Private Two Wrongs Sometimes Make a Right

[Faye Malvern]

"You never asked, and that would have spoiled all my fun." Faye said in response to his comment, though she did note he looked marginally greener when they stepped out into the light.

Faye nodded when he asked his question and flashed him a smirk. "I can throw lightning and shit like that. I can do a lot of things, which would have negated the need for you entirely. But I'm not that strong, and I don't know what surprises are waiting for us when we get there. Even force users can't be that prepared." For the moment, she neglected to tell him that she also happened to be a natural empath. In her experience, most people were mildly offended by the fact that she could read their emotions like an open book.

Her hand rose momentarily to show him the path they would follow up to the bunker. "This way."

It was rather awkward navigating the jungle floor with the heavy boots Vili had picked out for Faye. They weighed her down something terribly. So much so that she was rather surprised to see the dirt beneath them come out relatively intact each time she took another step. The books hadn't lied about how thick the jungles of Rishi were. The heat was something, too. It seemed to cling to her like a second skin, leeching in wherever it could in the cracks of the armour she wore.

Luckily, it wasn't too far of a walk from the shuttle to the bunker. It was a rather gaudy looking structure, painted the same forest green as the canopy above. If it weren't for the fact that it was peeling slightly to reveal the grey cement metal beneath, it would have been difficult to spot from above. Not wishing to alert anyone inside before they were ready, Faye stopped fifty or so feet from the entrance.

It was partially underground, recessed so that the door was almost impossible to see. But if you looked hard enough you could just make out the shimmering steel half-covered by jungle floor.

A gloved hand rose, one of the fingers pressing against Faye's lips to signal for silence.

There was once a point in her life where Faye would have needed to close her eyes to concentrate on summoning the force, but now it was as easy as breathing. It came like the thought to blink, scratch, eat or drink came. Instinctively. "It looks like we're in for a little fun." Faye said in a soft whisper. "I count a few life signatures. Two at the entrance, which bodes well for numbers inside. I guess Darth Bane still has a few loyalists lingering, even after all these years."

At this point, she turned to Nikos, pressing her back to a tree. This part was exactly what she had hired him for. Yes, she could do all the things he thought, but she wasn't a warrior. Not in any sense of the word. Even though she had trained extensively with Adron, she had never so much as lifted a finger in violence, so it was Nikos' time to shine. "What's the plan?"

Nikos Buccheri ​

 

[Nikos Buccheri]

Faye Malvern

Once they were out in the jungle Nikos was starting to feel better.

Something about the fresh air doing wonders and all that.

"Oh, yeah, I didn't mistake ya for a Force Goddess, dun' worry." It would have been awkward, if Faye had told him she was a natural empath, since Nikos was one as well. The difference was that Nikos had no training whatsoever. It meant that strong emotions and especially large crowds had a tendency to overwhelm him.

That's why when Faye turned around after her whole sense moment she'd just notice him jabbing a stim into his neck.

His eyes were closed and he shuddered slightly as the cocktail of painkillers and force-suppressants slid through his veins. All of a sudden his presence in the Force dimmed to a little candle flame. It was only then she'd notice that he even had force potential. It had been smeared out before Nikos metaphorically threw a wet blanket over it. Blending into the background like an oil painting.

Only its absence spoke of it being there at all.

"I am a fan of big fun myself, but hey, gotta do with what we got, yeah?" Nikos murmured softly as he made the stim disappear into a pocket once more. The migraine was already fading into the background. And he couldn't feel Faye's feelings or the after-images of those on his ship.

"If we got two at the entrance, we will both take one. I will grab the one closest to me and silence him. As I attract the attention of the other one, you slip out and take him out." It wasn't exactly the strategy of a genius, but these sort of things rarely needed that. You just needed enough presence of force and momentum to carry you to a victory.

"Once we are inside we will have a better idea what we are up against. No point in planning chit out when we have no clue what the interior looks like or what the occupants are carrying. Let's go."

It was a risk to employ her in that fashion.

Better to do it alone, but going at it alone meant risking going loud. He'd be able to handle that, sure. Faye? Nikos couldn't guarantee she wouldn't get hurt in the crossfire.

He slowly creeped up to the guard station until he had eyes on both of them. "See the left one? I will circle around quietly and take him out. Get in position, because the moment the second one notices, it will be your turn, got it?"

Only once Faye confirmed did Nikos practically fade into the background of the jungle towards his target.

 

[Faye Malvern]

Faye opened her mouth to protest the presence of whatever in forces name he was jabbing into his neck, but she wasn't quick enough.

If that hadn't rendered her speechless, the realisation that he was connected to the force did. When he began to talk all she could do was stare at him open-mouthed, following his movements with her eyes. "Right…" She said to answer his question, in a slightly gormless tone.

When she finally regained her senses, the first move she made was to punch him lightly on the shoulder. "You could have told me." Whether she was talking about the fact that he was force sensitive, or talking about the fact that he had used stims, it was hard to tell. Yet her brows still furrowed in the centre and the soft rose flush of embarrassment had begun to encroach upon her cheeks. Why did it even matter? Faye had no idea, but it did.

Nikos didn't seem to mind or care. Whichever it was, he carried on as nothing had happened. He mumbled his plan, which was part of the reason Faye had hired him. She was miserable at planning. But he mumbled his plan, and then set off toward the bunker with slow, silent steps. Faye was hot on his heels.

She nodded when he pointed out his target, but her sights remained fixed on the one that he'd chosen for her.

Faye wasn't necessarily the battle-ready kind of woman. She didn't like to get her hands dirty directly. In that sense of the word, she was every bit a princess. Adron had, of course, taught her how to use a lightsaber, but she had never had the need for one of her own until now. Vili had given her something that looked a bit like a sword but that was far too heavy for Faye's tastes. She also had a blaster, but she had no intentions of using that. Mostly because she'd never shot one before, but she wouldn't need either of them.

"Off you go then." Faye whispered, shooing him away with the tip of her fingers. "I'll be waiting."

Nikos Buccheri ​

 

[Nikos Buccheri]

Faye Malvern

A surprised glance over to Faye. The punch barely registered to him, but the words did and were unexpected. "Ah, is the Princess concerned for my safety?" Nikos drawled lightly and attempted to add some levity to the situation. "Ya dun' have to. I am a hardy bunch." Slapping his own chest lightly there to punctuate that.

It was still a bit confusing that Faye seemed to care. Most nobles didn't give a chit past their own needs. Then again, the ones on the crew that had given her a chance told him she was an alright sort.

Coming from them?

Feckin' endorsement of the century.

Once Nikos got the okay from Faye, he was off and slipped into the cacophony of green. For the moment everything else was put aside. The strange noble and her ways, the thrumming of the Force dimming in his veins, the stims raging through his system. All that mattered was the soundless steps through the forest.

The heartbeat in his chest.

The two nearing his as Nikos approached.

It didn't take long to get into position. From this angle it was impossible to catch sight of Faye, but hopefully she was still around and breathing. They'd find out in a moment.

He carefully slipped behind the guard, his arms wrapping tight around a throat and putting the squeeze. With a firm jerk he pulled him back behind the treeline and finished him off. Only then did Nikos make a little whistle sound. It attracted the guard's attention almost immediately. "Huh? Who is there?" Mook number two called out, before he realized his partner was gone.

"Micha? Where the feth did you-"

Hopefully Faye wouldn't let him finish the sentence.

 

[Faye Malvern]

Faye was, of course, none the wiser to the opinions of Nikos' crew. They had mostly regarded her with distain, or at the very best indifference. She had tried her best to do what Nikos had suggested, but now they were off the ship she couldn't help but be anything but herself, and it was incredibly hard being a natural empath and not caring even just a little.

Watching his back as he sank into the dense jungle to hunt his prey, Faye had a moment of silence to really consider how she was going to tackle someone by herself. It had been a long time since she had gone anywhere without guards to do the dirty work for her. There were a few things she could recall from Adron's lessons, but were such extreme measures necessary so soon?

The thought did not have time to linger, as a moment later Faye heard a tell-tale rustle that drew her gaze to toward the entrance.

She reacted quickly, closing her eyes to shut out everything save for the sounds around her. As she waited for the signal, she focused her energy on the man Nikos had pointed out. He was, as far as Faye could tell, as relaxed as he could be. What was there to fear here? The worst they could come across was the wildlife, but they had the bunker to fall back to, so there was no real threat. At least, not until Faye and Nikos had arrived.

The signal came. A whistle that could barely be heard over the sound of the wind whipping through the trees.

As Nikos had expected, the guard did not have the time to finish his sentence. But he was neither brutally attacked, nor physically overwhelmed, nor shot, or even smacked over the head with a rock.

He simply crumbled.

Faye stepped out from the bushes, dusting off her hands as if she had actually done something that had dirtied them. "I hate doing that." She said with a shiver that made her armour rattle against her body. "You can really feel it." Her hand came up to her chest, where it made a fist over her heart. She shivered again. It was something she rarely had the opportunity to do. In truth, Faye was grateful that happened to be the case.

"Let's go before someone decides to check up on them."

Sweeping low, she flicked off the guard's cloak with a gentle nudge of her toe. There wasn't a key or a key card or anything similar on him, so she turned her gaze to the heavy steel doors that blocked the entrance. "Mmm…" The thoughtful hum escaped her lips to the tune of her boots crunching across leaves as she made toward the entrance. Without a further sound, Faye put all her weight into one shoulder and pushed it firmly against the door. It slid open, slowly, grating against the poured concrete floor to reveal an endless corridor of darkness within.

"There…" Faye said, her voice echoing slightly into the shadows. "I guess they thought they were safe enough not to need locks." She turned to smile at Nikos, before waving him forward as she stepped beyond the threshold and into the bunker.

Nikos Buccheri ​

 

[Nikos Buccheri]

Faye Malvern

He blinked.

Blinked again.

Really seemed like Faye was intent on surprising him at almost every corner. The last thing he expected was her to do... whatever that was. It distracted him enough that Nikos didn't realize she was busying herself with the entrance. Only the soft whine of metal being pushed made him look up for a moment.

Glance back down to the body.

"Damn, lady. That's some power ya got under ya fingertips." Nikos drawled before shrugging and following her towards the threshold and then through it all the same. "Yah, well, I dun' think they considered they might have to deal with someone t'a can stop their heart with jus' a thought." It was clear that the pirate was impressed.

Damn shame the rest of his crew hadn't been here at the same time.

They would have been positively shocked at that treatment. Then again... Nikos had distinct experience with Jedi and the like, on account of living near the Praxeum back on Dellalt.

Maybe the rest of his crew would have been more wary than impressed.

"Didn't ever see t'Jedi do chit like that." Nikos murmured softly as they crept through the shadows. They came up through the corridor. Stained steel, rusted pipes above them, pieces of moss and lichen covering the walls. "Couldn't be here that long, Princess." Murmured further as he took note of those details. "Didn't even 'ave time to clean up the place they occupying."

One corner past, he quickly put his arm in front of Faye and pushed her back behind him, as he pulled back around the corner.

"Guard." He whispered as he chanced a glance over the corner's edge once more. "Be guarding the only door in that corridor, so gotta be something important. Can ya do ya..."

His fingers waggled in the universal gesture of 'magical chittery'.

 

[Faye Malvern]

"I didn't stop it." Faye commented casually as she peered her head around a dark corner. More corridors. "I popped it… Stopping it would be something else entirely and even I'm not that strong. Popping it is easy though, it's almost like… I don't know, throwing a rock or opening a door. Pressure in the right places."

It was darker here than Faye had originally expected, especially with others still living in the bunker. Maybe they preferred it, but that did not make any sense to Faye. Did they prefer to be attacked from the shadows with little to no warning? Maybe it was a Darth Bane thing, which would have been logical for him. Not for his followers though, who seemed to be doing a better job of dying than they were of following anything.

Something Nikos said made Faye glance up at the back of his head, though she could no more see it than she could see her nose at the end of her face.

"That would make sense because I'm not a Jedi. I was raised as one, but we left that life behind when we left Serenno-…" She was cut off suddenly by a tree trunk sized forearm that pushed her roughly against a wall. Both shocked and breathless, she managed to lean out marginally to take a look at the guard, but then Nikos spoke again…

Faye craned her neck to look at him with an incredulous glare on her face. One of her slender ebony brows rose on her face to add to the expression. "Really?" She hissed, with an equal measure of disbelief to her tone. "And I'm paying you for what? A lift?" Rolling her eyes, she pushed his hand away from her and crept toward the corner to focus her attention on the guard at the door. Did she have the energy to do something like that again? She was no warrior. She had all the training, sure, but she hadn't ever put her powers to practical use. Could they last as long as the lengths of these caves?

Raising her hands, she suddenly realised how heavy the armour Vili had picked out for her was. She knew it had been heavy before, but if she was going to be using the force exuberantly this trip, she didn't want to be weighed down by massive lumps of metal. As quietly as she could, so as not to alert the guard at the door, she began to undo the loose chest piece that clung to her form. Not wanting it to slip to the floor and make any noise, she slid it towards Nikos. "Hold these." Came her soft whisper as she pulled away more of the armour. Shoulder pads, forearm guards, a helmet she hadn't even attempted to wear.

Once she had shed the unnecessary weight, and now considerably lighter, Faye closed her eyes and released a rushing sigh that centred her focus on the guard. It was harder this time, as though he had protected himself with something, but Adron had taught her how to handle this. Defences were like locks, individually cut to every door, you just had to find the right key to open them up.

A strangled cry left his mouth as he clutched at his chest desperately, but no amount of clawing could have saved him. Moments later, he slumped to the floor in a heap of raven robes.

The minute he fell, Faye stepped out from behind the corner. There was more space there, and she could pull the rest of the armour off, boots included. Walking toward the now lifeless guard, Faye began to pull off his robes to wear for herself. As much as she enjoyed the freedom of the skin-tight material underneath it left her feeling slightly vulnerable. Once comfortably dressed in the thick black fabric, Faye stepped toward the door to press her ear against it.

"This is the first door we've seen since the entrance…" Pulling away again after hearing nothing but the rumbles and clicks of the forest floor above them, Faye hummed softly. "Why would they pick somewhere like this to put a guard? If it was important surely it would have been further back?"

Nikos Buccheri ​

 

[Nikos Buccheri]

Faye Malvern

Popped it.

Nikos wasn't really sure what the difference was. The man stopped breathing and clutched at his chest, that was really all that mattered in the books of on Buccheri.

"Didn't know you could stop being a Jedi." A sniff there, almost breathing in the taste of her Force Presence. "Unless yar a Darksider an' ya don't vibe that way to me." A glance towards the corpse behind them outside. "Or well, maybe jus' not a full-frontal Sith Lord anyway." He couldn't help but grin at her exasperation.

It was true.

She had been doing most of the work once they got here. But hey, that's what you call divide and conquer. She was the one with the skills for this particular moment.

"Come on now, darling, I am jus' giving ya a moment or two to shine." The guard crumbled and Nikos sneaked out. A moment later he had pulled the guard's corpse around the corner and away from the door. "Yeah, well, this ain't their bunker, right? They didn't make it." From the pockets of the deceased guard he managed to get a key.

Hopefully that would fit the door.

"Mebbe the rest of the place wasn't suited to their needs."

Two breaths in Nikos tried the key on the door and it turned. Pazaak. Very, very carefully he pushed the door open a fraction to peer through it and then pushed it open all the way once it became clear the room was empty. Except for a large window build into the left wall of the room. Which was rather odd, what was that doing here? "Huh, well, it's empty so we can-" And as Nikos looked over his shoulder to Faye?

A cultist stepped around the corner to tackle Nikos.

Right before he could however? Nikos' whirred around and slammed his fist into the cultist's throat. They collapsed, clutching their throat, before the pirate knocked his lights out.

"Well, it ain't popping his heart, but does the trick, dunnit?"

Through the window?

They could see a ritual being conducted. A whole gaggle of cultists surrounding a hole in the ground. Whatever was in it was out of view.

 

[Faye Malvern]

At his comment on her moment to shine, Faye could only scoff and roll her eyes again, but she said nothing as he dragged the limp body around the corner.

Faye watched as Nikos dug around for the key. She was rather pleased he had decided to take on the task. It was one thing doing this from a distance, another thing entirely getting up close and personal to her victims. It made it marginally worse that she had felt his panic as he realised what was happening, all too late. Part of her wished she hadn't thrown away that damn necklace that helped her control all this, but that had been her first step to freedom, and there was no going back now.

"Well, you can stop being a Jedi, and I am a Sith. I guess. In some ways…" Not for the first time since they had met, Faye sounded unsure of herself. She had never really thought of herself as a sith. Adron was for certain, but did that mean she was too? He had taught her everything she knew, even when they were growing up on Serenno. Did that make her what he was? "You're right, I guess. Not a Sith Lord. My brother is, but he wouldn't thank you for using the term. He taught me. So, on paper and logically, yes. I am. But I don't use the force often so I don't have any of that rule of two, peace is a lie, power, blah, blah, nonsense."

Faye was right behind Nikos as he turned the key and swung the door open to allow them to dive further into the bunker. But before they could even take a single step, a blurred figure jumped out from the shadows to make their attack. Faye, of course, was taken completely by surprise. She had forgotten to check for anyone behind the door, or Nikos had, or they both had. Whichever way, Faye found the smallest of terrified squeaks leaving her mouth as whoever it was shot towards them from the darkness.

Before she had time to do anything more than that, a deafening crunch filled the corridor. It was hard to tell what had happened standing behind Nikos' mammoth frame, but something had clearly broken. Faye stood on her tiptoes to peek over his shoulder but could see nothing telling save for the slumped form of the cultist that had tried his best.

In a braver tone than she had expected, she spoke. "Yes. A thousand credits down. Only what… two hundred and forty thousand more left? You'll earn it in no time." She shot him a smirk, but it was there that her true feelings slipped as it came out rather shaky. It was then that she noticed the window, and what was through it. "Fuck." She said unashamedly. Likely the first and only curse she would utter the entire trip. "I didn't expect that…" Halfway between glancing up and Nikos and down through the window to the crowd of cultists, Faye decided it was probably time to trust him. Just a little.

"All this for a lightsaber crystal. Imagine that." It was meant to be a light-hearted, jokey way of telling him why they had really come here, but it did quite the opposite for Faye. It made her realise just how big the task they had undertaken was, and that perhaps Nikos had been right to suggest they stay on the ship. Was something her grandfather had owned all those years ago worth potentially losing this much? Nikos' life, her life, and more? "How do you wanna tackle this?" Faye said, with a glance up at Nikos that said more than her words did.

She would turn around in a heartbeat if he thought it was best.

Nikos Buccheri ​

 

[Nikos Buccheri]

Faye Malvern

A lightsaber crystal?

Nikos looked over his shoulder to Faye with a quizzical look on his face. As if to say oh, now yar willin' to tell me what we doin' here? To his credit it was kept jus' on his face and not through his lips. This counted for something. Attention shifted back towards the scene through the window. He calculated quietly and took into account the room.

It was spacious enough. Several pillars scattered throughout the place. No doors in and out, except the one in the room Faye and him were in at that very moment.

"Their hole-room might look fancy an' occult, but..." A shrug there as he pulled out a heavy blaster. "Also a karking kill box, if ya know whatcha be doing..." And Nikos definitely looked like someone who knew what he was doing.

He pushed the blaster into her hands. "Know how to use it?" If not, he'd give her a quick crash-course, otherwise continue with the trail of thought leading to the plan at hand. "I am gon' sneak inside an' climb up one of the outer pillars. From above I will chuck a few 'nades in the middle o' them and start picking them off."

"Once they start runnin' and screaming, ya start firing from the side, chaos complete."

It was a tricky plan and could lead to all their deaths, but... Nikos thought it offered the best chance for success. Otherwise they'd have to leave this place an'- "We can also go back to da ship, but I dunno about ya... I be loathe to leave a job unfinished, since we got this far, eh?"

Lazy grin shot at Faye as he pulled out his own blaster.

 

[Faye Malvern]

Faye didn't look up at Nikos. She didn't really want to see the expression that was probably a mixture of shocked disbelief and surprise. Not the nice kind of surprise either. The kind that made your stomach twist into knots. She didn't really need to see it, she could feel it, that was more than enough. Her eyes remained trained on the crowd of cultists that stopped them from going any further.

Finally, Nikos broke the silence by speaking again. Making a plan was exactly the reason why Faye had hired him, along with the fact that he was much more experienced with the violent side of things. Faye didn't have the mind for it. Where Nikos saw a kill-zone, she saw a giant, inconvenient hole in the floor. She certainly had no idea what she was doing, and as she turned up to Nikos to say as much, he handed the blaster toward her. Faye looked at it with both fear and rejection in her eyes. Still, she let him continue before she outright refused.

"No." Faye said adamantly. "I don't want to leave. This is important. My grandfather owned this crystal before he and the rest of my family were quite literally slaughtered by people like this. I'm not leaving without it." She was pleased to hear that Nikos was of the same mind. Whether it was because he didn't want to leave a job unfinished, or because he was interested in the credits, or because he was enjoying it thus far... It didn't really matter. All that mattered was he was going to stick it out, which was a huge relief for Faye.

"As for the blaster…" She began. "I haven't the first clue how to use it. I'd probably do more damage without it than with. What if I hit you? Or nothing at all?" She shook her head again and took a step back from the outstretched weapon as if it were on fire and would scold her the moment she touched it. "Not a good idea."

Nikos Buccheri ​

 

[Nikos Buccheri]

Faye Malvern

A disappointed grunt escaped his lips before Nikos holstered the blaster once again then.

"S'fair enough, last thing I need is another barrel aimed at me." Trying to tease but his attention was shifting back to the crowd. Rearranging the scene and wondering how to work it into his advantage. "Then... hum... yeah. Lock the door behind me an' make sure nobody can get out until I get the job done, kay?"

That was a risky business.

It meant he'd be stuck in a room full of hostiles for the duration of the battle. "I know ya probably feelin' the itch to walk in there with me, but I can't worry about yar ass once I am there." Trying to cut-off any arguments she might made. "An' the door can't be locked from that side. If even a few of 'em escape, we are karked."

They'd be able to raise the rest of the base. Then they'd have more than just a crowd of cultists to worry about.

Before leaving he reached out to touch her shoulder. A light squeeze to reassure her.

"We will get dat crystal, princess. Dun' worry about that. I will try an' leave at least one o' 'em alive for ya, so ya can interrogate an' see what they were trying to do with the crystal, yeah?"

Just a moment after that already slipping past her and through the door.

This was gonna get messy.

 

[Faye Malvern]

Faye was more than relieved to see that there was no fight from Nikos in regard to the blaster. She would have taken it had he persisted, but the outcome would have likely ruined the whole thing for the both of them.

"Hold on a mi-…" She started to protest against his plan, but he cut her off before the words had fully formed. "Hmm." If the events of the last few minutes were not enough to prove to him that she was not entirely incapable, then Faye had no idea what would. Whatever it was, it was going to take a lot more than a few flourishes in the force to do it.

"Fine." Finally agreeing, she folded her arms as she turned to put her back flat against the door in a mild show of disgruntlement. It was the light squeeze to her shoulder that overwhelmed the desire not to look at him as he disappeared behind the doors.

Faye believed him. When he said they'd find the crystal. They had gotten this far already, and she certainly wouldn't have managed it without him. "Alright." She relented as she shoved off the door to shut it behind him.

Her last words were spoken to his back as he disappeared into the shadows to earn his credits. "Be careful..."

When she was certain that he was ready, she shoved the door with her shoulder until it clicked. A second click followed as she dragged across the deadbolt on her side of the door, and then she sank to her knees, to press her ear against the wood to hear any sound she could.

Nikos Buccheri ​

 

[Nikos Buccheri]

Faye Malvern

He clambered up quickly onto the pillar.

Looked fethin' grade while at it too. Shame that he had no audience, what with Faye holding down the fort, and the cultists really busy with whatever the hell they were doing in and around the pit. Sadly Nikos couldn't pause and observe either. Every moment he felt more exposed, if only a single one glanced upwards, they'd see him.

And without the favor of chaos on his side? Sitting duck that would be shot out the sky in a moment's notice.

Once on top he immediately pulled out several grenades. Took the measure of the field. Then let them fly. Each in a separate direction to maximize the amount of chaos and death they'd commit. The explosives and the rocking of the floor would tip Faye of that it had begun. If this didn't help? Several bodies crashing into the door would have to suffice.

They screamed, rattling at the door, trying to get through.

One even attempted to use the Force, but it was difficult to grasp it when chaos reigned supreme.

Several more minutes passed with screams, shouts, blaster bolts firing and lightning strikes flaring. Until... until it was silent entirely. Then footsteps sounded, closer and closer, before knuckles rapped against the door. "S'me." Muted tone behind the door. "Yar prince charming, Princess. Ya can come on out."

Then a grin as she opened the door and he stepped away.

"Mebbe we should have figured out a safe word." Smirk. Before guiding her through the carnage. Bodies were strewn everywhere. And Nikos was limping slightly, where a sword had nicked his leg. "Anyway, hole's clear, the crystal is on the platform in the middle of it. Figured I wouldn't drop in since there might be some weird arse Force booby-traps around it, no?"

Seemed to be something force cultists could do.

 

[Faye Malvern]

It was almost impossible to hear anything through the thick wooden doors. Or at least, Faye had assumed so at first. It was so quiet that she could practically hear the cultists breathing, but all she had to do was wait.

Moments later, Nikos' made his move, and the several grenades produced an explosion so loud that even Faye's ears were ringing. Seconds after that, thudding dominated the door as bodies and fists slammed against the wood in a desperate attempt to escape. Faye crawled back from the door. She felt each thump in her chest and every drop of fear that crossed their minds.

It was almost a little too much.

With the long sleeves of the robe she was wearing, Faye did her best to block out their screams.

A tell-tale sign that it was slowly ending was the bombardment of emotions going out around her like lights. One by one by one by one, Faye was left alone again with her own thoughts. It was only then that she removed the sleeves from her ears and looked up at the door. She could hear Nikos walking toward it before he knocked. So, when he spoke, she was already drawing the deadbolt back to open it.

She had a smile on her face when it swung open. "Charming?" Her brow raised slightly. "I have plenty of words for you but charming was nowhere on the list." She said playfully.

Trying to ignore the fresh coat of red paint that glistened on the walls, Faye allowed Nikos to guide her through the sea of bodies. It was only then did she notice that he was limping. "Are you alright?" There was a measured note of concern in her tone, and she even went so far as to put her hand on his chest to stop him from walking so that she could see it properly. It was a minor wound. Underneath all the blood, it wasn't as bad as it had first appeared. "I'll fix it when we're back on the ship."

The way she said it brokered no argument. Even if he tried to argue, Faye had turned her attention to the pit.

The minute she tried to rally the force to do the work of reaching the crystal for her, the platform the crystal was on dropped with no warning. Faye could hear the giant chains that held it up falling further and further until a loud clunk told them they had finally stopped. Gulping, she stepped forward to peer over the edge of the pit.

It was at least twenty feet down now, Faye could only just make out the outline of the crystal, glowing a dim shade of blue against a pitch-black background. "Great… Just great."

Rolling up the sleeves of the robe she had borrowed, Faye set her feet and leant her body further over the lip of the cavernous drop. Summoning the force again, she tried with all her might to call the crystal up to her. It should work. Crystals had a memory, and it was tied to her by blood. It should have made it easier.

"It's no good." She finally said, pulling back from the edge. "We're going to have to go in and get it…"

Despite how easy they had made it seem to get to this point, Faye wasn't under the assumption that they would have made everything easy. There was bound to be some kind of trap waiting for them down there. Her head glanced quickly from left to right, looking for something large enough to drop down there to trigger them. A few moments later, she swept down to pick up a heavy chunk of debris from the explosion and lifted it to shove it over the edge.

A sudden, sharp sheening sound, like metal cutting through the air, echoed throughout the chamber. Faye did not need to be peering down the hole to see what had happened, though fortunately, she was. Pocketed in the gaps between the stones that made up the pit were thin blades gleaming in what little light managed to penetrate the darkness down there. They were long enough to reach the very centre, where they crossed over and jabbed out in wild angles.

"Hmm…" She said thoughtfully, before turning to face Nikos with a raised brow. "Do you trust me?" The question was ironic, given that Faye had been adamant not to trust him until he had proven himself.

Nikos Buccheri ​

 

[Nikos Buccheri]

Faye Malvern

"Oh, please. I am basically the Prince of Charms." Calling himself 'Prince Charming' was a brush too far, so Nikos avoided that as a proverbial plague.

She stopped him before Nikos could say anything more.

"Hm?" A glance down to her hand and then to the wound. "Oh... yeah, jus' a nick..." Her tone however didn't leave much room for negotiation. Apparently it was 'be nursed to health' and that was that. Sure, why not? It would be amusing to see the princess try and knit him back together, or maybe she'd surprise him.

Truth be told she already had.

Just walking through the massacre was a surprise to Nikos. Half of him expected her to throw-up. Instead she just cut a quick line through towards the pit and that was that.

Yeah, surprised, but also impressed.

"Wait, maybe that's not-" ...a good idea. Nikos watched the piece of rubble slide down, fall and then trigger... oh dear. "...well-" Before he could comment Faye asked him the question of the century. "Trust you?" Eyeing her with suspicion. What the kark was Malvern planning? It was already filling him with worry.

And yet.

"Well, I trust ya dun' want me dead that bad, so... guess all things being even? Yeah, sure, I trust ya."

In the hole something groaned and metal screeched as the debris fell deeper past the sharpened pikes.

"I am afraid to ask what yar plan is, but... what's ya be thinking?"