Freedom Falls (Aria and Inquisitoriate)

[Blade Bacquin]

Planet: Agamar (jungle Planet.)
Time: Early Morning just before dawn

Blade sat in the cabin-watching Aria sleep not wanting to wake her. She looked rather peaceful sleeping there just hours ago he had been sleeping next to her with his arms around her. Yet things needed to get done and they where not getting done with the both of them sleeping. They need to be on the move and soon no matter how much bliss the two them had been in the night before it was all over now.

Blade just sat their watching her everything was packed and ready to go but he wanted to leave aria in her few moments of piece. Soon they would gone from here and have to find a New life on Ord Mantel. A Planet from Blades past one he would rather forget and was trying hard to put out of his mind. They weren't there and he knew it was somewhat of a relief yet at the same time he almost wished the sith where still there. Some remnant of his past something he could cling onto and still be able to remain Blade Ice.

As of now he was slipping more towards his alter ego Lucid. The new him the one that had forsaken every aspect of his past. The side of him that knew the old Blade could never be again. That everyone he ever knew or loved was dead and gone accept Aria. The side of him that was Lucid had nothing left to fight for. That side told him the war he had been fighting with himself and everyone around him was over. Yet the Blade side still tried to reject it, he wanted to keep fighting an enemy that didn't exist anymore.

[Nyloh Heat]

Force adepts. Hunted down past the threshold of fervor in which the Mandalorians had been. But the Mandalorians had been limited to a planet issue and serving his home planet of Onderon had been one thing. Supposedly serving the Empire by bringing rogue adepts to the Purification of the Inquisitoriate was an entirely different matter. Heat had killed 'tainted' children and slain the beings completely ignorant of their own abilities until the fateful day that it 'accidently' happened. Heat felt like he was something of a grim reaper, taking upon these contracts as a free agent for the Inquisitoriate. Usually he did them alone.

This time though, they'd given him something that reminded him of the good days. And they'd given him friends. Well, if a small army of cyborgs and droids counted. Not to mention a light cruiser maintaining orbit just outside the atmosphere. Their shuttle had parked in a clearing kliks away. The part that got Nyloh the most was that he was the only fully organic being of the whole outfit. He'd never worked with so many droids before. Not like it mattered much, as long as he got paid and they took the damage.

Nyloh slowly creeped up to where the scouts were waiting. Two Seekers, the Inquisitoriate's deadly cyborg hunter-killers, were motionless, one had its back to a tree and the other was crouched, facing towards the direction of their target. Neither spoke, although Nyloh could hear a faint respiration from one of them. As he neared the crouched Seeker, Nyloh's HUD was filled with a data stream at the top. The data configured itself to his system and became coherent information, filling Heat in on the current position.

Blade Ice was a dead man.

Centurion battle droids and Seekers had created a tight ring around their target and were closing in. The cabin was a little less than 600 meters away.

That Agamar was a jungle planet only made Heat feel more at home. His powersuit was designed for agility and stealth and employed many of the technological tweaks that he had salvaged from Mandalorian armor. The Seekers were efficient but he wasn't sure they could take on a even a Mandalorian with all their augmentations one on one. They were sneaky though, he'd give them that. The Centurions made up for the firepower and in some ways, looked like they'd make the fight if it came to them.

As Nyloh spoke, his voice was muted within his suit, the sound being directed only to the Inquisitoriate forces.

"Close in, execute as soon as a visual reading is obtained on the cabin."

[Aria Sihin]

Her peaceful visage of sleep was soon disturbed as tension lines crossed her beautiful face. She moaned softly out of surprise and then tossed around in bed as if a powerful nightmare had taking hold of her.

Without warning, her eyes snapped opened and she sat erect in bed, throwing the sheet off the bed.

"We need to go. Now." Abilus began to bandage her arms quickly as she looked towards her Apprentice and lover. "Someone is here and is a danger to us."

[Blade Bacquin]

"I know already Aria."

Blade showed her both his sabers he had constructed while he was away. He was expecting a fight long before Aria. He hadn't told her because well to tell you the truth he was afraid of what her reaction might be. He had hoped that nothing would come of his feelings of impending danger but he was wrong.

"They where in the area the moment I awoke this morning they watched me load the ship. There mostly droids but their master has to be in the area somewhere. Should we run for the ship or fight I leave it up to you?"

[Nyloh Heat]

"Sir, the targets have been identified with thermal imaging and their position is approximately within range of concussive mortars. Permission to engage, Sir?"

"Begin."

The THWUMP noise could be heard in every direction some distance away from Blade Ice's cabin. The ensuing whistling noise was the trailing path of the incoming mortar shells. They weren't meant for absolute destruction. The shells, upon impact, would release a massive concussive force, leveling structures and knocking the sturdiest individual to the ground, cradling their ears as the shock settled in. Nyloh would give them that much of a warning before the real assault began.

[Aria Sihin]

Abilus' eyes went wide with terror right before the whistling sound of inevitable doom was lobed in their direction.

She shoved him towards the back of the cabin and grabbed her lightsaber. "Blade!!! Go NOW!!!" This was not the time for a debate on what to do. They had to move and move quickly if they were going to live.

The Force entered her body and increased the strength of her muscles, propelling her faster then the human eye could account for. She barreled through the back door, knocking it off its hinges and splintering wood.

[Blade Bacquin]

Blade was out right behind aria using the same technique. It was old but always effective moving faster then normal. As the made it threw the door Blade jumped at Aria tackling her to the ground as from almost ever direction came firing shots. Even as fast as they where moving there was no way to avoid the projectiles coming from all around. The cabin itself was ripped apart by the concussive mortars.

"I guess it's fight not flight today Aria."

Blade face showed a boyish grin oh how he loved the thrill of it all. His aderinaline pumping ready on pure instinct if he let it. Yet there was Aria to worry about, not that he really had to worry about her capabilities she was far better then him. Yet he still worried which came as an odd feeling to him. He had never really worried much about anyone else except himself and his survival.

[Nyloh Heat]

The mortars continued to rain down like a storm of meteors as the mechanical blitzkrieg began. The seekers, blades drawn, dashed like shadows towards the two adepts. The battle droids came in behind slower than the seekers but with as much intent to engage. Nyloh still stood back, waiting, watching. Snares in snares, traps in traps. The hunt was something to get lost in sometimes. And not even death could be considered a failure in the hunt. One could be the hunter one moment, the prey the next. That was life. The jungles of Iziz and Onderon had taught Nyloh brutal lessons of life and he felt more comfortable in the volatile food chain of combat and the struggle to survive than anywhere else.

His prey was known for the stereotypes but Nyloh needed something to gauge, to comprehend, rather than just fear of the legendary powers of the force. He needed to see to believe.

A seeker was a meter away from the female adept when it lunged, one hand firing a spray of blaster fire as the other, a blade abruptly protruding from its palm, went to stab her in the neck.

Another two seekers seemed to fall out of the sky as they aimed to get the male adept from the back and front. The seekers were more agile and deadly than Nyloh could manage but they lacked constitution and stability, they were like shades, blown away in a wind too strong.

[Aria Sihin]

She shoved Blade off of her as another mortar came crashing down where they had once lain. Abilus rolled forward before the concussive blast knocked her onto her feet. It allowed the Sith a chance to regain her footing quickly, but she then felt the familiar tingling sensation in the back of her mind that something was amiss.

Her lightsabre ignited as an extension of her arm, the crimson blade blocking the blaster fire as she spun on her heels/ The blade sliced through the drone before it's deadly spike could hit skin, which caused it to erupt in a small fiery explosion. Her movements were fluid and exceptionally fast.

But her eyes took sight of what was heading their way. Battle droids. They were closing in on them slowly and there was no sign of their attacker.

[Blade Bacquin]

As Blade was shoved away he went into a roll spinning up to his feet. Just like a hunter he started to run purely on his instincts. Pulling out his single lightsaber and igniting it with a flash. Blade was more adept with two but at the moment he had to settle for the single saber he did have.

The two seekers descended around him using the force to speed up his movements. He came at the one in front with a single upper cut swing splitting it in half with a single powerful swing. Blade pivoted on his right foot just in time to catch a bolt coming at him with his saber. Blade having to trust and rely on the force more then he was use to called on the force again this time he called on his force push but twisted it so it would both push up and down on the seeker crushing it between to invisible forces.

Blade still on instinct didn't visually notice the droids arriving but he could feel them coming. That’s what he wanted he was lost in the lust of battle.

[Nyloh Heat]

The seekers fell but more were closing in, and even then the battle droids were heavily armed and armored and would prove a bit more of a difficulty than the wispy seekers. The seekers and the Centurion battle droids were coordinated as well; Nyloh could see their collective AI testing the adepts, checking for limitations and advantages to be gained.

Four seekers came from different directions, closing on the female. Two had blades drawn and the other two opened fire as soon as they hit the six meter mark.

Three seekers and a Centurion droid came at the male. One seeker catapulted itself off of the shoulders of the Centurion and into the air, looking to strike from above at the adept. The other two flanked the force adept, staying low with ease to avoid cross fire as they sought to wound the male adept. The Centurion shifted slightly as its armaments fixed upon the male and fired.

The C-12 gauss pistols mounted on its wrists unleashed a hail of fury as the almost insectoid looking droid continued forward. The vibroclaws on each finger were currently retracted and the 2.2 meter tall droid was still hesitant to engage in close combat with a lightsaber wielding adept that it knew it stood no chance against. Hesitant not in the case of self preservation, but in completing the mission. Centurions acted and thought independently due to their Hueristic processors, something Nyloh was unaware of but thought as an interesting quirk when the droids would independently respond to a situation. They followed orders but they were not remote control dolls. Not in the least.

From a distance, Nyloh was a bit astounded at the grace, and what from a normal perspective would've just seemed as sheer luck to be in the right place at the right time with the right counter. While it looked convenient, them using the Force, Heat was more than aware he was about to fight these two in some fashion or another. Being crushed like one of those last seekers or having his own blaster fire reflected back at him. That would be actually very inconvenient for him.

The droids were throwing themselves at the adepts, testing, but also just trying to get a wound in, wear the adepts down a bit. Heat thought it a shame, like stabbing a beast right before the real show began. Where was the game in that?

[Aria Sihin]

Abilus looked through the haze of dirt and blaster fire at the opposition. Battle droids and Centurions were closing and there was little room to maneuver. They were wide open. They needed to fall back.

She brought her lightsabre up and deftly cut off the blades that the seekers had drawn. Her hand shot out and took control of the two, crushing them with the Force before having to go on the defense again as blaster fire erupted around her.

Lucid

Her face was curled in a snarl, but was completely focused. The hate flowed through her like the rapids of Culver's river, bubbling with rage at the idiocy that her lover had shown!

Head for the trees. We can use our home as an advantage. The traps. You remember where they are, yes?

She should have just gone into the forest herself. Or kill Lucid outright as a gesture to let her leave.

[Blade Bacquin]

The seeker that went into the air found itself flying in a new direction away from the fight. Blade call on the force shoving it away of somewhere in the forest. As the other seekers flanked Blade. Blade used the force once again to propel himself into the air using one of the seekers as a stepping stone to launch himself further in the air. As he launched himself he used a down swing with his saber to cut deep into that seeker destroying it.

Then blade hit the ground running in the direction of Aria. Blade was being chased by the last seeker and the fire from the centurion droid. He dodged most of the fire on his run as it slammed into nearby tree's but one blast managed to clip him in the shoulder. Blade screamed expletives at the droid and just ran faster.