Jewel of the Crown [ TSE Dominion of Dromund Kaas Hex ]

[Elani Zambrano]

Elani took Alexandria's words and thought for a moment. She walked closer to the statues, Bobo appearing the grow more tense. Elani pet his tail a few times, which calmed him down easily during times like this. This let him know that she would handle this. She raised her hand towards the statues and raised her voice. "In the name of the Dark Lord, open this door." The epicanthix's voice bellowed throughout the area as she called upon the force to persuade the statues to allow entry into the temple. And then, their eyes lost their glow. They had returned tot heir slumber and the massive doors of the temple groaned as they split apart, revealing the interior of the temple.

Bobo climbed down Elani and ran into the temple ahead of her. She followed behind, eyeing her surroundings in search of the scouts. "They are in here somewhere.." She continued on through the temple, searching vigilantly for the missing scouts and what caused them to go missing.

[member="Alexandria Zambrano"]​

 

[Darth Voracitos]

Location: Somewhere in a Den of Decadence (Forces in Dark Force Temple region)
Objective: B
Tags: [member="Alexandria Zambrano"] | [member="Elani Zambrano"] | @"Pyrosis"

Dromund Kaas.

Throne World of the Sith, and shattered Capital of a dead Empire he once ruled, and passed on to... other Lords of the Sith. This was a world of status, and recently, conflict. This was also a world to him, of imprisonment. This was where the Lord of Gluttony, in all his might, was turned inward against himself, crushed by the weight of his own power under the command of one, [member="Darth Carnifex"] - Kaine Zambrano. Suffice to say, the world shared much history with Darth Voracitos, and the Dark Lord held a keen eye and a vested interest in the Sith "Jewel".

Thus it comes as no surprise that Voracitos was among the first to hear (or rather, intercept) knowledge of the disappearance of Legion scouts in an uncharted abandoned temple of the dark side stationed on the surface of the planet. With the promise of artifacts, it came as no surprise that Voracitos sent a single Hungered Vassal and a handful of their Starved Subjects to investigate the matter - just as the Imperials moved in to do the same.

Unfortunately gluttony comes with some unfortunate side effects, one of them being a particular... slothfulness. As such, as usual, the Dark Lord's servants were not the first to arrive, though they did carry with them the burden of their Master's intense gaze, in the form of a hologram mechano-chair. The massive form of their master not fully captured by its limited projector, walking into the open air where the trio of Imperial servants opened the gates and entered.

"Do not be so foolish to believe these guardians heed the call of the Dark Lord, you have tricked them of nothing. No, they sense only the presence of one who has already opened their doors. This temple... it is dangerous to your kind, and has claimed a number of my servants already. Only this time they go with my direct guidance." Lord Voracitos rumbled electronically through the hologram, as its claws clicked into the hollowed halls of this dark temple, as withered slaves followed behind a Hungered Vassal who walked beside the mechano-chair, coming in behind the other three imperials.

"Give your respects, the master of the Coven of Gluttony, Darth Voracitos, graces you with his gaze. Pray it shall not consume you, as it has consumed me." The Hungered Vassal said aloud, walking with purpose inside the halls of the temple.

 

[Kenth Typho]

Location: Kaas City, DK
Objective: Investigate.
Allies: [member="Dante Sotari"]

"His height shifts as well." Morgan responded through the internalized subvocalizer. One of the best inventions ever- no need for hand signals, no need for mumbling or some Force mambo-jambo. You linked up with your partner and could relay anything you needed through it without making a sound. The only downside was the drain it set on your energy... he always had a power-bar or two with him during these type of missions.

"Too much for foot padding or heels."

Morgan studied the door in front of them.

Eyes brushing the corners, before blinking. Grey color lit up iridescent blue as the cybernetics were enabled. Now Morgan could see the outprints of electronics all around him. A year ago this would have given him a splitting headache. But he was used to it by now. "No booby traps, do your thing."

She had always been better at picking locks.

Affinity or maybe experience, Morgan didn't know.

"Might be a forcer- could prove a challenge." This wasn't their forte. The Force was basically magic, who knew what it could do? Might be some other species, Shi'ido maybe.

 

[Arage Bao]

DROMUND KAAS
ANCIENT WRECKAGE
[member="Darth Filiae"]

That burning eye studied the Chiss as she talked.

Squinting, observing.

She had not been his first choice for this mission, but often enough choices didn't matter when you worked within the Saaraishash. The avian commanded and you simply followed your directives with faith that there was some end-goal you simply could not yet see. More often than not that was exactly how it worked out. The Lord Saarai had a knack for discovering hints and clues, before turning them to his advantage.

"We kill them all." Ardeth finally said, before tilting his head. The voice of his apprentice called out in the distance. I found something. She shouted and the Muun could only sigh.

There was a long journey ahead of him if he was to train her into a proper Sith.

But there was strength in her, hidden, but there.

"Let's go and see what my apprentice found." They wandered and it didn't take long for them to find the blonde former Jedi. She seemed triumphant, waiting for something from Ardeth. But the Muun elected to ignore her and focus on the gaping hole. There was scrap and wreckage around it, where his apprentice had removed the rubble to show the entrance.

Deep.

Dark.

Ardeth could not sense anything from it, besides the corruption of the Darkside.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

OBJECTIVES:​ A ) - Destroy them.


​The Matador carried Oribuir's momentum on the gauntlet of his right arm, holding it against the joint of his arm, releasing it from his grip as he moved backward; side stepping and retreating from his vulnerable position. Oribuir's reach gave him a huge advantage in the open field, the weapon moved like a paperweight in his hands. Striking faster and further than the slaves could predict. He continued to backpedal, swinging the blade in massive arcs; carving through several with each massive swing. The grass beneath their feet carried a hollow forest green, deadened by a lack of nutrition in its sole.

Old and frail, the earth beneath their feet was baptised with blood once more. The sullen expressions of corpses brought warmth to the untouched flat of dried mud and fickle earth. Bodies began to pile, the slaves were desperate, launching themselves at him like animals as they began to circle around him. He was one, and they were many. He brought Oribuir close, half swording Oribuir to deal blows with precision and finesse.

​As the rebelling slaves realised they had him surrounded, a surge of them pressed forward; driving at him with a vehement fury only compelled by blinding rage or the desperation of a feeble creation. He imagined more so the latter. His massive form made little effort, pressing to his left and into the crowd. Not a single one equalled him in might, The Matador entered the fray with a guttural roar.

"​ROAAAAAAAGHGGHGHGH!"

​His throat seemed to clench and burn as the bellowing sound came out, beyond animalistic in a fit of warring fury. The Matador swung Oribuir forward, cutting through his first opponent like a knife threw butter. The second, came swinging with a baton; he didn't even aim to cut. He struck the man with the brunt of his hilt, the impact snapping his neck and crushing his chest; sending his withered form backward into the crowd. Two daggers pierced his flesh, one in his waist, another in his shoulder, a third attempted to pierce his neck as the Matador tapped into the force, increasing his speed; turning with such momentum to face his other attackers that the third lost hold and fell to the ground. The Matador turned with Oribuir in one hand, swinging its full length into the closing horde. Oribuir spun, cutting down countless before cutting deep into Dromund Kaas' earth.

 

[Nan'eth'illa]

Dromund Kaas
Ancient Wreckage
[member="Ardeth Zun"]

The bird speaks; the Inquisitors do. The Csen'ai had asked her to immerse herself in the life of the inquisitors, and so she had. Even if that meant dealing with a bothersome Muun. They were three words short and half a metre too tall for her comfort, leaving her to inferences about his thoughts.

"The High Inquisitors will want to know what they know." Refuse had a considerable skill of getting in wherever you did not want it.

As they came around to the blonde apprentice, she cocked her head to the side, staring into the dark maw of metal and growth. She had walked into the abyss of an ancient temple once before and found herself pinned by traps. She had learned since then. With a slight wave of her right hand near each of her shoulders, two seeker-droids detached from the back of her suit.

"You two go first, tell me what you see." She traced a metal finger over one of the droids' heads.

The two probes chirped in response and whizzed off towards the entrance, spreading out and ducking into the dark. She waited a few minutes before walking towards it herself. There were no shots fired yet. If there was a trap, then it was sensitive enough to not be set off by such little things. She ducked her head inside first. The entrance made a sharp turn to the left, the walls seemed smooth, though somewhat despoiled by the first growth of lichen.

"Let's go."

She set her foot inside.

 

[Dante Sotari]

Location: Kaas City, DK
Objective: Investigate
Allies: [member="Morgan Vance"]

Dante had already dismissed the idea that it was a Shi'do- if it had been why so *little* difference? Always humanoid, always within a certain size range. A Shi'do would have had a much larger range to work with. Clawdite or Forcer.

"I'd prefer the clawdite," she muttered, pulling a tool from her belt.

Settling it against the lock, she fiddled- it wasn't like regular lock picks, but there was no magic button, no device that could simply pop any lock, anywhere. She still needed to be able to read the magnetic resonance and make the appropriate adjustments before-

Click.

Trusting that if the door had been rigged with explosives, Morgan and his bionic eyes would have seen and informed her by now, she carefully cracked the door open. The stairwell and landing just inside were pitch dark, and she flipped on infrared before opening the door all the way and stepping in. She moved to the side, letting Morgan take point in the passage down. His cybernetics suited it better, and the decision was made without discussion necessary at this point. They'd worked together often enough to know who was best suited for what, and at least on mission, ego didn't factor into it much. They'd grown in professional trust since the annoyed tit for tat on the way to the Mirial debacle, and it was far more pleasant for both of them.

 

[Alexandria Zambrano]

DROMUND KAAS
OBJECTIVE B
[member="Elani Zambrano"] [member="Darth Voracitos"]

Alexandria stepped into the gloom cautiously, before a feeling tingled somewhere in the back of her skull. Naturally, she turned with an audible alert to her companion and the collection of dishevelled souls and their Master, one which the Sith Lady Victrix had not encountered before, materialised at the great gates. Lord Voracitus' holographic form eclipsed the light from the door, until it thudded shut leaving the odd group in complete darkness. Quickly, torches came ablaze on the walls, bathing them in a fiery glow, leaving Darth Victrix's features gaunt and almost disfigured.

A scowl contorted her face, barely apparent to the others in the chamber upon the Sith Lord's words, before a forced smile abated her tempestuous expression.

"We thank you for your help, then" her voice bounced around the room, echoing off into the distant gloom until the rattling of it could no longer be distinguished from the sounds of silence. "...Lord Voracitos." The Epicanthix then turned, with her hands raised in a preemptive position to ward off any would-be attackers. Though uninterested in the Lord's attempts at belittlement, her mind danced on his words: dangerous to your kin. Perhaps there was something down here, which the Lord of Greed was aware of hence his appearance via holograph, which would explain the disappearances of the Legion's scouts and the Lord's servants.

 

[Tathra Khaeus]

OBJECTIVES:​ A ) - Destroy them.

For the Hunt.

​Hands would do just find. The first stabber thrust again as the Matador threw his upper torso into their arm and consequentially into their face; crushing their arm and knocking them down bloody and broken. The second aimed high, slashing at his neck; the blade collided with Beskar, useless. The Matador retaliated, slapping them with an open palm with force that broke her neck; knocking her body to the ground with a mangled neck and a shattered face that fell in upon itself as she reached the grass at their feet. Another, larger trandoshan male lunged at him, a feral expression on his face as both hands extended; the Matador raised his gauntlet; hunching down as he carried the lizards weight overhead, turning with his free hand and striking the trandoshan in the chest; he felt his ribs crushing upon impact; his face turning from feral to extreme pain as his body fell.

​For the Feast.

​Several more fell against powerful strikes, their small bodies crushed with little effort under the Matador's might. A wookie struck his back, hitting the Matador in his sacrum with a massive trunk of wood; feeling others strike at him as well, hands and feet throwing his body to the ground.

​Fear the Beast.

​The Matador pushed himself up on his palms, listening for the wookies next strike. His helm colliding with the next strike, the sheer momentum of his movement caused the wood to shatter against his face as he raised his gauntlet to clash with the trunk. His other hand rising, clamping down on the right wrist of the wookie as his right hand ran down the shaft of his weapon; reaching his hand. He twisted, snapping bone and using the wookies weight to pull himself up, striking his horns into the Wookies eyes, gauging his left eye out, and thrusting his scaled pauldron into his opponents chest. The wookies arm was dislocated, causing it to grimace; pulling desperately to free itself as the Matador thrust the brunt of his wrist repeatedly into its collar bone, cracking the sturdy bone.

​Now, both its arms were useless. The Matador had made the wookie feral as it growled in pain, attempting to raise its arm in a futile effort to strike back. He wrapped his arm around the wookies throat, using it's body to defend his own as his arm outstretched. He called to Oribuir, the blade ripping chunks of dirt from the ground as it shot toward him. The blade spun cutting down more as it returned to him, the blade reached his left hand; using its speed and momentum to turn, striking all around himself with the blade. His momentum allowed him to throw the wookie aside, carrying Oribuir in both hands in a full circle; shattering those within reach.

 

[Kenth Typho]

Location: Kaas City, DK
Objective: Investigate.
Allies: [member="Dante Sotari"]

There was a reason why Morgan didn't discard the possibility of a Shi'ido.

Yes.

They had the opportunity to shape themselves into a variety of things, but that was the thing was it not? Humans were boring, easy, there were trillions upon trillions of them across the entirety of the Galaxy. They weren't special. They just were. If a Shi'ido that wanted to be left alone and not noticed was going to pick a form for themselves. Why would they pick something that would put attention on them?

Why not simply pick one human after another. After all... they all looked virtually the same.

That was Morgan's thoughts anyway, while the door clicked and Dan gave him some space to go in first. "Me too, but experience tells me it ain't ever that easy." Morgan responded while the bionic eyes dimmed themselves in the sudden darkness.

That shifted the depth of his perception as well, but the risk changed as well. It wouldn't be good if their enemies could simply get to him by the hue of his eye. They walked through one corridor to the next, until one room caught Morgan's attention. He stopped there, his voice entering her mind and telling her to shift for a moment. One glance in told him that the room was empty, devoid of sentient life.

But it was full of artifacts.

He whistled... inside her head and shook his head.

"These people really want to get their arse kicked." Morgan commented while approaching softly to some of the shelves. Holocrons, artifacts, there was a ton here. They were bold, that much Morgan could agree to.

 

[Arage Bao]

DROMUND KAAS
ANCIENT WRECKAGE
[member="Darth Filiae"]

"They will find what they need in Kaas City." The Muun reminded her after a moment of consideration. The Saaraishash was active across the entirety of Dromund Kaas and that was no surprise. They were the guardians of proper Sith lore, after all. Kaas was one of the most importants worlds for the Sith. Holy. The former seat of the Empire and a planet that still had much cultural meaning.

Saarai would not just let that handle itself.

He'd bring in the entire force and swipe it clean, if given the opportunity. "Take no risks, Filiae, these humans have nothing that we would need." This perspective already told the Chiss what she needed to know.

That Ardeth did not consider humans really worth much and that he would not risk himself to sustain their existence. Not even if the Saaraishash would prefer to capture them alive. Not when they were already working in Kaas City to bring in the ring leaders. Not... when it would threaten his own plans. The Muun ignored his apprentice who decided that the only reasonable way of response was to sulk.

The Muun let the droids go first, then the Chiss, before sinking into the darkness of the tunnel as they descended down.

It was dark, there was brushed, rough metal everywhere. The presence of the Darkside pushed heavy against his mind. "How did you receive your cybernetics?" There was no patience or subtlety in his voice.

If it was a sensitive subject? The Muun did not care.

 

[Ambroys de Saintraille]

Location | Dromund Kaas Shipyards
Objective | Exterminate the pirate infestation | Objective C
Company | Legion Soldiers | Fang Droids | Akguza Guards | [member="Kor Vexen"]

---

In truth his companion was right... In one aspect.

As the duo moved through the shipyards and the much bigger and much stronger of the pair went about snapping necks and killing every pirate that existed within the territories that rightfully belonged to the Sith, Ambroys couldn't help but smile. True, these vermin had established their nest within the shipyards of the once great capital of the Sith Empire that existed thousands of years ago and had to be vanquished, this was a fact that could not be disputed. Where his stronger associated preferred the approach of decisive and swift action, the Mad Count saw things differently, treated his enemies less than opponents upon the battlefield though these weren't even that; more so equal to sewage and poverty than anything as respectable as a fellow opponent upon the field of war. The tap of his cane upon the metallic floor echoed among the screams and sounds of the delivery of death and the best part of it all? There was no remorse by the Sith that carried out the deed, no second thoughts of disobeying their orders. Ambroys could not argue that the droids that Kor had deployed were extremely effective in an instance such as this but, as the Count considered with all things, it lacked the organic touch. Droids followed programming rather than their emotions, leaving a whole goldmine of thoughts and feelings to feed off of shoved to the side in favor of machines.

Still, the criminals that fell left and right gave off a suitable aurora of pain and misery, thus the smile that seemed to stretch from ear to ear as the Count walked alongside his large armored companion. Since meeting with Kor Vexen, he had always wondered what laid behind the large suit of armor. What mysteries laid inside the hulking 6'5 figure that he traveled with? Still, he could feel the energy radiating from the fellow Sith; a merciless and equally viscous spirit that wanted nothing more than to see everything burn before him which only explained why he brooded and strangled every pirate that came within his arc of vision. Oh the friends the Count made were exceptional, this new Sith Empire he found himself within seemed to have such a lovely plethora of individuals each with their own desires and methods of killing. It was no wonder the elderly Ambroys was a tad giddy with joy, like a child within a sweet shop. It was early days indeed and the Count was only starting to sink his teeth into his new brothers and sisters... Not literally of course, not quite yet.

As Kor spoke, the Count nodded his head and gave a sinister yet equally childish chuckle as he kept pace with him, the cane wasn't there for assistance, the Count himself was able to walk just as well as his associate. If there was one thing that could be noted about the Count, it was his sense of style, however random, out of place and downright nonsensical it may be. Regardless, the Count responded; "Ah but you see, where you see mercy, I see a death worthy of vermin." he'd pause as he'd flick a hand up towards a running pirate, sending electricity through his fingertips at quite a low level at first but as he got closer and closer as the pair walked, the power rose sharply. It was torture on the one who so desperately tried to escape his fate, his screams flooding the area with agony, though as the Count and Kor moved past him, he was all but fried to a crisp. The Count continued; "We face the lowest of the low and those who dare defy our claim to this land, killing them swiftly would be doing them too much justice, don't you think? No, they deserve to lose everything, even their minds, before they expire; it lets them know that their choices were misplaced, took the wrong pill. My dear boy, it's not mercy, it's starving them of everything they need before we stamp on their little insect bodies. Longer, yes but wouldn't you agree it makes the atmosphere oh so much more exquisite?"

And so he continued his path alongside his armored comrade, watching the extermination of undesirables unfold in every corner of his view. Today was a very good day, indeed.

 

[Zef Halo]

OPERATION: ZARMA VA [translated from Sith as: RECONQUEST]
SITH WORLDS WAR THEATER
OUTPOST TEMPEST :: DROMUUND KAAS

Fire and maneuver. Fire and maneuver. Standard.

LT Scipio had taken cover behind some tough steel rubble located on one of the outpost's guard towers. The officer took heavy fire at his position so the odd tremors he was feeling underneath him came unnoticed.

Until, of course, the tower began crumbling beneath him. Suddenly weightless, the lieutenant was off flying towards the ground. Before he could even think of his grappling hook, a massive hand clutched his forearm.

The familiar visor of SSGT 'Tusk'.

He was pulled back up to safety by his second and gave a nod as a thanks.

LT Alta's focus went back to the ruins of the tower to see a bear like figure with a red lightsaber swinging against an overwhelming barrage of blaster fire.

:: Suppressive fire on that position!! :: Hand gestures marked the target and from their vantage point Scipio, Tusk and a few other good soldiers from his platoon let loose a heavy fire of slugs upon the enemies.


[member="Bo Lin"]

 

[Nan'eth'illa]

DROMUND KAAS
Ancient Wreckage
[member="Ardeth Zun"]

'Nothing we could need.'

He was so quick to underestimate the ingenuity of humanoids. While humans lacked the refinement of many, they were undeniably productive and creative, and Darth Filiae was not foolish enough to draw a curtain over it.

"You would be surprised at what humans hide in rusty old ruins, especially if they don't know what they have."

And certainly, this looked like one such case where the smugglers had no idea what kind of place they had stumbled upon. The walls were angular and plain, no padding on the corners or artwork on the flats: It was clean, professional, but who built it?

"My Cybernetics?" To some it was a sensitive question, like asking where one got a scar. She turned and looked at him as he followed into the darkness. "Depends which one you're referring to. They all have their story; some come from loss, some from gain." She did not appear bothered.

A repeated clanking sound travelled up the corridor as one of the seekers returned to Filiae, pointing back from whence it had come and chirping in binary. The Chiss looked at it as though she understood, then down whence it gestured.

She followed the seeker droid down to the bend and let it pass around before she turned it herself. She was cautious in her steps, looking where she walked and checking her angles. There was an open door on the right-hand side, leading into what appeared to be an office. On the left hand side, the door was crunched up and the room that had been there clearly collapsed. Ahead, there was a single, shut blast-door. The two seekers stopped and looked at the Chiss.

"Good boys."

They were practically wagging with pride.

 

[Arage Bao]

DROMUND KAAS
ANCIENT WRECKAGE
[member="Darth Filiae"]

She assumed that kill them all means there would be no time for proper interrogation.

It would take only a few moments of Knowledge Drain application, before they became completely useless to them. But it was fair. His words had been ambiguous enough that clarification was necessary. "You cannot read my mind." The Muun retorted apologetically or as apologetic as Ardeth could really get when he was speaking with a near-human. "Before the kill, we interrogate them ourselves."

"Extract what is located in their brains."

Rather than trying to haul a gaggle of unwilling humans from one place to the other, which came with their own risks. Trying to get them alive was an additional problem that the Muun was not interested in.

Burning eye glanced over to her again, it glowed in the shadows. "But if you wish to keep yours alive, I cannot stop you." Would not either. In fact, Ardeth would prefer she did. It would make her weaker and that weakness could be exploited. Oh, the ranks of the Saaraishash were legion, but with caution and carefulness? A lot could be achieved without overt moves.

"Your eyes. Tell me their story."

The Muun responded to the hidden question, while studying the large bulkdoor made of reinforced metal. Closed shut. Head tilted, but otherwise Ardeth did not move to act.

It was too strong to break through with the Force and he was not a mind of machine.

That was the Chiss.

 

[Nan'eth'illa]

DROMUND KAAS
Ancient Wreckage
[member="Ardeth Zun"]

She nodded in agreement to the clarification. All too often, 'kill them all' meant 'kill them on sight'. Too often, she had to restrain would be Inquisitors from exterminating information they needed. While reanimation was possible, as made evident on Mirial, it was still outside of Filiae's area of expertise.

Pulling a gaggle of humans with her was not her goal either, but if she got the chance, she would bring back one or two. It was miraculous how much you could extract from a person. She did not just mean information, face, voice, fingerprints if she kept a hand. She had motives for bringing back prisoners. A moment of weakness perhaps, but behind it was potential for power.

"Eye. Only the left one is augmented. The right is natural." She moved to the control panel next to the blastdoor and brushed thick dust off the control panel. To her disappointment, she found a hole in it, two fingers wide and charred around the edges. It had been shot. "I picked a fight with another acolyte back in the Core. He took my eye; I took his head." She clamped her hands around the control panel and closed her eyes. "Decided to get it upgraded."

Filiae's mind went into the machines, through wires and dead cards, to the mechanisms in the walls and in the doors. Her jaw set hard and her eyes screwed shut as she went deeper, deeper. PSSSHHH! The blast-doors opened just enough to let them shoulder through. A set of bleached bones crashed through the crack in a rattling mess, more lay beyond. They had been shut in by whoever shot the panel.

"How did you lose yours?" She gestured for the droids to take point again, they flew through the gap like a pair of hungry vornskrs

 

[Dante Sotari]

Location: Kaas City, DK
Objective: Investigate.
Allies: [member="Morgan Vance"]

"You can say that again," Dante muttered. She ran the recording of the room, a long, slow sweep as she turned in a 180, and sent it back to the Saaraishash- she didn't know which inquisitor was handling this, compiling it all, and frankly, she didn't really care.

"There's more in this one room than we'd even been estimating they'd already managed to sell off world," she said, her voice a little impressed despite the situation.

A series of letters came filtering over her HUD, presumably over Morgan's as well a moment later.

Confirm target is still on site. Find secret egress location. Do not engage. Stand by for additional back up.

Dante snorted.

"Oh, is that all?" she asked, sarcasm thick. "Find all the things, but don't get caught. Do they realize they didn't send in a proper infiltration team, Vance? Or do they just not give a chit?"

She frowned, and while he couldn't see her face, he could hear it in her voice in his ear.

"Split up? You use those cybernetics for pattern recognition on that things gait if it's changed faces again and I'll track down the other exit?"

 

[Kenth Typho]

Location: Kaas City, DK
Objective: Investigate.
Allies: [member="Dante Sotari"]

It must have seemed strange to anyone looking at it from the outside.

A man and a woman, clearly soldiers, slowly sweeping the room and noting every little detail of the place in complete silence. But the expression expressive as if thorough communication was still happening somehow. Because it was, of course, but they didn't know that. "Probably the latter." Morgan almost grumbled, while crouching down and studying a particularly gruesome artifact on a lower shelf.

The skull of an ape with some kind of crystal for eyes and its expression permanently looked in a sneering scream.

"Feth, these things are creepy." But he didn't touch it, something told him that was a bad idea if you weren't prepared for it. Made him wonder how they managed to move these things around in the first place.

A nod, before Vance realized she wouldn't see it unless she was looking at him directly.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan. If come across some kind of unholy ritual site with chanting shamans..." Head tilted. "Back away slowly and don't look 'em in the eye." Morgan always disliked it when a mission forced them to split up. Their strength was in their ability to have each other's back. The moment they were separated, it meant that they had one more angle to cover alone.

Not good.

But there wasn't another option here.

"Good luck."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

​

DROMUND KAAS
KAAS CITY

The Harrower Emperor's Will moored itself above the Imperial Citadel, a squadron of Sith-Imperial TIE Fighters screeching through the atmosphere around the upper spires. When the New Sith Empire had finally swung the might of its armies towards the Crown Jewel of the Old Empire, the inhabitants of Kaas City had thrown open their doors and accepted their new Imperial sovereigns with open arms. Years of oppression at the hand of the Silver Jedi had fostered a fierce desire for liberation by the Sith who had been growing steadily in strength out from the Braxant Run, and now the heralded hour of jubilation had come as the Harrowers of the New Empire materialized in orbit and the Imperial Legion marched through the street to the cheers of the people.

But not everyone in Kaas City was content with the arrival of the Sith Empire.

When the Resurgent Empire's government collapsed, the old power of the Council dwindled until it was confined to only a scant few planets who still remained loyal. Gradually that power and authority centralized on Dromund Kaas right under the Silver Jedi's noses, and the four remaining Councilors: Lord Aril, Lord Drakash, Lord Niril, and Lord Sitas, now prowled the Council Sanctuary situated at the top of the Central Tower guarded by soldiers loyal to the new Emperor.

The takeover had been swift, the Emperor did not want to afford these errant councilors a chance to marshal their forces in opposition to his rule. The Saaraishash were dispatched alongside the Assassins to dispatch the Red Guard that were guarding the Citadel's upper towers, and all four Lords were detained, placed under arrest, and detained in the Central Tower.

Now they were waiting for the arrival of the Sith Emperor, where they would be forced to swear fealty to their new sovereign or be executed as enemies of the state.

After about an hour of waiting the Emperor finally arrived, ushered in by two of his steel-plated Crownguard as the soldiers guarding the councilors bowed their heads in reverence to their unquestioned leader. The Lords, however, merely stared at him grimly with varying degrees of visible emotions.

Carnifex merely met their gaze with a cruel smile, "So, milords, shall we begin?"

 

[Arage Bao]

DROMUND KAAS
ANCIENT WRECKAGE
[member="Darth Filiae"]

That was good.

Not just the way the door forced itself open for them, but the story that came with it. More often than not humanoids were weak from his experience. They did not understand the value in fear and the power in reputation, one could not let a slight go, one could not forget a moment of weakness, because surely those around them would never. No, for every moment of weakness, you must repay it with limitless depravity, until the former faded into the monotone background of life, while the latter would always be reminded and spoken of in hushed tones at the cover of night. "We trained on Eol Sha." The Muun spoke in a quality of silence, not a whisper, not a hushed tone, but the range low and only meant for her.

"My instructor-" Human, of course. "-found my lack of progress a personal insult." No matter that he had progressed faster than the others of the group. They were human and he was not. This was not something that Ardeth was angry or furious about.

He had accepted the ways the Galaxy stacked the deck against those of a different origin.

And decided to pay it in kind.

"As motivation, he burned out my eye and half my face with it." It was then that the gloom of his one remaining eye illuminated the rest of his face, the cowl pulled back ever so slightly. No shame in that eye though, no pride either, but definitely no shame. "His song was sweet when I fed him to a pack of Fireworms." It had been a dull affair mostly, but that did not make for a good story. He would have preferred poison. But it was difficult to get that in the middle of hellfire and heat.

This had been more symbolic.

It didn't take long for one of the droids to bound back to them, moving from one side to the other, it seemed to enjoy itself immensely.

Ardeth looked from it to the hallway that sloped down, from where it had come from. "But where is its brother of iron?" The answer came not a moment later, as the head of the droid suddenly plopped unceremoniously near their feet.

Lightsaber already out and burning bright red, but the shadows were too deep and the angle too steep to take a good look at the source.