Ask I Always Hated Corn Mazes

[Domri Seht]

Teth, just outside of Hutt Space
​

Domri Seht stood atop a large rock outcropping overlooking the vast jungles of Teth, a lone black figure standing in contrast to the twilight as the sun began to set. The Echani might have considered the landscape beautiful, if his glazed eyes could perceive anything before them. Instead, the signature red band that covered his eyes demonstrated only the extra strength he'd gained from his apparent "defect". Before sunrise the next morning, he hoped to utilize some of that strength to gain influcence over an up-and-coming warlord by the name of Kath G'Led, an arrogant human who'd risen among the ranks of mobsters on Nar Shadaa, now fancying himself as the next great challenger to Hutt power. Domri cared not about the Hutts or Kath himself, but what the warlord lacked in intelligence he made up for in resources and manpower. The Sith wanted this man in his pocket, adding a card to the deck he would use to facilitate his rise to power within the new Sith Order. With his lightsaber at his waist, smoke grenades and vibroknives strapped to his chest, and his specially-designed vibrosword hanging in its sheath, Domri "watched" the complex below as he sensed the individuals among it with the Force. As the sun's last rays stretched over the canopy and rocky outcroppings, he took a step off the cliff and fell, feeling the rush of wind against his face. As if he actually could see, the Echani reached out and grasped a study vine hanging from one of Teth's magnificent trees, using the momentum from his fall to swing around and far over the walls of the complex he'd been studying just moments before.

With the growing darkness as his aid, the Sith crept among the shadows, listening through a door at the back of the complex, where a Gamorrean was approaching from inside to begin his nightly rounds. As the guard stepped outside the door, it didn't even have time to squeal before Domri snapped it's neck, hurrying inside the complex before the doors shut behind him. Having infiltrated the hideaway, Domri began towards the arrogant warlord's "throne room."

@Mina Delstee

 

[Alania Vane]

Meanwhile, a young Jedi named Alania was crouching behind a wall in the "throne room". She was on a mission to protect it but was getting bored. She was about to fall asleep when she heard a noise. "The heck was that?" she said to herself quietly. She was confused. Wasn't there a guard or something?

@Scarlet Sky

 

[Domri Seht]

Domri slid back around a corner he had just turned, as a group of 20 or so mercenaries ran past him towards the complex's main exit; no doubt, he thought to himself, to go raid nearby villages for various matierals, if not our of boredom or to project strength. Weak. Kath thinks himself near a king, but he's never seen true strength. With the raiders gone, the Sith's approached the central throne room relatively unimpeded, stopping briefly to snap another neck with the Force as he ran out of patience. As he approached the automatic doors, they opened to reveal a large circular room, ringed with columns. At the back wall, Kath G'Led sat reclined on a raised dais, with two bodyguards flanking him and at least 10 other mercenaries scattered around the room.

"My my, what have we here? Some representative of the Hutt clans, here to waive the white flag no doubt? I'll accept no--gghghghgh"

The Sith cut the warlord off mid-sentence, extending his hand before him as if to crush someone's throat, and doing so to Kath through the Force. As the man struggled to breath, he aimlessly grasped at his throat, while the mercenaries in the room all drew their weapons in unison and aimed them at the strange interloper. As they fired a first volley of blaster bolts, Domri let go of the warlord and ignited his double-bladed lightsaber, swirling it around himself as he deflected the blasterfire outwards, killing three of the mercenaries and injuring two more. As the rest hesitated to fire again and Kath regained his breath, the Echani finally spoke.

"You have no power, nor will you do anything but serve those who hold true power. I make only one simple demand: from now on, you answer to me. Not to yourself, the Hutts, or the Sith Empire. You are mine to command, and in exchange I will show you the true nature of power."

@Mina Delstee

 

[Alania Vane]

Alania had no idea what to do. This guy looked pretty tough. Oh whatever. Alania started creeping up on the man but tripped and landed with a THUMP.
"Ouch" She mumbled.
Third time that week she did that.
@Domri Seht

 

[Domri Seht]

Domri turned around, as the focus in the room turned to the newcomer. Jedi. Not a very good one at that. He'd sensed her coming in, of course, but he'd also sensed that she didn't pose much of a threat to him. This was however, unexpected, and it was interfering with his plans.

"What is a defender of the meek and helpless doing in a place like this? I mean, these lot fit your criteria but they're not quite worth your while, Jedi."

The mercenaries turned their weapons back to the Echani, to which he responded by preparing his lightsaber. The blades hummed softly as all parties stared each other down. Domri considered killing the Jedi in her moment of vulnerability and being done with it, but he knew as soon as he moved on her the mercenaries would open fire once again. Likewise, he didn't doubt the Jedi would take the opportunity to strike should he focus his efforts on the blasters currently pointed at him.

"It looks like we've go ourselves a little standoff," wheezed Kath, still clutching his throat. "Luckily for the pair of ya, I've got a little solution courtesy of the Hutt who used to run this place."

The warlord pressed a button on the arm of his seat, and the dull whir of mechanical movement below his feet made Domri realize all too late that the floor was trapped. In an instant the floor dropped out from beneath both he and the Jedi, and the Sith cursed as he fell into some kind of dug out tunnel beneath the complex.

@Mina Delstee

 

[Alania Vane]

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Alania screamed. She turned to the Sith. "And you. Who are you?" she asked.

This wasn't Alania's first Rodeo. Siths. Not the best people. Er-They are the worst. Like come on! Why can't the galaxy be at peace?

@Scarlet Sky

 

[Domri Seht]

Domri slowly stood, surveying the new surroundings with his heightened senses. He turned to face the Jedi, adjusting the cloth band that covered his eyes, as it had been twisted in the fall. Ignoring her questions, the Echani reached out with the force, feeling around for anything else within the tunnels. Darkness fell upon the pair as the floor several feet above them closed back up, though the Sith didn't bother to create a light source; he didn't need one, and he didn't care at all for the Jedi. The only thing stopping him from killing her on the spot was that he felt other life forms within the tunnels. A LOT of other life, non-sentient but no less dangerous. A deep growl in the distance, just barely able to be heard by a normal ear, came clearly to Domri. Gundarks. He'd only encountered one before, some mob boss' pet, but even caged it displayed a raw strength that supposed a certain deal of respect. If the stories about gundarks were true, even one was a challenge for even a Jedi Knight. And he sensed nearly 30, spread throughout a maze-like setup of tunnels.

Domri didn't doubt his strength, but he knew its limits. At least, his current limits; he didn't plan on staying a newly appointed Sith for long. He was going to get out of his gundark labyrinth, kill that arrogant warlord and use his forces to steal an ancient Sith holocron he desired for his own. But in order to survive, the Echani begrudgingly concluded he needed the Jedi.

"Get up, Jedi. I don't know your business here but mine is none of your concern. You would be dead now if not for the fact that we are currently trapped in a maze filled with a pack of gundarks. You are a tool for my survival, and therefore useful to me despite your apparent weakness. If you fall behind, I will not save you. If you are injured, I will not heal you. Hold your own and you will survive this maze. Until we leave this place, I will not attempt to kill you myself."

@Mina Delstee

 

[Alania Vane]

Alania rolled her eyes but got up. She heard the noise to but decided to stay quiet.
What was with this guy? He's acting liker a jerk, thats for sure.
She narrowed her eyes at the Sith.
"Your not good at answer questions aren't ya?" Alania asked. Half expecting a response.

 

[Domri Seht]

The Sith was increasingly annoyed with the Jedi's questions, and once again the thought of ending her miserable existence crossed his mind. Regardless he needed her alive, if not to help him fight the gundarks then at least to serve as a tasty distraction.

"If I wanted to answer your queries then I would. As it stands, we have more pressing matters at hand."

He wondered how well the Jedi could see; Domri couldn't tell how dark it was, but he felt no slight heat from any kind of light source nearby. The Echani considered igniting his lightsaber, but he didn't need the light and it would give away their position if the gundarks hadn't already picked up their scent.

"This way." he growled, starting in a leftward direction down the tunnel they were currently in. He could sense the gundarks moving throughout the tunnels, providing him some kind of mental layout, but far from the complete picture he needed to find the way out. At the very least, he would know to avoid a few dead ends that seemed to be locations of nests or dens.

@Mina Delstee

 

[Alania Vane]

Alania stared at him. She could see in the cave and looked around.
She couldn't help but laugh.
"Uh well. You just kind of did answer my question!" she said as she laughed.

Than she heard a growl and stopped walking.
Should she tell the Sith she was good with gundarks?

She didn't know. SO she stayed quiet.


@Scarlet Sky @Domri Seht

 

[Domri Seht]

The Sith continued to ignore the Jedi, focusing his irritation into anger and channeling his anger through the Force. He stopped at the same time the Jedi did when the pair heard another growl, much closer this time. Domri took another step forward before the growl came again, this time accompanied by a second one. He could see the pair of gundarks round the corner through the Force, and third approaching from behind them. No doubt the Jedi could at this point only see their eyes glowing in the dark, but their full bodies came into view as they crept closer. Leaving the third gundark behind them for the Jedi to deal with, Domri grasped his lightsaber from his hilt and ignited it's twin crimson blades, their dull hum breaking an uneasy silence as the trio of gundarks stared down the unlikely partners, Jedi and Sith.

In an instant, the pounced. The gundark behind them lept towards the Jedi, teeth bared and it's two larger arms outstretched, its claws prepared to tear through her flesh if she allowed it that chance. The two in front of Domri engaged similarly, and he reacted quickly so as to save himself. He spun his lightsaber around in a 360 degree whirl as he adopted the defensive stance of Soresu, managing to injure one of the gundarks in their initial assault. A lost hand and singed hair caused one of the pair to cry out in pain as they breifly retreated backwards, before rushing the Sith once more. Knowing what was coming this time, Domri deactivated his blades and rushed towards the pair of gundarks, sliding underneath and between them just before their clawed hand reached him. He quickly stood up from his slide and did a small backflip, landing with one foot on the back of each of the gundarks. In the split second their confusion faded and they began turning their heads to attack the prey on their backs, Domri ignited his lightsaber once more and relieved the pair of their heads, stepping down to the ground as their lifeless bodies flopped over.

@Mina Delstee

 

[Alania Vane]

Alania didnt notice the Sith was with the other two gundarks. Alania was sitting on the ground playing with the third.
She soon saw two gundark boddies on the ground.

"You idiot!" Alania yelled as she got up and ran to the two boddies.
"Why'd you kill them?!" she cried.
The gundark that was with Alania came over. Alania got up.
"If you want to make it out alive, you have to be patient! And you have to be more talkative! Like, I DONT EVEN KNOW YOUR NAME!" Alania exclaimed.

She was not enjoying this Sith.
@Scarlet Sky

 

[Domri Seht]

Domri turned in surprise to see that the Jedi had somehow tamed to pacified the third gundark that had approached from behind the pair. He knew the Force could be used to influence animals, to assert one's will in such a way to dominate their mind. This, however, seemed different, not to mention that creatures like gundarks were far more difficult to control than more passive species.

As the Jedi noticed the butchered bodies, and promptly responded with outrage, the Sith's surprise turned to irritation. He could feel the Jedi's anger towards him, her annoyance with his presence. Quite similarly, with the immediate threat gone, although he could feel more gundarks moving throughout the maze-like cave, Domri once again considered attacking the Jedi and being done with her. Instead, he simply began to laugh.

"Ahahahahahahahaha! I killed them because they attacked me, and in doing so presumed to be more powerful. Instead, the natural cycle of life revolved again, as the strong conquered the weak. I'm not sure what your original purpose here was, young Jedi, but I can assure you neither of us planned for this nor do we want to be here."

He paused, considering the options they had as he began off once again, expecting the Jedi and her pet to follow. They took a series of turns before the Sith stopped, sensing more gundarks up ahead. Whatever his unwilling companion's ability with animals, he was sure it had its limits and he could feel a large group of possible 6 or 7 gundarks just a few corners away.

"Send your new plaything up ahead, whether to distract some more gundarks or lead them away, I don't care. There's too many for two of us to take in this limited space, and probably too many for you to pacify with the Force."

@Mina Delstee