Team Bravo: House Plagueis

Members:
Kuro #7759
Brimstone #8649
Celevon #12004
Silent #3151
Fistan/Telum #12767
Furios #11513
Kant #8505

((taken from the news page))

Story Resource: http://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/crusade/kharrunon.html

Welcome to the Dark Crusade Run On. The following rules are in effect:

1. Teams will consist of five players from within their House or Clan.
2. Teams will begin their run on by posting their team name, the members of their team (pin and rank). The subject line of the initial post will consist of your team name and your House or Clan. Example: Team Fleshstache: Clan Naga Sadow.
3. 250 word minimum per post.
4. 1000 word maximum per post.
5. Players must post a minimum of 2 times per phase.
6. Players may post as many times as they desire.
7. Edits may occur on a post until a follow on post has been made (follow on posts include "reserving" a space). Only the author may edit their post on the forums. Admin use on the forums during the run on is expressly prohibited for participants.
8. Members may reserve post, but no posts can occur until after the reserved post is written.
7. The event will be graded by Raken, Sarin, and Muz using a rubric that focuses on creativity, plot development, realism, and grammar.
8. Your team will be disqualified from Nova contention if a team member fails to post.
9. Members failing to post 2 x times per phase will be disqualified and will not be given credit for participating in the event.

Event Timeline:

1. 1 March: Initial Prompt, sign ups, and team posting.
2. 8 March: Second Prompt and team posting.
3. 15 March: Threads locked.

Shuttle Black Plague within Khar Delba's atmosphere

"Brace yourselves for impact"

That was the last thing heard over the intercoms from the pilot of the shuttle. The team of Plaguians consisting of four Obelisks and two Sith were ordered to land on the frozen wasteland of the planet called Khar Delba.

Rumoured to be the old base of Naga Sadow from five thousand years earlier, this team was ordered to check out and verify it's existence of the base. Also to recover all artifacts for the Grand Masters of the Brotherhood.

The shuttle they were riding in was dropping fast to the surface. Lights flickering, seats shaking, and engines cutting out as they descended to the surface. Brimstone and Telum were both dark jedi knights, and even with experience in combat, were not prepared as well as their counterparts of this team for the sudden crashing.

The others, Kuro, Silent, Furios, and Celevon were pretty much equals. They've spent more time preparing for instances like this. They also spent more time working with Telum than they did with the Chiss. He was considered the newbie of the house and the least known commodity if the team.

Brimstone knew there was apprehension in his being here. But here he was trying to prove his worth to Plagueis and the others. The Chiss sinched up his harness, preparing for impact. The others remained calm and focused on their dark powers.

Another engine stalled out and all power left the ship, leaving the troop bay in pitch black.

Khar Delba Air Space
Team Bravo landing Shuttle


As the Shuttle quickly descended, Kuro had an Idea. “Listen! If we all combined our telekinetic ability to slow this heap down, We may just survive the landing.” Kuro addressed the situation. As the shuttle got closer to the ground there was no time to debate. Kuro, and the rest of the team concentrated and was able to slow the shuttle down enough that the hull was not to terribly damaged.

Khar Delba
Landing Shuttle Crash site

“Kuro, sir, The communication array is damaged” looking it over and moving around the parts hanging from the wires, “I dont think its repairable sir” Kuro was not surprised, even with the six skilled members, the shuttle hit hard.

“Ok, well we are on our own then, there is a shroud of dark energy surrounding this place that is preventing us from using our communicators, so in other words, stick together.”

Kuro motioned to the door. “might as well continue on with our mission” The door opened and a ominous feeling washed over them all. Kuro shook it off, but could see a little concern in the eyes of the others. “ah dont worry, its just the cold” Silent said as he was the first one out onto the icy ground. Kuro was next, as he stepped out, the heavy Templar sank a little into the snow. “oh this, this is gonna be fun” Kuro said in a sarcastic tone.

Tthe rest of the team made their way out and into the icy world in search of the old Naga Sadow’s fortress, or anything else that they may find for the Brotherhood.

Khar Delba
Landing Shuttle Crash site

The sky seemed filled with shooting stars, yet everyone that had emerged from the crash knew these to be more shuttles out of control. Something very dark and powerful was pulling the craft from the skies. One such craft smashed into the ground near two hundred meters from the Plagueian Shuttle. The subsequent fireball and cascade of falling debris meant no one could have survived.

Celevon standing in the lead of a group of fatigued men dressed in full storm gear, glared out towards the wreckage, "Come on lets go check it out."

"But you saw the fireball, no one could have survived that." Kuro retorted.

"It was one of ours, the least we could do is look."

A forced sneeze with an underlying comment of "Rancor Poop" came out of the mouth of Silent who stood idle.

Without any further remarks of negativity the group trudged on through the snow and ice to the fallen craft. The man who took the lead, identified by his graceful nearly stalking gait, was Celevon. The short but stout man that followed behind and to the right was Kuro, thankfully no one could see his eyes from the mask in the way, but certainly his dark circles would seem darker today. The taller figure walking next to the average shaped Silent in humanoid form was Furios. The one that did not look exactly comfortable in the cold climate gear was Brimstone. Taking up the rear was the only one dressed in his Sith Marauder Armor, and a rather warm and heavy hooded cloak over the top of that was Telum, his mechanical optics and facial gear hummed horrendously in tune with the cold whistling air of the planets surface.

The group crested a ridge and took in the sight of a body that seemed to have been cast away from the wreckage. Scattered around the body was all types of technological devices. Scanning equipment, various tools, and a couple of different weapons. The robes covering the body were neatly burned and in a few places had partly melted into the black body armor. It was obvious to any of the Plagueians that this body was wearing the Avail outfit. Yet it was Brimstone that recognized the body.

"KANT!" the Chiss yelled as he ran to the fallen Dark Jedi Knight.

"No worries, he is very much alive." Silent spoke as dramatically as possible.

Khar Delba
Landing Shuttle Crash Site

Furios strode after Brimstone, his long legs best suited to cross the expanse between the unconscious Knight and the group. Brimstone reached Kant Lavar and knelt beside him. The Epicanthix man knelt on the other side of the body, checking it for injury. He noticed a nasty bruise just next to Kant’s right temple as well as a shard of Durasteel lodged into a joint along the side of his armor. The others reached the body as Furios began healing the wound. Silent, Kuro, and Celevon reached down to do the same, their combined efforts performing the work in minutes. Telum stood back and watched the Equites bring the Knight back to consciousness.

“He’s about to wake up very stiff,” Silent commented as he got to his feet. Brimstone, Edraven, and Kogarasu did the same.

“I’d imagine so,” Furios replied, standing up as well. “He probably got jostled to hell in that crash.”

No sooner had the words finished leaving his mouth than when Lavar came to with a painful groan. Brimstone grabbed the Plagueian by his hand and lifted him to his feet, being careful not to hurt him anymore. A sharp breath left his lungs as Kant stood still, waiting for his strength to return to him. The cold air made his face numb as he continued taking in and letting out shallow breaths, warming his body up.

“When did you get here?” Lavar asked.

“We found you here a few minutes ago,” Celevon answered. “Our own shuttle crashed about an hour ago.”

“Seems you were less fortunate in your crash than we were,” Kuro added.

“Yeah,” Kant replied, getting steadily more coherent. “My team was meant to arrive first at the Khar Delba Armory rendezvous point. Looks like that won’t be happening.”

“Well we’re meant to be second to arrive so you’ll still get there first,” Brimstone said.

“I guess that will have to do,” Lavar said with a slight smile forming on his face.

Khar Delba
One Click West

“Fracking snow,” Kuro cursed as he contended with the thick precipitation in front of his feet. “We had to go conquer a damn ice planet next, didn’t we?”

“You complain too much for an Equite,” Furios jested at his fellow Templar. “The only difference between here and Morroth is the extra blanket of Dark Side energy.”

Kuro glared over his shoulder at the tall Epicanthix behind him. There was no snow on his gear and waves of heat created through the Force emanated from Morega. The snow beneath his heavy winter boots was turning to slush with every footstep. A broad grin sat on his face as the taller Plagueian walked with ease while the others struggled.

“Convection,” Kogarasu muttered as he trudged ahead. “Times like these make me wish I’d bothered to learn it.”

“We’ve all spent more than enough time traipsing through the cold on Morroth. I’m surprised I’m the only one who deemed it necessary.” Furios stated with a hint of condescension in his voice. Silent let out a chuckle as he walked close to the Epicanthix, absorbing some of the warmth. Brimstone sighed, his breath coming out in a fog. He knew convection as well but was already hot enough in his winter gear and couldn’t keep it going as long as the Templar could.

“Look,” Kuro interjected. “I don’t want to hear any more about what we should and shouldn’t have learned back in Jusadih. That place is long gone. Now we have a mission to do here. Furios get in front, you’re taking point hot head.”

Morega did as he was told. It’s what he preferred anyway. Being point meant he got to see the danger first. It meant he got to charge into it first. He’d been hungry for blood since tasting victory on Nfolgai. The raw power he was more than ready to unleash sat hot and heavy in his core. Feeding some of his energy into keeping warm abated the desire to kill something, even if it was one of his own team mates. Instead he just tapped the hilt of his lightsaber as he walked. The average person would mistake this for a nervous tick. The rest of the group knew it wasn’t so. Walking behind the Epicanthix, Kuro was relieved to be trekking through lighter slush rather than thick snow. Behind him walked Celevon Edraven, Silent, Kant Lavar, Brimstone, and Telum Vas Umbra who remained quiet. They marched single file in the direction that their Intel said the Armory was located. No need to let anyone else know how many of them were coming.

Khar Delba
En route to the Armoury

The Onderonian was near the rear of the group, doing another quick check of his weapons. Celevon had ceased carrying blasters ever since he had been taught the Clan power that created a spear of Force energy. Growing annoyed as the grumblings from some of the team members he was with grew more incessant, the Assassin pulled the face-mask down to conceal his expression of distaste. The Force User at point may have been keeping himself warm, but Furios was also making it easier for others to track them.

“You know a thick line of melted snow and ice isn’t exactly subtle,” the Assassin idly pointed out, his voice slightly muffled by the face-mask. “A line from the crashed shuttle to the Armoury may as well have a sign right next to it saying ‘Follow me!’.”

Kuro glared over his shoulder at Celevon. “Stop being so paranoid. There shouldn’t be all that many people here, considering how damn cold it is.”

“What is to say that other shuttles were not sent to the planet’s surface? We’re not the only team hoping to get the Dark Lord’s favour, after all,” the Amnesiac sneered lightly, noting out of the corner of his eye how the other former Arconan glanced back at the wide, sunken area in the ice and snow behind them.

The Clawdite rolled his eyes. “It does not matter. We will come into conflict with someone either way. Bickering amongst ourselves does not change the situation. If other Dark Jedi were tasked with retrieving artifacts, they are headed to the same place as we are. They won’t need to follow our trail, which I do admit is remarkably lacking in subtlety.”

“Let’s just keep moving. The sooner we’re out of this blizzard, the better,” Telum broke his silence, glancing around as though he expected them to be attacked at any given moment.

The Onderonian merely shrugged and made sure he could draw a weapon at a moment’s notice. He was thankful that the metal sheath for his katana was locked up and not attached to him. The freezing spray would have caused both metals to nearly adhere to each other.

Khar Delba
One kilometer west of the Armory

Kant Lavar was, to put it mildly, not a happy camper.

First off, he wasn't a fan of the more ceremonial garb a lot of Brotherhood members wore. Given his choice, he'd have been in camouflaged clothes, wearing his light armor vest festooned with pockets for various tools and bits of equipment, while carrying a blaster rifle and sidearm as well as his lightsaber. Instead, he found himself in one of the various sets of House ceremonial armor, black trimmed in blue (and considering they were on a snow plain, that was as ridiculous a color choice as when the 501st deployed to the forest moon of Endor in white armor) with only his lightsaber still functioning. Add in the fact that he still had a couple of minor injuries, which themselves compounded the fact that he wasn't as young as some of the others... Kant shook his head. He had to refocus on keeping himself moving just so he wouldn't slow the hell down.

Given that concentration, it was no surprise that he didn't catch it at first. The low vibration became a more pronounced rumbling, and Lavar’s head perked up, along with that of the others. Hands unclipped lightsabers almost automatically as the seven Plagueians, almost as one mind, turned to face out and around. The snowfall had been quietly picking up for the better part of their journey from their respective crash sites, and now the wind howled and blowing snow obscured their vision for more than ten feet. The vibration grew more pronounced, and finally someone pointed and shouted an inarticulate warning - a small pack of Sith War Behemoths came charging out of the snow at the small band of Dark Jedi. The creatures, Lavar knew from his pre-mission briefing, were native to Khar Delba but twisted by the Dark Side, changed from peaceful herbivores to carnivores with a taste for Force-sensitive flesh.

Lightsabers came to life, acting as beacons as the Plagueians scattered. Kant leapt to the side, coming down awkwardly and having to roll to avoid being trampled by another behemoth. Suddenly aware of another presence, Lavar came to his feet and brought his saber around just in time to catch a red lightsaber blade from removing his head from his shoulders. As Lavar settled into the defensive flow of Soresu as his opponent continued to press the attack, Lavar made a mental note that whoever put together the intelligence package on this particular operation needed some... creative retraining.

Khar Delba
One kilometer west of the Armory



The Shi’ido in the form of a Pureblood Sith, now a purplish hue due to the cold was the only Plagueian crazy enough to stand his ground. All the others have moved out of the way, but this century old, Obelisk knew his power and the beast he now faced. Four total Sith War Behemoths were in his way, to Silent it seemed strange to travel so far with no problems to randomly be caught by a small pack of Behemoths in the middle of nowhere. No these beast were sent, they were getting close to something or someone, but nonetheless they did not know who Silent was.

Calling on the force the Obelisk reached into the mind of the Behemoth, watching its life open its eyes for the first time. Silent marveled into the whole life, from life until moment just before it reached them all in a split second. Someone. Using the force Silent took control of the now charging Behemoth, making a quick stop in front of the Exarch the Behemoth lowered its self to allow the Obelisk to climb aboard.

The Exarch quickly called his new mount into action blindsiding not one but two of the other Behemoths. Not losing a second, the other Dark Jedi moved in on the last Behemoth. Cutting deep into its leathery skin with sabers it still persisted to fight, commanding the tamed Behemoth to fight it head on the two Behemoths became interlocked through their long sharp tusk. Pulling his two sabers, the Exarch leapt from the crock of his tamed Behemoth coming down the middle of the tusk and slicing through the others Behemoths. Rearing in pain from losing its tusk, Silent leapt up doing an X cross with his sabers across the Behemoths neck. Savoring in the warm blood now spewing over the Exarch, Silent brought a swift end to the Behemoth.

Silent returned to his tamed beast and whipped the blood from his face, looking down at the others. “You know Kuro if you learned to calm the rage you might learn a thing or two, and Kant never seen a man move so slow you must be getting old huh? Well you all get to enjoy walking I have a nice new mount to ride; I think I will call him…..Nightfall. If he survives this trip I might take him back as a pet”

After the last behemoth fell, only one was left but now was under the control of Silent. Brimstone watched and was amused. He looked over at Telum and said with a smirk in his face "he can keep his pet, but he gets to clean up the poodoo".

As the group formed behind their new guide, the winds picked up and dropped the temperature another 10° below 0. The sun started setting and darkness was coming. Cevelon and Kuro was next to each other discussing what plans they need for entering the armoury. Kant and Furios were bringing up the rear, talking strategies also.

"Hey Brim, have you noticed that we are the only Sith in this group, hunting a group called One Sith, and are headed to a fabled Sith Lord's fortress" asked Telum.

"I was wondering if this wasn't a trap to unravel the Sith by those within our ranks" replied the Chiss. "I mean looking back, every shuttle crashed and only we survive?"

As the group marched on, Silent, while on his ride, had the advantage of his meld with the behemoth. He was reading its thoughts and knew where to head. Telling the beast to follow its training, it lumbered forward.

"Hey Silent, lets find a safe haven" yelled out Kuro. Silent nodded and the beast shifted direction to the west. After about an hour, the group found what looked like a cave entrance. Too small to accommodate the beast, the clawdite told it to stay near by as he joined the others inside.

"Hey Brimstone, do you have a problem with obelisks?" ask Celevon. "I sense you are warry of our presence."

"It isn't that i have a problem, it's just that I find it odd that Sith are fighting Sith on a Sith planet and we are dwindling in numbers" replied the Knight. "But someone has it in for us and is sabotaging our every move."

Kuro is about to speak when a tremor in the Force causes him to turn around, looking down the darkness of the cave tunnel. The other three equisites sensed the same thing at the same time, causing them to pull out their lightsabers and igniting them.

"I don't think we're alone" replied Kuro. "And we are outnumbered! "

As soon as he spoke, three thermo detonators come flying towards the group from the darkness.

"KTAH!!!" cursed the Chiss.....

Khar Delba Surface
Cave Entrance


The three small thermal detonators landed in the snow mere feet away from the group. With Silent’s quick thinking and Kuro’s strength, they combined their power to a force push just as the small bombs exploded. The Push was timed perfectly and the two men managed to push the fire back into the mouth of a cave, instantly melting all the surrounding ice. “ah thats better, now once we clear out who ever threw those at us, we will be a ice free place to sit and rest” Kuro said .

As the smoke cleared, the men could hear the scurrying of feet on the dirt covered floor within the cave. “We better get in there after them” Brimstone said. “Lets not, We dont know how many are in there” Celevon explained.

Kuro’s frustration was getting the better of him. “I am not staying in this snow any longer” the templar growled. Kuro is wearing his armor, four westar blaster pistols and just his sheer weight from his build, caused him to much trouble in the snow as he kept sinking and slipping on this ice.

“They dont know you like I do,” Silent said “You need to keep you anger under control, We cant have our tank malfunction on us” Kuro glared at his friend as he turned his attention back back to the opening of the cave. The sound of running still echoed and slowly dissipated. “well looks like whoever they are went in deeper. I think we can go in now” Fistan suggested.

Kuro took the lead and entered the cave. Without knowing that the melted ice that soaked the mouth of the cave had frozen back over, Kuro slipped and fell onto the ground. The ice cracked under the heavy templar and Kuro’s last straw broke. He started to growl deeply, his puls started to race. Kuro rolled over to his hands and knees and while facing the ground, he began to punch the ground creating large craters under his fists. Kuro’s yell would frighten a rabid Nexu. Fistan, Kan, Celevon and Brimstone haven't witnessed Kuro’s Berserker rage before but silent knew it to well.

“Koga! Calm down” Silent yelled out as he tackled Kuro face down. Kuro’s adrenaline was to wild and his strength was great that he tossed his friend off like a rag doll. Catching his footing, silent caught himself. Kuro was going on like a wild animal, who needed to be tamed. “Silent, try you beast taming on him” Fistan suggested sarcastically. “Shut It! You dont know how strong he is like this, Help me out here!” Silent yelled out as he motioned for the rest of the team to tackle the crazed templar.

The six men had pinned the beast that is Kuro after a short struggle, Silent held Kogarasu’s head in a small mound of snow that fell off the walls of the cave from the fight. “Cool off” silent said jokingly. “Sir, we need to fight the real enamy, not you. Dont let something so dumb, make you so mad” Kant said. Kuro let out a hiss followed by a slight growl before regaining his composure. “get off of me or I will rip yall apart” Kuro said in a low tone. “Well I see your back” Silent said as he helped up his friend. “Let us continue” Kuro said as he dusted himself off.

Cave Interior

The Onderonian didn’t bother with attempting to brush the snow off of his gear as he backed away from Kuro. The intense rage that had spread from the Coruscanti had been a thick cloud of energy in the Force, almost a ruby red to the Assassin’s senses.

Closing his eyes, Celevon extended his senses further into the caverns, frowning slightly to himself as a myriad of sensations struck him all at once. The Obelisk steadily picked them apart before speaking up. “Whoever attacked us seem to have fled deeper into the cave’s system of tunnels. It’s also... much warmer than it should be, the deeper we go. I’ll scout ahead and see where they went. There’s undoubtedly a trail to follow.”

“What makes you so sure that there is a trail?” Kant asked, playing the Devil’s advocate as per usual. While he trusted the other former Arconan, that didn’t mean the Corellian wouldn’t question him on the off chance that Lavar learned something new.

“The deep interior of the cave is humid. The moisture from the melting snow and ice means there will be spots where the soil is wet. If you will look by Telum’s foot, you will see a print that has mud in the ice. How deep it is, like this one, tells me something about our enemy.” Edraven explained patiently, kneeling and pointing to another shoe print just between them. “He’s not heavy-set, but agile, judging by how far his feet are placed. There are others, but they all show the same characteristics. They’re light on their feet, yes. But the weight of their boots themselves... we’re looking at durasteel underlay in most, if not all of their armour. I also count at least six different people that were in this cave.”

“And you can tell all of that just from a footprint?” Telum scoffed, though he did glance around curiously at the now visible prints from a dozen boots of differing sizes.

“I was an Assassin long before I found the Brotherhood. Tracking is a necessary skill if your target isn’t where they were expected to be,” the Onderonian replied in a tone that was as cold as the bitter wind of the blizzard just outside of the cave. “I’ll let you know what I find.” A flick of his thumb across his belt and Celevon’s form vanished, blending in with the interior of the cave.

“Very nice stealth system. I recognize it. Looks like he kept some things when he transferred over from Arcona. That bit was a part of the armour he designed for his Battleteam,” Kant murmured in an approving manner. “From what I heard, everything in Spectre Cell changed after he left. Including the armour.”

“How long have you known him?” Furios asked quietly, brushing his blonde hair out of his face.

“Roughly four years. I’ve worked with him a few times. The kid really knows his stuff,” the former Bounty Hunter replied after a moment of thought. Being twenty three years older than the Assassin, it was understandable that he considered the Onderonian a ‘kid’.

“How old is he?” Kuro asked in a quiet tone, two steps behind the Shi’ido. Silent already had the curved hilt in his hand, ready to combat the Sith that Celevon had hinted at.

“He’s the youngest out of us. Twenty-five, if I remember correctly.”

“Age does not matter, so long as you have the necessary skills,” the Assassin spoke up as he appeared a few steps away from where the Exarch was headed. The hilt in his hand gleamed unnaturally in the darkness before a crimson blade sprang to life.

“That isn’t your lightsaber,” Kant pointed out immediately.

“No. This belonged to an... unfortunate Sith who wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings,” Celevon smirked, deactivating the blade. The extinguished Sith Lightsaber showed the flecks of viscous liquid on the otherwise pristine white of his snow gear. “The tunnels lead to two different areas. The first is deep underground. It’s a crystal cave. The other part... well, better to show you than explain. Follow me.”

Whether it was planned or not, the Knights were walking in between the Equites with the Sniper in front. A few of them glanced curiously at what appeared to be a Twi’lek. The faint natural light within the cave made the corpse’s skin appear a burnt orange, though there was no mistaking the pool of fluid that continued to spread from the body’s throat. “And this is...?”

“The unfortunate Sith I was telling you about,” Celevon replied with a shrug. “Guy was an amateur, anyway. A dagger to the throat was too easy. He wasn’t even paying attention.”

“Dagger?” Kuro asked, his hand subconsciously drifting to the Echani blade in his shoulder holster. The Coruscanti’s hand snapped out as an object was tossed over the Onderonian shoulder, catching the black blade. The hilt was wrapped in what appeared to be some type of cord. “You didn’t need to show me that you’re carrying knives. I do have my own.”

“Keep it. I have many more where that came from,” the Assassin replied, stopping at a wall that looked the same as the others.

“You wanted to show us... a wall?” Telum asked, wondering if Celevon had lost his senses.

In response, the XO of Karness Muur pulled another dagger and gently tapped the wall. Rather than the dull thud of metal on rock that they expected to hear, the sound was entirely metallic. “It’s a bunker door. And, if my estimations are correct, we’re roughly forty meters from the main entrance to the Armoury. We’ve found the ‘back door’.”

Khar Delba
Cave Interior

“Well there’s no need to waste time,” Kuro said as he drew his lightsaber.

“It’s probably-” The sound of the saber being deflected by Mandalorian Iron cut Furios off.

“What was that?” Kuro asked once his saber was no longer scraping against the tough metal.

“I said it’s probably beskar,” Furios stated louder this time. “You know, stuff meant to withstand almost anything, lightsabers included.”

“Kant, would you please check that corpse for some security codes?” Celevon asked the Knight. “I’m sure that security terminal by the door is there for something.”

Lavar did as was requested of him and knelt to check for the key to entry. A short examination of the body revealed nothing to the Journeyman. He started to stand up and was about to state his fruitless search when Furios gave an exasperated sigh and stepped toward the Twi’lek corpse. Grasping a lifeless lekku, the tall Templar lifted the body to reveal the needed data pad. Kant picked up the device and saw it had been broken when the body landed on it. Furios grabbed the electronic and drew one of his own knives from the sheath on the back of his waist. With a precise movement, the casing was open and a memory card was removed from the rest of the scrap parts. Morega tossed it to Celevon who pushed it into the input slot of his own data pad. A moment passed as the decoder did its work. Letters and numbers in Aurabesh danced across the screen as the security codes were revealed. Edraven quickly input the code in the terminal and waited for a response from the beskar bunker door.

A beep and green light on the terminal signaled success and the door clicked and lifted to allow the group of Dark Jedi entrance. Inside was an empty passage with another door at the end. The door had the large Neo-Crusader insignia painted on it in red. They walked to the door and again Celevon input a set from the codes taken off the dead Twi’lek.

“Alright, I’m going to go ahead cloaked and find the security hub,” Celevon told the rest of the team. “Just wait here while I do that. Don’t bring attention to yourselves.”

The rest of the team nodded. The interior door opened to reveal another hallway, this time with another hallway running across it at the end. The former assassin in the team activated his cloaking device once more and entered the empty corridor to scout ahead. Silent stepped in first and immediately noticed a security camera on the far wall. He continued walking casually as the others followed him in, hoping not to arouse suspicion to the enemy that may or may not be monitoring them. Furios, who stepped in second and also noticed the camera lifted his hand toward it with an obscene gesture and kept walking.

“Furios, what the hell are you doing?” Kuro asked with an annoyed tone.

“What?” the Epicanthix asked. “If someone is watching us there, it’s pretty damn obvious we’re not on their side.” Indeed it was obvious. Most of them were wearing the House Plagueis armor. Any outside party would see uniformed Dark Jedi walking in and the One Sith don’t wear uniforms.

“Well now they know for sure,” Kuro said. As if on cue, an alarm klaxon started blaring about intruders at entrance Delta.

“Damn it, Furios,” Silent muttered as they all drew their lightsabers.


Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Armory
Security Wing

Celevon heard the alarm start blaring and sighed as he continued stalking down the hallway. A moment later, he had to press himself against the wall to avoid bumping into a squad of One Sith soldiers. They were definitely headed for Edraven’s comrades. The Onderonian Obelisk continued searching for the Security Station in order to shut up the loud siren and hopefully deceive the rest of the base into believing the intruders were dead or in custody.


Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Armory
Delta Entrance

A squad of soldiers confronted the Plagueians in the hallway, demanding identification with the promise of blaster fire if they did not comply. Furios responded with a single, loud “Ha” as he, Kuro, and Silent threw their opposition against the wall with the Force. No sooner had the enemy hit the ground than the three Equites were on top of them, slicing and stabbing with blue and yellow blades.

“Well that was easy,” Kuro said as the head he had just decapitated rolled across the floor.

“Don’t get comfortable yet,” Silent warned as another squad arrived from the right, opening fire from seeing their dead comrades. Morega, Kogarasu, and Silent raised their sabers to deflect the blaster fire as the three Knights stepped in and returned fire. They needed to hold out until their sneaky team mate reached the Security room.

Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Armory
Delta Entrance

The Exarch was no fool to combat, nay blaster or sabers. To those unbeknownst of Silent he was always thinking of the next move, so to Kuro knowing he was about to take on extra blaster fire was no shock to him. Deactivating his saber the Obelisk shouted, “Use the force and close your eyes.” It was but a split second in the galaxy but the event that followed was as if the big bang happened in the armory, a bright white flash, whiter then the snow covering the planet, exploded all around.

Lighting infused force wrapped around Silent’s hands, sparking a like a blue flame coming to life. His Blood red hands arched to his sides as the lighting concentrated at the center of his palms encasing itself in a spear growing in mere milliseconds. The force warned Furios and Kuro at the last second, as the two jumped to their respected sides of the armory the Exarches hands came forth and clasped together spewing the forced infused Lighting. Hurling toward the guards as if they were a metal poles it hit its mark and bounced from one to another.

It took all of fifth teen seconds but the cave now smelled of brunt flesh and a Hutt toilet after an all you can eat buffet. The alarms fell silent soon after, the Exarch quickly turned heel and forced pushed Furios to the wall. Closing the gap between the two the Exarch grabbed the Templar by the throat, his other hand already building another lighting infused spear pointing to the Obelisk face.

“If you ever have another stupid idea you act out to put us in harm’s way again, I will show you that no Battle team, House, Clan, or Darth will keep me from killing you.”

Even his old friend Kuro knew that it really must of hit the Exarches nerve, for if Silent truly got angry no one would hear him coming. Kuro slowly took a step back as the Exarch released the Epicanthix. Grabbing his throat, the Templar didn’t believe that Silent could posses such strength, he pushed the force out with a force grip to prove his point, Furios knew to save that in his mind incase he ever crossed Silent’s path the wrong way.

Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Armory
Security Wing

“Attention, base all clear, system malfunction, return to normal duties”

Celevon made the announcement over the base broadcasting system. Only killing three guards on duty, he checked the camera’s noticing no one else on alert to his teams location, he quickly made a copy of the base layouts, security codes, then destroyed the system before returning to his team.

Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Armory
Delta Entrance

Returning back to his calm demeanor, the lighting all but dissolved to but just a few sparks, Silent knelt down and focused. Calling on the force, the Exarch reached out all around him sensing the life forces not just on his team but those of his enemy until something strong started to pull him in the force. Instantly opening his eyes knew the Dark Counsel would want what was so close but so far away.

“Templar Celevon, I am guessing you have some vital information to share.” Silent said

Uncloaking, the Templar all but smirked at the force that the Exarch embraced. “Trust me I didn’t live as long as I did without trusting what I sense.” As if reading Celevon's mind.

“I do have the layouts of this place and codes, but the map seemed incomplete for a big black spot is in the middle of the map. I should have double checked before I blew their systems to poodoo.”

“No need, it’s where we must go. Be warned there are many surprises that even I could not sense them all. Be ready.”

Overlaying his hood back on the Exarch nodded to the group that he was not going to wait much longer for them to move out.

Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Armory
Delta Entrance

What was it about being here? Why were they here? For that matter why am I here? Telum asked himself the question repeatedly. What would happen if these people even had an idea that I am only here for me. That what I find will not be turned over to the Brotherhood. I am Sith and not about to turn over to my superiors things that would raise me above my fellow Knights.

“Hey snap out of it bud, we need to get moving,” Kuro shook the former Tusken on his shoulder pulling the Dark Jedi out of his revere, and back into the present.

They had destroyed and killed in this room. But they were only peaking upon what would be killed, and what they would face.

As the party turned to leave the room the doors opened and in the doorway stood a few people dressed in the colors of Clan Naga Sadow. One turned to the other and said, “It is not enough we lost an entire planet to these idiots, but here they are trying to seize our gear.”

“Who you calling an idiot?” Kuro asked.

“Oh you would be that moron Berserker what’s your name? Carol?”

Lightsabers ignited in a ray of colors. It became nearly obvious to the Sadoweans that they were about to get defeated, again. It also was obvious to the Plagueians that these few were nothing, probably not even above Jedi Hunter. Their deaths came fast and without mercy. Once the lightsabers extinguished.

Celevon looked over to Kant, “If there were three weaklings here I can promise you there are more in the building.”

Kant nodded his consent, “Well come on let us move on, no need standing here talking…Telum! Put that…Oh in the Name of the Force…seriously you do not need to take their heads as trophies…For the sake of Muz, you do not need to kick them.”

Khar Delba
Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Armory Interior

The Mandalorians built things to last. Lavar knew this; he’d worked with quite a few Mandos - and Mando-wannabes - in both the Dark Brotherhood and during his time as a bounty hunter. As such, he was expecting the armory, almost four millennia old, to still be in at least decent condition.

So it should have been no surprise that one of the systems that had survived the millennia was the security array; as the Plagueian team pushed deeper into the armory. It wasn't a simple jog down some corridors, however; by this point other teams from Naga Sadow and Tarentum had arrived. The Plagueian team kept their focus on moving as quickly as possible - blowing through what obstacles they could, and avoiding those they would be bogged down by.

Kant had somehow ended up on point, his black-with-blue-trim armor and robes now at least giving him some benefit of concealment as one of the senior Plagueians - maybe more than one - steered him via the Force. Now even he could sense the blank area they were coming up on; the primary munitions storage room. The plan was to either use its contents to hold the armory, or to use it to destroy the facility entirely if they couldn’t keep it out of the hands of the rest of the Brotherhood.

Of course, a popular adage in the galaxy was that no plan survived first contact with the enemy, and that adage proved itself again, as Lavar rounded the final corner and saw a half-dozen beings in earth-colored robes clustered outside the heavy metal door to the storage room, with the door itself hanging just slightly ajar. One of the Jedi, a female Twi’lek, gave a shout of alarm and pulled a blue-bladed lightsaber from her belt. The other Odan-Urr Jedi with her turned as Lavar thumbed the activator on his lightsaber. Shouting a brief warning back over his shoulder, Lavar sped up into a sprint to meet the Twi’lek, his orange blade coming up to cross paths with her blue one. As the two of them clashed, Lavar was peripherally aware of the other members of his team engaging the other light-siders, lightsabers screaming as power cells tried to override one another.

Time blurred as the Plagueians and Odan-Urr Jedi fought, but Lavar was abruptly shoved out of the way as Celevon, having dispatched his foe, stepped into Lavar’s fight. Celevon gave Lavar a glance, throwing a gesture at the storage room before refocusing on the Twi’lek Knight. Lavar closed down his lightsaber, realizing that several minutes had passed and feeling more Dark Jedi - and a few more from House Odan-Urr - were closing in. Lavar used the Force to push the door open wider, entering into the storage room.

Had Lavar had the time, he would have gone through the room like a small child in a sweets store. Weapon storage crates and racks lined the walls and separated the room into aisles, with everything from holdout blaster pistols to heavy repeaters to baradium explosives. Lavar clipped his saber back to his belt and jogged forward, eyes on the baradium explosives - then found something better. The crate was heavy, but since the vault had been enviro-sealed, everything in the room should still function - the blaster charge packs even had a small power converter that was, according to the schematics, tied to a small independent geothermal generator at the bottom of the facility. Lavar pulled an old Mandalorian assault rifle off the rack, then a bandolier for the weapon’s charge packs. Pulling a set of packs off the wall, and slapping one into the rifle, he turned and fired at the lock panel on the crate he wanted.

The lockpanel exploded in a shower of sparks, and Lavar quickly lifted the lid, revealing an old-fashioned Mando atomic compression bomb. Lavar quickly went over the bomb’s control panel, pulling it open to reveal the circuits. With a brief smile, Lavar quickly crosswired the security circuits, then pulled a charge pack from his bandoleer and used it to bridge a pair of circuits that were never meant to cross. A shower of sparks came from the panel, and the bomb started making a low whining noise. The power cells in the device were overloading, which meant that in about seven minutes the bomb would detonate at about half-yield; more than enough to bring the facility down and destroy anything and anyone left behind.

Lavar ran out the door, as the last two Jedi - a Master and a Knight, were driven back behind a corner. Lavar grabbed Celevon by the arm, getting the other Obelisk’s attention. “Short version: old Mandalorian nuke in there going off in about six minutes. Staying here would be disrecommended.” Before Celevon could reply, Lavar cradled his new Mandalorian assault rifle in his hands and took hold of the Force to boost his legs, being extremely uninterested in being anywhere near a nuclear bomb when it exploded.

Khar Delba
Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Armory Interior

The Exarch finishing off the reckless Jedi, over heard Lavar about the nuke ready to go. Silent was not going to follow the force pulled him to this area for a reason; he still felt its presence as his teammates were heading for the exit. Deactivating his saber the Obelisk settled down in the middle of the room to reach out in the force, Silent saw the force unlike others to him it was wisp of dark energy glowing darkly in the air and all around. The armory was filled with secrets just minutes away from being gone forever.

Reaching in all directions, feeling, seeing, becoming the darkness around him. He found the darkest part of the room. Standing up he quickly rushed over to the crates, pulling them apart and away from his goal, there in the center a small black box laid. No locks, no old force infused trap, just a small black box that Silent picked up. Opening it blackness oozed forth, rolling over the Exarches body consuming him. Slowly absorbing into Silent’s skin he opened his eyes and laid them on the contents of the box. Naga Sadow’s light saber, not one he carried to his death but in his earlier years. The Exarch knew this was indeed valuable by the rare Lignan crystal that shone brightly between the cracks.

Silent knew of the Crystals but not of the ore which laid all around him from the box’s he threw about, closing the case up and grabbing another small box to scoop more of the ore in, the Exarch ran for the exit of the armory, only four minutes left to go. The Exarch reached out in the force calling on Nightfall to be ready.

Khar Delba
Mandalorian Neo-Crusader Armory Interior

As Bravo team ran for the exit, yet another wave of soldiers, who Kuro believes did not know about the bomb, opened fire. Dodging blaster fire and various thermal detonators exploding behind them as they reached the exit.

“We have less then a min...”Kant was cut off just as the armoy exploded and was engulfed in flames. The shock wave from the explosion tossed them all to the ground. Even the most powerful Sith master would of got dug into the ground by the shock wave.

The smoke and dust started to fade away as Kuro, as well as the rest of the team got back to their feet, and looked back. Most of the mountain caved in on itself, leaving very little of the armory left.

“Well so much for getting something for ourselves” Furios said as he dusted himself off. Silent grinned as he patted his bag of rare ore and crystals. “heh speak for yourself” silent said under his breath.

“We should explore and see if there is anything salvageable.” Kuro suggested. “Well at least we dont have to go through that tunnel again, that whole part of the cavern is gone” Brimstone joked. Part of the armory was visible from the outside and the team started to explore, looking for anything they could take with them so they would not be empty handed.

“Hey, check this out!” Celevon yelled. Everyone rushed over to him and saw what he was excited about. “The bomb took out the ground and there is a whole over level down there, looks to be a elevator shaft.” he explained. “Yes, that must be what we're looking for.” Kuro said. “Before we go down there, lets make sure we have a way out and something to leave in once we get back.”

After looking around the rough icy terrain, They came across a all terrain speeder transport, just large enough for the team to fit in with their cargo. The speeder had crashed into a large icy rock formation, but looked like Furios and Kant could fix it. “Smoke is still coming from the engine, so who ever this belongs to, might not be far.” Kuro said while looking over the body of the craft. After scanning it, he saw something that put a smile on everyones face. “Yall see this, right? Kogarasu asked while pointing to the Symbol. “I know they would be here” Telum said with much delight. “Clan Naga Sadow....”

As Furios and Kant worked on the speeder, Telum, Brimstone and Celevon stood guard incase Naga Sadow returned. Silent and Kuro surveyed the entrance to the elevator shaft, searching for a way to get down to the next floor safely.

The Six Naga Sadow warriors moved silently into position as members of House Plagueis began to moved towards the crashed speeder.

Towards the bait.

"Detonation first, blasters second, lightsabers third. Leave no survivors."

The lead Sadowan removed the detonator from his pocket, his eyes focused on the speeder, and the hidden explosives within it, below.

"Go!"

Cave entrance/exit
Khar Delba

"A long time ago on a galaxy far, far, away" was the last thing Brimstone was thinking when he was on guard duty with Telum and Celevon. An instant before the detonation of the speeder, Silent's pet behemoth bellowed out a danger warning of the approaching Sadowans. The Templar grabbed both Knights and hurtled them aside. At same time, Furios was leaping with Kant from near the speeder.

The explosion ripped apart the speeder. The reverberations of the explosion caused heavy chunks of packed snow and ice to come off above the cave entrance, slamming on the ground, hence cutting off Kuro and Silent who were inside investigating the elevator shaft.

Both of the Equites outside stood up and activated their lightsabers as a volley of blaster bolts came flying at them. The three Knights on the ground, rolled into prone positions and with their blasters or rifles, returned fire at the unseen enemies.

----------

Unknown location
Outer Rims

"Sir, we have received communication from Khar Delba" announced the Sith warrior.

"How goes the battle?" replied Darth Krayt, leader of the One Sith.

"Not well sir. The base has been destroyed. The Plaguians have infiltrated and destroyed the base with some bomb."

"Get me my contact aboard the Ascendancy II. It is time to invite the Sadowans to join us and further the destruction of the Brotherhood."

-----------

Khar Delba

The five Plaguians were now all with their lighsabers drawn just as the six Sadowans came rushing in with their's drawn too. The battle for the base wasn't going to be pretty. Even Silent's behemoth was trying to get involved.

The six attacking Sadowans were a mixture of masters and knights. Two of the masters attacked each of the Plagueis masters, Celevon and Furios, with reckless abandon along with their two knights. Another master/knight team went after the three Plagueis knights.

The fighting was fast and furious. Thrusts... Parries... Kicks... Force shoves... back and forth the combatants kept each other at bay. The master with the knights summoned Force lightning and hit Kant, which hurled him backwards. The Knight was able to roll to his feet and charge back into the fray.

The Sith war behemoth charged towards the four Sadowans that were closely group, but one of the masters felt it coming and unleashed a wave of lightning at it, setting it afire. The beast howled in agony and turned to throw itself in the nearest snowbank to relieve its pain and extinguish the fire on it.

Khar Delba
Cave interior

“Call your ride Silent, have it ram the door.” Kuro said. “I would but Nightfall is currently on fire trying to put its self out” Silent kept an open link to the Behemoth. The Templar let out a slight chuckle but was cut short with a flash of the tragedy that has haunted him from childhood. “Let that fear you just witness remind you that I don’t have to have your strength in my arms to bring you to your knees Templar.”

Kuro rose to his feet, allowing his blood to boil in a cauldron of burning hate. His face the only skin you could see on the human turned red, reaching his peak the Templar went after the Exarch. Silent stood taking each hit trapped by the ice pack exit; pushed every so father into the ice as Kuro pummeled Silent to a pulp. The Exarch laid against the ice in a seated position, bloody, broken, and lifeless.

The Templar finally settling out of his Berserk mode looked in contempt at the lifeless body. “Hmm seems with all the force I could still beat you to death, maybe they will promote me for your death.” Kuro said as he smiled to himself. “Oh Kuro always muscle over brains, seriously your easier to use illusion on when you go berserk.” Silent replied. The templar turned to see Silent off on the other side of the room then looked back at the hole he dug in the ice, no lifeless body to be seen. “YOU TRICKED ME!” Kuro yelled. “Calm yourself you saved us time in digging us out.”

Kuro calmed himself knowing that Silent could probably keep this up all day but no use would come of it, one day on the battlefield they will fight for who was the most powerful, but today wasn’t that day today their brothers in arms needed help. The two stood side by side, focusing on the force within a minute the two Equite’s pushed and pushed. Before them, the cave Exit exploded in a furious blizzard.

Khar Delba
Outside cave

The fighting continued on the outside as Celevon and Furios fought the Sadowan Masters, the third master and knight with two other knights continued to hold the others off. It was brief but all the Plagueians felt it clear as day “Incoming” was what the force was telling them. The snow exploded outwards catching some of the Sadowan knights off guard. Kuro was all ready force leaping into the fray as a knight turned to attack Silent.

The Exarch held his ground with saber in hand and a smile on his face, taking his left foot back and extending his hands outward, Silent pushed the Knight with the force. Ready for the attack the Knight brought his hands up in an X-cross, slowed mildly the knight assumed the Exarch weaker, he assumed wrong. The Knight was not prepared fast enough for the oncoming Behemoth that Silent had summoned, impaled by Nightfall’s tusk Silent reached out in the force grabbing on to the nearly dead knight. Slowly ripping the Knight in half, blood ran from his body as if it were to escape the pain. Screaming till it was all the Knight knew to do the Exarch finished the job, falling to the crimson snow below in two pieces , interiors migrating outward as to find a new home Silent smirked at the finally look of pain and shock that was left on the worthless Knights face.

Breathing heavily, sweat glistens off his red skin, the Exarch studied the scene Kuro Helping Celevon kill one of the Master together then turning to help Furios who was not really in the need of help seeing how he just left his master handless in one side step and a bit of luck. Kant still smoked a bit from his lighting blast but his anger keeping him going not focusing on the master, but to kill its student. Fistan and Brimstone taking on the only other master, Silent knew that was his next target.

Moving in closer, his small but useful break allowed him to do one more move before he had to really take a break. Calling on the force with his arms arched back lighting spears formed once more, fully charged and slapping his hands together lighting shot forward to the Master, Brimstone felt the presence of the lighting not only did the force allow him to move out of the way of the masters downward slash in time but left it open for the lighting to strike true. Taken aback by the attack Fistan did not miss a beat as he swung his saber cutting the master in half by the waist. The Exarch knew what was going to happen next, he was about to be seen as weak in the eyes of his team, Nightfall coming to the Exarches side as Silent passed out and fell to the ground.

Khar Delba
Khar Delba Armory Ruins

As the others emerged victorious from their fights, Kant continued struggling with his equally strong opponent. Furios was the first to respond and launched a small bolt of electricity into the Sadowan Knight. With a short scream of agony, the enemy threw its head back, giving Kant the opportunity to decapitate him. Lavar withdrew his orange blade into its hilt and turned to face his comrades. All were more than a little worn by the constant battling they experienced since Furios flipped off the security camera. The only exception to this was Silent who had passed out from all he had done. The master lay in the snow with his massive pet curled up beside him, keeping him warm. The still-conscious Plagueians walked toward the Exarch, stopping to stand in a half circle with their sleeping comrade between them and the behemoth. Furios lightly kicked Silent in the ribs to see if he would wake up. The Shi’ido didn’t stir. Furios kicked again in the same spot, slightly harder. There was still no response.

“I vote we leave him,” Kuro chimed in, still a little angered by the Exarch using him.

“I second that motion,” Furios said with a grin on his face. The Epicanthix was still annoyed by Silent having grabbed him by the throat earlier.

“And are you going to explain to the Quaestor that we left a third rank Equite passed out in the snow?” Celevon asked with a raised brow.

“Frack you, no!” the tallest Templar replied. “Kuro can do that.”

“What?!” Kogarasu exclaimed. “Frack that sideways. You can tell him.”

“Or we could just not leave him here,” the Chiss among the group offered, interrupting the playful argument between Templars.

“We were joking anyway,” Furios said, turning to face Brimstone. “Now I need a break or I’ll pass out with him.”

That being said, Morega stepped away to the nearest object embedded in snow and sat on it, falling into a Force induced trance. Kuro gave a short nod to the rest of the group and did the same on another piece of debris. Telum followed the Equite’s examples and entered his own state of meditation and healing. The others found their own spots to relax on, not able to use a trance for accelerated rest.

The three who could entrance themselves were awake and fully refreshed within ten minutes while the others were still resting. Furios stood up first and checked on the Exarch. He was still unconscious. The Epicanthix sighed and pushed a wave of heat onto Silent with Convection. Steam rose as the snow melted and the air around them glimmered with the heat. Nightfall the behemoth moved away, discomforted by the unusual temperature. Finally Silent woke up, sweating under heat on par with a small furnace.

“Oh good, you’re alive,” Furios said jokingly. “Maybe you want to go into a trance for a little bit, really recuperate some.” Silent sat up and nodded with a look on his face that said, Obviously now back off.

As the highest ranking member of the team entranced himself, the Epicanthix turned to face the rest of the team. Kuro and Umbra had just come out of their trances and were stretching rejuvenated muscles. Brimstone and Celevon had caught their breaths but still needed more time to recover their former strength. Kant, who had taken more pain than the others, had just gotten over the shock trauma and needed a lot more rest. Morega walked away from the others and toward the dark elevator shaft. He reached into a pouch on his waist and pulled out a flare. With a snapping sound, red light burned on the end of the flare and was tossed down the shaft. Kogarasu came up beside the other Templar and peered into the now partially illuminated elevator.

“I’d say that’s about seventy five meters down,” Furios observed. “What do you think, Kuro?”

“I reckon you’re about right,” Kuro replied. “We should start gathering some cables to climb down with.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” the taller Plagueian said.

Telum heard his superiors and started scanning the ruined armory for any wiring that could be used to explore the mysterious elevator shaft. He noticed the first cable, a thick, black one that had most likely been used to power some destroyed object. The three most energetic Plagueians continued searching for wiring to use and each other member got up to help as they felt fit. Next to begin gathering was Celevon, followed soon after by Brimstone. Silent came out of his trance next leaving only Kant resting while the others continued piling cables on the ground. Once the team had enough to rappel down with, they started welding the lengths of cable together, using the heat from Brimstone’s saber to weld them together. Soon they had a single, long cable, thick and sturdy enough to hold the weight of four of them. Kant had just gotten to his feet and was feeling rejuvenated. Silent took one end of the motley cable and tied it to a Durasteel pillar that was still attached to the foundation. Kuro lifted the rest of the coiled length and tossed it down the shaft. It reached just a few feet from the flare on the ground below. Morega gave the line one sturdy tug and, satisfied with the results, rappelled down first.

Khar Delba
Silent’s mind

The last the Exarch knew he was falling toward the snow, reaching out for Nightfall. Now Silent looked around him, sitting in a middle of a lake on a flat wet stone. Mountains in the horizon, snowcapped tops with a force infused clouds darker then the abyss of a black hole. Blue lighting striking in a frenzy as if it was a Nexu chasing a mouse. The smell of flowers filling the Exarches nose, they surrounded the lake. A small temple laid to his right open on all sides; in it, a Tall Muun sat facing into the mountains. Silent stood and force leapt to the temple the Muun; never moving.

“Why can’t I ever have a moment of just total darkness Plagueis?” Silent asked.

“Then my life would be dull, well my afterlife.”

The Exarch moved to the old Sith Lord, sitting in front of him. Silent peered into the eyes of the Muun before they continued.

“The Jedi were right, well about being patient. You are over using your force and have proven weak among your brotherhood. Soon they may just strike you down, but of course that might just release my soul.” Plagueis said.

“Would you then take over another?”

“I don’t know, our joining was…unexpected” Plagueis said “I can already see your little adventure is making you stronger in the force but using it all at once will get you killed if not by your hands then that of another.”

“I can handle it.”

“Like you did when I took over your body? You still have hate boiling inside you.”

With those words a small blue flame appeared in the middle of them growing bigger and bigger.

“So who do you hate more? Kuro or me? The one who took your life or the one who saved it? You cannot hide your lies from me, I know the truth and one day it will come out.”

With that, the Darth used the force to throw the flames on the Exarch; it engulfed him, burning him. Silent’s flesh began to melt slowly as he screamed until his tongue turned to ash. Charred black the Exarch fell to his back, breaking as he hit the floor. Silent then shot up, the blinding white of the ice hitting his eyes at once, the Exarch looked up to see Furios.

“Oh good, you’re alive,” Furios said jokingly. “Maybe you want to go into a trance for a little bit, really recuperate some.”

The Exarch nodded hoping this time he will not have a dead Munn trying to set him on fire again.

Khar Delba
Elevator Shaft in the Armory Ruins

Furios was the first to go down the shaft. “Its clear, but I have a strange feeling down here.” Kuro leaned over to look down, while holding on to one of the cords. “Move with caution and stay alert”

Kuro was cleared to come down by Furios, Once Kogarasu reached the bottom, SIlent came next, Followed by Telum, Celevon, Brimstone and Kant. Once the whole team was back together, they walked down the short, Durasteel hallway.

“Hey, I think I feel what you were talking about” Celevon said to Furios.

“Yah, so do I” Kuro replied. The rest of the team nodded in agreement as they entered the Large room. “We found it folks, The Lab” Kuro said.


Khar Delba
Laboratory

The room was large. It spanned across the entire length and width of the armory that once was above. The Room survived the explosion because it was not made of stone. The walls, Floor and ceiling was made of Mandolorian Beskar and Dura Steel.

The room was filled with tables with papers and pipes and bowls, desks with desktop computers, wall mounted control panels. Beeping and buzzing from a computer or control room echoed through the, assumed abandoned room. “Whats that noise?” Kant asked. “I was thinking the same thing, Figured this place would be empty after the whole top level got whiped out.” Celevon said.

Kuro was drawn to the far left side of the room, which is where the noise was coming from. “Silent, come with me” Kuro ordered. “Oh you know what this is dont you” Silent said. Kuro’s gaze was fixated on that direction. As they got closer, the sound of hurried typing was heard. Kuro whistled and motioned for the rest of the team to come over “ready weapons” Furios commanded in a low tone.

“Hey! who are you?” Kuro growled. A scared little man, about as tall as the Templar but about 3 times smaller in build. The man squealed as he took off running across the room to a door that slid up in the wall. Kuro’s quick thinking and reflexes made him draw one of his Westars, let out two shots and re-holstered his blaster. The man dropped to the ground and slid into the doorway. The smell of burnt fabric and flesh filled the air, but quickly dissipated due to the large area.

“Am I the only one feeling this?” Kuro asked around with a puzzled look. Furios could feel something profound but could not put his finger on it. SIlent Knew what it was but did not want to say anything in hopes to claim yet another prize. Brimstone, Telum and Kant just felt the presence of the force, but not so much the object or location. “Are you sure its not just the planet? I mean the shroud is toying with us already anyways” Umbra said. “Yea, its taking our shuttles down” Kant added. “No, this is much more stronger then anything Ive felt, this is..” Kuro walked up to a wall and placed his hand on it. “Yes, you know what this is. Kogarasu, how you've changed” Silent thought to himself.

“I dont know what this is but I think someone is trapped in this wall...someone....” Kuro cautiously said as he examined the wall. “hes calling me...I must...” Kuro could not explain the feeling he was getting but he was forced into his Burserkr state. In a roar, Kuro took his fists and pounded on the Dura Steel portion of the wall, As it began to buckle under the crazed power of the Obelisk, a small hole started to form. Once it got big enough for his hands, he pulled the wall panels apart.

What the team saw behind the wall shocked everyone. There, set on top of a ornately carved pedestal was an ancient sith artifact. There was a glow and mist that was surrounded the red and black trimmed relic, Kogarasu beleived it to be the life force of Ludo Kressh, Kuro was sure of it, Only Silent knew for sure due to the help of Lord Plagueis and Silent planned to keep it a secret but only Kuro had the connection for some reason.

Khar Delba
Laboratory

While the others were suitably distracted by the impressive Holocron and the mist that signified a life essence of some type swirling around it, the Onderonian felt something else calling to him. To all appearances, it appeared to be a simple, elegant sword. Gold pommel, black hilt, gold guard and a shining silver blade. It was a beautiful weapon, without doubt.

As Celevon channeled Force energy to view the currents himself, the weapon itself almost took his breath away. Unlike the red and dark purple auras he had seen amongst the other Dark Jedi, the sword itself held a pulsing black aura. To his sight, it almost appeared as a swirling vortex of black energy, with few streaks of red throughout it. Due to his studies, he recognized it for what it was. It was a Sith Sword, essentially formed by the power of the Dark Side.

The Assassin shivered as he gripped the hilt, feeling the energies contained within coursing throughout his body. A hint of darkness shone in his eyes before he blinked and they once again regained their silver appearance. The shimmering red jewel in the pommel was curious and drew Edraven’s attention. It took a moment before he realized that it wasn’t a simple jewel. It was blood crystal. Or, more specifically, a mixture of blood from the original owner of the blade and his or her most devoted servant, shaped by the Dark Side into a crystal. Smaller crystals of similar design were embedded within the guard itself, though they had swirling black within their depths, giving it a murky appearance.

‘They take power from the souls of its victims to renew the sword’s dark power. It’s amazing... this is definitely something Tra’an or Solus would be interested in,’ Celevon mused, searching around for a sheath or something similar. Sighing to himself as nothing nearby could hold it with a proper shape, the Assassin slid the blade into his belt securely, idly wondering how long it would take before the others noticed the gleaming weapon on his side. He would also make sure to give it a thorough wipe down before handing it over to the Plagueian Summit.

A few shouts and a scream of agony caused the Onderonian to spin around, his katana already halfway out of the sheath before he froze, blinking at the sight before him.

Kuro had apparently grabbed the Holocron and now appeared to be having seizures as the swirling dark red and black energies from the device began intermingling with Kogarasu’s own Force Signature. It also appeared as if forks of purple lightning were travelling all across the Coruscanti’s body. The scent of burnt flesh made him wonder if the lightning had been more than just visible in the Force currents.

“Which of you let the di’kut grab the shiny thing?” Celevon sighed, nudging Kuro with his boot. The Onderonian was sure that the Shi’ido had seen the Specter enter the man. Maybe having a Sith Spirit stuck within him would quell the beserker’s impulsive behaviour.

“If I knew someone was going to get fried by a Dark Artifact, I would have brought marshmallows and popcorn and enjoyed the show,” Telum piped up, trying to lend some humour to the situation.

“He’s still alive, Umbra. He’s just going to wake up with a massive headache and be in severe pain. He should wake u-”

The Coruscanti shot up with a yell, trying to knock the Holocron from his hands before getting to his feet and rushing towards the wall, hoping to dislodge the device by bashing it into the wall. Regretfully, his aim was off and Kuro smacked head-first into the beskar, merely succeeding in knocking himself unconscious once more.

“You sure you don’t have that popcorn?” Kant asked Telum with a wry grin. The Onderonian sighed again and shook his head, deciding to search through and see what else could be found within the lab.

Khar Delba
Laboratory

"No, I do not have any popcorn," Telum had failed horribly to see the humor in Kant's voice. He was distracted.

Something glinted in a shadow to the right of Telum. Even through his respirator, Telum could tell the air was old and stale. The tiny flecks of centuries old dust particles floated in the light. Yet outside of the reach of the revealing illumination something darker than the shadows around it all but called out to the Sith. The others were busy watching the epic failing events of this Corusanti to gain access to the old Sith Database, and had no clue that he had wandered off.

Drawing a lightrod from his own utility belt the Plagueian aimed it at the object. The illumination that would be sufficient to brighten a room twice as dark did not light up the object. Instead he submitted to trying it the old fashioned way and reached out with his hands to feel it. Nearly immediately he drew back, flinching, with doubt furling across his face. It could not be, he thought. Taking off the glove from his scarred hand he looked at the hour glass shape that had been carved there. Kal Vorrac di Plagia had done that to him. He had been shaped and formed into a weapon of Vorrac, and to show that he belonged to Kal his master carved the emblem onto his hand with his own lightsaber. The delicate work and perfect shape proving his master's capabilities with the weapon.

Stepping back to the thing he reached out the emblem on his hand fit perfectly with the emblem he felt on the dark object, and it all but seemed to materialize in front of his face. The out line of a chest piece with attached cloak manifested to reveal an old and ancient armor. It took seconds for the Sith Weapon to remove his Brotherhood marauder armor and put on what he found. The pieces fit. They fit perfectly. The hourglass shape sat on his right breast in a such an angle that he could reach his left arm up and over in some form of left handed salute in which his scar would settle comfortably against the raised symbol.

Telum looked back towards the rest of the group. Even Celevon had stopped fumbling with the holocron when the Sith Weapon stepped back into the light. "Umbra...What have you done?" Silent asked.

"I think I found something that is mine."

"All artifacts are to be returned to the Brotherhood."

"I know that but see how it fits? I think it was meant for me."

Silent looked to Kuro. If anyone could understand the ideas that were racing through the mind of the Former Tusken it would be his own former commander. "If he thinks it is his let him have it, it is just armor anyways."

"Thank you, Commander." Telum gave the salute that felt natural in the armor pressing the emblem of his hand against that of the breast plate. The effect was immediate, the world around him swam in a sea of crossing and hypnotic waves, everything he saw became more pronounced, more illuminated. He could actually see Kuro through the force, even though he was not concentrating on the ability.

"Holy Nerf Herder! Telum! What the hell? We can practically see right through you." Kant yelled.

"You must have found an old stealth suit." Brimstone spoke up.

"Look it doesn't matter come on we got a Sith Holocron, everyone stop gawking at what that Ghorfa found and let's get moving." Furios directed at everyone.

After rousing Kuro, the group of seven made their way back to the elevator shaft. The cable still swayed lightly from when the last of them had came down. Small flakes of snow fell down, creating a layer of white where they were. Several levels above, they could just make out the furious blizzard, still going strong. Streaks of white flew past, interrupting the otherwise darkened sky.

“Well, looks like we get to climb. Kuro, put the Holocron in your pack. Climbing one-handed is a curv?,” Celevon pointed out with a slight grin before grabbing the cable and beginning the long climb, thankful that his former Master had been so stubborn when it came to challenging the Onderonian.

The Assassin’s arms felt like jelly once he finished the climb, glancing over and around the rim of the shaft. “We’re clear,” he explained down to the others.

“Good. Climb out so we can escape this hell hole,” Silent grumbled, appearing annoyed at having to hang in place with his feet supporting him on a chip in the stone.

The Executive Officer rolled his eyes and pulled himself out the rest of the way, extending a hand down to aid Kuro. Grasping his hand tightly, Celevon helped the Coruscanti out of the hole.

“We can both do that and pull the others out. It will make it a lot faster than them climbing over the rim,” Kogarasu explained as the both took up positions to grab the next person. A few minutes later, all seven of them were up and sliding a large plate of beskar over the shaft. Normally they would have destroyed the entrance, but their leaders would likely want to search the place for other things of value or interest.

“Right. We made it out and everyone has something to show off for our efforts. Kant, you need to contact the Ascendency and find out where the LZ is for extraction. Be prepared to move, lads,” the Assassin explained, unable to resist the urge to touch the hilt of the powerful artifact at his side.

"Communications are down, Edraven. Too much interference from the planet. We need to find another way back." The ex-Bounty Hunter replied.

"Fute! Alright, looks like we get to do this the hard way," the Onderonian grumbled, placing the mask back over his mouth.

Khar Delba
Armory Ruins

Everyone with their loot to take back to the summit, approached the rubble that once was their escape speeder. Kuro, Silent and Furios looked around for an alternate source of transportation, of course it was only a matter of time before Silent jumped back on his Bohemanth. “What about the Sadowans?” Kant asked. “what about them?” Kuro said. “Well they got to us somehow” Telum said. Kuro, still suffering from the wrestling match with the relic moments earlier. “Its possible they were in the armory and escaped before it blew” Celevon mentioned. “I doubt it” Kuro said.

Kuro told the group to stay with in eye and voice reach, and look around the debris and hill side for tracks and evidence of a speeder or transport that the assassins used. Kuro looked back to silent and saw him just sitting upon his new pet. “What are you doing” Kuro growled. “Im..Supervising. Your doing great, keep it up” Silent said with a grin.

“Hey” Celevon yelled out. “I found some track over here” pointing to the ground. Kuro, Telum, Brim and Kant rushed over and saw the trail in the snow, It lead back and around the mountain .”Well, Lets go see how they got here then huh” Silent said as he and his mount lead the way.


Khar Delba
Canyon Behind Armory Ruins

“There better be a speeder or a walker or something we can use. This snow is really getting on my....” Kuro’s thought was interrupted by the sight they saw once the team reached the back of the mountain, in the Canyon.

Khar Delba Canyon
Behind Armory Ruins

As the group made their way out with their bounty, they saw what look like speeders with Naga Sadow emblems on them. Four total snow speeders in all. Enough for the seven of them. As they made their way to inspect them for any explosive traps, they talked about who goes where. They also search the onboard computers, knowing that they had to have a ship nearby that transported the other clan here.

Avenger II
Khar Delba space

"Are the forces near the base?"

"They are about 50 kilometers from there" replied the Sadowan. "We still have no word from the scouting party and are presumed dead."

"Advance and destroy all the wretched Plagueis down there. Our plans can not be found out about our collaboration with One Sith and Lord Krayt" declared the commander.

Khar Delba Canyon
Behind Armory Ruins

As the Plagueisans finished their systems checks, they assigned a equite with a knight to three of the speeders. Silent took the lone speeder. Before closing his hatch with Furios, Brimstone was looking through the binoculars and viewed across the horizon.

"Brim, close the hatch so we can get going" spoke Furios.

"I can't. We have enemy walkers coming about 50 kilometers ahead if us" replied the Chiss as he pointed it out.

Furios chimed on the comms "we have walkers coming. Prepare for battle " he yelled out.

"Typical Sadow to repeat the same mistakes that Vader used years before on hoth" replied Celevon.

"Let's take them out before they do us" yelled Kuro.

Khar Delba Canyon
Behind Armory Ruins

Kant, behind the wheel of another speeder, shook his head as he clipped his comlink to his collar as he goosed the throttle. “That’s probably the exact opposite of a good plan, Kuro.” Lavar paused for a moment as he threw his speeder into a quick swerve to avoid a burst of blaster cannon fire from one of the walkers. “These aren’t exactly starfighters we’re in, they’re Chariot LAVs. One laser, no tow cables, minimal armor--”

“We have the Force!” Kuro snapped in reply.

Kant grimaced. “Maybe, but we also have something worth a hell of a lot more than a couple of walkers to get out of here!” Lavar sideslipped his LAV again as another AT-AT took a potshot at him. “I say we punch past them and try to make it to the extraction point as soon as we possibly can!” Suiting action to words, Lavar fishtailed his speeder around and barreled directly for the AT-ATs. He was gambling on the gunners on the walkers being unable to keep up with targets as small and fast as Chariot LAVs long enough to get under their guns, then on the walkers taking long enough to turn around that the speeders would be able to get out to extreme cannon range before the walkers could bring them under fire.

Lavar waited a beat as the others came around behind him, aiming between the walkers. The laser cannons on three of the LAVs swiveled and spat coherent light at the AT-ATs, the less from the gunners expecting to do significant damage to the walkers and more to give the crews something else to think about. Grinning tightly, Lavar punched the throttle slider all the way forward, shooting the LAV ahead.

Khar Delba Canyon
Escape Vector

The four LAV's followed Kant, and Kuro in the lead. Furios and Brimstone, Celevon and Fistan, and Silent taking up the rear they flew in a classic diamond pattern. The Walkers soon became a distant fleck in the aft view ports, and the three craft raced towards the extraction point. The comlink had remained open to all. Idle chatter had consumed the group as they talked about the events of the day. Rehashing things so that when they filed the reports details would not be missed.

Furios spoke up with a question during a pause, "One thing I cannot understand is: how is it that a piece of Vorrac styled armor was in that Laboratory?"

Telum imaginied the Templar in his mind, "Well that is interesting and yet, I believe I know the answer." The Knight looked down at the emblem on his hand before he spoke. "This symbol goes back to the time of Darth Vorrac. It was a time of war between the Jedi and the Sith in the Old Republic days. This master Sith learned much under Darth Krassus. There is no reason not to believe for one minute that a piece of armor worn by a minion of Darth Vorrac could not have been found or taken into that Laboratory here on Khal Darba."

Celevon came over the com, "As much as we all love the History lesson Telum, we are approaching the extraction site, and I for one cannot take another minute of being on this planet."

Khar Delba
Extraction Site

As the team had begun climbing out of their craft Telum pulled Furios aside. "One thing I cannot understand is when I put this armor on it fit. You know? It just seemed to fit against my body. What is more is my Force Sense just jumped out of me and was just there."

"Sith Weapon, many things will happen to us, and always will. It is the Force. Yet it is strange that the armor fit. Kal did put you through a hefty training program, and you are no longer the frail whelp that he drug to the temple for training. Perhaps some how the shape you are in now was guided by the Force to don this armor. Who knows. As for the Sense, that would have been your own elation at finding something so unique, and not the armor itself."

The crew had been waiting in a group for the Knight and Templar to return. Brimstone yelled at them, "Hey are you two going to join us or what?"

"I had already summoned our pickup." Kant said.

Khar Delba
Plagueis Extraction Site

Khar Delba
Plagueis Extraction Site

The rumble of battle sounded in the distance as other Plagueians were storming the Naga Sadow Citadel. An LAAT hailed by Kant glided over the icy landscape toward the weary team of Dark Jedi. The chilled wind pushed against the airborne vehicle, causing it to sway as it flew toward them. As it approached them, cracks in the plating could be seen and frost covered the glass on the laser turrets. It seemed that the cold weather modifications were not enough to keep the elements at bay.

Kant and Furios hefted the crate of ores Silent had looted onto the hovering air craft and hoisted themselves into the transport. The tall Epicanthix reached down and gave Brimstone a hand getting in while Kant did the same for Telum. Kuro, Silent, and Celevon each got in next, clutching tight their own mysterious loot. Kogarasu was hanging on tight to the Holocron that he took from the laboratory where Demagol had worked, muttering to himself as if obsessed with it. Furios hoped that his fellow Templar wasn’t attached to the Holocron as it would soon be in the hands of the Summit. Once they had it, it would most likely be studied and then locked in a vault somewhere secret. All Morega had to show for the expedition was the saber he pulled as a trophy from the Sadowans they had fought. He examined the polished hilt clipped to the left side of his belt. The metal had quite a luster to it.

“Where did you find that,” Celevon asked, his hand still grasping the ancient sword he found.

“The Sadowan I killed was wielding it. It’s another trophy for my collection.”

“It’s a nice saber for a Sadowan Equite to have been carrying,” Silent said with a grin. “Maybe you should have the Summit examine it before you place it in your trophy cabinet.” The Exarch saw what the Templars and Knights around him were oblivious to. That saber was gushing as much if not more black energy than the one he had found in the armory.

The group stopped talking as the doors to the transport closed and the LAAT lifted back into the Khar Delba sky. The ridges, rocks, and snow banks passed from view as the vehicle passed them. Winds rocked the ship as it moved to the Staging Area. In the distance, AT-AP bombardment struck the citadel of Naga Sadow. The forces of House Plagueis were laying siege to the Sadowans and One Sith inside. The LAAT lowered itself to hover just above the ground again and the doors opened to let the Plagueians off. With Brimstone and Kant carrying the box of ore this time, the group made its way to the command tent.

Khar Delba
Plagueis Siege Line

Lavar and Brimstone had left the ore outside the main command tent with Kuro, Silent, and Celevon, who were - in theory, at least - going to brief the House Summit on their finds and what had happened at the Neo-Crusader armory. Privately, Lavar had his doubts of what was actually going to happen, but... eh. Wasn’t much he could do about it. Telum and Furios fell in with the two Knights, and the four of them went over to a mess tent to get something to eat while they waited for orders.

45 Minutes Later
“You’re joking.” Lavar looked up at the AT-AP the team had gathered around. “We’re seriously not doing this.”

Celevon raised an eyebrow. “And what exactly about this do you think I find amusing, Kant?” he asked dryly. “It seems a straightforward enough prospect.”

Lavar rolled his eyes. “You know I’m normally the last guy to say this, but don’t we have, I don’t know, ground troops to do exactly this sort of thing? I mean, I’m all about using the right tool for the right job, but Dark Jedi don’t traditionally drive walkers into battle.”

Celevon nodded. “And normally, you’d be right. But in this case, we captured more walkers than we have people to drive them, so we’re being pressed into service. We join the main force once they finish punching a hole in the walls, and then we, quite literally, have fun storming the castle.”

Lavar paused, then looked at his fellow former Arconan. “You think it’ll work?”

Celevon gave Lavar a look like he’d started babbling nonsense.

The Corellian shook his head, grinning slightly while heading for the boarding ladder. “Never mind.”

Once settled into the command chair for a walker, Lavar pulled a com headset from the console in front of him and settled it on his head. Once it was in place, the ex-bounty hunter reached forward and started flipping several covered switches on various panels. A deep, rising thrumm resonated through the walker, and the computer screens came to life as a synthesized voice came over the speakers as Lavar threw power into the walker’s systems. “Reactor online. Sensors online. Weapons online. All systems nominal.”

The comlink crackled to life with Celevon’s voice. “Bravo-One to Bravo-Two. Let’s hit it.”

Khar Delba
Plagueis Siege Line

With Kant Lavar sitting in the pilot’s seat of AT-AP Bravo Two, Brimstone and Silent entered the two gunner’s seats. Kuro, Telum, and Celevon manned AT-AP Bravo One and the two walkers lumbered into place with the other assault pods. While they opened fire on the citadel, Furios Morega went to help lead the ground troops in their charge once the walls of the fortress fell. From the vantage point, he could see mass casualties of both parties still lying on the battlefield around the looming structure. Forcing the Sadowans and One Sith into a corner had been costly but every victory has its consequences.

Numerous Plagueian soldiers nervously awaited the moment when the second assault would begin. About a dozen Dark Jedi could be seen standing at the front of the lines, waiting for the chance to storm in and take over the fortress as well as the many possible treasures within. Furios thumbed the button on his saber and his mind suddenly went back to the trophy saber he had gotten from the dead Sadowan.

20 Minutes Earlier
Plagueis Command Tent

“Solus, could you take a look at this saber?” Furios entered the tent as the other Dark Jedi left.

“Where did you get it?”

“I took it from one of the Dark Jedi that ambushed us after the armory was destroyed.”

The Aedile took the weapon in his hands and carefully examined the hilt presented to him. Thumbing every scratch and engraving, probing the crystals inside with the Force, Solus Gar racked his brain for any connections it held to historical Sith Lords that were known to have been on Khar Delba. He rolled the saber once more in hands and checked the bottom of the hilt. There he found an engraved symbol.

“Ah here we go,” the Battlelord said. “This saber belonged to Darth Malak. His signature is here on the pommel. Since the saber he held before he died was already recovered, I believe this one was either an alternate he didn’t use or his weapon of choice from before his legendary betrayal of Darth Revan. Now the crystals inside are far older than he is and far more powerful. They might have belonged to Naga Sadow himself although I am not sure.”

“If a Sadowan had it, then this confirms that there are more artifacts like it in the citadel.”

“Indeed. Previously, we only speculated that there are artifacts inside, but this is a confirmation. It’s great news that you found this. Taking the citadel has just doubled in priority. Are you up to help lead the assault once artillery has broken in?”

“Of course,” Furios replied with a greedy look in his eye. “The citadel and its bounties will be ours.”

“Good, now make it so.”

“And my trophy?”

“We’ll see what the Quaestor and Dark Council think about it.”

“Alright,” the Templar acknowledged with a nod and left.

Khar Delba
Plagueis Siege Line

The collapse of the south wall snapped Furios back to attention. He called the order for the charge and ran toward the gap along with the other Dark Jedi and over a thousand troops. Plagueian soldiers were marching over the rubble that used to be a section of the citadel walls. A few automated turrets stood in the halls within but the sheer numbers destroyed them in a few moments. A number of destroyed turrets and heavy weapons lay in scrap metal heaps with their dead operators nearby. Other than that, the halls appeared empty. There was no resistance of soldiers to meet them. The Epicanthix stepped back as more troops and Dark Jedi poured in to scour the rest of the compound. Moments passed by before one of the commanders returned with news.

“Sir, it appears that enemy forces have retreated into a tunnel system leading away from the fortress.”

“Looks like we scared them off,” the Obelisk replied. “Any information left in the databanks?”

“None,” was the reply. “They were all destroyed before the enemy left.”

“Have demolitions teams destroy the tunnels leading away and start scouring the lower levels. There has to be something of value left here,” Furios said as he turned and walked back to the outside of the citadel.

The other members of his team had left their walkers and were headed toward the new doorway they had a hand in making. The look on their faces when Morega walked out of the fortress showed that they were aware of the situation. They had missed the battle for the fortress. To the Epicanthix, it didn’t matter. He was more than ready to get off this icy hellish planet, even if they were victorious.