Burn it Down - 9.342

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Bothawui was not a planet that Lilaena De'Ville had ever visited before joining the Alliance. Since then, however, it had become her home between missions. She was even beginning to appreciate the musky odor of the Bothans' fur that permeated the atmosphere. Smelling it had come to signify down time between missions, relaxation, and camaraderie with her team.

Her team. She took a deep breath as she left her cramped but familiar quarters, leaving the enlisted apartment housing and heading toward the officers' homes on the other side of the military base. Fourth Fleet was in a state of flux, and Loklorien s'Ilancy was currently residing here, with her husband.

The Alliance had been her mission, but now it was time to move on. But not without proving something first, for her master. Darth Callidus had had his reasons for wanting her where she was, and now he wanted her to do this final thing before leaving the Rebellion for good. De'Ville would be lying to say that she had not grown comfortable as part of SpecOps. What she and her team had been through - it had created a bond between them despite her best efforts to remain aloof.

She wore a basic uniform, an olive drab suited for everyday wear. De'Ville had left the commendation letter and medal that she'd earned during the Ssi-Ruuk invasion on her crisply made bed. She would take nothing with her. Sentiment was for the weak.

Outside the Jedi's temporary housing, De'Ville used the Force to pick the lock, easing herself in the backdoor. Her lightsaber was deactivated in her hand, senses alert, her body taut with internal tension.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

The early morning hour had brought with it no sleep, and with a groan Loklorien s'Ilancy pulled herself from the bed that she and her husband - her master - shared. Such sleepless nights had been expected, though that did not make them any less easy to bear.

They'd been away from the Dauntless for a week now, and the Lupine found herself missing the familiar trappings of 'home'. It was not to say that she was ungrateful, it just wasn't... normal. The Alliance had been kind enough to provide furniture, but still she silently bemoaned the fact that it was simply not the same. Even Teagan, who had at first been excited to be in such new surroundings, was beginning to grow tired of the difference. It was at least a comforting sign that she was her mother's daughter.

And of course there was the other matter; the one that showed itself unabashedly. 'Great with child' was the term that a Cather had once used when s'Il was pregnant with Teagan, and now moreso than ever did the term apply.

A slight groan in effort as she rose to her feet, and pulling on one of Dan's robes, she tightened the loose belt as much as she dared. Despite her own nightclothes, the Lupine found herself chilled. She knew the cause, but still the matter remained - she was cold.

Padding across the master bedroom on bare feet, s'Il stepped out into the hallway. A short trek later and she turned out into a spacious dining area that connected with an equally spacious front room.

And a guest.

As if she'd expected the intruder, s'Il pursed her lips. To show any amount of surprise would be folly, and she hid it well. Still though, one hand went to partially encompass her belly.

She spoke quietly, as if beginning a conversation with an old friend.

"It is rather early to be roaming about the houses of strangers, don't you think?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Conversation was to be expected. In her condition, the so-called Jedi would try to use her words to diffuse the situation. The Jedi council, according to Akasha, was certain that Loklorien s'Ilancy had turned to the dark side.

Salem wanted her taken out of the equation.

De'Ville smiled. "Oh, you know how it is. The early avian gets the annelid." She turned her body slightly, offering a side view to the much shorter woman, her lightsaber held in her far hand. "This isn't personal. I have orders."

She thumbed the switch of her lightsaber and it thrummed to life, casting a purplish glow behind her.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

The blonde gave a raised brow in answer.

"You have orders?"

The saber's glow cast all around in an ambient purple haze as shadows sprang up into being.

"How quaint if that is the case."

A moment later the Lupine stepped to the side and forward, continuing her original trek to where the thermostat controls were. Passing by the intruder, she angled her head to afford the other woman a scrutinizing gaze. She smelled off, yet there was familiarity - bred from service to the same military beast that s'Il herself served - intermingled throughout. Peppered within all of that was something so well known, and it cause a knowing smile to flit across her face.

"I think that you have made a mistake, friend."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

As s'Ilancy walked past her De'Ville yanked the other woman toward her with the Force, twisting and bringing her lightsaber across in order to simply cut the Jedi in half.

[General Dan]

A sound so utterly familiar to Dan roused him from sleep, and the General fumbled in the relative dim light of early morning that filtered through the window shade, reaching to the bedside to palm a small blaster that was sealed in a biometric vault in the bottom drawer. Priming the weapon, he carefully lowered his bare feet to the floor, the adrenaline that suddenly surged in response to that sound dispelling any notions of sleep from his brain.

Wordlessly, he followed the sound.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

It was a move that she half expected, and bringing her arm up and around, s'Il drew deeply from the Force. Her own blade was nowhere nearby, and though she cursed inwardly at her unarmed situation, she at least knew that she possessed strength enough to hold her own. She felt the Force as it swirled around her in eddies, and even as she fought to retain her own balance, a powerful blast of energy was sent at her attacker.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville was buffeted by s'Ilancy's push as the pregnant woman stumbled, and her lightsaber arm was shoved back, sending her off balance as well. She recovered quickly, boots scuffing hard lacquered floors, and pulled a chair from around the kitchen table with the Force.

She sent it sliding across the floor and into Lok's legs, leaping up and toward her to follow through with a stab through her chest.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

With her resolution set, s'Il centered herself, making no indication of pain as the chair hit her legs. She was as an immovable statue, and though her current state did not allow for the range of motion and movement that she was normally used to, she set herself squarely against this threat. The Lupine scowled deeply at the sight of the oncoming purple-hued blade, letting the other woman drive ever forward.

And at the last moment, s'Il moved. Her body twisted to the side, turning in a tight circle alongside the length of the saber as one hand reached out to grasp at the chair's backing. Using her circular momentum, she hefted the chair up, letting her twirling motion pull the piece of wooden furniture up and on a path to smash into the back of her attacker's head.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville's lightsaber stabbed into the floor as the other woman twisted out of the way. The chair smashed into her upper back and head, and she sprawled on the ground as her sight went white for a moment. She didn't lose her focus, however, her grip on her lightsaber was firm and she deactivated it to free it from the ground as she struck out blindly with her leg, sweeping Loklorien off her feet.

She shoved herself up off the ground, shaking splinters out of her hair.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Though she fell, it was a controlled fall as s'Il sought to land as gently as she possibly could. While certainly not a graceful landing, it was enough to keep the life she carried safe, and with a prayer to the Bloodline she scrambled backwards.

"I can feel it in you," she growled out, "... the darkness."

Pulling inward of the Force, the Lupine drew upon each tendril of power that swept over, through, and around her. It seemed to cause the air all around to pulsate with a life of its' own, to pound with the never-ending beat of a war drum.

With her back to the utilitarian sofa that rested along the back wall of the den she'd found herself within, s'Il let her features screw into a disapproving glare.

"You're too young to understand this power you wish to harness, girl.

"If you value your continued existence, I would suggest that you leave."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The Jedi knew nothing of her, so her words meant nothing. Just distractions to obfusticate. De'Ville was clear of purpose as she stalked into the den, the Force snapping around Loklorien's neck and cutting off her airflow as she reignited her lightsaber and drew near.

[General Dan]

Dan's approach afforded him a view of the fight taking shape before him. Lok fought an unknown woman, who was obviously some kind of force user. That was the last thing she needed in her situation. Taking cover behind a sofa as he entered the room, Dan lined up a shot at the intruder's back, and fired.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

There was a warning through the Force, and De'Ville twisted, spinning her lightsaber up and deflecting the blaster bolt harmlessly away. The pressure around Loklorien's neck did not relent.

[General Dan]

Rising from his cover, Dan emptied the blaster at the saber-wielding woman, intending on making her break her focus with s'Ilancy.

"You unhand her this minute and get the hell out of here!!!"

Some shots were off, but most were on. He knew what he was up against, but still pressed on. There wasn't any alternative.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Irritated, De'Ville was forced to put more of her attention toward defense as the general drained his blaster's power cell at her. "I have to admit, I expected more from a Sith than hiding behind the protection of an old man," she bit out as she released Loklorien's neck and deflected the bolts, the last five or so bouncing directly back at the general.

[General Dan]

Dan saw the blaster bolts coming and was already on the move, but not quite fast enough. One winged him in the shoulder, sending him spinning and sprawling to the ground. He lost his grip on the blaster, now empty anyways, which clattered to the floor.

"No!"

Struggling to right himself, the General looked around the room, knowing where a few weapons were kept, but suddenly doubting his ability to get to one in time.

Nevertheless, he tried, scrabbling to his feet to make it to a book case on the nearest wall. While he knew Lok could hold her own in a fight, perspective tended to change with the life she was carrying inside of her.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

When she was younger she would have pounced. She would have hooked her fingers around her adversary's throat and cautioned their actions with an acute application of pressure; not enough to kill, but to dangerously warn of the oncoming ramifications if certain actions were seen to their end. She had been a fierce and jealous protector of her husband in the past.

Now, though her jealousy remained, her quick action had come to be replaced by a silent methodical anger that simmered below the surface and only hinted at the power held contained within. Where before she had been so raw and wild, now she was calm and in control of every facet of her being. It was a decided advantage to the actions that she had taken so long ago. There was so much more purpose to her anger now.

There was a tinge of yellow that creeped in - then back out - of her eye. It was a fleeting sign of the controlled emotions held in check within. They were focused. They were bent to her will. They were fed by her desires and that which unfolded around her.

Without moving, the Lupine narrowed her eyes at the sound of Dan's cry. At this delicate moment in time, only she knew that he was so much more capable of handling himself than the facade that he put on, but those old stirrings still could not be held back. So many years spent at his side. It was a habit that would never die, and though she knew so much more than she did those many years ago, her instincts could not be denied.

But, they could be contained and collected into a single entity. An entity of malice and hate.

This entity she held over the intruder's head. She let it pause for only the barest of moments before driving in deep through the other woman's distracted mind.

Like a spike she pushed inward, allowing no quarter. She was a merciless torturer, callously shoving her way in deeper with no intent but to harm all that her ethereal fingers fell upon.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville could feel the weakness in the old man as he dove toward a bookcase, pain radiating from where a blaster bolt had struck his shoulder. She took a step toward him, reaching her empty hand out and using the Force to tip the entire bookcase -

"Nnnngh!" De'Ville's teeth ground together as a massive migraine bloomed behind her eyes. The dim, early morning light in the room was suddenly too bright, and she knew that s'Ilancy was to blame. As the bookcase slowly tipped over, already unbalanced enough to complete it's journey to the ground, and books began to rain on the General, De'Ville turned and backed away, keeping both opponents in her sights as she fought for focus despite the headache. They made a triangle: the General and the bookcase, the Jedi/Sith woman at the couch, and De'Ville with her lightsaber still held in a defensive posture.

[General Dan]

There was a tremendous crash, the sound of books tumbling, fragile trinkets shattering as they hit the ground, and at last the clap of the bookcase falling...

...only it didn't hit the ground at all. Instead it rested a scant inch over its intended victim, only to be hurled like a child's plaything at De'Ville.

Dan rose from the pile of books and detritus, without the frantic urgency of before. From the rubble strewn about, he picked up an ornate metallic object that appeared to be a stylized serpent, about ten inches in length. When his eyes met the intruder, they were now different - tinged with yellow.

Dan smiled.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Her own smile matched that of Dan's, and pausing for only a scant few milliseconds, the blonde reveled in the overriding essence of her master as he allowed his facade to begin to peel away. It was a layered existence that the both of them shared, and one that she had settled comfortable within. One that - though found the both of them at odds with one another at times - was unifying all the same in the face of a common adversary. Such a bond was unable to be defined by words, yet tangible and unmistakeable all the same.

From her sitting position at the far sofa in the den, the Lupine hunched forward ever so slightly, giving herself a bit more support as she continued to exert herself through the invisible pathways of the Force.

Now however, her intangible clawing and rending was marginally more refined, though not so precise as to focus on particular receptors of the intruder's mind.

She wished to cause only pain, and with the deliberate application of her own horrid ministrations, s'Il teased and coaxed what discomfort and pain that she could from the other woman with no allowance.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville threw her hands in front of herself, the incoming bookshelf exploding into chunks and splinters as she shoved against it with the Force. There was an overwhelming sense of smug satisfaction as the General straightened up, his emotions mirrored by s'Ilancy's as the former Jedi continued to put the metaphorical screws into De'Ville's brain.

So, not one Sith.

Two.

A'na cackled to herself, Always two there are, sweet fool.

Lilaena narrowed her eyes as the debris from the bookshelf finished falling to the ground, quickly going through and choosing her options. Dan was ignored for a moment, his first attack already evaded, as the pain in her head was going to severely screw up her day if she didn't do something about it.

De'Ville curled a hand into a claw and thrust it out toward s'Ilancy, an orb of dark energy flying toward the Sith, Destruction that would explode with the force of a bomb. She used extra concentration to keep the orb controlled as it sped on target, rather than simply letting it fly and hoping for the best, even though that left her open to attack from the old man.

[General Dan]

The figure that had once been the General began to walk towards the intruder, a gait seemingly casual without any pretense of urgency. As he did so, the heavy coffee table at the center of the room whipped about as if caught in a hurricane, it's wide mass broadsiding the destruction sphere mid transit and causing a premature detonation.

The airburst staggered all three, but the majority of the force was funneled in one direction, a gout of flames and debris that snaked around the large room, shredding apart or immolating whatever furniture and trappings were caught in its path before reaching a terminus - gouging a hole in the wall just behind Dan and ringing the background in a halo of flames as he continued to walk. To Lilaena's credit, the force of her attack made it too difficult to turn against her.

If Lok wasn't carrying his child, this matter would have been left to its own devices. If Lilaena was simply a talented whelp, he wouldn't have lifted the veil at all. It would have been settled as all such matters are settled by Sith, a trial by fire. And he would be there to collect his prize either way.

But no. This was not the case. Loklorien carried her usurper within her. He had invested too much in securing this to discard her just yet. And the little he'd seen this intruder at work confirmed the stink of heresy in her training. She was no mere fallen Jedi, of that he was certain. What had been a question before was now an answer made flesh.

Darth Decepis had at last discovered the pretender lineage of Sith that survived beyond Sidious.

His mouth opened, and a sound as unnatural to living things as the impossibilities of the Dark Side issued out. It was a sound terrible and inhuman, a din that wrenched the will and resolve of any in its path.

Lilaena would die.

There would only be two.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

It had been instinct that drove her to curl her body away from the airburst, to shield the life she carried inside. Her turned back took the brunt of it all, her concentration breaking away from the other woman to wrap protectively around her baby. Her greatest failure - losing her Master's first son to miscarriage - still stung sharply, and she was determined to remain level and calm. She would not lose his second.

Still wrapped in Dan's night robe, the Lupine lifted her head at the sound of his cry. It was a nightmare called forth and given life through his voice.

The normal tranquility of her blue-grey gaze melted away into an angry yellow malevolence, and looking to Lilaena, s'Il bared her teeth in a malice-filled smile that spoke as clearly as any words she could've said.

You should have left when you had the chance.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

He still protected s'Ilancy, shattering the Destruction and channeling the fire and energy away from the pregnant woman. Finding herself facing not one, but two dark siders, De'Ville could have panicked. Instead, however, she drew further into the maelstrom of the Force all around her, leaving her body completely calm as she turned to face him as he approached through flames and debris, an unholy screech emmenating from his lips.

The woman was a threat, but her concern was for the child. De'Ville spun her lightsaber once in her palm, stalking to meet this unknown threat. Her instincts told her that he must be the master, but perhaps the Jedi had fallen at the same time and fashion as A'na Eldhil. He could be her apprentice.

In the end, it didn't really matter. A death of a thousand cuts begins with one slice. She was fully trained in Juyo, the seventh form of lightsaber combat, and would bring all her skill to bear on him. As the distance between them shortened to near arms length she lunged forward with a wide sweeping cut, ready to cut him open or catch him on the backswing should he parry.

[General Dan]

The serpent's jaws snapped open, a red lightsaber blade hissed forth, which was wielded in a Makashi style that leveraged De'Ville's saber swipe, flushing it down and away as Decepis's free hand snarled, belting the interloper in lashing bursts of lightning before she could try and connect with a counter.

Drawing Lilaena's attention left her back to Acera, who would not let such a mistake go unpunished. Decepis smiled, a cruel mirthless expression that was spiteful of its own existence.

[Darth Acera]

With the veil lifted, She held little back.

Throughout the plane of the ethereal she could see the swirling energies of the Dark, and feeding upon every last drop that she could, Acera bolstered her resolve.

She lumbered her way to her feet, mindful enough to offer a healthy enough amount of protection to the child she carried while gathering every tendril and wisp of dark side energy about her. She seemed to inwardly consume the black mass of roiling emotion that surrounded them all.

Like her Master, the Lupine pulled inward. She drank deeply. She consumed every ounce of evil that presented itself.

And with terrible finality she thrust one arm out, calling upon the frenzied pulsations of the Force and channeling it into a single, devastating blast of power that manifested itself in a violent push, sending Lilaena into the path of Decepis' waiting blade.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Bursts of dark side lightning arced from his fingers into her flesh, and it hurt, but the pain was secondary. De'Ville channeled the energy through her body as she brought her lightsaber back up, and felt the growing storm behind her.

The blast of power from s'Ilancy was countered by the dark side energy exiting from Lilaena's back, a thunderclap resounding in the relatively small space. De'Ville staggered forward, enough of the other woman's push getting through to knock her off balance, but her lightsaber was in position and Dan's lightsaber was parried aside.

Lilaena spun to the side, keeping Dan in front of her and bringing s'Ilancy into view as well, her lightsaber flashing dangerously and requiring Dan to pay attention to his own in order to keep her from cutting into his flesh.

[General Dan]

The Sith Master leapt, a pinwheeling hands-free cartwheel that seemingly defied the capability of an old man. His blood red blade clashed flush with Lilaena's the entire way, then slid down the length of the woman's saber as he righted himself at the periphery of her range. His Makashi strokes were swift and minimalist, precise stings meant to wound and not kill outright. That would come in time.

As Decepis fought Lilaena, he seemed to be aging before her eyes, though his pace and gait did not for one moment waver.

[Darth Acera]

Secure the lineage...

Those three words stampeded through her mind even as she watched the unfolding battle.

One hand remained over her belly, protective and guarding.

The other curled inward into hooked fingers, crackling energy radiating from each fingertip. Her position afforded her at least a small modicum of distance between her Master and the woman, and Acera took advantage of it. For so long she had been her Master's striking arm, and now would have been no different if not for the small life she carried within.

Barriers flew up then, affording her more protection as she backed against the farthest wall in the room.

Her lips moved in silent whispers, uttering noiseless words of Darkness. She called upon the roiling, ever-beating pulsations of the Dark. She soothed it with honeyed words and bent it to her desires with incantations that only she and her Master could know, words whose very utterance were crafted of malevolence and twisted emotion.

And like a coiling whipsnake wrapping around its' prey, those black tendrils and whispers wrapped themselves around Lilaena's ankles... loosely at first, with an almost carefree quality until...

One last unspoken word of hate, and the mass of angry dark side energies snapped tight, drawing the woman's feet fast together in an unforgiving web.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

As she parried and struck, Lilaena could feel Loklorien as a dark splotch in the Force. Most of her attention was focused on Dan, however, as his skin sagged and his yellow eyes gleamed hate, because he was extremely skilled with a blade.

Of course, so was she. Her purple blade was a blur as she poured herself into her Juyo forms, aggressively battering at the old man's defenses. As she did so she found herself positioned between the two Sith once more, and then invisible bands caught her feet.

She found herself falling forward, Dan's red blade looming, and she strained backward, her abs clenching as she wrenched herself to the side, bringing her lightsaber into place to block him as she fell. For a split second she was on her back, and then she pushed off from the ground, flipping backward away from Dan and closer to Lok.

Lilaena continued her 'retreat', spinning around and attacking Loklorien directly with her lightsaber, an overhanded strike that could split the other woman from right shoulder to left hip.

(ooc: this attack can still be done even if Lok is still holding LD's feet together, I think, but I am assuming she was just trying to trip her up and that it was not a continuous hold)

[General Dan]

Decepis could sense the energy in De'Ville surging and redirecting. While she still gave her back to him, her attentions were directed squarely at Acera. The Sith Master reached a gnarled hand outward, surging a primal shockwave of energy to rip his enemy off her feet, and to cause her assault to waver as she was thrown to the far wall.

With an inhuman howl, he surged towards her, his blade spinning like a crimson dervish as he pounced.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville bit her tongue as the Force blasted her to the side, Loklorien throwing up her hands in a defensive gesture and warding off the lightsaber with the Force as the dark haired woman tumbled into and over the end of the couch. A free standing lamp toppled on top of her as she slammed into the wall and then sprawled on the ground.

She surged to her feet, battered and bruised, the lamp falling to the ground with a loud clatter. De'Ville was blocking her immediate pains through the Force as she leapt forward to block Dan's flurry of attacks. He was between her and Loklorien again, and behind her was a corner. De'Ville snarled, her teeth pink with the blood that began to drip out of her mouth, countering, countering... He was very good. He resembled Palpatine.

Palpatine.

KILL HIM!

She moved with reckless abandon, her movements becoming even more fluid as her mind slipped into a near meditative state, her lightsaber forms going from pure defense to offense as she became one with her weapon as only a Juyo master could. He kept her pinned in the corner but she didn't care anymore, mental tunnel vision keeping her focused on destroying Dan at any cost.

[Darth Decepis]

The transformation was complete, and the mask removed. The grotesque lich before De'Ville laughed, mocking her resurgence of anger, his blade slapping hers just clear of his body as he stung through the scant half inch of loose garment at her side, missing her ribs by a breath.

"It has some skill. Something with a brain has taught it."

Somersaulting away, the Sith Lord landed in a crouch, the mirth removed from his face. To afford De'Ville further disrespect, Decepis tossed his lightsaber to his own apprentice, so she would be fully armed.

"But it will still die. It has no place, this pup of a pretender. But it will tell us about it's master, won't it?"

The lights seemed to dim a bit, and when Decepis spoke again, it was with a voice oily and alien, its whispering lingering moments after his mouth uttered them.

"Tell me who taught you. Make your failure complete."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

He was unarmed, yet she knew he could throw lightning at her. And because she knew, she was also prepared to catch it on her blade should it come to that. His words made no sense. How could telling him who taught her create failure?

De'Ville faced both Sith, brandishing her lightsaber. "I am the teacher," she said. "And your failure is complete, the mask tossed aside and your true self witnessed." Before either could move toward her, she slammed her fist down to the floor, an enormous wave of energy rippling out from her like rings on a pond. The wall behind her creaked and splintered, windows exploding outward as the pressure wave rolled by. It weakened the further it got from her, but was plenty strong enough to toss a Wookiee off his feet when it hit Dan and Lok.

Lilaena darted for a broken window, diving outside.

[Darth Decepis]

Decepis rode the shockwave rather than resist it, letting his body twist and tumble away as he righted himself, his feet checking against the far wall as he crouched to weather the rest of the burst. Glaring beyond at De'Ville's escape, he glowered at Acera, bounding ahead to pursue the heretic from where she'd beat a hasty retreat.

"Stay. I will deal with her myself."

It would be better this way. Without the mother of his unborn child in harm's way, there would be little to hinder his wrath.