Wake Up

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Then we are stuck with good ol fashion investigation." The Lorrdian Jedi Master replied, blowing a hot puff of air that blew out her cheeks and sent her bangs flying away from her forehead. This wasn't good. Not good at all.

"With no rhyme or reason on how long that will take either." Kira understood the investigative process, however, that didn't make for an easy find. This could very well take them several days or even weeks. Not to mention if this Sith Master responsible for such a dreadful use of the Force, then he would be doing what he could to keep himself hidden away.

Unless the Sith had been so confident - or idiotic- to believe that anyone might start looking into all of these deaths.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He nodded.

"Talk to them." He told her quietly. "You'll be better at it than me."

Again he told the truth of that. Soliael wouldn't really be all that approachable. His tall height and the glowing orange eyes might even be a reminder of the Sith that these people had just fought. He frowned for a moment and looked back down at the bodies, the row of sheet covered forms making him somewhat sick. "I'll take a closer look at these."

He didn't really like the idea, but it would help.

"Maybe some have wounds or something else that might help." It seemed unlikely given that Force Drain was...well it was one of the most powerful darkside techniques one could use, but if perhaps they found something else it would be another clue.

He gently squeezed Kira's hand in encouragement.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]


"Okay." They had a plan, and with that, they would be able to investigate and hopefully, narrow down on the Sith who was responsible for such a malevolent use of the Force.

"Be careful." moving up on tippy toe, Kira gave a press of her lips upon his bearded cheek.

"Beyond that, I bet they are all not all feeling very cordial. " a small smile attempted to provide a measure of encouragement.

"I'll try and talk to the man who we met -- well, see if I can get him to talk more." Amos would prove to be an interesting individual to try and gather information. As it was, he was still eyeballing from a distance the odd pair, his blaster rifle still in his hands.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He nodded.

Soliael's work meanwhile was more...well it was focused on an aspect that he hadn't really suspected would be his type of thing. He wasn't a mortician or a coroner, though admittedly he had operated on more than one dead body in his day. Usually it ahd been with the technovirus, but that wasn't really a choice here.

"Alright." He said as he moved towards the bodies. "Lets see."

Poking around wouldn't be hard.

Though he was curious as to what he would find. Likely it was nothing, though as he lifted the second sheet he began to realize that things weren't quite as simple as he had initially expected. The second body was much as the first, though bright scorch marks peppered his torso, almost like he had been riddled with blaster fire before he had been drained.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

With both now with their own respective missions, Kira took a deep breath. Now to try and talk to the man with the blaster rifle. Oh, this ought to be good, the Lorrdian Jedi Master thought to herself.

Just have to remember that they are rightfully wary, Kira told herself, carefully making her way over to Amos. Just be calm, speak carefully, don't make any sudden moves.

However, the closer she came to closing the distance between herself and the man, the deeper the furrows of his brow turned.

"Hey, sorry, didn't get to introduce myself." Kira began. Let's start with the basics.

"Don't need for you to come any closer than you are now." Amos began, watching her carefully. That made Kira stop.

"Okay then, just stand right here," she assured him, trying to at the very least keep things calm.

"My name is Kira - just wanted to get a bit of information on just what went on here?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He glanced at the body.

Could it be that the Sith wasn't all that powerful after all? It was possible, perhaps even likely. The idea was goodnews for him and Kira. Sith Lords weren't exactly common things, and few would spend their time roaming around the Rishi Maze. If this Sithling turned out to be less than a Lord, it meant they likely weren't trained.

Force Drain wasn't exactly a technique that one could actually learn naturally, it had to be...forced. The idea of it, taking someones life to fuel your own was not really something that could be taught. It wasn't as simple as opening a book. Force drain required the right conditions, prior knowledge and then a press that pushed someone into action. He frowned for a moment, moving on from the second corpse to the third. again he found the same scorch marks.

"Interesting." He mused.

A part of him wished that Amorella had been there, she would have been able to tell.

Soliael shook his head slowly, continuing down the line and corpses and finding the marks on each and every one of them.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

If Amos thought anything about the introduction, he certainly didn't show it. Well I guess you expected that already Kira girl, the Lorrdian Jedi Master thought to herself. From the corner of her eye, Kira caught a bit of movement. It was the youngling again, sticking his head out and watching them both with curious eyes. At this distance, she was able to notice the large cut along the right side of his head. Either from a knife wound or shrapnel. Concern immediately flooded Kira's expression, blue eyes angling from the child over towards Amos.

"He has that cut on his head... I can tend to it if you like." she only added the 'if you like' to keep her voice and tone neutral in the matter, however, being a mother meant that she likely would push the issue if denied.

"I've four children of my own, all grown now, but I've tended their cuts and bruises all my life." well, Amore had also done so, the woman the better healer.

Amos didn't appear to shift his expression, and for a moment Kira was afraid that he'd deny her. A glance back to his son prompted another scowl. He had not paid attention to his earlier order. However, Vielos had been complaining about his head. He knew well that having a doc come over and check would take some time -- what with the rest of the focus on the ones suffering from the Sith drain of the Force.

"... Do more than just tend to him and you'll regret it." came the gruff response.

Well, at least it wasn't a no.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

After a while he let the last sheet drop.

A few more of the corpses had the scorch marks, though not all of them. He would have liked to take back the bodies for a more thorough medical examination, but he highly doubted that any such thing would be possible. These people were simple, village folk, none of them would necessarily be open to having an autopsy performed on their loved ones, much less part with them.

The only conclusion that Soliael could come to was that the Sith who was performing the Force Drain was 'ramping up'. At the start he needed weaker beings to start the initial process of the Force Drain, then as he began to use the technique more and more he could more easily control the flow of the darkside. It was an indication that this man, or perhaps woman, likely had no formal training in the technique, much less the darkside itself.

A boon in a weird way. "Alright."

Soliael said quietly to himself as he raised himself up.

At the very least he had a better picture of what they were dealing with, though in truth there was still so much information missing he could have been wrong about all of it. Not something he wanted to think about.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Internally, Kira gave a sigh of relief. A small smile brought forth pearly white teeth, still moving slow so as that Amos wouldn't think she was trying anything sudden or out of the ordinary.

"That's fine... what's his name?"

"Vielos." at the sound of his name, the little boy's head perked up. Now he wasn't sure if he was supposed to move forward or go running to hide.

"Come out here, boy... ain't like you were paying attention none." rather broken basic but Kira understood it enough.

Bending down a bit, Kira offered the child a warm, encouraging smile.

"Hey there, my name is Kira.... How's it going Vielos? Just here to try and help out a bit." reaching out with her hand, she extended it, hoping that perhaps the boy would heed her beckon.

"You got a big cut there on your head, mind if I look at it? Make you feel better. Promise it won't hurt a bit."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He lingered for a moment more.

In truth what they had here was something of a mystery. There was no way of really telling what had happened or why, at least not the specifics. There were some clues and Soliael could fill in the gaps, but a large piece of elthe picture was still missing.

That was the nature of this.

They needed to figure out where the pirates had come from, and he doubted that any of the villagers would know. He frowned for a moment, glancing around himself until finally his lips thinned and an idea began to form in his head.

Kaili’s probes.

The little things were already searching half the Rishi Maze, perhaps with a few modifications he could teach them to search for something else.

It wasnt a bad idea.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

The youngling gave a small nod. Ever so carefully, under Amos watchful eye -- and blaster rifle -- the child carefully came walking over towards Kira. Dropping to her knees, she made herself take slow and measured movements, ensuring that Amos would follow every single one so he wouldn't believe that she was trying to harm the child.

"What's your name?"

Giving a slow blink, the chapped lips of the youngling parted to say, "Vielos."

"Hello, Vielos." she gave him an encouraging smile.

"I'm just going to open up my med-kit here and take out the medical supplies okay?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Eventually Soliael couldn't linger by the corpses any longer.

The bodies wouldn't decompose, not normally, but he wasn't entirely sure he had the heart to tell the villagers that. Force Drain was a terrible technique, it didn't simply ravage ones body, but their very soul. Many people didn't believe in such things of course, but Soliael was more than aware there was some sort of afterlife. Perhaps it didn't hold true for the common folk, but some at least joined the force, or lingered beyond it in time ravaged Temples.

Either way, Force Drain stole that essence, that ability.

There was a reason that the technique was so feared even among the Sith. Utilizing it drained not only the person suffering the ability, but the user himself. It ate at you, caused a hunger. Long ago a Sith Lord had lost himself to that hunger, and even when consuming entire worlds he had not been satiated. A frown pulled at his lips, his eyes wandering over towards Kira who was still helping the villagers.

Briefly he wondered how many other villages had been attacked.

"Honey?" Sol asked as he quietly walked up behind her.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Seeing the massive figure of Kira's husband walking up and calling for her likely was enough to set an already edgy Amos into an even more wary disposition. The blaster rifle, of course, turned to point over at Sol, prompting a tense few seconds from them all.

"It's okay, it's just my husband. We are just trying to help." Kira insisted, lifting up her hands palm out, a spare bandage still clinging to her fingers. The youngling grew anxious, glancing back and forth between the adults.

"Trust me, he means no harm." Amos didn't appear to really believe Kira, but at the very least he lowered the pointed end of the blaster rifle away from Devin. Kira gave a sigh.

Turning up to glance at her husband, she gave him the sort of expression that said, well what did you find out?

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He shook his head in answer.

Speaking about what he found now...here in front of these people would not go over too well. Kira would know that form the bond that they had between the rings. She would be able to feel the ping of emotion and the way that Soliael stood. "Nothing."

It was a lie, but a pointed one.

His attention then turned to the man with the blaster rifle. Soliael had such weapons pointed at him hundreds of times in his life, most of the time people even ended up firing. Such things didn't really bother him anymore, and here especially he knew why it was happening. He cleared his throat for a moment, then glanced around them. The village was still broken and burning, half a husk left behind. He frowned for a moment and then shifted.

"Do you know where they came from?" He asked.

It was better than nothing.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Amos wasn't the talkative type, and the more he was prodded with questions, the more annoyed he became. No longer was that stoic expression set upon his haggard, weathered features, but the thick brows went jutting forward, and his lips turned into a thin line.

"They just came, then they left." nothing rather useful there.

"From the c-c--canyons," the youngling managed to pipe up.

"The canyons?"

"We ain't want no trouble. " Amos added, his voice gruff.

"But if this isn't stopped then everyone will end up hurt." Kira cried out, trying to talk some sense into the man.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He narrowed his eyes.

Canyons? That didn't make any sense. The pirates weren't based from this planet, he and Kira already knew that. The Freya woudl have detected any starships or major powersources, even if they were well hidden. There was always the possibility of a cloaking device, but for some reason he highly doubted that Rishi Maze Pirates would have access to that sort of technology. His lips thinned for a moment but he said nothing, fearful of interrupting whatever bond Kira was attempting to form.

He knew his wife, and he knew the effect she had on people.

Kira cared. It was an odd thing to think about, even really say, but Kira genuinely cared about people. Whether it was someone she just met or had known for years she always looked after everyone. It was who she was. That wasn't to say that Soliael didn't care for people, but with his wife it was...different.

Perhaps more genuine.

That quality alone was why Soliael loved her, and it was why he knew to say silent. He watched and listened, a bit of pride flowing through the ring.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Proud as Soliael was for his wife, it wouldn't do much good if Amos wasn't willing to work with them and give them the information he knew. Nonetheless, Kira took comfort in the support she felt tie Devin to her through his ring. A deep breath filled her lungs with air, grit tickling her nostrils. She set her shoulders and attempted once again to be the voice of reason.

"If you tell us what you know, we can help. We can try to do something about it to make it stop." it likely was that Amos hadn't ever really believed anyone would help. They simply dug down and figured they'd struggle through it. Trust was a precious thing. Would he be able to trust them now?

"Pa?" the youngling would cry out, his grimy face scrunching up. "Tell 'em."

Amos tightened his grip on his blaster rifle. Tense moments seemed to tick endlessly before he finally spoke again, " Cut a path through the east road, on down past the dunes. You'll see the canyons right quick."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael glanced towards the east road.

It didn't really make any sense to him. Why would the pirates bother landing to the east? Why not just bring their ships straight down and take what they could? Strategically it didn't really make any sense, in fact it made no sense at all. His lips thinned for a moment, and then he slowly looked back at Kira.

"We'll look." He said quietly, his hand gently settling on Kira's shoulder.

He knew that his wife would be almost as confused as he was, or at least somewhat, but this was odd. If the pirates landed to the east then there had to be a reason for it, a point. They both knew these men didn't have their base here, and that meant the Canyons had to have some sort of advantage. Perhaps they were worried about storms? The Former False God frowned slightly, shaking his head and slowly turning back towards the eastern roads.

"Do you have anywhere to go?" He asked. "Another settlement?"

Perhaps the Dugs would take them in.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

It didn't make sense.

Kira's face gave a scrunch, blonde brows drawing into a tight frown of confusion. Amos took to answering Devin's inquiry, merely saying, "This is our home." simply put, the train of thought was clear; he wasn't intending on going anywhere. It could be pride or sheer stubbornness. Who knew. However, there was likely no negotiating or changing Amos' mind on perhaps finding shelter elsewhere.

"'hank yous." with just a few teeth to spare, the youngling offered a small smile of gratitude. The cut over his head at least had been tended to. A small part that made Kira feel a little bit better. Yet all the while, the back of her mind raced with just what it all meant.

"Well that settlement on south where we came from is taking in those who need help. " the Dug community where they'd hailed from earlier that is. Amos' expression turned a bit dark. Was he prejudice against them?

"We'll do fine right here."

There was a tremor that ran down Kira's body and would transfer through their connection over to her husband. It was one that suggested that Kira likely was going to try and push the issue. Kind hearted as she was, the Lorrdian didn't want to have Amos or his son in any danger. It just made sense that they seek out help.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael knew how Kira would try to push the issue, and he knew it was a mistake.

These people had lost everything they cared about, they needed to look forward and not back, but they wouldn't. Soliael could see it in the way that they looked, he could see it in the way they carried themselves.

He could hear it in their voice.

Soliael had seen it dozens of times before, he had watched as his Crusaders dealt with these people, he had dealt with these people himself. They were stalwart, strong, stubborn, and stupid. They didn't want to look at the other possibilities in front of them. They didn't want to move or budge. They wanted so badly to stay in the homes of their forefathers so that they could keep eeking out a living here.

That was all. "Honey."

He put a hand on Kira's shoulder and slowly shook his head.

No matter the argument, they wouldn't listen.