Clashing Echoes {Closed, Khivas, Yusanis}

[Khivas]

Nar Shaddaa, At the Peak Of The Nightlife High,


The grimy streets of the pleasure-city planet of Nar Shaddaa remained unchanged in it's eons of existences. Hundred Thousand years before, hundred thousand since, and it will always be a planet built upon the precedent of a place where a gambler can lose all his money, a warlord can take over anything they set their eyes on, a playboy can get his dick wet, and the Hutts ruled over all, a vicious food chain that would be adhered for all time. No Jedi, Sith, Rebel or Imperial, could ever hope to touch that chain, disrupt the flow, but that didn't stop some from trying to do just that.

Word had reached the Jedi and Rebels that there was a small band of Force Sensitives found on Cartel world, and that the Hutts had sent out a call to the big two Force Users in the Galaxy to come and get them, that whoever paid the most would get them. Knowing damn well the Sith would jump on that opportunity like a Rancor to a fresh kill, the Jedi also sent their own representatives to attend this little auction, but they knew damn well that there was no way they could actually outbid the Sith, not with the Rebellion and the Jedi both still technically forming properly into their own true resistance government.

That said, the Jedi's plan was to have a single Jedi head down to where the small group is being held and bust them out, then get them to a ship and the hell off the planet before anybody could notice, using the Auction as a ploy for time to give the Jedi time to smuggle the kids out. In this case, the lone Jedi is none other than Khivas, and as his Jedi and Rebel cohorts did their job to talk to the Sith and the Hutts, he would rummage about the underbelly of the facility and find out where the Force Sensitives were, free them, and get them out of the building, onto his ship, and get the hell off of Nar Shaddaa. "Yea...Shouldn't be too hard, not at all." Khivas would say to himself upon learning what his role was to be in all this.

Of course, Khivas was prepared for whatever may come his way, after all it was only common sense to figure that the Sith knew damn well that the Jedi did not have the financial backing to actually beat the Sith in the Auction, and that they too would probably send their own team down to scour the system and steal the kids away themselves.

With this knowledge, Khivas hurried with great haste and wasted little time in locating the whereabouts of the Force Sensitive captives, a matter easily resolved with a few "interrogations" of the Hutt's private forces, and soon enough with some select infiltration, he was inside the facility beneath the Auction House where the contest of billfolds was being held, sneaking his way past the enemy guards to where his target was being held. After a few moments of this, one of the many hallways he had traversed opened up to a large underground supply depot of some sort. Only two entrances and exits existed in the place, the first being the one Khivas stood in, and the other was at the opposite end of the room, and beyond a presence, someone who was also adept with the Force approaching him and rather quickly. "Guess my hunch was right after all." Khivas said as he disappeared into the shadows and donned his helmet, preparing for the possibility of having to do battle with a Sith.

 

[Pyromaniac]

Yusanis was deathly calm on the outside for a former Hutt slave about to go to a Hutt controlled system to break out a few people who were being sold in auction. Yes, the Imperium wanted these children as they were Force-Sensitive and would make fine assets to the Sith Order, if trained properly, but that's not the only reason why Yusanis wanted to do this mission. He hated the Hutts with a passion, he hated slavery- sex trafficking, captives forced to serve, or those born into the life- he hated it all. Yusanis had been born a slave, without family and forced to serve his master or be fed to the gundarks the Hutt kept as pets.

So naturally, when the mission came up to free these slaves and ensure that the Jedi could not take them, he was the first to volunteer. The Sith was gearing up before the convoy that was to be sent to the auction even knew he was coming. Deep down, as long as the slaves were free, he would have some manner of satisfaction- for with either the Sith or Jedi, they would learn how to fight and prove their strength. Why he wanted them for the Imperium was purely because that was the mission's objective, not just freeing them.

While the Imperials spoke with the Hutts and the other bidders, he was away and searching. The few men he found, he broke until they told him what he wanted, before ending their lives. It didn't take as long as he feared, and soon he was under the facility that would house the auction, making his way towards where they were being held. As he went a steady pace, he felt something- a presence in the Force.

A Jedi.

He figured they would try this tactic. They didn't have the funding to outbid the Imperium, and so a jail break was the most logical solution- even if it could cause problems down the road. Yusanis picked up the pace, gripping both lightsabers in his hands as he did. The doors opened, and revealed the presence he had felt. A jedi, indeed. The Sith ignited both of his lightsabers, the one in his right hand being purple while the left was red- thanks to his recent search for a new crystal.

Yusanis kept his blades pointing down, in front of him, and chuckled. He was in full gear, helmet included, and ready to fight. "I thought this would happen."

 

[Khivas]

"He knows I'm here..." Khivas thought to himself, an obvious inquiry as the Force was real good at letting others who knew how to use it know that there were other people who also knew how to use it nearby. What it wasn't so good at was exact pinpointing, and for now that fact would be Khivas' best tool in the coming moments.

Sticking to the shadows, Khivas would bound and quietly move from one shadow to the next, being sure to remain as stealthy as possible while doing so, kept an eye on his opponent. He was tall, but not taller than himself, and he was of a similar body build to Khivas as well, and like him, clad in combat armor. Unlike him however, Khivas could see that his opponent didn't possess nearly as much battle tech as he did, and that his fighting style relied on the use of two lightsabers as opposed to just one, meaning Khivas would be pressed to fight more warily if he came to blows with this man.

Alas, a Jedi should try to avoid the fight if necessary, after all so much violent fighting is bad for the psyche, right? That, and the fact that the mission here at hand was to rescue and smuggle a bunch of kids out, and that job would become infinitely easier if Khivas didn't have a battalion of gangsters to fight, all alerted that there was a problem thanks to him and a Sith fighting deep underneath their auction house. With that thought in mind, Khivas found a safe, shady spot in which he could hide and spoke outward, his voice filling the entire room as to avoid him being pinpointed easily.

"Stand down," He said, "I don't want to fight you, hell I don't want to fight anybody today. Just wanna get what I came here for then get out. Consider this your warning."

 

[Pyromaniac]

Yusanis kept his weapons active and reached out with his senses. The Jedi was trying to hide, and so the Sith kept tracking him like a predator, not wishing to let the enemy get the drop on him. They were in the supply depot, and he smiled. There were large amounts of unused blaster rifles, ammunition, fuel cells, bits of armor, spice, etc., all over this room. Most of the dangerous items, like the fuel cells and ammunition, were in magnetically sealed containers. He supposed that as organized crime lords, the Hutts needed to keep these things in stock. It appeared that much was stored on racks, in crates, and even large steel cargo containers to transport large quantities these goods for whatever reason. Yusanis began to reach out with the Force, slowly creating a grip on a steel, magnetically sealed crate filled with spice while also keeping tabs on the stealthy Jedi.

"Stand down," the Jedi said, "I don't want to fight you, hell I don't want to fight anybody today. Just wanna get what I came here for then get out. Consider this your warning."

Yusanis returned to his stance from before, and reached out with his senses once more, finding the life of the Jedi within the room. Hiding would do him little good as long as Yusanis kept actively sensing his presence. "Sadly, Jedi, I have no intention of letting you taking what you came here for. My orders are to keep them out of Jedi hands, and that's what I'm going to do. It appears that either we fight, or you run away, because I'm not backing down."

There was not as much light as Yusanis would have hoped, and in addition to the large amounts of cargo and general supplies, shadows were cast everywhere. Not all would be good for sneak attacks, he noted, as they simply were not dark enough, but others were- those closest to the enormous steel containers, and the corners of the room. He supposed this is where the goods, ready for transportation, sat and waited before being loaded up. No one was here right now, all was quiet except for him and the Jedi. There were areas with less clutter, the main walkway that led straight through the room from one exit to the other, and the are in front of the sealed doors that led to the large loading bay where these goods were taken to be put on the freighters.

Yusanis kept these things in mind, and looked up. Above them were large steel beams that ran along the ceiling and lights built into said ceiling. He had an idea for later about these things, but saved it, focusing still on the Jedi's life energy and the telekinetic grip he had on the crate about three feet to his right.

"I've never faced a Jedi before... this will be fun. Or are you scared?" Lifting the crate with the Force, Yusanis chucked it straight for where he felt the Jedi's energy. He doubted it would hit, but he wanted the Jedi to move- wanted him to get open himself open to attack. The crate would sail over the masses of supplies, just below the steel beams in an arch.

 

[Khivas]

When Khivas saw the giant box flying at him, he knew this mission would no longer be about stealth, quietness, or fighting off a whole bunch of angry Hutt gangsters. "Typical!" He exclaimed as he dashed away and avoided the falling crates that were thrown at him. With non-violence as an option taken off the table, Khivas had to place his mind fully into the fight to end it as quickly as possible as to avoid the massive heap of trouble that would soon be on their way to investigate what made such a massive crash in their cargo holds.

After he dashed out of the path of the projectile, Khivas reached for his sidearm and loosened the holster on it, allowing for a quickdraw later on, and with his lightsaber in his hand, he dashed again in the direction of his opponent, brandishing the bright green blade and brought it crashing onto his enemy in a brilliant sideways slash, aiming to tear open his opponents chest.

 

[Pyromaniac]

Yusanis heard the crash, and watched the Jedi leave his hiding spot. Grinning under his helmet, he waited for the Jedi, making sure he was ready to move when the time came. The Jedi came in with a strong, sideways attack. Yusanis saw this, and made a mental note of his opponent's gear. It appeared that like him, this opponent wasn't a traditional member of his respective Order.

The Acolyte brought up his left, red lightsaber at an angle, so when the green blade his his own it would go up the length of his weapon for a split second before Yusanis pushed up with his arm, to knock his opponent's weapon up. He then called upon the Force, and gathered it in his right hand. Purple bladed weapon in hand, he reached out with a Force Push. It wouldn't send his opponent flying to the other side of the room, but he thought it would be powerful enough to make him stumble back a step or two.

Yusanis brought his left blade around in a similar sideways strike, taking a single step forward to try and increase his reach. His kept his right blade close to his body, just in case he needed the defense, though it would be awkward in this position.

 

[Khivas]

As his saber clashed and met with his enemy's weapon, his opponent attempted to retaliate using deflecting push back, letting Khivas' blade slide up as if it was a parry before pushing it outward to try and create an opening to attack. However this Sith was a bit more combat apt than others, and reached out with the Force and pushed Khivas back with a decently powered Force Push.

Instead of resisting completely however, Khivas took the hit and let it roll off of him, letting himself get lifted in the air and spun about, feeling the force of impact but not the pain and damage that went with it, and was very ready for the obvious follow up tactic in that technique, blocking the enemy's strike and spinning the blade around, feeling the flow of the battle through his own arms as Khivas slid his right leg forward while at the same time twirling his blade about to clockwise to parry the enemy's lightsaber, using their own force and momentum to carry it away from him and force his opponent's left arm to go in front of their chest, and in an attempt at disarming, quite literally, his opponent, Khivas would finish the twirl of his weapon and bring it downward in a singular straight vertical slash, hoping the blow would connect.

 

[Pyromaniac]

Yusanis watched his opponent's bladework carefully, and no doubt thanks to the training he undertook, he had a feeling where this particular disarming move was heading. Deactivating his purple blade, raising the weapon, only to activate it so the two blades would collide before his opponent could slice off his arm.

The Sith pushed the enemy's blade, hoping to knock it away to leave an opening. With that opening, Yusanis would use his left arm's current position to swing in an arc, to target his opponent's stomach once again. A simply move, a risky one nonetheless, but it was what he saw to do at the time.

 

[Khivas]

The Sith was adept to a point with fighting using two weapons, but Khivas could tell by the way he moved that there was some left to be desired by his footwork. After all, footwork is the foundation of everything, and why Shii-Cho, while beautifully simple, is often not utilized once other forms are learned because of it's lack of footwork. So many forms were similar in many ways, but the singular focus of them differed not so much in the way the saber moved exactly, but rather the footwork required to make the saber move.

For instance, Ataru required a user to bounce around and acrobatic, using their movements to force their lightsaber to dance and wreak havoc on an enemy, while Soresu required a Jedi be grounded and focused, using their steps and legwork to move their body in a much tighter fashion to maximize defense. Khivas preferred Form V, Shien/Djem So, two edges on the same sword. This form required moderate footwork, but nothing too intense, such as Ataru or Juyo, which did not agree with Khivas and his preference for wearing armor, but Shien/Djem So, that was all his. A true combat form through and through, it served well against both blasters and swords equally, Khivas, while more or less informally trained, had over a decade to hone his skills in it, allowing him to at the very least feign mastery in the form, and he was quite good using it.

As the Sith came in and knocked away Khivas' blade, Khivas could see as plain as day what was coming next, hell it was a move he had employed on multiple occasions. Deactivate, reactivate, push away to make an opening, come in swinging. Admirable, but not enough in this case. Khivas would let his opponent hit his blade, but instead of giving in to the resistance, he would use the momentum to swing him around and spin inward, avoid the blades entirely, letting the arm that was swinging crash down into his body and from there Khivas could kill the man, but he wanted to give him one last chance to get out alive. That and any death throes could still reach and kill Khivas as well, so instead of a thrust or upwards slash, Khivas simply unloaded with a strong Force Push and sent the warrior flying.

As the Sith recovered, Khivas stood his ground and spoke out to him once more. "You don't have to do this you know, you can just turn around and leave and say there was nobody here or something. They'd never really know."

 

[Pyromaniac]

Yusanis knew that maneuver had been a mistake. This warrior was obviously more experienced with lightsaber combat than he, and so when he spun inwards, Yusanis knew he had screwed up. The warrior, rather than killing him, had Pushed him away, sending Yusanis flying backwards. Deactivating his weapons, he landed on all fours like a cat, on his toes and hands before pushing himself up.

He activated his two weapons again, and took a simple stance- one meant as a false opening, with both blades pointing towards the floor. When the Jedi spoke, it was a noble thing- but fell on deaf ears. Yusanis chuckled a bit, letting it carry like a haunting echo to the Jedi before he responded.

"You know full well I cannot do that. Mandalorians taught me never to run, unless you cannot hope to win. Right now, I still can hope to win, even if you granted me a bit of mercy. I cannot say I would do the same, Jedi."

Yusanis kept his gaze and body facing the Jedi, but reached out with the Force, focusing on another magnetically sealed crate to the Jedi's left. He had to grip it slowly, as his own telekinesis was not mastered, despite Darth Somnus's lesson.

"What is your name, Jedi?" Yusanis would ask this and wait for an answer, before he yanked the crate to fly at the Jedi. It was close enough to catch him by surprise, but also not able to gain much momentum. A distraction. Yusanis would run forward, call for a single weak Force Push to make the Jedi stumble, or hope to, before turning his left blade close to his body for a bit of defense, while his right blade came in a close swing at the Jedi's thigh.

He hoped his blade could stop a physical counter attack, but he would have to see.

 

[Khivas]

"No, you can't." Replied Khivas, his words directly addressing his opponent and their unwillingness to simply move on from this fight. "Mandalorian..." He thought to himself, noting that sadly some Mandalorians did indeed get swept in having to serve and alongside the Imperium as Sith Warriors, a crying shame really, such a proud race being reduced to what they were now, some of them being enslaved by the Darkside and it's whims.

When the Sith asked for Khivas' name, he decided at that point in time to not deliver on it, as his face was already hidden, why bother revealing the name. Instead, he went to the use of his call-sign. "You can call me Sentinel for now, I don't like giving my name when rude people ask me out, gotta have standards you know." Which must have been the wrong answer to the request, because no sooner had he said it did a box come flying out at him, hitting Khivas square on his right, and being followed up with a Force Push, with shame now running through Khivas for falling for such a simple trick. "Ah, crud!" He thought to himself as he saw the Sith now charging at him, and he knew he had very little time to act if he wanted to remain in one piece.

As he fell backwards from the suddenly loss of footing, Khivas chose to continue with his descent to the ground, but instead of simply going down like an easy mark, he would pull out his Maverick Hunter in the left hand, and with a slip of the finger, the blaster went from standard mode to scatterer, and as the Sith closed in, Khivas reared up, and in pulling the trigger unleashed a wave of red hot fire, a dozen bolts screaming for his target, the scatterblaster being used in this case as a means to knock his enemy back (although he'd gladly take ending the fight as an outcome as well), the bolts landing and burning up his armor, with the force of the blow knocking him back, allowing for Khivas to get up and regain his footing, and more importantly to get the hell out of this room before the cartel's goons showed up.

 

[Pyromaniac]

Yusanis's attack was almost flawless. Some part of him felt pride that a plan of his actually worked- until the scatter blast came. When it hit, it sent him flying on to his back, skidding to a halt as the energy burnt through parts of his armor. He quickly got to his feet, and put some distance between him and the Jedi. Last thing he wanted was to be caught while he was down. That blaster had quite the punch, Yusanis had to admit, for the force of it alone stole his breath away. Not the mention the fact that his armor was not hot in places, just about enough to make him yelp from it.

Trying to stay calm, his eyes scanned his surroundings. He had expected a counter attack. When the he saw the Jedi running, he actually stopped and watched for a second before realizing what was going on. "H-Hey, wait!" He called, unsure of what the hell just happened.

He heard commotion from outside the room, people coming- he could feel them through the Force. Maybe that's why the Jedi was running? Either way, Yusanis was trying to catch his breath and not his chest hurt like hell, not to mention the strain the battle put on his body.

Doing his best, he ran after the Jedi. Not in a threatening way, but because the commotion was coming from the door the Sith had come through. If the Hutts saw him here, shit would hit the fan faster than a pod racer in first place.

He deactivated his weapons, put one away, and drew his blaster pistol in his left hand- a standard, simple thing but accurate and reliable. He chased after the Jedi, hoping he knew a place to escape this room.

 

[Khivas]

People were coming, a lot of people, and now with a blaster discharge echoing in the halls, they'd be coming with more people and with bigger guns. "Well, time to go!" Khivas thought to himself as he turned a one-eighty and bolted straight out the door in a dead sprint. On his way out he fired a taser bolt into the second door in the hallway to make sure it would close behind him, giving him breathing room between him and the Sith Acolyte.

The targets were nearby, he could feel it by now but any effort Khivas made in rescuing these guys would now be hampered by the Cartel soldiers now filling the facility, the goons all seeking to find the source of the disturbance and more than likely turn them to ash, something Khivas was not keen on having done to him right about now. Turning corners and sprinting down more hallways, the sensation within the Force grew stronger and stronger until a singular, lone door called out to his attention, the feeling gripping and pulling him towards it. "This must be it..." He thought, peering at the unmarked, steel-gray door, it's stature betraying it's size. For something so small, it felt so incredibly large, daunting even.

Pulling up his left gauntlet, Khivas plugged himself into the door's security panel, and in a short moment sliced away at the locks and started the opening process for the door. After a long hiss and release of the restraining bolts, the door slid open, revealing the room beyond. It was cramped in a sense, but not for it being small or unaccommodating, but rather because it had been fully furnished and the three targets living inside were made to live somewhat comfortably, a surprise considering who the captors were. Stepping inside the room slowly, Khivas peered around and reached out with his senses, doing his best to pinpoint them and find where they were, and after a moment of searching, he was drawn to a corner in the room, his eyes picking up on the three huddled masses within it. "It's ok, my name is Khivas, a Jedi. I'm here to rescue you guys. Come on out now, I won't hurt ya." Khivas gently said, taking a knee and holding out his hand to them.

The first few seconds were ones spent in apprehension, but soon enough the oldest of the three, a Twi-lek no older than thirteen stepped out and looked Khivas straight into his face, two younger children clinging to him, another boy and a girl, both around age eight, the second boy being Human and the girl a Chiss. Slowly but surely they all came out of the shadows, and it was clear as day they all were Force Sensitive, and while they had been treated well, they were still scared to be here, and even more frightened for their future.

The oldest boy questioned Khivas, questioned his intentions and whether or not he really was a Jedi, to which Khivas used a showing of his green "Peacekeeper's Blade" and a simple phrase of "If I was a Sith baddie, I'd just be dragging you away silly! Besides how many bad guys do you see with green laserswords, hm?"

The display was enough to convince them apparently, as the oldest told the younger two to trust him, and in turn Khivas, with their well being, deciding to follow him out to safety. After this, it wouldn't be long until Khivas reached the facility's private spaceport, and with it, The Mirado, smuggled in as just another simple freighter filled with illegal merchandise. Tis a shame this local Cartel paid Khivas for a hundred kilos of simple black powder, and not actual spice. "Getting paid AND saving kids, all in a good say's work. Come on guys, there's a ship in here with my name on it, and a Rebel ship in orbit meant just for you guys, but we gotta be quick, ok? You, Oldest, do you know how to start up a ship?" Khivas asked the leader of the children.

"Yes, yes I do." He replied.

"Good. You see that one over there? With the red and black? The Mirado? Head for it, I'll distract all the guards and the bad guys chasing us, you prep the ship. My droid will help you." He ordered, and with a nod, the kids were off to the ship as Khivas was off to dispatch the guards who had now found Khivas hanging out with their boss' special cargo, and in no time each one was a blacked out fool on the ground, a few them sadly missing limbs, but still alive. "Now get out!" He yelled to them, ordering those who could still move to clear the field.

Sadly, as Khivas was readying to leave, his senses tripped again, and this time, behind him stood the Sith Warrior, ready for round two. "Wyatt, get that ship prepped faster, I'll handle this." Khivas said over his comms to his droid, getting a reply filled with dry wit and blatant disgust. "Oh yes, certainly master, leave the floaty one with the little meatbags. They won't be a bother at all."

"Thanks Wyatt." Replied Khivas, his patience thin and sarcasm thick.

Drawing his lightsaber back out, Khivas stood his ground and took up a stance, knowing that this battle would come to a head within the next moments.

 

[Pyromaniac]

To say Yusanis was angry was an understatement. He got through the first door, but the second one was locked by the Jedi before he could get through. Yusanis beat on the metal surface once with his fist before he saw a second hall leading from this one. He took it, running in a dead sprint. He had to find the Jedi and keep the Force-Sensitives out of his grasp, or all was lost.

Twisting and turning in the halls, dodging the sights of Hutt goons, and even having to hide in a sanitation closet once- these things annoyed and delayed the Zabrak Sith. He felt the Jedi in the distance, and he could feel the Force among three others around him. So, he had reached them... Yusanis was angry that he had been held up by a single, stupid door.

He ran by the room, and found the injured men. Some were knocked out, others were more... damaged. Yusanis smiled. Taking his helmet off enough to speak without the voice alteration system, he yelled, "A Jedi! A Jedi stole the brats!" Replacing it on his head, he resumed his course. This would, hopefully, give a reason to a few of the Hutts that dealing with the Rebellion, or Jedi, was not as worthwhile if they just stole their merchandise.

The Sith called on the Force to speed up his movements, and ran with all haste after the Jedi and the cargo. When he reached them, he put away his blaster once again and donned both lightsabers, keeping them ready. The Jedi was just outside a ship, one Yusanis assumed was the Sentinal's, and he could feel the cargo within, readying to escape.

Yusanis laughed. This had not gone according to plan, at all, for either side. He hoped that someone relayed the information about the stolen cargo, and with his yelling, he hoped they put two and two together enough for the Imperial ship in orbit to hopefully intervene in some way, most likely to attack the Rebel ship with the Hutt's permission. If not, this was going to be very difficult.

"There is little I can do at this point, I see. If I don't end you here and now, the Jedi may very well get the Force Sensitives. A pity, really... with their fear and anger, they would have made fine Sith."

Yusanis waited, keeping both weapons pointed down, though neither were activated yet.

 

[Khivas]

The Sith had caught up in a rather timely fashion, no doubt due to his affinity with the Force and a strict training regimen. Or perhaps he was just lucky. Either way, he was here now, directly in front of Khivas and was ready to throw down.

Then came the yelling.

And more specifically, him trying to pin the blame on the Jedi Order and the Rebels for this farce, which would work in the short term until the cartel realized that there is this thing called security holos, but Khivas wasn't about to mention that part to him. He was however going to raise his saber into the air, say a few choice words of dialogue, then charge headlong into the fray against an opponent that was very eager to turn him into a red smear on the walls.

"It's odd really." He started, "Where you Sith find Fear and Anger, I like to think of it as Caution and Determination." Reaching behind his back into one of his pouches, Khivas' HUD started an estimate on when his ship would be ready to leave. "Five minutes....No problem." He thought to himself as he bought his hand forward again and threw a small item at his opponent, a bit of a distraction to throw his opponent off. The item in question was a small canister like object, light grey with a thin blue line in the mid section, a Flashbang. After the initial bright flash and deafening bang, Khivas would charge in, his lightsaber at the ready, his aim to unleash a powerful over-the-shoulder slash to disarm his opponent, literally.