We'll Take Apart Your Head

[Matsu Xiangu]

She had her eyes closed, breathing slow.
It couldn’t be called meditation – she was no Jedi, not even close.
But there was a world inside her head she’d rediscovered.

She kept having the same dream. Every time the situation was different. Some nights she walked through the halls of some long-dead temple, a monument to a man or woman dead and forgotten centuries before her birth. Some nights she was back on the field in Rhigar, watching bone shatter and scatter as she closed her fingers in on each other and skulls shattered in her grip. And every one ended the same way – something happened: in the long-dead temple the corpses of supplicants came to life and numbed her connection to the Force through some power she couldn’t understand. On the battlefield any power she wielded shorted out in her hand and the men she would have watched die came to overwhelm her. But in the temple he went forward and killed them all. On the battlefield he appeared from nowhere and broke them with a savagery she’d waited to watch. And last night…

She’d dreamt of her Corvette humming through space, quiet as could be when suddenly it split in half, an explosion so loud it nearly deafened her, so large it rocked her sideways. She grabbed for anything that would stop her from being dragged out in to space, things flying by her head so quickly she could hear them whistling by her ears. Her durasteel fingers punctured the floor as she was turned sideways again, struggling to get a grip, the floor tearing up in claw marks as she tried to slow herself but the stars were coming so fast and she would DIE out there she could only hold out so long in the pressure of space she’d die she’d DIE SHE WOULD DIE floating through space in all that silence please I can’t it’s not – and then just as her legs slipped over the ragged edge of half of her ship and she was lost forever a hand wrapped in her natural one and she looked up to see eyes watching her, him again…Kail Ragnar.

All of it impossible, but the symbolism wasn’t lost on her.

There was an answer – a way to achieve the power of her own headspace again. It was right on the tip of her tongue, waiting for her to sink her fangs in. She only had to make one move, make one decision, and things would slowly right themselves. She had started regaining that strange dreaminess around the time she’d found him on Rodia and that could be no coincidence. But he was in her life wasn’t he? She had paid her debt in full and they reached an agreement, a tenuous alliance. Wasn’t that enough?

She was afraid to give him more.

When she opened her eyes they were flecked with amber reaching towards her pupils. The pattern of thought that man brought out…she wouldn’t have it.

And yet...

He had chosen to stay. She had agreed, almost before she’d had time to think, her mouth answering before her mind.

Reaching one hand out, she pulled up the flat, floating screen and wrote a short message to him.

I’d like your help with something.​

Meet me on Korriban.​

- MX​

She pressed coordinates in and a time she’d be there along with the message and sent it off, the thought that he could not be there never even crossing her mind.

​

[member="Kail Ragnar"]​

 

[Connor Harrison]

The transport that had ferried Kail Ragnar off the giant snowball that was Midvinter and East across the Outer Rim to Korriban steadily rose up into the planet’s atmosphere and out back amongst the stars. The mercenary watched the small ship all the way until he couldn’t see it no more, and as soon as it vanished, he was all alone on the dusty red-rock planet; the home world of the Sith. A large moon hung beautiful in the distance, so close it was almost like you reach out and touch it as it crashed down into the horizon of the mountainous planet.

Kail looked a state. Coming straight from Midvinter, he wore his white and grey combat trousers and boots, but mis-mashed with his sandy brown shirt and armoured vest. SSX and KX-60 affixed to him, his brown hair was tussled and his face was dotted with a couple of cuts and matted sand from the planet he was now on. His discarded white jacket was by his feet. Firm arms hugged the rolled up shirt as he leant on his knees playing a strange intricate game with his fingers. He was trying to outwit each hand with the other by tapping each finger in a random that his brain would always make both hands do, but he tried to outsmart it anyway.

Ah. Nearly had you there…

He was sat on a fallen mound of rubble in the outskirts to the Valley of the Dark Lords. Receiving the cryptic message from Matsu days before, he could only assume she would want to meet at the Valley that housed a rich history of Sith culture, from the tombs of fallen Lords to the Academy ruins itself. It was a magnificent sight to behold, and Kail was dwarfed under the six imposing statues that touched the heavens in the orange sky, each one a symbol of the Sith legacy that had spread across the galaxy for eons.

Kail had the right day to meet her but wasn’t sure of the time. She would soon let him know either way. His fingers stopped their adorable dance as his eyes slowly became vacant as his mind started to drift along with the grains of sand in the breeze around him.

She made it quite clear to me on Rodia that if I was needed, she would be in touch. That was the last I’d seen of her and the last time I’d felt her touch, be it on that crazy arm, before I left for Tatooine.

From the journey to my home world and then across the galaxy to Midvinter, the delicious Sith that was Matsu Xiangu had been on my mind. Yes I was infatuated with her power, her willing to help and the invulnerability she made me feel around her. Hell, she wouldn’t know that, I wasn’t going to bare my emotions because she’d probably slit my throat before I’d finished, but I know how I feel, screw it.

Love? No…it wasn’t love. Was it? No, idiot. Lust? Of course. She’d look amazing on her back, a mix of warm flesh and that perverse alien technology that made her a woman of great strength. I find that so attractive.

The premise of what she offered me – teased me with – was the reason I was here. I suppose I did trust her. No reason not to, and she had no fight with me. I did save her life I suppose and she was going to repay me. But if she could repay me with something more than just gratitude or a handful of credits, like a purpose, or a meaning to strive for, I’d pretty much follow her to the edges of hell and back again if she gave herself to me also.

The thoughts were boarding on the darkness that she continued to inject in him through her silky soft words and hypnotic amber eyes, teasing the power that he could make his own. Cracking his fingers together, he shook his head to get out of the clouds and stretched his legs out, leaning back on his hands and squinting against the high sun. All he could do was wait. And think.

Hurry up girl, save me from my thoughts.


[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=12pt] The Fringe had certain benefits and though she had not gotten around to purchasing a ship of her own yet – and she would, as what self-respecting Sith Knight who so favored the finer things in life would deny themselves such? – she still had passage to Korriban. And in style. The sleek little stealth ship cut through the clouds with the same quiet ease she herself moved. She almost didn’t want to give it up. She’d had it when she pulled Kesare from that hellhole on Ryloth, used it on countless assignments, and piloted it to Rodia where she’d found him. It had become a second home. And it was nice to have a ship with pleasant memories…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] (When will he stop plaguing me?)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] It was for that reason that despite not piloting often she cut out of the thin clouds low in the planet’s sky and tilted towards the ground with precision, finding a place to land not far off from the pillars and letting the ship settle with a low hiss.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] She was in stark contrast to him as she walked down the slowly descending ramp, sleek and prim, dark cargo pants tucked in to combat boots. Her hair was pinned in to a bun, severe and perfectly perched, accentuating her sharp features. Her sword was gone and replaced by a black-hilted saber that blended with her clothes, concealed nicely on its own though it was small enough to tuck away even farther should she need to hide. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] But she did not need to conceal herself from him, her predator’s gaze picking him out of the otherwise non-descript landscape as she padded over through the dirt and dust of Korriban. (To slink was more appropriate than pad for the Knight, a woman whose limbs all seemed connected in some fluid marionette motion. Matsu meant Goddess of the Sea in the language of her people and that she was – a body of waves.) She spoke as she took the steps down in to what had once been a glorious plaza, feeling the gaze of the statues above her even as she watched him. “Kail Ragnar…are you always so dirty?” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] For once it’s not meant to sting and she softens the blow with a small quirk of her lips at the corners, giving him the hint of a smile to show she’s teasing as she drops the last step and closes the distance between them. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] She pauses for just a moment, in no rush, a strange stutter-stop to the way she speaks around him – like she needs to stop and gather her thoughts though they’re clearer than they’ve been in weeks. When she speaks again it’s quiet. “The debt’s been paid. Would you like to see?” It was more a warning than a true question as she snuck up behind him, latching on to his brainstem and showing him exactly what she meant.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]He came for you.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Trasker, shifting in to stance as if preparing to subdue her.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]He would have taken you away.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]And she, at first using the entire breadth of her Gift to ruin him.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]He wanted 'justice'.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]But she remembered what Kail said just hours before.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]But what you can’t do is truly feel it! CAN YOU?[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Trasker in agony, Trasker on the brink, leaving him in pieces.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]But I stopped him.[/SIZE]​

​

[SIZE=12pt] And then she let go as quickly as she took hold, the smile that had been nearly undetectable bending larger at the memory. “You’re right, you know. I hadn’t truly felt it before. It’s brought a…renewed pleasure to my work since the last time I saw you.” The devil, here to do the devil’s work.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt][member="Kail Ragnar"][/SIZE]​

 

[Connor Harrison]

Matsu seemed to appear out of the air, a vision conjured up from the sandy ruins around them; her appearance formed from sheer Sith magic. She moved like a breath of fresh air towards him, never stumbling or faltering over the ground beneath her, that animalistic smile curving slightly as she greeted him.

Kail wasn't really ashamed of how he looked, nor was he embarrassed. She knew his line of work, and he'd come straight from an assignment and didn't care to pamper and prime himself; she accepted him just for who he was, and that meant something, especially from a Sith to a mere mortal man.

He smiled gently and nodded at her style, looking ready for all-terrain action rather than elegant discussion. It would be exciting to her see in the field and what she was REALLY made of. She had won him over with her words and dark arts, but to see her alongside him in an area where he excelled would be interesting. His eyes fixed on hers a little too long, before dropping them to see her lightsaber, a small hilt on her waist but one that held a lot of danger.

The debt had been payed? Well that was a surprise to say the least. Her delicate features didn't show if she was lying or not, but he had expected the payment to be some training maybe, or to give him a gift or some sort. Disappointment surged in him for a second, but before he could say anything she was behind him, her lithe fingers and long nails placed on his brown hair. It felt good, relaxing; his eyes closed as she opened his mind and danced around in it.

]A law enforcement agent after ME?! Feth, how did he find me? What did I do wrong? Why did I keep messing up?!

Matsu, be careful...oh, of course, you WANT him to see you. You know something he doesn't, don't you?

No-one can see the danger you present. Look at them all. Look at him. He's strong - he's tough. He's DEAD.

He would kill me - look at him! Be careful. Yes. Lure him in. Make him trust you. That's it. YES!

Don't stop there! I'd finish him off myself - another one trying to stop me and you, but not anymore. Kill him!

Matus Xiangu, saviour and soul destroyer. You are impossible to read but so fascinating to try.

No-one will hurt you or try to stop you again...

Her words brought him back to reality, and he felt the way he did on Rodia after she had looked into his mind. He felt open, but this time he felt safe and powerful once again, as if there were no obstacles before him. Matsu had taken down this Trasker for HIM. She had protected HIM, Kail Ragnar. Matsu had pretty much saved him, and she was back for more.

Kail couldn't help grin as he saw the enjoyment on her lips, for the first time since they'd met weeks ago, it felt like days. Standing up as she snaked around him, he softly reached out to take her human hand as if greeting royalty. Lowering his head in a calm motion, he kissed her knuckles gently for just a second, not lingering or hesitating.

"Looking radiant as ever, Matsu Xiangu. It suits you. And I am here as you requested."

He felt invincible around her.


[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=12pt] She was prepared at first to turn on a dime and rip him in half when his hand wrapped around her fingers as she moved back in front of him, her eyes immediately snaking with amber and her lips curling back off her fangs as if in warning. Few were allowed to touch her with that kind of abandon and despite the strange, uncanny uptick of energy she felt in his presence she was hesitant to give him the license he clearly suddenly felt he had. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] She’d killed for less.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] The last few months within the Fringe had been full of stabilization, the effort to bring under solid control every planet they’d gained in the last few months. Matsu had joined Jared on Verkuyl, overseeing the…mandatory relocation of the people living within the planet’s rainforests. The amount of materials lying within that ecosystem alone could net the Fringe millions – it was important that the job was done right. They’d been sent with several troops, more for appearances than the danger of any real threat.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] Besides, between the two of them…they were just fine.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] The trip had not been long after her recovery and already the cybernetic replacement felt natural. She accepted it like she did all things unnatural. But she still had a hard time being touched. Every brush of skin on hers reminded her of Krius, both in pleasant times and violent, and it always sent a surge of adrenaline and self-preservation through her system. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] The young man in charge of one of the squads accompanying them however, could not have known. They had been standing over a small hillock, overlooking one of the main areas the deforestation was pushing forward, when the Sergeant came forward to ask her something. In hindsight touching her had been stupid anyways, a tad out of line, but he had, trying to catch her attention over the loud whine of machinery and men moving back and forth directly below them. It was light, a simple brush of the hand at her shoulder…but he was behind her, just like Krius had been behind her when his hands had wrapped around the back of her neck and held her down, and she let go of her mind for a moment and acted on pure impulse.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] The Fringe medics who collected the Sergeant’s body said it was a mercy he died instantly, citing damage they could never have repaired had he lived to try and see it through. She had not even turned to see who it was, but merely swung her cybernetic backwards, crunching a taloned fist in to his skull with a blow powered by the Force. Mercy, indeed.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] But instead of ripping her hand away and ending his life she…watched him, her face settling back in to something almost intrigued as he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. And when she laughed at his greeting it was the kind of sound that turned heads – what a strange thing from someone who so often looked as if she couldn’t be bothered.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] It was him, and it annoyed her. He seemed to grow stronger in her presence instead of wilting like so many others, absorbing something of her and reflecting it in his own strength and confidence. He seemed like he knew to be wary of what she could do, but at the same time wasn’t…spineless and weak in front of her. He kept surprising her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] “So you are, and right on time,” she answered, the amber in her eyes receding completely as her adrenaline disappeared though she was still unable to put down her guard. “There is something I need, and according to all accounts it’s in there.” She tilted her head towards the huge temple doors to their right, an entrance shrouded in the shadow of the monolithic Sith above them. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] “I’d like your help.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] Look at that – even framed as a request.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt][member="Kail Ragnar"][/SIZE]​

 

[Connor Harrison]

The minute his slightly dry lips left her soft, cool skin, a heavy swallow followed, then by an uncertainty where to direct his eyes as he rose back up. That confidence – arrogance – was there, but feeling a tremble in her hand cupped by his, Kail felt he had crossed the line. She was Sith, plain and simple. His actions warranted her freedom to strike him. Debt payed, she owed him nothing as of this moment. They were both members of a fragile alliance with a reward uncertain for either party in their unification, and Kail had crossed a Sith once before and left with his life, just. Matsu could easily be the last person he crossed should she see fit.

Her innocent laugh defused his doubts, but he reigned in his brash attitude to her, remembering his place in the grand scheme of things. He was mortal man, flesh and blood. She was something of an un-tamed monster in the shell of a beautiful lady. Claws akin to tearing flesh; amber eyes sucking out one’s soul. Kail could give her a smile, of course, his only disarming weapon, but it was easier to kick himself inside.

Respect her and gain her respect yourself.

Following her indication towards the large stone doors a little to right, it was dwarfed by the tall sandy-brown sculpture above. A tomb perhaps? Sure looked like one. Kail was an adventure at heart, and he nodded as he sized it up, stepping forward towards the doors. He’d been exploring tombs more over the last year due to power-hungry individuals wanting armed support in seeking out magical orbs and hidden weapons. It was the thrill of seeking forgotten history and lost culture, worshipped gods and ancient warriors encased in the tombs waiting to be unearthed that really got his blood pumping.

”Sure. I’ll lend you a hand, as long as there’s something in this for me too, of course.” He didn’t even look at her as he spoke.

He didn’t owe her anything now.

Respect her!

Walking to the large doors, he remembered many hidden switches that lay within carvings and hieroglyphics etched into the stone itself. Running his hands over the bumps and cracks of the sandy stone, he was looking for something but didn’t know what.

”So what we looking for Matsu; something to keep on your display cabinet or something to cut down your enemies?”

Kail turned to see her slowly snaking towards him. A coldness struck him, like a small shockwave of ice running over every single hair on his body that shook him slightly where he stood.

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=12pt] She turned her head to watch him walk towards the doors of the tomb, tracking him without moving herself. Crossing her arms over her chest, bending the natural of the two at the elbow and resting her chin on her fingers, she watched him study the place and felt an easy breath of laughter ease past her lips. The pair on him was impressive, there was no doubting that – but in reality if he was any other way she wouldn’t be standing on Korriban with him. She would have told him the debt was paid, and to have a nice life in a clipped voice message. She despised weakness, and the fact that Kail did not wilt in front of her had coming back. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] She stalked towards him, slow and serpentine. There was something about him that made think of those holonet videos of animals killing each other – nexu’s ripping through the throats of bark-rats, screeches and twitching, grainy footage of nature at its most base. Her black eyes looked up just as he turned and she swore she could see a hint of recognition, that he knew what she was thinking and she gave him that fang-bearing grin. (Think about their legs kicking, that final twitch-twitch, like reflex will change a windpipe bend-snap-cutoff.)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] The first question was left without an answer for the moment though it deserved one. She drew to his side, her natural hand lifting to run over the top of his back and squeeze his shoulder as she passed him (nails raking lightly, think of how they use them like stakes when they’re holding down a meal, pREdaTOR) looking up at the doors that towered over them. (Funny how she didn’t trust him but she wasn’t worried to turn her back either.) No Sith laid to rest in this particular tomb, but plenty of their treasures. She didn’t turn her head to look at him as she explained, instead reaching out and running her fingertips along the relief of the friezes carved in to the door. (Demons, choking each other.) “Both, actually. They called it the Ravager. Place it on top of your subject’s head and it penetrates their mind – you have all their secrets, right from their mouths. Or at least, that was the theory. It drove most insane either during or after its use. A little understood mechanism,” she explained. “Its last owner hid it and I believe I’ve tracked it here. A dangerous thing, but five thousand years of technology and progress should have granted us a way to use it, don’t you think?” She turned her head over her shoulder, her fingers on the image of a pack of Tuk’ata savaging a would-be trespasser. Still smiling.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] Turning to him, she patted a patch of dust from the sleeve that had brushed against the door before continuing. “So, what’s in it for you? You can have whatever you come across in there – jewels, artifacts, things to sell – whatever you want is yours. Or I can pay you.” She paused, tilting her head slightly, blinking and looking distinctly reptilian as her eyes ran down his neck. (Because then they blleeeeeeeddd out fastest.) Her eyes returned his face. “Method of your choice.” She smirked.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt][member="Kail Ragnar"][/SIZE]​

 

[Connor Harrison]

He didn't smirk, grin or glare at her as she came towards him, seemingly carried by the air, but rather watched and waited for her orders. Kail knew his place, but enjoyed the fact he was part of a team for once that was crackling with an energy he couldn't yet identify. A respectable smile stayed on his lips.

Matsu's hand touched his shoulder as she passed, seeming to linger as her nails pricked him gently on his shirt. Thankfully she passed by and said something or other about Sith and secrets...but Kail's eyes closed instantly and his mind opened up to her, relishing the touch of a real woman and once more staring into that vortex of emotion swirling inside him -

I am invincible.
I am protected.
I am stronger.
I am powerful.
I am wanted.
I am dangerous.

"...I’ve tracked it here. A dangerous thing, but five thousand years of technology and progress should have granted us a way to use it, don’t you think?”

Kail snapped himself out of the daydream, blinking and hearing Matsu once more. He turned and met her already looking at him, and he rubbed the stubble on his chin. Something of a habit, or a reflex, it comforted him to feel the worn and weary feel of days worth of danger, adventure and living on his flesh tickling his fingers. She presented before him a list of what could lie ahead, but in reality he wasn't interested in anything that hid within.

Yes, jewels and treasures would be nice for a while, but Kail Ragnar wasn't a treasure hunter. He was a mercenary; a gun-for-hire. He wanted to make a name for himself and be someone that others would fear as his name was mentioned. Material possessions could stay hidden in these tombs and temples. It was the experience and notoriety that Kail made helping others he wanted.

Now, a smirk crept across his face and a small chuckle. The serpent was sizing up her prey again with that delicious look on her face,yet he got a thrill watching her do it. Kail looked aimlessly to his left as if trying to not look to interested at her proposal, returning to meet her gaze. He took a few confident, if lazy, steps toward her with an air of casualness that came naturally to him to stand before her.

"It's not what lies in there that I care about."

He made to step around her and leaned into her ear ever so slightly and let out a loud whisper.

"There's something far more delicious right here that I want."

There was that smile again - confident, cocky and invincible, sizing up the tomb before him.


[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=12pt]I am dangerous.[/SIZE]​

​

[SIZE=12pt] It took her a moment to register the meandering flow of thoughts pouring out of his skull, the way his mind was open to her. Without the Force it was easy for her to break in, but this was different – this was by accident, walking in to his head because he’d allowed it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]I am dangerous.[/SIZE]​

​

[SIZE=12pt] Oh certainly. She imagined cutting to the end of the montage, past every single filthy death and snarled last sound. To tusk-cats, wild and lanky and impossibly massive save for one. It was that one, that lone tusk-cat that was smaller than the rest because they’d all shoved him back away from a meal and kept him in the dark…that was the one you needed to watch. Because when the bigger ones grew fat and careless in their surety the small one would strike, tusks ripping through ligament and tendon and dispatching every one of those who’d seemed to overwhelmingly strong. He had waited, he had watched, and he had used cunning to his advantage. It was the natural order of things, for the weak to die, to cull that which didn’t work and leave a stronger species behind. But…there was always that exception. The one dangerous enough in his cunning, in his willingness to destroy to survive, that trumped them all.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] Watching him take those confident steps towards her made her tilt her head upright once more, surprised at how straight-forward he’d become in her presence. He towered over her and she looked up as he drew close, eyes dark and expressionless.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] That I want…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Want was a loaded word. There was something about it from his mouth that made her irises spark again, streaked with amber. Need implied unconscious requirement: one needed water, needed food. But want…one wanted chocolate, wanted a good drink. Want was pleasure, relaxation, satisfaction, a conscious seeking.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] She snapped her head to look at him, catching the cocky smile on his face as he moved to look the temple over. She could have reached out then, wrapped her durasteel claws around his neck and closed until he couldn’t breathe through the grip she would have on him, piercing through his flesh and…but she stopped herself there, her tongue pressed so hard against one fang she tasted blood. She could have snuck back in to his mind and flared images that would make him blush. That he could speak that way to her, make her insides curl and clench with surprise and look so utterly confident afterwards made her…want. But she did none of it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] The amber sank to black again quickly enough as she turned to push lightly outwards with the Force (and what had made her so momentarily angry despite the excitement? fear – don’t hurt me), opening the doors in front of them. They were slow, dust shaking from their edges as they peeled to reveal a corridor leading to a darkness so black as to be infinite. Matsu couldn’t be sure what would greet them in there though it most assuredly wouldn’t be friendly – but that was what she had Kail for, wasn’t it?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt] “You don’t come cheap, I see.” A ghost of a smirk. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt][member="Kail Ragnar"][/SIZE]​

 

[Connor Harrison]

Feeling eyes on him, Kail simply busied himself quietly to let Matsu think what she wanted, and hopefully refrain from doing anything rash when his back was turned. He gently brushed his right hand along the thigh pocket of his left lag and felt the bad still there.

Containing a handful of focusing crystals from Midvinter, they would enhance the users sensitivity to the Force and capitalise a certain aspect of their inner strength; agility, perception, power. Of course, Aerin Firebrand was a Force user and it made more sense to her than Kail, but he felt that taking them as payment with Matsu in mind, they would soon be a wonderful little treat for the girl now expelling said Force before his very eyes.

Patting his pocket gently, he walked up beside her. The two stood, feeding of each others energy; silent, electric and empowering.

Bringing his hands to grip each side of the armoured vest, he stared down into the darkness of the tomb that was now open, swirling dust and the unmistakable sound of ghostly silence inviting them both inside - inside and into the unknown.

At her request, he pulled the KX-60 strap around his chest, taking the rifle in both hands. Right hand gripping the butt and left hand thumbing the torch that was part of the top of the rifle body, useful for such situations, then holding the barrel expertly. He felt complete with the cold, hard metal between his hands, much like Matsu's arm would feel he imagined.

Flicking the safety catch off with his thumb, the rifle was now ready for automatic blaster fire.

With the SSX pistol hugging his right thigh on the white combat trousers, he swept a hand before him as he led the way. The warmth of the planet started to fade away as both Kail and Matsu walked confidently but slowly through the tomb doors and into the dark tunnel ahead, the air becoming cooler in his lungs and the noise and natural light beginning to fade. Only the beam from his torch and rays of narrow light from the tomb door illuminated the way. Faded stone images decorated the corridor, a few broken lamps fixed to each side that at one time would have spat out flames for the Sith to see the way as they strode forward into whatever lay ahead.

It was wide enough for both to walk down beside each other, but Kail stayed in front, the mercenary in his blood starting to take over now. He was on a mission; an assignment. Matsu had entrusted him to help her source this weapon, or whatever it was. She was his responsibility and he would make sure she found what she was looking for and that no danger would come to him. He was going to be payed rather well anyway. Kail kept his eyes forward in line with where his rifle was pointed, aimed high and resting on his chest, head titling slightly to follow the beam.

"I highly doubt anyone will be here to welcome us, not down here without air, without food or water. Of course, I've been wrong before but not often."

He turned to look at her, rifle lowering.

"Keep your eyes peeled for Shyracks. Winged creatures, not too big and they're blind, but flock in numbers and could rip your throat out in a heartbeat if provoked. We also have Terentateks, native to Korriban and like a smaller, wilder Rancor. If there are any in here, they'll be after you. They're Force sensitive, so watch your pretty backside, sweetheart."

Kail turned back to press forward and reach the opening coming up before them.

"I've got your back though. Don't worry. Just trust me."


[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt] She had been in tombs and temples of varying age and repair over the last few months but no matter how much experience she gained she never failed to feel transported. The sense of wonder that she was worried Krius had stolen had slowly crept back in to her life once she’d been able to go out and explore again, learned that she wouldn’t hear his angry diatribes around every corner. As they walked the sconces came to life in her mind, throwing the carvings in to relief, scenes somehow more monstrous than those depicted on the entrance seeming to move with shadows.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] They passed by a sculpture about midway down the hallway, a woman in robes so long they curled around her feet. Her expression was quiet, but the artist had been very good – Matsu could sense calm certainty there, a deliberateness that set her apart and made her powerful.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Or perhaps she was projecting.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt] The statue was missing a left arm, the piece cracked in two along the side of the sculpture.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She turned her gaze to him when he spoke again, listening to his speech on the dangers they might be facing. Were it not refreshing she might have let out a laugh at how serious he was, every inch a mercenary as he kept himself alert. It seemed a predilection for most to try and bluster, crack ‘witty’ jokes, try and be the most nonchalant out of the group. Though he was clearly confident she didn’t sense the same hyperawareness. He had something to do and he would get it done because that’s…just what he did. “I’ll leave watching my backside to you – the angle is better and you seem to be good at it.” She wasn’t even entirely sure how that flew out of her mouth, easy and thick in the strange smoke of her voice.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]Just trust me.[/SIZE]​

​

[SIZE=9pt] Her amusement died at that though, the smile shifting in to a straight line, the expression leaving her face. (Like the statue behind us.) She couldn’t, and she hated him because she wanted to.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She didn’t respond.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She couldn’t feel any particular draws from anywhere in the Temple though she hadn’t expected to. What she was looking for was ancient power and, if not broken, was sure to be somewhat dormant. The chamber that opened up for them as they passed through the cut-through opening at the end of the hall seemed like as good a place as any to start, several passages open to them. Matsu stood in the center and tried to open herself to any presence she might feel, listening to Kail tracking around the room, when a click-click-click started faintly to their right. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] And from the passage to their right, Matsu in the center of the room and Kail trailing the left, the only creature he seemingly didn’t name came curling and shifting through the opening – a huge K’lor’slug. Red and blue and bright as poison it sidled towards them, hacking and hissing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She merely looked over her shoulder at him, calling over with a maddeningly calm smile. “Let’s see what you’ve got then.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt][member="Kail Ragnar"][/SIZE]​

 

[Connor Harrison]

While the tomb was fascinating to Kail, stepping forward into the mystery and history of the ancients, this wasn’t an expedition. Matsu had called him for help, and so that’s what he had to provide. No distractions or questioning, just keep her covered and help as best he could and how he could. Holding the rifle across his chest, he followed Matsu down the corridor and took his time behind her to admire the surrounding architecture.

He took in the sculpture that she admired for a second and noted how, in another time, this could have been a tribute to Xiangu herself; flowing robes, a missing arm – haunting, yet something about it projected a sense of honour and strength against the odds.

Kail couldn’t help grin as he, probably unknowingly, gave him permission to admire her from behind. He didn’t mean it QUITE like that, but she knew that – and she wasn’t totally cold not to find it amusing. He could read her, well, maybe a little, and she knew very well what she was saying.

Pressing forward into the end chamber, dark tunnels splayed outwards to take them deeper within the tomb itself. It was here Kail raised his weapon, stalking steadily to the left to move around each tunnel as his –

- his what? What was she? Boss? Overseer? Master? Friend? –

– as Matsu stayed central, anchoring herself, using some Force power probably to find their way. But at the sound of clicking that wasn’t coming from either of them to his right, he raised the rifle to his eye level and turned to the number of tunnels when out it stalked – a large beast armed with two large pincers, a body moving like an armoured snake carried on thick, vicious legs with a mouth gawping with teeth and spittle. It would be a magnificent creature with its colouring if watched from a far, but not now moving towards them.

Kail kicked in and was slightly irked at the fact Matsu seemed so placid – this wasn’t a test, this was a team but she obviously was toying with him, seeing if he was actually worth her time. His eyes lined up along the rifle, flicked to meet hers for a second, and then returned back to the beast. Dropping down to his knee, Kail killed the searchlight on his rifle to take away the ray of light and immediately pulled out and cracked a small flare from his thigh pocket, spitting out red smoke and small sparks from the head as held it out.

Squinting at the bellowing flare, Kail tossed it outwards towards to the beast in a mild attempt to blind and disorientate it with a smoking, flowing and hissing stick it hopefully wouldn’t have any idea what it was. Following the illumination, the mercenary brought up his rifle and clicked the safety off with his right thumb on the butt and let off a steady volley of shots towards where he pictures the head to be. A horrid screech followed, and he didn’t stop as he pushed up onto his feet and flanked right towards Matsu, eyes not leaving the beast and the smoke as violent blaster bolts ripped into it.

The red smoke swirled off of a sudden back, meaning the beast had retreated, which wasn’t ideal, but would give them a few moments. The flare continued to burn on the ground, and without wanting to wait for it to return, Kail placed his arm around Matsu’s waist, gently directing her past him to the left.

”It’ll be back. Can you feel which way is safe to go? Be quick.”

He would relish touching her like this any other time, but Kail was only thinking about getting her – and him – away from danger and to some sort of sanctuary away from the dark tunnels.


[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt] She was still looking at him when he flicked his eyes over from the sight he’d gotten down the length of his rifle and in that gaze she saw a challenge. (A test, Kail. When I look at you I see blood, death – the look of fear in someone’s face that always starts around the eyes, those small muscles that betray them first. I’ve seen hesitation in you, a question when it comes to what you do. You were born to kill, you were born to make others suffer – to see them cut down. If you’re to come with me…you can’t hesitate. I love what I do. And so can you.) [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Blasters in most forms weren’t foreign to her but there was something about his precision, the exactness of a mercenary violence that had her narrowing her eyes, putting her fingers to her lips as she watched him like she wasn’t in danger of being impaled by a giant centipede. (When in reality she thinks if that thing comes near them – comes near him – she would rip it in half with sheer will, grabbing both ends of its insectile body with the Force and rending it in two with a horrible crack of exocartilage and a screech of agony.) The hiss of the flare and the hell-scape red it threw on everything around them, the smell of burnt flesh as the beast retreated, the steady pace of his flanking steps as he came to her side – she felt every inch the hunter she’d become, every sensation so heightened she felt on edge. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] That edge got impossibly sharp when his arm snuck around her waist, every fear of having someone close to her surging in to a rush of power so strong she had to double over in the effort to stop it. (I will KILL YOU – don’t you know what I am? Raw. All this power, all this calm, all that I’ve learned to do – and still he haunts me. I will not be whole until I see him dead, until someone can touch me without me nearly exploding, without me remembering what it was to feel him drowning me.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt]I hope death comes to you slowly and you lie here and remember what I did to you.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=9pt]I hope the very last thing you remember is how easy it was to break you, and how painful it was.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=9pt]I never truly loved you Matsu, and you will be forgotten the second I turn my back on you as you die here.[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=9pt]Alone, as you were when I met you.[/SIZE]​

​

[SIZE=9pt] I hate him, I HATE HIM, I’LL FETHING KILL HIM! He’ll remember me. I’ll make him remember me. He will know what it is to die alone.[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]) She came so close to snapping, to turning around and pressing her hands to either side of his head and twisting until his spine came apart and he died right there in her arms. But somehow she stopped herself, her eyes wild and her hair in disarray as she righted herself. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] (You can’t trust him little girl. He’ll hurt you too.)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] “None of them are safe,” she said quietly, her voice thick with the rot of hatred that was eating her alive. And she was right – each tunnel felt thicker with danger than the last. But she could feel what she’d come for, as if the surge of power she’d nearly let out, the raw negative emotion, had woken it up from its ancient sleep. “This way.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She pulled, controlling another gut reaction when the movement pulled his hand tight around her hip. (Too much, too much, he’s too close.) The direction she felt they needed to move in was blissfully opposite that which the giant creature had retreated to but she wasn’t fool enough to believe it couldn’t track them if it wanted them badly enough. The passageway had been deceiving from within the cavernous room they’d just vacated – it was lit much better than one would believe from the outside looking in. She could hear the clicking from somewhere far away and she was loathe to admit that having him along made her feel more secure.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] “It’s awake,” she said simply, uncurling herself from his grip and stalking off in the direction of the yawning, slowly stirring artifact.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Maybe she would go back to thinking about killing him at the end of every thought.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt][member="Kail Ragnar"][/SIZE]​

 

[Connor Harrison]

Kail wasn’t sure if she was going to collapse onto him as he moved her, or she was going to vomit right there and then. Matsu looked like she was ready to explore these tombs and barren planets, but he sensed resilience – hesitation – as her body moved in his hand. He wasn’t sure which. He writhing and shuffling under his firm hand made it clear she didn’t like being touched. Or maybe she liked it too much and didn’t WANT to.

She spoke quietly and firmly, hiding whatever she was feeling. Kail didn’t let go as she led him forward into one of the tunnels, the stone arch swallowing them up into what looked like another winding catacomb. He held out the KX-60 with his right hand as he watched the chamber they were just in get fainter, hand tight on Matsu leading them forward.

He had her back, she didn’t need to worry. But something rattled him about her. Maybe the fact she seemed so uptight, or whenever he seemed to take a step forward with her, she did something that made it feel he should take two steps back. Well, he wasn’t out for much and wasn’t going to pander to her. She may be a Sith, granted, all powerful and wonderful for it. But Kail himself was powerful in his own way and if she was going to use him to help her, he’d damn well make sure she accepted him and their partnership.

Partnership? Just what sort of partnership IS this?

Turning his head as Matsu slipped out from his hold, Kail saw the new chamber they were in. It was larger than the previous, and well lit and spacious. These tombs were far more deceptive on the eye than anyone could imagine.

The rifle returned to a solid two-handed grip, and the air went suddenly cooler. Kail looked upwards but saw nothing, not even the rock above them. No vents or passageway to the outside world, the chill was something…un-natural. Or maybe Kail was spooked by the ancient power that resided in these Sith walls? No, not this merc. Fear was all in the eye of the beholder, and all he had his eye on was Matsu.

Kail shivered slightly at her words; awake. It. What was awake?

”What do you mean ‘it’? What’s awake?”

Holding the rifle across his chest, he stayed behind Matsu a few steps as she moved forward, shaking his head and mumbling to himself.

”Your always so fething mysterious. You need a good slap. Or a kiss. Or both.”

The arrogance and frustration started to boil inside him again, fuelled by the darkness surrounding them both.




[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt] Matsu fully realized she was being contrary. She had asked him here though the debt she felt she owed him had been paid. She had brought him inside the temple. He had done nothing to make her question whether or not that was a decision she had made wisely.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] The truth was she was afraid.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] It burned her to admit it but when he suggested a slap might cure her and she felt excitement (do it, come over here and hit me then, show me what you’ve got, I want you to, for once I want someone to walk right up to me and feel no fear and hurt me, I want to feel it and move past it just like I move past everything else, HIT ME, HIT ME, COME ON I WANT YOU TO DO IT I WANT YOU TO DO IT I WANT YOU TO DO IT!) and that a kiss or both might fix her and she felt fear (you can’t, please, you can’t…I lost everything in the space of one moment and I can’t do it again, I can’t risk it…) she couldn’t help but realize what had happened to her. She craved both of those things and the knowledge that he was right there and wielding the power for both and he could turn around and stab her in the back and she’d be WEAK WEAK WEAK because she let herself trust him when she shouldn’t because yOu leeeaarnned THAT lesson liTTle girl and you got B U R N E D…she snapped.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] The glass that had once adorned the halls of the temple was long since gone but the framework remained, stone flying out of its molding and striking loud like bullets against the opposite wall as she turned on him. He might have seen her with her eyes shifted – for a woman who ran so hot it was hot not to show every spike of emotion in those amber irises – but never like this, inhuman and hollow-cheeked as she closed the short distance between them and fisted the top of his vest in her cybernetic hand, her grip so strong between the inhuman metal and the depth of her panicked rage that he couldn’t get away unless he shot her in the face. Stones surrounding the walls picked up and ricocheted off each other and statues and walls, sconces that once held lights snapping and flying off. “Go ahead Kail, try it – see if I don’t leave your body for that creature to eat.” She reached in to his head, letting the screech of that terrible centipede creature ring in his ears and the wet, meaty smack of his body cleaved in two in the beast’s pincers follow.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Her grip on reality came back slowly, just as she relinquished the one she had on his vest. The amber retreated to make way for the black depths of her eyes and she went back to the woman that made so many spill their guts just to please a pretty face. That was enough, that was enough…she let him go, turning her back on him and trying to gather up what had fallen apart in her head.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Yes – the truth girl, say it to yourself again. The truth is you are afraid because he makes you feel strong. He makes you feel good. He makes you feel safe. But words are just words, and you’ve felt that way before. You want to believe, but you shouldn’t. It doesn’t matter that he is not Krius. You can. not. trust him. He can destroy you if you let him in. You were wrong. When this is done, it would be better if…you just forgot he ever picked you up out of the snow when you should have died.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] A deep breath. A quiet moment. She could think for the time being. “It. The Ravager. Mind Eater. It knows I’m here for it,” she answered. It wanted to come home.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] They swept through room after room, deeper and deeper in to the catacombs as Matsu followed the call of something nearly desperate to escape its prison. Its call was almost…too loud, and she grew suspicious as with each room it grew far too easy to track. And then all the sudden it was there, under a cage wrought with hard, jagged lines of metal that glowed as if red-hot. The dais was in the center of another of the large rooms they seemed to keep finding and Matsu watched it for a moment before turning her head to Kail. (You can’t trust him.) “I don’t know what will happen when I go take that, but I'll need time to get it out,” she said softly. (Stupid girl. I’ll just stop telling you what’s good for you.)[/SIZE]

[member="Kail Ragnar"]​

 

[Connor Harrison]

Seconds after speaking, he heard a low rumble, like a thousand chariots racing overhead on the mountains above them. Small chunks of rock and spirals of debris fell to the floor, dust drifting down over the floor. Kail brought his rifle up and looked up, left, right. The walls felt like the were closing in, and the ground beneath him trembled.

Losing his balance slightly, his arm shot out down to the ground to stable himself, wobbling back and forward slightly as he glance up and saw Matsu stalking towards him, face full of demonic fire and a darkness he hadn't seen before. It was then, transfixed on her, that the shrapnel's of rock whistled through the air above him, in front of him, behind him - never touching him but making it impossible to move without being hit with a thousand fragments of the walls being manipulated and thrown by her command of the Force.

The roar was building, and his footing firm as Matsu seemed to absorb an invisible energy around her. He face evoked that of a monster approaching its prey, and Kail wasn't quick enough as her cybernetic arm reached out and pulled him to her, the strength of her grip forcing his back to arch slightly.

Facing her as she roared at him without blinking her amber eyes, Kail just maintained a secure footing on the trembling floor; arms by his side and he stared into her very soul. He let the noise of the tremors fade away as looked at her.

You're afraid, girl. Afraid to accept what you are.

You're a coward. That's what you are.

Kill me then. Do it. Kill me now. DO IT.

You can't. You need me. You could have killed me on Rodia and not batted an eyelid, but you didn't.

You couldn't. You don't want to.

Stop fighting and let me in. All this rage is wasted trying to intimidate me, Matsu.

I've accepted you for who and WHAT you are - you should do the same.

Before he could speak, the tremor stopped; the final fragments of the rock fell, letting piercing rays of light stream down from high above from the holes she'd ripped from the tomb so far under the mountain of Korriban. It went quiet, and the dust settled as the sound of her mechanical arm whirred as she released her grip, and as quickly as she did that she turned to walk through the ruins of the chamber she had nearly brought down upon them.

Watching her move, Kail let out a slow breath; half relief, half awe. He looked down at his body to make sure there was nothing missing and kept his rifle in the one hand as he followed her, this creature of complex power, wiping the dust and debris that had settled in his brown hair.

Room by room, chamber after chamber, they didn't speak a word but they acted as one - Matsu led the way and reached out with her Force power to navigate the tomb and highlight the various traps that lured those with no perception of the surroundings, while Kail covered her back from danger, flanked around her to clear the way and provided light from glow-rods when needed. Swift, efficient. A team.

And without warning, Matsu stopped and focused on the raised platform before them. A cage rested on it, looking like it was glowing with heat from some core underneath. Kail looked around the room, near identical to the previous chambers, but this one was adorned with statues on either side, and only one tunnel on the opposite side leading out. Rifle raised, he started to walk around, yet again, circling the room and making sure there were no hidden surprises as Matsu walked - or was drawn hungrily - to the dias and the cage.

Kail stopped and looked over to her.

"JUST...be careful, ok? You're flesh and blood. Don't rush into anything."

He didn't like this. Not. One. Bit. It was too easy, and it was clear the damn girl wasn't thinking straight as she moved forward more.

"Damn you Matsu - SLOW DOWN."

Kail stepped forward one step towards the stone dias, the cage seeming to illuminate them both with the reddish glow.



[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt] [/SIZE]

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TulBh6klMuU

[SIZE=9pt] [/SIZE]​

[SIZE=9pt] She might have appreciated the tableau, were she able to look at herself from Kail's eyes, as the deep red of the desperate, hungry relic bloomed in a glow across her face. It whispered to her - it was begging to be taken from its cage, for someone to peel back the claws that had kept it buried in this temple for thousands of years. And it was Matsu that would take it from its prison - thousands of years of history in her fingers...[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Slow down...[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She reached forward, somehow knowing the metal of the cage would not hurt her as she wrapped her delicate fingers around them. No heat, no sharp edges. She pulled, the noise of gears ratcheting back echoing with her efforts until every curved claw was flat on its bend - a trap, waiting to spring on an unwary arm. A moment's pause, a glance over her shoulder to watch Kail as he took a step towards the dais. (You can't trust him.) And then she turned forward and reached with the cybernetic, the metal she could more easily replace than the flesh she had left, and wrapped her fingers around the small trianglur piece of metal.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She screamed, every muscle in her body going rigid as power raw and unfettered crept from the relic in to her mind. Her knees found the floor, rolling convulsions creeping up her spine as she gasped for air (help me, help me, I'm dying!), her eyes rolling back in her head...[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] The edge of some building miles above the rest of a city sprawling beneath her is inches from her feet. She watches the movement of her troops from here and even from this distance the wind carries the smell of blood, the smell of the dying, the smell of burnt flesh and explosive rounds and fresh earth scorched by the rain of power she had brought along with her to raize the planet. The wind whips through her hair, tugging it sideways and around her shoulders as she paces the edge of the roof. Though the sky is filled with dropships and the running lights of starships high above them, patrolling traffic below, their lights are the only thing that illuminate an otherwise ashen sky, the smoke of fires both systematic (to trap the people in their homes, BURN THEM ALIVE) and unavoidable (the by-product of weapons, the small bombs they'd dropped to wipe out entire blocks of the city) blotting out the stars. Up here the sound of the slaughter of an entire planet's people was muted and distant. So different from only hours before when she'd dropped from one of the ships with her men, thrown herself in to the fray.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She brushed a finger along her hairline, coming away with blood just drying. She had it in her mouth, her tongue curling around the taste when one of her men came up behind her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] "Lord...we have him downstairs," he said quietly. She liked that there was no trace of fear. She didn't need fear - she commanded respect simply by being and that was enough to work days like this one...days where pieces of the map crumbled after she touched them. Turning to follow the lieutenant she made her way slowly behind him, hands clasped behind her back as they move back in to the building. It was derelict unlike most in the city though now it was shelled out almost completely from an attack earlier in the day. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] In the center her men had another on his knees, an expression twisted and defiant on his face. "All this just to find me?" he asked, his beard dripping blood from a wound someone had planted on his face. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She moved forward, a foot away from him when she squatted down to be on his level and look in his eyes. "I would stop at nothing to find you," she answered quietly, tapping her fingers against each other in between her knees idly as she spoke.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] The man on his knees scoffed, trying to look unfazed at her response. "Do you think you've hurt me? It's a city, it can be rebuilt," he spat, shaking with a rage that made her spine tingle to see. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Laughter. Laughter so quiet and so slow it might almost have gone unnoticed were she not so close to him and very obviously smiling. Reaching forward she wrapped her fingers around his beard, holding with a grip so tight she could see him wince, his blood soaking her hand. "It's everything. I'm taking everything from you. I am taking you off the surface. I am making you watch me crack your planet in half and remove the legacy you have worked your entire life to build. And then I will kill you with my bare hands," she murmured to him, letting his beard go and smearing her hand across his face.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Later, when the planet she had emptied of sentient life was nothing but an expanding cloud of dust in the wake of their planet-cracker, when she had made good on her promise of taking everything and then his life, she sat in her rooms on her ship and took her time carving him. To pull each vertebrae from his spine took strength but when she was done, when she had finished stringing them together, she had a crown worthy of the time it had taken to find him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] When the Ravager let her go it took her a moment to realize she'd collapsed. Everything was quiet (too quiet, too quiet!) and as she took a breath she heard a deafening scrape of stone-on-stone. [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]"Kail?"[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] she said, hating the way it came out so worried. The ear-shattering sound came again and she blinked, trying to clear the fog from her vision enough to figure out what the hell that could possibly be. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] A thud.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt] She looked up, her vision clearing.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt] Another thud, closer - dust falling from the ceiling and the dais from the sheer mass of whatever shook the ground.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt] And then she realized...[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt] The statues flanking either side of the room, those that marked the places that would be doors in any other chamber of the temple, thudded towards her - heavy, intent, deadly, their faces twisted in rage as they sought the one who'd taken the relic.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]"Kail!"[/SIZE][SIZE=9pt] she screamed, any misgivings she had forgotten in the imperative to stay alive stay alive stay alive! She was weakened by the vision, slowly regaining her strength but not fast enough to fight off two massive stone monoliths come to life. Slumped over she tried to look around and catch a glimpse of the mercenary, anything at all to pinpoint where he was. She ripped her lightsaber from her belt, letting it ignite in her palm before throwing it out and scooping it up in the Force, twisting it through the air and letting it slice through whatever it could find on the statue closest to her, its face twisted in an expression far too human and precise for something made of stone. As the saber cut through it's leg, suddenly throwing off its center of balance and bringing it crashing to one knee Matsu reached up to catch the hilt of the saber. She watched as the statue looked down at itself, blood...blood? Yes, that was what poured out of the wound she opened in the stone. [/SIZE][SIZE=9pt]"They bleed! They're not stone!"[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] This isn't how I end.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She sent her saber flying for the face of the one whos leg was gone, searching for eyes or brain or anything that would drag it down. The other stomped up behind her, opening its mouth wide in a soundless scream as it brought its fists down to crush the one who would take what it protected.[/SIZE]

[member="Kail Ragnar"]​

 

[Connor Harrison]

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAbpt_IUxqw

”Come on come on come on – don’t do it…don’t do it….” Kail whispered to himself, barely audible in the ghostly quiet tomb that Matsu now commanded, with the dais glowing and enticing her forward.

His lips were dry as he watched the Sith stand before the cage and the small relic inside. Gradually, she began to work her way in without any effort. There was nothing but the gaze of the stone statues, standing on either side before the relic, watching over them with hollow eyes. Kail took a step forward, weapon hanging loosely at his side, his face a picture of stern authority and concern – but what did she care for a mere mortal when her prize was a hairs width from her grasp.

She reached in and wrapped her metallic hand around the object and in that moment she became something of nightmares. A scream so loud it made Kail jump. A soft hum seemed to come from the dais and pulsed out from where Matsu now knelt, the relic still in her grip; her body convulsing in sharp movement, her screams fading into a moan, her slender back arching, head lolling back and forth, all as if she were performing some ritualistic sexual dance for the Gods in her own mind who ravaged her.

Dryness hit Kail’s throat as he swallowed deeply, sensing danger but frozen with awe and with a hesitation to intervene in powers he couldn’t comprehend, and that would probably kill him without the magnificent control Matsu displayed. He could only move one boot forward before stopping himself.

THIS was her prize; THIS was what she was after, and the mercenary’s heart thumped against his ribs, beating as if it was going to burst from his chest, his ears hearing each beat.

ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum

If he was going to face death, he had done what he swore he would do for her, and that was enough for a man like him to die knowing. A sliver of cold warmth rippled up his spine as he broke away to look up as a low groaning and gravelly sound started to rumble around them.

His eyes closed slowly and he exhaled – she had done it now.

And then the sound came again, this time in a deafening wave around them.

It made Kail wince and turn his head for the few seconds it lasted, and he heard the tinge of fear in a familiar voice; Matsu. Her face doused with sweat, eyes burning with that amber poison, yet they connected with him – searching for him. Kail was about to move forward to her when the sound boomed inside the chamber again, sending another plume of dust and rock falling from above as the world seemed to shake around them.

He saw them at the same time he heard the blood-curdling scream from her – the two sandy stone statues were moving towards them, a good 7 feet tall, humanoid in shape but carved with cracked armour, hellish faces contorted with the look of death towards she who had taken their relic. Each step forward…

ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum

… death stalked closer.

Kail’s eyes darted from the statues to Matsu, struggling to stand and even move over the dais, wracked with a power that she couldn’t fully comprehend. Without thinking, he moved forward.

She needs you! Help her!

He heard the snap hiss of the lightsaber in Matsu’s human hand and saw it fly forward to the statue closest to her on the left. Kail darted forward, swinging the KX-60 blaster up and letting a full volley of bolts rip into the statue to her right, closest to him. Shards of rock spat out with each blast, stone and dust splattered around the floor and on Kail as he stayed low and constantly moving. A heavy arm swung for his head which he dodged and continued to fire.

The statue’s face moved in an angry way, far too emotionally for that of pure rock. Kail stopped to eject the spent clip but that was a hesitation too soon. The statue groaned as the other arm swept along and hit Kail in the hip, knocking him sideways and rolling along the ground with a cry of pain. It hurt, but he had dealt with worse.

Wincing in pain, he pushed up on his knees, to bring the rifle up before his eye and aim at the torso of the statue, aiming to chip away and weaken anything that held this beast upright. Flashes of Matsu’s lightsaber caught his eye and it seemed to make her statue stumble, falter and lose balance slightly. Even clinging to life, she was a formidable foe, and Kail smiled briefly, her shouts acknowledged with nod of the head.

His statue came forward; parts of its body now gaping open, housing what looked like plated armour beneath the stone as if something belonging to a royal guard or deity. Kail could only bait the statue on as he avoided a few more swipes, running and using the dais to run and jump in a rebound past the statue, now aiming to bring it back down away from Matsu who was still incapacitated.

”Come on! You want ME! COME ON!”

Kail let of more blaster shots, the black cloud of doubt creeping into his mind that blaster bolts would only do much, and these weren’t enemies sent to deal with men who didn’t command a power like Matsu. But, why didn’t it follow? The statue looked down at Kail; Kail looked up at the statue with a venomous glint in his eye, covered in dust and but fuelled by that fire inside that rose whenever it seemed Matsu was in danger. Stone groaned on stone as the statue quickly turned as the other fell to her pure blade – he was stalking her. She held the relic; she was the target.

ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum

Kail moved forward quickly, looking for a way to stop the beast advancing. Flanking him, he ran to the right to see Matsu over the dais, the statue feet from her and lumbering his arm back, bringing it up with only one foreseeable end.

”MATSU!!”

The roar he emitted was laced with anger, fear and panic as he bolted forward, dropping his KX-60 and leaping over a chunk of rock, using it under his boots to lunge forward towards the girl. He crashed right into her, with no regard for the mild pain she may receive compared to the death she was about to face.

Her body fell sideways down the dais.

ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum

Kail turned his head and craned his body away, fumbling to bring up his arm as the full force of the statue’s fist came crashing down into the side of his face with a sickening crunch of stone, upon bone, which in turn resonated through the dais his head was resting on.

….she was worth it…she saved you…

The black cloud swallowed him up before the pain even began to register.


[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt] The first of the statues, now one-legged and catching itself on its hands as it fell, looked up for one last second – mouth open in an angry scream, hordes of insects skittering out of its jaws – before Matsu’s lightsaber burned a nearly perfect line through its eyes and cut the top of its head off. She was calling the weapon back and turning to look towards Kail and the second of the statues she’d heard him distracting when the man slammed in to her, knocking her off her feet and sending her tumbling down the short flight of stairs to land in a heap at the bottom.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] The stone-on-stone sound of the statue’s fingers scrapping against each other as its fist flew by her head echoed in her head for a moment or two as she caught her breath, gasping for the wind he’d knocked out of her. That was it – only a second of lying on the floor and gathering herself – before she turned to see the second statue’s fist lifting back in to the air, revealing the mess it had made. She didn’t need to be any closer than she was to see the wash of red on the dais’ base. (He pushed you out of the way. That should be you.) Anger, fear, panic – relief, something akin to acceptance…they all washed across her mind in a breath and she realized they poured in to her from him. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] There was a time Matsu would have exploded, would have incinerated everything in the room and blown a crater so far downwards the entire temple would swallow in on itself just to see that statue in pieces. But instead she called up the shreds of its partner – arms and legs and weapons and accusing eyes slashed in half – and threw them at the remaining sculpture with enough force for both to shatter. When the dust cleared, clouds of disintegrated stone blown outwards from a burst of efficient destruction, it was so quiet Matsu could have heard a pin drop.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She scrambled up the steps before kneeling down in front of him, allowing herself to see the damage for the first time. Blood coated both sides of his face where his scalp had been opened, out of his ears, one eye already swelling shut. None of it was so bad on its own but it was his jaw…he looked the picture of something an art student unfamiliar with anatomy would draw up, everything at the wrong angles and lengths. It hung from two sick little strings of ligament, tilted to the side and wholly unnatural. It swayed slightly and she glanced up to see his eyelids tense as if he was coming around.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] “Don’t move,” she said, quiet to avoid startling him and make his awakening even more rude than it had to be.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] (Leave him girl. Take a good look at him – how far do you think he’s getting like that? All smashed to hell and you don’t know, maybe that hit scrambled something in his head. He’s not worth it. You can’t trust him. Leave him here.)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Against what all her instincts were screaming Matsu got up and moved to all that was left of the original attacker, the statue’s mouth still bent in an angry scream. She pulled as hard as she could and whether it was anger or because she’d knocked it loose the metal cage that had served as part of the statue’s armor came loose in her hands. She moved quickly back to Kail, dropping down at his side again and putting down the cage as she set to work, speaking to him quietly. Gone was the aloof, quiet woman he’d probably come to know, her defenses dropped in the effort to patch him as best she could and get him off Korriban. She tried to distract him while she worked, talking, a woman of stone on a mission. If she allowed herself enough room to think she would change her mind and she...didn't want to.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] “I need to fix you up a little bit,” she offered, ignoring the fact that he looked like raw meat as she turned her head, sinking the sharp ends of her teeth in to the sleeve of her t-shirt and tearing the cuff to rip it off and in to a strip. “It’s going to hurt.” She threaded the piece of her sleeve through the ends of the makeshift brace, tying it off on one end before lifting it and settling closer to him, reaching up for his jaw. “That slap you were saying might be good for me earlier? This is the only time I’ll let it slide,” she said, bracing herself for any physical reaction he might have as she pulled his jaw straight and settled the brace around it. She could hear broken pieces of bone sliding against each other as his jaw settled back in to place, her face impassive through his agonized cries as she worked on him. The mask itself was a little too large but that could be fixed once he was somewhere more stable.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] He didn’t have to push me out of the way.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] It was too quiet and Matsu didn’t like the relative peace they’d been given. The moment they stepped out of that room something would be waiting to stop them from leaving with the Ravager.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] (If you save him, you’ve learned nothing. Weak. Vulnerable.)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She hesitated for a moment, her determined absence from the situation slipping as she reached forward and slid herself underneath his arm, careful not to jostle him anymore than she had to. “Come on, just go slow,” she said quietly, shifting underneath him to help him to his feet.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] It’s not how you end either.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt][member="Kail Ragnar"][/SIZE]​

 

[Connor Harrison]

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eim3Fnvpays

Not dead then.

One eye flittering open, his left shut tight with the swollen muscle and blood vessels, Kail could feel a dull ache across his whole head. He knew he had taken a hit, but didn’t know just how badly it had injured him. The least he expected was a broken bone or two and some cuts, but not this…not what he could fee.

Hi…

Matsu knelt above him, and his face looked tired amongst the fresh blood and crimson tissue that the stone had torn off. He wanted to speak, but his jaw didn’t seem to be operating as he wanted it – the right side moving to form the words, the left shooting a spark of pain and hurt through his brain. A loud groan escaped his lips, his good eye opening wide as the pain seemed to kick-start him back into harsh reality.

Matsu moved away, and Kail reached up to feel the result of his sacrifice – a stupid sacrifice, man – and as his fingers went to touch the jawline he came across distorted bone, hollow crevices and a wet feel that made him wince and, again, spasm in pain. It felt disgusting and alien. He winced, angry and scared at what he looked like in front of her.

”Mmmmmmmma…..!”

Kail tense his muscles, the pain like a knife cutting through his flesh and nerves, wanting to speak but unable to form words – just noise of a wounded beast, crippled and in agony. Pushing himself back onto the dais, his body trembled and mist started to form in his eye. Matsu returned, and her face was solemn and devoid of any expression. She carried a horrendous iron cage of some sort, like a visor or a brace, and he groaned and fumbled on the stone below his dirty, blood stained clothes.

God please, don’t hurt me…leave me!!

She knelt over him, and Kail experienced the worst pain he had ever felt. No Sith Lord or Wampa encounter had given him the electrifying and gut-wrenching agony Matsu was bearing on him.

”AGHHHHHHH! STAA……….! UHHHH!!”

Kail weakly tried to push her back, to exclaim the agony and stop her touching his broken jaw; stop her moving his bones and setting his frame with bloodied fingers and a steely gaze in her eyes. His hand shot out and clamped around her wrist, tightening like she was the most important person in the entire galaxy to him.

His body shook and he didn’t stop looking at her face, finding all the solace he could from her beauty and keeping the pain from sending him unconscious. As she moved the horrendous brace around his head and pulled the cloth to tighten it on his jaw, he screamed loudly, echoing around the tomb in a horrific cry, and dug his fingers in her small arms, trying to claw into her skin and crawl away to hide away inside her strong frame.

Looking at her, a number of tears fell in one straight course from his right eye, getting lost on the metal brace. He didn’t do anything except look at her as she hesitated and began to move to help him up. The mercenary in him took over; he was still alive, so he had a chance, and still had a duty to help Matsu in her quest. His head felt dangerously heavy; the brace weighing him down and feeling totally un-natural to him. His lower face now near hidden, like a muzzled monster, he fought to keep his once proud stature strong.

I will kill for you…you saved me. God, I have nothing left...

Stumbling down the dais, amongst the trail of blood and stone from the confrontation that had just changed both their lives forever, he twisted his body as best he could with his arm over Matsu’s small shoulder beneath him, making her turn to the left and towards his KX-60 rifle in the rubble. Walking dangerously erratic with her, he took a moment before dropping himself to scoop up the rifle, holding the weight of it in his left hand and letting Matsu carry on.

”Atsu….ou…,” Kail spoke through exhaling, not daring to move his jaw in the grip of the brace, speaking through dry, cracked lips, ”…I nheed yu…ank yu.”

His good eye stung with tears and anger, his face wracked with pain and torn flesh. His soul, faith and confidence was shattered. God knew the long-lasting mental and physical effect this would have on him.

Now he was nothing but a broken man.



[member="Matsu Xiangu"]