Ask Tatooine In the Desert, You Can Remember Your Name

[Talak Rand]

Talak found himself wanting to be gone from this place and forgetting the memory of what had happened here. He was thankful that Ana didn't ask him any questions right now, though he half expected them to come later. There were some things - most things - about the dark side that Talak took no joy in.

As she rifled through the Trandoshans gear for the communicator, Talak rummaged through the remaining gear, finally finding what he was looking for.

No, we can't leave him here, he said, his hand wrapping around the hilt of a vibroknife. Hunters like this almost always had some sort of utilitarian or combat melee weapon, and although this one was small, it would do.

Without hesitation - and this time without remorse - Talak activated the blade with a whirrrrrrr. And just like that, he plunged it into the lizard's throat, tearing a gash across the entire length. Blood poured from his throat, and it was a small mercy that he wasn't awake until the very end. He started thrashing and flailing, grasping his throat as the darkness that had nothing to do with this cave closed in around him. Then he was still.

I'm fine, he said shortly. That demeanor from Kashyyyk seemed to be pulling at him now, his answers short and his mood less boisterous. He was breathing more deeply now, trying to calm the feelings raising their head inside of him. All he wanted was to fall into their cool embrace, and it tore at the edges of his mind.

He lit up the flashlight from the Trandoshan and they started making much better time through the cave. Perhaps it was the Force that told him this wouldn't be their end, but there didn't seem to be any anxiety or impending doom surrounding him, and after several more minutes, he realized why: the cool night breeze blew down the cave and Talak paused.

Do you feel that? he asked. His steps became quicker and yet also more cautious as they advanced. The stars speckled a small area at the far end of their tunnel, and Talak let out a sigh of relief.

Looks like you were right about the cave-in, he said. It had disrupted their pursuers and hadn't killed them in the process.

We'll need to be careful. They could have looped around, he said quietly, extinguishing the flashlight as they came toward the opening of the cave. A wide valley lay beneath them on this side as well, but he couldn't see any sign of others right now.

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana pursed her lips and remained quiet when Talak affirmed her suspicions that the lizard man was not yet dead. The silence of the caves made the undeniable buzz of the vibroknife stand out even more, and she clenched her teeth when he plunged the blade downwards into the Trandoshan’s throat. With an assortment of vile tearing noises not unlike a wet sponge being ripped in half, the weapon sliced through its skin and flesh, revealing a red ruin of shredded veins and muscle. Blood spewed out from its neck like a fountain, pooling on the cave floor like runoff from a heavy thunderstorm. This was the first time she'd seen a sapient creature be killed, and it felt unusually satisfying, almost like it was closure.

Ana thought that the hunter wouldn’t feel the cut at all until it began to thrash and convulse. Its thick, clawed hands reached up to stem the tide of blood to no avail, and its last words were little more than the desperate gurgles of a failed killer. Despite the agonizing death, she felt no remorse for the thing that very nearly killed her. If anything, she pitied that it suffered only a little before its demise. The thought came across to her as unusually obscene, but she brushed it off as merely the residual effects of those negative emotions from their fight. It still scratched at the back of her mind, but she reigned it in for the most part, or so she assumed.

Talak’s curt response keyed her into his current mood and she reminded herself what he was capable of when he let the corruption take hold of his mind. She said little while they walked down the tunnel, making far better time now that they had the recovered flashlight. It was incredible how much more quickly they could move with even a little light, and it made sense as to how the hunters caught up to them so quickly. The way out was surprisingly easy to find, and she felt the breeze just before Talak had asked his question. ”I do,” she answered quietly, slowing down to a more cautious approach.

The night sky was a welcome relief, as was the fresh air. Below and around them were the walls of the cavern, and it seemed like they had managed to evade their pursuers for the time being. Her eyes scanned the top of the cliff faces, warily watching for any movement, hostile or otherwise. There seemed to be nothing around them for now, but this was still an extremely hostile environment. ”We need to find out the direction they came from,” she asserted, keeping her figure somewhat obscured by a boulder.

Her comm device sparked to life once again, the voices coming through much more clearly now that they weren’t surrounded by thick stone. ”*zzt* – the search. They couldn’t’ve gotten far. Hunt isn’t over yet!” ”We haven’t heard from Skassk in a while. Did the bitch get him?” ”Who cares? More fun for us without him getting in the way.” They continued their banter for a bit, mostly about who was the better sharpshooter or who could throw a Jawa the farthest. It was like they were game hunters, except her and Talak were the game. It was sickening, and she wanted nothing more than to watch them squirm beneath her heel.

The chatter was cut short by a curt, ”Quiet! I think I saw somethin’ move.”

Ana panned her eyes towards Talak, then watched the sky, straining her senses to try and hear if anything was heading towards them. They needed to get moving, but every direction felt like they were going to head into a trap. She probed Talak’s mind gently, using telepathy to speak to him rather than make any more noise. Think the lizard left behind a speeder?

 

[Talak Rand]

For the moment, Talak was relatively oblivious to the thoughts and feelings running through Ana. He had his own concerns that he was caught up in, and none of them were thoughts he wanted to have. He indulged in the feeling of having killed the Trandoshan, and it made him feel both pleased and disgusted at once. How could he have become such a paradox? Doing what he hated and becoming something he despised.

Is this what the Sith Eternal has done to me? he wondered. Or was there really anything else that had ever been him? He was a Legionnaire since birth, but he didn't recall these feelings before the death of Zatara. Something had changed when he'd been tortured and left helpless, watching her die. It was what his master had intended, and Talak hated it.

He was grateful for the sounds over the comlink to pull him out of his own thoughts, and he knew that he would need to find these answers for himself. If he survived tonight.

Ana asked if he thought the Trandoshan had left behind a speeder, and Talak shook his head. If he did, it'll be guarded... or sabotaged, he said. It had appeared that all the hunters had ridden a single platform, speeder, or barge in.

As if in answer to their question, a floating platform probably some 10mx10m whirred by overhead. Lights swept the ground in the canyon but the two hadn't been spotted yet.

I'm tellin ya, keep lookin! I saw somethin! the same voice said again as the barge made another pass.

He had half a mind to attack the platform directly. He knew it would be dangerous, but it might be their only route out of here.

Do you think we can take it? he asked. It was difficult to tell how many people were up there, but it was a small platform, which meant anything they did would be close quarters. That played into their hands... somewhat.

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana slunk furtively back into the shadows of the cave when the lights swept over the canyon, searching for the wayward prey. The hunters looked over the railing down below, scanning the terrain with their rifles poised and ready to fire, but the two Sith Eternal remained unnoticed for now. Her brows furrowed and she looked at Talak, pondering his question. If they could reach the platform, they might be able to overwhelm its occupants and find their way back to Mos Telfa. If they couldn’t, well… they had a good run.

If we can get up to it, she responded, turning her gaze skyward to see if there were any significant features they could climb up to reach the platform. Luckily, with the hunters believing they were down in the canyon, the platform hovered closer to the top level of the canyon. If they could climb their way to the top without being spotted, they stood a legitimate chance of boarding it to exact their revenge. The only issue was scaling part of the canyon wall to get to the top without first being seen and subsequently shot. She continued to study the rocks, noting that there were a few small ledges that they could jump up to one at a time with the aid of the Force to reach the surface.

Those ledges. We can climb up to the top and jump on the platform, she said, pointing with her chin at what she was referring to. It was dark, but Talak might be able to see what it was she meant. Her communicator barked to life again, ”Make another pass, I think I saw something too.” She turned her gaze to Talak, then to the platform, which was nearing the end of the canyon and would be turning around soon, then back to Talak. Now’s our best chance to get up to it, she said before brazenly stepping out of the safety of the cave and into the night.

Provided nothing went wrong, she began the climb to the top. The small outcrop she was on provided her with enough room to jump with her Force-enhanced legs. She reached out and gripped the edge of the first ledge, curling her fingers as she gripped the stone. Dust and small rocks trickled out from the disturbance and fell below her, but she pulled herself up with some effort and now stood just that much closer to the top of the canyon.

She repeated this a few more times before finally scrambling up and onto the sandstone top layer, lying prone and rolling away from the edge to keep her profile low. She hoped Talak followed close behind her because the barge was beginning to turn around and head back, giving them just a few moments to prepare their ambush. Its spotlights swept over the canyon, but they paid little attention to where she and Talak would be hiding in wait, and this worked to their advantage perfectly.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak followed her up to the higher levels of the canyon to where they could access the platform more easily. Even this plan was a terrible one, but it was the only chance Talak could think of that didn't have them dying in the empty desert.

He waited and tried to get a view for who was on the platform, but he couldn't see very well. The Force would give them the boost they needed to get over the top, but once they were there... things remained to be seen.

The platform drew closer and in the dark, Talak raised his hand and counted down from three. He hoped Ana would be able to see, and when the countdown was finished, Talak leapt.

His feet hit the platform and he saw... oh boy, five different people. Against two. And the two didn't have weapons proper. Talak reached out with the Force and blasted off one of the thugs, sending him falling to an unpleasant death or maiming in the canyon below. He slammed bodily into the next thug and grappled him. The fight was brutal and one of strength over skill as they wrestled over the pistol in the Weequay's hand. After a moment, he managed to curl it back into the thugs gut and fire repeatedly.

He was scrambling to his feet to bring the pistol around on the next man when he was hit squarely in the chest with a stun bolt.

Thunk. He hit the platform solidly unconscious. Hopefully Ana had this...

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana waited with bated breath as the platform approached, alternating her gaze between Talak and the platform. Its searchlights stabbed through the darkness, scanning the myriad caves and rock walls of the canyon in the hopes of finding their prey, but now they were the ones being hunted. Talak held up three fingers and began to count down as the platform approached. Her hair stood on end and she began to pool the Force around her legs, preparing for their dynamic entry. Dark thoughts of revenge began to fill her mind and she slowly began to sink back into that cruel place where the darkness and corruption granted her the strength it promised her. At the final count, she rose from her hiding spot and leapt, soaring high into the sky.

They landed on the platform and immediately realized how outnumbered they were. She thought there was only three hunters, not five, and the odds slowly went out of their favor. Still, they were superhuman compared to these dregs, and through the Force they would see their victory. Much like Talak, Ana blasted off the closest hunter she saw, sending him plummeting to a gruesome impact with the canyon floor far, far below.

The hunters were caught flatfooted and didn’t expect to be boarded, but they regained their composure in short order. While Talak was grappling with one of the hunters, Ana found herself face to face with a vibrosword-wielding Devaronian. He grinned devilishly and slashed at her, but it passed through the air, as she had stepped swiftly to the side. He swung again and she ducked below it just in time to avoid getting a new haircut. She bared her teeth and dashed in close, slamming her fist into his stomach and following it up with a hook into his stomach. He grunted and stumbled backwards, not expecting the tiny woman to hit so hard. Luckily, the Force let her do all kinds of things.

She spared a glance towards Talak just in time to see him get nailed in the chest with a stun beam. Before she could shout any kind of warning, a heavy fist crunched into the side of her face and spun her to the ground. The Devaronian smiled a toothy grin and brought his vibrosword up to execute her, spitting off a pithy, ”End of the line, girly,”. Ana, rather than wait for death, lashed out with the Force, her eyes swirling a dull amber hue, despite her disorientation. Blue lightning crackled from her fingertips and engulfed him in horrible, crackling agony. He dropped the weapon and collapsed, convulsing and groaning in anguish.

Ana scrambled, picked up his vibrosword, and promptly slid it across the Devaronian’s throat in one fluid motion. He reached up and clutched his throat and gurgled, but she was already moving onto the next enemy, moving with a preternatural quickness that the hunters hadn’t expected. She ducked low and swung the vibrosword horizontally into Talak’s assailant’s leg as he was turning around. In a single meaty hack, the leg was lopped off at the knee, grinding against bone and tearing ligaments apart. The man fell to the ground, spewing forth vital fluids and exposing bone, sinew, and muscle as he screamed in pain.

A bolt seared across her back and she grimaced, flicking her attention to the final hunter. She reached out and clamped a vice around his neck, lifting him several inches into the air. The darkness had taken over and she found that this last hunter needed to suffer. While his comrade continued to scream, she began to strangle the life from him and walked closer, scowling all the while. They had endangered the two of them, stolen their lightsabers, and knocked Talak out of the fight. His eyes bulged with fear and his face turned purple. As his vision dimmed, the last thing he would see is Ana swipe her hand dismissively to the side, throwing him overboard and into the canyon below.

When it was all over, Ana lurched towards Talak, sliding onto her knees next to him. The screaming man continued to scream and bleed, so she pulverized his brain with a quick slam of invisible energy on his skull, not even thinking twice about the action. She looked at Talak’s blissfully unconscious body, then, not knowing how to rouse him, patted his cheek gently. ”Talak, get up,” she said, repeating this sequence a few times. When nothing came of her efforts, she placed her hand on his cheek for a moment, hesitated briefly, then reared back and slapped the shit out of him, leaving a solidly red imprint on his face.

Hopefully that’d wake him up.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak was blissfully ignorant of everything that had been going on. Ana finished the remaining hunters off in brutal fashion, but Talak was still unconscious. At least, he was unconscious until Ana slapped him across the face with enough force to leave a mark.

He groaned, but still wasn't wide awake as his eyes fluttered open. Wha...? he groaned again and everything started slowly coming back to him.

Are we... did we get it? he asked, blinking again and again, trying to remember everything that had brought him to this point. Kidnapped, in the desert, hunted... it all came flooding back to him.

Get us out of here, he said. It didn't really matter where they were going to, but anywhere would be better than here, and then they could track down the one who took their sabers... and kill him.

You killed the others? Were you injured? he asked, unable to see in the darkness. She was already coming a long way since Kashyyyk. He could feel the darkness clinging to the area, and he knew how she managed to kill the men on the barge.

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana was glad her slap roused him from his involuntary sleep, but her face betrayed no sign of it. While he tried to remember everything, she pressed against her knees and stood up, leaving bloody handprints on her ripped pants. The amputee was right beside Talak, and it was likely that the torrent of blood that flowed from his missing limb ended up soaking into some of Talak’s clothes as well. He seemed disoriented for a while until all of his memories returned in the proper order, and then he was back to desiring escape.

His question amused her; who else would have killed these others? Two fat puddles of blood marked the location of the two men she killed with the vibrosword, while the notable absence of three others indicated that they had been thrown off the barge. Her back stung from the bolt wound, but she kept silent about it; the pain helped focus her, she found. Like Talak was earlier in the caves, she was in a foul mood, and her answers were notably more curt than usual. ”Yes,” she responded vaguely to his questions, walking away towards the barge’s controls.

She stared at the control panel for a bit before gripping one of the switches and pushing it forward. Right away, the barge began to rise to a higher altitude. She shifted another one forward and the barge began chugging ahead. Okay. That one goes up, that one goes forward, she thought to herself. The steering controls were intuitive enough and she began to turn the barge around. It was a lumbering beast and moved painstakingly slowly, but at least it was better than walking. She had no idea where to go, so she began to tap through the navigation system until she found its previous destination. Thinking it to be Mos Telfa, she began moving the platform towards it, her brows furrowed in concentration.

She said nothing on the entire trip. Instead, she played back the fight over and over again. She had never killed any sapient thing before, let alone three, and the brutal manner with which she did it appalled her. The power she felt during the fight was better than any high she’d ever experienced, and even now she felt its lingering effects. So, too, would Talak, but she made no attempt to disguise this.

After some time on the quiet barge, they arrived near their location. However, it was nothing like the Mos Telfa she remembered. It was a massive compound in the desert with many more of these barges stationed on the ground in a massive airfield. There were rows of speeders parked in another section of the compound, and she began to understand that this wasn’t Mos Telfa – this was some kind of hunting lodge for these cruel huntsmen.

She brought the platform to a hover just outside the compound and shut off its lights. Her gaze turned towards Talak, realizing that they might have just floated into the hornet’s nest. She wasn’t sure if their lightsabers were here or back in Mos Telfa, but this looked like their next stop on this horrible excursion. Who knew, it might even prove to be a worthwhile diversion before they found what they were looking for. She had no idea how to get back to where they needed to go, but she assumed that someone or something in here might. It was still night, but she could see a few figures roaming around the compound, though it didn’t look like any of them noticed the new arrival yet.

She picked up the bloodied vibrosword and walked to Talak, watching the compound. ”Want to go hunting?” she asked blithely, a twisted desire for vengeance curling her lips upward in a grin.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak was slowly regaining all of his memories and stretching out his muscles as he overcame the spasms and stiffness from the shot. All this for a lead that was probably a complete sham. Vader had probably never even been to Tatooine before, and if he had, clearly these people didn't know anything about it.

He could still feel twitches and spasms as he moved up to the front of the vehicle. He normally carried a medpack, but all of his gear had been stolen when they were dumped, so he was unable to do anything to tend to her injuries right now. Actually, he found that to be odd. If the dark side was the natural state, shouldn't it be able to heal and mend? Why, then, was that exclusive to the Jedi and their ilk. Because the natural cycle isn't kind. That's why the darkness is a necessity, he answered his own question. But if the "natural" cycle was cruel, then did he want to be serving that? Did he want to facilitate something like that?

He pushed the recurring doubts aside again and focused on not dying right now. But this time, he made a note to find some answers after this... if he wasn't dead.

When they came to the "docking" station, his gut dropped. They appeared to be way in over their heads, but... it was good practice? That was what he was going to tell himself.

Ana grabbed a blood vibroblade and commented about going hunting, and something in her demeanor sent a chill down his spine. She had certainly changed in even the short time he'd known her. He had broken a piece of her as a piece of him had once been broken, and the realization made him nauseous. He felt repulsed by the thought that he had helped turn her into a heartless killer.

Why, Talak?! he thought to himself in a rage. This was what they were supposed to do! He and she both needed to be heartless killers. This was their job. Their expectation. But as much as he told himself this, he knew that he hated his master for what had been done to him, and he had done the same to Ana.

Yes, he said quietly and soberly. He had no weapon except a small vibroknife, but he knew that it wouldn't be long until he had something larger. He could only hope they could find their lightsabers here.

We need a plan, he said before they plunged into... whatever they were getting into. We need coordinates to get back and we should see if we can destroy this place, he said. His mind started going to some sort of an improvised explosive or way of detonating a ship's reactor core. If they were going to destroy this place, they might as well do it in a dramatic fashion. Plus hunting down each and every hunter seemed unrealistic.

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana shuddered as she stood still and gazed upon the hunter’s den, though she wasn’t sure from what. It was cold outside, certainly, but tonight’s activities kept her warmed. The draining feeling of the corruption taking root – and, perhaps, the shock of her first kills finally setting in – almost overwhelmed her, but there was something different in the way she carried herself right now. She fought an internal battle for control, to not lose herself to the darkness just yet, but that lust for vengeance on those who kidnapped, robbed, and hunted her and Talak was powerful. It was a disgusting, empowering feeling, and she was afraid of it. She could feel Talak’s apprehension and revulsion as well, but she paid no mind to it; it was his fault she had begun down this dark path. That was the lie she told herself.

Her arm extended sideways to him, holding the hilt of the bloodied vibroblade out for him to take. ”You’re better with this than I am,” she remarked coolly, then turned her head to look at him fully, ”And you’re right.” They did need a plan; it was wildly unrealistic for them to relentlessly hunt down every hunter in this place if they barely survived an encounter with six back in the Dune Sea. Stealth was on their side, and they needed a way in this place to – hopefully – find their belongings, as well as secure a ride back to Mos Telfa.

She was certain that they could jack a speeder from this place, but they needed to know how to navigate back to civilization. However, that would come after they had exacted their revenge on this place. It was disgusting what they did here, even by the standards of the Sith Eternal, though there was a great deal of personal bias in this decision. She wanted them to suffer some kind of punishment for their crimes against the cult, so she wanted to do some serious damage. There had to be some kind of fuel depot for their ships… or perhaps they could weaponize the ships reactors and cause a chain of explosions.

Ana glanced at Talak, then back at the compound. ”I… We can figure out how to destroy this place when we’re inside it,” she asserted, feeling the pull to just jump in and start slaughtering. She restrained the beast demanding violence, but it took some effort after tonight’s “fun.” The compound had walls fortifying the outside of it with one great gate as an entrance, but the walls weren’t very high and there were numerous rocks scattered around the outside that one could scale and use to leap over the barrier. A few figures roamed the compound, likely hunters prepping for the next “hunt.”

Giving Talak one last look before nodding her head towards the compound, Ana walked to the edge of the platform and stepped off. Before she hit the ground, she gathered the invisible energies of the Force beneath her to cushion her landing and muffle any noise it might make. She crouched low in the sand and prowled forward in the darkness towards the wall, her eyes scanning the top of it to see if there were patrols or security systems of some kind.

Now they were the hunters.

 

[Talak Rand]

That change in her would haunt him in the days to come. He wondered if he was the monster that others saw him as. If he was the monster he saw himself as. It had driven Trys out, and he wondered if that was because this is who he was meant to be. Maybe it was time he embraced the darkness and accepted the monster that he had always been told he needed to be.

He took the vibroblade as she pushed it toward him and they both dropped into the darkness. His boots hit the ground, and the familiarity of Kashyyyk came rushing back again. This was what it meant to be a legionnaire, and he wasn't sure he could turn his back on his training and his destiny.

He threw his hood up to cover his features because if there were survivors this wasn't something he needed his face identified with. This was more violence inflicted by the Arcanist. His hand gripped the blade tighter, flourishing it quickly through the air to get a feel for its weight. These people deserve it. Look at what they did to you and what they'd do to others, a voice said in his head. He let the darkness swallow him as he turned his attention to the walls.

Everything fell into place as he started moving. He didn't throw a glance over his shoulder to see if Ana would follow him because he already knew the answer. They were of one mind in that moment because they were both thrown fully into the darkness. His feet took him swiftly up a rock face and he leapt with the Force over the wall.

His feet hit the ground and he rolled forward before coming up in a crouch, as graceful as a lothcat. Again, there wasn't any hesitation as he moved forward. There was a craving of black inside him that needed blood, and it would be sated.

The first of the "hunters" they found wasn't lucky. Talak's left hand wrapped up around his mouth and the blade plunged into his back and out his chest. Blood drenched the front of the legionnaire's clothes and he dragged the man to the ground, holding him there until the flailing and spasming stopped.

A weapon, he said, pointing to the vibroblade the man had dropped during the scuffle. Now I have a vibrosword. Ho. Ho. Ho.

He didn't wait for her to grab it as they came up on the hangar. The lights were brighter here, and concealment would be more difficult, but this was their best chance for getting a detonation going.

Are you familiar with cloaking? he asked. It was one of the techniques that perhaps wasn't quite so common among Force users, but it had nearly infinite uses.

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana stalked forward with Talak as they moved through the darkness like twin hunters. The sand shifted beneath their feet as they swiftly pressed on towards the wall completely unnoticed. It was like Kashyyyk again, except this time instead of an anxious, uncertain piece of bait, she was now a callous and determined huntress. The whispers in the back of her mind impelled her onward with murderous intent. With a running start, she followed behind Talak and ran up a rock before leaping clear over the wall with the assistance of the Force.

She mirrored Talak’s roll into a crouch and carried herself forward without pause. They needed to get in and get this foul work over with before those same whispers turned to forceful shouts and took over her mind completely. It needed to be sated, and the realization that all it took was three kills to ignite that bloodlust worried her.

Talak deftly eliminated one of the “hunters” they came across and she scooped up the weapon, not even paying the bloody corpse a second thought as she passed by it en route to the hangar. They halted outside the light for a moment, allowing Talak time to query her on her knowledge of more obscure Force techniques. She’d read about it, of course, but hadn’t tried it in practice. ”Give me a moment,” she requested, then went into the recesses of her mind. She needed the power that the corruption granted her to ease the effort of this task.

It reluctantly ceded control to her as she bent the Force to her will, and, very slowly, began to conceal her physical form. She concentrated on her hatred of these “hunters” and her desire to vanish from sight, and, after a few moments, faded away entirely. Talak would still be able to sense her presence, of course, and he’d notice the faint blur where she stood, but those untrained in the Force and not expecting her would be hard pressed to detect her. She’d need to move a bit more slowly, she imagined, but she would remain concealed.

When the two of them had concealed themselves well enough, she stepped into the light cautiously. Right away she noticed several mechanics and hunters working on different machines or the platforms themselves, each one busy with whatever task they were doing. The hangar was expansive, but there were plenty of places the two Sith Eternal could hide and devise a plan.

She swept forward and skulked behind several crates of spare parts, thus far undetected. A few of the mechanics roamed around here and there between stacks of crates, tool benches, and vehicles, but none of them would see the cultists in their midst. Several fuel canisters sat around the hangar, and she wondered if the two of them could ignite those to create an explosion, but she figured they would need something bigger. She gripped the vibroblade in her hand tightly and panned her gaze around the building, devising a plan. If we blow this place, we can look through the rest of the compound without much issue, she telepathically sent to Talak. Drawing more of the hunters out of the compound’s main building would certainly make infiltration and escape easier, but also put them on high alert.

 

[Talak Rand]

Almost like casting some sort of spell, Talak focused the Force and moved his hand through the air in front of him much the same as one would for a mental trick. He focused on the light around him and the way that he moved and began to fade from vision. It wasn't a simple trick and required no small amount of concentration, but it would get them through the open bits without being spotted.

As they slipped into the hangar, Talak tried to be mindful of not running into Ana. They kept close enough proximity to one another that she was still slightly visible, but in large part only because he was looking. They slipped behind stacks of crates, and Talak let his concentration drop. The last thing he wanted was to wear himself out before any fighting had even started.

He heard Ana's voice echo in his mind, and he nodded almost absentmindedly. He was already considering this entire base with the mind of a killer. The predator's mind. We need an explosion large enough to kill everyone. This base has power. Power means generator. Generator means potential... he thought to himself. But first they would need to get to the generator.

Let's blow it, he whispered quietly in agreement. We can move for the main power generator in the chaos, he said. There were several speeders and ships in the hangar area as well, and he wondered how they had managed to drum up so many people willing to take part in such a horrid game. He noted that many of them were Trandoshan, however, and seemed to recall something about hunting being part of their religion.

Are you any different? he wondered. The Sith Eternal mandated that they were predators of the wider society, and although Talak tried primarily to hunt criminals, most didn't. The realization that he, in many ways, was one of these hunters made him feel revolted. He took a deep breath and tried to think of something else... focus... you have a job to do. Blow this place first, he reminded himself.

He estimated there were no more than 40 or so hunters here, and a single generator could probably kill most of them. The detonation in the hangar alone would likely kill at least 3 or 4, and draw the rest over here.

Talak started moving toward the fuel reserves, slowly and steadily picking each footstep carefully. No one's expecting a counterattack, he noted, watching how the mechanics didn't even look around. Arrogance and false security were powerful tools. Unfortunately, Talak had no explosives to light the fuel, and he didn't want to be standing close enough for a pyrokinetic display. He stopped at the fuel and then glanced to one of the freighters before pointing.

We can set the engines to overload if we can get inside. It'll ignite the fuel and send the whole place up, he said.

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana peered around the stack of boxes at the hangar, eying the many freighters, speeders, and floating platforms the hunters used for their twisted sport. Though many of those in the hangar included such hunts as part of their religion, she viewed the practice as abhorrent – mostly because she was on the receiving end – and wished to stamp it out as soon as she could. She grew weary of constantly being on the defensive in these little games, and now relished the opportunity to give them a taste of their own wicked medicine, so to speak.

A wayward glance forced her back into cover and she nodded a few times in agreement with Talak. Together, they stepped quietly out from their cover and began stalking towards the fuel reserves. Her eyes warily scanned the ground, avoiding any loose debris or tools that would reveal their position. The shadows were sparse, but she took advantage of what few she came across as they crossed the hangar. Invisibility was a unique feeling; she felt exposed, but the light refracted and bent around them, effectively hiding them in plain sight. Of course, she knew where Talak was and he knew where she was, but that was only by virtue of knowing what to look for.

They halted at the fuel before realizing they had no ready means of igniting it. Her eyes followed his finger and stopped on the freighter. She sent a gentle probe into his mind – a simple, silent, telepathic acknowledgement – and began moving towards the target freighter. It was nothing remarkable, but she imagined it had carried its fair share of slaves and hunters over the years. A faint aura of despair could be felt within it, but it only drew her closer. For the most part, reaching the freighter was no issue. Like Talak had noted, the majority of the mechanics were too focused on their own work to even be in a position to notice the two saboteurs.

She snuck up the ship’s ramp carefully, clutching her vibroblade tight. There were voices inside the ship that put her on edge, and she motioned for Talak to move carefully just in case. As she entered the ship, that feeling of despair grew stronger, and it didn’t take long for her to find out the cause for it. In the cargo hold were scores of cages, some big, some small, but most filled with… people. People, just like her and Talak. Some were aliens she’d never seen before while others were humans, just like them. The common denominator among them all, though, was the overwhelming dread and anxiety they shared. These people would be the next targets of the hunt, and it was only a matter of time before their twisted captors came in here to dump them out into the wastes for sport.

”What are they going to do to us?” a small Twi’lek boy asked a human woman in a hushed tone, who shook her head and shrugged. ”I don’t want to know,” was all she replied before turning her worried gaze towards the hold entrance, anxiously anticipating the hunters to come up at any time for the next group of prey. What she didn’t know, though, was that she was staring directly at the two Sith Eternal who had once been part of this horrid game. Ana should have known they weren’t the only prey, and she couldn’t help the intense feeling of revulsion that threatened to overwhelm her right then and there, whispering for her to go out and kill until her body dropped.

Ana halted and looked at Talak, then back at the captured beings. I… she sent into his mind, unsure of what to say or do. On one hand, they needed to blow this place up; on the other, she felt like they needed to save these people. Doing one would make the other almost impossible, and soon she felt true cognitive dissonance. Shit, was the only thing she could really come up with to describe the new predicament.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak wrapped the Force around himself again and followed Ana up the ramp of the ship, and he felt it... that feeling in the Force of being used and abused that had so overcome him on Gamorr that he had launched into a violent and bloody rage.

Kriff, no... he thought to himself again. He couldn't do this again. No here and not now.

But as he made it inside the ship, there was no shutting out the feeling in his soul. The fear and helplessness of the prisoners brought him back to so many other instances he wanted to shut out. He thought of Fancy and the other girls on Gamorr and the horrors they had faced... that he had seen them face. He thought of Trys and what they had intended to do to her on Serenno. He thought of Trys walking away and how utterly confused it had left him, but also the reality that he knew why on some deeper level. Because of what you're about to do here. He thought about Zatara and watching her die in front of him and being able to do nothing about it.

Rage boiled inside of him. The only thing that punctuated the red boiling in his soul were the swirls of black violence that slowly began to consume everything else. Ana would be able to feel it plain as day. With another Force user nearby there was no hiding it.

His grip tightened around the vibroblade until his knuckles turned white. He was vaguely aware of Ana's voice in his head, she was stunned by what she was seeing from these slavers, but Talak had seen it before, and he didn't think his reaction would be any different this time.

No lightning, he reminded himself. The lightsaber was gone, so that wouldn't be an issue.

He slipped further into the ship until they would be out of the line of sight of the prisoners so they wouldn't see a pair of people uncloak in front of them. Ana would hopefully follow, and he turned to her. She would see nothing but emptiness in his eyes, which now glowed a pale amber. There was nothing to see in his soul but violence and hatred.

Forty men. I have backup this time. Still worse odds. Element of surprise. Explosions, ship guns, he thought.

Let them out of their cages. But keep them from running out, he said to Ana as he revealed himself and began looking over the flight controls. This was going to get very messy, and he hoped she would stand with him. If she didn't... then he'd be doing it alone. It was clear in his voice that he had no intention of turning back now.

His eyes scanned out the viewport of the freighter, and Talak had to confront a very primal, terrifying desire: he wanted to kill each and every one of these people at close range. He wanted to watch the life bleed from their eyes, and... he thought he could actually do it.

Quick and quiet, he thought to himself. Five men in here, we kill them before they're ready. Arm the prisoners. Blow the hangar, draw people away, get them in the open... open fire with some sort of heavy weapons... it's not up close, but it could work, he thought to himself as his mouth twisted into a wicked grin.

The hunters indeed.

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana shivered unconsciously as she felt the sudden shift in Talak’s mood upon seeing the caged people. It was a cruel, harsh wave that swept over the two Sith Eternal that threatened to consume them wholly. Taunting whispers rose in an accursed chorus that echoed through her mind, and her hands reflexively clenched tighter and tighter as it pushed beyond the barriers she had erected to prevent its escape, and all of this from just feeling the obscenity tainting Talak’s soul. That it amplified the tantalizing urge roiling inside her to give in unnerved her greatly, but she continued along with her comrade, nonetheless.

The light returned to its natural state around the two of them when they uncloaked, and she grew thankful for the break. A horrible slaughter was on the horizon and she couldn’t afford to be worn out from sneaking around. Her breath caught in her throat when Talak’s eyes – eyes that were once a gentler color – were little more than pale yellow orbs, devoid of anything but malice. Where he was once conflicted, there was no mistaking his intent now; the will of the dark side had won its internal battle for his soul, and there was nothing to pull him back from the brink once he set off on this dark path.

Again, it unnerved her, but her curiosity grew with every moment she stared into those malefic irises.

He busied himself with the ship’s systems and urged her to free the prisoners, which she would happily oblige. While he planned out the coming massacre, she walked back into the cargo hold. A hushed gasp came from the cages – she was unfamiliar, a potential hostile – and she could feel their fear flare up. She drank it in, letting the miasma of their terror be subsumed into the churning red abyss of her soul. A finger slowly rose to her lips as she shushed them, and she rushed forward to begin the laborious process of opening the cages. The prisoners were confused, but, as she moved from cage to cage, they began to understand, and soon they helped with the task of freeing the others.

Before she could command them to halt, one Ithorian slave hustled towards the ship’s exit. Instinctively, she reached out and wrapped him in the cold embrace of the Force, yanking him forcefully back and onto his rear. ”Stay on the ship,” she commanded with a harsh whisper, looking over the newly-freed prisoners, ”For your own safety.” The display of telekinesis stunned them, and soon the murmurs began. ”Who are you?” asked one; ”Are you going to save us?” another questioned; ”We’re all going to die once they find us,” lamented a third. She paid them no mind as she swiftly crossed the cargo hold and closed the exit, locking it from within. If anything, it’d at least stall any mechanics or hunters that decided to check up on the prey.

While the others continued to talk amongst themselves, she turned around, silencing their conversation immediately. ”Stay quiet until we come for you,” she ordered, ”Consider yourselves liberated.”

The whispering started again, but she was already walking back to the cockpit to see Talak. ”Several terrified, hungry slaves,” she remarked, ”Our own little hunting party.” A short chuckle escaped her lips at the absurdity of this night, but her amused ponderance was cut short when she cast a glance at the ship’s many camera feeds. The exterior camera showed two such hunters conversing at the base of the ramp before motioning towards the door. Soon, they began walking up.

”They’re coming,” she warned, eyes turning back to Talak.

 

[Talak Rand]

Talak's breath caught in his throat as he watched the pieces of meat calling themselves hunters move around the hangar. A small piece of him cried out to stop and turn back. To save the prisoners and run. But he couldn't do that. He needed to exact his revenge. His revenge? Was that what this was all about? Simply executing a horrible vengeance for what had been done to him? Had the brutality his master had taught him actually done its job? Did that vindicate the man he so abhorred?

The thought only made him grow angrier, and he wanted nothing more than to lash out. He wanted to lash out at anything that spoke to him or looked at him or entered his presence. Ana was the lucky obvious victim, but whatever minuscule portion of control he still had stayed his hand.

Get some kriffing control, he cursed himself, but another voice was already asking him why. Why give up the power to execute this justice?

Good, was all Talak answered when she said they were coming. He moved toward the exit immediately, knowing she would follow. His darkness was feeding into hers, and they were about to be sated.

Only the hangar, he said. They couldn't afford to leave the hangar before they were ready, but the men in the hangar needed to die.

As the men came up the ramp, things went downhill for them. Talak activated the vibroblade and it slashed across the throat of one. Blood poured out and he grasped at the wound without effect. Talak knew she would kill the other, and he moved on. His movements in this state were always colder and more fluid. Calculated and precise as if this was where he was meant to be.

He ran forward and buried the sword into the back of one of the mechanics, ripping it across his back and severing his spine and both lungs to cut short the cry of agony. But he left him alive. The cruelty of an agonizing death served him right and fed the beast inside.

He charged forward to the next man, swinging down into a vicious two handed strike that cleaved halfway through the man's torso down to his navel. Ana would have the final man, and it was clear that this time she wouldn't be fighting alone against a larger group.

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana turned on her heels and stepped off with Talak, flourishing the blade in her hand. For someone who had never killed anything but beasts until tonight, she was uncharacteristically eager to spill blood. It was the darkness consuming her, she knew, but what rational bit of her mind that hadn’t been overtaken wondered just how far this corruption would take her. Killing monsters today, but what came next? Torturing the innocent? Corrupting others, just as Talak had corrupted her? Plunging worlds into chaos and watching their consumption? There was a galaxy of possibilities, she need only desire to access them.

The huddled and weary prisoners in the hangar followed the two Sith Eternal with their eyes through the gloom of the cargo hold, but their liberators did not spare them even a curt glance. A lust for blood and vengeance guided their actions, and their freeing of the slaves was not some act by benevolent heroes. No, they were freed because the two cultists empathized with their plight and needed bodies for the coming attack, nothing more. Talak might have felt disgust at the slaving, but Ana saw only a means to an end.

With a hiss, the ship’s door opened, and the two hunters came face to face with the callous, amber eyes of their former prey. Talak moved quickly and slashed through the throat of one while Ana moved in tandem with him and plunged her vibroblade deep between his eyes. The weapon carved effortlessly through his skull and brain, mulching the grey matter and turning him off like a light switch. His muscles spasmed and he lost control of his body for a moment before collapsing backwards and sliding down the ramp with a thick trail of blood following after him. Without any further effort, the two pressed on to continue the systematic slaughter of their former captors.

While Talak charged forward, Ana focused on her target. He desperately reached for his pistol, but a heavy toolbox slammed against his leg at the knee, thrown with the Force with murderous intent by the small woman. It bent backwards with an audible crack not unlike a tree branch snapping and he fell to the ground mewling in pain, clutching the broken limb. She cleared the distance quickly, dragging the tip of her blade against the hangar floor to create a shrill shrieking noise designed to terrify the hunter further. Before he could cry out in anything but pain, her blade slashed upwards across his face. In a splatter of skin and teeth, the attack removed most of the target’s face. His eyes popped out and his brain began oozing down his cheek like spilled jelly as she cleaved all the way through, flicking a horrible spray of blood in an arcing path as her blade traveled upward.

Blood poured out of his head like bad wine and she took a moment to behold her work. It was disgusting, and the method with which she killed the man was appalling, but something inside her was immensely pleased with the result. She whipped her head around just in time to witness Talak nearly bisect his man. Internal organs spilled out loosely onto the floor as he slumped to the ground, loosing a torrent of blood and viscera in a massive pool where Talak stood. The stench was horrible, but it was nothing compared to the ghastly sight of the corpses in the hangar.

Her eyes maliciously flicked to the prisoners now standing at the landing ramp who watched their liberators in abject terror. This was a slaughter unlike anything any of them had seen before. She took a step towards them but restrained herself before she did anything she’d regret. The tip of her bloody blade pointed at the prisoners, then swept across the corpses. ”Arm yourselves,” she commanded, ”This is just the beginning.”

 

[Talak Rand]

As quickly as it had begun, the first step was over. The job was finished without any casualties and without any remorse. Talak's mind was still focused on death, but he knew that charging into a battle without a plan had nearly seen him killed last time. Trys had saved him, but in her blood-lusting state, he wasn't sure he could count on Ana for the same. That realization struck him hard: even when he wasn't alone, he felt alone, and it was why he agonized at every moment of his life.

The captives slowly began to make their way out of the ship and picked up the weapons in their arms. It was clear that they didn't know the first thing about using them, and Talak at least wasn't interested in turning them into cannon fodder. He was here to have his cake and eat it too, and if the dark side couldn't let him do that then he had no karking use for it.

You'd better be good for something, because you've caused me nothing but pain so far you useless shabuire,, he told the darkness inside of him. He didn't know how he could be filled with so much indiscriminate hatred, but it was the nature of the dark side.

He glanced quickly around the hangar at what they had available to them. Several ships, and few other ships outside the hangar. That meant they had a monopoly on ships even if they didn't have a monopoly on the speeders.

We should take the ship out, blow the fuel supplies in here, and detonate the hangar. Use the freighter's turrets to clean up the speeders, people coming into the open, and then we can land and finish off the rest, he said. He wanted to kill them closer, but he knew it was foolish. If the dark side was going to serve him, it needed to serve him. This power was worthless if it drove him to his death. He also wasn't interested in any of the innocents being killed.

And I'm going to find the prisoner cages, he said. He had the sense that she wouldn't care about that, but he did. She could get the ship warmed up and the guns and shields charged if she didn't want to help. Or perhaps she still wanted the excuse to cut a bloody swath through whoever they might find.

 

[Ana DAmico]

Ana realized her vibrosword was still purring in her hand so she thumbed its switch and turned it off. Whatever blood remained on it oozed down the length of the blade and trickled slowly onto the ground. Her eyes narrowed as the captives nervously collected weapons, and it was apparent they had no idea how to use them. With a sigh, she looked at Talak, then back at the prisoners. ”When you’ve a weapon,” she announced, ”Get back on the ship. You’re not fighters, but you can keep yourselves safe with those.” A few murmured in response as they poked through the carnage, carefully picking up whatever bludgeon, blaster, or blade they could find. The braver ones looted the hunters themselves while the rest notably remained back, apprehensive of approaching the gory corpses, which she didn’t fault them for.

While Talak spoke, she took stock of the situation. They indeed had many ships, but few speeders, and the compound was not particularly expansive. Her head nodded in agreement with his plan; it was the best they had, and the ship cannons gave them a marked advantage over the small arms that the hunters might have. Few things likely could cause significant damage to the ship once it began opening fire, and the chaos of the attack would allow them to move unimpeded throughout the compound. The only issue was what they would do with the captives.

”Can any of you fly a ship?” she queried the captives, who generally milled about the base of the ramp. A few looked at her quizzically until an older man stepped forward and raised a gnarled hand. ”Aye,” he said with a voice that sounded like gravel run through a blender, ”I’ve flown most me life.” Ana nodded curtly, then looked at the others. ”Can you teach them how to fire the cannons? Enough to blow this hangar and take out the hunters who come outside?” she asked, to which the man stared up at the sky, then looked at the other captives, pondering the possibility. His head slowly rose, then fell, and he repeated this gesture until it became a quick nod. ”Aye… Could prob’ly show’m how ta shoot. Won’t be very accurate, but it’ll make a ruckus.” She waved her hand dismissively and they began filing back into the freighter, uncertain but glad they had some part to play.

Her head turned to Talak and the corners of her lips curled slightly upwards in a faint smile. ”A ruckus is good enough,” she said, and then stepped towards Talak, ”I’m coming with you.” Though the whispers in her head told her to ignore the meat shields they liberated, she still had a sense of humanity that battled with that corruption in her soul. She was once a captive, much like these whelps, and they had done nothing to deserve this fate other than be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She empathized, and, though the taint in her mind told her to ignore them, she still felt an obligation to assist in some way, and the allure of exacting vengeance on more hunters satisfied the beast.

When he had finished his preparations, she stepped out into the darkness once again. The outside of the compound was still relatively quiet, and it looked like few people were curious enough to examine the hangar’s silence. She kept in a low crouch and moved with haste towards one of the entrances. Using a door was obvious, but there were several other avenues of entrance – a vent just around the corner, a window high above that vent, and a small staircase leading up to a side door of some kind. Muffled sounds of conversation could be heard nearby this main entrance, and she quickly decided what their best way in might be.

She swept around the corner and began moving towards the staircase. The vent would leave an obvious sign of their infiltration, and the window might deposit them in the midst of that very conversation. This side door, while not ideal, might get them in unnoticed.