Up, Down and Sideways

[Dax Perl]

The Sith turn quickly, parrying the Jedi's blade upwards, turning once more back to Dax he unleashed a powerful Force Push, slamming Dax back into the ground as he attempted to slash at the Sith's legs. Attention once more upon the Silver Jedi, the Sith alternated between attacking with his scarlet saber and the Force. A swift cut towards the body was followed by a short stream of lightning. If [member="Sorel Crieff"] was quick enough she could dodge or block both, or if she had the knowledge, could even redirect the lightening.

The wind left Dax's lungs before his head collided with the sand stone floor. A soft haze settled over his his vision as he attempted to stop the slow spinning of the room. Dimly aware of the sound of saber's he struggled once more to his feet, a hand touching the back of his head, a slow trickle of blood warming his skin.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Her efforts with her saber were unconvincing and she quickly came to the conclusion that it would be energy that was the Sith’s undoing – and more specifically Force energy.

She was learning much from Master Shan’s Holocron. The ability to generate power from the Force was currently above her, but she’d learned to absorb and redirect. Of course, she’d never practised with Force Lightning – there were never any friendly Sith around who were prepared to allow her to try her hand. So she was forced to apply what she knew and trust in her training to have been complete enough to allow her to perform the ability correctly.

So as the Sith directed a powerful arc of red lightning towards her, rather than avoid it, or even block it with her saber, she instead reached out a hand and absorbed it. The energy passed directly into her body and felt not unlike her efforts with energy generated by Force crystals – except this felt dirty, almost oily and most definitely dark.

But as she had been trained, she directed the energy up one arm, across her back and down the other arm until it emerged from her finger-tips. As it arced towards the Sith, it was now a right green colour and she focused on not only turning the energy absorbed on its originator but she added to the power with the light-side of the Force.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dax pick himself up off the floor.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax watched in awe as ruby red lightening struck the Silver Jedi's palm and coursed through her body, only to emerge from her hand in a brilliant emerald green. That was something he certainly had never expected. The Sith seemed equally surprised. The unexpected counter struck the Sith squarely in the chest, the electric charge rooting him in place for a moment as his body shook and trembled. Now was their best chance to attack. Still slightly stunned Dax quickly closed the distance between the Dark Sider and himself, if a little unsteadily and brought his saber to down across the Sith's back. The cloaked Sith fell to his knees in front of them and took several wheezing breaths. Dax looked at [member="Sorel Crieff"], 'Your choice. What do you wanna do?'

 

[Sorel Crieff]

It was the second neat party-trick of their adventure thus far. Not that the first one did them many favours. But this time it seemed to do the trick, subduing the Sith for long enough to allow Dax to disable the dark-sider enough that he fell to the ground, not currently a clear and present danger.

As Sorel put her saber back on her belt, she considered Dax’s offer. She was in truth pleasantly surprised. Before the encounter she’d have wagered that, given the opportunity, Dax would have finished the Sith off without a second thought. But instead he held back and not only allowed her to have an input as to the Sith’s destiny, he actually gave her the choice.

She nodded her approval to him before carefully removing cuffs from her belt with her good hand and tossing them to Dax. “These will hold him and limit his access to the Force until we can arrange for him to be collected. And alive he’s evidence of who orchestrated these barbaric acts.”

She sighed. “It’s a pity we couldn’t free the slaves, it pains me that our presence here hastened their deaths. But if we uncovered part of some greater plot to undermine the Jedi, perhaps our being here was not entirely in vain.”

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

The Rogue caught the cuffs with one hand and bent down to afix then to the Sith's wrists. "In either case, the sooner we get off this planet, the better. I don't wanna get caught with my pants down in case he has friends." the cuffs clicked into place and Dax brought himself near the Sith's ear, "Not that you got too many of those do you." Dax hauled the wounded Sith to his feet again a hand on his shoulder, saber in hand, just in case he tried something. "Take the lead m'lady."

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel figured the best option was to head back the way they came – their speeder was close enough and would accommodate the Sith. And once back into civilisation, they could head for her ship and she could hold him there until someone came to take him off their hands.

Part of her considered finding a hangar here – which may contain a ship they could use, but it was better not to have to explain what they were up to should a certain Hutt return and wonder why his arms and slaves were no longer available.

“We can walk more quickly on the way back – less need for stealth heading in this direction. I just hope the sand storm has abated.” She stared at the Sith. “Or rather you’d better hope so. It’ll be uncomfortable without any facial protection.”

With that she carefully put her goggles back on and lifted the hood on her cloak before stepping outside. The broken bone in her arm was uncomfortable but she’d wait for proper medical assistance before trying to fix anything herself.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax noticed the discomfort, and likely pain, that the Silver Jedi was experiencing. "We should put that in a splint real quick. It won't take long." he offered moving over to one of the wooden chairs that sat empty before the bar. He lifted the chair and smashed it onto the ground, a loud crash signaling a rain of splinters and parts. He picked up what had been one of the struts of the chair and walked over to the Jedi.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel accepted Dax was right. The longer she allowed the broken bone to remain untreated, the more likely it was to be a challenge to the Jedi Healers or a competent med-droid to fix.

So she offered up her arm as Dax destroyed one of the chairs. “If you fix the break but I die of blood poisoning due to splinters, I’ll never forgive you,” she said – her voice clearly sharing the fact she was kidding.

Then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, connecting with the Force. She suspected this would hurt and being in a meditative state might help. At least a little.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax chuckled and tenderly touched the woman's arm. Only shattered...well 'only' would be an underrated observation...but at least the bone wasn't sticking out of her arm. That would hurt a lot more...in this case, as long as the arm was kept rigid and straight they'd be okay.

The man placed the wooden stick next to the arm and began to bind the two together, the stick providing the rigiity that the broken arm couldn't. The man cinched the shemagh which bound the two tightly and then again, ensuring it couldnt come off. "Good to go."

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel relaxed as best she could and focused on the Force. She allowed it to flow through her and she became as close to one with it as she could manage – given the pain she was now in.

Dax’s touch was no doubt gentle but it sent a spike of pain through her arm and she looked to clear her mind of emotions in an attempt to limit the discomfort.

Once he started to bind the wood to her arm the pain peaked and then diminished. It would not go altogether but having the bone held in place meant it was not subject to being jarred and pain returning in force.

“Thanks,” she said simply before sighing. “Now, we have a Sith to deliver, yes?”

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

The Rogue nodded and stood, placing his goggles back over his face in preparation to go outside. One hand on the Sith, the other on the door. he looked at [member="Sorel Crieff"] to see if she was ready.

Dax hoped that the storm had subsided, by judging by the howling wind that could still be heard on the other side of the door, it wasn't likely...the Sith would certainly have a fun time out there, hiking the distance to their speeder.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Returning to civilisation represented an entirely different approach to their arrival. On the way here, stealth was paramount whereas now speed and the avoidance of further damage was key.

Unfortunately, the weather was poor and given the howling wind, Sorel was unsure if the conditions would allow her plan to come to fruition, but she decided to progress it. So she took the hilt of one of her sabers and pressed one of the buttons on it. It was a simple beckon call – a remote activation controller that allowed her to remotely access the systems and controls of her ship. It was a short-range transmitter, which allowed the signal to reach just under a planetary radius. But the wind was likely to have a significant impact – and so she nodded to Dax as she opened the door and began the trek to their speeder.

At least the wind was from the side and they weren’t walking into the face of the storm.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax nodded and pulled the door open, strugglig against the wind which attempted to suck it back closed. Instantly, sand and dust began to fill the room and Dax quiet literally kicked the Sith through the door way, Leaning all his weight against the wooden door as he did so. He motioned for Sorel to go through next, not willing to open his mouth, for fear of sand and dust choking him.

Already his face began to get small scratches as the wind spat the small bits of rock into his face. The trek would be 'fun'...especially for their new Sith companion.

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was not expecting her ship to arrive instantly – if at all. There was every chance the weather had impeded the signal, and even if it had got through, it would take a short while to take-off, travel to wherever she was, and then land.

So she pulled her hood down as far as it would go and accepted the scratches to her face from the flying sand as an occupational hazard. At least she had goggles – which their prisoner did not. And she also recognised that verbal communication was no longer an option, so she put her head down and, checking her companion and the Sith were close behind, she pushed forwards towards their speeder. Although they did not have to worry about stealth, the weather meant the journey would be no quicker than the one here. And it would be a lot less comfortable.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

The three beings treked through the hardh wind and sand, Dax pushing the Sith along as they went. His face felt raw as the shards of stone bounced off his skin. Even through his shirt and pants, he could feel the sand strike his skin. He had no clue how close they were to their speeder, or even if they were still heading in the right direction. Dax couldn't see more than a couple feet in front of himself....

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Sorel was focused. There was something about having limited vision, hearing and smell that allowed the mind to declutter. She was adept at Force Sight and her range by now was extensive, especially when there were no walls to see through. So she closed her effectively useless eyes and in her mind set up a three hundred and sixty degree radar map. Small living creatures appeared every now and then – burrowed under the sand for safety. And the occasional rock formation showed up like a beacon and allowed her to navigate their way back to the speeder.

And finally she spotted it. It was where she expected it to be – albeit they had taken a lot longer to walk here than she would have liked. Her arm was now throbbing. It might be in a splint but the constant buffering from the wind was having an effect.

She held Dax by the arm and pointed to where the speeder was and gave him the thumbs up sign. If he couldn’t see it with his eyes now, he would do very soon.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax felt the Silver Jedi grab ahold of his arm. He turned to the woman and saw her pointing into dusty clouds. Only the barest sillouhette, a ghost of what might be there. [member="Sorel Crieff"] gave him a thumbs up. The speeder was there.

Dax nodded and pushed the Sith in that direction, moving with him, fighting against the howling winds. Finally they'd reached tbe metal vehicle, dist and sand pinging off the exterior. The Rogue brough the Sith back around to the trunk and stuffed the man into it, a slight struggle ensueing as the Knight slammed the lid down.

 

[Sorel Crieff]

They closed the gap to the speeder quicker than they’d walked to date – there was always something about an end goal that spurred you on.

Once there, Sorel allowed Dax to handle the Sith, whilst she checked over the speeder. Once sitting down, the aerodynamics and the windshield provided a welcome respite from the constant buffering. It wasn’t in any way silent or wind-free but it was a huge step down from what they’d walked through.

She checked the data the speeder shared and noted that the winds were affecting the range of its sensors and surmised her hope of summoning the ship were right to be labelled as long-odds. They would have to make the journey back to the town and pick up her ship that way. Then she would be able to find out if they had to take the Sith anywhere or if he would be collected from them.

“I travel a lot,” Sorel shouted over the noise, “And sometimes silence can be a drain. Right now? I’m looking forwards to some peace – out of this incessant wind.”

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax hopped into the passenger seat, receiving only the slightest reprieve from the relentless wind. "I agree!" he shouted over the din of the howling winds, "Let's get out of here! I can't wait to breathe some fresh air!" Dax's mouth tastsed like sand, the grainy feel on his tongue, the dry hoarseness in the back of his throat. This was one of the things he hated about the desert...

[member="Sorel Crieff"]

 

[Sorel Crieff]

Every journey across a desert seemed longer than usual – it was the lack of reference points that made progress seem slow. An unchanging terrain fooled your brain into thinking you were going more slowly than was the case. That was multiplied exponentially when you could not see more than a few feet in front of you and the horizon was denied you.

But they had a job to do, so Sorel maintained a regular speed and kept checking they were making headway in the right direction – hoping that the wind would die down, or they’d reach the town. Preferably both – and ideally before any new challenge presented itself.

[member="Dax Fyre"]