Ask Acolytes, Assemble!

[Altair Din]

Altair was about to call for a group huddle so he could lay out some pros and cons. Most of it was going to be ‘yeah let’s do this, cuz I ain’t no hero’. However, Cairo spoke up first and made some bold and defiant display. Internally, he wanted to headbutt the Morellian so he would stop talking. Nevertheless, they were bros, and Altair would back up his bro no matter what. And so, he stepped up next to Cairo, gazing at the creepy entity.

“Swear your allegiance to act in the name of the Empress. You will let us pass,” He said boldly, standing his ground. Altair didn’t look at Cairo, but he muttered under his breath out of the corner of his lip, “I can’t use the Force bro..”

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[Darth Tempest]

Vahliri couldn’t help the way her ears remained completely flat against the sides of her skull, body tense and still as a statue. There was something completely unsettling about the way that every single one of those entities stopped and spoke as one. The motherly, soothing voice was nothing but chilling and sickening to Vahliri’s ears - causing her stomach to turn the more it spoke.

“Drast..” She muttered, blinking a few times. It was impossible to not know the name that was uttered, even with the little time that Vahliri had spent among the Sith and given her own academic tendencies. Of course, history had never been her strong-suit and the half-Sephi drew a complete blank on the woman and the man she had supposedly been married to. Probably someone important.

Vahliri gripped onto Ashla, keeping the Togruta steady for a long as necessary until she found her own footing. Even then, the half-Sephi kept close - ready to step in if Ashla’s legs gave out beneath her.

The half-Sephi went wide eyed, blinking a few times when Cairo spoke. The look on her face was one of complete horror and dumbfoundment, her mouth hanging slightly ajar. Her jaw dropped the rest of the way when Altair added his voice to the chorus of stupid-ass ideas, especially when her sensitive hearing picked up on the whisper between the two.

The half-Sephi shuffled over, looking between them rapidly. “Oh my god, whatthefuckareyoutwodoinggg!?” She muttered quietly and very rapidly. There was way too many of the creatures for Vahliri to have any confidence they weren’t about to get themselves killed.

Nevertheless, the half-Sephi knew that there was no going back. Even if she wanted to smack them both, she wasn’t going to ditch them and rapidly jumping aboard their abrupt plan of suddenly morphing into Force Nexus-claiming patriots.

“Swear your allegiance to the Sith Empire and the Empress.” She reiterated the jist of what the other two had said. Maybe they would happily say some words of loyalty and they could go on their merry little way.

…Maybe?

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[Ashla Ti]

Ashla almost pulled back at Vahliri's support, first instinct to brush away the kindness she was offered, but stopping herself and instead using Vahl's support to get her feet under her and stand up straight once more. "I..I'm fine now," she said softly as she let Vahl have her arm back, "thanks Vahl," She smiled as she said the words, though not really noticing it or knowing why she smiled, completely missing the fact that she had called the half-Sephi by the affectionate name she had heard Altair and Cairo use before but never felt comfortable using herself.

She followed the conversation, and her montrals perked up (metaphorically speaking) at hearing the twi'lek introduce herself. She knew the name, the history, the tragedy that brought her life to an end, giving birth to her daughter. "Alais." The word escaped her lips, and she started at the masked figure, wondering if this really was the spirit of the long dead Queen.

Composing herself, she stared the masked woman straight in the eye. If this was indeed her, then this was a discovery they could not keep to themselves, her master, he would surely want to know. As would the Empress. But, only if this was indeed her. She had no intention of running to her master with fanciful lies, no siree.

"If you are indeed who you claim you are," she spoke up after the others had said their bit, "then prove it. Who was your husband's second wife? In life your best friend, the second queen who was like a sister to you? Give me her name oh wise queen." The last bit was a lie, but she was sure few would know that, and it seemed as good a bait as any to see if it was indeed Queen Gartha Evants-Drast.

@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[The Storyteller]

"Your Empire is a bastardization. A sloppy imitation of Andraste's greatness formed from the ashes Palpatine left you."

The ground beneath their feet began to shake violently and the air would feel heavy around them all of a sudden, filled with a thick sense of palpable dread and fury. It had been building as the first three of them spoke and made their demands, with varying degrees of conviction, for the spirit to bow to the whims of the current Empress of the Sith. But it reached a fever pitch almost instantly when Ashla spoke.

"You DARE speak to me of Triana? Spiteful, jealous, vicious little harpy and call her friend?! She who made her wretched attempt on my life as I lay on the birthing bed?!"

The Twi'lek would screech in an unholy fury - a Force bellow not informed by any existing lungs the Twi'lek had, that would probably send the Acolytes reeling - and her skin would quickly flake and burn away from her form. Across the clearing the dozen other masked sentients began to do the same, their skin or scales or leather falling apart around them. In place of muscles and bones, the followers of the Mourning Mother had been transformed - their skeletons resembling those natural to them but made entirely out of the same obsidian as the pillar in the centre of the clearing.

As something of a leader, the Twi'lek's form would raise a hand in a clutching motion, reaching out with the Force to restrict Ashla's throat, intent to kill the one who had brought up the past Queen's killer so brazenly. At the same time, all but two of the remaining sentients-turned-crystalline-monsters would place their hands on the ground around the clearing and pump their foul will into the ground. Spikes of crystals would begin jutting out all around the clearing, their razor-sharp edges able to slice through leathers to seek flesh that the creatures no longer had.

The last two creatures also pressed their hands to the ground but rather than attacking the acolytes they focused their efforts differently - encouraging crystals as thick as grown men to begin slowly growing around the central pillar, to the acolytes appearing to almost be closing the jaws of a trap around it.

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[Cairo Kisufi]

Wait - Altair couldn't use the Force? Half his plan relied on Altair's sheer strength backing up whatever threat he made. A tried and true strategy. Fuck. "Ah, shit, forreal?" He patted Altair on the shoulder. "My bad, man. Might've just fucked us, then."

His fear was confirmed when the screaming started, a high-and-low pitched bellow that threatened to melt away his ears. He attempted to close his mind - a skill practiced on Hapes with Charlotte - in preparation for the battle ahead. Well, Cairo still could use the Force at least, and Altair still had that big-ass spear. And Cairo had his blaster pistol and his lightsaber. Maybe it wasn't totally fucked.

Ashla must've paid attention in Sithistory class, because Cairo had no idea who the fuck any of these people were. But, he knew they were attacking them now, and . It had some sort of unnatural sway over the bodies of the people here, but it wasn't an omnipotent ghost. The Queen was using the Twi'lek's body, and the bodies of all of these slaves, as a conduit of her enormous power. If the acolytes could cut off her connection to these thralls, perhaps she would be weakened, as well?

The appearance of a crystalline spike took him by surprise, ripping through his sweater and biting into the flesh of his left pectoral. He jumped opposite its direction, with a look of panic, when he noticed the attack. Blood trickled down, staining the remains of his shirt. It was a surface wound, but too close to the heart to take any kind of comfort. They had to actually get down.

He figured that, with two of his allies being denied use of the Force, it would be his strongest weapon. He passed the blaster in his hand it to Altair (should he actually want the weapon), as he began to reach out with his own power to the Twi'Lek that ensnared Ashla.

With both hands raised, stretched towards her, he would viciously pull at her neck, using the Force to constrict around the skeletal throat and jerk it left to the ground, into one of the spikes that had appeared across the cavern. Given that she had snapped it all the way around previously, to look at them spookily, Cairo assumed that this made her neck weaker than most. Even a snapped crystal neck would still be...snapped, right?

His aim was to have the creature release its grasp on Ashla. Or, just die. Whichever happened would work. All while the keys to their new ship jingled in their pockets.

"Uh, my bad guys! We can still run away if you want to!"

@Sreeya @Altaris @Wit @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tempest]

Vahliri’s entire body tensed when the skeletal Queen barked back at Ashl, her voice tinged with rage that was easily noted even if the half-Sephi didn’t exactly know the history behind the entire situation. Her eyes went comically wide when the creatures all roared in unison, their bodies transforming into the same obsidian material as the pillars.

“Fuck..” Vahliri muttered under her breath, her hand slowly but surely reaching for the lightsaber hilt on her hip.

Vahliri watched as the skeletons all began to channel their energies into the ground, causing crystalline spikes to rupture from the earth. Her honeyed gaze rapidly flicked over to Ashla as well, seeing the Togruta hoisted up by the neck through the Force.

“Ash!” She shouted, a bit of desperation bleeding into her voice. The half-Sephi only stared but a few moments before turning back to the twi’lek, her eyes narrowing harshly.

Without another word, Vahliri sprang forward - breaking from the group huddle. The half-Sephi leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding one of the crystal spikes that rushed upwards to piece her chest. Unfortunately, Vahliri’s quick reflexes proved to not be quiet quick enough - as the spike caught the side of the half-Sephi’s bicep - slicing through the outermost layers of skin and causing a clear trickle of blood to run down her arm.

Reaching out with the Force, Vahliri sent a concussive blast of energy towards the Twi’lek Queen - attempting to knock the skeletal monarch off balance and break her force choke on Ashla.

Never mind the obvious-to-everyone-else disparity in strength between the Twi’lek and Acolyte. Or the fact that directly targeting the woman probably wasn’t the wisest decision - unless her companions actively backed her up, of course.

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[Ashla Ti]

Ashla audibly gulped at the reaction, beginning to wonder if this was indeed the spirit of the ancient Drast queen. If it was she might have made a serious error in judgement, there was a million things she would have asked the actual Gartha, but she just might have blown any chance of getting even a word out of her. Well, her master wasn't going to be pleased with that. It was only when she felt herself rise into the air as an invisible force began constricting her neck that the more immediate concern dawned on her. So worried was she about the prospect of pissing of the master who was likely light years away that she forgot all about the pissed of Queen mere feet away from her.

She tried once more to reach for the Force, but it still escaped her, and she could feel the strain on her neck. In desperation she started reaching for something, anything, hands that were clawing helplessly at her neck dropping to her side and beginning to search desperately for her lightsaber. What she would do if she did mange to get her blade in hand she did not know, but it was a moot point as she started to feel the world begin to go dark as her grip tightening around the hilt of her blade, for she just couldn't manage to get the blade to ignite. What she did not realize at the time was that she had grabbed in her desperation was not her blade, but one of the energy bars she had picked up earlier.

In her desperation she reached for the Force once more with the last bit of clarity left to her, and thankfully she just felt something. She sucked it in, fueled not by fear, anger, or any other emotion she had used before. It was the simple desperation to stay alive. It trickled in, a drizzle rather than the torrent that she could normally command, but it strengthening her, strengthened her neck oh so slightly. Maybe it would be enough, just enough to allow her to hold on for another second or two. There was nothing else she could do, her life was in the hands of her friends.

Eyes about to close, the ghost of a smile came to her lips at the thought. Her friends.

@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Altair Din]

Altair glared at the twi’lek, hearing yet another complaint about the current empire. It was getting tedious hearing that sentiment. Between that and everything else, he felt rage bubbling up within himself. It boiled over till he couldn’t control it anymore.

“ANDRASTE IS DEAD, YOU STUPID FUCKING BITCH! SO IS PALPATINE!” He shouted at the twi’lek, “THE OLD EMPIRE IS GONE! BUT THE DARK SIDE LIVES! TO ALLOW IT TO CONTINUE TO EXIST, YOU HAVE TO EMPOWER IT, YOU HAVE TO KEEP IT ALIVE AND BURNING! YOU CAN’T DO THAT CLINGING TO THE OLD. YOU DO THAT BY EMBRACING THE NEW. THE DARK SIDE WILL OUTLIVE ALL OF US, SO YOU FUCKING SWEAR TO THE ONLY LIVING BEINGS TRYING TO KEEP IT ALIVE NOW OR YOU GO BACK TO WHATEVER HOLE YOU CRAWLED OUT OF AND WAIT ANOTHER CENTURY FOR THE CHANCE TO SEE YOUR FAMILY!”

He didn’t even know where all of that came from, only that he was furious. He didn’t have the Force to the degree he normally did before, but he was powerful even without it. Altair lowered his head and charged directly at the twi’lek after Vahliri did her attack. All four horns were positioned for attack and he slammed his head against the being's torso to pierce with every last one, attempting to twist and gore as violently as possible.

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[The Storyteller]

Cairo's attempt to grip and Pull at the Crystal Twi'lek's neck would not be hindered in anyway - because it didn't work in the same way that the acolyte expected. The Crystal Twi'lek rattled and hissed at Cairo as the head and neck of the skeleton seemed to come loose... the spine splitting and being pulled down to the ground by the attempt, still connected to the standing skeleton by the base of the back. It's impact with the ground seemed to have no real effect, though the spike closest did skid and scratch across the crystal.

Vahliri's Push was the final thing required for the Crystal Twi'lek to release Ashla to the ground as it was blasted backward. Smashing through several of the smaller crystal shards growing out of the ground, taking more scratches each time, it hissed and snarled as it skidded across the ground. Utterly another unholy shriek as it began to rise once again, the bones linked together by something unseen - something they could feel in the Force. The Crystal Twi'lek did not require muscles to keep itself together at this stage.

Said shrieking became more startled in nature, however, when Altair literally speared into it's chest with his horns. Had the Crystal Twi'lek more organs, this would have undoubtedly gored the creature. Unfortunately for all involved - it had none. It had not even ligaments holding it's bones together, only the Dark will of the Mourning Mother. Altair would see the mask-wearing skull of the Crystal Twi'lek spin in place to look him in the eyes even as her rib-cage sprung open like the jaws of some trap or dentist's nightmare.

The ribs would then spring shut, aiming to piercing into the Sith's upper back and squeeze harder and harder, intending to piercing through him. Unlike the Crystal Twi'lek, Altair had organs worth goring after all.

Across the clearing, the crystals would continue to grow, growing up to the knees of the acolytes and growing small spikes of their own - like glass cacti sprouting across the area. In particular, they were aimed to grow in the path of the acolytes as they would undoubtedly move to assist their charging friend.

The only exception were the larger crystals, which continued to grow to coat the skeleton strapped to the stone, growing until only the skeleton's masked face was visible.

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[Ashla Ti]

Ashla fell to the ground as the grip around her neck vanished, taking in gasps of breath as she pushed herself up to her knees. Her gaze sought the Twi'lek, the vessel of the Queen, and as she caught her breath she took a moment to just watch, watch and take in what was unfolding before her eyes. Finally something clicked, and as she slowly pushed herself to a knee she called out to her friends, voice weak as she tried in desperation to reach for the Force once more, but was still too weak to draw upon it.

"Altair..Altair!" Her voice rang out too weak, too soft to reach him, or any of the others. She had to tell them, she had to help, she had to protect him, protect them. Do better, better than last time. Her fear gave her purpose, and in that purpose she found strength, and at last the Force surged through her. "ALTAIR!!" Her voice rang through the clearing, clear as the crystal that reached for them. "Use the crystals!! Hit the mask, stab it with the crystals!"

That was all she could manage before she was overtaken by a fit of coughs, but she somehow managed to slowly push herself to her feet, and with hand still around her own sore neck, she raised the other hand through the pain and pointed at the skeletal remains strapped to the pillar, towards the mask it bore.

"That one as well," she called out to Vahliri and Cairo, "hit it with the crystals. I don't think the Queen is in the Twi'lek's body, so attack while we can. Use the crystals." Having warned them, she took a moment to catch her breath, before digging slowly through her satchel to pull out her blade, and throwing the lit lightsaber like a spear towards the crystals that rose to block their path in the hopes of shattering them and creating weapons the others could use.

@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Altair Din]

Altair was mortified when he realized the twi’lek, or the thing posing as a twi’lek, was entirely unfazed by him goring its chest to shreds. The tiefling snapped back before it could close around him, but he couldn’t help but feel helpless. He had always relied on his horns and his innate abilities to destroy anything in his path. He felt entirely lost, taking a few steps back. His eyes widened and there was genuine fear on his face.

That was when he heard Ashla’s weak voice, glancing over briefly to listen to her. Altair didn’t understand why she gave him those instructions, but he didn’t care right then. Without a word, the tiefling charged to take a crystal in each hand, whirling in to slam it directly into the mask. He was a machine, stabbing repeatedly with both shards at anything he could hit. Altair was exhausted, tired and worn. He was giving this his all, wanting the nightmare to end and for them to get off the planet. Every stab was the rage he felt at seeing his friends threatened, for the guilt he felt for leaving Ashla and Vahliri behind, for how much he despised how he looked right then. For every last bit of negative thought he possessed, it channeled into the rage fueled stabs he mercilessly inflicted on the twi’lek.

@Fine Dining Set @Altaris @Wit

 

[Cairo Kisufi]

Ashla was able to breath again - thank the Force. And Altair had charged to help, the lovable goon. But the goring didn't seem to work, so he took...another strategy?

Was Altair shanking that Twi'Lek skeleton? Holy shit this dude is so fucking cool. Glad that they were friends. Cairo, excited by the moment, yelled across the clearing to his friend. Another insult to add to the Mourning Mother - getting jumped by teenagers in the afterlife. "Yeah, you punk-ass bitch! Told you to bow down! Thought being dead would keep you safe?"

If crystals were effective in stabbing the fuck out of one of these dumbass skeletons, could another do any more damage? With his lightsaber, Cairo cut a bouquet of the ground crystal-spikes, levitating it into the air. He would then hurl the spikes at the skeleton strapped outside the stone, intending to pierce through it as well.

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[Darth Tempest]

Vahliri watched, mortified as Altair’s goring of the skeletal twi’lek did next to nothing to slow down the undead creature - albeit it broke the chokehold it had on Ashla. She felt her heart catch in her throat, a spike of panic surging through her as the tiefling narrowly avoided being impaled by the twi’lek’s ribcage.

The half-Sephi watched from a distance, her honeyed eyes flicking between the crystals, creatures and the skeletal remains that were chained to the pillar - picking up at the subtle details that otherwise went unnoticed. The realization hit Vahliri all at once, and it seemed that Ashla had noticed the same thing at the same time - beating the half-Sephi to crying out for them to use the crystals.

She heard Ashla’s instructions to target the remains chained to the pillar, and the half-Sephi didn’t argue. Just as Altair began wildly shanking the twi’lek with crystal fragments, Vahliri reached out with both hands - the Force extending from her fingertips and coiling around a cluster of crystalline material. She tapped into her own passion and raging emotions to fuel her connection to the Darkness - drawing upon her own primal will to survive, the fear she felt seeing Altair nearly impaled by the twi’lek, and the intense rage of watching Ashla nearly strangled to death. All of it was poured into the Force, and it came to bear down onto the crystals before her.

“FUCK YOU AND FUCK THIS BATSHIT PLANET!” The half-Sephi yelled through gritted teeth. Just as she cried out, the crystals she had targeted began to crack and splinter apart - shattering with a blast into dozens of small, razor sharp fragments - suspended in the air within Vahliri’s grasp. With a lift of her hand and abrupt flick of her wrist, the half-Sephi sent the fragments like a razor-sharp cloud towards the pillar.

She purposefully angled her projectiles out of the way of any of her friends, sending them hurtling towards the pillar to embed themselves and tear through the skeleton and mask.

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[The Storyteller]

Ashla was correct - the conscious, thinking, part of the spirit of the Queen was no longer within the form of the Twi'lek. Instead it had started the process of reinforcing its presence within both the masks and the stone it had been lashed to. Her lightsaber thrown would impact some of the crystals raised to protect the central masked body, the crystalline structure robbing the attack of enough force to hit the mask but shattering the top half of the pilar of crystal that had been grown in defence of the queen's mask.

As this was happening, the skeletal Twi'lek wrestled with Altair as the two of them did their level best to tear into each other, Altair with the shards of crystals and the Twi'lek with it's own crystal bones. Screaming through the Force, the Twi'lek did everything it could to protect it's mask while also attempting to gore Altair in return, raking it's sharp claws across his chest, scoring blood groves with every swipe.

Working together, both Cairo and Vahliri focused on the skeleton strapped to the pillar in the centre of the clearing. Vahliri's attack was slightly more effective than Cairo's in blasting through the last of the defences but both Acolytes managed to pierce the mask attached to the central skeleton's skull several times. As their shards of crystal punctured the mask, several things happened.

The crystal Twi'lek that had been wrestling with Altair froze for a second - which was ample time for the angry acolyte to tear into both the skull and mask of the Twi'lek so it could not recover. Outside, the sentients that had surrounded the clearing froze up before screaming in pain as their own versions of the masks exploded into debris of crystal and metal, leaving them to slump over, headless.

Across the clearing there was silence as the sentients that had been possessed died a final death and the skeleton strapped to the stone just lay there, impaled through the skull with the crystals sent its way. There was an ominous crack before the mask, a true mask, shattered along the breaks made by the crystals before falling to the ground.

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[Altair Din]

Altair felt his efforts were actually making some progress this time. The crystals shredded into the twi’lek, his rage filled blows tearing right through whatever beast she was. He was blinded in his frenzy, barely noticing when the creature retaliated. He didn’t even feel the pain at first. The creatures exploded all around and the fight was done, but Altair took a few steps back.

Between the exhaustion, his walk through the fires earlier and pushing the escape pod and then all of this. It was finally taking over. His chest had been slashed several times, the front of his shirt torn up and his thick, black blood beginning to flow profusely. Altair’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he abruptly collapsed backwards to the ground with a heavy thud.

His fingers slowly loosened from the death grip they had on the shards of crystals. Victory was theirs, but Altair would not be present to celebrate.

@Wit @Altaris @Fine Dining Set @Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tempest]

Vahliri watched with no lack of satisfaction as the crystal fragments soared through the air and found their mark - sinking deep and piercing the mask and skeleton that had been strapped to the pillar. The half-Sephi poured everything she had into the attack - desperate and frenzied to put an end to the twi’lek and Drast queen.

Of course, her eyes quickly shifted from the mask and back to the tiefling - honeyed eyes going wide with horror as she watched the skeletal twi’lek tore its claws into his chest. Before she could react, however, it seemed that their efforts with the mask had proved effective - enough to get the undead creatures to halt in place and start to scream - their high-pitched voices filling the air.

The high-pitched screeching assaulted the half-Sephi’s ears painfully. Vahliri immediately brought her hands up to her ears, pressing her palms tightly against the sides of her skull to block out the noise, her eyes squeezed tightly together. It wasn’t until the screaming stopped and the undead creatures shattered into dust that Vahliri finally opened her eyes again, just in time to see her friend fall backwards with a loud thud. “Altair?”

She blinked a few times, eyes going wide. “ALTAIR!”

The half-Sephi pushed off from where she had been standing, jumping one of the shattered corpses and scrambling over to where the tiefling had fallen unconscious - honeyed eyes immediately flicking down to the injuries across his torso - grimacing at the bloodied sight. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck…” Vahliri couldn’t help but stare for a few moment - freezing in her tracks upon seeing the black, ebony blood that flowed across the tiefling's torso. On top of that, uncertainty weighed down her every movement. She was no healer, and hadn’t received hardly any kind of formal first aid training. The half-Sephi didn’t know what to do in the situation, but she knew she had to do something. "Come on.."

After a few moments of hesitating, Vahliri finally snapped back to reality and reached for her backpack - tearing open the zipper pouch and digging through it before pulling a t-shirt from her bag, bunching the fabric up in her hands. She dropped down onto her knees, pressing the bundle of fabric against the tiefling’s chest in order to apply pressure to his injuries - attempting to slow the bleeding the best she could. It was about the only thing she knew to do in the situation.

“CAIRO! ASHLA!” She called back to the other two. Vahliri was completely oblivious to if the two of them had seen what had happened or followed her over, and was equally oblivious to any relics - like the mask - that might’ve been strewn about in that moment, at least right away. “Maybe there is a medbay in the ship. Help me get him over there!”

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[Ashla Ti]

Ashla more or less fell to the ground panting as the lightsaber flew out of her hand, thankfully that was enough. The combined efforts of everyone were enough to bring the conflict to and end, the mask falling cracked and lifeless from the crystal skeleton. She thought she could take a moment to catch her breath, but then she heard Vahliri's voice, and her head snapped up.

"Fuck..." The single word escaped her lips as she pushed herself back to her feet, and half walked, half stumbled towards Altair's fallen form. Reaching Altair, breath coming hard, she reached a hand and pressed down on the bandages over Vahliri's hand. Maybe it was the exhaustion that was numbing her, or the fact that she understood Vahliri's pain, or that her training forced her to stay focused. Whatever the reason she knew what to do.

"Let go," she whispered to Vahliri, her voice gentle, assuring, "I've got this. I'm too weak to help pick him up, you and Cairo will have to do it, float him up so that we can carry him to the ship. I'll keep the pressure on, makes sure he doesn't bleed out." The truth was she wasn't sure if she could do even that, her neck still hurt with every breath, and she was weak as hell, but there was simply no was that she was not going to be able to do this. She was not about to let someone else die on her watch, not while she was still drawing breath.

@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

 

[Cairo Kisufi]

Cairo watched his friend drop to the ground, and he exploded into a sprint towards Altair. As he ran over, he unlocked the ship with the keys in his hand, preparing to raise both his hands to float his friend. "Vahliri, Ashla, do we have any of that medkit left?" Or would Ashla's leeches work well in this case? Either way, Cairo appeared.

From the keyring, Cairo pressed a button for the ramp of the keyring to As the ramp of the ship began to lower, Cairo raised his hands to raise Altair gently off the ground, floating him horizontally as if he were on a repulser-gurney. "Yeah, let's get out of here. The quicker we can get him to a real hospital, the better."

Altair wasn't small, so carrying him was no easy task, but between him and Vahliri, it would be possible. Cairo looked at their ship - a VT-49 decimator. Built as a flexible troop transport, it was possible that if the ship did not have a dedicated med bay, it would have fully-stocked medkits and a resting place for the injured. With the group together, they could move Altair into the ship, check for supplies, and hurry away from the planet.

While this didn't leave him any time to grab artifacts, this was, by all means, the most important task the group had today. From a rocky start, they had overcome each obstacle as a group; Altair was a foundation of their group, and there was no chance that Cairo would prioritize anything else. "If you two can watch him, search for the medkits, I can startup this bird and we can get him in the air quickly."

@Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab @Wit

 

[Altair Din]

It was a few moments after they had begun attempting to help him that Altair slowly came to. It was only for a few seconds, but he blinked his eyes open to see all three of them around him. He coughed up a bit of black blood, his eyes rolling back as he faded in and out of consciousness. One of his hands shakily reached out grasp the front of Cairo’s shirt.

“...Sick…gear.. …y’all…need ta’ git..I wan'…that GAUN-let..somethin’ awful… and I cain’t git it.” He coughed up more blood, “Git, damnit!” He said hoarsely, his full on thick farmer accent spilling out moments before he passed out again, releasing his hold on Cairo.

@Wit @Fine Dining Set @Altaris

 

[Ashla Ti]

As concerned as she was about Altair, Ashla wasn't sure if she herself was in complete control of her senses, because when Altair spoke up she couldn't fully comprehend what he was saying. Git? Was he insulting them or was he too delusional from blood loss and imagining someone else to insult?

But she did get enough of the beginning to understand the mention of "sick gear". With the basic supplies Altair seemed to be out of immediate danger, so while the ship was being prepared for takeoff she stepped out for one last look. "Look after him, okay? I'll be right back." She left Vahliti with that, sure that Altair was in safe hands. And as quickly as she could, she went about picking up anything interesting looking that was scattered around the ruined remains of their crystal adversaries.

By the time she made it back to the ship, the artifacts in hand, Cairo was back in the pilot's seat, and they were about to take off. Carefully slipping into the co-pilot's seat, she started helping with the pre-flight check. As they were about to jump to hyperspace, she looked out the viewport to give the planet one last look, and a few simple words escaped her lips.

"Fuck Zakuul."

/END THREAD
@Fine Dining Set @Sreeya @Altaris @Nefieslab

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