Ask Unwelcome Guests

[Sah'ra Ryun]

While the pieces of the puzzle that was the Chiss and their connection to the Force was hard for her to put together, Sah’ra decided that perhaps it was best to take Lucifer’s words at face value, at least for the time being. He was, after all, a Force Sensitive Chiss himself though even he admitted that it was likely due to his father’s human bloodline rather than that of his mother’s. There were many conflicting points to his ideologies but he was right with one aspect; the truth could always be twisted to suit their needs if the situation called for it.

They would not have placed much distance between them and the holding cells before the arrival of a Chiss Officer, weapon drawn and aimed upon them. Tren growled as he moved to raise his own blaster but soon found his sister’s hand placed upon the barrel of the weapon, keeping it pointed at the ground.

“You there! How would you like a position of power?”

Lucifer’s words had earned yet another raised eyebrow from the woman as she stood behind beside her brother. If there was one thing that could be said for the Chiss Champion, he was not one to beat around the bush with his dealings. The Officer, however, did not seem ready to bite at the offer as he commanded they remain still, his other hand dropping down to the second blaster on his belt.

The alarm continued to wail as the frigate shook from the impacts of battle outside, but the standoff between the three escaped prisoners and the Chiss Officer remained tense and focused despite what transpired beyond these walls. Sah’ra was hardly eager to find herself in a shootout, however, and slowly raised her hands above her head.

”Take it easy,” Sah’ra cooed softly, staring intently into the man’s crimson eyes. Oh how she was growing to despise Chiss eyes, blood red and impossible to read. Were it not for her capabilities with the Force to understand the undercurrents of a person's train of thought, the feelings that existed beneath the surface, she would have likely simply subdued this man with a telekinetic blast or a jolt of Sith lightning… But there was a certain degree of unrest within this particular man. A hunger for something that was being kept from him. Enough to suggest that perhaps Lucifer was on to something with his offer.

”Something tells me you’re a long way from your post,” Sah’ra continued, hands still rose as the Force pooled around her in preparation, should the man decide to simply begin firing.

@Scoobert @llamallove​

 

[Ronan]

The four of them stood there in a standoff, their eyes darting from one person to the next. Two Chiss and two humans.

The woman was the first to speak, her voice soft and endearing but the heat signatures in her face betrayed the sound of her voice. She was trying to talk Ronan down, like a trapped beast attempting to escape its cage. Trapped and cornered, she would say or do anything if it meant survival.

Glancing once again at the two unconscious guards, however, he had to wonder if he was not only outnumbered but outmatched as well. How had they managed to escape from their cells and incapacitate two guards, all within a matter of minutes?

"Good thing too, isn't it?" he replied, an all too confident grin tugging at the corners of his lips as he slowly eased his second blaster pistol from its holster at his side. "Otherwise you would've escaped."

The frigate continued to shake, a roar sounding across the ship as metal scraped against metal. Encounters with enemy ships were a rarity within Chiss space, even at the border of that space. Two ships in one day simply could not be a coincidence.

It was even possible that these three had allowed themselves to be captured so they could get aboard the frigate, knowing full well their comrades would attack the frigate soon after.

"Who are you working with?" he asked the group, his eyes bouncing between the woman and the Chiss.

@Tulos @Scoobert​

 

[Sah'ra Ryun]

Sah’ra knew that even despite the stacked odds against this lone Chiss Officer, he would not simply stand down. He was a man of conviction, boldly evident as he stood against the trio of escaped prisoners all alone. And yet despite this brave persona he so valiantly put on display, the Sith woman could sense the feelings of resentment he harbored against his superiors. Through the Force, she could almost feel the waves of bitterness rolling off of him. Perhaps he was subjected to improper treatment by his commanding officers or had not advanced as he had hoped in his career. Whatever the cause of such indignation, this man potentially offered them a path to their freedom.

”We are members of the Sith Empire, coming from the greater known galaxy,” Sah’ra spoke calmly, hands still held upward at head level in a sign of submission. Her voice did not waver with concern or worry, however. In fact, the Chiss Officer would hear only an undaunted tone despite having two weapons trained on them. After all, she was a Sith Champion and this man was, quite frankly, beneath her. ”I must say, you’re making a very poor choice, I’m afraid,” she would continue with a snide smirk. The Force whispered in her ear that her moment was fast approaching and she would soon be presented the opportunity to turn the situation around on this man.

It was at this time that the frigate shook violently once more, the lights flickering and casting the hallway into a momentary darkness. Sah’ra would crouch herself downward in a wide stance to maintain her footing as the ship seized back and forth whilst Tren would find himself violently thrown into the wall of the corridor. As the red glow of the emergency lights came back to life, the woman reached out through the Force and secured her grip around the blasters in each of Ronan’s hands and pulled them downward with such strength that it would require nothing short of industrial magnets to keep them within his grasp. Once the weapons clattered against the floor, her right hand shot upward once more, coiling the Force tightly around Ronan’s neck before tightening as she pushed him back against the wall and lifting him off the ground to allow his toes to dangle just above the floor.

”We came here in hopes of peace. Your Admiral, unfortunately, has opted to follow a different path. You do not need to make the same mistakes as him, but if this is your choice then know I have no qualms with ending your life this very second,” Sah’ra would hiss as she approached the young man, her blue eyes burning into his skull with every step before coming to a halt a couple meters away from her suspending prey. ”Or you could right his wrongs and inform us of where the both the bridge and your Admiral may be,” The fire burning in her eyes was only too indicative that this would be the only opportunity she offered him as the air around her almost seemed to spark with her ferocity.

@llamallove @Scoobert​

 

[Lucifer Starck]

Lucifer wasn't afraid of the officer that had walked in. He figured they would be hesitant and when Sah'ra had taken matters into her own hands he knew this would be something she could handle on her own. The Chiss around him had been enough for him to want to leave. It was no wonder his mother left this god forsaken hell hole of a planet. Just being in the space around it's orbit was enough to put Lucifer in a disappointed mood.

"Well Sah'ra, looks like you have this operation under control. I wanted to help, but this has all been less than amusing. So I am going to take my leave. I do wish you luck on this mission. Oh! And you.. Mr. Navy. I do believe you should take the offer given to you. As you can see we wield a very strong power that could destroy much more than you can imagine. So with that said, I am leaving. Do bring back a grand Army Sah'ra. I will inform the Lords to send someone to give you assistance. Chiss are very stubborn."

Then the Half Chiss would exit the room. He could feel in the force where his saber was, luckily it wasn't at the bridge. It was on the officer outside the room. So he would coil the force around the blue man's neck and twist. Once the lifeless body hit the ground he searched and found his blade. Sah'ra's as well. Looking back inside the room as he passed by he would toss it on the ground as it rolled to her feet.

"You're welcome!"

Then he was off. Escaping in a Chiss fighter, and making way back to the galaxy to the east. There's was more pressing business back home to tend to.

/Exit

(Bland post I know. I do apologize, but muse has died. I hope you two have a blast though!)

@Tulos @llamallove

 

[Ronan]

Ronan's eyebrow arched at the woman's next words, a sign of his genuine surprise. The Sith Empire? Of course the Chiss had heard of the Sith Empire, but they were something that you read about in books. History and legends. Not something you came face to face with.

"The Sith Empire?" he echoed sternly, studying her face carefully for any signs of deceit.

The Chiss frigate shook abruptly, metal and beams creaking under the strain and pressure of the battle that raged on outside. The enemy's attacks were merciless and precise, and worst of all in quick succession. The frigate had been completely taken off guard by the surprise attack, or perhaps it had been lured into a trap.

The overhead emergency lights flickered, plunging the hallway and the holding cells into darkness. Ronan stepped back, expecting the Sith to make a move in the darkness. The attack did not come, however, and the lights powered to life, once again casting the hallway in a warm, red glow.

Across from him, the woman reached out. The SE-45 Blasters were yanked from his grip, flung to the ground as if she had pulled them from him with the strength of ten men. Without laying a finger on him, she was able to grip him by the neck and push him against the metal plating of the hallway.

His head began to throb, and his feet struggled against gravity to gain solid footing again. Instinctually, his hands reached for his throat, as if somehow he would be able to stop the invisible force that was slowly choking him to death.

Behind her, the woman's Chiss companion snapped the neck of one of the unconscious guards. Two weapons were taken from his dead body. Two weapons that were recognizable to anyone, even someone from the depths of Chiss Space like Ronan. Lightsabers.

One lightsaber the Chiss kept for himself, and the other he tossed to the woman. It rolled across the metal floor, stopping only once it had hit the side of her boot.

The woman claimed that she and her companions searched for peace. Although these words were difficult to believe at face value, the heat signatures in her face confirmed her words. Despite appearances, she was actually telling the truth.

Two options laid before the Chiss. Help her or die by her hand. Judging by her steely blue gaze and the pressure slowly crushing his throat, Ronan knew he only had a matter of seconds to decide.

"I'll... help you," Ronan managed to choke out, his voice hoarse and sickly.

@Tulos​

 

[Sah'ra Ryun]

Ultimately, Lucifer had served the purpose that Sah’ra had required of him so as the Chiss took his leave, she offered little to acknowledge his departure. Even given their current circumstances, she was still set on establishing a peaceful alliance with the Ascendency and his presence was steadily nurturing the situation to one of a violent take over of the vessel, or rather whatever would remain of it after the battle that raged beyond it’s hull. Even so, she could not ignore the slight sense of disappointment that festered within. It seemed that her original companion was an opportunist and nothing more, leaving her now with a second option to continue with her goal. Perhaps one that was more likely to offer a path to success.

At first, Sah’ra was hesitant to release the coil of energy she had wrapped around Ronan’s throat. She could not sense any deception from him but a cornered rat would say or do anything if it meant survival. Who was to say that once she had released him, he would not simply go back on his word and test his chances against the now slightly more even odds? Perhaps she should simply snap his neck and proceed onward with her brother? No. They had come this far and killing any further Chiss was only likely to further deteriorate any hopes of the alliance she desired. Calling the lightsaber at her feet to her free hand, the cool steel slapping into her palm near instantly, she slowly released the grasp she had placed on her prisoner. For better or worse, she would need to place a minute degree of trust in his word.

”If you so much as even try to arm yourself once more, I will shear your head from your shoulders without a second thought,” Sah’ra growled as she pulled both of the SE-45s he had once wielded back and away from his reach, each of them soon recovered by Tren as he regained his composure from the sudden violent shake of the vessel. By now, blaster fire was as loud and consistent as the proximity alarm blaring throughout the corridors. If she were to guess, it was likely the battle was not going in the Chiss frigate’s favor. This needed to be rectified if they were to survive and if they were to show the Admiral that they were not his enemies.

”Take us to the bridge. We must act if you and your allies are to find victory,” Sah’ra hissed once more, warranting a concerned glare from her brother. She knew this could well be offering the Chiss Officer an opportunity to place them in danger, the entire crew of the bridge essentially gifting him a firing squad that could be turned against them, but she was Sith. Even without a lightsaber, she was formidable. Given she had retrieved one of her weapons, Sah’ra was now far beyond anything this crew had to offer. Once she reached the bridge and retrieved her second weapon? That alone would ensure this ship would soon be under her control, whether the Admiral admitted it or not.

@llamallove​

 

[Ronan]

The crushing pressure that had coiled around his neck and pushed against his trachea subsided. Gradually, the Sith released him from her invisible grip and allowed him to collapse to the floor below. On hands and knees, he would cough and splutter, his blue hand tentatively reaching up to touch the bruises already beginning to form on his neck.

This was Ronan's first experience with the Sight outside of his own people, and the power this Sith woman yielded was nothing like that of the ozyly-esehembo of the Chiss. Her abilities far exceeded the expectations and hopes placed upon the sky-walkers, and Ronan had only witnessed a fraction of her powers. What else was she capable of? The thought was frightening, exhilarating, and staggering all at the same time. There were a thousand questions he would have liked to have asked her, but they weren't exactly on friendly terms.

"Don't worry," he replied as he rose to his feet, his voice still weak.

Ronan was smart enough to realize that he was outmatched. Between the Sith and her mute companion, there was nothing he could do. He certainly couldn't overpower them. If the Sith spoke the truth, and they weren't among those that bombarded the Chiss freighter from space, there was no need to fight them.

"I'll take you to the bridge."

As the Lieutenant Commandor led the pair from the holding cells, boots thundered through the hallways as Chiss pilots hurried toward their fighters in the hangar. Luckily, the trio encountered very few Chiss on their way to the bridge, and the few they did encounter were too preoccupied to take any notice of them.

Reaching the bridge, Ronan turned toward his "companions" to tell them to take it easy, but in the end he said nothing. They wouldn't listen to anything he had to say anyway. All he could do was hope for the best.

As the doors slid open, Admiral Huri’soket’cin turned to face Ronan, his features laced with accusation and fury. "Lieutenant, where have you..." His red eyes settled on the two figures that stood behind Ronan. Two escaped prisoners. "Seize them!" he ordered the guards around him.

Four armed Chiss advanced on the pair, but Ronan stepped forward. Any altercation would only end with dead Chiss. "Admiral, wait! They are not with our attackers."

@Tulos​

 

[Sah'ra Ryun]

Did Sah’ra exactly trust this man to be true to his word? Certainly not. How could she? She had yet to even learn his name, his position within the Chiss Navy or just what it was that spurred the ire she could sense within him. Yet as the battle beyond the vessel raged, it was clear that he had little choice but to accept her dominance for the moment. Lucifer had so easily made his escape; so too could she and her brother. Instead, they elected to stay despite the dangers that existed all around them even though such threats were absolutely no concern to her nor the Sith. It would take a fool to consider her an enemy at this point, though the Admiral and his vain approach to their arrival was certainly discouraging.

The ship continued to rock from blaster fire as Ronan led the trio through the halls to the bridge, Chiss patrols hardly even offering them a second glance as they ran to their positions whilst bellowing commands back and forth amongst themselves. It was yet another sign that the battle was not going in their favor but as a violent blast rang out from a nearby hangar, Sah’ra knew the worst was yet to come.

“We’ve been boarded! All available hands report to the hangar! We must repel-”

With a furrowed brow, Sah’ra never broke stride though she remained acutely aware that the potential of being flanked by the enemy had become a very real threat. Fortunately, the bridge was within sight.

“Seize them!”

“Admiral, wait! They are not with our attackers!”

Given the dangers that surrounded them, Sah’ra perhaps should have prepared to defend herself but the Force instead pulled her attention towards none other than the Admiral’s daughter as she stood on a seat that lined the view port. Her eyes were closed, waves of energy circling around the young girl as she pointed in a break of the enemy formation. The Sith’s eyes shot open at the realization; that a child was guiding the ship in battle, the Force dictating to her where to go.

Finally, as the ship shook violently once again, Sah’ra pulled her eyes away from the young girl and looked beyond the viewport for herself. Upon arriving above Csilla, she discovered that she was unable to identify the Chiss vessel. It was a foreign design, entirely unfamiliar to both her and her brother. The craft attacking them at this moment?

”Those… Those are pirate craft,” Sah’ra muttered, though clearly enough for all to hear. Turning her attention to the Admiral, a stern expression plastered across her face, her glare burned into his crimson eyes. Freighters and fighters of a variety of models from the greater galaxy, all with subpar upgrades and chaotic paint jobs streaked through the stars, woefully outnumbering the Chiss craft. Reasonably, they could not be expected to win but that didn’t mean Sah’ra was about to offer him any sort of sympathy after the treatment they had received. ”You’re being beaten… by pirates?”

Before the Admiral could respond, blaster fire from within cut him short. The door to the bridge that had shut behind them soon split open once again as the corpse of a Chiss soldier fell to his back, blaster fire raining around him. Turning to face the threat, Sah’ra raised the hilt that had remained in her hand and ignited the crimson blade, keeping Ronan, Tren and the Admiral behind her.

Behind the now dead Chiss soldier, three pirates made their entrance onto the bridge with weapons drawn. While the men to each side were easily identifiable as a battle-hardened Zabrak and Rodian, the woman at the center remained unrecognizable in a full suit of armor. Blaster fire continued to rain from the men at her flank, slaughtering any and all on board though Sah’ra moved with a fluid swiftness, protecting her and her companions from harm. The armored woman instead turned her focus on the young child and raised her left arm before firing a whip cord through the air that coiled itself around the girl, pulling her back into the woman’s embrace as she wailed for her father to come to her aide.

“We’ve got what we came for, boys! Fall back!” the woman ordered, her voice altered by the voice scrambler in her helmet. Sah’ra, not wanting the pirates to escape with the girl, began to advance. These scum acted without fear, even the sight of her lightsaber causing little to no falter in their actions, so as she approached they did not hesitate to drop two spheres to the floor, clattering against steel as they made contact. She didn’t have time to respond before a noxious gas began to spill forth, leaving all within the hangar not yet executed unconscious.

@llamallove​

 

[Ronan]

"We haven't lost yet," the Admiral shot back through gritted teeth, the rage that boiled within barely contained. Before he could order the soldiers at his beck and call to seize the Sith prisoners again, chaos broke out in the bridge of the Chiss frigate.

The Admiral had spoken too soon, and he would live to regret those words.

The doors of the bridge slid open, a Chiss soldier falling to the floor. Dead. Three pirates stepped over his corpse and strode into the room, each of them armed to the teeth and clearly not afraid of anyone in the room. Not even the Sith.

Ronan reached for his blasters only to remember that the Sith had taken them from him. Unarmed and defenseless, he stood there and watched the scene unfold before him, helpless to do anything about it.

If anyone had wondered why pirates would attack a well-armed Chiss frigate, they were not forced to wonder for long. The pirate's motives became clearly very quickly. They were here to kidnap the Admiral's daughter.

"No! Not my daughter! Please... take me instead!" the Admiral bargained, fear etched across every feature of his face.

If the pirates heard his pleas, it made no difference. They offered no reaction, and they did not respond. With the Chiss girl bound and captured, they retreated from the bridge. They had claimed their prize, and they did not intend to stick around.

Before Sah'ra could advance on the group of pirates or anyone else could attempt to save the girl, two spheres were tossed into the room. The doors slid shut, trapping the group inside the bridge with the gas.

One by one, they all fell prey to its fumes.

~~~
​

Ronan's red eyes shot open, and he scrambled to his feet. The Chiss was unsure how much time had passed, but one thing was certain. The pirates were gone, and along with them the Admiral's daughter.

Others were beginning to stir, the Admiral among them. Feet unsteady and uncoordinated, he closed the distance between the Sith and himself. "You have to help me," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper as he addressed Sah'ra specifically. "You have to help me get Flora back..."

Ronan watched, amazed. Gone was the rigid Admiral who cared only for regulations and protocol. The man that stood before the Sith had been reduced to nothing more than a father, terrified for his daughter's safety. Perspiration ran down the sides of his face, and he wrung his hands together.

Ronan remained silent, his eyes ever critical, but he could sympathize. His thoughts wandered to his own daughter, so young and helpless. How would he react if she was taken from him?

@Tulos​

 

[Sah'ra Ryun]

Seemingly as suddenly as she had been asphyxiated by the gases, Sah’ra soon found herself regaining consciousness on the floor of the bridge. A foul taste continued to taint her mouth as she struggled to comprehend what had just transpired but the reality of their situation was soon only too painfully evident. Coughing, wheezing as she tried to pull the now clean oxygen into her lungs after the frigate’s air scrubbers had accomplished their task, the Sith turned to her side and saw the carnage that existed around her. Dead Chiss soldiers in a variety of uniforms indicative of rank lay across terminals and chairs or scattered across the floor almost as though a storm had whipped through and had it’s way with them all. Then it dawned on her; the young girl was not amongst them. Hurriedly scanning each of the corpses that surrounded her, Sah’ra soon let her head fall back to the bridge floor with a soft thud. She was gone.

The others began to find their feet and so did Sah’ra, pushing herself upward and receiving a better understanding of the carnage around them. There were very few survivors and of those that did make it out with their lives, fewer still were capable of much beyond moaning in pain. Gritting her teeth, the Sith closed her eyes and reached out with the Force in hopes that perhaps the pirates were still here; that the possibility of recovering the young girl was still easily within reach. There was nothing. Nothing but the dark scar that this event would leave on all of those involved.

“You have to help me… You have to help me get Flora back,”

Turning to see the Admiral, his posture no longer steadfast in the face of his enemies. His voice no longer steeled and determined but rather weak and wavering. No longer was he an Admiral, but a father. Sah’ra remained silent as he begged for her assistance. Only moments ago, he wanted them imprisoned or perhaps even executed but everything had changed since then. As she looked into the eyes of a vulnerable and wounded man, she was reminded of her own father. Of how he had never once shown any degree of concern for her own well being or that of her brother. She wondered how he would have reacted if it was him knelt before a stranger, pleading for help that was undeserved. Would he have been as remorseful and estranged as Huri’soket’cin was now? Would he have done anything in his power to track her down and ensure her safety?

She highly doubted that.

”You want my help?” Sah’ra finally replied, silently fuming at the memory of her own relatives but she quickly reminded herself why she was here. Closing her eyes and drawing in a deep breath to center herself, she knew this was the Force presenting her the path to accomplish her goals. ”My help comes at a cost, Admiral,”

“Anything… Please…”

”I’ll pull together what resources I have available to locate and retrieve your daughter. In exchange, you and your leaders agree to negotiation between yourselves and members of my own interested parties. The finer details of compensation can be worked out then, after Flora has been returned to you… in a show of good faith,”

“Yes! Yes, of course! Lieutenant!” the Admiral spun to face the Chiss Officer that had guided Sah’ra and her brother here, offering him the same expectant guise. “Accompany this outsider and give her access to whatever it is she requires! Holorecordings, investigation droids, anything!”

Bowing to the Admiral, Sah’ra and her brother soon fell in line behind the Chiss Officer as they hurried through to the corridor, Tren pausing for a moment to bend down and retrieve one of the casings of the grenades that had rendered them all unconscious. While Sah’ra and Ronan had not noticed, Tren’s lips soon parted into a menacing grin as a finger swept across the sphere in his hand. Instead, his sister remained focused on their guide.

”Well, Lieutenant,” Sah’ra spoke plainly as she followed. ”Perhaps we too should have a discussion about your future going forward,” After all, there always had to be a contingency plan.

@llamallove

[END THREAD]​