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Trys Aran

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This entire operation was ‘off the record’. She hadn’t exactly told anyone she was going, mainly because she had obtained the intel through shady means. She had been on Nar Shaddaa when she wasn’t supposed to, she got attacked like she wasn’t supposed to, and she collected information from a dead red saber like she wasn’t supposed. That led her to the planet of Tund in a cheap, rental ship piloted by a faulty droid.

The dead man’s datapad had information on some ancient ‘magic’ and rituals that looked incredibly suspicious. However, it all pointed to more information on the terrorist group in general. She was finally hoping to have a lead on the group because she had nothing from the Arcanist, and she certainly wasn’t going to ask her only contact for help.

She was led to the planet of Tund through a series of complicated coordinates she had never seen before. Trys knew she was in trouble when she overestimated the remoteness of the planet, and the ship began to run out of fuel. Within moments, alarms began to blare, and they just barely began to careen through the planet’s atmosphere.

Trys let out a stream of curses, shoving the droid aside to take over manual control. She managed to level out the ship, but even then it crashed through a forest and into a deep swamp. The ship bounced and lurched, tumbling over to the side before it finally came to a stop.

---​

It was several hours till Trys came back into consciousness. She groaned as she moved the large piece of debris that was on her, finding it to be a miracle she was alive at all. Trys groaned as she looked down at her arm, spotting a large gash. Fortunately that was the worst injury outside of some cuts and bruises all over her body.

She rose to her feet, switching on her comlink’s flashlight to see. The droid was completely crushed, and she had to fight to try and push the door open. Once it did, she could see she was in the middle of nowhere. She was on a planet that probably had more of the terrorists. She had no way to find her way, and no one would help her out here.

Trys looked down at her comlink, finding no signal. She rushed over to the navicomputer of the ship, watching it start to die as it beeped its last. Before it could, she punched in a distress signal to send out specifically to another ship. It was almost automatic, and she only thought about what she did after the fact. Trys watched as the navicomputer finally died, leaving her completely and utterly stranded.

“Shit,” She whispered to herself in the dark.
 

Talak Rand

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Tund was a planet that was low on Talak's list of places he wanted to go, but it was better than Tatooine or Korriban. Both of those worlds were absolutely dreadful. Hot and dry and without any kind of relief. But this was another one of the lovely worlds that the original Sith had decided to settle before the fall of the Empire, so here he was.

He wasn't the only member of the Sith Eternal that had heard about this location, and the few who had come to check it out all seemed to start in the same general area because of the coordinates that had been given by the Champion.

His ship had only recently been set down on world when Artee came whirring out the cockpit hollering about some ship that had gone down in the area. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes he waved to Artee to fly them closer.

The ship ripped through the atmosphere and came to settle the short distance away. While the far side of the planet had some Toong settlements, this side of the planet hadn't attracted the same interest for whatever reason. Perhaps the dark energies subconsciously warned them to stay away. Therefore, Talak had a half-suspicion that anyone he would find out here was going to be another Sith searching for old ruins, artifacts, or teachings.

He disembarked from the Nomad and started making his way over to the ship when he thought he felt something familiar. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but... was it a Sith he'd met before? It must have been. Ana? Zarine? Ender? It certainly wasn't Lilith's ship...

He frowned as he leapt up to the hatch as the ship was on its side and tugged at the door's emergency latch, which caused it to start to hiss open. Hello? Anyone here? he shouted into the darkness. Oh, was he in for a surprise. They both were.
 

Trys Aran

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The surprise he would find would be...nothing. Trys had gotten tired of waiting and figured her signal didn’t even work. She had purposely made it obvious which path she took, taking out her vibrobalde to cut through some forestry to start making her way. It was pitch black and her comlink was running low on battery - she wouldn’t even have a light very soon.

Trys had torn the bottom half of her top to wrap around her arm to stop the bleeding for now. She was covered in sweat and absolutely miserable, but she did bring her datapad with her in case it had other coordinates or intel that could help. Right now, she listened for any sounds of water or civilization.

She was too far to hear another ship come in, and she certainly wasn’t there when Talak was asking around for anyone. Trys kept walking till she felt her boots beginning to sink into a thick swamp. The smell was unbearable, and she shined her light around herself to see where she was. Unfortunately, this attracted all kinds of bugs and critters, and she could hear movement deeper into the swamp.

With a curse, she switched the light off, now stuck in pitch darkness. Trys glanced up, the moonlight just barely piercing through the trees and giving her some faint light. She could hear movement up ahead, so it was either turning back the way she came or plowing forth to run into some creature...
 

Talak Rand

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Talak slipped into the ship and found some blood but nothing else to indicate organics. The droid was thoroughly beat up and trashed, and Talak climbed back out. That sense of familiarity was still there, and if it was someone he knew, he didn't want to just leave them out here. Particularly since he could see an obvious trail carved through the forests.

He headed back inside the Nomad and promptly prepared for what he could sense was going to be an absurd detour. He threw on his survival suit, attached a flashlight to the helmet, grabbed his own vibrosword and told Artee to start scanning for lifesigns.

Master, this world is densely populated with wildlife. The scanner is picking up many lifesigns, he said. Talak grunted and head back out into the night.

All right, let me know if you find anything on scanners and keep the ship locked down. And see if you can hail anyone on coms, he said over his comlink as he started following the nasty trail laid out by whoever was here.

He was already brooding about what absurd grief he was going to give to whichever Sith this was. The idea that it was Trys hadn't even crossed his mind.

Up ahead, Trys would be able to make out the sound of a growl and a vague outline of something that looked terrifying. It hadn't spotted her yet, but she would get the impression that even the slightest breath might draw its attention.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys froze as she made out the outline of a rather large creature. She could hear it growling, and she chewed her lip trying to think of what to do. Going forward was stupid, but sudden movements could alert it too. Trys slowly crouched down into the swamp, dipping into the muck and covering her body with it to try and mask her scent too. She had no idea what goop she was covering herself in, but anything was better than sticking out like a sore thumb.

The creature was moving some more, coming out from whatever lair it was in as it began to move through the swamp. Trys slowly took steps backwards the way she came, fear striking her as the creature continued to growl. She knew being covered in the muck helped her somewhat, but she could do nothing about the light noises she was making. She closed her mouth so she wouldn’t be heard breathing, taking the lightest steps possible.

Trys edged back enough to get on solid ground again. She hoped the creature was more aquatic and wouldn’t come too far onto land. She turned and broke into a run then, hearing the beast shuffle abruptly far behind her. Trys didn’t look back, thankfully given a clear path on her way back.

As she continued to bolt, she didn’t even notice anyone in her way and collided with them full force. This would knock them both to the ground, and it took her a moment to realize it was someone else. Trys didn’t have time to process what was going on, trying to scramble to her feet as the beast growled very loudly behind them.

Apparently it had no problem being on land...
 

Talak Rand

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Talak wasn't very familiar with the wildlife on this planet and was grumpily walking along down the path when he thought he heard something up ahead. He frowned and pointed his head into the distance, the light cutting through the darkness easily and powerfully.

He didn't look up in time to see the person slam into him and knock him cleanly off his feet with an "oof." All of his senses were being assaulted. Physically knocked down. Smelling something awful from the person who knocked him down. Hearing a large growling sound in the not so distant area. Seeing something horrible charging toward him. All that was spared was having to actually taste something foul.

He didn't even have time to realize that it was Trys before he was scrambling up onto his feet again. His dinky vibrosword wasn't going to cut the cake with something this big, and he snatched the sword off his belt and launched forward. Killing the thing wasn't on the menu for him, but he could slow it down.

The blade cut into one of the two supporting legs, and Talak only narrowly managed to dodge the multiple attacks that came after his own. He didn't dare charge in for another finishing attack, but the injury to the leg would at least let he and stinky get away.

Run! he shouted at stinky. He didn't realize there was a distinct possibility that she was going to shoot him, but perhaps she would recognize the voice... otherwise he might end up stunned and eaten. That would be unfortunate.
 

Trys Aran

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Thankfully, whoever she ran into actually ended up being helpful. She saw them burst into action, quickly slicing and dicing and commanding her to run. Everything clicked into place then - the damn signal she sent! She had sent it to Talak’s ship, but she hadn’t even dreamed of the possibility of him even responding.

“Talak?!” She shouted out loud and regretted it immediately. What if that only distracted him from focusing on the beast?

She quickly drew out her stun blaster, firing a shot at the beast now that she had her bearings. The bolt only worked to piss it off even more, but it certainly made it pause. The tail whipped around and knocked into Trys, sending her flying back into a tree.

She landed with a thud, groaning from the pain. Trys slowly got to her feet, her vision slightly blurry. Some of the gunk began to slide down her face and block her eyes, and she had to rub her face to get rid of it. She would need the longest shower after this.

The beast was infuriated, but it was much less mobile now. It opened up its jaws to let out a loud screech - and it suspiciously sounded like a call to invite others...
 

Talak Rand

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Talak really, really didn't want to stick around to fight this thing. It was big, angry, and deadly. A bad combination for him wanting to fight it. It whipped around its legs to try to smack him and he only narrowly evaded. Its armored carapace seemed vaguely resistant to his sword, and it bounced off as he swung into the smaller arm.

Trys's shot - wait, what?! TRYS - slowed it more, giving him enough time to clear the follow up series of blows.

Artee, bring the ship in on my signal Hot extract! he all but screamed into his comlink. This was going to be messy, and that sound... really sounded bad.

Trys get up! he all but screamed. Move! Move! Move! he yelled. The purring of a ship engine drew closer above the tree line, and he ran back toward her, all but shoving her back up the hacked trail. The ship came in low and while Talak could have jumped up to the ramp, he wasn't so sure that he felt comfortable literally throwing Trys with the Force to it. That was just a disaster waiting to happen.

Artee, find a landing spot! he yelled as the creature started hobbling toward them. The ship arced to the side and found a hilltop perhaps 100 meters away, but the two would have to get there first. Talak could only hope that with the ship landed, Artee might actually have some sort of firing angle with the ship's guns. It was probably too much to hope...
 

Trys Aran

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Trys scowled as Talak told her to move. Oh, this was him all right, always helpfully suggesting things she was already in the process of doing. She started hightailing it, “WHY AREN’T YOU USING YOUR GOD DAMN SABER?!” Trys shrieked as she continued to run, jumping over any branches she could see. She used her comlink light to see, but that was when her battery decided to run out.

She could see the ship coming in low, and then Talak….told Artee to find a landing spot?! “What’re you doing! DON’T SEND THE SHIP AWAY I CAN’T SEE SHIT IN THE DARK!” Trys slowed down a bit and stepped aside so Talak would bolt past her. She ran behind him to get a running start and leapt up to jump on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck, “JUMP UP! I’VE SEEN YOU CLEAR OVER THREE STORIES DON’T KRIFF WITH ME NOW!” Unlike him, she gave no shits what he thought about personal space or being polite. She smelled like crap, and they had drama, but god damn it this was a crisis and his bullshit could just go straight to hell.

Trys hoped that the comms were on for Artee to hear - she knew if the droid heard her he would immediately stop what he was doing and stay hovering. She only hoped Talak would act quickly with these new variables instead of freezing up. She could feel the hot breath of the creature directly behind her, and she felt it screech as globs of saliva slammed against her back.
 

Talak Rand

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Talak wasn't expecting her to jump onto his back. He so wasn't expecting it that it almost knocked him over outright and they both would have been eaten. Luckily that didn't happen.

Belay, Artee! Drop the ramp! he said, and the ramp began to drop down. He grabbed Trys's leg now wrapped around his back and with every ounce not-inconsiderable fear that he had, pulled the Force around them both and leapt. To Talak, the feeling was normal, but to her it was probably a first. Like being hugged tightly in a formfitting pillow and lifted through the air... just at a high velocity.

His boots hit the deck and the door ahead slid open as he all but dove through. The two of them landed in a mess on the floor and Talak was gasping for breath.

Artee immediately began taking the ship higher into the edges of the atmosphere where they were solidly out of reach of anything and they just floated there in orbit around the planet.

What the kriff... he groaned as he started to sit upright. He had so many questions and he didn't even know which ones to ask. Not to mention everything was vaguely sore after the impromptu piggyback.

Are you hurt? You stink... he grumbled as he flopped backward onto the floor of the ship and all but sprawled out trying to catch his breath.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys hated this feeling of unnatural speed and flying up. She buried her face against the back of Talak’s neck, clearly uncomfortable from the sensation. She had experienced something like this once before when the woman on Nar Shaddaa had flown her up to a roof. This was a considerably larger height, and it made her feel somehow sick.

She felt the swooshing wind of the creature trying to claw at her. They landed with a thud on the ramp, both crashing to the floor for a moment. Trys groaned from how sore she was from all over. The wound on her arm was probably badly infected, and she could see it had started to bleed through her makeshift bandage.

Trys flopped onto her back for a moment, catching her breath from the panic and the running. She peeled herself off the floor almost immediately, giving Talak a dirty look as he kindly pointed out that she smelled, “I don’t wanna leave the planet, so hold on.”

She didn’t say anything else, stumbling to stand. Trys stepped over Talak and started to walk towards the crew room she had used before. She took off her top and pants as she walked, not even caring that he saw - it wasn’t anything new to him after all. Leaving the trail of all her clothing behind, she hopped directly into the extra room shower and disappeared for almost an hour.

Trys emerged a long while later, a whole lot cleaner but still banged up. Her arm still had the open gash, and she had a towel wrapped around herself. She had a cigarra hanging from the corner of her lips, but she hadn't lit it yet - she couldn't remember how he felt about smoking, and she would at least be polite aboard his ship. She found Talak after a moment, “Do you have anything to stitch me up?” Trys pointed at the rather gaping wound, “I think it might be infected.”
 

Talak Rand

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Talak just lay there for a moment before pushing himself back into a sitting position. He popped the helmet off and rolled his eyes as she said she didn't want to leave the planet. Of course she didn't...

He seemed unfazed by her dirty look but frowned in surprise as she promptly started stripping her clothes away right in the middle of the ship and disappeared around the corner into the crew room. She made herself right at home going over to the shower and helping herself.

He shook his head, let out a sigh, and pushed himself up, heading to his own shower to quickly clean up and change. He was back out in the common area again shortly, leaving some more oversized clothes of his own out for her. Unless she wanted to put her grimy clothes back on.

She emerged a good while later - Talak was already drinking - and waltzed out with a towel and a cigarra. He was glad she hadn't lit it up as the smell would have lingered for months in a ship with limited air filtration systems, and he tried not to think about the fact that all she was wearing was a towel.

Yeah, come on, he said, flicking his head over to the improvised medical bay. It looked like it had been given a face lift, which was owed to the fact that the money he'd tried to pay her for her medical care went into investments in better medical scanners and processors.

He slapped the bed indicating for her to take a seat as he got into one of the drawers and pulled out some materials to get her patched up as well as a small hand scanner. He went to work, scowling in focus with his typical intensity as he started to fix her arm.

What're you doing all the way out here? he asked after a moment. She wasn't following him was she? That seemed... unlikely.

The scanner beeped and he held it up and showed it to her. It did indicate an infection, and he had to get into his drawers to pull out some disinfectant, which was going to be... unpleasant.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys didn’t miss his eyes flickering over to the cigarra, and she decided to remove it. She could have her smokes later. She followed him to a section of the ship she hadn’t seen before, and she had to pause to take it in, “This….is new,” She muttered, looking at the fancy medical wing that was a huge upgrade from how the ship looked before.

She followed his gesture and sat down on the bed, still looking around at all the new features. How did he afford this? And more importantly, why did his money go here instead of a new place to live? Trys realized she probably didn’t have the privilege of asking those kinds of personal questions anymore, not after the way they parted. Now that things were calmer, the weight of just how uncomfortable things may have been between them started to settle in.

Trys offered her arm for him to work on, and she had to wince whenever he applied anything that stung particularly bad. She thought about his question, “I was following a potential lead on the red saber terrorist group,” Trys said bluntly, knowing it’d catch his attention, “I was on Nar Shaddaa when I ran across an….acquaintance of yours,” She raised an eyebrow suspiciously at Talak, but didn’t elaborate much further, “She killed one of them and I managed to nab some information off him. The entries in his datapad mentioned something about rituals and strange practices and an enclave on this planet with the coordinates,” This was all new information – the enclave hadn’t been accessed yet, “The word ‘eternal’ showed up a few times but I don’t know what that means. Since I got all this info through shady means, I decided to try and follow up myself and…here we are.”

She took a moment to meet his gaze if he looked up from working on her arm, “I’m…look, I know you have no reason to help me, but your ship was the only one I could think to ping. I owe you for coming out here, and I’ll try to get out of your hair. If you want to drop me off at the nearest town, I think I can manage from there,” Trys knew she was overstaying her welcome. He had gone far and beyond for her already, and he owed her none of it after the way they parted. She despised asking for help, and she especially hated the thought of asking for help from someone she had potentially hurt.

Trys looked around the medical bay again and had to smile, “Well…you seem to be doing better regardless, so that’s good to see.”
 

Talak Rand

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He bristled a bit as she mentioned that she'd run across Lilith. It hadn't been his plan for the two of them to meet, but from what he'd heard it was probably a good thing that she had. What made him uncomfortable was that Trys might think he was doing some weird stalker thing and using his apprentice to do it.

I didn't ask her to follow you, he practically blurted out. Whether she would believe him or not or what kind of creepy person she might now think he was, he didn't know.

But I'm glad she was there, he said after a moment as he wrapped up her arm in a bacta bandage.

She started on about him dropping her off and he didn't say anything for a moment. He had his own interests in what she might be pursuing. There was potential advantages for him or the rest of the Sith Eternal. And those secrets might be able to be things he could use for his planned coup.

Well, I'm already here and you don't have a ship, he said as he moved over to wash the blood off of his hands. So we might as well just go look at it together, he said. Besides, maybe I can use something there, too, he said. He didn't know how she would feel about that, but not only was it true, it might also divert attention from the idea that he would just stick around because it was her. Even Talak wasn't entirely sure what his real motivations were.

He caught her glancing around the med bay at the upgrades and changes he had made and she mentioned he was doing better.

Yeah... well I get hurt often enough and I have to fix other people up enough that it made sense, he said. Of course, she was the primary person he patched up, but there were others sometimes, too!

Everything about their interactions and particularly the way he acted as notably stiffer. He felt at any moment like he might do something uncomfortable or inappropriate.

You should rest up before we move out, though. Artee can fly us to the location, he said. It still baffled him that she had never tried to use his feelings for her to gain information for her investigation. Even now she didn't seem to want to abuse that, and he realized it was one of the things that confused him about her and drew him to her.

As if on cue of mentioning Artee, guess who came whirring into the medbay, arms in the air and holding a wine glass. He was very fond of distributing Talak's expensive wines to her.

Oh Mistress Trys, you've been injured! You really must be more careful! What would Master Talak do if something happened to you?! Why he's already been so...

Artee! he snapped, turning away so she wouldn't see how uncomfortable the stupid droid had made him. He had to do that a lot lately... shouting at Artee not to give away things he didn't want people knowing.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys looked at him suspiciously as he mentioned coming with her. Part of her was worried about just that – she didn’t exactly want to give him more resources to use towards his…terrorism. However, he did have a point about her not having a ship – this didn’t appear to be a friendly planet. At most, she would be dropped at a Toong village and they would have no intention of helping an outsider like her.

“Fine…” She muttered at last, looking down at her freshly bandaged arm, “But..” She looked at him for a moment. This would normally be the part where she listed off her rules, but she knew things were strained and different now. Instead, she simply shifted uncomfortably before mumbling quietly, “I might need to borrow an extra gun if you have one. My stun blaster has been useless.”

Trys looked up when Artee entered, a smile cropping up on her face at the sight of him. As usual, once again he was about to blurt out things Talak didn’t want shared. This time, it made both Talak and Trys embarrassed, and she felt her own face surprisingly heat up. She took the glass from him, taking a sip as she hopped off the bed to rummage through some of her things. Trys pulled out the datapad and commlink she had nabbed off the dead man, and she walked over to hand it to Talak.

“All his journal entries are in there,” Trys said, looking almost sternly at Talak. There was a hidden message in her gaze that reminded him that she was trusting him with this information, and she had obtained it on her own. She hadn’t exploited him for anything he knew, and she would expect the same courtesy in return.

“I’ll toss my clothes in the wash and see you in a bit then,” Trys said as she made her way back towards the extra room, “I have a suspicion that the enclave location is in the middle of nowhere.”
 

Talak Rand

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He could tell she was hesitant, and he wasn't sure what her "but" was going to be. He was waiting for her to start complaining about something or object, but she didn't.

Talak frowned as she asked him for a gun. He... didn't actually have any. He was relatively terrible with them. He could hit something at close range, but considered them a liability when compared to his abilities with the Force or even a melee weapon.

Uhh I don't have any, but you're welcome to any of my variety of close range weapons, he said. Electrostaffs, vibroswords, and knives were all common in his armory, but there weren't actually any firearms to be had at this point.

He opened his mouth to say that she should get a real blaster or at least one with a double setting but quickly shut up before any words came out. She probably didn't need any more of him watching out for her.

He noted the look she gave him when she handed him the journal and his sass finally got the better of his discomfort.

What do you think I'm going to throw you out the airlock and run away with it? he asked sarcastically before taking it. He didn't seem very concerned about the fact that this was taken off of one of "his people." It just went to show the relative lack of loyalty he felt to the wider Sith Eternal.

He was far more concerned about the fact that she was here again. He had yet to figure out how he was supposed to be acting around her, and as much as this may have felt like "old times" it wasn't old times and they were in a weird limbo world. He was almost glad that she was going to be stepping away for a few minutes to alleviate the discomfort, and he assumed that she did that on purpose. Surely she had to be feeling something similar after their last encounter... yeah, surely. He thought he had caught her blushing at Artee's comment, too.

She made her way out to wash her clothes and he sat down with the logs on the couch and started looking through the man's journal. There was a fair bit of it that he recognized, and he became exponentially more interested as he read about alchemical rituals. He started to lean forward and pour over the words, imagining ways to use this information.

Master! Mistress! We're arriving! Artee shouted from the cockpit, and Talak made his way forward.

He looked out the window, but didn't see anything. He checked the scanners and also saw nothing. He looked at the datapad and then cross referenced them with the coordinates displayed on screen and they were the same.

Well... I guess the entrance is hidden, he said as the ship started to settle down. He patted the lightsaber on his belt and didn't bother bringing a sword this time. This was a world where no one else was going to see him.

He packed his belt with extra medical supplies - because something told him he'd need them - and headed down the ramp. The sun was coming up now, and everything started to warm up and feel a bit more sticky as he headed out toward the base of the nearby mountain. That seemed like the best place to start.

So what were you doing out on Nar Shaddaa? he asked as they started walking. He never knew what she'd want to tell him and what she wouldn't, but it was some sort of small talk to cut the tension... probably unsuccessfully.
 

Trys Aran

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By the time they were closing in on the location, Trys was back in her clothing. Comically the bottom half of her shirt was missing, so it exposed her midriff. Trys grimaced and looked over at Talak, “Do you have….armor or anything?” She hadn’t really prepared for this little excursion whatsoever. Trys doubted he had anything remotely close to her size, but it was worth a shot.

“Make sure you have your saber this time,” Trys said, scowling at Talak. She still couldn’t believe he had gone out there with a primitive vibrosword - what kind of rescuer was he? She stocked up on a few knives to throw, still unhappy about no lethal blaster. Trys would have to use old fashioned throwing techniques and hope for the best.

She noticed Talak still had the datapad, “Learn anything interesting outside of a hidden entrance?” Trys hoped he could shed some light into some of the more cryptic messages. None of it meant anything to her.

After the ship landed, she walked out onto the ramp with him. Though it was daytime now, the forestry was still thick and dense, and they were soon under the shade of trees that made the understory dark. Trys thought about his question, “I was there to follow up on another lead on a slaving ring. I’ve been in contact with Fancy,”Trys paused there with a smile, “You know she’s got an entire small army of survivors now? She’s shut down a few operations herself. I want to see if I can convince her to become a Ranger. She's still gaga over you of course,” She doubted the twi’lek would accept, but it was clear Trys had a soft spot for her.

“Is that….acquaintance of yours one of the people you were telling me about that you led down the path?” Trys tilted her head to look at him, “She seemed very over the top eager to please you,” It was strange to see - she couldn’t picture Talak being the type to ever try and control anyone.
 

Talak Rand

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Talak almost laughed when she came out in her half-torn shirt and wondered how she could have been so unprepared for this. She was usually much better at planning for this. When she asked if he had any armor, he almost answered no when something struck him.

It was stashed away a long time ago, but Zatara's armor would fit her perfectly. The two were fairly close to the same height, and it struck Talak that... it had been some time since he'd thought about her. He wondered what that meant. Was he moving on? Should he have felt guilty? What was he moving on to? Someone who didn't feel the same about him as he felt about her.

He shook the thought from his mind and disappeared into the cargo hold before coming back with a duffel bag. Inside, she would find a metal chest piece, bracers, and armor to cover the upper arms. All of it looked well worn with chunks taken out of it in numerous places. And she would quickly note that with how well it fit her there was no way it could have ever fit Talak.

He disappeared into another room - the room - and emerged with a lightsaber in hand. It was visually identical to his own but it wasn't his and he set it next to the duffel bag.

In a way very reminiscent of her "rules" he started holding up his fingers. Take it and don't argue... his second finger went up ...don't cut off your arm with it... he held up his third finger ...I want it back, he said emphatically. There was a part of him that really wanted to add the dig that his rule number three wasn't dumb, but he just barely managed to suppress it.

Welcome to the red blades, he thought to himself. Of course it wasn't the same, but it was the most effective weapon she would find on board his ship.

He went back to the holo display and pulled up the map of the area to talk about what he'd found.

Geographically, no. But they were into some intense stuff here, he said, looking back at the journal. That statement coming form him should have told her a lot.

Old school rituals. The scary kind. Which means we could be up against some... very intimidating things inside, he said. He knew that alchemy could be used for crafting abominations and the like, but the Sorcerers of Tund had died out with Darth Cain almost 1200 years ago, right? There was no way that they still had some sort of monsters in there, right?

They were soon to find out.

They headed out of the ship and into the jungles as Trys started talking about Fancy. A genuine smile appeared on his face. He hadn't managed to go back and visit, but he wished he had. It was nice to know that something good had come out of all he did. There was a great deal of hate for the Arcanist (unwarranted!), and it was nice to know that someone had benefitted from some of his actions.

I need to go back and visit. Maybe I can help them out, he said. But even as he said it, he realized how dangerous that could be for them. He could tell that Trys cared about them too and it was just one more thing they had in common.

As the conversation turned to Lilith, he physically tensed and bristled. It was a topic he was far from comfortable talking about, and what he'd done to both Lilith and Ana were things that haunted him far more often than he wanted to admit. He tried to think about them as seldom as he could.

Yes, she is, he said, sounding almost strained as he said it. What else could he say? We bumped into each other, and now she's one of my students, he said. Not that he was a very good teacher. He could only imagine what Trys was silently - or not silently - judging him and his impulsive behavior.
 

Trys Aran

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Trys was shocked to find all the armor that actually fit her. It was clear it had belonged to someone of her size, and she assumed it was meant for a woman with the nicer aesthetics. Trys looked down at it, thinking for a moment before looking up at Talak, “I’ll...try not to get shot at while wearing this,” Was the most she could offer awkwardly. She had a suspicion that it had belonged to Zatara, but now of all times she wasn’t going to be nosy about it. The fact that he was even letting her wear it was a big deal, and she would appreciate it.

As he did the rule break down, Trys’s eyes visibly widened. It sounded suspiciously like her own three rules, down to the holding the sequential fingers up. Trys quietly took the saber hilt, “Well your rule three sounds more reasonable…” She blurted out before she could stop herself. She held his gaze for a brief moment before quickly looking away, kicking herself for even saying something so stupid.

Trys quickly distracted herself by thinking about how she was more or less posing as a red saber now. Of course, her movements would be completely shoddy and uncoordinated compared to how they moved, but she couldn’t deny the power of a saber.

She picked up the strain in his voice as he mentioned that the woman from Nar Shaddaa was one of his students. Student? Trys quirked an eyebrow and eyed him up and down, “That’s like asking a four year old to take care of a two year old..” She muttered dryly. Talak was impulsive and completely irrational at times, and she couldn’t picture how he could be considered a ‘teacher’ to the girl who…. Well, she seemed even more lost. But it was none of her business after all, like with most things related to Talak nowadays.

The jungle grew denser and thicker and Trys took out the saber handed to her. She ignited it and swung it through some branches in the way, comically jumping back from how easily it cut through and almost started to go into the tree next to it. Trys turned to look back at Talak with the widest eyes, “DID YOU SEE THAT?” She switched the blade off in a panic, almost afraid of it. Trys stepped closer to stare at where the saber dug into the trunk of the tree, watching the way smoke rose from it.

“This thing….is more powerful than anyone has any business wielding.” Trys spoke barely above a whisper.
 

Talak Rand

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Talak didn't know how to handle her blurted comment. Was this some sort of a sign? Was he supposed to read into that? Why in the galaxy would she have said that? Did this mean she knew that her rule 3 was idiotic? Did this mean her rule 3 was off the table? Why did she have to be so infuriatingly confusing?!

As they walked through the forest and she mentioned that he was like a four year old leading a two year old, he turned and looked at her with an incredibly unamused look. Thanks, he said almost acidicly. It was something he was already wildly uncomfortable with, and hearing her lack of confidence in him didn't help.

They kept walking through the forest before Trys pulled out Zatara's lightsaber and started hacking through the forest. He stepped back as she did it, noting how she seemed to accidentally slam the saber into the tree as well. He was concerned she was actually going to accidentally cut him in half and stepped back abruptly.

He could see the panic on her face as she turned around and asked if he'd seen that. It almost was enough to make him laugh and feel like there wasn't so much awkward tension.

He watched her face go through surprise and panic into something more contemplative. He could hear her barely whisper about the weapon, and he could feel something stirring in him again. Some piece of him was so drawn to her, and he hated himself for it. He knew that he was being an idiot for even entertaining the thoughts again.

He stood there for a moment and watched her before stepping forward.

The blade's alive, he said, motioning for her to turn it back on. He knew that it was easier to sense as a Force-user, but he also knew that non-Force users could adapt to the blade as well.

It channels your emotions and feeling through it, he said. It was a dark sider's blade, so he actually didn't know how compatible it would be with her, but perhaps she'd start to feel it.

It's an extension of the body like an arm... at least eventually, he said. His own blade activated in his hand and twisted nimbly through the air. He was as comfortable wielding it as walking.

Or it can be just a laser sword, he added. To most people that was all they saw. It was a brief glimpse into his world, and he cursed himself for letting her get in his head again. Kriff, Talak, what's your problem, man?He moved back toward the forest and started cutting through it without any issue.

He kept going until they reached the edge of a small cliff that would require some shimmying along the ledge. A waterfall poured by overhead, and a small pool collected below. He put his saber away and began to scooch along the pass and toward what looked like it might have been a door on the other side. Either way, he could see there was a small ledge with an area to stand on, and he had a feeling they would find their hidden entrance there.
 
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