Scholae Special Forces Run On

Run-on Competition: The Chain of Duty

This will be a unscripted runon event. Each unit will have two teams: the special forces runon, where only members of the special forces may post, and the regular runon, where all members (even those in the special forces) may post. The Special Forces runons will be the official submission for qualitative judging.

Regular rules:

1. 250 word minimum per post.
2. 1000 word maximum per post.
3. Players must post a minimum of 2 times.
4. Players may post as many times as they desire.
5. 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. (Email Sarin and myself for anything)
6. 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. (Special Forces) Only two members of the Special Forces will be permitted to sit this event out.
9. Members failing to post 2 x times per phase will be disqualified and will not be given credit for participating in the event.

Aboard the HSP flagship Warspite, hyperspace. ETA to Ashas Ree: five hours.

Both the Quaestor and the Aedile of House Scholae Palatinae were sitting in the Emperor’s office, waiting for several Dark Jedi whom they had asked to attend the final briefing before the assault on Ashas Ree. The group was quite small. Apart from the two leaders of the Imperial House, it was going to consist of Kell Dante, Brent “Archangel” Ligur Victae, Thran Occasus, Evant Taelyan, Mayda Ferium and Eetherbiail.

“Our task is clear, but quite difficult to complete with success,” spoke Xen’Mordin, when the Special Forces group appeared in his office. “We are to secure the perimeter, before our main forces will be deployed on the planetary surface.”

“Yes, what makes this task hard is the fact that we want to simultaneously attack the hostile fleet and to launch a precise strike on the planet, in order to eliminate both air and ground forces nearby planned extraction point,” said Xantros, continuing the Quaestor’s thought.

“How do you want to achieve this?” asked Eether.

“The bulk of our own armada will strike enemy ships in five hours from now. However, amidst the chaos of the battle, a small group of our fighters and a transport ship will make a microjump and descend to the planetary surface from the other side of the planet. It needs to be limited in numbers to our Special Forces team, a few other pilots and possibly two or three dozen special operations troops.”

“You want to secure the perimeter with so small group of Dark Jedi and soldiers?” asked Eether again.

This time, he was answered by Xen’Mordin.“It is possible. As you know, we display various talents and gifts. We have a mix of pilots, warriors and intellectuals. In addition to that, we will be supported by a few fleet pilots and soldiers who are extremely well-trained, even if they are not Force-sensitive beings. It should be enough to secure the landing zone. Remember that we are not going to wipe the whole planet out on our own. We just want to save some time and surprise our hosts.”

“What is the division of duties?” asked Archangel.

“Me, Evant, Dante and Thran, assisted by average pilots, will provide air cover and shot down as many hostile pilots as possible. The rest will lead the ground assault, with Xantros as the leader. This will ensure that we divide our force in the best way and increase our chances to succeed.”

“Sounds good to me, but I think that we need to discuss few details yet.”

“There is enough time to do this, Dante. That is why I have summoned you so early,” replied Xen’Mordin.

Aboard the HSP Flagship Warspite
Hyperspace, ETA to Ashas Ree: Five Hours

The behemoth grunted. Several heads turned towards him, one or two with an expression of apprehension, with one whimsical smile belonging to the former supermodel turned Sith Warlord.

“Something on your mind, Archangel?” Xen’mordin asked, his face bathed in a pale blue glow as the map of Ashas Ree revolved slowly before him. He had come to expect a strong opinion from the soldier, and rarely was it off-key.

“While I am appreciative of the… exuberance displayed by the Aedile here,” Archangel began, folding his arms across his massive chest, watching their target world’s 3D representation, “I must disagree with splitting our forces. We are but a small team, and no amount of non-Force soldiers can make up for a loss of half our team.”

His gaze slipped from the display to Dante, the son of one of his oldest friends. At times, he still felt a pang of nostalgia as he saw the boy turned man. He could see Angelo’s face in the boy, and in his gait.

“I say we focus on the Nexus. The Sith Lord may have his holdings, but the Nexus is where the power comes from, and where we’re like to find anything of interest. Deep space insertion, using our Banthas, and we can drop a fair number of troops and supplies in with us, give us more of an advantage.”

An array of murmurs met his comments, and a steely glared from the Duros Aedile, Xantros. He had not expected the put down from the man who had held the position before him, though he wasn’t surprised. The Shaevalian had always had a form of selective xenophobia, one where he hated with a passion any alien which stood in his way, caused him trouble, or even happened to cough too loudly in the hallway.

“We use our Bantha-class Assault Shuttles, pile on some Commandos and some of the Noghri we spent so much on, and maybe a speeder bike or two, and drop on the nexus,” he continued, unfolding his arms, and striding slowly towards the Ashas Ree display. He tapped a few keys on the console, changing the 3D image, drawing a reasonable scale model of the Nexus and its surroundings. Nothing was certain, yet, because no reconnaissance had been performed.

“We need more details,” Thran said, his interested piqued, “Where are their guards, when we their patrols?”

“We scout,” said Mayda, from the shadows of a niche beside a console. Her lips curled into a smile, apple red and shimmering with blue tints.

“We scout their positions, after setting up a forward command post. Snipers for overwatch, an attack on one end for a distraction, while teams infiltrate. Should be a quick mission, perhaps not an easy one though,” Archangel explained, nodding his thanks to Mayda for her timely addition.

“This will be dangerous,” Eether said, his hand resting on a blaster bolt wound he’d taken on the last planet. The huge soldier turned to his long time comrade, and smiled.

“Battle wounds are nothing to new to me, Knight. I’ve seen men live with a dozen holes in them.”

“Is that right?” Eether replied, a smirk breaking through the gloom which had fallen onto his features. Archangel knew that a little black comedy could go a long way with the man.

“Surely is. Knew a man once who had a hole clean through his whole shoulder. Used to keep a spare hankie in there.”

As a group, the team burst out laughing. The tension before a battle was always a sticking point, even for veterans of countless wars. A joke or two never hurt.

“I think, gentlemen, lady, that we should probably get a move on,” Xen said, standing back from the display, clapping his hands together once in a show of finality. It is not often a team of eight battle brethren from Scholae Palatinae were sent out into the field together, much less the strength that they had gathered here today. Woe be to the enemy of the Sword, Sun and Dragon.

Eether silently chuckled at Arch's joke. He forced his body to stay silent, as every time he laughed, it sent pain up his body from the blaster bolt. He calmed him and looked around the room on the ship, as Xen concluded, they each went their way collect their things and get ready.

The tension was gone, which only left the crisp excitement of battle. It was the calm before the storm. Eether nodded to his companions, understanding the pressure surrounding each of them to succeed. The first step of their voyage was stealth. They had to then create a small base of opperations to serve as their command post. From there they would be able to spread their influence silently.

Eether turned and walked towards Xen, "So how are we going to get three shuttles down without anyone noticing? Cloaking devices? Destraction?"

"We'll use some stealth cloaking devices that will hopefully get us down to the surface. We're planning on landing here," Xen pointed at the hologram of the planet, "it gives us the best location for where we need to go."

Arch meandered over to the two Dark Jedi and looked at the map, "Ah good, you remembered where I told you to go." He got on the intercom and hailed the pilot, "Get us hidden and take us down to where I send to you." Arch hit a few buttons that responded with some beeps. The pilot sent back, "affirmative sir."

The veil passed over them as they flew into orbit, hidden among the stars and other technological devices...at least it was supposed to.

As they flew silently, one of the shuttles drifted out of formation slightly. It broke out of the shielding bubble and was noticable on radar. They quickkly shifted back in position, but as quick as their dot appeared, they were seen. A bright red bolt flew up from the surface and struck one of the wings of the shuttle that exposed itself. Smoke rose from its hull and it flew jaggedly. It doglegged over and knocked into the wing of the second shuttle. The Special Forces team's shuttle dived to avoid getting hit.

Sirens, alarms and bells went off all over the ship, and Arch stumbled to catch his balance as he grabbed for the intercom again and connected with the three shuttles, "land us as quick as you can, we won't make where we planned but do NOT, I repeat do NOT let them follow you and do NOT crash my shuttles!"

"Arch, we've got some local color happening. Your grand entrance would not go amiss right now" Eether said with a grin.

It was always a harrowing landing in enemy territory. Amid the shaking, diving, alarms and warning lights Xen remained calmly focused.

“I would appreciate it if we didn’t crash the ships.” He said mostly to himself.

“I’m working on it,” Archangel grumbled before barking a few more orders through the comm-system.

Thran let out an impatient sigh before speaking, “You know if you had just let me fly us…”

“This isn’t a TIE fighter Thran. Your time for some thrilling heroics will come I am sure.” Xen said coldly.

The other two shuttles were spinning attempting to regain control. The surface of the planet was quickly growing beneath them. Every member of the team kept an eye on the displays showing their approach. A Dark-Side Nexus was a find too grand to pass up. There was a palpable hunger on board the ship from the Special Forces team.

The landing was hard; the Special Forces shuttle dove much more rapidly to avoid getting hit as the other two shuttles had. With a jolt Xen slammed forward into his seat’s restraints. It was uncomfortable and mildly painful, something they were all sure to complain about when the mission was done. Just as quickly as they had landed Xen was out of his harness and at the door off the shuttle. He looked up, smoke was billowing from the shuttle that had fallen out of formation. The other shuttle had finally managed to gain control.

“So much for a smooth landing. “ Xen said.

“It could have been worse, there are good soldiers on those shuttles, we will need them as we establish the forward command base.” Dante said from behind him. For a moment Xen was almost convinced it had been Angelo, Kell remained the spitting image of his father.

Xen stepped from the shuttle, continuing to watch the other two ships land with equally jarring results as his own.

The Commandos wasted no time disembarking. This was nothing new to them.

“When we are done here, bring me the pilot of the ship that fell out of formation. There will be… words.” Xen commented. Xantros nodded understanding the meaning. Mistakes were what cost Scholae Palatinae the previous planets in the Crusade. Mistakes cost them major Victories. Mistakes cost them lives. Mistakes would not be tolerated.

"We need to move quickly, we have more ground to cover than we expected." Evant said attempting to bring the group focus on the task at hand.

The team moved on quickly to their destination point. Fortunately, it seemed that there was a early autumn on the northern semisphere, where they had landed. Thanks to that, it was not very hot on the planetary surface, so that they did not get tired at once. Xantros looked into the sky and noticed very few clouds on it.

“Good, we will be able to notice any fighter coming on our way,” he spoke to the rest of the team.

“They will easily notice us too,” replied Archangel with an anger in his voice.

“If there were more clouds…they would be able to strike us without any prior notice, but the sound of fighter engines,” replied the Duro. “In this way, we will have more time to prepare ourselves, in case the worst scenario takes place.”

“Hopefully not,” said Eether. “I do not want to end up like some grilled panda meat.”

The team smiled, hearing the reference to one of Taldryan members. The reference that would never be repeated in presence of that guy. Few would dare to provoke a Dark Jedi Master, especially in such way. Fortunately, the man was not close enough to hear that. Hopefully, he was not close enough to interrupt their mission.

“Sir,” started one of the lieutenants, who led the commando strike teams, approaching Xen’Mordin. “What if we encounter hostile forces? Do you want them alive for questioning?”

“If anyone gets in our way…Shoot’em all.”

“Shoot’em all?”

“Politely. Violently. Whatever way you prefer. I want to see them dead. All of them. Relay this order to all members of the strike forces.”

“Understood, sir.”

The group continued their march through the grasslands. They still had few kilometers to walk before they would reach their destination point, the nexus of the Dark Side, which was affiliated with Freedon Nadd. But it was then, when the troubles on the ground started. Like if the troubles in the air were not enough.

After the temperate grasslands that their LZ had been located in, the cool air abounded in the deciduous forest that the strike team was now walking through on the way to their primary target, the Dark Side nexus on the planet’s surface. With the favorable environment, the small group was able to move quickly and stealthily through the woods.

Noghri, commando teams, and Dark Jedi moved through the dense foliage with ease as the members of Scholae Palatinae covered the distance to the target in the course of a day’s travel.

As they came to the crest of the mountain that they were currently traversing, the main party stayed on the back side of the incline and began preparing for the assault under Archangel while Dante and a few of the special forces troopers made their way up the rest of the way.

One of the commandos commented “Sir… this is about the easiest insertion that we’ve ever had. It’s just odd that we haven’t seen anyone on the way here.”

Looking out over the ridgeline, Kell said “Quit talking about it, or you’ll jinx this whole op,” with a grin on his face. “The inability of the One Sith to control a large area of the planet is allowing us to gain a foothold on each world. You should just be glad that this isn’t a more conventional war,” he continued as the troopers began setting up the observation post overlooking the target.

Even though he had made a joke of it to the young commando, Kell couldn’t let it out of the back of his mind. There was a low risk of having come into actionable contact with the quick vertical insertion that they had made, but they still should have at least seen some signs of the enemy whether it was patrols or observation posts around the nexus.

"Sir," Mayda sidled up to her battle team leader, "I agree with the commando. I have a bad feeling about this." The scarlet tendrils blew in the breeze against her face as the Priestess looked side to side, as if waiting for something to happen.

Dante nodded, but gave a reply loud enough for all of them to hear, "Well, there's nothing we can do until something happens, but everyone - be on the lookout." Then he turned to her, speaking softly only to her. "And how are you holding up?" he asked, giving a downward glance to her midsection. It was likely that he was also trying to read her through the Force, she figured.

"I'm out of breath, but I'll be fine," was the curt reply, though not entirely a certain one. She wondered why he had brought her up here with him, or on this team altogether, figuring it could be a test to discover the truth about her recent weight gain. She sensed that he knew, and though her reply was neutral, she also figured that she had just confirmed his suspicions. No one else had noticed. "I am wondering though..."

Their moment was interrupted by the echoes of a screech further down the mountain, in the direction of where they had left the rest of the team. Mayda offered her opinion, "It sounds like a large bird of some kind." Suddenly, more screeches followed, indicating there was more than one creature producing the noise.

The young leader narrowed his eyes, trying to scan the area with his macrobinoculars, "I'd say its down near our team." With a motion to the commandos, he called them over to him, save for two who would continue to set up the observation post. He led the group back down at a brisk pace with the intent to assist the others. But the plan was cut short when they were startled by a louder squawk seeming to come from just beyond the trees in front of them. The crunch sound of a few broken branches under footfalls heralded the beast's entrance. Even on all four legs, its height was as much as four times a person's. It's wings were folded back as it stopped short upon seeing the group.

Dante wondered aloud, "Is it a type of dragon?"

"Close. It's an uvak. But I don't see a rider," she surmised, careful not to make a sudden movement. "Maybe it's been let loose from its pack. If you could get close, you can jump on its back," she offered.

Dante gave her a cross look, but begrudgingly admitted, "Well, you were right about this being a bad idea."

Mayda quipped back to him appreciatively, "Thanks for sayin', sir."

Further down the mountain, the team was being attacked by a swarm of Devish reptavians.

“What makes that noise?” asked Archangel, when they heard a loud screech coming out of a dark cave nearby. A few seconds later, he was given the answer, as a swarm of Devish reptavians flew out of the cave.

“Watch out!” shouted Xantros and he dropped to the ground.

All members of the team quickly took out blasters and started shooting at the group of animals. They were difficult targets, as they were moving quickly, but soon they were decimated and retreated into the cave with another loud screech, which expressed panic instead of anger and hunger.

“What were these creatures?” asked one of the commandos.

“Devish reptavians,” answered Xantros. “They originate from Devaron and I wonder, who brought them here. Is anyone hurt?”

“Just a few scratches,” replied the medic after a brief examination of the troopers in the team.

“Be sure to treat them properly. We are not sure whether claws of these beings are poisonous. I do not want anyone to die or to slow us down because of their carelessness.”

“Why do you think they have attacked us?” asked Archangel.

“We are very close to the nexus of Freedon Nadd. The Dark Side had to increase their natural aggression. It is also possible that our own abilities attracted them and made them think that we pose a threat to them. We will probably never know.”

“Everyone ready?” asked Archangel few minutes later and when all members of the team confirmed, he said, “Let’s move out. We have no time to lose.”

The team had been startled by the devish reptavians, but the brief encounter was not what had them all on edge. Even the commandos had become more ridged, tense, on guard. They had yet to find any of the One Sith forces on the planet. It was a troubling thought given how much longer the One Sith had been on Ashas Ree. But even that didn’t account for the chill that everyone felt upon their souls.

They were close. The Nexus of Freedon Nadd was calling to them all. Xen looked around. The Dark Jedi of the group had all had a hungry look in their eyes, but just behind that was an ounce of fear. The Dark Side was powerful here, and if the devish reptavians had been so affected, there were sure to be even worse things lurking ahead of them.

“Do you feel that?” Xen muttered half to himself, half to the group.

“How could we not? Even the commandos can feel the power here,” Thran responded. Xen shook he head.

“No. I mean there are others here. I can feel them nearby.” The team froze.

“I don’t think they know we are here, yet, but they know we will be coming soon. They feel, distracted,” Xen continued.

“Soldiers move ahead,” Archangel motioned to the commandos. Armed with lights on their blasters and helmets, the soldiers slowly led the way deeper into the cave. They knew at any moment they could turn a corner and be next to One Sith forces or worse. Places such as this tended to attract the most powerful and terrifying sithspawn.

“We should pick up the pace,” Thran said after several minutes of silent careful walking.

“This is a time for caution, something I know you aren’t very familiar with,” Evant said softly though with a bit of a grin on his face.

“We can feed on the power here, just as anything else we might find. Why hold ourselves back? We can ascend to a new level of power thanks to this nexus!” Thran retorted.

“Thran, as much as we would all love to see what your celestial form would be, I really don’t want to end up dying in a cave,” Xen said shaking his head.

“Would you guys focus? Just for one minute. Please,” Archangel said annoyed.

Arch had just told them to be quiet. The group fell into a silent, on edge calm. The slowly trudge over the terrain and towards the growing sensation that they all felt. The Force users started becoming twitchy and aggitated. Eether saw Thran let his hand rest at his saber in a passive aggressive walk. His eyes darted between the groups members. Eether slowed his pace and fell sharply behind him to keep an eye on the man.

As they walked, Thran started shifting towards their Emperor. His hand no longer rest forcefully at his side, not moving with his body, but clutched around its hilt. He unclipped it and walked behind Xen and opened his mouth to say something when Eether shoved the hilt of his lightsaber into Thran's back, "Don't move Thran. This isn't you. You're just feeling the power of the Nexus."

Thran turned his head so that he could see Eether out of the corner of his eye, "But with said power I can become emperor...do things my way."

Eether grabbed Thran's lightsaber, only getting it due to his surprise move, and smacked him upside the head. Thran stood there dumbfounded at his friend Eether and shook his head. He blinked his eyes and came to his senses with a grin, "Oops?"

Xen glared at Thran with a knowing glare and things returned to normal. The others around them didn't seem to understand what had just transpired, but they shrugged it off and continued on their trek.

They followed the trail of power into the mouth of a cave. It was a small entrance, only allowing one person in at a time. Eether stuck his head in and peered into the darkness, not able to see much but a small faint glowing light deep within the cave. He turned to Xen and Arch and whispered, "It looks massive. But if you look carefully, there seem to be some figures around the light in the chasm. Should we try to sneak up on them? They might not be able to Force us with the nexus so close." The three of them looked into the hole and stared longingly at the eerie light. It was drawing them in close, and they had to have it for their own. Mesmerized, they shook their heads in unison and finally got ready.

Arch nodded curtly and they filed silently into the cave mouth. Once they were all through, the squad broke up into smaller groups and attempted to surround the seemingly smaller group. They made their way around and Xen ignited his blade and coughed. The figures around the nexus spun around and ignited their own lightsabers. Someone behind Scholae's forces threw Force Lightning into the air and lit a device to illuminate the room...they were horribly outnumbered and surrounded. Their robes didn't resemble the One Sith's accolyte's at all. There were different symbols embroidered on their chests, shoulders, and arms. They were from another sect. Eether cursed inwardly, remembering Xen's words, "dark side nexus always end up swarmed with sithspawn."

Eether had no idea how they moved through the group without hitting or drawing the attention of any of these Forces. But somehow they had, and they were in over their head...

Cave System near Force Nexus
Ashas Ree
Time Unknown

“Fire line!” he bellowed, his lightsaber appearing in his hand and igniting instantly, bathing the surroundings in a viridian hue. Around him, other lightsabers came to life, a variety of reds, blues and greens, though the combined dark crimson of the Sith sect before them drowned them out. Troopers around them moved quickly into cover, forming the fire lines, as ordered, to provide covering fire for their Dark Jedi masters.

“You've come to this place, a place of darkness and power, with little more than a few lightsabers and some pathetic mortals,” a voice said, echoing throughout the rock and lichen. It seemed to emanate from everywhere at once, from each of the Sith before him, as if they spoke with one voice, one mind.

“You are weak, you are few and we are many, we are strong. You are nothing, just dust below our boots,” the voice continued, slowly rising in volume, and venom. There was a vehement rage swelling within the speech, growing fangs and claws as it reached the Scholaen ears.

“Stand firm!” Archangel ordered, his lightsaber raised in a defensive posture. A commando dropped to a knee beside him, and sighted along his blaster rifle, breathing heavily, and sweating from exertion and the heat of the cave. He could almost smell the fear emanating from the man, and soaked in it, fed on it for a long moment, allowing it to boil within him, bringing forth the rage he had so long come to love and relish.

“They are starting to damage my calm,” Xen said, pulling back, slipping behind the first row of troopers. He turned his head to Archangel, and smirked, watching the man seethe.

“You lives are forfeit!” the voice roared. The Sith charged, sabers erect and ready to strike. The commandos opened fire, and the intervening air was filled with laser blasts, ozone, and spurts of blood and ichor. The Scholae team roared as one beast, as Xen's momentary pause had allowed him time to connect their minds in a Battle Meld of sorts. Eether and Thran waded in, slicing and deflecting, providing the troopers with a commanding display of swordsmanship.

Archangel was not so flamboyant or delicate. He let out a roar which seemed to shake the very core of the mountain, blasting a dozen Sith acolytes from their feet, bursting ear drums and disturbing internal organs. He charged through the gap, his heavy footfalls landing hard on the bodies of his fallen foes. The Bear of Ptolomea bellowed, his rage radiating from his body, filling the commandos around him with a surge of adrenaline and courage, as he focused on one particular Sith, a tall, dark figure standing behind a rank of female guards.

“Coward!” he screamed, his shoulder slamming into the first guard, his lightsaber bisecting the next, shoulder to hip. The next two slowed his advance, however, their skillful swordplay pushing him onto his heels and away from their master.

“Fool. You seek to strike the head of the monster and yet, you are too weak to see!”

The figure hadn't even moved, or blinked, at the wild man's charge. He sported a calm and pleasant smile, as if this engagement was little more than practice for his minions. The arrival of Evant and Koryn changed things, the pair slamming into the opposite side of the formation, cutting a swathe of death and destruction into their ranks.

“Heavy Weapons!” Xen shouted, pointing his lightsaber at the cluster of guards and the Sith Lord, “Open fire!”

After a few minutes of enacting her Beast Control power, the Priestess had calmed the uvak enough for it not to charge at them, and the troops also backed away, to the edge of the forest clearing.

Dante had taken an urgent call from his outpost sentries. When Mayda looked over to him, his body movements had become nervous and agitated. Putting his comm back on his belt, he yelled to her and his men, "Our team found some hostiles and are engaged in combat. We head down to the caves!" He even seemed to be excited about it, she noticed, whereas she felt only trepidation. The troops were already running further down the mountain.

Mayda knew Dante was in a rush so when he ran by her, she offered with a smile, "Would you like to get there faster?"

Within a few minutes, the pair had arrived at the given coordinates. Dante hopped off from the mount and ran toward the action. Mayda, having bonded with the uvak, guided him a bit away from the caves and told him to rest under the foliage so as not to be seen by the evil people. As she dismounted, she became keenly aware of the heaviness of the nexus. Its pull made her stumble and fall to her knees. The uvak whinnied at her, but she assured it with a calming thought. Then as she headed out, she smartly thought to message the shuttle pilot and let him know their current coordinates so he could be on standby in the upper atmosphere, should the need for an urgent extraction arise.

Walking carefully toward the caves, her anxious mind began to wonder who and what was in this nexus. Which agents had the One Sith sent? Surely this place was not the most useful of the three current targets, and their forces would be spread among the three concurrent battles. But it would be guarded nonetheless. The main question on her mind - would he be there? She shunned the notion immediately, focusing on the present and going into the tunnel entrance that was on the opposite side of the cave from where Xen's team had entered.

Halfway down, saber lighting the way with its lavender glow, she spotted something unusual on the ground and paused to pick it up. It was no ordinary obtuse-shaped rock: larger than her whole hand and heavy, it seemed to be some kind of crystal covered by crusty dirt and rock that had protected it over the years. But a few spots of metal peeked through. "Ooh shiny!" she exclaimed in a whisper, pocketing the pretty treasure for later.

By the time she arrived in the large center room of the cave, her head was spinning from the effects of the Dark Side, like a fog of the mind. She was relieved to see that the battle was over. A pile of anonymous bodies covered the floor. Dante was standing atop it, holding the decapitated body of what appeared to be a high Sith in fancy robes. He threw it aside and asked incredulously, "What the frag took you so long, woman?"

She replied with glee, "Oh, I found a shiny." Then she added for the group, "Come, let's see what else we can find now that you've exterminated the vermin."

The temple was unlike any other that Dante had been in over the years. Most places that were steeped in the Dark Side were dark and dangerous places, but, even after centuries of decay, the palace still shone brightly. It was a juxtaposition as the Light and Darkness came together to form the tool of the Force. For the Obelisk, it was almost a perfect example of what Dante thought of as the Force: the ultimate tool for the ultimate warrior.

Quickly, the strike team made its way through the temple, but they were sorely disappointed in the lack of an enemy presence in the facility. Regular troops were called in to form a better perimeter around the ruins, and the elders of Scholae Palatinae made their way through the various empty rooms that the One Sith had left behind. Whether or not anything had been left for them to loot was an interesting question that the leaders of the Empire were pondering, but the answer was not readily apparent as it didn’t look as if anything was missing.

Xen looked around and said “Let’s get this operation ended. I’m tired of being sent on wild goose chases by intelligence.”

Dante and Archangel agreed with both nodding their heads in agreement. Kell said “Another planet where the enemy didn’t put up a struggle. Are we really fighting a campaign or keeping our forces away from our home systems to keep us from fighting the other houses and clans?”

Shaking his head, Archangel responded with “Let’s get off this world and go find some action…” With that, the strike force headed back towards their shuttles for the long ride home.