The Fourth Hour

[Lamper]

Infiltration​

A pirate group just recently got their hands on an Imperial frigate, holding the crew and ship for ransom. It also contains valuable information about enemy ship movements and support convoys. Luckily the Rebels caught wind of it and intercepted a request for reinforcements, but the Jedi are the only ones close enough to complete the task before the Frigate disappears.

Objective: Retieve the Intel from the ship's main computer, then report back to the Operations Manager.
Conflict: a Star Destroyer is nearby and caught the distress signal and rather loses a ship then the Intel, ETA: 4 hours after the Chars enter the ship.
Optional conflict: A even ranked Sith is still on the ship (Requires NSI PC or NPC).
Optional conflict: The Sith also brought an apprentice (Requires NSI PCs or NPCs).
Death: Enabled
Required: 3 Jedi Capable of infiltration.
Reward: Determined on the Player's actions.

Khivas//Cappi//Jaleer​

__Steel glinted white from the underbelly of the Imperial frigate. Her fat form sat heavily on black space, crawling forward aimlessly; pirates abusing her machinations. Red blasts fired from her bow, crisscrossing through the stars; too big to swat a fly. Smaller defenses, half active due to lack of full-house operators: turrets fired through the storm more precisely. A small ship barrel rolled between the crosshairs and soared up inside the downpour. Closer and closer.

"Ah!" he growled, gritting his teeth.

The ship shook with a hit. Between the frigate's large guns, small turrets, and now three small pirate fighters closing in, their chances of docking the Imperial frigate were shrinking by the second. But since the pirates hadn't managed to get the frigate's shields back up after their own assault, there was a bright light at the end of the tunnel.

"I can't keep this up! Jaleer, those fighters!" he shouted back to the swivel turret. "Hold on!"

Cappi suddenly slammed the controls right, dipping the wing right and turning into a nose dive. Narrowly escaping fire, he used the swing in motion to fling the ship back up; feeling his stomach sink as his back pressed into the black plastic pilot's chair, its under-coil scrunching with an dry shriek. The ship cut through the vacuum up towards the prized Imperial frigate's hangar.

"Guys!"

One of the fighters swooped ahead of them, turning about face onto a collision course and opening fire.

@Benvenu7, @Khivas, @Phoenix

 

[Phoenix]

Frikkin pirates. I mean, really? Pirates? Javik just didn’t seem to have gotten lucky with this scum. Perhaps the most shocking thing to him though was that pirates had been able to take over an Imperial ship? It didn’t speak well to the soldiers on board, but then they weren’t on a star destroyer and there were still crew members resisting, chief among them being himself and a Wookiee Acolyte named Shyrwyk. Javik hadn’t worked extensively with the Wookiee before this but he certainly was proving himself now. He glanced over at the other Sith on board. Perhaps it would be the Empire’s lucky day that the two of them were on board.

The two Sith had been causing no small amount of trouble for the pirates aboard the ship as they fought and snuck their way to the bridge where the main computers were. After all, they didn’t want their intel sold on the market by pirates.

Javik looked over at his companion. The massive Wookiee was practically a walking tank. Encased in Duraplast armor and a phrik forearm/hand gauntlet on his right arm, Javik was pretty sure that he could take a beating before falling. As if that and his own brute strength weren’t enough, his existence was supplemented by a pair of cortosis weave ryyk blades, a dual phase lightsaber, and a shield that in and of itself looked like it wanted to kill him. Duraplast plated with thick phrik, the thing could stand up to a beating, and from what Javik had seen, dish one out, too. The Wookiee had bashed a pirate with the shield earlier and Javik could sense the life drain out of the man in the Force. One hit kill? No thanks, he thought to himself.

Stay steady and try to stay quiet, he said to his companion telepathically. While he didn’t speak Wookiee language, the telepathy got the ideas from one brain to the other clear enough at least and had the added benefit of being quiet as well.

The two snuck forward, sensing the presence of the pirates and trying to avoid detection, although it seemed the pirates were still slightly distracted by someone outside the ship. Reinforcements aren’t supposed to arrive for some time still. Who’s outside? he wondered to himself.

 

[Khivas]

"Gods damned pirates!" Khivas yelled as he gave the controls over to Cappi and let Jaleer man the turret of The Mirado, his body frantically moving to get the engine room to make sure the shield generators wouldn't give out under the current reign of fire the Imperial frigate was delivering. "There's a helpless cruiser they said, they'll be no pirates they said, but you can handle pirates they said, TO ALL THE HELLS WITH THESE DAMN PIRATES!" The Knight yelled as he worked to get the kicks out and fix the digital systems currently under duress as the craft shook as the anti-ship cannons blared beams of death and fire past the ship, too big to accurately hit them, but with such power it became apparent that you didn't need accuracy to shake up an enemy ship.

That said, Khivas didn't waste time pondering on such minor philosophies and instead fixed the issue present with the systems, regulating them and making sure his ship would live to fly another day. After, that, it was time to initiate the plan he had come up with to get him and his team on board the Imperial frigate as needed before hand, a plan tested not too long ago against another hijacked frigate, proving to be very effective, although this one would be a bit different than that particular mission.

"Alright everybody, to the cargo bay, let's go!" Khivas yelled to Jaleer and Cappi, the two now finished with performing their maneuvers to evade the enemy fire and other dangerous issues present with the assault, and as they all came down into the small pod Khivas had loaded onto his ship, he yelled to his droid to take the controls and bring them up near the engines, avoiding the cannon fire and doing it's damndest to evade the fighters attempts on their lives. It was at this point that the plan was to be launched, the crucial point of it; the cargo bay door would begin to open slowly, the timing of this had to be just right, and as Wyatt piloted the ship and plotted the hyperdrive coordinates to jump out of harm's way, Khivas and Company would be jettisoned from The Mirado, left to float near the massive flanges of the engines, coupled with flares being dropped by a timer Khivas set before locking himself in the "infiltration device", blinding the fighters- pirates never did invest in proper scanning equipment in this sector- and allowing Wyatt to make the jump and in the confusion, the pod the three Jedi were in would drift slowly away from the currently unactivated engines of the star destroyer.

It was a damned miracle it worked, but then again when you're Force Sensitive, there's no such thing as miracles, only the universal will of the galaxy itself.

"Well I'll be damned, that plan actually worked." Khivas said aloud, his voice filled with as much surprise as anybody's. "Welp, better get the harpoon out, hang on." Reaching for a lever inside the pod, Khivas grabbed and aimed a tow cable to the side of the ship and fired, hitting it and began to the process of reeling themselves in. Once they were closer, he looked to Cappi and Jaleer and told them to be sure that their gear was set, because there was no telling what may happen from here on out. They drifted along slowly but steadily, having to be careful as to not pick up too much speed or risk crashing and dying, and Jaleer's ability with Telekinesis aided greatly in that effort, and soon they found themselves inside the large exhaust port for the engines, floating along the busted energy chassis and found themselves placed exactly where Khivas wanted them to be: right near the emergency mechanical access port. "And this here's out stop. Out we go." The Swashbuckler said as he latched the pod onto the port access, allowing the pod to adjust it's atmosphere to that of the ship itself, and just like that, through one hell of a display, three Jedi had managed to infiltrate an Imperial frigate that had recently been hijacked by Pirates.

"Alright, get moving. You two head for the data center. I'm going to security to make sure no automatic systems reactivate at an inconvenient time. May the Force be with you two." Said Khivas as he ushered Cappi and Jaleer onward, Khivas himself dipping off to scour the security feed, his senses going off as he neared them, something in his mind warning him that there was something far more dangerous on this ship than just Pirates and captured Imperials, and as the holo-feeds came up in front of him, his feeling was vindicated as he watched a massive monster of a Sith Wookie dismantle whole groups of pirates, and behind him was none other than the potent Sith Crusader with one eye and imposing stature in his armor.

Khivas Carrick and Javik Dalos would once again cross paths it seemed, and in that instant Khivas knew his work with the security system would have to be quick, as he knew the others would need his help fighting those two.

 

[Richie B.]

(OOC: I am sorry for the long post if anyone has any questions just PM me.)

"CAPPI I GOT THE FIGHTERS FOCUS ON FLYING!" Jaleer replied to the worried knight and friend firing at the enemy with everything he got.

Jaleer had to admit Khivas had a pretty nice ship because right now it was managing to hold itself steady the sage allowed the force to command his movements as he fired on the pirates making sure to only shot down the ones that threated the craft they were in. Since the pirates were distracting the Imperials and the Jedi didn't want to loss that distraction, being as it is the only thing keeping them alive even if its just barely, as he continued to fire on the pirates and sometimes the Imperiums frigate as a way to say screw you. Once Khivas called for him to head to the cargo bay the sage knew that right now it was best to listen to him since they needed team work to do this, Jaleer was thankful for his new equipment being as it would be what really even outs this fight. The Sentinel Combat armor was great fitting nicely plus the hood and cloak was a nice touch seeing as it gave the sage the mysterious look he loves, but with his new twin shoto lightsabers would come in handy in this fight both with his signature green light would hopefully come in handy protecting his fellow Jedi from the pirates and stormtroopers. But his newest weapon would be what really makes him a threat the Drumbeat Sonic Pistol with four other power cells in case he needed to reload but the weapon would most likely not see much combat other than enemies with armor that would cause lightsabers trouble.

Running off to Khivas he looked at his friends hoping they wouldn't get hurt and get home safe and sound, but the sage knew that was most likely not happen but still kept positive as he could feel the force try to warn him about something. As Jaleer's armor wasn't in "battle mode" his helmet wasn't one but the hood was still up the one thing Jaleer liked about his armor the sweet look it gave him, smiling the sage was ready for this.

"Alright can't wait to see how my new equipment works." Jaleer couldn't wait this was going to be tough and if they win the Jedi and Rebels could get a lot of important codes and information that could change the tide of this war.

"Cappi remember don't push yourself I don't want to have to fix you up again." Jaleer said in a easy going tone not meant as a insult but rather showing that the sage was concerned and cared for the silly knight.

Jaleer got into the pod as they got ready to enter the enemies ship which made the sage realize how close they actually were to entering a fight, the sage took the moment to calm himself and let the force flow through him allowing the lightside the ease his friends worries an to ease his own but the young Jedi wouldn't let any of his worries show since he was the youngest of them and wanted to seem confident for his friends. Jaleer knew his armor would slow him down but with force augmentation the sage wasn't worried too much about that, making sure to let the force build up within him the young Jedi to make sure he was as strong as he could be.

As they were sent out into space the sage sense the fighting all around them and when they were attached the sage knew it was his time to work using his Telekinesis to make sure they didn't smash into the Imperium's ship they soon got into it thanks to the engines exhaust port an using the emergency access port to enter the ship, taking out his mothers standard lightsaber the sage held it in his hand, an made sure his armor was in "battle mode" letting the helmet to cover his face even if its one of the few things he hated about the armor.

"Thanks Khivas may the force be with you also." Jaleer replied hoping to see him later.

"Cappi can't wait to see you in action seeing as this is the first time we fought together." Jaleer spoke glad to be able to finally see how the two would work together against the enemy.

"Hey I have a bad feeling about this maybe we should try an keep quiet." Jaleer told Cappi hoping the other Jedi knew how to hide himself in the force.

It felt like another force user was with them on the ship unsure what it meant Jaleer used the force to conceal him in case they sneaked up on someone that was dangerous the sage ran with Cappi hopefully to the data center using the left gauntlet scan the ship letting it get a map for the two to follow, once Jaleer got a good read he would lead his friend to the data center.

@Khivas @Lamper @Phœnix

 

[Lamper]

"It's like he doesn't like pirates or something..."

Cappi gasped when the droid took over the controls, the ship pulling up and flashing the incoming pirate fighter with a moment of blindness. He looked over his shoulder, hand slapping to pounding heart before scrambling to unlatch the safety belts.

"Cargo bay?" he sharply questioned as he slid off the seat and hurried to the back anyway. He and Khivas may have found a kindred spirit in each other, but Cappi still had to work on his trust issues... and people skills. Jaleer on the other hand was Cappi's most proven and trusted friend. And as Jaleer trusted Khivas, Cappi followed.

He ran down the isle in his own light armor. A black exoskeleton from neck to toes. Over that, dark brown Jedi garb. Over that, the brown brigandine vest that completed the set; gauntlets and all. Over that, a dark brown hooded robe. Two lightsabers clipped to either hip. Helmetless, he still refused to wear anything too constricting; despite the exoskeleton he was requested to wear by his physician. His shoddy man-bun bounced side to side at the top of his head, bearded face smirking to Jaleer's comments about gear and fixing him up as he caught up to him in the hold.

"You wouldn't pay attention to me if I didn't," he joked. Then he squished into the small pod with the others. "Eherm. Cozy." So close now, he eyed Jaleer's equipment down and up and frowned, not enough space to even put a hand on his shoulder for added effect. "It saddens me to see the lengths you have to go to for this skin condition of yours."

Then they jettisoned. Flares everywhere. Ships crisscrossing through a hail of storm fire. Cappi's head felt a little dizzy from the trip, just along for the ride; closing his eyes and centering his mind. He began putting up mental barriers to strengthen his resolve and feel more put together, an exercise he often practiced ever since the head injury. Until they finally reached the Imperial frigate. And Cappi rejoined the living, sighing relief.

They exited, and Cappi's feet rejoiced on solid ground.

"May the Force be with you," he joined Jaleer in saying to Khivas. "We'll make a great team, buddy," he replied to Jaleer warmly. "Good idea," he nodded in agreement, taking a moment to shrink and bury his presence.

Then it was off to the data center to do their part. Cappi surmised it would be best to hurry and regroup, as something warned all of them of a threat. Jaleer mapped out their path, which meant Cappi had to keep an eye on their immediate surroundings. He wasn't about to get jumped like that last time.

His cloak billowed out behind him as he sprinted in Jaleer's shadow, keeping in single file. They ran down long corridors, quieting their hurried steps in a race against time. The sheer size of this ship was their first adversary to overcome, having to traverse such lengths on foot. Then there came the first signs of battle on the perimeter. Up ahead were two dozen Imperial soldiers bound and tied up together in clusters of three, seated on the floor inside an open compartment with minimal pirate guard standing with weapons in hand. They talked on their comms, the voices of their leaders complaining about resistance within the ship while these guards complained about being left to babysit helpless troopers.

They were preoccupied. Now was the time to strike, hard and fast.

~ Jaleer ~ he telepathically called to Jaleer with warning to the commotion ahead, their mental bond a strong one after everything Jaleer had helped Cappi get through.

Even further beyond, the halls ahead were swarmed with pirates moving with a hive mind, all of them running away from Cappi and Jaleer, all of them running towards something. If they followed the flow, they might eventually find what was drawing their attention. Or whom.

 

[Phoenix]

A lull in the fighting afforded Javik the chance to take in his surroundings. Not just his immediate surroundings, but everything on the ship. He could feel it everywhere: chaos and death. It filled the ship and reminded him of the other time in which he hunted intruders aboard an infiltrated Imperial ship, though that one was much larger. Then, like now, he was the hunter. That was always what he was, he'd been raised to be a natural predator and that never left, even in situations in which he was - to the outward observer - outgunned.

He touched the minds of those aboard the ship, Imperial soldiers who had been taken captive as well as those who still resisted. Like him, there were some aboard the ship who hated admitting defeat no matter the odds. But then he felt something else. Something that was entirely out of place aboard a ship filled with Imperials, pirates, and a pair of Sith. It was light. Three small beacons of goodness that seemed to be making their way across the ship. Two and one, split tactics. Interesting, he thought to himself. Then one flashed out in an attempt to conceal himself, but it was too late to hide the fact that he'd been there and Javik was no inexperienced user of Force sense.

He explored what he could of the signatures, starting with the two coming toward him, which he didn't recognize, before settling on the third. Oh that one was familiar all right. Khivas. Javik had fought the man twice, and like a bad penny, Javik just kept turning up in the man's path. Let them come. The bridge was certainly the most likely place for the Jedi to go to, given that it made not only the most tactical sense, but also contained the only access point to the ship's main computer. Luckily, Javik was already on his way, and much closer than the others.

His temptation was to chase them down, being the aggressive and impatient person that he was, but that wasn't the right move, not this time anyway. No, he would go to the bridge and wait for them to come to him. Turning back to the immediate task at hand, but never letting down his senses lest the Jedi come, he and Shyrwyk continued on to the bridge. He could sense some of the pirates approaching and rather than fight them and waste his energy, Javik took a quick path down a side corridor that would lead to the bridge.


______________________________________________________________________________________________


Shyrwyk followed Javik's lead. While he would have loved nothing more than to slake his blood lust by bathing in the pirates chasing them, even he could feel that there was something else more concerning aboard. Jedi, or at least he thought. One had disappeared and he could no longer feel the man's presence, but that didn't mean he was no longer there. Making quick and quiet - or at least for an armored Wookiee - work toward the bridge, Shyrwyk followed Javik until they were just outside the hallway leading to the bridge. Three here outside the hallway and more at the other end, he could feel Javik's thoughts inside his head. This would be child's play.

Moving from around the corner, Shyrwyk charged the three pirates out front almost before they could even respond, the looks of horror on their face obvious at the site of a Wookiee-tank whose path they were in the way of. The first three blaster bolts smashed into the massive shield and a moment later one side of Shyrwyk's double-bladed, dual-phase lightsaber ignited to life, its two meter blade slicing two of the pirates easily in half with a one-handed blow - a testament to the Wookiee's raw power - and the third pirate smashed into the wall by 90Gs of pressure as the shield smashed into him, draining the life out of him immediately as bones shattered and internal organs ruptured.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Javik never ceased to be amazed by his companion. He moved down the hallway to the door of the bridge and it slid open. Apparently the pirates really thought they had taken things over because they hadn't even bothered to lock the doors behind them, a mistake that would cost them. Javik moved fluidly across one half of the room while Shyrwyk made his way across the other and in short order the two had cleared the room of infiltrators.

While the room clearing had taken time, Javik knew that not only did the Jedi have to make their way across more of the ship to get here, they would also have to fight their way through the pirates that the two Sith had evaded, something that would slow them down, though Javik had no illusions about it stopping them. Quickly making his way over to the computer he reactivated the access codes, changing it to something that only he and Shyrwyk would know. He and Shyrwyk made their way outside the blast doors and closed them behind them, triggering in the new access code, which couldn't be able to be changed without the current one.

He had no illusions about the blast doors keeping anyone out, but it would take time to burn or blast through them which prevented a quick side step followed by a sprint to the bridge should the Jedi try that. A short hallway lay in front of him and with the bridge specifically designed not to have man-sized ventilation shafts, thin walls, or other means of entering, the only way of getting inside was by going through him. Javik paced a short span of the hallway, his classic style of meditation, as he let the Force fill him, keeping his senses ever alert. Now they waited.

 

[Khivas]

"Alright, let's see what we got here..." Khivas said to himself as he sliced into the secured- heh, secured- network, bouncing around his new virtual playground. On Corellia he had spent quite a bit of time messing around with Imperial digital systems during his tenure as Padawan and freedom fighter with the resistance, and as such of all the things to know about and have intimate knowledge of, these Imperium lockdown protocols was Khivas' most intimate of intimates, especially considering how many ships he sabotaged when they dry-docked on his old homeworld.

Like a hot knife through butter, the Knight sliced through the mainframe network and found himself now in charge of the entire security system for the frigate proclaiming "Too easy I say, too easy!", his fingers carrying him across the digital landscape go his destination.

Unfortunately for him however, the data center could only be accessed from the bridge thanks to the damned assault by the pirates, a staple of standard Imperial protocol of having boarders on a ship. "Uptight sons of....oh, what is this?" Khivas said as he stumbled across a new little thing to mess with. "Uh huh..." He said to himself, noticing that Javik and his walking mech of a sidekick had secured the bridge for themselves, and to top it off, they secured the tactical data all on one detachable node but changed the password, what dicks.

Cautious, but of course not cautious enough.

Launching a sweeping algorithm to change up the password, Khivas knew that all he had to do at that point was simply wait for the digital key to unlock the chest, turning this mission into the deadliest waiting game he's played in quite some time, much to his chagrin. To help make it a little more even, Khivas would take control of the automated ship defenses, giving a bit of a hand to Jaleer and Cappi as the two moved along the corridors to the bridge, possibly encountering pirate and trooper leftovers on the way. More so, heavy repeating turrets, while certainly not powerful enough to defeat two Sith Warriors, would still manage to be an unwanted object to deal with, thus when the large autoguns dropped from the ceilings and erupted from the walls, Khivas let out a small smile when he set the IFF tags on Cappi and Jaleer as friendly, and everything else as foe, and let the fireworks go.

There was still however one last thing to deal with before Khivas could leave and join in the festivities, and that was the matter of the blast doors being locked on the bridge, barring entry to the much needed data node.

To combat this, Khivas simply giggled and pressed a button, automatically unsealing the doors and preventing anybody else from messing with them again. "Now if only the data node could be as shoddily guarded as everything else. Damn Imps." Khivas said as he finished downloading the schematics for the ship, giving him a real time map to follow and a lovely Nav Point marked up on his HUD. Lastly as one final countermeasure just to make sure that if they failed to obtain the data, Khivas set an order to overload and violently explode the control console of the bridge at his command.

Walking away while doing a gear check, Khivas started up the maintenance tunnel trolley and took a seat as the vehicle sped across the span of the ship, pausing a moment for a particular stop before the bridge, all the while Khivas watching the algorithm run it's course to pick the proverbial lock on the treasure.

Once the trolley reached it's stop at the location Khivas has desired, the Knight stepped out and walked up to the doors to the frigate's armory, and once inside, began to go on a bit of a shopping spree, grabbing various high grade explosives, gadgets, tools, and even weapons data, but most importantly, what he really came to do, was rig all the anti-vehicle weapons, particularly the tank ones, with some of those explosives he has just liberated, all for the future of this lovely little plan.

And of course as one would suggest, on his way out Khivas would help himself to one of those anti-tank rockets, a little surprise for the walking tank Javik kept as a pet, and once back on the trolley, started whistling as the vehicle carried him to the hallway area leading to the passageway to the bridge.

 

[Richie B.]

Jaleer knew that Cappi was only joking about the skin condition so the sage decided it would be best to go along with it, thinking of a few things to say the sage knew what would be a good come back to the older Jedi's joke.

"If you were a girl named Alisha maybe I would show you, but if you most knew my skin is sensitive to blaster fire. Besides Cappi if your so interested in seeing my skin maybe you should buy me a drink first." Jaleer replied laughing to himself as they ran though the ship eventually running into the open area where some pirates and Imperials were.

Looking around the sage found what he was looking for a service elevator just besides the group of pirates and Imperials prisoners, thankfully it seems the pirates were being distracted by what the sage could careless as long as they were able to get around the enemy and make it to the bridge, looking at Cappi the sage took out his sonic gun putting it on stun mode ready in case he needed to fire a few shots into the crowd.

"Alright Cappi we need to make it to the elevators besides those imprisoned Imperials, we just going to have to make a run for it, I will fire a few shots from this sonic pistol should stun them long enough for us to get into it than head straight to the bridge." Jaleer said hoping his plan didn't sound too crazy.

The sage would wait until Cappi either said yea or nay an if the other Jedi said yea the sage would gather the force within him and make a speedy dash to the elevator with the force aiding him making him look like a blur to those that saw him, firing his sonic pistol into the crowd causing many of them to cover their ears, as the sonic pistol could damage ones hearing too the point of making one deaf.

"LETS GO CAPPI!" Jaleer would say as he got into the elevator firing the last bolt into the large crowd when Cappi got into the elevator the sage pressed the bridge button, watching the doors close as the pirates, and Imperials covered their damaged ears, shortly after words the sage felt those pirates and Imperials dying.

With Khivas activating the defenses they were unable to defend themselves and were quickly taken care of. Smiling to Cappi though the sage knew the other man couldn't see it the young Jedi felt like things were turning out great, before the weight of the darkside became apparent to the young Jedi. Looking up Jaleer grabbed onto his mothers green standard lightsaber ready for the battle that was about to begin.

"Feel that Cappi? No doubt about it, there are Sith here." Jaleer said gathering the force within him knowing that it was too late to hide himself the sage dropped his cloak and focused on building up the force within him.

Thinking about a plan to fight the two force users the sage took a moment to scan his enemy through the force, one felt like a crusader level the other a acolyte, thankfully it seemed the Jedi had the advantage of experience but the sage knew that in battle it could change in a instant. Jaleer reloaded his sonic pistol readying himself for the fight, a battle which could be the end of him.

"Cappi don't let your guard down." Jaleer said worried and concern clear in his voice.

@Lamper

 

[Lamper]

"Heh. You make it sound easy," Cappi slyly retorted to Jaleer's mad dash plan. He nodded his head affirmatively, regardless; pulling out both lightsaber hilts in either hand and keeping them at the ready.

So, despite Cappi's curious thoughts swirling with unanswered questions, he followed. Shots fired and the two of them bled through the air like a gale before the stunned captives and their assailants knew what'd happened. Cappi looked over his shoulder, secretly wishing for some action, thus prompting Jaleer to call his name, before Cappi committed fully to the depths of the elevator compartment; harmlessly banging his shoulder into the chrome cabin to halt his sprint. A devious sliver of a smile half curled his lips as a sort of apology for his hesitation, making light of his desire to mop the floor with some fellow delinquents in that look to Jaleer then; watching the last sonic blast fire before Jaleer shut the doors and set them on their course for the upper levels.

Then he too felt the sudden pin pricks of life being deflated like dozens of popping bubbles below, a grim expression casting doubt in his eyes.

"What was that?"

Cappi didn't see it so clearly as a positive for them, unlike his younger companion. But then, Jaleer was always seeing the positive side. And it made Cappi reconsider. While at first he assumed the whole of the ship, or something just as troublesome, had turned against them all, now he allowed himself to hope that it was by Khivas' design. He wasn't certain, but Jaleer's smile seemed to show a commanding confidence.

But there was little time to revel in that comfort, as Jaleer brought up another shared feeling. One that caused Cappi an even greater anxiety. The notion that they'd have to face two Sith got Cappi's blood pumping more than ever, a complex conflict of haste and hesitance. Not since his failure on Lamaredd had he been so doubtful in his previous definition of the Sith. And yet never had he felt such vengefulness in their condemnation since just before that. Both extremes in such a short time, now cluttered together. He fervently wanted to face them, defeat them. Kill them even. Yet he simultaneously didn't want to condemn them, prejudge them. Not after being saved by one. Not after meeting another who returned to the Light.

But he knew better than some that there were simply bad eggs that need be squashed in all realms.

"Yeah..." was all he could muster in response to Jaleer's findings, troubled.

So he steeled himself for the coming fight. Less a moral battle of inaction and more of two masters, both towing the reins of desire in opposite directions. It was simply a matter of finding what was right, he thought. No longer was it what would the Jedi do. Now it was what would Cappi do. A part of him wanted to shred the opposition. The other, to pardon. Whatever he did, he had faced the worst of his demons already. This wasn't the wall, this was growth.

Moving to the right, and out of sight, Cappi's mental defenses were at their strongest. Aware and prepared, this was it. Whatever the auto guns had accomplished here, likely not much, it was their job to tackle what was left.

Finally the elevator reached its destination with a gleeful ding, and the doors opened to reveal the corridor that led to the bridge entrance intersection.

@Phoenix

 

[Phoenix]

Star Destroyer ETA: 2.5 hours

The locked blast doors slid open behind Javik again and he just sighed to himself. Nothing is ever simple is it, he thought to himself. And then as if it weren’t bad enough, the ship’s autoturrets descended from the ceiling and started giving him a hard time. I mean, they were just autoturrets though. No originality and most importantly, no movement. Javik and Shyrwyk went to work deflecting the rounds back at the turrets that they came from. It took some time, but in the end was little more than a pest.

He still had time before anyone arrived and on top of that he had a Wookiee still guarding the entranceway so Javik made his way back inside. If that was how the pirates, or Jedi, or whoever was out there messing with the doors wanted to play it, then Javik could play that game too. It seemed whoever had been playing with the security controls that jammed the doors open seemed to be gone now and Javik made his way back inside the bridge.

As he did, he began to look over the main computer. It only had one access point, which was fully intentional given the Imperial’s paranoia. They didn’t want anyone accessing it from outside this one room. Well that made Javik’s job easier at least. Quickly making his way across the hangar he salvaged what he could from dead Stormtroopers and pirates, eventually coming up with several EMP grenades and thermal detonators.

He smiled smugly to himself. Then he primed and tossed one of the EMP grenades over toward the main computer. The computer was not EMP hardened and the grenade shorted out all the electrical systems and took the computer offline, not to come back on again. Then, as if that weren’t enough, he tossed a small thermal detonator (careful to keep it away from the windows, or anything else that might lead out into the vacuum of space) and rolled it over to the computer. Some might have called his plan suicidal, but it worked and that was all that mattered to Javik. He was that dedicated to winning.

Looking back at the computer he admired his handiwork. All interface-capable ports to the main computer had been obliterated and the electrical systems were no longer working. If these Jedi wanted to get whatever was on that drive they would have to find a way to restore power, get to the internal wires, find the proper ones, hope they weren’t fried, hotwire a connection to a datapad, and THEN they would have to actually slice through the Imperial encryption. Suffice it to say that would take quite some time (possibly even hours), and no one would be simply running past him to slice into the computer. All he had to do now was hold them off until that Star Destroyer arrived. Whenever that would be.

Now to our unwanted guests. He returned to the hallway and continued his pacing. It was at this point that he got his second devious idea. He hadn’t used all of his ordnance from the dead people. Walking calmly over to the elevator he placed a small EMP grenade and a thermal detonator next to the entrance to the elevator. With that “ding” sound, Javik used the Force to trigger both so that right as the doors opened they would go off. No sound and with only the slightest movement it would be nigh undetectable in the Force.

Both grenades had the same length of time for triggers (something Javik had checked while using them against the computer), but he triggered the EMP grenade’s arming switch first (by a fraction of a second) so it went off first by a fraction of a second. It would fry any electronics used to hack into the computer and had the added (and unexpected benefit) of frying the HUD of the helmeted Jedi, rendering him all but blind for the moment. The thermal detonator went off miliseconds later.

The detonation from the thermal detonator wouldn’t likely kill either of them for a couple of reasons: first, Stormtroopers carried a small yield, second if they hadn’t yet left the elevator, it would shield them from part of the blow and thidly their armor would take much of the blow. However, it still accomplished a couple of things for Javik and Shyrwyk. First, it would still feel approximately like being hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer, which is in and of itself extremely taxing and painful, something he could use to wear them out in the fight. Secondly, it would likely knock them off their feet and be extremely disorienting (and for the helmeted one also be blinding until he got his helmet off).

The beauty of the attack was that there was no early warning. Like bounty hunters had discovered millennia ago, the best way to kill Jedi (which he could clearly sense through the Force that these were) was to set traps and use explosives. It had killed countless before and would again. Furthermore, It wouldn’t be detectable in the Force, and Javik’s constant pacing that he had been doing would alleviate any concern about him being close to the elevator. The grenades wouldn’t be able to be seen since it was around the corner and the doors would be just opening meaning the grenades would be detonating almost before the Jedi were able to gain sight of them. Unfortunately that last bit was also what would likely save the Jedi from complete obliteration, but Javik had to take what he could get.

He took a step back for a moment and examined this situation from a third person perspective. It was another one of these almost surreal situations that Javik found himself in. Here he was killing people again that he didn’t really bear any ill will toward specifically, it just was something that needed doing. He shook the thought from his head and prepared himself for what was to come.

Immediately after detonation, he and Shyrwyk moved closer to the two combatants, not entering the elevator but forcing them to confront the Sith immediately if they were to leave and giving them no room to maneuver as their backs would be up against a wall. Javik brought his saber up in front of him, blade approximately at the midline of his body, right foot held back.

Shyrwyk raised his shield in front of his body, one side of his lightsaber activated, dual-phase function on, looking a bit more like a spear than a sword, pointing toward the elevator. It was the Jedi’s move. Or last chance to retreat.

 

[Richie B.]

Jaleer could sense the turmoil within his friend which was reasonable with what recently happened the sage had hoped there wouldn't be a Sith onboard but if it is the will of the force the sage could do nothing about it. Looking to Cappi the sage knew the man couldn't see his face but would hopefully pick up on how worried and sorry the sage was that Cappi had to be here to fight the people that hurt him so soon. Realizing that he had better things to worry about the sage sat down with his legs crossed the elevator wasn't fast with all the damage the ship had received it was taking time for them to get up to the bridge which the sage didn't care it allowed him to continue to build up the force within him while also keeping a eye on the enemy with force sense.

It was weird it seemed the stronger of the pair of sith was running around doing things that the sage was blind too before, the sage sensed that the man was right in front of the door which worried the sage before the man walked away again. What was the Sith doing, was it a trap, did the Sith only wish to mess with them and decided to do all that movement just to confused them? It was clear that the Sith knew they were here or the Sith wouldn't be waiting right in front of them, but what was going to happen when those door's open would the Sith just gun them down? Realizing it was a kill zone the sage stood up and decided there was only one way to defend themselves against such a trap.

"Cappi put up a force bubble right now." Jaleer did the same and would erect a force bubble, the idea was to stop whatever attack the Sith had coming for them before it actually hits them.

If Cappi joined then the sage wouldn't be as tired, if not the sage would be the only one keeping the force bubble up when the doors open and protecting them from the blast, though it did nothing too stop the EMP the blow back was greatly reduced, with their ears not taking as much damage as would originally happened without the force bubble. An once they survived the explosion the sage would thank his armor and the force but it seemed the Sith wasn't going to leave them alone, quickly the sage grabbed his Sonic pistol still in stun mode and fired at the two in front of them, thanks to the smoke from the explosion it should hide there movement for a moment.

The stun function of the pistol would shot out and would hurt there ears causing them to become distorted, quickly changing it off stun mode and it still being on human mode the sage fired 2 shots at the Sith in front of him using the force to guide him, firing on at his chest the other at his head. The sage used the force to pull his mothers standard lightsaber into his right hand where it was waiting to be activated and used for battle.

@Lamper

 

[Lamper]

At first Cappi's mind was focused on the more powerful signature that had paced back and forth, concerned with unknowns and the Siths' endless schemes. Something in his brazen behavioral patterns hinted that this Sith was confident in his abilities. But when Jaleer called for defensive measures, Cappi responded with trust.

Two fingers and thumbs opened with hilts in hands, the Force beckoned to his call.

Flush against the inside of the elevator's front left corner, shoulder and head to wall as the opening doors had only just parted, the explosion shattered his simple barrier and flattened his body under pressure. While his barrier was quick to erect, more precisely bolstering Jaleer's efforts in front of them while using less energy in a support role, it was also weaker. Though he did alleviate some of Jaleer's weight-load. And due to Cappi's distrust of the auto defense guns, he was well hidden and already pressed flat. There was nowhere to be thrown back to, which meant nothing to hit against. And without Jaleer's encasing protection, his ears would've taken a harder beating.

Still, his head felt dazed. His chest had been punched sore. A tone rang in his ears. His skin ran hot with discomfort. A smear of blood colored a single nostril. And his body had collapsed a little. This before Javik took a step back to survey the situation. Needless to say Cappi's concentration was rocked, and so his previously buried presence was made clear. But in his moment of temporary debilitation, Cappi wasn't without his wiles.

Cappi's three-fingered prongs, hands still coddling his hilts, wrenched open a rift between Javik's knees with the Force; sharply ripping his knees apart in opposing directions beneath him just as Jaleer shot his sonic pistol shots. While Cappi's Force application could be as easily resisted as it was instated, resisting would render Javik immobilized in concentration; assaulted on two fronts. If not, the application would only be enough to buckle Javik a head lower and depending on how warmed up the Sith was might strain a muscle.

Then Jaleer's now human mode shots fired, the Force guiding his adjusted shots to Javik's reactions. This while Cappi's right thumb ignited one yellow beam up in hand. Cappi's senses judged Javik's and companion's counteractions, giving the slightest pause so shots fired if deflected would pass before he presented himself a target, then exited the doors on a crossing diagonal to the opposing side farthest from the Acolyte. If Javik was close enough then, Cappi being just off Javik's axis would even slash down a crossing slash at Javik from right to left across the torso.

Cappi wouldn't be at his best so soon after the blasts, but he could still fight.

@Phoenix

 

[Phoenix]

Spoiler: OOC

Oh and just as an FYI (and you’re not the first one to have done this. My tag on the site is actually Phœnix not Phoenix. Lol if the user phoenix ever actually logs back on (unlikely since he’s not been on in 5 years) he’s going to have a ton of tags intended for me from a myriad of different threads.

The smoke hadn’t even begun to clear yet before the two Jedi were getting ready to attack. He could tell that the explosion had at least knocked them around a bit, likely taking away some of their stamina for the fight to come, which was all-fine with Javik. All he had to do was outlast them.

The sudden explosion between his knees did actually knock Javik from his feet. As he was going down, his balance training from both Teras Kasi and Echani kept him from being knocked on his butt or flat on his face. Instead, his left knee slammed down on the ground, his armor luckily keeping him from banging it up noticeably, while his right leg stretched out along the ground in an almost-graceful fashion. It may have strained a muscle, but for the fact that Javik had already been up to his quota of killing for the day and his muscles were far from stale.

As he turned his attention back to the elevator, he noticed something very concerning. Despite the smoke still being in the way, Javik could see the two men as clear as day due to his near-constant use of Force sight during combat. It was born out of necessity and after having done it for so many years, it was as second nature to him as sight to a normal person. It was this that allowed him to see the pistol being raised by one of the two men and afforded him just enough time to raise a barrier in front of he and his companion.

Frankly, Javik was a little pissed that he had let someone do what he would consider to be “getting the better of him” and he poured that emotion into his barrier, holding it firm despite the near-pure sound smashing against it. As the pistol ran empty, much to Javik’s relief, he let go the Force energy he’d been holding and the real fight began.

One of the Jedi emerged from the elevator and swung down at Javik from Javik’s left shoulder to right. The blow was a one handed blow so Javik responded in kind. Bringing his saber up in his left hand, he blocked the diagonal blow. Then, because he was still low to the ground from the man’s cheeky little lower blow to his legs, he decided to respond in kind.

He used his free right hand to prepare his next blow. Placing eigth small points of energy around his opponent’s knee. Then in an instant he ripped them all to the side where they would hopefully shatter the knee. The move was similar to a grip or choke but was centered around breaking the knee rather than strangling or retraining. Furthermore, because it was forming around the leg instead of being launched from Javik’s hand, it wasn’t block able with a force push the way that a force push would be.


__________________________________________________________________________________


As Javik and Cappi fought, Shyrwyk’s bloodlust began to set in. He moved in toward the other Jedi, who was still trapped inside the elevator. He roared and moved in for the kill. The second Jedi was still inside the elevator and the Wookiee had every intention of taking advantage of that. Angling his saber towards the ground, he put his shield in front of his body and moved quickly toward the other Jedi, closing the rather short distance in no time. As he closed within striking distance, he pushed off with his back foot, putting his body weight behind the heavy shield. His lightsaber was fairly low to the ground on the right side, nearly straight in front of his body and had been switched back to a standard length blade once more.

Shyrwyk put most of his weight behind the shield and used the fact that his opponent was trapped to his advantage. The angle that he came into the elevator would trap the Jedi in the corner. There was no place to go to the left, as that was simply the corner of the elevator and there was no escaping through the elevator door since that was where Shyrwyk was coming in.

As he made this charge, his saber would play three roles. First, it would protect his legs and right side from any incoming saber attacks, while the shield protected his left side and upper body. Secondly, if there was no attack, he would sweep his saber across from his own right to his own left, and sever his opponent’s legs below the knee, a blow that, from a Wookiee woud easily be able to cut through both the armor and leg. The third role of the saber was much simpler: to cut off the right side escape route and prevent a charge for the door or dodge to the right.

Furthermore, because Shyrwyk wasn’t daft, he prepared himself for the possibility of a telekinetic blast or the like from the Jedi in an attempt to buy himself space. However, even if that came, the way that Shyrwyk’s shield was angled and the way he had positioned his center of gravity, a blast would be minimally effective and still allow the Wookiee enough time to swing his shield out and strike the Jedi, albeit perhaps with less impact, but still enough to cause sizeable damage.

The blow from the shield would be in and of itself devastating. Possibly enough to kill outright, but if not then certainly enough, even with the armor the man was wearing, to break ribs and knock the wind from his lungs.

 

[Richie B.]

(OOC: If anyone has any questions about what happened please PM me.)

Jaleer was not happy that Cappi had left him in the elevator though it was a smart move the sage was in a pretty bad shape, with his chest sore, and his head beaten up and fogged up the sage didn't feel like fighting yet of course that wasn't going to happen not while they were in a battle. An especially since he was stuck with the big and ugly one which made the sage a bit pissed thankfully though the sage had at least a trick up his sleeve which should make this fight go quickly, though the young Jedi has only really killed people without a face this would be a different experience one the sage knew would not leave a good taste in his mouth. Watching the Wookie enter the elevator the sage knew that he would be forced to stay in the elevator but it wasn't the sage that was trapped inside it.

No it was the wookie that was trapped here with him, activating his green lightsaber the sage channeled the force into him ready for this fight seeing how the wookie was going to try and rush him it was clear to the sage that the shield was going to be annoying. Yet not for Jaleer, because the young Jedi could see how he could use it too fight against this fool, having two more shots left in his Sonic pistol the sage witched it to wookie setting, knowing this was important to end the fight. Smiling the sage watched as the wookie made his move unfazed by this the sage knew that even if the wookie was physically stronger than him, Jaleer was far stronger in the force and in application of it.

Quickly taking aim the sage fired two shots one at each leg aiming below the shield the wookie might decide to block it or his legs would become useless in the fight, if the wookie did move the shield down it would only make what the sage would do next much easier, pulling the shield straight down to the floor with the force, sending the entire wookie down with the shield. Because of the wookies long body even if the wookie relaxed his arm the shield will still pull the wookies upper body down quiet a bit.

Once the shots were fired the sage would send his mothers standard lightsaber in his left hand so that it pointed down in a reverse grip in front of the sage's hips in case the wookie tired and use the lightsaber against him. Because of how the wookie had his lightsaber if he attempted to use the other side of the lightsaber to defend himself he would have to watch out too not hit himself since the body was going to be dragged downward.

As soon as the shots were fired the sage would drop the sonic pistol in his right hand then he would grab the shoto lightsaber and moved as quickly as possible when the wookie was going down as the sages Telekinesis dragged the shield down, would try and cut the wookies head clean off from the sages right to left. The wookie would see the lightsaber coming from his left but if the wookie doesnt do anything would find that his head would be rolling on the floor.

If everything goes according to plan the wookie would go stomach down on the floor for his last sleep one the fur ball will not wake up from, placing his shoto lightsaber on the belt than grabbing his sonic pistol Jaleer quickly reloaded it an turned to the scene of Cappi and the Sith's fight.

@Lamper

 

[Lamper]

Saber in right hand, yellow beam swinging down towards rising red: Cappi's eyes flashed an interrupting psychic wave. Their blades clashed, and Cappi's eyes invaded Javik's mind with a purposefully jarring mental violation; clobbering Javik's skull as though being hit by a phantasmal freighter's engine fire. The emotional presence and impression of his voice echoed out successively in canon as though a dozen times in an instant demanding,
WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?!?

__Since the onset of engagement, Cappi was of an unrelenting bent; even leaving his comrade behind to fend for himself. Even already of a mind to execute such a destabilizing mental attack from the onset, upon seeing Javik's left saber arm begin to rise - the decision was assured, the trigger pulled with the barrel already pointed. Cappi's thoughts burrowed into Javik's memories like a rat under fire, clawing into bloody canals of information as best as he could. But it was the initial blunt force trauma that was most impactful. This would not only put Javik on his heels mentally, but would interrupt his clever Force application before it could be implemented.

Javik's concentration would be broken.

The fatal flaw of such detailed work and specificity: placing eight small points of energy around a unique piece of anatomy, finding the exact points of weakness in and around Cappi's one of a kind knee, was exactly its strength of profound impact; thusly taking more time before executing. Though the rending of flesh afterwards would have been instantaneous, the preparation was anything but. Regardless, Cappi's mental invasion hadn't waited to find out. Javik wouldn't be allowed to find those points before Cappi rushed Javik's mind.

And Cappi's mental blitz was, at first, exactly the opposite in nature; a vague blast of invading greed for information via over-saturation. Making Javik think Cappi thought he actually had a chance at stealing trade secrets was second, firstly just being a bulldozer that broke Javik's concentration and making it impossible to focus enough to execute any Force applications. If Cappi then found anything regarding perhaps codes to disarm say certain security measures, then that would be an added bonus. But leave the guess-work to the unsuspecting victim...

That said, speaking of pulling triggers to already pointed barrels, Cappi's left hand was already in place before their sabers connected. And all he had to do was squeeze the button and his left lightsaber would erupt straight down into the center of Javik's exposed throat - the soft point at the base of the neck and chest. And so it would. First their sabers clashed. Then, immediately, Cappi blitzed Javik's mind before Javik's eight energy points could be erected. Then, thoughtlessly, Cappi's left thumb squeezed; shooting the second yellow beam down towards Javik's chest into the jugular notch.

__Cappi's mind invasion would continue to push into Javik with considerably reducing vertigo with a more strategic effort of grasping for secrets thereby forcing Javik to force Cappi out, though could easily be rejected by one so adept in the Force. The only reason Cappi would have been able to initially invade his mind so easily was due to Javik's concentration on his prior eight-pronged pressure point masterpiece of vengeance. Though to reject Cappi, or even to sustain the initial assault, Javik would similarly be immobilized; just as Cappi's elbows held up like a mannequin's.

The overarching beauty of this mental assault was in its equalizing fairness. The more Javik focused to push Cappi out, as simple as that would be, the more both Javik and Cappi would be aware of their physical aspects to be capable of responding outside of the mental attack. And if Javik didn't force Cappi out, sacrificing secrets for a physical undercut, Cappi had already instigated an attack on that front to force Javik on the defensive; and Cappi would sense no resistance and therefore could just as easily recoil his mind to return to the fight.

This would, however, take its toll on Cappi's longevity hereafter. But he was always a sprinter anyways.

@Phœnix

 

[Phoenix]

Javik was already off balance from being knocked over and as the Jedi’s blade came down on Javik’s left side, it was all he could do not to be knocked on his butt. However, then something else happened. Javik had nearly completed his attack on the Jedi’s leg when his mind was assaulted almost immediately by a brute force attack. The initial assault on his mind actually made him lose what remainder of balance he had left knocking him on his butt and interrupting his assault on his opponent’s leg.

It only took an instant and he actually only needed very little effort and focus in order to shut out the assault on his mind for two reasons. The first was that he was a master of Teras Kasi, which had an entire section devoted to mental barriers that he had practiced extensively. The second thing that he had to his advantage was Raide Vakri. The Sith Lord was one of the premier mental tormentors of their day and Javik had personally trained with her in order to protect against mental assaults before her untimely death. After suffering at her hands and shutting her out, everything else was mere child’s play. All in all, while it had interrupted Javik’s attack it hadn’t done quite as much as the Jedi would have hoped in the area of long term distraction and yielded the man no useful information either.

Even as the finality of his own mental protection came to fruition, his opponent continued his attack. The saber in his other hand came around Cappi’s body and activated. It was the fact that Javik had actually lost his balance that saved his life. Having fallen back, he was no longer in the area where the blade activated and instead, the energy erupted in front of his chest and into the ground in front of him, cutting a small path through the ground in front of him.

Javik’s right hand reached out and snatched the saber in front of his chest, and gave it a yank. In a battle of pure strength, Javik would certainly win over this Jedi because of his physical enhancements, and since it was unlikely that Cappi had fought someone before who used crushgaunts, he wouldn’t be able to process what was happening in time to deactivate his lightsaber before he was thrown off balance.

Javik pulled on the saber, leaving one of two things to happen. Either Cappi would resist the pull and Javik would actually be able to use that to get his feet under him in an instant or Cappi would be caught off guard and it would actually drag Cappi off of his feet. Javik didn’t really care either way as it would be physically impossible for Cappi to attack Javik with his left hand saber and Javik’s own left hand still held a saber to defend against Cappi’s other hand.

Furthermore, the way that Javik was pulling, if Cappi fell, it would knock him on his back rather than his front, further preventing him from attacking Javik while he fell or immediately after landing.

__________________________________________________________________________________


Shyrwyk charged into the elevator and as he crossed the threshold was the first time the Jedi had a clear shot of him. In the time that it took Shyrwyk and his massive wingspan to cover the 5 feet of the elevator, Jaleer planned to fire two time and grab the shield telekinetically, all before Shyrwyk could cover a short distance. It was a grave error. Shyrwyk entered the elevator and as he cut through the doorway the sage raised his pistol and fired. The hard sound smacked into the armored leg and the vibrations of sound began to crack the plate, causing a small portion of it to actually shatter loose and Shyrwyk could feel that his leg had begun to grow partially numb, but none of this was to stop him. He was charging and as Newton’s law says, an object in motion tends to stay in motion.

As his right leg began to lose feeling, the weight was already transferring to the other and he was able to close that little distance he had to cover. Instead of the second round ever firing or the telekinetic grip coming, the shield battered the pistol off target and smashed full on into the Jedi. The impact from shield on armor rang out throughout the empty corridor whose only sounds were of flashing blades.

Smashed between a wall and a chunk of metal, the impact of the knight’s body versus the wall left a huge impression and transferred the entirety of the momentum to the knight’s body. The damage was bad. Even with armor, the energy transfer from the shield to the body would shatter the Jedi’s innards, breaking ribs, rupturing organs and perhaps even breaking his spine. It would certainly prove completely incapacitating if not fatal. For his part, Shyrwyk began to place weight on his right leg again and knew that he wouldn’t be at his maximum stability again for a few moments, but that was no real matter, as his opponent lay shattered on the floor in front of him.

 

[Khivas]

"Ah, jeez..." Khivas said when he found that he couldn't call down the elevator to the bridge so he could get up there. "Must've been that damn EMP. Oh well, time to make my own express elevator." Khivas said as he took a massive Force leap and started flying towards the top of the elevator shaft, the bottom of the cart beginning to come into view.

As his momentum began to fade, the Knight then aimed his waistline grapple hooks, grabbing the bottom of the elevator and continuing his ascendance to the top. The next few moments are where things became crucial for both Khivas and his two companions. He reached out with the Force since he couldn't get a read out on his holomap, and he could instantly feel the immense strife between everybody above him, and thanks to his scanners he got a clear, infrared and light induced view of the fight above, and as he readied the anti-tank weapon in his hands as his grapple line continued to carry him upward, the Knight took aim and lined up the laser guided sights with his target, setting the HEAT projectile on it's path of destruction, and with a little help from the Force, Khivas confidently pulled the trigger, letting loose an earth shattering echo within the elevator shaft.

The rocket traveled fiercely through the air, the armor penetrating warhead aimed to hit not the enemy directly, but the floor beneath him. The idea here was the the round could penetrate armor, but only so much of it, and because of that ability, the explosive wouldn't be particularly big, but it'd be potent enough to lay down the hurt where it was required. The plan, while extremely risky, was also the best, and perhaps most importantly, the quickest way to make sure Jaleer didn't become human paste thanks to the bullrush of a giant, charging Wookie of Sith doom, thus the rocket traveled up the shaft and drove into the area just below where the elevator met the floor itself, penetrating the thin layers of durasteel and detonating just beneath the floor, sending a shockwave out from the hallway and to the surrounding area, easily knocking Cappi forward over Javik and stunning the Crusader as well from the shockwave.

Meanwhile, the Wookie would be blown forward, his original idea of ramming into Jaleer still technically happening, only thanks to the explosion behind him, his trajectory would be thrown off, causing him to mostly nick the younger Knight and cause the Acolyte to crash into the wall along with the Sith, neither moving fast enough to be killed by the impact, but definitely hurt.

The results of this should have been having Javik distracted, Cappi thrown but not badly hurt thanks to his armor and stance when the explosion hit, the Wookie thrown partly into Jaleer, partly into a wall, and Jaleer being slammed into a wall, only not as hard as before, but definitely wounded from this, even if he used to Force to soften his blows.

As all of this finished, the elevator, although shaken, remained hanging in the now slightly mangled elevator shaft, allowing Khivas to reach it without issue, and as he did, he drew his lightsaber and with both Force Sight and his visor still active, stabbed through the floor and got the still stunned Wookie right through his chest, effectively taking him out of the fight.

A few moments later after cutting a hole through the floor to let himself in, Khivas climbed up and took a look at the corpse of the Sith Acolyte, and while not exactly happy he had to kill the poor lug, was happy that he didn't have to deal with him any longer in the fight.

Redrawing his saber, Khivas went to check up on Jaleer, him more than likely being the one wounded from what just happened. "Hey buddy, can you stand?"

 

[Richie B.]

Jaleer was shocked at least somewhat, he had always tried to believe that everything happens for a reason yet what just happened was a bit weird the entire elevator felt like was the center of a shock wave, the sage put up a force bubble as quickly as possible. Though he started to fall to the right away from the wookie, yet the force bubble was weak it wouldn't stop the wookie slamming into his left shoulder completely popping it out of place. The scream Jaleer let out was almost like a animal just one loud yell letting almost the entire ship hear the pain that the sage was in, too make matters worse, the sage was sure the bones were cracked all the way from the shoulder too the elbow, yet that didn't matter right now the sage fell to the floor on his right shoulder which hurt also but thankfully the armor on that side wasn't as damaged. Looking at the wookie that hurt him the sage knew he should focus on healing his shoulder but right now Jaleer was pissed angry and seeing red, grabbing the wookie's head with Telekinesis the sage felt the dark side take over for this hole second and started slamming the Sith's acolytes head into the wall.

Several times until the wookie's skull was completely broken in the back of his head, an once the feeling left the sage was hit once again by the pain letting his Telekinesis grip off the wookies head, biting down an gridding his teeth the sage could do only so much as the pain was extremely intense. That was when Khivas came back an though Jaleer was still in pain he smiled for only a second seeing his friend an one time student come back and finished off the wookie. Deciding to crawl to the corner of the elevator the sage was propped up against the wall breathing heavily he knew that without his left shoulder he wouldn't be a help in a physical fight, plus he needed to heal it before the injury gets worse already feeling the internal bleeding.

"N-no ma-n so-rry.. got h-hit pretty good, go-o help Ca-ppi." Was all Jaleer was able to say before he placed his right arm over his left shoulder, knowing this would be the most painful thing he experience bite down again and nearly screamed when he used Telekinesis to put his shoulder back in place.

"D-don't w-worry about me... I can *Cough* handle myself, just yell if you need m-me." Jaleer hoped Cappi and Khivas would be enough to finish off the last sith seeing as he would be most likely unable to join them.

Starting the healing process the sage would almost fall unconscious a few times but he force himself to stay awake knowing if he passed out he would be screwed, it would take a while for his wound to be fully healed but Jaleer needed to tend to it now before anything else, keeping a eye on the battle Jaleer wouldn't be able to help for a little bit but if they truly needed it. Jaleer would use the force to help but until they ask or the sage sees they needed it he would stay here and fix himself at least to a point where he isn't in such a bad position.

@Lamper

 

[Lamper]

Pushed out of the mental invasion as though Javik's very palms pounded against Cappi's chest again and again, the flash of a finger punching a numerical code blurred into obscurity yielding little to no results as a fraction of the larger picture.

The thing about aptitude, however trained, is that it's completely dependent upon preparedness. No matter how skilled with a gun a man is, for example, it will do him little service while holstered. Though quick on the draw as Javik may have been, Cappi's mental attack beat him to the first shot. And because of that, Cappi saw something; a couple things actually, blurred together. Only a glimpse. Unable to focus precisely on the preferred memory of security measures, Cappi stumbled upon another nugget that had yet to be polished.

And again, "the overarching beauty of this mental assault was in its equalizing fairness". The more Javik focused to push Cappi out, the more both Javik and Cappi would be aware and capable of responding; at the same rate of time.

Cappi's left blade stared Javik in the face, not having dug into the floor but rather having followed his backwards fall just short of chest's reach on a downward angle. Just as Javik reached for Cappi's left blade, so did Cappi's right boot swift kick into Javki's exposed inside right thigh-groin.

With Javik's left blade holding Cappi's right at bay, Javik's right hand grabbing at the outside of Cappi's left blade, and Javik having fallen back on his ass from a wide and almost half-split crouched position that left his legs open to Cappi; Javik's under-inner-thigh would be utterly unguarded.

Just as Cappi's kick would likely land, twisting one way, he was suddenly and surprisingly yanked to his left by a greater strength than he could have anticipated by the seemingly impossible feat of gripping onto live plasma. On one left leg, he easily fell left to his side without resistance. Twisted onto his back by Javik's original intent to throw him immediately to his back, Cappi naturally side-rolled over and onto his hands and knees and eventually back up onto his feet as ungracefully as unprepared fodder might by the grace of the Force.

In the background, an explosion lit up the elevator.

In response to feeling man-handled, Cappi's instincts led him to disengage his left lightsaber as soon as his wits thought to do so; his right blade defensively guarding the front of his body as quickly as he could also.

Cappi had been thrown-rolled away from Javik and Javik had not gotten any resistance from Cappi to help him stand back up, in fact receiving a kick that would more likely have made his rise take even longer. And Javik had also unwittingly put himself between his foes in a hallway, Cappi closer to the bridge with Khivas and crew at the elevator (whatever happened back there); Javik right smack dab in the middle.

And if there was any ripple effect from the activity in the elevator, Javik would have been closer to it than Cappi.

There was no immediate retaliation from Cappi, as he was forced to recuperate from his own tumble. But because of Cappi's little kick, less painful to the armored Javik (depending on how fortified that area is) and more offsetting to Javik's center of gravity, Javik probably didn't have anything immediate to add either. And if Javik started to realize the predicament he was now in, he didn't know the half of it.

In fact, none of them did.

Yes, reinforcements were on their way. But to what end? They had only received a distress signal that pirates had taken control of the ship. They had attacked. They had boarded. But who had prevailed? Javik hadn't told them. He had been too preoccupied preparing to face Jedi intruders after dealing with pirates. This ship had secrets. And the incoming ship had received no word since. The outside guns were active, as this Jedi team had proven with their miraculous boarding; those few remaining pirates not joining the inner fight after hiding from the ship's inner defenses nor able to take a lift to the bridge would be close enough to return to those posts and fire at the Imperial ship on arrival. Reinforcements weren't coming to Javik's rescue. They were coming to destroy the ship, and everyone in it.

"Guyyys!" he called out with crescendo warning to his friends, eyes glued to his immediate opponent. That was what he saw in Javik. There was a ship coming. They were running out of time...

@Phœnix

 

[Phoenix]

As his weight continued forward, a massive boom thundered through the hallway, followed only moments later by a wave of heat that struck him in the back. With the explosion outside the hallway, the actual blast that anyone felt inside would be minimal. The majority of the shrapnel was not actually directed at the Wookiee, saving him any serious injury, but a few smaller pieces still found a way to embed themselves in his armor which fortunately saved him from serious injury. The surprise managed to knock him a bit off course and rather than squash the Jedi in the corner like a bug, he smashed more into the man’s shoulder, which left its socket with a sickeningly wet schlick.

The rest of the Wookiee’s momentum transferred to the other half of his shield and into the wall, leaving an indentation but sparing him from slamming his head or any other part of his body. Still, with his right leg injured, the shock from the explosion, and the partially unbalanced hit against the Jedi, the shield and Wookiee spun just a bit and left the Wookiee with his back up against the wall of the elevator and his butt to the floor. All of this happened in less than a second.

It was then that he began to feel a pressure growing around his head and the darkness emerging from the Jedi. This Jedi thought he knew the dark side? The Wookiee would have laughed had he not been so drunk with his own rage. He knew nothing (Jon Snow) of the Dark Side. He fought the growing pressure, the massive muscles in his neck resisting movement and with the Jedi having used so much Force energy and having been beaten up so badly in the last few seconds, the strength of his grip was not nearly as strong as he would have liked.

Shyrwyk’s counter move was simple as could be. With less than an inch of movement in his thumb, Shyrwyk activated the second phase of his lightsaber, which extended another meter to impale the Jedi. In the small space they were in and having actually been in physical contact only moments ago, it easily reached the Jedi and it was already on the proper side of the body and pointed at the Jedi. In his currents state of having had two Force barriers battered to pieces, blown up, and smashed by a Wookiee to the point of a shoulder dislocation all within the last 30 seconds, the Jedi would barely be teetering on the edge of consciousness which meant blocking or dodging the blow would be nigh impossible.

With that Jedi out of the picture - either incapacitated or dead, Shyrwyk didn’t care -he climbed to his feet. As he did so, he became aware of how close the assailant, who had apparently launched a rocket at him, was. That was weird, but with the man nearly on top of him now there was little time to ponder the “why” only time to decide what he would do. Putting his feet under him, and rising to a crouching position, still unable to fully stand, Shyrwyk had no time to move given his still slightly unstable state after the last pair of attacks. Instead, with a cock of his wrist and two simultaneous button presses, he cycled which end of the lightsaber was on. The blade cut through the floor of the elevator, the dual phase function extending farther than the blade of the approaching Jedi.

If the man continued to commit to the attack path that he was on, he would find himself impaled on the Wookiee’s blade as it was directly in the path that the zipline was carrying the man. True, his attack would pierce the end of Shyrwyk’s foot, but would it be worth it to the Jedi to find himself impaled likewise and almost certainly in an even more valuable part of his body?


______________________________________________



Javik felt the impact of his opponent’s boot against his inner thigh, but with Javik already having begun to pull the Jedi off balance, the actual strength of the blow was minimal at best. Even if that weren’t the case, Javik’s armor was specifically designed to withstand physical attacks and the plate of plastoid covering his inner thigh was almost as likely to hurt the Jedi’s foot as it was to actually hurt Javik.

As he was still pulling down his opponent, the sound and heat of an explosion met Javik’s body for the second time during the battle. This time, though, it wasn’t from him. He rolled to his side and was on his feet again after a moment. Neither he nor his opponent had really seemed in a rush to attack one another and now they stood squared in the hallway. Javik transferred his black saber to his right hand again and now reached out with his left, snatching the red and black saber and letting it leap to life in his left hand.

Both men stood facing off against one another before Javik made his move. The two combatants were already very close so it was less than an instant before the two men were within striking distance of one another. His movement carried him to his opponent’s left side, his body angled away from his opponent. His red saber came from up from low aiming at his opponent’s midline. Meanwhile, he continued stepping forward and would bring his black saber, which was above his own head and pointed toward his opponent, around to strike toward his opponent’s side near the shoulder. Hopefully, the first blow would create an opening for the second by battering his opponent’s blade out of the way. If Cappi wanted to try to two-blade vs. two-blade, Javik was just fine with that, his own enhanced strength would allow him to eventually batter through his opponent’s defenses if the fight went on long enough.