A Champagne Supernova (Sign-Up/PM)

[Ellie Mors]

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Khar Shian, Naga Sadow's Secret Fortress​

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Deep in the far reaches of Ancient Sith Space, laying just beyond the outskirts of Mandalorian control, is the planet of Khar Delba - a planet once known by the murdered Sith Lords to be the home of legendary Naga Sadow, the inheritor of the title of Dark Lord of the Sith from Marka Ragnos and Master of Freedon Nadd. Over the tens of centuries that have passed since his death, many have scoured the planet, his fortress, and the site of his two tombs for his mysterious holocron, which has had its information transcribed partially by Darth Sidious in his own addition to the Telos Holocron and his infamous Book of Sith. Unknown to many then, and now nearly all in the present, one of the planet's moons bore a secret citadel on its darkest side. Hidden by mountainous ranges and shrouds of mist and snow, Naga Sadow's secret fortress lays untouched, a small manuscript, ancient in lettering and worn by time, leads the way to the dark of the moon, vaguely describing the general location of the fortress, yet nothing further.

.....​

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKVfcGyhaYg[/media]​

The silent hum of the freighter's engines pushing the ship through space towards the very edges of Sith Space, just beyond Mandalorian space, hardly permeated the mind of the Sith Lord, Darth Vitium, who sat in meditation in the center of a small makeshift meditation chamber, focusing on what the future may have in store for their trip - already well aware that the dangers that may lurk far off on the small moon that they sought after may very well be more dangerous than the majority of what they'd faced in regards to the reputation that Naga Sadow held. But it was not her gift in foresight that was to meddle in the affairs of her silent pondering, rather the detached voice that had plagued her for nearly as long as she could remember now - a conceived consequence for her dabbling in Sith Sorcery before she was prepared and trained. It appeared too late for her now, far too late, to simply extract the voice - no matter what trick or spell she tried, nothing would rid her of its - his - incessant whining and sarcastic jabs of progression. 'Look at you, a Sith Lord at long last. Took you long enough, didn't it? I suppose if you were more apt to listening to my advice - more willing and open to trusting my words, perhaps.. ' Began the ramblings of the masculine voice, much to her chagrin. 'Then what? I would have believed the words of some spirit, to what end? Perhaps I did listen, perhaps I did follow your advice, then what would become of me? Would I become your new vessel, an escape from death? Do not waste my time with your worthless banter.' She shot back, her body still sitting perfectly calm, eyes still shut, and not an iota of her posture suggested that she may be leaving her meditative trance just yet.

'Had you observed what I said, followed my words, done as I asked, then not only would you have reached what you are now long ago, but you could have reached a potential for greatness - greatness that far exceeds your own.' He retorted, eliciting a subconscious eye-roll by the blonde behind closed eyes. At times this voice, this spirit, offered her a great deal of wisdom, and other times would criticize her seemingly for no reason, offer her advice that seemed ironic for the situation, and pushed her further and further away from her ideals as a Sith Lord of the One Sith. 'What could there possibly be that you believe in any way, shape, or form, that I would have been any more powerful or knowledgeable now had I followed your directives? You don't even tell me your name.' Silara replied, her thoughts whirling with doubt - he had that effect on her at times, as though everything she knew was simply a mirage, a haze that distorted the truth, and though at this point she knew there was no turning back and redoing all she'd learned in his way, it still irked her. 'That, my dear, you will find out in time. But I believe you may want to open your eyes and get up - I wouldn't doubt it if we were closer than you perhaps thought.' The voice said and abruptly silenced itself. Almost on cue, just as her eyes opened to look towards the blinking green light over the doorway to the small room, a small beeping on the wall-mounted speaker sounded and a voice rang out.

"We will be approaching Khar Dhelba's orbit momentarily, in roughly fifteen minutes and counting we will be entering the atmosphere of its moon, Khar Shian. Please find your seats and secure yourselves in - the landing will be rough." ​

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Spoiler: Maps (In Hex Format)

Spoiler: Item Guide

List of types of loot available (Rarest to most Common)*:

• Holocron [x1]
• Datacron [x1]
• Lightsaber [x2]
• "Special" Lightsaber Crystals* (Rare)
• Grimoires (Rare)
• Map Pieces** [x8] (Rare)
• Lightsaber Crystals (Semi-Rare)
• Sith Swords/Knives (Semi-Rare)
• Ancient Notes (Common)
• Artwork (Common)
• Miscellanious Gems, Jewels, etc (Common, Valuable)

​*Such as Lignan Crystals and other crystals with additional benefits over the "common" crystal.
**They piece together to form another map for you guys to do another quest!
*Items listed are not named, will be revealed as they are found
****Leftover items will be rewarded to those who received the least (scaled from the items they received in terms of rarest to common)****

• [member="Krest"]
• [member="Nick Gamastar"]
• [member="Sabena Shai"]
• [member="Lira Dajenn"]
• [member="Darth Arcanix"]
• [member="Darth Odium"]
• [member="Vehanv Kiva"]
• [member="Enigma"]
• [member="Bellona Vel"]
• [member="Sciath"]
• [member="Viktor Romanov"]
• [member="Nessarose deWinter"]
• [member="Maja Vern"]
• [member="Vrag"]
• [member="Harley"]
• [member="Darth Carach"]
• [member="Jemmila Kyrgen"]

(Please make sure to tag locations and those you may be traveling with)
(Ship Used: Etti-class Light Transport)

 

[Viktor Romanov]

Location: Heading To Naga Sadow's Temple from entrance #2
Objective: Conforming

Viktor was one of the few people standing, refusing to brace himself for the landing. Ha, that is what the cybernetics were for. He stared at the rest of the crew, all young and eager wanting nothing more than adventure and self glory. Viktor didn't want any new toy weapons or fancy new lightsabers. What he was here for was the datacron. Viktor knew that he could learn much from Naga Sadow, that is how the Dark Lord Exar Kun began his way to becoming one of the most feared dark lords throughout history, and as everyone knows, history repeats itself.

 

[Bellona Vel]

The vast expanse of space stretched out like a sea of murky black water dotted with shinning stars. There was a type of beauty and elegance that was the loneliness of space. It was a galaxy full of opportunities, and the woman who stood in front of the window was far to eager to experience those very opportunities. Bellona looked out the window of the freighter as she pursed her lips in deep concentration. This was a rare moment in galactic history, and they were on the cusp of something major. She had been lucky enough to receive passage with a dark lady of such status. Turing away from the window with a slight twirl, Bellona made her way down the aisle of the freighter. Her body practically buzzed in anticipation. She felt the slight shift in the fighter that meant their descent was imminent. A clear voice filled the ship as Bellona walked along. It informed the passengers that the ship would be landing soon. The female sith gave a smile of excitement as she strapped herself into one of the craft's seats. Her body took on a calm, relaxed position as she closed her eyes slowly. The gentle sounds of the craft soothed her as she dipped her head down slightly. Bellona inhaled deeply as she thought of what was to come. Now was the time she had been waiting for. She would set herself apart from the other dim witted, lazy acolytes, and prove herself to be more worthy than they would ever be.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja familiarised herself with the the ship’s controls. For the hundredth time. OK, that was an exaggeration, it couldn’t have been more than seventy.

But it was either that or think. And that was something she was currently trying to avoid. So whilst others practiced ‘stuff’ (she still had limited knowledge of what they were actually doing) or meditated (how do you connect to the Force unless you’re really mad?) she looked over the various controls for the hyperdrive and the ten quad laser cannons.

She’d flown these ships before – heck she’d spent her entire life on one freighter or another – and recognised it as one that more than one pirate they’d come up against had used. And of course they were all different. So ignoring the grease on her cheek from where she’d been tinkering with the upgraded power generators until ‘encouraged’ not to, she wandered around again. It was over a hundred metres long but it felt so small – especially with all of these people on board.

People she didn’t know. People she didn’t really want to know. She’d been introduced to a couple. [member="Bellona Vel"] and [member="Viktor Romanov"] were names she’d remembered and immediately forgot. So she kept to herself and did her best not to think.

"We will be approaching Khar Dhelba's orbit momentarily, in roughly fifteen minutes and counting we will be entering the atmosphere of its moon, Khar Shian. Please find your seats and secure yourselves in - the landing will be rough."​

So she found somewhere to sit and strap herself in. Away from the other passengers, she went to the cargo bay where she knew there would be both somewhere to secure herself and more importantly no people.

And of course, now stationary, she couldn’t occupy her mind and she was forced to think. She mused how what seemed like a military operation and subject to the utmost in secrecy had turned into something of a race. It seemed to her that a secret around here was something you only told one person at a time.

And she reflected on her own involvement. Others had lightsabers and Dark-sided powers and Sith sorcery. And what did she have? A big sister! How lame was that. Worst still, what if she was only here out of pity. She could feel the frustration bubbling away inside of her. She still had trouble reconciling the woman she knew as Silara and the one called [member="Darth Vitium"]. She knew they had to be…different here. It was just logical and felt right. But by the same token it felt wrong.

And finally her recurring fear pushed its way to the surface, kicking and gouging at the lesser worries, trampling on them in an effort to fill her mind. 'What if I'm a liability?' But hiding underneath, patient and biding its time was the real time-bomb, waiting for the least opportune moment to go off. What if, when push came to shove, she was simply a pale imitation of her sister? Unworthy of the attention that had been lavished on her. Oh yes, this thought could wait. Bide its time. There would be plenty of opportunity to reveal itself where they were going. If a thought could have a Machiavellian laugh, this one had it in baritone.

 

[Vrag]

The Force, to put it bluntly, wasn't Vrag's thing. She had read enough entries in the archives during her residence in the temple to know who Naga Sadow was, but what interested her far more than his deeds was his legacy. She knew she was along for the ride because she was brawn, and by the time they reached their destination she also knew who was the brain of the expedition. It didn't much bother the Sith, so long as they left her alone. Vrag was a practical woman first, and a Sith second, and thus maintained a very objective view of her capabilities. Rushing head-on to read Sadow's experiments with sorcery and alchemy would surely lead to her untimely demise, and that was if she got lucky. Far less fortunate still would she be if the lingering Sith Lord decided to drive her mad instead, pushing Vrag to the side as he settled in her skull.

The firrerreo scowled behind her clear visor and shook her head to dispel the thoughts. Whether that was her own pessimism or the announced vicinity of Khar Dhelba, she didn't know, but she had no desire to find out either. With a scowl on her face she landed back on her seat and adjusted the belt holding her in place, bracing for the touchdown.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Taeli rolled her shoulders from her seat. In preparation for this expedition, she had read about the moon itself and found it was always a lovely and cold temperature. So Taeli had invested in some winter gear to keep herself warm as she didn't know pyrokinesis or tapas, but she could not pass up this opportunity to learn more about one of the strongest Sith Lords from the past and to maybe gain some of his knowledge and artifacts for herself. Checking her lightsaber and other equipment she had in her satchel, she waited patiently for the sip to enter the Khar Delba system. She was more excited than anything else to go through this lost fortress, even if it was probably going to be infested with traps and Sithspawn.

But then again, that was part of the fun.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

[member="Darth Arcanix"] @Vrag @Maja Vern [member="Bellona Vel"] [member="Darth Vitium"] [member="Viktor Romanov"]

Two small fighters dropped out of hyperspace not too far from Khar Shian, their smaller slender frames would be difficult to pick up on any sensors, as would the two hyperdrive rings that they had come attached to. The J-1 didn't have its own hyperdrive, just about the only failing that the ship actually had.

Lira Dajenn sat in one of the small fighters, [member="Sabena Shai"] in the other.

The young padawan had volunteered to come along on this little trip with Lira and the Jedi Knight had allowed her to. It was mostly because she thought this mission wasn't going to be all that dangerous. Through the Jedi Shadow Network Lira had received rumblings of activity on one of the moons in this system, supposed Sith Lair of some sort.

She had no idea how reliable the report was, and honestly she expected the whole thing to be a hoax.

Which was why Sabena was here.

Lira hardly took this mission seriously, and as the J-1's detached from their hyperspace rings she sent the girl a quick message on the status of their mission, and what exactly they would be doing. “Okay. We get in, we check it out, if we find anything we report back.”

She doubted the latter would happen.

 

[Sabena Shai]

Along with [member="Lira Dajenn"], Sabena dropped into realspace aboard a J-1 Starfighter. Their hyperdrive rings were left in an equatorial obit above Khar Shian.

Following Lira, Sabena made her burn in order to make a landing trajectory on Khar Shian. She looked up her canopy - having oriented her spacecraft so that the “top” faced Khar Shian as her engines roared. She gently bit her lip as her eyes scanned the planet.

“Roger,” she replied via comms back to Lira. She seemed to be willing to follow her step throughout this mission.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Last minute assignment. Sopher climbed into the small J-1 starfighter, his knees cramped and already not enjoying the trip he groaned. Using the coordinates he was given and the comm he quickly followed the ladies to Khar Shian. Drawing closer, he felt the pull of the dark side. It coursed through his body and every inch of his being burned. The voice of the Dark One echoed in the back of his mind - reminding him of his betrayal and how he would fall again. Remembering the kindness that he was shown and his desire to follow the light, he mentally fought back and regained his composure. The man remained quiet as he dropped and followed [member="Sabena Shai"] and [member="Lira Dajenn"] .

Spoiler

[member="Darth Arcanix"] [member="Vrag"] [member="Maja Vern"] [member="Bellona Vel"] [member="Viktor Romanov"]

 

[Ellie Mors]

Location: Khar Shian, Second Entrance (Mountain Pass)
Objective: Locate Holocron of Naga Sadow
Companions:

• [member="Maja Vern"], [member="Darth Arcanix"], [member="Darth Carach"], [member="Viktor Romanov"], [member="Vrag"], [member="Bellona Vel"], [member="Darth Odium"], [member="Enigma"], [member="Harley"], @Nick Gamaster

​Others (For Tagging):

• [member="Nessarose deWinter"], [member="Krest"], [member="Sabena Shai"], [member="Lira Dajenn"], [member="Sciath"], [member="Vehanv Kiva"]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSvOTw8UH6s[/media]​

As the ship veered down to Khar Shian, at a sharp angle that literally pushed her forwards in her seat even while strapped against it, the patch of turbulence that they struck caused the entire freighter to rattle, and the sudden jolt that the ship experienced during re-entry caused any loose belongings, people, and what-not to slide towards the back of the ship at an alarmingly dangerous rate - cybernetic implants or not, this was not going to be a smooth landing. This was doubly assured as they made their descent down and could not seem to exit a field of constant turbulence that continuously made any semblance of a safe route down on the landing zone she'd plotted out for the pilot to land in an impossibility. Eventually the landing zone was in sight, and while they managed to land in one piece - and safely at that - the ship itself was certainly going to need maintenance that would prohibit anyone from leaving early - or without the Sith Lady whom owned the ship and its contents and led the mission to the citadel. Perhaps the most alarming thing that everyone in the party - and any whom would soon join them - was that it was entirely pitch-black. Here on the dark side of Khar Shian - on the half of the moon that light never touched - the temperature was easily at degrees far below zero and there was literally no light that would give them any assistance in this constant haze and snow. Clearly this would be a rather precarious mission for the group, as there were rocky paths that were covered in slick sheets of ice, hidden drops and cliffs, and lurking sithspawn that would likely not be noticed by the least experienced of the troupe.

...​

A silent groan was elicited from the lips of the Sith Lady as she unstrapped herself from the rather uncomfortable seat and rose to her feet. Glancing around she watched the various members of the expedition excitedly hurry about like little ants - truly insects in the grand scheme of the galaxy and the force itself. The beginnings of a frown tempted to show through her blank expression until she caught sight of her sister while moving towards the exit ramp of the ship. 'Here you are, at long last the moon of Khar Shian. How fitting - a world of darkness to hold one of the most precious of the dark side relics yet undiscovered, and you, the darkest and most vile of the Sith to have come to found it. I wonder how those with you would feel if they were to discover your goals, your real ones - not simply those you tell in secret to give a false sense of security to those who believe themselves to be more powerful than you.' Prattled the voice, its presence as an irritation prior now feeling like an annoying ego-stroke session gone wrong. 'Yes, I am well aware of my goals, thank you. You don't need to remind me of the darkness, either, I could feel it as we landed - as well as the presence of something just as dark as I am lingering far in the distance, and that's with a rough feeling in the force, imagine once we reach its proximity.' She replied internally, perhaps even nonchalantly. Exiting the craft she made sure that she was wearing the warmest material she owned along with a necklace-light - a small device which illuminated herself and the immediate surroundings with small lights on each cardinal direction.

"So here's the rundown of how this is all going to work." Silara began, not quite bothering with some sort of speech that would only work to waste time on a moon that was, quite frankly, freezing. "We have landed in the least suitable of landing zones because the map I possess indicates that the land is more flat in relation with our destination - the second and secret fortress of Naga Sadow. This means it will be more safe for you Acolytes and Knights whom have less experience with the actual wilds of nature, and also a quicker path than walking up-hill for ten kilometers as the more suitable landing zone down to the south had been." She continued, looking around for Carach and Odium - she did not yet quite trust the latter, and the former was to be her partner in leading the expedition. "In any case, the holocron we are in search of is clearly that of Naga Sadow - do not touch it, it will likely be covered in some sort of Sith sorcery designed by the late Sith Lord to ensure only those of worth would obtain his knowledge. Secondly, it is to be mine to study the contents of - do not have any illusions now of possessing that which I seek. Regardless of that little stipulation, anything you find is yours to keep, including any notes or books that you may find regarding sorcery or alchemy." The blonde added, casting a careful glare at the Acolytes as she made sure to make her intentions for owning the relic clear as soon as possible before anyone had any thoughts of betraying her in her quest for knowledge. "And lastly, there will be numerous sithspawn, likely numbering in the amounts above how many I personally own. That's well over twenty, for future reference." She concluded, stepping away from the group briskly while she made a conscious effort to alert her sister of her plans to move out - as she noticed an Acolyte already had done so far before she'd made her little quip.

She'd make sure to punish his impatience later.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja was used to bumpy landings - most freighters were designed to get from A to B as cheaply as possible - never a thought to comfort. As long as the cargo was in one piece, that was all that mattered.

So the rattling and sudden movements were ignored, she was still deep in thought. At least most of the bumps she was able to shrug off but the one that threatened to ally with her harness to cut her in two couldn't be overlooked.

And she found the situation actually helpful, as it brought her out of her melancholy and made her focus on landing in one piece. She put the jolts down to turbulence rather than the pilot or even the ship - but the amount of rattling and the nature of the stresses and strains she could see and feel meant they'd have to effect some repairs before they planned to take-off again.

She felt the landing 'bump' but waited. Pockets of turbulence could feel the same sometimes. Assured they'd actually touched down, she unclipped the harness and stood up, feeling the marks in her stomach and shoulders where the webbing had cut into her. As she said, not built for comfort. Without a window, she had no idea what waited for them outside. She'd checked out the plan before hand. Pack for the snow. It was going to be cold and dark.

So she pulled on the additional garments she'd packed for the trip and smiled to herself. Only weeks ago she had only one set of clothes to her name. And if you include all of the bugs and diseases that lived on them, she couldn't truly say they were entirely hers alone. Now she had choices. And that felt good.

Finally she saw her sister head towards her. The benefit of being here was that everyone else had to exit this way. Which, for Maja, was also the weakness. She'd rather be hiding at the back. But Silara was different. She gave her a small smile - still uncomfortable to be with her sibling in this sort of company.

Well at least all eyes were on Silara now, and she slowly but surely edged her way backwards as others moved forwards to listen. And speech over, she waited for her sister's lead ready to move at a moment's notice.

[member="Darth Vitium"]

 

[Vrag]

The Sith couldn't quite remember the last time she'd had a ride this bumpy — counting deployment ships during planet invasions was hardly fair — but it certainly did remind her why she'd abandoned that particular mode of transportation. Hiding on freighters as a stowaway wasn't the best experience, and even when flying on her own Vrag had never been a particularly skilled pilot. Her past experiences notwithstanding, by the time they finally made touchdown the firrerreo was sporting a frown that would make a Mandalorian proud. Due to the thick padding of her armor and the sheer bulk of the woman, she wasn't as physically shaken as she was upset to have taken part in such a sorry imitation of a landing maneuver.

Vrag suppressed an uncanny urge to growl and followed the rest of their expedition out of the ship, her mood instantly shifting to mirror the situation; it grew even darker. "Great," she murmured under her breath as she squinted to see. For the first few seconds her only reliable sense was hearing, and if the crackling sounds were anything to go by, the whole damn moon was covered in snow. "Just karking great," she repeated, this time with even more vigor. Thankfully, the brooding Sith was soon pulled out of her murderous thoughts and into the direction of [member="Darth Vitium"]'s voice, whereupon she was surprised to find that the woman didn't waste her breath on dragged-out speeches. Whether it was due to the decidedly unfriendly weather or simply the blonde's nature, Vrag didn't know, and neither did she care; the sooner they got moving, the happier they'd all be. She was covered in sturdy armor, true, but durasteel, like any alloy, had the nasty tendency to adapt fairly quickly to surrounding temperature. Whether that meant freezing or boiling hot, it didn't matter, neither of the two was a good thing for the person underneath all that plate. Taking that into consideration, the Sith had long ago grown accustomed to wearing thermo-insulating clothes underneath, and was now mentally patting herself on the back for that enlightened idea.

They marched off almost as soon as the last syllable left the Sith Lord's mouth, beating the virgin snow into submission with their boots. Her eyes had adjusted to the extreme lack of lighting by now, and she could discern just enough outlines in the nigh invariable darkness to feel a little safer. If any of the mentioned sithspawn had since wandered from the temple, Vrag would have little trouble spotting their glowing eyes in the pitch black of their surroundings, and the feeble light-source their leader was carrying would make it all the easier.

 

[Bellona Vel]

By the mercy of the force, they just had to have an incompetent pilot who seemed to be unable to control the frightener at all. Bellona clutched onto her seat restraints until her knuckles turned as white as snow. She clenched her teeth together and tried to focus on something other than the feeling that the freighter was being tossed around like paper in the wind. As she shut her eyes and held onto the restraints, she thought of all the prizes that were to be one on the planet bellow. Bellona practically licked her lips in avaricious anticipation. The craft landed with a little thud as the hydraulic landing gear made a little hiss.

​The sith acolyte stripped off the restraints of the chair before she made her way out onto the planet bellow. Right as her foot hit the ground, she noticed how dark and frigid the surface of the planet was. For once, Bellona was glad she had worn something more bulky than usual. Her hood was filled a soft gray fur and it helped to keep the cold from her ears. [member='Darth Vitium']'s words cut into her thoughts before she looked through the murk to see the female sith. As Bellona listened to her words, she noticed that the sith had a slight threatening tone in her voice when she mentioned the holocron. The kiffarian sith followed after her fellow explorers.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Well as landings could go, Taeli had had better, but her excitement and anticipation were making her fidgety to start exploring. Exiting the ship, a blast of the cold air and snow flurried past and Taeli breathed in the fresh crisp air. The entire region radiated with the dark side of the Force, as she had expected from such a fortress of power.

Listening to [member="Darth Vitium"] explain what lay within and the only object off limits, Taeli could understand why. Her own personal hunt for a holocron of Darth Zannah was something she had only shared with one other person, and they were still going through data about a likely spot to check. She was excited to find works on alchemy and sorcery though, that sort of knowledge she hungered for and sought constantly.

Following the group, she kept her half-circled hand guard lightsaber in her hand but not ignited. Their surroundings necessitated caution, and knowing what lurked within, she was glad of her training in Beast Control under her master. It would prove most useful she suspected.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

A brush of air, a whisper, the chilling sensation of goosebumps on the skin. The undershift of the current playing in the background, but nothing visibly wrong with the world, nothing wrong in the Force either, there was no one there. But the whisper had still been there.

‘I could remove that voice from your head, Lady Vitium.’ the words reached her mind, words from a Sith Lord. Her partner. The one who liked to play his games, liked to hide in plain sight at the worst opportune moment. ‘You but only have to ask.’

Did he really know how to remove the voice? Was it a portion of madness lingering from the overuse of the Darkside? Or was there something entirely else at play? Only a few could know for certain, one of them was a man who had immersed himself in the talents and ploys of the Mind and Spirit World for a long time now.

Still nobody appeared, except for the acolytes, the occasional Knight here and there, the familiar presence of the Sithspawn waiting for them, and for some reason… the linger touch of lightness. Where did it come from? Carach did not know, not yet at the very least.

Again he spoke, through the current into her mind. ‘Move, I have the feeling we will soon be presented with problems. I shall follow from the shadows.’

The whisper faded out, until only the last words of his message reached her and evaporated into the air.

‘Don’t worry about me.’

[member="Darth Vitium"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

[member="Darth Carach"] [member="Darth Arcanix"] [member="Bellona Vel"] @Vrag @Maja Vern [member="Darth Vitium"]

The arrival of [member="Sopher"] was noted, though again not really necessary.

To her this was all a massive waste of time. They could have been in the core, fighting the One Sith. She could have been raiding outposts or taking supply ships or even capturing Sith Lords, but no, instead she was sent on little errands that didn't mean anything at all. Letting out a loud, slightly bitter, sigh Lira pointed her J-1 forward.

“[member="Sabena Shai"], Sopher, follow me.” The interceptors shot forward. The J-1's were designed to be the fastest ships in the galaxy, and they held true to that nature. Only seconds before they had been positioned at the outskirts of the systems, something that had been quickly rectified by the interceptors powerful engines.

A blip appeared on her console.

“Wait...” She said quietly into her radio. “I'm getting something on sensors.”

Lira bit her lower lip, a small blip of something. Lira couldn't have said what it was, the J-1 didn't exactly come with the most powerful sensor suite in the galaxy, but it was enough to tell her that there was something on the planet below. Letting out a sigh and releasing her lip she shook her head. They would have to check it out.

“Alright. Through the clouds we go.” She pushed her control stick forward, pushing the J-1 into atmosphere with Sabena and Sopher following close behind.

 

[Sabena Shai]

As commanded, Sabena followed [member="Lira Dajenn"]’s J-1 interceptor - with [member="Sopher"] hopefully following close. She did not voice her opinions of the mission. She saw what Lira had noticed on the sensors. Sabena’s left eyebrow twitched. She followed Lira as close as safety would provide.

The atmosphere quickly provided an aerobrake to bring the J-1’s down to a safe velocity for the atmosphere. During the aerobrake, streaks of red-hot plasma danced around the J-1. Eventually, the J-1’s would have decelerated enough to where there were no more plasma streaks.

Still at a high altitude, the detail that could be seen on the ground was not that great. The most that Sabena could see was a sheet of white snow with variations in elevation.

There would still be time before the Jedi reached the source of the signal that Lira found. While looking at the data coming in about it, Sabena asked Lira through the comms, “What do you think it is?”

 

[Ellie Mors]

Location: Khar Shian, Mountain Pass
Companions:

• [member=Maja Vern], [member=Darth Arcanix], [member=Darth Carach], [member=Viktor Romanov], [member=Vrag], [member=Bellona Vel], [member=Darth Odium]

Others:

• [member=Sabena Shai], [member=Lira Dajenn], [member=Sopher]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Oem1JV8fI[/media]​

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Everything was now in order - the path was set, the time was right, and there would be no light for quite the appropriate amount of time, ensuring that any wandering Mandalorians that had strayed too far from their borders would be unable to find them in this perpetual blizzard. Had they not been traveling with as small a craft as possible and as compactly as possible she would have thought to bring her sithspawn to lighten the load of wandering through this heavy snow and icy cold wind. In either case she led the group on through the darkness like an ironic beacon of light that illuminated herself and her immediate surroundings, but from any distance beyond roughly twenty meters the snow and complete and utter darkness seemed to swallow any glimpses one might have of the light at her neck. She had not ignored [member="Darth Carach"], having left as he suggested, but also felt particularly curious about his thoughts on their little expedition - she too having felt a sense of urgency in their trip, though the feeling was not present when she had visited other places with lurking terentatek and various other sithspawn as her senses seemed to generally understand, after some time, that her ability to communicate and control the corrupted species made them anything but a threat to her, and so a part of her wondered if there were sentient life in the fortress - or if perhaps someone or some thing may have began to follow them and she could simply not see it or feel it. 'Oh look at you, working up a sweat in this ridiculous cold. But you know, perhaps someone else you know has quite a good idea on how that feels. Wonder if your sister is doing too well in this darkness, eh?'

She had heard the voice but chose to ignore it this time, instead double checking the status of the group to satisfy the curiosity born out of those words. It was at roughly this time that she suddenly stopped and looked up, any whom could see her face well enough could make out a sense of confusion. "That was odd. I could have sworn I felt the air shift." She muttered, then looked forward with a concerned look. For a moment she contemplated stopping to think, but her gut immediately pushed her to moving onward with extreme prejudice of stopping or going back again, at least for now. "Let's get a move on. No stopping, no breaks, not until we're inside of the fortress and behind closed doors." Silara announced, although anyone whom had gone too far ahead or lingered too far back would likely find difficulty in hearing what she said. Those of whom traveled with her small group that were more apt to danger sense could potentially feel the same feeling of anxiety and adrenaline that she did, which was alarming to her as the only time she'd felt such a feeling of uncertainty was during her grand duel with the Akure Leviathan on Empress Teta - a duel which she lost sorely.

 

[Darth Odium]

[member="Darth Vitium"]

Odium moved along finally showing himself as he promised. He could smell the power of the place the oily slick film of darkness that lay like exhaust fumes from an ancient internal combustion engine highway on the slowly dying plants beside it.

He kept silent, as usual and waited. His large green hands grabbed his saber staff from his belt as they walked and he wondered how long he would take before he needed to kill someone or something.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja pulled the warm jacket closer to her. She had no powers to stave off the effect of the blizzard and found the icy wind biting. But she was determined she was not going to complain. This was no trip for makeweights and to ask for help now would be to undermine the faith her sister had placed in permitting her to accompany them.

But Maja was under no illusions. She was a member of the party but her ability to play an active role was slim to non-existent. The best she could hope for was to not be too great a burden. So she narrowed her eyes to minimise the effect of the snow and keep quiet. It was as much as she had to offer. She could see only a short distance and wondered if the others had a wider range of sense due to their connection to the Force. But she daren't ask for fear if making herself look even more foolish that she felt.

As if to answer her question, her sister spoke. Had she been afforded an insight? The decision not to stop was fine by Maja. Spending even an extra minute in this god-forsaken icy waste would be sixty seconds too long.

As she walked she looked at the others. They looked…no, they seemed to sense something she couldn’t. But she was powerless to do anything about it and the feelings of inadequacy were surfacing again. No longer was she wondering if she was a liability - instead she was simply wondering how much of a burden she was. And the true fear smiled cruelly and waited, allowing Maja’s self-doubt to reign supreme for a little longer. It’s time would come and how delightful would be its arrival - at a time most opportune to cause the maximum impact to the foolish child that thought herself worthy of the company she kept.

[member="Darth Odium"] | [member="Darth Vitium"] | [member="Darth Carach"] | [member="Darth Arcanix"] | [member="Bellona Vel"] | [member="Vrag"] | [member="Viktor Romanov"]