Ask Invasion Snake In The Grass

[Tazlen Axil]

OOC: 2 Sith opposition max, equal levels preferably pls.​

The lommite factory was where the Sith presence was heaviest. The workers reported to the Sith operatives at the top now. While slavery didn’t exist allegedly, the workers were forced to work till the brink of collapse for wages that weren’t enough to sustain them. The sanctions from the FWA, ISC and Republic worlds meant that industry planets were hit harder. Operations were quadrupled and the same labor force was expected to output exponentially more materials.

Tazlen had arrived on the scene ahead of time, procuring worker uniforms for both his partner and himself. The Jedi method of rushing across a large field towards a well defended base had mixed results at best. He operated a little differently and he opted to simply use the front door to get in and deal with the Sith mess then. The factory building was built with a simple layout, everything in a wide square floor plan stacked up to four levels. The Sith operated on the top floor.

He had a feeling that when the workers realized the Jedi were here to remove the Sith, there would be little resistance. There was a transport heading towards the factory that Tazlen could see from a distance. He looked over at his companion, “That one,” He said quietly, “Let’s go!” With that, he descended down towards the path of the transport.

Tazlen waved his arms in front of the transport. The speeder truck stopped and he walked over to address the driver, “Hey, we’re your relief.”

“But-” The driver’s head abruptly thudded into the side of a panel, only enough to knock him out without doing any damage. Tazlen counted on Vesper to take care of the passenger. He quickly took the driver’s keycard and pulled him out of the speeder. The man was gently set down behind a boulder. He would come to in no time and have to deal with an annoyingly long walk back to the facility. He and the passenger would be left behind with no comms or way to signal anything.

Tazlen hopped into the driver’s seat and revved up the engine as he began to drive towards the facility’s loading dock. He cast a sideways glance at his partner, smiling at her, “Tazlen Axil, don’t believe we’ve officially made introductions yet,” Tazlen said before gazing forward again.

@Logan

 

[Vesper T'Rahm]

It had been awhile since Vesper had been dispatched on an operation of such importance. The recent streak of unfortunate results for the Jedi made what they sought to accomplish here even more pressing. There was no more room for hiccups or downright screw ups. They needed this, and they needed it badly.

As Talzin waved down the speeder transport slowed to Talzin's waving, Vesper approached the passenger side, holding her hand up to her head to block the sun from her eyes. Or well, that's what it would look like she was doing. When Talzin thumped the driver's head against the panel, Vesper would do the same, using her other hand to reach out with the force and bang the passenger's face against the dashboard.

He wouldn't be hurt too badly, but the force of the unexpected blow would knock him out cold. After dropping the guy behind the boulder with the other, Vesper slid into the passenger side of the transport.

Vesper T'Rahm, She replied to Tazlen's introduction, returning his quick smile with one of her own. Good call on the uniforms. Running head first into brick walls of blaster fire hasn't been working out to well for us lately. A joke, but also not really. Sometimes all you could do was laugh at how dire things had become.

It wouldn't take long for Tazlen to drive them to the facility. Vesper'd nicked the badges from the two dopes they'd left behind which allowed them to get into the loading dock without much issue at all. They entered the facility through the dock on the ground level.

Sliding out of her seat, Vesper took a look around before turning to Tazlen, a serious look on her face. The fourth floor was their overall destination, though Vesper didn't see any elevators in the immediate vicinity. They'd have to go looking.

Party time, She said as she started heading off, looking for a way to get to the fourth floor.

@Sreeya

 

[Jerex Dorn]

Overseeing a factory was not quite the type of job Jerex was used to, but, truth be told, it was kind of fun. He got to have people report to them about what they do, make sure they worked at their best for the sake of the empire and it was just a nice change of pace in general. Of course, there was one thing in particular the former knight of Ren liked to do: Scaring the workers. Now he had a reason to put on his robes and mask and carry his lightsaber around, his presence alone was unnerving and so, he took great pleasure in being jovial with the workers he was overseeing, finding fun how they found that somehow even more horrifying.

Right now, the old sith champion was simply standing around on the fourth floor, the place quite silent in comparison to the lower parts of the building, when no one was visiting the only thing Jerex could clearly hear was his own steps. As of right now, however, he just had finished making a jug of iced tea, a funny contrast to his tall, imposed figure covered by black and a creepy mask. Of course, he had made the jug because it was always nice to share, and so he looked at his fellow sith (@Altaris) "Would you like some?" asking as nicely as he could...taking into account that his voice was being filtered by his mask to sound quite deeper and more menacing, even when he was just offering some tea.

@Sreeya @Logan

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

It wasn’t often that Jaikus found himself overseeing the day-to-day operations of an Iommite factory, but much had changed for the Axxilan as of late. He was still reeling from his failures on Dantooine, and the Axxilan had begun to take a far more active role in many of the aspects of the Empire since then - bringing him far from the covert operations he usually undertook and to this planet in particular.

He stood on the fourth floor of the factory alongside Jerex, garbed in his signature Sith armor - the ensemble of clothe and armorweave fitting tightly to his figure, while his features were shrouded behind the wraith-like visage of his mask. The Axxilan’s lightsaber and vibroblade hung from his belt in plain view, not bothering to conceal them as this wasn’t one of the covert operations he was normally accustomed to.

His hands were neatly clasped against the small of his back, citrine eyes fixed ahead and towards one of the security camera screens that was mounted to the wall. It gave the Axxilan a view of much of the facility, and allowed them both to keep rough tabs on the workers operating on the lower levels. The conditions of the workers wasn’t something that the Axxilan could stomach easily, but there was little that he could actively do to change it in the moment. The sanctions hit the Empire harshly, and there was little other option in order to meet production quotas.

Jaikus’ attention was briefly drawn towards Jerex, glancing down as the mug of ice tea was offered. The Axxilan brought a hand up as he shook his head a bit. “I’ll pass, thank you.” He said simply, politely declining the offer as it was made.

His attention promptly returned to the security camera footage he was reviewing before.

@Sreeya @Logan @Versok

 

[Tazlen Axil]

The Sith could stare at the security footage all day long and it’d do them zilch on account of the infiltrators appearing just as any other worker. Tazlen wore his ridiculous overalls and factory clothing as he walked in pushing cargo around on a repulsorsled. He spotted the cameras at once and knew where to go to duck out of range. For now, he turned to Vesper, “Let’s slowly get the word out about what we’re doing but tell them to keep a low profile. Got cams on us.”

The floor was too massive to pick up every little tiny conversation going on with any cams. Tazlen was handing a few boxes over to a fellow worker and discreetly told him what was happening. In fact, all that needed to be mentioned was ‘Sullust’. The worker gave a nod, a glint in his eye as he took the box and handed it to another worker, passing on the word. It wouldn’t be long before the message was very discreetly passed along, all the while appearing as if everything was business as usual.

Tazlen in the meantime, he looked over and spotted a service elevator, beginning to walk towards it with the cargo. Their keycards would get the elevator access, and he was hoping some of the workers would assist with discreetly swapping cards to give clearance to levels 3 and 4.

@Logan @Versok @Altaris

 

[Vesper T'Rahm]

Vesper nodded at Tazlen's instruction, consciously making the choice not to look around to find the cameras. There was nothing more suspicious than someone walking around somewhere specifically looking up at security cams. Vesper followed along with Tazlen as she idly stared at a clipboard, occasionally glancing from it to the cargo on the repulsor as if to check that everything was as it should be.

As they made their way over to the service elevator, Vesper caught eyes with one of the workers and with no words exchanged, they each knew what to do. Bumping into each other, both of them dropped a bunch of things from their hands which scattered across the floor.

I'm sorry! Vesper said as she clamored around to pick up the stuff she had dropped, discreetly picking up the worker's keycard instead of her own.

No worries, ma'am. The worker replied with a nod, scooping up the items that remained and flashing her a smile.

Continuing their trek to the service elevator, Tazlen's card would get them on, and Vesper's newly acquired one would take them directly to the fourth floor unless her partner for some reason wanted to stop them early.

Vesper couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about how smoothly things were going so far, but maybe the Jedi were finally catching the lucky break they deserved.

@Sreeya @Altaris @Versok

 

[Jerex Dorn]

The old sith champion simply nodded in response to Jaikus before pouring some tea for himself and leaving the jug on another table, lifting his mask slightly every time he decided to take a sip as he too observed the cameras. Silence filling the room once more as Jerex simply stared, his eyes fixed on two of the workers that had dropped their things on the floor but didn't pay much mind to it.

So far workers seemed to be doing their job as normal, granted, they seemed to be a little more chatty than usual, but Jerex didn't really care as long as they kept working. So far it seemed to be a perfectly normal day, of course, little did he know...

@Altaris @Sreeya @Logan

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Jaikus gave Jerex a small nod as he declined the offer of iced tea, keeping his gaze on the older Champion for only a few seconds longer. His attention quickly shifted back to the security camera footage being live-streamed to them from throughout the facility - citrine eyes casually drifting from monitor to monitor. While the Axxilan had toured most of the lower levels upon initial arrival at the factory, it was far easier to keep tabs on the operations from his current vantage point.

Upon initial inspection, everything appeared to be normal. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as workers continued on with their shifts and produce continues to flow through the factory, and though he didn’t miss the sight of some worker fumbling their things on one of the monitors, it didn’t capture his attention for more than a split second.

Jaikus’ eyes shifted towards another monitor as he spotted a pair of workers making their way towards a service elevator. There were a number of employees with clearance high enough to reach the third level of the facility, and as a result, it wasn’t something that stuck out distinctly to the Axxilan. The fact that the workers were in fact Jedi, and currently bound for the fourth floor, remained a mystery to him at the present moment.

@Sreeya @Logan @Versok

 

[Tazlen Axil]

OOC: Moving us along. Let me know if not okay.

By the time the two Jedi made it to the service elevator, word was spreading discreetly like wildfire. Tazlen knew if a fight broke out, the workers would likely attack any Imperial enforcers while the Jedi dealt with any Sith. He worked on keeping himself calm as they rode the elevator to the top floor. As soon as the doors opened, they were met with an Imperial. He stared at the two, looking slightly confused. Workers were normally not allowed on this floor. Before he could say anything, however, Tazlen unleashed the Force on him, making his head collide with a wall to knock him out.

The Jedi walked over to snatch up the key card. Due to no workers here, there were fewer cams here, not to mention the two Sith had their focus on the lower floors to begin with. Tazlen looked over at Vesper, giving her a nod that said ‘here goes’.

With that, he used the keycard to access the command area. Right away he spotted the two armored Sith. He unleashed the Force to send them both flying back across the room.

@Versok @Altaris @Logan

 

[Vesper T'Rahm]

Tazlen's surprise force attack at the very least would split up the two Sith if it didn't send them flying like he intended. Vesper's eyes immediately went to Jerex, though for no particular reason. He was closest to her and there was no sense in wasting time deciding which of these two fool's asses she was going to kick first.

Mere moments after Tazlen's attack, Vesper would reach out with the force and yank down a large light fixture from the ceiling, sending its heavy base crashing right on top of Jerex along with a curtain of shattered glass and sparking electricity.

Her lightsaber snapping to her hand, Vesper unleashed its azure blade and headed straight for the Sith. She was under no illusion that her simple force attack would put him out of commission. She would approach Jerex without hesitation, ready to attack but holding back for now, her guard up and face chiseled with determination.

@Sreeya @Versok @Altaris

 

[Jerex Dorn]

As all noise stopped and they went back to the silence from before, Jerex heard the steps of someone outside that opened the door to enter the command area, the old sith champion made sure that his mask was down and he was not caught sipping from his tea before he took a look at the people that just entered the commanding room, confused for a split second as they certainly had no clearance to be here before he sensed one of them calling upon the force, Jerex concentrated and braced himself the best he could in that short amount of time. The force push would still send him flying, his efforts only lessening the strength of the push but not negating it. However, the sith champion would also use the force to stick the landing properly and without hitting the floor harshly.

"Rude." Now alert and ready for more attacks, Jerex looked up as he noticed the other jedi trying to grasp something above him. Calling upon the force once more, Jerex formed a great gust of wind with aerokinesis, the fixture, glass and sparks pushed to his left while he moved to the right, avoiding the attack. However, he would not have much time to come back at the jedi with an attack on his own, simply going for his lightsaber and turning it on as he circled around, letting the jedi that went for him approach while he got away from the other one, allowing Jaikus to take a shot at him.

It had been a while since the old sith had fought a jedi, this would be fun...If only they hadn't spilled his tea with that force push attack, the champion would make sure they would pay for that.

@Sreeya @Logan @Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Jaikus’ gaze lingered on the security camera footage for only a few additional seconds - scanning the lower levels as workers went about their daily tasks. Just as Jerex, his attention was drawn away by the sounds of footsteps approaching the doors leading into the command area. Confusion briefly flashed across the Axxilan’s shrouded features when he spotted the pair of seemingly low-level workers - only for that confusion to immediately dissipate and realization to take its place when he sensed the Force gathering around the male worker. The Axxilan only had a split second to draw the Force around himself in an attempt to defend against the push.

As a result of being caught off guard, Jaikus was nevertheless thrown several feet back from where he was originally standing - his efforts only serving to marginally dampen the attack and avoid being slammed into the wall behind him. By virtue of being sent several feet from where he was originally standing and away from Jerex, he was far away from the shower of glass and sparks that Vesper dropped down onto the other Champion.

His boots skid across the floor as Jaikus landed into a low crouch - citrine eyes snapping upwards and fixating onto the half-Annfyn Jedi. While Jerex clearly closed in on the other woman, Jaikus decided to keep his attention on Tazlen. His lightsaber snapped onto his left hand as the Axxilan rose back up to his feet, it’s dark crimson blade igniting with a snap-hiss as it painted the interior of the command center in a deep shade of red.

Without a moment of hesitation, Jaikus reached out with the Force with his right hand - the Darkness extending outward as invisible tendrils of energy that attempted to coil tightly around Tazlen’s throat and pull him into melee range. The Axxilan’s saber was held in a guard position in order to defend against any counterattacks from the half-Annfyn.

@Sreeya @Logan @Versok

 

[Vesper T'Rahm]

Vesper's eyes narrowed in annoyance as the Sith showed some decent skill in keeping himself from getting crushed beneath the light fixture. Figuring it was best to keep Jerex on the back foot, Vesper pressed onto the offensive.

As Jerex started to circle around and draw his lightsaber, he would feel a blast of force energy aimed at his chest from Vesper's outstretched hand. The force of the blast would be enough to send him flying backwards should Jerex take the full brunt of it, possibly smashing him into several large durasteel cabinets behind him.

Vesper would then look to close into melee distance, wanting to end this fight as quickly as possible.

@Sreeya @Versok @Altaris

 

[Tazlen Axil]

Things went from 0 to 1000 in a flash, but Tazlen was prepared for it. He watched the shattered glass and the armored Sith spring into action. The half Annfyn felt that coil around his neck and he skidded forward, but he wasn’t entirely unprepared. Saberhilt was in his right hand and ignited. His other hand swept up to send the shards of glass and debris directly towards the back of the Sith. The Sith had the option of continuing the choke and getting shredded, or dropping the attack attempt. Tazlen was careful to only yank the shards to a specific distance enough to embed into the man’s body. If the Sith simply ducked, he would have to actively apply a new Force attack to send the shards continuing on the same trajectory towards Tazlen.

For now, Tazlen didn’t follow up with any other moves beyond holding his saber in defense.

@Altaris @Versok @Logan

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Jaikus kept his gaze firmly fixed onto Tazlen - devoting all of his attention to the half-Annfyn Jedi as chaos consumed the command center. The Darkness poured from his fingertips, and the Axxilan felt as his grip tightened dangerously around the half-Annfyn’s throat - applying that bit of pressure while pulling him forward ever-so-slightly. Of course, the Axxilan would only be able to focus on the Force grasp for a split second before his attention was drawn elsewhere. He felt a distinct pulse in the Force, eyes snapping downward to observe as Tazlen’s left hand swept up to send a wave of shattered glass and debris towards his rear.

He only had a split second to consider his options - knowing full well that the Force-aided debris would tear right through the back of his armor and embed themselves into his spine. Without wasting a second, Jaikus abruptly released the grip on Tazlen’s neck and bent low to the ground - putting himself below the barrage of razor-sharp projectiles that were sent his way. By virtue of the fact that Tazlen only sent them a specific distance, the Axxilan’s crouch was enough to avoid the initial attack - and he made no attempts to redirect the wave back at the half-Annfyn.

From his crouched position, Jaikus reached out with the Force once more - the Darkness coalescing into his palms before bursting outward in a concussive pulse towards the half-Annfyn Jedi. The Axxilan purposefully reduced and concentrated the Force attack into a smaller, precise blast. The result would be a blast that was aimed to slam directly into the Jedi’s chest, powerful enough to knock the wind from his lungs and damage ribs if it collided. While Tazlen had the opportunity to redirect the wave of debris, the Axxilan doubted he wouldn’t be able defend himself from the Force Blast while also redirecting the glass.

Regardless of the effectiveness of his attack, Jaikus pushed off from where he was standing and rapidly began to close the distance between himself and Tazlen - intent upon moving into melee range with the Jedi. He kept his saber positioned defensively for the moment, prepared to guard against any incoming attack.

@Sreeya @Versok @Logan

 

[Jerex Dorn]

As Jerex felt another attack incoming, the old champion decided to do the same, walking backwards as he stretched his own hand and then swinging it to his left, the force blast being met with Jerex's own defense in the form of force deflection: The blast of energy would be redirected to the side in that direction and away from him as the old sith thought that doing so would probably be easier than trying to block the full brunt of it.

The old champion would give her no time to fully close the distance before trying an attack of his own, calling to the force and focusing on an office table not too far away from the jedi. Jerex wouldn't have the table take off from the floor and launch it at her like someone would expect, but rather it would skid towards her at great speeds, the longer side of the table hitting her right side of the body with a good amount of strength should she not manage to avoid it. Jerex would keep his grip on it as to make sure to make it difficult for her to simply redirect it like the sith himself had been doing so far with her attacks, but the old champion would be ready to drop it if he found himself in danger or if she avoided it in a different manner. Regardless of what happened she would probably close the distance afterwards and Jerex would have his lightsaber in hand to greet her with.

@Logan @Sreeya @Altaris

 

[Tazlen Axil]

Tazlen had no interest in doing anything more with the debris than he did already. As a result, his enemy’s crouch was sufficient enough to avoid it and allow the shards to fall harmlessly. The Knight had no intention of standing around in the same area, especially as he watched the Sith launch his palms to unleash a wave. The Force channeling within him, Tazlen abruptly veered to the side, allowing the trajectory of the push to move past him. The fact that the Sith focused it into a concentrated area made his attack even more useless and easy to avoid by stepping aside.

While he moved to the side, Tazlen didn’t miss the fingers that would have lifted from the Sith’s grip on his saber to unleash his Force attack. The Knight swiftly yanked on the hilt of the Sith’s saber, capitalizing on the compromised grip to tug it right out of his hand. The saber would cut through the palm as it flew through the air and was tossed aside. The fact that the Sith decided to spend energy and focus on concentrating a push to that minute and specific degree meant that he would have little awareness of his level of grip on the blade or expect an abrupt disarm.

Regardless of whether or not the attempt worked, Tazlen would slash his saber from his right to left diagonally, aiming to cut from the Sith’s right hip up to left shoulder.

@Altaris @Versok @Logan

 

[Vesper T'Rahm]

Vesper's eyes narrowed as Jerex deflected her force attack. Sith always had to make things so difficult, sometimes she just wish they'd accept their inevitable fate and just roll over and die already.

As the table started to move, Vesper could hear it as the heavy item came hurtling at her with its long side. With quick thinking and even quicker movement, she would jump in the air and land on the table in a crouching position, but just for a few moments. As she was on the table, Vesper would reach out with the force and yank hard on one of the drawers of a filing cabinet behind Jerex. The heavy drawer would fly out of its housing and rocket straight at the sith, aimed to slam into him right between the shoulders.

Leaping from the table, Vesper would land on the ground a few meters from Jerex, finally able to close the gap between them like she'd wanted to all along. With the force enhancing her speed, she would charge toward him and slash with her lightsaber, looking to slice the Sith near his right shoulder and down to his left hip.

Hopefully the distraction from the drawer would make Vesper's attack easy, but she would be ready for things not to go as planned.

Things never went as planned.

@Sreeya @Altaris @Versok

 

[Jerex Dorn]

The old sith couldn't help but chuckle as he felt the annoyance within Vesper "Ah, young jedi, always so quick to try and end a fight that they just started, patience." Jerex said as Vesper jumped on the table and focused on the drawer, sensing it and giving a quick glance backwards before deciding to crouch low and let the drawer go over his head. However, that would not be the end of it, as it went forward, Jerex would focus on the drawer and redirect it ever so slightly so it would keep moving towards Vesper and hopefully hit her right in the torso with enough strength to crack a rib or two. The drawer would be going at quite the speed, Jerex adding to the momentum Vesper had already given it. The drawer would reach Vesper mid leap, the old sith champion hoping it would hit her now that she was in the air and didn't have many ways to dodge it.

Hitting her or not, the drawer being hurled towards Vesper would interrupt her before she got to use the force to get close and dice him up with the lighstaber, so Jerex decided to keep going on the offensive: A stream of lightning would follow soon after redirecting the drawer, be it after it knocked the jedi to the ground or she just landed, regardless of the result Jerex would give the jedi a quick shock aimed to the center of mass, not going for the prolonged kind but rather a quick burst to get some damage in...Hopefully the distraction from the drawer would make this easy, but he would be ready for things not to go as planned.

Things never went as planned...And that was part of the fun in life.

@Logan @Sreeya @Altaris

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

With narrowed eyes, Jaikus observed as Tazlen drew the Force into himself and abruptly veered to the left - moving fast enough to avoid the concentrated Force Blast has had been aimed for his chest. As a result, the wave of concussive energy proceeded to slam into the wall behind where the half-Annfyn had only just been standing, causing glass to shatter and a significant dent to appear in the durasteel surface.

While he continued to advance towards Tazlen, Jaikus felt the sudden tendrils of the Force that gripped onto the hilt of his saber. Citrine eyes went wide, and the Axxilan knew that he wouldn’t be able to prevent the weapon from being pulled from his grasp. As a result, Jaikus’ fingers immediately opened from a clench and curled inward - his entire hand dropping down his side while the Axxilan leaned his torso backwards. As a result, Jaikus carefully managed to avoid the crimson blade of the weapon as it was yanked out of his control. He didn’t neglect to keep tabs on where the hilt had fallen before engaging the half-Annfyn, cautiously aware in case the half-Annfyn attempted to weaponize the saberhilt.

Requisitioned of his saber and with Tazlen swiftly approaching, Jaikus’ right hand slid down towards his belt - fingers curling around the handle of the Vibroblade the Axxilan always carried. It wasn’t a saber, but it was better than nothing at all. The moment that Tazlen swung his saber upwards, Jaikus finally pulled the vibroblade from its sheathe on his belt - a motion of his thumb activating the red-hot edge of the weapon. He swiftly rotated the blade downward to catch against the Jedi’s saber, slated down vertically in order to hold the plasma blade in place.

While Tazlen migh've intially anticipated Jaikus to reposition himself or follow up with yet another attack, the Axxilan did neither. He wordlessly drew the Force into himself in preparation for whatever the Jedi threw at him next, but he didn’t miss from his position - his free, left arm raised towards his center mass in order to defense against any incoming blows.

@Sreeya @Logan @Versok