soul to his slumber. There might have been more facts to tear free for all she knew.

She waited patiently for an answer from Vrak.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

"He is on the surface." Vrak said as he shut off his lightsaber.

The answer was a rather obvious one when you looked at all the facts, but perhaps in his haste Vrak had overlooked it. He frowned for a moment, hooking the hilt of his lightsaber back onto his belt before slowly turning back towards the Turbo-lift. The dreadnought shook slightly as The Simus struck it with half a dozen turbo-laser blasts. The Pureblood half caught himself his feet shifting as he turned back towards Neesa and motioned for her to follow.

"There is a Temple." Ziost had dozens of them. "Vitiate occupied it during his rebirth."

It made sense that Baltha would go there, the man had always claimed to be a descendant of the great Sith Lord. "We must get back aboard The Simus."

A difficult enough proposal, but not impossible. From there they would be able to take a few Devourer Interceptors to the surface. Unfortunately their own ship simply wasn't up to the task of effectively destroying the three dreadnoughts on it's own.

It could only act as a distraction.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

The ship reverberate from another hit. This vessel was taking the least of the fire from their own cruiser but the noise of each impact still reverberated through the super structure. Her blade hissed as she swung it underarm as she stepped over the acolyte and followed Vrak. Her expression didn't even flinch as she killed a man in such a businesslike fashion.

She sheathed Sorrow and pulled the repeating blaster from under one arm. It hummed faintly as it powered up. The lights flickered as the dreadnought returned fire with a full volley of batteries. Neesa knew little of naval combat, but she understood why their time was limited.

She hummed in consideration.

"How well do you fight in the dark?" She asked. His lightsaber would make him a target whilst she could keep her runes from glowing too brightly, but she was fine with the Pureblood taking the most of the massassi attention. The doors slid open to reveal a scene of bedlam. Just a hundred metres to go to reach the hangar, but each would be a challenge.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak glanced towards Neesa. The question was an important one, but he didn't particularly care for it. Fighting in the dark wasn't an option, at least not for him. He had no other blades and would refuse a blaster or anything of the sort.

Those weapons were trash. "Don't concern yourself."

The day he needed a slave to worry about him was the day he deserved to die. Vrak would make his own way through the halls, his fingers slowly wrapping tighter around his lightsaber. He flicked a brief glance towards one of the bulkheads, considering just cutting a hole in it. The escape would not be subtle but...it would likely work.

A frown pulled at his lips.

"Kill as many as you can." He told her as he stepped forward. "Reach the hangar at all cost."

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

All costs. She knew that in the Sith's mind that cost tended to include her own life. All his species held deep prejudices, but of all those she had met he was more open minded towards the contributions that could be made by aliens. Even her own Lord only accepted her because she had sith ancestry.

There was nothing personal in the matter, she did the same. When you considered the risks and rewards you also decided what you would be prepared to lose to reach your goals. Neesa had made herself a valuable ally. She knew there would be a point where Vrak would sacrifice her to achieve his own goals, she just hoped it was higher than making it to the hangar a little more quickly. Assuming of course his own life didn't get out at risk.

Neesa thumbed a switch on the repeating pistol, putting it into three round burst mode. The Force guided her aim as she put bolts into several massassi engaged behind them. It seemed perhaps counter productive but it freed up a number of their own forces.

"To engineering!" She shouted at them. The group charged off. A great noisy mass of muscle. They would cause havoc. That was all she required of them. She turned and darted off after Vrak, following the dead he left in his wake and the curved scorch marks down the walls. When she caught up to him he had met more heavy resistance. A long wide corridor with several heavily armed guards defending a sealed blast door.

If he wouldn't have the dark, then she could provide other cover. The smoke grenade went first, almost instantly filling the corridors with a thick yellow-grey cloud. Repeater fire still lanced down the corridor, enough to cut either of them in two if they got lucky. She trusted the Force, stood side on to make herself small and fired one burst from her pistol. The heavy fire stopped.

One last charge to make the hangar.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak cared little for the lives of others.

Massassi, Humans, Neesa, even Sera were all just tools and pawns to be bandied about at his will. As long as he achieved his goals, as long as he attained the power he sought, Vrak didn't care if he had to sacrifice any or all of them. That was his way, it would always be his way until death came for him.

His lightsaber sprang to life with a loud snap-hiss, the Pureblood rushing forward without hesitation.

The halls were complete and utter chaos. The Massassi that they had brought with them having torn their way through whatever parts of the ship they could. Kissai and Zuguruk seemed to rush about, terrified of everything happening around them. Vrak dashed through them all, his lightsaber flicking up to weave and cut through flesh every few minutes.

He carved a path, slicing through those he could until eventually his boots rang out against the floor of the hangar bay.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

The Force drew Neesa's attention to the control deck above them. She saw several people gesticulating wildly at the pair of them. She was keeping close to Vrak. Not because she was that desperate for mutual protection, but because she couldn't pilot a shuttle.

She fired her blaster at the windows. That left nothing more than scorch marks on the glass. Fortunately she still had a breaching charge in her pack. She kept running after Vrak, but tossed the bag of mines and charges to the ground. They spilled out across the deck.

The breaching charge flew up from the deck under her telekentic grip and slammed into the window. It took all her concentration to keep running and hold the charge and then manipulate the controls. The charge was designed to cut through durasteel, not reinforced glass. The crew in the control room were almost all instantly killed in the blast before they could seal the hangar.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak stepped onto the shuttle, his boots pounding against the ramp as he slowly made his way up into the belly of the ship. He didn't look back to see if Neesa had made it onto the shuttle, mostly because he didnt care.

She was a useful tool but right now things were hanging on an uncomfortable edge.

Yet as he moved into the cockpit of the shuttle he could hear the slight thud of her shoes against the metal ramp. A part of him was disappointed, he would have enjoyed seeing Sitas’ face as he told him his most useful tool was gone. Oh well. He supposed Neesa was too valuable to lose anyway.

”Close the ramp” He commanded her.

They wouldn't be taking any of the Massassi with them.

Vrak quickly moved into the pilots seat, situating himself and pulling the safety strap over his chest as he flicked on the controls of the ship.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

Neesa could feel the frustration coming off Vrak in waves now. He rarely spared words during a fight, but she could tell his plans not coming to fruition irked him. She stored that little piece of knowledge away for another day. There might come a time when he was the challenge between her and the next stage of her progression.

As the ship took off she moved up to the cockpit. She needed her exceptional sense of balance to keep on her feet as he aggressively accelerated away.

She had many questions. What forces would the Lord have with him? Did he know the location of the temple? Asking these questions would not help them so she remained silent. Instead she pulled the power pack from her blaster and replaced it. There was still a sith lord to kill.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Vrak didn't bother returning to The Simus, that would only endanger the Cruiser. They would have to make their way to the surface alone. He already knew which Temple Baltha was attending, though exactly who or what the Sith Lord had brought with him to the surface of the world was anyone's guess.

"As soon as we pass through the atmosphere recloak the ship." Vrak said into the comm, directing a quick signal to The Simus so the ship wouldn't stay around. The order was a dangerous one, effectively leaving Vrak and Neesa stranded, but it didn't matter.

They would either succeed here, or they would die.

Those were the only two options that remained to him. There was no running from this fight, there was no hiding, there was no other plan.

Lord Baltha needed to die.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

A harsh wind met them as the ramp descended. It carried fine dust as well as flecks of ice. Neesa pulled her cloak tight around her face.

Brilliant, she thought to herself, the Sith get all the best real estate. This was like Korriban but colder. They would have to invade some more temperate climates investment the fleet was complete.

Lord Baltha's ship laid beside their own, dormant. Neesa looked up the narrow, weather-beaten stairs that led to the opening head. She drew a blade and started up them.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Neesa"]

Ziost was a world that many had regarded as the Second Crown world of the Sith. For the longest time, it, along with Korriban, had been the prime example of Sith residency within the galaxy. The world had been powerful, an Empire in its own right that rivaled most worlds.

Yet that had come to an end at the hands of Vitiate.

It had been the Sith Emperor himself, or rather those who had been seeking to defeat him. Their efforts had seen all of Ziost ravaged and destroyed in an instant. The histories told that Ziost had never been beautiful, but once it had been at least uninhabitable. Now it stood as little more than a ruin, a reminder of true power to some and the mark of loss to others.

”This way.” He instructed Neesa, knowing exactly where Balta would be.

After Vitiates destruction of the world a Temple had been constructed here, a place for mourning and a catalyst for all the death that had occurred.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

She sensed life ahead of them. The fingers of her free hand twitched back and forth as she released a spell of discovery. Life was always easy to find through the Force, always having an effect on the way it flowed.

"Two waiting either side of the entrance, the Lord is deeper inside," she spoke as she increased her pace up the stairs. She drew her other blade and let them hang at her sides.

As she entered the darkness two shapes moved out from behind stone pillars. Before they could close and form a barrier she rushed the one on the right. It hadn't expected such a sudden assault. The elite massassi guard raised its heavy polearm. As it started to swing Neesa planted her left foot and pushed off towards her right. The polearm caught nothing but air and one blade opened the massassi's bowels just beneath the line of his armour. As he dropped Sorrow came around and opened his throat.

The second massassi came for her back. She dropped Sorrow and turned suddenly. The throwing knife embedded in its eye socket and it collapsed in heal at her feet.

All this took a fraction of a second. She didn't advance any further into the temple. Vrak could be the one to disturb the Lord's meditation whilst she looked for an angle of attack.