Old School Archaeology

[Mythos]

​Before the Sith... before the Empire and the war Mythos had once been called Animus Malgus and also a scholar in history and archaeology. Some things never change...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1lsge92XzM

​Location: Aten II

​The last time Mythos was in this planet it was holding down a fort during a siege by the Mandalorian hordes.... for every man that was in that fort he took six with him to the grave. The One Sith at it's height was a war machine that seemed unstoppable... looking now at the ruins of that same fort atop a molten, lava infested mountain he realized how very stoppable it was. The reason he was here was not nostalgia, it was the search for something he learned about while suffering in the pits of chaos for what felt like a millennia... something that would make him even more powerful: A Holocron.

​He only knew about it through his enhanced force sense and now that he was within riding distance of the holocron's perceived location he would have to resort to his old skills of tracking and uncovering archaeological artifacts the good ol' fashioned way... by doing research and surveying the land. He had called in some help, brought in some gear and right now Animus stood beside a vehicle of his own design and make that was geared for excavations and covering large distances at high speeds while negotiating obstacles with ease. He called it the "Chaos Hound". Several feet of reinforced armor, three automated blaster turrets and a single lazer cannon made it deadly to light and medium armor but the hover engine it housed made it fast enough to blast out of the way of light and super light armor. Transparisteel made out of black tinted dark crystal alloy that could easily tank blaster shots from an E-11 and enough space for several humanoids and gear.

​It was one of a kind and Mythos was quite proud of it's design and creation. Inside it's back hull for this mission Mythos had brought several prospector droids and scout recon droids to survey the area manned by an internal computer system inside the Hell Hound worked by one of his men, Ashai. The Objective was simple: Scan the caverns of the fortress and locate any entrances inside the mountains that would lead to the secret entrance to Kezeroth's Lair.

​Mythos brought for this mission a red dual lightsaber, cloak and Terentatek leather hide armor as well as a HUD visor and several blaster and sonic weapons. The New 7 F 11-D blaster rifle straight out of the line of production for the first order military, sonic blaster pistol and a regular nabooian blaster pistol. On his left wrist Mythos had a Mandalorian wrist communicator that could send long distance frequency calls and encrypted communications as well as a small scanning orb for large rooms.

​Mythos stood outside the Hell Hound for what seemed hours, in his right hand a very expensive and high tech monocular was held to his right eye as he scanned the mountain face for obstacles and ways up or down while taking mental notes of everything he observed. there was security and armed resistance of the local government so it would be best to move in nightfall and eliminate targets before the Hell Hound moved in. In his left hand was a wooden pipe, carved out of Aknhyptian wood with Bota of the highest quality burning embers inside...

​"My lord... We have found an entrance.." His earpiece rang out, his mercenaries chiming in with several other details about the mission like location and call sign frequencies. Mythos blew the smoke out of his lungs and rested his right hand while letting his eyes adjust to the molten wasteland. He packed up his small sensitive items and made his way into the pilot seat of the hound, it's dual doors opened to let it's creator in with a satisfying woosh sound while letting out the cool air smoke while Mythos climbed in and strapped himself in, observing the various screens with info around him. "Feed all the info to my hud and main screen..."


The hunt was on​

 

[Mythos]

​Dejavu... It's like he was here yesterday. While the information and data was being logged into his HUD screen visor and the three dimensional hologram projector inside of the cockpit began to map out the area inside the caverns Mythos revved up the Hell Hound engines and began powering up all systems. Red lights inside began to glow and the internal cloaking system was engaged. The Hound was equipped with several layers of stealth technology; Stygium cloak, thermal cloaking device, magnetic equalizers and sonic reduction panels inside the engine and thruster drives to make the hound not only deadly but very stealthy as well. The targeting system came online and Mythos smirked at it's perfection... The turret had a customized scope able to see a target miles away and the computer processor powerful enough to analyze and read it's equipment in real time with no input delay. The controls were just as he liked them too, smooth and easy to handle as well as a luxurious leather seat and spacing inside of the main seat and the wheel as well as the stick lever... even the trigger assembly was hand crafted and hand made. The computer AI spoke several key location commands and terrain features, to the right of Mythos' main screen was a complete map and layout with Geological specifics, cover and concealment locations for infantry and vehicle tactics as well as a layered and three dimensional overview of the inside of the mountain which was constantly being updated as his drones surveyed the area and repeatedly scanned the caverns. While this was happening Mythos operated some levers and switches to toggle the power diversion inside the vehicle to his liking for the current maneuver... he would need to be fast and stealthy so all power of the guns and weapons would be diverted to the engine.

​With a pull of the stick the Hound was off the ground and hovering in the air, all his men, only a handful and three Jar'Kai stayed in a perimeter around the hound with jetpacks of high quality to follow closely, inside the hound several heavily armed troops with a half a dozen legitimate Archeologists Mythos had contacted. They did not want pay, they wanted the freedom to keep any notes and discoveries they would uncover... Mythos agreed as long as he would review it and have say on what was made public and what would remain private... The negotiations were smooth. On screen the three dimensional hologram that was constantly being built, a percentage below turned red and stopped with a warning message overtaking it. Morgoth, the AI of the Hound spoke calmly. "Survey has been interrupted, All prospector Drones have been destroyed. Layout incomplete"

​Mythos smiled and waved off the warning sign to leave behind the hologram. It was what he had been waiting for.... If there was a holocron anywhere in this area it would be well guarded. "Target has been acquired, sending location details and data to all present." Mythos said, bringing up the encrypted transfer of data into a localized signal and uploading it into the HUDs of his soldiers and the datapads of his Archeologists. Once all had accepted the data and uploaded their credentials to the information Mythos blasted the Hound Full speed ahead and the thrusters responded in kind. the Boom of the rear and side thrusters echoed inside of the Hound but outside several meters ahead they were not nearly as loud as they would usually be. The Hound now blasted through lava and easily glided through hard rock obstacles as well as low depressions in the terrain. "Hang on.." Mythos whispered into his earpiece as he pushed the Hound even harder and diverted all power to the rear thrusters through a lava lake while behind him the foot soldiers followed closely with jetpacks...

​The ledge containing the entrance was behind the fortress which was guarded by not only foot patrols but atmospheric Starfighters and well as armor and speeder patrols. Mythos' route would go through the mountains to the right and ambush the patrols at nightfall... it was just nearing Dusk...

​

 

[Mythos]

​Eyes on the prize... Full speed ahead.

​Mythos was in the zone behind the wheel of the Hound, as soon as the vehicle blasted off the ledge it was in it dipped down hard and Mythos had to manually control the rear and side thrusters to avoid collision with the jagged molten rocks or impact into a lava crater. Once he had cleared the hound of harsher terrain there was a clear field flattened by artillery barrages that spanned for a good six miles. "Glad I kept those guns roaring..." He mused to himself, as he paused the Hound to let his foot soldiers catch up. they were there in seconds, well trained and well paid, Mythos had been wise to hire extra help. "Goon Squad, latch up" On his command the foot soldiers climbed on top of the hound as the monstrous engine roared silently. Each of them snuggled up to several depressions in the armor that would fit their frame and weapons and pulled a chain harness inside the hound to their belt securing them for high speed travel. Once all troops were safely latched in the patrol leader gave Mythos the thumbs up and the Sith lord bashed the acceleration throttle and pressed a button on it that activated the exhausts boost power. Instantly the Hell Hound was able to go from stationary to over sixty miles per hour and scaling. It was a straight ride through black ash and sand for now and Mythos throttled the Hell hound as fast as it could go smashing anything and everything that stood in front of him.

​Geysers and lava were seldom in this part as he rounded about the area and came from the side of the mountain remembering how when he observed the raise of the mountain he saw a path that the hound could take. Myhtos pulled hard on the wheel left and diverted the thrusters to prevent the vehicle from flipping while sending the Hound straight up the hillside of jagged rocks and lavafalls. "Engage Hard terrain tractions" Mythos commanded to Morgoth the AI. "HTT Egaged. Would you like a Deathstick ?" the Ai Responded, Making Mythos smirk. "yes Please, Classic Flavor." The AI Ignited a deathstick and presented it to Mythos on the wheel between his fingers.

​Mythos pulled up on the wheel making the Hound put its nose up and took a drag of the tobacco with one hand. "You guys all right out there?" He said into his ear piece, looking also through the cameras in the display to check on the status of his men. "We are all accounted for an uninjured my lord" The Squad Leader responding, even managing a thumbs up from inside his little pod. The Hound now went fully forty five degrees inclined on hover through a hard surface mountainside with lava on both sides of the vehicle. Still the speed did not reduce or forced to make strategic stops, Mythos pushed the vehicle full speed up the incline until he reached a base in the mountain that overlooked the fortress below and the trails to the caverns to their north west. Only then did the Hound stop, behind a massive boulder outlined in the cover and concealment locations, the group began to deploy.

​Mythos as usual was the first to get out armed with everything he had plus a backpack containing a massive relay recon system. Or MRRS. It was a platform he would lay out and it would upload thermal, X-Ray and Depth data into the hound to whatever area he deployed it into. As Mythos Opened the doors of the hound and stepped off his ground troops deployed and the back ramp of the hound dropped, letting the Archeologists station there and begin preparing their equipment as well as set up camp. Mythos kneeled over the boulder and began setting up the system, his men took security positions around the hound. Mythos waved a few hand signals and the Squad Leader came to him and kneeled next to the system, helping him set it up. "keep Eyes peeled, do not engage unless engaged, nightfall is minutes away and north west is the cavern we are heading down to." Mythos said as the MRRS system came online and began scanning the inside of the fortress and uploading into the hound which diverted the info into all the HUDs and Datapads in the network.

The mission was going smoothly.​

 

[Mythos]

​Mythos finalized the scanning of the fotress and began to reveiw exactly what the scans live feed had to show. He looked at his HUD screen and connected a wire tap to the MRRS system to his HUD to facilitate the upload and grant better visibility with less imput lag. What he saw brought a concerned frown upon his face. he could see from the infrared and thermal vision that went layers deep into the infrastructure of the fortress that it was manned by easily over five hundred soldiers and sported an assortment of weapons and vehichles. Down in the bay he could make out a line of speeders and mobile infantry vehichles packed with military hardware. In the rooftop towers at both sides of the fortress Mythos made out sniper nests. The entrance of the fortress was one, a gate of black iron with a single durasteel road that lead into the wasteland and at it's sides rivers of molten lava. Mythos zoomed in, calling to him his squad leader to analyze the data with him. Deeper inside the fortress Mythos could make up the internal barracks, just a straight shot from the entrance that housed the bay for the vehicles. The second floor was the open field platform for the aircraft that the base housed, thankfully for Mythos only two fighters and one speeder was housed in that platform. Lastly was the third floor and the house for the artillery pieces, just as Mythos remembered it to be. Once he had analyzed the defensive positions outside the fortress, a few machinegun nests and began watching the patrols Mythos felt confident in the next step of the mission.

​He turned to his men and called them all from their defensive position. Brief time. "Alright, here is what we are going to do" Mythos said, taking a knee while his squad leader remained in the prone pulling security. It was now nightfall and the fortress began turning on it's lights and sending out it's patrols. "The patrols they send don't reach the caverns so we have no reason to engage any other patrols that do not cross us, we will head out on file formation through the mountain pass with the escorts and reach the rally point, heavy troops stay here with the hound and guard the camp while we and the Archaeologists move to cavern and begin our research." Mythos stood up and relaxed now that darkness covered their position and light discipline was on point. "Ashai" Mythos said into his earpiece, reaching out to his communications expert, a former Jar'Kai warrior that ran everything electronic in this operation. "Are we ready to move?"

​Ashai responded from inside the Hound, in his own little cockpit surrounded by screens and systems to analyze and compute key terrain features and avenues of approach. "V.I.P's stand ready to move behind you Master.... We move on your command." Mythos nodded to the statement and looked around at his men with determined faces just like his own... he know they would not all come back from this. "We will have to move fast, these archaeologists are not Athletes or soldiers so if you have to push them hard to keep up do so, but not at the risk of your own life... am I clear?" All soldiers nodded, they understood. "All right... Let's move"

​With that mythos shouldered his rifle and hugged the Cliffside mountain walls in a deadsprint straight towards his objective. The race to the cavern had begun.

​

 

[Mythos]

​They moved with the quickness and efficiency of a top tier infantry special forces unit as they tore through the mountainside on foot dodging lava and geysers on their dead sprint run with full kit and weapons. The Archaeologists trailing behind Mythos and his team found trouble negotiating obstacles but with the help of a little... motivation... and jetpacks they were able to keep up, the lack of weight that they carried compared to the team also helped. It was a full two miles in mountainous terrain until they got to the entrance of the cavern, they banked through the Cliffside and took a right that lead them to a mountainous saddle flanked by two massive outcroppings in the black mountain when Mythos held up his hand and signaled the group to halt their charge he then gave the signal to get into the prone and hide. A few seconds passed and the foot patrol of the fortress marches through the intersection made up of the mountain trail in front of them waving flashlights and scanning for traps, the relative dismissal of this system and the fact that nothing had happened here in quite a while made the patrol laid back and lacking attention to detail otherwise they would have noticed the unusual shadows in the far end of the trail and the muzzle of a blaster sticking out slightly from a boulder not ten meters from their position. The patrol passed and Mythos still waited for them to get far enough away before they could pick up and move forward banking left from where they came for another mile in a half to their destination. The wait was nerve wrecking, doubts clouded Mythos' thoughts depending on how their patrols were oriented, if it was him leading that patrol he would have passed by and would have not engaged, rather reported and have an ambush set up along the road... He prayed it would not be that way otherwise they would be in a world of hurt and the mission would be more than just compromised.

​He gave the order to move and the infantry along with the escort tailed him as he banked left a little slower than before to properly scout the patrolled area. A few yards forward and Mythos noticed a trail in between two mountain entrances that shot directly into the trail that lead into the cavern, there was only one problem, the trail was covered in geysers that would blast upwards every so often, it was an unnecessary risk but Mythos wanted to make time. Using the force to predict the natural flow of gasses Mythos closed his eyes and concentrated, moving with eyes closed through the path with the Jar'Kai at his back all the way through to the other side before the Geysers blasted up again. Once on the other side he contacted his men through radio links and began to guide them. "Team one, bound" The first team, with half of the VIP moved fast through the mountain and sliced through the stone with their metallic armor to where they couldn't fit... it was easy, with Mythos leading them and pausing them no harm would come... Then came team two.

​"Team two, Bound" This team had a bit more trouble, carrying more weight than the rest of the teams their dash was a little slower to start and Mythos knew they would not all make it.. unless he did something. As they neared the end of the dash the geysers began to burst from the beginning and it was clear they would be incinerated by the hot gas and lava until Mythos called upon the power of the dark side of the force and used his mastery in telekinesis to pull the stragglers of team two through the narrow pass and into the trail that ended on a sheer Cliffside that would surely kill them. "Fall behind again, and I will leave you to die" Mythos warned, the tone of his voice deep and violent letting the team leader know that he was indeed the type of man who would leave their smoldering corpses on a forgotten mountain to be found by mornings patrols. Without missing a beat Mythos began to sprint towards the cavern, now very close and visible Mythos knew he had one chance to get inside the entrance and out of the eyes of the patrols. The entrance was at the end of the trail, to the right and down a steep hole that they would have to rappel into. He dashed as hard as he could and in mid sprint called upon the force again to use the power of Force Speed and arrived to the hole in less than a second, he unclipped his backpack, produced a super fiber rope and dug in a titanium pressure nail into the solid rock while throwing the rope down there. Within seconds his men began to arrive, clip their belts in and rappelling down one by one, the archeologists descended on their backs.

​As Mythos began to watch his men drop in he could sense it... Rage and anger... Fury and hatred...

​The cave below was a home of the darkside and visions of the Beholder came into his mind. This was the place.
​

 

[Mythos]

One by one his soldiers and personnel began to descend into the dark cavern that shot down more than one hundred meters into the ground surrounded by pure darkness and creatures that dwell in the hot and moist walls of these caverns. From the armor of the soldiers lights beamed, HUDs filtered the darkness and calculated the descent distance and elevation as well as temperature and quality of the air. Eventually the air would grow so thin that each member would need re-breather masks in order to survive in the caverns below. Mythos new that whatever made this cavern was massive, it did so with brute force and with the dark side of the force aiding in every blast. He knew what made this cavern and a part of him was glad such a monster no longer walked the land of the living. "Fifty meters." Mythos said over his earcom. Alerting his soldiers that they indeed were half way there even if it felt like an eternity and the bottom of the cavern was no where to be seen. Mythos, always leading from the front took the initiative and dropped, scaring several winged creatures to his sides and flying past the soldiers and archaeologists in his descent. He used the force to cushion his fall but what he found in the bottom... scared him. It was difficult to strike fear into someone who delved into sith caverns and had even ventured into the tomb of Naga Sadow. But when Mythos' boots hit the ground it wasn't rock or sand that he touched, it was bones... Bones of every species known to be humanoid and it stretched through the entire tunnel. "Ashai are you seeing this?..." Mythos said into his earpeice while simultaneously sending his HUD visual to Ashai so he could see everything Mythos could see from the Hound. His men started to drop from the rope one by one and they each equally found the disturbing...

"I see it but... I don't know what could have done this." Ashai said, toggling the visuals brightness and contrast to be able to see everything better or just to see if what he was seeing was actually real. "I do" Mythois said, gathering his nerve and narrowing his eyes while igniting his lightsaber and taking comfort in its ominous hum. "A Gendai powered by the darkside of the force whose very steps make the ground shake and tremble in his wake." He said, eyes narrowing as he took steps into the caverns darkness and felt the darkside of the force become more and more powerful with each step he took. Ashai hesitated but after a while asked one question. "How are we going to fight such a creature my Lord?" His voice filled with concern and worry yet a solemn confidence in Mythos. "We don't" Mythos stated, a sly grin of pride struck across his face. "I already killed him"
​

 

[Mythos]

Mythos lead the way through the cavern and every light in his soldiers armor was lit as he ventured through the cave which now became spacey and vast, not venturing off like a maze but slowly becoming larger and larger. The inside walls of the place seemed to be carved but not by any intelligent design, more like a beasts cave carved by instinct and a primal fury behind it. With every step into the cavern more and more bones and carcasses were found and more and more powerful the dark side of the force became. Mythos' team stayed on alert and so did he, sensing something about to attack them... yet nothing came. They ventured meter by meter, examining the walls painted with dried blood and fanning with the stench of death, as the cave opened itself up Mythos came to the point where his scan ended and his droids were destroyed. This is where he stopped and gave the hand signal to set up a fire team line and line up, they would move in combat formation from here on out. Weapons became hot instantly as something moved in the shadows but Mythos tracked it, they noticed the bones they walked in were slowly on an incline bade out by the stone, an altar of brutality slowleading to something that was shining at its end. Mythos knew that this was what he was looking for but before Mythos made a dash for it something else caught his eye, items around the room other than skulls.

It appears that the Holocron at the top of the altar was not the only thing of worth and around the altar itself were artifacts such as tablets, data pads and weapons of all sizes and frames not all from this millenia either. Mythos smiled as he saw this, this was a cache of all the weapons and tools utilized by the Gen'Daii before his fall. before he could collect his riches Mythos sensed the darkside afoot and used force sense to dodge a massive lade thrown at him by a droid in the darkness of the room... the guardians of the tomb the Gen'dai designed himself and they fell upon Mythos and his team swiftly and without mercy. Instantly his men, let loose blaster fire while Mythos' jar'kai ignied their lightsabers along his and descended into the melee against these top tier assassin droids.​

 

[Mythos]

Mythos instantly sprang into action, noticing that the same model of droid was the ones who attacked Atrisia all those years ago... it made sense, now it all tied together. The attack at Atrisia, the presence of ancient evil that was more than nostalgic. The beast had returned from the underworld but died again yet this place was the last of the presence. Usint the power of telekinesis Mythos blasted the droids flanking him at both sides then striding forward being covered by blasterfire from his troops to engage in bladework against the droids.

The Archaeologists in the back were protected by the soldiers he had brought along and began taking cover and concealment while instantly returning fire with heavy volumes yet precise accuracy. Lightsaber met heated blade as Mythos use Juyo to it's full advantage taking of on several Droids at at time and picking apart at their limbs one by one all the while the wave was being suppressed by blasterfire and lightsaber. Their numbers dwindled, one by one them starting to fall and collapsing before their feet.

Once Mythos gave the command the troops picked up and brought the fight to them, pushing them back into the cave. Mythos annihilated the droids around him with a powerful Force Repulse and began chanting ancient Sith Spells under his breath, tendrils from the darkness of the beyond shattered them from under the bones they stood on, ripping through them like a fast growing tree of pure black energy. As soon as they arrived they were gone, with blasterfire and a few precise shots the stragglers were brought to scrap metal with only two casualties. "Get to work" Mythos said, the only command the Archaeologists would get to light up the place while Mythos' men conducted an assessment of tools and weaponry as well as sending scout sentries to finish the scan on the area.

Light slowly being cast from ever corners of the shadowy crypt Mythos approached the tip of the mound with a metallic pedestal locked by thee massive hinges on the sides, each capped with a gemstone encrusted skull from races Mythos had never seen before. The Power of the Darkside was strongest here as the Holocron lay in there middle, locked in place by the chains of what felt like chaos itself. It's red glow becoming stronger as Mythos neared its massive lock. His climb was satisfactory and triumphant, each step measured to understand the force at work around him and the puzzle he needed now solved. No... not puzzle... a show of strength.

Mythos focused and set his intent on the three stone locks that made a leaver releasing the encasement, by close examination Mythos realized that blasting the thing would destroy the Holocron itself as it was not made with anything to protect it. The only way to get it was to make the strength required to lift the locks simultaneously. As soon as Mythos began using his telekinesis to move the locks the pedestal flared an electric time bomb and a timer in a measurement Mythos could not understand began to tick.

"You better hurry up and get working with the artifacts" He grunted under his breath. Sending the archaeologists into a frantic mood and the men around him in a nervous pose, most every one still pulling security on the cave. He focused not on getting a helf defusing what could be a bomb, he only focused on using his telekinetic strength to open every single lock at the same time as fast as he could... and he did with hate....

Screaming he opened himself to full fury of the darkside, stretching his hands forward and commanding the dark side to pull the massive stone monoliths apart inch after inch. His mastery of telekinesis developed pover the years gave him an ability to do the feat but not an ease to do it. It took every ounce of strength he had to pull the pins apart, each one to his measurement being as heavy as a star destroyer latch, was snapped open violently when only inches from it's final lock. The chamber shook, the sound of the rattling of bones snapped and rattled at its core and it sent the soldiers around the Dark Lord. Mythos, stood before the red pyramid, it' red shining crystalline features reaching out to him and Mythos taking the pyramid into his hands then walking away with, eyes deep in its fine red glare before putting it into his pocket and examining the work of the Archaologists. Seeing that they had surveyed the room and contained then sealed all of the objects it held inside it's carvens into sealed carriers that it into the backpacks of the soldiers like magnetic grips He gave the order to move out and the goods was packed out first, three soldiers at a time.​