This Day All Gods Die

[Chloe Blake]

Yavin Four
Eying a rather perturbed Astromech Droid

A rather argumentative string of beeps, boops, and a short whistle replied back to Chloe. The arc welder was still brandished at her, but it was clear it was more for show than anything else.

“It’s true!” she told him, still holding her hands up. The astromech came rolling on his wheels closer to her, his gears humming along with another rather odd shaking noise.

Now that’s odd, she’d muse to herself only to hear another series of accusatory beeps. “Now that isn’t very nice. And Ember is a friend.”

There came a rather sarcastic whistle hoot.

Chloe’s expression turned a bit defensive, “Ember has friends! I’m his friend.” her hands would drop to her sides, this was getting ridiculous. “And he’s very nice too.”

She fell to a knee, blue eyes coming to a level height with the droid. “You should know by now why Ember left this ship here and for what reason, to look for his daughter.” she’d give a nod over to the arc-welder he still held up, which was twitching as if indecisive.

“I’m here to help,” the small droid arm would lower a bit more. “He sent me to secure a few things to make sure they didn’t get into the wrong hands.”

Suspicion would rise again and Chloe would rub her temple. Situation aside, she couldn’t help but shine a half grin at the tiny astromech’s direction.

“Got some spunk in you, don’t you?” she’d tease, feeling that she would have to do this through other means. Time was of the essence.

There were a few things Chloe picked up along her travels that would help with managing old tech such as this. The Nuns of G’aav’aar’oon among other tricks of the trade with Wardens would allow her a slight bit of manipulation with tech made for maintaining ships in the sky. Astromechs were no different.

They were just a bit more testy.

It would take a while to convince him, even with the use of the Force. Chloe wasn’t looking to tear into the astromech droid, he did after all feel a need to protect his mistress’s personal belongings. A bit of fatebending here and a dash of electric manipulation allowed her to gather what bit of information she needed to determine just where Aaralyn had hidden the holocrons and the crystals.

It was no wonder the little astromech droid was so defensive. That bit of shaking she’d heard earlier whenever he’d move? Those were the ‘crons and the crystals in his small storage container.

Convincing him to allow her to take them took what would feel like another half of a day. At the end of it, she’d secure the ship once more with the procured items the Sword of the Jedi had been tasked by the Grand Master to find. They were now safely inside graphite pill boxes in her backpack.

Now to head on back to the Lost City.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Kira Liadain"]

Petranaki Arena
Slave Cells

For the first time since the spacewalk where he'd captured Voracitos, he was deeply, truly grateful for his mask's breathing apparatus. Atmo filters recognized a high level of aerosolized fecal matter, and living and nonliving toxins consistent with everything from gangrene to cholera. The Geonosians, being a species of leaders and drones, had never had much respect for the rights of the individual. The old Ember would have considered a purge. The new Ember was aware he didn't have the time, and that purges were not respectable.

Skye had, as it happened, been right. Until his education under a Jedi who'd saved him from imprisonment, Ember's Force skillset had been entirely Nightsister, and the less said about how he'd gotten that, the better. Later, of course, he'd picked up some White Current and become a Keetael. He'd made himself into who he wanted to be, but only in terms of skillset. Restructuring a soul was not so easy.

Thus, the guards did not survive.

Thorn of Ryloth hookblades, dripping Geonosian ichor, retracted into his bracers, and as he moved down the cellblock he looked for a good place to wipe his Fett Kal trench knife. He found none.

The talisman pulsed just as Force-enhanced vision caught a tangle of dirty blonde hair. He came to a halt outside the bars, focused on the talisman, verified that it was her and she was both alone and alive. Ember wrapped his bare left hand around the two door bars nearest to the lock. Of the traditions he'd studied, he'd taken special note of their abilities for physical enhancement, from the Force Jump and Force Valor of the Jedi to the arts that let Keetael run for days and wrestle monsters. He stilled his indignation, sought clarity, let out what tension he could-

And closed his hand. The bars warped with a squeal, pulling the lock in half under protest. Pins ricocheted. The door hinged open.

"Kira Liadain. It's morning."

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Ember Rekali"]

Consciousness would come in degrees, but it was one of those times where the fine line of dreams and reality blur. Or was it just another illusion I painted?

Frankly, she didn't know. Just like she didn’t know where dreams come from. Her mind would wander at times like this, maybe they were some sort of genetic memories, or maybe just messages from the Force. Warnings perhaps? Maybe every body came with a datapad full of instructions but everyone was too dense to read it, likely because they would dismissed it as the irrational waste product of the 'rational' mind.

Stars that didn't make sense. Or did it?

Maybe all the answers we need are buried in our slumbering subconscious, in the dreaming. The datapad’s right there, and every night when we lay our heads down on the pillow it lights up, turns on, the display bare with the aurobesh sigils to see. The wise read it -- and heed it. While the rest of the galaxy tries as hard as they can upon waking up to forget any disturbing revelations one might have found there. Maybe because it's a spotlight to our flaws. Our insecurities. Those issues.

All of us have our little problems and insecurities. Kira knew she was no different. Back in the Jedi Order when she would feel insecure about something, she would counsel herself with two thoughts; I'm a good person and the Jedi Code is my guide.

Since then Kira has come to understand how little the former matters, and how bitterly the latter could be tested.

So then what really matters? Hope saves, fear kills. It is in our actions that define us. What we choose. What we resist. What we are willing to die for.

And Kira was not about to let Nemene win. Not now. She would not allow the ghost of that madwoman to take her mind away from her.

Some things were worse than death.

It was in the wake of these thoughts that Kira heard the groan of steel. Blue eyes would crack open, and in that haze would rise a dream that would color her world.

A masked man, with the welcoming message of the morn. Her neck would lift slightly, tangled greasy locks of her hair falling away from her face.

“Already?” Kira's mouth had been badly lacerated by her teeth, and it felt as if her mouth was stuffed with cotton. Kira knew what she was trying to say -- she just wasn’t sure it was intelligible.

Granted, this wasn't the first time her mental illusions would prompt a conversation. This one just coloured an entirely different form she hadn't seen before.

"T-ten more minutes..." she'd murmur through cracked lips, suggesting just like one of the younglings would back in the Order to get more sleep. "I'll make w-waffles." the corner of her mouth would perk.

Who didn't like waffles?

 

[Skye Mertaal]

"I don't like this." the complaint would fall on deaf ears, no other soul around the bounty hunter to hear it. Their trek across half the galaxy felt more like a crazed youngling hopscotch run than anything else. Half way through came the nagging doubt in her mind if Ember was really even able to do what he claimed he could do. Granted, he was a master tracker, and stars if she knew just how he did what he did. But she was only human, and in that came a series of doubts that would loom only to wane.

There ain't no going back now, she'd muse to herself laying prone as she kept watch over the Petranaki Arena. She managed to find a nice niche for her to lay low upon, sniper rifle prepped and her cybernetic eye riding close to the scope. The Shadow was cloaked nearby, ready and waiting for any kind of quick extraction should they need it -- no, more like when they need it.

With as many Geonosians fluttering along this particular scene of gladiatorial event, Skye had the feeling that if any alarm that set off would send the entire swarm into a frenzy.

Didn't mean she liked it.

Before her scope, she could see the games were about to begin. A sinking sensation would fill her stomach, the one she knew would get her into trouble. Goody-two shoes, Patches would call her. Just can't leave well enough alone.

Ahh, hell, came the mental curse, "Hurry up Rekali," she'd mutter under her breath, just as a resounding roar for blood would echo throughout the Petranaki Arena.

 

[Chloe Blake]

Yavin Four
Leading to the events of Winner Takes All and coinciding with Je'gan's death.

It would come without warning, the sting over her heart. That ache. The Force bonds that bind between a master and student were odd that way, but even the tiniest of ripples could be felt through the Force. With one like Je'gan Olra'en, well...it came like one would expect a death could.

But there was something different about it, she couldn't quite pinpoint it. It was an ache that would seep into her bones, like her granddaddy would say be the forewarning of a coming storm. There it was, deep in her chest. It would cause her to stagger a bit, one hand falling flat against the stone wall of one of the vaults.

Eyes wide with confusion, she would pan her gaze around. What was it? What did it mean? A faint grimace would stir over her lips, her face blanching. The life and death cycle of her old Master was nothing knew to her. And while she would never have the same connection she had with him like that of his wife, through the Force, that line that connected them was there. In the same manner she could still feel Jorus Merrill in her bones.

A fine trembling would fill her hand, prompting her fingers to curl into a fist. Worry and concern would fill her. In this would stir the desire to find out exactly what happened. The last time she'd seen him had been on Bayan, Sanctum territory. With the Order of Selab.

That was another thing to consider. The items she had recovered in the younger Rekali's ship gave evidence of such artifacts that she knew were special. Her short time in the Order had educated her some on just what the Circle of Healer's treasures were, and the Healing Crystals of Fire were a treasure well known to any Jedi, especially an artifact so heavy with lore.

The two holocrons were also of special significance to the Jedi, but a nagging though would linger within the Wardens mind. Was this Jedi Order ready to receive them? The word 'worthy' would come to mind, but Chloe knew she wasn't one to judge. That was left up to the Gods.
However, times were dark now. And the constant bartering of artifacts as well as the looting of old tombs a concern for any Selab member. This all combined would make Chloe's decision clear.

She'll secure the vaults and the Lost City, leaving the watchers behind to look after it all while she set out on her own. Ember had a mission, she now had hers. To return to Sanctum territory and talk to the other Selab members she knew of.

Figure out word on Olra'en. Maybe discuss the artifacts recovered by Aaralyn Rekali and figure out just where they should go. Back to the Jedi Order? Or to remain in the safe hands of the Order of Selab.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Kira Liadain"]

Petranaki Arena


Five more minutes...waffles...

For a moment there he was back in early fatherhood, and between that and the shared desolation of her situation and his lost children, that shook him hard. Hard enough that when the Geonosians came to chuck them all into the arena, he missed the opening.

Stun spears shoved them into the light. Blood daubed the sand in huge swaths, and his armor's electronics sparked painfully. His comm went dead. His Thorns of Ryloth hissed from his bracers, but didn't energize. They locked in place, part of a pattern of armor components freaking out under the charge. He only realized he was on his knees when the first of the animals roared.

"Could use a little Jedi help, kid."

 

[Kira Talith]

Petranaki Arena

Whatever sort of mental illusion Kira painted within the depths of her mind were thrown out the window when she found herself tossed onto the the crimson sand, bright light making her temporarily blind to her surroundings.

Fingers would twitch, and it was then that she realized this was no illusion she painted. This was reality. To her right, through the locks of greasy hair, that same man with the mask and the deep voice she'd believed was a figment of her imagination spoke.

"Y-you're real?" would come her question of disbelief. She was stunned. That's when the ground gave a tremendous shudder. A roar on the far side of the area drew her attention, bright blue eyes darting to fixate on the massive horned body of a Reek.

Reeks were herbivores by nature, but they were often fed meat for exhibition sport and executions. This turned their leathery skin a dark red and made the reeks much more aggressive. Reeks could not thrive on meat, so they were given just enough plant matter to keep them healthy -- and this bad boy was a deep bloody red that matched the blood saturating the floor around them.

To the right the Ackley would screech at them, it's two front pincers rising as it began to shuffle towards the group of slaves and prisoners as the Geonosians went roaring with a bloody thirsty excitement.

Two Geonosians would continue to prod at Ember, and at his request, Kira's mind snapped. Her chest rose and fell as she took a deep breath, her fingers digging into the ground, dirt caking under her nails as the Force went ripping through her in a growing frenzy. The air would hum, and around her the scent of ozone would rise as aquamarine arcs of electricity would start to spark down her arms and into her palms.

A sort of feral gleam would dart over the Lorrdian's eyes as a small twitch and shift over her face would relay kinetically her response.

On it.

Granted, it was unlikely that the man would know of that kind of communication, but she'd learned to continue a slaves language when dealing with slavers and the Geonosians.

In that instant, a grunt would rip from Kira's lips as she rose to her knees, sending an arc of electricity towards the two Geonosians at [member="Ember Rekali"] 's back. The scent of charred carapace and burnt ozone would linger as the bodies were thrown back, a cry of alarm and a roar of accusatory fingers being jabbed down from the honorary VIP box.

Of course, classic star wars shout out came next .

"She can't do that! Shoot her or something!" ​

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Kira Liadain"]

Lightning snapped past, indistinguishable from the sparks that cascaded over him. One hard-edged hand closed over a shockspear as its owner met an electrical demise. Ember groaned and tasted blood as he shunted the current away. Pivoting, he swung and threw the spear end-over-end.

Despite the massive air resistance of the long spear, when propelled by Ember Rekali that weapon stayed a weapon even when pinwheeling. The middle of the spear hit the acklay's forward leg, broke it, skewed its charge. He turned and leaped toward the reek, put all his strength into a descending beskar-clad elbow-

Mandalorian iron met reek skull above and between the gaping nostrils. The reek dropped like a sack of tubers, its head riding over Ember and bearing him down to the ground. For the moment, he was trapped under the dead beast.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Ember Rekali"]

The Geonosians were going wild, wings taking them into the air as they clicked their objection. Pain would light through Kira, but the Lorrdian was not one to give up.

Not now.

While Ember took on the Reek, her focus was upon the Ackley. Bright blue eyes would narrow as she would go tumbling across the ground, narrowly avoiding a sharp jab from the Ackley's front leg. It would shriek in anger, going for another jab. A small cloud of dirt would rise as Kira would roll to the left, then to the right.

Scurrying under the beast, Kira would drag herself across the dirt under it's belly. Summoning the Force, the Jedi would reach out to grab at the Ackley's rear leg, sending a shaft of energy in the form of Force Paralyze, causing the leg to seize and go numb. A shrill shriek would erupt from it's mouth as it would stumble now on it's lame leg, the blonde scurrying to get out from under the Ackley through the other side.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

"Nek take it!" would come Skye's curse, just as pandamonium would erupt below. Well, it was all now or nothing. She would steady her breathing, taking a breath then letting it out. Sight picture would align upon the ackley's head.

In that instant between breaths, a single slug would fly through the air to nab at the Ackley dead center on his forehead. The body would twitch and shift, as it would sway back and forth. That, however, alerted the Geonosians that she was there.

Good thing for slave circuits. She was going to need a fly by for this.

"Damnit Rekali, get UP!" she'd curse out, realizing he wouldn't be able to hear her. Her scope focusing to where his body had disappeared under the Reek.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Skye Mertaal"] [member="Kira Liadain"]

His hookblades made short work of the creature's throat from the sides, just to be sure it was down. The Force enhanced his strength, and he bent his legs, heels digging into the ground as the immense head rose on his knees. He rolled left and scooted back right, and horn cracked against the ground with the weight of the fall. Bloody from waist to bootsoles, elbows to fingertips, he rose and cracked out his neck.

The acklay took Skye's sniper shot to the head, whiplash he could feel from here. Its legs went mad as Kira scrambled free; he reached down, snagged that broken chunk of horn, and pitched it like a fastball. The nearest leg to Kira became the farthest as the impact ripped it off; he'd hit the place he'd already broken with the thrown shockspear, or maybe he'd just pitched it too hard. Either way, as Mertaal's firespray crested the edge of the arena and sonic rifle blasts washed over it harmlessly, Ember and Kira had an opening.

"Liadain! Ride's here, kid!"

 

[Kira Talith]

You didn’t need to tell Kira twice.

As the wash of the Firespray would grant them that opening, and Little Miss Sparky would scramble to her feet, the Ackley’s body falling to a thud in the wake of Skye’s and Ember’s strikes.

It wasn’t going to be easy though, as hundreds of Geonsians began to flutter down upon the wide area, their wings almost buzzing as loud as the roar of the Phoenix’s engines. Pot shots would come flying at them, striking the ground in a stream of red bolts as Kira would run towards the hovering ship.

It would start to tilt, coming to land and the access hatch rolling open for the duo. The Force would rush through her body, down sinew and bone, and her legs would pump like pistons.

In that next second she was airborne, hands extended to grab the edge of the durasteel frame.

Enter a dangling Kira beans struggling to get in.

 

[Skye Mertaal]

Skye would pop up to her feet, swinging her sniper rifle across her torso as she ran across the top of the arena, all the while controlling the direction and flight path of the Firespray with her wrist comm.

“Come on, come on!” she’d mutter through her voice-meter, jumping parkour style before she activated her jet packs.

Two thermal grenades would get their pins pulled and tossed towards a wave of Geonosians as she flew down towards the gladiator arena. Her feet would touch the ground as the massive BOOM would send twin fiery spheres exploding about two dozen walking insects.

Twin Ambassador pistols would take over, sending pot shots of cover as she would yell out, “GET YOUR ARSE IN GEAR, REKALI!” quick peddling backwards as she would provide cover fire.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Skye Mertaal"] [member="Kira Liadain"]

Boots of Mandalorian iron thudded onto the ramp, and a bloody hand latched onto Kira's wrist. "Gotcha, kid," he said, hauling the much smaller woman up and over the edge. "Just don't fry anything for a sec."

He slapped the ramp control; it began to close, slowly, as the ship moved toward where Mertaal was giving them cover fire. Gripping a strut, he reached out to catch Skye if she jumped.

 

[Kira Talith]

Kira would give a small grunt and grimace as a bloody hand took her own, lifting her up easily with his strength. Tiny that she was and with as much weight as she’d lost in her capture and subsequent slavery, she didn’t weigh anything beyond forty kilograms soaking wet.

Hands and arms would cling to [member="Ember Rekali"], her would be knight in scuffed leather armor a bit longer than necessary. But she needed that rock. She needed that tangible evidence and proof that she wasn’t still stuck in the slave pens.

A stream of fire would shoot out from Mertaal’s right wrist as she would swirl around to send a group of the Geonosians back. The black tee of her visor snapping over towards the entrance of the access door at the duo. Pistols would be holstered and she took that last bit of space while she had it.

Kira’s londe tangles of greasy hair would flutter and dance around her face as she would see the flash of fire in the distance, the Mandalorian on the ground activating her jetpack to fly towards the ship.

She would land with a small thud, catching Ember’s extended hand to steady herself just as the hatch slid shut, blaster fire pinging harmlessly. Her fingers would fly over the wrist comm to send the signal for lifting off.

“Let’s roll,” Mertaal would say as the Firespray would send a mass of engine wash to the ground, lifting dust and dirt as it began to tilt in an upward position.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Kira Liadain"]

Ember sagged against the wall, removing his beskar mask. "Thanks for the assist, Skye," he said, eyes half-lidded. It was the first time he could recall that he'd used her first name, but Liadain wouldn't know the difference. "I mean it. I'm still tumbling down that mountain, and I'd have gone over a cliff just then if not for you."

Anti-air fire rocked the ship; for stability, he slid down against the floor beside Liadain, as Skye Mertaal kept heading for the cockpit. "You alright in there, kid? You with me?" He pulled out a scanpack, a bit of Levantine tech he'd picked up through dubious connections, and set about scanning her from a distance with the medical pod. His practiced eye spotted the residue of torture, inventive torture -- and a chip. His blood went cold. If that was a slave killswitch, she could have only seconds.

"Feth, am I bad at this stuff," he grumbled to himself, but years as a Jedi Master in a warzone had taught him a thing or two about combat healing. Her mind was still scattered enough that he could probably pull this off without her noticing, at least until the moment of truth. He dipped into a touch of the flow-walking his kids had brought back from the Kathol Outback. If this went wrong, if there was a deadman's switch too fast, he wanted to sense the future that would come from it.

He passed her a Fett Kal trench knife. "Hold onto this for a second." It would serve as a lightning sink; no need for her to torch the ship.

And then, with due diligence in the direction of precog, he got a TK hold and ripped the chip out of her skull.

 

[Kira Talith]

No more words would be spared between Mertaal and Rekali. A curt nod before she made her way to the cockpit told all that needed to be said.

Kira on the other hand, was still clinging a bit too tightly on Ember. Granted, with what had happened to her, couldn’t quite blame the woman. She was still fighting with illusion and reality. When the Fett Kal trench knife was placed in her hand, Kira gave [member="Ember Rekali"] a look of confusion.

Nonetheless, when he told her to hold onto it she did. Good thing too, because what happened next well -- certainly required it.

Control is the first aspect of the Force that the Jedi Order instills in their Jedi padawans. With control, they are able to ensure that instinctively, things don’t go awry. Control and alter are by far the aspects Kira was more naturally inclined to. Just that the whole deal with the torture and that combination of the chip in her brain made things… a little wonky.

And by far, the process of the chips removal was not the worst of what had befell her. Thankfully, the oblivion that came was a blessing. Her petite body would slump against Ember’s chest, blood starting to drip and trickle down the side of her face. A bloody open patch was left in the quickly sanguine saturated spot just to the left of the crown of her head. That chip? Mere seconds would tell the tale that it indeed would have caused a measure of harm to the Jedi.

But perhaps what was more impressive… or tragic, was that not a single sound had come ripping out of Kira’s mouth at the immense pain of it all. Whatever soundless cry came from the Lorrdian was expressed in an altogether different manner, be it by the biting of her tongue and the tight grip that sent a surge of electric energy into the knife.

Whatever they did to her, it certainly stood reason that the control over her emotions and the resulting actions had been lost. There was some deep healing required of the Master. The kind that would take time long to heal even after her physical wounds would.