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OOM: It's a Trap!
Apr. 29th, 2017 07:42 pm(OOC: Lines in italics are taken from canon)
Ibani is amazed at how much the Cult has grown in these weeks they've been looking for Paladius. She knows the new members can't all have been recruited by the original members, which means the converts are also going out and doing some converting of their own. It takes time everyday to learn all the new names and put them to the right faces and Force presences. She can tell Rylee and Destris don't understand why she does it, why she insists on the practice, even when she tries to explain. Names are important, mark you as an individual, a PERSON, not something disposable.
She feels him before she sees him, his mix of pain, fear, and shame a sharp thing to her senses. He's badly bruised, staggering as he walks. "M-my lord! I'm so sorry - They said they'd kill me. They said they'd kill me if I didn't. P-P-Paladius's men. They said they'd kill me if I didn't bring you this."
She can feel her anger rising, coiling in the Force like a snake about to strike. How dare they attack HER people! They're going to pay dearly for what they've done! With effort, she pushes the anger aside for later, where it will actually be useful. She forces herself to be calm, collected. It takes longer than she likes to put a name to his face, his presence. "Peace, Eshra," she says soothingly as she walks toward him and places an armored hand on his arm. "Spilling one's blood with no chance of gain shows neither loyalty nor courage."
"Ye-yes, my Lord," Eshra stammers, but she can feel some of his guilt, his shame fading.
"May I heal you?"
Eshra stares at her for a moment, confused. "Of, of course! But, I couldn't impose..."
"You're not imposing, I take care of my people." She can feel the damage done to him in the Force, mostly soft tissue damage, the kind to inflict the maximum amount of pain but the least likely to kill him or keep him from reaching a safe place. Whoever did this has done this before, many times. As she heals him and the pain fades his body relaxes. "Who did this to you, Eshra?"
"Var-Nok and Shar-Nok."
"Those are Paladius' body guards," Destris says, coming through the doorway. "He must have been pretty desperate if he sent them away to do something."
Ibani smiles fiercely. "Well, that should save me some time. What was it he wanted you to bring me, Eshra?"
Eshra proffers a holocommunication device.
"I see. Thank you, Eshra. I'd best take this call in my office, I think."
************************************************************************************************
Ibani's scowl when she finishes the call with Paladius could peel wall paper. "Arrogant ass."
"It's a trap!," says Rylee, agitated. "He's not going to hand over the artifact and let you walk, no way!"
Ibani chuckles. "Of course it's a trap, but it's also an opportunity. He'll have to be there to pull it off, and if he's there he can be killed."
*****************************************************************************
Ibani resists the urge to snarl, barely, when Paladius offers her a drink from behind his desk, as if this were a social meeting. She refuses, of course, she's not THAT foolish. She can tell that Khem Val, Rylee, and Destris are keeping their eyes on Paladius' bodyguards.
Paladius opens his mouth to speak again when she feels....odd, as if she's being hollowed out, and there's a strange, painful, twisting in her gut.
Paladius smiles, a patronizing smirk. "So confident. So amazingly confident. But I dare say you've gravely underestimated me. That painful twisting you feel in your gut is your essence draining, rather rapidly. And that hollow, sinking feeling? Your connection to the Force being severed." In an instant, Ibani knows that what he says is true, feels it for herself. Training, knowledge, and instinct say 'attack now, surprise is the only advantage you have left!'
She's metaphysically blind, but that's not the same thing as helpless, and she's dying but not yet dead. She lunges over the desk at him, the crunch of his nose being broken by her armored fist enormously satisfying.
He wasn't expecting a brawl, that was his first mistake. He assumed that anyone without access to the Force was helpless, a thing meant to be used and broken. He struggles to reach his lightsaber, momentum and control lost in her surprise lunge. Her armor protects her from his fists, makes it difficult for him to get a grip and pull her off him while she's trying to lever one of his eyeballs out of its socket with her armored thumb. Distantly, she's aware of the sounds of Khem Val, Rylee and Destris fighting the bodyguards.
He should have used the Force by now to either hit her with force lightning or push her away. But he hasn't, and considering how he's struggling that can only be because he CAN'T. That was his second mistake, tying up all his power in those two effects. He manages to grasp his lightsaber and takes a clumsy swing at her as they grapple. Her armor deflects the blow, though the saber goes through Paladius' desk, very heavy and very sturdy. Ibani shifts her weight and pulls on the arm that has his lightsaber, severing the last intact legs of the desk and bringing the full weight of the desk down on the fingers wrapped around the hilt of his saber.
He screams as the bones in his fingers break and his hand is pinned under the desk. She draws back her fist with its slightly spiky armored gauntlet and hits him in the face again, and again, and again until he starts to say something, perhaps beg for mercy. It doesn't matter, he's much too dangerous for her to let him live. Finally, he stops resisting, unconscious. The sound when she fatally breaks his neck is loud in the silent room.
Destris whistles as he takes in the sight of her, right arm and hand spattered with blood and the very damaged face of Paladius. "You really worked him over."
"Yes," Ibani replies, almost sighing in relief as the Force comes flooding back and the twisting in her gut stops. She feels something foul, something soaked in the Dark Side. She fishes under Paladius' robes and finds a necklace. It's a simple looking thing, a pendant of gold shaped like a stylized eye with a red crystal for the iris and pupil.
"Is that it?" asks Rylee, peering at the pendant.
"Yes, this is it," Ibani replies. "The Eye of Tulak Hord."
What could Darth Zash want such a thing for, and what does it mean for her future?
Ibani is amazed at how much the Cult has grown in these weeks they've been looking for Paladius. She knows the new members can't all have been recruited by the original members, which means the converts are also going out and doing some converting of their own. It takes time everyday to learn all the new names and put them to the right faces and Force presences. She can tell Rylee and Destris don't understand why she does it, why she insists on the practice, even when she tries to explain. Names are important, mark you as an individual, a PERSON, not something disposable.
She feels him before she sees him, his mix of pain, fear, and shame a sharp thing to her senses. He's badly bruised, staggering as he walks. "M-my lord! I'm so sorry - They said they'd kill me. They said they'd kill me if I didn't. P-P-Paladius's men. They said they'd kill me if I didn't bring you this."
She can feel her anger rising, coiling in the Force like a snake about to strike. How dare they attack HER people! They're going to pay dearly for what they've done! With effort, she pushes the anger aside for later, where it will actually be useful. She forces herself to be calm, collected. It takes longer than she likes to put a name to his face, his presence. "Peace, Eshra," she says soothingly as she walks toward him and places an armored hand on his arm. "Spilling one's blood with no chance of gain shows neither loyalty nor courage."
"Ye-yes, my Lord," Eshra stammers, but she can feel some of his guilt, his shame fading.
"May I heal you?"
Eshra stares at her for a moment, confused. "Of, of course! But, I couldn't impose..."
"You're not imposing, I take care of my people." She can feel the damage done to him in the Force, mostly soft tissue damage, the kind to inflict the maximum amount of pain but the least likely to kill him or keep him from reaching a safe place. Whoever did this has done this before, many times. As she heals him and the pain fades his body relaxes. "Who did this to you, Eshra?"
"Var-Nok and Shar-Nok."
"Those are Paladius' body guards," Destris says, coming through the doorway. "He must have been pretty desperate if he sent them away to do something."
Ibani smiles fiercely. "Well, that should save me some time. What was it he wanted you to bring me, Eshra?"
Eshra proffers a holocommunication device.
"I see. Thank you, Eshra. I'd best take this call in my office, I think."
************************************************************************************************
Ibani's scowl when she finishes the call with Paladius could peel wall paper. "Arrogant ass."
"It's a trap!," says Rylee, agitated. "He's not going to hand over the artifact and let you walk, no way!"
Ibani chuckles. "Of course it's a trap, but it's also an opportunity. He'll have to be there to pull it off, and if he's there he can be killed."
*****************************************************************************
Ibani resists the urge to snarl, barely, when Paladius offers her a drink from behind his desk, as if this were a social meeting. She refuses, of course, she's not THAT foolish. She can tell that Khem Val, Rylee, and Destris are keeping their eyes on Paladius' bodyguards.
Paladius opens his mouth to speak again when she feels....odd, as if she's being hollowed out, and there's a strange, painful, twisting in her gut.
Paladius smiles, a patronizing smirk. "So confident. So amazingly confident. But I dare say you've gravely underestimated me. That painful twisting you feel in your gut is your essence draining, rather rapidly. And that hollow, sinking feeling? Your connection to the Force being severed." In an instant, Ibani knows that what he says is true, feels it for herself. Training, knowledge, and instinct say 'attack now, surprise is the only advantage you have left!'
She's metaphysically blind, but that's not the same thing as helpless, and she's dying but not yet dead. She lunges over the desk at him, the crunch of his nose being broken by her armored fist enormously satisfying.
He wasn't expecting a brawl, that was his first mistake. He assumed that anyone without access to the Force was helpless, a thing meant to be used and broken. He struggles to reach his lightsaber, momentum and control lost in her surprise lunge. Her armor protects her from his fists, makes it difficult for him to get a grip and pull her off him while she's trying to lever one of his eyeballs out of its socket with her armored thumb. Distantly, she's aware of the sounds of Khem Val, Rylee and Destris fighting the bodyguards.
He should have used the Force by now to either hit her with force lightning or push her away. But he hasn't, and considering how he's struggling that can only be because he CAN'T. That was his second mistake, tying up all his power in those two effects. He manages to grasp his lightsaber and takes a clumsy swing at her as they grapple. Her armor deflects the blow, though the saber goes through Paladius' desk, very heavy and very sturdy. Ibani shifts her weight and pulls on the arm that has his lightsaber, severing the last intact legs of the desk and bringing the full weight of the desk down on the fingers wrapped around the hilt of his saber.
He screams as the bones in his fingers break and his hand is pinned under the desk. She draws back her fist with its slightly spiky armored gauntlet and hits him in the face again, and again, and again until he starts to say something, perhaps beg for mercy. It doesn't matter, he's much too dangerous for her to let him live. Finally, he stops resisting, unconscious. The sound when she fatally breaks his neck is loud in the silent room.
Destris whistles as he takes in the sight of her, right arm and hand spattered with blood and the very damaged face of Paladius. "You really worked him over."
"Yes," Ibani replies, almost sighing in relief as the Force comes flooding back and the twisting in her gut stops. She feels something foul, something soaked in the Dark Side. She fishes under Paladius' robes and finds a necklace. It's a simple looking thing, a pendant of gold shaped like a stylized eye with a red crystal for the iris and pupil.
"Is that it?" asks Rylee, peering at the pendant.
"Yes, this is it," Ibani replies. "The Eye of Tulak Hord."
What could Darth Zash want such a thing for, and what does it mean for her future?
