Ask Flashpoint Kashyyyk Vine is Dead

[Nevizkas]

Spoiler: theme

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The pure unalterable agony flowing through Cyutadakyr's fleshy limbs was palpable to all those who could sense it around her. A wailing scream shrieked through the clearing as each limb snapped in succession, rending and traumatizing in a flash.

Discarded just as quickly as a business shirt after 5 on Friday, Cyutadakyr found herself thrown mercilessly into the path of oncoming fire.

Although borne of scorching heat and withering temperatures, the torrent of flames raced through where she lay, even she could not hold back painful screaming as the torturing and wicked flames churned everything in its wake toward Arla. The clock was ticking for the pureblood, summoning all the strength she had left to give, her broken and charred limbs stumbled their way around until she found a way to prop herself up just a tiny bit.

Empowered by the force, she gave it all, and rolled to the edge of the flames, flailing limbs and all until her momentum ceased. Horrid smells and sizzling tells, that is where she lay for the day.

@LadyRen @Scoobert @Fantasy Liver @Sreeya @Phoenix @Morse

/exit

 

[Drexus Brogroo]

As Drexus' attacked managed to make contact, he noticed it failed to complete the job. It became even more clear so when he was hurled by the force towards the flames that were consuming Cyu. The Zabrak landed on his side, tucking and rolling through the flames. He continued his roll until he made it out. The robes around his armor were burning, and even parts still on fire.

The Son of Draugr released his robes quickly and let them drop revealing the armor he wore. He was prepared for an incoming attack, especially since he was already by the fire. Though this time, he wasn't going to rush in, he would prepare to deflect an incoming attack whether it be force or blade. The crimson saber ignited and held in front of him. "Fight me son of Thorne! Do what your father was too cowardly to do himself!"

Drexus had been consumed by rage at this point. The scorching heat of the flames giving slight burns to his lesser protected regions, rolling can only reduce, it won't prevent. His eyes the Sith yellow, and his teeth gritted. He wanted to make the Thornes pay for their execution of his father. It was cowardly and dishonorable. Draugr, his father deserved an honorable death.

@Sreeya @Phoenix @LadyRen @Xorism

 

[Cyrian Vrax]

The incoming blaster fire from the front seemed to peel off, and Cyrian suspected that the adversary was falling back. The squad had pressed up a few meters at his call for an advance, maintaining surpressing fire of horried red singing blasts that smacked the now vacant hut in front of them.

In the pause and lull that was when Cyrian noticed the fire. He held up a fist, signaling the halt, and took in the scene around him. He witnessed one of the Sith fall at the hands of a Jedi, and saw too that they were severely injured.

Though offense was their ally, Cyrian's directive was to follow orders and protect the Sith.

The advance was stalled, and without knowing how many were ahead he was not about to risk the squad to chase down what could be an ambush of wookiee warriors.

"Hold here and guard the front. Take cover and stay in concealment. Only break cover if you have a clear shot." Cyrian ordered to two of the troopers. He looked at another pair. "You two, find Champion Cyutadakyr and get her to back to the ship!"

Cyrian then straightened up, as the fire continued to consume the area. "The rest of you on me!

They trekked back shortly to see the scene was... not ideal.

Their Sith Champions were struggling and the squad of troopers were anything but a match for those that could take the adversary.

Cyrian felt a slight sink in his chest, but his heart pounded with the purpose that they lived with. They needed to help, and they were on the flank. But that would not matter as soon as whatever enemy they were chasing in the hut figured out that they were breaking contact themselves. Then it would move from a flank, to a counter flank.

...Maybe they'd get lucky...

"Engage all hostiles!"

Cyrian himself took aim at the one with the Knight with the lightsaber, firing a torrent of four blaster bolts at him.

@Scoobert @LadyRen @Phoenix @Xorism @Sreeya @Fantasy Liver

 

[Ciri]

While the other Dathomiran kept focused on crushing the pureblood, the flames did slowly travel up to her. They took their sweet time, making their way over the damp ground and finally not only blocking the Wookies' escape routes every here and there, but also encompassing the Huntress and the Jedi quite a bit.

Her attack was surely slow, but even if the sorceress usually prefered blunt and upfront attacks, this one was carefully calculated. By choosing to crush Cyutadakyr, the other Dathomirian didn't move out of the flames way that were eating their way towards the pair of adversaries, but she was throwing the pureblood into the flames way once she was done.

Only then did she decide to conjure an orb to stop Chirikyât, which, however, let a faint, devious yet satisfied smirk tug at the ashen haired sorceress as her counter attack came in too late. It wasn't just the crimson pureblood that took some collateral damage, but by the time the orb came zooming in, the flames had reached the Huntress.

Chirikyât's control over the flames and the willing manipulation that kept feeding and steering them came to and end as the woman was forced to fling herself out of the way now. It came to her advantage that the orb was in the line of sight and had to close the distance between them first, so that she did have a little window to dodge to the side, but she clearly felt the pure energy radiating off the powerful attack which she found both impressive and slightly intimidating.

As the fire had beautifully spread and vastly started to spread in every direction, Chirikyât saw her interference in the village as successful. Smoke and death permeated the air, pained screams and charred flesh mingled into a wonderful symphony of multisensory terror and while the Zabrak was seemingly even more foolish than she had thought, Chirikyât saw her chance to do what was the smartest: to preserve her own self.

She didn't care about leaving the half crispy, shattered pureblood behind nor did she have any qualms with chaperoning the horned idiot, so with the chaos being perfect and the village on fire, Chirikyât intended to leave. She turned and started to ran back to the ship, evading the blaster bolts that still traveled through the air all around and keeping her senses on alert in case anyone decided to follow her.

@Phoenix @Sreeya @Xorism @Scoobert @Morse @Fantasy Liver

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Son of Thorne? Ezra grimaced at once. Were they on the set of a Holomovie and he didn’t get the memo? This guy was somehow more extra than Dash whenever he was in one of his moods. The Zabrak rolling through flames allowed Ezra a brief moment to leap away from the fire coming towards them, but also a moment to spot bolts coming his way. He also didn’t miss the powerful Sith from earlier booking it back towards the ship.

"Cover me!" He called out to Arla, not spotting initially that she had her own nonsense to deal with.

Ezra swiped his saber to send the multiple bolts towards the Zabrak to give him something to do. He channeled the Force to himself and leapt clear over the flames, landing well on the other side in a hero and strong stance, past where the Zabrak was. Ciri still had distance and he couldn’t catch up that easily, so he focused on a uniquely Jedi trick that would be exceptionally effective on a planet like this.

Without warning, roots shot up from all around and extended from the countless plants and flora of Kashyyyk. The roots would abruptly coil around Ciri’s feet to trip her during her hasty escape, but more importantly, a vine barrier would form on her path to the ship.

Ezra ran towards her to engage, banking on his plant surge attack to slow and hold her down. He was equally matched in combat to the woman, and he wasn’t going to let her run with the Wookiee’s main means of escape.

@Scoobert @Phoenix @Xorism @Morse @Fantasy Liver

 

[Arla]

Arla miscalculated, she realized. The flames moved faster than she'd thought, spurred on by a Sith who gave no interest to whether or not her partner was in the path of the flame. Maybe the Sith had changed since she'd been around. She'd thought the flames would stop as the Pureblood landed, but they didn't, and by the time that Arla realized that, it was too late.

Hot flames licked at her skin and clothing. On reflex, she let herself melt into the shadow, diving into the current as she was transported to another plane and whipped across the village where - with a burst of green - she exploded back into existence once again.

Now she was out of the fire and in "safety" nearer to where Ezra had landed. And she was angry.

Stupid, Arla. Stupid, stupid, she internally spat, the pain fueling into her anger all the more. She let it out on Drexus. She grabbed him with the Force, restraining arms, legs, and body under her grip. It wouldn't snap his limbs like it did Cyu, but it would leave him with no defense against the blaster shots deflected back at him or the flames that would begin licking at his skin.

The troopers that Cyrian commanded would be unsuccessful in their attempt to recover Cyu in part because of the flames and in part because they were still being forced to engage the Apex troopers. Trying to run into the open to the woman would require the expertise of either one of the Sith or the lead trooper himself.

@LadyRen @Sreeya @Xorism @Scoobert @Morse @Fantasy Liver

 

[Ciri]

So the Dathomirian was counting on having the Zabrak being the Zabrak again and at least keeping the Jedi busy, but it soon turned out that he wasn't even managing to do that. With the Force enhancing her senses, she did manage to bring more distance between herself and the flames before she sensed the unwanted follower who, with his application of the light side of the Force, suddenly began manipulating the environment as well.

Where she had caused havoc and destruction, he caused plants, or rather vines and roots, to sprout and apparently his intention was to do anything he could to stop the Sith from getting away. Ciri had admittedly been somewhat amused about the interesting developments, but while the all-encompassing death and pain had left her craving more, the genuine annoyance about the Jedi's intransigence slowly set in which made the rage part within grow steadily.

Given that Ciri had some time for her tactical retreat as the Jedi had dealt with a chance to get engaged in the feud he might not have even been aware of yet and the blaster bolts directed at him, the intial distance between them also came handy again. Still, the vines and roots seemingly came out of nowhere and they reached for her legs so quickly that they definitely did hinder her movement.

Anger flared behind her lenses as she let out frustrated growl. Having managed to set not only the Wookies, but the seemingly overly powerful Dathomirian on fire fueled her further, just like the agonized cries echoing all around. A thick vine blocked her path within seconds, roots did make her trip and stagger and slicing right in was tempting, but as she spun, her eyes immediately narrowed down on the Jedi.

She called on the pure, unbound darkness within as the roots started twirling themselves around her first ankle. She instantly channeled all the built up rage and terror-stricken, oppressive energy that lingered in the air and focused all that pure darkness into conjuring a force lightning. Sparks of electricity cackled from the tips of her fingers as she instantly fired the lightning at the Jedi whose focus was on both, the powerful plant attack and the running.

She wasn't fully certain the devastating lightning would strike, but she was counting on it being enough to shatter his focus. The roots kept coiling themselves around her other ankle, but Ciri was counting on having his attempt to pin her down getting interrupted by the lightning coming his way. Still, her right hand was free as the left launched the lightning and so her lightsaber did snap into life, ready to defend herself against him and the plants.

@Sreeya @Xorism @Scoobert @Phoenix @Morse @Fantasy Liver

 

[Drexus Brogroo]

As Drexus called Ezra out, the Knight would run by deflecting blaster bolts at him. The Champion had to react quickly otherwise he would be at the risk of being taken out of the fight. It was cowardly to not accept his challenge of fighting one on one, but nevertheless the Zabrak had to defend so he could resume fighting the Knight.

That was the plan, at least until he couldn't move. The Force was restricting his movement. He couldn't fight it either, the power was unexpected as he was moving to deflect, it was also much more powerful than his own. Looking over, he could see the Dathomirian woman on the opposing side holding him still.. what he saw her do to Cyu, he knew she was much too powerful for himself. He knew his fight here was over. Whether he wanted to accept it or not, he knew.

The blaster bolts came in fast and he tried with everything he could to move, but it wasn't enough. His armor stopped the first couple, but it gave out and he could feel the sharp and sudden pain hit his left thigh, then his right shoulder, then one hitting his abdomen. If his helmet were off, they would see his eyes bloodshot and wide open as a reaction to the pain. He couldn't muster a word.. just broken exhales. Then a final blaster shot would ring his helmet, the blaster bolt wouldn't cave through it but it did give the man a pounding pain in the head.

His muscles gave out as he watched the Knight run by to attack Ciri. Then he looked down to see the incoming flames. Was this how it would end? Or would he be left to suffer the burns of the flames? They were already at his feet, and he could feel the heat taking to his legs. This was going to hurt.. a lot.

@Sreeya @Phoenix @LadyRen

 

[Telly Udon]

Telly made it to the hut and, still breathing, came to the conclusion that he wasn't dead. While ordinarily good news, this did mean that the squad he'd pinned down had chosen not to pursue him. Good news, normally, but it did also mean that the Sith squad were now able to back up their lightsaber-wielding. Judging from the fire that was now roaring across the village, Telly realized that the Sith didn't need extra firepower. So readying his rifle, he headed towards the main battle. Standing near a tree, he saw Cyrian and his men begin to open fire on the Jedi. Realizing the Jedi were their best bet of surviving the day, Telly took aim and fired. Cyrian would see the trooper standing next to him go down and the next few bolts would be headed towards Cyrian.

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra wasn’t expecting the woman to simply go down without a fight. However, he was banking on slowing her down. In truth, if she had chosen to run into the woods, he likely wouldn’t have given chase. His priority was getting the wookiees off, not her. However, if she was going to go for the ship herself, he would do everything in his power to tear her away from it.

The lightning came fast, but Ezra had his blade out already. The plant surge attack was abandoned for now, and he tilted his saber to absorb the lightning. He was aware of the pain of the other Sith that was stuck in the fire. He may have despised Sith, but he wouldn’t let them slowly suffer on his watch either. With a quick flick of his wrist, the Zabrak (@Scoobert ) was thrown out of the flames and sent rolling through the grass - hopefully putting out the fire.

Likely to Ciri’s surprise, he didn’t launch an attack on her, but he doubled down on his efforts to block her from the ship, a wall of vines and plants forming behind her to completely block her path to the ship. Ezra took slow steps towards her, prepared to defend against any attacks. His face was impassive, his silver gaze steely and unforgiving, one of the rare times he actually completely emulated his formidable father. She would know what his priority was and she had some quick decisions to make.

@LadyRen @Phoenix @Morse @Fantasy Liver

 

[Arla]

Arla watched the shots slam into the Sith, and she dropped him to the ground, letting the flames creep ever closer to him and he, too, would have been scalded were it not for the mercy of her brother, the man that he hated so much.

Glancing over to ensure that the man stayed down, Arla focused her attention to the final of her victims. For the others, it had been simply business. She was a professional, but for this one, it was far more personal. The scalded marks still burned, and deeper than that, she stung in her psyche. Her confidence was shaken, and questions had sprung back to her own mind that would only be answered by squashing this woman. No, Arla was not, in fact, a Jedi.

Ezra may have been focused on stopping her from reaching the ship, but Arla was focused on breaking her. She thought for a moment of tapping into the amulet around her neck, but that would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? This was about her victory and not simply relying on the victories her parents had built. A quarter-century of trying to squeeze out of the shadow of their legacies, and here she was: still trying to live up to them. Inadequacy. Judgment that only she could or would level at herself. She was her own greatest critic.

With the Dathomirian woman bound up in the roots of the native plants, Arla plunged her power into the depths of the ground and pulled her arms upward in a Sign to influence the very ground itself to Alter.

The dirt and mud solidified in a flash, leaping from the ground as pointed spikes designed to tear directly through the other woman's legs and leave them a bloody, mangled mess. Even if the woman weren't still struggling to free herself from the vines, it was a particularly difficult attack to avoid simply because it was unusual and unexpected, but such was Arla's specialty: the manipulation of the Shadow in ways that others wouldn't expect.

@Scoobert @LadyRen @Sreeya @Xorism

 

[Ciri]

The lightning came crashing in, but the Jedi's lightsaber was already up to block it. While her crimson bladed lightsaber hummed in one hand, the other hand kept the lightning focused on the Jedi, which, however, allowed her to start slashing at the vines that had coiled themselves around her.

The long robes came off in shreds of half burned cloth, but as the plants didn't continue growing, she had the majority of them sliced off as she violently ripped herself out of their embrace. This all happened within less than a few seconds, attacking the roots without any finesse and thus coming dangerously close to her own flesh, but as she spun and saw the wall of vines, she knew she had to abandon the ship and get the hell out of here.

As she began to run, she could feel the ground hardening all of a sudden, the spontaneous, additional alteration of the ground a complete surprise, but as the other Dathomirian had even somehow closed the distance between them through her teleportation. It was good that she had been formerly preoccupied with the Zabrak, as it bought her a little time, but even if she sensed her powerful presence so close by, she wasn't prepared for the attack that came next.

Fleeing was a predatory instict too, and self preservation was the only thing driving her in those fateful moments and so she stopped the lightning. Enhancing her speed with the Force, she stumbled out of the uneven, viney, now hardened terrain, but she wasn't cut loose completely, so that the roots still slowed her down and so the spikes still shot out of the ground, piercing through the flesh of her legs without mercy.

A pained cry escaped her before a few realizations hit her. She couldn't fight those two powerful entities, and the Dathomirian seemed quite keen on not letting her leave and the gashing wounds would be quite difficult to fix. An agonized cry escaped her as pulled the first leg out, following it with the lightsaber and pressing the blade against the bleeding skin.

The pain was almost to much to bear and it let her vision blacken for a moment before the rage driven Sith channeled those overwhelmingly strong emotions to muster whatever wild focus she could gather and attempted to blind them with a force flash. Maybe it was enough to break their line of sight and blind them for a moment, as a moment was potentially all she needed.

She stayed aware of everything that was still happening, half expecting another powerful lash out of the Huntress as she attempted to run deeper into the forest, her body language clearly implying that she was not intending to try saving the ship anymore. The other leg she had to pull out was a bleeding mess, but the pain kept driving her as she half dragged it behind her. All she wanted was to get the fuck out.

The village was still engulfed in flames and the shrieks of terror and pained fueled her further. They could attempt saving whoever was still alive, but it was fairly obvious that if they wanted to free the Wookies, they had to act quickly. "Crash the ship into the village" she hastily bellowed into the comms as she 'ran', instructing the still low hovering ship from which they had hopped down not too long ago to destroy whatever was left and expecting the enslaved crew to comply and forcing everyone to evacuate rather quickly.

@Sreeya @Phoenix

 

[Arla]

There was only one object of Arla's fury that remained. She saw the spikes tear through one of the other woman's legs, and while she still had no intention of killing the Sith, she could still inflict more damage. Enough damage to put her out of the fight and let Arla cash in on the bounty.

The other woman's hand came up, and while Arla initially expected a blast of lightning, but it was instead a flash of light. She squinted and blinked against the sudden light for a moment, grateful that it wasn't dark out and therefore the affect on her eyes was not as severe as it might have otherwise been. Even so, she had the Shadow to act as her "eyes" and the Ears of Chiroptix to give her a sense of her enemy.

The woman seemed to be fleeing, making surprisingly good speed despite her mangled leg, but not as good as someone with two good legs.

Arla pursued the woman and Ciri was correct, Arla was not going to relent. She reached out to the Shadow and focused on the woman's leg. She could see the damage she had done, and the lines that connected skin and bone. She could make out the places they were weak and strong, and she thrust her hand out at it. It would rend what was left of the leg to pieces, bursting the bone and flesh as if it had been blown off by a mine.

Perceiving and acting on such shatterpoints was a skill that was extremely rare, which made avoiding it all the more difficult. Only masters of the Force were even capable of fully implementing it, and few bothered to learn how to either use or defend it. Arla's training and research seemed to be paying off.

@Sreeya @LadyRen

 

[Ezra Thorne]

The fire was eating through the forest and creeping over to the village. Ezra had expected to confront Ciri if she refused to yield, and for Arla to address the fire and the mess happening back behind them. Instead, she teleported near him and was hellbent on taking down the Sith woman. Meanwhile, the wookiees were terrified and watched as their huts were engulfed in flames and they were blocked off from making it over to the ship. Ezra was too far from them to help.

Ezra heard the command the Sith woman gave as she fell to the ground, his sensitive ears picking up on it. Before he could tell Arla to focus on the ship, she acted yet again to attack the Sith, using the most gruesome methods in her arsenal to fight. She was as brutal as a Sith, and enjoying the pain she brought the other woman. Ezra bristled at the sight, running past them both towards the ship that began to fire up its engines. It was a race against time to stop it from crashing and Arla was no help.

“You are the worst of him,” He called out icily to his sister as he bolted past the two, the plants in his path parting to allow him passage. She would know the scathing implications of that statement.

Ezra leapt up as the ship began to move, grasping the ramp and dangling precariously for a moment before he hoisted himself up. He risked going down with the ship if he didn’t move fast enough, and his heart was pounding against his chest. The wind violently pushed against him as he climbed through the open ramp, threatening to throw him off.

The crew inside rushed at him, but he used the Force to throw them back and off the ship. The ship began to tilt down and he was thrown down the center of the corridor. Ezra grabbed the rows of seats, hoisting himself through the length of the ship till he practically catapulted into the cockpit. He practically threw the pilot down the corridor as he sat down and took over the controls in an attempt to pull up from the descent the ship was set on.

@Phoenix @LadyRen @Scoobert @Xorism

 

[Ciri]

The ashen haired Dathomirian ran as best as she could, the injured legs however slowing her down immensely compared to normal speed. Her vision grew blurry every now and then, the piercing, sick yellow shining through even from behind the fake lenses while the woman's mind was no different than a wild beast's.

Chirikyât was fueled by her own pain, the terror that thickly lingered in the air and the sheer, unleashed hate she felt not only for the 'other sith' foolish attempts and embarrassing defeats, but most specifically for the one powerful, unrelentless entity that still pursued her.

There was no doubt in Chirikyât that the other woman was a Sith, too, her chains so wonderfully broken that she was one with the darkness that permeated everything. It was ironic that her goal seemed to be completely contrary to the Jedi that had showed up with her, but as ironic as a Jedi and a Sith fighting alongside each other was, Ciri even found it quite delectable that instead of helping the Knight now, she was completely consumed by the darkness within her, too.

It was in the very nature of a Sith to act in your very own interests only, to strive for pure, raw power and domination, but as the other Dathomirian was just as blinded by her unleashed hate, Ciri was perhaps even slightly delighted through all this pain. It didn't save her from what came next though.

Without any warning, she could suddenly feel an invisible grasp tearing at her bones and flesh, ripping everything apart like it was nothing which immediately resulted in a loud, agonized cry. The woman stumbled forward, landing on one knee, blood spilling and drenching the soil, the leg utterly rendered useless as she turned her head around.

To balance herself, one hand was still on the ground, the one with the now switched off lightsaber, but as the other came up in one last attempt to gather what strength remained, she sent a furious force lightning back at the mighty witch. She was fairly aware that it likely wouldn't do much damage, but as the sheer agony took over, the Sith lashed out with whatever she still had, the frustration driving her mad.

She was hoping the pilot would obey and would crash the ship into whatever remained of the village inbetween the flames that threatened to consume the rest. She didn't care for the other Sith' bodies, all she wanted was them all dead. She was oblivious to the drama that enfolded between her two adversaries, but it seemed like the way the events had enfolded was even more twisted than intended.

@Phoenix @Sreeya

 

[Arla]

The other woman unleashed a bolt of lightning at Arla, emptying all she had left of her reserves in an attempt to undo the Nightsister. Arla threw up a barrier of green energy between them only barely, several of the tendrils of lightning still creeping around the shield as she put it in place at the last moment. Spasms of energy tugged at her muscles, and burning pain shot over her arms. More pain.

She pushed it back into the Shadow, a darkness swirling around her as she did until the other woman's energy finally abated, and she would eventually succumb to exhaustion.

Arla watched with satisfaction as her prey went down and out of the fight, and when she was confident she was no longer something to worry about for any of them, Arla was freed to turn her attention back to the chaos that was unfurling in the village.

All of that satisfaction was drained from her at the cutting words of her brother. Had they come from an enemy or even someone who she cared nothing for, she'd have not given them a second thought, but he was family. They may not have grown up together or been close yet, but she placed value on him. Perhaps it was foolishness. Maybe she should have known they couldn't ever be close: they were from two incompatible worlds.

And maybe he was right, maybe she was just Raze. She had helped him on Ithor, after all. He understood her better than most. Perhaps she really was spawned from the dark part of Emryc's mind. She was forever the outcast wherever she went. Ever alone.

Her teeth ground together and her eyebrows pulled together into anger and pain.

Well, she knew how to use pain and anger.

Arla could feel her own fatigue beginning to take hold, the injuries and burns she had sustained mixing with the exertion she had expended, but she wasn't finished yet. There was still far too many emotions swirling within her that could yet be used to reach her ends. That could push her beyond her limits. That was how she would become what she strived to be.

She reached out and slammed those emotions into the Shadow, letting it flow through her and into the ground and river. Her arms swirled in a Sign as she pulled in the water, pulling it from its bed and spraying it across the area, drenching ground, people, and fires alike in what would feel like buckets being poured across the heads of everyone in the area. It would beat back the fires from the village at least for a time, and buy them precious time to evacuate the area.

Even as she did, she stumbled, nearly falling forward onto her face and narrowly catching herself with an outstretched arm against a tree. There was ever a temptation to reach out to the amulet. Almost a whispering voice within her mind that called to her.

Seize the power. Have no shame. Risk oblivion.

@Sreeya @LadyRen

 

[Ezra Thorne]

Ezra finally got control of the ship, coasting it along over the treeline till he could pick up altitude again. He knew abruptly stopping it would cause a stall and crash, so he glided along until the ship tilted up and circled back around. The doors to the cockpit were shut from the inside and he ignored the banging on the doors from the idiot crew. What the hell was their deal? Why were they so suicidal?

The Thorne brought the ship back around on the village’s other flank, observing that Arla finally got it together and started putting the fires out. He slowly landed the ship and walked out of the cockpit, using the Force to bodily throw out all the remaining crew. They finally got the hint and ran off in different directions, realizing they were on the losing side of this battle.

Ezra, for his part, called out to the Wookiees, rushing out to organize them into lines to board the ship. Within moments, they scrambled on and were ready for evacuation. He didn’t look to see the status of the other Sith, but he left that up to Arla. She was free to join him with or with the unconscious Sith. Regardless, after a few moments of waiting, he returned to piloting and took off and away from the village.

/Exit

 

[Arla]

She shoved the temptation down, pushing it out of her mind and turning instead toward the business at hand. She still had a job to do that wasn't just the job of hunting and capturing Sith.

Ezra was herding the Wookiees onto the ship, and Arla turned to ensuring that her people were loaded up before the fire finished its work. Apex medics took the Sith aboard and stabilized and sedated them enough to move them, and she watched as the remaining living people in the village who didn't belong to Sith forces loaded up on the ship. Only then, once it was all finished, did Arla climb aboard the ship.

Her limbs felt unsteady and exhaustion settled into her whole body as the ship took off from the village and cleared the rising smoke.

//Thread

 

[Cyrian Vrax]

The sustained fire was overwhelming Cyrian's troopers. Though they were driven to complete a mission, the resources of the Sith were far too few now. Far too few to be wasted on an attack such as this. Far too few to even treat a small skirmish as anything less than a crippling defeat should all the Soldiers there be lost.

Cyrian was not willing to take the risk, not when another of his troopers was hit by an adversary he could not see. The Sith were not holding up as strongly as he'd hoped.

Cyrian ducked away from the next blast, but one struck his helmet. The burn it left was intense and seering. He could feel it burn his skin over his right ear. How bad it was he couldn't quite tell, but the smell of burning skin filled his helmet.

That was enough.

"Fall back!" Cyrian ordered. "Disengage and fall back."

This battle was not something he had understood and should he survive the wound, he would be doing what he could to have a discussion about the proper use of resources henceforth.

Cyrian and his troops began to make for the trees, calling for their evac shuttle.

The field belonged to the defender of the village.

@Fantasy Liver (I apologize. I was out of town for last week, and was not able to keep up at all.)