Ask When The Heart Breaks

[Jez Winters]

[fancybox2]

AKIVA
Evening

@FoxTamerAlexis ; @Taz [/fancybox2]

Waiting. Waiting for a master who would never come home....

In the middle of the floor in an old abandoned temple waited Xetno Ren. The raven haired Sith was -as always- dressed in her Sith Inquisitor armor from the days of the Galactic Empire. The woman was meditating, feeling the power of the Ren flowing through her. She was sitting with her legs crossed and floating a good three feet in the air. Around her floated the pieces of her snap saber and the two red crystals that went inside it. Along with those crystals were two more of the same caliber she'd taken from the very same Inquisitor who's robes she now wore. At first the foreign crystals rejected her, but Xetno beat them into submission with her will. She was getting strong with the Dark side with each passing day.

But nothing would ever prepare her for the loss she was about to experience. In the girl's mind she was focusing gently on the future, letting the Ren speak to her. When suddenly, her thoughts turned to her master. It wasn't so strange that she'd feel his connection, but it was different this time. This time, she saw his life end right there as if she were standing in front of the whole thing. Xetno's concentration snapped and she fell to the floor; her knees painfully hit the stone under her. The metal pieces of the saber as well as all four crystals also came crashing down.

"NOOOOO!!!!" Xetno screamed in protest.

Xetno's hands went to her head as she bent over herself and looked to the Force again. She could feel it. The death of her master. Followed by a sudden pit in her stomach and an overwhelming sense of loss. He was dead! She couldn't sense him at all. She always knew where he was. Now...there was nothing. Xetno screamed as loud as her voice would carry her and the halls echoed with the metallic screech of her voice scrambler. Her body began to get hot. And she felt like she was burning alive. With a pain grunt of force she tore the helmet off her and gasped in pain like she'd forgotten how to breathe. Her chest was burning, but even more so, her neck felt like white hot iron was being pushed into it.

It was the brand. A symbol of her submission and promise to him that master Balal Ren had left for her. Now, it was burning again. She cried in anguish as she felt her connection break from her master. Anger welled up inside her. There was already so many emotions of pain she couldn't handle anything else. Xetno raised her helmet high and then smashed it against the ground.

With rage unlike anything she'd ever shown she yelled, "I hate you!" Xetno smashed the helmet again; the glass from the visor cracked and exploded into millions of pieces. "I hate you! I hate you! Why did you have to die on me!? Why!! You betrayed me, master! You betrayed me!!! I. Hate. You!!!!!!"

With every breath she repeatedly bashed the helmet into the ground until it was not even a semblance of what it used to be. Around her the ground would be cracked and a large indent remained when she'd been lying waste to it. Only when she could no longer grab the molded mess of durasteel did she finally toss it away and drop her forehead to the ground again and weep.

 

[Dax Rau]

While a dark cult revealed itself to the galaxy and cast a blood soaked shadow over the core, Dax Rau suited up for work. The warn dull grey of his Beskar'gam covered his entire body, head to toe. On his hips, a twin set of Westar heavy pistols. In his capable hands, a well used and trusted EE3 rifle.

Ready for anything, Dax lowered the ramp of The Razor, and make his way down. It had been a slow couple of years for the mercenary mandalorian. Needing some fast credits for repairs and full for his gun boat. Dax had come to Akiva to checkout a set of old temples, believed to have been build by force cultists like the Jedi.

On his way in, Dax scanned what appeared to be an old imperial shuttle. Not wanted to lose easy money to a tomb raider. Dax decided to move in. Wanting to get the drop on his unexpected competitors, the mando climbed to the top of the old temple and cabled down into the main hall. As he lowered himself down. He spotted an armored figure, appearing to hover in the air like a speeder.

What followed was the sudden and unexpected unraveling. The show nearly took Dax off his game, but he took note that the figure had not only dropped but seemingly destroyed their weapon. Then did the same to her armor. Breaking the helmet into dozens of tiny pieces. Dax had no idea who her Master was, but he pitied the poor bastard.

However, he was also well aware of the bounty for a saber. Even if he could not fix it, the crystals would fetch him a nice payday as well. So, still hanging from the cable. Dax took his carbine and set it to stun. As the, now female, figure cast away the last bits of her helmet. The mando shot the woman twice in the back.

@FoxTamerAlexis

 

[Jez Winters]

Sneaky little demon. While Xetno was mourning the loss of someone special to her the wicked little Mandalorian snuck up behind her. If not for her current connection within the Force she never would have seen him coming. As the man cocked his weapon, Xetno's eyes opened and she realized something was wrong. She didn't know what, but she felt it. Danger. The fire's gun fired twice and Xetno quickly jumped to her left with a desperate leap.

However, she wasn't fast enough. The first bolt hit her leg and sent a paralyzing numbness up her spine. Xetno hit the ground with a grunt and rolled over to see what had shot her. If she'd have been a second later she would be out cold; thankfully only her legs were non-responsive. With a scream of anger she pushed outward and sent a massive concussive wall at the Mando as he hung there. It would be enough to break the cable for sure, assuming he didn't manage to drop before then.

Using this distraction she quickly looked back to her mess of parts and realized how screwed she really was. There was no way she could build her saber in the amount of time she needed to get it ready. If she was still holding onto each piece she would have been able to see how they all fit together and it wouldn't have taken her any time at all. But with them both being thrown randomly around, there would be no chance of separating them fast enough. She'd have to fight this battle on her own.

Xetno turned back to the Mando unsure of where he ended up and called upon the Ren to help her. She would not die like her master. She would not let the Force betray her. Letting her rage spill out Xetno grabbed the large pillar off to the side of them and caused it to shatter as she pulled and tugged the stone apart. She sent the rubble flying towards the Mando in hopes of crushing him alive.

 

[Dax Rau]

Dax watched as the first shot caught the stranger in the leg. The second one narrowly missing. The mando merc was about to try to take another shot, but he could see the witch move her arm in his direction. The push was mostly invisible, but left a vapor trail in it's wake. Seeing this, the warrior quickly zipped down. Dropping like a stone until he was just ten feet above the ground.

The armored merc released the cable. Hitting the ground, and tumbling once before standing on a knee to try for another shot. Dax fired two more times before having to duck the first large rock. Then quickly rolling to his left. Rolling three or four times. If the two hots didn't hit something he would let the rifle go and roll to his feet. Pulling his twin heavy pistols as he ran, and then slid for cover behind another pillar.

 

[Jez Winters]

Xetno knew she was in a losing battle. She'd already lost the use of her legs and it would take time for them to wake back up. Her only thought right now was crushing that annoying little flea who dared shoot her from behind. The moment she let go of the broken pillar Xetno knew it was already too late. She was going to get hit. The blue rings came at her so fast; there was no chance in dodging. Her attack was her last gambit, and she had no idea if a single one of the destroyed chunks of rubble even hit their mark. She felt nothing as the two stun bolts hit her one after another; her mind had already slipped away. With that, her body fell to the ground and became silent. Only a slight rise and fall of her chest gave point to her still being alive....

 

[Dax Rau]

Dax peered around the pillar of stone which he had ducked behind just moments before. To his surprise, the last few shots of his had managed to land. While the rocks had just narrowly missed his head. He was lucky. This girl before him not so much. He turned back around. Stood, and walked out from behind his stone cover. Carefully walking toward the woman with both guns pointed in her direction and ready to fire if she even twitched.

When he finally got to her, he kicked her in the shoulder. Mostly to roll her over but also to check and see if she was faking. When she rolled over and other wise didn't move, he holstered his pistols and went to retrieve his rifle. Then, with all of his gear back in order. He returned to her sleeping body and place a set of stuncuffs on wrists. Followed by a whip cord around her ankles for good measure.

Finally he would retrieve her weapons, or at least what was left of them. Placing them in a pouch on his armor. Then returned to her once again and heaved her over his back to carry her out before anyone one else came looking for her. He had come looking for treasure, and found a bounty.

When he got her back to the ship he placed her into one of the holding cells, leaving the cuffs intact and removing the cord. He would also shoot her up with a spice stick for good measure. By the time she woke, they would be in syndicate controlled space.

 

[Jez Winters]

Waking up was brutal. Xetno's head was pounding. She was dehydrated. All of her muscles hurt. Being stunned left a rather painful ache to her bones. As she opened her eyes she looked around and the cramped space she was now confined to. Her wrists -which she noticed right away- were shackled together to keep her from causing trouble. She looked at them more closely after inspecting her surroundings to confirm her theory: Force negating. Of course. That's why everything felt so silent. Her connection to the Ren had been cut off. Now she was just another helpless girl. And she hated it.

"Who's out there!" she called angrily. "Show yourself! I demand to know why you have me locked up like some sort of animal!"

She could not show fear. She could not show hesitation. She could not show him how much fear she was in. Or how much pain she was feeling. Any weakness would be his strength. Xetno couldn't have that.

 

[Dax Rau]

The Razor had left lightspeed and held a floating orbit in the void of space around the slug moon of Nar Shaddaa. Leaving Angel, his astromech, to pilot the ship and hold this floating position. He left the cockpit of the gunship and went to the cargo hold once more. On queue he could hear the force user in her tiny cell.

He stood there in his armor, his t-visor the only think that Jez would see from the other side or the blaster resistant glass. "Because witch, you are an animal. All of your kind are." He answered bluntly.

Even from the other side of the glass and behind the shield of his visor, he could see the signs that she was on edge. She had never experienced being cut off from her power. That unfamiliar feeling was filling her with fear. Plus the spice in her system from before was not helping her. It was likely she was feeling a kind of short term withdraw.

 

[Jez Winters]

Xetno flinched when he called her a witch, but even more so when he called her an animal. Her face contorted with anger and she slapped the glass with her cuffs again.

"You cannot treat me like this! Release me! NOW!"

She glared up across the glass to his T-visor not showing any weakness. Not that she meant to. It was obvious she was wracked with fear. Fear of being powerless. Fear of what he could do to her. And fear of what would happen to her in the next few days. There were not many reasons someone took a hostage or prisoner.

But that same confidence in her spine ended swiftly as her face made a pained expression. She groaned and winced, resting her head on the glass. The headache only getting worse from the withdrawal. She tried to push past it because it felt like any other headache. But something in her gut told her this was different.

"What did you....do to me? You drugged me or something. Didn't you?"

She groaned again and slumped down even more until she was lying flat. Her breathing got heavy as the panic started to inflict her senses. Xetno shook her head making her hair even more wild and messy. Another groan followed it and Xetno brought her hands up to her head next. Something was very wrong.

"Please...help me. It hurts. Why does it hurt?"