Why Must We Fight?

[Jamie Pyne]

High above the towering buildings light flashed through the darkened clouds of Bastion. It was as if the planet itself was conspiring against them that evening.

"Do you think they'll really help us?" She asked as they walked briskly between street after street, ducking between alleyways whenever they saw someone that could potentially be looking for them. "Just because they don't favor his family doesn't mean they'd want to help us, especially if there is any chance it could get back to them. These kind of people only look out for themselves."

Pausing a moment a pair of men dressed in some ornate looking clothes sprinted past the two as they waited in the darkness of a side street.

Jamie could feel her heart skip a beat, hoping they wouldn't take a second look as Aela and she slipped out and continued toward their destination.

"If they won't help us we're going to be in some trouble."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

”I don’t know.” She admitted to Jamie, frowning slightly as they watched the two men sprint by them. There were probably dozens, if not hundreds, of guards in the area, and they had to be extra careful as they made their way.

”They may not like us.” Aela went on as they slowly moved into the next street over. ”But they hate Joran.”

From what she knew, that hate ran very strongly through House Mierel. Once upon a time they had been one of the strongest houses on Bastion, but Joran’s father had betrayed them, and in a coup that shook the Families to their core slaughtered half of House Mierel at a ball. It was an event many still remembered, though they preferred not to. ”We just have to give them an opportunity to strike back at what they hate.”

They would take the bait, Aela was confident of that, she had to be.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I suppose. Let's hope that's true."

She kept an eye on the lookout for every person that approached or they passed on their way to the other family's estate. In total it took them about twenty five minutes of constant walking and ducking in and out of alleys to actually make it the two and a half kilometers to the estate, where tall, thick gates surrounded the home to keep out unwanted guests. The windows along the front of the estate were well lit, as was the yard out front to detect those trying to enter uninvited. A small comm was present on the column next to the gate that was likely used to page the estate for guests.

Jamie shot a look to Aela, "Should we?" Use the comm, she was referring to of course.

Hopping over the gate and going straight to the estate's door might not be the best approach to make an impression while asking for help after all.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela looked at the gate for a moment, then shrugged. There wasn’t really any point in stalling or trying to figure anything else out, they didn’t have many choices here after all. Without a moment of hesitation she reached out and pressed the comm-button, patiently waiting as a loud buzzing sounded.

A moment passed with no answer.

The Jedi Marshall glanced towards Jamie for a moment, and then pressed the button again. This time she waited an entire minute, thinking that perhaps the servants of the house were slacking off, then she pressed the button once more. Again there was no response, no droid, no servant, no one of the House.

She looked at the doors, frowning slightly. Her eyes cast towards the chrono that she had taken from the small hideout, checking that it wasn’t too late. ”Let’s go over the fence.”

Aela motioned to Jamie.

With the same lithe hop that she displayed back at the Palace Aela quickly bounded over the fence, using one of the posts as a point of contact. She landed with a soft thud, and then turned around to open the gate for Jamie.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie was certainly not that agile, Force or not. It was a good thing Aela had opened the gate for her, otherwise the blonde would have simply stood on opposing sides of the durasteel bars with an empty stare on her face. With the gate open she stepped through and took another look around. The whole inner courtyard was entirely illuminated. There was certainly nowhere for someone to hide if they'd wished it. Approaching the house, if there was any surveillance the two girls would be very easily spotted.

"I suspect we're not about to be greeted to tea and warm conversation."

Two massive ten foot double doors with gold hinges and handles stood before them. The younger girl took it upon herself to knock a handful of times against the door, hoping that perhaps the comm was simply broken and the buzzing wasn't received by the servants inside. Somehow she didn't feel the situation was that simple, or that they were quite that lucky. Their luck thus far had been gosh awful anyway, so why stop there?

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She waited for a moment, looking around to see if there was a camera or some kind of security feed that would pick them up. When nothing came after Jamie’s knocking, Aela frowned and slowly stepped up to the door. She reached up and grasped one of the gold handles, trying it...and finding that the door was unlocked.

The Jedi Marshall tensed slightly as she pulled the handle down, gently pushing on the door to open it. The heavy wood swung slowly, creaking as it revealed darkness beyond. She frowned and looked at Jamie.

”Be ready for anything.” She was just about sick of being unprepared today, and so she pulled one of her lightsabers from the leather sheath. For now she kept the weapon off, though as she stepped through the threshold of the door her fingers tightened slightly around the hilt.

A small hit her almost as soon as she stepped the door.

It was familiar, and made her gut turn. The sweet, coppery metallic scent of blood struck her nose, eyes immediately shifting around the room to search for its source. Her eyes adjusted, light from the open windows above casting a pale glow over several dozen dead bodies scattered all around the lobby.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Being ready for anything didn't include mentally preparing ones self for the gruesome sight of countless slain bodies strewn about the lobby of a noble estate. The moment Jamie's eyes laid upon the scene she immediately covered her mouth and turned away, desperately trying to hold back the nauseous feeling she had been stricken with by the blood and disfigured members of what she presumed to be house Meriel. It was hopeless however, and her natural instinct overrode her desire to hold her composure. One dry heave later and she quickly pulled away her hand, a burst of vomit erupted from her and onto the floor just beside the doorway. With a grimace and a groan she leaned her head against the doorway, hands above her.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly, though kept her eyes shut, head against the frame. "I can't." She shook her head. "I can't go in there. That's karked up."

To expect any other response from someone who had never seen anything even remotely close to that would be foolish. She had lived her life in isolation, away from the horrors of murder and death like this. Her family saw well to that. To be thrown into the mix so abruptly, the sight of dozens of slain victims in such a manner was overwhelming to the young woman. Jamie turned, facing outwards to the courtyard and stepped down the single small step to the entrance, looking up to the sky. "Why?!" She asked aloud. What was the point of killing all of those people she wondered.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela didn't react the same way of course, she had seen something like this before.

The Temple on Coruscant, the scene on Lujo, the 'sanctuary' on Tython. She grimaced slightly, turning away if only to get the sight from her eyes. The brutality wasn't something that she was exactly used to, but she had seen it before. Usually there were Sith involved of course, but this...this was something all its own. She heard Jamie wretch outside the door, likely throwing up whatever food was left in her stomach as the sight of blood caused her stomach to stir.

Aela was about to answer her padawan when a voice rang out.

"Oh. You know, just sending a message."

The Jedi Marshall reacted instantly, turning back towards the bloody scene to see a figure standing within the darkness of the lobby. Her eyes tried to adjust, seeing the silhouette of a woman outlined against the backdrop of bare light. For a moment Aela scowled, then ignited the blade of her lightsaber. The bright violet plasma sprang into life and immediately illuminated the room, casting a light on the figure. The girl stared back at her and Aela instantly recognized her; Villia.

The girl was covered in blood, two knives in her hand, a blaster strapped to her thigh and an odd mask hanging around her neck.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

The voice startled her, having not noticed the woman before. Quickly the girl spun around, though the feeling of nausea was thoroughly embedded in her system by this point, and despite her best attempts to avert her eyes she couldn't help but focus on her peripheral vision. Another tense dry heave and she buried her face in the crook of her arm, turning away once more. Judging by the momentary glimpse she caught of the woman just inside after Aela had ignited her saber it looked like one of the sisters, though honestly she wasn't quite certain which of the two it was.

Jamie managed to hold back a second round of vomit, though only just barely. This was hardly the time to be queasy, but her stomach argued otherwise. She took another step outside, her guard completely down, back turned from both Aela and Villia, hardly the smartest idea, though in the moment there was no choice in the matter. The best she could manage was to turn her head to the side, casting her voice back behind her as she spoke. "What kind of message could you possibly send by senselessly killing all these people? What kind of an animal are you?"

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela didn't say anything, she only observed the girl.

"That opposition will not be allowed."

Again, Aela found herself seeing the similarities between this girl and the Sith. It was odd really, though once again to be expected. A theory began to form in the back of her head, one that she would surely be able to confirm with Joran. The old man had mentioned a cabal of people, some of the families involved...but others as well. It was slowly becoming more and more clear to her that those others were likely Sith. Whether it was the One Sith, some remnant, or another group entirely remained to be seen, but from the way the girl spoke...and moved for that matter...

Her training screamed Sith.

One didn't necessarily have to be a force user to train with the Sith, many of the soldiers that now worked in the 5th Legion had been trained in specific techniques to combat force users, many of them by the Sith themselves. An assassin trained by the Sith was still no match for a true Jedi, but it did conform with Aela's theory that the girls...and Joran for that matter had been working with the Sith this entire time.

"Step back Jamie." Aela said quietly. "She's trying to bait us inside."

The more tight the quarters, the better the fighting was for her.

They had to make sure not to give the girl any advantages, if only because they had no idea what she was capable.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

There was absolutely zero chance of Jamie stepping one foot inside that estate. Aela needn't worry about that. There was no amount of baiting that this girl could possibly do to force her into that building. She would sooner burn the thing to the ground before allowing herself the be in the company of that much death. Despite that though, there was a growing anger inside of her, that someone could be so terribly heartless that they would purposefully and without any regard kill an entire family of people, and stick around to proudly display their work.It was simply unthinkable to Jamie. Processing that very though was nearly impossible. The blonde simply stood where she was at outside, slowly shaking her head.

"I thought your father was a monster. Evil breeds evil. You will answer for this. Perhaps not today. Perhaps not tomorrow. But you will answer for it."

Her hand raised to her chest, slowly removing the saber that she had stashed away. Finally she turned back around, standing several feet behind Aela. With the emitter facing the ground her finger slid over the activator, causing the bright yellow beam to burst outwards, the low cycling hum of the blade breaking the silence within the air around her. There was still one question however, and that was where the other sister was? She had to assume she was nearby. If she had thought far enough ahead that the two would wind up here she surely wouldn't have come alone to fight both Aela and Jamie.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Overconfidence was a grand thing, and from what she could tell this girl had plenty of it. In a very messed up way she was right to have it, as it appeared right now she had slaughtered an entire house plus its guards on her own. Aela sensed no others around, and if there was a mass of House Warriors nearby then they were doing a very good job of hiding. She frowned for a moment, taking one step back so that she was just a little ahead of Jamie.

"Where's your sister?" Aela said simply. "Sending you and your guards to do all the dirty work?"

She decided that pressing the girls ego was the best option, and from the look that she gave her it was the right decision. Villia took a step forward, a biting snarl sitting on her lips as she slowly began to approach Aela and Jamie.

"My sister doesn't send me to do anything! And I don't need help killing idiots like this!"

Aela felt somewhat dumbfounded.

Either this girl was a complete idiot, blind with rage, or she was lying. Her lightsaber gently shifted to a more defensive stance, her feet moving forward and her eyes locking on the girl. Villia charged at her, breaking into a quick sprint and raising her blades. The Jedi Marshall frowned for half a moment, and then thrust her free hand forward. In one quick and smooth motion she simply seized Villia within the force and threw her against a nearby column.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie made a small pained expression, hearing the sound of the duracrete give a bit under the impact of the girl's collision. Still, it did little to deter the woman's blind rage and hatred. She simply stood up, wiped away the bit of blood that seeped from the inside of her mouth, likely due to involuntarily biting her inner cheek when she hit. Her knives still in hand she spit a wad of thick crimson liquid onto the front step, her eyes shifting past Aela to the other girl, still standing rather idle.

Her tongue traveled slowly over the top row of teeth, some kind of atrocious plan bubbling away in her head until she finally divulged her wicked thoughts.

"I don't recognize the child you brought with you, Talith. But wouldn't it be just so exciting if I cut her into tiny pieces in front of you?"

Jamie's head turned ever so slightly, one brow raising as the other lowered,lips thinning. This woman is deranged, insane even. The girl said nothing in return, simply remained where she had been standing throughout the exchange of words between Aela and herself. While she was relatively certain this girl posed little threat on her own, it was likely that they didn't have too much time before other uninvited guests joined the fray. Time was being wasted, and whether this girl intended to try and kill them here and now, or just delay them long enough to capture them mattered very little in the grand scheme of things. They needed to be gone sooner rather than later.

"What do you think, hmm? Dragging this knife along that pale flesh, she would feel every. single. motion. Like art, really. I would make certain she was alive for quite some time. After all, toys should be played with."

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

She was now entirely confident in her earlier assessment, Villia had been trained by the Sith.

The girl was likely insane in one form or another, but the taunting of enemies, the way that she moved...Aela had seen it all before. Sith Assassins worked the same way, and The Jedi Marshall had fought plenty of those within her time. It also meant that she at least half knew what to expect from Villia, and most of all it meant that she knew she could ignore pretty much everything that she was saying. That coupled with the knowledge that she couldn't actually use the force at all meant this would be over quickly.

"Jamie." She said quietly. "Ignore her, make sure the streets are clear and get ready to go. House Mierel can't help us."

That was of course, stating the obvious, but she didn't know how her apprentice was faring at the moment. "I'll handle her."

"YOU'LL HANDLE ME?!"

Villia screeched, loud enough that it made Aela flinch slightly. A second after her scream Villia launched herself forward, practically jumping at Aela and slashing her blades wildly. The Marshall's eyes popped open, and out of pure reaction her lightsaber flicked up to block the blades. To her surprised the knives caught on the plasma, letting off bright red sparks as they clash against superheated violet.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie stood there motionless, saber still trained towards the ground, bright yellow light reflecting off of her clothing and the soil beneath her feet. The threat of Villia's words hadn't disturbed her so much as the act of actually saying them. She had never bore witness to such insanity or depravity. She was baffled by what was transpiring that evening. Everything from the moment they arrived at the ball had completely turned 180 degrees around. This woman had butchered a whole house full of people and proceeded to admire her work. And as if that weren't quite enough, she now spoke of Jamie like some kind of morbid voodoo doll of sorts. Her eyes flinched when the knives and saber locked into one another, the hiss and snapping of the two emitting a profound combination of sounds. Even Aela seemed rather taken back by that revelation.

What the? If she knew who Aela was, why would she even attempt to fight her alone? Even with training? A Jedi was still, well, a gorram Jedi.

Still, she didn't want to be entirely useless. What point was there in checking the streets? If the guards were approaching there was nothing she could do to stop them, and it wouldn't buy them any time to escape either. As stupid of a decision as it was, and Jamie knew so, she ran forward to help Aela, even if she didn't want it. Her hand gripped the hilt of the weapon as she stepped in from the side to thrust the blade towards Villia's right leg, though much to her surprise the woman was rather quick on her feet. Half turning her body she avoided the yellow beam of plasma, then quickly pushed back on Aela's saber to release the two knives, stepping forward out and kicking Jamie in the center of her stomach.

The blow was incredibly harsh, more so than anything she could have anticipated, sending her stumbling back, free hand gripping her abdomen as she fell to her knees and struggled for a moment for air. The woman must have been wearing some kind of weighted boot or -- she looked down to see a bit of red seeping between the fabric of the dress and her fingers. It wasn't that the kick was hard, it was that she had a hidden blade within the base of the boot. Fortunately enough Villia turned her attention back to Aela with a rather proud smirk on her face, driving the pair of knives back towards the elder woman in a frenzy of slashes while Jamie sat on the ground, partially in shock, the pain itself not yet registering.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela moved fast, faster than Vilia had any home to keep up with. The girl was trained, she would give her that, but she wasn't a Jedi Master. As soon as she saw the red tinged on Jamie's fingers, saw the expression her face, she knew that she had to end this quickly. Villia attempted to slice towards her leg, biting her blide down with a swift and savage strike. Before she could even reach however Aela was already moving back.

"Jamie!" Two quick steps back saw Aela retreat from the girl.

As if she were a hawk that had spotted prey Villia went for it. She bounced forward on her heels, taking Aela's retreat as a sign of weakness. The Jedi Marshall shifted her stance however, knowing full well that Villia's momentum would be her undoing. Aela slipped to the side of the girl, moving to the left and letting her blade pass Villia's right as she fell forward. Surprise showed on the girl's face, a sudden realization that she had overstepped herself.

Vilia stumbled, and Aela kicked out her leg.

One swift jag of her leg hooked onto Villia's, and with a sudden ferocity she pulled the girl to the ground.

The girl went flying into the air, her feet tossed out from beneath her. Aela's hand came up and slammed into the girls back, a loud crack ringing out as one or two of her ribs splintered. Villia let out a cry of pain and anguish, crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

Jamie rocked forward and back on her knees, her hand holding tightly against the wound that had been made. She wasn't sure how deep it was, but the blood was a steady flow now, despite her efforts to tell herself it wasn't bad, that she could stand and fight if she needed to. In reality the very thought of standing at this point was rather nauseating. The steady rocking back and forth didn't do much to dull the pain that was beginning to finally hit her, but it felt like something she had to do at that moment in time. Whatever was going on between Villia and Aela was a bit of a blur, something she was hardly paying attention to anymore, save for the wince when she heard the girl scream in pain as she fell to the ground. As the seconds passed each time she drew in a breath a small sting of pain would ripple through her upper body. She did her best to hold back the cries, the tears though would not be denied.

They still needed to get out of there, now more than ever. The girl was, at least temporarily, out of the equation. Aela and Jamie still needed to get Joran and the others off world, and soon. The other sister was also still unaccounted for and that was cause enough for alarm. Jamie took another look towards her abdomen, shifting her hand away for a better look at the gash, though it was impossible to see clearly due to the amount of blood that was covering the area. A soft whimper and came and went, though it had been loud enough for Villia to hear.

"Stupid girl." She said from a few feet away lying on the ground. "You'll die long before you make it .... off of Bastion."

There was a curious grin on her face, one that hid something that words hadn't spoken, but it sent a chill up the blonde's neck.

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela kicked Villia in the face.

It wasn't very Jedi like behavior, nor was it something Aela would ordinarily do...but in the end she was also her fathers daughter. As Aela's foot connected the girl let out a blubbering whimper, and then collapsed onto the ground unconscious.

"Come on." She said as she immediately dropped down and turned towards Jamie, her fingers gently wrapping around Jamie's hand so that she could take a look at the wound. "Let me see."

The Jedi Marshall pulled Jamie's hand away, inspecting the wound for a moment with a deep frown. Stomach wounds were...difficult things, they often struck vital organs and made a hell of a mess. She frowned for a moment and gently tugged Jamie back against one of the pillars. She had no talent in the Jedi art of healing, but she knew a thing or two about first aid. She could see that the blood wouldn't be stopping for some time...at least not on it's own.

She frowned slightly, then glanced at her lightsaber. "Jamie."

The girl wouldn't like this.

"Jamie I need to cauterize the wound." She had done it more than once on the battlefield to herself, but...well this was different. "It'll stop the bleeding, and will let us get you back to the safehouse. Bjorn is a battlefield surgeon...he can take a closer look at you there."

It wasn't by coincidence that they had a doctor with them. Bjorn came on almost every mission with Aela since her near death during the Shadow Syndicate op. One of the Hutt agents had slashed her femoral artery, and she had almost bled out, of course in the end she had made it, but the entire ordeal had been a source of paranoia ever since. Bjorn would be able to take a closer look at Jamie's wound and hopefully...well hopefully they could find another way off-world.

 

[Jamie Pyne]

"I'm--" She started to say, quickly covering the gash again with her bloodstained hand. "I'm okay. I can make it back! It's not that bad! Really!" Her voice was nearly a frantic shrill, though still relatively quiet in volume when she finally spoke.With a shift of her knee she tried to force herself up from the ground with no success at all. The leg buckled beneath her and she fell back to a sitting position, her hands bracing so that she didn't completely topple over. A moment or two passed, and she noticed things around start to look off. Aela's presence shifted, as if there were two of her kneeling on either side of her. The blonde's eyes darted back and forth, blinking repeatedly as she tried to focus on what she was seeing. A cold sweat broke out along her face, neck, and palms. It was a strange sensation to feel cold, yet overheated.

"I don't....feel...we-" She couldn't get the final word out before she vomited without warning onto the ground in front of her which served only to agitate the wound further and finally broke her into a cry of agony.

Trying to help Aela was probably the worst idea she had this whole trip, and by far the most costly. As she sat, unaware of what was going on Villia's words came back to her in a haunting manner.

You'll die long before you make it off of Bastion. What had she done?

[member="Aela Talith"]

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jamie Pyne"]

Aela didn't know if Jamie had been poisoned or not, and right now that wasn't her main focus. She gently pressed back on Jamies shoulder, straightening her back slightly and looking at the wound for a moment more before glancing at Jamies face.

There was no way she'd make the three kilometers.

"I'm sorry. This is going to hurt, but I'm not letting you die here." It was a half hearted apology, if only because she knew that in the end it was the right thing to do. One hand gently held Jamie back the other pushed the girls arms to her side, then with a quick, almost practiced flick, she gently pressed the blade of her lightsaber against Jamies skin for just half a second.

The skin would sear and burn, but the wound would close.

It was what mattered right now, the only thing that would get Jamie back to the safehouse witbout her dying. Everything else...everything else could come later.