Session export: Envoy Corp: The Immortal Sith Part 1

Originally, Sagitta did not want to take this mission. But the look on Marick’s face was enough. And the silence. He let her ramble on for a while before she accepted it. The team had an Arcanist so it would be good for her to learn from them. And Sagitta was never one to turn down a friend’s help or an order. Usually, when a mission involves a heavy connection or link to the Force, Sagitta would avoid it. She had been uncomfortable with the Force despite being a Force User herself.

Yet here she was, on a ship with others. On the way to figure out about this immortal Sith. There was one silver lining. On this ship was someone she knew. Without hesitation, she sat down by Savi as others boarded, and off they went.

Removed her helmet and placed it on her lap, she unbraided her hair and shook it free. Then started to braid it again. Nerves. “You know,” smiled the Mirialan as her pink hues glanced over to the Shani, “I keep seeing you everywhere. How are you?”

Another mission, another collection of unfamiliar faces … except for two. The saffron-skinned femme scanned the ship’s interior to make note of each individual gathered there, giving Koda a curt but polite nod before finally turning to address Sagitta. They sat with one leg folded loosely over their knee and kept their arms stretched out on the back of the seat, one disappearing behind Sagitta’s back.

In an uncommon display of unsolicited candor, Savran offered a genuine smile of their own. “Indeed. I’m starting to think you’re following me, Sagitta,” they teased while carefully observing and making note of the Mirialan’s body language. Would humor help calm her nerves? That remained to be seen.

Savi felt the slightest twitch of their eye occur after the Mandalorian’s question, but they ignored it. “Well, life has been … irksome since we last met, thanks in no small part to the Dogs of Mortis,” they said, opting to use their own derogative moniker for the Children instead of the group’s actual name. “But I’ll live. What about you?”

Something about Savi definitely felt different.

Sagitta chuckled, “I was going to say the same about you, Savi.” She playfully stuck her tongue out at her.

There was something different about Savi. She was more approachable this time. Was it because they had seen each other A few times? Even got each other’s back when they didn’t even know each other that well?

Sagitta grimaced at the mention of Mortis. She was very aware of the threat that looms over the heads but it’s not the current threat they needed to worry about. That she knows of.

‘What about you?’

Sagitta sighed as she finished braiding her hair and rested her head back against the wall. “A lot. I got promoted, went to a new base, and developed feelings for someone and now we’re dating. I’m terrified. Anyways, I’ve also been on my personal path and trying to find someone from my past. A lot of dead ends. Too many planets out there.” She waved her hand.

“But the good news in one of the dead ends, I met my brother! I haven’t seen him in, oh gosh.” She paused for a moment, counting on her fingers. “19? No that’s not right, wait, hold on.” She counted her fingers slower, mouthing some numbers.

“16! I think. The point is moot. So, we got to catch up and then we had to sort of fight to the death. It’s a long and very complicated story. He got me pretty good,” grinned Sagitta. “I also have been training a lot more. It was rough, moving from my family to the base. I had no one to talk to. No one to socialize with. So I’ve been much more aggressive with my training as a way to distract myself and avoidingtheForceasmuchaspossible.” Sagitta said the last bit very rapidly,

“My Buirs are finally riduurok. I’m also responsible to help plan their… after-marriage ceremony I guess. Oh, man. I have so much to do, I need to order the flowers, talk to the caters, Oh no-”

She stopped, “I was supposed to help some people on my base with basic errands. Kriff. I wanted to help them- Wait, when was I supposed to go get fitted for a dress!? Kark. I think I forgot to message my sisters to make sure they won’t take any missions that are on or overlap on the day…”

Koda was geared up in his full black, blue, and gold armor but without his helmet, which was currently sitting on the counter. He had graciously allowed his ship to be the acting vessel for the mission, because who wouldn’t want to be in one of the fastest and durable ships they could possibly be on with decent on-board amenities. The wonderful ding of his caff machine went off and he pulled the mug out from the receptacle, premade the way he liked it. He took one sip and his tired eyes widened to their ‘normal’ state. He made his way up to the cockpit as they exited hyperspace and set his mug on his handy dandy mug holder before taking on the controls of the ship.

Savran lifted a hand to stop Sagitta in the politest way possible. The poor girl had quite the loquacious streak which, while endearing in its own way, could sometimes be overwhelming. They took a moment to process everything she’d said before opening with a joke.

“I’m old, Sagitta,” they began, “You’re going to have to speak a little slower for me.”

Savi’s stared at her with a serious expression for a few moments, letting the tension build. Then, they cracked a grin. “Just kidding. I’m still very young as far as Shani go.”

“Congratulations on your promotion and finding your brother,” they continued. Although they had no siblings of their own, Savran could imagine how nice it must have been for the Mirialan to meet him again … even if it was under violent circumstances. “Remind me to take you out for drinks to celebrate your promotion to …?” They realized they didn’t know what Sagitta’s Brotherhood rank was.

Savran made note of her attempt to gloss over her reluctance to work with the Force. They would have to discuss that with her later.

When Koda passed to move toward the cockpit, Savran’s eyes flicked up to him for a moment. “Hello to you, too, Koda,” they said.

“You two were having a conversation, I didn’t want to interrupt. Besides, I hadn’t had my caff yet.” He chuckled from the cockpit.

“That’s … an acceptable answer, actually,” they replied, gesturing toward the caf-machine. “Spare a cup or two?”

Titius’ head hurt. And the incessant chatter of the two compatriots across the lounge wasnt helping.

Praise be to the inventor of caf and stim patches came the thought as he stumbled to the caff machine. He punched a few buttons, hoping to procure some semblance of palatable.

For his troubles he garnered a shot cup that proceeded to overflow with scalding hot water that flowed down to his boots.

It was going to be a Kam'jin level of a day today…

“Anyone can use the machine, just don’t mess with any of the settings. I will genuinly cause you harm.”

“Duly noted, buckethead” came the growled reply across the comm.

“Keep up that behavior, and it’s a one-way ticket out an airlock. This is my ship and you are my guest. Don’t push it.”

“On our second outing together? You move quickly, Governor,” they said before rising to their feet and making their way to the caf-machine.

Stepping past Titius, Savi prepared a cup for themselves and for Sagitta. Although they weren’t sure if she drank caf, they figured it’d be rude not to bring her one. If anything, they could have two cups if Sagitta refused. As they turned around again to walk back to their seat, Savran gestured toward Titius, and then toward the caf-machine. “Fixed it for you. Just press the ‘start’ button this time.”

The Shani returned to their seat and extended the cup of steaming caf to Sagitta. “Do you drink?”

“My apologies, Proconsul. I speak out of turn.”

Titius stepped around the Shani, signing his appreciation and jabbed the appropriate button.

…his cup filled with spent grounds.

The Mirialan blinked at Savi in confusion before chuckling. “You got me a bit there.” Sagitta quickly became quiet before answering any questions. Her brows furrowed softly. Then Savi returned with a cup as she shook her head, “I do not, but thank you!” Her hues glanced over at Titius, unsure if he was just grouchy like her Buir who hasn’t had caf yet. Or was something else bothering him?

“Are you alright?”

Titius gestured with his cup full of spent caff solids.

“As right as a Separtist on Mustafar…” he grumbled.

“I just wanted some caff…” The mumble trailed off as Titius turned away.

A shape seperated from the small of Titius’ back, floating over to the caff machine with a low warbling drone. A mandible reached out, pressing the “Start” button. A series of soft whirrs and chirps sprung forth.

“Suit yourself, dear,” said Savi, lifting the cup to their lips to take a sip. The temperature of the liquid didn’t seem to bother them.

Hector Von Ricmore was overcome with a plethora of emotions. He was still reeling from the conflict on Korus. Senseless Vizsla lives lost over poor tactics and leadership, Raistlin’s limitation of orbital assets spelling doom for many a man. He had then learned of the dissolution of the Clan’s 2 houses. Things seemed to be changing too much and too quickly.

After the battle he had swallowed his pride and surrendered himself to the native Ga’lum people. It took weeks to prove his intentions, he had desired to learn from the people and make reparations for the battle Vizsla had visited upon them. They taught him how to hunt, to track and survive in the desert. He learned of New flora and fauna to use in his alchemy as he eschewed the lightsaber for alchemical bladed weapons.

This mission would be a fresh start. The time to test what he had learned.

The human made his way through the ship, garbed in his armor with the exception of his helmet, which he held under his arm. He entered the cockpit of the vessel intent on thanking Koda for allowing the use of his ship. He didn’t know the man personally but he took it upon himself to be able to at least recognize the leaders of the various Clans by visual appearance.

“Koda Kendis? I’m Hector Von Ricmore. I wanted to extend my gratitude for allowing this team to use your ship as a transport and to make use of it’s cargo bay. If it is alright with you I would like to take the time to brew some alchemical recipes in the cargo bay. It will likely cause a small bit of smoke to emerge into the ship. Nothing toxic or enough to cause health problems but I wanted to say something so you knew I was not setting the ship on fire.”

Koda looked at a man and cocked an eyebrow “…you’re going to be brewing while we’re on a mission? I’d appreciate it if you would wait until we’ve landed and to do it outside, we’re about to break the atmosphere. I’d rather not have soot all in my cargo hold.”

<@476595775187451913>

Seeing that the man and his droid were both struggling, Savran handed him the extra cup of caf they brewed.

Hector raised his left hand in a placating fashion.

“Your ship, your rules. I’ll wait until we make landfall before brewing anything.”

Titius took the cup gingerly and took a long sip.

With a sigh, he thanked his saviour. “And by what title do I address you? Seems youre part of this team unless I am mistaken.”

Savran lifted their shoulders in a shrug, their multi-colored head-feathers shifting with the gesture. “Nothing so formal as a title,” they replied while regarding the man with an unwavering set of amber eyes with slitted pupils, “My name is Savran. And yes, I’m a part of this team.”

The man was wearing armor resembling that worn by the Inquisitors of the past and of today. But it was also different, modified in ways to include designs that weren’t fit for a human’s anatomy. Curious. “And your name?”

“Titius Osseus” he mumbled into the cup of caff.

Wiping his mouth off with his glove, he continued “…though you may be calling me something significantly more vulgar by nightfall.” Titius wondered aloud “ Always seems that way somehow.”

The more she listened, the more the friendly smile curved on her lips.

Maybe they should play some cards but with Koda being distracted by flying the ship, the point would be moot.

Some teamwork activities would be good. Her eyes glanced over at her team. She doesn’t know them. Any of them.

And the promise to do her best and protect them was evidently there.

She remained quiet as she silently tried to organize her mind and planning out a planner of things she needed to do when they are done with this mission.

Savran quirked a brow at the man’s choice of words. “Oh? Sounds like a fun evening, then.” they said, giving him a wink. “Though, only if you behave.”

Titius was taken aback. He was genuinely surprised they didnt immediately recoil from his name. “I haven’t been known to behave…but then again, past deployments have been restrictive.” A small smirk flashed across his face. He might get along with this crew after all.

… unfortunately his head still hurt.

Savran noted the man’s reaction to their words, though they chose not to address it.

“I don’t care what you do so long as you don’t jeopardize the mission or my health,” they replied, gesturing toward Sagitta. “Hers, too.”

“Or any of us,” Sagitta cheerily added, her eyelids opened with a smile towards Titius and Savran. “I know. It’s quite silly with this line of work.” She waved her hand a bit, “I’ve been told. But it is my personal goal.”

“I make an effort to preserve the integrity of my teamates while deployed” Titius said stoically.

Hector watched the holo recording in silence, enraptured by the events unfolding. Immortality. A fascinating concept. How could the being have done it? His studies at the Shadow Academy, now dubbed the Collegium, had taught him much about Force rituals and esoteric knowledge. But Immortality was always something that eluded him.

There was of course the rumors. So many rumors. Theories of separating ones soul and anchoring it to a phylactery. Transferring one’s consciousness to a clone or other being. Attempts to turn an organic soul into code and preserving it through technology.

Yet no rumor had matched what he witnessed. A lethal blow that appeared to kill the being only for them to revive and continue fighting.

Resurrection of the dead was not unheard of. Both the Sith and Nightsisters had accomplished it in various forms. Hector himself was confident that he would be capable of reanimating and puppeteering a corpse. But to bring something back as more than a puppet? With its intelligence and mental faculties intact? And enabling it to ignore lethal injuries? That was far beyond him.

The human couldn’t help but feel a chill as he contemplated the magnitude of this threat. He was humbled by the gap in knowledge and ability. But he wouldn’t have to face the Sith alone. He stood amongst allies and together they would triumph over this evil.

“I have a question Vrakk.” Hector announced. “Was anything recovered from the attack that we could analyze? Blood samples, skin cells, any remnants of the Sith who fought? And did anyone survive the attack that could give testimony? If we could learn anything unusual about the being, any unnatural smells or strange perspirations, we could narrow down if the being achieved its status through certain alchemical substances and Force rituals.”

Tahiri had stayed with Keraathol, her brightly colored Varactyl, to keep her calm in the cargo hold for most of the journey. She appreciated and had thanked Koda for accommodating her pets, especially since her own ship was in the shop, and she didn’t want Kera to get into anything or scrape up the paint within his ship, if the reptavian got scared or anxious.

Figuring it was almost time for the debriefing, Tahiri had left Kera and headed up to the lounge where the rest of the team had gathered. She had stayed in the doorway just out of sight, patiently waiting for a time to in the earlier conversation to walk in, but then the debriefing started. As the holo recording played through, she couldn’t help the chill that ran down her spine at the ferocity of this “Immortal Sith”. Could this that have been what Solas would have become, if he had achieved that? She quickly dispelled the thoughts of her late Master, and confidently strode into the room.

Setting her jaw, and looking straight at the hologram of Vrakk, her voice carried in a clear serious tone, “So if you’ve found the location of one of these artifacts, what is the history of the surrounding area? That will determine what we’re getting into, and what or whom we’ll be up against. If it’s a Sith temple, or even an alter, it won’t be left laying around, it’s going to either be well guarded, or there will be some trap in place to ensure it’s protection. If it happens to be in a someone’s personal collection or even a smuggler den, well then that will different outcome all together. Believe me, I’ve dealt with both scenarios. Neither are fun to deal with”

A soft huff came from her side as the sleek long figure of a Vornskr, came to stand beside her. Tahiri reached down to pat his head, her sulfuric yellow eyes never leaving the holo as she continued with a few follow up questions, “Also once we have secured this relic, what are we to do with it? Bring it back to the Collegium? Or destroy it? If this is one of many artifacts containing his essense, then you should understand how possibly dangerous it could become if the Collegium collects them all in one place, without the proper precautions?”

A voice. She glanced up and the holoprojector flickered. Getting the hint, Sagitta got up, placed her helmet on the seat, and stood with the others around the projector. Pink hues watched the fight and she couldn’t help but grimace when he was stabbed through the hot. Yet, it was nothing for him.

“Kriff…” Sagitta muttered very quietly, almost inaudible. Hector asked questions first. Blood. Her training with Marick had reminded her of something. She was going to ask the next question, only to be stopped when someone approached. Sagitta looked over at Tahiri, not having met her and she was glad she asked what to do with the artifact.

Her shoulders dropped with relief when they are to destroy it. Though she was concerned about the denizens of Dantooine. If they are wary enough to attack, it may make this mission harder. “I’m guessing you did not happen to leave the said samples with one of us on here?” She asked next, “I have the ability to use the Force to track. It could help us find the relic. Although if it’s split among with many relics or artifacts, we may not get a direct link.” She sighed as she placed her hand on her hip. “I just answered my own question, didn’t I?”

Savran didn’t say a word at first. What could be said? What little glimpse into the more easygoing and jovial version of the Shani vanished when the holo-recording of this unnamed Sith played for all to see. Their lips pressed together tightly, and they felt the muscles in their forearms tense in accompaniment to a fist that clenched so tightly that their knuckles turned a pale red. Flashes of still tender memories flooded their mind as they watched the figure rise again and again, defying common logic and the natural order of things: their fallen master, bloodied and broken, lying on the ground … still.

They scoffed, as much a dismissal of their own troubled musings as what they were seeing on the hologram. Why had this palnan of all people been gifted with the ability to defy death itself? Why not someone who deserved it? Why not Master Jal?

Savi shook their head and returned their attention to the words of their new teammates. Everyone had asked good questions so far. Although they couldn’t think of any of their own, they did have a few comments.

“Dual crossguard lightsabers is very … unorthodox. I can’t place it at the moment, but our mystery Sith here seems vaguely similar to a story I heard ages ago,” they began, pausing for a moment in an attempt to recall the details. Unfortunately, nothing notable came up. “But I can’t recall how it went at the moment. What I can say is that in the likely event that we encounter him during our attempt to locate and destroy these artifacts, that the priority should be to contain and subdue him, since we know we can’t kill him yet.”

Fortunately, Savran’s had recently acquired abilities suited to that task.

“Pink mist, grey rubble and golden shards…I hope I brought enough explosives.”

Sagitta frowned as she looked over at Savi, “A… story?” She murmured, her hands rising as she touched her lips for a bit. “Hmm.” Then she gasped. “Wait!” Quickly she scrambled to her seat and grabbed her datapad. “I remembered this story! Hold on!” She got excited. She was actually useful! For this part at least. She practically skipped back to her spot in the circle.

“Found it! Centuries ago there was a Sith Lord named Darth Scimitar. The name was bestowed upon him because of the brutal way he killed the majority of his enemies by decapitation. There was no rhyme or reason to Darth Scimitar’s attack. It was almost as if butchering is what help him feel alive. Homes were empty and a river of blood ran down the streets. Many brave warriors had attempted to take him down but Darth Scimitar was relentless and seemingly immortal-”

She stopped when Titius spoke. Sagitta glared at him for a moment. Then she reassumed.

“Seemingly immortal. Rumors spread around of three artifacts which he split his soul into. A necklace that once belonged to his family. An old lightsaber from his olden days as an apprentice. And lastly, a ritualistic dagger. One day, he disappeared. It was rumored he will return for the splitting of the soul had driven him mad. It’s only a matter of time.” She stopped reading. “I thought it was a tale…” She frowned, “To warn us of the dangers of immortality.”

Titius’ face melded into moue. “Shame, seems someone already covered that base.”

“Tell us a bit about the temple where the artifact is kept. Material composition, age, current uses and inhabitants?”

“Noted.” Titius stepped away from the briefing and made his way to the cockpit. Poking his head through, he inquired, “What are the chances this thing has an airlock I can HALO out of? Also, parachute.”

“My stars…” Sagitta muttered in surprise as she clutched the datapad close to her chest. She had seen a lot. Nothing like this. Then she slightly cringed at hearing the screams of the civilians. She started to nibble at her lower lip. Then she hears Titius wanting to jump out.

Her hues glanced over at Titius, “May I suggest you hold off on that idea? The others may have questions that we didn’t think of. Could provide us more insight on this job.”

“so thats a no then…alright” Titius retracted his head from the cockpit and turned “I suspect Ill be looking for alternatives. Like my legs. After weve landed”

A chitter, that could only be described as laughter came from the droid hovering by the caff machine.

Savran snapped their fingers after hearing Sagitta’s recounting of the tale. “That’s right. I can’t remember the exact date but Darth Scimitar was active about a generation before I was born, around the middle of the High Republic period almost three hundred years ago.” noted Savi, who gave Sagitta an impressed look. The Mirialan continued to prove her worth.

When the holorecording showed this Darth Scimitar reconstituting himself after being exploded by a landmine, Savran clicked their teeth. This was going to be far more difficult than anything they had encountered before on previous missions.

“Nobody needs to jump out of the ship. This ship is one of the heaviest armored vessels you’ll find. Even if we were landing in a combat zone, we’d be fine.” He said over the comms, Koda worked on finding a suitable landing site.

Hector nodded in agreement. “That would be wise. I must ask a bit of time to brew some alchemical creations. I’m willing to make what I can based upon what the group asks for but I believe creating a strong acid would be helpful in dealing with artifacts the Sith could have strengthened through Force Alchemy or rituals. The threat of force spirits and traps is a possibility that we must take seriously when entering a temple. I carry a blade that can hurt spirits but I would need time to create alchemical solutions and rituals for those who don’t.”

Now, that caught Savran’s attention, prompting them to shift their posture to face Hector. “Same here,” they commented while folding their arms across their chest. “Picked one up after a run in with a Force Wraith on a previous mission.”

That was not something that Savran would ever allow to get the better of them again.

“You specialize in Force Alchemy, then?” they continued, regarding Hector with a scrutinizing gaze. That was a skillset that would certainly prove useful on this mission and for Savi’s future endeavors.

Sagitta smiled at Savi but then blinked. Did she just said-

Okay. She knew there was some species that can live for a long time but she didn’t know that Savi was one of them. Huh. The more she learns.

She gave Vrakk a warm smile before giving him a slight bow. “Thank you for all the information we needed for this mission.”

“I do.” Hector replied. “The Ga’lum people of Korus have taught me much when it comes to working with plants and animals, as well as how to survive hostile environments. But I know that I still have much to learn. I’m incapable of forging or modifying your equipment through mechanically means. But temporary coatings and oils are within my abilities. Such creations require time and materials, both of which are limited.”

Savran nodded, clearly intrigued. Force Alchemy was always a forbidden topic and practice amongst the Jedi, and something they had no reason to investigate in years past. It wasn’t until they began taking work with the Brotherhood and brushing elbows with other Force Users that the possibility of learning more about the Sith practice caught their interest. Now that they knew Hector, this opportunity to deepen their knowledge was one they didn’t intend to waste.

“Remind me to get your comlink codes later,” they said, “If we survive, that is.”

“I would be happy to give them. You can also often find me at Ricmore’s Regal Repository, a shop I run on planet Korus.”

“Ricmore’s Regal Repository, huh?” Savi said, mulling it over for a moment. “Catchy name. A place to sell your creations, I’m guessing?”

“Whats our official standing with the locals? Mercenaries, official Envoy, or are we to blend in?”

A very tired looking Nyssa pops out of the living quarters of the ship, her helmet under her arm and armor all done up. She began mumbling to herself “Koda you said you’d wake me when-“ She then hesitated when she saw that the ship was in fact already full of people. It seems she had slept through the step of picking everyone up and is waking up a little late. “Frakk…”

Feeling the ship land immediately made Nyssa more wary of her situation. She had slept through most chances to get to know her teammates before being forced to set off on a mission with them. She took a glance at each of the ships occupants, the ones in the main room at least. She could sense a few force signatures which pleased her. It always helped to have forcies on the team. She should know, she is one.

The tell-tale shudder of the starship told Savi that they had entered Dantooine’s atmosphere. It was a sensation they’d felt countless of times on various missions taken throughout their life, which still managed to cause their feathers to ruffle in excited anticipation of any impending action. After drinking the last of her caf, the athletically built femme rose from her seat and placed the empty cup at the bottom of the sink near the coffee machine. Then, they made their way to the side of the ship where the offloading ramp was located.

“It’ll probably be better to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible,” Savran suggested. Their tone more measured and conveying an air of professionalism hitherto unseen by the rest of their teammates. “We’ll move quickly and quietly. Although it’s possible that any Force users we may encounter have already divined our interference, we should still act as if we’re trying to maintain the element of surprise.”

Savran glanced at the newest member of the team to arrive in the ship’s common era, examining them with a critical gaze before turning back to the ship’s doors. They performed another routine check of all their weapons to ensure everything was in working order: their Force-imbued flyssa, stilletto, Sith dagger, and Bilari whip were all secure. Their Black Sun Blaster Pistol was loaded and switched into its “safety” mode to prevent any accidental fires.

Once that was done, Savi looked to Sagitta. “Ready?” they asked, giving her a stern nod before pulling their ski mask and hood over their face and head, leaving only their amber eyes and a sliver of their burnt sienna skin visible. Even their hair was tucked away.

Sagitta headed back to where her seat was. She grabbed the helmet and her hand went out to lean against the wall when the ship shuddered. Sometimes it can be more rough than that but to her relief, it wasn’t that bad.

‘Expect the worse,’ Varrk warned the group.

Ugh. She hated those words. She put the helmet over her face. Sagitta started to do weapons check. She blinked in surprise to see another had stepped out. She looked like she was fresh out of bed. Was she a friend of Koda? Maybe lover? Sister? Stoway? What’s the possibility of a stowaway? She smirked at her cussing.

“A… are you okay?” She gently asked.

The Mirialan got distracted when she heard Savi’s voice. Sagitta without thinking, followed. Her helmet lowered slightly to indicate that she was looking at her in the eyes. “As I’ll ever be.”

Kark.

This has been one hell of a week for her.

I’m going to spar you again, Marick, for this, Sagitta mentally promised.

“I’m willing to offer my landspeeder, Drake, as transportation for the party.” Hector told the group. “I would like to request that someone else drive the vehicle for the moment as I intend to perform a bit of alchemical crafting as we travel.”

Tahiri had been listening carefully to the rest of the questions, answers, and then the preceding conversation in studious silence. Mulling over the answers to her own questions, and then the story of the Immortal Sith that the young had told everyone. Which was interesting how that was a just a story to others, while she had literally learned as history. Though she was glad there were others who knew Sith legends.

Once the ship had settled, she began to head back down to the cargo bay, calling cheerfully back over her shoulder towards the cockpit, “Thanks again Koda, for allowing me to bring my Varactyl with me. I appreciate it.”

Flashing a quick quick and sincere smile to the rest of the group, “If anyone wishes to ride with me, they can. Although, Kera can only take one other besides myself. By the way, I’m Tahiri and this is Zuska.” Giving Zuska a quick pat, she headed towards the cargo bay to get Kera unloaded and wait outside for the rest of the group.

Sagitta glanced over at Hector as she grimaced behind her helmet. “I have no idea how to drive…” She refrained from saying anything. To her surprise, she watched as the Togruta brought out her Varactyl. Sadness pang in her heart. She had missions, personal and work, all week. She hasn’t had time for her sweet Clawless. Maybe he would be better off in a better new home where someone would give him the attention and love he deserves.

Vrakk wished them luck and then her hands clenches into fists at his comment about retrieving their corpses. Her head turned to look at him but he flickered out. There was a moment of pause. She had a lot of words to say to Vrakk. It’ll have to wait. No one should end a debrief like that.

‘Karkin’ shablr shabuir.‘

Savi would notice another improvement. Sagitta did not run to the Varactyl like she used to every. single. bloody. creatures. on their mission a few weeks ago. “I’m going to ride with them.” She patted Savi on the arm and gave her thumbs up for good luck with the others in the land transport.

The Mandalorian approached Tahiri, Kera, and Zuska. The uplifted curve of her lips could be audible in her tone. “Hi! I would love to ride with you!” Then her hand lowered as she gently opened her palms in front of Kera, “I have one at home. I should’ve brought him! Well, aren’t you beautiful? Yes you are!” cooed Sagitta. “Oh, I would love to ride with you, Tahiri. I’m Sagitta! You can call me Gitta.”

Tahiri quickly finished adjusting the saddle, before turning to smile at the Mandalorian. “Greetings Sagitta. I’m glad to see a fellow rider and creature lover.”

Kera trilled and chirped at the new person in front of her. Cocking her head to side and looking between Tahiri and the new girl. Chuckling, Tahiri walked up to her head, patting it and then stood to side nodding, “Gitta, this is Keraathol, you can call her Kera. Kera, go ahead, it’s alright.” The Varactyl chirped excitedly and pressed her beak into Sagitta’s hands, a soft trill sounding as she sniffed in the young woman’s scent. “She likes you, Gitta. Tell me, if I may ask, what is the name of your Varactyl?”

A soft growl sounded from Tahiri’s side, as Zuska stood next to her, “Oh yes, I didn’t forget about you.” Shaking her head and kneeling down to scratch under the Vornskr’s chin, “And this is Hadzuska, you can call him Zuska. He’s not as fast to trust people like Kera is, but once he’s used to you, he’ll accept you. Although since we are on a mission, I’ve already impressed upon him the importance that everyone on the team are a part of our pack, so you’ll have no worries about him attacking or anything. He will defend everyone in the group, till the mission is over.”

The speeder filled with a tittering maniacal laughter as Titius explored the turret’s available features. Hey, Ricmore! Does this thing take gas shells?!“

He stopped mid-sentence. The landscape looked wrong like a carpet of poison had been laid across the plains then torched.

“What in the name of the Council…”

“Not by default no. You can tinker with it if you want, but don’t break my stuff!” Hector called back as he focused back on the road

His eyes drifted upward as the sky appeared to darken. The previously clear sky was dark. Unnaturally so. Soot and smog had gathered and coalesced, forming an ominous polluted structure.

Once everyone prepared to depart and decided what mode of transportation they’d be taking, Savran gave Hector a nod of thanks before hopping into his landspeeder. Sitting near where Titius was, they silently scanned their surroundings not only to make note of the countryside’s scenery but also to remain alert for any salient details in the area.

One such detail that caught their attention was the gradual shift in the density of trees in the area. They became sparser, some of which were even devoid of leaves. What a troubling sight.

“Stay alert, folks,” they said, “Place looks like a warzone. Notice how sparse and withered the trees look now. They weren’t like that before.”

Sagitta smiled as one arm was around Tahiri’s torso and the other hand was waving with the wind. A soft laugh. “This reminds me of the time when Clawless and I-” She abruptly stopped talking.

A frown formed on her lips as she looks around. While she does talk a lot she liked to look at her surroundings to see what creatures would be frittering about. Or chasing among the trees. Her brows furrowed at the emptiness. Savi’s voice was heard through the comm. Pink eyes glanced at the trees. Savi was right. Weren’t they more colorful? The leaves were drooping and the further they get in, the leaves were almost gone from the trees. Her free hand instinctively went to the grip of her blaster.

“Tahiri,” her voice was loud but audible for Tahiri, “Is it me, or does everything seem less…” She tried to think of a word. Active? Loud?

“It’s quiet. I can’t see any creatures. Not a kriffin’ bug.”

Then she realized something.

She heard Savi’s voice from Tahiri’s comm. Her eyes blinked for a moment. Wait. Where’s her comlink? Her hand was released from the blaster’s grip and she started to pat down in various places. Then she remembered.

It might be underneath the cot in the empty room she took last night.

…. ‘Kriff’

Sagitta grimaced. “Uh… c-can.. can you tell the team I forgot my comlink,” asked the Mirialan. Sagitta cleared her throat.

Nyssa was admittedly quite groggy when she entered the transport. She gave everyone a nod before plopping down in a seat. The woman pulled at her armor, wildly uncomfortable. She was borrowing it from Koda while the combat robes she commissioned were being made, and she absolutely hated how it felt.

She wiped the sleep from her eyes before sliding her helmet over her head, covering her face and hair. Once the speeder started, she decided to stare out the window and take in the landscape as it passed. Though she wasn’t paying attention to the view. Instead, she was focused on Koda’s odd request of her. It was rare he asked her to accompany him on missions, let alone sned her on her own with a bunch of strangers. Not that she minded. It was nice to get away from Fort Malgram from time to time.

Even through her unfocused stare she was able to notice the absence of wildlife as they further approached their destination. She had read up on Dantooine before they had departed Elisiya. This wasn’t a good sign.

Tahiri had been a little on edge after they had begun their journey towards the settlement, doing her best to still whatever worry that had entered her mind to keep her creatures and others from sensing it. Kera had taken a huge liking to Sagitta, so although she was smooth in her movements, she would leap over small crevices as if they were larger ones just for fun. Tahiri chuckled at Kera’s and Sagitta’s happiness she could feel from the both of them.

However, as the team got closer to settlement, the pit of worry in Tahiri’s stomach grew again, she wasn’t sure why till Sagitta mentioned about wildlife being quiet and totally absent. Then a voice came through her wrist comm link, from Savran Has, regarding the trees. As Tahiri put her heels down and lifted herself in the seat a little, looking around her eyes searching while her body stay ridged yet flowing as Kera kept moving forward. Turning her head to the side, she finally caught the scent of burnt wood, the smell was so strong she was sure that the others had already caught it too. Settling back into the saddle, Tahiri opened herself to the Force, what she felt made her worry and anxiety rise. Coming upon the settlement itself, seeing what was left of the buildings gave her little doubt what happened.

“Heads up team,” her tone was grave as she spoke through her comm. “I’m not sensing any life what-so-ever within the settlement, and Sagitta noticed just back there a bit further that there was no wildlife around. Be careful everyone, I have a bad feeling about this. I would suggest that we all stick in pairs as we investigate and leave the comm channel open.” Gently pulling on the reins to bring Kera to a stop in the center of the settlement, she quickly added, “If anyone has an extra comlink, Gitta needs one.”

Swinging her leg over the saddle horn, she hopped down from Kera and patted her on the neck as the brightly colored Varactyl chirped nervously. “It’s alright girl, just stay here and only come if I call you,” she gently cooed in Togruti.

Tahiri’s statement was worrying. When Hector drove the landspeeder into town he did not see any individuals milling about. That was strange but not impossible. The inhabitants of the town could merely been wary of strangers. He wouldn’t put it past folk to hide indoors while others aimed blasters from the rooftops. But its likely even that would have allowed him to see someone, even a single person. Yet there was nothing.

Grumbling to himself, the human swung himself out of his seat and made his way outside the landspeeder. He began to meander his way through the town with eyes peeled for any sign of trouble.

His eyes were drawn to a patch of disturbed soil. Numerous pairs of footprints passed through, crossing over and intercepting one another. Footprints in and of themselves were not odd. But there were far too many for a settlement of this size. Near the footprints lay a strange series of drag marks. Hector crouched down to inspect the marks more carefully. The were the perfect size for the fingers of many sapient species in the galaxy.

Something was afoot. And it was up to the party to find out what.

Hector activated his encrypted commlink. “Troubling news. We’ve got footprints, a lot more than a settlement this size would support. Drag marks are nearby. The perfect size for sapient fingers. Seems like there was a fight or kidnapping of some sorts.” He sent as a transmission to the party, well at least those who remembered to bring their commlink.

Hector Ricmore’s findings were very unsettling. Tahiri relayed the info to Sagitta, patting Kera one more time on the neck, before starting to look around the area for any further evidence. Finding nothing except the same evidence that Hector had found, more footprints, drag marks and what not.

While looking at pieces of a chard house, something caught her eye, mentally told Zuska to check it out. The Vornskr trotted over to where Tahiri directed him to, while sniffing along the ground. When he sniffed around the area, he growled for a moment, before looking at Tahiri and giving a small whine.

“Whatcha find there, Zuska,” Tahiri gently clicked her tongue, as she walked over to him. What she saw, sent a shiver down her spine as she quickly opened her commlink, “Team, I’ve got blood here, and there’s a message. It says Help us.” Quickly she looked around for Sagitta to relay the message that way she knew too.

The Mirialan listened to Tahiri. A frown curved on her lips. *‘No life…?’ * Then she slightly cringed at Tahiri’s asking if anyone had an extra comlink. *‘Here’s hoping..’ *

Her arm was removed from Tahiri’s torso and her body leaned back as Tahiri dismounted. Sagitta followed suit as she gently patted Kera as well. “Thanks, Kera.” She noticed the nervous chirp. “I’ll keep an eye on her, hmm?” She smiled while following Tahiri since she’s the one with open wrist comm and it would help Sagitta listen.

Hector’s voice came over on the comm. His voice was harder to listen to because of the distance but Tahiri helped her out. Her mind went back to the holoimages of Darth Scimitar forever seared in her mind. A guy like him? Kidnapping wouldn’t make sense. Just pure carnage. She paused for a moment as she reached out to the Force.

She felt sick. Dark Side. The very thing that she had been running from. It’s here and it’s dizzying. Sagitta slowly exhaled through her nostrils. ‘Focus,’ she reminded herself. Her shoulders dropped with relief when she was able to pinpoint the survivors. Sagitta made her way towards Tahiri. Sagitta stopped walking and cringed slightly. No time to waste, she quickly walked up to the Togruta and looked around.

‘Help Us’

By the Stars.

Sagitta shook her head quickly and pointed at the wrist comm, “May I?”

When she had permission, “I hope any of you are good at talking to people, we got a group of 20 on their way here and they’re-” She stopped for a moment, “Well. They’re rightfully angry. There’s fear and dread too. And if we end up getting into a fight, keep them away from the houses. There are survivors.” Then few more things to add.

“Three options. We can try to talk to them, we can work on removing the pieces to get the people out of the floorboards, or we can run and hide to avoid possible conflict.”

She paused. “I vote for one or three. I’m worried about the-” Her eyes glanced down at claw marks, “Possible kidnapping.”

“20 contact, mark. What is their approximate direction of travel?” Titius began warming up the turret. “Stitches, go find a way to get vantage then keep me posted.” A warbling squeak could be heard over comms followed by Titius hissing, “Listen you sentient sandwich tin, of course I can take them, this is for the others!”

Upon taking in the information provided by their teammates, Savran hopped out of the back of the speeder and made their way around to its left side. They were careful to keep most of it in front of their body. It would serve as decent cover should the approaching group engage them with blaster fire.

“They may belong to this town or know the people who were attacked here, if that’s what emotions they’re projecting,” they said.

Sagitta frowned while her pink irises dart to Tahiri. Almost as if she was asking for help. Guidance. Something.

Titius responses were making her uncomfortable but he wouldn’t be on this mission for nothing…right? Right.

Savran’s voice oddly brought her some comfort. With a nod, she answered them, “North-east. I’ll try to talk to them. It would look bad if we all look like we are going to attack. And I can use my barrier if needed.”

With that, she wasted no time and made her way north-east.

“Maybe let one of the more … experienced members of the group do the talking, Sagitta,” Savi added while looking in the Mirialan’s direction. “If they turn out to be hostile, I can compel at least one of them at a time to be more compliant.”

The shani had a matter-of-fact way of speaking about influencing the minds of others.

“Keep that turret ready Titius. But please do not fire unless the entire group attacks or if we ask you to. Even if a few of the group attack we may be able to disarm them and peacefully resolve the situation.” Hector sent over commlink. He began moving his way towards the incoming horde with his hands raised in a non threatening posture.

They had planned to say more but abandoned that intention when a bevy of thoughts appeared in their mind, brought to their awareness through the Force. Thoughts riddled with doubt and anxiety bubbled up from the ether. Fleeting images of buildings aflame and the sound of weeping civilians, of mother and father, children and friend alike, all filled their mind’s eye. Rising up from those thoughts of fear and profound loss was a desire for revenge–an intention to drive these new arrivals from what remained of their homes. To drive them away.

“The Force spoke to me,” Savran said, “The approaching group were among the people who were attacked here. Their thoughts are mired by the pain of the loss friends and loved ones. And they want revenge. They intend to exact it against us or drive us out when they discover that we’re not the people who did this.”

Savran paused to let their words register for all those present. Then, they shifted their attention to Titius. “Keep the turret warm but aimed at the ground,” they instructed, “We don’t want to scare them more than they already are. Myself and any others who have skills that aid in diplomacy will try to talk them down and learn what happened here.”

“Roger” came the curt response, as the servomotors on the turret whined. Bossy, double ordering Force slave Titius smarted at the orders from Savi. Maybe I oughta point at the back of your head. He returned his attention to running his checks on the turret.

Sagitta’s jaw tighten as her eyes narrowed at Savi. ‘How can I become experienced if you won’t give me a chance?’ Yet no words came out.

‘Compel them.’

She grimaced as her stomach twisted. She hated any mind control and invasion. It was disrespectful and forced someone to do something they would never do. Something that they are not.

The fact that both Savi and Hector were comfortable with the idea made her quiet. At least she assumed Hector was fine with it, he didn’t disagree. The Mirialan felt like she was in danger with the team.

‘Now is not the time. Keep the peace. For everyone.’ Sagitta bitterly reminded herself. She would still do her job, protect the team if she’s able unless they gave her a reason otherwise, and protect the people of this town. She stood to the right of Hector’s side as she appears to be non-hostile and waited and let Hector take over things.

Savi got a fragmented stray thought from the man operating the turret, prompting them to turn and glare at him. “What’s that about Force Slaves?” they asked.

Nyssa, giving up on her adventure of caffeine, finally exited the transport now that she saw people approaching. She had listened to anything said over comms so she had a good idea of what was going on when she walked over to join next to Savi.

If she were to spread out it would almost seem like they were preparing to attack. And that’s the last thing they needed to seem they were doing.

Titius spoke low and clear in the comms channel, maintaining his ready position on the turret. “It is bad taste to go prying into another’s thoughts without their permission. Pray I dont blow your mind.”

“I mean you no harm.” Hector stated calmly. He kept his hands in the air and stopped his advance. “We just arrived in this town. If you look behind me you can see the landspeeder we arrived in. I’m certain it looks different from whatever is causing you problems. I am here to represent a group that has heard of unnatural occurrences in this area, you can call us the Brotherhood. I will now slowly reach my hand to a belt pouch on my right waist. In it is a badge that contains information that will prove my claims. May I grab it without you firing upon me?”

“It was less prying and more picking up on what you were projecting loudly without realizing, but I will respect your wishes.”

Once the crowd arrived and Hector began speaking with the man who acted as their leader, Savi kept their hands at their side, remaining still while watching the opposing group carefully.

“I understand.” Hector stated. As promised he slowly reached his hand down to his right waste. Reaching into the pocket he withdrew his Golden Envoy Badge. “I will now slowly step forward and hand the badge to you or someone you designate. Is it ok to perform this action?”

“Understood.” Hector replied. “I will toss it torward you on the count of 3. 1. 2. 3.” As he said the final number he tossed the badge underhand. the object bounced before coming to a gentle stop near Jo'hn’s feet.

“Our organization has heard of a Force User known for violent acts. We received notice that the being was in the area and swiftly arrived in the hopes of preventing further bloodshed. A crazed zealot with mystical abilities on the loose is no good for anyone.” Hector informed him

The entire exchange was more tense than the heat of the Sun. Her breath caught when Hector offered to hand it instead of throwing it but at least Jo'hn was nice and gave him a warning reminder.

If you called that nice.

‘At least we didn’t get shot…’

They lowered the weapons and proceed in. Her head turned. She wanted to go help them with whatever it was but there’s nothing she can do right now. So she stood behind Hector and waited.

“If I may, sir,” Sagitta approached Jo'hn and removed her helmet to give him a soft smile to show friendliness. And vulnerability. She hopes it would give them some trust in her.

“I believe I know where your survivors are. I sensed four.” She pointed to the houses where she sensed them. “An elder man, one male, one female, and a toddler aged … I would say two years old. May I - we - help? Please?” She offered.

Sagitta thanked Jo'hn as she frowned softly before looking over to the group. If the toddler was alone she would be immediately heading there without question but the young one should be safe with its mother and father. It was the elder one she was worried about. They were alone.

‘Alone.’

For the last 24 - no, 12 hours - she had been scolded and berated for being reckless and going on things alone. “Nyssa, will you come with me? Hector, Tahiri, Savi, if two of you don’t mind, please go in that house-” She pointed to the house, “Male, female, and a young child.” Sagitta explained quickly before turning on her heels. There was no time to waste! With that, she made a slight run to the elder’s house.

Nyssa raised a brow “What’s got her in such a hurry?” She mumbled to herself. She matched Sagitta’s jog to hopefully end up at the building at the same time, though she didn’t see the need for urgency. They had waited this long after all.

Titius remained at the turret, scanning the environs, not entirely at ease with situation. To pass the time, he began assessing the surrounding buildings and how to best demolish them should the need arise.

Savi didn’t say a word. Instead, they gave Sagitta a quick nod before moving toward the home to their north. Moving past Jo'hn and the rest of his group was a little tense, but Savran ignored it.

Keeping their senses attuned to the Force, Savran opened the house’s front door and carefully stepped inside while announcing themselves. “Hello? We’re here to help. Jo'hn and the others are here, as well,” they began, speaking in a softer tone than they had used in ages.

Hector began to follow after the group with Jo’hn by his side. “You made the right choice trusting us. We’ll prove it when we help get your people free of danger.” He told the gunslinger.

“I sure hope so. You some mighty strange folk and the jury’s still out on whether you are here to help us or take advantage of us.” Jo’hn replied.

“Hmm” Hector affirmed. “I can say this much. Officially I’m registered as a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter. But I prefer to think of myself as more of a Monster Slayer. Just so happens that most monsters look just like you and me.”

Nyssa cocked her hip to the side and rested a hand upon it “Huh.” She said out of surprise more than anything else. That much blood from that old of a guy remarkable to say the least. With little time to waste, she started to search the room for any sort of clean cloth to at least place over the wound.

While she was searching, she brought her wrist up to her mouth to speak into her comm “There’s an old pantoran man here who’s lost most of his blood. If anyone has medical supplies I would appreciate if they could run them over.” She said with a hint of urgency, betraying the nonchalant cover she was attempting to portray.

The features of Savran’s countenance softened upon seeing the child. “It’ll be alright, little one,” they said while taking a moment to assess their wounds. Once they had a good idea of what was wrong, they moved their hand, slowly so as not to frighten the girl’s parents, into place so they could begin healing her wounds.

A gasp escaped from Sagitta as she quickly set her helmet aside. She ran to his side, her eyes frantically looking around for some kind of cloth. Wait. She has the healing ability. Her hands shook and what also surprised her even more was how Nyssa was handling all this. Her head spun to give her a ‘what the kriff’ look before looking up at the man. “Hold on, help is on the way, okay? I got you. Hold on. Nyssa, you might be faster if you go find medical supplies!” She tried to call upon the Force to help guide her hands to heal him but nothing happened.

What. The. Kriff.

Instead, one hand was trying to pinpoint the wound so she could use her hand as pressure and the other was holding his hand. “It’s okay, sir. I got you. I’m here.” This was all her fault. If she convinced them to check on survivors first…

Stop it

With a sharp exhale and a calming inhale, her hands started to glow as she healed him.

Nyssa was thankful she had kept her helmt on. The rush of adrenaline mixed with the smell of blood in the air was already enough to churn her stomach, not to mention the uneeded pressure from Sagitta. Couldn’t she tell she was trying?

“Look I already-” She felt something particularly forcie come from the Mirialan but quickly fizzle out. The other woman was either planning on tearing whatever the pair were trying to keep inside the man out, or was trying to heal him. “Relax.” Her tone was entirely different. Whereas before it sounded as if she was gearing up to yell, this was soothing.

She watched as her teammate began to heal the old man, waiting patiently for an opportunity to pull her now blood covered hands away, mildly and almost wildly shaking. She cleared her throat and spoke into her comm with urgency and consciences “Disregard that.” Not wanting to risk speaking more than just that.

“No.” She stated firmly, clenching her fists and unclenching them. She slowly stood up “They can come to you when shes done.” She started to take deep breaths in an effort to calm herself

Tahiri took quick stock of the situation and nodded to Sagitta, before motioning for Zuska to stay back with Kera. Jogging over to the house that she had pointed to, the Togruta joined Savran inside the house. She caught the last words of the man said as he brought his daughter out. Tahiri’s stern face softened immediately, as she saw the trembling young girl in her fathers arms.

Watching as Savran began to heal the girl, she started to move a bit, so Tahiri quickly moved to their side. Looking at the father, who was almost trembling as much as the girl, she spoke softly to both reinsure the father and to Savran know she was there to help, “Please, hold her still, I know some healing as well. With the two of us, I’m sure your daughter will be alright. Stay strong.” Reaching out her hand, and placing it near the Shani’s hand, she glanced up and nodded to Savran, “Ok, here we go.”

Her hand began to glow, along with the Savran’s, feeling the bits of fractured bone slowly move back into place and meld together. The girl sniffled, crying out slightly as she clearly felt a larger piece of bone moved back into place. Tahiri began to hum softly, before beginning to sing a soft lullaby, first in Togruti, before slowly translating it to basic for the girl as she turned her head slightly to look at her. Tahiri gently place the back of her other hand against the girls hair and smoothed it distracting the girl with the song, all the while continuing to help heal.

The group in Titius’ view slowly spread out to surround the town, their black robes forming the image of black flowing ichor. A minute chirp from Stitches gave a count.

Titius intoned across the comms, “Hostiles. 30 count. Get civilians inside unless they want to be caught in a crossfire.”

Taking aim at a gap between buildings, he brought the laser turret to a high whine…

Savran glanced in Tahiri’s direction when she began singing to soothe the child and gave her a quick nod. Although they didn’t show it, a feeling of relief washed over them when the child fell asleep. The Force conveyed that there were no more injuries to heal.

To say that Savi was caught off guard when the girl’s mother hugged them both was an understatement. Her eyes went as wide as a frightened gallaze and she stiffened at the woman’s touch.

“You’re welcome…” said Savi in a distant tone.

After that, she shook her head before following the parents outside to join with the others. Hearing that so many of the villagers had been killed by these mystery assailants brought a scowl to Savi’s face. If there was one thing she hated, it was needless cruelty.

“Who are these people? Do you know where they come from?”

It wasn’t long until Titius inserted himself into the conversation, noting the arrival of a large group of hostiles. What were the odds that these were the very raiders that Jo'hn had mentioned? Savi snapped their head in Amelia’s direction, their gaze briefly flitting over her husband and her daughter that they’d healed moments earlier. “Get back into one of the houses and stay low, do you understand?” they said, voice grave so as to convey the severity of the situation. “And don’t come out until we come for you. All of you, move.”

Savi whipped around and unsheathed their Force-imbued flyssa in a flash, producing a metallic ring.

“ehtehhhck” Titius mocked. The turret of Drake roared to life as Titius began ripping the ground apart. What had been a joyous moment of calm mere moments before erupted into a maze of laserfire.

Stepping from their respective buildings, the others emerged in time to see the first cultist into the fray be partially vaporized, the bits thrown in a red spray against the surrounding walls…

As the masked acolytes ignited their sabers and charged into battle, everything within Savran’s field of view slowed to a crawl. Their heart thudded in their chest like a Corellian drum, sending blood racing to their muscles in preparation for the coming battle. When Savran stepped forward to engage them, the roar of the landspeeder’s turret signaled the official start of the fight. The foremost cultist stepped foreward only to be eviscerated by the superheated plasma. Savran didn’t even flinch when stray flecks of blood and viscera landed on their face and clothes–there was more of that to come, surely. With their flyssa in hand, Savi weaved into battle like a shani possessed, eliciting a series of whooping shouts in their native tongue and inhaling loudly to force more oxygen into their lungs to fuel their growing frenzy.

Their first victim led with an downward strike, intending to cleave Savi in twain. They raised their Force-imbued flyssa in defense and parried with a diagonal cut of their own that liberated the acolyte’s head from their shoulders. Then, the Force practically screamed at them.

BEHIND

And they heeded its warning. They didn’t think; they simply reacted. A sidestep and pivot rotated their torso just enough for another crimson blade to sail harmlessly past them. This left their assailant exposed. Savran’s tattooed hand rocketed forth, palm aimed at the acolyte’s exposed torso. They felt the pressure of telekinetic power build in the space between their own hand and the Sith’s body before it exploded outward, sending the fool careening through the air and into the side of a nearby house with a sickening crunch. The villagers would be cleaning him off of the wall for the next week.

©

The remaining three acolytes who made the fatal error of engaging the battle-tested shani in combat fell wth little effort on their part. If any of Savi’s teammates bothered to glance in their direction in the midst of combat, they’d witness the femme weaving past deadly blows and retaliating with their own in a blur. As they conducted a symphony with their blade, they brought new meaning to the phrase “the art of killing”, painting themselves and the ground in the blood of their enemies in a bewildering display of grace and wild ferocity.

As plasma flew and the Shani obliterated any who came close to them a ghost slipped onto the battlefield.

Footsteps made no sound. No foot prints were left. And nothing was visible to the naked eye beyond the smallest shimmer of light.

Hector Von Ricmore glided onto the battlefield. Half his concentration was utilized to conceal himself from the Force. The other half was dedicated to his stealthy movement.

The specter made his way towards the cultists seeking out the one he had sensed to be the strongest prior to cloaking. With the first cultist dead it was possible the others would turn to the strongest for guidance. The human refused to allow that to happen.

He drew Argent from its sheath. The kyber crystal imbued in the hilt sang to Hector’s spirit; today it would purge the darkness.

The chromium blade split the air, beheading the cultist in a single precise swing.

A quartet of cultists stared at the corpse in shock.

Guttural screams of rage exited their mouths as their charged forwards.

Steel clashed with plasma. Hector and the cultists channeled the Force through their bodies, becoming a blur to the vision of most sapients.

The cultists were many. But they were not used to fighting so few in such a tight space. Hector led his quartet into the areas where his allies fought, deflecting their blows away from his party members while ensuring their foes entangled one another. In their rage and growing desperation it was all too easy to maneuver them to disadvantageous positions.

‘Relax.’ That helped a lot. Sagitta gave her a friendly smile with a nod. Sagitta opened her lips and was going to speak to him but Nyssa stepped in with a no Sagitta frowned but didn’t say anything while she focused on him. A man ran in and Sagitta’s body tensed. The old man and the one that came running in, they greeted each other.

Pink hues glanced at her hands. ‘It almost didn’t work…’ She was worried. Why did that happen? Furiously, she started to find a cloth and wipe the blood away until Titius’ voice went through Nyssa’s comm. “Kark.” Sagitta muttered, grabbing her helmet off of the floor while stepping out. She quickly moved out of the way as the old man and his caretaker were trying to go back in and barricade the home. She slipped the helmet back on and ran out.

The hostile group got separated from Titius’ firing upon them. Huh. That does look fu-

“WAH!” Sagitta yelped as she dodged backward at a swinging lightsaber.

Sidestep!

Sagitta did not hesitate as a second one came lunging at her. She grabbed the second one by the arm while side-kicking them in the chest. Her boot slammed into the chest and they fell onto their fellow lightsaber and died. The welder of the lightsaber just simply tossed the body to the ground. Ech. So they don’t care for their teammates.

Disgusting. Her hues glanced at three of them that were aiming for her. She got this.

“So three of you! Did I tell you about- HEY!” She backflipped to dodge a sweeping saber attack. Then one of them activated their shield. Sagitta was now curious.

“Wait. What’s that?” The Mirialan pointed at the shield. They didn’t answer. She shot out the fibrocord whip and tied two of them together. Her body dipped down as the rope went underneath her arm while keeping her elbow bent, she swung her leg over and yanked two of them down, their heads colliding with each other. The third one went to cut the rope with their lightsaber but she dropped the rope and rolled forward while getting out her beskar beskad and sliced the head and then the arm with the shield off. The acolytes freed themselves from the ropes.

They both downwards swiped at her, she fell flat back Sagitta rolled onto her back and used the shield. It had blocked the lightsabers’ attack.

“OH! BY THE STARS! I GOTTA GET ME ONE OF THESE!” She admired the shield before the swinging acolytes were frustrated and attempted to stab down, making her roll backward.

Two more to go. She dropped the arm as she used the beskar to block the lightsaber attack. She could see the flinch.

“Surprised?” asked Sagitta as she punched one of them in the face and sent them back as they fell onto their butt. That should give her time to deal with the other one.

They both were down. One with a massive slice across the chest and the other stabbed and sliced upwards.

Whew

Wait. Her eyes glanced around. “Shouldn’t we keep one alive?” She shouted for her teammates to hear. Maybe they should? After all, they needed more information for-

Sagitta let out a pained yelp before her throat got caught. She couldn’t breathe as electricity surged through her body. The fifth acolyte was using all the hate and need for trophies and blood into electricity against Sagitta. Fear and pain took over and she couldn’t fight it while her body fell to the ground.

Titius ripped the turret in an arc, rending stripes into the ground. A cultist took cover behind a low wall…the wall evaporated in a spray of pink aggregates. The next drew their saber into a high block…and a crimson streak developed behind where the cultist had stood.

A chunk of stone went sailing by Titius’ head, thrown from a nearby window. Titius swore, turret motors screaming. After a pause, the air was buffeted by twin hammers as concussion warheads flew into the window. Mere moments later, the entire facade blew itself apart, the blast sending the offending cultist ragdolling throught the air.

Following the arc, Titius turned to see Saggita faltering under another cultist’s lightning assault. Then their comrade’s body hit them with a wet slap. Now prone under the dead weight, the cultist fought to free themselves failing to see the wall that continued to fall behind. A sizeable stone fell free, landing squarely on the back of their knees. The air filled with anguish and hate as the cultist screamed.

Titius swung the turret in a slow arc, determining the cultist was appropriately bound. He spotted his final prey, rounding a corner out of sight. Titius paused, adjusted the turret to face the opposite side of the building and waited.

Mere moments later, a head poked out behind the corner.

*So… predictable. Its frankly boring" Titius groaned as he sent a bolt straight into the cultist. Their headless body slid from behind the wall.

Jo’hn’s words sent a chill up Hector’s spine. The party was composed of 6 people. Looking at the party members present confirmed his fear. “Sagitta is missing.” The human dourly stated. “We should begin searching. If anyone finds anything she left behind in the chaos we can have one of our Arcanist use it to track Sagitta down.”

Titius shrugged from his perch in the turret. “Alternatively, we were sent for a specific mission, which we are already sidetracked from.”

Nyssa found herself deep in thought, essentially running on autopilot as she tapped around on her vambrace to release some fibercord. She used said fibercord to tie up the 4 cultists she had spared.

“Our goal should be to protect our own, mission be damned. I came along with the intention of helping those who needed.” She said into her comm

If it wasn’t for the fact that her guard already up, and nerves still on edge, Tahiri would have been confused at first why Jo'hn would ask such a question. Instead she quickly looked around at everyone, noticing almost instantly that her riding partner, Sagitta was the one missing. While listening to the rest of the group, Tahiri headed over to where she had last seen Sagitta before the fighting broke out and started searching from there. Calling Zuska over to help search, he sniffed around, while she sharp eyes scanned the ground area for anything of note.

Finding only a single hair, she continued to search, but found nothing else. Zuska on the hand sniffed the area in circles several times, before coming back to her, giving a small whine and hanging his head. “It’s alright, Zuska. You did your best, we’ll find her.”

Tahiri took the hair she found over to the group. “This is all that Zuska and I have found so far, can you do anything with this?”

Savran felt an uncomfortable tension building in their forehead, though they didn’t let it go so far as to display their frustration on their face for the others to see. However, they let their frustration with the damned Mandalorian simmer within them as they whipped their flyssa downward, sending blood streaking across the ground. How did she let herself get captured? The two of them were going to have a long talk about situational awareness when they found her.

Savran took a slow, full inhale. The adrenaline of the recent battle was starting to dissipate, and although they no longer crashed after the high of combat faded, the often-abrupt transition back to regular activity still left them feeling a little uncomfortable.

When Titius mentioned the mission, they scoffed. “Each member was carefully selected for this mission because of the skills they offer,” they interjected, their tone as sharp as the blade they carried. “Sagitta is integral to the mission, so we will retrieve her.”

Their words were clear. They would neither debate the issue nor say anything else about it. Rotating their flyssa and aligning its tip with the scabbard worn horizontally across the small of their back, they sheathed it with a resounding shing when the weapon locked into place.

Savi promptly began searching the area for anything that would aid them in locating Sagitta. Hopefully, the woman had enough sense to leave something she owned behind so they could find her easier. When a small collection of hairs that looked identical to Sagitta’s own caught Savi’s eye, they grinned while muttering to themselves, “Thatta girl.”

Collecting the hairs in their hand, they stepped over to where Tahiri and Hector were standing. “I found these as well,” they said, “Should be enough for an Arcanist, no?”

Hector nodded. “We should be able to pick up a trail. May I borrow a few hairs?” Reaching out his gauntlet the human was given a few of Saggita’s pieces of hair. Reaching into the Force, he closed his eyes and focused. Fear. He was overcome with a sense of fear, anxiety, suffering. Cold crept up his skin; his hair began to stiffen. An image emerged before his eyes. A cave to the north. That was where Sagitta was being held. He could feel numerous signatures of other living creatures in the cave. The darkness permeating the area made it impossible to tell who was missing villager and who was a cultist. But the path before the cave was crystal clear. The Force was eager to show him the way. He watched the group travel northward and could lead the party in pursuit.

“I’ve found Sagitta. We must travel to a cave to the North. The Force has shown me the way. But we must be cautious, I sensed many other beings inside that cave.”

Nyssa looked down at the unconscious cultists at her feet and pondered a thought. Sure, it seemed her companions had found a way to find Sagitta, but nobody had a clue as to what they would be getting themselves into. It was time to improvise.

She reached down and grabbed the most conscious looking cultist and dragged them over to the main group, and flopped them down at the group’s feet. “Great. We know where to go. How about we find out what’s waiting for us when we get there?”

Tahiri immediately cocked her head at the name “Archpriestess”. A grimacing smile spread across her face as her whole body went ridge. Walking up to the cultist tied up on the ground, she stands over him slightly, her voice a raspy breathed commanding tone, “I was once a High Priestess of a Coven that served a being my Master communed with. I know a thing or two about sacrifices. Our friend isn’t going to be one of them, so what’s the Archpriestess gonna do about that? We just took down 30 of you lower rank priests, how many high priests and lower ranks does she have with her to throw at us next?”

Why the hell not were Nyssa’s only thoughts as she watched the man continue to babble on. She crouched down next to him and made sure his abilities were very suppressed “I can make this permanent y’know. This whole being cut off thing. Do you really think they’d take you back if they knew you weren’t one of them anymore?”

When she didn’t get a response, she just sighed and tried to punch him which did even less. She stood on up and took a step back “Damn.”

More information was needed to increase the odds of rescuing their comrade. The party would form a rescue together and they would interrogate the prisoner together. Hector concentrated before waving his hand in front of the prisoner’s face. “You will describe the layout of the caves.”

The petite Togruta had stepped back while Nyssa threatened the cultist, watching his reaction carefully. So he really doesn’t care about himself. So how are we to get the information we need without going to extremes? Tahiri started to finger her daggers handle as Hector stepped forward and waved his hand in front of their prisoner. Watching with intrigue as the cultist looked like he was in almost physical pain as he tried to resist talking, instead he began to tell in great detail the temple’s blueprint, along with other valuable info. She quickly grabbed her datapad and jotted down the design of a map, along with noting the positions of various traps. Tapping save, Tahiri had a thought cross her mind, If he’s this vulnerable right now then maybe I can get even more info.

Calming her own mind before beginning to reach it towards his, she immediately began to get emotions and images. As she delved a little deeper, carefully noting important images, she began to piece together the important information. She calmed her anxiety as it rose within her, as she kept concentrating on getting as much as she could gleam from his current tremulous state of mind.

“There are villagers still alive, however, they are being prepared as sacrifices. This one,” her eyes narrowed at him. “Has seen this Archpriestess perform the ritual with a very unique dagger, I can feel through him that it’s contains a pool of Dark Side energy. It appears to exude a gas of some sort as well.” Continuing to keep her sulfuric yellow eyes trained on the cultist, staring almost through him, rather than at him as she pieced together more bits of info.

“I believe this is the artifact we’re looking for.” Tahiri’s breath caught for a moment, her upper lip rising slightly to reveal a sharp canine, before the breath hissed through her clenched teeth as a low guttural growl came from deep within her throat. “It seems those who fight back the hardest are sacrificed very soon after they are captured. Something about a strong spirit for their dear Lord Scimitar,” she snorted through her nose. If anyone noticed, they would have seen Tahiri’s neck tighten, while her biceps and triceps physically rippled, as her eyes seemed to blaze with an inner fire. Even the tips of her short Lekku twitched subtly. After her mind finished probing, she took a measured breath, and then glanced up at rest of the team. “We need to get a move on now,” her tone invoking great urgency and measured emotion.

Savran was starting to grow impatient. Once Hector and Tahiri got the information they desired, the shani forced their way to the front of the group and stopped when they were standing before the subdued cultist. They leaned forward and locked their hands around the Sith acolyte’s head, digging their tapered nails into the skin for good measure. Two slitted eyes met the acolyte’s, forming an unspoken connection between them, mediated by the Force.

They didn’t say a word. Instead, they smashed through the cultist’s fledgling mental defenses and spent the next few moments bending the palnan’s will to their own. A look of determination and twisted amusement crept onto Savi’s tattooed visage, as the cultist’s eyes rolled, and a trail of blood poured from his nose. In a strained voice, the man began to explain the nature of the ritual mentioned earlier.

“T-The knife … through the heart. Feeds the f-flames of the Dark. Of the Dark,”

His head jerked violently, and a grimace burned itself onto his countenance as he struggled against Savi’s physical and mental hold. To no avail. They yanked his head back into its proper position and plunged deeper into his mind. The man wailed.

“The blood feeds the Dark Side. And it strengthens the one who is chosen.”

In the final moments of Savran’s mental intrusion, the cultist broke into a fit of violent convulsions. He clenched his teeth so tightly that it looked like they would break and forced out a final grunt before falling deathly still.

Savi retracted their hands and straightened their posture with a scoff. So, that’s what they were planning. “We need to find Sagitta, now,” they said before stepping toward Hector’s landspeeder. The implication of the karker’s words was clear. If they had been sacrificing these people to grow their power in the Dark Side, Savi could only imagine how much power they would gain if they managed to sacrifice a Force User. And they let them capture one. Unacceptable.

As the transport reached the temple mouth, Titius could just make out several guards milling about. Owing no quarter, Titius unleashed a barrage of concussion warheads, all finding their mark. The groups was drawn to the viewports in time to see copius viscera spray in all directions.

Nyssa was more than happy to be back in the speeder after what happened with the cultist she hadn’t killed. However, 15 minutes of downtime were nowhere near enough to prepare her for the coming battle.

When they arrived at their location, Nyssa was hesitant to exit the speeder. Sure, she was an expert in her field, the best even, at least in her own eyes. But she stuck to what she knew for a reason. When Titius fired upon the cultist, blood was everywhere. Nyssa quickly turned away and stared out towards the more peaceful landscape, her stomach churning and threatening to vacate itself.

The human took a breath and clenched her fist. She didn’t have time to feel sick or pity for the dead. She had a teammate to save. She steeled herself before turning to face the cave once again, still appalled by the sight of blood dripping from the roof of the cave. “Alright, Nyssa…” she muttered to herself. “You could do it as a kid… you sure as hell can do it as an adult.”

With one last deep breath, she charged forward into the cave. As she passed through the entrance, she made a mental note to thank Koda for ending her this armor. The helmets filter was the only thing keeping her from drowning in her own vomit inside said helmet.

With a series of jumps and dodges, Nyssa dashed past traps with ease. Motivated by both saving Sagitta and escaping the blood, the woman ended up past a majority of the traps before anyone else.

After watching Nyssa slip past the traps with an impressive display of agility, Savran took a step forward. Taking a steady breath and calling upon the Force again to boost their speed to preternatural levels, they stepped forward into a full split, storming through the entrance as a blur. They moved so quickly, in fact, that the traps didn’t activate until several seconds after they had appeared on the other side.

Savi glanced back at the rest of their team while dusting themselves off with one hand.

As he observed the acrobatics of his companions Hector recalled the lessons of his former master. It had been years since he was part of Clan Naga Sadow but he remembered the lessons of DarkHawk Sadow all the same. It was his master who passed on many forbidden sith arts. It was due to his teachings that Hector was capable of creating body after body to transfer his essence into. And it was because of his master that he felt wary now. DarkHawk was a hunter, someone who stalked his prey to relish in the kill. He would be patient and strike when the target was at its weakest.

The temples built by sith often operated on the same principle. Booby traps at the entrance like this cave to slay the unworthy. Sith spirits promising grandeur and immortality as they plotted treachery. But those were the obvious hazards. To survive a hunt the hunter must be willing to look underneath the underneath.

During his time at the Shadow Academy, now known as the Collegium, Hector had studied many esoteric subjects in pursuit of power. Many beings studied Force Alchemy and Rituals besides him. But Hector chose to go further, spending additional time learning of the dangers of Force Artifacts and Traps. The Children of Mortis had revealed themselves to be a terrifying threat. And Hector Von Ricmore swore he would be better prepared when they returned.

It was this knowledge combined with his instincts that alerted him to the secondary trap. Hector had pulled a blade from his belt and spent a minute carefully prying apart the projectile launcher when he spotted the secondary trap. Gas began to leak forth from the trap. Hector pulled a glass vile from a belt pocket and smashed it on the trap. The alchemical mixture reacted with the gas, neutralizing it, and causing it to dissipate harmlessly.

With the danger of the gas over, the human took his time carefully defusing the rest of the traps. The party was free to proceed.

“Welp, looks like you dealt with that aptly enough. Proceed on ahead, Ill only be a second” With a long gaze around the entry hall, Titius postitioned several clutches of concussion charges, seemingly at random. “Right, shall we continue?” he said irritably, unslinging his DC-17m.

Sagitta eerily smiled upon the group. Hand grasped her lightsaber hilt as it buzzed to life. Her blue lightsaber had been tainted by the Dark Side as it glowed red.

Her Lord demanded blood and she will provide. The temple rattled for a bit before there was blood pouring down from the ceilings at the group’s feet. The stench of iron and decay filled the air quickly. Splashes echoed throughout the room. When they go for their weapons, they would feel dampness. It would seem as if their weapons were bleeding.

Tahiri: Kera wailed and cried. Tahiri would hear splashing sounds behind her. If she looked she would see her precious varactyl looking rather pale. There’s a lot of blood and she wouldn’t know where it was coming from. Kera’s maw opened as she made dying choking sounds and struggled to stand on her fours.

Nyssa: The blood was filling up quicker and quicker. Soon, bloodied hands emerged from the pool and attempted to grab her.

Titius: Everytime he reaches for a weapon or a bomb, he’s unable to find anything. All his beautiful creations and a lifetime of work. His passion and love for the vibration of explosions, they were all gone.

Savi: They would see familiar beautiful purple locks and a lovely tail with golden ribbons tied around it. Kerissa looked confused as she looked around and her grey eyes laid on Savi. “What-what are you doing here?” Then she wailed in pain, her arms holding her stomach as the other went up to her mouth and she started coughing out blood.

Hector: Silence. When he reaches for the Force, nothing would respond. It had left him alone. Stillness surrounded him. One by one, his spare bodies dropped before him and decayed rapidly before his eyes.

With speed and strength, she spun in the air, and those that knows lightsaber moves would know that she was proficient in Ataru. Her lightsaber swung around, cutting their cloaks and robes. The blonde male’s head was almost cleaved off cleanly from his shoulders. Glowing crimson eyes glance at the group which moved back several paces.

“Well,” she smirked. “Come on then little lambs,” purred Sagitta.

Something was clearly wrong. The Force itself seemed to quail around Hector. But when he reached for it the power slipped through his fingers like sand. The connection to the Force was still present but he could not call upon its strength. Faint figures flickered before his eyes. Pau’an. Nautolan. Kel’dor. Iktochi. And so many others. It was off putting and dare he think it, a bit disturbing. Logic dictated that it was an illusion. This could not be Force Terror as Hector’s greatest fear was being forgotten, dying a nobody. Having his body transfer secret exposed would be irritating but it was not something he feared. Still, that ability was not common knowledge. And how his foe would know of it baffled him.

Hector’s eyes drifted down to the dagger impaled in Sagitta’s chest. Or was it even really Sagitta anymore? During his study to learn essence transfer Hector had come across similar rituals. Cruel means to acquire control over a living body and puppeteer them. The soul of a sentient being can only be stretched so far before it weakens. And separating a portion of the soul into an object, in this case the dagger impaled into Sagitta, left the soul very weak indeed.

“Everyone listen up.” Hector called. “There is still time to save Sagitta before the soul in the ritual dagger corrupts her for good. We must destroy the dagger with fire. Then and only then will we be able to save her.”

All this blood, the splashing, the dripping. The sounds of the sloshing viscous liquid that flowed through every living being, just like the Force.

Her senses were so abruptly accosted, by the sounds, sights, and smells of the literal blood wave around her. Even looking at the rest of the team, she could tell that they were effected by it all to some degree as well. Tahiri’s mind told her that it was an elaborate illusion, but her senses screamed that it was real. The blood didn’t really bother Tahiri, she had been covered in blood before in varying degrees. Her mind flashed back to one particular blot on This place almost looks like the Pyramid during the Day of Blood. So many acolytes died unnecessarily that day.

The screeching wail and gurgling noises behind her caught her attention. Glancing behind, her heart jumped into her throat as she saw Kera struggling to get to her. The Togruta’s eyes began to tear up, as she felt a warmth building in her gut. She looked back just in time to see Sagitta flipping and spinning fluidly in the air towards her, murderous intent evident in the young Mirialan’s eyes. Stepping back quickly, and grabbing the handle of her Rune saber, slick as it was, she managed to evade Sagitta, before she spun to swipe at another.

Before she could glance back to check on Kera, Hector’s voice rang out clearer than the death wail behind her, snapping her mind back to logical thinking. Fire. Yes, that does sound probable. Fire cleanses. A few ideas flooded her mind, remembering what she had seen on other members dossiers, while her whole body straightened, looking around at the other members of the team as they struggled with whatever personal illusions they were seeing.

“Everyone, listen to me. I believe I have a plan,” her voice was clear, even and loud enough for the whole team to hear. Quickly she explained her plan as the others stepped back from their agile and powerfully possessed teammate, “Savran, can you use your mind to trick or dominate, even if it’s just for a few minutes, do what you can to disarm her. Nyssa, do the same thing you did to the cultist outside and suppress her Force abilities.” Taking a quick breath, as she realized that she had been talking non stop. “Hector, if Savi isn’t successful, I need you to try the same thing, or wait for my signal, and keep her attention. Might need to throw up that barrier of yours. And Titius, keep the cultist back and in check however you want. But I’ll need you to keep whatever incendiary explosive you have in reserve, no matter what.”

Looking around to check if everyone heard, before getting herself ready for what she was going to do next.

As they ventured further into the temple, a familiar aura in the Force produced a pang of relief deep within Savi. Sagitta was still alive. They quickly took stock of the spacious antechamber and the large group of cultists gathered within it, their positions, and where Sagitta was relative to the rest of them. She was still talking a lot, which was a good sign. When the silver-haired woman began to speak, they narrowed their eyes while moving their hand toward their flyssa’s hilt. These damned fanatics were willing to offer themselves as sacrifices to their “Lord.” Misguided fools. If they were so eager to die, then the shani known by some as the Tekuani would gladly oblige. But they needed to secure Gitta first.

The situation escalated faster than Savran anticipated, and before they knew it, the mirialan woman was pleading with this hag of a priestess to spare her. She even mentioned Cole. Wait, Cole? What did he have to do wit–

The dagger’s blade pierced Sagitta’s chest, and Savi felt could practically feel their knuckles whitening with how tightly they gripped their weapon’s hilt. They were dead. They’d all experience slow, painful deaths by the time this was over. Silence swept over the room in the wake of Sagitta’s apparent death. And then, the sound of a sharp inhale ripped Savi’s attention away from the she-akk priestess.

“Gitta?”

But that wasn’t her. She reeked of the Dark Side. And the priestess’ sudden demise at the Mandalorian’s hand confirmed Savran’s suspicions: something had claimed her mind.

©

They had little time to consider the implications of this development before their mind was accosted by visions. Visions of Kerissa standing before her. What was she doing here? How was she here? Savi nearly reached out to palm the kessurian-ryn’s cheek, but stopped herself when a tremor shook the very foundations of the scene before them. Their eyes narrowed and they grit their teeth in frustration as they realized what was happening. So, when the Kerissa’s facsimile screamed and coughed up blood, they didn’t react. The Sith’s machinations likely would have had a greater chance of fooling Savi had they not recently overcome the mental intrusions of a Force Wraith during their venture into the Realm Ethereal. Compared to that, this was a walk in the park. But it did piss them off that Scimitar would dare to use Sagitta’s memories against them.

When Sagitta attacked, Savi didn’t hesitate to defend themselves, though, not without a modicum of difficulty. It came as no surprise that the Sith’s proficiency with the lightsaber transferred into Sagitta’s body as well, but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with. Each stroke came with blinding speed, forcing Savi to rely on their honed instincts and familiarity with the Ataru form to deftly bob and weave just out of the crimson blade’s reach, though not without their robes suffering a cut here and there.

“You’re going to wish you died a long time ago, false god,” the shani commented in the midst of the fight, speaking directly to the Sith who had taken hold of Sagitta’s mind.

©

Once there was a lull in combat, Savran took a step backward and listened to what both Hector and Tahiri had to say. “On it,” they said before focusing their full attention on Sagitta again. Reaching out with the Force, they probed Sagitta’s mind, sifting through the influence of the Dark Side that loomed within her mental space like a miasma until they found a weakness. A shatterpoint that, when exploited, would allow them to wrest control from Scimitar. Savi’s surroundings faded, leaving just the two of them standing within a black expanse. Two coils, one green and one red, emerged from Sagitta and Savi’s chest and joined in the space between them. They were tethered. In the external world, the rest of the team and the cultists gathered there would witness Sagitta and Savi both straightening their posture in unison moments before Sagitta dropped her lightsaber. The weapon clanged against the temple floor and deactivated with an energetic hiss.

Nyssa’s trip through the halls with the gang was relatively short, at least in her mind. There was so much going on, so much happening. She was on the verge of breaking down. She made sure to check herself for her weapons, ensuring they were all in their proper places. Saber? Check. Vambraces? Check. Crushgaunts? Check.

That little distraction of taking inventory was enough to fill her mind until they arrived in the antechamber. Nyssa spotted Sagitta, unable to do anything but watch. There were too many cultists. There was too much going on. She was overstimulated and overwhelmed. She froze, watching helplessly as the Archprestess pushed the dagger through the begging Mirialan’s chest, cutting straight through her heart.

The human’s fear and nerves instantly pushed her conscious mind inward. The world around her melted away. Yet another seemingly innocent life snuffed out before her, yet another loss to add to the tally. Failure her voice rang out inside her mind. That’s what you are. Yet another being lost because you were too weak to protect them. Nyssa gritted her teeth, an anger welling up inside her. The smell of blood punched through her thoughts, forcing her to look at the sea of hands trying to grab her and pull her under the crimson ichor, down into the depths of hell where she belonged.

No. She clenched her fists. I can’t run. She thought to herself. She looked up just in time to sidestep a slash aimed to cleave her in half, Sagitta’s saber still managing to barely singe her flesh. Her arm moved on its own, raising up to deflect the follow-up slash with her vambrace. Finally brought back to reality, she registered Hector’s words. There was still a chance. “I won’t fail. Not again.” She silently hissed. She brought her fists up and adopted a fighting stance. “Let’s find out how rusty I really am.“

Titius stumbled back from the swipe, falling behind the group. Glancing around, he saw the cultists encroaching into the ring, feeding on the bloodlust emanating from the possessed puppet.

“How interesting,” Titius drawled, a loud hiss emanating from his helmet. His arms whipped forward, hurling canisters into the crowd. They burst on impact, spreading a sickly green cloud through the cultists. Their ranks faltered for a moment then a choking wheeze flowed from the group as one after another collapsed, clutching their throats as their mouthed foamed pink.

Titius took a deep rasping breath, twin rivulets of green flowing into the side of his mask. “AH, Dioxis. A breathtaking favorite.” Reaching back, Titius found the hilt of his rifle. The visions began to break further. “Cursed Force slave, your reliance on the intangible betrays you”

A clip slammed home as he opened fire, each round bursting into clouds of toxin in the crowd. The wheezing grew in crescendo as more cultists fell upon each other in macabre writhing piles.

The clip discharged with a loud clang and Titius rammed another home. Turning on his heel, he dropped three shots directly at Sagitta. Two caught the puppet in the chest and head, launching them into the crowd behind. The third, now short of its target, landed on the lightsaber. Shrapnel filled the area in a razor sharp wave.

Sagitta hissed under her breath as she growled. Angry eyes stared down at the Shani. The short hold had her drop her lightsaber. One of the explosions fell short but she was hit by the shock wave and completely shattered her lightsaber.

Sagitta gets up, almost seemingly unfazed. Her heart choked with blood and darkness but her body did not respond to it.

“Very well.” She snarled as blackness enveloped the entire room by 26 ft diameter. It doesn’t completely cover the room but the majority of it has succumbed into the dark. Her eyes stared at Savi. That Shani’s blood was going to be hers to take first.

A foul odor began to fill the room after Titius deployed the dioxis canisters, in a closed chamber no less. The damned fool was going to gas his own teammates.

To make matters more difficult, a preternatural darkness emanated from Sagitta and quickly spread throughout most of the antechamber. Although it was their first time seeing it, they recognized from their studies that this was a Force ability. The darkness allowed no light to penetrate it and upon being robbed of their sight, Savran turned to their sense of smell to pinpoint Sagitta’s location. Narrowly avoiding a fist to the face, the retaliated with a quick Force pulse that sent Sagitta and the encroaching gas backward, giving Savi and their teammates a more breathing room - figuratively and literally.

The spreading Dioxis was of no danger to Hector. The human was confident in the sealed armor he wore. But it was a concern to his allies and time was still of the essence.

Hector’s vision was obscured by the ominous darkness that swallowed them whole. How fitting of a darksider to utilize such an ability. It devoured the light in hunger, much like the hunger the darksiders experience that inevitably consumes them.

If he could not see his target with his eyes than he simply would employ other means. Hector opened himself up to the Force, an ethereal realm overlapped the material one. He could make out Sagitta’s form perfectly. The Darkness emanating from the dagger drew his eyes like a moth to a flame.

“I can see Sagitta clearly. Follow my instructions and we can achieve victory together.” Hector called to the group.

He then took a moment to glance at his droid. “BD, that gas is toxic. Get ready to use your healing stims on any of our allies who are exposed.”

Tahiri gritted her teeth, trying not to just turn around and chastise Titius for how much of the gas was within the room from his grenades. She kept her breath measured and consistent, This plan has to work. Somehow, some way this has to work. Kark it though, it’s hard to breath and be able to evade and fight with this gas.

Tahiri concentrated on keeping ready to evade any of the possessed Sagitta’s attacks, while waiting for her opening. Watching as parts of plan fell into place and then Sagitta falling backwards, Tahiri started to move forward, but stopped as she got up and then the sudden blackness enveloped the room. It was almost comforting, being unseen, although Tahiri had a feeling that Sagitta may have the upper hand within the blackness. Tahiri could hear Sagitta attacking and then felt a slight push from the Force, as she could breath a little easier and she heard a thump.

Concentrating, she used her Montrals unique hollowness to pick up when everyone was, specifically Sagitta. Tahiri’s lekku twitched, as she picked up on Sagitta location. Then hearing Hector’s voice and his instructions, the Elder acted quickly, heading in the possessed Mirialan’s direction. Mentally, through her connection with Zuska, she asks the Vornskr to run ahead, grab hold of Sagitta, without harming her too much and hold her down. She also pressed the urgency of the situation through their connection.

The Vornskr gave only a soft growl, as he sprinted forward. With directions from his alpha, and with the aid of sensing the Force, he maneuvered around the other members of this current hunting pack, finding where everyone was and then finding his target. Feeling the two Force signatures within the one person, one with the scent that he recognized as the female pack mate that rode with alpha, the other a darker, more dangerous vicious one. It confused him how the outsider, didn’t have a more physical body, and why it was almost overwhelming the female pack mate, but he trusted his alpha. As she lunged forward heading straight towards the interesting scented female pack mate, he leapt into action. Grabbing a hold of her ankle mid-lunge with his jaws, being careful not to sink his teeth in too much, then using his weight to slam into her, bringing her down fully on her side. He keeps a grip as he waits for his alpha to make her move.

Tahiri both heard and sensed through her connection with Zuska that Sagitta was down. Hearing a quick conformation from Hector, she sprang forward, reaching Sagitta quickly as she turned onto her back. Tahiri let her senses guide her hands to the daggers hilt, her finger tips finding it right away, the Togruta knew she may only have one chance at this. Grasping the hilt of the Sith dagger with both hands, “I have the dagger!”

Everything seemed to happen at once. Some fool had decided to try and gas the occupants of the the antechamber. “Not all of us are wearing helmets, you moron!” Nydsa shouted at Titius, none too happy with his Force hating rhetoric when he was among a group of forcies. But, sadly, she didn’t have time to figure out if he had any ulterior motives.

She was preparing to assist with the gas removal but saw that Savran quickly had it covered, all whilst a blanket of darkness joined the gas in filling the room. With everything seemingly covered, Nyssa readied herself and reached out into the force to Sagitta. She would be lying if she said a part of her didn’t enjoy cutting people off from the force, if even just temporarily.

The moment Tahiri shouted her grasp on the dagger, Nyssa cut Sagitta’s connection off. The rest would be up to Tahiri.

Your lack of preparation is not my issue

Titius hammered in the direction he thought the door would be. Stumbling over a spot of soft rubble, he paused then realized they were bodies. He scrambled over and continued in his chosen direction… He was blind. Taken aback by the sudden change in light, his momentum carried him forward as he impacted against a solid wall. “KAAAAAAARK that hurt” he yelped, falling back.

Picking himself up, he marveled at the globe of darkness suspended in the room. It was perfectly empty yet very much present.

‘Wha-’ She tried to inhale. Instead, she was choking. Blood filled her lungs and there were gargling sounds as she fell to one knee with a grimace. She coughed a few more times. Her mouth was full of liquid with the strong taste of iron, she was trying to breathe. Talk. Something! She couldn’t even cry out in pain. Her pink hues looked to her team. Her face flashed different emotions. Confusion, pain, and relief.

Her team was okay.

What happened?

Then her coughs stopped. Her hand rose to go to her neck out of reflex for choking and she felt dampness. Her eyes glanced down.

‘Blood!? Mine…?’ A stumble back, she felt so weak and so dizzy. Then she noticed the dagger. She can’t even grip it to remove it.

Exhaustion took her. No energy. Her arms fell to her side.

‘I can’t breathe!’ she wanted to tell them as she fell onto her back and struggled to fight against this drowning, panic, and dread filled her mind quickly.

Hector could sense Sagitta’s newfound freedom. Her pain. Her terror. He knew he had to act. Rushing towards her he pulled several bottles from his belt, uncorking them in placing them in a circle around Sagitta. Ethereal green smoke began to flow forth. A portion of the smoke surrounded the pair while the rest dispersed, forcing away the toxic gas. Hector’s brow knit in concentration as he focused on his alchemical ritual.

“Cosmic Force, Hear me. I am Hector Von Ricmore. On this day you shall not claim the soul of Sagitta. By the Fanged God and Winged Goddess. By the moons of Ashla and Bogan. By Darkness and Light, Son and Daughter. You will relinquish your claim. SAGITTA SHALL LIVE!”

All distractions fell away. Time became innumerable, unrecognizable. Each moment an eternity. Hector Von Ricmore stood in the path of Death itself. And he would not budge.

As the darkness fizzled out, Titius took in the scene before him. Dead cultists piled up forming a macabre rolling landscape in miniature. “Hey, braindead mercenary, you know medicine? Get over here, please!”

Titius rolled his eyes almost audibly but perked up as he saw the blood pooling around Sagitta.

“Someone grab that dagger and on my mark, pull up and do it forcefully” Titius pulled a vial from his armor. “…hope you dont stop breathing from this” he mumbled, aerosolizing the fluid into Sagitta’s face. She went completely limp as her eyes went glassy.

Looking across at Tahiri and Savi, Titius inhaled. “Now comes the fun part. RIP!”

The dagger tore itself loose as it was yanked skyward. Titius handed it off to his droid hovering menacingly overhead. It was followed by a strong jet of crimson . “Oh STOP that” Titius shoved his hand into the open cavity, swishing around for a second. “Well…good news. And bad.” More squelching ensued, blood cascading over the edges of the wound. “…I need another hand, someone go slice one of those rotpiles apart for it or volunteer your own” Titius vaguely gestured as he focused on stemming the red tide. “You kriffing Mirialians bleed like stuck nexu, you know that? Aaah there we go.” Titius extracted his arm, holding a chunk of quivering meat. “Well I can confirm one thing. Scimitar is a terrible lover leaving you heartbroken like this. Hope you know a good biosmith.”

A hand appeared over his shoulder. Tossing the meat, Titius snatched the dismembered digits. Plunging it into the open chest, he grunted. “Just had to pick the biggest paw you could find, did you?”

A few moments passed as Titius swore a streak foul enough to make a Grandmaster blush. Withdrawing completely, he looked the Force Users. “Now think of a pump and focus on this. Hopefully nothing leaks.”

One minute Savi was fighting, locked in combat with the puppeted form of someone they’d begun to enjoy, and the next, that same form was falling toward the floor. They moved on instinct, crossing the paltry distance between the two of them as a multicolored blur to catch the mirialan in their arms. As they gazed down at her and the blood that poured from the wound in her chest, Savi spat a curse in shani, their words dripping with hatred for the kriffing Sith who had used Sagitta’s body and then discarded it like a piece of trash.

As the others arrived, their words bled into an unintelligible drone in the back of Savi’s awareness. They couldn’t hear anything over the sound of Sagitta’s ragged breaths and of their own heart pounding like a Corellian drum behind their ears.

It didn’t take a Force sensitive to know that the mirialan was slipping away. Savran had seen enough bodies bleed out to know that she couldn’t lose much more blood without it becoming fatal. That’s why it came as a massive relief to them to see the others spring into action. The space around them shifted, blanketed with a domineering presence in the Force that enveloped everything in their proximity, centered on Sagitta’s wilting form. Their eyes shot to Hector in a moment of silent recognition of the ritual he conducted, revealed not by the words that their stress addled mind had disregarded, but by the identical Force presence he exuded.

Titius was next, quickly rigging up an implement to temporarily plug the laceration in Sagitta’s heart. They caught the tail end of the man’s words: “think of a pump and focus on this.”

That was all they needed to hear. Moving their hand into position, they placed their hand as close to the wound as they could and poured all of their attention onto it, feeling for the damage and picturing it in their mind’s eye. They exerted their will and the Force complied, emitting a purple glow as the healing power of the Living Force took effect.

©

As the meticulous work began, Savi gritted their teeth while glancing up to Sagitta’s face. “You’re not allowed to die, you stupid girl,” they said, taking care to stifle the concern in their voice lest their teammates saw through their carefully crafted guise. “You’ve survived worse, I’m sure, so wake the hell up.”

After looking around, Savi directed their attention to Nyssa and raised their voice to address her. “You! Come over here and hold down her arms. She’s likely going to struggle against us when she awakes, and that could affect how she heals.”

Tahiri let out a feral growl the moment she stopped herself from sliding further, her whole body coiled and ready to either pounce on or evade an attack form Sagitta. Her eyes adjusted quickly as the darkness faded, taking in the sight of Sagitta clutching the handle of the Sith dagger in her chest. Her own heart skipped a beat as she watched the possessed Mirialan twist the dagger, and then saw her face. The sudden change in Sagitta’s face, her whole body going suddenly limp, and the almost physical change in the Force around, told Tahiri she had been released, but at a cost.

Gritting her teeth, she quickly got her feet and rushed over, as did everyone else. Pausing for just a moment, taking stock of the situation in front of her; Savi caught Sagitta before her form hit the ground; Hector preforming a ritual that Tahiri was unfamiliar with, but felt that it was working to keep their teammate alive. Looking around, she caught sight Titius, calling him over quickly to help.

Her mind was frantic, but taking a deep breath, she stayed calm. Helping Titius extract of the dagger from Sagitta’s chest and watched with almost silent hatred as his droid took the artifact, although she almost missed what Titius asked after that. She swiftly stalked over the bodies strewn about, automatically going for her saber, but then a thought occurred, instead unsheathing her blacked-out vibrosword, finding a cultist whose hand weren’t too dirty, and taking it quickly back to Titius. Ignoring his comment, and stifling the retort she wanted to say back, instead she watched intently. Raising her eyebrow, as he stuck the hand into Sagitta’s chest, slowly stopping the blood from oozing and spurting out everywhere.

After his string of curses, some that even she hadn’t heard of before, and made a note to remember those later on, the last sentence, made Tahiri almost ask him what he meant. Deciding against it, she mentally told Zuska to lay across her legs, the Vornskr obeyed immediately, gently licking the ankle he had bitten and whining with concern. Tahiri sent gentle reassuring thoughts to him, before turning her focus to help Savi heal Sagitta. Positioning her hand near the Shani’s and pouring her own energy into her healing, a more reddish blue glow coming from her hand. She focused on reconnecting blood cells and repairing what damage she could, while helping to start and keep the “pump” going. “We’re not loosing any team members today,” the conviction and determination was evident in her tone, as she concentrated on the healing process.

BD-24 observed the struggles of the organic creatures. Its owner had not ordered it to act but the little droid was not unintelligent. It could surmise what the owner would have ordered in this circumstance. Waddling over to the organics the droid ejected one of its green healing stims. BD injected the stim into the convulsing organic. The green liquid left the syringe and began its regenerative work. BD-24 returned to standing beside the organics, awaiting any potential orders from the organic designated owner or his allies.

Nyssa listened to Savi and jogged on over, kneeling down amongst a growing group to hold the Mirialan down. She held her eyes closed for most of the ‘procedure’, her head turned away until she realized that she could let go and take a step back.

She tapped around on her vambrace and opened a channel to speak with Koda, calling him for some sort of emergency extraction.

Titius scrubbed his hands together, scraping the blood from the gloves. Stitches gave an inquisitive warble-hum.

Right. Sith trash. Fire A canister appeared in hand, quickly dismantled. Another followed, then another. Titius dribbled a small path of fluid away from the mound of scrap. “Drop it” snarky hum “Listen, junkyard footstool…”

The dagger landed on the pile with a rattle. Titius drove the tip of his stave into the rock, sparking the fluid trail.

The conflagration licked hungrily over the dagger, blistering its surface into deep blues. As the flames petered out, Stitches gingerly grasped the dagger, drawing it away from the scorched ground.

“Are we leaving or what?”

“While I appreciate your fervor, you might want to shut your mouth.” Titius intoned, tapping his datapad. A low rumble echoed from the cavern, followed by a whomp as a cloud of dust shot out.

As the smoke cleared, most of the villagers were choking on dust, thrown flat by the shockwave. The cavern had been buried by its own roof, forming a macabre crypt from itself.

Stitches let out a low warble, paradoilically saying well…

Once Sagitta was safely on the ship and Savran was sure she was alright, as alright as one could be in her condition, they exited the ship to address Jo'hn. “Something tells me that our business with these ticyecohtli isn’t finished,” they said while giving him a serious look. “May be the same for you and your people as well, so I want you to take this.”

They handed him a small code cylinder. “It has the information needed to reach a secure comlink I keep on my person. If you these cultists come knocking, just give me a shout and I’ll be happy to end them for you.”

Savran stood just a few feet from the table Sagitta was laid across. With their arms folded, they pulled their attention away from the mirialan to address the gand who appeared on the holoprojector. “The artifact is destroyed,” they said flatly, “All enemy combatants have been eliminated.”

“50 cannon fodder and a very angry dagger” mumbled Titius, once again trying to operate the coffee machine.

The tone of the gand’s response prompted the shani to raise an eyebrow. Normally, they would have said something, but they were too tired to protest. Instead, they relayed the details of the enemies they faced.

“…not until I get kriffin coffee.” came another mumble.

Savran turned their head to regard Sagitta for a moment. “Yeah, I think so. Tell your Exarch to put me at the top of the list for the next assignment. My business isn’t finished with them.”

They paused for a moment to step over to where Titius was standing. A few taps of the caf machine produced a steaming cup of caf for the man. “There you go, chief.”

As if on cue, a message came through. The holographic visage of a bearded Hapan with long hair parted evenly at the middle loomed from a disc projector.

“Savran Has,” Marick spoke, his calm voice low and monotonous. “I have indeed taken note of your work here. I will take it from the report I’m reading that you did everything you could to prevent harm from coming to one of your fellow Envoys. Your work is appreciated.”

Marick’s steeled gaze, sharp even through a holoprojection, shifted to assess the others. “Status on Envoy Sagitta?”

Savran narrowed their eyes when the Exarch himself appeared from the holoprojector. The timing made them question whether their conversations were being recorded, but they said nothing of it. Giving a slight nod in response to the man’s comment about Savi’s efforts, they chose to address his question about Sagitta’s condition.

“She’s stable, but she’ll need proper medical attention,” they explained.

Tahiri’s Lekku twitch as she heard Marick’s voice, looking up from what she had been doing. Seeing Marick suddenly reminded her that she had scheduled to meet up with Atyiru for tea and lunch. Shaking her head, knowing she was weary from everything that happened, she stood up straight and turned towards his hologram, “As Savi said, Sagitta’s in stable condition. I just finished healing all the smaller nicks and scrapes from the fighting and the possession. There’s going to be a lot of work to be done, but I have a feeling she’ll pull through.”

Then echoing the Shani’s earlier comment, her tone stern and determined, “Put me on the list as well, Mar.. Exarch. This immortal Sith, is going to pay for what he’s done. You can count on me to see this all the way through, to his end.”

Her brain still believed she was in danger. She needed to wake up. Her team, were they okay? Sagitta groaned in pain as she struggled to take in a deep inhale. Everything was so blurry. She could hear voices. The humming of the engines. Were… were they safe? Her chest, it hurts. Even something so kriffin’ simple as breathing was an ordeal for her. She grimaced while her fists clenched. She could taste the drying of the blood caked in her mouth.

Then a familiar voice, ‘Status on Envoy Sagitta.’ Did… did he actually sounded worried?

One thing was for sure, they were safe.

She laughed. Weakly laughed through the pain. “I -ah- ” Sagitta grimaced, her facial expression was full of pain, “I’m fine. Put -wince- me on the -exhale- list.” She hissed before passing out.

Marick nodded once to the Togruta, a form of bow. “Thank you.”

He shifted his gaze over to Sagitta, who spoke up before slipping back out of consciousness.

Unseen from the hologram’s framing, Marick stopped fidgeting idly with a stylus between his fingers.

“Rest assured, your requests have been noted and this Immortal Sith will be accounted for.”

With that, the hologram cut off.