Abnormal Archeology

[Darth Empyrean]

The warehouse held a number more security personal, some implementations, and plenty more that would make it nigh impossible to simply sneak in with the both of them. The walls were thick with Durasteel structuring, and the windows were likely made of transparisteel at this height. It was entirely hopeless to attempt a breach and clear, making short work of their operation; but Maliphant couldn’t help but consider his pride into the equation of the operation. While Koda had done the brunt of the work at the last location, Maliphant felt it was time he committed something to the operation in a more substantial way;

Besides, it’d do well for the bounty hunter to witness the power of a Sith.

“We walk in the front.”, Tiamat said plainly as he walked towards the parked speeder some distance away.

In the same motion, the speeder started and lifted, waiting for the two to enter it, Maliphant taking the driver position. He tapped a few careless commands into the speeder before taking off only after the bounty hunter got in; and as seemingly bad the idea was to simply attack the facility from the front, Tiamat carried a certain arrogance about him that made it seem almost viable; despite the mask and voice. In short order, the distance to the warehouse was quickly covered by the two, the distant planet of Nal Hutta offering them the slimmest of illumination in comparison to the innumerable street lights that surrounded them even at this height.

As the two came to a stop many meters above the ground, Maliphant pressed a few buttons on the speeder to force it to hover, only to lift himself out of the seat and jump without a word to the bounty hunter. The fall was far from safe for a regular human, but the force compensated for Maliphant’s decent as he finally touched with the ground, almost as if he only had taken a step from one to the other, nothing but the entrance to the facility left to greet them.

Two guards, those posted to the front docking gate, moved towards him as they pulled their weapons to their chest and put out the cigarettes they had been smoking to pass the time. The first, a rodian, spoke first;

“Oy, there a reason you’re here, you creepy nerf herder?”, he said with an obvious anger to his tone.

Instead of responding however, Tiamat simply walked forward, only for each step to cause an identical copy of him to appear next to the original, repeating until a total of seven of the Sith existed, each walking towards the group with ill intent perceived even through the mask he wore now. The two guards began to shoulder their arms as they screamed a provocative curse, firing at two of the clones that had formed.

The blaster bolts stopped just short, freezing in the air before being turned back on their owners. Each raced back to their source with a harsh, electric crack that slapped each with the force of a full grown rancor, knocking them back and sliding them into the wall. It was a brutal counters strike, but it was enough to show the Bounty Hunter exactly what Tiamat was capable of. With his power cemented, the clones dispersed into the darkness as they began to infiltrate the warehouse from a number of directions, likely to cause a distraction more than taking out the facility as a whole.

The original stood next to the door, waiting for the Bounty Hunter to approach, speaking in the heavily modulated tones that came normal now;

“Mind what you saw today.”

[member="Koda Fett"]

 

[Koda Fett]

NAR SHADDAA​

​

Fett had peered his head over the side of the craft upon witnessing Tiamat descend towards the ground below. His Visor only remained staring, watching, waiting- there had been a reason, or so he had deduced and it was often better to watch and to wait than it is dive into a conflict you truthfully had no place in. Fett had always been an opportunist; there hadn't been a point in stopping now, no? Tiamat seemed to duplicate himself more than what had been thought possible, and the Bounty Hunter could only help but feel some sliver of amusement as the fear that radiated from the guards was palpable- even for a man that had no potential with the force itself. Soon they were dead as he expected, and so Koda had concluded that his time for watching and waiting had come to an end.

Descending into his own drop, saved by the flames that slowed his pace and ultimately allowed a soft landing that was still able to carry a thud. His armour, his jetpack, his weapons and all did carry a certain weight to them. He hadn't spoken a word to the Sith, but that ability he witnessed had been impressive. It was new, and if it wasn't used against him it was certainly admirable.

His Carbine raised at the ready.

[member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

With the Manda’lor candidate in tow, Tiamat moved to the door and hooked his vambrace into it, letting the internal hacking computers work their magic until the front door opened, revealing a scene that was likely not so chaotic only a few moments before. One of the clones had made its way through the rooms with extreme prejudice, men fallen left and right, papers scattered while hanging light fixtures hung and sparked; all in the days work of a Sith. Tiamat wouldn’t admit it, but the utilization of the technique had split his energy in equal parts to each of the seven person he was, an almost immediate exhaustion as the others ran through what energy they were given until they would inevitably disappear. Tiamat himself didn’t offer Koda a glimpse into the tiredness he felt, but it stuck to him like a ysalamiri to its favorite tree.

Stepping over corpses slashed open by lightsaber wounds, Maliphant found his way to a power lift that brought them to the floor they required, wandering into the audit area with its central computer now open. It appeared as though whoever was here prior, the caretaker and inventory manager, had abandoned the area at the first signs of conflict, leaving behind even his ‘Number 1# Dad’ cup behind; likely a priceless family heirloom. Maliphant offered nothing but a synthesized hum as he moved to the computer, while across from his stood a window that showed the fight still happening in the warehouse itself.

Men shot at shadows, groups of them running for exits as the various clones of Tiamat rushed to tear them down in droves, the fear the main driving force as their security forces were drawn into pure chaos. Whatever they thought this was, a raid or robbery, it was far more specialized, and the two would only have a certain amount of time before reinforcements would cut off their chances of escape; a dangerous prospect considering how much of Maliphant’s energy had been used up in the display of power.

Plugging the vambrace into the computer once more, he watched as the entire inventory was uploaded into a series of offshore servers before pulling up the matching SKU number he had taken from the Barbatos cartel hideout, only to look through its various details. Intricate Sith Designs, an almost impervious exterior, a cubic architecture that betrayed conventional pieces of technology… And missing.

Maliphant glanced over it once more, just to realize what this meant. The device was not at the warehouse like he expected, what he had hoped, and anger festered in his heart once more; though there was nobody but Koda to take it out on this time. Deeming his importance far more than the emotions of a vaguely out of control youth, he simply sighed and looked over that transactional records of the artifact. What it came from, where it went to…

“Kurt Meyer. Pod Race Prize.”, Tiamat suddenly spoke out as he moved to unhook his vambrace from the computer.

“He is the owner of it. Have you heard that name before, Koda Fett?”, the abysmal eyes followed his voice as he turned to look on the mandalorian.


[member="Koda Fett"]

 

[Koda Fett]

NAR SHADDAA​

​

The Bounty Hunter hadn't need to lift a finger. His Carbine had been raised throughout the exchange, and his finger had almost struck down upon the trigger on more than a few occasions. Timat, whoever he truly was, had dispatched the opposition with relative ease- or so it had seemed. The T-Visor had been vigilant and observing, witnessing the power that this Sith had possessed. There may have been a bias that came with witnessing something unique, at least to that of Fett. The ability to split oneself into multiple figures had been interesting, surprising, and seemingly powerful. It elevated Tiamat's positioning on whatever unofficial ranking system Koda had kept within his mind. He was certain of that.

Fett had taken a cautionary gaze, his scanners soaring into action in an attempt to understand everything that was in the area around them. Everything, fortunately, happened to already be dead. His employer, in that moment had spoken, and the tow had bother turned their heads to lock visors with one another.

"No." Fett sternly lied. A step was taken forward.

Everyone had an angle. Even Fett.

[member="Darth Maliphant"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Tiamat knew better than to trust a Bounty Hunter, but with nothing else to go on, he simply uttered a guttural growl that was more directed at the situation than anything specifically. With his exhaustion from spreading himself so thin, as taught to him by Naga Sadow, he couldn’t possible know Koda’s intent through his mask and his own, leaving it in the open. All he could do was given the bounty hunter his next mission;

“Find him. Get the holocron.”, Tiamat offered him coldly.

If he was able, he’d trace the man himself, but as the growing responsibilities of The Sith Empire drew him to the outer rim, it would be impossible for the many weeks endeavor throughout space to look for a single man who might not even have put a real name; and putting off his training would only ruin his ability to one day be promoted to Sith Lord, as he hoped. He offered a dismissive wave of his hand before speaking to the bounty hunter once more;

“We should leave, before the others come back.”, the enigmatic Sith offered his temporary comrade;

“Come.”, he said as he began to walk from the Cartel’s warehouse, the distant smell of reinforcements soon to overwhelm the entire facility.


[member="Koda Fett"]