Don't try to poison Abadeer, or he'll rip your heart out.
*Rim shot*

Abadeer walked into the circle, screaming and yelling all around him in the native Togruti tongue. He was bare chested, with additional white designs painted on to his body to compliment the natural beautiful weave of markings on him. The crowd chanted him on, to fight his opponent, and to win at any costs. Only one would have victory this day! Abadeer was young, but he was also strong. One of the strongest in his clan already. His strength came from being quick, being able to outmaneuver most of his opponents. And he was able to analyze his opponents, and create a strategy quickly.

Across the way came his opponent, a burly Togruta. His name was Stanoor. He was strong, and had defeated many Togruta in the ring. He was a crowd favorite and now they were cheering for him. Abadeer would not allow this, they would only remember his name after this day. He would not be bested by some muscle headed idiot.

Taasii ran at the opposing Togruta. Both fighters were already exhausted, they had both been fighting most of the last two days against various opponents. Taasii drew his combat knife, a sharpened claw from one of the native Akul. He lunged forward at the taller warrior, who dodged out of the way, retrieving his own knife from it’s sheath. The two combatants began to circle one another. Neither would give ground, but neither would they let themselves be hit by the other.

They exchanged attacks, both with their weapons and with their fists. Only nonlethal hits were landed on the each other, but the cumulative wounds were beginning to take their tole. Abadeer attempted a desperate move, and threw his blade at Stanoor, but the attack was blocked. Taking the initiative, Stanoor rushed with a heavy overhead swing, and tried to finish it with one blow. Abadeer launched a fist out at his opponent’s arm, connecting with the fleshy underside. This blocked the blow effectively, and caused the larger Togruta to drop his weapon.

Abadeer did not let his attacks cease, and launched in to a flurry of blows at his opponent, not giving an inch. He punched, kicked, and bit, anything to gain an advantage. He’d pushed his opponent back, Stanoor was stumbling back trying to regain his footing. Abadeer would not allow him the curtesy. Taasii launched at his opponent, catching him around the waist, knocking him off balance, and taking him to the ground. Abadeer had his opponent pinned and began beating him, giving everything he had. Slowly a force came over Abadeer, a power that was not his own. Red tinted his vision, and he could feel his blows beginning to come faster, hit harder.

Taasii punched and elbowed, his opponent’s guard meant nothing, so he did not notice when the Togruta’s arms fell limp to the ground. Abadeer had been overtaken by rage, pure and simple. He didn’t even remember what he was doing til he’d been pulled off the man. The blue Togruta was dead, not purposeful, but incredibly meaningful. This was the first time he’d killed someone, and it would not be the last. This was only the first taste, that would take Abadeer Taasii on a journey for years, before his thirst for blood was ever satisfied.

When Plagueis comes calling, it’s probably time to run
I wouldn't want to be against us, it’d be less than zero fun
Teylas would beat you, and you wouldn’t know what hit you
And if you went against Selika, it’d be that day you rue.

Dracaryis Sunstrider, he’s one you won’t forget,
Kalon Entar, he’ll kill you, never makes an idle threat
Lady Malice will just feed you to her cat,
Kultak Drol will spear you on his head, and wear you like a hat.

Taranae is vicious, she’ll just rip out your throat,
Laren doesn’t care what happens, as long as he can afford a new coat
Abadeer is ruthless, and will kill you in your sleep
Better run from Plagueis, because that trouble you’re in is deep.

We don’t win every time, but our records not half bad
We just be Odin Urr, sent them home feeling sad.
Now we’re on Aliso, getting back our slaves
If they won’t come back quietly, we’ll send them to their graves.

Proud Knight Abadeer ran to his ride
He was being chased, and needed to hide
He just closed the door
Right only before
He fell on his face because he had died

What would I compare thee to?
You art like unto a Ithorian rose,
Wild and untamed, but beautiful.

What would I compare unto thee?
Like twin suns, rising in the morn,
Or the dance of three moons, setting across the sky.

What can compare to thee?
Only the cosmos, only its stature grand,
Can even compare to what I see from thee.

Abadeer walked into the circle, screaming and yelling all around him in the native Togruti tongue. He bare chested, with additional white designs painted on to his body to compliment the natural beautiful weave of markings on him. The crowd chanted him on, to fight his opponent. Only one would have victory this day! Abadeer was young, but he was also strong. One of the strongest in his clan already.
Taasii ran at the opposing Togruta, this one blue and white. His opponent was winded, they had both been fighting most of the last two days against various opponents. Abadeer took the advantage, getting underneath his opponent, lifting him up and then slamming him back to the ground. A sharp crack reverberated right before Abadeer began to beat into his opponent. The prone man could not do much more than a feeble attempt at holding his hands up to try to protect himself, but there was no strength left in his arms.
Taasii punched and elbowed, his opponent’s guard meant nothing, so he did not notice when the mans arms fell limp to the ground. Abadeer had been overtaken by rage, pure and simple. He didn’t even remember what he was doing til he’d been pulled off the man. The blue Togruta was dead, an accident to be sure, but one that would change Taasii’s life forever. His first kill.

Inquisitorius Competition

The tall, shadowy, hooded figure of Abadeer Taasii strolled quickly through the streets of Coronet. This city was huge, bustling and took Taasii right out of his element. He was on a secret mission, straight from the Grand Master himself. Abadeer had recently been inducted to the secret society of the Inquisitorius, the secret sect of the Brotherhood tasked with eliminating threats to the Grand Master and the Brotherhood itself. Taasii had been given this assignment three days ago, on a secure hololink channel.

———— Taasii sat quietly in his quarters on the massive space station, The Anchorage. He’d been reading through a holocron, gleaning information and power. A slow beeping came from across the room, there was a small desk in his room with a hololink projector. Taasii set down his holocron and walked over to the desk and activated the call. Instead of the normal blue toned figure that would appear, only a symbol, one the Hunter recognized as Inquisitorius appeared from the holo projector.

The voice that came out was distorted, and robotic. It could have been male, female or who knows what else, Abadeer couldn’t tell. “The Grand Master has need of the Inquisitorius, to perform for him a mission on the core world of Corellia. There are a number of Jedi there attempting to acquire a ship from the Engineering Clans.”

“Of course, my lord,” Abadeer replied back, “What would you have me do?”

“Go to the capital city of Coronet, gather what information you need, and hunt them down. Whatever means necessary for stopping the Jedi from gaining that ship.” the disguised voice said. “Do not disappoint us, we are easily displeased and you can insure that our wrath would be unlike anything you’ve ever faced.”

Taasii felt a chill down his spine, indeed the Inquisitorius were powerful. The hololink cut out and left the room silent. The Togruta could not do much more than just stand there for a moment. He was a Hunter now, training to hunt down and kill Jedi. He looked up. He would not fail. He could not, or he had no doubt it would cost him his life. ————

Abadeer shook his head, he’d arrived on the planet quickly in his Sith Interceptor following the interaction with the mysterious call. He was not skilled at all in gaining information through the Force, pulling it directly from other’s mind, but he had other means. More crude and basic. He’d learned from a now dead Rodian thug that there were Jedi in hiding in Coronet. This particular night was the time that was rumored the Engineering clan was supposed to be sending off a new ship. A CR90 Corvette class runner. If the Jedi had this ship, it would allow them a mobile base of operations that would afford them means to avoid capture and punishment from the Grand Master.

The Plaguein made his way through the streets trying to stay inconspicuous, but still move quickly. After several more minutes Taasii made his way into the shipping yards. Miles and miles of construction areas where ships launched on a daily basis. The Inquisitor’s eyes narrowed searching for the Corvette. After searching for a few moments he spotted the massive ship some ways in to the shipping yard. It was hard to make out but it looked like there were people getting ready to load supplies onto the ship for take off. Abadeer needed to hurry. He started off at a run, even tapping into the Force to help get to the ship as quickly as possible. There was a decent sized wall surrounding the yard preventing average citizens unauthorized entry. Taasii was no average citizen, and with Force fueled muscles he vaulted himself over wall from his running start.

Making his way through the various ships and construction projects Abadeer eventually made his way to the Corvette. It did indeed look just about prepared for take off. Unfortunately for the young Sith, there were several Jedi all standing watch, making sure the preparations went well. Abadeer was not sure how we would be able defeat one Jedi, let alone all of them. They could all be Masters for all he knew. Continuing to stay low, attempting to suppress his emotions as best as he could to remain undetected, the Plaguein made his way around the perimeter of the ship. There was no way he’d make it two steps up the main hatch without being cut down by the Jedi. He’d have to figure something else out.

Taasii made his way deeper into the shipping yard to try to find some smaller more militarized ships. The Corvette once in orbit would be difficult to take down with its shields, but down on the ground during preparations stages would much easier to seriously damage or destroy. There a few larger ships with weapon systems, but Abadeer would have difficulty flying and gunning in one of these. He continued his search for a smaller ship. Eventually the perfect ship presented itself. An old Imperial TIE/sa Bomber, probably claimed right after the fall of the Emperor.

Abadeer ran up to the ship, reaching out with the Force to descend the entrance hatch. The Togruta wasn’t highly familiar with ships, but he did know how to fly. He sat down at the controls hoping that TIE bombers weapons would still be active. He quickly went through the launch procedure and brought the ship up into the air. He maneuvered it quickly with a heading straight for the Corvette. Once Abadeer got close enough he pulled on the trigger to activate his targeting system and begin his bombing run. A loud wurring noise came from down below the Plaguein. What happened next was not what he’d hoped. A bomb descended as planned, but instead of being directed for the Corvette it dropped straight down on to a small freighter ship. It exploded grandly, but not what Abadeer had wanted. Everyone was alerted to him now, and glancing down he saw that there was only the one bomb in the ship. He’d lost his chance.

The onboard computer system started blaring, warning him that he was now locked onto by the Corvette’s weapon systems. He did his best to perform evasive maneuvers to stay out of the way, not confident in the shielding on the ship. A desperate idea came to him, but it would be risky. Turning the ship back straight for the Corvette, Abadeer set it to full throttle and grabbed onto the ejector seat lever like his life depended on it. Moments before impact he pulled the switch and deployed straight into the air while watching his TIE fighter crash stupendously with another colossal explosion into the Corvette’s bridge.

After landing his ejector seat, Abadeer ran for his life. He couldn’t be sure any Jedi were even injured in the attack, and they would be pursuing him now. He just wanted to get off the planet now with his life.

Lights flashed all around as Abadeer dropped out of lightspeed. A beautiful blue and green planet loomed ahead in the distance. Taasii was ready to unwind after the long battles fought on Florrum. Serenno was a beautiful planet with plenty of nature for Taasii to escape into. He didn’t have a desire to go back to Shilli currently, but he needed to escape the technology and the cities.
The Togruta brought his Infiltrator in for a landing. After turning off the ship, Taasii walked out into the fresh open air of the field he’d landed in. He was going out, on an unknown course to try to loosen up. He’d left all of his weapons and gear in the ship. He return in a few days. There were mountains to the east of his location and he decided to head there.
The Hunter spent several hours hiking through the plains that he’d landed in. Occasionally seeing, hearing or picking up on his echolocation small animals scurrying through the grass. He ignored them all, just enjoying being away from people. Eventually Abadeer made it to the mountains. It was getting later, nearly evening now. A slow fog was rolling down the side of the mountains now. The Sith would not be deterred, he was determined to make it to the top of the mountain.
Hiking upwards there weren’t many difficult places that Taasii couldn’t get through. Coming over one rise the Togruta stared up at an incredibly steep cliff. He rolled his shoulders, getting ready for a climb. He would test his strength against this cliff. He reached up and found purchase in the rocks, hoisting his body off the ground. He continued to climb the tall rock face, which took about fifteen solid minutes of hard work. Reaching the top, with sweat dripping down his entire body. His finger muscles and forearms were aching, but with a good soreness. It had been a good climb, and the journey was worth it.
As he continued to hike, Taasii would pass his hands on the solid trees of the mountain. They were different than those of his own home world. Less wild, but almost stronger. They’d survived the winds and cold of the mountain. An increasing rushing noise alerted the Hunter to running water. As he approached a beautiful clearing appeared, with a majestic waterfall crashing to the rocks below.
Abadeer was right near the base of the fall and decided he’d stay here for the night. He could use some time to clear his mind. He removed his cloak and his top and strode into where the water was crashing down. He knelt down and crossed his legs. The water crashing down on his head and shoulders was quickly overwhelming to his senses. It stimulated his echolocation, totally causing the Hunter to lose sense of his surroundings.
After losing the sense of everything around him Taasii let his conscious slowly slip into himself, until he’d nearly lost himself in the meditation. After an indeterminable amount of time Taasii slowly opened his eyes. He was met with the rising sun over the horizon. He stood up and walked out of the waterfall. He’d been there all night, in a state between being awake and asleep. An almost total loss of consciousness. He became aware of how cold he was, the cool mountain air and the nearly icy temperature of the water had caused the tips of his extremities to go numb. He closed his eyes focusing on the numbness, using the Force to bring warmth back into his limbs. He wrapped his top and cloak back around his frame and started back up the mountain.
It took several more hours, but finally Abadeer arrived at the summit. The view was beautiful and the Sith felt like he was on top of the world. He contemplated his rise to power. He was in a process, but he imagined this is what it would be like when he made it to the top. He stayed for several hours pondering his path and where his journey would lead. Finally the man stood and began to make the arduous journey back to his ship. The respite had been good and exactly what he’d needed, but it was time to get back to work.

Blaster shots and explosions rang out from below. This was a war zone, one of the first Abadeer had every been in. He sat in the hanger of his transport vehicle, eyes closed. He was trying to focus on the task at hand. He’d recently come to Florrum, the site of Plagueis’ assault on the Light side guild of Odan Urr.

A pinging sound went off interrupting Taasii’s concentration. He quickly opened them, and jumped up to answer the expected hollow message. The disk activated, as the young Acolyte knelt before the holoprojection of his master.

“Tazzzii, you’ve been sent here for a mizzzion of great import,” the hologram of Kz’set di Plagia sounded throughout the hanger where the Sith was all alone, “I expect great thingzzz from you. Do not dizzzappoint me. You’re mizzzion izzz thizzz: zzzome of our own Plaguein zzzoldiers are pinned down, by a particularly zzzkilled sharpshooter. The area izzz a zzztrategic zzztrong point for uzzz. He hazzz hidden himzzzelf well. You muzzzt locate him, and eliminate him.”

The Acolyte stood and bowed to his Verpine Master. There were no questions, no clarifications. This wasn’t how the Battlelord operated. He was clear, concise and expected perfection in everything he asked.

“Of course my lord. It shall be done.” bowing to the hologram, Abadeer flipped off the projector with a quick hand wave. Taasii sat back down, and once again prepared himself for meditation. He was young, but in an feud of this scale all members were expected to participate. Losing to the Odan Urr was not an option. The Togruta focused all his emotion towards this new mission. He would not fail. He was trying to prove himself. He was trying to move up and gain new power. Only recently he’d failed in grabbing the position of Battle Team Leader by another Acolyte by the name of Malice. She was the apprentice of one of his Master’s rivals, Selika Roh.

The shuttle flew for another hour or so, before the pilot let Taasii know that they were arriving to the drop site. Apparently this shooter was skilled enough to shoot down aircraft, and no pilots were confident enough to get that close. The Togruta would have to make a jump from the ship at a colossal height, and then he would still have a few mile run to where his soldiers were stationed. He would be able to draw upon the Force to allow him to make the landing without any equipment, but going through the thin atmosphere he would need a oxygen mask.

The intercom for the ship sounded right before the pilot’s voice came on. “Doors are opening, you’re jumping now!” As he said this, the blast doors slid up into the ceiling and floor allowing for the Togruta’s exit. He fastened his mask quickly, and ran to the aft of the ship. He gathered his nerves, and launched himself out the door. Immediately he was squinting as he sulfurous atmosphere oppressed his senses. The air rushing past him as he fell towards the planet didn’t do anything to help. It was night on this side of the planet aiding in his stealth drop. He fell quickly, doing his best to keep his focus on the fall. He needed to time his landing perfectly. As he drew closer and closer to the planet, he reached out to the Force and willed his fall to slow right before he hit the ground, while also strengthening his own body for the impact. He tucked into a half roll to land on his feet. The impact was hard, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

He removed the oxygen mask, and dropped it to the ground. He wouldn’t be needing it anymore. He looked around, reaching out with his senses to make sure he was alone. There was the occasional small life form, but nothing to be worried about. After checking his surroundings he collected his bearings, the battlefield was to the north of his position. The shuttle had flow from east to west, with the drop zone as close as the pilots were willing to go. Abadeer knew the lay of the land, studying holocrons of the area. He had prepared for this, and now it was time to move. There was a rocky plateau in the distance, marking his destination.

Reaching out to the Force, Abadeer reinforced his legs and lungs with excess strength. He began to run in the direction of the battlefield. It took about an hour to see Plagueis base of operation in the area. Running to the camp, Taasii felt a dark crawl along his neck, and he dived forward into a long leap. A whizzing over his head, and seconds later the crack of a powerful rifle. He had to keep running. He’d miscalculated, his enemy must have some thermal sensors to be able to see him under such cover of darkness. The Acolyte reached out with the Force to keep himself safe from anymore shots. There were two more attempts on his life before he arrived at the bunker. Sprinting, Taasii reached out with the Force and pulled the sliding door open to allow his shelter. He dived inside, slamming the door behind him. As he looked up, panting, there were three soldiers standing ready, blasters pointed at his head.

“I am Abadeer Taasii… Acolyte of Clan Plagueis,” the Togruta said through gasps of air, “Lower your weapons immediately if you’d like to live a moment longer!” He stood, giving the two men and single female the darkest scowl he could. “I’m in charge of this facility now. Take me to the commanding officer.” The soldiers looked at each other nervously, lowering their weapons.

“Well sir, you see.. the Captain.. well he died..” one of the male soldiers muttered off. “Technically we’ve got no leadership now..” They all shifted nervously about.

“Then it is fortunate for you that I’ve arrived. I need a full rundown. Any information you have on the situation. A list of our assets and any information we might have on the enemies.” Taasii said. *I need to take charge of this situation quickly, these men are terrified* he thought to himself. The soldiers went back to a room that looked like it was used for briefings and meetings. Abadeer followed quickly behind. Three more soldiers entered from the opposite, all male, and all terrified sensed the Sith. The female from the first group walked over to the holotable and activated it, bringing up a map of the area.

“This is what we know so far. The enemy is incredibly difficult to track or find. We’ve located a few positions where we think he might be. The only problem is that the kills have come from all of these locations, and sometimes at impossibly close times.” the woman marked the map on a few locations with her finger as she spoke.

“What exactly do you mean?” Taasii asked.

“Well.. the first day this situation arose, we had two patrols out here in the valley,” she pointed too two locations on the map, “and both were killed within moments of each other. Five men dead in mere moments. The only problem is that after analyzing the direction of the shots we’ve found they come from three directions.” She marked two large areas on the plateau and one area in the lower end of the valley. “We haven’t been able to scout the areas to see where he might be. We’re running low on food and we can’t even walk out the front door. He seems to have eyes everywhere.”

The soldiers all had looks of concern and worry. Looking at each face, Taasii started to formulate a plan. He’d never had to deal with a situation like this, but he felt up to the challenge.

“So we have six soldiers, a sharpshooter team pinning us down and very little information. We have a bunker that they’ve not been able to penetrate yet. What weapons do we have access to?” Abadeer said looking to the soldiers.

“Sir,” one of the males behind him saluted, “We have several blaster rifles, thermal detonators and one rocket launcher, Sir!” The man was very formal, and the Togruta enjoyed the respect.

“Good.. good. I can work with this. Leave me now, allow me time to think and when I’m ready I’ll call upon your services again.” He motioned for them all to leave. The soldiers all filed out quickly and silently.

The Acolyte poured over the holotable map for over an hour studying the lay of the land and where the points were marked. *Whoever had set up these soldiers put a lot of thought on where.* The entire valley was covered from the vantage points. Taasii began to formulate a plan. The soldiers would only slow him down. This is something he’d do on his own. The first target to hit would be the one in the valley.

“I’ll want to leave while I have some cover of night..” Taasii muttered to himself. He strolled into the break room where the soldiers had gone to wait for him. “You will all stay here. There’s nothing any of you could do to help me. I’ll be back before sunrise. Don’t do anything until then.” He spoke quickly and left. He’d started to pick up some habits from Kz’set.

The Sith moved to the door of the bunker. He’d have to be quick and aware. With multiple shooters he’d be sighted almost instantly. Abadeer closed his eyes, preparing for the task at hand, drawing on the Force for strength.

He opened the door and before it could even get half way open, he was sprinting out into the night. The Togruta didn’t want to give his adversaries even a moment. He dashed out with unrivaled speed down the valley. He felt the prickle of danger as shots began to fly around him. They didn’t come in quick succession, but at a slower steady rate. Abadeer reasoned that these must be higher power ballistic rifles with lower firing speed. As he drew closer to where the first shooter should be, Taasii sensed something was off: he couldn’t feel any major life signs where the shots were coming from.

The Acolyte dodged and weaved through the fire and sprang over a little rocky outcropping where the shots were coming from. Midair a crimson blade of plasma came to life in the Togruta’s hands. He landed behind the shooter and swung around with his blade. As his eyes followed the lightsaber connected with something he wasn’t expecting. It was a turret, designed to be remotely controlled from great distances. It had tried to follow him as he jumped over it, but it was only set up to track inside the valley.

The slice cut the back of the barrel of the turret, and Taasii brought his lightsaber over his head for a two handed downward chop. This cut toppled the turret, totally disabled. The Togruta had a great distaste for guns to begin with, but now seeing this turret that wasn’t even manned by a shooter began a burning hatred inside of him. The controller of these guns would pay.

Abadeer wasted no time going towards his next target. The Acolyte predicted correctly, the turrets had limited fields of view to shoot in, and as he neared the back of the plateau he was out of this range. Taasii was strong and dextrous. He gathered himself and jumped as high as he could with the assistance of the Force. Taasii found purchase in the rocky face allowing himself to free climb the remaining distance. It was a long way up, taking about half an hour. Reaching the top, Abadeer stopped for a few minutes letting his straining muscles relax. He’d expended a lot of energy already, and he suspected that the shooter would be here in the plateau somewhere. His fight would begin in earnest then. After feeling some strength come back to him, Taasii made his way through the rocky plateau, weaving his way through boulders and outcroppings.

Taasii soon came to where he thought he’d sensed the second set of shots coming from. The shooter wasn’t here, but only another turret. Angered, Taasii reached out forcefully pushing the turret off the plateau, with a gesture of his hand. *The third turret will hold my opponent.* Taasii continued to run, keeping his senses open trying to find the final turret. Finally the Togruta came to a point that his echolocation sensed the last turret. Just as predicted, the shooter was here. Taasii took his time, as though hunting on back on Shili. He maneuvered around the shooter, who seemed to be frantically working on the gun.

The shooter was a Weequay, gnarled skin, and single braid of black hair coming down from his head. He wore dark brown leather clothes and armor. He looked to be a pirate, probably from one of the local gangs around the planet trying to make a quick buck from the conflict on Florrum. Taasii was silent as he emerged from behind the outcropping.

“Quite the set up you have here,” Taasii said, startling the pirate, “Too bad your time is over.” He again reached out with the Force to launch this turret off the plateau from it’s precarious position close to the edge.

“You Jedi think you’re so powerful with your magics! Nothing like a good blaster by your side!” The Weequay yelled as he pulled out a blaster from a holster on his chest. His other hand went for a sword at his hip. Abadeer pulled his lightsaber out even more quickly igniting the blade. Taasii’s skills weren’t quite proficient enough to deflect an incoming volley of fire, so he rushed the pirate to not give him a chance.

The Weequay got two shots off before Taasii reached him, the first going wide and the second right into the Acolyte’s shoulder. Abadeer grunted through the pain. A blaster bolt would stop him from his target. Rage had slipped into his conscious, flooding his entire being. An upward swing cut the blaster from the pirate’s hand. The pirate brought his sword in front of him to try to fend off the next strike, but it wasn’t designed to be able to take an attack from a lightsaber. As Taasii brought down his blade hard he cut through metal, armor, flesh and bone. None could withstand the burning plasma of even an armory saber. The cut wasn’t as deep as he’d hoped, but the Weequay fell to the ground. The fight was out of him now.

The man on the ground spit up blood, coughing violently. “Good Jedi, but did you sense this coming?” the pirate laughed holding what looked like a detonator. “At least you’ll be going to other side with me!” The Weequay pushed down on the button and suddenly everything around the Togruta started to shake. Explosions were going off all around the Acolyte, mostly from the base of the plateau far below. Taasii had no chance to get away before the entire area started to fall out from beneath him.

Abadeer fell, doing his best to stay alive. He reached out to the Force doing his best to deflect falling rocks. He was hit many times, and fell hard to ground, only slowing the impact minimally. After the rockslide settled, Abadeer moved the rubble that had fell on him. He stood bruised, and several ribs broken. Taasii stood shakily to his feet. “Damn I hate pirates.”