[center][h3] ~| The Jedi Temple on Coruscant |~
~| Day 1, 11th hour |~ [/h3][/center]

The Trandoshan’s stance was firm and prepared for violence. Khan could see he was serious in his threat to kill the prisoner if they didn’t comply and surrender.  Khan wasn’t sure what to do. Normally a hostage situation was supposed to have some room for negotiation between the two parties, but this was definitely not that case. If they gave in, they would be imprisoned by the Sith but...how were they supposed to just let an innocent die? Khan found himself agonized with indecision, but in times like these he only had his training and his nature as an Echani to fall back on and both were telling him to fight. The Trandoshan Sith might have been telling the truth about killing the hostage, but if they gave themselves up without a fight he could go on to kill as many beings as he pleased, right?

Khan glanced over at his Master, trying to pass the sentiment along and hoping he’d have backup when he made his move.

Khan had to try something, so he fell back on telekinesis. He was really skilled at precise manipulations, so maybe he could throw something without giving it away. He picked up a medium sized chunk of masonry and jerked it toward Sish with a jerk of his fingers, hoping to destabilize the Sith so his Master could attack.

Denso stared at the reptile as it has its claws around a defenseless temple guard. The Sith was dotted with battle scars and wore armor, it would be a tough one to take down even with the combined skills of the Kiffar and the Echani. The hostage was beaten badly as he stared with desperate eyes at both Jedi. Denso glanced towards Khan during the tense moment, his weapons clenched unlit in his hands. They would need to move precisely and with utmost speed in order to both free the hostage and take down the powerful looking Sith. 

“You Sith are all the same, that man is not why you are here I would venture to guess, he is unarmed and of no threat to you. Let him go and take on someone your own size.” Denso stated aggressively as he glared at Sish, fingers hovering just over the switch on each lightsaber that  ignite them. As he spoke, he noticed some debris slowly rising into the air behind the lizard. His padawan was making a risky move, but one that could pay off. 

“Me and you, right now, Sith. You look like someone that knows how to fight, surely you’ll toss aside your prisoner and face me in combat. The other Sith were cocky and flashy but ultimately weak, are you any better than them?” The Jedi challenged as he walked slowly to his side, keeping his distance for now from Sish, but hoping to draw his attention. H continued to stare down the trandoshan as he was hoping to bait him into combat where then Khan could then help him, hopefully their efforts together would be enough to win the fight.

  Sish grinned at the two of them, one trying to keep is attention while the other , or both, would try to use the Force to make him let go of his hostage. It was how the Jedi operated, and he would have been surprised if they had done anything else.  Sish kept his senses alert, waiting for the slightest thing that would indicate an attack. His eye snapped to the Echani’s fingers as they twitched, a moment later hearing whistling as something was thrown through the air. He turned, holding the Temple Guard out in front of him as a shield, and blocked the masonry with his prisoner’s body. He quickly turned his attention back to the two jedi, not wanting to give them a chance. 

 If the Echani wasn’t able to move it out in time, the man’s arm and ribs would doubtlessly be broken. Regardless, Sish kept staring at his two opponents. “You Jedi are all the same as well. You see me with a prisoner, and you automatically try something that would both free him and keep yourselves safe. We all know that there are only two ways this could end. Either you both surrender, and I let him run free, or you look him in the eyes and tell him that you don’t care about his life as much as your own, and I kill him before we fight.” Sish brought the guard forward again, lightsaber poised to end his life. “Your choice.”

“Even if we lay down our weapons and surrender you will still kill him, you Sith are weak like that. Hurting and slaughtering those unable to fight back in order to feel some false sense of superiority. Why would I trust you not to cut him down? I’d rather trust a starving rancor not to eat a cattle. I’ll ask you once more to let him go and face me in combat.” Denso replied as he ignored the reptilian’s demand. His brow furrowed, eyes staring straight on at Sish. He continued his slow pace around his opponent, keeping a small distance from him.

Denso felt he was making the most tactical decision, he did not wish to see the guard die or get more hurt by this monstrosity, but if Khan and him did not take down the Sith lord then there was no telling how many more lives would vanquish under the Sith’s hand by the end of this surprise assault on the temple. Denso’s eyes then momentarily shifted towards his padawan, as he motioned with them for the young man to take up position on the opposite side of the room from him. His hope was that they’d be able to strike the Sith from two different sides in an attempt to cause an opening which they could then exploit.

Khan was barely able to yank the chunks of stone to the side before they would have smashed into the guard, cursing himself in his head as they flew wide of their target. Had he been a little more subtle or a little more precise, he could have either struck the Sith before he’d noticed or twisted the stones to strike around the hostage. As it was the Padawan had been lucky not to kill an innocent.

From the way His Master was standing, his response to the Sith’s ultimatum would have been clear to Khan even without a verbal reply: Resignation flowing into resolve. Khan did his best to mimic the emotional resolve needed, trying to ignore the fear written on every muscle in the unfortunate guard’s body. He read his Denso’s intentions well enough, moving as surely as he could to try and split the Sith’s focus and hemispheres of battle and readying to match speed with his Master when they began their attack.

Sish took measured steps backwards as the two jedi tried to get on either side of him. “I’m offended Jedi. I always keep my word. Just like I’ll keep my word to kill this man if you keep trying to circle me.” The Jedi continued, and Sish bared his teeth. “I see you’ve made your decision. You hear that friend?” He lightly shook the guard, still taking more steps back. “They don’t care about your life enough to risk their own. Quite the repayment for your sacrifice, hmm? No matter. You won’t care in a second.” The man’s eyes widened in terror. “No, plea-!” Sish’s lightsaber erupted through his stomach, turning his plea into a scream. The Sith tore the blade up through his chest, dropping the guard as it escaped through the man’s shoulder. 

“Now that we don’t have any distractions, why don’t we begin?” Sish settled into a Soresu stance, grinning madly. “Your move first.”

Denso blinked, then shut his eyes for a moment right as the lightsaber went through the temple guard’s chest.. As the man’s now lifeless body slumped to the floor the Jedi knight flicked on both his lightsabers, the deep blue blades rocketing out of the handle and simmering with that familiar sound. He felt the Force flow through him as he calmed his thoughts. The guard had died valiantly, doing his duty. Him nor any of the others that stood in defense of the Temple knew that the Sith would launch such a brutal attack on their home. 

The Kiffar could only hope that Khan understood his decision to not surrender, that would have done no good. It would have put both of their lives in harm. The Sith lord was wrong, they cared deeply about lives, each innocent life in the galaxy. Turning themselves in would do no good in preserving lives, vanquishing this cruel Trandoshan would do that. Denso couldn’t imagine how many others their powerful looking opponent had killed.

“You Sith are cowards, you’re no different. You prey on the weak and have no honor, no sense of duty or good.” Denso muttered as he quickly gestured with fingers on each of his hands, picking up medium sized chunks of rubble spread around the room and flinging them in Sish’s direction. Dust kicked up as the debris rose upwards then careened through the air. Then he dashed at the Sith lord, his lightsabers humming as he moved to go low with one blade, and high with the other. 

Khan had no speeches prepared, no clever words like his Master. In fact he wasn’t sure how Denso had the strength to speak about good, justice, duty when the two of them seemed to be failing in all three at that moment. There was always a certain amount of moral math to fighting a war, Khan had been taught that at his mother’s knee. But here and now, faced with the reality of an innocent man’s death? The Padawan had to look away. He kept his eyes focused on the Sith’s feet though, he was too well schooled to take his eyes completely off a dangerous opponent. He could still see the guard’s feet as well, see them tense and shudder with the rest of him at the final, agonizing moment of his death.

The Echani tried to steel himself, find balance and tranquility before the impending battle, tell himself that all that mattered was preventing this monster from killing anyone else. He wasn’t sure if he succeeded. Regardless, the Padawan timed igniting his lightsaber so it was almost in sync with his master, slipping into an initial Ataru stance. Khan tried to study their opponent as his Master flung debris with far more skill than he had managed, read his style and his actions to come, search for openings. In the end he just rushed the Trandoshan in time with his master, pivoting in a whirl to strike from the side where his master hit from the front.