The Elvenqueen

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Tah dah! Hopefully that sets it up nicely enough,feel free to add anything else necessary if the chaos should be a bit more evident before they meet with the Elders xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

As the Faceless girl raised a hand and began to fire lightning from her fingertips, Aria had stepped forward to shield Vaerth somewhat and taken a defensive stance with her own blades, though Kartan quickly intervened and sent the youngster into an unconscious state, much to the Champions’ surprise. Regretably, it seemed Manus had dug his philosophy rather deeply into this youngster’s thoughts and thus, she would not be swayed by any persuasive statements attempted by either of the Champions. They would have no choice but to treat her as a prisoner until such time that they could convince her otherwise, or as a worst case scenario….well, Aria didn’t want to think of that. It wasn’t right, or fair. Instead, they found themselves gathered with Kartan, Vaerth, and Viqi while others in the outpost dealt with giving their newest charge a change of outfit. Aria was relieved to hear that the Twi’lek former Master seemed to be coming around to their suggestion of allegiance, Viqi on the other hand did not seem pleased by the idea in the slightest. While she was sure the Council would have something to say about Yerbol’s brazen suggestion, Aria couldn’t argue that it would be the best move forward for everyone involved in this little outpost.
“You’d have just as much freedom as you do here, we can assure you that. But better protection from anything Manus could possibly send your way, if he would even dare...which, we’d like to hope he wouldn’t.” once again, the Twi’lek’s lekku vibrated in agitation, for a moment Aria worried that he would refuse the suggestion entirely. Instead, they were bid to wait outside after putting in the holo frequency for the Qyaari base.

They weren’t waiting an incredibly lengthy amount of time, but the hour seemed to drag by at a granite slug’s pace...especially with sand blowing at them from every which way. It was unsavoury, to say the least, and Aria did not like it one bit. The Tuk’ata, on the other hand, seemed to be rather enjoying themselves; frolicking about like pups and diving in and out of the dunes, tails wagging back and forth in delight all the while. Aria tore her attention away from Chwuq and Taral’s game of tag as Vaerth reappeared and beckoned the Champions back inside, to be greeted by the holographic images of the Qyaari Elders. Voldon and Cheriss both looked abnormally somber, even for the Dathomirian Elder. Between them, Matthew and Kira looked somewhat uncomfortable, but still more serious than she had ever seen them before….whatever words had passed between the Force users of the outpost and the Elders must not have been entirely pleasant to hear. Before either Champion could inquire further about WHAT had been said, the image disconnected and they were left with the simple instruction to escort their new allies back to Zinuthra.
Well, they’re all hiding something….this can’t be good, can it? She muttered telepathically to her partner, exchanging a glance with him before they busied themselves with preparing the four shuttles and all of the salvageable equipment and possessions that Kartan and his followers had managed to keep with them over the last few years.
_________________________

Once the shuttles had made the jump into hyperspace, it was safe to hit the autopilot and leave the shuttle to steer itself for the several hour long journey back out into the formerly Unknown Space sector where Zinuthra was situated. As Yerbol made a comment about having sand in his boots, his partner responded by kicking her own shoes off and shaking them out to get rid of the offending grains that had also found their way there.
“Pretty sure it’s impossible not to get sand in your shoes on Tatooine, though I have to question how said sand managed to work its way THROUGH my socks and end up between my toes.” Aria flashed him a grin of her own, adding: “And you don’t wanna KNOW where else I think I’ve got sand, though you could help with that when we get home. Might as well join you and save hot water, right?” their banter was interrupted by a loud protesting growl from Chwuq, who situated herself between them to scowl disapprovingly at Yerbol. Aria rolled her eyes, smirking as she ruffled the hound’s ears gently.
“Hey, just cause your man’s not in the mood!” the Tuk’ata huffed again, shaking out her coat as Yerbol changed the subject and brought Aria’s attention back to their guest, still unconscious opposite Taral, who had taken up his position of guard dog dutifully instead of pestering the Champions like his mate.
Aria’s brow crinkled into a concerned frown, another sigh accompanying the shake of her head.
“I don’t know….we can hope for the best, can’t we? It’s not going to be easy, breaking through that kind of...of brain washing. But at least she’s safe on Zinuthra, if nothing else it might give her the chance to start thinking for herself instead of following whatever lies Manus has been feeding them.”
“Uff! Uff!” Taral’s warning grunt alerted the Champions to their captive returning to consciousness, almost as if she had heard the topic of conversation shift onto her. Exchanging a glance with her partner, Aria rose from the co-pilot’s chair to move back into the passenger part of the shuttle while the Faceless girl groggily tried to push herself into a more upright position, only to find her hands tightly bound.
“Relax, we’re taking you back with us...nothing is going to happen to you as long as you don’t try anything stupid again.” despite the warning, the girl attempted to struggle and free herself, thankfully the bindings held tight. “Now, if you hadn’t tried to shoot lightning at us, maybe we wouldn’t have had to sedate you and you wouldn’t feel like you’d been trampled by a herd of Banthas.” the Champion smirked, dropping into a crouch so as not to appear too condescending. With no weapons and the sedatives keeping her Force abilities stunted, it was highly unlikely the girl would try to start a fight...and if she did, she had guts (and Taral would likely deck the poor kid before she could touch Aria, so there was that).

“You’re wasting your time, I’ll never join you.” the Faceless captive proclaimed, her jaw jutting out stiffly. “My loyalties are to my Master alone. He will come for you, and you will regret the day you crossed him.”
“Funny, we’ve heard THAT one before haven’t we?” Yerbol crossed his arms as he too joined them. “Bracknell said the same thing.”
“And the Xiis.”
The girl scowled at the two Champions, protesting.
“We survived Bracknell’s attacks WITHOUT your help. We don’t NEED the Qyaari and yet you subjugate Force users to your laws and your control, you’re no better than Bracknell was.”
Another glance was exchanged between the pair, before Aria returned her gaze to their guest.
“Is that what Manus told you? I can tell you right now, that it’s not true. People are free to come and go from Zinuthra as they please; no one stays there against their will….well, except you, when we get there in a few hours. But you attacked us, so that’s kind of on you.”
“Besides, if you work with us, there’s no reason we couldn’t grant you that freedom as well.” Yerbol put in, with a hesitant smile. “We’re not the monsters Manus has made us out to be.”
“My Master is more powerful than you will ever be, why would I give that up to join the losing side?”
“Freedom of speech, the opportunity to grow your abilities, and study the Force in a safe, peaceful environment instead of being thrown into the fire by a lunatic in the guise of a master tactician?” Aria shrugged, “I dunno kid, you tell me.” the Champion rested her chin on her palm, propped up by her knee to study the young girl’s face more closely. “The Qyaari would never throw a twelve year old child into a battle with Force users twice your age and far more experienced than you….you’d need years more training before you were physically OR emotionally prepared for that kind of opponent. What would your parents think, if they knew where he had sent you today? You could have been killed, if we were less careful about hurting you.” she was young enough that Aria hoped pressing that issue might jolt enough sense in her to at least prompt the girl to start thinking for herself...or else, they would have a difficult time indeed reversing Manus’ conditioning. “Do your parents even KNOW where you are, or what he’s asking you to do? They must be worried about you. I know mine would have been.”
For a split second, a flicker of doubt appeared in the youngster’s eyes, before she shook her head violently and squashed it back down, expression returning to the venomous glare she had worn upon first awakening.
“My parents are not ashamed of the Master’s goals. It is an honour to be chosen for training.”
“BAH!” Aria scoffed, rising abruptly to her feet as the shuttle’s navigational system chirped to announce their drop out of hyperspace and subsequent approach to Zinuthra, signalling the need for a pilot to bring them in to land. “You sound like a Sith Acolyte.”
Heaving a regretful sigh of his own, Yerbol re-joined his partner in the cockpit, his own expression one of concern prompted by her white-knuckled grip on the controls and all-too-intent focus on their flight path.
“This is MADNESS.” she muttered under her breath. “In what universe is it okay to brainwash children into thinking that being used as cannon fodder is a PRIVILEGE? I swear, if Voldon doesn’t kill Manus the next time we see him, I will.” the Champion trailed off with a shaky breath out, trying to calm her own wayward temper. “I'm definitely up for joining you for that shower, to clear my head before we have to discuss all of this with the Elders."

To top it all off, something just seemed...not right. She couldn't quite place it, but there was something amiss. "Does something feel...off, to you?" She frowned across at her partner. "Like something has happened that Voldon isn't telling us about?"

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Sounds good to me, I'll work that in somehow and try and end with them approaching/landing on Zinuthra c: Will endeavour to have it up by tomorrow morning my time :)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Sounds good to me! And no worries, can't help it if things get busy after all! XD

Shuffle your music player and post the first 10 songs

1. Your Guardian Angel-The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus-Don't You Fake It
2. Yellow-Coldplay-Yellow (Single)
3. Say You Won't Let Go-James Arthur-Back From The Edge
4. Colours (Halsey Cover)-Living In Fiction-N/A (Youtube)
5. Are You Satisfied?-Marina & The Diamonds-The Family Jewels
6. Novocaine-Fall Out Boy-American Beauty/American Psycho
7. Vox Populi-Thirty Seconds To Mars-This Is War
8. Alone-Halsey-hopeless fountain kingdom (Deluxe Edition)
9. What Have You Done-Within Temptation (feat. Keith Caputo)-The Heart Of Everything
10. Jenny-Studio Killers-Studio Killers

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

I'm a little out of practise writing long fight scenes so apologies if it seems sloppy or rushed :$ feel free to add or change anything about! XD

I don't know what you had planned for specifically when you wanted to start your Voldon plot, but I had some possible thoughts here for how to get from here to there that I thought I'd jot down for discussion/tweaking? XD

I imagine they'd contact Voldon to update him on the situation, perhaps he volunteers to come back out and assist them with whatever next step they decide to take? As for what that next step could be I had two different ideas:

-So, Manus knows of this neutral Force user base now and that Ari and Bol are present there, understandably that makes their presence there potentially dangerous for the neutral Force users, particularly the youngest ones with little experience and such. Perhaps as a safety measure they suggest relocating the base to try and maintain secrecy again, so with Voldon's help the Qyaari aid in relocating them and perhaps training up some of the youngsters in case Manus and the Faceless reappear, while arranging to get more supplies out to them etc.? Of course being a master tactician I'm sure Manus can easily figure out where they have moved to after a little bit of time (I dunno...maybe 2 weeks or so?) he mobilizes another attack and of course once he hears Voldon is there he decides to join the raising party for lack of a better term, himself and then we can go ahead with that part of the plot when we get there?

OR

-Perhaps they are reluctant to make such a big move due to lack of resources/supplies/a suitable place to move to, so instead try to fortify their current complex a bit more with the Qyaari's help? Which could stump Manus for a while until he comes up with a solution to get around it and yadda yadda haha

Thoughts? Or of course any other ideas you had that are totally different, I'd love to hear them too c:

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

The group joined Yaim and Viqi at the entrance to the complex to witness the approaching speeders. They had hardly any time to prepare with the speed at which the unwelcome visitors approached, but Aria had to admit she was impressed by how quickly Kartan was able to throw up a near-perfect illusion of a sand dune around the entire complex. There was no time to voice this out loud however, as the riders arrived outside and began arguing over whether or not their informant was in fact, correct about the location they had been sent to. One look at them confirmed Aria and Yerbol’s fears, the Faceless had found them.
“I DON’T think they’re here to make friends.” Aria whispered from where she crouched beside her partner. Kartan’s eyebrows knit tightly together in a frown, but the Twi’lek Master nodded in affirmation, all the while maintaining the illusion he had set up.

Aria cursed softly as the grenade rolled through the fake sand dune and exposed their hiding place, launching the group into action. Reacting on impulse, she lifted the grenade with the Force and flung it at the resting speeders, thankfully the projectile only exploded after it hit the sand beside the bikes and thus did not injure any of the group members, instead backfiring by cutting off the Faceless assailants’ only means of quick escape. The Champion drew her lightsabers and activated them as Vaerth did the same, her apprentice’s blade a flash of yellow in the corner of Aria’s vision as the young Zabrak darted for the nearest assailant and clashed weapons with them before the Champion could instruct her otherwise.

At least she had the sense to choose an opponent who was somewhat close to her in size and avoid the large, burly Twin Suns men who had joined the Faceless before the attack had been launched. At least they could be thankful that their attackers didn’t have much of a numbers advantage over them, by one or two at most which was...negligible, especially if they considered the pair of Tuk’ata as fighting members of their group also. More or less an even playing field, in that case. Aria cast a brief glance over at the two Sith hounds to instruct them firmly, before they could sink their teeth into anyone.
“Hey, you two, play nice! We need them alive, okay?” grunts of affirmation confirmed that she had been understood, so Aria turned her attention to their opponents.
Kartan and Yerbol stood back-to-back, exchanging blows with one of the Suns’ men and a Faceless assassin, while the other two Faceless were advancing on Vaerth to push her out of the complex and into the dunes outside. Vaerth held her ground surprisingly well, considering she had less experience, already close to besting one of her two assailants. The remaining gangster seized the opportunity to try and pick out, in their eyes, the weakest member of the group by sneaking up behind her while her attention was occupied by the other two. Fortunately for Vaerth, Aria was quickly able to intervene, landing with her back to the Zabrak and bringing her blades up into a guarded stance, deflecting the shots the thug fired from his blaster back towards him. He dodged out of the way (barely, given his larger stature), spitting profanities as he tried to advance closer.
“Move, Vaerth. Don’t let them get in close.” Aria spoke over her shoulder to the youngster. “Just move when I do and keep your back to mine, you’ll be fine.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Vaerth nod in response, changing her footwork to mirror Aria’s as the Champion followed techniques she had learnt from Renso in the tombs to keep the larger man from getting close enough to them to land any devastating blows. Blaster bolts, they could deflect easily, but in close quarters there was no way they could overpower him.

“Drop the thugs! They’re Hutt muscle, they won’t be able to tell us anything useful!” she called across to her partner and Kartan. Given the state of the Twin Suns’ predecessors Aria and Yerbol had found, she doubted Manus would have clued them into his plans.
Got it. Yerbol responded through their link, catching her eye briefly from across the room. Try and grab any of these Faceless before they try running off.
Aria exhaled softly, steadying her breathing and silently hoping that Vaerth was well-versed enough in duelling techniques to hold her own without help for a while. She had been impressive so far, holding her own against the two saber-wielding Faceless while Aria parried blaster bolts from her opponent, but she could tell Vaerth was tiring and leaving her unsupported for even a moment was a large risk to take.
“Vaerth.” She muttered, deflecting another shot which ricocheted off the sandstone wall and nailed one of the Faceless in the calf. “Are you alright?”
“F-Fine!” she responded despite losing her footing for a moment and stumbling. Aria nodded, deciding she would have to take the chance. Across the room, Yerbol, Kartan and Chwuq had dispatched the other gangster and forced the Faceless boy into a retreat back towards his comrades. But where was Taral? The Champion risked another glance around the room to locate the Tuk’ata, spotting him darting up to lunge at the Twin Suns thug from behind. This might be the best chance Aria would get to finish him off. Aria gritted her teeth and broke her position behind the youngster to close the distance between herself and the Twin Suns man, pulling his attention back to her so that he didn't see Taral until the tomb beast’s teeth had clamped down on his throat.

A shout of alarm from Vaerth prompted Aria to spin around in time to see one of the Zabrak’s opponents catch her ankle with their foot and overbalance them, thankfully Kartan quickly leapt the remaining distance to engage the second before they could strike a killing blow. Yerbol joined Aria to face down the remaining two side by side. Without the help of the Twin Suns, the Faceless neither had the numbers or the skill advantage, which they had evidently realised as they attempted to frantically backpedal out of the complex towards their damaged speeder bikes.
“Don't let them get away!” Kartan shouted. The group gave chase, but one of the Faceless had already managed to salvage one of the bikes and had begun trying to kick the engine into work again while his two companions caught up. Yerbol had the longest stride of all of them and with Chwuq at his side, they soon caught up to the girl at the rear of the fleeing trio. By pulling a piece of debris from the destroyed bike into her path, Yerbol tripped the girl and allowed Chwuq to leap forward and wrestle her to the ground, leaning her full weight onto her to hold her in place.

Aria, Vaerth and Kartan came to a stop behind them, the Twi’lek scowling solemnly at the horizon where two of the Faceless had escaped.
“Dammit! They’ll be coming back with reinforcements, I’m sure.” he muttered.
“Very likely.” Aria nodded in agreement, turning her attention back to Yerbol and their captive as she let out a high pitched shriek, struggling to try and break free from underneath the Tuk’ata’s large form.
“GET THIS THING OFF ME!”
Chwuq simply growled at the young girl again, her teeth bared as she hissed out.
“Staaaaaaay!”
Aria eyed the Sith beast with a raised eyebrow, telling her. “Chwuq, let her go.” the Champion’s gaze returned to the Faceless girl. “But ONLY if you promise not to try and run, you hear? Your friends are gone now...just hear us out, okay?”
Thankfully, she appeared to not think much of her chances of outrunning them a second time, and nodded her agreement. With a grumble of protest, Chwuq shifted the bulk of her weight off the girl’s torso and stepped away to stand at Yerbol’s side. Aria dropped into a crouch beside her as the Faceless captive sat up, mumbling a thankful sentiment while she recovered her breath.
“Now, what can you tell us about Manus, or what he’s planning?”
Wide-eyed, the girl shook her head once again, as she had done previously when Yerbol attempted to ask her the same questions.
“I don’t think she’s gonna talk.” Vaerth grumbled impatiently. “This is a waste of time…” only to be hushed abruptly by Kartan. Both Champions flashed the young Zabrak a reprimanding glare too, while trying to reach a solution to persuade their informant to be well...more informative.
I think Vaerth has a point...somewhat, at least. Aria sighed, reaching out to Yerbol through their bond so as not to give away the conversation to their other companions. It’s no good trying to get her to talk if she’s more afraid of what Manus will do to her than she is of us...we’ve got to convince her to trust us somehow, any ideas? Or maybe we should speak to Voldon?
“Look, kid...I know you’re worried about Manus but we can protect you, in exchange for your help.

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

I know what you mean haha, I blew the dust off my SWTOR game last week to do a couple more missions and just happened to get to Tatooine (hence, remembering about them xD). I played some of the Imperial Agent storyline a while ago too and maaaaaannnn I wish I'd known about it sooner haha, the Light side ending for it suits Ari's mom down to a T >_< xD

Oohh sure, that sounds good to me! I can work with that, definitely c: Will get you a post out later this evening when I get home from work (:

Shuffle your music player and post the first 10 songs

1. Strangers-Halsey-hopeless fountain kingdom (Deluxe Edition)
2. Supermassive Black Hole-Muse-Supermassive Black Hole
3. You-Breaking Benjamin-Phobia
4. Hellfire -- Female Cover (from Hunchback of Notre Dam)-Elsie Lovelock-N//A, Youtube
5. Heaven-Pvris-All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell
6. Strange Love [Explicit]-Halsey-Badlands (Deluxe Edition)
7. Wolf-First Aid Kit-Young Folks
8. Pompeii-Bastille-Pompeii Single
9. Human-Rag 'n Bone Man-Human
10. If You Only Knew-Shinedown-The Sound Of Madness

What Are You Listening To?

(actually jammin' to the whole album but y'know, Youtube didn't have an all in one vid for that one)