Private Red Right Hand

[Caston Arkith]

RED RIGHT HAND

Caston never realized how warm blood was.

He looked down at his hand, the olive skin almost entirely drenched in dark crimson that drip, drip, dripped onto the floor. Caston's hand felt warm, sticky, and as he moved it around in the light, closing his fingers into a fist, he realized he loved it. "I thank you for your sacrifice..." Caston said to the two bodies in the room, broken and unmoving as Caston stepped over them. He had known them both for months on a personal and professional level at the university, but in the end, it had come down to them or himself. He had made his choice as had they, and they had proven to be inferior to him. Their deaths had served as his rebirth, and the heralding of a new age for Caston.

He looked down again at the holocron in his other hand. The glowing red pyramid called to him, invited him to keep it close. It promised knowledge and power should Caston learn its secrets. He lowered his other hand, covered in blood, to the black and red hilt of the lightsaber he had at his side. The weapon hardly worked, the crystal within was ancient and near the end of its life. Caston had been forced to bludgeon his fellow students with his bare hands when the blade gave out on him. He would need to find a way to fix that, and the holocron would not doubt give him that answer as well.

Caston departed the research wing of the university where their storage room had been. This late at night he did not pass anyone as he made his way back to his quarters. He needed to get his things and be gone before the bodies were discovered later. He had a new life, a new destiny to discover, and it would not do for that to be ruined by getting arrested. Clothes, trinkets and what credits he had were thrown into a bag and hoisted over his shoulder. He left his quarters, and set out towards the small landing pad connected to this building of the university. He needed to find a ship.

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

Rule of Two​

Tags: Caston Arkith
Location: Dremulae, Dremulae system

"The weak will always be victims. That is the way of the universe. The strong take what they want, and the weak suffer at their hands. That is their fate; it is inevitable. Only the strong survive, because only the strong deserve to."
-- Darth Bane

Darth Ayra, Dark Lord of the Sith, progenitor to a new lineage Sith woven in the tapestry of Bane's work, traversed the Sea of Translucency en-route to a research facility on the resort world of Dremulae. Underworld contacts had led her to the search for a recently discover piece of paraphernalia: a Sith Holocron that was currently under research by a band of Scientists in this remote system. Traversing the void between worlds from Lianna to Dremulae Ayra had taken the appropriate measures to avoid the scrutiny of the New Imperial Security Bureau by using contacts that the organisation did not know about to make the voyage without detection.

As far as her leaders were concerned Alicia Drey- the alias that Ayra used to conceal her true identity- was acting on the interests of the Empire by pursuing intelligence and knowledge that would contribute to the security and peacekeeping efforts in Imperial occupied space. Ayra had done well to hide her true allegiances from the Empire of the Lost. They truly believed that she was a former retired entrepreneur from Chandrila who had resurfaced in a meeting with Santhe-Sienar to recover lost assets. Her connections to the Imperial Remnant in the 840s, coupled with her own resources and expertise had made her a worthy candidate for selection to join the Bureau. Ayra had accepted the position, of course. The intelligence gathering operations of the NISB would be an excellent resource to have in her own ulterior motives outside of the Empire.

Walking in the image of Darth Bane, creator of the Rule of Two, Ayra knew that her greatest weapon was not by the sword but through espionage, secrecy, manipulation, extorting and assortment of other criminal enterprises that would shape the Grand Scheme. As she continued to rebuild her assets and intelligence networks Ayra would return to the gathering of paraphernalia that would be useful to the cause. This was why she had travelled to this paradise to find the recent excavated Holocron because it's secrets could be a benefit to her plans.

The boat that Ayra had taken to cross the sea to reach the university stopped by a dock. She paid the Captain his fee for travel and requested that he wait for her to return. He obliged and as he settled down to wait for his passenger to return Darth Ayra turned to climb out of the boat and onto the dock. Wearing sleek clothes that were easy to move about in, and were comfortable to wear in the humidity of Dremulae's star, Ayra lifted her gaze up from the dock to the university only to feel a disturbance in the Force.

The Dark Lord did not believe in co-incidence. There she was standing on the shoreline looking up to at the structure where the Sith Holocron was said to have taken by her underworld contacts, and upon arrival the Force had told her that something awful had just happened in the university. Bowing her head in concentration Ayra allowed her senses to immerse herself in the disturbance and found herself feeling the emotions of a killer on the run. As she felt his feelings wash over her- through the power of the dark side- Caston Arkith would too sense her presence in the Force.

Now that Ayra was aware of the murderer, and could sense the Holocron in his position, the curved Lightsaber blade which hung from her belt was a comfortable weight on her hip. Walking up from the dock Ayra begun her ascent up the stairs engraved in a rock that would lead up to the university campus where she intended to intercept Caston.

The Force is strong with this one, Ayra thought as she climbed the stairs.

 

[Caston Arkith]

RED RIGHT HAND

Tags: Alicia Drey

Another presence against his mind.

In the weeks Caston had been working on the casket, the holocron had been working within his mind. He had not realized what it was then; a gnawing weight that never seemed to leave, never seemed to weaken. It had been there, waiting, urging Caston on until the casket had eventually been opened. In that moment, Caston had discovered much, and had been given a beginners understanding in the ways of the Force, and in particular, the Dark Side of the Force.

This presence though felt much more vibrant, fresher if Caston could put a word to the feeling. It was not the presence of a ancient relic or long dead individual, it was the Force presence of a living, breathing entity. There was someone coming for Caston, that much he was certain. The intent and drive pointed at him, and distantly, he felt the presence moving, drawing closer and closer to Caston.

He stopped in his tracks, glancing down the staircase that would have led him to the ground floor of the building and out towards the landing pad. Not likely now, Caston thought. Whoever, or whatever, it was that was coming had likely come from off world, and given the somewhat isolated nature of the university campus here, a ship would have had to been used. That ship would likely prove his best avenue of escape, but he did not like his odds of being able to take whoever it was that was coming this way. He had just begun to learn about the Force, and the power he felt radiating from below held a surety of purpose Caston did not want to challenge head on.

Glancing around, Caston began to backtrack, heading towards the opposite end of the building. There was a second staircase there, and hopefully, he could circle around the building and get to the ship. As he was passing his old lab though, a thought came to Caston. Rushing inside, he began to take random items from around the room, and a few chemicals, and put them inside the casket. A few seconds on toying around with the items within, and a makeshift bomb was ready to go. Pulling a glowstick from another rack on the wall, Caston altered its color to emit a red light similar to that of the holocron. He put it in the casket near the bomb, and closed the lid carefully, adjusting it so that the light within was visible, but the moment someone touched the lid, the bomb would detonate.

Whoever was coming this way might stop to take a look, and if they did, they would get a rather unpleasant surprise. Caston wasn't sure if it would kill them, but it might slow them down. Stepping back into the hallway, Caston set off at a run towards the buildings second staircase.

 

[Alicia Drey]

Tags: Caston Arkith

Darth Ayra moved with pace. It was coming increasingly clearer to her as she made her approach towards the individual she had sensed was fleeing the scene. She could sense his exhilaration from the kill; his attempt to escape the university with the Sith Holocron; and his desire to get away from her. Navigating the campus Ayra passed by students, teachers and academics towards the source of the murder. Guided by her own instincts and the emotions that were flowing through her, she chanced upon a laboratory filled with the dead. Her eyes surveyed the room, casually glancing over the blood and corpses to where the chest laid.

Lifting a foot to step towards the chest Ayra hesitated a second later. Danger surrounded the chest. At first the Dark Lord thought that she was simply sensing the Holocron, and took another step towards the chest only to stop to think about it. No. They would have taken it with them. Whatever happened here they are on the run and the Holocron is with them. So why did Ayra still sense danger surrounding the chest if she figured out that the Holocron was with Caston?

Intrigued Ayra stretched a palm towards the chest to open it with the Force and prepared herself for the consequences. BOOM! A flash of white light erupted from the chest giving the Sith a mere second to react. Before she was engulfed in the explosion Ayra retreated into the hallway with aide of the Force and rebounded off a nearby wall. Collapsing onto her side Ayra saw stars filter in and out of focus while her ears rung from the explosion. As she was about to slip into unconsciousness Ayra reached deeply into the Force to keep herself awake and alert. The stars subsided and her vision came back into focus.

Reaching a hand out to the wall to help herself up Ayra admired her arms and body to find them bloodied and cut. If I had been any closer to that trap I would have been destroyed. Thankful to be alive, Ayra felt wet at the top of her scalp and after checking it with her hand she found blood stained on her fingers. She felt wounded, burned and cut up but also exhilarated at the near death experience. As on lookers gathered at the end of the hallway to see what had happened Ayra gingerly staggered by them. Ignoring their attempts to help or what they were saying Ayra bumbled past them towards the stairway that Caston was headed for while a klaxon begun to blare through the campus warning that there was a fire in the building.

 

[Caston Arkith]

RED RIGHT HAND

Tags: Alicia Drey

"Fire!" Caston yelled, banging on doors as he ran down along the corridor on the level below. He hit the doors at a run, a few quick hits enough to wake the occupants up and get them moving. He was not doing this for any altruistic reasons. Getting people out and moving would create more confusion and put bodies between himself and whoever it was that was coming for him. Plus, the claxons blaring already had people panicking, and with a little careful direction, Caston could turn them to his goals.

"Fire! Fire on the ground floor, get to the roof shuttles are on the way!" His direction sent people running, not even stopping to second guess what they were hearing, They stormed up the staircases, moving in great herds to block the stairwells going up, and hopefully, preventing anyone else from coming down. Living shields to protect Caston, the most important person in the building. With a smile on his face, Caston leapt down the stairs three at a time, doing the same thing on the next floor below before finally getting to the ground floor of the facility.

Slamming the door of the building open, Caston saw a few students milling about outside, those on the ground floor or smart enough not to be herded like sheep in a panic. Caston walked past them, ignoring the questions about why he was covered in blood. He was halfway towards the landing pad when a student grabbed his shoulder, pulling at the backpack Caston wore trying to make sure he was ok. Rage erupted through Caston as this rat grabbed the backpack, the backpack containing the holocron. His holocron.

Caston spun around, the dark power filling his body as he slammed his hand forward, piercing through the students chest. The warm blood splashed across Caston, the feeling he was growing used to filling him with joy. He pulled his arm back and shoved the body away from him, looking at the other students around him. They did not try to stop him. Turning away, Caston set off at a run towards the ship waiting nearby.

 

[Alicia Drey]

Tags: Caston Arkith

As Ayra ran through the door after Caston she heard the terrified, awful screams of people as she came to a stop. The carcass of a boy was laying in a pool of blood that was beginning to congeal and pool on the campus pavement. It was surrounded by on-looking students who were in a state of frenzy and panic. The dark side of the Force was flowing through the area and it's source laid in the form of the individual who was making a break for one of the nearby transport ships who had arrived to perform an evacuation of the facility.

Drawing on the Force Ayra waved a hand towards the student that Caston had just murdered, and with a savage twist of her outstretched palm hurled the body at his back as he made his way towards the transport. Meanwhile, the pilot of the vessel- having just seen Caston murder someone right in front of the ship- engaged the vessels engines and took off. No doubt he valued his own safety than that of the campus students he had been sent to evacuate.

A natural response given the state of things.