Ask Acolytes, Assemble!

[Cairo Kisufi]

Zakuul. An ancient site of power for the Sith. While it had remained a hidden and unimportant planet after the archaic Empire left it, today, things were different. A group of acolytes had been gathered to visit the world, with little more in hand than cryptic instructions from a Lord Lorhram. What kind of name was that, anyways? Lord Lorhram? It sounded like Lord Lord-ham. Cairo snickered at the thought.

"Hey, his name is Lord Lord-ham, y'all!" He shouted cheerily from the pilot's seat of the group's 4T System Patrol Skiff, a vehicle licensed through Sith agents on a neutral world. Although the Empire was now producing its own military equipment, the secretive shipyards of Exegol seemed more focused on creating new, powerful heavy cruisers than creating functional civilian transport ships. The Sith were, thus, forced to purchase such vehicles from intermediaries in the Corporate Sector. While this had a functional use, and was less obvious than the sleek, spiky Sith design, Cairo couldn't help but appreciate the gap for non-capital ships within the Empire's vast portfolio. He thought he could change it - once he became a Sith Lord himself.

Cairo regretted the joke instantly. It was stupid and poorly timed. He hoped they hadn't heard it, and began to blare over the shuttles comms to drown out his previous joke. "Uh, I mean, we are dropping out of hyperspace into Zakuul's gravity well." He knew very little about the world of Zakuul - or even if the planet had cities or spaceports. Lorham's instructions were simple:

Acolytes. Zakuul is a naturally neutral focus of Force energies but recently our Empire had begun to notice a sudden and powerful shift to the Dark Side. A surprise but not unwelcome. What is unwelcome and unacceptable is that this is not being done by any known agent of the Empire. Scout out those who would dare covet this power in secret against the Empire.
​

This implied they were to meet some resistance. However, he had declined to provide any more intelligence on the world or its suspected dark sider inhabitants, leaving the swampy planet a mystery to the acolyte and his team.

"Have any of you been here before?" Cairo activated the ship's long-range sensor suite as he made his approach to the world, scanning for ships coming and going or orbital satellites, structures, or space stations that could give some indication of the technological advancement of the Wild Space world. "Any ideas on how to approach?"

@Wit @Altaris @Nefieslab @Sreeya

 

[Ashla Ti]

Seated in one of the seats behind the pilot and co-pilot, with nothing to do on the flight, Ashla was buried in her datapad, going through the list she maintained of things to do and trying to think of things she could accomplish on this trip. That is till she was pulled out of her thoughts by Cairo speaking up.

Looking up from her datapad, she heard the joke that Cairo made and stopped mid gesture as she was about to put her datapad away. She instead switched it on once more and started typing a note for herself. Joke: Lord Lorhram, similar to Lord Lord-Ham. P.S. Do not send to Zakuul crew, initial source. Malou, Senin, Aadya possible targets, maybe post on switter.

Satisfied with the note, she put her datapad away and turned her attention to the sight outside the viewport. Leaning a little to the left and forwards to get a better view, she turned her head towards Cairo as he asked about their approach. "You dip the nose," Ashla replied as she raised her left arm to point forwards and then gestured it flowing down at an angle as she continued speaking, "and fire the thrusters. Whoosh!" She looked expectantly at the others, a proud smile on her lips, it had taken her a while but she was sure she was beginning to get the hang of social interactions with those near her age group.

"Or you know," she added with a somewhat sheepish tone, "we could use the Force and see if we can sense this anomaly Lord Ham mentioned. Use the Force Luke!"

@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Altair Din]

Altair was in the co-pilot seat, his feet up on the terminal dash. He dressed for hot and humid weather in a simple tank hoodie with a shirt underneath and some jeans with sneakers. His left wrist sported a few beads. He was in the process of sharpening one of his horns when their destination began to loom into view. Altair glanced over when Cairo made his lame joke. He caught the look on the Morellian’s face and decided to help him out in case he had any doubts.

“Everybody heard that, dude,” He said with a smile, flicking his finger against the side of his horn to hear the satisfying sound of a polished finish. Altair gazed ahead, his violet eyes taking in sight of the planet.

“Wasn’t Zaakul the filming location of Dead Evil 3?” He was a big horror movie fan, especially classic ones, “The one where that twi’lek broke her heel in the middle of the swamp?” He had met Cairo and Vahliri before, but he hadn’t met Ashla. Altair smirked as she imitated the infamous words of Master Kenobi.

As they began to descend, some of the sensors began to act strange. Altair leaned forward in his seat, glancing down at the terminal. The readings were all over the place and there were warning flashes about a potential engine failure.

“Shit,” He muttered as he glanced over at Cairo, “We’ve got a problem.”

@Wit @Fine Dining Set @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tempest]

While Altair and Cairo took pilot and co-pilot seat, Vahliri was seated within the passenger compartment of the Patrol Skiff – just opposite to Ashla. While the half-Sephi had some experience behind the controls, it wasn’t her strong suit and she was perfectly content with letting the boys take the helm. Her childhood spent on Indupar meant that the half-Sephi was perfectly accustomed to the hot and humid weather that they were expecting – legitimately looking forward to the muggy climate that most people probably dreaded.

She was dressed accordingly, sporting a pair of jeans and a brown tank-top, alongside a matching pair of leather boots and a gold bangle on her left wrist. Her black hair was pulled back into its usual braid and away from her face, flaunting the facial tattoos that were inked across her chin, brow and bridge of her nose.

The half-Sephi kept her arms folded neatly in her lap, head tilted back against the hull of the ship as it began to approach the planet. She was drawn out of her own thoughts when Cairo cut in over the ship comms with his awful joke. “We heard it. And I’m not going to sugarcoat it – that was awful.” She called back out, though her tone didn’t seem entirely too serious.

Vahliri couldn’t help but groan under her breath when Altair mentioned that horror-Holo classic. “Yes. And I still don’t know who the hell wears heels in a swamp.” She briefly glanced down to her own feet, backing up her own statement by lifting her foot off the ground – flaunting the flat heel of her boot. Her brown eyes briefly flicked over to Ashla, giving a faint exhale through her nostrils – a hint amusement – in response to the Kenobi reference.

“Problem?” Vahliri muttered, keen ears immediately picking up on that expletive used by Altair. She finally shifted in her seat leaned to the right – peaking her head into the cockpit where the half-Devaronian and Morellian were sitting. Her eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly.

“What the hell did you two knuckle-heads break?”

@Sreeya @Nefieslab @Fine Dining Set @Wit

 

[The Storyteller]

Zakuul was, indeed, the shooting location of choice for directors who wanted their horror-swamp to be so bad that the actors didn't need to do much acting to inform the audience that it would be terrifying to find themselves in said swamp. The Endless Swamp of Zakuul - so named for it's dominance over the northern hemisphere of the planet - was known to the greater Galaxy even if the rest of the planet was barely worth mentioning. Despite once being something of an odd hub, the planet now had literally only two cities across it's entire landmass and only one with a dedicated spaceport.

Not that a dedicated spaceport mattered to the Acolytes as their ship began to fail over the swamp.

Vahliri's uncharitable assumption was, on this occasion, incorrect as the failing technology had nothing to do with the crew or the ship itself. Through the Force the Acolytes would be able to feel an aura of sorts emanating from the swamp itself. As their ship dipped lower, they would begin to see that theirs was not the first ship to be affected by the strangeness of the Endless Swamp.

Already they would be able to see ancient ship hulks covered in moss as millennia had passed them by. Through careful piloting, they would be able to glide the ship down to a semi-soft landing though this was definitely not helped by the pair of large Wingmaw, which began to frantically attack the front of the cockpit. Unknown to any Acolyte without training in biology, the frantic beating of bodies and wings against the front of the ship was, actually, far from a violent act.

But really, how were they to know that the way the cockpit's transpirsteel was lined with durasteel supports made it look like the underbelly of a Wingmaw female?

@Altaris @Sreeya @Fine Dining Set @Wit

 

[Cairo Kisufi]

While working a mother-son conman operation across the galaxy, Cairo had learned quite a few tricks about piloting. He knew how to avoid seeking missiles, how to Hotwire a pursuit craft, and he could jerry rig a hyperdrive with duct tape and the right fusion cutter. All these skills amounted to nothing when the patrol craft started to freak out on him. Whatever anomaly was affecting the craft had hid it at every level: The altimeter's readings were crazy, fuel had started to leak out of the engine of the craft, and it felt like even the basic controls of the yoke had inverted on him.

Coupled with a wingmaw attack, Cairo saw a pretty bad ending for this craft. Not wanting to die before he had done anything of use to anyone, he rubbed his braincells together to think of an exit strategy. "Hey, uh, bad news? Ship's fried. We gotta get off it or we all fucking die." He unbuckled himself from the pilots' seat, considering what he knew about the craft. "Good news, we have an escape pod!" With that, Cairo frantically abandoned the cockpit, going towards the hatch that led directly to the escape pod. He gestured for his fellow acolytes to follow him to the small container.

The ship was supposed to have an escape pod built for five. For some inconceivable reason, likely the fact that Cairo had shit luck in his short life and today was just another example of it, that pod-for-five had been replaced by a meager pod for two. Captains were supposed to go down with their ships, right? What about acolytes who just flew ships for kicks - surely they didn't have to die in fiery ship crashes?

Well, he wouldn't be the first to hop in the pod, at any rate. Guilt washed over him - if he had been a better pilot, there would have been a landing option available. His fellow acolytes at least deserved a chance to sit in the pod. He put two fingers in his mouth, whistling loudly to indicate to his teammates where the escape pod was. It wasn't exactly hidden, given the ship was so tiny, but he figured he was helping.

@Sreeya @Altaris @Wit @Nefieslab

 

[Altair Din]

Things quickly went from bad to worse as the ship shuddered and the terminal spelled out some things loud and clear. Altair felt a chill down his spine as he felt a pulse in the Force. However, he was caught entirely off guard by the massive wingmaw that swept in front of them. A series of expletives escaped him as his head collided backwards, horns denting an adjacent wall as he unfastened his belt. He grabbed the backpack he had with him.

Not for the first time, Altair found himself scrambling into a run behind Cairo. His heart thundered against his chest as they ran to the escape pod, the entire ship beginning to tilt towards a nosedive. The Devaronian collided with Cairo’s back as he abruptly stopped. He glared at the Morellian.

“The hell?” He bodily shoved Cairo inside like a sack of potatoes, forcing him to take a seat while he took the other one. Naturally this wasn’t without difficulty, as he conked his horns against the sides of the pod before finally angling his head to get in. Sitting next to Cairo meant the other man had to have a horn pressed up against his face.

Violet eyes gazed up at the two ladies that no doubt finished last since the two boys knew what was going on first. He looked at the lack of seats and then looked at the girls, gesturing wide with his arms across both his and Cairo’s laps.

“Best seats in the house, ladies!” He said with a grin that was clearly tinged with dread. The four would have to find a way to cram themselves in somehow. The ship was now beginning to nosedive and Altair felt that sensation of his stomach dropping. Alarms were blaring and the ship metal groaned from the strain, the entire thing vibrating as it began to break apart.

@Fine Dining Set @Wit @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Ashla Ti]

Ashla, having never heard of Dead Evil 3, or the franchise itself, hastily took note, adding another item to her every growing bucket list of things to cover before she died. A new joke and a movie franchise, and they had barely started the mission. This was turning out to be a most wonderful trip.

Having taken the note, but still listening in on the conversations going on around her, she looked up from her note taking to see Vahliri flaunting her feet for her, and the Togruta leaned forward to look down at her own feet, wondering how her boots, which did have a certain amount of heel to them, were a fashion faux pas.

Thankfully she didn't have to worry about that for long as the ship started to shudder, and soon enough plummet out of control. As Cairo and Altair unclipped themselves from their seats, Ashla fumbled to safely store her datapad away within her cloak, a part of her tempted to note down the expletives that escaped Altair's mouth. THankfuly common sense prevailed and she started unclipping herself as well.

"The whoosh was a figure of speech!" She barked at Cairo as she worked the seatbelt, eyes locked out the viewport, imagination running wild trying to figure out what all the scrapping and thumping outside the ship was. "Not literal, a whoosh is never literal!"

By the time she had freed herself and made her way to the escape pod the two boys had already claimed the two seats. Not excited by the prospect of riding a crash on someone's lap, but left without any options, she let out an exasperated growl and rushed to get on Altair's lap.

"Don't get any ideas," she growled at him, "I'd much rather you stab anyone but me, which makes this the safer option."

@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tempest]

Vahliri couldn’t help but go wide eyed in response to Cairo’s assessment of the ship, her mouth hanging slightly agape as imminent death was listed as one of their probable outcomes. The half-Sephi was leaning heavily forward in her seat, head just peaking around the corner horizontally to stare at the flashing terminal. “What did you two dooo!?” She groaned, still attributing their current calamity to Cairo and Altair.

A bit of the color drained from Vahliri’s face, feeling that distinct pulse through the Force that tugged at her psyche and sent a wave of goosebumps across her skin. To top it all off, the sudden appearance of a very determined Wingmaw just added to the shock and ‘what the fuck’ factor of the entire situation.

By the time Altair started to get creative with his vocabulary, Vahliri had glued herself back into her seat, scrambling with the belt to unfasten it quickly. Vahliri glanced up to Ashla midway through. “Why did we let them fly anyway!?” Within a few moments, the half-Sephi was free from the straps of her seat and onto her feet. She began to rush towards the escape pod, only to pause, turn around and go back for the backpack she nearly forgot in her seat.

She paused half-way through her sprint, blinking a few times as she caught sight of the Wingmaw through the cockpit window. Whatever strained relationship she had with her family, Vahliri had grown up around the finer things in life and a noble’s education was part of that. As a result, the half-Sephi had enough biology knowledge to actually realize the Wingmaw was being.. Friendly.

She blinked a few times. “Oh you have got to be kidding me...” Vahliri groaned at the realization of what was happening, shaking her head as she followed right behind Ashla. As soon as they stepped past the doorframe of the escape pod, her tawny gaze flicked between both of the two boys who had already taken up all the seating.

She let out an audible groan at Altair’s statement, dramatically rolling her eyes. “Ugh.” With little other option, though, the half-Sephi didn’t protest for very long. She watched as Ashla rushed towards the Devaronian, blinking a few times before snapping her attention to Cairo to seat herself on the Morellian’s leg. Vahliri turned back to glance at the Morellian, almond-shaped eyes narrowing slightly. “Hands to yourself.”

She felt her stomach drop as the ship began to nosedive, instinctively reaching out to one of the handlebars on the side of the seat and latching onto it tightly. The blaring of alarms immediately caused the half-Sephi to wince, her sensitive ears flattening against the sides of her skull.

Given her position next on Cairo’s lap, the half-Sephi equally had to deal with Altair’s sharpened horns being dangerously close to the side of her face. She immediately craned her neck in the opposite direction, attempting to put as much distance between her skull and the sharp points as possible.

“Oh hell no.” Vahliri said flatly. “Altair,” She pointed to the backpack that the Devaronian was hauling, and then proceeded to make a hand gesture to indicate putting the pack over the sharp point of his horns.

“I am not dying as a kebab.”

@Sreeya @Wit @Fine Dining Set @Nefieslab

 

[The Storyteller]

A fiery death with wreckage strewn across a large distance of unforgiving swampland seemed to be o the cards for the group of acolytes attempting to complete their vague mission. Thankfully for them, it seemed that while Cairo was not capable of evading such a fate befalling their ship, he was able to at least remember that they were under no obligation to go down with the ship. Even the temporary captain was exempt from this due to his status as "Not a Real Captain".

Despite the protesting wails of Vahliri Kahtal, the ship was going down ad there was nothing eve the most competent of pilots could have doe about it. That they had not had a brilliant enough pilot to evade the unavoidable was coincidence, not causation. As they acolytes all piled into the too-small escape pod, there was a general rush of adrenaline before something would become immediately apparent.

None of them had launched the pod.

Before they could do so in a controlled manner, the ship's front section slammed into a piece of another crashed ship and emergency measures were taken. As they were shaken and rattled by the all-mighty movement of their ship crashing into another, the ship fired the escape pod away from itself as part of it's manufacturer's safety features. Unfortunately for the assembled acolytes it did so at full speed with no warning, further bumping and rocking them as some of the other features, such as seatbeats, broke under the pressure of the situation.

The landing of the pod, however, was almost anti-climactic after all the commotion as it slammed wetly into the swampland, skidding across mossy logs and mud before coming to a complete stop beside a pool of water so filthy and contaminated by ancient star-ship fuel as to be barely recognizable as water. As the pod door opened, an automated voice spoke from the speakers.

"We are alerting your nearest law enforcement official. Last update shows rescue will arrive in approximately..."

A small pause.

"Three hundred and seventeen years. Stay safe."

@Sreeya @Wit @Fine Dining Set @Altaris

 

[Cairo Kisufi]

Cairo was crumpled like a piece of paper again by Altair. To be fair, this one truly was his fault; he came to a full stop just before the entrance of the escape pod to consider the ramifications of his choices. It probably wasn't the best time to have a panic attack - but no one ever said panic attacks were convenient, yeah?

As they piled in and screamed, their ship hurtling towards the surface of Zakuul, Cairo slammed the 'eject' button for the pod. It didn't respond. He pressed it again. And again and again and again and and again and again and again.... Ultimately, it was to no effect. Whatever had broken down the ship had obviously damaged the pod. Cairo resigned himself to his fate.

Then the pod launched automatically, and realization began to dawn on him. He was actually just pressing the reading light button, instead of the eject button. To his credit, they were both buttons. It's confusing, people!

By the time he realized that the flickering lights were caused by his own foolishness, it was too late; the pod was hurtling close to the surface, and the jostling crashes into the swamp's swampy landscape. He decided to take his final moments to confess a great sin to the group. "ALTAIR, I LEFT THE FLASH ON MY PHONE ON PURPOSE BECAUSE I WANTED TO WAKE UP DARTH RAZE" He said, hurriedly, before darkness and silence overtook the pod. He closed his eyes. Were they dead? He reached out his hands, touching the metallic floor of the escape pod and almost certainly poking one of Vahliri's long ears in the process.

His eyes shot open. "Oh, my bad." They had done it. They were alive. "Are y'all alright?" It wasn't his first ship crash, but the first one where he felt responsible for the group around him. Luckily, as he took stock of his peers, none of them seemed injured. No bones sticking out, no blood everywhere, no one was impaled on Altair's big-ass horns. It was a successful emergency landing. He brushed himself off. Or, as much as he could, with the jostled Acolytes all over him.

"We are alerting your nearest law enforcement official. Last update shows rescue will arrive in approximately...Three hundred and seventeen years. Stay safe."

"Okay, so we do have an alert. Maybe it's like a GPS unit, and it'll update with like a shorter time soon?" Maybe there was just really bad traffic wherever the law enforcement was coming from. Regardless, it was obvious they'd have to find their own way out of there. And a horrible smelling fluid had begun leak in the pod, right onto his forest green jacket and black high-top sneakers. He didn't have hiking boots, and he didn't want to wear combat attire, so these were a flexible middle choice.

That smell was familiar, though. He had just smelled it, when he was refueling their patrol craft on Dromuund Kaas.

Fuck.

The mechanical failures of the crash had caused the escape pod to start sparking at its electrical ports, dangerously close to the leaking ship fuel. Maybe this wasn't a successful crash landing.

"Uh, sorry again, but we need to get out of here." He pointed directly at the sparks, in an attempt to alert the acolytes to what he was seeing. He opted to take the most expedient way to leave the pod - they could just use the Force to rip the hatch off. Something he saw in a holovid once. Of the group, he knew Ashla was the most senior. If that counted amongst acolytes.

"Ashla, quick, help me do this." With the power of the two combined (or perhaps four, if the other two opted to help as well), he hoped they would be able to quickly escape into whatever the swamp held.

@Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab @Wit

 

[Altair Din]

Altair gripped the sides of the pod, beyond mortified at the sudden drop felt from the entire ship. With Ashla on his lap, he couldn’t see jack shit. However, he heard Vahliri call out his name, tilting his head back to see her hand gesture demanding him to cushion her delicate face from his horn.

“Sorry, hands to myself,” He quipped back in a high pitched girly voice resembling Vahiliri before facing forward again, almost grazing her cheek in the process. Panic began to set in very quickly when he realized they weren’t detaching from the ship. He looked around nervously, and he could hear someone frantically pressing a button and nothing happening. All the jerking around and sense of falling made this feel like the scariest theme park ride from hell.

“AAH-” He began to yell, but was cut off by Cairo’s confession. In fact, that abrupt outburst stunned him into silence and he was quiet the entire rest of the way down. He thought back to when his only source of panic had been Darth Raze waking up from meditation and how trivial that seemed now.

He heard the crash and thud, but he had resigned himself to his fate. There was nothing but darkness for a while until he slowly blinked his eyes open, rudely interrupted out of his deprecating thoughts by the mechanized voice announcing when rescue was arriving.

Altair attempted to look around but Ashla’s giant head was blocking his view, “Ugh, your fucking monorails or whatever,” He hissed before finally peeking beyond her after shoving her head aside. He looked to see the jet fuel and the sparks, putting two and two together. While he knew he would be largely okay, his companions would die a fiery death if the fuel was allowed to ignite.

He looked at Cairo gazing to the hatch and heard him call out to Ashla. Altair growled to himself, channeling the Force to his body as he was taught as a Matukai. His entire body pulsed with the Force. He unceremoniously shoved Ashla into Vahliri as he lowered his head and slammed his body forward.

There was a loud crunch as he rammed his horned head against the hatch, his body charged with the Force. The first bash left a massive crack through the hatch that was already weakened from the landing. Altair drew back again and slammed forth like a charging bantha bull once more, this time landing the fatal blow. The panel shattered and collapsed, toppling outwards. Of course, this was timed with the sparks finally catching onto the fuel in the swamp. Almost instantly, the fire began to spread across the swamp, with the only dry ground across the other side.

Altair took his shoes off and rolled up his pants, putting the shoes in his backpack as he pushed out of the pod. He landed into the fiery lake, entirely unaffected by the heat. He glanced at the others, “Unless any of you have any other ideas to put out the fire, I’ll have to carry you one by one to the other side!” He shouted at them, despising this plan but also unsure of what other choice they had. The flames grew hotter and higher and they had seconds to make a decision.

@Fine Dining Set @Wit @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Ashla Ti]

As turbulence increased, and packed as tight as they were in the small escape pod with no seat belt to hold her in place, Ashla did the only thing she could to keep herself from getting tossed around like a sock in a washing machine. She reached up and grabbed the closest secure thing she could find, Altair's horns. That was till he let out a loud scream, which she assumed was because she was ripping his horns out. Letting go at once, she forgot about finding another handhold on hearing Cairo's confession. Master? What were they doing waking him up? And how the fuck were they still arrive, she scared to interrupt him when he was awake, disturbing a sleeping Raze was likely a suicide wish.

Altair's exclamation about her montrals was what pulled her from that line of thought, as switched into fight or flight mode. She thought that she had pulled on his horns so hard that she had caused him pain, so it was only natural to assume that he meant to do the same to her montrals to get back at her. So when he shoved her head she instinctively ducked her head, or at least tried to.

"No!" She screamed as she covered her head in her arm, going on the defensive with no way of knowing where the next attack was coming from. Which in turn made it even easier for him to shove her onto Vahliri. Of course with her hands covering her head she went flying at the acolyte elbow first.

It took her a moment to untangle herself from the other acolyte, accompanied with more than a few muffled sorries and some of the expletives she had heard Altair use earlier. By the time she could look up to see what Cairo had wanted her to help with a loud crashing sound rang though the pod, and she looked up to see Altair charging horns first at the hatch, this time shattering it and sending it toppling outwards. All she could do was stare, mouth open in a small O as she wondered just how much damage she had done to him by injuring his horns. She hadn't read about Devaronian having brain tissue in their horns like Twi'leks did in their lekku, but it was a big Galaxy, who knew what sort of weird hybrid he was?

"You need to be more careful," was all she managed to say in response to his suggestion, "I think you might have brain damage. One of us should check you out, medically I mean, not check you out check you out. Afterwegetoutthefireofcourse." She let her words trail off in a mumble and followed him towards the exit, flinching at the heat of the quickly spreading fire.

"Just don't die while ferrying us." She said as she climbed onto his back, perching awkwardly on his backpack and grabbing a horn, albeit more gently than before. "Sorry if this hurts."

@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tempest]

Vahliri was in all out panic mode. The half-Sephi ferociously gripped onto the sides of the escape pod, attempting to keep herself from being thrown around like a pointy-eared ragdoll as the ship plummeted to the surface. Her eyes frantically flicked around the escape pod, eventually turning back to Altair when he fired back with his high pitched, mocking quip. The first thought that immediately went through Vahliri’s mind?

I don’t sound like that.

The half-Sephi proceeded to give the Devaronian some serious side eye for a few seconds, almond eyes narrowing.

Of course, in her panicked state, the half-Sephi completely neglected to notice the very large, very red, PRESS TO DETATCH button that was located literally not more than five inches from the back of her head, just waiting to be pushed.

Instead, Vahliri had her eyes on another button entirely. She stared nervously at the button that Cairo was repeatedly mashing, her heart sinking into her stomach when she realized that the pod wasn’t detaching, and attributed the repeated flickering of the reading light to just another alarm.

Naturally, the half-Sephi couldn’t help but wince when Cairo decided to have a last-minute confession session, effectively screaming directly into her pointed ear. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but blink a few times at the information. Who in their right mind tries to wake up Darth Raze?

As soon as she felt the crash of the ship, Vahliri squeezed her eyes shut – resigned to what seemed like their unavoidable demise. There was complete darkness and silence for a while, and it wasn’t until Cairo started randomly poking and prodding at her ear did the half-Sephi open her eyes, surprised to see that they were – in fact – not dead.

She blinked a few times. “Oh, what do you kno—” The half-Sephi’s relieved statement was completely cut short as the Togruta Acolyte – having been shoved by Altair – slammed directly into her midsection. The elbow dug deep into Vahliri’s stomach, knocking the wind out of her as they were both sent tumbling to the floor. With practically no spare room in the escape pod, they were effectively pretzeled together with Ashla’s full weight pressing onto the half-Sephi.

“Uugggghhhhhhh..” She groaned, sputtering out a series of coughs as she tilted her head up to the ceiling of the escape pod. By the time Ashla moved her ass and the half-Sephi sat back up, Altair was already charging the escape pod hatch like a bantha bull – catching the sight just in time to see the panel shatter.

There was probably a joke to be made about being thick skulled, but Vahliri bit her tongue for the time being.

Pushing herself to her feet, Vahliri made her way towards the opened hatch of the escape pod – not at all enthused by the inferno that blazed all around them. Naturally, she went completely wide-eyed as the Devaronian proceeded to jump in to the lake of fire.

"The fuck!? How?!" She blurted out, her jaw dropping a bit as the fellow Acolyte just stood there completely unharmed. It was only when the man himself spoke up did the half-Sephi break from her confused line of thought, blinking a few times at his suggestion. At once, the half-Sephi looked around their surroundings, but it didn’t take her long to realize that there was no good alternative to his plan.

It was at this point that Vahliri really wasn't going to argue with Altair's fire resistance. Without another moment to lose, Vahliri adjusted the backpack on her shoulders and inched towards the edge of the pod, preparing to lower herself down for Altair to carry. “Please don’t drop me okay thanks..” She muttered very quietly, cautiously glancing around the literal lake of fire all around them.

@Sreeya @Wit @Fine Dining Set @Nefieslab

 

[Altair Din]

Altair’s nostrils flared slightly as Ashla randomly blurted out about him having brain damage after he literally found them all a way out. He held up a palm in front of him to tell her to pause when she was on her way to climb his back. His gaze flicked over to Cairo.

“Need to start with the heaviest,” He said calmly, “I’ll be worn out by the time I get to the last of you, so need to work my way down,” He decided to leave it to the ladies to figure out which of them weighed less, shifting his focus to Cairo. Both being superficial girls, it would keep them preoccupied he expected.

While the Morellian wasn’t exactly light by any means, the fact that Altair knew how to effectively channel his body with the Force allowed him to make his way over. He made his way through the fire, skirting around where the flames were higher. Cairo would feel the intense heat almost licking up against his skin. Cairo would no doubt be a sweaty mess, his palms completely drenched.

After a while, Altair let Cairo spring off. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. He gave a casual glance over his shoulder towards the pod and then looked forward again. Without a word, he began to make his way deeper into the swamp and away from the crash site. It was only when he realized Cairo wasn’t following that he paused and turned.

“What?” He asked, quirking a brow, “I hope you’re not expecting me to actually go back for those brats,” Revealing that the order of carrying them had an entirely different reason.

He crossed his arms over his chest, “One of them is a dysfunctional idiot that thinks she’s better than everyone ‘cause she was tormented by the Cadre or whatever and the other is a stuck up bitchy rich girl. They don't appreciate when we try to help. They’ll blame us for everything that goes wrong and expect us to cater to them and solve every problem. You heard the way they were talking to us,” He scowled, “Not the kind of company I wanna keep when I’m trying to survive. They’ll slow us down. Let their know-it-all asses figure it out.”

With that, he turned and began to walk. Of course, there was a very small chance that Vahliri’s very sensitive hearing could pick up some bits of the conversation.

@Fine Dining Set @Altaris @Wit

 

[Cairo Kisufi]

Cairo was carried out across the swamp of fire, thankful that his new friend Altair had the physical strength to fill the gaps that Cairo had. They made a good team, the pair; Cairo suspected that the two could accomplish much more than they already had if they stuck together. In fact, when Altair explained his reasoning to him, he wasn't totally in disagreement. They hadn't done anything, yet, while Altair and Cairo took the brunt of the blame for the crash. And it totally wasn't their fault.

He had also left his woman-hating years of boyhood in the past. Leaving two Sith ladies behind didn't sit right with him. Maybe there was a compromise waiting for them. In lieu of having superior-ranked Sith, perhaps it fell to the Acolytes to test each other? "A'ight, Altair. That's a good point." He cupped his hands together, to yell across the lake.

"Hey, uh, ladies! Altair just told me his fire-proof-ness...wore off. For now. Y'all are gonna have to find another way across." He lied, because he was a liar at his core and because he didn't want to blow up Altair's spot. If Altair wanted to tell them the truth, he was welcome to. He turned to the half-Devaronian. "How about this, bro. We let 'em figure it out, but we don't leave 'em. They can prove themselves useful, or...." He shrugged. If they really needed help, Cairo could help them cross somehow. But Altair had raised a good point - Sith need to be independently powerful. The irony that Cairo hadn't proven his own power notwithstanding, he thought that this could provide them all an out, and still keep them together as a group.

"Maybe they'll have some special talents, you know? I hear Togruta can, like, spit poison or whatever. That could come in handy."

@Altaris @Sreeya @Wit @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tempest]

In the moment, Vahliri didn’t argue with Altair’s logic – watching as Cairo was lifted up by the Devaronian and carried through the blaze. Contrary to what the Devaronian probably expected, Vahliri didn’t actively debate who weighted less – though a quick glance out of the corner of her eye to Ashla, up and down, left the half-Sephi confident that she would’ve won that argument had there been an argument.

For several long seconds, Vahliri stared out into the inferno – growing more and more anxious as the Devonarian didn’t return when quite a bit of time had passed. Her brown eyes nervously glanced down towards the growing fires and back to the path that Altair had tred.

Of course, the half-Sephi wasn’t left in the dark for very long. Little did either of them know, Vahliri’s sensitive ears picked up the vast majority of their conversation – and she couldn’t help but go completely wide eyed when she did, feeling as he heart sunk down into her stomach. She couldn’t deny that she’d been a bit of an ass – and the commentary from Ashla hadn’t been much better – but the fact that the Devaronian intended to leave them to die caught her completely off guard.

She easily picked up on the words of Cairo as well, fully aware that the Morellian’s story was complete bullshit to play off the reality of what they were really doing.

“Altair!” She cried out, her voice nearly cracking as it carried over the lake of fire that separated herself and Ashla from the boys. There was far more desperation in her voice that any of those present would have ever heard from the half-Sephi, fueled entirely by the realization of the dire situation they were in.

As soon as the words left Vahliri’s lips, she couldn’t help but wince internally. She knew she sounded desperate, and it left her with a sense of helplessness that buried itself deep into her stomach. It was everything that she had been taught made her weak as a Sith and it was everything she strived not to be. Helpless.

She bit her tongue, digging her fingernails into the beds of her palms. Whether the Devaronian answered her or not, Vahliri wasn’t going to cry out again. She refused.

Vahliri stared into the inferno for several seconds more before glancing towards Ashla. Her eyes were narrowed and her fluted ears flattened completely to her head, and she took a moment to exhale harshly before speaking. “They aren’t coming back – and it isn’t because his fire resistance wore off.” She said flatly, leaving it to Ashla to put it together that the boys were leaving them high and dry.

“We need to figure this out on our own, or we’re done.” She said grimly. While the half-Sephi desperately hoped Ashla had an idea up her sleeve, there was no sense of hope in her words. She knew that their best chance of surviving was Altair and his fire-proof-ness, and it didn’t leave them with many other options. If any.

The flames continued to grow in intensity, and Vahliri could feel the intense heat against her face – beads of sweat starting to drench her skin. Instinctively she backed away from the edge of the pod, glaring over towards Ashla. “Fuck.. Did you have to fucking make that ‘brain damage’ comment!?” She hissed, almond eyes narrowing.

@Sreeya @Wit @Fine Dining Set @Nefieslab

 

[Ashla Ti]

As they waited for Altair to return, Ashla stepped back from the opening to get away from the heat. She didn't like it, preferring ice over fire any day of the week. At least you could put on more layers till the cold wasn't an issue. What was she supposed to do about heart, start ripping her skin off till she was too dead to feel hot?

She was pacing inside the toppled escape pod, passing the time till Vahliri's scream made her stop and turn to look at her fellow acolyte. Something about the tone of her voice concerned her, and it wasn't long before Vahliri explained what had happened. At first panic set in, which only seemed natural. the flames were spreading, and if they did nothing this was going to be their grave. A slow, painful, and ugly death. She was about to rush to the hatch herself and call out to Altair and Cairo when Vahliri's comment about her own comment made her stop.

She opened her mouth, and immediately snapped it shut as she realized that there was truth in the Sephi's accusations, calling him brain damaged probably hadn't been the most tactful thing in the world. Still, she hadn't expected him to just abandon her. She started feeling sorry for herself, and for Vahliri for getting struck with her. And suddenly she was back in the past, seeing another young girl die because of her actions, her choices. And as if on cue a voice rang in her head, her master's words from another time, another place. "All of it shaped us. All of it prepared us. To survive."

To survive. She had survived worse, and she would survive this.

"Fuck this." She said out loud to no one in particular, pulling her lightsabers off the utility belt at her waist. "I'm not going to die just because someone's feelings were hurt," she said as she stepped deeper into the pod, close to its back, "if I die, I die on my terms."

The blades sprang to life in her hands, and flew out of her grip, one piercing the escape pod's hull above her, the other below. And then they started moving, the Togruta's hands rotating slowly as the blades mirrored their motion, till the two arcs converged and the back half of the pod, with the engines and hopefully the fuel cells, separated from the front section they were in and toppled away from them. As her blades flew back to her, snapping shut as she grabbed them from the air and returned them to her waist, she turned to Vahliri with a determined look on her face.

"We're getting out of here," she said as she moved towards the side of the pod, grabbing hold of one of the seats that was now at eye level for her, "with or without them. Now get here and push."

With that she would start pushing and taking slow deliberate steps forward, attempting to begin rolling the truncated fuselage of the escape pod like a hamster inside its wheel, hoping to roll their way to safety. That was of course if Vahliri agreed to help, this wasn't something the Togruta could do on her own..

@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Altair Din]

Altair was both surprised and pleased when Cairo agreed with him. It was further reaffirmation that his buddy was always on his side when he shouted out the lame excuse to the girls. He was almost beginning to grin but Cairo suggested he still didn’t want to leave them behind. His violet gaze flicked back over to the lake of fire, still seeing the outline of the pod in the distance. Wasn’t it the Sith way for the strongest to survive? Wasn’t it the Sith way to put yourself first?

He glanced over at Cairo, seeing the conflict on his face. Could Altair have left Cairo behind? No. Didn’t that, by logic, mean he wasn’t capable of putting his personal preferences aside? No, the Morellian was needed to survive. He couldn’t get out of here on his own. Altair thought about his backpack and his ability to walk through fire which contradicted that logic. He groaned to himself in the end, keeping his gaze trained on the fire as he extended a curled fist gently towards Cairo to nudge their knuckles together like back at the academy.

He wouldn’t leave without the others.

However, Altair’s eyes widened when he heard Vahliri’s voice crying out his name over the flames. Her cry was laced with anguish, her voice cracking the slightest bit. At once, it felt as if a saber had been plunged deep into his chest. His violet eyes were wide and the confident and moody expression on his face quickly faded away, giving way to pure terror. His chest rapidly began to rise and fall.

He saw glimpses of memories. He saw Vahliri’s smile, her honeyed gaze, her long, cascading hair. He heard her laugh, recalled the sensation of their hands entwined while they danced. And he thought of that smile being burned to the core and crumbling to ash. He thought of her dying a slow, agonizing death. He thought of never seeing that smile again or that defiant fire in her eyes. All because he didn’t like her tone.

“Holy shit what am I thinking!” He shouted out, grasping his own horns in complete panic. Altair quickly tossed his backpack off and took a running start before leaping high into the air to land where the flames were low. Having traversed this path before, he could navigate it easier this time around, knowing just where to land to avoid losing all his clothing.

By the time he arrived at the pod, he was caught off guard by the sight of Ashla attempting to hack away at the engines and fuel cells. While the thought was brilliant, the sabers were taking a while to cut through the material and the efforts made the spillage worse. Altair could quickly work out what they were trying to do.

“GET INSIDE AND PUSH! THERE’S NO TIME!” He shouted at them as he walked behind the pod, channeling the Force to himself. The flames raged all around him as the pod continued to leak fuel, causing the fire to travel up towards the pod. However, by placing himself between the path of the fire and the pod, he was able to temporarily keep it at bay.

Being close with Cairo meant the two could communicate easily telepathically. He spoke to the other boy through the Force, “Use the Force to pull the pod towards you!” He said as he pushed with all his might, the Force charging through his body. They had little time to get the pod across the flames and there was no time to carry them across one by one before the entire thing exploded.

After a bit of a struggle, the pod finally began to move. With both girls rolling it, with Altair pushing from the back and with Cairo hopefully Force pulling, the thing was making quick progress across the field of flames. The pod came to a stop several feet away from the edge and Altair stopped pushing, “JUMP!” He shouted to the girls. Force enhanced, they would both be able to leap across and give ample space for the pod to explode.

Altair jumped after them right in time, a thunderous boom echoing behind them and shaking the grounds as their pod imploded and sank slowly into the bog. The Devaronian didn’t get up immediately, taking his time and attempting to keep himself concealed. When the others were finally up on their feet and turned, they would see Altair rise.

The acolyte was entirely naked from the fire having burned through all his clothing. His hands were covering his nether regions, his muscled body fully on display. Moreover, he was also completely bald, the fire having completely burned through one of his great sources of pride. He looked entirely and completely Devaronian then. He didn’t make eye contact with the others, looking sideways at the ground. His jaw was tight and he looked as if he were fighting back tears.

“Bro,” He said quietly after a while, his voice almost cracking as he addressed Cairo, “Can you toss me some shorts from my backpack?”

@Fine Dining Set @Altaris @Wit @Nefieslab

 

[Cairo Kisufi]

Cairo was a take-it-easy kind of guy. Outside of the intense training regimen, the Sith rewarded this. It was a work-hard, play-hard kind of life. This kind of lifestyle made one take others for granted. Sith were so paranoid, so self-interested, that it was impossible to build trust as a collective. The Empire had to be an Empire, because Sith were about at good at democracy as snakes were at veganism. The odd betrayal of a classmate here, sabotage of a rival there, was rewarded by the Empire and codified through archaic laws of Ancient Sith. So, yeah, he fist-bumped his pal Altair, with a stupid smirk on his face as he awaited the spectacle of the girls escaping the flames.

Vahliri's screams for help changed that. His mind was in the same place Altair's was, by the time the Half-Devaronian sprinted back into the fire to save them. It started as a joke, but Vahliri's pained cries brought the damning sense of reality to him. A rising feeling of shame grew in him as the sat on the banks of the swamp, watching as Altair dove once more into the fire. A feeling that, if they were injured, it was his fault for enabling the base feelings of anger between two teenaged boys.

Cairo rose from the ground into an active stance and stretched out both his hands. As he felt the tingling presence of Altair reaching out to his mind, he knew they were already on the same page. Cairo reached deep into himself - his fear at losing all of these new acolytes, his anger at himself for letting the girls suffer, his hatred to this stupid fucking swamp that wanted to kill them all in the first place. He used all this to aid their efforts, pulling the rolling group to him. He once heard, when exerting great effort, it was helpful to grunt or to yell something.

"FUCK YOU, EVIL SWAMP!"

He fell to his back as the group inside the pod jumped to his side, knocked down by the explosion. Sweat rolled down his face - the intense, emotional display and effort of using the force in the first place had totally exhausted him. He looked over - all of them were back. And Altair was...naked and had all of his hair burned off. Dude.

Cairo had short, tight curls. He was quite proud of them - were he not on a mission, they would likely be wrapped up in a turban or durag or other protective headwear. He thought the blond dye was always a nice touch, too; carefully dyed, prepared every week. Cairo handed Altair his jacket and found his shorts, leaving himself with his sweater and jeans - comparatively, better off. Cairo also retrieved a vibroknife from his bag, adjusting it to the lowest setting. The blade began to buzz with activity, but it was not the lethal, armor-piercing weapon it was at its highest setting.

Acolytes could be comrades for life. A show of solidarity could become a permanent, lingering source of power. The Sith Code honored those who chose passion over the easy road of peaceful compliance. He felt the burning shame of his newfound friend in Altair. He didn't need his great gift in the Force to see that.

And hey, he had already chosen his boy once today, right? He took the vibroknife to his own head, shaving off his growing, short curls to leave him with a totally, completely, bald head. One could see the small dent in the back of his skull, a wound from a childhood spent getting knocked around by various authority figures. Blond fibers of hair danced to the swamp floor as he did so, all while he kept that stupid grin on his face.

At the end of it, he was bald. It wasn't the cleanest cut - some patches were obviously higher than other patches and he had a number of cuts inflicted by the knife all across his skull. But he was bald, same as Altair.

He started to sniffle as his eyes watered, quickly wiping it away. "Fuck Zakuul, man. This place fucking sucks." His smile shrank, small and sheepish. He placed a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing it as he looked to the ground. He kicked a pile of dirt and loam, ineffectually.

"Sorry for messing with you just then, Ashla, Vahliri. It uh...wasn't cool." He wanted to write it off as the Dark Side's locus of power here affecting his mentality. But deep down, he feared it was something worse. He feared he was becoming worse.

@Wit @Altaris @Sreeya @Nefieslab