Private Lost Souls

[Darth Sorn]

The sands of Tash-Taral paled in comparison to Korriban. With Korriban there was history where the Sith survived and thrived the Dark Side thrums through the whole planet. It was bliss, it was eternity until the Jedi defeated the Sith on their home planet. While Tash-Taral was still a planet where there were plenty of Sith artifacts, it paled in comparison to Korriban. Darth Sorn walked through the hot desert in search for an hidden Holocron said to contain knowledge on how to influence the midi-chlorians in order to create life. It would be a boon to uncover this lost history and even learn for himself. Eternal life was something the Sith have been searching endlessly for even though some Sith throughout history had lived past their biological lifespan it wasn't same as their bodies became decrepit. No, only a few had came close to eternal life and Sorn was curious about midi-chlorian manipulation.

Darth Sorn's Armor

Armed with his light armor and his double bladed Lighsaber on his belt, Sorn approached a small town where he decided to take a break and quench his thirst first before setting out to find the Sith ruin. The Force will grant him victory this day he can feel it.

Bronwyn Rees

 

[Bronwyn Rees]

Ever since her experience on Epoch, Bronwyn had grown weary of this awful little backwater town. Tash-Taral had been a small draw to her, but she had been ultimately disappointed in the place. The simpletons that lived in this little village knew nothing about why this world would have called to her in some way, and opted to just ignore the matter entirely to try and sell her something. They needed to survive, but she could not stand that they were so useless. Their purpose was simply to serve the Brotherhood, and in that they were even doing poorly. If she had her way she would eradicate this town, but she had the feeling inside that there would be too many people at once that would fight back. These people lived in a harsh desert village, they were probably ready for a fight given that there was no means of entertainment within kilometers.

With that in mind, the fact that people stood back as she strangled a man to death with her bare hands for having the audacity to even consider touching her did at least satisfy her in some small way. They were fearful of her cybernetic body. It was powerful, heavy, and even she did not know the full capabilities of the replacements. The Sith Lord that rebuilt her died before he could tell her every piece of technology he placed in her hands.

As the squeeze grew tighter, a harsh crunching sound echoed in her ears. Bronwyn dropped the body with a loud thump, and left the tavern she had gone to in the hopes that someone would talk about something on this planet that would be relevant to her interests. She wanted power but all she heard was water rations and food shortages. These were topics of no consequence to her, and so she walked through the town back to where she was staying with the type of rage that radiated in the Force.

Darth Sorn

 

[Darth Sorn]

"This village is so small,"

Darth Sorn snorted at the sight of this insignificant town, the people moisture farmers from the looks of them eking out a living on the land that holds more secrets and mysteries that their blind lives can barely comprehend. There were only a few buildings, about 20 by his Sorn's initial count, each looking worn down and covered by sand. A Labor Droid specifically an ASP-Series Labor Droid nearly bumped into the Sith Lord. Annoyed he gave the droid a dark stare and noticed that his neck was sparking with electricity. "Apologies my lord," he said. "With winds picking up at dangerous speeds it is getting tougher for my sensors to indicate movement.

At least the Droid showed manners, he was five seconds way from being reduced to scrap metal. Something that Sorn could scavenge to make gauntlets, based on Sorn's observations he had fresh durasteel. How a small village like this could afford such a Droid is a mystery. They've likely scavenged somewhere. Sorn gave a nod looking at the haggard faces of the locals, he sighed they needed help and what he learned over the years of traveling if you give a person a crumb then they'll worship the ground you walk on.

Perhaps when he comes back, he can give them cures for any diseases they might have or even give life to this force forsaken land. It'll be nice to have a fresh hand of servants to do his bidding even experiment on as well. He headed for the Cantina and was greeted by a blast of cool air, it was about time there was air conditioning in this awful village and the music wasn't half bad as well.


Bronwyn Rees

 

[Bronwyn Rees]

There was precious little patience for Bronwyn to spare for anyone or anything in this little nightmare of a town. The people were ignorant backwaters and were so provincial and strange to her that she could not relate to them in any way. It did not help that she too must have been strange to them considering just how much of her body was now cybernetic. It was not totally replaced, but she was nearly equal part mechanics and organics. The sand was the worst part, and she had to keep in mind that the sand could have some deleterious effects on her cybernetics. She hoped that sooner than later she would be able to leave having found the target of her search.

Bronwyn slammed through the cantina where the band had begun playing, looking to nobody and approached the purveyor, "Water, now." she said in a deep and commanding tone. No time wasted, she drank down and passed the cup back before going toward the back to the room she had ostensibly rented for the duration of her stay here. She intended to sequester herself so that she could calm down and avoid explosive rage that would permanently damage this settlement. They might be backwards and stupid but they had their uses.

Darth Sorn

 

[Darth Sorn]

Sorn was halfway to the ruins all he needed was one final push, the Sith Inquisitor frowned when he saw the exhausted looks of deziens in this dreary old cantina. Imagine these people with their only purpose in life is to slave away in the hot desert with no ambitions than to live another day. It was pathetic, disgusting even. With such uneventful lives no wonder why most of these people deserve to be servants whose only reason to be used by the powerful. That was the way of the Sith, only those who have the will to adapt to an environment and rise above can become powerful. The weak passively accept what they are given and just sit and rot.

He was about to order a drink before someone came into the cantina demanding water. Slowly turning around, Sorn could see it was a woman with outdated cybernetic enhancements. He could also sense the force within her, she possessed unusual strength in the Dark Side. Was this something he sensed earlier. "You seemed to be on edge," Sorn spoke in a calm, mechanical manner. "You have the look of someone seeking something." He sat next to her. "Or someone," he finished.

Bronwyn Rees

 

[Bronwyn Rees]

Bronwyn peered out of the corner of her eye and scrutinized the person that had spoken to her. He was not from this place, and that was enough for her to reconsider retiring to her room for the time being. There was tension in the air. She stared straight ahead and spoke, her dialect obviously from within the Galactic Alliance, "Betrayal has led me here. I am looking for an Alliance listening post but these backwaters like to act like they have never seen anyone from outside their little hamlet." she said, reserving her identity for if this man proved to be amicable to her purpose. The members of Krayt Squad that were deployed out here likely did not know she was coming, but what she learned from her former comrades on Epoch was enough to track down another group of them on this far flung world away from Alliance space.

"These people should know better than to protect outsiders, but no matter how hard I press they play ignorant. I am loathe to kill these pathetic people because it is beneath me and I cannot gain the knowledge I want from a corpse." Bronwyn continued on, making it very obvious that she was raw and untrained in knowledge of the Force. She knew now that she had capability but not how to harness anything more than going faster and hitting harder in a fight. The intricacies of the Dark Side eluded her for the most part, but she was at least aware that all of her negativity was what gave her that power. Even now she seethed with quiet rage that was only given away by how tightly she squeezed the cup in her hand. That veneer of calm indicated that she was also a professional of some kind, and knew that she could not afford explosive rage in a place like this.

Darth Sorn

 

[Darth Sorn]

An Alliance post? In a Sith controlled planet? The GA is trying to finish the job huh? This will not do there was no way that Sorn was going to unintentionally lead the Galactic Alliance towards valuable Sith artifacts. Not for it to be in the hands of the Jedi of all people. The Sith Inquisitor sensed the anger and hate generating from the cyborg woman. So raw and deadly but it's used like a drunken Wookie wielding a battle axe. There was potential within this woman, perhaps Sorn could test her skill. He didn't care much about taking on an apprentice and he killed his last one due to failing him one too many times. His body was preserved though and proved quite useful for mining Midichlorians to serve as the basis for his future experiments.

"Where is this base?" Sorn said sitting in front of her. "We need to take it out, the Galactic Alliance mocks me by placing their filthy feet on sacred ground."

He chuckled when the woman said she couldn't get information from a corpse. "That is where you are wrong my dear," Sorn responded. "Take me to the body and I'll interrogate whoever you killed."

The body had to be fresh in order for Sorn to manipulate the midichlorians that were about to fade out. If not, he can always go to necromancy but it was boring compared to the power of the Force.

Bronwyn Rees

 

[Bronwyn Rees]

"Kind of you to invite yourself to what I was already trying to do." she said with a terse tone. It was the request that he had made that caught her more than the assumption that he was needed. Bronwyn was confident in her ability to handle other soldiers, but a second body in the way of blaster fire was useful in the very least. She stood up and walked to the door, "If you say so though. This way."

The cyborg walked back into the street and toward the man she had just strangled to death. The crowd was still milling around as the family came to claim their fallen. It was the wailing lamentation that guided her through the sandy winds more so than her eyes, but when she approached one of the mourning reached out and shook her by the shoulders. She did not give them the chance to let her go, as she immediately headbutt the man and stomped down on the center of his chest. The guttural crunch of bone snapping cut off his stream of profanities and replaced it with the sickening gurgle of blood choking out of crushed lungs. His inevitable death was the fault of his impertinence and the total loss of patience she had experienced over the week.

The rest of the family scattered and ran away from her while the crowd gasped and dispersed in much the same way. "Pick one." she said, stamping down on the back of the man's neck and finishing him off. There were now two bodies, one about ten minutes old, and now a fresh one. Either way she was curious to see if this man's claim of being able to speak with the dead was remotely true.

Darth Sorn

 

[Darth Sorn]

"With the way you waltzed into this.... place," Sorn said wondering if it was really worthy to call this rusted shack a Cantina. "You will be dead within a few feet of the base. It's one thing to take care of a few people, it's another to take on an army even with your.... abilities."

The woman stomped towards the area where she slaughtered the men. Sorn remained stonefaced as he saw the family trying to take their dead. Whoever they were it didn't matter; they were better off dead anyway. The experiments, that Sorn will perform will bring more value than anything they would do when they were alive. Sorn remained silent when the cyborg woman drove her fist into the man's chest blood splattered all over her arm. "Intriguing," Sorn whispered. "Albeit crude she moves like a soldier but strikes like an animal. She can be molded into something..... greater. She'll just need to channel her rage more efficiently."

While the families ran off screaming like a bunch weak willed fools, Sorn knelt down next to the warmest corpse. Already he can sense the midicholorians about to fade away. They were communicating with the Force, though he wasn't entirely sure what they were saying. For years, Sorn tried to decipher the language of the midichlorians and while he made some progress it was understanding he hardly scratched the surface. With a wave of his hand, Sorn tapped into the Force to control the remaining midichlorians inside the man's body. The corpse began to contort and shot up immediately. "W-where am I?!" The man began to cough up blood. "W-Who are you?!"

"First thing's first," Sorn stated bluntly. "Stop asking stupid questions." Still holding his out his hand, Sorn turned to the cyborg woman. "Ask away." he said.

Bronwyn Rees

 

[Bronwyn Rees]

"Several weeks ago an unmarked transport arrived on this world from the Mid Rim Worlds. It was carrying several members of a military unit, Krayt Squadron. They are on this world now, setting up a listening post for the Galactic Alliance. I know their protocols, but not their location. I have it on good intuition that they travelled through this village. You will tell me where they were going, and how many of them there were." Bronwyn said with her arms crossed.

The man choked up blood, but began to speak. "Seven people. One had a metal tube on their belt, but the rest had blasters. They were going to The Forsaken Rift west of town to look for something and had a lot of gear with them. They gave the town food and water in exchange for our silence." he said plainly. No embellishment, no tone, it was as if a droid was reading off of a deposition.

She looked to the man, clearly confused and impressed. The dead spoke, and spoke to her more truth than any of the living things in this little pit of a town. "The desperate and weak will do anything to survive. I will have to raze this village to the ground. To think they all had the audacity to hide the Alliance from me just for some scraps of food. No willpower." Bronwyn said looking back at the body that had been speaking.

"The village has killed people looking for them before. They are going to try to kill you too now that you know." the form said.

Bronwyn glared and kicked his head violently. Anger surged at the notion that this town would try to kill her. "Enough, these people must burn."

Darth Sorn

 

[Darth Sorn]

Sorn glowered over the man when he spoke, the Forsaken Rift once a temple that dated all the way back to the years of Naga Sadow's reign, but it was tainted by the light side of the Force. It was caused during a big clash between the Jedi and Sith forces, it was unknown why they were fighting but the massive casualties sustained during that battle caused a wound in the Force. Surviving Jedi banded together and cleansed the temple preventing the Sith from retaking the area. Sorn planned to finish off the cleansing as a side project but he was too busy with his research.

"Don't," Sorn said when the cybernetically enhanced woman declared that she will raze the village to the ground. "Their worthless lives mean nothing, let the wallow in their own mediocrity."

The Sith Inquisitor couldn't care less about the villagers so even if the woman doesn't listen and slaughters them all that mean there were more bodies for him to experiment on. With a snap of Sorn's finger, the man crumpled to the sandy ground his life fading away. "If these people are as vicious as he says," Sorn said to the woman. "Then they will come and you will have your revenge, for now we have our location. Let's deal with this Alliance scum so I can return to my work."

Bronwyn Rees

 

[Bronwyn Rees]

There was a wave of seething hate that flowed from her at the idea of deferred satisfaction. She wanted to kill these people, to brutalize them as an example of those who would cross the Brotherhood of the Maw. This man was more calm than she and it was obvious. Regardless, those that could make the dead talk were not to be trifled with quite so easily. Bronwyn frowned and looked back to the man, "So be it. Let them wallow in their squalor. We will take the speeder that I acquired as far as we can and then go on foot from there." she said storming off toward the speeder she had stolen once she had made landfall.

It was a simple salvaged two-seater and had no real comforts about it. While it functioned, it was not comfortable and not pleasant to look at. She hated it, but she was also someone with very little in the way of currency so she understood the need to buy cheap and live cheap. Bronwyn wanted more though, always more. More power, more security, and ever still more revenge against the Galactic Alliance.

 

[Darth Sorn]

"Very well," Sorn said. "The sooner we take care of this nuisance, the sooner I can return to my studies." It was quite irritating really; the Alliance doesn't know when to quit while they're ahead. Oh well, time to make the Alliance understand that while the Sith may be down, that did not mean they weren't weak. In fact, an animal is at its deadliest when its cornered and has nothing to lose.

"There's something about you Miss," Sorn said while they walked. "You possess a considerable amount of..... candor in terms of what you want to do. But do you understand why you are doing this? That you feel that there is a presence enhancing your emotions?"

Bronwyn Rees

 

[Bronwyn Rees]

"Yes, I do. The Sith Lord that rebuilt my body as it is now discovered me on Coruscant after Krayt Squadron abandoned me to the beasts during the retreat from the Undercity. I lay there for hours. I killed the thing that ate my arm, but my legs were crushed. He told me the pain drew him in, and found that I lived through force of will. He said the Dark Side sustained my body while my mind kept replaying my so-called allies leaving me on the battlefield. That is why I hunt them down now. They abandoned me, and I was reborn because of their negligence. Now I wish to put them through the same agony." Bronwyn said, again, blunt and open about herself. She was not duplicitous about her past because it was what made her who she was now. As far as she was concerned and in spite of the pain she went through, she was stronger now than she had been.

She shrugged once, "The Lord that rebuilt me died. Killed by an apprentice and so my time with that sect was over as the student had no interest in continuing the work of the master. I recall that he had more work to do on my cybernetic parts that was thrown by the wayside. I have been able to perform maintenance on my own but there is something that tells me, with my limited knowledge of cybernetics, that I am incomplete and my replacements are merely placeholders for ambitions that were cut short by jealousy and fear. He had no time to teach me anything more than the simplest applications of the Force, but it is still more power than I had when I was ignorant of my connection to it.

 

[Darth Sorn]

Sorn nodded listening to the woman's story, it was of betrayal and experimentation. Clearly the "enhancement" bestowed on the woman were experimental and uncomfortable on her. She was only able to endure through the Dark Side, it was sad that this Lord didn't teach her proper control but then again he saw her like Sorn did. A tool nothing more but still one should always make sure to sharpen their tools every once and a while keep them fresh for combat.

"It's clear that this Sith Lord didn't think much of you," Sorn said after the woman finished her story. "But you have great potential, you just need someone who could harness the power that you wield."

Sorn looked over the woman. "As well as give you some upgrades," he said.

Bronwyn Rees

 

[Bronwyn Rees]

The speeder came to a slow stop near the Forsaken Rift where their quarry was likely setting up and preparing for an extended stay. Bronwyn stayed seated in silence as the hum of the engines quieted and left the duo sitting with the brisk desert winds that provided the only relief against the heat. "My Captain in the Galactic Alliance said the same thing, and then he expressly ordered that I be left behind. They like to say how righteous they are, but I was the newest member of Krayt, and I did not fit in. Me being stricken down in battle was the perfect excuse for them to get rid of me." she said with such venomous hatred in her voice.

She got out of the speeder, "But I lived. I lived and they did not expect to ever see me again. They were what I pursued on Epoch. I found every single one of them that was deployed there, and save for one, I maimed them and left them in the same condition. Death is a release they did not deserve. I relished in every moment of their suffering, how I caused their lives and careers to crumble around them. I've held onto this hatred for years and I am not going to be satisfied in it until every single member of Krayt is left dead or dismembered. I want to drive the Alliance to the brink, and expose it for what it really is..." Bronwyn finished speaking with such aggressive body language. She was clearly ready for a fight, ready to dominate someone and destroy them. It was wild and untamed energy being funneled through an unrefined conduit and she was roiling there in the Dark Side.

Darth Sorn

 

[Darth Sorn]

"Good," Darth Sorn said while they arrived at the area. "The Dark Side is all about survival, your fellow Galactic Alliance soldiers feared you and wanted to get rid of you. It was through the power of the Dark Side that you were able power through."

He looked at the horizon ahead. "There is nothing more satisfying than revenge my friend," he said. "It is perhaps through the whispers of the Force that bought you here to me. To show you how to make your foes suffer and seek true transcendence!"

It was amazing that the woman was still strong in the Force despite the loss of limbs. Her Midichlorian count must be massive close to 15,000 perhaps? Even though Sorn viewed her as a tool, she was strong in the Force. The Sith Inquisitor had to make sure that she was trained to suit his needs rather than hers. "I assume your plan is to charge in and kill everyone you see?" he asked.

Bronwyn Rees

 

[Bronwyn Rees]

"Negative. The first thing Krayt Squadron does when setting up an outpost is to secure a perimeter with motion sensors. If I wanted to alert them then that would be the way to do it. Fortunately the motion sensors are limited by range, and would suffer from false readings in a sandstorm. They might be useful tools but all tools have shortcomings. Also, if the corpse you roused is to be believed there may be a Jedi with them and that is another complication to the situation at hand. While I would like to go in and maim them brutally, this requires a more precise touch than brute force would give us." Bronwyn said, for once showing her professional soldiering experience. She drew macrobinoculars from the speeder and observed from a safe distance after the initial assessment of the potential threats.

She observed for a few silent minutes, "Confirm three on standard patrol. They are not in uniform so they are attempting to lay low, but the body language is a dead giveaway. Krayt Squad are soldiers, not actors. Dressed for sandstorms and desert work too, so they are light on armor." she said, continuing the basic reconnaissance of the outside edges of where the camp may be. "I am willing to wager that they have set up their outpost in the Forsaken Rift itself, probably in a cave to grant them some anonymity against sensor scans. Vague anomalous readings would likely be ignored by most. Inside there would be several fallback points against expected targets, but generally speaking the Alliance has very little in the way of training against the Force. They rely on the Jedi for that, which seems to be the case here. If I were to suggest a way to infiltrate this place with the best possible chance of being undetected until it was too late, I would wait until nightfall when the patrols are walking around in the dark and then work from the outside in." Bronwyn then extended the macrobinoculars to the man accompanying her, "Have a look and tell me what you think?"

Darth Sorn

 

[Darth Sorn]

Sorn took the microbincoluars a bit annoyed that he was being ordered around by a cyborg but right now getting rid of the Galactic Alliance filth was a priority. She was right that there were motion sensors placed around the facility. However, Sorn didn't sense any Jedi in the place which was odd considering that this was a Sith planet. "I don't sense any Jedi," Sorn replied. "Perhaps this is a scouting group but, in any case, we must infiltrate the base and see what we're up against. Maybe search for some weaknesses of the structure but....."

He handed the woman the microbinoculars. "We need to interrogate these men first and find out what they know." Sorn said. "First we search for the leader and then we isolate and question him."

Sorn waved his hand using the Force conceal himself and the woman. "There," he said. "Just in case there are Jedi running about, it's best to mask our presence. Especially you and your lack of control of the Force. You'll light like a search beacon, you must learn control."

Bronwyn Rees

 

[Bronwyn Rees]

The lack of control was no concern of hers for the moment. Learning about the Force would come with experience; these people were problems to be dealt with here and now. Still, Bronwyn was irritated by the prospect. The Alliance being out here where she was trying to get away from them just served to anger her more in the end. Granted, she was out here searching for them to begin with, but it was with the intent to destroy them and eliminate their presence. Not out of some duty to the Brotherhood, but out of her own selfish desire to see Krayt Squadron completely annihilated.

Bronwyn was about to speak when a sensation caused the hairs on her neck to rise. That feeling did not subside and more like an instinctual animal than anything with training she threw her sword end over end in a fairly good arc then leapt after it herself. The landing was stuck with the sword sinking into the sternum of a man laying in the sand concealed by his similarly colored attire. His grunt indicated she had made impact the way she had intended to. That was the odd thing about stabbing someone; they did not scream, and from her own experience with it, it was more like having the wind knocked out. It was a shocking pain that left the victim moments to contemplate.

She raised the man up by the ankle and threw him down the dune with a heaving roll. As he tumbled in the sand she walked down after him and lifted him up with raw power in the Force. Without the control though it was a throw that sent him toward the speeder where he impacted on the craft and lay there, winded an wounded. It was evident by this type of action that she had potential, but it was untamed, and unwieldy. Her power in the Force came in brilliant flashes and in equal measure fell to deep troughs as her emotional state was intrinsically linked with her connection to the Dark Side. Bronwyn pulled the rifle he had lost in the melee to herself and examined it briefly while she walk. Shouldering the strap as she walked toward the man and her travelling companion, she spoke up, "I felt him watching me through the scope. He obviously knows what he's doing if he's camouflaged in the desert. Soldier training. The weapon is a salvaged second-hand cycler rifle typically used by Tusken Raiders but it is far more well-maintained than a normal owner. This is the weapon of a soldier. This man is a starting point, I think."