Welcome to Gaia! ::

The slow clamor of the crowd that had been building as they all asked what they had just seen died down immediately as that insidious voice rang out in its deathly whisper.

Vyrtem was ignoring the Eradicators, now. He placed himself between the real threat in the room and Valya. He stood before death itself. Between Darth Capulus and his passion. And he was prepared to face this death and conquer it.

Darth Capulus' eyes were unreadable, but his breathing came slow and steady, his very presence menacing to everyone but Vyrtem. The Darth took a step forward, to the edge of his platform.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Vyrtem stood strong. "The allegations that have been made against this woman are nothing but lies! She is no Republic Spy!"

That breathing never changed... "On what grounds do you base your claims? Our information comes from a trusted source. You, however, are nothing. What allows you to make such bold claims?"

Vyrtem swallowed. What was he thinking? What if she really was a- NO! That didn't matter. What mattered was that she survived. Nothing else.

"I give my word as a loyal, lifelong Sith. I have served the Empire with my every breath since I was born, my parents served the Empire, and I carry their lineage. I carry generations of service to the Empire on my shoulders. I would wager that against whatever source you have."

There was silence for a moment. The Darth cocked his head slightly to the side, as if inspecting the boy. "You can make these claims, but have you any proof?"

Vyrtem ripped his mother's dog tags from his neck and threw them at Darth Capulus.

The Darth caught them easily and inspected the charred tags. "I am not without reason. But you still carry just your word alone, even accounting for your family's service, against a trusted source whose family is well-known to us, while these... 'Vayne's are unknown to me." He drew a deep, slow breath. "You wear not the robes nor the weapon of a Sith. Am I to understand that you, an Initiate to this Order is standing in direct defiance to the laws of the Council?"

"If those laws include butchering people under false pretenses, then yes, yes I am." Where was this coming from? This was Vyrtem's hot streak showing up again... This never ends well. No time to think about that now, though. He'd already long since pulled the trigger on this.

The Darth raised his jaw to the boy, appraising him. Measuring his worth. Such a bold boy. But was it confidence or arrogance? His eyes narrowed as he watched the boy, and he exhaled long and slow, almost a sigh. "You are yet found wanting. We have information that this woman confessed to her crimes, and the risk is too great to allow her to live. She is insignificant anyway. Why do you fight for her?"

Vyrtem bristled and clenched his fists. "She is not insignificant to me."

The Sith Lord made a clicking noise with his tongue. "So that is what this is. You are enamored with this girl, and so you are blind to her betrayal."

Vyrtem opened his mouth to protest, but that voice cut him off.

"It still does not matter. If you have no one else to speak on your behalf, we shall simply execute you both and be done with this."

Vyrtem turned around and knelt to remove the gag from Valya's mouth. He looked into her eyes, apologizing. He had failed her... But he had to save her. He had to try. He pressed his forehead to hers as four Eradicators circled, raising their cruel blades above the children's heads. Vyrtem put his hands on her shoulders and prepared to hold all four sabers off at once. He had no idea if he could manage such a feat, but he had to try. He had to do this. For her. He looked into her eyes as the blades came down. A single tear ran down her cheek, and that struck Vyrtem deeper than any blade ever could.

((Vyrtem +4/+4/+12
Eradicator 1,2,3,4 +4/+4

Same as before, except he's actually attacking. -9 defense, tutaminis --I'll remember to roll this time--
And he's probably going to die. Like hardcore die. But what can you do?))

((8 -5 23 | 14 7 | 7 11 | 11 15 | 14 15

no damage dealt by Vyrtem, no defensive bonuses for Eradicators

19 12 16 19
7 1 4 7

1/4: passes by ten or less: disperse two points of damage per point of Tutaminis
2/3: passes by 11-15: absorb one point of damage per point of Tutaminis as attunement and disperse one damage per point of Tutaminis

All in all, absorbs 5 points and disperses 14

Tutaminis 8
128+4*2
264/308 (his affinity, all of his made post counts are multiplied by two)

unarmed: 2+3/5 ))

Vyrtem:
Health: 4
Stamina: 4
Attunement: 22

Eradicator1: +2/+2
Health: -2
Stamina: 2
Attunement: 13

Eradicator2: +4/+4
Health: 0
Stamina: 2
Attunement: 13

Eradicator3: +4/+4
Health: 0
Stamina: 2
Attunement: 13

Eradicator4: +4/+4
Health: 0
Stamina: 2
Attunement: 13

Vyrtem was able to repel the initial attack, but as they swarmed him, he was less able to control the crush of their attacks. He tried to put his hands in the way of their sabers, but they hit his body just as often. He aimed a punch or two at them, but they dodged. His shirt was being tattered, but he was taking no damage, which only seemed to infuriate them more, and frenzy their pace. He just had to keep their attention until... Until what? He had no lightsaber, he had no weapon. If he'd come into this with the stun baton, at least he could defend himself. He could just throw body parts in the way of sabers and hope he was able to block their attacks. He was losing this fight. Well, he at least wasn't winning it.

Valya was screaming, begging the Eradicators to stop. She didn't know how long Vyrtem could keep this up. No matter how impressive he was, everyone had their limits. Even Sith...

She ran forward and grabbed one of their robes, trying to pull him off of Vyrtem and was just about to take a vicious elbow to the face when a hand came out of nowhere and caught the offending limb.

"Stop this madness, you fool!" His voice boomed, loud and strong over the arena, bringing the action to an immediate halt. Everyone was staring at the newcomer.

Darth Capulus raised his head from the fight to look at the intruder. "Who dares interrupt the dealing of justice?"

"I, Darth Armatus, speak for the boy! He has my backing. Do you dare stand your source against me?"

"Darth Armatus..." Darth Capulus paused for a moment... "You... Speak for this boy?"

"I do, and I demand to see the one you claim is your source for this accusation. It is my right."

Darth Capulus exhaled almost resignedly. "Very well. Bring her forward."

Vyrtem wasn't sure what was going on. Who... What? What was the librarian doing here? Why were the Eradicators leading out....

You've got to be kidding me...

His eyes locked on a very uncomfortable Mina, being escorted by two Sith Eradicators.

That glowing hot fire was back. But it wasn't love he was feeling. His entire body bristled, and were it not for the four lightsabers within slicing distance, he would have charged her right then.

She was not so much fighting the march forward as resisting it. "But... You told me that I wouldn't have to speak. You said you had this handled..."

"As a Darth, Armatus has the right to examine the evidence brought to bear against the one he speaks for. If you are telling the truth, then you have nothing to fear. You are doing the Empire a great service." It was insinuated that Capulus might not actually care which way it went.

Vyrtem could have burnt holes in durasteel with the gaze he locked on Mina. "This is nonsense! You trust the word of this pathetic excuse for a Sith!? You are willing to kill in the name of justice on the name of Mina Toth?" It made sense, though... The Toth lineage was a proud line of Sith... That just happened to produce this particular waste of space out of bad luck.

"You raise a fair point. All we really have is the word of Mina Toth, claiming guilt, and the word of Darth Armatus, an equally well-respected Sith name, claiming innocence.

Armatus. There is only one way to settle this, unless evidence can be produced to prove her innocence, as we have nothing but her alleged confession to establish her guilt."

The librarian narrowed his eyes. "It would seem so."

Vyrtem didn't understand what was going on, but he didn't care. The Eradicators had turned to clear the arena, and Vyrtem was at Valya's side, pulling her close to him as she went numb with shock. "It's okay. It's over now. You're safe. It's okay."

The librari- Darth... Armatus... stepped to Vyrtem's side. He exhaled slowly. "Not quite."

((Vyrtem: +4/+6 soresu
Mina: +3/+3 ataru))

Tutaminis 8
128+4*2
264/308 (his affinity, all of his made post counts are multiplied by two)

unarmed: 2+3/5
2+3/15

soresu 1
7+1/21 ))

Vyrtem:
Health: 4
Stamina: 4
Attunement: 27

Mina:
Health: 2
Stamina: 3
Attunement: 18-2=16

Vyrtem stepped forward to the center of the arena as the librarian led Valya away from the danger zone. They were surrounded by Eradicators just in case they tried anything funny, and Vyrtem had to trust that she was safe.

He stared Mina down, allowing himself to focus on what was important. This was the reason he had been through so much pain today. The fear of loss, the struggle for survival. The harm inflicted upon Valya. All of it was her fault. Her and her stupid games.

Mina watched Vyrtem carefully. She was not nervous anymore. It was a fight to prove who was telling the truth. It's not like this little whelp could survive her onslaught. He had no chance of actually harming her. She may play the cheerleader, but she had been trained to be a Sith warrior. An unstoppable monster. She took a breath and bounced her father's saber in her hand to test its weight. "Are you scared? You should be. You are, aren't you? I can see it in your eyes. You are weak. How does it feel knowing that you're going to die here today? And that she will die, to-

Vyrtem charged her, but he attacked with a feint. He was trying to provoke a counterattack, not to actually strike her.

Her peaceful sleep is over.She wakes up to the feeling of being poked, prodded, and stabbed, again. She is so tired of this. Letting the bantha ball-lickers poke and prod her until she lets enough rage build up she just lays there silently. After several minutes she feels as though she is about to explode. Calming her mind and opening herself to the Force, she focuses on what she must do. She can no longer bear the pain and the anger is eating at her insides like a monster waiting to get out. She releases the most primal, gut wrenching, and painful scream anyone in the lab has ever heard.

((Vyrtem: +5+3=+8/+5 unarmed
Mina: +3/+3 ataru))

Tutaminis 8
128+4*2
264/308 (his affinity, all of his made post counts are multiplied by two)

unarmed: 2+3/5
2+4/15

soresu 1
7+3/21 ))

Vyrtem:
Health: 4
Stamina: 4
Attunement: 27

Mina:
Health: 2
Stamina: 3
Attunement: 12-2=10

Vyrtem sensed a discomfort from the outside of the arena. It was Valya. She was worried about him. He wanted to calm her down, but he couldn't take his eyes off Mina's assault, now that it had picked up pace. He jumped over the blade that swept at his ankles and flipped forward over her arm, landing behind her. Now! He leaned back, spinning, and aimed a kick at the side of her face from behind. She would never see it coming.



Valya gave a small jump as Vyrtem narrowly avoided another attack, and made what appeared to be a distancing maneuver in the form of a kick. Why wasn't he using the lightsaber? Why was he not taking this seriously? This was his life at stake here. He couldn't die... Not now...

((Jarani +9/+9
Initiate unarmed

Health: 2
Stamina: 2
Attunement: 17(-17)

Lab Tech
unarmed +0/+0
Health: 0
Stamina: -1
Attunement: 3

Sith Lab Tech
unarmed +4/+4
Health: 0
Stamina: 2
Attunement: 9(-4)

As they continue to poke and prod her, the Sith tech sensed something wrong in the Force.Jarani begins to laugh. It starts off as a small giggle, like that of a child. Then it turns into something more sinister. She begins laughing like someone who has lost their mind, and in a sense, she has. As she is laughing she grabs the lab techs and pushes them to the side. She sits up suddenly, and just like that the laughing stops.

The techs look at her in confusion because until now she had always willingly gone along with the tests, the blood draws, everything. It was as if she wasn't the real Jarani to them, as if she had been replaced by a clone. They both just stared at her for several seconds in shock, neither actually believing this was happening.

She gets up from her bed and just stares at them. Her body seems totally relaxed yet there is a fire burning in her eyes that looks like Korriban's sun was put behind them. So fiercely did the light burn, that even the Sith lab tech averted his eyes from her terrible gaze.

In an unusually calm, yet commanding and foreboding voice she said, "That is the last time you or anyone will ever run tests, take anything that belongs to me, or even touch me ever again. From now on things will be done the way I want them to be done. I will be not be treated like a caged animal or a test subject anymore. It's done, all of it. I will make sure no one else has to endure the indignities I have suffered at the hands of people like you."

The first lab tech looked at her and tried reasoning with her. "We are only doing our jobs. You cannot think to punish us for that. We follow orders just as you. It's not right, not fair."

"You dare to tell me, ME, about what is fair and what is not!? Try being a science experiment! At any rate you, both of you will now serve as another example of what happens when one incurs my wrath."

With that last statement, she began to scream. The Sith lab tech sensed it at the last second and with Force Speed attempted to get out of the room.

She watches the lab techs as she screams. The Sith puts on a burst of Force Speed and gets through the door and out of harm's way. The other lab tech is not as fortunate. Once the wave of the Force Scream hits him, all she sees is his arms and legs vanish, as if they were never there. He falls to the ground, unconscious due to the shock his system has just taken.

As the wave hits the walls all hell breaks loose. The walls burst outward like an overripe fruit. The glass in the windows shatters. The floor rumbles and heaves. The ceiling begins to collapse.

Realizing she will be trapped and possibly killed if she doesn't move she runs as fast as she can toward the exit while grabbing her double bladed vibrosword. She may not make it considering the obstacles that might get in her way so she prepares herself for death, but runs and dodges with living first and foremost in her mind.

(Rubble Check)

((Vyrtem: +4/+6 soresu
Mina: +3/+3 ataru))

Tutaminis 8
128+4*2
264/308 (his affinity, all of his made post counts are multiplied by two)

unarmed: 2+3/5
2+4/15

soresu 1
7+6/21 ))

Vyrtem:
Health: 4
Stamina: 4
Attunement: 27

Mina:
Health: 2
Stamina: 3
Attunement: 6-2=4

Vyrtem turned his head to the side as Mina's blade came close enough to his ear to singe the hair that was on it, but he did not waver. He stepped instead forward and to his right, putting him on her left side as she passed by, following through as her saber carried her with it. He was still breathing calmly despite his brush with burning hot plasma, and he was still intent on waiting her out. He had come close to getting scratched, but she hadn't actually touched him, and he was not worried about it yet. He felt unkillable. As if she were some minor nuisance standing in the way of his goals toward greater power, and this fight was some elaborate method of sweeping her aside. He allowed himself to fall into a sort of trance, focusing on nothing but her movements. Every tiny thought that she had was broadcast before him like a step-by-step roadmap of her intentions.

He watched calmly as she rolled forward and to her left, trying to rise and slice at him from behind.