Etti IV's Terrain

It would have gone without saying that one would anticipate the worst from the one who isolated themselves most frequently from the crowd. And though he was inclined to disagree and argue his case, he was beyond dissuading their questions and disbeliefs as he went about his business. Yet, as he'd anticipated, he could not help but contemplate the simplicity and almost utter stupidity of this entire plan as he made his way towards where he could hear and feel everyone migrating to. And if he had felt it, than he was sure that anyone else could have felt it too. Were they attuned enough to the Force as he was; a thought he hardly dwelled on given it's frequent irrelevance. With a small sigh to himself as he heard the rest of the group shouting and clambering about the docking bay, he had found himself a comfortable spot just out of sight from the others but within a reasonable earshot that he could make out what they were saying and or doing. It was too easy to calculate each of their motives and actions before they made it, even Adieumus unceremonious grasp of his partner before leaping out of the ship like a gung-ho hero of some long forgotten idiocricy.

It went without saying that he had felt that way for years about the man who had once called himself a Jedi. It was no different with the man beyond his supposed brush with death. Even as he watched the man develop and sway in the winds of change, he could see the semblance of the man he had been and would always be. A notion that brought a small smirk to the man's face as he listened for any other movement ahead of him in the chamber as the wind continued to tug and throw at his clothing. Almost suffocating for the ordinary man, but as easy as it had been the day he'd dropped onto Ossus to put his current friend in his place in front of the crowd he'd sought to subdue. A mission all for his personal benefit, but one worth the nostalgia never the less. And it wasn't until heard the sound of Adieumus' thrusters disappear from earshot that he stood up and moved toward the ramp where everyone else stood. Where they seemed to stand in momentary preparation once their leader had made his move. A move he was not going to waste the opportunity to take advantage of.

”Typical.“ He muttered under his breath as he made his way towards the ramp, past the large Zabrak and the various smaller individuals. It was easy to see the difference between them all when they were standing on the precipice of an engagement. Their stature and demeanor characterizing every aspect of their being just moments before their lives were to be placed on the line for something that none of them truly understood. It wasn't much of a matter and, as he positioned himself just inches from the edge for the ramp using the Force to steady himself as the wind battered against his form, he turned to the others very slightly and eyed each of them for but a moment. Each of them reading differently as he met their eyes regardless if they were acknowledging him or not. ”Initiate program, simulate operation in five.” He breathed into the small mouthpiece that was virtually invisible to any who was not looking for the small tethers that wrapped up around behind his neck and up to his ear and jaw line. His facial hair hid it slightly but his own position and the lighting putting any visual on his face in it's entirety to an impossibility. It took only moments for the AI to calibrate his motions and the potential output he'd require to make a safe landing, and with a small slide of his foot he moved towards the edge of the ramp as soon as he felt the anxiety spike in Adieumus' signature. ”Engage.”

The word falling from his mouth, moments before he sensed Atton's energy being separated from Adi's he let his rear foot drop from the ramp followed by the rest of his body. None of his body language or facial expression giving sign that he had prepared that action, but instead allowing himself to free fall as whatever awaited followed through on it's defense protocol. The motion was fluid and almost as quickly as he'd made the decision he began to twist his body into a form that, as instructed by his instincts felt the most aerodynamic as he began to soar through their air towards the ground where he could see the Hangar on his readout. ”Update.” He whispered into the comm as he edged his grip on the Force to meld it into a makeshift cocoon around the front of his body, falling headfirst towards the ground that approached at an alarming rate, slowing him just enough that it allowed him time to glance and witness Adi's actions to disable the shield. Information he'd kept to himself and watched on his read out, and something of a spectacle to watch as the shield generator erupted into flames and debris moments before Adi managed to recover Atton's form before it splattered over the ground. ”Formulate landing calculations.“

5,000 feet. 4,000 feet. The ground approaching fast, his motions erratic but fluid as he took in a breath, closed his eyes and smoothly evaded a number of laser bolts. 3,000 feet. With a snap of his focus, a twist of his body and an absurdly jolting flux in his grip on the Force he slowed his fall to a virtually impossible reduction in speed that felt like he was floating; nearly enough to shatter the cocoon of Force energy that was deflecting a number of bolts from around him. 500 feet. And then his feet were on the ground, the sound of his landing lost to his ears along with what devastation he knew would follow from such a maneuver. How he had avoided the bolts from the turrets, he could only accommodate to the guidance of Ariela and her AI, but he could not scoff at an almost visible burn and char through the sleeve of his coat where it covered the upper half of his phrik arm. Flexing his arm and giving it a glance he flicked a glance over towards where the others would likely drop, up to where the ship had been behind him and then over to where he knew Adi had landed. Clear. Empty space.

”Scan and coordinate.“ His voice fell into an almost eerie silence as he drowned out any other sound with the sound of Ariela's voice and the small hum of the Force as he pulled it back towards and through himself, feeling an almost itching strain that quickly passed while his gaze fell on the hangar doors that stood before him. The next obstacle in his endeavor, but one that would not last longer than the voice trailing into his ear could calculate. ”Understood. I'm going in.“ He echoed into the comm, and with a select few sound steps up out of the small crater he'd created he moved towards the Hangar door, fluidly sidestepping when necessary the blaster bolts that came from defensive towards and troops he could detect, infinitely sound in the confidence that nothing would stop him.

Nothing else was comparative.

*Sinina had watched Adi and the other guy go flying out of the ship, that was fine. That was kosher. But watching Loki and that guy just "fall" out of the ship....That was something else entirely. She stared at the places the two of them had stood. Just jump from a ship. were these guys all insane?! She walks closer to the edge of where the opening was, looks over the edge of the ramp to see them falling, disappearing from normal sight range. She gasps softly, pulled again from her thoughts as Raven speaks. A question. Directed at her. She spins her head to stare at Raven.*

This? No... I.. No.I assumed....like... suits... or No..

*She stares at the woman, but then she proceeded to tell her that she'd never jumped before either. Where all of these people insane?!?!?!? Not only were they expecting for her to jump from the ship. But the woman she was to jump with had no experience jumping either. They were both going to die! On impact! There was no way this was going to happen! She closed her eyes, squinting them tightly closed as she could. She couldn't watch this. She retreated inwards. The dark spot inside her opening up again. Her lips started moving, barely noticeable at first. But then they started to move more. The young woman was terrified of what they were about to do. The woman's lips moving, and even once sound came out, Raven wouldnn't be able to make out what she was saying. Very few offworlders would have known. Even Loki who out of anyone would likely have no idea. The Dathomiri words that were being repeated by the terrified woman. Her eyes stared blankly out of the ships ramp.

The skies looked so calm. So pretty as the sun rose. Sinina had always loved watching the sunrise. As she stares her silver gaze grew more and more distance as Raven may soon likely pick up that the same foreign words were repeated again and again under the young woman's breath, if she were paying close enough attention to them. The clear morning skies, were starting to grow cloudy, dark and foreboding clouds which came to a head unnaturally fast. It did not take long from the forming of these storm clouds, to see lightning strike in the distance followed by increasing decibels of thunder claps soon after.

*As Atton was set gently on the ground, he thanked the Force that the jump was over. While the jump itself wasn't terrible, it was the brief moment where Adi had tossed him up that had him just a little bit worried(read: absolute brick-shitting OhForcewherearemybrownpants terrified). Now wasn't the time to be bringing up these grievances, given the importance of this mission, but Atton was certainly going to give Adi a piece of his mind when all of this was over. Provided everyone was still alive after this, of course.

He waved Adi off as he flew away.* And also with you. *Atton's tone was quite a bit more curt than maybe he otherwise would have been with that phrase, but given the circumstances, one could probably forgive him this once.

Now, to business. They had a job to do here, and Atton had his part to play. Everything he had been given or had with him prior to the jump was still there, so now it was time to show them what he was capable of.*

The fear rolling off Sinina was palpable. It even reached out far into the horizon, grasping at dark clouds and drawing them closer until rain began to fall. Alora felt cold, a strange unnatural chill she rarely felt, but for an instant, she no longer stood on the ramp, looking out of the ship's maw as it yawned over rapidly moving black clouds.
For a second- she stood back on Yavin VI, with that strange dark spirit, speaking poison to her and draping Bogan's influence around her like a cold wet shroud. Subconsciously, the Jedi hugged her arms to herself and shook her head. It was just a feeling, and nothing more.
Taking in a breath, she rolled her shoulders and opened her eyes again, determining that her light was stronger than this fear- and her presence would give comfort to Sinina. It was how Alora had to feel about things. Even if unsuccessful, Raven had to at least believe that her efforts to heal others would not come back void. It was what kept the Jedi master going, what kept her trying- what kept bringing her so close to death so very often.
With a steadying sigh, Raven looked over at the girl with an unshakeable assurance behind her small brown eyes.
The Jedi slowly reached out and took hold of Sinia's hand, allowing her renewed calm to flow into the girl's body. She wanted to give her confidence, to show her that she could still survive, even if she was afraid. But also, she wanted Sinina to trust her, to know that Raven would keep her safe.

Sinina, I............

Something struck the ship- hard- and the Jedi Master might have been able to stabilize the two of them, had it not been for the intense ripping sensation she felt all through her body, and the fantastically powerful punch to the face she didn't see coming. Even though nothing was there- nothing had physically assaulted her, Raven still gazed upon galaxies of nonexistent stars, and stood upon an ocean of lurching metal.

And then- everything stopped. So much stillness, she was certain her heart no longer pulsated. The Jedi's startled cry of agony was only strangled short by this feeling of frigid emptiness. Was she breathing? Was she even existing? Gravity even felt nil. Something in the force, that absolutely needed to be there- simply wasn't....it was- and then-\

it wasn't-

Nothing exists....

Raven murmured- not at all loud enough for anyone to hear. The strange state of catatonia rendered her a falling ragdoll- holding Sinina's hand in a death grip and being pelted endlessly by the raindrops they outmatched in speed.

~You can't save us all, my student!~
Eversio's voice had always been educational to the young Alora- especially before- when he was different, when he was Jedi- but it had never held such dark tidings. Within the Raven's mind, her old mentor reached out his hand, and struck his former student to the ground, harshly.

Voices- over the comlink. Raven's eyes fluttered opened very briefly- just enough for her eyes to be startled back into hiding by an orange explosion. Was this what death was like?

~Wake up Raven! And realize the universe doesn't care, about how much you care!~
This time, when the dark Jedi reached out, his hand was full of lightening, lancing into the small Knight's figure, throwing her several yards away.
~Pay attention! Wake up, or everything I taught you will consume you- and I will Kill you.~

Alora's eyes opened again, this time forcing themselves to remain alert. Almost at once, clouds parted, giving a full view of just how freakishly close the ground was. Endless messages rambled in her ear through her com, all from Loki- saying something or other. But the most important thing right now at this very moment was-

They were falling at a very astonishing velocity- toward the ground. She looked quickly over at Sinina, thankful she hadn't dropped her in her odd laps of judgement.

Hold on!

Raven shouted- even though the wend shoved her words back in her face and forced her to swallow them. Closing her eyes, she released her grasp on the force- letting it unwind and reach out around them. Slowly- the two began to reduce in speed, until, rather quaintly, they landed on the rain soaked, blood stained earth.

See. That wasn't so bad, was it?

Raven said, tottering a little. She had recovered quickly from the fall, only because she still was unsure what had caused her laps in memories or feeling of emptiness- until Loki's messages started to make sense.

By the Maker- Adi...

She shuttered visibly, reaching up and gently touching her lips. She felt sick. She wanted to start the day over. She wanted to fall again- and this time never stop. Swallowing hard, she looked at Sinina and shook her head.

I'm sorry- I should have been more- stable. We didn't have to fall like that- it could have been better. I'm sorry.

Shaken, it was very apparent, the Jedi master gently took in a breath through her nose, letting it out through her mouth. Her body relaxed, and her eyes set on the newly opened hangar, fresh with security troops. With conviction, Raven reached for her saber- thumbing the activation button and cutting through the gray atmosphere with an intense brilliant yellow beam. And she felt- suddenly, at peace.

Let's get to it then. We'll stick together, keep track of eachother. If we get separated- we meet at the back of the hangar before going in. Understood?

With that, the force took the Jedi forward, delivering her into the waiting opening of the hangar. Any blaster bolts flying her way from the guards- or the deploying ceiling turrets were cleanly, and expertly directed back at their sources with fluidity, few people actually got the chance to witness from the Jedi- considering she rarely pulled her weapon.

Loki- We're here.

*Sinina was too enveloped in her own fears of the jump to notice what was going out just beyond the ramp. Even Loki's words ringing through her ears didn't feel like it computed, not fully. Her quiet chanting had continued and faint red lines started to appear along her dark grey skin. Her hand clasped inside of Ravens. As they fall, her own voice seemed not to even work. She had been scared before, but as they spiraled even more out of control. The red lines on her skin grew more visible, even prominent, leading up to what looked almost like a second pair of red eye shaped spots on her forehead. She'd seen it once before... On her mother. But never had she known any of her siblings to have it even though their skin was all dark like Zadea's.

She was so surrounded by the darkness that she didn't really know or see where she was anymore. And just when she felt like she was about to be consumed, the storm breaks, the clouds stopped forming, even clearing, her chants of the Nightsister spell stopped as the storm does. She clutches Raven's hand tighter, becoming aware enough of the situation to add her own force ability to slow them as much as she could, though her power in it would pale in comparison to the Jedi next to her, almost at once she felt like she regretted even trying as she felt small and insignificant in her attempts.

As they landed, the haze of darkness was clearing or at least organizing itself as she regains her own composure, the lines across her skin fading down to faint lines barely see-able. She bites her lip nervously, realizing she was still holding raven's hand rather tightly, she let's go quickly, rubbing at her elbow again and turning away and looking up at the sky.*

That... was.. I don't even know what it was... But we have work to do..

Sinina turns back to the Jedi again, grabbing for her own saber, she bites her lip and turns to look at the hanger door, she turned her saber on quickly, its red blade thrumming to life. She starts off toward the hanger, her blade only moving to deflect shots back toward the weapons they came from. Her feet back on solid ground, her confidence was much higher then anything Raven would have seen up to this point, and her thoughts dark already from the hole opened inside, only fueled more by the fallen crew member, they had a mission. They now had to complete it.

::The hallway-2ed Floor::

He dropped his weapons? Obviously the Knight felt this was more of an omen- than a sign of surrender. And he was right. The open palm strike nailed him in his unsuspecting chin, and Kadish's head jerked to the side- even as his wrist was grabbed.
But he could not allow this man to control the fight. He kept a firm grip on his lightsaber as he allowed Dominic to pull him. He took it in stride and upon passing him, Kadish changed direction, circling behind his adversary- now in a perfect position make a grab for the back of Dominic's neck with one hand, and overpower Dominic's grabbing hand, with his other.
Dominic might be physically more powerful then kadish- but what he might lack in physical strength, he made up for in the force. If he played it right, He would be behind Dominion, one hand clinched around his neck, and the other drawing his ignited saber ever closer to his adversary's face.

Perhaps I should- but I believe in something higher. Something bigger than the sith.



::The Hangar::
And here's where the turret defenses started peeking from the hangar ceiling. With the wrenching off of the hangar doors-, who ever was near by would most certainly see something streak out of the lab and make for the sky, flying rapidly off into the distance.

And if anyone stopped long enough to deduce that it was a droid, they might be rendered ribbons after being shredded by the mass amount of blaster bolts, fired both from the Ceiling turrets, and the 20 or so men inside the hangar- armed with ...a bit more than blaster pistols.
Sure, A few unlucky ones had smaller weapons, but there were others carrying repeaters, and a few even fired some grenades into the intruder's path- the stuff lightsabers found difficult to deflect.

And there was an acceptionally crafty one coming to the front of the group, with a Fletchette launcher- ready to fire its canisters of small, sharp metal shrapnel at the small army of four.

Hangar problems-


::In the sky somewhere::

I see you....
It may have been cheating to wait until the turbolaser shot him- but when one knew the future, and knew when their target would eventually drop- or be punched out of cloak- one tended to take the opportunities.

Honestly, being a seer was cheating.

That and the annoying Dr Noble had insulted her- so she had to bring him back proof that she never, ever lost someone. And it had to play out this way also. Seeing the future didn't give one the ability to change it- only to prepare accordingly. And she'd done that already, behind everyone else's back- even Noble's- even the commander's.

But it was sheer mechanics that drove her to grip onto the hunk of armor still housing a hardly viable Arkanian being inside. It was almost not worth keeping. After a few minutes, the suite of armor began lurching- but not from man inside- from it's own intent. The Array pointed upward, rocketing higher into the atmosphere as Adi's armor started to peal away from him, metallic square by metallic square.

And it was here- that the Array dropped him.

Hovering, peering down with its blue rimmed visor scanning the activity below, The Array observed the armor completely abandon its host, falling a considerable distance before it would impact the unyielding ground. She couldn't take any chances of that thing repairing itself and coming back - until the time was right.
After a brief delay, The Array angled downward and shot toward Adieumus's free falling body, catching him once again- this time, unprotected, and hardly conscious. And then, the droid spoke.

She will never love you- Adieumus.

Skimming along the ground, the Array circled wide, around the lab- showing the former Jedi the destruction wrought by his impressive store of weapons.

Do you see? it is your heroism which drives you forward- and drives her away.

The droid landed outside the back hidden passage into the lab, and walked down the newly revealed steps with Adieumus over its shoulder.

It doesn't take farsight to know, someone like you, can only ever be- alone.

Mechanical clanking echoed down the dark passageway as the Array entered the lab proper- and began making its way to the medical wing. proceeding to an unoccupied room, the Array placed the Arkanian on the clean white surface of a medical bed. It looked down at the fallen man- it's blue visor giving absolute no indication of emotion, or even intent, but its voice was certainly Anna's- sounding as if it had been ran through some computer filters.

Can you feel it through the force? Their shattered confidence, her despair? Can you understand that you will never see her again?



Alright- that's enough. I had no idea computers could be programmed to taunt someone so- cruelly.

Dr. Argon Noble chided as he entered the room and adjusted his white lab cote's collar.


You're late, Doctor.

The Array retorted, swiveling its head to seemingly glare at the man.

I told you I would find him.


You're a seer- I'll always be late.
Noble scoffed at the Array's last comment and shook his head as he began preparing to treat the man on the table.
Do you want me to clap my hands or something? You do know that you can't find something- unless you lose it first.


The Array lifted a mechanical hand, the the door to the medical room shut firmly, locking into place.
That is an incorrect statement.


Oh I know- I just wanted to see how you'd respond, and guess what? You answered just like I thought you would. I'm predicting your moves now.
Argon put on a fresh pare of gloves and readied a needle. He glanced at the droid, noting a very slight step back. This brought an almost devious grin to his face.
Does that ...bother you? Well get use to it. The more your programming lapses- the more predictable you will become, and the less threatening you will be. Remember that.
He shrugged his shoulders and then peered down at his patient, making to insert the needle into Adieumus' arm.
Please don't hit me- it won't work- I'll just drop this lovely pain reducer and you'll still feel that Turbolaser to the face feeling.


I am not predictable.

The Array responded flatly as two clicks resounded throughout the small medical room. The droid's arms were now outstretched- one pointing at Adieumus, and the other pointing at Argon Noble. Both hands had compressed into single point blasters, already charging up for simultaneous shots.

You may have hidden files, Argon Noble- but so did I. Before this is over, your head will be covering the back wall, and Adieumus Matango will be unrecognizable. That is what I saw. That is what I kept from you. My very own secret.

Good bye.