First Steps

[The Eternal (Vex)]

Watching Siris remove the Jedi from the trap, crashing through a building, Ruelle couldn't help but stare for a handful of heartbeats. Siris' power was clearly great. She wondered if perhaps she needed to follow him or another exile to learn from them and strive towards that kind of power.

Was losing her father truly that detrimental to her progression?

Shaking her head out of the thoughts she decided to go a different route since the group didn't need to be wiped out so quickly. Instead she leaped down behind two of them, using the Force to slow her fall so she didn't make a noise once she hit the ground. As soon as she hit the ground she summoned her lightsabers to her hand and ignited them into the men's backs, while they were distracted by the speed their Jedi friend had been removed from the field.

The other two men's attention was drawn Ruelle's way. Both fired at her, but with two lightsabers she was able to deflect most of them, dodging the rest as she ran forward at full speed to the pair. They dropped their blasters to the ground frantically to pull out viobroswords and tried to gang up on her. Ruelle found herself playing it more defensive fighting two at the same time in melee, so once she had the power saved up she sent one flying into the nearby wall. He grunted, dazed and pained. But it wouldn't take him out long; it would only buy her some time to possibly cut down remaining man.

 

[Siris Drast]

The Jedi let out a yell of pain before turning around instantly with his weapon aimed at the Exile again. "You will not win." Siris stared at the man with something predatory in his gaze, circling the man as he twirled his sabers before launching himself forward. He brought one blade from above and the other from the Jedi's right, wanting to cleave him in half as the Jedi dodged the first strike with a simple side step and bringing his blade up to his side to block the second. The Jedi then barged his shoulder right into Siris' chest, forcing him to back up as the Jedi went on a flurry of strikes while he was off balanced. Despite this, Siris kept his calm, tilting his head back or ducking under each strike from the Jedi as it would only pass through the air. One managed to clip him on the collarbone and he let out a growl to show it. The Jedi was wasting energy and it was clearly visible with the man's chest rising and falling rapidly, sweat trickling down his face.

After another unsuccessful strike, the man practically fell against Siris and the Exile placed a hand on his chest before simply pushing back and putting distance between the two of them once more. Launching a kick into the man's stomach, he bent over as the air escaped from his lungs and Siris shot a hard knee right into his cheek, sending him back and crashing to the floor with a roll before the Jedi got up once and stumbled back into a wall for support. Siris didn't waste another second, leaping forward and plunging his blade where the Jedi's head was before he ducked and dived out of the way. The Jedi stood back up with his blade once more at the ready as Siris brought his gaze over to him, slowly walking towards him as he dragged his blade through the wall before yanking it out and having another clash of the blows with the warrior.

The Jedi was simply just too tired and Siris wasn't, putting another pitiful attempt at a slash before the Exile just took a step backward to dodge it and launched a blast of force energy directly into the Jedi. He flew through the wall and back into the alley, the brick wall he came out of exploding in dust and pieces before he crashed hard into the wall nearby one of the ambushers that Ruelle took out. Siris stepped through the hole, the two left now had no clue what to do with their best weapon currently on the ground and clearly defeated.

 

[The Eternal (Vex)]

Dust, bricks and and blur of color flew by, smashing violently into another wall and echoing in the young exile's ears. But Ruelle barely paid attention to the commotion behind her, sensing that it was the tired Jedi. She knew there was no immediate danger to her besides the pair she was fighting. On the other hand, the two she was fighting did shift their attention to gaze at their broken friend in terror. A mistake which Ruelle naturally took advantage of.

The one she was fighting stopped for the briefest of seconds in his shock, and Ruelle moved quickly right then, arcing one of her blades to slice the man clean in half through the upper torso. The smell of burnt flesh hit her nose even before the man hit the ground, something she also choose to mostly ignore in order to imminently swing around and face the last remaining man; the one that she had slammed into the wall earlier.

He was getting up to attack her, but she had the advantage; she only had to make one swift, fluid movement to cut off his hand that held onto his sword. A high pitched yelp fell from his twisted lips as the limb came off. Ruelle drew from his pain, drew from his despair and hopelessness to reach out with the Force and wrap it tightly around him like a snake around it's prey. She wanted to squeeze him more. So much more. Squeeze the life out of him, but she resisted after remembering the painful lesson Siris had taught her earlier.

She lifted him off the ground—up into the air. His attempts to scream for help stifled by the pressure of the Force that wrapped around his chest. Ruelle swung around on her heels, waited for Siris to come out of the building before placing the man at Siris' feet. She chose not to interrogate him herself. Not this time, because she wanted to see how Siris did it. When she placed the man at Siris' feet Ruelle went down on one knee, bowing her head to show respect as she had in the past to her father.

Even though Siris had hurt her, even though he had called her weak and reckless, she didn't care. She didn't care a single bit. The pain he had inflicted on her had only fueled her. Perhaps Siris wouldn't care either... wouldn't care that she bowed, but she wanted to be able to wield the power he wielded one day. She couldn't deny that. But she didn't want it to lead or rule like many who walked the path of the dark side did. She didn't want to become rich either, no, the only reason she craved more power for was to do her job more effectively. Her job was her life; it was true in more than one way.

 

[Siris Drast]

Siris stepped out from the hole the Jedi created after he crashed through the wall, watching Ruelle go to work on the two men outside. She quickly took care of the first and Siris could feel the emotions inside the Exile swirl as she faced the second. He saw start to choke the life out of the target but before she could kill him, she eased up and brought him over to Siris. The Exile Master deactivated his lightsabers, sliding them both onto his belt as the man was dropped in front of him. So she was learning, Ruelle wasn't completely helpless then. Siris didn't recognize her when she bowed to him, having lived in practically the ghetto his entire life and not used to the aspect of people bowing before him.

While he respected that Ruelle managed to control herself, Siris wasn't looking to question one of the ambushers but the Jedi himself. Stepping over the body of the man, Siris did a quick flick of his wrist and the man's neck instantly snapped and gave him a quick death. The Jedi that was thrown through the wall slowly stood up, using the wall for support before pulling his lightsaber out with hand and aimed it at Siris. He was in a bad condition, breathing heavily and trying to fill his lungs with oxygen as sweat, grime, and blood covered the Jedi's face. When Siris was close enough to him he finally reacted, swinging his blade in a wide arc towards Siris with a yell. The Exile easily caught his wrist, stopping the blade mid-travel before his other hand launched and gripped the Jedi's throat, closing his airways shut as the Jedi started slapping his wrist in a pitiful attempt to stop it.

Siris gripped harder on the Jedi's wrist, twisting it slowly as Ruelle could see the blade wobble for a moment before it clattered onto the pavement. With his hand still on the Jedi's throat, he started bending the man backward as the veins in his neck and forehead were bulging. "Who is Pem?" Siris asked menacingly before kicking the man's feet from under him and letting go of his wrist and throat. The Jedi fell hard onto his back and Siris slammed his foot right on his chest, keeping it planted there as he waited for the Jedi to answer. But they didn't have to wait much longer when the sound of another lightsaber was activated behind them, a Jedi Knight, his blue saber illuminating the alley. The Jedi that Siris had begun to interrogate looked at the newcomer, "Run!" He gave a sharp kick right on the Jedi's nose before turning to the knight, "Pem?" Siris asked with a tilt of his head.

The Knight glanced between the two Exiles before focusing on Siris, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his weapon. "I'm not afraid of you Exile." As Siris stepped closer he chuckled softly, "You should be." The Knight didn't heed his warning, swinging his blade multiple times in a flurry of attacks. Siris didn't even flinch, his lightsabers still deactivated as he dodged every strike, either leaning out the way, ducking or spinning away from each one. The Knight was starting to get flustered and his lack of experience was showing throwing more wild strikes at the Exile and just banking on blind luck to hit him. Siris practically played with his target, dodging each strike gracefully before activating one of his blades and giving the Knight a simple cut after each miss. He would find one across his back, front, shoulder, arm, legs, everywhere. By the time Siris was finished, the young Knight could barely stand and he collapsed onto a knee with a grunt. "No," The Jedi master said with a grunt, clearly saddened by the sight of the Knight.