#lingtan

A persona dressed like a Voss, comes through the tall orange grass, carrying an empty metal bucket in their left hand. It is evident that she is human as she comes to a halt, just about twenty meters from the stone icon. Her brown eyes settle in an almost uninterested fashion on the man in the Imperial uniform. She stands very still, watching, studying and comprehending this new situation. She does not appear to be alarmed. Well, to be honest she doesn’t show the slightest hint of anything really. The Inquisitor blows at the inscription, revealing another layer of ancient writing. Without looking up he speaks. “No need to stand so far away, Jedi. You’re here for a reason, so may as well continue.” Lingtan takes a few steps closer at the ‘invitation', although makes sure to stop well out of arms reach. Her face continues to reveal nothing of how she feels. “You carry a lightsaber. This is unusual for someone in uniform.” She keeps her tone flat and uninterested. It is hard to tell if she is actually asking a question or not. Craiken stands, tracing a gloved finger along the path of the newly uncovered inscription. It’s lines run along the stone work, up to its face in an intricate maze-like pattern. “I take it you are with the Council’s Archeological Team?”  The very Voss-like Jedi tilts her head ever so slightly and her eyes flicker briefly to the large stone icon. “You have interest in that which does not belong to you.”  Just like him, she does not answer questions very well. Craiken still hasn’t looked at her. His eyes glued to the path he continues to trace. “I believe that the Voss state these ruins belong to no one. They have no interest in them, barely acknowledge they exist and allow our respective sides to do with them as we will, yet refuse to grant either exclusive rights. Thus, the same might be said of you.” She continues with the rather odd head tilt and her eyes never leave the man. “The Republic has exclusive right to the ruins that you see behind me. We made a deal with the Voss authorities. This stone is a part of said ruins. I…urge you to leave.” Stepping up onto the stone base at the bottom of the icon, he continues to trace along the top, pushing away centuries or more of dirt with his gloved finger. “How intriguing. They told you it was exclusive, did they?” “Are you asking me to reconfirm what I just told you? I am not known for repeating myself. Now please, step away from the stone, turn around and walk away.” Her tone remains disinterested. “Happy to do so once you provide me with the signed documents stating that the Republic has exclusive rights to these ruins. And if you would, please include the survey of the area so we can confirm this icon is indeed part of your agreed upon area.”

Lingtan very slowly straightens up, tilting her head back to an upright position. Her tone continues to be calm, but there is a hint of…something else. Something cold? “I do not lie. If I tell you something, you can trust it to be true. Now, leave.” Craiken taps a spot on the icon several times, then begins slowly tapping around that spot. “I have no doubt. I would however, like to see the official paperwork. Or we could always ask the Voss authorities to come out and review the matter. I’m sure they wouldn’t shut down your operation for long.” She looks at him for a long silent moment. Then she calmly bends down a little and softly places the metal bucket in the grass. “I do not wish to inflict harm upon you, Imperial, but I will if you continue to not heed my words. I dislike trespassers” The Inquisitor stops tapping and presses down. A grinding sound emits from the icon, as the top slides open in four directions. Rising from the new (old) opening is a small platform on which rests what appears to be a pristine, clean animal carved from gemstone. “A Jedi threatening violence, interesting. Especially here on Voss. I thought the Republic wanted nothing more than to make the Voss friends. A fight certainly won’t result in that.” He reaches for the carving. Lingtan raises her now empty left hand and makes an almost lazy swirly movement with it. The animal carving rises instantly from the ancient platform before the Imperial can touch it, and begins to glide through the air, towards her. At no point does her neutral facial expression falter. “I do not have to defend my actions to the likes of you.” “That was an unfortunate choice on your part,” the Inquisitor says. The carving almost ceases to move and suddenly turns black. Bluish energy seems to swirl to life within it and both of their comms go offline. Craiken finally looks at Lingtan and raises a curious eyebrow. The Jedi squints her eyes briefly at the unexpected reaction from the carving, but that is all one would see on her face. She makes another motion with her hand and the artifact falls to the ground before it reaches her. Her eyes shifts between the Imperial and the bluish energy that seems to emit from within the carving. “You are treading on thin ice, Imperial. This is out of your league. Leave.” A slight smile forming on his lips, Craiken steps down from the stone icon and dusts off his sleeves. He places himself in full view of the Jedi for the first time. “Clearly you don’t know me. I would have thought your sister would have briefed you.” Lingtan is unable to hide the sudden surprise in her eyes, but it is quickly subdued. She ignores the artifact for the moment and concentrates on the man. Being the identical twin of Ranai Cygnus is certainly not always a plus. Her sister knew way too many Imperials. “I said, leave.” Her tone has a clear threat to it now. No more beating around the bush. “Very well then.” Craiken steps toward the carving. As he does, a containment case floats from where it was hidden behind the icon and follows him toward the artifact. Lingtan quickly lifts a hand when man moves, but then she hesitates. She knows full well that a containment case is the correct procedure right now and she isn’t about to interrupt that. Her hand remains lifted though, waiting for the right moment. The Inquisitor’s eyes rest squarely on the Jedi as the case turns over in the air, then settles to the ground atop the artifact and closes. Craiken remains calm, relaxed and neutral. He’s clearly not planning to attack. The female Jedi is a turmoil of bottled up emotions that she keeps perfectly secured behind a mental curtain. There is a reason she considers Voss to be her home now. She waits for the case to properly close around the carving, and the second it does, she lashes out with her already lifted hand, as if to backhand the empty space in front of her. An invisible shockwave is hurled toward the man with the clear intent of lifting him off his feet and sending him flailing through the air. However, this does not actually happen… Craiken raises his right hand very fast, palm facing Lingtan. The dust, dirt and leaves around his feet kick up into the air violently, but he is unmoved. “The artifact will be coming with me. If you wish to engage in combat, then so be it. When you fall I will return your remains to your sister, with a little something to cover the cost of the service.” If Lingtan is surprised by his show of force, she certainly doesn’t show it. “Underestimating ones opponent is incredible Sith-like of you. You may wish to reconsider your part in this, while you are still in one piece.” “My part in this is why I am here, Jedi. You do not understand the forces with which you meddle. The very fate of everything is at stake.” She dips her chin, letting the hood cover her cold eyes momentarily. “I know.” The bucket next to her is sent hurdling through the air, towards the man. She is standing completely still with a slightly regrettable look on her face. It’s hard to lose a valuable archaeological tool, but at least it’s for a good cause.  With a barely there gesture of his right hand, the bucket turns in the air and rocket off to the left. At the same time, the artifact case raises into the air and begins its journey back to him. Seeing the turn of events for the bucket, Lingtan is quick to use the Force, grabbing the tool before it shatters against a tree. She concentrates on putting it down on the ground gently while at the same time lifting her right hand, making the artifact case come to a dead stop in the air – out of the Imperial’s reach. The Inquisitor folds his hands behind his back, eyes remaining on the Jedi. His eyes narrow, as if he is focusing on her. The case starts to move back towards her. Lingtan makes a subtle movement with her left hand, directing the artifact to settle in the grass, just behind her. For a moment her eyes seem to flicker as she ‘feels’ something in the air around her. “Who are you?” “Inquisitor Tiberius Craiken.” His intense staring continues. “Hmm.” She pulls the glove off of her right hand and lifts it. Her pale fingertips ‘touches’ the air in front of her face, as if examining something that only she can see. “I know you.” She sounds very casual and disinterested. As if everything up until now has been boring and uneventful. Meanwhile her fingertips starts to become a more redish color. “Why not just walk away and continue on with whatever it was you planned to do with your bucket?” The Jedi lets her eyes dart back to the man. “Oh but I would… However there is this particular Imperial who thinks very highly of himself. Perhaps I wish to take him down a notch or two?” With that said, she takes a few quick steps away from the unusual hot air that is forming around her and shoves both of her hands forward, delivering a powerful Force push toward the man.  Deeply focused on igniting the air around her, Craiken fails to sense the incoming Force wave quickly enough. He’s thrown backward several meters, hitting the ground. He rolls to a knee, then stands and calmly tugs down on his jacket. His face grows unhappy as he sees just how dirty it has become. “As you wish, Jedi.” With those words a rumbling fills the air as the trees behind Lingtan splinter, spraying darts of razor sharp wood through the air! The trees collapse toward her. Lingtan makes a whirling gesture with a hand and an invisible Force shield surrounds her – and just in time too. The deadly pieces of wood ‘plings’ off of the shield. A second later she raises both of her arms above her head, and then makes a point out of moving them in a quick gesture toward the Imperial. The result is that the collapsing trees are halted in mid air, just above her head and then suddenly tossed by an invisible force toward her opponent. The Inquisitor thrusts his right hand forward, lightning arcing from it. Where it strikes the trees they ignite! With his left hand he simultaneously pushes hard with the Force, sending them right back at the Jedi.  Or so he thinks. Lingtan shows some real emotion for the very first time during this encounter. It’s curiosity of all things. She then grits her teeth as she decides to show her own might, pushing back at the incoming flaming trees, wanting to shove them right back in his face. Unfortunately for her, Craiken maintains his own hold on the ignited trees as they spin in the air between them. He brings his right hand up, focusing concentration, attempting to overcome her hold on the burning wood. The Voss-like Jedi seems somewhat surprised to see that the Imperial is able to hold his own for now. Like him, she also maintains her Force grip on the trees, still attempting to push them toward him. Her eyes dart to the side and she splits her concentration briefly to once again hurl the metal bucket at him. She is beginning to appreciate the multiple purposes of it. “Using your tools, well done.” The Inquisitor responds in kind as the bucket is intercepted by the archaeologists kit he was originally using to study the icon. They smash into each other and clang to the ground. He once more tries to push the trees toward her. She wrinkles her nose at his words and the slight slip in her concentration is what finally does it. The flaming trees come crashing toward her and she uses her Force augmented speed to leap out of harms way. The carnage whirls past her and slams into other nearby trees. Meanwhile, she lands safely on her feet and with her eyes lingering solely on the Imperial. Craiken seizes the opportunity while the Jedi is dodging. He grabs hold of the artifact case with the Force and pulls it to him. Lingtan will have nothing of that. She blinks as the case gets almost within his reach and she reacts instinctively, using the Force to push the ancient stone icon straight into the Imperial with great speed. He is hit hard and flies backward under the force of the stone and slams into a rock wall. The icon cracks apart and falls to the ground at his feet, leaving him hanging against the rock, seemingly stunned. She doesn’t waste any time and is quick to reach out with the Force, trying her best to grab hold of his body to pry it off the rocks with the intention of slamming him back against them. Her attention is not on the artifact right now. It can wait. Craiken thrusts out his left hand as he manages to fall from the rock wall, landing on his feet. He does his best to hold her incoming strike at bay. The lightsaber that was previously hooked to his belt, is now nowhere to be seen – Lingtan does not notice this. She is too concentrated on stopping him and she thrusts her other hand forward as well, making an even greater show of force, trying her best to slam him into the wall.  The Inquisitor visibly grits his teeth as he resists her intensified efforts. Suddenly, the sound of a lightsaber igniting emits from behind the Jedi, followed by the familiar sound of the blade spinning through the air…right toward her. She goes wide eyed and instantly breaks her concentrated hold on the uniformed man as she spins to the side, desperately trying to avoid the deadly weapon. Something hot slashes down her upper left arm and she lets out a low pained growl – it is brief and quickly contained, and doesn’t appear to make her lose faith in the slightest. As she concludes her spin she reaches out through the Force and manages to stop the Sith’ish lightsaber from ever getting back to its owner. It makes an almost hesitant spin in the air and surges straight back to the Jedi’s outstretched hand. Right as this happens, Craiken allows a grin to form across his lips. He unleashes a torrent of crackling Force lightning directly toward the Jedi. Lingtan ignores the pain and the warm feeling of blood running down her arm. She quickly grabs the incoming lightsaber with her right hand. She sees the incoming lightning and has no time to react in any other way than… This. She holds up the ancient weapon, feeling the dark side energy surging through it. She grits her teeth and uses sheer willpower to tame the emotions that are suddenly rushing through her, threatening to be unleashed. With a tightened grip, she allows the red shimmering blade to absorb the incoming lightning. With a raised eyebrow Craiken shows that he is duly impressed and surprised by her action - this does not stop his assault however. Now he has the advantage. The air around him begins to crackle and spark, spreading in a sphere until it encompasses area. Suddenly it ceases and seems to draw inward as he unleashes a massive wave of Force lightning toward her…hoping that she continues doing exactly what she is doing. She is struggling. For some reason the dark side in the blade and in the air around her, is increasing at ludicrous speed. She knows what he is doing and she will make sure that he fully regrets it. Maybe she will too, but as long as he goes down first, then that will be all that matters to her. She suddenly stops fighting the against the invisible darkness that has been threatening to crush her and instead invites all of it, sucking it into her body, letting every part of her being become tainted by the very thing that she is supposed to fight against.  He doesn’t know her.