The Heart of Darkness {chase}

[projectsunfire]

Karasu climbed out of her rickety starship, or what was left of it. Somewhere over one of the cities she had been tagged by anti aircraft. Dumping out the droids, and any excess luggage had kept the starship aloft long enough to get out of the area too close to the city to be captured easily.

She looked over the remains of the ship. It had seemed the turret had sheared off the stabalizer wing, and damaged the reactor fan. She smiled. Such aggression, it was a tasty morsel for her to chew on in her thought.

Her thoughts turning to the landscape she now hid in, she observed her location. The land seemed barren and gravelly. Small ruts were dug into the ground from what seemed to be rain of some sort. The land rose and fell in little dusty hillocks and ravines. This would provide her several locations to hide, and observe her attackers.

Karasu hopped lightly on to the top of the wrecked starship, and observed the horizon through her glossy black eyes. She could see what looked like air speeders makeing their way to her location. Some no doubt would be carrying soldiers.

mmm, this is truly a feast. Ooh, the taste of it will be sweet. Karasu hopped down from her perch and made her way to a small divet in the ground where she could mask her presence in the force and observe these aggressors. Her eyes and the corners of her mouth twisted into a little grin of delight, as she shrank in her presence.

[Kay]

The troops eagerly locked and loaded from within the cramped spaces of the air speeders, each feeling a wave of relief as they were diverted from the potentially dangerous mission of retrieving Dark Jedi to a simple scout and recovery. It was, obviously, their lucky day. After all, at best, whoever it was that the anti-air turrets had downed was probably dead and all they’d be required to do was check the wreckage.

The three air speeders slowed as they arrived at the crash with the soldiers departing even before a proper landing could be made. They landed with guns drawn and ready while one or two acted as snipers from the speeders themselves, scoping the area for any possible targets.

There was a moment of silence between the men as they scoured the crash site before one of the troops crackled in through the radio, upon finding no body, “Sir, are we bringing the pilot back alive?”

Giving it nary a thought, the man in charge replied patronizingly, “That depends private, do we have any volunteers to baby-sit the possible survivor back to base… no? Aww, now ain’t that a shame… Shoot to kill people!” the officer ended in a growl after which the troops replied with gusto, “Yes sir!”

The men then began to quickly spread out from the site.

[projectsunfire]

Karasu watched as the soldiers dis-embarked from their transports. They all wore "Sith" Armor. Very shiny. Karasu thought.

Karasu heard them speaking to one another. It seemed quiet from that distance. She strained her ears to listen carefilly to what they were saying. The little flaps on the sides of her head gently twisted forward to better capture the sound.

“That depends private, do we have any volunteers to baby-sit the possible survivor back to base… no? Aww, now ain’t that a shame… Shoot to kill people!”

Karasu decided that one must be the leader of their squad. He had a small symbol painted on his armor, and he seemed to like giving orders. The corners of her mouth twisted into a sick smile that touched her eyes. She watched him eagerly, to see what he'd do next.

Should I kill them, and steal one of their Transports? She thought. Casually, she kicked up her talloned feet in thought. Realizing her cover was a little bit limitted she used the force to manipulate the energies around her. Silently her image seemed to wash away. A simple trick. Useing the force to bend the light waves around one. Of course one had to see through the force, or else be blind. I could kill them one by one. That might be fun. Karasu's mind wandered slightly, yet her eyes never left the leader of this little walking flock of Nerfs.

Then a little idea formed in her mind. A crazy and wonderful idea. One that tickled her soul. Yes, that's perfect.
Silently, she krept from her hiding place.

[projectsunfire]

Silently she waited, till the little morsels had completed their search for her. They had not found much. The fact that the pod had not been empty. Karasu savored her little joke as if it were a rare vintage. As the soldiers prepared to leave and report back to their commanding officers. As they boarded their vessel she watched as they passed through the doorway and into her circle of attack.

What better place to hide than their ship. It had seemed so obvious to her, and so delicious an irony. She went back with them to the gates and disembarked there before they went any closer to the apex of dark power within the Dark Valley.

She could sense its energies flowing like dark waves of water from the Valley of the Sith. It intrigued her as much as it made her hungry with lust for that power. When the Guards had gone out of ear shot she dropped her mask of bent light and rested. She even took the time to preen herself of any ill wanted parasites and dusts till her plumage shined. She had reasonned that she would want to be looking refined for her next meal. It would be with the best company the universe would offer. Perhaps others like her. She could sense so many beyond the gate. For now she would fast though, and wait at the gates.