Private Where the Truth Lies

[Balun Dashiell]

While she expected Balun to have left through the graciously broken down door, she would be lying to say she was surprised at the least to see him hop up the catwalk. "You're an idiot." She muttered under her breath. The sith lord had already made his threats. But as he was distracted speaking with Revna, Falentra moved her hand discreetly at her side, manipulating the force around she manouvred the datapad in his pocket out. Then her hand would raise higher outwards, tugging with the force.

As the propelled datapad reached her palm with a firm slap, an edge of her lips tugged upwards in shadow of a coy, mischievious smirk. In an instant, Falentra raised the blaster from her side, activating two shots in the Siths' direction, more as as a distraction than anything else. "Run." She told Balun before taking of, stepping off the catwalk.

Movement caught his eye, a device soaring into Nouqai Veil 's grip. She had made the first move and set things into motion once again. Balun stood at the ready, awaiting when his weapon needed to be activated. His friend had other plans; however, once again, he told him to run and, this time, took the lead. Truthfully, he'd have been relieved had Balun the time to think about what he was doing. Instead, he stepped back off the catwalk, following closely behind Nouqai without hesitation.

"So these are your friends, huh?" Balun spoke out as he caught up to her side, the two running in pace as the doors to their section of the Shipyard station were now open. "It could just be me, but I don't think they're as accepting of your diverse social circle as I am," he added, clearly masking the seriousness of the situation with intended humour and sarcasm.

"I mean....-The Girl seems alright. She Single?" he carried on, speaking between breaths as they sprinted down the corridor. Despite trying to make Nouqai laugh, his eyes were glancing left and right for an exit out of the place. He wasn't always like this; for the most part Balun was a serious kind of guy when it came down to life and death situations, but he hadn't seen Nouqai in a very long time, and if something were to happen to him, he'd be glad to be remembered by his more optimistic nature.

Revna & Darth Strosius

 

[Revna]

The situation was growing more and more tense by the moment. Revna kept her gaze on her Master, but she was well aware of where Falentra and her Jedi friend were. From her periphery, she could see that the young Jedi had decided to stand with his friend. She wondered if they both were going to toss aside the chance at escape that Revna had given them - choosing instead to stand and fight - or if Falentra was going to indeed take the offered hand from Darth Strosius, and come back with them willingly.

She didn’t want to fight her friend. And she had no quarrel with the Jedi boy either. But if pressed, and given no other option - she would defend herself, and fight back with everything she had within her, and with far more wariness. She had underestimated Falentra once, and she had told herself long ago that she wouldn’t do so again.

Right now, however, her attention and concern was what the Sith Lord had to say to her in regards to her rather pointed, accusing questions directed towards him. Her anger was roused, but she refrained from any action for or against her High Priest - for now, anyway.

That all depended on how he chose to respond to her, and if Falentra agreed or disagreed with his statements.

Revna noticed the twitch in his extended hand, and watched as he straightened up and glanced her way. She held her breath as he responded, telling her that he had sent Falentra on a mission - one that had been intercepted and allowed her to become compromised. But the rest of his statement was - vague. Her golden gaze narrowed; she’d been around the Sith Lord long enough to know that when he was being vague, then he was hiding something, or keeping something to himself.

And she was almost certain now that he wasn’t telling her the full story.

Unfortunately - Revna wouldn’t have a chance to respond or react accordingly, as the tension would finally break as Falentra made her next move. Revna caught movement from the corner of her eye as she registered her Master’s datapad flying from his robes and into the awaiting hand of the former apprentice, and a moment later she registered two shots from a blaster in Falentra’s hand - the streaks of plasma ripping through the air and Revna realized one would certainly hit her. She shifted away at the last moment, more out of reaction - but still felt the searing pain a bolt ripped into her arm.

She regretted her decision on not wearing her new Sith plate - but she was thankful she had that healing implant.

The pain wasn’t the only thing she felt at that moment. A lot of emotions cascaded over her as she watched the other two jump off the catwalk and make a mad dash for the escape route she had provided for them. It seemed that she had underestimated her friend, again.

Revna knew she had screwed up - enough so that she couldn’t bring herself to look at the masked Sith Lord. She had no idea how he would react, or respond - as she had never truly revealed this level of disobedience and disregard before. And because she had distracted him - he had lost his datapad and now it was in the hands of one who could only be assumed to be an enemy, and she had gotten injured, though the healing implant her Master had provided to her was already sealing the wound.

“Well chit.” was all she could mutter as she launched herself off the catwalk, intent on pursuing the other two in an attempt to fix her mistakes - unless Darth Strosius had other plans.


Darth Strosius // Nouqai Veil // Balun Dashiell

 

[Darth Strosius]

At her prodding the masked man's fingers clenched for a moment, a flare of anger spiking through his being at the reminder of their meeting with the Empress. "Had Malum done his part and joined me in my attempt to slay her then that little venture would have been so very productive!" Given that neither targets of his ire were there at the moment he was quick to recompose himself, but it was nonetheless a noteworthy departure from his calm and controlled demeanor thus far.

"But no, he chose mercy as he did with you. The mistake of the young." He clicked his tongue and sighed, frustrated and exasperated in equal measure instead of the earlier aggression. "He'll learn. They all do in time. Should you make the wise choice of coming with me then you'll learn as well how foolish such things can be. There is no mercy, only weakness."

It seemed like Falentra was finally starting to pick apart the deeper meaning into his words though, a realization dawning on her that drew a cold chuckle from him. "Proof indeed. You stand as the prime example at present young one." One hand gestured out. "Am I wrong and thus I begin to spare Jedi in order to draw them into the banner of the Sith?" Then his other gestured out, both resembling a set of scales that could tip either way. "Or am I correct and therefore I save myself the trouble of hunting you, putting you and your Jedi friend down right here and now as I should do."

Darth Strosius regarded the pair with a slight cock of his head to the side. "Which shall it be? Submit or perish?"

Then his eyes widened behind his mask as the datapad once hidden in his pocket suddenly flew threw the air and into her grasp. Just like that the environment shifted, the air seeming to drop in temperature a couple degrees as his hands dropped down to his side. The masked man simply let the bolt impact him, quickly dissipating into his heavy robes without any real signs of damage, as his lightsaber was pulled back into his grasp. "Your choice has been made then."

A single glance was cast back at Revna as she reeled from pain, and given a customary look in order to make sure that the shot hadn't hit her anywhere fatal, before he leapt off of the catwalk after the pair. He ignited his lightsaber as he hit the ground running, his heavy robes and armor not seeing to weigh him down in the slightest as he bolted after them. :"Keep the doors closed.": A subtle order spoken across the shared commlink to his apprentice, but one said with such a deadly stillness that it left no room for argument. :"I will take care of these Jedi scum myself.":

Nouqai Veil / Revna / Balun Dashiell

 

[Nouqai Veil]

"My trust lies with him, not with you. You have done nothing to gain it." She spoke frankly. It was interesting to see how the teachings between her Master of the Dark and the Sith Inquisitor's differed. Mercy was not weakness, it was a tool for one to use to their advantage. Her blackout-cyan eyes narrowed at the next statement.

Arguably foolishly, she had made her choice, drawing on the only weapon at hand.

Truly, she had not expected her shots to land their hits, she was never adept with firearms. And there was a bout of guilt she felt when one had hit her friend in the shoulder. Fortunately, no where near any organs fatal. It was too late to now as the two former Jedi jumped down the catwalk in a mad dash. As dire as this circumstance was, she knew was that she was not leaving her friend's side till she knew he was out of harm's way.

Even through the thick of the chaos, Nouqai let out a small guffaw at her friend's comment to lighten the mood. "Revna, yes. The grumpy one, no."

"Hey Revna, Balun asks if you're single." The question called out as they ran, unsure if the young woman would be able to hear it, but more so prodding some fun at both her friends. If this was their last moments before they perished under the wrath of the Lord Inquisitor, they might as well.

"HE'S SEVENTEEN!" She announced.

However, Strosius was less keen on the light humour, he was closing the distance precariously. It was inevitable that they'd hit a dead end, that they would have to stand their ground and fight for their lives. Nouqai halted in her tracks, turning around. "Cover your ears," she warned her friend. And with a deep inhale, she let out a scream sonic from the vocal cords of a siren.

Darth Strosius Revna Balun Dashiell

 

[Revna]

The pain from the blaster bolt was sharp, but it was enough to snap her out of the confused and angry haze that had begun to draw itself over her. It helped to clarify and see things from a different angle and point of view.

A lot of foolhardy choices had been made in a short span of time - from both her’s, her Master’s and Falentra’s side. What was supposed to have been just another mundane mission with the Sith Lord had taken quite the unexpected turn, and in the midst of enemy territory, no less.

Everything was now complicated, and what was worse - emotions had now interwoven themselves into the situation at hand. It was these things that Revna briefly reflected on as she felt the temperature around her Master drop as he made his displeasure very evident to all around him, especially as another stray bolt from Falentra slammed into his armor and robes but seemingly had no effect on him.

That voice of his that had declared that Falentra had made her “choice” for her and her Jedi friend Balun, made Revna realize that he was no longer interested in capturing Falentra - especially when his lightsaber was summoned to his hand. She’d been with and around her High Priest long enough to understand what was going to come next, and that his mind was focused on one thing now.

But before he took off after the two fleeing individuals, he checked Revna briefly to make sure she wasn’t seriously injured before he in turn leapt off the catwalk to pursue, the crimson light of saber igniting with an angry hiss that made his intentions clear.

He was going to kill them.

Darth Strosius spoke into his comms directly to Revna, and his voice was still and quiet - a tone she recognized to mean that he was not happy with her in the slightest. His words were a direct order, and to further disobey would bring further consequences for her, of that she was certain.

But…that was her friend he intended to kill.

Falentra’s voice called back to Revna as the pair ran through the doors that the Sith apprentice had blown open for them to escape through, something they should have done before this point. Despite the direness of the situation, the Disciple couldn’t help but give a half smile at her friend’s jesting words, and she realized a cold hard fact:

She couldn’t let her Master kill her friend.

Not only that, Falentra didn’t belong to Darth Strosius. Her well being, her existence, and whatever punishment or reprimand she faced for her choices…that was under the guidance and discretion of another. And Revna knew that her Master would be overstepping if he laid a hand on Darth Malum’s apprentice; she could only imagine the nightmare that would come should her cousin learn that his own battle-brother had taken it upon himself to mete out punishment to his apprentice.

As the Sith Lord moved further away, her mind swirled with possibilities on what she should do. To disobey a direct order could bring an even harsher punishment down upon her own head - possible execution, or worse, dismissal as his Disciple - but on the other hand, a feud between Malum and Strosius was not a pleasant thought either.

She had just made up her mind on what she was going to do, when she noticed Falentra stop and turn around to face Darth Strosius. The small Disciple frowned slightly and tilted her head curiously, before she noticed the aquatic girl say something to Balun before she inhaled and expelled a scream that immediately forced Revna to cover her ears and recoil in pain, shutting her eyes tight against the sonic attack.

Revna didn’t know if it would be enough to dissuade her Master, or even if it had affected him, so despite her disorientation, she reached out to him through their comms:

-“Just let her go! She’s not your concern anyway! She belongs to Malum; let him deal with her, as is his duty as her master”- she stressed to her own Lord in the last part. She hoped Strosius would hear her and pull off his pursuit. If he didn’t, well…maybe she could be able to buy Falentra and Balun some more time by closing the doors on her Master…exactly the thing he told her not to do.

Maybe her act of mercy would be noticed by her friend, and would convince Falentra to return home.

Either way, Revna was sure to face the wrath of the Lord Inquisitor himself; but that was something she felt she could handle.


Darth Strosius // Nouqai Veil // Balun Dashiell

 

[Balun Dashiell]

A piercing sonic scream ripped through the air, erupting from Nouqai Veil . Balun instinctively raised his hands to cover his ears, pressing his fingers as close to his eardrums as he could, desperate to block out the concussive sound. Astonishment flickered in his eyes as he watched Nouqai wield an ability he had never seen before. Everything around them seemed to shake—loose objects rattling violently—as the force of her scream disrupted the space around them. Ethereal energies within the Force spiraled around her, tangible and wild, as she summoned her strength in a desperate attempt to defy the Sith Lord, Darth Strosius . It was a gamble, but they had no other choice.

Despite every fiber of Balun's being urging him to ignite his lightsaber and face Strosius—the obvious threat—he fought the impulse. Instead, he lunged forward, grabbing Nouqai's hand and pulling her with him, pivoting toward the blast doors. Their only hope was escape.

What surprised Balun most was Revna 's unexpected defiance of her master, all for the sake of their mutual friend, Nouqai. It was a fierce loyalty among friends—a quality the Jedi had long taught him was absent in the Sith. Yet, here it was, right before his eyes. In Revna, Balun saw a living contradiction to the rigid biases that both sides often held. The Jedi and Sith were supposed to be polar opposites, locked in endless disagreement. But witnessing this act firsthand was a refreshing reminder that the world wasn't so black and white. There was still plenty of room for goodness in people, and it seemed the Sith were not excluded from that possibility.

He didn't wait to see how the Sith Lord would react. He didn't care whether Strosius had been affected by the sonic blast or whatever extraordinary force Nouqai had just unleashed. His focus was singular: escape. Reaching out with his right hand as they ran, Balun summoned the Force, extending his will toward the blast doors ahead. He strained to trigger their closure, praying they would have just enough time to slip through before the Sith caught up.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Each step was a heavy footfall that seemed to carry him ever nearer the running pair, a harsh ringing tone of armor against metal with a speed that left little room for reprieve from the noise. And certainly no reprieve from concern given how quickly he was gaining ground on them. It was far from the first time that he had chased down an opponent of course, each time had a fairly similar ending and this one would be no different. These two Jedi would be cut down and when found would send quite the message throughout the Inner Rim.

Surprisingly Falentra did actually turn to face him once more, a bit soon for making a stand given that she had just started running but it hardly mattered. Darth Strosius raised his blade as he dashed forward to close the distance and cleave the young Jedi in half in one fell swoop. Then she screamed and his advance lost all momentum as he recoiled, digging his heels into the floor and almost collapsing to his knees as his visor cracked and his hands moved in a reflexive but useless gesture to cover his ears despite his helmet.

The sound of ringing in his ears and the faint sensation of something warm dripping down his face from one of them were the only two senses that he had for a brief moment as he swayed on his feet, blinking and trying to shake off the disorientation as he slowly looked back up to try and see where his prey had gone. As he watched them run he could hear the oddly quiet voice of his apprentice, albeit only in his left ear, as she begged him to halt his pursuit.

The masked man's fangs ground together as he shook his head once more in an attempt to relieve himself of the incessant ringing before he began moving forward once more. :"She has the data we came for Revna.": He could barely hear himself speak, his footsteps starting to increase in speed once more as he saw the doors ahead of him starting to close just after the pair had managed to get past them. :"And who knows what secrets she may have gleamed from her service to Malum? She's a threat to the Sith as a whole if she escapes now. We're in a war, Disciple, and last time we couldn't secure victory even with an empire that had stood for decades in well-developed space. Now we cling to the Outer Rim and its backwater worlds and yet the war still follows. We need every advantage we can muster if we are to survive, let alone win.":

In a burst of speed he surged forward as the door slid down and almost made it to the floor, sliding a gauntlet underneath it and grabbing hold of it just before it could close on him. For most this would be a rather painful way to lose a hand. But for Darth Strosius, the door stopped. It shuddered with effort as it tried to close but once he had deactivated his lightsaber and brought both hands underneath it it began to raise rather than lower, the metal screeching and whining in protest as it was steadily pulled up.

:"I watched the last empire burn down Revna, I'll not watch this one do the same. No matter the cost in life and material. Falentra is gone, only an enemy remains. And you know what we do to our foes.": With a mixture of physical effort and his strength in the Force, he threw the door upwards and broke it with the maneuver. It hung at an odd angle in the doorway, sparking and motionless yet still whirring. More importantly though, it was wide open and allowed the Sith Lord to run through with his blade drawn once more without issue.

Nouqai Veil / Revna / Balun Dashiell