OOM: Athiss Part Two

[last_kallig]

Despite the impression an outside observer might have gotten from observing Ibani and Garyn upon their initial arrival to Ibani's ship, they do not spend the entirety of the multi-day hyperspace trip to Athiss in bed! (SOME time, yes, because Ibani has thought of Garyn often when alone in bed or the fresher and she sees no reason why those thoughts should REMAIN just thoughts. She's sleeping very well!)

There is discussion of events Garyn mentioned that first night, what tactical information she can give him on Sith creatures, and the eternal puzzle of whether the Sphere of Logistics is just incompetent or also malicious.

There is also physical training in a portion of the cargo bay Ibani has converted for the purpose. She gets restless without doing physical training every day! At the moment, she's doing lightsaber katas in her small-clothes and it is early morning by the ship's chrono.

(OOC: Lines in italics taken from canon.)

Comments

[moonandstar]

Garyn is only a minute or two later to rise than Ibani, though he's a little slower in clothing himself and running through his routine, such as it is.

Good news, he's into a shirt and pants by the time he arrives in the cargo bay.

He nods, not interrupting Ibani's exercises but clearly admiring her form.

[last_kallig]

There is a pleasure in him admiring her form, and she smiles at him.

One scar wraps around her left thigh, the dentition too strange to be anything Earthly. A Tu'kata, a Sith hound, tried to rip her leg off when she was twelve. It was the first time she had ever healed herself, and that inexperience caused the scar. There's a chance, a VERY GOOD chance, that they'll be facing Tu'kata today.

Her motions through the katas are slow, smooth, her violet lightsabers humming through the air almost lazily. It's easier to see how her muscles bend, how her body flexes, with as little as she's wearing. For all these moves are ultimately meant for dealing harm, for the battlefield, there is a kind of beauty to them.

[moonandstar]

Garyn engages in a little light stretching and exercises as he watches her work. The science of kinesiology and calisthenics is not exactly sophisticated in Tamriel, but he has committed a few exercises from the Book of Circles to memory.

Of course, he takes time between and sometimes during his exercises to admire the grace of her katas.

[last_kallig]

He'll probably notice she's watching him too, when she can. She admires his strength and grace too, different though it may be from her own.

And even when she isn't LOOKING, she's AWARE of him, the many things her other senses and the Force tell her.

She times a full run through of a kata she's composed herself at un-enhanced combat speed for when she knows he's looking, feels his attention fully on her. Showing off with physical prowess to attract/impress a potential mate is not something strictly limited to non-sapient species.

[moonandstar]

He is, indeed, impressed. And though he is still keeping his exercises fairly simple for now, his pace is now accelerating and his motions more focused.

Yes, definitely focused on what he's doing.

[last_kallig]

Ibani is likewise focused, yes.

Eventually, she deactivates her lightsabers. "Want to join me in the fresher?" The one attached to her cabin is, technically, big enough for two people. And if she's had some very naughty thoughts about Garyn when she's in the fresher by herself, well, that's neither here nor there.

[moonandstar]

"A very sensible proposal," Garyn says, smirking. "Since we both have need of it, having worked up such a sweat."

Whereupon he approaches Ibani, clearly not intent on stopping working up said sweat. They'll make their way to the fresher very quickly.

[last_kallig]

Ibani smirks in response and joins him very quickly in the fresher indeed.

They do NOT come back out it quickly, though cleaning is among the activities they accomplish. The ship shudders a little as it comes out of hyperspace as they are drying off.

"Excellent timing on our part," Ibani quips. "Time enough to armor up before we're in a position to land."

[moonandstar]

"An auspicious end to a lovely journey," Garyn says. "A shame the destination won't be as much fun."

[last_kallig]

"I suspect it won't be any fun at all," Ibani replies, tone dry.

She starts putting on the fabric and padding that go underneath the metal of her armor, then the red and black of of the outside layers. She double checks the air filters on her helm, just in case.

[moonandstar]

Garyn slides the chestplate of the armor Ibani had given him over his gambeson.

"On the brighter side, whatever we encounter won't be having a good day either."

[last_kallig]

Ibani chuckles. "No, it won't. We are a fearsome pair, you and I."

Ibani wraps the strongest psychic shield she can manage around both of them as the ship descends into the planet's atmosphere.

The ship lands relatively gently to an apparent lack of immediate response.

Red ground and red stone await them, though the area is studded with conifers. Ruined architecture in the red stone similar to what Garyn saw in the Dark Temple is also in evidence.

[moonandstar]

"Well, we picked a quiet place to disembark, at least," Garyn says quietly. "Yet somehow, I don't find that comforting."

Needless to say, his sword is already drawn despite the quiet.

[last_kallig]

"Nor do I. Something, something FEELS wrong about this place, has my hackles up."

The communicators built into their helmets crackle to life, picking up a faint signal.

"Did someone just land out there? This is Republic survey team six-eight-nine-mark-one. Our com systems are badly damaged. Strongly advise you do not approach the ruins!".

"Repeat, this is Republic survey team six-eight-nine-mark-one. I don't know who's hearing this, but most of us are already dead."


(OOC: lines in italics taken from canon.)

[moonandstar]

Garyn's head swivels and his guard rises as he hears the unexpected voice coming from close by. It takes Garyn a moment before he remembers that not only has he seen such devices before, but Ibani had given him one.

He's looking a little sheepish as he responds, his fingers fumbling toward the switch that Ibani had shown him.

"Your...concern is duly noted, f'lah. But we came assuming whatever danger lurked here had left none alive at all."

[last_kallig]

Ibani sends him a feeling of reassurance through the Force. Considering the vast differences between their universes, Garyn is coping very well!

"There, there are beasts in the ruins," the male voice over the comm continues. They've been killing us, or, or carrying us off to..." and the signal cuts off abruptly.

Ibani crouches nearby, looking at a set of tracks. "Tu'kata tracks. Bigger than the ones on Korriban." Those were about the size of wolves, and Ibani has told Garyn plenty about where is best to hit them. "Since they were made by Sith Alchemy, I would be surprised if they HADN'T been altered further."

"Still, they're unnaturally aggressive, carrying people off is not a behavior I would expect from them." Her sense of unease grows.

[moonandstar]

"Perhaps food is scarce here," Garyn says. "A hungry beast will be more aggressive.

"Though I doubt we're fortunate enough that the answer is that simple."

[last_kallig]

"I doubt it too," Ibani replies, tone dry.

"Kark it, I can feel something, but it's diffuse, like it's EVERYWHERE," she growls.

She follows the tracks toward the ruins, and they are greeted by the Tuk'ata soon enough. They resemble hounds only in the loosest sense, with great armored plates on their backs and head and clawed limbs that look almost reptilian. Six of them attack immediately, charging in without any fear at all!

[moonandstar]

...Well. Those are bigger than he was expecting.

He shuffles quickly to the side with his sword out and gripped with both hands, extended like a spear. He'll be timing his counterstrikes, looking to jab at its joints, or the less armored portions of its carapace.

[last_kallig]

Ibani is busy killing several of the damn things with force lightning, shifting out of the way of snapping teeth and snatching claws. Her lightsaber skids off of armored plates and she curses.

One Tuk'ata leaps up at him, giving him a shot at the less armored underside! But while that one is leaping, another is circling to try and come at him from behind.

[moonandstar]

Garyn makes his choice quickly. He lunges for the beast's underbelly, looking for a quick killing blow, and for the creature's own body to offer a few moment's delay for its friend attacking from behind.

His sword hits its mark, puncturing the skin and carving soft tissue and arteries beneath. The tuk'ata is visibly limp before it hits the ground, and Garyn rolls out of the way beneath it with his sword on guard behind him.

[last_kallig]

It buys him the time he needs! The Tuk'ata's fangs clash on his blade, the strength of the beast clear in the strain on his arm.

The three Ibani was electrocuting die almost simultaneously. The one remaining Tuk'kata ties to circle her, but she's having none of it! She snarls, flings the Tuk'ata with the Force into the side of a building. It twitches for a few moments on the ground, and then goes still.

[moonandstar]

Garyn continues to try to bait the larger creature into overextending itself. (He'd have brought a shield if he'd known this was the kind of fighting he'd be doing).

The Tuk'ata does indeed overextend itself - a little further than Garyn had been hoping.

Once Ibani is done with whatever she's doing, she might want to get on helping get this dead sith-hound off of Garyn.

[last_kallig]

Ibani is more than happy to haul the damn thing off of him with the Force.

"Big karking bastards. Think I felt something in them too, a bit like a force ghost and a bit like a disease."

Garyn can sense her unease at that. The pieces shes' starting to pick up don't look good.

"If we can keep one alive for a while out of the next batch, I might be able to get a better look."

[moonandstar]

"If there's something commanding these beasts, we'd do well to find it and eliminate it as soon as possible," Garyn says.

"As I rather expect there's a hard limit on how may of these things we can kill."