Ask Scrub Squad Adventures

[Zathria]

Jedi didn't panic. It wasn't very Jedi of them. Zathria pushing the engines of her ship to the point that they would probably need repairs after this and calling the local authorities on Berchest repeatedly and nagging them half to death wasn't panic. It was "rational concern."

She had used the Force to be additionally persuasive even from a distance, and a SWAT team was already on the way to the site of the disturbance. Reports that there had been an explosion near the district that Padawans were in told Zathria everything she needed to know. Now, it was just a matter of hurtling through hyperspace until she could arrive on the planet.

Zathria was pacing anxiously around the cabin of the ship - not panicking - just being proportionally rationally concerned. "Something, something you're too attached to your Padawan something something," she could practically hear some Master saying. Yeah, well, they could stick it.

After about five to ten minutes of this pacing, Zathria finally stopped dead in her tracks, took a deep breath in and plopped down into a meditative position on the cold steel floor.

It wasn't for her own sake that she meditated, but it was through the Force that she reached out to Ezra. There was little she could say in the situation, but she could feel his distress. Fear, anxiety, anger. Emotions that were not of the Light, but feelings she could hardly fault him for.

You are one with the Force. he would almost be able to hear her say, and the words - or rather the impression in the Force - would be one that was of a peace as if he were the eye of a storm. Even as everything swirled around him, it was the power of the Light and the realization that he was not alone. Not just because the Force was with him but because she was there and so were his friends.

It was all that she could do, and no matter how much she wanted to be there now, she knew that she, too, had to trust in the Force.

@Sreeya

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra fully expected his friends to be stupid, and he sternly glared at them to keep their wits about them. He didn’t know what he was doing, and he only felt fear. He could sense the sadness from the others behind him, but he ignored it, keeping his gaze fixed on the Sith in front of him. He only heard stories about the Sith, but now he began to understand why the galaxy wanted to erase them. Why they caused hysteria and anxiety in even the hardiest of people.

However, all of that came crashing down when he heard Dash behind him, heard the pleading in his voice, heard a thud as he fell. He heard the scraping and every detail of noise courtesy of his sensitive ears. When Dash said those words, he stopped in place, his eyes widening. He felt a surge of emotion, his jaw tightening. His fingers curled into fists, but still he didn’t turn. The words ignited a fire in his chest, a brilliant flash of light amidst the fear that was darkening his psyche. Something inside him snapped then, but they wouldn’t see it just yet.

As if on cue, he could feel Zathria. He heard her voice, and he almost felt her strength surge through him. Ezra’s face was impassive and he kept taking steps forward, the Force churning within him as he walked towards the Sith.

The fire Dash had ignited in him sparked something that hadn’t crossed his mind in a long time. His Pops. He thought of all those years of brutal training that both and his twin were put through. It was one of the few times where Pops was adamant about something with them - spending hours teaching both children how to defend themselves and go on the offense. Ezra despised Pops for it, had thrown up from exhaustion, had come back with cracked bones, a bruised body and a bruised ego. He always complained he would never need to use something dramatic like this in his life, but his Pops would always say to them both....

You are a Thorne. You are a survivor. You will not simply run away from those that threaten you. You will break them.

He had spent his entire life avoiding being anything like his Pops. But perhaps it was time to start changing that. Ezra exhaled calmly as he approached the Sith, and it was as if time seemed to slow down. He could hear the faint hum of the saber blend into the background, the red blade blurring into an abstract. He was just barely aware of the tension all around him or the emotions running high. For once, he found clarity and tranquility, just like Pops taught him. Just as Zathria had begun to teach him in her own way.

He felt as if he was moving at a glacial pace, but to everyone else it would almost be too quick to follow. Ezra’s right hand abruptly shot out to grasp the Sith’s wrist that was holding his saber. In that same motion, Ezra’s left open palm whirled in to slam directly towards the Sith’s saber elbow. It was the use of Teras Kasi, enhanced especially by the Force he had called to himself earlier. The impact would be enough to shatter the Sith’s arm, but Ezra didn’t stop there. It was a strike that had his momentum behind it and he carried that forward by pivoting on his foot and around the Sith to end up behind his back. The combination of moves would likely not only break the arm, but snap the bones right through the skin and twist his arm back at an unnatural angle to tear it from the socket.

At that point Ezra had little concern for himself. He was applying what had become second nature to him in ways he didn’t even realize - his flight or fight adrenaline fueled instincts that his Pops had drilled into both children. Because Emryc Thorne knew exactly the kind of galaxy his children would face.

Ezra would go down fighting or he would live to tell Dash how he felt. But Dash would see his man wasn’t going to go quietly whichever way it ended.

@Phoenix @Alhon @Zay @Altaris

 

[Vizim]

Were Vizim's focus able to rest solely on Ezra, the Sith Master certainly would have seen the attack coming, but he had anticipated the most likely to attack was klepto, and thus far more of his focus was on the other Padawan. Or perhaps it was the use of Teras Kasi, a combat technique specifically designed to work against Force-users and catch them off guard.

Whatever the reason, the strike did catch the Sith off-guard, and the cracking sound of bone could be heard echoing through the hall. But a wounded Sith was like a wounded animal, still dangerous and twice as desperate. You had to put it down before it ripped your throat open.

The pain was immense and far surpassed even the broken ribs the Sith had experienced earlier. His right arm was limp and all but useless, but still he fought on.

It was all rage and instinct now, pressing the Force out from around him with great Force and looking to simply blast both Ezra and the woman away from him. Vizim had used little of his Force-reserves yet, and his rage only fueled the attack. He only saw red, no longer caring about capturing and only looking to add bodies to his list.

His left hand came up and unleashed a storm of lightning down the hallway at the Padawans, using the space he had bought himself with the blast in the hopes of simply finishing off those down the hall with greater speed. He had every confidence that they had no learned the techniques required to defend such an attack. It was why it was such a potent power used by Dooku to vanquish Skywalker and Savage Oppress alike or even by Sidious to torment Luke Skywalker. It was death and pain given physical form.

@Alhon @Sreeya @Altaris @Zay

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

As soon as Ezra exploded with force power, Leon knew the moment he’d been waiting for had come. He couldn’t perceive how quickly Ezra was moving with his eyes, but with his current state in the force, he could feel him.

The crack of The Sith’s bone was like the starting blaster at a track meet for the Chiss hostage. As soon as his right arm went limp she bolted and Leon fired. The Sith’s blaster spit three more stun bolts aimed at the dark sider's center mass. Leon had been prepared, and the force was his guide. He hadn’t guessed when to shoot this time, he knew.

If his shots missed, he’d unleash Alton’s Lightsaber, centering himself in the tempest he'd gathered around him, that warm summer breeze from before kicking up into a squall as he ignited the orange blade. Instinctively he'd bring the saber up to defend the incoming lightening relying on the force he'd gathered to enhance his focus and weather the storm.

@Alhon @Altaris @Phoenix @Sreeya

 

[Ferrin Sipal]

Ferrin couldn’t help the swelll of emotions that he felt - watching as Ezra prepared to hand himself over to Vizim. The Pantoran desperately wanted his bluff to work, and was momentarily irritated by the quarter-Sephi’s interruption and self sacrifice. Those emotions were quickly supplanted by others, though, as Ezra began to take those first steps forward. It was like a harsh kick to the jewels, and it left him with a sickening ache in the pit of his stomach - helpless to do a single thing in that moment.

He wanted to say something to solve the crisis. To smoothly deescalate and handle things without ever raising his saber. And he knew that he couldn’t. Ferrin wanted to bring everything they had to bear against Vizim - to save both his friend and the hostage. And he knew that he couldn’t.

The Pantoran couldn’t bare to look at Ezra as he began to approach Vizim - golden eyes flicking off to the side to stare at the shattered remains of the wall where Alton had been. There was no denying that he genuinely cared about Ezra - far more than he’d dare ever admit. For all of his barbs and witty remarks, their little group was important to him - and watching the quarter-Sephi being captured tore him apart inside.

It was only the surge of the Force that drew Ferrin’s gaze back up. He could barely register the blur of motion that was Ezra - watching as the quarter-Sephi grabbed Vizim’s arm and yanked it backwards. It was a bold and daring move, and it was the opening that they needed.

Before Ferrin could mount an attack, he watched as Vizim unleashed the story of deadly electricity - more than enough to kill all three of them. With little other option, he dove to the side - towards the broken wall that Vizim’s explosive had torn through. He pressed himself against the hunks of mortar and stone, attempting to shield himself from the storm of Lightning. All the while Ferrin drew the Force into himself - prepared for the moment the Sith’s concentration broke.

@Sreeya @Alhon @Zay

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash's gaze never left Ezra as he closed with the Sith, despite the waves of pain still racking his body. He could not look away, even though he was terrified what he might see.

He knew Ez had heard him; he had to have with those ears. Those perfect pointy ears. Dash knew Ezra could not come running back, he understood even if he could not accept. But at least he was walking into fire with Dash's love behind him. If only it were enough.

The Sith made him stop a short distance away, barking at the rest of them to get out. He was running out of patience, Dash could tell. But there was no way the Rhinnalian could leave Ezra alone with him, no way. Surely they could all still try and make a break for it together, no? Dash was ashamed how little the hostage featured in his thinking, but he could not see past his friends and his man. He must be a terrible Jedi.

His injured leg convulsed and he swallowed hard. The truth was he was going nowhere fast, even if he wanted to. He tightened his grip on his saber hilt still in his right hand, fearing he would end up having to fight.

But the fight came from Ezra. He moved incredibly fast, faster than Dash could believe. He grabbed the Sith's wrist with one hand and seemed to hit out at the guy's elbow with the other. He was attacking him!

Dash ignited his saber on instinct, still pressed low to the ground but trying to shuffle up onto his knees. He heard bones crack as Ezra stepped around and behind the Sith and for a moment the Padawan thought their enemy's arm would come clean off.

He expected the Sith to be pissed and hastily dragged his better leg up just in time. He was poised on one knee, both hands holding his saber out in front when the Sith unleashed a blast and a barrage of lightning down the hallway. Dash pulled his small body in behind his blade and threw everything he had into becoming one with the Force.

@Phoenix @Sreeya @Zay @Altaris

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Part of Teras Kasi was learning exactly how Force users fought. His father had told him the bread and butter of Force users - being yanked abruptly, being pulled, and of course, the repulse when forced into CQC. Ezra was taught to bear down, or slam something to the ground to create friction and make himself difficult to toss.

Ezra chose to simply hold onto the Sith’s wrist, which he didn’t release as he broke that arm and dislocated it.

As the Sith blasted the repulse, the sheer force of it sent Ezra flying back. However, there was a sick, gruesome crunch as the arm Ezra was holding tore. Muscles and bones tore alike, the abrupt and sudden push ripping the Sith’s arm clean off and sending Ezra hurtling back. While the limb removal dampened the full effects of the push, the young Jedi was still sent sailing into the wall behind him. His back slammed against the hard surface, and he felt pain rattle through his entire body. His eyes watered from pain, but he wasn’t going to give up.

Ezra dropped the severed limb on the ground - the hand still clutching the red lightsaber. He could see the Sith attacking his friends and boyfriend, and from Ezra’s vantage point he acted as fast as he could. While he was out of the way of the lightning, he remained in a crouch, coiling the Force around the Sith’s legs from behind and tugging to make him faceplant the ground. He couldn’t see what any of the other Padawans were doing from here so coordinated tactics went out the window. Ezra’s sole focus was to immobilize the Sith.

@Phoenix @Altaris @Zay @Alhon

 

[Vizim]

Although the bone had already been broken and the arm was already hanging on by threads, the sudden and entire removal was beyond excruciating. For a moment, Vizim almost lost consciousness out of the sheer damage and pain. Blood was coating the floor, pumping out of his adrenaline filled veins at alarming speed, but Vizim wouldn't quit.

The yank of course did, however, mean that the Sith had once again been yanked out of the way of the stun bolts sent his way. His lightning tore down the hall, but unless the Padawans knew how to specifically pull the many tendrils into the blade itself, some would still wrap around, stinging and spasming arms and legs. It was in its own way, extreme pain that he inflicted on him, and it made him feel slightly better.

Of course, a moment later, the Force was wrapping around his legs. It was an easy enough attack to deal with if you were able to anticipate it, but Vizim's attention was simply forced to be split between four people.

He fell forward, cutting off the stream of lightning as he narrowly managed to "catch" himself on his remaining hand, which was to say he didn't quite faceplant, but he still had anything but a graceful fall.

The writing was on the wall, and Vizim knew it. If he was going down, he was going to do a much damage as he could. In that moment, Vizim gave himself fully to the Dark Side. He leapt forward, his hand grabbing the vibroblade from his thigh holster and launching forward.

He closed in on icy (@Alhon) in a blur so fast he was almost invisible, knife swiping out to and plunging at the man's chest. If it struck, he wouldn't withdraw it as he grabbed the karambit from the back of his belt and swiped at blueboy's throat (@Altaris) only a few feet away. He knew that he was likely to be cut to ribbons by their lightsabers, but two things were true: the first was that the Dark Side gave him the speed to keep his arm from being severed or his body from being stunned by blaster shots, and the second was that he would undoubtedly find purchase with his weapons somewhere. He could only hope that it killed them, but if it didn't, it would leave wounds and scars of its own.

@Sreeya @Zay

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra thought they were in the clear when the arm came off and the Sith fell forward. However, the man was a blur of motions, not even bothering to look back as he lunged at Dash and Ferrin. Ezra’s blood ran cold when he saw the Sith move. He couldn’t focus on what was happening, just that he needed to stop the man at all costs.

Ezra pulled up Ferrin’s saber and also the Sith’s red saber, igniting them both. Without warning, he leapt through the air, not unlike Leon and Dash had seen him do across the lake on Kashyyyk. In that moment, he mentally focused not just on the Sith, but also reached out to Leon. Ezra was too new at this to make any kind of coherent sentence, but Leon would get perceptions through vague feelings. Enough to clue him in to be ready.

With the Sith entirely focused on his attack, he would have no real way to prevent Ezra from doing what he did. The Thorne and all 190 lbs of him slammed down on the Sith’s back, stabbing down vertically with a yellow and red saber side by side. They would plunge into the man’s body, digging deep into his torso with the points piercing into the ground beneath him.

Ezra’s full weight and the momentum with which he jumped ensured that the Sith would have no real way to move easily, the quarter’s Sephi’s legs locking him in from rolling.

@Alhon @Zay @Altaris @Phoenix

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

The lightning slammed into his saber with arm-numbing force. With the force’s guidance, Leon managed to catch the majority of the attack on his saber, but a tendril slipped through and hit him in the chest. He was thrown back, and agony raced through his body, ripping a scream from his lips, but the pain was over almost as quickly as it began. His body reacted. Leon rolled over his shoulder up onto his feet.

Waves of dark energy pulsed from the Sith as he lay on the ground, then suddenly he cracked. The waves of darkness receded into him as if he were the vacuum of space, and then he exploded. Leon shot forward. he could feel Ezra moving, He knew his intent and that meant Leon had to get to Dash. The Force carried him forward like a rushing river, he slid to a stop Alton’s tawny blade at the ready and The Sith’s own blaster staring the berserker in the face. Leon’s mischievous smug little smirk would be the last thing The Sith saw.

Ezra Throne slammed into The Sith's back and drove two lightsabers through him. The poetic irony wasn’t lost on Leon as the crimson blade punctured the madman. His body crumpled under Ezra's attack sliding head-first toward Leon's feet. His body stopped a meter away pinned to the ground by Ezra’s weight and the sabers. Leon lifted The Sith’s gun, setting it to kill. Took aim at his head and said, “Ultimate Jedi Technique #1: The Double-Tap!” then pulled the trigger.

BLAM!

At point-blank range, the blaster bolt would, well, it'd pop this vile scum's skull like a watermelon.

@Sreeya @Alhon @Altaris @Phoenix

 

[Dash Pavan]

Dash actually thought it was going to work for a second. He parried a bolt of lightning, then a second and actually started to believe.

Then the sheer force of the storm the Sith had unleashed overwhelmed him, breaking through his defence and ravaging his arms and body. He cried out in pain, his wounds screaming as his muscles spasmed and convulsed. He lost his poise, falling forward onto both hands, his blade guttering out again. The only mercy was the lightening stopped abruptly, but it didn't matter. His vision was blurring and his breathing was shallow. He was dying here.

A grunt from the falling Sith was the only warning that the demon was not done. Dash could do nothing but scream and try hopelessly to scrabble back as the Sith leapt for him, a blade flashing in his hand. Ezra and Leon were in motion as well, but the Rhinnalian knew they would be too late.

The Sith was on him, stabbing violently even as Ezra fell from above in a blaze of red and yellow. Dash felt the man's knife connect, punching through the right breast of his jacket. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, enough time for Dash to take in the Sith's wicked mouth, twisted in anguish and satisfaction, and see the murder in his eyes. Then the sharp steel bit into his chest and all the breath went out of him.

He fell back, out the Sith's reach as Ezra and Leon brought their foe down in a merciless dance. It was all a blur to Dash, a flurry of background shapes obscured by a fresh wave of pain. The shock of everything he had been through came home to roost and he blacked out, struggling for breath as blood began to seep through the denim.

He had no way of knowing that his friends were winning the day. Or that one little fancy gift box, skewered in his inside pocket, might just have saved his life.

@Altaris @Sreeya @Zay

 

[Ferrin Sipal]

For the first few moments, Ferrin was focuses purely on surviving. He pressed his back against the meager cover that he’d found earlier - feeling as torrents of electricity crackled through the air above him. The Pantoran knew that just how deadly Sith Lightning could be, and took no chances against it. Luckily, the mortar and stone seemed to negate the attack far better than merely deflecting it with a lightsaber.

The Force gathered within Ferrin, prepared for whatever attack came next. He expected Vizim to drop dead after his arm was ripped off, or attempt another ranged assault to incinerate them all. What he wasn’t expecting, though, was for Ferrin to charge at them with blade in hand.

The Pantoran’s golden eyes went wide in shock - watching the blur of movement that was the Sith Master. He didn’t even register the attacks from both Ezra or Leon, his attention fixed instead onto the silvery glint of metal in Vizim’s hand. Ferrin watched as it embedded into Dash’s chest, piercing deep into the right side of the Padawan’s chest.

Instinctively, Ferrin stepped backwards - attempting to put distance between himself and the rabid animal that was Vizim. Distance between the second blade that was suddenly drawn from the Sith’s hip.

But it wasn’t nearly enough.

The light glinted off the metal of Vizim’s dagger like a silvery blur - just as it slashed below Ferrin’s chin. There was no mystery what had happened, as a spurt of blood followed the trajectory of the dagger and dripped onto the floor, followed by the sharp, almost blinding pain that radiated from Ferrin’s throat and through the rest of his body. His eyes went wide as saucers, and his hands immediately rose to clutch at his throat, feeling the warmth of his own lifeblood pouring him his neck - slick between his fingers. Perhaps that step backwards was the only reason he was still alive - if only for a few fleeting moments. But it wasn’t enough.

In ways none of them would’ve seen before, pure horror flashed in Ferrin’s eyes as he stumbled backwards, his knees buckling beneath him. He desperately grasped at his neck, trying in vain to stop the flow of crimson that poured onto the floor. Tears formed as the world itself seemed to close in around him. He wanted to scream, but not a single noise - save for the gasping and gurgling - escaped from his lips. His gaze flicked between Ezra, Leon and Dash, staring between his friends as his vision slowly began to fade - the world consumed by blinding white as he began to slip from consciousness.

 

[Vizim]

Vizim's fate had already been decided. He knew he would never make it out of this hall. His own blood was pouring out onto the floor from his arm, but all he cared about was spilling the blood of his opponents. Revenge, pure and simple.

He felt both of his knives find purchase, and he felt the warm spray of blood that landed across his mask and the skin around his eyes, but the satisfaction that he had from it was short lived. More pain this time a familiar burning superheat as his flesh melted away under lightsaber blades.

The Sith Master was slammed into the ground, pinned down to the floor by the plasma as his body finally gave out. No amount of Dark Side energy could re-suspend a body as mangled as his. Both of his lungs were collapsed, and he would have a slow next minute or two of death.

He lay there, nearly slipping out of consciousness when the blaster bolts came. Slamming into his head, they invited nothing but darkness as the Sith Master's flight was extinguished.

End​

 

[Zathria]

It was only about two minutes later that Zathria had arrived on the scene, her saber in hand, but that time was past. Her eyes settled on everything that had happened. Ezra was alive and well enough, which was a relief and had to be her first priority.

Then her eyes swept quickly across the scene and all of its carnage. Her mind immediately fell into a battlefield mode, evaluating and triaging without a word of greeting. The man she had to assume was a Sith was very dead.

Leon and Ezra were in the best shape and so her eyes quickly moved over to Dash and Ferrin.

Steady the knife and turn it off, but don't take it out. Wrap it and keep pressure around it to control the bleeding. Make sure blood doesn't fill his mouth, and if it does, turn him on his side, she said to Ezra and Leon about Dash. Just from a cursory interrogation with the Force, she knew that he was in critical shape but should be fine if he got to a medcenter in the next hour.

Ferrin, however, was in an even more dire situation. Zathria ripped out her medpack and bent over him, placing a bacta gauze directly into the wound, and holding pressure even as she started reaching out to the Force, touching the platelets in order to clot the blood. She needed to hold the bleeding back until they got to a surgical droid.

 

[Leon Baudelaire]

Leon stared down at the ruined mess of the Sith master’s head and felt his legs give out. Tears wheeled and spilled over his emerald eyes as the relife of survival shook him to his core. He was only able to breathe for a moment before Zathria was there. He quickly wiped his face, shame coloring his cheeks as he nodded, “Okay.”

He started on Dash hoping to help stop some of the bleeding. Then he heard Zathria call for help, over his shoulder he gestured to Ezra, “I need you to put pressure here,” he said pointing where his hand was. Leon thrived in do-or-die circumstances. If he had a mission or a goal, then very little could stop him, it was free time that normally got the better of him and he had a feeling after this mission he’d need to eliminate any free time he had.

Berchest would be burned in his mind forever as the day he’d realized just how useless he really was.

He was at Zathria’s side. There was blood, a lot of it. He pulled fresh gauze from his utility belt and applied them. Flashing lights from the emergency response vehicles blead through the blown-out wall of The Wearhouse. They’d succeeded at stopping the Sith, but they’d failed their mission, and it had cost each of them dearly…

Leon would continue helping until he was forced to stop or to be examined. His expression was hollow and as the flashing lights continued to fill the void with undulating hues of red and blue, Leon thought about his home, and about how much he wished he could hear his father’s voice again.

@Alhon @Altaris @Sreeya @Phoenix