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Post by aardvarklord on Apr 25, 2015 20:06:24 GMT -5
What was it with the Republic and using places that were unbearably hot for their bases of operations? Something to the effect of 90% of the planets Sirona had been to were northward of thirty degrees Celsius... and none of them relented much at night. It was actually rather irritating. She didn't mind occasionally exploring planets with high temperatures, but usually she was only there for a short time and could return to her ship... this was just brutality at its finest. This Yavin place was awful, yet it had another side which only made it worse. While her ship had managed to slip into a nice place out of sight from the Republic troops, there was another thing which oppressed her the whole while that she'd been there: the Force. She came to the planet searching for the source of that horrid feeling which racked her from afar, and after another nightmare she was able to figure out a crude directional feeling and realized that the Battle of Yavin was where that Death Star aberration had gone critical. She figured that it would give off a dark force signature... but while it did have a minute residue, it was nothing compared to the veritable beacon that was its intended target.
So intrigued, she investigate the planet and found out that there was a Republic base present--nothing substantial, but it was something at least. What had her truly interested however was that this was a place where those so-called Redeemers were. Prior to this, she had only received second-hand reports of the Redeemers' actions, calling them things like "terrorists" and such; she assumed that it was propaganda since it was only from the Republic and Imperial sides. But now she knew that she would be able to find some of them to observe and try and figure them out proper. Of course, that didn't answer why the planet was making her talk incessantly in her sleep every time she went to bed. Eventually she followed the source, afraid of what she would find, and discovered that she would be able to hit two birds with one stone: the Redeemers had set up shop in some sort of temple... one which was positively oozing dark side energy. It baffled her that they were able to stand being around that thing--it gave her the chills just observing the thing from a distance. And they were living in that place!
She kept her people clear, in case things got bad, but left them in the ship and returned to them regularly to clear her head. So far she hadn't noticed any unfavorable reactions to the dark-side energy, but she didn't want to take any risks. She'd been observing the Redeemers for a few days now, using her ever-so-lovely cloak ability to sneak about the area and take notes on their comments and actions. She even tagged along during one of their maneuvers. It confused her to see Republic troops fighting Republic troops, and she had difficulty telling who was who, but she watched nonetheless and noted their techniques. She began snooping around the temple after that, both examining the place and watching the rebel rebels, but she avoided interacting with anything out of fear of getting caught. It was hard to keep up her cloak however, and while she found good places to hide and recover, occasionally it would flicker in the open. However, what she did was refocused and then, once out of sight, began communicating with the person who saw her via telepathy, giving them ominous voices. Little things like whispered warnings, "You should not have disturbed me..."
Surprisingly she found it working, a few people legitimately believed they were seeing ghosts. Others thought that these people were mistaken and went on higher alert, but it got the job done she thought. Her guys were nervous about sticking around, but she was getting good information and so far there had been no threat. Plus, her hope was that if she could get them to leave the temple she could investigate and find something worth finding... or know if it was too dangerous to be disturbed and report it to the Jedi via anonymous tips. So far she was debating doing that anyway, but she wanted to know for sure there was nothing that she could use.
However, this day it was different. As she quietly watched over someone shoulder as he wrote a journal entry, she felt something much more than the usual dark-side energy hit her. It wasn't enough to make her break cloak, but she let out a soft huff, which made the man stop and look around. "Hello?! Who's there?!" Of course, she darted away and waited in a corner. The man looked around a little bit, pistol out as he examined the area. "I know you're out there!" he said, practically shaking with fear while trying to seem tough.
Eventually someone came to investigate, the woman's weapon up and armed. "What is it?" she asked, looking about thoughtfully.
"I swear I heard something again," he said, looking about the room thoughtfully. Seeing this as her place to exit, Sirona slipped out behind the woman as she assured the man that all was well and that he was probably just tired. Of course, his response was much more ominous. "I'm telling you, this place is haunted. We shouldn't be here."
Okay, that could've gone better. Still, that feeling bothered her. After taking a rest in a mechanical closet, she slipped away to the local control room to look at the sensors they had set up, what few they had. She didn't know what she felt, but she wanted to see if they had any readings to match up with it. So far... nothing. But the feeling was still there.
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Post by Court Baron Butters on Apr 28, 2015 19:30:42 GMT -5
Though Crii perceived the young sith to be slightly apprehensive in answering his queries, his answer to Crii's questions regarding the Force were quite satisfactory. It was this question with which Crii was most concerned. To Crii, one who viewed the Force in a similar light as Kairon was an excellent candidate for teaching - that is - believing such a philosophy was a fast track to the doctrine Crii held so dear.
Crii smiled warmly at the student, "But - if you don't mind me prying - where does that inner fear come from." Though his inquiry may delve too deeply, he stood firm in his line of questions, without stuttering or pausing, but his words carried a certain glow, a stark contrast to the average interrogation of a typical sith.
Crii paused to allow Kairon to answer his question, and then spoke back up again, his words carried the same weight as his last, equally as welcoming. "Do tell me though, Kairon, Anger must not be the only emotion in your Sith repertoire, is it?"
Crii's favorite quandary, an answer to such a question would reveal much of what Crii needed to know about an individual, one who only follows such feelings may potentially be lost to their aggression, with no hope of ever discovering their true light, or fully expanding upon their potential as a sith, but Crii knew. Within himself he saw the hope within this potential prodigy, however small or quivering it may be, it would be there, as it is in most children of the stars.
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ThreeDawg
Administrator
Voice of the Wastes
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Post by ThreeDawg on Apr 29, 2015 18:20:04 GMT -5
((Gonna leave the show floor open for Butter and Zen to do their conversation, when we're all done here Neeyab will jump in the seat and we'll see you all at Yavin. Keep your seatbelts on when the seatbelt sign is active, you have no emergency exits. Keep your trays in the upright position and please enjoy the inflight movie.))
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Post by Zenios on May 3, 2015 21:53:48 GMT -5
Inner fear? Hm. Kairon couldn't keep his head from tilting slightly as he pondered if that was an honest misspeaking or if Crii sensed something deeper about him that the apprentice was too blind or proud (or both) to acknowledge. He decided to acknowledge both; based on what little he knew of Crii, the latter may have been more accurate even if the former was a simpler explanation. The words were, after all, quite similar--even if Kairon would have said their meanings were much closer to opposition. Either way, he'd have to ponder that one for a bit: not because he wasn't sure where the source of his power lay, but more because he'd simply never stopped to think about it.
"I don't know that I feel I possess much 'inner fear'," Kairon's words came after a moment. He was careful to try and phrase and speak them such that he didn't seem terribly disdainful, but probably failed - that was a mode of speech he tended to get stuck in when interacting with Mako or Nek. "The Academy at Korriban did a remarkable job of shocking that out of me. Inner fury, however... I regret to say I'm not entirely sure what its source is. I suppose saying it's some portion of annoyance at my equals certainly isn't inaccurate." He nearly expressed his frustration at the slow pace his ascent to power had assumed, but bit his tongue quickly enough to suppress that. A quick jab at Malrius' other apprentices would suffice. Simply because Crii came off as friendly, almost trustworthy, certainly didn't mean he was either.
That type of facade wasn't terribly dissimilar from the shroud of mediocrity Kairon tried to conceal himself with around his fellow apprentices: it was an attempt to keep other Sith from identifying you as a threat, whether because they felt themselves superior or because they believed you an imperfect Sith. The Echani was far from sure what Crii was getting at, but he would have to watch himself a little more carefully, and perhaps engage the Arcona in a sparring match at some point. He was suddenly much more interested in knowing a little more about who Crii truly was.
Kairon wouldn't have been surprised, though, if that match would have to wait some time--especially if this line of questioning continued. This question, at least, was one he could almost answer, one that didn't seem totally foreign to him. His words were likely fairly similar to some of the dogma he'd been fed at the Korriban Academy, but that was no problem. He'd done a fine job of accepting those teachings into his heart, forging ideologies into weapons as much as tools to better himself. "No, I don't suppose anger is the only emotion I use to strengthen myself. Instead, I think that it and its kin--fury, hatred--are the strongest emotions, and also the easiest to simply conjure within oneself."
The Echani hadn't experienced love since he was but a child, but knew it to be weak because it fostered mercy. He'd checked his passions and lust mostly out of a fear of being stabbed in the kidneys; that really just left fear and pain - which he knew could be powerful emotions if used correctly, but which seemed to be more difficult to simply generate from within than the purer feeling that was anger. "Obviously," he admitted with a bit of a shrug, "I do feel less aggressive emotions - I am Sith, after all, and Sith allow themselves to be fueled by all their passions rather than suppressing them like the detestable Jedi. To let them dominate you, however, is to be weak: truly powerful Sith, I was once told, control their emotions and use them as tools on their path to power, rather than allow themselves to be dominated." Perhaps that was precisely why he detested some of the other Sith he'd met so much: they tended to lack that self-control that Kairon felt made him strong. They mistook feeling things strongly for being strong.
While a desire to ask Crii why he was asking such questions ate at Kairon, he was careful to avoid expressing that. He still wasn't entirely sure if he could trust this man, let alone how he'd react to being directly asked about his intentions. That, in his admittedly limited experience, usually wasn't something Sith took well to being questioned about.
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Post by Court Baron Butters on May 4, 2015 20:42:10 GMT -5
It was clear the Echani had though little on where his feelings were coming from, Crii believed that if one wanted to truly unleash the fullest extent of their powers they must know their feelings intimately, not simply by knowing them by name, but by understanding their source. Much like an actor who must cry on stage addresses his personal pain to bring the emotion to his synthetic experience, a Sith must muster up there own personal pain, fear, passion, and loves in order to fulfill their potential. To an even greater degree; however, if a Siths inner emotions were somehow related to their fight then, and only then, would that Sith become unstoppable, and to Crii there was no emotion more appropriate for this than love.
In a way the Echani made Crii ponder his own reasons for this fight, however brief, or insignificant they may be.
But Crii's faith in the Echani was stirred slightly when the mere child began speaking of the Sith, and of power, and conquest Crii took a single step away from the Echani, and chuckled, as he looked out of a nearby window, "and just why is it, do you suppose, that the Sith have formed, and empire rather than continued along with the philosophy of 'The Rule of Two?'"
This belief in power, and conquest as a true, noble, and absolute pursuit bothered Crii, he had always questioned it at the academy in Korriban, and to his distaste he realized they were still chanting these codes. Crii knew that there was a reason the moved on to 'The Rule of One' - and now onto the Sith empire - it went beyond the strengthening of the Sith as a whole, it was about the dilution of power, whether or not this student of the dark side would see this, he did not know.
He took one step back towards the Echani, and spoke again "Kairon," Crii looked around the room to ensure that know prying eyes (or ears) could be found, "Why do you think the rise to power is so important to Sith?" Crii certainly didn't want Malrius or another of his apprentice to hear such words, it was outlandish to hear a Sith question traditional doctrines, but to challenge such an innate pillar of the Sith code was all, but unheard of from its members.
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Post by Zenios on May 31, 2015 20:19:05 GMT -5
Kairon blinked again, mildly surprised that Crii might offer him such an easy question. Along with the hoarding of power, galactic dominance had been something the Sith had sought for probably more than a few millennia. It had never mattered what form they took; as he'd been taught, the Rule of Two had been instituted by Darth Bane as an attempt to keep infighting from crippling the Sith. It was meant as a different approach (which, of course, did succeed for a time) after more open efforts had failed, a way to weather the golden age of the Jedi.
Though it seemed almost too easy of an answer, his reply took a similar tone. "Unless I was misinformed, the purpose of the Rule of Two was to avoid repeating the mistakes of the Brotherhood of Darkness, was it not? Infighting and direct warfare with a Jedi Order at its peak directly led to their downfall." Kairon certainly didn't speak the words with any confidence; he was far from well-educated on the histories of the Sith, given that his training experience had involved many more hands-on lessons in self-defense and the Force than any philosophical or historical discussions.
Kairon was fairly certain now that Crii was much more interested in making him question his beliefs and the organization he owed this life to, but that didn't worry him too much. What worried the Echani more was that he might start to agree with someone he'd come to recognize as a borderline eccentric Sith, and that adhering to whatever peculiar philosophies Crii espoused might weaken his standing among the Sith or prevent him from operating at full efficiency. He had aspirations, after all, and had tended to be too busy sowing the seeds of his success to think too much about the why.
He had to suppress a humorless chuckle as Crii followed up. It was almost like the Arcona was reading his mind - or maybe just succeeding in directing his thoughts. He was half-tempted to call Crii out to Malrius as a nonbeliever or heretic then and there. He had a feeling, though, that given their apparent friendship, trying something like that would go over about as well as just outright trying to stab Crii would.
Hm.
"How else are we to cement our place in the galaxy, in history?" Kairon responded with a shrug. "Power is an expedient means to an end, regardless of what those ends may be."
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Post by Court Baron Butters on Jun 1, 2015 19:23:57 GMT -5
'Unless I was misinformed...' That was all Crii needed to hear to understand the boys thoughts. Crii knew what the history books said about the rule of two, what Crii wanted to know is if Kairon had seen what the rule of two did to the order, and what the coming of the Sith empire did to the order, all of the dissolution of power among the ranks of Sith only strengthened their unity, helped bring an end to the heartlessness that the Jedi created.
Perhaps some day this student of the dark side will realize how much stronger the Sith are as a whole, and that the strengthening of the union of Sith will only lead to further strengthening of its individuals. It is this principle which could free the Sith if only they weren't so blinded by their individualistic goals.
'Power is an expedient means to an end, regardless of what those ends may be.'
It is true, Crii nodded to himself hoping the Echani may not notice, but Crii knew his response. "Perhaps, young one, you will realize that as individuals we can do very little to change things. Our personal power can be great yes, but behind all of the greatest Sith leaders there was an army. Revan was a not a god, and he died like every other Sith before him, it was his influence which made him great. Influence and relationships he formulated which crossed greater frontiers then he and his powers as an individual ever could." Crii pushed his robe to the side when he stuck his three pronged fingers to his hips. He gazed out the window, and waited for a moment to look back at the Echani, when his robe bunched it revealed his lightsaber, one quite peculiar, and about 3 times the size as a normal saber.
"Our bodies, and our weapons will fade, but I find that there is one thing in the galaxy which never seems to disappear, and that is the dialogues we share through our emotions throughout history, and I have meditated on this extensively..." Crii nodded to himself, and crossed his hands, he looked deeply towards the young pupil, his eyes radiated fiercely.
"And after dwelling on this for quite some time, I have come to believe that those who come after us will certainly see these exchanges - this I have no doubt - But I believe that they will see right, and wrong emotions. I know that the Jedi will be in the wrong because their dialogues lack any such emotions whatsoever, but the Sith... The Sith will be split down the middle, their will be those who use emotions which starve, and expel everything that gets in their way, and their will be those dark-siders who use emotions, with passion, empathy, and love."
"I just hope for your sake, that you end up on the right side of this dialogue."
Crii turned around, and began walking away form the young one, he turned around to await any form of response, but then turned his head, and carried himself towards the cockpit of the ship.
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Post by Zenios on Jun 7, 2015 13:24:37 GMT -5
Crii's slight nod hardly went unnoticed. Kairon was born of a people who spent their lives identifying others based on their characteristic movements and tendencies, however small; having been removed from that environment for three-fourths of his life had hardly done much to dampen that habit. Interpreting the movement, however, was another matter entirely. He couldn't pretend to understand what Crii was thinking, but the nod certainly seemed to indicate agreement. He chalked ((ha, get it? Because his skin is chalk-white? I’m funny, I promise)) that one up as something approaching a victory, not that it meant too much. He was more interested in trying to discern Crii's intentions than winning whatever conversation the two were in the middle of.
The Arcona's lightsaber was something he had a much harder time making sense of. He'd heard of polesabers, but it seemed much too short to truly be one--but it also seemed too long to be a proper saberstaff. What an odd little device... especially given that it didn't appear to fit any of the commonly used styles of lightsaber. That revealed a good bit more about Crii, though: if he was willing to use and openly carry such an exotic weapon, he was more than likely a fairly competent fighter and much more dangerous than the mere spouter of heresies he'd appeared to be.
Now he was really interested in a duel with the other Sith.
It did greatly intrigue the Echani, though, that Crii spoke of such things as a schism among the Sith and immortality. He cocked his head as the Arcona spoke, perhaps as much surprised at his message as trying to make heads or tails of it. He'd spent the last sixteen years being taught to draw on his rage and fear, which definitely put him in the former camp - but Crii had somehow come through a training process that was, presumably, quite similar to what Kairon had experienced with his senses of love and empathy intact. He had a feeling he would never truly understand this Arcona, no matter how he might have tried.
Crii's beginning to walk away snapped Kairon out of his thoughts. "I hope so, too," came the eventual reply, uncertain and quiet though it was. He impassively watched Crii walk away for a few moments, more to ensure he didn't wish to turn around and surprise the apprentice than anything. Satisfied as Crii strode back towards the cockpit, he settled himself down into a meditative pose again. Now that conversing with the Arcona had totally thrown Kairon out of that focused mental state, he had to attempt to recenter himself before they arrived at Yavin.
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ThreeDawg
Administrator
Voice of the Wastes
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Post by ThreeDawg on Jun 8, 2015 18:08:46 GMT -5
Neeyab turned around briefly as the Arconan stepped into the cockpit. She eyed him curiously, the cockpit was no place for a stranger. The heart of the ship, from here if he wished he could overpower her and flush half the vessel of atmosphere. But that wasn't her concern - no Malrius shown trust in this Arconan, it wasn't her place to question a higher Sith let alone her Master's acquaintances.
Not her place.
Yavin was her place, and the ship was quickly slinking towards it.
A couple of hours passed by, but to Malrius it seemed but a blink. He rose to a seated position on his bed, looking around the room. He was still in board the ship, his hands rose to his face. They were real, he was himself. Finaly he had awoken from his nightmare, no - he corrected himself - not a nightmare, a vision. He had seen it, seen the Hoard of an Ancient Sith Lord. Something pulled him there, whispered feverishly. The words... "Come, claim your place amongst the True Sith." he found himself repeating in a whispered breath. True Sith? His mind whirled, he had heard mention of a 'True Sith' before... But he couldn't quite place it... The Species? He wished it so, but knew it was impossible. Extinct is Extinct, even for Sith. Perhaps it referred to the Ancient Empire? Tentatively being reimagined by the very Sith he now called himself a part of.
Yet what he had seen in that building, terrors unimaginable - even for a Lord of the Sith. Treasures beyond count, but as he tried to recall them they slipped from his memory. Like chasing ghosts who wished not to be seen. Wisps were all that remained, and he found with a burning passion that those wisps pointed to his destiny. Yavin called to hi-
A knock on the door. It startled him. It was unbecoming for him to be seen in this startled state, with a hand he smoothed over his hairless head. It came off wet with sweat.
"My Lord?" the female voice called out, it was Tayla. Malrius let out a gentle sigh of relief, he was unsure if he could keep his true state hidden from the Echani or Arconan. "My Lord, may I come in?"
"N-" Malrius paused, "Yes, you may enter my Apprentice." He sat on the edge of the bed, his back bent forwards to allow his arms rest upon his knees. "To what do I owe this disturbance?" He spat out, a defensive frown appearing on his features.
The Chiss looked down, giving her Lord a short - but satisfactory - curtsey. "My apologies, Lord." she begun as the metal of the door slid closed. "You have been quiet the entire journey and we are almost ready to land, I came to check you were of good heal-".
Malrius shot up from the bed, his hand flicked to the side quicker than a Mandalorian drawing a dagger. Tayla found herself flung backwards, slamming non-so-gently against the wall of the cabin. Her face bore fear. Rightly so. "Quiet, girl." He said as he approached her defenceless form. "Never fear for my health. I am a Lord of the Sith. I am untouchable. You think I would drop dead in my bed?" He tightened his fist, and Tayla made a choked squeel as the very air was snatched from her trachea. "Or has the little Apprentice finally sought to kill her Master?"
Almost as soon as the words left his mouth Tayla begun to shake her head, he allowed her to do as much. His face broke into a twisted grin, and his arm relaxed. To her credit, the Chiss landed on her feet. It wasn't the first time she had been held up in such a manner by her Master. It certainly wouldn't be the last. "No- no- Never my Master, never!" she stammered out.
"Gooood, gooood." Malrius said, drawing the words out as if speaking to a child. He took another step forward, and placed a hand upon her blue face. Gently, he stroked down her cheek to her chin, picking it up in his hand. "Because you know I would hate to seperate your head from your body. I much prefer them attached, not seperate." With a jerk he threw her head aside, and pointed towards the door. "Now leave me. I must prepare for landing."
Neeyab heard the crash from the cockpit, the Master's cabin was only a bulkhead away. She turned around when the door reopened, leaning over the co-pilots seat to peer down the hallway. She expected to see her Master coming to check on their progress. Instead she saw Taylor, rubbing the back of her neck as she slid away into the main hall. It put a short-lived grin on Neeyab's face, seeing that bitch come out of there with her tail between her legs. She dropped the act of emotion quickly - company was still present after all. "You would be wise to follow the Chiss, Lord Crii." Neeyab said sheepishly, locking her eyes onto the planet before them - or, more specifically it's horizon. They were far above the moon, still outside of its misty green atmosphere, but closing in on the landing site quickly.
After a fair few moments had passed, Malrius too walked out of his room. For the occasion he had adorned his armourweave breastplate and armourplast gauntlets. His robe was left open, trailing a shroud of darkness behind him as he strode along the metal halls. His very appearence screamed 'War', and he loved it. The others had gathered, as individually instructed, around the holotable they had stood around but a few hours before. This time it lay dead and silent even as Malrius approached it. There would be no more fancy displays from here. Malrius tightened the fit on his gloves as he addressed the group. "My fellow Sith, my Apprentices. The time has come. As I speak we descend upon the planet of Yavin. Neeyab informs me we are the first ship to arrive, which means we get to greet our enemy with the first Sith blades they have seen in a long, long time." He patted the lightsaber on his belt, to make the meaning clear.
He strode away from the table, gliding passed Mako and Kairon as he moved towards the door leading to the Apprentice's Quarters and the underheld garage, "Come, we shall see our Troops are prepared. The finest in the Empire, I have been informed. I will let you judge them for yourselves."
The hallways were short, the doorways cramped. The Sith had to move single file for most of the journey, the procession seeming more like a funeral than a war party. As Malrius step foot into the room the ship shook quite violently, he looked up to the ceiling and Neeyab's voice sounded over the ship's intercom. "My Lord we breached the atmosphere, making way to the landing site."
Malrius flushed with pride at it all. They were on Yavin Four, now. The first invasion of the New Sith Empire. The first unto the breach, so to speak. The sight of his Troops lined up in their black-clad armour made it all the sweeter. Even the officer was out of his uniform and into his own armour. The only way he stood out was a single red stripe down his helmet, and that he was seperate from the lesser Troopers. He saluted as Malrius approached, and kept the salute up as the other Sith filed into the room.
This was their Empire.
You all have your communicators, you all have your orders.
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Salvahkiin
Archer
My Siren's name is Brick, and she is the prettiest.
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Post by Salvahkiin on Jun 9, 2015 2:05:15 GMT -5
Mako meditated in the hours between his conversation with Tayla, and his summoning. Where a Jedi would meditate on happiness, and joy, Mako focused on the anger, and hate, fuelling them. He was quite deep in concentration when he was broken from it, and told to go to the holotable. He stomped his way there, with a displeased look on his face. Not displeased with anyone on the ship, or the plan, but the fact that these scum could presume to hold a planet rightfully belonging to the Sith.
Mako followed close behind Malrius, like a puppy following its master.
"My Lord we breached the atmosphere, making way to the landing site."
Mako's hateful look turned to a smirk, he would finally wet his blade. Mako focused on all the beatings he had received, all the times he had been told he wasn't good enough, all the times he was screamed at, and berated. Mako's eyes started to turn yellow, like the Sith Lords and Darths he had seen. He looked towards his Master, and deathstared him.
"For the Sith Empire."
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Post by Zenios on Jun 11, 2015 12:19:43 GMT -5
Meditation certainly hadn’t consumed the remainder of the journey to Yavin; Kairon hardly had the patience for that. He’d only spent about an hour trying to pare away those unnecessary thoughts, such as those of Crii’s eccentric philosophies. He’d devoted the rest of his time to a number of other preparations. He’d checked his lightsaber several times, ensuring he’d rebuilt it properly after both meditation sessions. His armor had been adjusted more than once, re-tightened, evaluated for imperfections in the metal or the finish. He’d even spent about half an hour doing some intensive stretching and much lighter calisthenics, ensuring that he was fully used to the armor’s weight and feel after a few hours of wear and that he was sufficiently limbered up to avoid muscle cramps.
All that remained was to refresh his memory of their battle plan, not that it was terribly complex. Kairon ran through it again: Crii, Mako, and Nek were to charge the Republic compound’s front gates, draw attention, and if all went perfectly at least Mako and Nek would find themselves overwhelmed and eliminated. He, Tayla, and Malrius would leap over the compound wall, eliminate what resistance remained, and do the part of the job that actually mattered – taking out the compound’s shields, comms, and essentially claiming victory.
Having a certain knack for going undetected did have its perks, he supposed – not getting assigned to what could easily become a suicidal assault chief among them. He reminded himself that he had to focus on his job, rather than hope the other went poorly, in order to guarantee success—especially if things didn’t conform perfectly to Malrius’ plan. To that end, or rather to get this thing underway, he headed towards the holotable to meet up with his compatriots.
He was unfortunate enough to wind up closer to Mako than the rest as the apprentices began to gather about the holotable. While maybe not an ideal position to be given his disdain towards the other apprentice, it was a bearable spot especially in light of what was soon to pass.
A noise echoed quietly down the hall towards the cockpit, rather like something impacting durasteel. Reaching out with a thread of Force energy, he felt another manipulating its strands – presumably Malrius – and more than a hint of fear from another source. Ooh, that was interesting. Was one of the other apprentices feeling a bit uppity? He got his answer a moment later when Tayla came down the hall to meet Kairon, Nek, and Mako in the ship’s common area, offered her more than a bit of a mocking look—not that she could see it. Not that she needed to.
He continued idly speculating about what Tayla had done to earn their Lord’s wrath for another moment or two, until Malrius himself emerged from that direction. He had to suppress the slightest shivers of excitement as Malrius gave a little more detail to the situation; the moment of reckoning was nearly here! And to think this little band of Sith were to be the first the Republic had heard of them in a long time.
The Echani was careful to follow a more considerable distance behind Mako as the small group of Sith proceeded down to the small garage area, a few seconds later. After all, it wouldn’t do to imitate Mako and follow at Malrius’ heels like some kind of pup.
The troopers, plebs though they were, owned a level of preparation that impressed Kairon much more than Mako had of late. All were armored, ready for battle, and it seemed that they had been that way for some time. He found all to be in order here, an assessment he was sure his fellows would agree with, and the sudden shaking as Phantom Pain entered Yavin’s atmosphere. Neeyab presumably had dialed back the inertial compensators a bit upon breaching atmosphere to avoid disorienting or injuring any of her passengers; she was a much more obedient hound than certain other members of this little company, and Kairon had to admit he respected such obedience. To a point.
He scoffed derisively at his fellow apprentice, amused by Mako’s theatricality. “Don’t be so dramatic. It hardly suits you,” Kairon shot back as he re-checked his equipment, adjusted his mask slightly. They were minutes, maybe even less, away from landing, and it wouldn’t do to lose anything stepping down to the planet’s surface.
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Post by aardvarklord on Jun 11, 2015 14:20:38 GMT -5
"Easy Gerrith, it's just some left-overs from the Death Star or something. Nothing worth worrying about."
Of course, the man wasn't entirely convinced as he stared at his sensor screen intently, trying to decipher what in the world he was staring at. Not far away, a small mirage-like ripple was also examining the screen thoughtfully, trying to figure out whether or not that was actually what she was seeing, as Sirona's thoughts were mimicking that of the sensor officer. "How come we didn't see this earlier? Wouldn't it have picked up on sensors?" Now, she wasn't surprised that the ground sensors didn't have it; after all, there was a lot of interference between the jungle and the atmosphere and the temple itself. However, she was fairly certain that her ship's sensors were more than powerful enough to pick up something like that when they were on the approach. Something wasn't right about this.
Slipping away from the sensor room, she went about finding a nice corner to hide in while she rested her Force stamina and called up the Mahrii. "Liraalth. Sirona here. Keep an extra eye on sensors," she hissed into her comm., eyes still flashing back in the direction of the sensor room.
"Yes ma'am," her XO's voice came through, clearly thoughtful but otherwise unconcerned, "We're seeing the debris field too. You think there's something odd about it?"
"I don't think anything yet," she stated frankly, pausing as she thought she heard someone walking by before continuing, "But my gut is telling me that something is wrong." And while she wasn't in the habit of following gut feelings over straight-forward logic, since coming to further understand the Force she was loathe to discount them. Even if it was something minor in the long run, she had often operated under the motto: 'better to be wrong and prepared than wrong and vulnerable.' Though, there could have been another reason for the feelings, one which Liraalth was quick to pick up on.
"Perhaps it's just that you've been spending too much time in that temple."
She grimaced at the thought. Her pride demanded that she discount that concept, that she was too strong to fall victim to the simple residual energies of some place where a Sith walked. But... she also didn't know much about the Force, or at least not as much as she would have liked. Perhaps there was something here that could do that. Or perhaps ambient Force could actually do things like that. The idea wasn't pleasant. Remembering her motto, she resigned herself to defeat, resisting the urge to sigh as she responded to her second, "Perhaps you're right. I'll make one last round then head home. Out." Groaning with irritation, she activated her cloak one more time and began heading for the rooms deeper in the temple, her intent being to reach out with the Force into the temple in the hopes of discovering if there was anything in there, then head on out. She did this any time she was preparing to leave, and so far nothing out of the ordinary (relative to the temple's pre-existing issues) had revealed itself. As per usual, she slipped near enough the armory and found a corner, then slowly started to reach out, fully expecting to find nothing other than a slight increase in dark-side aura.
That was not what she received. From the temple itself, there was nothing new, but as she reached out she suddenly hit something, like a miner digging for gold. Except this was much more volatile. She stiffened and jolted with shock as what seemed like a veritable ocean of living, breathing Force energy latched onto her mental hand, making her gasp with pain. The worst part though: it wasn't a new feeling, it was one which she had become intimately familiar with, but now it was here, and it was very, very intense. She let out a gasp of shock and her cloak faltered once more as she leaned on the wall for support. Whatever she had just touched, she was confident within reasonable doubt that she had just touched the very thing which had tormented her nightly, the very thing which had been her reason for investigating the coreward worlds.
It was here.
And then, calamity struck. "What the... what is that?" a soldier said. Looking up, he red eyes made contact with that of a human's. Sithspit. Immediately she disappeared once more and slipped away, but the soldier had seen her and his alarm triggered. "What the fuck... Uh, guys! I think we might have an issue." Well, looked like Sirona had just made escape far more difficult to herself. As the patrols increased and the alertness level of the Redeemers sky-rocketed, she had to make her way up through nearly the entire temple and past their sentries. All while fearful that the... tormentor was going to strike out at her again, as it had so often in her dreams.
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Post by Court Baron Butters on Jun 13, 2015 23:24:19 GMT -5
Crii made his way slowly towards the head of ship with much on his mind, yet little to do. He wanted to prepare himself before the invasion, and he strode towards the cockpit more for dramatic effect rather than purpose. once inside this portion of the vessel he noticed one of the apprentices he'd met earlier, but he couldn't remember if he had learned the young apprentices name so he merely smiled at her, looked around for a moment, and then heard a loud crash from another room, the young apprentice Neeyab quickly turn to face out the hallway, and spoke briefly to Crii. The moon was approaching rapidly, and Crii knew he should take a moment to prepare himself, but the words of Neeyab rang out to him, and he felt it necessary to see what had happened to the apprentice.
((OOC: The following conversation was organized between Threedawg and I, at an earlier date.))
Crii nodded at Neeyab, and smiled warmly, He slowly stepped out of threshold of the cockpit and made his way towards Taylor. He kept up with the Chiss' pace, and began to speak "Have a sour encounter?"
'My Master may sometimes be sour, but he is in his right to be so.' she said in retort. The lines in her face created a brave(r) expression. Crii laughed thinking back to the loud noise he'd heard in the other room.
Crii slowly became more relaxed in his tone, as he began to speak. "You must have defiled him quite thoroughly to deserve that loud of a thud."
The young Chiss came back in retort: 'My Master remains undefiled, lord Sith. To my knowledge at least. Perhaps you'd best ask that same question to Apprentice Mako?' Crii Chuckled slightly to himself at this rebuttal. 'But what my Master does to me is of no concern to anyone but himself.' She continued.
Crii began to take a more prying tone, "But why allow such unprovoked beatings?" he asked.
The young Chiss began to take a more defensive posture in her voice, it was quite clear she had became insulted by the though of her master doing something for no reason. 'He is my Master nothing he does is unprovoked. I believe he does everything for a reason.'
Crii shook his head, "Do you stand in line like the other ones?" he began to speak noticeably faster.
'Stand in line? I stand for the Sith, Lord Crii.' she retorted.
He continued to speak hastily "Sure, and like the others you come to his aid when he yells for it?" Crii nearly cut the end of her last sentence off, as he begun his sentence.
'Of course, he is my Master!' She shouts towards the end, quite defensively now. she froze to compose herself for a moment, and tried to put on a stereotypic Chiss face. "Don't you support your Master?"
He smirked at the girls question. "I do - what is best for my master, - but let me ask you , since you fall in line like all the others, do you get punished same as all the others?" Crii carefully tip-toed around the young Chiss's question, he could not truthfully say he always supported his Darth, but he always acted in what he believed was the best interest of all, even if it required the downfall of them...
'The Whelp' She spoke referring to Neeyab, 'gets punished the most. The others get punished too. I... Rarely make my Master angry enough to attract his ire to any greater extent."
"Well that's interesting isn't it?" Crii snapped back quickly, but then slowly finished his train of thought before bowing his head slightly at her, and then quietly striding away towards an empty part of the ship.
Crii was always the one to leave people thinking, never quite finishing his thoughts in front of someone or leading them directly into his train of thoughts, he felt it necessary to let others think for themselves though he always 'helped' them get closer to - his - answer.
Crii found a quiet area in the ship, and then took a wide stance, the ride began to feel bumpier, and bumpier, and he knew they were quickly entering the atmosphere, it took Crii little focus to be able to drown out the outside clatter, as it was something he was very used to doing. His meditation may be comparatively more outlandish when compared to the average Sith, but it got the job done just as well, though Crii would claim it was a greater source of inspiration.
He was not only meditating but also practicing, he parted his robe, and allowed his lightsaber to be lifted out of its resting place through The Force. it began to swing around his body rapidly, he moved his arms quietly and serenely about his front, and allowed the inner-workings of his lightsaber to unfold - much like the quarterstaff - his lightsaber extended to make on long tubing consisting of three parts, the two lightsabers at either end, and the shaft containing a thicker middle part for better balance and housing the thinner shaft. This contraption wizzed around him, and he practice rapidly grasping it out of the air mid-meditation, as though he didn't know when it was coming for him.
when the apprentices world told to fall in line, Crii snapped out of it, and made his way (slightly late) into the corridor as Malrius and his entourage were inspecting the troops. He noticed as the ship made its bumpy descent to the surface that one of the soldiers began to shake nervously. Crii smiled at the troop, but was unaware if he had noticed, he closed his eyes, and began to use one of his well honed tricks - Drain Knowledge - to pry into the troopers fears, he learned quite quickly that this warrior had a fear of flying, an odd, yet surprisingly common fear among some orbital troopers. Crii had done this many times before as an alternative to 'Force Empathy,' which he some day hoped to learn as a more peaceful, more consensual alternative.
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ThreeDawg
Administrator
Voice of the Wastes
Posts: 1,219
Likes: 33
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Post by ThreeDawg on Jun 19, 2015 14:07:42 GMT -5
His eyebrow rose, Malrius stared back at his first apprentice. The Whelp had already embrassed his anger... It didn't take a Mind Trick to know he was directing some of it towards his Master. In any other situation the Sith Lord would've thrashed the apprentice across the ship. Perhaps even struck him down, it was clearly going to come to it one day. But not today, Malrius met his stare until the ship gave one final jolt - and ceased. There was an audible 'woosh' of air into the garage followed by the sound of metal parts moving into place. A sliver of light appeared before them, and the garage ramp begun to descend away from the Phantom Pain. "Cease your bickering," Malrius called back to his apprentices, "it is unbecoming of war.", and begun his own descent down the still moving ramp.
The planet was solid. Which was a good start. Their shiny and chrome vessel had landed softly in a clearing - partly of its own making - deep amidst dense foilage. A shreek come from a nearby tree, attracting Malrius' attention. A green-skinned, long-armed furred beast fled quickly through the treetops and disapeared not long after he spotted the beast. This place would not do for a quiet retirement as a scholarly hermit, far too many things. Living things. Malrius took a step forward, his boots making a 'slurp'ing noise on the wet ground. They had landed in the planet's wet season, as had been the plan to disguise their vessels further - for all the technology in the galaxy, storm clouds were still a problem for radars and transmissions. It was their luck that the skies had not yet opened. It wouldn't do them a favour to assault the enemy in a quagmire.
His Troops filled out of the vessel, forming an orderly line as they had done so inside. If there was one thing the Sith Empire's Troopers, and the Imperial Empire's before them, prided themselves in it was order and formation. Personally Malrius did not care less what these Troopers did, as long as they fought to the best of their capabilities. Malrius awaited the rest of his Apprentices - and Crii - to leave the ship, and when they had done so he lifted a hand to his ear. "Neeyab. We are all out, re-engage cloaking mechanism and await our accomplishment." Even as he finished speaking, his arm lowering back to his side, the ship before him flashed a wave of blue - and was rendered invisible.
Malrius nodded to the officer, and he and his troops set off in advance. They spread out into the jungle, disapearing even from Malrius' keen eyes after but a few moments. Back to the other Sith, he called, "Crii, take Mako and Nek. You are to follow the Troopers. Myself, Kairon and Tayla will follow behind you until we come within sight of the compound. From there we will split off. Are we clear?"
Nekab saw his chance. "Master, I shall see our objective complete!" The Twi'lek bowed deep, his lekku twitching in apprehension. His eagerness was not, in reality, to serve his master. Rather, he prided in going first. He made sure he was first, too, because he was the first to depart from the group in the direction of the Troopers. Ahead of Mako, ahead of the other apprentices, Nekab would show his Lord who was the superior. The superior at fighting, the superior at leading, the superior at War.
Tayla let out a tut at Nek's amibition, although she stood closest to her Master. Practically his shadow upon this moon. She glared after the Twi'lek, and soon her gaze fell upon Mako too. "Let us hope our more combative Apprentices don't fail their task." While it was true Nek and Mako were the more ferocious of the apprentices, she couldn't help but wonder why Crii was also leading the front, the Arcona was a Sith Lord that was true - but he hardly looked (or sounded) like the warrior type.
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Salvahkiin
Archer
My Siren's name is Brick, and she is the prettiest.
Posts: 1,055
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Post by Salvahkiin on Jun 20, 2015 23:06:47 GMT -5
It was time. Time to draw blood, time to kill for the Empire. This would be the day that would never be forgotten. Generations to come will remember it as the day that the Sith Empire's conquest of the Galaxy started. Mako would remember it as the day that he killed his first man, in open combat, that is. After today, he would no longer be a whelp. After this day, he'd be known as his Master's greatest weapon.
The ramp lowered, and Mako followed his Lord. They got their orders, and Nekab began first, following the troopers like an idiot. The Sith do not follow those lesser than themselves. Instead, Mako walked next to Crii, the other Sith Lord, and followed him.
"Let us hope our more combative Apprentices don't fail their task."
"Not to worry. I won't be the one to fail our Master."
But who knew if Nekab could succeed. He may fall on his own lightsaber, only time will tell if he can hold against people that are actually attempting to kill him. Mako smiled, grimly.
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