Ask Invasion Yavin IV Walk the Line

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis Drast felt conflict in her as the dropship soared over the jungles of Yavin IV. Her stomach felt sick, and not just from the rapid descent of the invading ship that carried her and various other forces of the invasion. Everything she had gone through before now, was preparation for this moment. Trials and training, minor combat mission. She had fought and she had killed before. But...

This was different.

Ailis went through her mental preparations as the dropship descended. There wasn't much time left, and she fought to quell the nausea inducing anxiety that threatened to spill her guts all over the floor of the cabin. There was a sense of foreboding as she focused on her emotions, quelling anxiety, taking hold of it. Turning it into fuel, like a good little Sith.

Her stomach lurched with the ship as it came to a swift stop, the troop bay portal yawning open like a giant maw, ready to swallow her whole as she stepped forth into battle. She could hear the distant sounds of blasters and lightsabers clashing as she walked down the ramp. There was the slightest moment of hesitation, of trepidation, just before she crossed the lip of the dropship's ramp. A moment where she felt the pull between two forces, a choice. On which side of the line did she walk.

There wasn't really a choice.

She stepped off the ramp and into the war. The darkness of the jungle yawned before her as soldiers poured out of the ship. The whine of engines as the dropship departed, leaving her and a squad of Imperial soldiers alone in the dark. Her palms sweated in her gloves as she began the trek through the jungle, towards the target, a possible evacuation point designated by whoever had put this plan together, where the young and the weak would be fleeing to. She swallowed. This was it. She wished she felt comfort in the cold hilt of the quiet lightsaber that she held, its flame unlit. Not yet. That would come later.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

This wasn't the first invasion of Yavin Maura had been around for.

She was only ten years old when the Sith last attacked her home. An entire group of her classmates had been stolen away by the Sith, and if the little troublemaker hadn't been playing hooky, she would've been shoved onto a shuttle and shipped off to the far reaches of Sith space just like some of her peers.

There had been no easy way to explain to that child why her friends were gone, or why there were bodies lying face down in the grass outside the temple. At the time, she'd just been scared. When she was older, she understood. It was a memory that she'd filed away and dealt with on her own, but now as she stood with wide eyes, watching as the Sith descended down upon Yavin, it all came rushing back.

She was scared, but she would be brave. She had to be brave. She needed to make sure the younglings didn't suffer the same fate her classmates had.

"Everyone keep moving," Maura instructed, her voice hushed but loud enough for the group of younglings around her to hear clearly. The girl's ears were alert, and her black eyes surveyed the dark forest quickly and uneasily. She felt so unprepared for this moment, and she was so unsure and anxious, but the rainbow-haired padawan was doing her best to maintain a semblance of false confidence for the younger kids around her. "If anything happens, run okay? Run and don't look back. I'll- I'll protect you."

Maura bit down on her tongue to keep the fear out of her voice. Deep breaths, she reminded herself. There is no emotion, there is peace. She couldn't let her emotions get the best of her. Right now, she needed to focus. Focus on getting the younglings to safety.

Even though she'd seen combat before, this felt so wholly different. This was her home.

The group of younglings continued to move through the forest toward the evacuation location, led by Maura and her heightened senses and superior night vision. The girl had both of her sabers on her; one was clipped to her belt under her robes, and the other was gripped tightly in her hand. At the first sign of movement in the forest - whether it come by sight or sound - she would ignite her saber.

tag: @Arcangel

 

[Ailis Drast]

The sound of fighting echoed through the trees that towered above as Ailis snuck through the jungle with her troops. The sound of blaster fire made her chest itch under her blast vest. The jungle was dark but her eyes had grown accustomed to it, and where her eyes could not see... Well, she had the force.

The jungle was nothing like the one made of concrete that she had grown up in. The odor of foliage and rot was powerful in her nose as she walked. The jungle was quiet, so unlike the city where the noise of living surrounded. She had been many places since joining the Sith, but never somewhere quite so... alive.

It was almost... almost peaceful.

A noise, hushed voices. Ailis signaled her troops to stop. They took positions and waited as a group of kids came into view. Ailis had almost let the living force of the jungle lull her into a sense of peace. She shook her head quietly to herself as she started to sneak forwards, quietly. There was no peace.

Snap

The sound of a branch breaking underneath her foot, she cursed the jungle and its wretched growth. A Jedi's lightsaber ignited a brilliant purple with a snap-hiss that sounded almost serene, illuminating the rainbow haired wielder. Ailis smirked before wrenching the amusement out of her mind as she summoned up the most evil and sithy sounding voice she could.

"Fire!" She gave the order to the Imperial soldiers. Crimson bolts ripped through the jungle and towards the group of young Jedi as Ailis ignited her own red lightsaber with a violent snap-hiss.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

A branch snapped in the forest, and Maura's violet lightsaber snapped to life.

The light from the lightsaber illuminated her face, breaking the fog of war and revealing her face to the enemies in the forest. They would see not only a messy mane of rainbow hair but the girl to who it belonged. She looked barely older than the kids she was escorting with her large eyes and round features. But despite the fear tumbling around in her chest, there was no fear on the girl's face. Her eyebrows were furrowed in focus, her leg pushed back into a readied stance, and her eerie green gaze found Ailis just as the Sith opened her mouth to order her soldiers to fire.

"Go!" Maura called back to the group of younglings as she began to deflect the array of blaster fire back at the Sith. The other kids behind her nodded and ran off together, putting Maura in between them and the soldiers. There was the occasional flicker of light when a kid activated their training saber to deflect a bullet, but once they were out of range, they took to the dark.

maura had the advantage of sight and home territory (she knew these woods like the back of her hand) but she was outnumbered, so she'd have to be careful.

"Kinda sad you need others to fight your battles for you!" she called out into the dark, her eyes still levied on Ailis as she deflected the last blaster bolt back toward the Sith. Maura wanted to get a reaction out of the girl, hoping maybe she'd call off her men and just face her one on one.

In the meantime, Maura pulled the Force into her free hand, just in case something unexpected happened.

tag: @Arcangel

 

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis watched the Jedi younglings run from her presence through a filter of red and purple, the lightsabers glow clashing eerily in the dark. The Imperial soldier's blaster bolts ripped through the jungle, cutting through the foliage to chase after the kids. The soldier's fire was ineffective and Ailis felt a mix of irritation and relief as the children began to slip into the forest. She had no reason to want these children dead... except for that they were the enemy.

Anger won out in Ailis heart as the Jedi mocked and attacked her. Her brow furrowed for a moment in fury as she reacted to the sudden attack, her blade twirling up in her right hand to bat at the blaster bolt with an aggressive strike, the blade vertical as it struck the bolt, deflecting it back at the Jedi's legs as she began to walk towards the Jedi, the crimson glow of her saber illuminating her in the dark as she signaled her soldiers to give chase.

"They aren't here for you. They're for your charges." She said with a lopsided grin tinted by her anger as the Imperial soldiers were well disciplined and well trained, skirting around the Jedi in two teams to avoid her and disappear into the jungle. Ailis held her blade at the ready, arm forwards and blade hovering between them as she walked towards the Jedi in case she needed to defend against the zipping blaster bolt while closing the distance.

She summoned the power of the force to her will, grasping a small rock off the ground at her feet as she walked forwards, her left hand casually gesturing down at it and flicking it towards the Jedi's rainbow-ed head with a flick of her hand. "I'm here for you." She said as two fingers pointed at the Jedi briefly as she let fly.

 

[Maura Starwalk]

Maura's lightsaber flicked down to catch the blaster bolt, deflecting it off into the trunk of a nearby lichen-covered tree. Her lightsaber quickly came back up to a defensive position.

Her eyes caught the motion of the rock just in time for her to quickly sidestep, shuffling her feet to the left so that her legs never crossed one another, but still got her head out of the way in time. She remained standing and didn't yet attack the Sith.

"Then come and get me," she retorted, steadying herself even more as she did. The padawan curled her fingers into a fist in her free hand and tightened her grip around her saber as she kept a steady eye on Ailis.

tag: @Arcangel

 

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis step didn't falter as the Jedi smacked away the returned blaster bolt. She was not deterred as the Jedi shuffled out of the way of the rock. What gave her pause was when she got full view of the Jedi, short and rainbow haired... She looked like a kid that probably had sticky hands.

"What are you like... 12?" Ailis asked with a scoff of a giggle as she stopped for a moment outside of striking distance and watched the kid stand there with her fist clenched. Still, she looked serious about this. And... well Ailis didn't really have a choice. She had made that choice long ago when she had first decided to join the Sith. Choices went out the window when you joined the Sith.

Maybe she was a bad person.

"Whatever." Ailis mentally shrugged to herself, her voice losing its humor as she raised a hand up at the Jedi, a forceful focus of her will and ill intent flying out to blast the little Jedi backwards and slam against a tree, assuming all went well. Ailis quickly settled into a defensive stance as she did this, saber held forward and ready to react.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

Maura scoffed. "Are you Sith 'cause your favorite color's red?" The girl resisted the urge to stick out her tongue after she referenced her old conversation with Wodanaz. Clearly, the answer to both questions was no. Or perhaps not so clearly in her case. Why did everyone think she looked twelve? She was almost sixteen!

The padawan was about to begin advancing toward the Sith when she raised her hand and send a Force push toward Maura. She only had a moment's notice to react. It wasn't enough for her to defend herself completely, but she was able to roll with the punches, per say.

Rather than hitting the tree full force, the padawan swung her open palm behind her and sent out a small force push of her own while deactivating the blade of her lightsaber. The Force softened her landing enough to stick it, and she immediately redirected her energy into her legs as she sprung off of the trunk. Rather than leap toward her opponent though, the girl lept upward, disappearing into the thick canopy of golden leaves.

Golden leaves that, in the dead of night, were hardly more than shadows in shades of grey.

Maura, still holding one of the sabers in her hand though it was deactivated, moved as quietly as she could through the trees toward Ailis' position.

roll: 97/100

tag: @Arcangel

 

[Ailis Drast]

Ailis snarled as the girl went flying back, beginning to chase for a follow up. She only got a few steps forwards when the girl disappeared into the canopy. Ailis eyes scanned the shadows above, not that that would help much. "You can't hide forever brat!" Ailis shouted into the trees.

To say that she was irritated... that was true. The little gremlin had all but disappeared but Ailis could sense that she was still out there... somewhere. Ailis eye's flicked around the canopy for a moment before she decided her sense of sight was useless in this moment. Closing her eyes, Ailis focused on the energy fields around her. The life all around. The rotting layer underneath and the festering of insects. The forest was full of life in a way that the cities never were.

It was almost blinding until Ailis turned her senses up, to the treetops where her quarry was. She couldn't narrow down an exact location, but Ailis didn't need to. She just needed to not get taken by surprise.

roll:25/100

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

Maura continued to travel through the trees, moving as quickly and quietly as she could until she was balancing on the branches above Ailis. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, she ignited her lightsaber mid-swing, severing the branches around her. They immediately began to fall down toward Ailis. Some were mere twigs, but many were several inches thick, several feet long, and would not be so easily brushed off. She would need to either dash out of the way or spend much of her focus to cut or push them away.

Maura would continue to slice up the branches, moving to follow Ailis if the girl tried to move. As soon as Ailis moved - either busying herself with trying to cut or push the branches away or leap out of their way - Maura would leap out of the tree and toward Ailis, hoping to take advantage of the brief chaos to strike her enemy.

Her saber would come down in front of her, protecting her and serving as her means of attack. She would aim for a nonlethal part of the Sith's body, and would attempt to kick her feet into her and tumble with her to the ground if she had her back turned.

roll: 62/100
tag: @Arcangel

 

[Ailis Drast]

The jungle was silent around Ailis, except for the occasional rustle from up above where the little jedi lurked and moved about. Nothing in the dark that would give Maura away.

But in Ailis mind with her senses attuned, they could make out a blur above.

Ailis eyes snapped open, looking up, as the lightsaber blade ignited above in a purple arc that cleaved through the branches. There, a hand. She reached out, left hand held slightly above her head, to grasp the offending wrist with the force and give a sustained downwards pull as she tried to bring the precariously balanced Jedi tumbling down out of the tree. Whatever other mischief or attacks the Jedi had would be interrupted by Ailis action.

Her own crimson blade in her right hand came up in an overhand strike up at a large branch that was falling towards her head, cutting it in two to fall beside her. She was battered slightly by other small branches as they tugged at her clothes and scratched at her face but left her otherwise unharmed. Ailis blade remained overhead ready to defend against a falling Jedi.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

Maura could feel her wrist being yanked down as she swung her lightsaber, which was alleviated only slightly by her already-swinging arm. Still, she was being pulled off balance, and the padawan had a choice: quickly attempt to regain her balance, or try to fall the best she could.

Falling was really the only option, so she fell.

The girl fell after the branches she'd cut, but due to her greater weight, it didn't take long for the girl to catch up. Her free hand grabbed the other saber from her waist in the few seconds she had, and just after Ailis sliced apart the branch before Maura, the padawan ignited the white blade and brought both of her sabers down against Ailis'.

Maura's blades struck Ailis' close to the base, and the Sith would feel the combined pressure of Maura's strike and the full weight of her accelerating figure. The strike would likely throw her off balance, and since her blade had just sliced apart another branch, she would have very little time to react - if any at all.

If the girl struck and Ailis stumbled, Maura would use her feet to try and strike at Ailis' chest, hoping to take advantage of her stumbling to knock the girl prone.

In the distance, blaster fire continued to echo through the dark forest.

tag: @Arcangel

 

[Ailis Drast]

The Jedi fell quicker than Ailis expected, though her blade was still held above her to intercept the small child. Twisting the blade to block the dual sabers horizontally, two things happened.

Ailis let the Jedi girl drive her down to a knee as she blocked the overwhelming doubled strike, barely.

And Ailis free hand blasted against the Jedi with the force, a push that she poured herself into that made sweat trickle down her brow and would send the Jedi flying back through the air, giving Ailis a reprieve from the Jedi's two sabers.

@lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

Maura's feet connected with Ailis' chest, causing her to drop to one knee. The Sith woman was defending against two sabers angeled downward over her blade and the entire force of Maura's fall with only one hand though, which was far from ideal, especially since that force was enough to force her violently down to her knee. It would be impossible for Ailis to keep the saber perfectly straight against an attack.

Once the sabers were connected, Ailis was forced down to one knee, and before she attempted the force push, Maura would activate the dual phase on her violet saber and shift her weight to that side with the intention of sending the extended blade through the shoulder of Ailis's free hand. Her goal was not to sever the limb, but rather to render it useless and thus prevent her from retaliating with it.

tag: @Arcangel