Wires and Wood-rot (Kita, Ask)

[Professor Mors]

***Yavin IV, Gordian Reach, Grid Coordinates P-6***

***The Temple of Exar Kun, Lower Catacombs***

Sa’ato, for all his objective scholarship, would not quickly sing the praises of many lords of the Sith. As a rule, he was adverse to hero worship. Still, he could not help but pay homage to those dark masters that had done much to advance the collective knowledge of the Dark Side. Plagueis, Bane, Revan, and foremost of all, Exar Kun. Though Kun had fallen prey to the lust for power that destroyed so many promising students of the Force, the Neti felt a certain kinship with the man’s origins and motivations. Indeed, the very lack of a chosen Sith name spoke volumes to Kun’s commitment to knowledge for knowledge's sake.

Culture and other finery was a nice distraction, certainly worth of study, but hardly something to obsess over. And, as Kun had borrowed into the remnants of Naga Sadow and his kingdom, so too would Sa’ato cannibalize what he could from the atypical Darth. So it was that the professor had begun to transfer the many documents and artifacts he had been loaned, personally stolen, or bought to the maze of subterranean corridors that wound deep beneath the imposing onyx citadel. This had proven steadily rewarding, but also quite taxing. Servants were not abundant for one of Sa’ato’s station, nor did he trust many sentients to handle the precious materials.

Still, the Neti had slowly brought on more mechanical droids to install lighting, while he himself set about synthesizing insect killers. Maggots and other pests had claimed many vintage bookshelves in a larger chamber that was surely a study at some point. So it was that the Neti had made it his quest to rid the space of them before housing his various manuscripts within. A quest the professor was happy to indulge at the nigh hours, until he was surprised by an unexpected visitor. “Strange to find you down here Silvanius”, Sa’ato murmured softly as he carefully titrated a fresh batch of chemicals into a vial, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”.

[Kita_Ikari]

The sith apprentice had been on this planet once before. Helping her master Lord Tormentous to call upon the deceased sith Dark Lord in order to gain control of the massassi. Its seemed so long ago, yet it hadn't been more then half a year since then. Tormentous, Warvanaus, the Sovereign and Slade had all been present. Silvanius had not known how terrifying at the time...how dark the sith could be until she heard the screams of Exar Kun echo at the temples main room entrance.

Looking around as she walked the catacombs, this place still haunted her from that day. The darkside of the force weighing heavy in her heart and mind the longer she lingered in the depths of the planets temple. The air was filled with the promise of corruption, similar to the aura on Zoist.

If Kita hadn't willingly joined the sith, sacrificing herself to the darkness for Jacobi...then the sith apprentice would have fled that temple. She would have attempted to hide from Tormentous and the rest of the sith like the mandolorian suggested despite the fact she knew they wouldn't rest until they had hunted her down, bringing her back to their domain. But that was not a option in Kita's mind. She made her decision. She was going to stick it out and try to give Jacobi a second chance at life. Away from the darkness. Away from Tormentous.

In a way...she felt almost like a Angel in the Darkness. Taking on the tasks of the darkside to also do good...so to speak. But of course...this was also INCREDIBLY complicating and stupid. For she was also sealing her fate in the process...subcumming her own life to ruin. But it was worth it, for she felt a immense love for Jacobi. And Kita was incredibly stubborn. Once she had her mind set on something, it was almost impossible to sway her.

As she made her way through the halls, Silvanius followed the familiar force signature of the Neti.

After the confrontation of the Sovereign taking the Throne, Silvanius had decided to seek out for revenge. But there was a problem.
The sith apprentice first needed to start treading down this road by ridding of her one weakness.
The madolorian.

Turning a corner, she found herself entering a large library of sorts.
In the center of the room stood Sa'ato, busy with his personal studies as expected.
Silvanius really didn't want to do this. But she felt out of all the sith, she had a better shot getting help from the retired Scholar for her problem. For she was going to need his insight and knowledge on what to do. And out of all the sith since Warvanus...Silvanius felt Sa'ato was also the least likely to stab her in the back. And even trusting him was a gamble.
But the sith apprentice couldn't play it safe anymore by keeping her personal mission to herself. Silvanius needed assistance to move forward.

“Strange to find you down here Silvanius. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Thinking back on the Sovereign's words as he dared to say she was a humiliation to being Lord Tormentous apprentice and refusing to give her his holocron unless she could at least touch or stop the echani in a battle, Silvanius's anger rose as she approached the neti. Slamming her hand down on the table he was working at, she narrowed her eyes at Sa'ato. The once bright blue gaze had began dimming as she dwelled on the hate she felt towards the new Sith Lord. "I need your help."

Standing up straight, she knew her next words would bring curiosity to the retired Scholar.
"I need you to help me aquire and hide a cloning cylinder from the Sith Lord...from ANY force user." Kita knew once Tormentous returned, she needed to make sure he didn't feel the clones presence either. Much less any other force user.
Placing her hands on her hips, she continued with a serious low tone.
"I don't like to admit it. And I don't WANT to admit it...but I DO have a weakness. And before you say anything...No. Its NOT my loyalty to Lord Tormentous."

Sighing, Silvanius turned away and began glancing at the shelves of deteriorating literature. A rodent like creature scurring away as she neared. "Despite what the former High Priest said...and despite what he feels in the force...I KNOW Lord Tormentous is alive."
Turning her gaze back to him, Silvanius studied his reaction as she proceeded to mention why she knew he still lived. However...it was a uncomfortable subject. For she had a strong connection with Jacobi from the start. But after their night together before the battle against the Jedi and Kenobi, Kita had felt that bond even more so. And even though she couldn't talk or see him, she could feel his presence. She would have felt the emptiness in her heart had he met a untimely demise. But she felt he was still alive.

"How I know...well..." Her face turned a deep shade of pink. "It's kind of...personal."
Quickly her expression changed to that of annoyance as she abruptly changed the subject.
"And before you say anything, No! My weakness is NOT Tormentous either despite what you might think considering what I just said."

[Professor Mors]

Sa’ato did not look up at the fiery human as her bare knuckles crunched down onto his workspace and disrupted his instruments. He merely paused for a moment, and then continued to add droplets to his current tincture, periodically measuring the temperature of the caution when the occasional bubble rose to the surface. The Neti allowed silence to blanket the room once Kita had finished, until at last he cocked an inquisitive eye in the Archon’s direction, “It is true, you are afflicted- undoubtedly weak. The various reasons are of no interest to me, but the root cause is obvious. You are ruled by your fear, young one-”.

Temporarily halting his cross-examination, the professor raised a single, long finger and bade Silvanius to wait. Carefully, the retired teacher slid his hand across the table to a disheveled scalpel he’d used to carve seeds from a bud some time ago. Then, without warning, without so much as turning his head, Sa’ato sent the small blade hurtling through the air a few inches from Kita’s face, where it thunked powerfully into the gut of a descending crypt rodent. The miniscule creature let slip a hideous scratch, before toppling to the floor just beside the human’s boots, dead as a doornail.

“As I was saying”, Sa’ato continued, loudly popping and stretching out his bulbous shoulders, “You are far too attached to things outside yourself. It is the greatest obstacle to your education in the Force. Thankfully for you, it is an error I am willing to correct”. Like a mutant bloom, the Neti burst up from where he sat, and loomed high above Kita at his full height. “I make one thing clear to you Silvanius”, the professor boomed with a gravelly tone, “I have lived four of your lifetimes, I am no doctoral errand boy. I do not merely serve, I teach”. The wandering academic kept his gilded gaze locked on the young woman’s face for several moments, studying it for the slightest hesitation.

Then, ever so slightly, a smile curled up at the corners of the Neti’s faux lips. “Yes, I will remove your fear, and tutor you to fully divorce from it”, he continued, before lifting up one of his leathery digits once more, “On one condition. We will acquire this cylinder, and I will synthesize the form of whatever you desire myself. However, I will be the one to choose the place of hiding, and I alone will know the location”. Just as quickly as the moment of passion had come, Sa’ato mouth slackened into its usual dull grimace, as the professor turned about to face away from Kita and towards the door.

“If I should die by hands beside your own, I will leave instructions that the information be transferred to someone whom I trust will not betray the site to anyone but you”, the Neti moved to conclude, clasping his hands loosely behind his back, “Otherwise, if you wish to learn where I have hidden your tangible weakness, you will have to pry it from my mind, or beat me into submission”. Sa’ato let slip a dry, raspy chuckle in light of the latter comment. As his body was made of countless neurons, invading his consciousness would be like searching for a sprig of hay in a stack of needles. He thus hoped the severity of his terms would be clear enough to his would-be client.

[Kita_Ikari]

How he could keep so focused during her rant, Silvanius was intrigued. The sith apprentice had to admit to herself their was a lot of admiration for Sa'ato. He never allowed anything to disturb his work. Something Silvanius would have loved to aspire too.

“It is true, you are afflicted- undoubtedly weak. The various reasons are of no interest to me, but the root cause is obvious. You are ruled by your fear, young one-”

"...I can't disagree with you on that..." she replied softly. She looked away in discomfort knowing all to well she was afraid. Silvanius knew she was afraid in a sense. Not for herself as much as for Jacobi. She didn't want to be afraid for him. The sith apprentice knew the mandolorian could take care of himself. He had survived this far hadn't he? But that didn't mean anything.

As the neti raised a finger, Kita looked at him confused.
In the flash of a second, her eyes widened in shock as a scalpel flew past her face, feeling the object rush past her cheek. Hearing the screech from the rodent behind her, Kita looked down to see the creature fall to floor by her feet. She stepped away a few steps, freaking out inwardly at what had happened. "The scholar has skills..."

Shaking herself from her thoughts, she looked up at Sa'ato as he approached. The neti's height made her feel significantly smaller then she really was. Everyone seemed to overtower her. His promise to help her brought a small sense of relief and yet...sadness. Kita knew she had to let Jacobi go for his safety. In the meantime, it also held her no weaknesses while in the sith should her plan work for the mandolorians and her masters separation.

“I make one thing clear to you Silvanius, I have lived four of your lifetimes, I am no doctoral errand boy. I do not merely serve, I teach."
The sith apprentice nodded quietly in response, her gaze never looking away from his. Of course the Neti wouldn't just do anyone's bidding at the drop of a hat. Which is why Silvanius had come asking for his assistance.
“Yes, I will remove your fear, and tutor you to fully divorce from it."
"Really?" She raised a brow at him, a sparkle of hope in her dimming blue gaze.
On one condition."
She frowned as his words. Of course Kita knew their had to be a catch...something in return for his help.
"What condition?" She replied warily.
"We will acquire this cylinder, and I will synthesize the form of whatever you desire myself. However, I will be the one to choose the place of hiding, and I alone will know the location."

Kita's mouth opened as she was about to argue over this issue, but instead was silenced as Sa'ato continued.
“If I should die by hands beside your own, I will leave instructions that the information be transferred to someone whom I trust will not betray the site to anyone but you, Otherwise, if you wish to learn where I have hidden your tangible weakness, you will have to pry it from my mind, or beat me into submission.”

She would have fought him then and there, but wasn't sure if she could even beat him in battle.
"I propose a counter offer for knowing the location!" She replied seriously.
Placing her hands on her bare hips, she narrowed her eyes at Sa'ato.
"I promise you may obtain the title of High Priest should I take the throne in the future. AND..."
It was a big 'and' as Silvanius would have to find out what her master will do to the echani.
"I'll offer you a favor. Any favor." Silvanius figured their may be a big mistake to that part of the counter offer. But she knew desperate times called for desperate measures. "...Especially seeing as I'm not sure what will happen to the previous Priest. Otherwise I would offer you that title now had Tormentous agreed to it."

She fell silent for a second, letting the offer sink into the Neti's mind. Silvanius knew it would be least then likely Tormentous would keep Silas as the High Priest for very long after his return...but she couldn't be sure on this. The mandolorian and the Dark Lord just had this echani snake in the grass steal their position while in their absence. He didn't deserve the title in Silvanius eyes. But the echani held alot of knowledge and power to helping her master in his endeavors. So it was all left in masters hands should he stay as his left hand.

"I only offer this because when the time comes, I will need that clone. Its important to my plans to rid of my weakness and I need to know its location to retrieve it." She didn't go into detail, but continued with her explanation. "I need it for a body transfer."

[Professor Mors]

“I am hardly interested in titles”, Sa’ato offered dryly without turning around, “And even less so in offers that hold no weight. That said-”. The Neti paused, and a sickly crackle of rootlike muscle sounded out as he rotated his head one hundred and eighty degrees, looking down on the young disciple like some malevolent wood owl, “But a favor, a service of my own choosing, I suppose I can haggle for that price”.

The professor smiled, and slowly wound his cranium back towards the door, “If you must know where I will hide your prize, so be it. But, once the clone has matured, I will keep them in stasis until such a time that you force me to submit to your will”. The retired academic stopped mid-sentence, and strode just under the aged doorframe, "After all, if I simply let you walk free with this rueful attachment, you’d learn nothing at all. This way, there is still potential for growth, and you may be sure of a fair chance at your fulfilling your goal”.

That said and done, the Neti seemingly disappeared down into the darkened corridor, before the gravel tone of his voice echoed out once more, “I’d wear something less revealing if I were you- you won’t want to get anything on your nice garments where we’re headed…”


***Ord Mantell, Bright Jewel Cluster, Grid Coordinates L-7***

“Not a very fitting capital for the ‘Bright Jewel’ system now is it?”, Sa’ato commented in a rare moment of humor as he guided the Mudhorn down through the planet’s lower atmosphere. In no time at all, clouds of steam and noxious waste fumes began to tickle the underside of the pursuer starship, occasionally lapping up at the cockpit canopy and leaving a noticeable layer of particular grime, “Welcome, Young One, to the largest rubbish heap in the quadrant- maybe even the galaxy”. Rocky, almost barren in its current incarnation, and covered in heaps of debris, it was not hard to see just how well that title was earned.

Steering clear of designated spaceports, as he usually did in situations like these, the Neti gently brought the ship down on a modest plateau, while a colossal, albeit-aged processing plant glinted softly just below the main ridge. If one could call the occasional burst of a reflection beneath sheets of filth glinting anyways. “I won’t get into the how, but it has reached me that a minor extremist group recently acquired the very same technology you seek”, Sa’ato explained at last, standing up from the pilot’s chair and methodically collecting his arms and other devices, “Fortunately for us, they did not pay for the cylinder, and their, shall we say, appropriation, angered some very powerful people-”.

“Unfortunately for those people”, the professor continued, shuddering slightly as he descended the loading ramp and a temperate gust of putrid, stagnant air bombarded his nervous system, “We will not be claiming any bounties today. Instead, you and I will extract the cylinder by whatever means necessary, and make sure that this second theft cannot be traced back to us”. The duo walked on for some time, until the domed roof of the waste processing plant became more clearly visible in the distance. Sa’ato walked up to the very edge of a sheer cliff, and sat down on one knee. Exhaling brusquely, he then shot his tendril-like fingers into the soil, as if he were searching for something.

After a few moments, the Neti smiled, and nodded approvingly back at Kita. “My sources suggest the brigands in question are holed up in that junkyard up ahead”, Sa’ato explained, while a trio of pebbles began to dance at the young woman’s feet without warning, “It is largely automated, only a few guards at most, and that-”. A loud, metallic screech pierced the air, interrupting the academic almost on cue, “Is our way in”. Grimacing, Sa’ato stood back upright, and gruffly commanded, “Steady yourself”, before kicking off with both feet, flying backward high into the air, and then out of sight.

Freefalling comfortably, the Neti’s bone-clad boots crunched loudly onto a durasteel platform wedged between the two middle cars of an antiquated hovertrain. Supported by a rusting repulsor rail line, this was the one technical means of entry into the smelting compound. Sa’ato had expected it would be simple enough to board. And yet, for a mostly autonomous operation, the professor was sorely mistaken if he anticipated zero resistance. Gold eyes widening in shock, the academic had only a moment to duck behind a car coupling as a blaster bolt missed his midsection by mere inches.

Battle droids, third party brand going off of one quick glance. Concussion rifle armed and ready, the professor righted himself with the intent of ending both hostiles in one go. He was not so lucky. The droid closest to the rock face quickly let fly a hip shot that forced the Neti to duck once again. For his troubles though, Sa’ato succeeded in blasting the leg out from the other automaton from a prone position, and watched with satisfaction as it fell with a brass wail into the polluted slurry many meters below. No one said it would be easy- but if this was the extent of the troubles, the professor’s end of the bargain would be a cheap expense indeed.

[Kita_Ikari]

The way the neti looked her way gave the sith apprentice chills as the crackle of his muscles popped. Partially annoyed and relieved, she smiled slightly knowing she had at least been able to get something out of her counter offer. "Of course your not interested in titles. But if anything were to happen...I think the title of High Priest would suit you in the future. So the offer still stands should you change your mind." It was a honest reply. Silvanius knew as Sa'ato grew stronger in the sith and gained more knowledge, he would have made a exceptional priest, though both Sa'ato and herself still had alot to learn.

There was a slight twinge of worry in her heart at the thought of Jacobi remaining asleep in statis until his release, should the body transfer work. But the Sith apprentice knew this option was better then none. However she knew if she had to fight Sa'ato into submission for the codes...that would only delve her deeper into the force of the darkside. "You know there is no other option. When the time comes you WILL have to awaken Jacobi so he may care for himself and hide away from Tormentous."

Biting her lip in thought, she continued the conversation as the neti began walking towards one of the doors within the temple. "Concerning the clone staying in statis...well I can't quite disagree on that decision of yours. Because as much as I don't want that option...its better then nothing at all. So I accept the terms."

As Sa'ato disappeared into the darkness of the corridors, Silvanius gave an annoyed look where her Sith companion disappeared into. His voice echoing as he left her in the room.

“I’d wear something less revealing if I were you- you won’t want to get anything on your nice garments where we’re headed…”

--------

Listening quietly to the retired scholars joke, Silvanius brows knitted in disgust as the ship began becoming covered in filth from the airs atmosphere. "Rubbish heap is a understatement. This planet seems to almost be made completely of trash." She gave a small smile however at the comment. "But another persons trash is another ones treasure. And right now, its mine."

Staring out at the spaceport as they passed by, the sith apprentice looked at Sa'ato curiously. "A extremest group?" More questions came to mind. Who was the powerful people that were angered? Silvanius had no doubt in her mind that the previous situation would make this mission very complicating.

Silvanius stood, already prepared for the mission as she followed around the neti. Her concentration was slightly broken as the ramp was lowered, forcing the Sith apprentice to cover her nose in disgust. The smell alone was enough to wanna make her heave. Yet she remained silent through it all, quietly suffering as she reminded herself this trip would be worth the trouble for the mandolorian.

“We will not be claiming any bounties today. Instead, you and I will extract the cylinder by whatever means necessary, and make sure that this second theft cannot be traced back to us”.

"Easier said then done." She replied.
Casting her eyes away from Sa'ato as he approached the cliffs edge, Silvanius looked on ahead at the processing plant in curiosity.
Catching the movement as he glanced her way, the sith apprentice listened as he explained what was going on in the distance. Feeling the vibrations under her silver high heeled boots, she quickly observed the pebbles moving, the sound of the oncoming train making her flinch as he explained that was their ticket into the factory.

Noticing the look of amusement on Sa'ato's face, her eyes widened in surprise as he jumped off in that instant, flawlessy falling towards the train. Getting flashbacks of dropping onto a train once in the past when meeting Ali, Silvanius sighed and followed shortly after in pursuit of their goal. The wind felt cool on her face as she jumped off the cliffs edge, finishing her landing with a roll to break her fall before standing not far off from her companion. "Third time doing that in my life. And its still a bit unsettling."

Within seconds Silvanius felt the force warn her of oncoming shots in their direction. One shot barely missing the scholar, Silvanius pulled out her lightspear in a instant, stopping the second shot before rolling out of the way next to the neti. "Figures anytime I go with you on a mission, we end up in some sort of battle or shoot out. You didn't anticipate their would be droids hanging about? This is a scrap heap planet of metal and other trash. Obviously they would have droids here whether theirs or claimed from the scrap heaps themselves."

One droid down, and another to go, the sith apprentice swiftly pulled her pistol from her holster and aimed for the remaining droids head. Her first couple of shots missed, before finally burning through the droids cranium. Silvanius watched It's body crumble to the ground before deciding to take shelter behind the car the Neti used for cover. "From here on out, please keep a lookout for more droids."

[Professor Mors]

Sa’ato sighed and shook his head as he rose up onto his feet. “I had mentioned that we could expect automated resistance”, the professor riffed with an obvious air of condescension, “I did not specify how many or how few”. Striding intently toward the rear door of the train car, the Neti paused briefly to raise an eyebrow at his impetuous companion, “Perhaps you simply failed to pay attention, Young One. Despite your connection to this mission, I encourage you not to get too lost in your thoughts”. His peace said, the academic keyed the door console, and strode into the rear car’s interior.

The smell inside was not markedly better or significantly different from the hideous odor that permeated the rest of the planet. Rusted metal sheeting and the eroding husks of furniture stuck out like artificial stalagmites drawn against myriad empty crates. “We shall make for the lead engine-”, Sa’ato elaborated with his typical scholarly tone, his words falling short as he opened the front hatch of the car, a gust of putrid wind slapping at his face in turn. “It ought to have an integrated comm panel we can use to gain access to the facility”, the professor concluded, taking careful steps to ford the gap between cars and the electro-coupling that kept them tied together.

“I only hope that the extremist group proves as flimsy as those droids”, the Neti mused aloud more to himself than to Kita, activating the door to the next adjacent car and crossing over the threshold, “This should be over soon enou-”. Sa’ato blinked repeatedly in surprise, his shocked demeanor met with several pairs of large black pupils in turn. A half dozen Gamorreans, armed with a medley of crude blaster pistols and vibroblades stood comically squished together, staring half-dazed at the professor and no doubt at his companion. In that moment, the academic had no intention of giving Kita time to pay lip service.

In an instant, the lead Gamorrean let out a shrill squeal as Sa’ato sent a full-strength concussive blast straight into its rotund gut. Before the other five could react, the Neti was already barreling forward, the butt of his rifle crunching into the side of the nearest ruffian’s cheek with a sickening crack. So much for a simple job…

[Kita_Ikari]

“Perhaps you simply failed to pay attention, Young One. Despite your connection to this mission, I encourage you not to get too lost in your thoughts.” True enough Kita hadn't been FULLY listening. Her mind was elsewhere as the retired scholar suggested.
"..." Silvanus remained silent for the time being as she stood and watched him approach the door console, unlocking the back of the train car.

“We shall make for the lead engine, it ought to have an integrated comm panel we can use to gain access to the facility.”

"Makes sense."
Silvanius was impressed with the neti. He had really thought through how to help her get what she seeked.
"I believe I made the right decision getting his help."

The Sith apprentice stood right behind him, listening intently until her companions voice stopped independence. Peering out from behind, her eyes widened in surprise at the gammoreons. "Well this certainly wasn't expected". she thought. As quick as a whip, Silvanius ignited her silver blade, already on the advance as her companion begun the attack.

The sound of the gammoreons jaw cracking made her wince, trying to not think about it as her blade cut through a couple of the creatures. There bodies fell downward to the floor, the other 3 already advancing on the two Sith apprentices. Now was not the time to let the battle linger. The sooner they made it to the engine room, the sooner they would retrieve her cloning cylinder.

[Professor Mors]

Mercifully, Ikari had elected to save any backtalk for after the melee. Though Sa’ato was unable to watch his fellow apprentice with his eyes, Kita’s artful movement and lethal strikes played a colorful symphony within the Living Force. With her here, there was no doubt the low-lifes would be overrun. Still, the day would not be won without effort. Groaning with momentary fatigue, the Neti narrowly lept to the side of a massive vibroaxe-head, his concussion rifle quickly shattering the weapon near its midpoint with one quick burst before leveling out at the mammoth swine ahead.

The professor depressed the trigger once more. This time the luminous azure discharge struck the brigand in the meaty rolls of its neck. At such close range, phlegm and viscera sprayed out onto the Neti’s armor as his foe fell forward. To the retired teacher’s greater dismay however, in the moment his visual senses were dulled by the hulking body, one of the two remaining Gamorreans slammed into the oaken instructor with all their might. Crashing painfully into the dirty durasteel interior, Sa’ato growled as his rifle slipped free of his grasp. From there the pair grappled one another, and the professor’s irritation grew as a handful of lucky blows peppered his face.

After the fourth or fifth injury to his person, the academic lost his patience completely. Calling on his fury and presence in the Force, Sa’ato took a small hop forward, and in the split seconds he was in air, altered his limbs to loosen as much as possible. Then, he was upon his opponent before they could offer a breath of protest. Contorting his humanoid form to the utmost, the Neti expanded and roped his entire body round the bulbous frame of the Gamorrean. And, as quickly as he had deployed, the retired teacher began to contract, and squeeze- and squeeze further.

Had Kita caught a glance of the macabre display, she might have been surprised to see how many colors the captured guard dermis could take on in the throes of asphyxiation. At the very least, she would have heard another revolting chorus of popping bones and cracking cartilage as the pair tumbled onto the floor. Even then, Sa’ato did not have time to rest and lick his superficial bruises. Bounding back onto his feet, he exited the rear of the car, content in the acolyte’s ability to finish off the last brute, and started to scale a ladder leading to the roof of the next compartment.

Again, to his sustained anger, the Neti’s senses only warned him of impending danger just as his head poked over the top of the railing. The sizable crimson offspring of a T-21 heavy rifle just barely clipped the crest of the professor’s scaly hood, and he snarled with contempt as he cranked the setting of his own blaster past the recommended tolerance. Coming up for air and for battle, Sa’ato marked his target as an older biped security droid, and succeeded in hammering it once just below its leg servos. Before the professor could finish the job however, a fresh burst of verdant laserfire forced the wandering lecturer to duck once again.

A second droid, he inferred from the corner of his eye, armed with a repeating weapon- likely some variant of the SE-14. “Silvanius!”, Sa’ato hollered with his usual rasp, “Two up above- handle the one on the right!”. From what the Neti could tell, Tormentous’s pupil was well-regarded for her agility, and a more dextrous training regiment that the professor lacked. She did not have to dispatch either of the droids, he thought, but had only to distract one or more. Then, the would strike together, and strike hard.

[Kita_Ikari]

Silvanius heard Sa'ato breathing rather heavily. It hadn't been the first time, but quite a couple of times has the sith apprentice noticed his lack of energy in the midst of battle. "...does he need more physical training? Or is their a unknown underlying condition he is unaware of?" Really she wouldn't have cared much, but it seemed quite often the neti was barely keeping on top as they fought together in battles.

Turning as she heard the shot fired, the sight alone was disgusting as Silvanius noticed the phlem and other bodily fluids from the gammoreon covering her Sith companion. "...ew."
Silvanius senses warned her of a oncoming attack. In one quick fluid motion she rolled alongside the wall opposite of Sa'ato, faded blue eyes staring at a vibroblade jammed into the wall just inches from her face. Staring at her with a grunt was the second to last gammoreon her companion was not occupied with. Instead he had his hands full trying to gain his ground again as the two wrestled each other for survival.

Glancing back at the creature with narrowed eye's, she smirked at the attempt.
"Nice try." She mocked.
The gammoreon replied back in grunts of anger for Silvanius mockery. As he began pulling the blade out from the wall of the train, Silvanius silver lightspear swung upward, severing the gammoreons hand from his arm. The green fatty hand remained gripped to the hilt as the creature squealed in pain, falling back onto the floor gripping where his missing hand once was.

Ignoring the fact a hand remained on the weapon, Silvanius shook it off allowing it to fall to the floor as it came out from the wall.
With both saber and vibroblade in hand, she stepped forward without much thought towards the pig humanoid creature as he sat on the floor staring. Of course he seemed stubborn at allowing himself to lose and decided at the attempt of slamming into her...only to be met with a swift death in turn. The gammoreons head was sliced through with both blades, rolling across the train floor.
"Should have just backed off."

Deactivating her blade, she attached it on her belt and remained holding the vibroblade as she turned to Sa'ato. Already she saw the last of the gammoreons fall to the ground with a thud. She smiled, impressed. "Nice job."
Following behind him, Silvanius trusted the neti's direction, leading them out and upward a ladder.

Hearing the shot, she ducked down a bit as Sa'ato lowered himself back down the ladder a bit above her.
About to mouth off, she decided not to and instead gave him a angered look at what was going on for the sudden retreat.

“Silvanius! Two up above- handle the one on the right!"

Nodding in response, Silvanius trusted her senses and leaped upwards at an angle past Sa'ato, grabbing the rail of the train and hoisting herself on top. Of course she sensed the oncoming shots and rolled out of the way in time while whipping her saber out once again. Pushing herself in a standing position, Silvanius focused her attention on the droids shots, using her saber to deflect them away from herself. Of course her timing wasn't always perfect despite the training she went through with Tormentous. A couple shots had grazed her right arm in the process. "I've got it from here!" She yelled.