On the First Day of Christmas, the CIS Gave to Me...[CIS Dominion of Chroma Zed]

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra looked up at the far off ceiling of the mainframe room, the sound of rending metal and battle reaching down to where she was. "They sure do know how to make an entrance, no?" She looked over her shoulder, hanging from the railings by their arms over the side of the walk way were the three guards that had been here. She made sure she had tied them so that the men's arms wouldnt break, but oh, they were definitely in pain. She whistled as she looked through the mainframe for the file she wanted, her eyes scanning over each and every part of the database's schematics and blueprints. Finding the two files she wanted she downloaded them to her datapad. The first were the schematics that her mission deemed necessary, the second though, was a command to overload the reactor and cause a full systems shut down. This would also destroy the mainframe and any files on there so she made double sure she had all the files she wanted. @[member="Genesis Rostu"]

 

[Darth Metus]

Breaching his absolute focus on the opponents swarming about them for the briefest of moments, the young Master reached out telepathically in order to relay a message of instruction to his apprentices. To both Kara and Trevin, he told them very simply to make their way to his position in the corridor in order to join him in his rearward, one-on-one battles with the enemy. This would prevent his beloved protiges from behind overwhelmed by the sheer volume of opponents, and it would allow for him to take the brunt of the bloodshed upon his own saber. Their hands were stained with enough blood...he would gladly bear this burden. All these feelings that raced through his mind, about attempting to keep their hands clean, in addition to his instruction, would be relayed to them without speaking a single word verbally.

Then, the connection was completed and Josiah renewed his battle. He focused on the negativity and killing intent which seemed to literally radiate from them and utilized it is as fuel. This was...what his mentor once dubbed the initial steps of Vaapad; utilizing the opponent's own negativity as a means of driving one's self forward. This sensation was not the taking in of these negative feelings, but rather identifying them and responding in turn. Against foes of this level, Josiah's first utilization of the lightsaber form would prove immensely effective. He had seen it in action, he had practiced it before...and now he would utilize it on the field of battle for the very first time.

With relentless strikes that were empowered through the Force, the young Master decimated the enemies which stood before him. He struck like the Vaapad beast, thrusting and slashing in a fury of blows that crushed meager defenses and put an end to lives. Josiah did not like killing in the slightest, though he did thoroughly enjoy combat; it took quite a bit of resistence and mental fortitude for him not to allow himself any satisfaction from this particular display of personal strength. He had come a long way in his training and skill, yet would not allow himself to pat himself on the back or enjoy how he was using his power.

For to do so was to tread the Path of the Darkness.

@[member="Trevin Neros"], @[member="Kara Avoyos"], @[member="Krag"].

 

[Malok]

Shortly after reaching the mainframe, Wedge arrived on the scene and noticed he Imperial standing with datapad in hand. He cautiously approached and extended his own Datapad, regarding the woman with a polite nod. "If you don't mind, I'd like those files. Could you transfer them to me? This datapad that I hold is bound for the Grand Marshal's hands personnally." He awaited her response and hoped it would be favorable. After all, this was the first joint venture in Sith-CIS history, and it would be a shame for relations to be damaged due to the actions of a single individual.

@[member="Alexandra Shadowstalker"].

 

[Lex-El]

Standing on a holopad, in his offices on Bothuwai, Cade Lee was pleased. Not just with the fact that he had managed to rid himself the chains that had bound him in place with the Empire, but that his new weapons were doing so well. Initial product development had taken place some time ago, but now that the actual new factories were churning the products out, business was booming. The lack of taxes on them, along with no tariffs imposed had done wonders. Mr. Lee was lauded now as one of the most respected CEO's of the modern age, and he seemed to come out of his shell some.

That didn't matter now though, he needed details on how his weapons were doing in the field.

"@[member="Genesis Rostu"] it's Cade Lee, I'd like to see how my weapons are performing for you on that Hutt battle?"

 

[Darth Vulcanus]

Unlike his Templar counterpart, Krag thoroughly enjoyed the rush of slaughtering his enemies by the dozens. The fear, pain and hate that spawned from his killing was like a narcotic that he could never get enough of. In fact, that was what the darkside was like for nearly any Graug, but especially for Krag who was the only one of his species formally trained in the dark arts. When a Graug is first born, he is introduced to powerful dark side energies that naturally flow from the planet and act as a powerful drug that instantly addicts the younglings to its presence. From that moment on, Graug are cursed with the unconscious pursuit to feel the same rush of power and hate that they first experienced when they were born.

Unfortunately that was near impossible to attain without many years of dedicated training in the dark arts, a luxury that is currently Krag's alone. Though he was cursed by the dark phantom he met on Gratos and he knew that the more power he grabbed, the faster it would melt away, he couldn't help himself. His every natural instinct was to kill and slaughter and that was exactly what he was doing now. He could feel his heart pounding against his chest as he cut through the weaklings like butter, the very aura of his pleasure and rage would be enough to frighten an inexperienced force-user into fleeing from the Graug.

"Die...die......die." Krag whispered unconsciously as he plunged his blade deep into the chest of another apprentice.

 

[Malok]

In the midst of the raging battle, the Grand Marshal received a message from one Cade Lee; which was promptly displayed upon the clone's visor. He was inquiring about the performance of his technology on the field of battle, to which Genesis grinned. "See for yourself, I am more than pleased!" To this end, he turned the transmission forward so that the CEO of Blas-Tech might see the successful deployment of his mechs for himself. They were doing exceptionally well on the field of battle, so much so that the enemy could not do much aerially or ground-wise.

"What do you think?"

@Cade Lee.

 

[Malok]

As the young Master continued to battle against his foes, one after another, his voyage down the corridor continued. Eventually, it came to an end; with his entering a large expanse which would be the equivalent to the Archives in the Jedi Temple. Utilizing quick wit, the Templar unleashed a torrent of Electric Judgment upon the stragglers of the Dark Jedi, putting to an end several before turning his attention upon the space he had stumbled into. There was not much here, save a few dusty tomes...and a single object situated at the centre of the room. Laid around it were several bodies, unconscious ones, that Josiah immediately recognized as the same Dark Jedi they were fighting again.

And the object they were laid around was a holocron...one that brimmed with Light. Putting two and two together, Josiah ascertained that the item could not be accessed by those of the darkness; and as such he gingerly stepped over them, intent on claiming it.

@[member="Krag"].

(Supposed to be as Josiah)

 

[Daxton Bane]

Dark Jedi Temple

With a rather savage thrust, Daxton's blade pieced through his opponents throat while the second blade stabbed him thorough the guts. Either wound would have been sufficiently fatal in themselves, the pair combined spelled death in the space of a heartbeat.

Flicking the carcass to the floor, he surveyed the area around him. The Dark Jedi Library was a treasure trove of holocrons just waiting to be seized, the bodies of his fallen victims strewn about like puppets whose strings were severed suddenly.

Levitating several of the holocrons toward him, he prepared to secure his prizes before anyone else beat him to them.

 

[Sophia Walsh]

It really was mass suicide going in the middle of the fray trying to reach the target. Most would run from the area below where all the fighters were coming out but not Sophia. She at the moment was doing a good job dodging shots at her but she knew that sooner or later she wouldn't be so lucky. She needed to find cover to shoot from.

(Short cause I'm posting right before I start work)

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

She looked up as Wedge had arrived, having been busy cutting the lines that held the dispatched mercenaries over the pit. Each time they fell down the pit to their death though she seemed unworried about them. When Wedge spoke she merely looked at him and sighed. "Very well, take the datapad and transfer the files. Im a little busy with these morons at the moment." She cut another line sending the mercenary down the pit and screaming the entire way, his voice echoing off the walls of the mainframe's housing. The datapad once wedge took it would have the file he was looking for opened and ready for transfer, though he was watched the entire time by Alexandra to make sure that nothing else was taken or removed off her datapad. @[member="Genesis Rostu"]

 

[Kara Avoyos]

At Josiah's command she rejoined him in his section of the corridor. It wasn't really that simple as there were a few grabby dark Jedi in the way, but rejoining was still the end result. Once they had all gathered together again it was just a matter of cleaning up the survivors left in the wake of her former mentor's new form. The deadly effectiveness of the style made her itch to learn from the man again. As a duelist she wanted to learn as many combat forms as possible, and this one seemed especially interesting.

"How many people to they have in this place?" Kara asked. "I'm not kidding, I think I had three dark Jedi jump out at me from a closet. It was weird."

Dark side force users had to be available for purchase in bulk somewhere, because every temple or enclave they stepped foot in turned out to be hip deep in the jerks. Maybe they were all just drawn to the smell of innocent blood, which Hutts who ran Choma Zed most certainly seemed ready to spill at the drop of a hat. How was it that all her tutors had failed to convey the utter sucktatude of planets like this? It really should have come up: 'When dealing with foreign dignitaries, be aware that they might represent murderous slavers.' If Kara had know there were so many planets that allowed these practices then Josiah would have had a much easier time recruiting her.

 

[Arage Bao]

The assault had been bloody, dirty and down right nasty. Time and time again Garoth had been reminded why he did not enjoy fighting in the thick of a battle. He was more of a behind the line kind of guy. Directing his forces and confusing the minds of his enemies. But there are times you need to transcend your own limitations for the greater good, or bad depending on your point of view.

During the battle he started to feel some sort of dark sensation stirring in his body, reacting to something in the vicinity. He was too busy to really pay any attention at it then, but now? Now he was curious what the hell was happening. It was something dangerous and very powerful, that was for sure.

Gesturing towards a Templar Knight who fought beside him during the campaign and who saved his ass a couple of times, he made clear she should follow him.

"I think we have a problem, love. There is a strong presence of the Force somewhere around here, I think we should find its origins and determine if it is friendly or not. Assume it is not."

@[member="Kara Avoyos"]

 

[Kara Avoyos]

Despite the initial annoyance at being called love, Kara nodded when Garoth informed her of some sort of vague impending doom. Thus far the man was proving to be the pragmatic sort of Sith who didn't murder people for giggles so it would probably be alright to wander off into a dark passageway with him. Even if he was as deep in the darkside as the people they were fighting, he'd get more credits out of not betraying the CIS than he would by robbing her corpse. That sort of motivation tended to keep all but the most bloodthirsty crazies in line. If nothing else she could always threaten that pretty hair of his with her lightsaber.

"Josiah, we're going to investigate something that probably wants to kill us. Be back soon." The knight shouted to their team leader as she went off after Garoth. The older templar seemed to have things in control here so it wouldn't hurt to wander off, especially if the Sith was right about what he was feeling.

There were more Dark Jedi waiting for them as they made their way towards the new objective, which would have indicated that there was something to Garoth's hunch if Kara were not already certain that this place was just some sort of darkside mook warehouse. Her blue blade was in constant motion was she deflected attacks and cut down opposition. All strikes were precise and deadly, she took no pleasure in killing and did her best to cause as little suffering as possible.

"I don't suppose you could be more specific as to what we might be walking into?" Kara asked. Knowledge was power, and in this case she wanted the power to walk out of this building. She needed to know whatever he knew, or could guess with some degree of certainty.

 

[Vendir]

Vendir continued to cut down whoever came near him. And a lot of people came near him now. Vendir stepped on the knee of a dark Jedi. Then he lifted his lightsaber up. The swung down severing the dark jedi's head. He blocked an attack from another one then sent him flying away. Vendir now longed for a challenge. He wanted to fight someone that would take more than a slash or two to kill. Vendir turned around just in time to block another dark Jedi's lightsaber. He pushed on the lightsaber and knocked the dark Jedi off his balance. Vendir stabbed him through the chest.

@[member="Garoth Do'Urden"]@[member="Daxton Bane"]@Krag@Josiah Denko

 

[Jerec Wraith]

Some Time Later...

The Tartoros Mech's weapon systems had held up admirably well, and the practically destroyed paint job reflected the wonderful job the armor had done. Looking around, he noticed his fellow pilots were defending the position. Lee was free to go and do as he pleased now that he was out of the Walker, and so he did. Taking the BTI-CES that was inside the cockpit, he decided to venture into the base and deliver some "Confederate" justice. Looking the advanced weapon over, he couldn't help but marvel at it's construction as he rounded a corner and coming upon a few stragglers they had missed.

BOOM!

He had only fired twice, but four men lay dead from the effects of the weapon. He smiled, and pressed onward to try and impress those he wished to work with in the future.

 

[Daxton Bane]

His pouches filled to the brim with looted holocrons and lore, Daxton left the library content, happy to study the gleanings of his finds later, when he encountered a squad of dark apprentices. The odds were four to one in their favor and they attacked, lit lightsabers gleaming in the soft light of the temple.

At first the Sith Lord just seemed to stand there, caught flat footed under their assault. Then he dodged under the first blade, pushed the second blade into the back of the first assailant, and slammed his empty gauntlets into the remaining pair, causing them to fizzle out upon contact with the cortosis. Before they could recover, he grabbed them with his force tentacles in a vice like choke and snapped their necks like chestnuts roasting on an open fire.

Turning to the face the last one he simply said, "Do you want to live or die?"

In a rage the survivor threw a force lightning which engulfed the Sith Master. Arcs of deadly current danced across his metal frame as it redirected back to the Dark Jedi, frying him in his own fat using the very power he thought he could command.

Glancing at the smoking chunk of flesh, Daxton shrugged and commented, "I thought so." Before turning around with a swirl of his purple cape in search of more enemies to fight.

@[member="Vendir"]

 

[Vendir]

Vendir pulled the lightsaber out of the dark jedi's chest then looked up at the battlefield. Lots of dead dark Jedi. Not that Vendir cared if they lived or died. He swung at another one cutting him in half. Two more jumped in front of him. Vendir turned on his right guantlets lightsaber "c'mon!" He exclaimed. One jumped towards him slashing his armor. Vendir sent force lightning at the other one. While the one on the other side of him charged him. Vendir turned and deflected an attack then stabbed him in the head with his gauntlet saber. The other dark Jedi sent force lighting at him. Vendir got caught in it but sent him flying back with a force push. He jumped over to the dark Jedi and cut his head off "you don't know how to fight!" Vendir yelled hoping for one of these dark Jedi's where a formidable opponent.

@[member="Daxton Bane"]

 

[Lex-El]

@[member="Genesis Rostu"]

The feed shifted at the Grand Marshall's words, and Cade stood and watched with an outsiders perspective. He noted the way that @[member="Tara Lasood"]'s creations moved, and the way they worked in tandem. Their custom load-outs worked well with one another, and the destruction they were reaping was quite impressive. Pleased, he fiddled with the ring on his right hand. He felt naked without all his senses, and his lust to be where the action was was getting to him. Lee knew better, so he instead put on a fake smile and did his best to appear interested once more. Cade longed to take the ring and glasses off, but patience was needed.

Everyone assumed his other face was dead.

"Wonderful Marshall, so I take it you'd like to sit down and discuss growing further in CIS space along with other special considerations?"

 

[Pinda Solthar]

Emahana had took a slight second to check back over her work on this woman. She had wanted to make sure everything was going alright and there was no further mistakes; maybe something she missed. As she inpected the body she noticed an unusually placed rib that had been broken. The muscles of her face twitched a bit. Then she heard @[member="Feena Mason"] tell her to watch the ribs. She quietly thought to herself. "How could I have missed something such as this."

She had to remove it seeing as the way it was placed could cause further damage. She moved very quickly to take care of the procedure, though it seem like it was the longest process. She used the force to slowly move the broken bone away from any major organs. "It was probably because I turned my head to ask for this med kit, I need to be more careful".

She noticed the arrival of her comrade @[member="Dar'jetii"] with the medical supplies she had requested. She smiled and nodded. "Thank you so vey much." She finished healing the ribs, and began the process of cleaning the wounds.

 

[Feena]

@[member="Emahana"] would surely be hard on herself, but Feena was incredibly impressed with her skills. She had known the girl was good, but she hadn't asked for help yet. And from the looks of things, she would not need to either. She had this under control.
If this went really well, if this ended on a good note, without Feena needing to intervene...
Perhaps Feena would have a more... permanent position for her.