CONTINUED: The Rusty Hinge (Kyr)

[Ordona Vandorak]

Before Ordona even had to draw her blaster, Kyr had their tail in a vice-grip that looked painful even though she could see he wasn’t really exerting any pressure. She almost winced in sympathy for the man. Almost. Instead, she smiled, sidling closer to them so that she could whisper and have her voice heard. Her demeanor had changed, becoming something slightly darker, more willing to inflict harm. Inside, Ordona was hesitant, uncertain how far she would be willing to push it these days. But the threat illusion portrayed would work almost as well as the real thing.

“I’m sorry about my strong, angry friend here. He really will kill you if you annoy him,” she said with the faintest hints of a giggle in her voice. Some dark, abandoned part of her truly was enjoying the charade, and she had to suppress a shudder as the inky talons of the dark side snaked into her soul.

“All we really want to know is why you’re following us,” Ordona continued. “Uh uh,” she said, tutting as he started to respond. She reached out, running a finger along the bald man’s chin as a lover would.

“We want the truth.” She punctuated the words by grabbing his jaw tightly enough that he gasped in pain. “Now.”

[Kyramur Null]

The man, though trembling, shook his head just barely.

Kyr gave him credit-not many would keep their nerve in this situation. But time was of the essence.

Kyr pushed his forearm up towards his head, wrenching the elbow and shoulder joints badly, keeping his hand over the mouth, muffling the screams.

"Clearly he didn't hear you. Try asking again." He said, velvety menace coating the edges of his voice.

Kyr'amur Null was not a man to be trifled with.

[Ordona Vandorak]

Ordona rolled her eyes as the man shook his head. Kyr gave him a reason to regret it and Ordona tsked after the hulking Zabrak finished. She gently pulled Kyr’amur’s hand from the man’s mouth and replaced it with her lips, a gentle kiss. The man reacted with shock, freezing up. In that moment, Ordona pulled back, punching him with Force-aided strength directly in the stomach. He wretched, pulling forward involuntarily against Kyr’s grip. Ordona grabbed him by the jaw again, all tenderness gone from her.

“My friend here may be the forgiving sort, but I am not. Refuse or lie again and I’ll move on with my day,” she said. There was a cold, sharp tone to her voice that she hadn’t truly brought out since her time with the Sith. It undercut any strength the man may have had, and Ordona felt a sick satisfaction as she watched the fight go out of him. He sagged into Kyr’s arms.

“I’m just a grunt. Please, don’t hurt me. They’ll kill me-” the man paused, seeing the look on Ordona’s face. Without words, it said: “I’ll kill you first. Painfully.”

“They call themselves the-” Whatever revelation the man had been about to make to Ordona and Kyr was lost. A small pellet passed through his bald pate, spraying blood and fluids in a small cone down the alley. In the lull before the silenced weapon could fire again, Ordona’s danger sense sang through her in an urgent call without her even registering what happened. She sent a blast of telekinetic energy racing down the alley and felt a sense of surprise in the Force when someone was sent hurtling away by the raw wave of power.

She dove into a doorway, looking to make sure Kyr was safe as soon as she’d gotten out of the sightline the alley provided.

“Never. A dull. Moment.” She said through gritted teeth.

[Kyramur Null]

Kyr's first instinct was to help Ordona, but when he saw her safe, he fell rather than dived, landing behind a pile of abandoned sheet metal.

"Never." He agreed, drawing his rifle from his back and firing back. He dropped two with headshots, then drew back down, narrowly avoiding a cone of energy that sought his head.

"At least his last moments were pleasurable." Kyr said with a bloody, teasing grin, then became more serious.

Fight or flight? That was the question. The soldier in Kyr wanted to stand and kill, but the spy in him knew the wise way was stage a fighting withdrawal, then disappear to ask around and gather intelligence.

Diving from his spot and into the narrow doorway, he stood, his bare arms shoved against his ally's side, such was the enclosed space.

"Fighting retreat." He said. "Withdraw, vanish, find out what this is and whether they want to kill one or both of us. Then we kill them first. Agree?"

[Ordona Vandorak]

Ordona nodded at the Zabrak. It was the right move, to pull out. They were fighting blind. There just wasn't enough information available to them. It did seem like an overly aggressive response though. Her thoughts were racing as she drew her tonfa-style lightsabers. She didn't activate them yet. Instead, she reached out with the Force and felt for the beings around her. Closest was Kyr, his large heart afire with the rush of combat. Further out she could feel other presences, some angry, some indifferent, but all focused on the alleyway where they stood.

"It's at times like these I wish I carried a clutch," Ordona muttered under her breath. What she wouldn't give for a thermal detonator or even a smoke grenade. Instead, all she had was her holdout blaster, sabers, and a knife in her boot. It would be enough, but made the current situation more of a challenge. Still, even if she had been without any weapons, Ordona would have been far from defenseless. She raised a hand and shoved her will through the Force. Instantly a small wall of flame sprang up between the pair and their attackers back the way they came.

She shook out her wrists and activated her lightsabers, stepping deeper into the alley and prepared to deflect any stray shots that came their way.

"Go. I'll cover our backs."

[Kyramur Null]

Without even taking a pause, Kyr smiled, then held out a hand from behind his back.

A smoke grenade.

He pulled the pin and tossed it into the front of the alley. Vast, stinging clouds of smoke poured out, and to follow it up, Kyr fired rapidly, up and away so as not hit civilians by accident.

"They will think we somehow acquired reinforcements." He said as he began running for the exit. "By the time they realize it is not so, we will-"

He never finished, as two new threats-a human and a gungan, of all things-sprang out into his field of view.

"Company!" He roared.

There was no time to raise his weapon and fire before they attacked, so he charged instead, knocking them off balance.

The Gungan was massive and muscled, and snarled as he drew an axe off his back.

Trusting Ordona to handle the other one, Kyr drew his combat knife and got into a ready stance, preparing to kill or be killed.

[Ordona Vandorak]

It was a sudden development and Ordona had to admit she hadn't seen it coming. The ex-Sith had been so focused on the alley behind them that she hadn't sensed the two presences ahead. Kyr rushed them and engaged almost immediately, with a reaction time even a Force user could appreciate. If the situation weren't quite so dangerous, Ordona might have enjoyed watching him work.

Frak, I do enjoy this, Ordona thought. Perhaps it was the Sith training that made her enjoy combat, or the thrill of exertion and testing yourself against another. Regardless, she smiled as she swiftly stowed her sabers and drove her elbow into the gut of the man that Kyr had left for her.

Her sabers would have made quicker work of him, but Ordona was thinking it was time to take another prisoner. The only thing stopping her was the pair of knives in his hands. She dodged his strikes with a Force-aided speed, letting her sense of the fight around them guide her movements. It was a dangerous game she was playing, but each time she connected with a hit he was slower and more cautious. It was only a matter of time until Ordona had him down for the count.

[Kyramur Null]

The Gungan made one fatal mistake almost instantly-he used both hands to raise the axe over his head. In response, Kyr simply lowered his head and charged.

There was a wet thud as his horns rammed into the Gungan's rib cage, splintering bone, rending flesh, and tearing through tendon and blood vessel alike. He felt one of his horns pierce the heart, and thus, he moved to the side as he pulled out, avoiding the spray of red mist.

The Gungan still clung to life, though barely. Kyr growled, lowered his head again, and with another charge, rammed his horn into the thug's brain, killing him instantly.

Turning to Ordona as though the act of brutal violence he had just committed had been nothing at all, he said "Let us run. I know a safehouse nearby."

He said it easily, as though nothing had occurred.

To Kyr'amur Null, killing was as natural as breathing.

With that, and her following, he took off at full tilt, boots echoing down the alley.