Belsavis: Watch Your Back

[Allyson Locke]

The sound of the wind died down and Spencer now feeling far too hot woke up quickly. She made sure the mask was still on her face and she moved away unraveling herself from the Empress. Sitting up, she decided she should go warm up the Taun Taun’s she also figured they would be hungry as well. Looking over she noticed the Twi’lek was gone; figuring the woman went to walk around Spencer paid no attention to it.

Standing, she grabbed a coat and headed out of the tent. The landscape was beautiful and Spencer smiled feeling a calm with the planet. It was a nice feeling; she didn’t feel unbalanced here when things were calm. Stretching a bit, she took a moment and then started to head towards the Taun Taun tent to get them prepared for when Ashin and Darron awoke.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"Mm, come back to bed, Spencer honey..."

Embarrassment woke her up fast, set her eyes wide. She rather hoped nobody had heard, but not for the sake of the revelation. Just for the lack of gravitas.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya hadn't gone far, she had simply moved round the tent inspecting the huge amount of snow that had piled on them. She was reaching out with the force to shit it when she caught sight of the shadow and ducked out of sight, moving across the snow to peer round the corner of the tent at her.

With the others asleep, she had no better chance than this to find out who this woman was. Force giving her speed, she shot out from her hiding place and red blur on the white snow, she barrelled into the shadow knocking her to the floor and with a brief scuffle managed to sit herself on the girls chest with her arms pinned beneath her knees. Anaya let out a low chuckle. "Now this is a predicament, you're in isn't it? The empress, whom you seem to be very close with, is sleeping. You could cry out for her help, but do that and you risk waking the grandmaster too and you don't want everyone to realise who you are do you?"

Her fingers moved to the zip of Spencers coat and undid it. Searching for the thing she believed to be protecting this woman, her nimble hand found the necklace easily enough and she lifted it from the clothes without snapping the chain. "Sith Magic hmmm? But you're no a sith are you? You proved that when the Tauntaun died. So what are you? More to the point who are you?" she let the necklace drop and her hands moved to the mask and slowly pulled it away.

The face beneath it wiped the smile from her face and she scrambled off Spencer, a rapid torrent of emotions washing off her, surprise, fear, confusion but finally settling and cold, unrelenting fury. "You." she spat getting to her feet the mask still in her hand.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer felt the blow and the wind knocked out of her. She has expected the red one to be lingering about, but the action she didn’t want to believe was happening. She wrestled back trying to get the upper hand, but the Twi’lek being more determined pinned her into the cold snow. She looked up towards the woman as she spat her words, she seemed to be very observant and Spencer cursed under her breath.

She should have been more careful.

Anaya was determined to see who she was, to figure out why she was so unrecognizable. She listened to the zipper become undone and she found the necklace. With every ounce of her body she prayed that the woman didn’t rip it from her neck. It was not only a protection, but it was a gift from Ashin. The necklace lay back down onto her chest and soon the mask was removed. The struggle didn’t go any farther, Anaya moved off of her and Spencer stood up. Opening her hand, she recalled the mask and stared at the Twi’lek.

“Yes, its me. I expected a warmer welcome from you Anaya, seems the snow has chilled you a bit.”

There was a surge of her emotions and Spencer held the side of her head for a moment. The twi’lek was quite in tune with her emotions spreading them rapidly as she could. Spencer had to refocus herself as she winced a bit and looked at her with a crooked smile.

“What’s wrong Anaya?”

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

"What's wrong?" Anaya repeated, her hand rapidly opening and closing, a sure sign that Anaya was loosing her grip on her emotions. "She loves you, doesn't she?" Anaya began to pace "no." she said shaking her head "No no no, this is all wrong. This is a weakness."

She stopped, looking at Spencer again "Do you realise, what you have done? you have made yourself a target. Loving her is the stupidest thing you could have ever done. You are a weakness to be exploited. A fault line in the Empire." It was her duty to remove weaknesses, that was her goal, her objective. Find the weaknesses, remove them, strengthen the empire.

If that wasn't enough of a reason to do this, the fury at having such affection rubbed in her face was more than enough of a reason to kill Spencer. Kaine was hundreds of lightyears away, and even if he wasn't he was far out of her reach. Her hand snapped forward, and she wrapped the force around Spencer's neck seeking to choke her. Pain and fury came off her in waves.

"Why did she bring you?" she snarled.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer couldn’t answer her. The questions that she asked and the things she mentioned were things that Spencer had thought about herself. Though she had given up everything for Ashin the one person that believed in her. In turn she believed in Ashin. The tension wrapped around her neck, the Sith being fueled by her emotions. The training that Ashin had put her through along with her training with Moridin kicked in. Feeling what Anaya was feeling, Spencer let it fuel her.

The Knight slowed her breathing so what ever air she could gather was enough for her. Stretching out her hand she focused the force, she remembered the hunger from Korriban and she remembered the hunger she felt when Ashin performed the Dark attack…

Force Drain.

Ribbons of gold spread from Spencer’s fingertips as she pushed out her force presence. The ribbons thickened and aimed to drive into Anaya’s chest. She wanted to quench the thirst for the Force, she wanted Anaya to stop choking her. The force drain was something she perfected with Ashin along with Moridin, though she avoided the other skill Moridin taught her. Anaya was too valuable to Ashin.

Telepathically, Spencer conveyed her message to Anaya.

‘I’ll show you why she brought me, you know deep down in your soul why she brought me along. Why she always brings me along…its not because she loves me…its because of what I can do.’

 

[Darron Wraith]

He hadn't meant to sleep so long, or so hard, but it had happened. After all the stress he had been under, and how often he had been watching his back. Sleep had been the most welcome thing when he had finally allowed himself the luxury. It had been glorious to say the least, to allow his circadian rhythm take over for once. The ground didn't quake with blasts from nearby explosions, the screams of people dying weren't to be heard. Even his own comm wasn't ringing, and there were absolutely zero messages waking him up in the middle of the night. Ever since Omni had appeared it had been useless, and there had been zero distractions for him to look at during the night. His darkside companions themselves had kept up on their end of the bargain, and had left him in peace. The field of his senses had been wrapped so tightly near him to keep him protected from any threats, that the lack of anything had been blissful. Though he was without Rosa's company, he had finally gotten some rest on the frozen world of Belsavis.

That's when it hit him, he was on a mission.

Blue eyes snapped awake, and Darron quickly checked himself and all of his possessions. There was that odd feeling that something was off, even as he noticed his breath still being visible. Patting idly around his body, he found both his lightsaber hilts in their proper places. A quick check of his taun taun proved that the creatures where safe, and for a few seconds he was quite happy. Though he did find it odd that he had been left alone in the corner of the tent, and if he remembered correctly the structure had seemed smaller. A quick scan showed he was just seeing things, as it appeared bigger now because two of it's occupants were gone. The red Tw'ilek was easy to notice being gone. I haven't been hit with any sexual requests this morning, or random innocent creatures dying. Where has she gone off too? His curiosity was about to extend even further until he barely heard the Empress speak as she awoke.




"Mm, come back to bed, Spencer honey..."


Darron's head spun towards Ashin. "You brought her here?"

The pieces began to fit in his mind, all the subtle visual clues he had been picking up on. All of the pieces had been there, eagerly slapping him in the face, he had just ignored the mystery. As the Jedi rose to his feet he extended his field of responsibility he could only feel one life form. Though that changed when he felt a channel in the Force begin to open, and the very life of the one he felt being ripped away. What has she taught you lost one? As soon as the thought formed in his mind, he was already up and running outside the tent.
"I'm so sorry for this Spencer."

And Darron meant it as he assessed the situation. It appeared that she had begun to fully immerse herself in the dark arts, and she was showing her skill at the moment. Force Drain was a challenging power to learn, much less use in the heat of the moment. Though only those of the darkside would consent to ripping life away from another. His heart broke a little at the sight of Anaya on the ground having her essence drained from one he had tried to save. A plan of action took the place of his feelings, and not another word left his mouth as he put it into action.

The Jedi GrandMaster's skin, well what was visible, seemed to glow even brighter against the cold world as he pulled his power inward. Darron cleared his mind and made the empty cup that was always needed to use the Force, and he let it's light fill him to it's brim. His left hand, the one made of flesh and blood, extended towards Spencer. As he filled with light, his skin started to brighten further as a beam of light shot from his hands and into the side of the woman before him. Senses split, as his focus shifted to the Sith being drained. Yes, she'll make a fine nexus point. Instead of sending the darkness he was purging into an inanimate object, he would instead use the light of the Force to send the darkness from Spencer into Anaya, the woman who relished it.

As the beam made contact, Darron forced his light into Spencer. For a few seconds she would feel what it would feel like to be that certain of your purity in the Force, and whatever darkness was in her would briefly be pushed back and away. Though the separation wasn't anything to scoff at, in fact it was quite painful. On Rhen Var, the same skill had nearly killed Velok. To be fair, he was holding his body was literally being held together by darkness. The seconds ticked by, and the Jedi stopped pushing his light outward as the drain stopped.

Stepping inbetween the pair, Darron kept his senses on both his hilts. He had no idea what would happen now.

"Spencer, I know it's you under that mask. You are better than this and you don't need to reduce yourself by stealing another's essence."

Keeping his tone even he addressed Anaya, as the snow fell around them all.

"Get up, I know that hurt, but do not seek vengeance. Try that, and I will protect her just as I did with you a moment ago."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin stumbled out of the tent as Darron's Force Light concluded. A cold rage filled her, and the electrum edges of Je'gan's lightsabre bit into her palm. She didn't ignite the weapon. Not yet.

"Darron, you have no authority to impose yourself on my people. Their disagreement is theirs to resolve. If you ever lay a hand on one of my people again, while on a joint mission, we will stand together and kill you. You asked once where my line was, and this is it: These are my people, and they're my responsibility, not yours. You don't get to cause pain to my First Apprentice, my lover and my friend. You do not have that right."

 

[Darron Wraith]

"I have a right to protect all sentient life, Ashin. Like your grandfather before you, and I will not pause in my duty just because of jurisdiction."

Darron turned to face the Empress, and the air around the two cracked with energy.

"You sit here and say you freed me from my prison for being the Jedi this time needed, well if you didn't want me to do my duty. You shouldn't have requested I come. Ignite your blade, and come at me." The Jedi Master pointed to the other two around them. "You really think Anaya will pose a threat after being drained of her power? Or what of Spencer?" While his intent with the latter had been to only show her what she was leaving when using such an ability, he knew it had to have been incredibly painful on her. His brow furrowed for a moment as he regarded the run away Jedi/lover of the Empress. She was truly becoming more lost, and that display of power only cemented his belief in it. I will save you child, one day, I'm just not sure how.

Turning to look back at Ashin, he pointed at her hilt. "You want to fight me, it will be one on one. While that confrontation will happen, that much we both know. Is today that day? The winner will either rule or serve over a destroyed galaxy. So drop your petty anger and see that I just saved two lives, something no one who serves you would have done. There is still some good in you, and I'm not blind to the fact that Sith Poison is the main reason you set on your path. So either ignite your blade or tend to your lover so we can leave."

The GrandMaster extended his senses, and began to do the process of building the superconducting loop. Should he need the aide, all he had to do was trigger the tracking beacon on his belt. And a team of Jedi would descend on the location. After all, he hadn't gotten the rank of GrandMaster for being a fool.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"So jurisdiction doesn't stop you. And here I thought you were the man who brought the Jedi under law and order. That's a deep and puzzling contradiction. And whether you saved lives or not is irrelevant. Intervention was my choice, and I daresay I'm more familiar with my people, their powers and their limitations than you are. Call it pique if you want, call it pride, but let's be clear here: If I was any other foreign dignitary and you interfered like that, it would be a diplomatic incident and the Senate would reprimand you. By your own rules, the Jedi bow to jurisdictions. Respect them. You've imposed those rules on the rest of the Order, but not on yourself."

She stepped in very close.

"Darron, if I caused Rosa Mazhar pain in front of you, how would you react? I guarantee you'd have ignited that lightsabre of yours by now. I haven't. That should tell you something. In a perfect world, it would even make you self-examine a little bit. Force knows it's incredibly overdue."

She clenched her fist, and the storm cleared. The citadel at Plawal was a quarter mile away.

"Let's get moving."

 

[Darron Wraith]

"My code dictates I help all life, yes I would have been reprimanded by the Senate for my actions. The Order is a servant of the people, and regardless if you know their limitations. They were out fighting, and you were asleep...such a good leader you are."

The GrandMaster never backed down from the Empress, and he didn't reach for his saber. Instead, he looked down at her, with the cold and calm look that was his trademark. The air began to clear as they both knew a confrontation would be pointless. The other two began to rise, and Darron stood as still as a statue waiting for Ashin. She had hit on the mark that he would have sprung into action if Rosa had been hurt, but his intent had been only to pause Spencer's attempt at draining. Blue eyes regarded the Empress as she issued orders to her followers, but he didn't move just yet. Even as the storm around them cleared. "Yes, if you were hurting Rosa I would have tried to save her. The difference is, I would never cause harm to Spencer if I could help it. I merely hit her with Force Light, I know the power is foreign to you but you know it's affects. It heals, and burns away darkness. Velok is one of the few Sith I have met that could die from the power, I only meant to pause her attempt."

Finally he moved and headed towards his taun taun, while still speaking.

"That's the difference Ashin, I'm still trying to help Spencer. Everyone in my Order would do the same, and few Jedi would have handled the situation as I just did. Remember that the next time you threaten, because we both know anyone in your Order would needlessly kill to do me harm or prove a point." He pointed towards Anaya as the words left his mouth.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

The force drain caught Anaya unawares, and she instantly released her force grasp on Spencer and she battled to keep her own life. Everything form that point seemed to be a blur, the grandmaster appeared, the drain stopped and Anaya was on her hands and knees as the argument rose between two great powers in the force. She delved deep into the darkness, for strength, channelled her fury at Ashin's foolish choice to bring Spencer, at the grandmasters intervention of their dispute, at Omni.

Slowly she rose from her hands and knees in the snow and regarded Darron and Ashin as they bickered. Her anger rose. This wasn't about them, this had nothing to do with their pathetic issues with one another. This started because of her fury with Ashin. A low hysterical laugh began to escape her and slowly rose to a mad cackle. "Well, well, well." she clapped her hands slowly at Spencer "So the naïve little Jedi girl learnt a new trick. Wonderful," the mad smile she had on her face vanished, replaced with a burning glare. "but it won't save you."

She took her eyes from Spencer and settled them on Ashin, silent for a moment as she regarded her, her anger boiling within her the longer she looked. "Grandmaster, I will say this once and once only. Shut the feth up and let the sith deal with their own issues. You did not need to intervene, Spencer hasn't got the heart to kill in cold blood." She moved forward as she spoke, closing the gap between her and Ashin, her eyes never leaving the Empress. "It's exactly that, that makes her a weakness."

She was inches from Ashin now, standing between her and the grandmaster. "You fool." she hissed "Did you think I would not find out? While the man I love is out of my reach both physically and mentally you bring your plaything along and rub it in my face. Remind me of what I haven't got." her lekku were twitching angrily, though Ashin had nothing to fear from Anaya, she was not so much of a fool to attack her, furious or not.

"And if the personal slight against me wasn't enough you have just put her life in mortal danger. If I know, so will others. She is a weakness to be exploited. They will come and they will do everything in their power to destroy her, because that's how this game works. Now I couldn't give a damn if she dies, she is nothing to me. But, you?" she shook her head "Do not become a weakness I need to remove."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Everything burned, but she could breath now. The girl fought back the urge to cry out from the pain and the loss that the Force gave her. Spencer fell to her knees and clutched her face. Everything in her nind swirled the force light attacked the dark emotions she had to tap into so she could produce the force drain. Her eyes looked up as Ashin and Darron argued, Anaya being fed the darkness she had lost soon moved and mocked her. A surge of hate swelled with in her. She wanted respect from the creature and yet she mocked her. In turn she went on to chastise Darron and then Ashin. That action caused the girl to find the strength to stand up.

"I will kill you. Your emotions throw you out of balance and you are a loose canon. If you dare..."

Spencer took steps and placed herself next to Ashin. For once she felt her emotions letting them surge. It seemed her attachment to Ashin was a catalyst for this. Spencer had her place, she wouldn't allow someone to talk to her friend, lover, and Empress like this. Spencer touched her own cheek, where the mask had sat carefully attached moments ago. The hand glowed a soft golden hue and she started to heal herself and finished what she was going to say to the twi'lek.

"If you dare threaten the Empress again. You will die and it will be by my hands"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin looped her arm around Spencer's shoulders. "Everybody shut the feth up, right now. Darron, you're acting like one of my Sith Knights trying to justify everything in hindsight. Man up. Anaya, if Spencer's a weakness, try exploiting it and see how far it gets you." She pointed at the citadel. "It's time we go in there and find what there is to find. Anybody says another word about this, and I'll take it as a sign that you're too immature to work with me. And that's a bad, bad position to be in. Don't bother packing; we'll leave the tauntauns and the tents."

She left a spot of her blood on both beasts and the tents, then set out across the snowfield, putting distance between herself and the camp.

"This is the citadel that used to belong to the Ismaren family. According to my sources, Irek Ismaren may have been Palpatine's son. He was a Forcer who toyed with mechu-deru here, and the catacombs beneath were once full of deadly, Force-controlled droids. It's one of only two placed on Belsavis that might offer a clue towards Omni. The other is close by, and probably buried -- an ancient prison.

"And it's time for you all to know. I got this information from Darth Apparatus, just days before he betrayed us all at Kuat. He was almost certainly Clockwork when he told me to come to Belsavis." She came to a halt before a huge door into the foundations. A wave of her hand opened it slowly. "Anyone who wants to leave, now is the time."

 

[Darron Wraith]

"So we could be walking into a huge kill-box, nice."

Darron had remained silent the rest of the way to the citadel, there was nothing to say really. The company he was keeping was far from the norm, and he was vastly outnumbered. No matter where he turned, just by being a Jedi he was in the wrong. It didn't affect his confidence in himself or his beliefs one bit, but was tiresome. He knew no matter what he would have to follow the code, despite the perilous moral conflicts he would be put on during this mission. It seemed as if Ashin was having more fun testing his moral compass and the very fabric of who he was, than she was on actually getting the mission accomplished. The GrandMaster of the Jedi Order knew he had nothing to worry about as far as his safety was concerned, but the latest revelation of who had sent them wasn't exactly making his current company more trustworthy in his eyes. Maybe Rosa was right about this?

Turning to look at Ashin, Darron stood firm as the doors opened.

"I sure hope that whatever is human inside of Darth Apparatus gave you good information. I'm willing to go through hell to get whatever we need to stop Omni, but I'm not going to waste time while the galaxy burns just for an elaborate trap." Darron pulled both of his lightsaber hilts off his belt and idly twirled them in his hands for a moment before continuing.

"I pray your trust in your former comrade is justified, or you might get the two most powerful Force-Users killed. Along with your champion, and your lover."

Darron headed inside the dark citadel without waiting to hear Ashin's response, they had talked enough.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin snorted and took the lead. "Then your information is behind the times, Darron. Trusting a Clockwork is a poor idea. We're here to spring the trap."

Droids scurried in dark corners of the catacombs, and she grabbed one with the Force. The ancient astromech whined piteously as she pulled out a specialized portable scanner. "We learned a lot from keeping Kaine prisoner," she said, scanning the astromech. "Yes, looks like Omni's nanites are around. Be careful, everyone."

Ancient, pathetic droids rolled at them from all sides, and Ashin's lightning thrashed into the assorted 'forces'.

"They're no real danger if you keep your wits about you," she said over the crackling of electricity, "but actual defense forces might be on their way. Depends what the catacombs connect with."

 

[Soeht]

The catacombs stretched at least a kilometer long. Twists and turns along with dim light made it difficult to see far ahead. The further one ventured, the hotter the air became as the tunnels entered a volcanically active part of Belsavis. The structure had been built to withstand it, though, even if those within could feel the occasional tremor.

Eventually, the catacombs would have lead to the Tomb. Tremendous halls with ceilings several stories high would have greeting the adventurers once they reached it. The part of the Tomb connecting to the tunnels was well beneath the surface of the isolated tropical oasis above. Several primordial droids littered the grand walkways - built by ancient races of long ago.

The Champion of Omni - or Darth Apparatus as others would call him - tended to an ancient console next to a massive bulwark of a door that was at least fifteen meters high. The console holographically projected script of an ancient language no longer used in the galaxy. Yet, with how quickly Darth Apparatus worked it, he obviously knew what the symbols meant.

After a few seconds of messing with the console, the tremendous door began to shake. The vibration disturbed the foundation and bedrock, causing what would have seemed to be an groundquake that might have reached Ashin and her current companions. The door parted at the center - splitting out and in two as its halves receded into the wall. Once the door opened, a new path was revealed to Darth Apparatus that lead further underground.

Remnants of a long gone dark side presence lingered in the air - a terror once forgotten by the galaxy yet strong enough to leave its mark in the stone.

Before Darth Apparatus entered this new tunnel, one of the antiquated droids approached the Sith Lord and gave him several strings of beeps. Its message was to inform Darth Apparatus that Ashin and her party had arrived on Belsavis and that Omni now knew of them being there due to their destruction of several droids at the nearby citadel.

Aware of the visitors, Darth Apparatus continued forward into this newly reopened passage to prepare for their arrival should they follow his trail.

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya could not help but laugh at Spencer's threat, but her laughter was cut short by Ashin's cold words. Idiot she thought to herself. She would never be so foolish as to attempt to exploit the weakness herself. No, that was not how Anaya worked. If this was going to work in her favour, then Spencer would fall at someone else's hand, it was just a simple case of deciding who that someone was.

Another objective for another day.

She followed the others, trailing behind as she did her utmost to refocus her anger. She thought about Kaine, about how he had been stolen from her, it brought on a wave of pain in her heart that was quickly envelope by her anger. Today she needed to focus on Omni, on avenging her love. Tomorrow, she could deal with Ashin and her pet.

Anaya let out a low hiss as they entered the catacombs to be greeted by ancient droids, she ignited both sabers, throwing one into their midst. controlling its spin and trajectory with the force as it sliced through several before calling it back to her. This would not be enough to sate her hunger to cause pain. She deactivated her sabers at Ashin's last statement.

"Well then, lets hunt. I want to be done and off this frozen wasteland before the bars close." another droid crept towards and her palm snapped towards it sending it crashing into the wall. thumbing the activation switches on her sabers again she took point and began to move deeper into the catacombs.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer made fists as she heard Anaya’s laughter, she was mocking her and Spencer didn’t enjoy this. She was serious on her notion towards the Twi’lek and more so she wanted to kill the woman. To calm down, Spencer closed her eyes and remembered the time when Ashin took the throne. The happy thoughts the Twi’lek offered to Spencer was a moment the two shared, this was before Anaya thought of her as a weakness.

Ashin commanded them and Spencer started to feel a bit stronger once she finished healing herself. Pulling slightly away from Ashin, she didn’t’ want to compromise the woman any more with her Champion. Looking up, she noticed the droids and waved her arm across her body. The focused force wave shot towards droids to keep them away allowing the others to attack the droids in the best possible way. Looking towards Ashin, she waited for other orders.

Before that though, the ground shook and Spencer still already weak in the knees from the attack earlier. Standing up, she wanted to reach out and use Ashin as support though she knew that would only make things worse. Spencer stood on her feet as she continued farther in with the group. Spencer sighed and mumbled under her breath.

“I’m not a plaything.”

 

[Nisha Decrilla]

Anaya paused in her tracks as the ground beneath them trembled, showering them in dust and ice particles. A smile flashed across her face as she heard Spencer's mutterings. "Did I say plaything?" she called over her shoulder her tone mocking "I'm sorry, is pet a better description? If not i have plenty of other things I can call you..."