The Battle of Naboo: The Long Hunt

[Pureblood-Sin]

Watching the Stormtrooper begin to flee before his onslaught, Ahrvazhdi pulled a dagger from its pouch; proceeding to channel the Force through his hand, he let the blade fly at an enhanced speed. Whistling through the air for a few seconds before piercing the Human in the back; he fell onto his stomach in with a melding of a long clatter and thud. Intriguingly, the Human still lived, crawling in a futile effort to escape his fate. The Nal'Hazhémdi drew closer to the Imperial, pain radiating off the latter, in order to end the latter's suffering. The moment he was within range to dispense the merciful blow, his scythe-like ears managed to pick up the vestigial sound of croaked words coming from a ruined lung.

"Empress be with us...he is here. The Azure Death is here! Any Sith who..."

The Stormtrooper's words were cut off as Ahrvazhdi plunged his lightsaber through his heart; he couldn't bear to hear the agony within the Human's words, caring little for whether or not the Human would reveal his activities...he was more than skilled enough to evade his pursuers. After pulling his dagger free from his foe's still-warm body, Ahrvazhdi danced back into the shadows; wary that he will be pursued by whoever heeds the Stormtrooper's call.

 

[Vexillar]

Should he give chase or no? The question always lingered within his mind...oh the humanity of it all. With his mind still a fortress, blocking any and all thoughts, feelings, and intentions from getting out, he felt a bit bad...but not that much.

And then his coms lit up with panic. Even out here he could feel the sheer terror of the troopers in question. With pursed lips he wondered what the commotion was until someone dropped a name.

"The Azure Death."

To him personally the name didn't stand out. Though to be fair he was far too busy strengthening Acolytes or chasing a dying cult, but if this guy had a name then they must be a big deal to someone right? Which meant prestige, and further solidifying his identity, or at least the identity he wished for the Imperium to believe. He watched the woman run off and with a small sigh stepped fully into the physical world, becoming solid once more. He jumped off the AT-AT and occupied a speeder. He gave a sharp whistle, Eezeo's sign to wake up, and the droid crawled over to him all too happily. He used his tendrils to strap onto his master's back, and held on tight. With a steady mind, he shot a message to Alaisia through telepathy, instructing the girl to randezvous with him at Theed the source of the panic and last transmission.

It took him a few minute of travel, but he managed to get there unharmed. It was easy when your side was doing the attacking and winning for the most part. As he approached the body of the Trooper who had made the last call he heard, he noticed the sign of a lightsaber.

Jedi.

It had to be. There was no Azure Death that he knew of in the Sith. Even if there was, surely he wouldn't have been as sloppy as to allow the troopers to give signs of his betrayal. Right? No. Jedi was the best bet. Raith didn't sense him immediately, however, but that was of little problem. He didn't need to. Odds were that this person wasn't far. And judging by the number of bodies...well this guy wasn't done here either. "I want a sweep of the area, now." Raith gave the command quickly. Of course while he had no official control over the troops, this was war and they had an enemy to find. The sweep was conducted without argument. Raith decided it was best to get off of street level.

Channeling the Force through his body he leaped from building to building, getting onto the highest one he could find. From his current vantage point, about four blocks away from the first body he inspected and six stories up, he could see enough of the field. His signature was cut off from the world as it always was. He had to assume, however, that the enemy had seen him. Which meant that his position could be compromised. And so far removed from the troops too.

The question was hardly a matter of what would Raith do if caught, but what would his enemy do?

Why here? Sure there was a lovely view, but if he was caught then he'd be cut off from the reinforcements. So wasn't this a piss poor spot? Eezeo climbed down and waited closely for command. Eezeo was a piece of work. Or at least it was before hand, Raith had to make some modifications when he acquired the droid, but it still served it's purpose.

While 'The Force' was difficult for machinery to understand, Eezeo had a way to process it that allowed it to understand it's presence and identify it being used. Not only that, but Eezeo'a original programming was to kill (though it could really only detain and knock out) Force Sensitives. While it lacked that handy talent of sensing danger, it's experience gave it the edge it needed to understand when to move and when to press forward. Which is why Raith kept it around, and why he never wiped the droid's memory and files. It was far too useful to him with that knowledge in tact.

Though he wondered if his Arachnoid friend could handle an enemy that wasn't immediately visible?

Raith doubted his Sight would miss this man. It was simply a matter of pinning him down. Just as he had seen that Jedi Watchman before, even with his trick of dispersing his aura to cover an area. A nifty trick, for sure, but one that didn't rake Raith long to figure out. Though he did have some outside help then. He simply had to find this man. He didn't need to look for what he was looking for, rather just identify something that shouldn't be there.

So he would wait...because waiting is what he did best. He just hoped Alaisia would get here soon. He was most curious about the girl's potential reaction to fighting her family...or maybe they were her family now? The latter was not an outcome that Raith wanted, but was a posibility he was willing to accept.

 

[Alaisia]

Naboo.... It had been a long time since Alaisia had been on this planet. It felt that way at least. But she had never really left the forest's edge before. This was new ground for her. And now she stood on the opposite side, looking on at the destruction of the Sith's attack. She had gotten V's message on route to another planet for training. Training could wait. If he had felt the need to interrupt her, then she was needed.

Her little shuttle landed near a city, the one that V had instructed her to meet him at, and she took a speeder into the city. She fought back her conflicted emotions and focused on finding V amidst everything happening around her. And then she noticed a group of stormtroopers searching the area. One noticed her, but of course they knew her. She had been seen tagging along after V for quite some time.

"Where is Arcanist V?" she asked the stormtrooper. He merely pointed up before continuing his search. Alaisia looked up and grinned. Getting a good vantage point, most likely. At least that means that he would have seen her arrive. But turning back to the scene in front of her, the massacre and likely reason why the stormtroopers were searching the area, she hoped that whatever had caused it had either fled or moved on.

 

[Pureblood-Sin]

No sooner had Ahrvazhdi took shelter within a ruined shop's top floor, a Force Presence had crossed the periphery of his sense. It was powerful and he could easily feel the dark presence emanating from it; it was a Sith...and probably a powerful one. Wariness turned to the peak, the Nal'Hazhémdi drew upon his focus to bury his own presence whilst shaping the light around him to obscure his physical visage. Nocking an arrow into position, the Sentinel then raced off; the sooner to continue his hunt of the enemy.

Soon enough, Ahrvazhdi had returned to the sight of his most recent engagement...albeit at a greater distance than before; the next quarry had arrived, and judging by the looks of things, he wasn't alone. Several Stormtroopers had accompanied him, as well as a droid. Upon further inspection, it was clear that the Sith was a Miraluka...and therefore completely dependent on his Force Sight. Next to him was an arachnid-like droid, which the Nal'Hazhémdi deduced was designed to fight Force-users such as he. Then another being entered the fray, a Human woman who seemed familiar; yet this bypassed the Jedi's mind, having bigger fish to fry as the wider Galaxy said. Taking aim at the droid's vital components, Ahrvazhdi drew the arrow he had readied until the string was stretched as far back as possible with all the strength he could pour into the shot. Once it was reached, the Sentinel released his fingers from the string and allowed the arrow to fly free. Within seconds, it had whistled through the air and struck the droid square in a vital component. No soon had the glacial arrow made its mark, Ahrvazhdi leapt down into the city streets behind his firing position, landing right behind a Stormtrooper. Prompted by instinct, he whipped a dagger from his belt and whipped it across the back of the Imperial's neck, severing his spine in the process. As his slain foe slumped to the round like a puppet with its strings severed, Ahrvazhdi swiftly raced away, dropping his Force Cloak but keeping up his masking technique so that the Miraluka couldn't sense him.

 

[Vexillar]

As Raith looked up as the woman approached him. He didn't turn to look at her. Rather he felt something. The siren call of the Force he held so dear to his heart. This was his reward, for loyal service, for his love and affection, for his undying respect and well placed fear. He was being warned. Something was not right.

His head tilted a bit as he looked around, trying to find out what his disembodied lover wished to tell him. He couldn't find it though. Not immediately. As time drew closer his senses for sharper, more exact, until the final climatic moment when his attention was drawn to the source of this problem, to what he was warned off. There! He saw a figure but it was the arrow that drew his most immediate attention. What may have seemed like an impossible feat for some was almost child's play for the Arcanist. And not because of his experience, though his late Master did in fact have a heavy hand to play in him tracking fast moving objects, but because of what he was. An eyeless sentient who's connection ran so deep, and who's dependency was so strong, that his body often reacted to things before most could even acknowledge that something was taking place.

The arrow wizzed through the air and Raith raised a hand, gripping it with the primal energies of the universe and and turning to the being soaring from the sky to land on the ground. Raith motioned for Alaisia to follow, and grabbed Eezeo through the Force as he followed the figure to the surface. He landed to the side of the trooper the Jedi was about to strike down. He waited until the dagger showed itself, taking mental note that the assailant, had one on his being, and watched until the figure was too far in the attack to do much else. He may be taking our a trooper too, but he could always fix him up. With a raise of his hand he released a terrifying bolt of electricity. The timing of which couldn't be worse off. With his target so engrossed in his task, he was almost stuck with little choice but to take the hit. Of course Raith was fully aware of the implications of his actions. The trooper saw the Arcanist but was helpless to avoid the blast. It was a sacrifice he had to make. The stormie rolled forward in an attempt to avoid the Sith's wrath, but only succeeded in avoiding a dagger he knew nothing about, though the blade did knick the armor but failed to hot flesh. The lightning was too widespread for him. And he was caught in the blast. It was nothing Raith couldn't fix later on. But if he was going to take down the Jedi...well sacrifices and all that.

What he was grossly unaware of was that the power behind the arrow that had been fired, the power of the jump, and of course the continued concealment. The enemy was surely feeling the effects of such a large amount of power used in such a short time. This would play into his favor, but, sadly, he was unaware of any of this. Not that it made much of a difference. Raith didn't treat the weak any different than the strong. He wanted a quick fight. Always.

Eezeo remained close by waiting for an opening to join into the struggle. He knew better than to rush out. No. He was an assassin, a spy, he was also a droid. Waiting was his life. It was, arguably, what he did best. The droid simply hoped his master was okay. It seemed odd to the little guy that his creator was out here fighting. That didn't appear in his database as typical tactics, but he must have a reason. So the droid would wait and obey programming...for now.

 

[Alaisia]

Stepping off of the speeder, Alaisia hurried after V as she saw him motion for her. A chill went down her spine as she saw that at least one of the stormtroopers had died from a lightsaber. It was a Jedi, then. She was suddenly hit with a wave of dread, pausing to control herself before she looked on to where V was leading her.

Then she saw their quarry. He looked human to her, and was about to strike down a stormtrooper when V let loose a bolt of electrical energy from his hand. For a moment she was torn again. This was a Jedi... someone who had been her alli not too long ago. The Jedi had given her a start. Had shown her where to begin. But now V, and by extension the Sith, were her allies.

She stepped toward the Jedi who, she assumed, would still be trying to defend himself against V and drew her lightsaber. As its pale red energy blade sprang to life she readied herself to fight.

 

[Vexillar]

The trooper's screams were barely audible over the crack of lightning and the smell of searing flesh. The lightning that leaped across the space between Arcanist and Jedi coated the air with rage made real. Of course, Raith felt no hatred at that moment. He simply channeled it from memories, recent and old. It also helped to have an ageless spirit that he could use, since she was always in a sour mood.

The lightning continued to assault his targets. Raith told Eezeo to be ready to restrain and capture their target, saying it low enough that only the droid's sensitive audio sensors would detect it. Alaisia, Eezeo will restrain and capture the target when I'm done. Be ready to offer support. The goal is to bring him back to the Imperium alive. A dead Jedi is no good to us. With that the lightning ceased and, with the reaction time only a droid could conjure up, Eezeo's tendrils lashed out. Eight of them in total. One for each forearm, wrist, and leg, one for his neck, and one for his waist. The tendrils, should they latch, any of them, the Jedi would feel currents of electricity rush through him. If at least four of them got on, then the Jedi would pass out. Anything less and there was a potential for some numbness. But Eezeo wasn't a killing droid. Raith didn't program him for that. The generator inside of him would only ever produce enough to render someone unconscious. At which point, Raith would be more than prepared to handle him.

The timing of the droid was perfection, truly marking Eezeo's original programing as an assassin droid. The tendrils trailed closely behind the electricity as it made it's final emergence from Vi's fingertips. The trooper slumped over without a sound. He was alive...barely, he'd be out for a while, but he'd live. The Sith looked to the Jedi to see the progression of his plan. Eezeo also stood at the ready. Aware of the knife, aware of his target's weaponry; Force, arrow, knife, saber, and aware of the signs to look for. Eezeo's tendrils wouldn't be dealt with so easily. He was designed to not get then tangled, designed to hunt Jedi and thus would be more than ready to navigate around a saber attack. Raith, however, was just hopeful that Alaisia had enough training to lend Eezeo some form of aid.

 

[Alaisia]

Alaisia was barely able to hold her position as the trooper screamed just above the crackling electricity. The Jedi, though, she couldn't hear if he was making any noise and was thankful for it. If he had been, she doubted she would have been able to keep calm.

Alaisia, Eezeo will restrain and capture the target when I'm done. Be ready to offer support. The goal is to bring him back to the Imperium alive. A dead Jedi is no good to us.

Alaisia nodded, not even looking back at V. She would try, but half of her hoped that the Jedi would escape and disappear into the fray again. She watched, though, as V cut the lightning and the Jedi sagged to the ground to his knees. Then Eezeo's tendrils shot out and Alaisia readied herself again, preparing for the worst.

For a moment, she fought against an urge to neglect helping the droid and therefore ignore V's command... She did not want to capture the Jedi... But at the same time she didn't want him to escape and possibly speak about her... So instead she focused on Eezeo and waited for the tentacles to hit their mark.

 

[Pureblood-Sin]

No sooner had he landed, Ahrvazhdi felt the Force shift into darkness; instinct kicking in too late, he felt the lightning sear into his azure flesh. He wasn't the only one to be caught in the searing tendrils of lightning...it seemed the Stormtrooper was also in the way. Such a thing sickened the Nal'Hazhémdi, to needlessly sacrifice one life to capture him was anathema to his species. Yet soon enough, such thoughts would be replaced by a tide of pain that caused his nerves to scream as agony flowed through them. The surge in temperature then triggered a more welcome sensation as his coolant injectors kicked in. Tendrils of ice flowed through Ahrvazhdi's veins, keeping the fiery pain of the lightning at a more tolerable level that allowed him to return to clarity of thought. Knowing he was still in immense pain, he fell to his knees, with his hand closer to his lightsaber; he silently prayed to Ormuzdikar that his injectors wouldn't be overloaded. Drawing upon what he could of the Force, Ahrvazhdi placed a feeble, otherworldly grip around his lightsaber. With much mental effort, he pulled the weapon into his hand and ignited the blade; the blade of plasma proceeded to absorb a significant amount of lightning. His eyes then caught sight another being in the vicinity...and she did not appear to be dressed like a Sith, but more like a Jedi. A droid was also coming in with flailing electric tendrils; it seems his foe was very eager to capture him alive. These tendrils then swept in the very instant the barrage had ended

As they attempted to ensnare him, Ahrvazhdi then played his next card. He whipped his lightsaber out, activating the dual-phase aspect at the same time, the blade lengthened very considerably. The wide strike knocked four of the tendrils aside, followed by an inwardly circular sweep that batted the other three away, allowing one of them to enter for his next plan. With his free hand, the Nal'Hazhémdi caught the last tendril; feeling its touch caressing his nerves like fire. With a thought, slivers of ice began to crawl up the droid's appendage; slowly but surely, they began to freeze the machine's cold metal surface. The Sith wouldn't be able to perceive the ice, for the cold swept from within the Ahrvazhdi's flesh, not the Force. Eventually, it would be completely frozen solid; taking his chance, he leapt onto the frozen surface, swiftly threw a dagger at the Miraluka and proceeded to use it to jump back into the wall.. Reaching into his robe again, Ahrvazhdi pulled out another dagger and thrust it onto the roof; mounting his feet onto the stone, he hung his body low and began to kick his feet into a wall run. From this momentum, the Nal'Hazhémdi used to hurl himself into the wall.