Black Tempest

Vorion

12-01-2009 15:14:15




MJHC Last Light
Commodore's Atrium
Somewhere in Hutt Space



Two lone figures crouched in the dim candlelight as flickering, writhing shadows danced across the spacious expanse of the vaulted atrium. The air was cool, recycled with a faintly metallic odor, and a nearby air vent billowed the blood-stained sheet that had been draped across the sprawled corpse. One of the figures stood slowly, followed by the narrower, taller of the two men.

"Well, what do you make of this, my friend?" Vorion spoke quietly, impassively. His gaze was dark and unblinking as his eyes raked across the cadaver at their feet. His robes rustled faintly as he raised one hand to his chin, musing quietly.

Talos Vyranius d'Tana was intensely perplexed and rather thoroughly confused. The man lying dead before them had been positively genetically-identified as Tendd Limmer, one of the Proconsul's personal bodyguards. Not that Talos could tell this just by looking at the corpse - the body had been skinned in an eerily-precise and exacting fashion, and the stark white of exposed bone, fat and flayed muscle glimmered in the low light.

The guard's combat armor, ident, commlink and weapons had been discarded or stolen, and hadn't been spotted by the Sith either in the atirum, nor in the outlying foyer. There seemed to be no real signs of a struggle, either on the body or in the surrounding area. No damage to the keypad on the door leading to the Proconsul's private chambers. Talos would normally have chalked this up to an aborted assassination attempt by some petty Journeymen heady with the thrill of power - as Captain of the Guard, Talos had personally overseen numerous executions of such mutinous upstarts. But this was different.

"The Dark Side clouds many things, Your Honor. It's veil conceals us...and conceals much from us, unfortunately." Talos replied quietly, his keen eyes sliding from side to side as his thoughts raced. As wrong as the situation felt, he saw no reason to deviate from established procedure in the matter. His instincts screamed danger, and he realized at once what he needed to do. The young d'Tana checked his carbine rifle and tapped at his commlink. "I'd like to take you into protective custody, Your Honor. We should proceed to the Abyss with all due haste so as to ensure you maximum-security coverage in the event that a..larger plot is afoot."

Vorion was silent for a moment, his eyes glinting malevolently as he stared off, lost in reverie. He shifted his dark, intricately-woven cloak, loosening the silverl clasp across his throat. "Yes, of course." For just a moment, a grin of what seemed like savage anticipation seemed to flicker across the Ubese's dark features. "Protocol must be observed."

Talos

12-01-2009 16:13:54

Some Hours Earlier: BAC Darkest Night's Blue Mist Barracks

Talos V. d'Tana, Flight Leader of Blue Mist and Captain of the Summit Guard, stirred in his sleep. As he tossed and turned, he felt something prick him in the Force, but shrugged it off. The coming War with the Yuuzhan Vong had many men on edge and these pricks were constant.

The d'Tana gained another three hours of sleep, before something more physical caused him to wake.

"Tal...Talos. It's Tirano, I have a urgent message for you" whispered Tirano Yamayura, shaking his friend awake.

"Err..alright. Leave it on my dresser" muttered the Human and he rolled out of his bunk, rubbing his eyes as he picked up the blinking COM-Link that Tirano had left for him.

However, the message that played quickly brought the Captain back to his senses and he grimaced as he headed for the Refresher.

Summit Guard Shuttle: En Route to Last Light: One hour later

Talos, now fully showered and awake, exited the ramp of the Lambda-class shuttle that had been given to the Summit Guard. He was dressed in the standard black armor of the Clan-Summit's, a E-19 Carbine Rifle strapped to his thigh, with his lightsaber hanging from his belt. Reliving the men and women of his unit, he quickly walked through the corridors of the Proconsuls ship, flanked by two additional Summit Guards.

As they approached the Commodore's suite, he motioned and his two escorts took opposite positions on either side of the sliding door and without hesitating, walked straight into the Atrium.

"Your Honor" said Talos in reverence, taking off his helmet and kneeling before the Proconsul.

"My Captain, please rise" replied Vorion, the Ubese motioning for him to rise and join him at a gruesome sight, where he promptly knelt down and raised the white cover that was blowing gently in the wind from the AC unit.

Talos joined his friend and he almost looked away as he saw the mutilated corpse of Guardsman Tendd Limmer. However, through superior willpower, he forced himself to examine the body, noting the carvings and markings that dotted the Guards flesh.

"So precise" muttered the Captain and he motioned for a white-coated woman to come to him.

"MD...give me your diagnosis" ordered the armored figure.

"Captain, reports and examinations indicate that Limmer was killed by bladed instruments, such as knives, daggers, etc. However, most of these wounds indicate that...well...they were inflicted pre-mortum" explained the Medical Examiner, pointing to various inflictions.

"Thank you, doctor" said Talos as he rose with his friend. Raising his gauntlet to his lips, he activated the COM-Link there and quickly issued orders to the three squads of Guards that were posted at various points throughout the ship.

"Squad 1, I want a full search of the Atrium level and the hangar bay. Squad 2, interview every single member of this crew and Squad 3, prime the shuttle" ordered the Captain, closing down the channel and turning to his friend.

"My Lord...my friend...I would like to take you into protective custody. Such brutality and intricacy is not some failed assassination attempt, but a larger plot...I feel it, both in the Force and in my bones" explained the Summit Captain.

The Proconsul seemed somewhat distracted but quickly came too, after what looked like a smirk crossed his face. "Of course, Captain, of course. Protocol must be observed" he said and he walked out with Talos, who slid his helmet back on and motioned for the two Door Guards to follow.

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II

As the Proconsul, Talos, and the Summit Guard entourage disembarked from the shuttle, they were met with a messenger who was awaiting them in the hangar.

"Greetings to you, Captain d'Tana. I have been tasked with informing you that the Shade Warrior, Consul Sashar Arconae, requests your presence immediately in his quarters for a confidential report" said the messenger, and with that, he saluted and walked away.

Talos stopped and thought for a moment, then turned to the Guardsman closest to him. "Sergeant Dauk, escort Shadow Scion Vorion to the Summit Guard headquarters at once, no delays. Corporal Unic, go with him. You are not to tell anyone why you are escorting the Proconsul, even to the rest of the Arconan Summit. Understand?" asked the Captain of the Guard.

"Yes, sir!" answered his men in unison and they returned the salute given to them by the d'Tana as he strode off towards the Exarch's quarters.

As Talos neared the doors of the Consul, he recognized two more black-armored Summit Guards in place, who saluted him as he approached. However, just as the doors hissed open for him, a horrible pain wracked his entire body, a horrible premonition from the Force. Taking not a step farther, Talos gathered his wits and sprinted off towards the Summit Guard HQ, where Vorion and the two Guardsmen were headed...and where Talos had felt the premonition originate. As he ran, Talos d'Tana, Captain of the Summit Guard and loyal vassal of Arcona, quickly swiped his lightsaber off his belt and willed himself to go faster.

Xathia

12-01-2009 18:57:55

BAC Darkest Night

Stalking her office a little, the Quaestor was frowning deeply. Alyssa had returned a few hours earlier, with Bryna, and it had been an unexpected visit to say the least. The Omwati had heard rumours of a rogue Jedi, and had thought best to bring Alyssa back to the Darkest Night for a while in case Draken had returned to kidnap his daughter. Xathia had invited Bryna to stay; more to ensure that Alyssa had a carer at all times then anything else. It had been fairly quiet outside of the usual routine for a couple of hours. Flicking at her comlink, the Priestess sank into deep thought for a few minutes before grabbing the hilt of her saber off the desk and striding out the room, her destination clear in her mind.

Nursery

Smiling before sitting down on the floor, Xathia waved a hand towards the Omwati. Alyssa was grasping at some shapes before bashing them against the floor, smiling and giggling away as she pleased. Bryna wandered over, before seating herself down. Something was disturbing her from the look in her eyes.

"Nyx, something tells me he was looking for Alyssa."

"There's little he can do whilst she's here, too many people are around for him to effectively kidnap Alyssa, someone would notice an unfamiliar face dashing off with a baby. You should rest, I can watch over Alyssa for a few hours."

Nodding solemnly, the Omwati stood up somewhat ungracefully, nodding towards the Priestess before sliding off quietly to the Quaestor's bed for a few hours of disturbed sleep. Looking and smiling back at her baby, Xathia scooped Alyssa up and cuddled her, letting the shadow of stress and strain be lifted for a short while.

Miroya

12-01-2009 21:36:09

BAC Darkest Night
Blue Mist Barracks


Awakening from his peace and rest, Zaire quickly got dressed, and headed towards the hanger bay. Strapping up his headset, he gets a call to report the ISDII Eye of the Abyss II. Not fully understanding the situation thus far, he strapped, plugged and wrapped on his combat gear, and continued to move to the hangar. He approached the hangar slowly, obviously searching for something. He approached a rare ship, his prized Asakura, which he built from several parts. Climbing in to the cockpit and strapping himself up, Zaire took off, shooting straight out of the hanger bay and into space, on approach to the Abyss.

Cockpit of the Asakura, on approach to the Eye of the Abyss II

Flying and maneuvering through space, Zaire was slowly on approach to the Abyss. Before going there though, he decided to test his piloting skills. He traveled a few 200 yards outside his set course, and was practicing by dodging renegade asteroids. After having clipped one do to cockiness, the Krath decided it was best to return to the course. Clearly seeing the Eye of the Abyss, Zaire headed for its hangar bay. After a few minutes he eventually reached it, and boarded the Abyss. He landed in the center of hangar, leaping out of the cockpit, and heading towards the entrance.

Arcturus Xyler

12-01-2009 23:55:23

BAC Shadow

Arcturus' sleep had been completely disturbed throughout most of the night. Or was it morning, he thought? His comm-link had been beeping for about ten minutes before he decided to answer. Sitting upright and forcing the black edges of sleep on his vision to recede, the Tetrarch clutched the communicator and thumbed it.

"This is Arcturus, go ahead." he murmured, roughly mussing his face. "Sir, this is Ioucha; I'm one of the Communications crewers.." he began, a slight twinge of nerves in his voice. Rolling his eyes, Arcturus pulled the covers off his bunk and placed his feet squarely on the cold floor of the BAC Shadow. This was going to be painful, he thought. Stretching himself out with the Force, the Tetrarch called his robes to his open hand and quickly tied them around his aching frame.

"Ioucha, unless someone's attacked the ship or my mother's appeared out of the Force to tell me I'm not getting enough iron in my diet, this had better be important." Arcturus replied, searching the room for his lightsaber. "Sir, there's been an attempt on Proconsul Vorion's life." Ioucha announced, his words hanging at the end of the sentence. Arcturus stopped dead for a moment. "Is he safe?" Arcturus asked. "Sir, the Consul's Guard have taken him into custody. Uh, protective custody. Quaestor Taigikori and Aedile Legorii want a full briefing on the situation within the hour, and they want you to go to the Eye of the Abyss to get a better understanding on it."

The Archpriest searched his mind for answers. He'd only recently taken up the mantle of Tetrarch and wasn't privy to every political ploy within the Clan, yet he hadn't heard any rumours about an assassination attempt. Arcturus grimaced. The last time anyone made a serious run at a Proconsul's life was... him. So he was a suspect. Of course. That's why Taigikori wanted him out in front of this. Arcturus grimaced, again - this time, putting the pieces together in his mind. He was a suspect. Damn it, he thought. His spat with Vassan, he hoped, was ancient history in the eyes of Arcona. Indeed, he was welcomed back into House Qel-Droma with open arms. Obviously, and much to his own dismay, it wasn't. Hence this. Cursing to himself, he quickly found his naval tunic and pulled it on.

"OK, Ioucha, tell the Summit I'll have a report ready. And see if you get them for me beforehand. Tell them I'll be in the hangar bay getting ready for launch."
"Roger, sir. Bridge out."

Arcturus fiddled with the communicator again to deactivate it. Reaching over to the bedside locker, he found the datapad and keyed in for Prophecy Phyle. It was a simple message, informing them all that they were on active duty effective immediately and that they were to respond to the message. The intelligence-gathering abilities of his team members had yet to be tested, although he was confident in them nevertheless. Clipping his lightsaber to the belt on his tunic, Arcturus keyed for the door release. Standing in the corridor was Dal Hodezan, the Advozse XO of the Shadow and some crewer. The two of them were fawning over a datapad and exchanging murmurs to each other.

"Dal, what's the word?" Arcturus asked, as the Advozse dismissed the crewer with a nod.
"Your guess is as good as mine at this stage, Arc." he replied, a thin smile creeping across his face.

Wordlessly, the XO handed Arcturus the datapad with the comminque that was obviously sent to all ships within Arcona's fleet. It was simple and succint, not giving away anything that Ioucha hadn't already told him. In fact, Arcturus thought, Ioucha was probably reading the same comminque that he was now reading. Arcturus read through it again as the two men paced leisurely through the corridor. His Intelligence days had thought him well enough to know that some information, any information must be gleaned from any available source. Even if the source is untrustworthy. It was simply a case of ascertaining the writer of said information, the purpose of the information and the purpose, if any, in the reader finding it. He marvelled at how COMPNOR and the Intelligence Division in the Emperor's Hammer had such grandiose and fumbled ideas on what constituted as information. They'd pull it from anywhere, he remembered. In fact, he once spent the better part of an afternoon reading through a recovered datapad that had been found in some cantina that the Entar Family owned on Aurora Prime. It turned out that it was the daily lunch menu. Of course, the superior minds at Intelligence Division were convinced that it was a coded transmission detailing an armed attack on Eos, the Brotherhood's old homeworld.

"You never did like that man, did you?" Dal began, speaking into the relative silence between them.
"Who?" Arcturus replied, looking up from the datapad.
"That man.. the captain of the Guard, what's his name.." he replied, clicking his fingers in an effort to remember the name.
"Oh yes, yes. Talos." Arcturus answered, his face changing to slight suprise. "Dal, I didn't think you cared that much about me." he continued, sarcastically.
"You didn't answer my question, Arcturus." Dal bit back, smirking to himself.

Stopping at the turbolift at the corridor's end, Arcturus became mock-serious and handed the datapad back to the Advozse. "I hardly know Talos, Dal. Plus, it's the highest offence to make an attempt on the life of a Clan Summit member, Executive Officer."

Thumbing the turbolift panel, the doors slid open to reveal an empty cubicle. The Archpriest took a step inside and smiled broadly at him.

"How do you know that?" Dal asked.
"Because I'm the only one that ever attempted. The real crime is in an failed attempt." he answered, the turbolifts door sliding shut.

`CC`

13-01-2009 16:40:13

“Stop being so noisy, we don’t want the whole damn guard breathing down our necks.”
“Sure, like those bodies out there and the broken cameras aren’t clue enough that stuff has gone south. I’d welcome a scrap anyway; if they are against us, I’d prefer they be dead.”
“Bloody hell, when was the last time they sent Soulfire out to kill anything?”
“Too long ago. Now let’s just shut up and shift this before we get spaced and learn how to breathe vacuum the hard way.”

-----=====*=====-----
Twenty Minutes Earlier...

"Intercepted. Revert to Plan 2."
Just as Zandro was slipping into the meditation ritual he was attempting, the call from his comm unit came and snapped him fully awake, aware of his surroundings as well as the rapidly increasing beat of his heart. He had felt the swirling within the Force, but this call changed his job with immediate effects. Grabbing his cloak and throwing it over himself, he stalked from his room with his lightsaber in his hand and his identity masked by the large cloak he was now wearing.

“Strat, Sav is enroute. I’ll meet you at the bend leading to the vault, prepare for possible resistance.”
“Way ahead of you Sav, as soon as you get here we’re good to go.”

Zandro took only a few minutes to make his way to the agreed meeting point in the bowels of the Abyss II, clasping forearms briefly with the other cloaked man there before walking around the corner and heading towards the pair of guards who were stood in front of the entrance to the vault of the ship.

“We’re going to need to see some identification, this is an off-limits area.”

Zandro’s identification came through the Force as a telekinetic blast struck the trooper who had spoken and threw him back into the door of the vault. He walked towards the stunned trooper as Strategos dispatched the other guard and a quick stab with his lightsaber finished the fight almost as quickly as it had begun. He used his blade to slice into one of the surveillance cameras that were above the door and heard Strategos doing the same with the other camera. Without even a word between the two men they set about opening the door, Strategos at the terminal as Zandro used the Force to watch for any oncoming threats.

“They need to change the passwords on this thing, it’s easier to crack than a year old egg.”
“Stop gloating, just get it open. What are we here for anyway?”
“The artifacts. Doors opening, be prepared for a hunt but we need to get these things and get out quickly.”
“You always spoil the fun. Let’s roll.”

Sashar

14-01-2009 08:53:30

The comm. Unit clicked off with a burst of static denoting the triple encryption that had been put over the communiqué and Sashar’s heart fluttered in excitement. It was starting. He pulled on his grey outer robe and stretched out, delving into the force. The shock of the murder was still rippling across the ship – an eerie feeling of anticipation had taken hold of the city-ship. For almost two years now his hermit clan had lived amongst the stars, drifting without aim or purpose other than to survive since being driven from their homes. In that time, the Vong offensive had moved on – despite having cost them five destroyers and countless warriors, they’d considered the Shadow Clan just a brief interlude, not even worth their full attention. It galled the Mandalorian. A lot. His mood had darkened when he found out that Mandalore had been hit, but the Mandalorians were a nomadic species: they’d live on. They always did. With a sigh, Sashar sat down at his desk and flicked on the holonet transceiver.

Malidir Erinos shimmered into view. He looked, as ever, serious but with a hint of a sardonic smile evident only to those who knew him well.

“How goes the inspection?” Sashar asked, smiling genuinely at the sight of his old friend.

“Well enough. They run a tight little operation here.” He responded, watching the Conul’s reaction carefully.

“That’s encouraging. Be ready, I’ll be in touch.” The Consul said. Malidir nodded and his image vanished, leaving Sashar mulling over the recent developments.

A moment later, he flicked an audio-only line to the bridge. “Captain Sulaco. I’m experiencing problems with the Holonet Transciever. When was the last diagnostic run on it?”

“About six days ago, it’s nearly due another diagnostic, Lord Consul.” The Captain answered promptly.

“Right, it’s high time they were all checked then. Instruct all of the other Captains in the flotilla to take down the Holonet Transcievers and run a full diagnostic.”

“Milord, that would mean all long range communications would be down for nearly forty eight hours. If the Dark Council needed to contact us, we’d be unreachable, and likewise if we encountered the Yuuzhan Vong-“

“I’m well aware of the consequences, Captain, and I’ll have my holonet transceiver should the Grand Master need to contact us.” Sashar said, producing the portable device from the pocket of his cloak.

“...Understood, Lord Consul.” Sulaco signed off, and the Consul grimaced. Sulaco usually only called him ‘Lord Consul’ when he thought the Shade Warrior was making a mistake. The Captain was right.

Vorion

15-01-2009 04:31:56

MJHC Last Light
Hangar Bay
Somewhere in Hutt Space


The sleek gray hull of the Lambda-class T-4a shuttle gleamed in the harsh florescent light as it lifted off of it's landing pad in the bustling bay of the Last Light, gliding slowly towards the airlock. It's six occupants sat in relative silence, the muted glow of the service lights and the crimson tinge of the holopanel the only illumination in the hushed cabin. Captain d'Tana barked a series of orders over his commlink in a clipped, precise manner, frowning as the barked responses became distorted and heavily interspersed with static. The four Summit Guardsmen flanking the Proconsul stood rose from their seats, shouldering their rifles and preparing to secure the shuttle's boarding ramp as Talos confirmed the tractor beam lock from his post in the pilot's seat. The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood up as the massive, familiar shape of the Eye of the Abyss II came into view. Something was wrong; there was no doubt in his mind about this now. The Force itself seemed to be twisting and writhing treacherously around him, and the distinct sense of unease only increased as the beloved flagship of Arcona loomed closer.

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar Bay
Somewhere in Hutt Space


"Prepare yourself for landing, Your Honor. We'll proceed to a maximum-security containment area at once." Talos spoke evenly and professionally, powering down the last sublight engine arrays as the shuttle slid into the bright, swarming hangar of the Abyss. Vorion stood slowly, smoothing his cloak. The sable Cyrene silk glistened, a fine and intricate golden embroidery casting the tawny wings of some great, slender bird across his shoulders. His polished black boots clicked on the corrugated durasteel floor, chiming in with those of the guards surrounding him as the grim-faced Captain led the unit down the boarding ramp. "Stay alert!" Talos called briskly.

Arcturus Xyler

15-01-2009 06:31:20

BAC Shadow

The turbolifts on the BAC Shadow were cramped and claustrophopic. Arcturus had to remind himself constantly that he wasn't on a Star Destroyer, rather a middling ship. Not that this wasn't a fine example of a Bothan Assault Cruiser. Indeed, the ship itself, though recently comissioned, was battle-worn already. He himself wasn't around during the Yuuzhan Vong's incursion. The Archpriest shivered slightly. He wasn't afraid of the Vong, not in the way others seemed to be. He simply... disliked them. He disliked the entire idea of them. It was that simple, really. His thoughts drifted off into idle areas, nothing in particular grasping at it.

"Arc?" his comm-link announced, vibrating smoothly in his tunic.
"Yes?" Arcturus answered. If this was Ioucha again...
"It's Dal. You're not going to believe this. The Eye of the Abyss II has, and I quote, 'ordered all ships within the Arcona flotilla to take down HoloNet transceivers and run diagnostics', end quote. They're cutting us off from the rest of the fleets."

Arcturus paused for a moment. A new development, obviously. But why? Was there danger ahead? His mind, aided by the Force, ran through the list of orders sent from the flagship. No battle drills had been scheduled this week, all engineering tasks were being monitored by Gable and his team, maintenance was, as far as he could tell, out the window considering the flotilla was drifting idly through Hutt space. What was it, then? Was Sashar trying to cut Arcona off from the rest of the Brotherhood on purpose?

"Arc, you there?" Dal asked, sounding slightly agitated.
"I'm here.. well, if Sashar says so, you'd better do it. Did Ioucha get in touch with Taigikori?"
"I'm not sure. I'll get him to signal the Summit again. Bridge out."

Why this, he wondered, why now? He was still trying to piece together the reasoning behind the attempt on Vorion. More information, Arcturus decided. That was what was required. And perhaps, if Taigikori or Legorii got around to speaking with him, they could fill in the blanks. The doors slid open to reveal the rather dull surrounds of Shadow's hangar bay. Here and there, crewers and hangar personnel were making minor repairs to the array of starfighters within. Brushing his hand against the hull of the A-9 Interceptor, the Archpriest's eyes clouded over, heavy with memory.

He remembered that fateful day at Giletta Spaceport. It seemed so long ago now, yet, looking at his hand and the implants that replaced his fingers, it seemed more like a day ago. His personal ship was an A-9 Interceptor. It was a small fighter, purchased with a stipend he received during his tenureship as Knight Envoy of Arcona, but a reliable one. He despised the idea of droids working on it, instead preferring to make all the adjustments and repairs himself. He could see why Dal Hodezan had argued extensively against droid repair units in the hangar bay. They lacked creative thought, favouring by-the-book technical readouts and instead of gut instinct. Instinct... he thought.

The Archpriest's body shaked at that thought. His instinct was to leave Arcona space. The coup that he, Demosthenes, Syn Kaek and Elliad Gavron had orchestrated was failing. The initial ambush on Boral had severely routed their combined fleets, and within a matter of weeks, Arcturus was already trying to get the Tana Consortium on-side to keep the flow of weapons going. It was a brutal civil war. So many young Acolytes foolishly gave their lives for Arcturus' plot. He wanted the Consulship so badly. He was prepared to destroy Arcona to get it, if needs be. Vassan Rokir had won the day by outspending him. It was that simple. That, coupled with Mejas Doto's insistance on the demilitarisation of Galeres and Qel-Droma, had effectively ended the Arcona Civil War of 23ABY. The ceasefire was signed on Selen, and that was that. All military units on both sides were to stand down and Arcturus and Demosthenes were to be removed from their positions. Demosthenes chose a different path, but Arcturus had the political capital to take Vassan on again. Aware of this, he decided to kill Arcturus by planting a thermal bomb on his ship. An A-9 Interceptor. He remembered stalking across the landing pad at Giletta Spaceport, his ship already prepped. He looked back and saw Vassan, Halcyon and two of the Consul's Guard with him. Arcturus said nothing and stepped onto the entry ladder. Then, an orange-yellow light engulfed him. The blast almost killed him, in fact. His fingers and leg ached at the memory of it; they were replaced by cybernetic implants. That horrific stench of burnt flesh and muscle, together with his own agonising screams, would stay with him forever

"Sir, can I help you?" someone asked.

Arcturus took his hand off the hull of the starfighter and turned. It was Zilghar Graviell, the commander of Black Malice. The Archpirest didn't know this one as well as the bridge crew. With a formal nod, Arcturus placed his hands behind his back.

"Commander Graviell, I need one of your pilots. I need to get to the Eye of the Abyss II." Arcturus asked.
"Not a problem. We don't have any Lambda-Class shuttles, would a LAAT/i be acceptable?" he answered, his tone respectful without sounding sycophantic.
"Absolutely fine. There's no rush, either. I'm waiting for the Summit."

For a moment, there was silence. Graviell's eyes glanced up at the A-9 Interceptor.

"They're an amazing fighter, aren't they?" Graviell announced.
"I flew one for years, until..."
"I know, sir. You could still see the marks on the landing pad. Black Shuck, wasn't it?"
Arcturus nodded, a faint smirk working it's way across his lips.
"Yeah.. I heard you shot the crap out of Lenzar's TIE Defender over Lyspair." Graviell continued, gesturing at the A-9.
"Was a tough one, but one thing about TIE Defenders people forget; their speed is nowhere near as fast as people think it is. It's built up in people's minds that it's an unbeatable fighter. All you need's a good set of concussion missiles and a steady hand." Arcturus explained.
Graviell smiled again, the Devaronian calling over one of the pilots with a wave.

The flight commander spoke to the pilot as Arcturus stroked the hull of the ship one last time. Where was Taigikori, anyway? And Legorii, for that matter? Just as that thought entered his mind, the Archpriest felt something. It was something... ominous. Something truly ominous. A great wave of anguish flooded through his body, and in his mind's eye, he felt something terrible. Arcturus' eyes closed deeply as he stretched out with the Force, trying to encapsulate what it was. It was so blanketed, so shrouded in secrecy, he knew well enough that it was beyond him. And, almost as instantly as he felt it, it was gone. Disappeared into the idle banter and calming thoughts of the hangar bay. Slowly, as if to make sure everything was where he left, Arcturus opened his eyes.

"You OK, sir? You seemed like you were a million miles away." Graviell asked, leaning forward.
"I'm fine. Who's taking me?" Arcturus replied, frowning in thought.

Anonymous

15-01-2009 15:40:09

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar Bay
Somewhere in Hutt Space


Static rumbled through the comm systems in the Eye of Abyss's hangar control. "...approach...request...landing..."
The operator calibrated some instruments. "Intercepting ship, please repeat. We have interference. Over."
"SMDF* At-Ashira on approach to ISDII Eye of the Abyss II.." a male voice said, still mildly covered in static "...Request landing. Over." The link was silent for a few moments as Tyren waited patiently in his fighter.
"Confirmed, master Atema. You are cleared to dock." the man spoke finally "Be advised, clustered asteroids have been scanned in the area. Over."
"Understood Abyss, At-Ashira entering Arcona space. Over."

Tyren easily passed around any rogue asteroids in his path, mostly wandering debris but still enough to damage the At-Ashira.
Entering the hangar he landed his ship with a thud. As he exited the craft his black silk cloak glittered with golden light as the bird wings on his cloak, like swooping through the wind, fell around him and settled. He turned around, feeling a familiar presence.

Vorion! Finally..." he smiled and headed down the half lit corridors of the colossal Star Destroyer toward the Consul's office.


***
*SMDF - Synergy Military Division Fighter

Kant Lavar

16-01-2009 14:54:35

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Barracks Level - Gymnasium
Somewhere in Hutt Space


Kant Lavar wiped sweat off of his head as he tapped the panel to increase the speed of the treadmill underneath him. The Obelisk Acolyte had ended up on the Abyss as part of a regular Clan personnel rotation, or at least so he had been told. Privately, the former bounty hunter wondered if he hadn't been sent over here to be shuffled off to oblivion. His abilities in the Dark Side had plateaued, and thus far he had yet to achieve any real progress in regaining his Force abilities.

He had been a Dark Jedi Knight and a skilled bounty hunter, decades ago. One bad encounter with a dozen witches on Dathomir, however, had left him as blind to the Force as a bantha. He'd left the Brotherhood, worked exclusively for the Guild for a while, and then retired. Slowly, oh so slowly, he worked to reconstruct his training, believing that the witches hadn't burned his Force sensitivity out of him, merely left him with something akin to long-term flash blindness. Finally, he'd regained the abilities to re-enter the Brotherhood, and joined House Qel-Droma.

Years had passed. Lavar had worked on both his Force and personal abilities, intent on regaining the skill set that had served him well for so many years. He prided himself on being able to handle any situation that was thrown at him, with or without the Force. And, he thought, glancing down at the very satisfactory statistics on the treadmill's screen, he had regained the physical fitness he had enjoyed as a younger man handily enough. But his Force abilities...

Lavar clenched his fists in frustration even as he ran. He could not, for some reason, gain the skill and power he knew he could handle. Maybe his focuses had changed - he had joined the order of the Obelisk, instead of his former home in the Krath - and perhaps he was older now, but he was still the same man. What was holding him back?

The treadmill bleeped, indicating the end of the training cycle. As the belt decelerated slowly, giving Lavar a chance to cool down, the former hunter turned his senses outward, straining for something - anything - to focus on.

And he found it. The Consul had boarded the ship. His presence - plus that of his bodyguard - was unmistakable. And something was wrong. Lavar couldn't quite put what it was that was poking him in the back of his figurative mind, but there was... something.

Maybe it was his old bounty hunter's instinct. Maybe it was the Dark Side. But whatever it was, Lavar went into the locker room to change into his robes and grab his blasters before heading up to the main levels. For while he may not have even a training lightsaber (yet), but he was by no means incapable of defending himself. And he would be on hand for... whatever it was that was nagging at him.

Dathka

16-01-2009 19:00:30

BAC Darkest Night
Somewhere in Hutt Space

Dathka tossed and turned the whole night long. Finely after hours of struggling to get to sleep, Dathka finely drifted off. But not long after his COM-Link started going off… god damit! And right after I finely get to sleep, he thought. He snapped on the light and reached for the COM link.

“What the hell do you want?”
“That’s no way to answer your commander,” the voice of JS answered.
“I’m sorry master, whets is it?”
“I need you to get the team together in the situation room in ten minutes.”
“Ok master, whats the rush?”
“You’ll find out soon enough, now get to it.”
“Ok master, cya you in a few.”

Dathka put the com and quickly put his robs on. The Sense of urgency in the commanders voice had woke him up in a matter of seconds.

He made his over to the communications terminal and quickly sent out an emergency message to the members of Blue Mist. As soon as the messages were sent he finished getting his stuff together and made his way to the team’s situation room.

Ten Minutes Later…
Blue Mist situation room…

The team was assembled around the table when the commander walked in. They sat down and waited for their commander to speak.

“I have called you together at this late hour to report some news. There has been an attempt on the proconsul’s life. One guard is dead and the killer is still on the loose. Talos and the summit guard are investigating the matter but not much is turning up
“What can we do to help?” one of the members asked eagerly
“I will be heading over to the Eye of the Abyss to talk to Talos and the consul to find out all the particulars. So be ready to move on command.”
“We’ll be ready commander.” Dathka said as the commander walked towards the door.

------------------------------------
Jedi Hunter Dathka Zhar-Khon
Krath Tyro of Blue Mist Battle Team
Seneshcal of the Pride

Etah

16-01-2009 23:28:07

BAC Shadow
Cargo Bay
Somewhere in Hutt Space


Etah stood in the darkest corner of the deepest part of BAC Shadow clutching his lightsaber. ‘All is not well’ he thought to himself. He felt as if there was something about, a plot in the midst of execution. But perhaps this was the shadow on the wall in a dark room, becoming the boogieman of his nightmares.

He silently went over facts and figures concerning the events around the death of the Proconsul’s guard. He knew, more than most, he knew too much. He defiantly knew more than anyone would think he did or he would ever tell. But the Tana’s had habit of knowing more than they should. That fact alone gave away his paranoid disposition.

‘It was obviously an elder’ he thought to himself. It is true only an elder would have the control necessary to complete the skilled skinning of a man. But this led Etah too the next vexing question; ‘Is it a coup d'etat from within? Or an attempt to take over the clan from without?’, and finally ‘To what point or purpose would this action lead and how would this affect me?’

If it were an Arconan elder, or a formerly Arconan elder, he could whittle the names down too two who would have the skill and want. But if the action was from without, it could literally be entire clan’s worth of Dark Jedi with serious intent to do Arcona harm. ‘Was this a coup or just an attempt to weaken the clan?’ he thought further.

Though distracted in thought Etah’s nigh super-natural senses (senses only enhanced by the force); still managed to detect someone’s approach. Drunken with delusion and paranoia the Templar activated his saber and waited for a face to emerge from the shadows and the battle to be joined.

(OOC: Anyone feel free to jump in; he won’t attack or anything silly. Just say hi and he’ll deactivate his saber).

Arcturus Xyler

17-01-2009 09:55:55

BAC Shadow
Hangar Bay
Somewhere in Hutt Space


"It'll be Dyrdra Rennils, sir. She's on duty at the moment. It's LAAT/i Transport Two, should be ready within the hour." Graviell announced, checking his datapad for confirmation.
"Good, good - see if you can get in touch with Taigikori or Legorii. They don't seem to be answering my comm-messages." Arcturus replied.
The Devaronian nodded and went about his business, crossing the hangar bay to inspect one of the other starfighters being repaired. Fishing through his tunic, the Archpriest produced his comm-link and pinged for Kant Lavar. Arcturus wanted to check in with his Phyle, and as far as he knew, the former Bounty Hunter was on the Eye Of The Abyss II. He'd be able to give him an update of the situation, if there was any. The static through the transmission was immense; it sounded like there was some sort of dampening over it.
"Kant, you there?" Arcturus began.
"I'm here, sir." he replied, breathing heavily.
Arcturus arched an eyebrow at the comm-link. What was he up to? He didn't exactly know what went on within the social circles of the House, or even if there were any of the sort. Brushing away the idle thought, Arcturus continued.
"What's the situation onboard?"
"Nothing, really. Sashar's ordered the HoloNet transceiver to be taken apart and repaired - other than that, nothing. Vorion's on his way into the ship; the Consul's Guard have him in protective custody."
"And your analysis?" Arcturus offered.

Kant had vast experience reading through the junk and jargon; both from navigating the seedier ends of the galaxy and as a former Guild member - Arcturus knew himself that that the Bounty Hunter's Guild political dynamic was far worse and more complex than the Brotherhood's. The Archpriest had varying experience with them - he knew Bograt, albeit that was during his days as an Imperial Senator for Mantessa. Bograt, if he remembered correctly, represented Nar Shaddaa - or was it Nal Hutta? He could never remember which.
"I'm not sure, Tetrarch. But there is something going on. I can feel it. I sense you feel it, too." Kant replied, his tone thoughtful and reflective.
Arcturus said nothing, his brow furrowed in thought, also.
"Agreed. It's out there, elusive.." Arcturus said, looking around the hangar bay.
"You think it's another coup?"
"Do you?" Arcturus asked, in return.
Kant seemed to consider that for a moment. "If it was a coup, we would have heard about it. Plus, if it is, how come only Vorion has been targeted? Why aren't they going after Sashar? Or Taigikori? Or you? Or me?"

The Tetrarch marvelled at Kant's reasoning. He certainly had a point.

"Well, keep me posted if anything pops up." Arcturus said, at last.
"Of course, Lavar out."

Arcturus replaced the comm-link and stroked his chin, thinking to himself. Just then, he felt it. That feeling he felt earlier. Something closer to madness than anguish, all-encompassing paranoia. As the very essence of delusions and spectres had localised itself... somewhere on the ship. The Archpriest glanced across the bay. It was near. Very near. Unclipping his lightsaber, Arcturus walked slowly across, passing some crewers and one of the starfighters. Arcturus' Force sensitivity had only recently returned to him, and he knew himself that what was he feeling could very well be a mesh of the emotions within the ship itself. It was common enough for Jedi, Dark or otherwise, to feel the reverberations of a particular emotion from an entire set of people. In other words, if it was terror, the Jedi's mind would feel it far more acutely than everyone else as it's mind was open to it. Guided by the Force, Arcturus continued pacing across the hangar bay, until at last, he stopped in front of a set of blast doors.
"What's in there?" Arcturus asked, to a nearby pilot.
Smiling sardonically, the pilot answered, "Only what you take with you."
Arcturus arched an eyebrow at him. "Only what I take with me...?"
"Yeah - it's the cargo bay." the pilot replied.
Keying for entrance, Arcturus felt waves of anguish and agony waft over him. What was in here? Some holocron, perhaps? Or some antiquity that House Qel-Droma had stored for later use? He couldn't be sure. The cargo bay was pitch black, save for something in the farthest corner. It was an eerie glow, most likely a holocron of some sort. So that's what it--

"You are not welcome here." someone called, in a particularly raspy voice.

At first, it sounded like some sort of animal had learned to speak. Through the Force, Arcturus could feel the anguish turn to anger. Sheer, unfocused anger. Yet, it seemed... familiar. Deadly, but not directed at him. It didn't seem directed at anyone. Perhaps it was an insane clone? Arcturus knew that unless there was an ysalamiri present during the process, the similar imprint on the Force would cause the clones to go insane - thus resulting in the failed experiments by--

"Your thoughts scrape at me behind my eyes." the voice announced. "You think too much...always plotting, always scheming. But this is not you. This time.. it is not you."
"I know. But I don't think others would believe you. Or me." Arcturus replied, at last recognising the presence.

The Sakiyan stepped out from behind a tall tower of crates, clutching a lightsaber in his hand. Arcturus' grip tightened on his own, waiting for the presence to attack.

"I am Etah. You will know that name. As I know yours." he greeted, his eyes darting maniacally around the cargo bay.
"I'm--"
"Do not spit on my mind by announcing yourself. You will do well to leave me be." Etah snarled, his lightsaber cocking into the Makashi stance.
"You know about the plot, don't you? Sakiyans can hear things most people can't." Arcturus said, gesturing to Etah's protuding ears.
"I hear enough." the Templar answered, flatly.

For a moment, there was silence. Arcturus knew that he was trying to probe his mind. This was a strange one, no doubt. He'd heard some talk of a demented Obelisk who actually enjoyed pain. Apparently, this person, nobody ever gave a name as most people were aware of who it was, regularly tried to actually grab the blade of his lightsaber. Not only that, but this person's mood swings were legendary. Arcturus, it seemed, had walked in on the paranoid-schizophrenic swing.
"So... what do you hear?" Arcturus offered, breaking the quiet between them.
"I know of Vassan's treachery. I know of Vorion's fear. He hides it under the office of Proconsul. And somewhere.. an old Arconan rises for thievery."

An old Arconan...? Interesting, Arcturus thought. Very interesting, indeed.

"Your thoughts - they are like nails on chalkboard." Etah spat, clutching the dome of his head with his free hand.

(OOC: Hope this works, Etah!)

Etah

17-01-2009 14:34:07

BAC Shadow
Hangar Bay
Somewhere in Hutt Space


Etah reeled back, bumping his back lightly against the bulkhead. The Obelisk Templar shook his head a few times before stepping forward with a renewed cognizance. “But where are my manners” the Obelisk Templar said deactivating his lightsaber and replacing it on his hip as he bent low, into a sweeping bow. He stepped forward and began slowly pacing toward the left side of the Xyler, vaguely similar to a lion pacing around a grazing herd.

“Something is afoot, something is amiss. Something is not right and you know it too” the Equate said pointing to the other individual standing in the cargo bay. “The blood of the Patricians will run cold on the deck and the proletariat will become the pawns of another, but is this not the revolving wheel of time and civilization?” he said cocking his head to the side as if he had said something extraordinary.

“You are a strange Obelisk” commented Arcturus stepping oh so lightly away from the crazy Templar.

“Thank you” the Sakiyan replied unaware of the possible insult. “I have changed my mind, you are welcome to stay.” Etah proclaimed abruptly “Two blades are better than one and we are brothers, for we can both buy a horse.” he continued confusingly.

Vorion

17-01-2009 22:44:56

Eye Of The Abyss II
Consul's Pavilion
Somewhere In Hutt Space

Tyren Atema glanced up from his frantic work, his hands slowing as they moved ceaselessly inside the exposed bank of the Consul's personal HoloNet transciever. A series of sharp staccato clicks rang hollowly inside the chassis of the machine, and Tyren withdrew abruptly, clanging the access panel back into place. "All done. The ion disruption is on a feedback coil - it'll send out three waves of burst emissions the moment the systems are bought back online - we're talkin' total HoloNet blackout for at least five hours while they're figuring out what happened." He spun a hydrospanner deftly between his fingers, his free hand stroking his goatee. Sashar eyed a overhead holomontor idly as it's camera lazily panned across the hallway outside his quarters, watching with grim satisfaction as Captain Talos d'Tana reached his doors, turning and running back in the direction from whence he came with all the speed the Force could grant him. So. That's handled, then.

A slow smirk spread across Sashar's face as he surveyed the Krath's handiwork. "Efficient. And the short-range commlink networks?" the Mandalorian demanded. Tyren nodded, whipping a few strands of slick raven hair against his handsome features. "Vorion got my Synergy agents aboard the Last Light one week ago. Disguised as various military personnel, IDs, uniforms, everything - just like the rest of the fleet. They've all reached their designated checkpoints and are stationed throughout the fleet now. The jammer is here on the Abyss. Down in the Deep Storage blocks, camouflaged. Since the security patrols don't go there..." He trailed off, motioning to a remote clipped to his belt, and it was the Consul's turn to nod, his craggy, rugged features motionless. "Perfect. We wait until we're clear and we've got the signal from Malidir. Time to head out."

Tyren tossed the hydrospanner into the toolbag at his feet, retrieving a datapad from a side pouch and scanning it's contents briefly. "Since things seem to be moving as planned...On to the fun parts!" Tyren snickered with impish glee as the two Dark Jedi moved to the opposite end of the workstation, examining a set of maps rotating slowly on the tactical holoprojector. Dots of light glowed at strategic points in the floorplans' layout, and Tyren deftly put on a commlink headset, a rogueish glint in his emerald eyes. The Krath unhooked a second remote from his belt, and inserted a tiny chip-key into the reader slot just above the plunger button. A small green light blinked to life, indicating the device's activity. "Click click boom. Standing by." Sashar studied the cross-section for a moment longer, musing silently.

Tyren collected the scattered components of the toolkit, tugging a black Cyrene silk cloak from the folds of his toolbag and slipping it over his shoulders, pulling the hood up and fastening the round silver clasp securely at his throat. The two Dark Jedi turned and crossed the room, the door whooshing open as they approached. Both men were now garbed in identical cloaks of gold and sable, and Tyren grimaced and tugged at the hood as he glanced over at Sashar. "Yours looks like it has smoother lining. Kriffing tailors. Inconsistent. Wanna trade?"

"No." Sashar murmured patiently.

Tyren snickered, adjusting his eyepatch as he lifted the second remote again, the plunger gleaming in the light. "Shall I do the honors?"

"Gedet'ye," Sashar intoned softly.

Tyren pressed the plunger, and the room was immediately plunged into darkness. For a moment there was only silence, broken by the abrupt and angry twin snap-hiss of two teal lightsaber blades springing to life, casting the facial features of their wielders in grim, sharp relief.

They crossed the threshold without another word.

Eye Of The Abyss II
Engineering Cortex, Level 3
Somewhere In Hutt Space


Talos's boots thudded hard on the corrugated durasteel as he raced forward, propelled by fear, by fury, by indignation. What manner of treachery and deceit?!- The Captain raced through the maze-like corridors, only faintly hearing the buzzing chatter of the crewmen - several had been discussing the impromptu HoloNet system maintenance, others shouting anxiously about the security breach near the Vault. His heart leaped as he felt himself closing on the familiar presence, and his senses sang with anticipation. He skidded to a halt as he rounded the corner, reflexively leveling his crimson saber and calling on the Force to heighten his senses as the Star Destroyer's power flickered and stopped, plunging the entire corridor - and what seemed like the entire thrumming, mighty vessel - into darkness. The dim service lights on the wall glowed fitfully, pulsing green which indicated that the life support was still active.

A familiar, tall form turned to face Talos as he advanced in the semi-darkness, and the Captain squinted at the dark shapes heaped on the floor around his Proconsul. It was just as he had feared - the Guardsmen had fallen. The armored forms were unmoving, and the noise - the chaos and confusion in the surrounding corridors made it impossible hear anything about a shout. "Your Honor? Are you injured?" Talos called loudly, his eyes darting from side to side. The Ubese had his lightsaber ignited, held low by his side. His head was bowed, as if perhaps inspecting the corpses lying around him, and he seemed utterly unperturbed by the Abyss's apparent loss of power. The Priest raised his head slowly, striding steadily towards the Captain.

"No, I am uninjured. Of course, when I communicated that I would rather pay the Consul a visit myself than sit cooped up under your men, they were hesitant to allow me to be on my way. I can't imagine why. I'm certain they had better things to do than to babysit their leaders, didn't they?" Their eyes locked, and Vorion's handsome face was etched with dark lines of mockery and dark mirth. His visceral tone at once betrayed his malice, and there was no longer any question; he had killed his Guardsmen, the cadre around him and the officer guarding his quarters, as well. His curved lightsaber hilt twirled deftly in his palm, the blade buzzing threateningly and snapping up, it's point level with Talos's mid-section. The Priest continued his advance, closing the distance and drawing an ominous Makashi salute in the air before him. His off-hand hung loosely at his side, the dark metal of the Mandalorian crushgaunt gleaming in the dimness.

"So it begins." The Ubese's tone came deadly low from under his hood, and his eyes seemed to swirl, sepia being blotted out by a deep violet color as the pupils seemed to twist and writhe.

Talos

18-01-2009 00:44:55

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Engine Cortex 3
Somewhere in Hutt Space


Captain Talos d'Tana stood stock still in front of his friend...or what he had thought was his friend as the truth came crashing down around him.

"He did it...Vorion killed my men...his sworn protectors" that sentence...that horrible truth comprised of irrefutable logic stuck in his head, even as the dark cloaked form of the Proconsul advanced.

The Captain moved a fraction, taking a small step backwards as the man who he had once respected came ever closer towards him and it was then that Talos looked up and saw that under the sable hood that the Ubese's eyes started to swirl and spin, a bright purple color overtaking the natural color. Steeling himself against this freakish sight, Talos slowly raised his hands and undid the clasps on his helmet, taking it off and dropping it to the ground, where he kicked it out of the way.

"Why?" asked the Knight, the simple question hanging in the silence of the confrontation.

The question seemed to stop Vorion in his advance and he cocked his head towards the Captain and, much to Talos' anger, simply shrugged his shoulders before whispering.

"I am sworn to the shadows" and he laughed, a menacing sounds echoing off the bulkheads of the Shadow Clan's flagship.

As the booming of his laughter grew more menacing and mocking, anger seeped into the Sith Marauder and in a flash of motion, Talos decided to avenge his men...those innocents that they had done nothing but protect. The Human quickly swiped his lightsaber off his belt and in a single motion, he thumbed the blade to life and leaped at the Proconsul, his crimson blade held high.

However, as the Knight expected, his crimson was intercepted by a purple blade as Vorion grinned a horrible smile at the d'Tana, his eyes still swirling and changing, but apparently not blocking his eyesight. The saberscrackled and snapped as they collided again and again, both combatants pressing against each other till finally, Talos manifested his anger in a different way.

Reaching out with the Force, Talos grabbed Vorion and, through the element of surprise, was able to throw him backward, the Proconsul's face etched with surprise as he sailed through the service doors leading to Cortex 3. Sprinting after the fallen man, Talos busted through the doors and saw Vorion, already on his feet, standing on the catwalks below, motioning to him with his buzzing lightsaber.

Taking a deep breath, Talos called upon and Force and jumped down after him, landing on the catwalk and regaining his balance just in time as the Ubese charged after him, his lightsaber sweeping towards his legs. Talos hopped over the pulsing sword and parried another blow from Vorion before launching his own flurry of simple but deadly Shii-Cho attacks. The Proconsul deftly blocked the Captain's blows as did Talos block Vorion's, for the pair had sparred together on numerous occasion. Finally breaking from the engagement, the Dark Knight quickly vaulted over the safety railing, landing with a thump down below.

Vorion quickly followed suite, sliding down the service ladder and resuming the attack...falling right into the Knight's trap. Quickly sweeping his feet around, Talos tripped the Proconsul, but not before the latter had brought his foot up to meet Talos' chest, where he fell to the circular floor with Vorion as the air left his system. Quickly rolling to his feet, Talos was knocked down yet again by his former friend as a black boot connected with his face, but he managed to bring Vorion down with him, where the two descended into a fight of fists as they struggled to get their lightsabers back, which had rolled away during their acrobatics.

As if planning their movement in sync, the two called their weapons back to their hands and the battle resumed, this skirmish ending with Vorion trying a daring maneuver...jumping into the Cortex beam and sliding down it, protected by the Force. The assassin landed perfectly unharmed and smirked at Talos, who was looking down at Vorion, shock seen in all his features.

"Come now, dear Captain. Isn't it your duty to catch the bad guy?" mocked the Proconsul and he stood patiently as Talos sprinted back towards a service ladder and slid down, finally turning towards Vorion and stalking the distance.

However, that was when Vorion decided to show Captain d'Tana what his eyes could really do......

Arcturus Xyler

18-01-2009 07:16:38

BAC Shadow
Cargo Bay

Arcturus eyed Etah suspiciously. He just couldn't make him out. The Archpriest had encountered insane Jedi before, of course, but this one was different. It seemed as if various personalities were meshed and housed in the rippling frame of Etah d'Tana - almost like a legion of sorts. Arcturus made a note to read the medical dossier on him once this business was completed. So strange, he thought. So very strange.
"Well, for now Etah, I must be on my way. We will meet again, no doubt." Arcturus began, his voice low and respectful. Best not to tick him off, or worse, get him riled up anymore than he had.
The Sakiyan took a few steps back and replaced his lightsaber, turning his back on the Archpriest. So very, very strange.

Turbolift 4

The House Summit of Qel-Droma had an illustrious history, going back almost fifteen years. Indeed, the House was well respected and had produced some of the finest warriors the Brotherhood had ever known. His eyes half-closed in thought, Taigikori Aybara and his Aedile, Legorii Kryotek, stood silently as they waited for the turbolift to bring them to Shadow's hangar bay. Legorii quietly fidgeted with his cloak, the Aedile was much more acquainted with battle armour than the formal robes of his office. Looking up from his boots, the doors whisked open to reveal the general hum of the hangar bay. The two Qel-Dromans moved out of the turbolift and paced gently into the middle of the hangar bay. It was reasonably well lit, a line of lights hanging soundly above them, underneath them was the struts that housed the starfighters that Qel-Droma used in battle situations.
With a wolfish grin, Legorii eyed his own ship, the Incizor. He enjoyed piloting it recklessly, giving full speed to it whenever possible. Of course, the Aedile was not one for passionate displays of power. Quite the opposite, he was cold and modulated - much like Taigikori. The two of them, in reality, were quite similar. The Quaestor preferred to use his tact and diplomatic skills to reason out arguments, Legorii used his vast knowledge to quell disputes - in essence, they were of one mind.

Hangar Bay

"Quaestor, Aedile." Arcturus said, greeting them both with a nod.
"Arcturus, good to see you ready." Taigikori began, walking in pace with the Archpriest.
"What do we know so far, Tetrarch?" Legorii asked, always straight to business. It was an admirable trait, one Arcturus lacked as he enjoyed idle chit-chat far more than most Krath.
"Nothing I'm prepared to call 'durasteel' intelligence at this time. Sashar's ordered the HoloNet transceivers to be repaired across the flotilla. We've heard no new reports on the identity of Vorion's attacker. Or indeed, who it was. Nobody's claimed responsibility."
"Do you think anyone will?" the Aedile asked, stroking his chin hair thoughtfully.
"I honestly doubt it. Who'd really want to take credit for a failed attempt? Kant Lavar is onboard the Eye of the Abyss. I'm meeting up with him once I've got a read on the situation there; he's also sensing something out of the ordinary. As I'm sure you both are."
The Quaestor and Aedile nodded in unison, looking at each for a moment. Arcturus could already feel what was coming next. Lowering his voice, Taigikori asked the question that had been on his mind throughout the turbolift journey. In fact, it was on his mind since the news broke about Vorion.
"Is Qel-Droma in danger?"
Arcturus remained silent for a moment, before scratching his forehead and contemplating how best to articulate the current state.
"I can't really say." he began, in a non-commital tone. "If we are, I'd strongly advise that both of you get to safety. Secure yourselves, make sure everyone you care about is safe. Especially your wife, Quaestor. You are both targets."
Legorii walked by the two men, looking out across the hangar bay. He'd been unusually quiet, obviously waiting for something of note to appear. The Anzat stroked his chin hair again, focusing his thoughts into a cohesive pattern. The course of events was troubling. He'd been in scrapes before, of course. This was coming across as a muddling affair, something untoward and unseemly raising it's head within the Clan he pledged his life to.
"We've got to know more. Arcturus, I want you to gather the members of Prophecy available, go to the Eye of the Abyss and find out what's happening. Meet up with Kant to get a better understanding - let him work with you, if possible. Report back to us when you're aware of the full details. We'll begin securing the ship." Taigikori ordered, gesturing around him towards the end.
Legorii handed the Archpriest a datacard with a name etched onto it. Accepting it, Arcturus' lips pursed at it as he pocketed it.
"You're going to need help. In case things get a bit... untoward." Legorii announced, motioning towards someone behind Arcturus.

The Archpriest turned slowly to see a truly hideous sight. It was a Barabel, well over six feet in height with a massive array of scarring over it's exposed chest and body. It's eyes darted manically across the hangar bay. Already, Arcturus could feel the air around the Barabel stinging with anger, indeed, the Force surrounding the Barabel was one of self-loathing. It was as if the Barabel hated the Force. Arcturus walked towards the transport, fishing the datacard out of his pocket to examine it more thoroughly. It, he assumed, contained information on the Barabel. The trip to the Eye Of The Abyss was going to be short, but he could leaf over the main details and gather the rest of the information later. As he twiddled the datacard between his fingers, Arcturus felt a thud against his shoulder. Almost innocently, the Archpriest looked up to see the Barabel staring him dead in the eyes.
"We haven't met." Arcturus offered, quietly yet with an edge of steel.
The Barabel remained motionless, simply staring intently at Arcturus. The two men were almost at eye-level with one another.
"You'll wish you hadn't." it replied.
Arcturus' eyes rolled. A Barabel. He knew Qel-Droma's forces were somewhat dwindled since the Yuuzhan Vong incursion, but to hire this... creature was something entirely different. The Tetrarch was a firm believer in Sentient Rights, but as he recalled correctly, Barabels narrowly fitted the parameters for it. They were more like intelligent animals than people. Scratch that, Arcturus thought, civilised people.
"I suppose you're going to tell me that you hate Jedi. Indiscriminately, I imagine." Arcturus said, his voice haughty and petulant. This sickening monster was starting to agitate him. Some Barabels were so sickeningly typical.
"Jedi. Krath. Anyone who wants a deeper knowledge - I gut them. Like I'm going to gut you." it replied.
Arcturus smirked at the Barabel. "So do you have a name, or should I just call you 'non-Human'?"
"You can call me Zakath. Because I'm going to etch that name into your face when I'm done with you."
The two men eyed each other for a brief series of breaths. The Archpriest hadn't fully regained his battle senses, but he relished the thought of taking on an opponent of such ferocity. And, of course, he'd enjoy carving this thing into various pieces. Wordlessly, the Barabel produced a small, thin blade in his right hand, the steel glinting under the lights of the hangar.
"You see my scars? They aren't from killing Jedi - though I've done enough of that. I do them to myself. I mark myself for pleasure, once I'm done. And to make sure you're next, I'm going to mark myself first." Zakath explained, his voice rasping with glee.

Arcturus said nothing, his face hardened yet expressionless. He did not wince as the Barabel began to carve a line on both sides of his face, the blade turning steel-grey to bright-red with each incision in Zakath's cheek. With a muted sigh, the Barabel, at last, finished his bizarre and grotesque ritual. His face was a pure nightmare, his cheeks smeared and scarred, Zakath's eyes glistening with joy and glee. He actually enjoyed it. The Archpriest wasn't stunned, nor was he horrified. He was studying his opponent. He enjoyed this part of the battle. A quiet, gentle moment to allow his calculating mind to sum up and divide the enemy. A time to mathematically hypothesise the ensuing fight. The stream of thought rendered that now wasn't the time. But, it was soon.
"See these? These are for you. Once this is done, I'm going to be waiting in the tall grass. Especially for you." Zakath said, holding the small blade out, almost as a gift to Arcturus.
"We'll see. But, for now, know that I am going to be watching you. And when you least expect it, I'm going to break that disgusting body of yours. I'll have it sent to Barab I, along with all the others the Yuuzhan Vong were so helpful in destroying." Arcturus replied, iciliy matching Zakath's threat.

The two warriors said nothing, still standing eye to eye.

"After you, Tetrarch. We're both going on the same transport." Zakath continued.

Kant Lavar

18-01-2009 12:39:34

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Security Control Room AA-23
Somewhere in Hutt Space


As the terminal blinked red, rejecting Lavar's commands for the nth time, the human slammed a fist onto the keyboard in frustration. Even when he'd been at his best, Lavar had never been more than a mediocre slicer. He'd known a few simple tricks, but he'd relied heavily on slicing programs loaded onto his datapad - all of which he'd had to turn in when he retired. So now, since his access level was fairly low, and nothing he'd tried would let him access any security logs, Lavar was at his wit's end. All he had were a bare few facts, some (logical, admittedly) guesswork, an old DL-44 heavy blaster, a vibroblade, and a holdout pistol.

Okay, Kant. Now that you know what you have, what's the next step? He still felt that nagging tingle at the base of his spine, but he simply could not place his finger on it. Okay. Holocomm maintenance would temporarily cut the ship off from the outside galaxy, but - as Lavar could prove himself, having talked to Xyler not ten minutes ago via comlink - there were other means of communication. Plus, if he had any sense of the Archpriest at all, at least a few members of Prophecy Phyle were on their way to the Abyss. With any luck, the whole Phyle. And while you're wishing, idiot, a corner of Lavar's mind whispered, why not wish for the whole freaking 501st Legion to be on their heels?

Lavar stood. He was missing something. Something obvious. Lavar stared at the comlink he'd put on the table after talking with Xyler. The Archpriest's voice had been odd - but Lavar had simply chalked that down to distortion artifact...

Lavar frowned and punched in another command, querying the nav database. The Abyss and the Shadow weren't that far apart - otherwise Lavar and Xyler wouldn't have been able to converse without the holocom. Lavar studied the screen, looking for anything that would explain why the transmission had been so distorted. With the Arconan fleet sitting out in the middle of nowhere, the transmission should have been clearer. His search proved fruitless - besides a small nebula a few light-hours from the Abyss, that section of space was as barren as a desert world. Lavar frowned. In that case, where had the jamming -

Lavar's thoughts were chopped off as main power failed and emergency lighting and life support took over. The mundane guards made startled noises, and Lavar felt another piece of the puzzle fall into place. This was bigger than one would-be assassin, that much was obvious. But apparently whatever group of people were responsible had more than one plan in place. And if they felt sure that they could get away with murdering the Proconsul, here in the middle of one of the clan's capital ships...

Something still didn't feel right. Still, Lavar stood, looking for the senior trooper present. The former bounty hunter was the only Dark Jedi present, which effectively made him senior - that much, at least, the Clan had mimiced from the Old Republic's Grand Army, who had appointed their Jedi as officers over the clone troopers. Granted, Lavar's authority was paper-thin, but right now, it was enough. He spotted a sergeant trying to open the weapons locker and stepped over that way. He moved the sergeant aside, drew his vibroblade, and popped open the lock panel. Crossing two wires, the weapons rack slid open. Lavar appropriated a glowrod and additional charge packs for his pistol, as well as a pair of thermal detonators.

"Sergeant," Lavar said as his hands, running on automatic, checked his blaster over, "gather whatever troops and weapons you can and follow me. We're securing the landing bay." Basic counter-boarding tactics - secure the most obvious means of escape, and a location where reinforcements from off-ship can get to you. Granted, if there was help for whomever was responsible for this plot coming aboard, the squad would likely be chewed up - especially if said help was Force-sensitive - but there was little choice. "We hold that place as long as possible. You read me?"

The sergeant nodded. "Loud and clear, sir." Lavar walked over to the exit, opened the hatch, and lead the dozen troops out into the dimly-lit hallway, blasters up and glowrods on.

The sergeant sidled up to Lavar. He'd seen her before the alarms had gone off and the troops armored up, and other under circumstances he'd have enjoyed having the red-haired woman leaning in to whisper in his ear. But right now was not the time nor the place for that. "Sir, meaning no disrespect, but if this is Clan business, and there's saber play involved, what are we going to do?"

Lavar looked at her. "Everyone will just have to try and suppress them. Put enough bolts on target and at least you'll keep them at bay. At best, they'll miss something and go down." Or at least, he hoped it would work like that. The tingle at the back of his neck was stronger than ever. It was the Force, that much Lavar was sure of now, but what that damn feeling meant, and what he should do about it... that was a harder question to answer. Lavar took a breath and decided that he had to take his career into his own hands at this point. And hopefully, if he was wrong, the death he would get would be quick. "On my responsibility, nothing flies off of this ship until I say otherwise." Or until someone gets irritated at me for that and kills me, which is pretty damned likely, he admitted mentally. But something told him that wherever the danger lay, it was on the ship, and keeping it contained on the ship would be vital to neutralizing it.

The sergeant nodded, hesitatingly, and Lavar understood. Still, his instincts (and/or the Force) were telling him he was right about this, and so the Acolyte led the team of ship's security to what would likely soon be a battlefield.

Anonymous

19-01-2009 07:46:13

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Hallways
Somewhere in Hutt Space


As Tyren and Arcona's Consul traveled down the ship toward the launch bays, he felt the confusion and fear in the crew men. What happened? What's going on? Are we under attack?..most of them asked themselves or their comrades.
He constantly scanned for Vorion's presence, he felt it but there was just too much "static" from the others to pinpoint him.
He'll pull through it, he's no regular joe. Tyren though as he smiled.

The intimidating presence that was the Consul stood by his side, silent as the grave.
Mandalorians. I guess "Return with thy shield or on it!" applies in their case. At least they're reliable. Tyren knew who and what Sashar was, all to well at that, he made it a personal matter to know a lot about his clan mates. Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer, as they say.

As they moved through another service door they strolled upon a group of younger dark jedi, mostly protectors or guardians who just gained their saber. One of them noticed the two and asked...

"It's the Consul and master Atema.." he pointed "..whet is going on..." even before the youngling could finish he found a teal saber piercing his chest. Eyes wide in surprise, already half dead he gasped one word "What..." and fell to the ground, motionless.
The other younglings stood in shock as they saw their comrade fall by the hand of their elders*. One by one they felt what every single dark jedi feels when they face a foe, hate, rage, an uncontrollable sensation to rip their foes guts out. As each red saber ignited Tyren gave out a wild grin, feeling the presence inside him, growing ever stronger.
One of the younglings screamed out and leapt at Tyren swinging wildly, Tyren blocked his attack with the teal blade in a swooping move and used his own momentum to propel his elbow in the younglings abdomen. The young man fell to his knees vomiting all over the floor.
"Awww, man. Look what you did, boy." he said cynically and grabbed the young man by the throat raising him from the ground. Their eyes connected as Tyren removed his eyepatch, revealing a fiery orange lizard eye, a legacy from his dead brother. The younglings eyes widened with fear as he felt his close demise.
"Remember this eye as you're dragged down into the black abyss that awaits the weak. Remember and die..:" he spat and crushed the young mans neck with the Force. Another youngling slammed on the metal floor as his comrades escaped, screaming in terror.

"Meh, they don't deserve to be on this ship."
"Hmm. Brutal. Yes that is the word.." Sashar said changing the subject.
"For what?" Tyren asked, confused by the sudden comment.
"For you. The way you dispatched our comrades with no remorse."
"True!" was all he replied. "Let's move one, shall we?"

****
*the word "elders" isnt meant to signify the rank Elder, hence the lower-case letter.

Arcturus Xyler

19-01-2009 13:51:42

BAC Shadow

The LAAT/i Transport Voranyen had already begun it's prepping for inter-ship flight when Arcturus and Zakath. A small team of troopers followed the two Jedi, all of them taking the usual armaments that the Arcona forces were issued with; BlasTech E-11 rifles with optional sound compressors, together with a bandolier containing thermal detonators. This, coupled with their battle armour, meant that the troopers of the Arcona Expeditionary Force were always well-equipped. Arcturus began to clip on a spare breastplate nestled underneath his bucket seat, draping his cloak over his shoulders and readying himself. For what, he thought?

For the moment, there was no apparent danger. His comm-link was on, yet nobody had contacted him. So why did he feel the need to arm himself? He padded his tunic, checking his lightsaber was clipped securely to his belt. It almost as if his battle senses were informing his actions. The Archpriest looked to his left, seeing the Barabel's eyes water over again, his cheeks still fresh from the self-inflicted etching. He rolled his eyes and pulled the straps on the seat over his chest, securing them into place. The other troopers calmly grabbed hold of the nooses hanging overhead, the idle banter ceasing as the engines ignited. He didn't know why, but it felt as if Arcturus was heading into a battle. He'd seen enough of them to know what it felt like. Normally, he would bide the time to the drop by examining his curved lightsaber, reminding himself of the various nuances of Makashi and reciting any objectives in his mind. But this time... this time, it was different. He glanced over at Zakath, who was etching something into his arm.
"You've made your point, Barabel." Arcturus called, ending his comment with a derisive snort.
"No, no, Xyler - these are for the ones that are dying now."
Arcturus paused for a moment. He was right. That was why he felt the need to ready himself. Unclipping the safety straps, he pulsed through the transport to the cockpit and motioned for the co-pilot to leave his seat.
"Dyrdra, you need to get us to the Eye Of The Abyss. Right now." Arcturus said, his voice icily calm.
"We've got to wait, Control hasn't--"
"Get us moving. Now." he replied, cutting her off sharply.
Taken aback by the departure from his easy charm, Dyrdra reached for the communication panel and pinged for Control. Angrily, Arcturus clutched the communicator and pulled it towards him so as to speak.
"Control, this is Arcturus Xyler. I'm issuing Jedi Override - Voranyen is taking launch priority. Inform destination that we'll be docking within the next ten minutes." Arcturus barked.
His voice quivering, "Roger, Voranyen. You have priority. Prepare to launch."

ISD-II Eye Of The Abyss II

Kant Lavar and the group of troopers were edging their way through the bowels of the city-ship. The Bounty Hunter's mind was awash with the emotins emanating from the ship. The armour he was wearing felt comfortable, except for the niggling sensation that it wasn't a correct fit. Trying to push aside the random thoughts, Lavar focused his mind on the task at hand. He'd been in tight situations before, especially the destruction of that starfighter facility and the pilot he'd killed with his bare hands. It seemed like an entire lifetime ago, before the Black Guard and leaving the Corellian system. His circumstances had changed, yet his instincts had not. It would seem--
"For you. The way you dispatched your comrades with no remorse." someone said.
Kant's hand cocked into the air and curled into a fist, the line of troopers behind halting and beginning to crouch down. The Acolyte attempted to stretch out with the Force, trying to feel what was going on. The corridor he was in was near enough to the hangar bays. Some of the corridors criss-crossed, some going underneath and some going overhead. It was a usual enough occurence for one to happen upon a supposed private conversation, and enjoy a moment or two of voyeurism.
"True! Let's move on, shall we?" someone else replied.

Small beads of sweat began to form on Kant's forehead as he held his DL-44 tightly in his hand. His ability to sense movement through the Force was limited, but he knew enough to know they'd left. He'd just realised he wasn't even sure where the voices came from - was it below or above, he thought?
"That's Sashar." the Sergeant said, quietly.
"And Tyren Zin." Kant replied, looking over his shoulder.
The former Bounty Hunter tried to reconcile the two developments. They'd just slaughtered their own. And seemed to take pleasure in it.
"Kant, do you read me?" a voice called, riddled with static. It was Arcturus again.
"Sir, you're not going to believe this. Sashar and Tyren Zin have just--"
"I know. We're on our way. Get to Hangar One. We'll be there in the next couple of minutes. Round up security and have them meet us there, as well."
Kant let out a sigh of relief. His paper-thin authority had just been vindicated.
"Already taken care of."
"Good to hear. See if you can find out who Sashar and Tyren caught. We'll need to get an idea of who's left." Arcturus continued.
"Will do. Lavar out."

LAAT/i Voranyen

The transport began to shudder as it came into landing trajectory for the Imperial-II Class Star Destroyer. Towards the aft, Arcturus could feel the troopers getting ready for action. Half-closing his eyes, he tried to sense what was happening on the Eye Of The Abyss. Much like the communcation situation, Arcturus could feel static. He couldn't articulate anything in particular, but was aware of the recent slaughter of younglings. Concentrating, he set his mind in line with the Force and tried again. Nothing. Moving out of the co-pilot seat, Arcturus moved towards the aft, some of the troopers turning to face the Archpriest. Zakath was gently stroking one of his vibroshivs and licking his lips, his expression something between glee and murderous anger.
"Get ready.." Arcturus called, more to himself.

Talos

19-01-2009 17:31:28

Summit Guard Control: Tactical Command Center DE-X1

Lieutenant Taylor Frye, second in command of the Summit Guard of Arcona, sighed and massaged her temples as she took a short reprieve in the comfy chair of her friend and boss, Captain Talos d'Tana. As she stopped massaging, she remembered the message that he had sent her close to three hours ago.

Tay, it's Talos. I got a summons from Vorion over on the Last Light and I'm headed there now. You're in command of the Guard till I return. See you soon

"Yea...that worked out well" she muttered.

Talos had indeed returned just over an hour ago, but he had made no move to come to SGC (Summit Guard Control) to relive here of command or any such move. Her last reports had him going to Sashar Arconae to make a report. Then...the communications array went down, rendering the Arconan Flotilla like ghosts in space.

Her thoughts were interrupted by another member of the Guard, though this one was a green recruit, Private First Class Jakben Imbel.

"Yes, Private Imbel?" asked Taylor as she looked up.

"Ma'am...err...Guardsman Limmer's body just arrived, with orders from Arconan Armed Forces to write a letter to Tendd's family and also to have Captain d'Tana report into them as soon as karking possible" reported Jakben.

"Thank you, Private. Infor--...wait a second. How did you get into contact with AAF Command? HoloNet is down" said Frye, rising from her chair and walking towards the Private.

"Yes they are, ma'am, but many members of the Guard and some of our Dark Jedi superiors have found that COM-Links still function. They contacted Acolyte Kant Lavar by pure luck when they couldn't reach you via the main lines, and Sergeant Major Gefken sent me to you when he received the news from a Ship Security Messenger " explained Imbel.

"Ah, thank you. You may return to your duty station" she ordered, walking with the Recruit and then parted ways with him as she walked into the Control Meeting room, where the two other highest ranking Guardsmen were gathered; Sergeant Major Gefken and First Sergeant Tauk.

"Gentlemen...as you already know, the communications grid on board all the ships are borked. We are effectivly cut off from the other Detachments. However, PFC Imbel gave me a good idea; we are to establish a linked COM, using our own COM-links as a base. Hopefully, the re-enforced power of the signal will be able to cut out the static and put the Summit Guard back in contact with our other Detachments. Lets get to it!" she ordered, slamming her own COM on the table as she motioned for three waiting technicians to start assembling the device.

As Taylor looked over the shoulder of the lead tecchie, she allowed herself a tight grin as the device started to take shape. However...that was when the power went out.

"WHAT THE KARK!?!?" shouted the Lieutenant, slamming both of her armored fists down on the table.

"Ma'am...powers down throughout the entire ship" said First Sergeant Tauk, relaying the new report he had just recieved from a Guard Sergeant.

"The other ships?" asked Frye, keeping her head down, allowing the cool metal to calm her down.

"Unknown ma'am" said Tauk.

"Alright...I hate to do this since the situation has no clear path, but activate the Option Red!" ordered Taylor.

Operation Red was the override security command hardwired into all Guard's gauntlet-based datapads, with immediate orders to get their respective Summit to a safe area and secure the area.

Tauk looked up in curiosity but then immediatly nodded and pressed the button as he met his superior's hard-as-steel stare.

Within half a minute, the command popped up on the Guards datapads throughout the Flotilla.

BAC Darkest Night

The four Guardsmen standing outside the nursery onboard the Galeres flagship looked down and saw the red blip and immediatly took action, entering the nursery.

"Quaestor...I'm afraid to inform you that something has come up and we need to take you to Secure Location AB5 at once" said the Guard Sergeant as he ushered Xathia and her child out of the nursery and into the middle of a protective huddle.

On the bridge of the First House's flagship, the same was happening with Aedile Tirna Q'jira.

BAC Shadow

As Quaestor Aybara and Aedile Kryotek stood in the hangar bay of the Qel-Droman flagship, the six red armored Guards rode Turbolift 5 down and crossed over to where the Summit were standing.

"Sorry, sirs, but Option Red has come up and you know what that means. Please come with us" said the Guard Leader and, ordering his men to quell the onlookers, quickly walked Taigikori and Legorii out of the hangar and to HQD's secure location.

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II

As Talos and Vorion danced their deadly routine, baskets of red and purple weaving throughout the Engine Cortex, Vorion looked down and saw the red light beep to life on Talos' datapad.

"Ahh...so the Summit Guard has taken action...bravo" mocked the Proconsul, his elegant cloak whipping around him as he struck again and again.

The Captain's only response was a guttural roar and ferocious flurry of Shii-Cho attacks.

"We'll just have to see if they're quick enough..." muttered Vorion as he blocked the attacks.

{{OOC: This post was mainly about the Summit Guard's reaction to this entire plot, and therefore consisted of the actions of NPC characters, and I minimized PC involvement as much as I could, other than that of Vo and myself.}}

Sashar

20-01-2009 18:29:50

Rho d’Tana was at home in the dark. The quintessential Sith, Rho was tasked with orientating the newcomers to the clan, and was also one of the band of brothers in Soulfire Strike Team. His place should have been on the BAC Darkest Night, however urgings from the force had moved him to the Flagship and into the bowels of the city-ship’s storage bays and water tanks. Informally referred to as ‘Deep Storage’ , the guts of the ship were rarely patrolled, not monitored extensively by internal security and had little to offer the inhabitants in the way of comforts. The corridors were cramped and hot with little light at the best of times, and now main power was down, it was black as pitch. The only illumination came from the emergency guides running along the floor. At first, Rho had felt stupid prowling the tight passageways, but then events had been set in motion that had reassured his trust in the force once more. He now sat in a large cargo bay with a myriad of equipment he tentatively identified as a capital-class communications jammer before him. What it was doing in deep storage was a mystery.

There was a ripple. Something had died. Horribly. Rho shuddered slightly, the acute feeling of being inexplicably cold in a very warm room providing a nice reflection of his current climate. Another died, and another. With each passing, he could further triangulate the position of the violence. They were close. It was only then that he noticed who was also at the point of death: Sashar Arconae. His first instinct slid towards the visceral, amoral sith tendencies; if whatever was killing also took out the Consul, then there’d be a massive power vacuum. A chance for advancement. A chance to remake the Shadow clan how he saw fit.

But... That picture felt horribly wrong.

He focused his considerable reserves in the Dark Side, channelling his energy further, picturing only the scene near the Consul. There were eight sentient minds in the immediate vicinity, the number fast depleting. All of them were force sensitive; however only two had the maturity in the force to be credible threats – Sashar himself and another - a krath.

The Krath was embroiled in emotion, fully immersed in the cloying, maddening depths of the Dark Side as he carved a path through the lambs – it was a perfect example of the force used as a tool. Sashar however, he was (as always) different. He viewed the carnage with distaste, he was...splintered in a manner he’d not been since the days of Mejas’s rule. However, there was that ever-present predator, that beautifully efficient bludgeon ready to turn whatever was standing in front of him into submission. Abruptly, the sensation spiked. Sashar had noticed Rho’s attention.

“Uh-oh.”

-=[]=-

“Rho’s by the jammer. We need to sort that out.” Sashar said shortly to his battle partner.

“You want to lead?” Tyren asked, pulling the remote activator for the comlink jammers from his belt and flicking it on, blanketing every single shortrange comlink in the system in a wave of impenetrable static. Communication of any kind other than hard line in-ship would be impossible.

“Yeah. You keep the others out while I deal with Rho.” Sashar answered, his eyes glazing over as he walked, letting his mind fall into the familiar routine of Dar’udesiir – his ultimate attack. He’d need it to batter through Rho’s own attack.

“There’s others?” Tyren’s pulse quickened in anticipation.

“There will be.”

Arcturus Xyler

21-01-2009 05:57:07

ISD-II Eye Of The Abyss II

The typical LAAT/i Transport, according to the Arconan archive system, dictated that it was capable of carrying a total of thirty troopers. Shortly before Arcturus took up the position of Tetrarch, he had leafed over the Order Of Battle and noted the interesting naming in the LAAT/i Transports seconded to BAC Shadow. Of course, it was usual enough that ships were named after former Consuls and clansmen of note. Arcturus remembered Voranyen, albeit they rarely spoke. It wasn't out of any particular feud or spat, quite the opposite, they hardly knew each other. Fitting on the remainder of the battle-armour underneath his seat, the Archpriest steadied his mind and fixed his cloak and robe over the somewhat bulky suit. It gleamed white, in contrast to the black and purple-lined robes of his rank and office. What will cover it when I'm done?, he thought. The troopers ahead of him, four in total, began to loosen their muscles and ready themselves. The noise of the transport spewing out gases and unleashing it's landing struts was almost deafening, Hangar One reverberating all it's cacophony with aplomb. Standing directly behind Arcturus, one of the troopers was fidgeting with their helmet. The dull-grey armour, similar to the Dar'Verd Combat Environment Suit worn by Soulfire Strike Team, was a marvel of military engineering. Arcturus noticed how heavy it felt on his shoulders, until the gel-packs began working. Soon, it felt like a light robe was breezing listfully over his body. It was perfect.

"What's your name, trooper?" Arcturus called, over the echoes of the landing struts scraping the polished floor of Hangar One.
"Gulith Yarnn, sir." he replied.
"This your first mission with Prophecy?"
"Negative, sir - I make this my twelfth sortie. Thirteen, if you count some raid we did a while back under Locke." Yarnn shouted back, his voice carrying just barely over the noise.
"Unlucky for some." the Tetrarch murmured.

The doors on either side of the LAAT/i slide open, the troopers jumping out first, two to each side, before barking out the words, "Clear!", obviously to Arcturus. Zakath leaped out, brandishing what appeared to be some sort of a machete. With astonishing speed, the Barabel cleared right across the hangar, hurling himself over a large congregation of crates before disappearing out of the Tetrarch's sight. It seemed, for now at least, that Arcturus was the lone Jedi. Unclipping his lightsaber, it gave a loud snap-hiss and shimmered to life, the bright yellow blade reflecting off his armour. Hangar One's lighting system was suprisingly muted, most of the lights were off except for the bars of light that seperated the bulkheads from the floor. Just then, one of them pulsed green for a few moments. Life support was active in this area. Arcturus moved forward, the troopers reorganising themselves to cover him ahead, behind and left to right in diamond formation. The Archpriest opened his mind to the Force, allowing the essences of the Dark Side permeate him so as to sharpen his senses and focus his mind. Directly ahead, the blast doors for Hangar One slid open to reveal the Acolyte, Kant Lavar and a squad of security staff, together with what appeared to be a Human male.

"Tetrarch, Acolytes Pordue, Nel'ior'dillis and Palas were killed. One of them managed to survive, however. Arcturus Xyler, this is Marick." Kant announced, gesturing to the Human male.

Yes, Marick... his student. Shortly before he'd managed to secure a couple of hours for sleep, Arcturus was sent a comminque from Rho regarding a new member of Prophecy who'd applied for a Master under the MSP - some Bounty Hunter from Hapes. The details were sketchy, at best. Admittedly, he didn't seem a lot to look at. He was young enough, possibly early twenties, but dashingly handsome. Most men from the Hapes Cluster had that roguish bravado women seemingly couldn't get enough of. Of course, their women were of similar quality, also.

Bowing gravelly, he introduced himself. "Master, an honour to finally meet you in person."
"And you, Marick - now's not the time for formal greetings. Has Kant brought you up to speed?"
"Of course. I am at your disposal." Marick replied, his voice refined and haughty. Of course he was from the Hapes Cluster.
"Sir, I've locked down the Eye Of The Abyss. Main power's been deactivated." Kant reported.

Arcturus winced. This is going to make things interesting, he thought. He needed to plan. Quickly. His eyes darted around the empty hangar, trying to piece together a course of action. Taking in a sharp breath, he began.

"Kant, I want you to stay here and secure the place. Set your team up and use the transport for cover. If it gets... over-complicated, there's a set of proton grenades in it. Blow the hangar up and get out on the transport. We've got to make sure nobody leaves, or for that matter, tries to board. We can't afford for the ship to be taken."
Arcturus' brows furrowed in thought, trying to contemplate his next move. This was going to be difficult.
"Marick, I need you to find out what's happened with main power. Take Gulith Yarnn and one of the other troopers that came with me. Get the power back online as soon as you can."
"What about you?" Kant asked, looking around the hangar bay.
"I'm going to find Sashar." Arcturus replied, simply.
"Where is he?" Marick piped up.
Arcturus took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Deep storage."

ISD-II Eye Of The Abyss II
Corridor EL-863 'Deep Storage / Climate Control Access / Hyperdrive Access'

The Eye Of The Abyss lower regions were littered with dozens of wide-open corridors. This, of course, was to facilitate maintenace of the ship. After all, it was believed some of the finest military and engineering minds in the galaxy that the average Star Destroyer had approximately 174,000 faults ready to be exploited by a motivated boarding party. As such, it paid to keep it in top shape. Arcturus had deactivated his lightsaber, the curved hilt hanging from the utility belt wrapped around his waist, and was pacing slowly towards the entrance to 'Deep Storage'. Already, Arcturus could feel Tyren's presence. He was near. Very near. The Archpriest's mind was jabbed by the conflicting thoughts emanating from the Priest's mind. It seemed there were entities at odd for control of it.

Arcturus relished a good fight. Although he sparred with droids on a daily basis, the former Deputy Combat Master knew that true self-knowledge and indeed, knowledge of the Force, came from battle. Pitting oneself against another of tantamount skill and resources and finding triumph in every attack. Slowly, savouring the moment as best he could, he ignited his lightsaber and formed his body into Makashi. A true believer of the art form, Arcturus was one of the first members of the Brotherhood to champion it's usage in both the Antei Combat Centre and in military operations. He lectured on it's uses and abilities extensively in the Shadow Academy and apprenticed some of the finest warriors in the Brotherhood in it's deadly form. Gliding the lightsaber through the air, as if making a figure-eight, the Archpriest stiffened himself and gently released the grip on his blade to relax his wrist muscles.

"I know you're there, Tyren. Come out and fight me." Arcturus called, his tone neither haughty or arrogant. It was fatherly, coaxing, persuasive, warmly modulated.
"You think you can beat me, do you?" Tyren's voice called out, with a loud 'pfft' towards the end.

Almost instantly thereafter, the Priest appeared from behind a bulkhead, his teal lightsaber glittering beautifully in the low-light of the corridor.

With a broad smile on his face, Arcturus ignited his lightsaber. "We can begin."

ISD-II Eye Of The Abyss II
Hangar One

Kant Lavar had commanded squads of military personnel before, he'd fallen into the role in this situation quite easily. Of course, his mind was racing with a thousand different scenarios.

"Get those proton grenades fitted! Move it, move it!" he shouted, his DL-44 gripped tightly in his hand.

ISD-II Eye Of The Abyss II
Corridor EL-863 'Deep Storage / Climate Control Access / Hyperdrive Access'

"You will find me a most gracious teacher, Tyren. I have schooled many of your brethern in the finer arts of the lightsaber. You should consider yourself most fortuitous that you're being allowed to watch my work." Arcturus began, his body language slithering into the disdainful Dun Moch variant of Makashi. His lightsaber continued to flow easily with his right hand, tracing a figure-eight with it. Tyren's hands moved quickly, snapping into his favoured Soresu. His teal lightsaber spluttered to life, the familar sound of a lightsaber humming now filling the corridor. Arcturus swiftly closed the short distance between them, his bright-yellow lightsaber snapping up high to decapitate the Priest and finish the fight. Of course, his actual intention was to merely scare him into a defensive position with relative to no chance of pressing the offensive.

One of the faults of Soresu was that it was an inherently defensive stance, primarily designed to reflect blaster bolts. While Arcturus used blasters, he rarely - if ever - carried one. Thus, his use of Makashi was perfect for this fight. Moreover, Dun Moch would certainly weaken Tyren's resolve against him. Allowing the comfort of his certain victory swell in his mind, Arcturus followed up with a quick left-right slash at the Priest, Tyren reflexively bouncing the lightsaber against Arcturus'.
"Good, you understand the principles of Form III. Your stance is... acceptable. You're lacking in fortitude. You need to press the attack to beat me." Arcturus chided, his free hand gesturing to Tyren's feet.
"I'm going to cut you u--"
"You'll do nothing of the sort. Soresu is defensive. You press defense, not attack. There are no cuttings in Form III. It's merely--"
The Priest snarled, his lightsaber lifting up and stabbing directly at Arcturus. With a satisified grin, Arcturus parried the blade and caught it with his own. Guiding it with his right hand away from one another, Tyren's body was fully exposed. Taking in the Force, his hand lifted up and opened, driving Tyren hard against the wall. With a dull thud, the Priest bounced off and slid sheepishly to the ground. Arching his eyebrows, Arcturus' lightsaber coalesced into the hilt before he replaced it on his belt.

"Now then, you're going to tell me exactly what I want to know or I'm going to break your neck." Arcturus began, matter-of-factly.

Anonymous

21-01-2009 10:07:41

ISD-II Eye Of The Abyss II
Corridor EL-863 'Deep Storage / Climate Control Access / Hyperdrive Access'


Tyren brushed off the spit around his mouth. The hit left him a breathless, a pain in the back would be a good way to describe his situation.

"Heh." he smirked "My dear Arcturus." he said mockingly as he inhaled. The Archpriest twitched. "I see you know as little about the Atema and their way, as you do about intimidation."
The Archpriest's eyes turned to slits "What are you talking about, mutt?"
"You might as well kill me now, oh great master of the art form, because you can' t imbue fear in me, nor can you torture me till i talk. I'm quite impervious to your methods." the Priest laughed like a madman "After Macron Sadow's treatments, nothing's that bad."

Tyren could feel the Archpriest getting furious.
"So why don't we stop bickering and continue this, our little skirmish? What say you?" the Priest smirked as he stood up straightening his back.

"Enough!" Arcturus barked igniting his yellow saber. He sliced toward Tyren's exposed neck. Unarmed but not beaten, Tyren fell down in a crouch just as the saber cut over his head. He slammed his left foot into Arcturus's exposed knee. A crack could be heard as Arcturus fell to the ground, grabbing his leg in pain. Tyren called both sabers into his hand, ignited then with a dual snap-hiss and placed them over the Archpriest's exposed neck.

"Not all battle is honorable, Archpriest." Tyren said "Your ego and arrogance work against lesser opponents, maybe, but I am your equal, if not in rank and skill with the saber then in resourcefulness. That same ego was your downfall. Lucky for you I don't kill downed opponents." The Priest said as he disappeared into the dark corridors.

"Oh, by the way, Xyler..." Arcturus heard Tyren's voice again as he saw his own saber hilt slide over the floor. "...you might need that. And remember, you can't frighten fear itself."

The Archpriest limped around the corner, his knee already feeling better, but Tyren was long gone.

Dathka

22-01-2009 19:19:35

BAC Darkest Night
Somewhere in hutt space


JS had not been gone long before Dathka started becoming restless. He paced back and forth in his room, about to go mad from staying still while the commander was away. He wanted to do something. “Oh the hell with it, I need to do something, he thought.”
He quickly made his way to the bridge of the ship.

“Have we heard anything from the Abyss?” Dathka asked the ships captain as he walked in the room.
“No, still nothing.” Was the salem response.
“Have any more ships departed from the ship sense the commander left?
“No, his was the last one. And there hasn’t been any launched from the abyss.”
“Well keep me updated,” Dathka said as he left the room.

Dathka left the bridge with one thing on his mind. He had to get to the Abyss. Something was wrong. There was a deep disturbance in the force that he and many others could feel strongly. But with no reports coming back from the Abyss, it was driving him mad not to know what was going on.
He had just about reached the hanger bay when he suddenly came to a stop. He instantly fell to the ground in pain as he grabbed his head with his arms. Just then one of his ships crew members saw him on the ground and ran over to help.

“What happened sir? Are you hurt?” he asked.
Dathka now recovered from the short episode sat there for a few seconds gathering his thoughts before he responded.
“Its fine, I mean I’m fine. Just get out of my way.” Dathka said as he stood up.
But things weren’t fine. He had had a brief premonition of something extremely not right happening on the Abyss. Dathka didn’t have premonitions often (as he was not trained well to induce them) but when he had them, they were unexpected and would briefly stun him making him collapse.
Something was going to happen soon. He had to find his master and find out what was going on.


He quickly made his way to his ship that was sitting in the hanger. In just a couple minutes he was up and off to the Abyss.

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Hanger Bay
Somewhere in hutt space


As soon as Dathka had stepped foot on the Abyss, he could tell things weren’t as they should be. He tried reaching out with the force to sense where his master was but to no use. It was like trying to penetrate a dense fog in which he couldn’t see anything. He wondered through the hallways trying to find someone that could help him. But soon he came across several dead bodies. These men were killed with a lightsaber he thought as he made his way around the bloody mess.
He walked over to a maintenance terminal to try and get some directions to the bridge. But when he tried operating it, he could see that the ships main systems where not functioning and the ship was literally in a dead stand still.
“It’s like the ships being torn apart internally.” He said aloud.
Just then he saw a crewman running his direction.
“What is going on? Why aren’t the ships main systems running properly?” Dathka asked.
But the frightened crewmen didn’t say anything and ran on by.
“Wonder whats got him so scarred?”

Just then he heard someone else coming down the hallway. But as they got closer he saw it was two younglings.

“Hey,” he yelled as he stepped out from the shadow.
“Master what is going on? Asked a frightened voice.
“I don’t know but I am trying to find out. Do you know how to get to the bridge?
“No, but I have a data pad with me. You can find out from it.”
Dathka grabbed it from the little boy.
“What should we do?” Asked one of them.
“Go to your quarters and wait till someone comes for you.”

The two scampered off and Dathka quickly located the directions to the bridge.

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Bridge
Somewhere in hutt space


Dathka walked into the Bridge to see crewmen and officers running about trying to get the ship going again. It was chaos.

“Hey what’s going on around here?” Dathka asked one of the crewmen.
“I don’t know! Things are just going haywire and no one seems to be able to fix anything!”
Just then Dathka heard one of the crewmen talking to the captain about a break in in the vault.
“What break in?” Dathka asked the captain.
“Oh…Someone broke into the ships vault. I’ve sent a security team down there but haven’t heard back from em yet.”
“Can I help?”
“Sure, if you want to venture down there and find out what’s going on? That would be a great help to us.”

Dathka quickly left the bridge heading for the vault. Something told him something was important there. That’s why he had asked the captain if he could help.
As Dathka neared the vault he saw the bodies of the security team and the vault guards. The door to the vault was not damaged at all but simply open. Something was strange about all this.
He slowly crept closer to the door. He could hear two voices inside but couldn’t make them out.

“This is too easy.” Came one of the voices from inside.
“I know, like stealing from a youngling.” Came the other
Suddenly Dathka recognized one of the voices inside. He froze with the cold realization. How can this be? He thought…

…Master





------------------------

Jedi Hunter Dathka Zhar-Khon
Krath Tyro of Blue Mist Battle Team
Seneshcal of the Pride

`CC`

22-01-2009 20:58:15

Having finally found the items that they had been looking for, the pair of cloaked figures were making ready to leave the fault when a familiar presence brushed across Zandro’s force senses and made him grimace slightly.

Dathka, you fool. You should have stayed away.

Reaching out with the Force, Zandro wordlessly expressed his short plan to Strategos who simply grinned and plucked his lightsaber from his belt, Zandro quickly following suit as his saber came to hand, still dormant but ready. He moved forwards towards the vault’s exit and easily sidestepped the lunge from his apprentice, the Hunter’s blade passing wide to his right as Zandro spun around and planted a boot firmly into the middle of Dathka’s back, propelling him forwards. He crashed into the vault and in the brief interlude that separated Zandro’s strike and Dathka getting back to his feet, the two cloaked Jedi had exited the vault, and the door was closing. The trooper leapt at the closing door but was unable to stop it locking into place as he slammed his fist into the door in frustration. Zandro’s voice drifted through the metal towards Dathka and the less experienced Arconan could almost detect a hint of regret in the words.

“You shouldn’t have come here Dathka, but you won’t stop us; I cannot allow it.”

“Master! Master what are you doing?!”

A pause stretched between the two before Zandro’s reply drifted back, softer even than before.

“My duty...”

Dathka swore vehemently as he felt his master and the other cloaked Jedi making their way away from the vault. He whipped out his commlink and quickly set it to the Bridge’s frequency, his voice shaking as anger struck his heart in waves.

“The assailants have left the vault, but I have been trapped. We have to stop them.”

=====-----*-----=====

The message hit the bridge like a proton torpedo, propelling the occupants into frantic action as they attempted to coordinate quickly enough to avert the potential problems the break-in had caused.

“All available personnel, we have enemies making their way from the vault to an undisclosed location. Make with all due haste; they must be stopped at any cost. Also, Security team Alpha Bravo, send a team to the vault to ascertain what has been taken.”

=====-----*-----=====

Shab! They’re onto us.”

“It was that apprentice of yours; you should have slotted him and be done with it.”

“He’s more use to me alive in the long run. They can’t stop us anyway; all they can hope to do is slow us down.”

“Let’s hope that will be enough to succeed then. Oh look, guests.”

Both of them ignited their lightsabers and moved to meet the oncoming enemies, the blades slicing back and forth as they made steady progress, corpses littering the ground behind them as they made their way towards their destination. Zandro took a moment as he was pulling his lightsaber from the torso of an unfortunate Novice to admire the deadly fluidity that his partner exhibited. He was always in motion, his lightsaber a blur as he carved a path through the oncoming bodies.

He’s as clinical as a machine and as nimble as a Twi’lek dancer. By slice, no wonder he is an Elder, and even less wonder still he’s as feared as he is.

“I know I have pretty eyes Sav, but stop staring at me and focus on these gnats.”

“You talk too much. Besides, I’m clearly the more attractive of the pair of us.”

“Sure, all the girls go crazy for scars across your face.”

“They certainly do, now let’s get to the hangar, we are wasting time here.”

The ridiculousness of them debating their relative attractiveness while fighting for their lives was not lost on the Erinos, not at all. He pulled his lightsaber from yet another lifeless body and set into a jog as the immediate vicinity was free of enemies. Time was, as the saying went, of the essence.

Arcturus Xyler

22-01-2009 22:04:16

Arcturus balanced himself against a wall, watching the wiry Priest scurry off. Catching his breath, the Tetrarch gathered his wits and focused himself. There was no logical reason as to what happened. No chance, even in the most dire situation, that Tyren would have gained the upper hand so quickly and forcefully. Nevertheless, it happened. He could not undo it, he concluded. His eyes glazed over as he called upon the Force, gently washing away the throbbing pain from his knee, the cybernetic implant below it whirring slightly as Arcturus craned it back and forth to check it's movement. All better, he thought. Pushing himself off the wall, Arcturus turned on his heel to face the doors for Deep Storage. There was no way of knowing what was going on inside. No doubt that Sashar and Rho were there, probably duelling. Nevertheless, the jammer had to be disabled; that much was clear. Taking a step forward, Arcturus moved towards the door only to find himself hurled back against a bulkhead.

GO AWAY.

Arcturus' head rattled and shook as the words screamed through his mind like a thousand speeders at maximum speed. No doubt that was Sashar's doing. The Consul was renowned for his mental abilities, suprising for a Mandalorian, yet unsuprising for a man of his rank and office. Those of the Clan Summit were always privy to things most Jedi had never even heard of. Balancing himself yet again against the wall, Arcturus gritted his teeth and readied himself to leap forward, past Sashar's telepathic attacks and whatever he would decide to throw at him.
"All available personnel, we have enemies making their way from the vault to an undisclosed location. Make with all due..." The words trailed off into the back of Arcturus' mind as he stretched out to attempt to locate and identify them. The aura was noticeable, yet cloaked. This static... what was the cause of--

Strategos Entar. It couldn't be.

Hangar One

Kant's ears pricked up to hear the announcement. Nestled between two durasteel crates, his DL-44 resting between his two hands, the Bounty Hunter quickly thought through his next action. Admittedly, he was almost half-expecting Arcturus to get in contact with him. Ahead of him, he could see the security team begin to wonder what to do. As it stood, Lavar had superiority as he was a Dark Jedi. Of course, any command from the Consul was hardwired into their minds to be taken as sacrosanct. This, of course, didn't come from Sashar.
"What do we do, sir?" one of them asked, the trooper's rifle still aimed at the blast doors for the hangar.
"Hold your position.." Kant called back, unconvincingly. He wanted to go. But, at the same time, he was ordered to stay put. Plus, there was a fairly good chance the attackers could be heading this way.
"You don't sound too sure, if you'll pardon me, sir." another one replied, looking over his shoulder, rifle facing the door.
Kant glared at the trooper angrily, "You'll do as you're told, trooper. Now hold your position."

Kant Lavar

23-01-2009 13:38:03

Dammit, dammit, dammit. Kant did not under any circumstances want to engage lightsaber armed, Force-sensitive enemies with naught but blasters and a few proton grenades. But, unfortunately, that's the way the breaks were looking to go. Still, Lavar couldn't help wishing he had a couple of yslamiri in the room, just to even the odds a bit.

Lavar reviewed his preparations. He'd opted not to try throwing the proton grenades at the incoming pair of hostile Clan members - as sure as a Hutt was slimy, if he tried that all that would happen would be his own grenades bounced right back at him. Instead, he'd gotten as many comlinks as he could lay his hands on and wired them into each other, giving him quite a number of improvised detpacks. These he had used to set up traps to try and slow the hostiles down at the very least. Quite a number, though, had been linked to a program on Lavar's datapad. When triggered, the charges would detonate in a specific sequence, and each one of those charges was placed so as to damage either a ship in the hangar or something vital to the hangar's operations; tractor beam emitters, atmospheric containment system, ammunition lockers, fuel storage, and the like. If he had been of a mind, it would have been a simple matter to cause an explosion big enough to break the Abyss in half - however, Lavar was certian he would not be thanked for it, given who was aboard and what was happening.

A trio of guards had been pulled off the line and given basic instructions on how to operate the weapons hardpoints of the Voranyan, which was the centerpiece of the whole plan. The larty - as the Low Altitude Attack Transport (infantry) was still called some decades after it's introduction in the Clone Wars - filled the role of the heavy weapons section Lavar would have wanted to have. While the ship's two anti-personnel laser cannons and four composite beam turrets would certianly do the job of severely occupying the two rogue Dark Jedi while Lavar's troopers either caused them more issues, or simply killed them outright. Personally, Lavar figured that the higher-ups (say, the Justicar?) would much rather have live prisioners to... speak to, but if he couldn't take them alive, Lavar had few qualms about burning them down. It had been done to nearly the entire Jedi population with Order 66; while this was harder, it was not impossible.

You hope, whispered a traitorous corner of Lavar's mind.

Stepping on that thought firmly, Lavar let out a breath, looking over the security guards one last time. He'd briefed them on his plans, including his exit plan. He'd told them at the time that he did not plan to sacrifice all their lives to stop the two hostiles (Lavar kept trying to refer to them as such, especially in front of the troops - if a seasoned bounty-hunter-turned-Dark-Jedi was less than sanguine about the situation, what was a private or sergeant without any Force abilities of their own to do?). If it became apparent that the situation was untenable, Lavar would order the withdrawal of the troops aboard the larty, and then send the command through his datapad's built-in comlink to detonate the charges. While it wouldn't damage the ship that much, Lavar figured, stopping these two would be worth a couple dozen fighters and support equipment.

And, co-incidentally, one Obelisk Acolyte.

Anonymous

23-01-2009 16:56:58

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Ventilation system
Somewhere in Hutt space


Got away just in time. Tyren thought A lucky break, that thing with Arcturus. He'd skewer me like a stuffed Twi'Lek on a Hutt's table. he wiped the sweat of his brow.
Damn hot in here. I forgot about that when I disabled this thing. Then again, I never thought I'd end up in one...ever.

He was 2 levels above the hangar bays now, just a short downward trip towards the exit and he'd be outta here. He paused for a few seconds expanding his sense in the Force. He could feel the commotion on the ship, like a swarm of ants in an anthill. A few shined like beacons in the black night. He could feel the strong presence of Sashar above him, moving toward another...Rho. Below him on the hangar level he could sense Zandro and Strategos, slowly advancing toward their objective, the hangar below him. Focusing his mind on the hangar he could see a handful of soldiers, a transport ship and one force sensitive.
Thats's it...Kant Lavar. Off to the hangar then. he thought and moved forward.

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar bay 1
Somewhere in Hutt space


Kant and his men stood by in readiness, facing the door, unbeknownst to what is behind and above them.
Perfect! the Krath thought as he cloaked his aura. He stood on the catwalks above the group. A perfect check mate situation. he could feel Zandro and Strategos nearing the hangar.

"Get ready men, they're close." Kant yelled an order. Tyren could feel the fear in all of them, fighting sabers with blasters isn't very reassuring.

Tyren smirked, jumped down and slowing his fall thumped on top of the transport. He paused for a moment sensing around. The guards outside were too frightened and focused on the blast door to notice him. One of the guards inside the transport moved, turning toward the noise he heard.

Damn! Tyren thought moving slowly and softly toward the opening on the end of the ship. As he grabbed the railing on the edge of the transport and jumped in his saber came alive with a snap-hiss. The man fell with an expression of absolute terror on his face. He had seen death's face and fell down before it.

"What the...?" Kant said in surprise How...how did they get behind us? as the screams of death from the transport ship came to a halt, an eerie silence filled the air.

"Go check it out." Kant ordered one of his men as all of them moved closer to the transport door, neither actually having the strength to go in.

Dull laughter, like venom in the mens hearts could be heard from inside the ship. With a hiss a teal light came out. Tyren's saber flew toward the nearest guard slicing him in half, and the next, and the next. Until the last one fell in a gruesome scene of gore. Only Kant was left, his hand holding a blaster.
The saber disengaged and landed into Tyren's open palm as he walked out of the transport.

"Nice, kid. But not good enough." he said with a smirk. Kant positioned his blaster but Tyren was quicker. Moving with lightning speed he was in front of Kant even before he could pull the trigger. The priest grabbed the youngling by the throat.

"What are you thinking now, i wonder." he asked as he felt the older man's fear turn to anger.
"Will he kill me slow...or slower?" Kant smiled and pulled out a grenade, one of those they had in standard transports like these. Tyren's expression changed to a serious mask.

"I'll blow us both to the abyss along with the transport and half of this hangar." the older man said with a smirk. Tyren looked at his face and then the grenade....and smiled.
"I don't believe you. You don't have the guts."
"Oh really?" Kant said as his thumb went for the activation button. Tyren's fist flew, hitting Kant in the abdomen, leaving him breathless. Kant fell on his knees gasping for air over the pain.
"Old men shouldn't play with firecrackers, you know?" he said and turned toward the door where Strategos and Zandro were.

"Here they come!" he smiled.


***

EDIT: Sorry for mixing Malidir and Zandro :P

Talos

23-01-2009 17:38:43

{{OOC: This appears chronologically after Proconsul Vorion's next post. Due to a slight mix-up, I posted prematurely. Thank you for your understanding. T}}

ISDII: Bridge

Talos d’Tana stalked onto the bridge, and quickly melded with the chaos. He despised being ordered around by the Arconan Armed Forces commanders, but since Vorion was an apparent traitor and the Lord Consul was no where to be found…it left the non-sensitives in direct command of the ship’s actions…mostly because these soldiers had experience and no Dark Jedi could or would be bothered with directing a Star Destroyer.

“What do you need?” asked Talos briskly; he was now dressed in the gray AEF armor, his shoulder re-located and his wounds taken care of with the Force.

“Jedi Hunter Dathka Zhar-Khon has informed us that the thieves have left the Vault” began a AEF Major.

“Is he pursuing them?” asked the d’Tana harshly, raising an eyebrow.

“Umm…no, sir..He’s been trapped in the Vault. We’ve sent technicians to try and break him out. However, he reported that the two thieves left the Vault with word of heading to the Security Hangar. We’re tied up here as is…can you lead Aurek Squad to go and stop them?” pleaded the Major.

“I will…I’ve as much stake in this as you do. Three of my men are dead already” said Talos gravely, quickly rallying his squad and sprinting off the bridge.

ISDII Corridors

The seven men of Aurek; including Talos, sprinted down the corridors, pushing civilians, other Dark Jedi, and crew members out of the way. As they rounded a corner, they quickly entered a turbo-lift and broke the emergency hatch free and slid down the service ladders.

Barging out into the dark corridors where the Security Hangar lay, they assumed breaching positions.

“Sergeant…give the signal” whispered the Captain, his lightsaber dormant but ready.

The Staff Sergeant nodded and then motioned to his two Point Men.

“GO GO GO!!” he yelled, turning to the right and sprinting into the hangar, following his men.

Talos quickly followed the gray armored troopers, his lightsaber buzzing to life. The men quickly cleared the hangar as Talos walked towards the idling Lambda-T4a shuttle.

Pulling the entrance ramp down with the Force, the d’Tana quickly cleared the ship and walked back into the small, private hangar, and over to where the Squad Leader was waiting.

“My men have nothing, sir. The thieves aren’t here” reported the soldier.

“Not yet, Staff Sergeant; My guess is that they’re taking an extremely long way, as AEF command has the ship being searched” mused the Captain.

“Orders, sir?” asked the Squad Leader.

“Stay here, set up your men in a position that the entrance to the hangar is fully covered. They’ll come here, I’m sure of it” ordered the Captain of the Guard and he smiled as the Squad Leader nodded his understanding.

“What will you do, sir?” asked a rather brash Squad member. It was usually bad form to inquire into their Dark Jedi Commander’s ways…since most of it was best left unsaid. However this time, the d’Tana couldn’t help but reply.

“My duty, soldier…my duty”

As Captain d’Tana exited the hangar, he opened himself to the Force, locking onto Zandro’s Force-signature, just a flicker in the maelstrom of chaos that had engulfed the Star Destroyer.

“You’re clear” he said through the Force, then broke the connection and made his way to Summit Guard Control.

Sashar

24-01-2009 12:45:23

There were no pleasantries, no soliloquies, no little pithy sound bites thrown at each other. It was dark. The only light came from teal on red. The dark bronze thread in Sashar’s beautifully crafted cloak shimmered dully in the illumination, moving as if in a haze as he stalked into the storage bay, not even breaking his stride to lean to the side, avoiding Rho’s opening stride. He didn’t bother to parry or riposte; he simply moved out of the way of the Makashi slash and punched his former apprentice squarely in the face.

The force coursed through the Consul. He’d already augmented every physical attribute he was blessed with and followed up with a mental boost that was more a state of mind – Dar’udesiir. He’d already chosen a way for the battle to flow – it wasn’t exactly seeing the future, but it was imposing his indomitable will on the future with such iron clad certainty that there couldn’t be any other fathomable outcome to the exchange. Willpower was literally fuelling the assault, and Sashar had that in spades. He kept close, so close that he could smell the brand of soap the Nagai had used that morning and followed up with a knee planted into the gut. A sidestep missed the spray of vomit that erupted from the mouth and a final slam of the shoto’s pommel onto the back of Rho’s head brought him to the floor.

A further kick to the temple once he hit the ground ensured that the Battlemaster wouldn’t wake up any time soon, but to be on the safe side the Consul pressed a spray hypo produced from his belt against his former apprentices’ neck, and knocked him out completely for the next day. Satisfied, he pocketed the red lightsaber and threw a cursory glance at the jammer. The Consul frowned in consternation as he caught sight of the display, which was only operating at 8% efficiency.

They’ll have still been able to get calls out. No wonder their counter was a little better than we expected. Sashar thought to himself, cranking the jammer back up to full power.

With nothing left for him in deep storage, the Shade Warrior clipped the shoto back to his belt and concentrated on catching up with his battle partner.

-=[]=-

OOC: Kids, a comlink jammer means you can't use comlinks. at all. Anything transmitted without wires will NOT get through the jamming on any frequency - it's a complete blackout, so no handheld in-ship units will work, nor will the ship-to-ship communiques. Also, Kant, that means your explosives won't go off unless you shoot 'em or trail wires around =P

Kant Lavar

24-01-2009 13:12:15

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar Bay One
Somewhere in Hutt space


You know, for someone who did this for as long as I have, I can make some really stupid mistakes. Lavar was doubled over on both knees, trying desperately to suck down air. And while I'm adding to my list of stupid mistakes, why in hell did I not wear hard armor?

Lavar had sucked down enough air to move just a bit, and so he rolled/fell over onto his side. He was still in considerable pain, but that was okay. Pain was a friend, and let Lavar know that he was still alive. Lavar prided himself on being able to think his way out of situations. He tried to calm down, to try and come up with a plan, but then he remembered something. Something that he'd had trouble learning the first time around, and now here he was, playing Amateur Hour and making the same damn rookie mistakes. Dark Jedi didn't try to suppress their emotions. That was the way Jedi did things. Dark Jedi let their emotions guide and fuel their actions.

Lavar reached out, grabbed the pain and the anger and the frustration he felt, and used them. He didn't have the training, technically, for what he wanted to do, but even if he did have said training he'd probably be found out in the midst of a covert attempt of his plan and the three rogue Dark Jedi in the hangar now would simply kill him. Hell, they were probably going to kill him anyway, before they left, and the only question was how. So, Lavar reasoned, if I'm going to die, I'm going to die swinging. His blaster wasn't far away, but with Atema so close, he'd be cut down before his hand closed around the grip. And that left Lavar only with the Force. And if Lavar couldn't stop them, well, he wasn't above calling in the cavalry.

Lavar reached out to the Dark Side, and pulled in as much energy as he could at once. It wouldn't compare with what the others in this room could do, or even with what Lavar himself had commanded years ago, but with a little luck, it would be enough. Lavar sent out that energy in a burst - not of physical force or energies, but instead like an omnidirectional distress beacon. Lavar couldn't send any sort of detail in the burst, but he could and did send a single word - one simple concept embedded in the energy.

HERE.

The effort of sending that one thought left Lavar exhausted, and the pain - both from the hit to the stomach and the feedback from the mental exertion- rolled over him. Lavar collapsed to the deck, semi-concious, and waited for rescue or death to claim him. As he lay there, one fuzzy thought tracked slowly accross his brain. Next time I face off against a Dark Jedi using nothing but a blaster and grenade, I have to remember to use a damn deadman switch.

OOC: Well, Sashar, the explosives are kinda out of the equation anyway, but your point is taken regardless. Time for Plan B. "B" as in "I'm pulling this out of my butt now." And I suppose I might as well be honest and admit that my little trap worked about as well as I expected. Namely, not at all. (Tyler, Zandros, Strat, to paraphrase a famous philosopher, "Don't saber me, bro!" :-P )

Anonymous

24-01-2009 15:54:07

Just a comment if I may: Everyone please check the wiki before writing my characters name...it's not Tyren Zin or Zin, it's Tyren ATEMA. This account was created a long time ago and it has my characters old name. Thx.

Van Trayus

24-01-2009 21:18:27

BAC Darkest Night

Aiorus get to the hangar of the arconan ship piloting his x-Stealth fighter that was decorated with a logo of a black dragon across the breadth of the ship, something bothered the young Van Trayus, the shadow of the dark side was cloudy everything in its path , Aiorus felt in the force that something was not right, something was moving in the dark, but it was not clear what was happening.

After land his aircraft, Aiorus walked slowly to meet his mistress, on the way he saw several of his colleagues with their faces tense, fear was in the air, the Jedi Hunter previously had felt concern for Xathia`s fealings about what could happen to her daughter, so the Jedi Hunter was ready to repel any threat to his mistress and her daughter, although he knew that the risk could be lethal if the Xathia`s worst fears are realized .

After meeting briefly with Dathka to report what he had come late to the reunion of the Blue Mist squad and find out the orders of the commander, Aiorus went meet with Xathia Van Trayus was almost eager to meet with his mistress, something was not fine and he had to be sure to get close to her mistress for every situation.

Upon arrival at the chambers of his mistress to report Aiorus met Bryna she told him what had happened so far with Xathia and her daughter, Aiorus chose not to disturb the mother and her daughter, he decided to stay there just in case if some not expected guest decided to appear and take Alyssa.

Rho

24-01-2009 23:06:35

Sashar had once again underestimated Rho's abilities in the Dark Side. Yes, Sashar had come in like a storm and nearly destroyed the Battlemaster, but he didn't. As Rho lay there on the floor of the bowels of the ship in the pitch-blackness, he struggled to stay conscious. He did all he could to call on the Darkness of the Force to keep himself awake and to detoxify from the injection he had received from his former Master.

He couldn't move.

He could barely breath.

All his concentration went to his detoxification and consciousness.

'Why... why, Sashar...' Rho thought fleetingly. 'Looks like the Dark Side has overtaken you after all my... "Master".'

This treachery towards the Clan could only be possible and delivered by someone who had been consumed by Darkness. At least that's what Rho's thoughts were telling him. In that situation, he could have killed Rho, but he didn't.

Why did Sashar keep Rho alive?

Was it because he was a former apprentice?

A fellow comrade in Soulfire?

Was it because Sashar may have had an inkling of a thought that Rho may be worthy of joining forces with whoever this band of traitors were?

'NEVER!' Rho made sure this thought resonated in the Force so if there was anyone still close enough to sense him, they would.

Rho's limbs were starting to regain feeling and he was starting to be able to wiggle his fingers and toes ever-so-slightly. His detox abilities were just new to him so this was going to take a while. His head pounded with pain from the blow to the temple he received from Sashar's boot. That alone should have killed him...

Rho had only just come back from an extended leave, trying to resume a normal clan life and trying to resume some semblance of a contribution to the furtherance of Arcona as Rollmaster; only to return to this chaos and madness. At this particular moment, he wished he was still cruising the Galaxy in his newly acquired Luxury Yacht.

Then Rho fell into a trance as his concentration on detoxifying deepened; his anger only getting stronger; his hunger for revenge only fueling his power.

An hour later

Rho's eyes opened into the darkness of deep storage. His body was still tingling but he was finally able to move again... possibly even get up. He started to maneuver his body to a position to try and stand up and as he attempted this both his knees gave out and he landed flat on his face. Only anger rose up inside him and the Force grew stronger within his being. With that, most of the affects of the injection were gone and he was able to stand normally. He was still a little wobbly, but this would have to do.

He reached down to grab his lightsaber, Bloodlust, but it was nowhere to be found. "NO!" Rho exclaimed in passionate rage. His saber was engraved with his family crest and he had been through many battles with this saber and he wasn't going to lose it that easily.

"Sashar... I will make you pay for this. One way or another, I will make you pay!" Rho whispered through his teeth.

Almost frothing at the mouth, Rho remembered the communications jammer he saw before this whole thing took place. 'It must have had something to do with that thing.' Rho thought. And with a swift, but wobbly turn he walked as quickly as he could towards the jammer and he saw that it was running back up at 100%.

"I'm sure they weren't counting on this!" Rho said as he grinned evilly and completely shut down the communications jammer.

Then his senses immediately reached out for someone familiar, but at the same time being careful not to reveal his presence to anyone who might be able to stop him. Then almost right away he sensed Talos' presence in the Force. His brother surely would be a safe bet, so he started running swiftly through the dark corridors up towards Summit Guard control which is right by the bridge on the ISDII.

Dathka

25-01-2009 03:33:34

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Vault
Somewhere in hutt space


“What the hell is taking these idiots so long to get me out of here?” Dathka thought as he sat there waiting for the vault to be opened. What had just happened? Why did he master turn on him? What were they doing in the vault? Questions filled Dathka’s mind as he sat there in solitude. Soon as answers could not be found and the facts became clearer, a slow but steady fire began to grow inside of him. Anger started to fill his mind. Before he knew it, he had given in to his emotions, and hate flowed through him like a river at its peek.

Just then, the door to the vault opened and Dathka walked out into the hall.

“What the hell took so long to get me out?” Dathka asked in a rage.
“Sorry sir, but someone changed the passcode to the door and we had to get some technicians down here to override it.”
“What has been done to track down the thieves?” Dathka asked.
“Commander Talos and Aurek squad have been dispatch to catch the thieves.”

Dathka briskly walked past the crewmembers ignoring anything more they had to say. He needed to find Talos. He was going to need help if he was going to be able to catch Zandro and the other unidentified thief.
Talos and his men have no idea who their dealing with, he thought as he made his way though the hall.

Now feeding off his rage and emotion, Dathka reached out with the force to sense the presence of Talos. Though his power of sense was not fully developed, He was able to draw enough power to locate the d’Tana through the shroud of Darkness that enveloped the ship. He quickly made his way up through the ship to Summit Guard Control room.

Talos

25-01-2009 13:46:18

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Summit Guard Control
Somewhere in Hutt Space

Talos d'Tana stood in the small refresher that was in Summit Guard control, splashing water on his face. He had just emerged from a 5-minute sanisteam, to clear away all the sweat, engine fluids, and blood that had spattered his body after his intense duel with what he thought had been his friend.

10 Minutes Later: Captain d'Tana's Office

The single sliding door to Talos' office in Summit Guard Control whooshed open and Corporal Lyrue, girlfriend of late Corporal Unic, snapped to attention.

"Sir! You have a visitor" she said, then backed out as the tall and slim figure of a Nagai Sith Battlemaster stooped through the doorway.

Upon seeing his Master, Talos quickly rose from his chair and bowed in reverence of the figure who had seen him Knighted.

"What can I do for you, my Master?" asked the Captain.

"I have just returned from Deep Storage" croaked Rho Ozrei d'Tana.


"Why in the Seven Wonders were you down there?" inquired Talos, slowly turning to the side.

"The Force summoned me there...what I found was much worse" continued the Equite, walking over and sitting himself down in one of the chairs facing Talos' desk.

The younger d'Tana quickly suppressed a grimace and returned to his chair, facing his Master.

"What did you find...?" started Talos.

"A Communications Jammer...military-grade....and Sashar. He was there, dressed in a beautiful cloak of sable and bronze. He made no move to stop it though...instead he activated that pesky little shoto of his and taunted me till I charged him with Bloodlust" explained Rho, the Nagi reliving the horrible duel between himself and his former Master.

Talos listened in rapt silence, an expression of rage and horror shown on his face, but inside, his thoughts were swirling. Finally, the Human returned to his Master's tale.

"And finally...he took Bloodlust! My lightsaber! Emblazoned with the crest of our Family!" raged Rho, standing up and showing his brother the empty lightsaber hook.

"However...I did manage to shut down the Jammer...after I woke up and healed myself" said the d'Tana, on a positive note.

"Stang! That was not in the plan...surely Sashar knows this already though. Keep it cool, Tal" thought the Captain, his features betraying nothing.

That made up Talos' mind and he sprung from his chair and stalked out of his office, Rho hot on his heels.

"Talos, what are you going to do?" asked the Master, catching up with his apprentice.

"Going to get your lightsaber back..." muttered the d'Tana as he turned into the armory and quickly opened up a steel case for Rho to view.

"All my old lightsabers. Choose one, as I'm not having the Rollmaster try and stop traitors without a saber...or without me..." instructed the Captain, a wolfish grin on his face.

As Rho poured over the four sabers laying in the mesh case, Talos walked over and grabbed his Knight robes from a hook and quickly chose a vibro-shiv and a Vulcan C-21 blaster pistol from the wall rack behind Rho and slid the shiv into his left boot and the pistol in a secure shoulder holster, finishing up with throwing a red and black tunic over his head.

"Aha! I'll take this one" announced Rho, holding up the hilt to Talos' former Sith Marauder lightsaber.

"So be it. Let's go" said the Captain, ushering Rho from the armory and out of Summit Guard control.

ISDII Bridge

"Major! Give me a scan on all hangar activity, ranging from the Security Hangar, to the VIP Hangar" ordered Rho, the Rollmaster stalking onto the bridge of the flagship, the unfamiliar lightsaber swinging from his waist.

"Ye--yes, sir!" replied the Communications Major, fear dripping from his voice as the angry Nagi loomed over him.

Five minutes later, the diagnostic was done, a long time for such a state-of-the-art computer, but since they were running on back-up power, there was no choice.

"Rollmaster...Hangar 2-5 report empty, no one has landed or taken off since Qel-Droma 1 departed at 2200 hours yesterday in Hangar 3, with Galeres 1 doing the same from Hangar 2.

"Ok...what about the rest?" inquired the Battlemaster.

"Lower-Hangars are dormant...haven't been used for close to a week and Security Hangar is still under lock-down with Aurek Squad that Captain d'Tana led there a short while ago. Uh-oh!" continued the Major, coming to an abrupt stop.

"What is it!" commanded Rho, clenching his fist and sending the Major into the air, held there by Force grip.

"Ack! Hangar 1 is...not showing up on---Ack! scanners" reported the Major.

"Let him go, Rho...let him go" soothed Talos, putting a hand on his master's arm, and then snapped to a passing Lance Corporal.

"Lance Corporal!" said Talos as he heard the thump and gurgles of the Major fall to the floor.

"Yes, Captain?" asked the LCP, his gaze rooted to the barely breathing Major.

"Get me a voice-report with the Squad Leader that is in Hangar 1!"

"Yes, sir!" replied the enlistee and he sprinted over to his duty station and began rallying to the Squad Leader.

"Sir...there's nothing coming from the Squad Leader, or any reports from the Gamma Squad frequency" said the Lance Corporal, turning to the two fuming Sith.

"That means---" started Rho, then trailed off as a Force-Shout...a weak one, but one that was heard none-the-less, echoed through the minds of Rho and Talos d'Tana.

"HERE"

"What in the name of kark...WAS THAT?!" asked Talos as he lowered his hands from his ears.

"A Force-Shout, apprentice. Used in times of trouble...been around since Darth Bane's era" explained Rho, the Nagi oepning up to the Force.

"Did some studying while you were away, Master?" quipped Talos.

"Something like that...AHA! Got it! The Shout originated from Hangar 1" announced Rho.

"Sirs! Do you require back-up?" asked the Lance Corporal.

"No, Corporal. Thanks for your help" said Talos as the two Dark Jedi's lightsaber appeared in their hands and crimson beams of light snap-hissed into existence.

"We'll handle it" finished Rho and the Master and Apprentice grinned then, in the blink of an eye, were gone as their Force-enhanced speed sent them flying from the Bridge.

ISDII Corridors

Jedi Hunter Dathka Zhar-Khon was still mad at being locked in the Vault as he walked towards Summit Guard Control...then stopped as a speeding form bumped into him and he was thrown back.

"Dathka? What are you doing here?" asked Talos, the Dark Knight standing where Dathka had been moments before, his lightsaber pulsing in one hand, his other outstretched towards his friend.

"I came on behalf of JS...then was locked in the Vault by--"

"Traitors" spat Rho, who had also stopped.

"Yes, Rollmaster...but not just any traitor...it was Zandro...MY MASTER!!" exclaimed the Krath Hunter.

"My Sergeant..." whispered Rho.

"Where are you two off going?" inquired Dathka.

"To Hangar 1...we have no reports from there and we just got a Force-Scream originating from there. We think the traitors may be trying to escape" informed the Captain.

"Take me with you!" pleaded Dathka, springing up and showing his Armory Saber that was gripped tightly in his hand.

"Fine! Only if you can keep up" agreed Rho, speaking for his apprentice.

In another second, the two Sith were gone, their Force-Speeds propelling them down the corridors, the occasional refugee falling as the Sith brushed them. The Jedi Hunter was only a second behind the pair.....

As Talos sped through the corridors, he opened himself up to the Force-signature of Tyren Atema, as he had done with Zandro earlier.

"We're coming" said Talos through the Force, then closed down in the Force once again as the trio loomed ever closer to Hangar 1....

OOC: Ok, I included Rho and Dathka who were both heading for me and then a bit of a response to Kant's Force-Shout. Hope that's ok with everyone. =)

Anonymous

25-01-2009 15:58:57

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar Bay One
Somewhere in Hutt space


Tyren looked back at Kant. "bad move, old man." he said as he moved toward the Acolyte. Lavar put his hands up to block the oncoming hit but it never came, instead Tyren moved behind him with lightning speed only he could muster and hit the Obelisk with his >elbow. Augmented by the Force, the hit sent the Acolyte flying. Kant landed flat on his face, blood seeping from his nose. Tyren stretched his neck and called Kant's blaster to his hand. With needle-like precision he hit the panels on both personnel doors in the hangar, rendering them inoperable.

"That should keep you still." the Priest grunted as he walked into the shuttle.
The ship was scared and scorched from blaster fire and saber marks. One of the blaster bolts hit the main control panel on the ships engines.
"Damn! What now?!" he said as he heard a noise originating from the front quarter. As Tyren inspected the noise he saw a loose panel on the side of the bulkhead. He hit the panel with his foot and it fell down revealing a younger man, by the looks of him an engineer.

"Get out! You're gonna help me kid." he ordered and the younger man moved out.
"Alright, just don't hurt me." he replied in a terrified voice.
"How long will it take you to fix this?" Tyren asked gesturing at the panel.
"I don't know...15-20 minutes."
"You have 10."
"But..."
"YOU HAVE TEN!" he yelled at the frightened engineer as he got to work. Tyren stepped out of the ship and saw Kant was standing up, slowly. He pulled out his long range comm link. Activating it he saw it worked. Not very surprising, he'd expect the Arconan's to figure it out. Perfect.
"Alpha-Six-Five-Gamma. All teams report in."
"A65G, this is Team red. The Light is rigged. Charges on the core and bridge active."
"This is team blue. The Abyss is set up."
"Team green reporting. Darkest Night is ready for orders."
"Yellow here. Creeping Darkness is set for the show, sir."
"Brown reporting. The Shadow is ready to rumble."
"Good work. if I don't inform every half hour blow 'em." he said turning of the comm. He smiled, satisfied with the situation.

Arcturus Xyler

26-01-2009 20:54:59

The first rule of discretionary warfare is to use the least obvious mode of transport to your objective, or the least obvious route. Arcturus, for his part, was adhering to both. The service elevators in the Eye Of The Abyss were plentiful and, not only that, weren't monitored by the bridge. The only place the elevators could be monitored from was the bridge. And usually, the elevators should as devoid of life - purely because droids normally were the only ones who used them. Bunching himself tightly in, the Archpriest shut the panel with a click and wired the elevator to life, sending it on a course for Hangar One. Essentially, Arcturus wanted to get as near as possible to the action without drawing attention to himself. He needed the elevator ride to plan and think. Tyren Atema had escaped his grasp, and if his intuition was correct, he was heading the same place as he was. Before Arcturus had discovered the service elevator, he'd felt Lavar's Force Scream. Which, of course, was the reason he was going full pace to his location.

With a faint whirr, the service elevator drew itself to a gentle stop before clicking the panel open. Pushing his arms out first, Arcturus quickly bounded out, pushing the engineering panel away from himself as he did. Just then, his battle senses pricked up. That was it... coming here. Near. Yes, very near. For a man of his size and age, the Tetrarch was in impressive shape. Aside from the fact that he abused stimulants and spice in his earlier career in the Brotherhood, Arcturus was a fitness enthusiast and enjoyed daily exercise in hand-to-hand and the lightsaber. Turning quickly, he rushed towards a corner of the corridor and compressed himself tightly into it. His quarry was nearing, he could feel the presence of the three becoming more lucid and tangible. They'd noticed him. Closing his eyes tightly, Arcturus' attempted to push away their awareness and blanket himself at the same time. Impossible. Their minds were collectively too alert. He could, however, try something a little different, he thought. Unclipping his lightsaber, Arcturus focused his mind on blanketing himself completely, flattening his presence to a miniscule amount. Just enough to whet their appetite.

Corridor IC-114 'Hangar One'

"Do you feel that?" Rho asked, his legs coming in to a more human pace, Talos and Dathka following suit.
Talos said nothing for a moment, before half-closing his eyes in concentration. "Yes... it's someone good. They're blanketing themselves."
"Is that possible?" Dathka asked.
With a slight chuckle, Rho answered. "Of course it is. Anything is possible."
Talos cupped his lightsaber in his hand, readying himself for one of Tyren's little traps. The Rollmaster, Rho d'Tana, did likewise, steeling his mind in preparation for what lay ahead. The trio rounded the corner, the last corridor to Hangar One. Looking both at one another, Talos and Rho attempted to get a fine-tune on what it was they'd noticed earlier. It wasn't the Priest. No, this was something else. Tyren's mind was too erratic for this. This felt cold. Calculated, machine-like in it's detachment and utterly emotionless. It had to be somebody from Qel-Droma, Talos considered. Quickly running through a list of Qel-Droman members in his mind, the Arcona Expeditionary Force had made a list shortly before the Vong Incursion of members that Talos should be aware of in times of "duress". If he wasn't so busy, he'd laugh at the irony. When he was handed the list, the d'Tana felt sure he'd never even have to look at it.
"It's near here.." Rho announced, his voice slightly higher than a whisper.
With a loud snap-hiss, the Rollmaster quickly put his blade into the engineering panel. Empty. Talos moved forward, his eyes focusing into the dimly-lit service elevator. Indeed, it was empty. The elevators were small enough to begin with, it'd take someone with pretty good flexibility, not to mention the ability to hard-wire one of them to work. After all, it usually took the average R2 unit a few minutes to get it together. He could only imagine what--

"Hello, Talos." someone growled.
Whirling on his heel, his lightsaber shot to life, glittering wildly before him. Ahead of him, he saw the Jedi Hunter Dathka standing rigid, his arms spread out from his body. And behind him, he saw Arcturus Xyler - pushing the emitter of his lightsaber into Dathka's neck.
"Arcturus." Talos bit back, barely able to control the anger in his voice. He'd let this... Krath get the better of him. For now, he thought reassuringly.
The Archpriest's eyes traced across to Rho d'Tana. "Rollmaster. We've never met. My name is Arcturus Xyler, I'm the Tetrarch of Prophecy Phyle."
"We don't have time for this!" Rho barked, his lightsaber snapping into action.
Arcturus' lightsaber pulled away from Dathka's neck, the Archpriest hurling the Jedi Hunter away from him as his own shot to life. The Tetrarch surged forward, caught the lightsaber with his own and threw his fist into Rho's face. The Rollmaster fell back, losing his footing for a moment.
"This isn't going to solve anything." Talos began. "Both of you, put away your lightsabers."
Arcturus' lightsaber hummed and shimmered, the crackling of their blades meeting had died away instantly. The three men held one another's gaze, trying to determine the next move.
"Arcturus, what are you doing... Rho's not a traitor." Dathka called, picking himself up slowly.
"As far as I'm concerned, everyone's a traitor until I hear or see different. Now, all of you - against the wall." the Archpriest snapped.
The Rollmaster smiled thinly and raised himself up to his full height. "I will do no such thing, Tetrarch.." he answered, gravelly.
"You're outnumbered." Talos continued, following Rho's sentiment.
"That's never stopped me before. Especially when dealing with treason." Arcturus icily replied.
"We're wasting time, Tyren's in there!" Dathka shouted, pointing to the blast doors.
Arcturus glanced slowly at the door, before turning his head back to focus directly on Talos.
"When this is over, Talos... you and me are going to have a long talk."

Slowly, the four Jedi began pacing towards Hangar One.

Marick

27-01-2009 12:23:54

ISD "Eye Of The Abys II"

Marick didn't move right away, almost as if trying to take in everything that was happening around him. He had been bounced from house to house, but it appeared he had finally found his home in Qel-Dorma, and was pleased to finally be assigned to a battle team. The other members of the Prophecy team saluted as their leader Archpriest Arcturus Xyler dismissed himself to attend to his mission. Marick held his salute, studying his new Master's every movement. It was easy to see Arcturus was a veteran of war who had seen much in his lifetime. Although the Archpriest was of the Krath Order--Marick himself an Obelisk--he couldn't think of anyone else he'd met so far that he'd want to study under. After all, the Hapan noble seemed out of place amongst the other members of his order. Nonetheless, he stood by his decision to follow the path of a warrior, and figured it would aid him in his dream of becoming the greatest duelist to ever set foot amongst the brotherhood.

Marick let his hand fall to his side as he replayed his Masters orders over in his head.

Marick, I need you to find out what's happened with main power. Take Gulith Yarnn and one of the other troopers that came with me. Get the power back online as soon as you can.

Maricks robes where clean pressed, a light, custom fit leather chest-piece resting over his shoulders. He wore a blast dampening shirt underneath as well. On his wrists where a pair of leather bracers, one of which he had modified with a spring-loaded vibroknife. At his belt hung a gift from his bother before departing for the brotherhood, a beautifully crafted rapier forged from the extremely rare and energy-resistant metal known as Phrik. The curved hand guard was silver etched with gold to match the glistening blade. He had just had it sharpened and buffed in the armory the night before.

His posture was straight and ramrod, chin inclined upwards slightly, youthful yet calm eyes set even under a few random strands of hair deviating from his thin and dark shoulder-length locks. An aristocrat through and through, he carried an air of arrogance that betrayed his true self. Turning on his heel to face his fellow Battle Team members, he extended one hand and pointed at Gilith Yarnn.

"Yarnn, you heard the orders, let's see if we can get that power back up and running."

The burly commando nodded his head, unconsciously running his fingers the menacing looking Blast Cannon holstered at his hip. He was also equipped with, from what Marick could discern, assorted grenades, a combat knife, and some form of Rifle slung over his shoulder. The Hapan really hoped he could stay on the commando's good side. Pausing, he realized he'd need someone with knowledge of power grids and electronics if there was hopes of getting the power back and running. Looking over the other troopers he instantly spotted a lanky Verpine.

"You, Verpine." Marick called out, instantly regretting his tone as he heard the words leave his mouth. He cringed slightly as the Verpine stepped forward his head inclined.

"Sorry, brother. What is your name." The aristocrat calming his tone.

"Fxz'et." He replied curtly.

Marick bowed his head politely in greeting, to which the Verpine simply nodded.

"I take it you're familiar with power grids?"

The Verpine seemed to smile, his bug-like eyes blinking twice. "You could say that."

Marick smiled and patted Fxz'et on the back and motioned with two fingers for Yarnn to fall in with him. The trio of Prophecy Battle Team members made their way out of the hangar and to a lift that would take them one step closer to the main power grid. It wasn't a flashy mission, but he was going to prove to his Master that he was highly capable of leading his team efficiently to achieve their mission.

Anonymous

27-01-2009 17:28:48

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar Bay One
Somewhere in Hutt space


Tyren could sense the four men outside the locked door. The Priest scratched his goatee with gloved hands.
Hmmm. Arcturus and Rho are my main concern, might as well get rid of Dathka right away. Talos however...I can't hold them both, but if Talos distracts one of them for long enough... he thought as it came to him ...that's it. he snapped his fingers.

A dulled laughter came from Kant's direction. He sat next to the transport, back to the bulkhead.
"You seem nervous, Priest." he smirked. Tyren didn't even turn to face the older human.
"You should move." he replied calmly "That thing's about to get hot." he smirked as Kant moved away, a bit startled.

***

The hangar doors opened with a hiss as the four Jedi rushed in, sabers in hand, surprised to see the Priest was...gone. only Kant was present, laying still next to the wall, hands and mouth tied, mumbling something.
Arcturus looked around. he could feel Tyren in there but he wasn't sure where.
"Come out, coward. I owe you a deal of hurt." the Archpriest yelled. Talos knelled next to Kant and removed the cloth from his mouth.
"TRAP!!!" Kant yelled. Not far away from the hangar doors a small explosion shook the hangar sending the five men flying in the opposite direction. When they rose Tyren was already on them. A Force hit sent Dathka and Talos flying against the wall. Dathka hit the wall with force and slumped on the floor, dizzy and disoriented. Talos stood on his feet grabbing his kidneys.

Arcturus slashed at the Priest, but the Krath was already out of range.
"Damn your trickery, Krath." he spat.
"I live for it." Tyren replied with a smirk, brushing his nose. Sudeenly a teal blade materialized behind the Krath as he stood in a low posture, totally open to attacks. A confusing move for such a well trained saberist. Rho emerged behind the Archpriest, saber in hand. Tyren's gaze fell to the unknown saber.
"Bloodlust! Where is it?" he asked.
"Taken by you're traitorous dog leader, Sashar."
Tyren chuckled "Interesting how ignorant you are for a Sith." he said taking special care to make that last word as insulting as he could. Rho pressed his jaw as his hatred for the Krath grew ever more.
"So? Will you attack or do i grow old?" the Priest smirked. Rho attacked first not being able to resist the challenge. Tyren dodged his first powerful hit, one that would cut him in half, and raised his saber behind his back just in time to deflect Arcturus's blade on his back.
Fun. But they'll cut me in seconds if I don't move faster. the Atema thought as he dodged and other slash from the red blade. He evaded each hit for a hairs length, always moving back toward the transport. He couldn't win this, not by a long shot, not by saber that is. But he had other plans.
As he hit the hit the cold steel of the transports hull he raised his cloak, half burned and cut.
"This was new before you guys came along." he said.
"Cornered, traitor."
"Traitor? Not at all. Opportunist? Most definitely." he replied with a wide grin. Moving fast he fell on his belly and pushed himself below the ships hull right in front of an opened side door. He entered slowly and closed the doors. Standing over the weapon control panel he pushed a few buttons and switches. the screen blinked red with "TARGET ORGANICS." on it. Tyren pressed the automatic fire button and sat on the pilots seat, ready to fly out...fast.

*****
Hope its ok guys. I'm trying to make it fun until Zandro posts.

Xathia

27-01-2009 20:14:09

The Abyss

Xathia slummed against the wall. Alyssa was asleep in the crib, as the young mother watched her fearfully. Her mind was playing tricks on her again as per usual she suspected, but the human felt that there was something amiss. Anything she sensed was confused or scared, though she could also sense her apprentice nearby; the Quaestor had told Bryna to keep away all visitors. The female didn't know was she was scared of most at that exact moment, the unknown familiarity of the situation, or the nagging possibility that someone was out to take Alyssa from the young woman.

Shaking her head in resignation, the Krath Priestess stood back to her feet. This wasn't a time to reside in the shadowing doubts, Bryna had proved her worth as a guard for her daughter on another planet, the Omwati wouldn't let her down yet. Striding outside the room, the two women conversed in Omwatese.

"So you decided to leave Alyssa?"

"Now isn't the time to let the paranoia of a mother take control. You've kept her safe so far, I dare say you can manage it aboard here." Xathia grinned, flashing a rare toothy smile towards one of her closest companions. "I have other duties to attend to anyway, I'll be returning at somewhat regular intervals to just check on you both." Nodding her head, the Duelist turned herself around, asserting herself before marching out to the next doorway. Testing her comlink, the Priestess frowned before quickly organising herself and some form of transport back to the Darkest Night.

BAC Darkest Night

Setting foot down in the hangar, Xathia quickly glided through the levels, before bumping into a very surprised looking Aiorus. Smirking to herself, she offered no explanation for what had happened, but instead beckoned the Sith to follow her to the control room.

Rho

27-01-2009 23:26:17

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar Bay One


The Nagai sensed imminent danger and it was coming from the ship Tyren had just entered. "That ship is about to fire!" Rho yelled. "Everyone get out of here!"

With that warning, the four of them immediately jumped out of the room back out into the corridor away from the ship's gun fire. With the help of the Force, they managed to avoid getting hit by the thousands of bullets that were flying in their direction.

Rho sensed Tyren's motives and that was to fly out of there as quickly as he possibly could and keep shooting until he was clear of the docking bay. There was no way now that they were going to be able to get anywhere close to that ship in order to take him captive or let alone kill Tyren.

"We have to think of something!" Talos yelled. They knew if they didn't act quickly, they would lose this battle. They sat there for a moment pondering their next move. The turret of the ship was quiet... too quiet. They could hear the engines of the ship warming up, which meant Tyren was about to fly out of there quickly.

Tyren paused for a moment before taking off into open space. He hoped he would be able to kill the foursome before he left. Little did he know the communications jammer had been disabled earlier when Rho woke up in the bowels of the ship after Sashar's attack.

The communications were back up and running and no one seemed to even notice, which turned out to be to their advantage. The longer the band of traitors didn't notice the communications being back online, the longer they would be able to communicate with backup.

"Talos, now that we have communications, I want you to connect with your men, either on the Summit Guard, or Blue Mist and get them to head this way because they are about to have an all out war on their hands. We need all the backup we can get out here... especially if Tyren gets airborn. Who knows where he's going!" Rho barked his orders.

Then a thought crossed his mind as he heard Tyren's ship turning to head towards the hangar doors.

"I'm going to stop him from taking off." That's all Rho said as he got up and boldly walked back into the hangar. There were cargo crates all around the hangar walls and they were full of ammunition. 'Who needs a gun.' Rho thought with an evil grin on his face.

'Opportunist... traitor... same thing in this case.' Rho sent this thought out so Tyren could sense it. 'You better hope I'm wrong'. The Nagai continued projecting his thoughts out for Tyren to sense.

'You can't stop me!" Tyren sent back at the Battlemaster with much hostility. Tyren's ship was speeding up and about to exit the hangar when Rho used his Force power to pick up a huge crate of ammunition and hurl it towards the left wing of the ship. The crate's ammunition blew the wing off the ship when the force of the impact broke the crate wide open onto it's hull.

The ship then crashed back into the floor of the hangar on fire. Just before the ship hit the wall on the other side of the hangar, the cockpit quickly opened up and Tyren came flying out and he landed on his feet with his lightsaber in his hand.

He looked desperate for a way out. He would not be able to withstand the attack from Talos, Arcturus, Dathka and Rho all at once.

Marick

28-01-2009 01:56:41

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Sub-Levels


"Yarnn, take point. Fxz'et, tight to my heel," Marick barked calmly as the Prophecy Battle Team Trio broke into stride down the narrow, corridor of one of the Eye of The Abyss II's sub level passage-ways. Boots treading surprisingly light against the metallic floor, the Hapan could hear the sound of engines growing louder and louder.

"Shoot to incapacitate, not kill. We don't know who is a traitor and who is not, and I don't want any unneces--"

His words skidded to a halt as an engineer in a messy gray jumpsuit turned the corner, Gulith's burly elbow instinctively snapping into the unsuspecting human's temple, sending him toppling over like a rag doll into unconsciousness. Marick sighed slightly as they continued on the path, shaking his head but unable to contain a small grin. He glanced sidelong at Yarnn, who gave a simple shrug.

The mechanical whirs of gears and engines grew louder and louder as the narrow corridor gave berth to a wide open room located, if his calculations where correct, directly under the ships bridge. Gulith slid into cover behind a large turbine, his rifle darting to study all possible angles of enemy. Marick did similar, drawing his rapier from his belt and letting it rest calmly at his side. Fxz'et took up position on the protectors right flank, checking for possible hostiles as well.

Marick grimaced as he saw a tall figure clad in dark robes standing with it's back turned not too far away. It didn't seem to notice their entrance, which was good, but at the same time it unnerved Marick to know that he was most likely dealing with, at the very minimum, a Dark Jedi Knight. He hadn't even received his training saber yet. Swallowing, the Hapan noble shook his head slightly and focused his mind, peeking over the ledge of his cover to see the robed figure standing over a man dressed in all black as well, sans robes. The man was typing away at a terminal, Marick squinting his eyes to try and make out a face.

"Hurry, we need to kill that back up power source if we want to proceed with the mission," The hooded figure hissed.

"Just another minute and I'll have it locked down," He replied through grit teeth, turning his head slightly. Marick felt something churn in his stomach as he recognized the smug face of Zak Duraan, one of the top computer ace's in his brotherhood induction class.

Bloody traitor...

"Excellent." The hooded Dark Jedi replied, moving his hands on his hips as he turned to face the Prophecy Trio's position. Marick bit his lip and extended his hand out to the side and waved it down, signaling for his team to take down the targets. Almost instantly the hiss of a Blaster Rifle echoed throughout the room, red bolts of crimson erupting from the barrel of Gulith's rifle. The hooded Dark Jedi, obviously calling upon the force, managed to side-step the first bolt giving him enough time to call his saber to hand and ignite the blue-hued blade to deflect the second streak of crimson energy.

To his right, Marick heard the crack of a blaster pistol as Fxz'et open fired as well, aimed for Zak, who hadn't been as quick to react as his co-conspirator. The traitor yelped as a bolt scolded his shoulder and fell to the ground, clutching at the searing wound. The hooded Dark Jedi scowled as he quickly closed the gap between himself and the trio, extending his free hand towards Gulith and focusing on the Blaster Rifle in his hands. The riffle flung itself from the burly commando's grip, leaving him vulnerable to a leaping, vicious overhead slash from the Dark Jedi's descending saber.

A loud hiss reverberated as the saber clashed against the silver, slender edge of Marick's phrik rapier. The hooded Dark Jedi had indeed seen Marick leap into action to defend his partner, but had not counted on the rapier withstanding a full-frontal blow from his light saber. That second of hesitation was all Marick needed to snap his wrist forward, the hidden vibroknife in his bracer springing into his hand as he simultaneously slashed across his opponents face. The hooded Dark Jedi managed to dodge his head, but not without accepting a nasty slash from the corner of his lips to his ear. Hissing, the Dark Jedi drove his boot into Marick's gut, sending him flying backwards into a steel wall, his weapons skittering from his grip as he yelled out.

Not wasting a beat, the hooded Dark Jedi unleashed a force push at point blank against a very angry Gulith who despite his strength found himself skidding to the floor. Fxz'et fired off a trio of bolts at the hooded attacked, all of which where deflected, the last of which caught him in the armored shoulder, sending him backwards as well.

The hooded Dark Jedi scowled again as he made his way over to Marick, lifting the Hapan noble up and pinning him up against the wall.

"You will pay for this mark you've bestowed upon me!" He hissed with venom. Marick gasped for breath as he desperately flailed his body, but was still in shock from hitting his back hard against the wall. In his rage and slight fatigue from expending his force powers, the hooded traitor neglected to sense Gulith scramble back to his feet, level his Blaster Cannon at the side of his head, and pull the trigger with a loud PSHEW echoing throughout the room. Marick felt warm blood and brain tissue splatter his face as the grip around his neck loosen and the headless body of the late Dark Jedi toppled lifelessly over to the side.

"Deflect that, you traitorous prick." The commando grumbled, kicking the corpse of the late Dark Jedi.

Marick coughed and regained his footing, quickly wiping away the brain matter and bits of flesh from his face with the sleeve of his robe.

"What the Hell, Gulith!?" Marick yelled, a bit unnerved to have witnessed a mans head simply destroyed. "I said Incapacitate, not DECAPITATE."

"Get used to it kid. In actual battle, there's no time for that. If you don't have the intention of killing an opponent that tough, there is no way you can win. That's a fact." The burly commando chided, to which Marick coiled his fist and stared angrily off to the side. He seemed to calm as he saw Fxz'et walking towards them, frowning at the state of his destroyed blaster pistol. Holstering it, he pointed over at the writhing body of Zak Duraan, which caused Marick to completely disregard Gulith and storm over to the traitor.

"How could you betray your brothers like that?" The hapan noble hissed, grabbing him by the shirt and pinning him up against one of the reactors casings.

"I-I was just following orders honest!" He whimpered pathetically. Marick had never been shot before, but he could imagine the searing pain shooting through his classmates body.

"Save it for the Consul" Marick spat, slapping a pair of stun cuffs around the traitors wrists and tossing him over to Gulith for safe keeping. "Fx'zet, get to work on bringing back the main power." As he said the Verpine's name aloud, Marick thought for a moment and had a shocking revelation, saying the name slow and phonetically in his head.

Walking over to his fallen rapier and picked it up, admiring it's craftsmanship for a moment before sliding it back into it's sheath on his belt, he began to laugh quietly yet out loud as he slid down to a sitting position, propped up against a terminal. Hopefully Fix-It could live up to his name and get the power running.

Anonymous

28-01-2009 11:17:30

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar Bay One


Tyren looked around for an escape route, none to be seen. He didn't expect tis, though it was the simplest thing that could happen.
Typical! Moron! Overlook the simple things. he though. The transport is wrecked. We need an alternate route. he probed Zandro7s mind. I'm sending Talos toward you.
There was no way to get out of this one, and now he had four pissed Dark Jedi on his back.
"Great Rho. Fun way to spoil a party." he said, aggravated.
"No, no Tyren. The party's just starting." Rho replied with a threatening voice.
"Hmph! Don't even try to frighten me, Sith. As your friend here.." he pointed at Arcturus "...no doubt found out, that's quite impossible."
"We'll see about that Krath."
"So we shall.." Tyren said as he jumped back behind the wreckage of the ship that was to be his escape.

Talos ran first, jumping after the Priest. "Talos, no! It could be a trap." Dathka yelled, to late.
A snap hiss and locking of the blades could be heard.
on the other side of the ship Tyren's and Talos' blades locked as the two looked at each other.
"Here's the plan..." Tyren said "..get out as if to get reinforcements. Instead lead Zandro and Strategos to another hangar and you come back for me with a ship. Understand?!"
"Yes!" Talos said as he swung his blade, simulating a fight.
"Take Dathka with you and go." he said as he pushed the Knight away. "This is gonna hurt."
Tyren hit the Knight in the stomach and pushed him with the Force over the remains of the ship, following shortly.
Talos smashed against the floor, mouth blooded and coughing.
"Damn it. That was a stupid move." he spat "Damn bastard."
"Indeed!" Rho said as he stepped in front the Knight.
"I'm gonna get reinforcements. the others will be here soon as well."
"Smart move." Arcturus said. "We/ll make short work of this bastard."
"Dathka, come with me." Talos said as he raised himself ad exited the hangar.

"Now..:" Tyren said "...we'll have some fun."

***
keep in mind that Tyren has a high dex (very high) and a high intelligence as well as wisdom. Just for reference.
Just dont break his legs or kill him, or Ill be inclined to track you down with a couple of my Star Trek friends and annoy the hell out of you XD

Have fun. :)

Kant Lavar

28-01-2009 13:40:30

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar Bay One Maintenance Room


Lavar had withdrawn from the combat area into the maintenance room. The binders that were on his hands were shoddy copies of Imperial issue binders, a type Lavar had encountered before... and that he knew had a little trick to them.

Lavar picked up a circut welder, and then went over and placed the tool in a vise grip. He tightened the vise grips down until the tool was held firmly in place, and the button was constantly held down. Perfect.

Very carefully, Lavar brought his left wrist closer to the arc of electricity. It was low voltage, so it (probably) wouldn't do more than burn him a bit, but still, better to do this the right way. Lavar twisted so he could see exactly where the arc was going, and carefully brought the binders into contact with the arc. The code lock sparked once, twice, and finally a whiff of smoke rose from the binders. Lavar pulled his wrist away and flexed his wrist, and the binders popped open. Note to self; when we get out of this, write a memo to the Quaestor about getting some better equipment.

Lavar heard the transport crash and came out in time to see Tyren punch Talos hard in the gut, then send the Sith Marauder crashing away. A few moments later, Talos and... whatever his name was went running off. Lavar wasn't concerned overmuch - the Marauder was either getting reinforcements or going to piss on another one of the innumerable fires that was cropping up today.

Unlike a lot of Force sensitives, Lavar did believe there was such a thing as coincidence. Sometimes, random yet complimentary things just happened. Today, though, was no coincidence. Someone had planned this - planned everything, and Lavar was positive that this wasn't a simple attempt to grab control of the Clan away from the Consul. There was another goal here - one that Lavar couldn't put his finger on.

Lavar scooped up a fallen blaster rifle - an old BlasTech E-11 - and ammo bandolier. Lavar brought the carbine up, locked out the stock, and tucked it into his shoulder, sighting into the weapon's integrated scope. He sighted in on Tyren's back - then let the weapon fall to the ready, as Tyren, Arcturus, and Rho were engaged in a three-way lightsaber duel. Lavar shifted his grip on the rifle, cursing whatever twists of fate or the Force had conspired to cause him to have to become an apprentice again, as well as whatever had possessed him to leave his lightsaber behind when he'd had his powers stolen back on Dathomir.

Lavar shifted, stood, and ran to one side of the hangar, getting a vantage point where he could watch both personnel hatches, as well as the lightsaber duel. He propped his weapon against a cargo container, sighting in, and waited. If he had a chance, he would take the shot. Best case, he'd hit. Worst case, he'd miss, but still force Tyren to split his attention further...

Even as he settled on his tactics, the strategy - or lack thereof - of what was going on eluded him. What were Tyren and his co-conspirators after? The destruction of the Abyss? Simpler to overload the core, or sabotage the ship's shields or weapons and call the Vong down upon them. Maybe it was a true attempt to sieze power from the Consul... but then why kill indiscriminately? No point in siezing control of a Clan whose ranks you just depopulated.

Chaos. That's all that had resulted from the actions this day - the Clan leadership had likely by now been secreted away into bolt-holes, guarded by those they trusted most, the crew of the Abyss and the Dark Jedi aboard her were running about, trying to restore communicaitons, power... killing each other... Could that be it? Could this simply be the Clan leadership as a whole simply throwing the Clan's membership into a completely chaotic situation and allowing the wheat to separate from the chaff? Could they be this cold and calculating? Lavar knew it was possible, but it made little sense - to his mind, they needed as many Force sensitives as they could get, the better to defend themselves against the Vong, the other Clans, and the New Republic and its pet Jedi order.

There were other points, Lavar considered, even while he watched the lightsaber battle - Damn you, Tetrarch, open the range so I can take my shot! - the Magistrate had - for whatever reason - decided not to dispatch Lavar when he'd used his Force Scream, or when he had originally taken the hangar. Either time he could have - should have - killed the Acolyte any number of different ways; without even a training lightsaber Lavar couldn't have stopped Tyren from killing him without using the explosives he'd secreted throughout the hangar, and that wasn't going to happen with the jamming field up. Yet both times, the Krath Priest had simply hit him physically and left him bloodied but alive. Even when he'd prepared to use the larty's weapons against the four Dark Jedi that had come in response to Lavar's Scream, he'd warned Lavar to move out of the way. Those weren't the actions of a Dark Jedi who simply decided to go on a killing spree - nor were they the actions of a traitor to their Clan. What the kark was going on here?

Arcturus Xyler

29-01-2009 02:27:00

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar One


For a Priest, Tyren was doing exceptionally well against both an experienced swordsman like Arcturus and a Sith Battlemaster in the form of Rho Ozrei d'Tana. Although, it was becoming clear to both the Rollmaster and the Tetrarch that he was beginning to slip. Arcturus' Force sensitivity recognised Tyren's aching muscles and arms, the level of dexterity incredible yet taxing. It was, simply put, a matter of waiting the Priest out. Standard practice would dictate that if an enemy attempts to outmaneuvre, it must have sufficent capacity to do so, agility to carry it out, and stamina to keep it up should the ruse fail. That said, no amount of stamina could keep the two Arconan's from collecting their pound of flesh from Tyren. His teal lightsaber shimmered and splashed, catching Rho's blade before quickly aligning it with Arcturus' downward slice. Indeed, the Archpriest wanted to comment on his abilities - he would prove a genuinely interesting specimen to dabble with, had he time to do so in the Combat Centre. Of course, now was not a time to be given over to idle banter. Thoughts are there to be focused, he reminded himself.
The brittle sound of lightsabers simmering against one another began to carry even louder than that of the downed LAAT/i that Rho had managed so skilfully to put beyond use. It was a daring attempt, of course. Hurling a crate of ammunition at a engine in the hopes of wiping out the enemy. Impressive, indeed. Clenching his teeth hard, Tyren's body curled past a fast stab and slice from Arcturus before throwing himself high into the air. Guided by the Force, the Priest managed to grab hold of a fallen overhead light before.
"Slippery, aren't you?" Rho called out, gesturing with his lightsaber. "Come down here so we can settle this."
Desperately trying to catch his breath, both Arcturus and Rho could see the Priest was on his last legs. As he knew, all it required now was for Tyren's will to succeed to disappear. The Tetrarch almost exclusively used Dun Moch, preferring the yelling tirades of it matched equally with disinformation and deceitfulness to the carefully-choreographed movement of Makashi. This, however, was interesting in itself as Dun Moch was a variant of Makashi.
"You've seen nothing yet." Tyren bit back, a broad smile across his heavy-set eyes. Slicing his lightsaber through the air, the Priest caught one of the wires from the overhead light, a shower of sparks falling down upon him. Then, at last, Tyren could see it resting in his mind. Perfect. It was a single yellow-white line, made out of aurodium and copper. Below him, a large pool of fuel and hydrogen fluid was beginning to form from the LAAT/i. Given that the headlight Tyren was clutching onto, dangling above Arcturus and Rho, was still activated meant he had a chance. Of course, given it's probable outcome was failure, that too offered another solution for the Priest - escape via distraction.

INT Creeping Darkness
Bridge

Emilie Lauraugina was a painfully beautiful woman. Her blue-ginger hair glistened magnificently under the dimmed lights of the bridge. Seated on the captain's chair, the young woman was only now getting used to the seat, at long last. It would soon mark the end of her taking orders from Dark Jedi old enough to be child. Of course, now she would have to take orders from Dark Jedi far more older than that. Clipping open the communications panel on the side of her chair, she depressed the button to comm-link.
"Hatchling, this is Nest. Come in." her voice deep, yet feminine.
"Nest, this is...ahhh... Hatchling. I need tractor beam to take my escape pod. Been badly injured.. send med-team when I land." the voice replied.
Emilie's lips winced at the sound of the Proconsul in pain. Of course, it compared almost nothing to what he must have been really feeling.
"Roger, Hatchling. Get to escape pods pronto. Tractor beam ready in five minutes."
With a faint fzzt of static, the communications were over. Beside the young Captain, one of the temporary XO's stirred.
"Captain, shall I carry out said orders?" he replied, his voice overtly baritone.
"Please do - and eavesedrop on my conversation in future. Makes me forget I've got total recall."

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II

Marick's face was slowly beginning to show the effects of emergency power coupled with reduced climate controls. The top of his forehead shimmered with tiny beads of sweat as he watched the Verpine work on the terminal. They were an amazing species to look at in their element - it was nothing short of miraculous the way their entire concept was built upon the idea of harmonious engineering.
"We're almost there - I have to re-route one more coupling and then power will come back. It may take a minute or two for it to reverberate across the ship." the Verpine hissed, it's hands filled with wires and coils.
"Good, good - I need to get in touch with Arcturus and let him know." Marick replied.
Just then, a loud fizzing noise rang out, followed quickly by a more gentle whirring noise. Power restored, Marick thought. Smiling at the Verpine, he patted his shoulder and stood up briskly. Fishing through his tunic for the comm-link, Marick keyed in the code for his master, Arcturus Xyler.

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar One

Clutching the wire in his hand, Tyrne let out a haughty, near-maniacal laugh as the power cable slipped from his hands. The shock reverberated down the aurodium coil and into the mixture of hydrogen and pure fuel, causing a wave of electricity to shoot into the air, keeping Arcturus and Rho back. Utilising the minute or so of distraction, Tyren's body soared over their heads, the Priest slamming a side-door-exit of the hangar shut before igniting his ligthsaber quickly to weld the door shut.

Anonymous

30-01-2009 11:15:45

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar One


As the door welded shut Tyren could sense his opponents getting even more infuriated by his sudden, unexpected move.
He ran in the opposite direction, towards the other hangar where his ship, the At-Ashira was grounded. Behind him he could see a lightsaber blade piercing the door in an attempt to cut it into pieces and make an entrance.

Rho was heavy on the door but it was a tough one as it was thick to prevent rapid decompression if the hangar field deactivates. Arcturus stopped him as he focused his mind on Tyren. his eyes widened.
He's running toward the other hangar. Let's move...now, or we wont catch him."

***
Tyren ran down the dark corridors, following the emergency floor lights leading toward hangar 3. Within a few minutes he ran into the hangar, the doors slamming behind him. It was empty. Finally a streak of luck, Tyren smiled. He ran toward his ship.

"Gamma-Sixty-Two. Ashira, open the hatch!" he yelled as the hatch on the ship opened with a hiss. He jumped on the wing just as the hangar doors opened and the two Equites ran in.
"We caught up." Rho yelled. Tyren cocked his eyebrow as he jumped into the cockpit and closed the hatch.
"I told you, Sith. You can't stop me." his voice echoed through the integrated comm system on his ship.
Tyren turned the ship and exited the hangar, saluted with a cynically serious expression.

The At-Ashira turned toward its course and fired toward the Creeping darkness.

Zakath

01-02-2009 00:33:06

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II
Private Quarters


Zakath allowed a painful smile to twist his lips as he entered his private quarters. It hadn't been touched during the recent confusion, and that was good. The Barabel didn't care for whatever was going on as long as his research wasn't interrupted. What this latest power struggle was aiming for, Zakath didn't know or cared. But whenever a political event happened, it always threatened his research and subjected it to intense review by higher-ups in the Brotherhood, and that, at this stage, was intolerable. No, until this event simmered down, it was best to keep portions of his research on himself. It was safer that way.

The Barabel muttered to himself as he swept through his spartan quarters and began rifling through his desk, looking for folders that contained his crisply written notes on the nature of the Force and more specifically on how to wound it. Finding the files, he began placing them into a messenger bag that he kept for just a purpose. After reviewing the remaining files and ensuring that there was nothing left to implicate him or hinder his research, Zakath nodded to himself, satisfied. Now there was only one more detail to take care of.

Walking into the fresher, he caught a glimpse of his twisted visage in the mirror and stared, noting that the blood had stopped flowing from the fresh wounds on his cheeks. His eyes began to glow a dim purple as he recalled his instant hatred of Arcturus that had inspired the initial slashing of his cheeks. That hadn't been an impulsive act, but it wasn't complete, either. His enemies had earned a place somewhere on his scales, but his special enemies, they had deserved a more prominent place on his scales. And this Arcturus, he had earned such a place. Why, the Barabel wasn't quite sure yet. He never found out the reasons behind the special ones at first. But he would find out eventually. Whatever that was inside Arcturus that inspired the flames of hatred within the Barabel, Zakath would find it and root it out. Then his body would be cast aside.

His kind deserved no less.

He smiled to himself as he removed a clean and sharp razor from a pouch on his belt and raised to his lips. With two quick and sure slashes, the blood was flowing again. Zakath's smile widened as he stared at the dark blood dribbling down his mouth and onto his teeth before dripping down to his chest. Now came the fun part. He forced his mouth to open widely, the scaly flesh around his mouth ripping into a gruesome gaping maw as he did so. He welcomed the pain that flowed from his gaping mouth throughout his body like waves of heat.

Staring at his reflection in the mirror, he noticed that the ripped flesh twisted upward almost as if he were smiling.

*-*

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II
Hanger One


Zakath stalked into the hangar bay, having tracked Arcturus through the Force. It hadn't been hard with all the Force usage that was emitting throughout the Star Destroyer. Now that he had his personal possessions secured, it was finally time to figure out what was going on here. Zakath's lips licked the inside of his stitched up mouth. The stitching had made his wounds seem even more of a smile. That brought a curious sense of amusement to the Barabel.

He noticed a ship departing from the hangar, and he could feel the rage that poured off the two individuals that had rushed into the hangar. Walking toward them, Zakath's amusement grew as he noted the sheer aura of rage that emitted from them in palpable waves. Clearly something had gone wrong.

“I have what I came for.” Zakath's voice hissed out in a mocking tone. “Now can you tell me what's going on here? You do know what's going on?”

Marick

02-02-2009 23:48:19

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II

Marick fiddled anxiously with his comm-piece. Adrenaline coursed through his veins with the excitement of his mission's success. Everything else seemed to be menial and insignificant. He had proven that he was a capable leader in the field, and not just a pretty-boy aristocrat who didn't know how to get his hands dirty. The power was back which meant that short-range comm should be back online. All that he needed to do now was notify his Master that he had achieved with flying colors in the task assigned to him. He visualized the bad ass, coldness of Arcturus' demeanor slip away for just a moment as he bowed his head in respect to Marick Del'Abott, pat him on the back and say, "Good job, kid."

The comm crackled and hissed.

"Marick...for Arcturus, I repeat, Marick for Arcturus." The Hapan projected into the tiny microphone, unable to contain a self-satisfying smirk.

Static and more hiss.

"...Marick for Arcturus do you-" he repeated before an angry voice crackled into his ear peace and abruptly cut him off.

"Yea I hear you what do you want?" Arcturus Xyler scowled.

The confident smirk slowly melted from Marick's face. Not the response he had been expect from his master. Gulith cupped a balled fist over his mouth to avoid from laughing aloud.

"Uh..uh..s-sir."

"S-s-s-ir what? Spit it out kid."

Marick stiffened, turning his back to Gulith who could no longer contain his laugh.

"Sir! We where able to get the power grid back online-"

"I figured that much, now you better have something important."

Marick took a breath and calmed himself. His childhood living as an aristocrat never taught the Hapan noble what it was truly like to be scolded. He got away with mostly everything he did, and the only person to ever truly scold him was Allister, but even he did it in a kind manor so as not to upset the proud Marick. However, he had sat in on enough "diplomatic" meetings and understood that the best thing to do now was to stay calm and show his poise.

"Master Xyler, we infiltrated the engine room and confronted a Dark Jedi Knight traitor, working with a recruit from my class known as Zak Duraan to hack into the terminal. My team was able to kill the Dark Jedi Knight and we have Duraan in custody now."

There was silence for a minute. Marick felt a sweat drop trickle down the back of his neck.

"Get back to the hangar bay, now." The comm clicked out, and Marick exhaled slowly.

He motioned with two fingers for Fxz'et and Gulith to head back the Hangar bay. Gulith slung Zak over his shoulder and the burly commando and lanky Verpine made their way down the corridor they came from. Marick hesitated for just a moment, rubbed his own shoulder, then took off down the hall after his team.

|==O==|

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar Bay


Marick, Gulith, and Verpine exited the turbo lift and quickly made their way towards where they could all very noticeably sense the angry Aura emanating from Arcturus. They slowly made their way over to hear the Archpriest scolding a grotesque looking Barabel.

"...You knew we where in a state of emergency and yet you forsook your duties to your Clan for your own personal needs? What where you thinking!?"

"My research is very important to me.." The Barabel growled and hissed in response.

"Master..." Marick swallowed a lump in his throat and then coughed, attempting to get his Masters attention. "Team Marick reporting." He said, his posture stiffening.

Vorion

04-02-2009 12:18:34

Eye of the Abyss II
Communications Tower Service Tunnel
Somewhere in Hutt Space


The mangled form of Arcona's traitorous Proconsul lay limply on the riveted durasteel of the comm tower service crawlspace. The Near-Human's breath came shallowly, and in long, gurgling rasps. He leaned limply against the one wall of the tunnel, his hood having long since fallen off from the vigor of his exertion mere moments before. His face glistened with dark blood - his own blood, it's metallic taste flooding his mouth as it ran in slow rivulets from his lips and down his chin. The Priest seemed almost not to notice as he lifted his commlink to his face with a badly-lacerated hand, his thumb depressing the device's transmission switch.

"Master....everything here seems to move as planned. Umbra...the pit spawn is..." Vorion trailed off, fighting a wave of vertigo, and his commlink crackled in response, and the voice that replied was not the one the Ubese had expected. A low, gravelly chuckle of dark mirth issued from the commlink, and the young Krath felt his entrails turn to ice.

"Sashar is thoroughly occupied with our work. It pleases me to hear that my own efforts have proven..potent." The deep voice of Mejas Doto was tinged with a savage delight. "The tormented Abyssal spirit bound inside that host is nothing less than a demon...and you could not have hoped to do more than hold it at bay. It's hate and fury have overwhelmed those far more powerful than you, whelp," the Zabrak spat. "Now. Move ahead with your task and do not loiter, lest I decide to reclaim those eyes I so graciously made you."

The commlink transmission terminated abruptly, and Vorion unsteadily moved on down the tunnel, his thoughts whirling feverishly as he rallied the Dark Side, fear and simmering rancor dulling the razor-edged pain coursing through his body. The Shadow Lord was right. There was much work yet to be done...he couldn't stand to stay still. He could still hear that....thing's....screams reverberating through his very soul.


Officers' Quarters


Bryna checked for her lightsaber, and found at least a small measure of comfort in the cool, reassuring metal at her side. The Omwati's heavy-lidded eyes moved to the high-railed cot that housed the sleeping form of the infant Alyssa. Satisfied that the child was sleeping safe and sound, Bryna settled back into the plush chair, sliding back into a trance-like state as sleep beckoned again, her eyes fluttering shut. Dozing lightly, the Omwati woman never saw the nanny droid roll up behind her and calmly plunge the hypodermic gun into her neck. The tranquilizer was as fast-acting as the droid who administered it, and the young woman was immediately swallowed up by the mindless oblivion of unconsciousness.

Vorion felt intense gratitude towards his friend and colleague now; Tyren Atema - and through him - Synergy, the company they'd built from the inside out - had made his job here even easier. Vorion slid down the hallway, the shadows seeming to cling snug to his tall frame as he approached the door to the makeshift nursery, his eyes glowing like faint amethyst coals in the dim light. The nanny droid turned, moving swiftly to opened the locked doorway as it's guest signal buzzed loudly in the antechamber. The distant cries and sounds of confusion echoed from the hall outside as the door slid aside and the cloaked Krath stalked into the room. Not pausing to remove his hood, the Ubese leaned slowly over the crib, gathering the infant Alyssa into his arms, shrouding her in the folds of his warm cloak. He glanced over at the unconscious form of Bryna sprawled mindlessly in her chair, a faint smirk spreading across his bloodied face before he turned swiftly on his heel, approaching the door with the dozing infant in his arms.

The droid made no move to stop him or even raise an alarm - not that Vorion expected such behavior from the nanny droid. One of the Synergy undercover operatives had thoroughly sliced and reprogrammed the nanny droid, and it had been subverted to give the master of the Shadesworn just this very opening - the chance to give the Galeres Quaestor a very personal stake in this conflict, this delicious insurrection....

Podbay EQ7-27
Somewhere on the Officers' Quarters service sublevels



The Priest's commlink crackled to life as he clambered into the escape pod, Timeros's clipped and precise voice ringing over the static hiss of random interference. "I have Jendan Morgana in custody. On return trajectory to Nest." Vorion winced at the sharp pain of sitting suddenly as he shifted in his seat gingerly, careful not to jar the fitfully-sleeping infant. He cradled the baby in the nook of his arm as he thumbed his commlink again. "Roger that. Alyssa is in custody. On return trajectory to Nest." Vorion slumped back as his hand slid up the curving panel of the escape pod, his fingers flying deftly over the engine master keypad. The launch sequence was initiated, the engine just beginning to thrum dully as his commlink spat abruptly once more, a familiar and reassuring female voice issuing forth into the small spherical passenger chamber. "Hatchling, this is Nest. Come in."


Vorion's eyes shut slowly, his voice trembling slightly as the barely-suppressed waves of pain threatened to rip across his body once more. He drew a deep, ragged breath, hearing his own blood gurgling deep in his lungs. "Nest, this is...ahhh... Hatchling..."

Xathia

04-02-2009 16:21:44

Setting foot back on the Abyss, Xathia signed, it had felt like weeks had passed since the human had been aboard the ship, yet it had been little more then days she suspected. Time was an illusion in everyone's mind she mused as the Quaestor paced back to her quarters, everyone whipping past her in the opposite direction, especially as she got closer to her place.

Opening the door, and closing it quietly behind her, the Priestess smiled softly. Bryna had been so exhausted lately and had fallen asleep in the chair, creeping past the Omwati and looking into an empty crib. Staring at the sheets before moving them around hastily to make sure there wasn't an illusion, Xathia started to choke. Alyssa was gone, and Bryna didn't sleep heavily. Shaking the other female fiercely, Bryna was groggy, but awake.

"Where's Alyssa?!" The human shrieked, pointing at the crib, tears threatening to fall out of her emerald eyes.

"Alyssa is in the crib." Bryna mumbled in Omwatese, her eyes still fluttering shut from the drug, the only thing keeping her awake was the Quaestor shaking her body.

Screaming incoherently at the Omwati, the Priestess drew her activated lightsaber, pointing it at Bryna's face as tears streamed down her own. "I trusted you with my own flesh and blood after all these years!" A sharp force sent the human off balance and backwards against the crib, and removed her saber from her hand. Bryna was still dopy, but awake enough to use the Force, before sitting the mother down in the chair and searching the crib herself. "You let someone take her!" Xathia screamed at the speechless Omwati.

"Nyx, I closed my eyes briefly, I normally wake at the slightest sound, you know that." She protested at the emotional human. "Someone had this worked out! I don't wake up groggy like this."

"Remove yourself from my presence." The Quaestor snarled, calling her lightsaber back to her hand before screaming over the comlink about Alyssa's disappearance as Bryna retreated from the room, heading for the hangar to return to the Darkest Night.

Returning to the main deck, the woman sort out Vorion and Sashar, fuming at herself for letting the lack of security around Alyssa comfort her into thinking it would trick the one person she thought was after Alyssa. Tears freely falling off her pale cheeks at the thought that she might never see her baby again before the woman collapsed against a wall, sobbing loudly and clutching at herself, knowing that the one thing the Quaestor valued above herself had been taken.

Arcturus Xyler

05-02-2009 22:32:30

ISD-II Eye Of The Abyss II

Arcturus looked sideways at his apprentice. The Archpriest didn't want a Padawan learner. He hadn't asked for one, nor did he relish the idea of having someone tail him everywhere. The Tetrarch was busy enough as it was and didn't like the pressure of dealing with another. In truth, Arcturus had only ever taken on one student in his time in the Brotherhood, and he'd ended up beating her within an inch of her life. The process was... anguishing to him, to say the least. And there, standing erect and upright, was Marick. A Hapan noble, as the datacard on him indicated. The Tetrarch had only lightly perused it before the events that was transfixing his mind took place. In fact, he was reading it more to put himself to sleep than to actually study it's contents.
"Team Marick reporting." he began, quite nervously. The Archpriest winced at that.
"You can start by shutting up and letting me think." Arcturus snapped, his brow furrowed in thought.
"Arcturus, we've got to get after them. Now." Rho said, pointing to the freshly-welded door in front of them.
Marick surveyed the hangar. It was a mess - a half-exploded LAAT/i, debris strewn everywhere and a large pool of what appeared to be something like a mixture of battery acid and fuel.
"I'm aware of that, Rollmaster - thank you." the Tetrarch replied, his teeth gritted in anger and frustration.
For a long moment, there was a stifled silence, the only noise was that of the LAAT/i's computer system dying with various whimpers and churns of it's processor.
"The bridge. We need to shoot him down. Or failing that, track his location. He couldn't have got far. Marick, get someone to clean this mess up. I want this hangar squared away immediately; we'll need to be able to launch fighters to repel any attack."
Turning quickly, Arcturus and Rho d'Tana made for the bridge. As they left the hangar, they passed Talos. The Summit Guard captain was standing quietly, like Marick, surveying the area intently. The Archpriest eyed him for a moment before turning his attention to Rho.

INT Creeping Darkness

Emilie's finger released from the communications button, pursing her lips in thought for a moment before pressing another button on the side of the command chair. In front of her, the image of the infamous Maw Cluster coalesced in front of her, the holo-projector humming quietly as it worked. She studied the image, the cartography of it overlaying the actual image of it, together with images pertaining to specific threats the ship could encounter. Standing up from the seat, the newly-anointed captain of the ship circled the image, her hands clasped together behind her back.
"Key in, overlay. Shroud of Antei." she ordered, taking a step back to take in the new image.
The familiar sight of the Shroud of Antei covered the image, adding a haze to it.
"Image, clarify. Use file 'Shadesworn One' for parameters of imagery." she added, continuing to pace around the holoproj. The computer whirred in response to the command, adding in the file that had recently been forwarded to the ship. She looked at the side image, the words scrolling down, together with various symbols flashing beside it - Krath ritual, susceptible to our efforts, developed by Mejas Doto, Timeros Entar, the list of names following it. It was a list of some of the most prominent Arconans in the last ten years. What were they planning? What was this? Because of her status as a non Force-sensitive, she wasn't privy to every facet of information. She was, she supposed, be made aware of it whenever it was deemed necessary.

ISD-II Eye Of The Abyss

The bridge was humming with activity as Rho and Talos of the Tana Consortium, together with Arcturus and his apprentice, Marick, entered. Dal Hodezan turned, gesturing to the four Jedi to come forward.
"Dal, how are we fixed?"
"Not great, if I'm honest, Rollmaster. The ship's been split in various pieces, security's been compromised completely. We'll need to lockdown the ship. Now."
"We can't. Not right now. We need to find out who's left on the ship, capture them and find out what they're at. We--"
"Sir, the Creeping Darkness is scrambling it's fighters.." one of the officers from below the deck called.
Arcturus stepped forward, a line of TIE Interceptors streaming from the hangar and began to swarm the ship in a defensive pattern. For the moment, they weren't firing.
"That's Velocity Squadron." Talos announced, pointing to the hornet's nest covering the Interdictor.
"They're using Omicron. Interesting..." Arcturus added, folding his arms.
"Omicron?" Rho asked, arching his eyebrow at the Archpriest.
Arcturus looked at them all, incredulously and snorted.
"Dal, educate these charlatans in Starfighter Defense 101."
The captain smirked and gestured to the viewport. "Omicron is the most intricate defense for starfighters. It involves carving the perimeter of the ship into sectors, but instead of holding the pattern, the starfighters alternate between them. It looks chaotic, but it's actually incredibly structured. Difficult to pull off correctly, too. Emilie must have some well-trained pilots in her corner."
"Emilie? Emilie Lauraugina?" Rho d'Tana asked.
"Yeah, she got the post a couple of weeks ago, I think." Dal replied.
"Unbelieveable..." Arcturus whispered.
"How do you mean?" the Rollmaster asked.
"Vorion was schmoozing her for some time. My guess is that he's got her on side. Which means the ship is being run by the traitors." Arcturus replied, stroking his forehead in thought.
"We can't open fire on them if they haven't done it to us first." Talos announced, pointing to the dagger-like capital ship.
"There are traitors aboard. We can do what we like." Rho replied.

Kant Lavar

06-02-2009 12:11:45

(OOC: Hey! I'm still here! Didn't run off or nothin'! *eyeroll*)

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II
Bridge


Kant Lavar had followed the rest of the group up. As the most junior Force-user present, he'd kept his mouth shut - especially when it seemed his Tetrarch had come to the same conclusions he had. But now, with the Interdictor apparently getting set to take sides... no. This was stupid. They were missing something, and Lavar's subconcious was annoyingly poking at his concious mind again.

"Tetrarch, there's something still wrong here." Lavar stepped up to the tactical plot and pointed at the Creeping Darkness' icon. "Unless there's modifications I don't know about on that dragship - like a couple dozen proton torpedo launchers - they cannot hope to successfully destroy an ImpStar Deuce. Can't be done." He checked a smaller icon next to the ship's graphic, and nodded. "They haven't brought up their grav generators - yet - but if they do, they'll probably be using it to do a Pincer, just like she was used for at Dajorra." He shook his head. "And again, unless the two squadrons on that ship are loaded with a lot more boom than they should be, two squadrons of Interceptors can't do more than maybe scratch the paint on the Abyss. So either they're going to just try and hold us long enough to recover someone or something, or they've got backup incoming."

Arcturus looked at him, saying nothing, and Lavar took that as permission to continue. "Also, consider Priest Atema's apparent focus on escape - instead of staying and fighting, he instead chose to leave the hangar, likely for another one of the small craft hangars. I would suggest launching every available ship, and disabling that ship immediately. We still need every ship we can get - especally ones as expensive as an Interdictor - and disabling her hyperdrive and grav wells will have the same effect for now as destroying her outright." Lavar folded his hands behind his back. "In addition, once we confirm that we have all available combat craft in space, anything else launching, especially without clearance, will likely be a traitor's ship and therefore a target."

Lavar stopped for a second, realizing that he may have just crossed a line. "I apologize if I overstepped myself, Tetrarch, but this whole episode has rung false from the beginning. Something beyond the obvious is at work here, and I dare say the cause may prove to be closer than any of us would care to believe."

Sashar

06-02-2009 12:54:18

“Actually, you’ll have a job getting the crew to fire on another ship just to take out a few traitors.” A voice from behind Rho and Arcturus intoned. It was a voice seldom heard by any but his closest friends, however Rho recognised it from the Force Meld instantly – Malidir Erinos. His status in Arcona was legendary. He had the highest kill-count in the Yuuzhan Vong war of any Dark Jedi in the brotherhood, had been a Guard Captain for the Grand Master himself and was one of the cornerstones of Soulfire Strike Team. His counsel to the Clan Summit was invaluable, and his quiet, unassuming deep baritone was known to make many a female swoon. Yet it was not often that he chose to speak at all, so when he did, everyone listened.
Rho almost didn’t want to turn around. However, like a planet’s rotation it was inexorable and he sighted his team-member.

Spast.

He was wearing a shadesworn cloak.

Rho’s borrowed saber flared into existence a moment behind Arcturus and Zakath’s. However, before they could move on the Prelate, He was flanked on both sides by Strat and Zandro, all three of them identically attired.

Kant and the bridge’s security personnel snapped their weapons up and took aim, but the Elder slammed his palm down on the deck in front of him and a massive tidal wave of pure telekinetic energy rushed out with all the finesse of a wrecking ball. Crew were scattered, Consoles torn apart and every single one of the viewports at the back were blown out. The three Dark Jedi facing the Elder and his equite phalanx were knocked aside and then nearly sucked through the breach, however the timely closure of the shutters saved them from a grisly death. For now.

Commodore Sulaco was already up, helping Kant with a broken arm, but there were not many others standing. Zakath had dropped onto all fours and was hissing a warning at the communication foyer where the three Shadesworn stood, watching impassively as the two Equites rose shakily.

Behind them, Arcturus noted that the doors to the fleet dispatch centre had been forced open and that the scene mirrored that on the bridge – only more complete. The communications gear was wrecked, and all of the personnel were incapacitated. Strat’s hand stretched out and lightning leapt from his fingertips, tearing the consoles in the communications foyer apart with a shower of sparks and hisses from melting plastic.

“Objective complete. Let’s go.” Zandro intoned, sparing a final glance at Arcturus, before gesturing to the control panel mounted on the wall beside him. The three shadesworn stepped back just as the blast doors started closing.
“No!” Rho yelled, surging forward, the force bending physics to allow him all the additional speed he could muster. He slammed into the blast doors just as they finished closing and tried the controls. Nothing; they’d been shorted from the other side.

With grim resolve, the blade plunged through the blast doors and began melting away at the reinforced durasteel.

-=[]=-

“Where’s Sashar?” Strat asked as the three jogged down the corridors, careful not to get too far ahead.

“He went and shut down the Tractor Beam generator, and now he’s priming our escape route. We meet him in the hangar.”

“Is that why we’re virtually walking there? He’s going to try that technique?” Malidir grunted, shooting a glance over his shoulder to make sure they weren’t being followed tooclosely.

“Probably.” Zandro answered.

A moment later, they arrived. The forward hangar was still a wreck. Marick was on the far side – not a problem for now, as most of the mess that had occurred was on the other side of the breach. Above them the TIE racks held their craft like nesting bats, but other than that the hangar seemed deserted.

Almost unconsciously, the three moved a bit into the hangar to give themselves fighting room, and turned to face the blast doors. Arcturus, Rho and Zakath appeared...with Xathia and Etah in tow.

“4 equites and a knight. This’ll be interesting.” Strat murmured, unclipping his saber from his belt.

“I want the lizard.” Malidir said, mirroring the Elder’s action.

“You just gonna stand there?!” Zandro shouted out to their opponents, drawing his saber as well.

-=[]=-

“Five on Three.” Rho muttered, his eyes glimmering maliciously.

“Let me kill the Erinos. Preferably Zandro.” Etah snarled, igniting his saber.

“Strategos will be a problem. I’ll take him, but we need to charge them, engage them all at once so they can’t help each other. Try to split them up.” Arcturus suggested.

“Let’ssss hunt!” Zakath hissed in elation as he dropped onto all fours once more and bounded forward, the others hot on his heels.

-=[]=-

Marick glanced up and gasped. Across the hangar, the vast expanse of space and the magcon field separated him from his master and the assembled squad of saber-bearing Dark Jedi gathered to face the three best duellists Arcona had to offer. The five of them charged the Shadesworn and time seemed to slow down. The three cloaked traitors stood still as statues, their sabers unlit in their hands. The Equites converged on them, coming in a crescent to allow each other to move. The distance between the five rapidly shrung until they were shoulder to shoulder, raising their sabers to cut down the unmoving Shadesworn-

He landed less than a meter from the five of them in a crouch. Sashar Arconae. His posture was unusual – sideways on, one arm running parallel to an extended leg, the other arm curved upwards like the wing of a bird. The Force coursed through him – that much was evident from the speed at which he spun, using telekinesis to further accelerate on the spot, his final act to erect a physical force barrier. There was a momentary perfectly spherical maelstrom, the edges of which catching each of the equites attacking the traitors. The sheer momentum of their own attack meeting the Consul’s whirling defensive sphere scattered them, bouncing across the polished decking of the hangar floor. Sashar rose shakily, staggering slightly to one side before righting himself with a shake of his head.

“you come up with a name for that yet?” Zandro asked him as the three formed up with Sashar into a line of four.

Ori’abiik. We just need enough of a gap to go up again. The Phantoms are ready. Two minutes before we go.” He instructed. The others murmured their assent, singling themselves off to take on the scattered Equites.

Arcturus Xyler

07-02-2009 01:18:17

(OOC: You're absolutely right, Kant. I completely forgot to put you in, my bad. Great posting, by the way. You're doing Prophecy proud. :P)

ISD-II Eye Of The Abyss II
Hangar One


Arcturus' mind rattled with the sheer impact of Sashar's Force shield. Straightening himself, the Archpriest leapt to his feet and quickly sparked his brilliant-yellow lightsaber to action. The hangar was turning into a battleground already, the various Jedi squaring off against one another. But Arcturus had only one thing on his mind - Strategos Entar. The Tetrarch had known him for well over a decade; they had come up through the ranks together. Many in Clan Arcona agreed they were like twins in every respect; their fighting style was similar, their ability to rationalise situations immediately and their utter detestment of those who dared challenged almighty Arcona. And with that, many wondered why it was that Arcturus chose to remain an Archpriest and Strategos ascended to that of the Elders. The green lightsaber slashed and crashed into Arcturus', the blades screeching in agony as they were forced hard against one another. Wordlessly, the Adept's free hand shot up to call upon the Force to knock his opponent back. With instinct, Arcturus' fist cocked back to slice across Strategos' face. Twirling on his heel, the Tetrarch followed with a tight stroke of his lightsaber, Strategos quickly catching the blade and shoving it aside.
"You've learnt some new tricks since we last met." Strategos hissed, his lightsaber slicing through the air to carve up Arcturus.
"Like I told you before, Strat, you'll never be free of me." the Archpriest snapped back, breaking the Adept's attempted Dun Moch.
Their lightsabers slapped and bounced against one another, the speed of their parries and attacks completely inhuman. Within a few minutes of the battle, Arcturus' muscles were beginning to feel the strain and ache of age, coupled with Strategos' higher knowledge of the Force to keep his body coolly modulated. In essence, with such deeper understanding of the nature of the Dark Side, one could fashion themselves into whatever they wish - an instrument of terror, an unflinching war-machine, a vassal of the Dark Side, anything. So often, however, the effects of such power took a physical toll on the person in question. Some believed the reason for the Emperor's disfigurement was the reason for this - of course, most people understood that it was Mace Windu's failled attempt to destroy him. Of course, there were other examples to back up the theory, that much was certain.
Strategos' hands joined together as his green lightsaber cut down through the air, Arcturus' taking a step back to avoid before countering with a swipe at the Adept's chest. Their lightsabers clattered and spluttered before eventually returning to their deadly dance. Just then, a voice carried over the cacophony of the battle.
"Time! TIME! TWO MINUTES UP!" someone shouted.

The green blade retracted into Strategos' hilt, the Adept giving the Archpriest a faux-bow before shoving his arms forward. A bright-blue sheen of coronal energy sizzled from them, the bolts of lightning riveting through the air. With a quick snap of his wrist, Arcturus reflected them off his lightsaber and surged forward for the opening. With utter glee, Strategos' eyes closed as he took hold of the Tetrarch's frame with the Force.
"You don't understand, Arcturus. I've been toying with you this entire time. I wanted to see if you were ready, truly ready, to embrace all that the Dark Side has to offer. To know it's essence to become one with anger itself." Strategos began, his eyes opening with dream-like intensity.
"I know anger."
"You think you do. You remember Vassan and it feeds it. But there is... remorse. You are remorseful for the lives you took in the pursuit of your aims."
For a moment, Strategos said nothing, studying his prey with eagerness.
"You must find hate." he continued, earnestly. "What could you hate enough to destroy me?"
"Myself."
"That is anger turned inwards. Yours must be a cancer that spreads across the galaxy." Strategos replied, his hands releasing him from the telekinetic hold.
Arcturus' lightsaber hummed through the silence between them. He was right. He was gut-wrenchingly correct. The Archpriest was terrified of driving Arcona into another civil war, yet it seemed to be happening without his help. How did it come to this? He knew the Clan had become weakned throughout his absence, but to boil down to an uprising? The elite of Arcona returning from relative torpidity to wreak havoc upon those who chose to stay and fight? What sort of divine punishment had they in store for them. Arcturus' arms ached at the grip of Strategos' little trick. Gritting his jaw, the lightsaber snapped up to thrust forward--
With a simple flick of his hand, the Archpriest was sent hurtling against a bulkhead, his weapon deactivating as he slid down the wall, fighting off the white edges at the corner of his vision. He could feel the warm liquid slowly trickle down his forehead, it appeared the back of his head had a rather large gash on it.

(OOC: I'm leaving the ending somewhat open as I'd like to see where the others place the traitors, i.e. do they escape together or is it up to us to write that? I'll edit it once I know where to go. :D)

Kant Lavar

08-02-2009 15:31:30

ISD-II Eye Of The Abyss II
Bridge


Lavar hissed as he shifted his broken arm in the sling around his neck. He'd refused painkillers, relying on the pain to fuel his connection to the Dark Side and thereby allow him to dull the sensation until after the current crisis had passed.

The rest of the Dark Jedi had left, Arcturus leading them against the rebellious clan members. Lavar had not followed, as his injuries precluded him from taking part in the lightsaber combat that was to come. That, and the fact that he was not even allowed to carry a training saber yet. (Not that he was crazy enough to take a training saber up against a full-power lightsaber, either.)

Lavar had traded his E-11 for a DH-17 blaster pistol, which was tucked into a holster on his left side, where he could get at it with his uninjured arm. While he wasn't as good with a blaster in his off arm as he'd like, he could still hit what he aimed at the majority of the time. But even that wasn't much use against four Elders armed with lightsabers, so he'd stayed behind on the bridge.

The ruined bridge, rather. The vast majority of the tactical section was offline, the communications stations were completely ruined, and navigation was spotty at best. Lavar shook his head. If the traitors wanted to try and leave the Abyss helpless in space, this was as good a way as any. Lavar turned to face the captian. "Captain Hodezan, I know it's not going to be easy, but I suggest you send runners to find as many fighter pilots as you can and get them in the sky. This ship cannot be destroyed, and we cannot simply these traitors to escape."

Dal Hodezan looked at the former bounty hunter. The two men were close in age, though Lavar's authority over him as a Dark Jedi was specious at best. But at least the man was phrasing it as a request... Dal nodded, and pointed at a cluster of techs working vainly on the comms gear. "You four go round up a few stormtroopers and get my birds in the sky."

Lavar nodded. "Thank you, Captain. I suggest the same be done for our gunnery crews, and that the command crew retire to AuxCon."

Th Advozsan wanted to smack himself in the head. AuxCon, Auxiliary Control, was a complete secondary command center built into warships, usually twoards the center of the ship and therefore hard to kill, for just these occasions. He nodded. "All right, people, we're moving to AuxCon. Quickly, like you have a purpose in life!" The captain moved off to chivvy his crew into the turbolifts, and Lavar leaned against the now-dormant tactical plot. It's not enough, a part of his mind insisted. You don't have the skills to deal with this anymore.

Lavar stomped that portion of his mind into submission, and straightened. He might not weild a lightsaber anymore, and he probably wasn't as spry as he had been decades ago, but he would still do his job. And that was enough... or so he kept telling himself.

Zakath

08-02-2009 17:35:26

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II
Hangar One


I want the lizard.

The Barabel let loose a roar upon hearing that, launching himself upwards with the crimson blade of his lightsaber springing into existence as he landed in front of Malidir.

“You will find I am much more than a lizard, hew-mon.” Zakath hissed as he shifted into a Malakisi defensive stance. The human merely smirked and mockingly gestured with his lightsaber. Zakath accepted the bait, his crimson blade whipping forward into a tight sequence of parries and attacks that drove the Obelisk Prelate back. Malidir merely grinned before he raised a hand and sent a Force push slamming into Zakath's chest, throwing the Barabel back several feet to land unceremoniously on the hangar floor. He growled as he raised himself up to see Malidir snickering at him..

“You cannot seriously expect to beat me?” Malidir sneered. “If so, you are a silly Knight indeed.”

Zakath didn't even bother to respond, but instead launched himself into a furious attack, shifting into one attack sequence after another, often switching into another sequence in mid-attack, hoping to confuse the Obelisk warrior. Unfortunately to Zakath's increasing dismay, it didn't seem to be working, as the human warrior easily met each attack. Adding in a few Force pushes didn't work as Malidir had set up a Force shield around himself to protect against such attempts.

“Time! TIME! TWO MINUTES UP!” Someone shouted over the din of the battle.

“Ah, a pity. I so wanted to toy with you more.” Malidir mock-sighed. “Ah well, perhaps later, lizard.”

With that, Malidir threw a more powerful Force push, sending Zakath flying across the hangar bay. Zakath growled as he shifted himself in mid-flight, his hands and feet slamming into the wall, allowing the Dark Jedi Knight to bounce off and land on his feet. The Barabel howled in fury as he watched Malidir and the other pack of traitors slipping into the TIE Phantoms. It was obvious that the traitors was going to escape. But that was okay, Zakath mused to himself as his anger cooled down. He had Malidir marked in his mind now, and soon, on his own body. No one called him a lizard without attracting the Dark Jedi Knight's wrath. Even if it took years to bring revenge to fruition, as a result of having to grow in power, none would escape his wrath. But it was clear that Malidir would not be defeated by a lightsaber duel. It would have to be by other means to bring about his demise. Zakath would have to be initiated fully into the Krath Order and granted its secrets before he could engineer his revenge. He allowed himself a painful smile. Everything in due time.

Zakath glanced sideways and did a double take as he noticed a dazed Arcturus Xyler slumped against the wall. The Barabel's claws clicked instinctively as he noted how vulnerable the Krath Archpriest was. Kneeling down, Zakath's eyes glowed a dim purple as he examined the fallen Archpriest. It was clear that the human was wounded, a large gash torn open on his forehead.

“Idiotic humans.” The Barabel hissed as he tapped into the Force, and unleashed it upon Arcturus, forcing the bleeding to stop. “You need to stop being so fragile.”

“Why?” Arcturus croaked out. “Thought you wanted me dead.”

“I do.” Zakath stated calmly. “When I find out why I want you dead, and have gained the power to do so, I will kill you. But that day is not today. Today, we have treachery to punish.”

Kant Lavar

16-02-2009 13:37:17

(OOC: Also, if nobody has any objections, either tomorrow or the next day I think I'll go into the wiki and update the entries for Hodezan and the Abyss to reflect his new command.)

(OOC: Bonus points if you can guess which episodes of Battlestar Galactica I watched right before writing this. Difficulty: I rushed the ending because I'm falling asleep at the keyboard. Methinks this is a hint. Night, folks.)

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II
Auxiliary Control


The bridge crew of the Abyss, one Obelisk Acolyte, and a bare handful of security troops burst into the ship's Auxiliary Control room. Lights flickered to life and naval ratings started manning their stations, transferring control from the ruined bridge and getting themselves reoriented. Lavar followed Hodezan to the holotank, where the tactical plot was coming to life.

In the time it had taken to shift operations, the Abyss and the Creeping Darkness had drifted somewhat closer to each other, though the captain of the Interdictor was keeping their Interceptor squadrons in close. Hodezan shook his head as a runner handed him a datapad. "According to this, the biggest strike we can launch right now is a half-squadron of TIE Avengers and four Scimitar bombers."

Lavar blew out a breath. "That's... not good."

Hodezan shrugged. "They can hold off the Interceptors, but an Interdictor has good anti-fighter defenses. We'd have to bring the ship itself in to take care of her. And if these traitors you keep harping about have anything coming in on a Thrawn Pincer, like you said..." The Advozsan officer shrugged again. "If they don't, then her only option is to run - even spotting her all my heavy turbolaser batteries and a shield generator, an Interdictor is no match for a Star Destroyer."

Lavar shifted his left arm, wincing as pain shot up into his shoulder. "I know, and that captain over there has to know it too. So why are they pitting an Interdictor against a Star Destroyer at all? Arcona has more powerful ships at its disposal."

Hodezan was about to answer when the tactical officer looked up from his console. "We have a new sensor contact, caaptain. Bearing 102 by 003, distance 950,000 kilometers, closing on the Creeping Darkness." The man frowned, and worked his console. A new symbol appeared on the plot, blinking to indicate a somewhat fuzzy track. "It's very small, likely an escape pod, but I'm not picking up the autodistress beacon."

Lavar frowned. The pod was creeping twoards the Interdictor. It's possible someone was looking to infiltrate the cruiser and exposing them would be known in technical terms as a Bad Thing. On the other side of the coin... Hodezan was apparently thinking the same thing, as he passed instructions for the search-and-rescue shuttle to be put on standby. Lavar looked over at the communications station. "Do we have ship-to-ship comms?" At the tech's nod, Lavar tapped a control panel, opening a 2-D visual link to the Interdictor. "Attention, Creeping Darkness. This is the Eye of the Abyss. Respond." A few moments passed. "Repeat, Creeping Darkness, this is the Eye of the Abyss. Acknowledge."

The screen flared to life, showing an Arcona naval captain sitting in the Interdictor's command chair. "This is Captain Lauraugina, Abyss. Go ahead."

Lavar stared into the pickup. "Captain, this is Kant Lavar, House Qel Droma. I need to know right now what's going on, and why you've got Interceptors pointed at this ship."

Laurangina, who would have been gorgeous if not for the hostility in her expression, looked back at him. "I have my orders, from a much higher authourity than you. I do not have to explain myself or my actions."

Lavar goggled. Was it possible the woman didn't know what was going on? "Captain, in case you were unaware, as of three hours ago, several senior Dark Jedi began murdering the men and women aboard this ship. I believe one of the traitors is aboard an escape pod even now approaching your ship. I must instruct you to withdraw your fighters and leave the area now."

Laurangina's expression, if hard before, coujld now be used to cut durasteel. "And I told you that my orders came from higher authority than you. Therefore I will carry out my orders and only then will I withdraw from the area."

Lavar gave her an equally hard look. "And I'm telling you, there is no way we can allow any possibility for these traitors to escape. We are prepared to deal with the situation, but only as long as it is contained aboard this ship. I repeat, withdraw or face the consequences." Lavar looked over at Hodezan. "Launch the fighters."

Laurangina's expression hardened further as she stared at her own plot. "Why are you launching fighters?"

Lavar stared at her on the screen. "Leave now or we will open fire."

The Interdictor's captain leaned forward in her chair. "I don't take well to threats, mister..."

Laurangina cut the connection, and the tactical plot showed the Interceptors shaking down into a formation to meet the TIE Avengers and Scimitar Bombers. Both starships started pivoting as both captains positioned their ships for the inevitable slugging match. Klaxons blared as the AuxCon tactical crew switched their monstly-unmanned weapons into central ovverride. On the hulls of both ships, turbolaser and quad cannon batteries came to life, maneuvering and elevating to track in on the opposite ship. Both groups of starfighters raced for each other, but even while the capital ships maneuvered to clear their gun arcs, nobody fired that first shot.

Yet.

Sashar

17-02-2009 18:49:14

The five TIE Phantoms cloaked almost exactly at the same moment and phased out of the visible spectrum, dancing between the fighters that moved closer and closer towards that inevitable fight. The Creeping Darkness had manoeuvred closer to the Clan’s flagship so that Vorion’s Escape pod could be retrieved faster, however that had brought the Interdictor into range of the main starboard cannons – a few volleys from those massive guns could reduce the Creeping Darkness to very expensive scrap in less than a minute.

Sashar clambered out of his Phantom and pulled the Shadesworn cloak closer about him, knowing that the feeling of cold wasn’t from the poor hangar insulation but from this act of betrayal he was committing on the clan he’d sworn to lead and protect.

They’ll understand. They have to.

“They will.” Strategos assured him, his lip twisting sardonically – his powers as an elder allowed him to even read the mind of the Consul.

“We’re not out of the woods yet.” Malidir urged as he and Zandro fell into step. There were a number of other Shadesworn waiting for them above, on the bridge.

-=[]=-

Captain Laurangina spared a look over her shoulder at the collection of Shrouded individuals as the fighters moved from formation and into attack positions. This was definitely not a fight they could win, and would cost the Clan precious assets. That was definitely not part of the deal.

“Gentlemen...” She urged.

“Not until we’ve got that escape pod.” James Entar said, a note of finality in his voice.

“The fighters will have been engaged for three minutes by the time we have it on board.” She pointed out, glancing at the tactical repeater.

Her throat suddenly constricted and she flinched as an invisible fist grabbed her by the throat and squeezed.

“Knock it off.” Sashar snarled as he stormed onto the bridge.

He punched James none-too-lightly on the shoulder as he walked past, his gauntleted fist making the meaty thud sound even more painful. The elder winced in pain and immediately released the Captain, however the glare he gave the Consul was pointed and not soon released. Sashar ignored him.

“Have we plotted a course to the Maw yet?” He asked, glancing out of the viewport as if that would give him a better grasp of the situation with his bare eyes than by studying the tactical repeaters.

“No, we felt we’d better wait for the Proconsul’s arrival, as he might have a specific point in mind.” The Captain answered.

“Begin plotting a course out. He’ll have the final coordinates, but it can’t hurt to start on the calculations.” He ordered, not looking back.

“Yes, Lord Consul.” She replied, subdued.

Tyren put a hand on the Shade Warrior’s shoulder, approaching him silently. “We’ll get him back safely. Do what you can.”

It seemed to be enough for the Mandalorian, who nodded and ignored the snarl of derision from Mejas Doto, who clearly wasn’t impressed that his protégé needed comforting.

The consul dialled through the frequencies on his comlink and found the suitable one.

-=[]=-

He was short with raven black hair, bright green eyes and a sprawling black kiffar tattoo covering the left side of his face. He was also flanked by a dozen TAMs, one of whom had the dark silver chrome of a Major’s insignia. The Starboard Power Control Nexus never stood a chance. The Tactical Assault Marines fanned through the room, aiming their rifles at the heads of all the technicians whilst Celahir Erinos dispatched the two security personnel with a flurry of Carinor punches and arm locks.

“Okay, Malay, do your thing.” Celahir instructed, glancing a look over his shoulder at the door. They’d only have minutes.
The Major seemed to come to life as soon as he was given authority. He pointed two fingers at the door, then turned his fist ninety degrees on its side and two of the TAMs set to work sealing the hatch closed, then glanced over at the master control unit and pointed a closed fist. Another TAM pushed a technician out of the way and let his fingers dance over the controls.
The Jedi Hunter grinned despite himself as the power to the starboard turbolaser batteries was diverted away.

“Sash’ika, it’s done.” He muttered into the comlink.

The Consul’s reply was instant.

”Good work. And thanks. It’ll keep them from destroying us until we can get away, but it will mean you’ll get captured, imprisoned and possibly tortured. I’ll do what I can...but, you know.”

Celahir nodded once, slowly. He knew what the Consul had asked of him, after what had transpired. He knew his brother wouldn’t have asked without a very, very good reason.

“Good luck.” He said softly.

With an offhand ease, the Kiffar pulled a cigarette from the cartridge in his pocket and caught it between his lips, lighting it with an expensive zippo lighter as the shouts started from the other side of the door. Soon they’d cut through.

-=[]=-

The tractor beam snatched Vorion’s escape pod from space and a medical team was waiting in the hangar to tend to the Proconsul, however he waved them off. Time was definitely of the essence. When he arrived on the bridge, the fighters had been recalled and the comm. frequencies were alight with immediate demands to stop from a Protector who had assumed command on the bridge of the Clan’s flagship, never mind there probably being a much higher ranked Commodore there better suited to handle the crisis.

“We’re good to go.” Sashar said, turning to face his Proconsul.

The Ubese was already heading towards the Navigation terminal to fill in the final destination co-ordinates.

“A straight jump. No skips – I want them to be able to follow us.” He muttered, wincing slightly from one of his injuries.

“Talos did that to you?” Strategos asked incredulously and Tyren suppressed a snicker.

“He had to make it look convincing.” Vorion explained testily.

“I’m convinced.” Malidir muttered, evoking chuckles from some of the other Shadesworn.

“Okay, let’s ditch this popsicle stand.” Sashar decided, noticing the Abyss starting a starboard turn to bring its forward guns into line to target the Creeping Darkness.

“Yes, that might be prudent.” Strategos agreed.

“Course laid in, we’re ready to go on your order.” Captain Laurangina reminded the Clan Summit, who now stood side by side, watching the Abyss turn ponderously towards them.

“Hold on a moment, let them get a good look at what heading we’ve got...” Sashar urged, letting the tension rise.
“We’ve got positive locks from the forward cannons.” The tactical officer announced, sounding slightly hysterical.
“Ok, punch it.” Vorion ordered. Stars elongated, time warped, and the course of Arcona’s future changed forever.

-=[]=-

Commodore Sulaco’s heart dropped as the Creeping Darkness finally escaped to hyperspace. “Please tell me you at least got a heading.” He pleaded, glancing down at the sensor cluster.

“We got a heading, but it makes no sense. It’d terminate on the border to the Maw in an ‘alcove’ between three of the perimeter black holes. A very unstable region.”

“Is there anything else close by that trajectory?” Kant asked, still nursing his arm.

“Nothing on our charts.” Lieutenant Commander Niles replied.

Sulaco paused for a moment, his mind dredging up the emergency protocols he’d established with Sashar all those years before for precisely this sort of emergency. “Get the Quaestors up here and let’s see how much of the Clan’s leadership we have left.”

In the meeting that followed between the Quaestors, Aediles and Commodore Sulaco, it was agreed that the rest of the flotilla would pursue the Creeping Darkness] and the two-faced ‘Shadesworn’ to the Maw and corner them against the insatiable black holes. It took less than fifteen minutes to come to such a decision, and a further hour to gather the flotilla together and repair the systems on the damaged Abyss, and only when the entire flotilla was underway and in hyperspace did they turn on the traitors left aboard the flagship – Major Malay, his squad of TAMs and Jedi Hunter Celahir Erinos. As Celahir was in Qel-Droma, Taigikori had chosen to undertake the interrogation himself. Major Helder Kemp, Head of the Intelligence Analysts aboard the flagship slipped in just as the Quaestor delivered a humiliating backhand to the Journeyman, who grinned defiantly back.

“Do you know what you’ve done?” He asked, spearing the youth with his most scathing glare.

“Do you?” He countered, the insolent, almost manic light in his eyes not at all dimmed.

“Your actions could have consigned this Clan to a descent into ignomity and a slow, lingering death.” Taig’s voice was cold.

“And yours would’ve what? I turned a gun away from my brother. You and yours were content to shoot at him without working out why he kicked your asses and took off with the Interdictor. Do what you want. I know I was right.” His little monologue held complete conviction, and just enough self-righteousness to piss Taigikori Aybara off.

“You think we haven’t taken that into account? The fact of the matter is that he and those with him turned on their clan – a clan they’d sworn to protect and lead. They deserve what’s coming to them.” The Quaestor replied, absolute certainty singing true in his voice.

“And it’s just a convenient by-product that the Clan Summit positions are suddenly left clear with you declaring Vorion and Sashar traitors...” Celahir received a force-augmented punch to the gut, which caused him to vomit a little blood up.

“Touch a nerve?” he continued as if nothing had happened.

"Funny. That was what I was going to ask." The Quaestor grinned malevolently and pressed his hand almost gently on Celahir’s neck, letting the current of the dark side run through him, sparking a fire of pain through the nearest nerve cluster. He didn’t release even when the Kiffar finally relented and let out a pealing scream.

“You’re going to regret your decision. You’re going to realise where your true loyalties lie, and you’re going to help us when we finally reconvene. I can’t imagine our lord consul would be too happy if we were to harm his own brother. He’s not the only one that can take hostages.” A cold fire now burned in Taigikori as he got to work on Celahir, fully utilising the force to draw out as much agony as he could.

-=[]=-

Four hours later, the intercom pinged, indicating that the ship was five minutes from decanting. With a sigh, the Quaestor left Celahir Erinos semi-conscious and hurried back to the bridge, eager to witness the re-capture of the Creeping Darkness.

“This could be a trap, you do realise.” The Commodore was talking quietly to Xathia, in hopes not to alarm the rest of the crew.

“Traps work both ways.” Xathia returned. There was a dull anger that still lived in her eyes – it was a very bad idea to take a mother’s child from her.

“Thirty seconds.” The Helm officer called out and a collective breath was held.

The maelstrom of hyperspace distorted back into reality-
The Maw was waiting for them, devouring light itself to a number of singularities that seemed far too close together to be healthy. However, they weren’t even given a second glance. The Creeping Darkness was there, all right. Docked to a massive crescent-shaped space station that should not have been this close to the Maw.

Talos

17-02-2009 22:53:11

ISDII Eye of the Abyss II
Medical Corridors
Maw

"The time fast approachesss" whispered a dark voice, the words sounding like a snake's hiss.

Talos d'Tana started awake, frantically glancing around to get a handle on his surrondings. He was in one of the forward medical corridors, slumped against the cool bulkhead. The Knight quickly looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the snake-like voice.

Seeing no one, the d'Tana shakily rose and then immediatly wobbled and grabbed an impact handle for support as his world swam around him. Through the stinging tears in his eyes, he made out a figure dressed in purple and black robes round the corner and then stop, a deep baritone breaking through his haze.

"Captain! You're awake!" exclaimed Dathka Zhar-Khon, the Zabrakian noble rushing up to his friend, mentor, and Flight Leader and helping remain stable by holding onto his shoulders, as the Arconan continued to sway.

"Dathka...where am I?" mumbled Talos, looking around again and noticing for the first time that he wasn't dressed in his Knight robes, but the simple garb of a medical patient, a white tunic, white pants, and soft-toed boots of the same color, a scheme not often worn by a practionar of the Dark Side.

"Medical Hallway-AX" answered the Jedi Hunter, handing a black backpack to the DDF Officer. The mafia man took the bag and raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"How did I get here...and why are you giving me this?" inquired Talos, holding the bag close to his torso, as if its contents were the most precious thing in the world to him...though he had no idea what they were.

"I carried and...uhhh...dragged you here right after Arcturus told us to get reinforcements, during our skirmish with the kreetle Tyren Atema. You sprinted off, yelling for me to follow you. I did, and we were running down the corridors, then all the sudden you slowed, swayed, and fell straight to the floor, out cold. This medical area was closer than Summit Guard Control, and a MD took care of you, since the organic staff is responding to an incident in Auxiliary Control"

"And?" snapped Talos, the Knight slowly regaining his strength.

"The MD dressed you and after tests, said that your adrenaline spiked and that caused you to pass out. The droid reasoned that it was the aftershock of the betrayals and the battle in Hangar 1 that caused the spike, then dismissed you" finished the Zabrakian Noble.

"The backpack?" the d'Tana sighed.

"Before you were taken for testing, you told me to go get your bag from your office, and don't look inside under pain of death. I did as instructed" explained the Hunter.

Talos nodded sagely and slid down the wall, resting his body against the cool steel. "Give me a full brief, from the time I went into la-la land till now...the Force tells me that I have missed much" ordered the Knight, some of his old command tone creeping back into his voice.

Dathka nodded and began to talk, also sitting down, across from his friend.

30 minutes later

Talos nodded and his eyes drooped as Dathka finished his briefing. As soon as the Human's hazel eyes closed, the snake-voice ripped through his skull.

"See now the folly of mortal men!"

The d'Tana sprang up and quickly walked away from Zhar-Khon, to a viewport where he caught his first glimpse of a nightmare. Arconan starfighters screamed through space, surronding a beautiful space station and the stolen Interdictor-class cruiser of the 'traitors'.

Tearing his eyes away from the space station and the strife of his Clan...his home, Talos Vyranius d'Tana slowly opened his bag and looked in.

A line of gold flashed up at him and Talos quickly shut the bag, slinging it over his shoulders as Dathka came up behind him, standing a little back and to the right of the d'Tana.

"Ah yes" whispered Talos, as if remebering some earlier task, and in a movement to fast for Dathka Zhar-Khon to catch, the Knight's fist whipped back, colliding with the Zabrak's jaw and sending him to the ground with a sickening crack as the black abyss of unconciousness embraced him.

Again the snake voice spoke to him...."So harken the Awakening!" and again the hissing vanished.

Talos nodded at the Snake's words and grinned broadly as he felt his energy come back to him, both physically and mentally, as well as through the Force.

Taking one last look at the two capital ships, the individual starfighters, and the crescent-shaped station, Talos walked away, a new purpose in his stride....

Zakath

18-02-2009 04:33:26

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II
Medical Bay


“He should be up and about in a little bit.”

Zakath dismissed the doctor with a nod as his glowing violet eyes glared balefully down at the unconscious body of his Tetrarch. The pitiful human had fainted after the initial healing that closed the open gash on his forehead, forcing the Dark Jedi Knight to carry his body into the med bay. He licked his teeth as he stared down at the Tetrarch's vulnerable throat.

No. In due time.

The Barabel hissed and left the medical bay, walking moodily into the turbolift. The Barabel had spent the last hour in the medical bay wondering why, just why the treachery by the traitors was taking place and had frustratingly arrived nowhere. It simply didn't make any sense to him. There was nothing to gain that he could perceive with making off with an Interdictor Cruiser then fleeing to who knows where?

He let loose another frustrated hiss as he slammed a claw into a button, sending the turbolift flying upward toward the bridge and leaving a small gaping hole in the dead center of the button. It was time to find out where they were headed, and figure out where he fit into the plan that they were undoubtedly forming at this very moment. But he had a feeling whatever that was going to happen was going to end violently and with blood drawn.

Good.

ISD-II Eye of the Abyss II
Bridge


As he stepped out of the turbolift onto the bustling bridge of the Star Destroyer, Zakath noted that the blue vortex of hyperspace swirled around the windows of the bridge. So they hadn't arrived at whatever they were going yet. The Barabel's eyes narrowed as he noticed his former Quaestor, Xathia, conferring with someone in a naval uniform. Probably the Commodore, Zakath decided as he walked swiftly toward them.

“...It could be a trap.”

“Traps work both ways.”

The Barabel smiled at Xathia's answer to the Commodore's worried statement. Xathia's sheer ruthlessness had won Zakath's respect when he had been a member of Galeres, and it had obviously not eroded in the months since he left. That pleased him for an obscure reason. It was bad enough that most of the Clan was starting to flag in its ruthlessness, it would be disappointing if its leadership started to flag as well.

“Thirty seconds!” Someone called out.

The Barabel turned to the windows even as the whole crew held its breath. The swirling blue of hyperspace blurred into elongated star lines before snapping back into real space to see...

Zakath blinked.

"What the..."

"Sithspit..."

“What in the abyss is that?!” The Commodore gasped out.

The entire bridge crew could only stare out in stunned amazement at a space station that wasn't supposed to be there, and.... whatever the abyss that huge energy thing was.

He hissed in amazement as he stared out at the massive singularity right behind the space station, a huge collection of cloudy dust gravitating around a massive wave of energy dwarfing the space station. It emitted crackling bolts of lightning, whipping at whatever was unfortunate to be in its path. And it was still growing bigger.

Zakath suddenly had an oddly comforting feeling from the Force that whatever the supposed traitors had in mind, they were about to do it and most likely succeed.

He smiled.

Blood was indeed going to be spilled today. And woe be to those who stood in their way.

TO BE CONTINUED