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

[Nan'eth'illa]

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

Masters could indeed be cruel. Filiae had a few stories from times when she had disappointed her own Csen'ai, they were not pleasant. However, a lingering sense of loyalty to the Pale hindered her from telling. Instead, she kept angling her anger and blame elsewhere. Someone had to break, the Csen'ai seemed unbreakable, and Filiae refused to be the one to shatter.

In ways, it was comforting to know she was not alone in these experiences. Not something she would let soften her, rather, it steeled her resolve.

"Did you ever consider having it up-gr.."

She trailed off when the seeker came back. Something was wrong. Its back and forth swinging was easily mistaken for more of its happy bounding, but she knew it was a self-defence protocol, making it more difficult to hit. The Chiss reached out her hand for the droid to land.

"Where indeed"

She followed the head through the air as it plopped down. She threw the seeker droid to the side, letting it catch itself on its repulsors, while unclipping her lightsabre. Plasma burst from the elongated hilt. "I'll take point."

And the Chiss stepped through the narrow crack, toeing between the bleached bones. She held her lightsabre out in front of her as a light. Her cybernetic eye opened up for infrared light, paiting a monocrhomatic image of the world around her as she walked gingerly down the corridor. A bone crunched and Filiae looked quickly down at her feet; she had not stepped on anything. Another crunch.

 

[Bo Lin]

Objective 1
Allies: [member="Scipio Alta"]

The suppressing fire came just in time. He was a big target and the force could only help him move so fast. He used what little energy he had left to jump back, the landscape blurred for a moment as he rose into the air and flipped backwards in a reverse somersault. (Have you ever seen a 7' 11" Pandyn do a leaping reverse somersault? It's bananas, man.) He landed behind cover and blew his landing. He rolled back his greatsaber already off and struck a large duracrete foundation for one of the recently vacated guard towers.

He sat up and rubbed his head for a moment. The sharp pain in the back of his head felt wet under his paw and it didn't take a physicist to realize he had cut his head. His hat hung loose and was once again ruined, the dry fibers cracked and broken. He tried to crawl forward to keep low but he found a deep burning in his left leg just a moment before the odd smell of burnt hair reached his nose. He had been hit, the blaster burn still smoking as his crawl became a sidways roll.

He bumped into the low wall that he had jumped behind and decided there was only one thing to do at the moment. He dug in the folds of his tunic and pulled out a cabbage and started eating it for more energy. He followed the cabbage with a broken carrot and a handful of nutripills, before he decided to peek over the wall. The battle was almost done already. He waved at the troops and motioned that he was going to draw fire so they could just take out the last of the dug in resistance. And without further thought or any thought really he stood and turned his screamming greatsaber back on and roared, really loud.

 

[Elani Zambrano]

Objective B

Elani paused for a moment as the robust hologram was brought along. She was far too lost in her senses, combined with communing with the spirits of the Dark Force Temple to hear anyone or anything else. "There is an unspeakable evil here. Deep within the bowels of this place." Elani continued walking into the temple in search of what lies below. She did not know exactly what. Whatever trauma the spirits experienced here, it blocked them from remembering what actually killed them. This made things much more difficult for her when she tried summoning spirits for aid.

As she walked through the temple, she observed all of the interior of the temple in awe of the history that had taken place here. She could forsee herself spending a lot of time within these walls.

[member="Alexandria Zambrano"] | [member="Darth Voracitos"]

 

[Dante Sotari]

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

"Luck," she echoed, hating every part of it.

It had nothing to do with Morgan in particular. He could take care of himself better than just about anyone she'd ever worked with. But leaving her partner without backup made her almost physically itch. The fact that they were connected via the comms and could touch base at any time? Irrelevant and entirely unhelpful. If one of them got into trouble, real trouble, but the time the other one got there it would likely either be too late or not necessary at all.

There was no where to go but down, as far as Dante was concerned. Where in the building their friend might be headed was a mystery better suited to Morgan's cybernetics, but there was only one place a potential secret exit was going to be. The basement. While Morgan went off to sweep the rest of the floor, Dante headed back to the stairs.

At ten stories, the building was relatively small, but certainly large enough to include a lift, probably somewhere toward the center of the building. Dante descended in silence, but even then swept every landing from the one above before continuing down. First floor.... basement.... sub-basement.

Peering slowly through the small, square window in the door, Dante confirmed that, if the sub-basement wasn't *empty* there was no one moving around in it, before trying the knob- old fashioned, no automatic door this far down, even an old fashioned lock. Which was, of course, firmly set.

Who used *keys* anymore?

With a double blink, Dante sent a pulse to Morgan. Just enough to confirm she'd found what was needed on her end. If the secret exit wasn't located here, then there wasn't one. With a sigh, she pulled off her helmet and her gloves- there would be no finessing the lock in armored gloves, and she couldn't risk even a small explosive charge- not with Morgan wandering around upstairs. With an annoyed grunt, she dropped to one knee and got to work.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Dromund Kaas
Kaas City

Stunned silence rang out through the council chamber initially, but soon enough that quiet melted away to outburst.

"You have some nerve, Lord Carnifex." thundered Lord Drakash, the most brash and outspoken of the whole bunch. When the Resurgent Empire was strong and youthful he commanded the vast legions of its military might as Councilor of the Sphere of War, but now those armies were scattered and despondent. Some had even turned to forming their own warbands to eke out a living in the now lawless lands that the Silver Jedi had left in their retreat.

Those that still yearned for Imperium flocked to the New Sith Empire, and were among those present in the reoccupation of Kaas City.

"Commanding your droogs to kill our guards and hold us here, like common criminals! This is sacrilege, Lord Carnifex, this is an insult to our ancient bloodline!" The Red Sith's face turned, well, an even brighter shade of red as a thick globlet of spittle bubbled past his lips as he railed at the towering Epicanthix Lord. Carnifex merely smiled darkly, letting the former Lord of War blow off some steam before he finally put an end to his incessant whining with a raise of his hand that constricted the Sith's airway.

"Are you quite done? Good."

He relinquished his grip, and Lord Drakash fell to his knees gasping in great lungfuls of air between sputtering fits of coughing. "I did not come here to listen to your rants, I did not come here to listen to your pleas for mercy, or your arguments as to why you believe yourself somewhat superior. No, I have come offering a simple choice." By now Lord Drakash had regained his composure, and rose to stand alongside his former contemporaries as they listened intently. "Kneel and prostrate yourself before me, grovel and wither in subservience, and your fate will be secured. Stand tall and defiant, and your fate will be one of hardship before your inevitable end."

The decision was easy for some, Lords Aril and Sitas immediately fell to their knees and kowtowed to the Dark Lord without much more than a moment's hesitation. They murmured of his superiority and how they were wholly subject to his will, but their words were wholly empty and lacking in true substance. They merely sought what they assumed was the quickest way to saving their own necks. Lord Niril seemed to hesitate for a moment, torn between demeaning himself to prolong his life or staying true to his ideals and accepting an honorable fate.

In the end he chose to stand with Lord Drakash in defiance.

Carnifex smiled again, "These are your choices? Very well." A beam of crackling crimson energy emerged from the lightsaber now clutched in his right hand, and with frightening swiftness he swung the blade down in a scything arc that severed the heads of Lord Aril and Lord Sitas from their necks before they had a chance to raise them. Both Drakash and Niril were taken aback, their mouths agape as they watched the bodies of their former comrades convulse before falling still as their heads rolled lopsided across the floor. They then looked at Carnifex for answers, for they surely thought that the Dark Lord's blood-red blade was meant for their necks, not for the two who had so eagerly fallen to their knees in subjugation.

Luckily, Carnifex could provide an answer. "I did not come here to accept sycophants either, and that is exactly what Lord Aril and Sitas were. They were willing to say anything or do anything to save their own skin, and would undoubtedly plot behind my back at the expense of the Empire. You may be proud, Lord Drakash, but you speak candidly and without hesitation. That is something the Empire deserves. You too, Lord Niril, you were given a choice whether to bow to the will of another or stand proud beside your own convictions. I admire that. Consider this your second life, for the old will be swept away along with the bodies of these craven fools."

Realization dawned on the both of them, and they both bowed their heads in reverence to their new Dark Lord.

 

[Zef Halo]

OPERATION: ZARMA VA [translated from Sith as: RECONQUEST]
SITH WORLDS WAR THEATER
OUTPOST TEMPEST :: DROMUUND KAAS
[member="Bo Lin"]

The suppressive fire forced the enemy into cover as the massive bear-like Sith back flipped into nowhere. Another few men joined the lieutenant in hammering the foes with fire while the Sith returned, remains of food clinging to his fur. Scipio wasn't a fool to ask stupid questions.

The Sith's paw signals were clear, his massive charging figure hurled itself towards the entrenched foes and Alta hand signalled to his own men to flank.

Sith-Imperial troopers advanced in an L-formation, leaving the defenders trapped. They stood no chance against the Legion and the Sith.

:: Stiletto Actual, this is Stiletto Two Actual. Southwestern corner of the outpost is secure. Repeat. Southwestern corner secure. :: Alta reported over the comms before jumping over a corpse of a slave. The area clear completely around them.

Lieutenant Alta gave a second glance around before nodding respectfully to the Sith of an alien race he had never seen nor heard before. He wasn't really good at protocol with Sith, as well. While soldiers had distinctive markings regarding their rank, the Sith did not.

 

[Arage Bao]

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

No.

Would have been the answer to that question being formulated.

Because the Muun did not consider it an upgrade. Foreign metal grafted into his body, foreign and cold and intrusive, there were worse fates but Ardeth couldn't really think one up right away at that. The loss of his eye was annoying at first. Depth perception gone and dead, but the Force was everywhere. Now he saw better than he had ever before.

Without cybernetics.

One nod before they went away into the shadows. He crouched slightly and managed to squeeze on through- this was a natural choke point and would have served as a perfect killing ground.

But that was the thought of a Sith.

Instead the smugglers waited too long and burst in ten seconds later, when they were already through. The first one came through with an downwards swing of a vibro-blade from his left side. The second one was coming straight for the Chiss with a move to impale her on the shock-pike he was carrying. They were prepared to deal with forcers, it seemed.

"Cute." Ardeth mumbled, before stepping to the side and parrying his opponent.

This would not take long.

 

[Kenth Typho]

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

He felt the same way.

But Morgan trusted Dan, she could handle herself just fine. They had been working together for a year now... about that time. If there was one thing that Dante had proven it was that she could be trusted no matter what. At least when it came to the job. He wasn't going to comment on all the things outside of that. Too complicated. He wandered the other direction and swung his head there and back again.

Watching.

Catching every glimpse of the building through the feed and recording it for later usage. He blinked once and an overlay appeared, painting across the regular vision. It showed the things he wouldn't see otherwise.

"Locks, huh?" Morgan asked rhetorically before sweeping another room. Empty. Empty. Empty. All the time. He snapped a shot, which would be send over to Dante. He didn't see anything new. But Dan would notice something in the picture send by Mor. It was a blur, but if she bothered to zoom? There was a shape in it. Fast moving shape seemingly.

Or maybe there was something else at play.

But Morgan hadn't noticed.

"All empty here too."

 

[Darth Prazutis]

​Imperial Citadel, Dromund Kaas
Upper Levels...

​​High in the upper levels of the Imperial Citadel these once elegant levels were turned into a charnel house.

​The stubborn Red Guard were too loyal to kneel before this Dark Lord, this Emperor who claimed a world they had once stood at the pinnacle of. They dared to try and strike him down when his form came into view. They were met with radiant blasts of pure dark side energy and crackling lightning. All around the forms of blackened skeletal figures and charred corpses lay in his wake. The surge of Crownguard moved around and past the Dark Titan as he moved through one hall and down another.

​They were the hounds that would hunt down these once prestigious warriors.

​Darth Prazutis stopped before a wounded guardsman his red robes stained with his own blood as he stubbornly tried to claw his way back to his feet, one of which had been sliced off. He drew the mighty blade Daesumnor from its sheath and in one swift motion drove it through the man's chest cavity, the soul dancing up the blade to enter into the eternal prison within. Just as he wrenched it from the lifeless form a voice rang out.

"Come fight a worthy opponent."

​It came from an officer of the Red Guard who stood around twenty feet away flourishing a blade of his own. The warrior was met with simply a wicked grin "You are just another victim to join the fallen. You will not survive. I've seen your death already." ​He simply said as he turned to the figure, breaking into a charge. The guardsman was solidly built and properly grounded but even he wasn't ready for the full towering monster of a man crashing into him. He wasn't fast enough, wasn't strong enough to stand up to the Sith Lord on his own. The initial barrage shattered his defensive stance almost immediately and nearly forced the man on his back as he struggled to press back and counter strike, maybe find a reprieve.

He would not.

The Destroyer had driven a strike so strong down that when he moved to directly block the blow it smacked the blade right out of his hands. Darth Prazutis had lifted the man clear off the ground and stared into his eyes. He drove the full blade of Daesumnor through his chest right down to the hilt, before blasting the man's body off and down the hall.

Post 1

 

[Talon Vosra]

She was not late. A goddess was never late, no, she arrived precisely when she intended too. Her pale blue eyes scanned the area as she stepped off her shuttle and held out a hand to a trooper as he stood beside the boarding ramp. She lofted a pale brow as he hesitated before offering his hand for the last step on to the world. He should have been honored, it wasn't everyday a lowly being had the chance to meet his maker much less touch her hand.

She folded her hands infront of her and took a deep breath.

"This will do." She said as her two disciples carried her bags off the ship and stood behind her with lowered heads.

"That one." She said pointing to a stone building that once may have been a Sith's estate. "It has charm."

The disciples didn't speak they just began moving along as she began walking briskly to the estate. She listed changes she wanted made as she walked and they knew all too well she expected them to be done in order. A being came out of the estate and stood with crossed arms as she neared and barred her way.

"You Sith don't own this world anymore." The large male said the blaster on his hip worn at a horribly bad angle for a real fighter.

"How amusing." She purred has the corner of her ruby lips turned up on one side. "But wrong."

She lifted her hand and grasped his neck it the force. A moment later the tough lay motionless on the ground.

"Be dears and clean that up, will you?" She said as she continued inside.

 

[Nan'eth'illa]

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

For a moment, she had expected something far worse.

Not that this was not mortal danger, it certainly was. Yet, some part of her had expected an eldritch horror, or mad droid that lived off entenchment technology, or perhaps some sort of spirit, not knowing it was dead. Instead, there were smugglers.

She ducked to the side, letting the force-pike woosh past her head, just a little too close for comfort. her left arm snaked up and threatened to wrap around the shaft of the weapon, but her blade made a whole other trajectory. With a turn of her wrist and swipe of her lower arm, she carved through the smuggler's front with terrifying ease. It was more the power of the blade than the power of Filiae in this case. His lunge had left him open.

As he fell, she seized his wrist and controlled the fall, making sure the forcepike was controlled. She raised the sabre as though to thrust, aimed at the heart. However, she turned the thrust into a quick swipe, severing his right arm at the elbow and left hand above the wrist, and then pulling them - and the forcepike - away.

"There has to be a second entrance, some sort of escape path."

She stepped back, she looked up just in time to see the glint of a weapon being loaded, the four-pronged appearance of a carbine-like weapon was instantly recognisable: Net gun.

She was caught in a movement, and the quadruple tips turned towards her. It was fired, and she swiped up with her sabre to cleave it in two. Half of it crashed against the wall, the other wrapped around her arm and upper body. Then came the electricity.

The Chiss howled in pain.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Dromund Kaas
Kaas City

The bodies of Lord Aril and Sitas had been disposed of, and the two surviving councilors had been outfitted in uniforms befitting their new stations in the Empire. Lord Drakash was appointed as Lieutenant General of the Tingel Arm, and was tasked with bringing those who resisted or rejected the Empire's call for Imperial unity to heel through the might of the Legions. Lord Niril was appointed to a similar position in the Empire's Ministry of Industry and Resources, becoming the overseer of the entire Stygian Caldera due to his familiarity and knowledge of the entire region.

Naturally they would be watched closely, but for now they were given a new destiny to fulfill.

But that would come later, for now it was time to celebrate their acquiescence to the New Sith Empire. The call to rally was broadcast over the city's intercoms, and bit by bit the population of Kaas City arrived to fill the flat expanse before the Imperial Citadel in rapturous wonder as TIEs flew overhead. Simultaneously the banners of the New Empire were flung from the various balconies and battlements of the palace. After several minutes of triumphant music and grand displays of festivities through fireworks launched by the passing fighters the Sith Emperor and his golden Crownguard would emerge from the central balcony, both of his arms raised as a tidal wave of jubilation cascaded over him from the crowd below.

"Citizens of Kaas City, for years you have languished in squalor under the oppressive heel of the Silver Jedi. Let it be known that on this day that stranglehold is forever broken as the Jedi run scared as their military blunders and civil inadequacies mount to intolerable heights. They could not destroy your Imperial spirit, your Imperial pride. So they plotted and schemed to annihilate Dromund Kaas from the face of the galaxy rather than let the truth of their failings come to light, but their efforts have been foiled by the tenacity and resilience of the Imperial people.

On the eve of their brutish attempt to erase history the Silver fleet was caught unawares several parsecs from the Stygian Caldera, and after a grueling battle they were utterly routed. In the wake of this devastating defeat the worlds that had remained shackled to the tyranny of the Jedi rose up in revolt, and the Jedi have retreated deeper into the Core Worlds. But this momentous victory comes with a price, my fellow Imperials, for now dozens of systems are left unprotected and vulnerable to piracy, chaos, and democratic anarchy!

The Empire's borders do not end where the Silver's once began, we are motivated by destiny to expand beyond and reclaim what was once the domain of the Old Empire, and uphold order where there is none! Let this day mark the beginning of a bold new epoch, one where the Sith Empire stands above all others in perpetuity! Empire! Emperor! Loyalty! Aureole kia tave Tsis Aeuso!"

A grand cheer arose, one that could even rival the death of a star with its intensity. Most of what the Emperor had said was a charade, of course. Falsified documents and a simulated battle would convince the people of Dromund Kaas that the Silver Jedi had plotted their annihilation, and would give the Empire purpose to drive into their former territory to claim the planets that had been abandoned in their retreat coreward.

A bold new epoch, indeed.

 

[Dante Sotari]

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

Whoever had been here, they were gone now. The basement room was empty, and when she swept for heat signatures everything came back cold. A grate led into the city's sewers, but there was no telling in that maze of sewage just where their quarry might have gone- if they even left that way at all.

But they had a lead- a shape shifter of some kind- and a whole cache of artifacts that wouldn't be getting sold off world now.

A check in with their 'handlers' confirmed it. Head back to base, a different team would go out from there.

At least no one was asking them to go down into the sewers.

It wasn't until later, on the ride back, that Dante was going through the recordings in any sort of detail. It was only then that she saw the blur on Morgan's recording, the vague shape. Eyes widening as she looked at him, she immediately raised central.

But by then it was too late. The team they sent in confirmed that if he was there when Dante and Morgan had been, he was long gone. While the artifacts were recovered, once again whoever it was in charge of this smuggling operation has slipped through their fingers.

 

[Arage Bao]

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

The path of his saber cut a swath through the incoming smugglers.

Like a scythe it cleaved them, separating limbs and more from core. "Amateu-" That is when the net gun launched and caught Filiae in a partial trap. The electric surge jolting through her arm. Presumably it was worse for her with all the cybernetics she had attached to herself. If anyone needed to know why the Muun had not replaced his eye... that was another reason for it. The 'saber flew through the air and cut the legs from under the last remaining smuggler, he howled in pain.

But that was nothing compared to the infernal screeching from the Chiss. "Flailing about and yelling does nothing against the pain, Darth Filiae." Ardeth retorted, before his long fingers clawed together in a partial fist and the Force contorted against his pressure.

A hiss.

Angry lines racking against blue skin and cybernetic casing, but then the net flew off into the shadows. That one singular eye of fire studied the shape Filiae made in the shadows and then disregarded it. Instead Ardeth moved deeper into the underground facility.

Corpses left behind.

The Muun was no longer concerned, that had been a last desperate attempt to kill them, before they were killed.

Now it was time to find the prize.

 

[Nan'eth'illa]

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

The pain was excruciating as it travelled across her metal-laden body. While the cybernetics themselves left no sense of pain, they did transfer the current to parts of her body that did. Among which were those attached to her head. It was the shock they sent to her head that was most deliberating. She threw her arm to the side once, twice, trying to flick it off. However, muscle control was fairly limited.

Yet, she managed to swing her arm so that it touched the floor, put the tip of her boot on it. All the while, she tried to absorb as much of the electricity into her body, eating it so to speak - And the net was unravelled by the Muun. The pain intensified, then ceased. She took a moment to breathe. Smoke rose from her shoulder, her hip, and the side of her head as flesh had started to crack.

Blood trickled down the side of her head and stained the steel of her arm. Casually, she took a cloth from her back pocket and dabbed away the sides of her head. She noted the insult he had laden on her, and stored it. But first-

She casually strode over to the one who had fired the net-gun, now legless. With a kick of her foot, she moved the weapon aside as she reached into her pockets and produced a little disk. She stamped one foot down on his arm, the other leg knelt down on his chest. He tried to swat at her but found his hand caught and held with inhuman strength. And with the utmost nonchalance, the Chiss placed a little disk on the side of the man's head. All of a sudden, his eyes went blank and rolled back in his head. His body became still, but not lifeless.

She propped him up against the wall and made quick strides to catch up to the Muun. Her remaining one parrot droid followed, bounding after. They walked through the corridors, there were apparent living quarters and stores made, one could say a home of sorts. Last came a door. This one was not locked. She did not need to go deep into its programming to bypass the locks and have it open

Inside? Well inside there be treasure. Crates of military branding stacked from floor to ceiling further than one would have guessed the building to go.

 

[Arage Bao]

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

Quietly they moved through the corridors, until Filiae sliced open the door and gave them entry inward.

What was inside... made everything so much better.

That one burning eye studied the one corner, the next, eyeing up and down, while softly humming to himself. "The intel was correct after all." Ardeth finally said as he followed her inside. There was a wealth of artifacts stored here. Crates upon crates, all of them taken from the wreckage no doubt and then categorized here. It was all very neatly organized and part of the Muun was even impressed.

"Hopefully the operations inside Kaas City were similarly successful." There couldn't be many more of these stashes spread across Kaas. "I will call it in and then we can start cataloging this place."

Which was presumably the most boring part of this entire operation to someone that wasn't a Muun.

Instead, Ardeth's eye was gleaming with excitement.

Already he was talking over the relay to the Saaraishash while rubbing his hands. This would probably take several days, but that was the fun of it.

 

[Nan'eth'illa]

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

It was funny that the Muun took the responsibility of calling it in when the Chiss literally had a communications unit in her head. Funny, but not strange: He was taking credit. Credit Filiae believed was duly hers.

So while Ardeth called it in to the Saaraishash, Nethil quickly tapped into the secure line to her Csen'ai and relayed the news. She sent the parrot droid ahead to scout through the storage. While it did, the Chiss relayed images of the scene through the com unit while speaking silently to her master about the contents and the path there. She showed the crates and the label on them, and directions were given for her to go deeper. A turn left, three rows down, pivot right. There was a smaller box. Filiae's hands wrapped around the box' sides, thumbs pushed the lid open.

Her eyes opened with surprise as she saw its contents, and a smile curled the corner of her mouth.

Rhen Var.

She closed the lid and looked about guiltily. She registered the crate's placement and serial number, sent it to her master, and kept a copy for herself. From there. She quickly started surveying the scope of the room to calculate the time constraints, and looked for structural weaknesses. All to make her look busy, when her mind was set on the little box and what she saw inside.