Only War (open for whatever)

[Ashin Varanin]

ANOBIS
NEUTRAL TERRITORY

The warfront would get here and everyone knew it; she tasted tension in the air. No -- that was imagination; she was wearing a sealed helm, she'd just finally worn it long enough that she didn't know it was there.

Her armor made her a silver-grey edifice, her boot-treads tore up the earth, as she moved through forested foothills and mining roads. Her ship lay far back; she'd wanted to do this on foot for no reason she could fathom, except that she didn't like jeopardizing her ship.

There had been a report, fragmentary and unsubstantiated. In the aftermath of Ket Vistas' unveiling as a Sith Lord -- a Padawan the mask of a Master -- every report to do with Nautolans got triple-checked. This one could be nothing, but her got told her that something was here, or something had been here. One armored gauntled rested against a treetrunk as she looked down on a location that felt slightly...off.

CC: [member="Darth Odium"]

 

[Darth Odium]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

Odium sat in front of a tall Miraluka man. The man hung from his wrist on a chain his upper body exposed. The instructions from Valik had been clear but to finish the creature, the Rhak-skuri gland had to be attached to his adrenal gland. A pair of doctors lowered the Miraluka and lay his limp form on a operating table. Odium had planned to contact [member="Rave Merrill"] to finish the process but as yet had not. This would be just another step toward finally alchemizing the poor slave and making him something truly terrible.

Odium looked up to the ceiling of the subterranean cave compound and listened as if he could hear something. Something felt off. His vaults of slaves and expiraments with dark sever were here. His crystal cache, and his ever popular GR-75 was hidden away. He didn't like when things felt off.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Darth Odium"]

A GR-75 had a crew of half a dozen, and then there was the whole deal with the slave. Ashin had never, as a rule, been the sort of Jedi who was especially good at sensing things; as Luke Skywalker had said, it was difficult to hear a whisper when you were shouting all the time. Since her severing, she'd made strides to rectify that imbalance, at least partially. So the ability to feel minds and pain underground while unreliable, was at least plausible.

Once she sensed that, though, then came the real question -- how to get down there? Secret bases were, on the whole, by and large, secret. An entrance could be hidden anywhere.

A handful of small talismans hung from her neck within and without the breastplate; a Korriban compass was one of the latter. Its needles gave her a direction for the nastiness, but not for the entrance.

Silver-grey armor rustled as she began to search the area.

 

[Darth Odium]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]


Odium shrugged and watched the Doctors as the began to open the Miraluka up using only basic anastetic as the compounds Valik had given him began to be pumped into the creation. Odium was no alchemist that was well known, but he could follow directions very well. He began channeling the force and spoke the words that were to help turn the Miraluka slave from man to monster. The process would take time but stopping now may kill the slave and he would have to find a new template.

He slowly began pushing the dark energies of the force in to the subject as he began to move against the straps and scream behind his gag. Odium stared with unblinking eyes as the doctors worked and he channeled the force. Soon the creature would be ready for his final step and he would be set free.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Darth Odium"]

There had been a time when she could flow-walk, though she'd learned from someone who learned from someone who learned from the Aing-Tii -- she'd never been good at it. Now, there was a good chance it would elude her entirely, though all she needed was a glimpse of the recent past, just a split-second impression of where the ship had come down, where the Sith had entered.

She couldn't get it. Nothing came. When she finally stumbled across the hidden entrance, that was no figure of speech; she fell in a clatter of armor, and narrowly missed breaking her wrist. With a curse, she pulled open the hatch and descended into darkness, homing in on the sense of pain.

 

[Darth Odium]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

Odium felt a little vibration on his side. His datapad was giving a silent alarm and that generally speaking didn't make him happy. The process was nearly halfway finished so he kept his concentration for the moment and continued to use the force on the Miraluka man. It may have been inexperience or just his nature but he started to increase the amount of force manipulation he used as the doctors continued the procedure and began adding the device that acted similar to the keys of Korriban. This creature would be a hunter of nastiness and would be a perfect agent of chaos. Fearsome, gruesome, and completely unattached to the Dark Lord of the Sith.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

"Ma'am, we're entering atmosphere."

Mya didn't like that, she didn't like being given a rank of authority which she had not earned. Yet the Dark Lord had entrusted this mission to her. Nestled between Republic and Mandalorian space, Anobis was good ground to set up a listening post. Intelligence was required and while Ordo had abilities to provide intel without flaw, There was something comforting about having intelligence obtained by people not consumed by the dark plague, nor fanaticism. These people did their job because they were good at it, because they were paid to. This wasn't about a goddess for them, nor was it about undying loyalty to a being so capable of shifting from one body to the next. This was about keeping money in their pockets, about feeding their families, about keeping a roof over their head.

"Take us over the mountains, scan everything. I want a layout of the land and whatever we might have in our way."

What was this about for Mya? A clone with a head full of memories that weren't hers. Velok, Ordo, Mia. People who had had a great influence on the galaxy around her. A manipulator, a warrior and a... she smiled slightly. What did one call Mia Monroe, warrior? Madwoman? Idol? Perhaps all of the above. Had Velok still beeen alive he would have been the greatest concern to the Dark Lord. But he was not. Mia Monroe was dangerous and she was very capable of coming back to bite them. Thankfully for them, she wasn't the sort of person to sneak up behind you.

"We've got a spot to land but its full of people."

"Communication capability?"

"Theres a sattelite a click north."

"Jam their transmissions. I don't want anyone to hear them. Then wipe them out."

"W-what?"

Mya turned to regard the crew of the cruiser.

"Kill. Them. All of them."

Turbolaser fire rained down upon the miners village, and in the cruiser above, Mya smiled as the fear and pain drifted up to her.

 

[Anastasia Rade]

She always accompanied Ket when he went to Anobis. It was like a second home to her and he allowed her to do as she pleased. When he was working she would explore the planet as it wasn't until recent that she had been invited to see the work that he did.

In truth, when she first saw his experiments and his slaves the young witch had been little freaked. It reminded her so much of her past that it brought back memories of when she was tortured. Thoughts of how that could have been her also came to mind. If things hadn't gone the way they had she could be one of his experiments. Time and time again the young witch would shake off such thoughts. He wouldn't hurt her, not now. He was showing her things because he wished to share his life with her.

She accepted whom he was. He was a Sith after all and she knew this from the beginning. The man had after all bought her and in a way saved her. She still was curious though as to what his end goal was.

Black heels clicked against the floor as Sia made her way to where she knew Ket was working. In her hands she carried a tray of chocolate chip cookies which had just come out of the oven. She had made them from scratch which was something she was quite proud of. She was becoming quite the little chef.

Upon her arrival she didn't say a thing as she could see he was in the middle of something. And the last thing she wanted to do was to break his concentration so she would wait.


[member="Darth Odium"]
[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Anastasia Rade"] [member="Darth Odium"] [member="Mya Munro"]

Up ahead, the pain swelled to a crescendo. Her comlink fuzzed -- jamming, comprehensive jamming. And then the ground began to rumble, and she began to feel death.

Calling for help wasn't an option. She'd never make it back to her ship, make the call, and get back here before that pain became some kind of serious problem for someone.

And she smelled alchemy. She'd done enough of it for enough years to know, to get the flavor of it in the air. This had the air of Valik, somehow, though this wasn't how he did business and she didn't feel him anywhere.

When she emerged into the sanctum sanctorum, six feet of pale phrik armor, she confessed she was more than relieved that it wasn't Valik. It was, instead, a familiar-looking Nautolan. She'd watched him through a scope, once, and the after-action reports from that had been insane.

"Vistas."

 

[Darth Odium]

[member="Mya Munro"] [member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Anastasia Rade"]


Odium kept up the process following direction to a 'T' for as long as he could. The shaking and the awesome cookies could not stop him but that name the voice he heard, that he could not ignore. He cut the process and the Miraluka howled all the more as the doctors finished the last stich and began to wheel him away to a bacta tank.

Odium didn't know if the creature would survive but already he could see a change, but who knew, he wasn't an alchemist. He turned to face the woman who had come in as the shaking continued. He looked at the woman and smiled. His black eyes with floating fleck of red in them looked at her unblinking.

<<You're far from home, Mrs. Varanin.>> he tried to say to her mind, <<Buisness or Pleasure?>>

 

[Lina Ovmar]

The cruiser lowered to the now empty clearing. Moving down the boarding ramp, vonduun crab armour covering all but her head Mya, moved with soldiers and technicians in tow. She didn't give the torched bodies a second thought. Remorse was dangerous, it made you question what you did. The Dark Lord could not afford to have such wavering dedication on his side. "The geographical scanners indicate there's an entrance to a network of tunnels less than half a klick north of us." Mya stopped to look at him, noting the quiver in his voice. His eyes flicked rapidly between the datapad and the body nearest to them and he was unable to look at Mya.


"Look at me." He did so, reluctantly, she cold almost smell the fear coming off of him. "Do I need a new Technician?"

"N-no, Miss Munro."

"Good, get a grip. Get a team together to search those tunnels. Captain?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Send ten with the research team. Collect any survivors you might find and prepare them for prisoner transport."

"Yes ma'am."

"Then get a perimeter set up. I don't want anyone sneaking up on us." She watched as the research team, numbering 15, moved along the maintain path. Was she Mia? Or Ordo? Or Velok? No, perhaps she was worse, perhaps she was better. Either way, she had their mistakes to learn from.

[member="Darth Odium"] [member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Darth Odium"] [member="Mya Munro"]

She shot a glance at [member="Anastasia Rade"]. Whoever's pain she'd felt, it was tapering off into unconsciousness, and it wasn't in here. Close, but getting farther. Beneath the helmet, her eyes narrowed fractionally, but when she spoke her voice was unconstrained, free. "Ah, hell, what's the difference these days, Vistas."

Her gauntleted hand brushed the manacle that hung from the ceiling, and her head tilted and her Valik-tutored psychometry gave her a glimpse of recent happenings. "So you're an alchemist. Business, or pleasure?"

 

[Anastasia Rade]

The blonde knew better than to interrupt his work. It always worked better in her favor for him to get to a stopping point before making him take a break. Sia had her ways of getting him to do just that.

Standing up she turned to their visitor to offer cookies. The young witch dressed in a red dress probably looked like nothing more than one of his slaves. One that he kept as an assistant of sorts. Anastasia had started his slave but wasn't one so much anymore.

"Cookie? I made them from scratch and I wanted Odium to try them. It's a new recipe that I came up with," she stated as she held out the plate.

When she wasn't training or reading she enjoyed cooking. It was becoming sort of a hobby of hers and he seemed to enjoy it as well.

"I'm Anastasia by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you." She had yet to meet any of Odium's "friends" yet so she wasn't exactly sure how to introduce that she was his lover and anyway what did that matter?

[member="Ashin Varanin"][member="Mya Munro"][member="Darth Odium"]

 

[Darth Odium]

[member="Mya Munro"] [member="Anastasia Rade"] [member="Ashin Varanin"]

Odium took a cookie and then took a happy bite. He was found out. He wasn't in need of being clandestine now at least not with her.

<<I am not, in fact and alchemist, I'm just following a formula, and sadly for business.>> he said honestly, <<I need something not connected to the Dark Lord to do some work for me.>>

He looked at the woman and then to Anastasia.

<<Anastasia, Mrs. Varanin. Mrs. Varanin, Anastasia.>> he told them, <<Can I help you, do you need something or just following your nose?>>

 

[Lina Ovmar]

There was something else here, something that created small tremors in the force. Her head tilted to one side as she tried to hone in on it. It seemed familiar, but not so. Closing her eyes she reached out across the force, clumsy and stumbling. She was still learning.

"Ma'am?" Eyes snapped open again and irritation flashed across her face. She opened her mouth to rebuke the Captain, but the two guards cast a man at her feet and she snapped it shut. "Tell her what you told me." The captain growled at him.

"This ship is not the first we've seen today."

Mya said nothing, she simply stared at him. They were not alone, that was to be expected, but it was not convenient. She held her hand out to the Captain. "Sidearm." he handed her his pistol. Without hesitation she lifted it to the prisoners forehead and pulled the trigger before he could utter a shout of protest. "Gather the prisoners and line them up." she said, lowering the sidearm back to her side.

Grouped together their fear would be a beacon. Whoever or whatever else was here would feel it, and she was going to make it an irresistible show.

[member="Darth Odium"] [member="Anastasia Rade"] [member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Mya Munro"] [member="Anastasia Rade"] [member="Darth Odium"]

Ashin shook her head at the young witch in the red dress. "No, thank you," she said, indicating her sealed helmet. "They look delicious, though."

Her voice tightened as she sensed what felt like a mass execution, some distance away. The turbolaser fire had been only a preamble. "Leaving aside the question of the man you're experimenting on, Vistas-" Ice water in the veins, Ashin, you can keep it together. "-I'm sure you feel what's happening not far from here. Fear, death, turbolaser bombardment. You impersonated a Jedi Padawan for a very long time, this facility was difficult to find; you're a subtle and a careful man. I suspect you didn't order this. I suspect it's a far bigger inconvenience for you than one lonely Jedi Knight."

 

[Preliat Mantis]

His shawl fluttered in the wind, caressed by the shifting dirt and sands. However, the gentle nature of the fabric woven by his homeworld's finest tailors, was a stark contrast to the scene around him, and at his feet. The Mandalorian looked somber, his helmet in his hands and his body hunched over slightly. He'd come to Anobis for a personal vendetta- he had been tipped off by a family member about their missing son. Someone's child. The Sith took him. At one point, he was the apple of his mother's eye, the thing that his father came home to every day at the mines. Preliat, needless to say, had taken the job without payment. One did not need to be paid to do the right thing. Preliat was often considered a savage- but even he had his limits.

He had arrived after the turbolaser barrage, and had no idea who or what actually had occurred at the site. Preliat carried no rifle, the two disruptor pistols and the tomahawk and the beskad could handle whatever. He hoped, at least. And if they couldn't, he would die. And he would embrace death warmly, for it was a fate that was unavoidable.

But for now, the Field Marshal pulled a chair from the wreckage of the village, and leaned forward, his helmet in his lap. He curled into a ball, collecting himself. For now, it was grief for the innocent. Later, it would be vengeance for the perpetrators.

 

[Darth Odium]

[member="Mya Munro"] [member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Preliat Mantis"]

Odium flinched as the deaths began and cursed within himself. He knew there were few as ruthless as the man that occupied the seat of the Dark Lord, but he also knew that if it was who he thought it was and the Dark Lord found out, his plans woukd find an abrupt end.

Odium gnashed his teeth together and looked at the armored woman.

<<The Dark Lord has become vicious lately.>> Odium admitted, <<and if that is who I think it is. Even my life may be forfeit. I need to get this place evacuated. Stay or go as you see fit,>> he looked up eyes searching through the durasteel calculating every step. <<I can give you passage but I should tell you. What ever you may think of me or what I have done. That beast of a man and his daughter make me look tame.>>

He wasn't afraid. He had more back up plans in this instance than a zeltron courtesan had lovers. However, he was cautious and this was not boading well for any of them.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Mya watched with an impassive face as they were lined up before her. Trembling, weeping there clothes tattered. Pathetic existence, it would have been kinder just to shoot them all, but she wanted to present gifts to her fathers people. Bodies for the Warmaster and his Hydra Queen to vongform. Children for the Chosen of Vahl to bed to her will.

She walked slowly before them, pausing before each one and studying them hard. "Take the children." A woman screamed on protest clutching to her child as the soldiers tried to pry her finger from him. Mya moved swifly behind her, grasping her head and snapping her neck with a sharp twist.

"Listen to me!" She called out moving so she could see all of their faces. "Those I take with me, will live. They will be clothed, fed and given a new purpose. No harm will come to them." That wasn't strictly speaking true but she didn't care. "The Dark Lord rewards all who serve him well. Come willingly and I will see to it that yoir are treated like kings and queens."

An old man stepped forward, face set, no fear in his eyes. He spat at her feet. She smiled, then promptly shot him.

"Anyone else who would like to offer protest?"

[member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Darth Odium"] @anastacia rade [member="Preliat Mantis"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Darth Odium"]

"I'm in no position to stop you."

Which wasn't entirely true; she could, at a guess, hold Odium here until the other arrived, force a confrontation. But perhaps she was learning just a little common sense -- or losing just a touch of her death wish.

"Tell me about this...daughter."