Public When the Cards All Fold (Kaeshana/Invite)

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Elayne Saedaris"] [member="Kaida Taldir"]

Slugs!

This writer always hated the Korriban slugs a lot, so this battle brought back bad memories of The Old Republic.

Phylis for her part knew her role, protect Coryth. Whilst Siobhan and Elayne dealt with the biggest monster, the Jedi Master scooted over to where Coryth was. Fortunately the firestack had not fallen yet.

The Jedi are weak. They will not survive long. The Republic is falling, they bicker over the scraps. Only I can save your friends. Remember Lilith…do not let it happen again.

It was a trick, a lure, and Phylis knew it. On the other hand, everything it said was true….

She took Coryth’s hand. “Duck,” she ordered suddenly.

As Coryth ducked her other hand with the lightsabre slashed around and cut down one of the horrible slugs as it came forward to ensnare them.

The golden box sat there, malevolent, brooding. Phylis knew she could not destroy it alone. It would be like putting out a wildfire with a hose.

“Stay down!” she ordered, standing over Coryth and defending her from whatever came.

 

[Darth Libertas]

Once upon a time the Trayus Core had been a nexus of dark power, thousands of years ago. Here Darth Traya had been cast down by her traitorous apprentices Sion and Nihilus. One of them so scarred and broken that he was more of a corpse than man, yet fuelled by his own pain and the desire to inflict it upon Jedi. The other one could not even be called a man by any stretch of the imagination, for his hunger had dominated him, turning him into a shade.


In the end all three had perished at the hands of the so-called Exile...who went on to meet a rather unimpressive end in the citadel of the insane Vitiate. The Dark Side still held purchase over this place, but its power had long since dissipated. A few skeletal corpses and some animal cadavres could be found.


Yet even here one could feel the massive ripples in the Force. The volatile energies being unleashed in the confrontation with the box of malicious doom were spilling over. For those sensitive to the Force and able to listen to the ripples, it would sound like a crescendo. Sitting in the middle of the core in a meditative position, clad in dark pants and a leather coat, Sumiko calmly read a stone tablet she had found. It was ancient and written in the Sith tongue, though a good portion of the writing had faded, but enough was readable for her to surmis that it represented teaching from the days when Trayus had stood tall and proud.


Fortunately it's nothing written by that old bat Kreia. That would be a bore, she thought to herself, rubbing her head slightly. The titanic confrontation a couple blocks away was a tad annoying because it gave her a bit of a headache. She heard screeches and footsteps on the ground, then suddenly she could see zombies charging towards her. She would have wondered where they had come from, but instead drew upon the power of the Force, letting the Dark Side fuel her. After all, it was running terribly rampant so it might as well be put to good use.


Orange tendrils of dark side energy surged from her fingertips, engulfing the charging creatures. Bit by bit they were drained, for they were born of Sith magicks. A bestial hiss was heard when a large, alchemised nexu appeared on the spot, baring its teeth. Sighing in slight annoyance, Sumiko changed gears and, with concentration etched over her forehead, delved into the minds of the zombies, weaving a web of power that ensnared their minds. Suddenly they began charging the nexu in an onslaught of teeth and claws. Violence ensued and Sumiko turned back to reading her tablet, making notes in the margins here and there.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

At the moment that all things seemed to go dark, the oppressive power of the darkness, and the box seemed to reach out to Coryth, attempting to surround her and drown her in it. Agony rolled through her frail body in response to the darkness calling to the sludge within her skin. Coryth whimpered loudly, in pain as the crystal fell from her hand to be shattered upon the stone floor.

Things certainly were not going well for her. As the crystal shattered, the darkness flooded into her mind and body, causing the tiny woman to further cry out in pain as the darksided poison within her body responded in kind to being able to touch it's kindred power once more.

Her shoulder, she could feel flesh tearing... Her scars were starting to open once again as the thick black sludge poured from her wounds, down onto the floor. As it pooled at her feet, it soon started to slither like a living breathing snake towards the box.

Feeling Phylis' bright presence, she took the offered hand. The woman was a beacon in the pitch black of the fog. Her life raft in the middle of a turbulent ocean. She clung tightly to the Jedi Master's hand. And at her order, she quickly ducked as Phylis slashed her saber through the air where she had just been, killing the slug. But that was far from the only one in the room. Kaida and Elayne were having their own fight to the death with the slugs. And the cryomancer barely escaping from becoming lunch.

As more scars seemed to burst with the horrid sludge, Coryth could only scream out as pain overtook her body. The small redhead actually started to weep as she ducked down to the floor, intent on hiding there until the most recent danger had passed.

A part of her began to think that she might not actually survive this. That these might be her -final moments. I don't want to die .... I have too much to live for ... But the pain ... I can't do this. I can't..... I can't survive like this .... Feel like ... I'm fading fast. Her energy and life force itself was being leached upon. And Coryth it seemed was most certainly on the losing side of this particular battle. If things were not ended soon, in such poor shape, the frail redhead might not survive. Time was running out.

Oh, but I can help sweet one. I can help. Come, join me and the pain will ease. You'll be more than you have ever been. Come now, beautiful Coryth. It's close now .... I'll take physical form soon, and can save you from this torment. All will be alright soon enough.... Just trust me, dear Coryth ... This is your destiny. You are giving me life once more after I have been gone for two thousand years .... Soon, so soon I will breathe again and I will help you. We shall rule my Queen. That is ... if you survive the night. Resist any further from this moment on, and I will end you. Your heart, I can feel it beating. Thump, thump, thump against your chest wall .... It only takes a slight bit of effort .... It was in that moment that the Box spirit reached out in the force, and squeezed lightly upon the redhead's heart. Such an action that brought great pain to Coryth as she struggled to breathe, crying out in agony as her heart tried so hard to beat against his grip.


"Please ... no." Coryth cried out. "Please!" She begged. "PLEASE! STOP! Please, stop!" Cory screamed out, and finally it released her most vital organ, letting her breathe once more as her heart settled back into a normal rhythm.

Remember that .... It's so easy to end you Coryth. Do not resist and there will be no need for that. And you will live .... if not ... Well, I don't mind crushing your heart. It's a rather horrific way to die, don't you think? Feeling the pressure against your heart as it struggles to keep beating ... Before the pressure finally causes it to explode, and in a second or two after .... You fade into blackness, knowing there is nothing anyone can do to help you survive. You die, so helplessly. So painfully. It is I who is in charge now Coryth. The sooner you admit that the better. This time Cory didn't reply, as the pain steadily grew in her body. More sludge seeped down onto the floor to join with the rest.

Coryth did everything she could in that moment to banish him from her mind. But he only seemed to push back twice as hard as she tried to remove him from her mind. His whispers had become shouts, almost impossible to hear anything over. The sludge that had been dripping to the ground from her frail body was starting to take shape into something else. Bit by bit, cell by cell it was rapidly growing near the box, into a human like shape. That pure darksided energy that had been leeching off her body for so long was now coming into it's finally form as it left her body. The tiny woman's own blood flowed out, soaking her clothing as the poison left her behind to go and create the final abomination of the box.

The Box Master it seemed, was finally coming to greet them all. The golden box crumbled into dust behind him as he took his final form. The protection he no longer believed he needed and was eager to greet the redhead he had worked for so long to meet. "Oh, Coryth .... How long I have waited to see you child..." It spoke aloud for all to hear. Reaching out in the force, the Box Spirit was quick to direct the slugs on the remaining women. Drawing on that same power, he was quick to send a massive shockwave of telekinetic power through the room, intend to knock anyone at all back, as well as throw much of the debris of the roof with it, in hopes that some of it would be quite lethal.

[member="Phylis Alince"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Elayne Saedaris]

With the slugs slithering across the floor and the situation growing more dire by the second, Elayne knew all too well there was not much time left. They needed to act quickly if they were to make it out alive. And no way in hell was she going to lose Coryth, Kaida, Siobhan, or Phylis... Hell no. They were all going to walk out of this together. One way or another.

Hearing the order, Elayne was quick to draw upon her powers and once more sent a heavy shockwave through the ground as she focused her energies upon the earthen soil beneath them. Rippling outwards from her, the shock wave would knock back two of the creatures but it couldn't save Kaida from the third.

Elayne, through the darkness could not see what was happening but she heard it well enough to get the idea that Kaida may have been swallowed. Elayne turned as one of the original slugs returned to try and attack her from behind. Leaping upwards, she flipped backwards over it. Gracefully she managed to land upon it's back before she buried her Sarix into its back without mercy. Repeated stabbings as the beast roared in anger, finally ended its life as it fell limply to the floor. Elayne quickly leaped from it's body, and her eyes strained in the darkness seeking her next target.

The dark fog, seemed to be letting up a little as visibility started to clear, the redhead got a view of the sludge as it started to transform itself into something that appeared somewhat human. Even she had a hard time believing this was real. It just didn't seem possible. The very sludge that was causing Coryth pain, could actually become some kind of creature and or monster. Her mind just couldn't seem to wrap itself around that.

As for Coryth, it was plain to see by the screams, the whimpers and the amount of blood that the woman was in poor shape. Things were not going well for her, or anyone. Given the amount of blood on the floor, Elayne didn't imagine that the redheaded human could keep it up much longer. Her frailty becoming obvious even in the force as the woman's aura grew weaker. And the strange human sludge creature grew stronger. It seemed the fog was a source of power for the being as visibility began to clear, it was actually drawing the fog into itself. Whatever that meant exactly, Elayne was not thinking it was good.

The shockwave then rippled out from the monster, catching her off guard as it threw her back a good fifty feet, and slammed her into the wall. Upon impact she felt a few ribs painfully snap. The woman coughed heavily, as she worked her way to her feet. Another slug seemed to take advantage of the moment as it raced towards her.

[member="Phylis Alince"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Phylis Alince"]


Here within the den of evil, a desperate struggle was fought against the forces of darkness that assailed our heroines. Venomous slugs charged them with reckless abandon and primal hunger with claws and teeth, seeking to devour them. The oppressive darkness had flooded the chamber like a tidal wave, seeking to drown them inside it.


Slowly the dark fog cleared a bit, allowing Siobhan to behold their enemy, for the box of evil had taken physical form. She had mostly sat out the initial struggle with the big worms, feeling too tired to help out much after having dropped a roof on the terentatek. Dimly she could see Taldir being swallowed and then freezing a slug, whilst Elayne sliced and diced another with her sarix.


However, her passivity turned to aggression when she heard Coryth's cries, felt how much the tiny redhead was suffering. You did not fething mess with 'her' Coryth. Not unless you wanted Siobhan to rip your spine out. The sludge had taken human form, and now it stood tall and proud, an avatar of evil power and maliciousness.


Physical form...big mistake. Being tired, Siobhan had been unable to defend herself against the shockwave and so when it struck she was sent flying. Pain surged through her body as she felt ribs break as she landed in a pile of debris. Ouch. Something had shattered inside her. For a few moments she lay there stunned before she finally shook herself out of it.


Taking a very deep breath Siobhan managed to get to her feet, a bit shakily, but she managed. Eyes ablaze with righteous fury, she drank from the fountain of rage. The box master was ahead of her, a slug was racing toward Elayne. She shakily raised a hand, forcing it through sheer will to be steady. Her armoured gauntlet retracted and electricity cackled across her open palm. Then a torrent of blue-white lightning shrieked from her fingertips. Power, unlimited power! Well, not quite, but whatever. All focused upon the box master, with the intensity of a tropical thunderstorm. Her helmet had fallen off, her cheeks were covered in blood, but she kept blasting the monster. "Phylis, light up the arsehole. Taldir ice it!"

​

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Phylis Alince"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]


Slugs, darkness, Sith demons! Suffice to say it was a mess. Kaida barely had time to recover when another slug charged her. Knocked down to the ground with a loud groan she managed to roll and get under its belly when its massive claws came for her, pulling her lightsabre into her grasp with a telekinetic tug.


In a flash she stabbed up, then sliced rammed her blade into the beast's heart. A blood-curdling scream was heard when the monster gave up the ghost and alas fell upon her. Ouch. Telekinesis was bendy enough to toss it off. The darkness was now so strong that it was oppressive, but their enemy had a physical form now. Coryth was clearly on her last legs and judging by all the blood on the floor helping her was critical now. Hopefully Elayne could handle the last slug, as Kaida focused her power upon the box master. He was the prime target now, this was the end game. Even if her attack could not kill him, it would take pressure off Coryth, something the poor redhead clearly needed.


Kerrigan was lighting it up via a thunderstorm that cast the chamber in an eerie light as lightning blazed across it, so Kaida focused upon her power of ice and harnessed her Sciia to that effect. As everyone who ever tossed an active razer into a bath knows...water and electricity are a very painful combination. And so she sunk into the Force as she concentrated on the ambient moisture in the air. It would take time and lots of concentration, but what almost amounted to a wall of solid ice would come into being behind the dark lord of evil. Then it would drop on him with absurd speed, shattering instantly...and making him very wet and cold. A blast of cold, strong enough to congeal the air, chill bone and freeze blood, swept towards him.

 

[Darth Libertas]

Meanwhile Sumiko had still been meditating deep inside the Trayus Core. However, the massive ripples resonating through the Force did not go unnoticed by her. It got so annoying that she actually dropped her pen just when she was making notes! "Please, as if they cannot keep the noise down," she grumbled and picked it up again.


Meanwhile the little battle between the mind-raped zombies and alchemised nexu had come to a close. All but one of the zombies had been ripped apart, but the beast was dead. Slowly the mind control was wearing off and the bleeding, mutilated undead approached her, snarling, though it walked with a limp. "Brains!" it hissed.


Realising that apparently she still had a nuisance to deal with, Sumiko sighed. "As if a moment of peace and quiet in an ancient den of darkness is too much to ask," she muttered, then let loose a blast of telekinetic energy that hit the zombie square in the chest and sent it flying down into the pit. It would be falling for a very long time.

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Kaida Taldir"] [member="Coryth Elaris"]

Phylis found herself picked up and slammed painfully into the ground. Her lightsabre skittered away, and stars flashed before her eyes.
One of the remaining slugs, thinking she’d make a nice meal, swarmed forward to tear at her. The Jedi Master was forced to rapidly roll aside from a slash that might have torn her to pieces.
Rolling to her feet, the Jedi narrowed her eyes. Coryth was in danger, and she had no time to waste here. Calling on the Force she picked up the slug and hurled it with somewhat excessive force into the wall. It splatted noisily and fell to the ground leaking slime.

Turning back, Phylis saw that the shape from inside the box, the Sith Lord, had taken physical shape. That was an error, and one which Phylis intended to make him pay for.
Calling her lightsabre back to her she did not draw it again, instead hooking it to her belt and advancing.
As Siobhan unleashed lightning and Kaida ice, it required a final push.

Phylis dropped to her knees, focusing all her will and strength, calling on every fibre of the Light in her to strike at the evil before her. She had to do this, to save Coryth, to prevent this monster escaping.
“Coryth…help me! Join with me!” she called.
The power in her had built to such a level she could no longer hold it in. With a final breath she extended her hands and opened her eyes. The power of the Light Side flowed forth in a torrent, aimed straight at the reborn Sith Lord….

 

[Coryth Elaris]

And so it had come down to this, the final moments between heroines and the great evils here. With time running out, there was little other option than to attack the monster that had started this all. Even the small redhead was thrown back a good distance, slamming hard into the ground with a sickening crunch, without a doubt leaving behind a broken bone or two. Though Cory was frankly in far too much pain to even have noticed the additional injuries.

Coryth couldn't have blocked out Siobhan's rage if she wanted to at that point, feeling exactly what she and the others in the room were. The combinations of fear, adreniline, concern, and determination. It was the determination she reached for, trying so hard to keep any other emotions from sinking into her tiny body.

His choice to shift into a physical form had been a poor one. At this point the redhead could barely hear the others. The box master reaching so deeply into her mind to attempt to cripple the redhead. After all he already had a strong foothold there. But he hadn't quite expected the vicious attack from Siobhan. His newly formed body was still to a degree weak, even if it was made entirely from darkside energies. It still had inherent flaws at this point. An eardrum shattering high pitched scream echoed across the chamber as the water and electricity mixed across his body, etching deep burns into his new flesh.

The only thing he really could do, was dig deep into the force and summon his own energies to attempt to deflect the lightning back to Siobhan. Anything to get her to cease the attack. At the same time, the powerful demon picked up a volley of debris from the floor and hurled it across the chamber. Hoping just to distact Kaida and Phylis long enough to get to Coryth. After all, he needed her.

Shifting onto her side, she watched as Phylis dropped to her knees. It seemed if they were going to end this, now would be the time. With a deep painful breath in, Coryth sunk down into the force and drew upon as much power as she could physically muster. Never in her life had she pulled quite that hard, or drawn in so much energy.

Channeling the power she had gathered, Coryth joined Phylis with everything she had. Not an ounce of her energy was wasted in this moment as she sent forth a powerful burst of lightsided energy, like none she'd ever conjured before to join with Phylis' power.

A sickening howl echoed through the chamber, as for a moment the vicious demon tried with all he could to resist. But the force light soon started to pierce through his frail body. It didn't take much longer of the onslaught and the demon exploded at last, sending a massive shockwave of brutal power across the room. His last and final gift to the women who had come to Coryth's aid.

Coryth herself, moaned loudly as she was once again thrown back against the wall with a heavy thud. Her wounds were quite severe, still bleeding far more than she should have been. The woman needed medical attention and fast. Furthermore she seemed to be bordering on passing out as her head bobbed forward from where she was slumped against the wall.

[member="Phylis Alince"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Phylis Alince"]

By now Siobhan was past the point where she cared much about the pain she suffered. At this point she was running on pure, unadulterated, incandescent rage and fury. It could be a powerful motivator and fuel. She was not in much of a state to block the lightning that the box master reflected back at her. Nor did she made much of an effort to try.


Pain, so much pain. Her delicate electrical systems and augmentations were especially sensitive. Burning pain spread across her body as she felt like she was on fire, but she pushed on. Her eye flashed a bright crimson, then went haywire but she kept up the pressure. A storm f lightning had brewed inside her and struck at the dark lord. He could deflect all he wanted, but much of it would get through and burn him. The lightning did come at him as a singular bolt, but rather it split and arced across the ground, attacking him from multiple directions. It would be impossible for him to deflect it all.


Equally impossible for Siobhan to pour much energy into defence. Suddenly she was seized by a terrible pain when her eye blew up, then vital circuits in her bionic leg were damaged and she dropped down to one knee. She was breathing very heavily, but through her haze she saw that a volley of debris was being launched through the air towards Taldir and Phylis. Gathering what remained of her strength she lashed out, shredding and knocking the debris back with an electrically charged wind. Sinking into the Force, she unleashed as much power as she could physically muster, unleashing a darkside fuelled blast of pure rage and hatred upon their enemy.


Then she was spent. Dimly she saw that the dark lord exploded through the power of the Light. Then she was suddenly being hit by a shockwave with the force of a freight tram and being thrown across the room. Ouch. Siobhan crashed into the body of a slug and was knocked unconscious as everything went dark around her.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Phylis Alince"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]


And so the battle came to a close. The chamber - and indeed the entire Trayus Academy - seemed to shudder as if struck by quakes as the titanic battle was being waged against the Avatar of Chaos. The slugs were long forgotten, only the box master mattered at this point.


Here and there stray bolts of lightning struck Kaida and she shook as burning pain surged through her body, scorching battered armour and flesh. The pain was terrible given the fact that she was unleashing all sorts of water goodness, but she pushed through, erecting an improvised shield of sorts. Channelling her power, she drew upon her kindred element and focused it upon the box master. Though his body had been created through dark side energy, it presumably still had mortal and very human frailties. Anything that could weaken him would help and so she pushed her power outward. Her gauntleted hand was covered in frost and her eyes were an icy blue as she tried to leech the life intensity from him.


She could not cut his connection to his dark power, but drain the heat from his body with unnatural intensity to a point where he might turn into a frost-shrouded corpse, which would make concentration...quite difficult. Body temperature would drop rapidly, causing heat vitality to hemorrhage. Another lightning bolt struck her and she shook strongly. By now she could barely see anything, for her visor had been broken and the lightning blinded her, clouding her vision, which meant she was purely relying on her Sciia.


She could feel the box master weakening under the onslaught of the Light as Phylis and Coryth unleashed their power. There, proof that the Light Side can be used for more than defence! So Kaida intensified her struggle with a powerful burst of energy directed against the avatar of evil. Finally the box master went down in a massive explosion that shook the entire room. The massive shockwave of brutal power caught Kaida, though an improvised shield of the Force meant that rather than knocking her across the entire room it slammed her into the ground like a massive invisibiel hammer. There was a thud and a crack as she hit the ground. She tried to get to her feet with a groan, then promptly fell down again. Something inside her had broken...well, more than one thing! Ouch.

 

[Darth Libertas]

So powerful were the titanic energies unleashed in the final battle, that the aftershocks were even felt as far away as in the Trayus Core. The pillars and the ground itself seemed to shake, giving the impression that this might be the start of an earthquake when the box master exploded at last.


Shaking her head slightly Sumiko stopped making notes. Then she reeled under the massive spillover of dark side energy. "Well, that was dramatic," she muttered to herself when a pillar finally collapsed and hit the ground with a loud thud, then got to her feet, dusting herself off slightly. She gathered her possessions and then walked out. On the way she passed an ancient looking skeleton that might have once been Darth Sion. She shook her head with an expression of disdain. Presumably the dark tablet she had found contained fancy secrets of the Dark Side!

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Coryth Elaris"] [member="Kaida Taldir"]

Phylis was fortunate to be kneeling. When the shockwave hit her she was picked up and flung along the ground, bouncing painfully, before coming to rest against a broken pillar.
She wasn’t sure if she’d blacked out, but either way she struggled to her knees and crawled a few paces. Something was dripping down her face. With a shudder she discovered it was blood from a cut to the scalp.

Slowly, nursing her tender ribs, she made her way over to where Coryth had fallen.
“Coryth…Coryth wake up.” She was exhausted from using the Force so much, as well as from running around so much. Fortunately there was the crystal nearby she’d given the other Jedi. Drawing on it for assistance, she managed to help stabilise Coryth enough to keep her going into shock.

“We need…need help,” Phylis said. She looked around to see who was standing…or conscious at least!

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Only for a brief moment, did Coryth manage to open her eyes for Phylis. All Coryth knew was that it was over. In that moment, that much she could be sure of. The voices were gone, the whisperings, the darksided tugging at her soul, it all had stopped. And then, Coryth's vision faded to black. Her body had finally had all it could take. She'd made it a long long way, much further than any other would have under the circumstances. Her body now, needed help, medical attention and desperate rest if she was to survive. Everything hinged on that now. Phylis had managed to stabilize her for the time being, keeping the situation from getting drastically worse.

[member="Phylis Alince"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Elayne Saedaris]

After all was said and done, the demon perished in a blast of Force Light, lightning, and water. He died a death that in Elayne's opinion was far too good after the hell he'd put the small redhead through. His final shockwave, threw her across the room to slam hard against the wall. In that she was certain a few more ribs had been broken. With a cough she got to her feet, Kaida wasn't doing well. Siobhan she could feel was still alive, though unconscious. With what she could read in the Force, Siobhan would survive. Now Coryth on the other hand was incredibly frail, weak and in her eyes fading. Not only did they need to get Coryth back to the ship, to get medical attention.... They would also have to get Siobhan and Kaida there too. Even Phylis didn't seem to be in all that great shape either.

With what energy she had, she darted across the room to the two Jedi Masters. "We need to move quickly." After all things were quite dire. "Do you think you can carry her, Phylis? Siobhan's unconscious too, but will live. I think I can manage to carry her. Though, I may have to use the force to do it. But I'll survive." A sigh fell from her lips as she glanced back to Kaida, "Do you think you'll manage to walk, or will we have to carry you too?" Elayne asked quite seriously, as she raised her voice to ensure it carried across the chamber to the wounded Eldorai. Her voice cracking with stress, and exhaustion. Even she was close to being done. There were after all limits to what she could do.

[member="Phylis Alince"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Phylis Alince"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]


"I am fine," Kaida said, you might have guessed it, laconically. She was not going to be carried by a subordinate! Or anyone else for that matter. Her voice might about to crack with stress and exhaustion and her body about to give way, but nonetheless. Through the power of sheer bitchiness she forced herself to her feet, coughing badly and standing shakily.


Kerrigan would survive, like she always did, though Kaida did not care that much about her! Coryth required immediate medical attention though. "I'll call the Firemane team, if there's anyone left alive there. We also need to find a ship." Since the one they came in had been conveniently wrecked during the trip. Thank you, weird Malachor V gravity. Her comm beeped, and after a few moments five soldiers checked in. Five out of a squad of twelve. Crappy survival rate. The soldiers were directed to quickly join them and help with getting the wounded out.

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Kaida Taldir"] [member="Coryth Elaris"]

Phylis got to her feet, again picking up Coryth and carrying her towards the exit. It seemed she was fated to be the tiny redhead's porter forevermore...not that she minded.
Tired as she was, bleeding and hurt as she was, the Jedi Master was filled with purpose, and carried Coryth slowly but deliberately from the battlezone.

When they at last came upon the Firemane troops she was able to share the burden and move a little quicker. They had survived, now all they needed was a ship....

 

[Darth Libertas]

It appeared that Sumiko's time at the Trayus Academy was not totally over because her writer said so and felt like having even more meta commentary in this thread. While the party of heroines recovered and went looking for a ship, she had been likewise making her exit. On the way she passed an absurd number of dead beasts, nexi, rancors and other monstrosities that had earlier been slain by the party.


Apparently she had missed quite a fight, but on the positive side this meant she was not half-dead. However, when she passed through yet another corridor, it soon dawned upon her that she had crossed the threshold and something dramatic was about to happen! Suddenly the doors behind and in front of her closed as if controlled by an invisible force. With an air of annoyance she reached out with her power to open a door telekinetically, but it failed to respond!


Indeed, the Force itself seemed to be failing her and suddenly she felt a numbing cold as an icy wind swept through the hall, chilling to the bone. She shivered strongly in the cold and then spun when she felt a presence materialise behind her; one that radiated pure darkness. "Foolish girl, you have fallen into my web. Long have I waited and suffered here. Alone, with nothing but mindless beasts to command. Those intruders escaped me, but you shall not."


Before she could respond the entity had suddenly lunged and punched her in the face. Such was the force of the blow that she was sent flying for a couple metres before she fell to the ground. Rolling she leapt onto her feet and pulled her lightsabre from her belt. With a snap-hiss the blade ignited in a blaze of crimson, daring her adversary to attack her. However, now that she had finally gotten a good view she realised that it was not a living being...but a spirit. "Cower before me and kneel! For I am the great Sejanus, Lord of the True Sith Empire and Master of Assassins!" the ghost declared pompously.


Despite the apparent direness of the situation, Sumiko felt like bursting into laughter. "If I got a credit every time someone said they're a True Sith, I could live like as a queen by now. Let me guess, you were one of Traya's deluded minions? Got slaughtered by the Exile? What a shame, considering she was a wet hen searching for relevance."


The ethereal features of the spirit were contorted in sheer rage. "Do not mock me, heretic! I can see inside your mind, you are nothing but a scavenger, hungering for knowledge that is far beyond your pitiful mind. Kneel before me!" Gathering his power, he unleashed tendrils of pure evil that swept across the floor like snakes and seized Sumiko in an iron grip. The Atrisian struggled and thrashed as the tentacles sought not only to immobilise her, but also leech her of her power. The ghost smiled sinisterly, feeling strengthened by the experience. "Do not resist, and I will not hurt you...much. Know that you are playing a vital role in my rebirth and return to glory. For I am..."


He did not get any further because suddenly Sumiko drew upon her will and broke the tendrils, shattering them. The spirit looked shocked, but even more so when Sumiko's hand curled into a fist and she began speaking in Sith, reciting an incantation. Abruptly the ghost was forced down onto his knees. "What...what are you doing?"


"Subjugating you. If you have some knowledge of the old times, it will be mine now," Sumiko said matter-of-factly, then kept on chanting on. Dark power, arcane and mystical, engulfed the room and seized the ghost, who found himself no matter how much he struggled.


"You cannot control such powers! It will destroy you. I will have my revenge!"


"On the contrary, I just levelled up. Besides, if that twit Kallig can do it, it cannot be that difficult," Sumiko said in a deadpan tone that made it difficult to determine whether she was joking or not. "And now...you shall yield to me!" With her power she pulled upon the tether that connected life and death, binding both sides of the Force through sheer will. Concentration and sheer strain were etched across her features, but she persevered and in the end the ghost yielded and bent to her. Well, that was fun! Sumiko suddenly felt a bit more knowledgeable.

 

[Elayne Saedaris]

"You aren't fine, but suit yourself." Elayne said with a shake of her head. Some Eldorai she just didn't get. In this particular moment, she did not get Kaida in the least. And while the survival rate had been quite poor, at least there were more hands on deck to help carry Siobhan out. In fact this time, she let the minions do it.

It seemed now, they just had a minor problem of needing a ship. Little, tiny problem. Coryth was badly hurt. Sio wasn't in great shape either. No one had gotten out completely unscathed. Even she had more than a few gashes, and a few broken ribs for good measure. They all needed off this rock and the sooner, the better.

Wandering the hallways back to where they came in, they soon stepped out into the early evening hours on Malachor. "There may still be some salvageable medical supplies from our ship that we can use to stabilize the both of them." That was really all they could do for now.

That still left them with another problem. "As for finding a functional ship," Keen eyes scanned the area around them looking for anything that remotely resembled a ship. A shiny glint in the distance stood out against the dull rocky terrain. "That doesn't look like it belongs, and there still is the feeling of something or someone else out there. Perhaps another soul is on this rock too, and we can 'borrow' said ship." By borrow, Elayne entirely meant take. They needed it more. She just had no idea that what she spotted might have been Sumiko's ship. What was that phrase from that other franchise that we never speak of? Ah, yes ... 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few', certainly applied here.

Though, who knew if it was actually a ship, or something else. Still at this point it was a chance they'd have to take. Even if it meant possibly leading them into more danger, and maybe another fight. Or they might get lucky and escape unscathed, or find another older but still functional ship lying about. Though luck hadn't exactly been on their side at any point during this little adventure.

[member="Phylis Alince"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Phylis Alince"], [member="Elayne Saedaris"]


The ship Elayne had found turned out to be a not particularly impressive, but serviceable, old freighter. The sort you saw in holovids about smugglers and such. Kaida, who at this point could barely stand, gave it a look and nodded. For some reason it was leaking a dark side aura that hurt her brain, but beggars could not be choosers.


"That'll do. Let's go," she said tiredly, not at all concerned about taking someone else's ship. Then again, its owner, unbeknownst to them, was sort of evil anyway. So without further ado she limped towards the freighter. Telekinesis pulled open the landing ramp and she boarded, doing her best not to collapse.