Sanctum Sweet Mix Vol. 1 : Dark Side of the Dance Hall { Dominion of Lorrd }

[Yasha Cadera]

Outside in the chill, I rub my hands together and blow some hot air in between them. I'm more than comfortable waiting on the others before we get this anti-slavery gig going: should I be worried about my personal health on a mission like this? Especially so far from the Fringe? Naw. It's all good.

Bucket exited the Suma and immediately started scanning around for the Aquatic centre. The droid's chin began to bob up and down as he searched the landscape for its bearings. I don't think it wants me to know what's making his head bob, but the other day I totally caught Bucket dancing in front of the mirror. To a song it was trying to sing. . . yeah, that'll stay with me for a while.

I wonder what it's listening to in that electronic head it's got?

Bucket's Playlist: Song

 

[Siather Det'aan]

Song

Having just stepped out of the mess he could sense his master returning to the ship, this was his first mission out with his master and though he felt he didn’t have to impress her he did feel it necessary to stick close so he could learn as much as possible. The Gand had not gone along to the meeting aboard the other ship and hadn’t felt it was necessary to intrude on her command over this vessel but now he could sense what could only be described as distress mixed with irritation. The emotions weren’t that strong of course and he wasn’t entirely sure he had the human woman’s emotions pegged, he had spent a lot of time around humans but he still couldn’t say he understood them all that well.

Cracking his joints slightly the stocky Gand stepped onto the bridge where his master was already ordering the ship to transit down to the ground. He approached silently and stopped behind her clicking his mandibles to announce his presence even though it probably wasn’t necessary, she probably had sensed his approach from well outside the bridge if she was paying attention which she may or may not be depending on how truly distracted she was.

“What do you require of Gand? This one wishes to be of assistance if he can.” Siather asked and waited patiently.

[member="Coci Sinopi"]

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Tiland Kortun"] - Track : Animal I Have Become

Slave Auction -- Unknown Warehouse, Lorrd City Outskirts



Hustle and bustle soon began to pick up in the cold warehouse. More guards were moving around, moving through with a datapad and picking out certain slaves. If one observed properly the older, slower slaves were the first up to auction. It was a typical slow start. It often weeded out the serious buyers from those merely coming for the sake of going to an underground auction.

A man with slick hair approached the stage. The crowd was in various forms of assembly. Some would come for the older slaves, needing housekeepers or folks to maintain the grounds. Auction for the dancers and entertainers always brought the biggest crowd. Hosk had learned well to pace himself, schedule certain auctions at different times. Doing such also gave him time to escape if things started to look shady. Young idealists always tended to strike during the elderly auction. Merely didn't know how to pace themselves properly.


"Good evening ladies and gentleman" Hosk's smooth and snakelike voiced echoed through the crowd. "Little preamble is needed, you all have been screened. May the highest bidder win each lot."

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

Heading over to the Lorrd Academy for Aquatic Studies - Das Omen im Kries des Bösen

He followed Bucket out of the Sumatiyara, hands stuffed into his trouser pockets. This was not the coldest place he had visited in the past nine centuries, by far, but it still put a bit of a chill on his face and nipped at the edges of his ears. Enduring it was not at all a trouble, ad the same energy with which he healed also provided a semblance of warmth at its simplest deployment - hence why his hands seemed to always be warm when applying them in the process of healing.

"Next? Perhaps a couple more useful things to know, before we touch on anything potentially treacherous," he said, in response to her query, "or vice-versa."

He gathered from their previous session that this Knight was a safe candidate to impart knowledge of some of the more abusable abilities to. He had observed her soul and character enough to feel that [member="Anders Sivas"] would handle the knowledge properly.

"I have yet to decide," he said, finally, before looking off towards the very building they sought, "Ah, this way."

And off he went walking, much as he had on Voss, the length of his coat fluttering in the icy breeze. [member="Judah Dashiell"] was waiting. Without a doubt, they were right on time.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

On Ground - Lorrd
Ship: E'ron - Class Corvette - Antarian Rangers Transport
Jorus Merrill Thurion Heavenshield Saki [member="Siather Det'aan"]

music


"There", she pointed over the shoulder of the Commander of Antarian Rangers Transport. "Land behind that outcrop of rocks, from there we can travel move in with the ground speeders to the pirate outpost. Have a team of Ranger Medical personal ready and on stand by".

Her force sense reaching outward revealed all sentient life on board the ship, her Padawan strong in the force pulsed like a small star and easy recognisable to her now. She will need him today, what was a mission to support the Levantine Sanctum turned to a rescue mission and coupled with that to arrest the pirates.

The bond between Thurion and herself, constant feed her of his pain and suffering. This life forces drifting in and out, and peaking under the pressure of inflicted pain. Coci struggles to maintain control of herself, wanting so much to just go head long and dispatch the 'situation'. She let out a long breath to steady herself as the Gand approached and offered assistance. This one is special and intelligent, she will have no hesitation in handing him command of the Ranger Troops.

It would be so easy to give in. The emotions of hate and anger she strived to rid bubbling below the surface, Jedi are simply sentient beings with faults and emotions after all and it is this daily struggle they all must face, facing her now. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is a reason is it the first line of code, and she now faced the test of it. Before she would remove all distractions of Thurion she opened her mind to him, the force bond erupted with energy as she sent her message to him. I will come for you soon, we are not far.

Coci turned to her Padawan, "I want you to command the Antarian Rangers Troops, and arrest the pirates. We need to take control of the outpost. The rules of engagement is to arrest on sight, if they engage, which I have no doubt they will, then defend, however, if there is no option .. kill".

"Remain in constant contact with me, until I will go 'undercover' to the outpost and infiltrate, Master Heavenshield is held captive and I will bring him out, is that understood?".

Her confidence in her Padawan, is merited.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

"Useful is good, for I am spindly and liable to get squashed when not escorted by technologically equipped bodyguard droids, or hulky, talented masters. True story. Even my worst enemy now goes 'Oh Anders, it's alright I'll protect you! Poor thing.' I'd feel worse about that, but it kind of rocks. I'll ah, stop talking now. . ." The skills. I needed to get the skills going if I was going to make a larger impact myself. Not that I'm chomping at some kind of bit to go ballistic on a Sith Lord's face.

"Yes! This way. Here we are, going this way, Master Ilias." I hop to and start rushing down the street after [member="Ilias Nytrau"] mostly out of a desire to somehow get out of this cold. What? I'm bony and lacking in muscle and fat. There is little on me but the desire to save the citizens of Lorrd or even better: learn more from my Master of the Light Arts.

As we walk toward [member="Judah Dashiell"]'s position, I keep a weather eye. "Do you hear music?" I thought I heard someone singing. . . "Nevermind. Ah, I do have another question, though. A friend of mine showed me some amazing tech from the Sanctum. It's . . it's a glorified medical scanner slash data-pad, but I want one. It could go so far with me diagnosing medical conditions and environmental problems while I focussed my powers on the actual healing, you know? I have the money, but no one can get ahold of one unless they're from the Sanctum. Would . . I feel stupid for asking, but would you help me out?"

Song

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Anders Sivas"] | [member="Ilias Nytrau"] Track : Wait


It didn't take long for Ferox to arrive. The poor droid was still half-way under restoration, looking a mix of old and new. Judah and [member="Thessa Kai"] had acquired the droid under unusual circumstances and life had gotten in the way of giving the droid cosmetic upgrades. Structurally and in terms of programming the droid was like new. Versatile, it had taken to its new owners like a duck to water. Judah struggled to get the small coat on his son before pulling on a multi-colored toboggan hat, a bit of a feat considering the kid already had wildly curly hair.


"Come along Master Makai" Ferox scooped up the young boy. "My sensors indicate the temperature is dropping and the wind is picking up from the north. Programming tells me young should not be outdoors in such conditions."


Judah waved goodbye to his son as the droid took the boy back to the hotel. Pulling his own black jacket closer around him, Judah grumbled slightly. Cold was something he still was not used to. It was foreign and had too many negative attachments for himself. Still, they had a job to do. Break up this slavery auction. His chrono told him it should be getting underway. With any luck they would strike roughly in the middle of the event. Hopefully it was going to give the organizer a false sense of security, but Judah doubted it. At least they had a man on the inside, [member="Tiland Kortun"] .


Waiting in a little alcove out of the wind outside of the Aquatic Center, Judah wasn't quite sure who he was meeting. Well, two Jedi, yes. Was he supposed to stand around and look for brown robes and lightsabers? Seemed like good indication enough....It was stereotypical Jedi attire after all.

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

Investigating Pirate Hideout
Unknown location

She was coming, he knew she was coming. No reason to give into the pain now. Sat in the dog pen now used as his prison cell, Thurion had assumed a meditative stance; doing so he could ignore the searing pain from the wounds inflicted upon him even as the blood seeped down his torso, as well as manage a steady breathing to avoid going into shock from the ordeal. His head was held as if in prayer and his eyes were closed, and without even noticing he'd begun to quietly hum to himself the same tune he'd always hum for little Nina when putting her to sleep, and was the same Asha would sing to him in his youth. Coci would hear the same tune be sung within her mind.

Footsteps coming for him. They would be back soon, and more attempts to break him would follow. "If I don't make it, please take care of Nina for me", he told [member="Coci Sinopi"] through their Force bond. "I love you." A moment later his cell door was swung open and the two men grabbed his arms and dragged him along the floor back to the torture chamber where the man from before was eagerly awaiting his arrival, still keeping a steady grip on that knife of his. Once strapped back onto the rack, the man immediately went to work on trying to break him. The first time was just warm-up. Now for the main course.

 

[Siather Det'aan]

Song

“Gand will endeavour to protect the lives of both the Rangers and the pirates even if the pirates are insistent on throwing their lives away. We will give you the opportunity you require to slip into the outpost undiscovered. This one insists you be careful though there is still much you have to teach Gand.” Siather offered a small grin before he bowed to [member="Coci Sinopi"] and departed to join the Rangers who were already suited up and preparing their equipment.

Descending from the ship to the surface from want of the many loading ramps the Antarian Rangers had already used to unload their equipment. They would be restricted to speeders, none of the heavy equipment would be necessary they were not intent on dominating these pirates just arresting them so they could face trial for whatever crimes they were guilty of, certainly kidnapping would be included amongst the latest charges that would be laid against them. Siather approached the Ranger Captain who was already briefing his men. He waited for the briefing to conclude before pulling the Captain to the side to speak with him, he kept his comm open to his Master’s frequency as instructed though he trusted their connection in the force for his own personal communication with her.

“Captain, this one will be joining your efforts. Master Sinopi has instructed me to lead your forces against the pirate camp though Gand acknowledges your abilities in that regard are likely far more practised so this one will be counting on you to keep him in check.”

“I am sure your abilities will be a great asset to our team, I am here to support you but if Master Sinopi believes you are capable of leading this mission then I will defer to her judgement.” The Captain replied with a smile hidden behind his facemask.

With a small nod Siather and the Captain turned to face the assembled squads of Rangers before them, the Gand spoke first. “One of our own is trapped in this pirate camp, we must get him out. We are here to arrest these pirates so they may stand trial for their crimes, we have instructions to defend ourselves and if we must we will do so with lethal force. This one intends that we will all come back from this one and he commits that he will do everything within his power to ensure that.”

“You heard him men, mount up.” The Captain ordered and the Rangers all complied loading onto speeders of various descriptions.

Spotting a free speeder bike Siather climbed onto it getting settled and balanced on it. It certainly wasn’t made for a species as broad as his but he made due. Powering the speeder bike up the Gand accelerated towards the pirate base with the rest of the Rangers following close behind. It didn’t take them long to get there the majority of them dismounting their speeders and forming a line just outside of the range of the base behind a dune. The Captain and the Gand kept on forward closer to the base to announce their offer of surrender to the pirates they had to be given the opportunity. They stopped their speeders and dismounted slowly the Captain drawing his carbine and keeping it at the ready.

Linking his comm into a loudspeaker system Siather spoke precisely. “Attention inhabitants of this camp, we have been sent to offer you terms of surrender. We do not wish harm upon you but you have committed crimes against the people of this world that you must stand trial for. If any of you wish to stand down before we must engage then you have the guarantee of this one that you will be treated with the utmost respect and dignity until such time as you can stand trial. We will give you ten minutes to consider our offer.”

Standing at the ready the Gand pushed a thought into the force towards his master. ~Gand believes we have their attention, Gand would suggest you get into whatever position you need to be to infiltrate the base as soon as we engage. This one has little doubt that they will decline our offer, we will want to secure the safety of Master [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] and any other possible hostages before things heat up too much.~

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

Meeting up with [member="Judah Dashiell"] - Abre Los Ojos

At the request to look into a piece of technology, one, then both of his eyebrows lofted. He did not look at [member="Anders Sivas"], for he was already looking at the man they were heading to meet, nestled in an alcove out of the wind. Ilias pulled up the collar of his long coat, brow coming down and furrowing against picking up of the winds.

"Multitasking does not exist, in truth, Knight Sivas," he said, his voice just short of chastising, "But depending, the tradeoff is negligible."

He did not understand why the use of technology was even necessary. Surely, the senses were primed well enough?

"At any rate, I am not the best person to ask about technological implements. Perhaps..."

He gave Judah about as warm a smile as he could manage in the chill, as he stopped before the man.

"...perhaps Mister Dashiell may be of better assistance," he suggested, then, gesturing to Anders: "Mister Dashiell, this is Knight Anders Sivas, one of my students, and a healer, as well..."

He glanced just behind the knight.

"...and that," he said, looking back to Judah, and jerking a thumb over his own shoulder, "is Bucket."

 

[Yasha Cadera]

What [member="Judah Dashiell"] got were a Jedi Master and an uncomfortable Rogue Knight in tan cargo trousers and a leather jacket. And a very big need for gloves. I'm smaller for a dude, huddled in my coat might make me look even smaller but I don't mind. Better to be a lower profile.

"Doesn't it? I'll have to remember that." I put my hand on my hair, letting it grow and shorten till I'm happy with it - not true growth, but the illusion was enough. Suggestion is a more powerful word than aggression. "Mister Dashiell. Anders. . ah, Knight Sivas. Pleased t'meet you, or I would be given the circumstances."

At being introduced, Bucket hops from behind my shoulder to in front of me, droid hand out and waiting for a shake. "Charmed. Councillor Sivas is cold." Bucket offers his hand for Judah, he pulls through a little bow and I'm kind of proud of how the android brain's grown since his day as an enhanced special edition of an SC1 Battle Droid.

"Bucket, I'm fine." I wave off, walking around in a tiny circle.

"Your external thermal imprint is falling." Bucket says, its electronic voice reduced in volume. I think my droid just tried to whisper at me.

"Yeah, I should have brought gloves. My bad. Let's go beat some slavers out of Lorrd." I pump my fist and look back to Master [member="Ilias Nytrau"].

"Making a mental note to include gloves in my Mission Kit, Councillor." Bucket writes in the air. Maybe giving it a growing artificial intelligence was a bad idea.

I cough to cover the awkward android and skip between the two men. "Right! So, where do we start? Bucket's planning a new line of winter wear and I'm ready to figure our mission. Infiltration? I gotta admit I suck with the violence, it's not my thing. Kinda like water in the lungs. . . but where can I wave the magic fingers, Mr. Dashiell?"

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

On Ground - Lorrd
Inside Pirate Outpost
Jorus Merrill Thurion Heavenshield Saki Siather Det'aan

music In my very humble opinion this song is the No. 1 love song of all time.

Moving up the corridor was easy for the moment. Coci is very well trained the in art of concealment and stealth, it is the mark of Jedi Shadow to be able to infiltrate as well as take on assignments less 'pleasing' to the Jedi in general, to take out a target on command, it is this that makes them hard, cold and blunt. She remained close to the walls, manipulating the sound and light around her in order to remain invisible. Although she had received the message from her Padawan, she would not reply, her total focus needed all distractions removed now. Even the sense of Thurion's pain, she had to to succeed in this rescue.

Many voices filtered down the corridor to her ears, some joking others, fighting over credits but they are located away from her point of interest. She turned left at the T junction and moved toward the back of the outpost. Now only a door separated her and Thurion and his captors.

A wave of pain filled the force bond between them, the torture had begun and now it is time for her to move. She could sense three men in the room with him, no close to him the others standing to the side. The force telling her no one was approaching to join them. Her hand waved over the door, it is unlocked and with a push the door flew open. She entered quickly before they had time to react, their faces showing confusion for the moment, as seemly nothing was there.

She would not kill them, Thurion would not want her to murder for him although she had this emotion running through her body. A force push dispatched one of the men, as she 'uncloaked', sending him to the wall with a bone crushing hit. Her saber ignited, the purple blade filling the blood scented room with it light and she turned to look at his torturer .. She moved slowly, prowling her eyes black as darkness itself pierced his, she sensed his spike of fear and he saw death in her eyes. He dropped the knife before fleeing out of the room, the other man did not hesitate to do the same.

"Cowards!", she whispered.

She quickly moved to Thurion and looked over his body. "My love I am here, can you hear me?". She pushed strength and energy into him through the force. Her eyes finding his inflicted wounds .. they are deep and in immediate need of medical assistance.

Padawan Det'aan I have Master Heavenshield, but he needs urgent medical assistance. The pirates are fleeing, and they will fight their way out, be prepared. Finally she contacted her Padawan.

 

[Thurion Heavenshield]

Escape Pirate Hideout
Unknown location
Song

The fight was over as quickly as it had begun, with the remaining people in the room fleeing Coci's wrath. No doubt they would be bringing reinforcements soon, but for the moment they were safe. Thurion's weary eyes found hers - the woman he loves - and managed a faint smile. "Coci... I knew you'd..." he whispered as she undid the straps holding him in place. Immediately his lips found hers, even as his entire body shivered from the pain he'd endured, his torso and face cut, bruised and mangled. He was all-but covered in his own blood and the grime from the dirty floor he'd been living on when not tortured.

With her help he got off the torturing rack, keeping an arm around her for support. It felt strange standing up on his own two feet; he'd either been dragged along the floor or held up by his captors, without any freedom of movement whatsoever. "My gear..." he spoke softly, pointing her in the direction he'd overheard where they'd taken his belongings. "It'll be under guard... more will come..." he warned her.

[member="Coci Sinopi"]

 

[Siather Det'aan]

Song

It was taking what had already seemed like forever for a reply to come from inside the pirate base, not a single one of them offered even a glimmer of hope they would surrender as they peered over the high walls of their compound down at the Gand and the Ranger Captain. Siather maintained his calm and composure as he used a special blend of talents together to attempt to get a glimpse of their intent from the sand that blew around and through the base. Though he had never achieved the status of a findsman he had been training in their techniques and with a little modification had adapted some of the skills to be used in conjunction with the skills he was learning from the Jedi. He got small glimpses of the pain and suffering of those who had come before, a power struggle long since resolved, betrayal and distrust amongst the pirates but overall a strong an united resolve not to surrender. He didn’t have the luxury of the time to properly commune with his environment so this was the best he would get.

Siather leaned closer to the Ranger Captain and whispered. “Warn your men, Gand senses they are preparing for an assault.”

The Captain offered only a small almost imperceptible nod as he spoke softly into his comm instructing his men to prepare for the action none of them wished for but were ever prepared for. The professionalism of the Antarian Rangers impressed the Gand, he was glad they were along for this mission. Turning his attention to the top of the hall wall Siather watched as the pirates simply waited on someone higher in their chain of command to act upon the offer they were obviously going to decline. They thought themselves the masters of this place and no doubt they had earned that ego from their past exploits, they were either smart enough or good enough to stay one step ahead of the no doubt underfunded but well intentioned officials that tried to keep them in check, if they were facing those officials they may even stand a chance but they weren’t so they certainly did not.

Sensing the message from his master Siather was about to respond when the first shot rang out from high upon the wall. His lightsaber was in his hand and on fast enough to catch the first blast and send it ricocheting back towards the wall imprecisely, they had their reply. More pirates opened fire as he and the Captain fell back towards the advancing Ranger lines, they were going to have to do this the hard way. The rest of the Rangers started responding as they came over the dune pouring what was mostly ineffective fire up onto the wall to suppress the enemy and keep them from organizing.

“Have your men storm the wall, we need to blow an exit into the relative safety of our lines for our people inside, not to mention we need to apply more pressure if we hope to break the spirit of these pirates that is our only hope for resolving this conflict with a minimum of enemy casualties. We need to ensure they are given the chance to stand trial so the people of this world can have proper closure on the crimes that have been committed against them.” Siather instructed.

As if they had heard him directly some of the Rangers were already closing in on the wall with explosive charges. The pirates did the best to keep them back but with other Rangers keeping a heavy flow of fire on them they were not getting much of a chance to respond those shots that were coming in response were sporadic at best and those concentrated around the Gand were reflected off his lightsaber harmlessly away. The charges were set in record time as the rest of the Rangers pressed up against the wall stacking up for entry, all of them prepared for what was going to likely be a tough fight.

“Captain, Gand will lead the direct assault, if you would be so kind to establish a perimeter around the compound to keep the pirates from escaping.” Siather instructed as he heard the charges explode blowing a large hole in the side of the wall giving them their entrance point. He felt small pieces of rubble bouncing off his exoskeleton and as the dust settled he sprinted into the hole on top of the first of the pirates before they even had a chance to react. Pirates and Rangers alike started to trade fire the Rangers firing to disable and disarm their opponents the pirates not being so kind.

[member="Coci Sinopi"] [member="Thurion Heavenshield"]

 

[Darth Odium]

<<It looks like I made a monster.>> odium said to the sithspawn, <<Isn't that just lovely.>>

He stepped out from behind a statue and pocketed a crystal and then dabbed at his mouth with a sleeve.

<<the lives are delightful thank you.>>

 

[Mornhun of House Marr]

[member="Darth Odium"]

He turned quickly. His black hair flying to the side as he fixed the true monster with an eyeless gaze.

"You..." he hissed, "I will end you today."

The bloody black blade came up slowly and was gripped by black clad hands as he stared at the Sith Lord.

"You took everything from me."

 

[Darth Odium]

[member="Mornhun"]

Odium threw his head back in a mocking laugh as he looked at the thing he had made.

<<In my defense>> he sent, <<You didn't have much worth taking.>>

He drew his lightsaber staff and ignited the top blade.

<<Come and learn your place.>>

 

[Mornhun of House Marr]

[member="Darth Odium"]

"I had hope!" the thing boomed as he stabbed forward. "I could have gotten free!"

He moved like lightning. Like a striking viper he retracted the stab and turned his body full circle in a mid height slash.

 

[Darth Odium]

<<Hope!?>> he yelled before sending a long mental laughter.

He moved to parry the lunge but met only air as it was retracted. He moved quickly bringing his rear blade alive and moving it to block the swordsman's blade.

<<You were such a good template.>> he told the spawn, <<if only the process had continued.>>

 

[Mornhun of House Marr]

The blades clashed again sensing sparks around the room as the living began to flee. Slashes and parries sent the resounding sound of lightsaber hum against alchemical durasteel. He kept the sith in front of him. The saberstaff technique was excellent and the form textbook.

Mornhun, tapped the left side down and quickly slashed for the nautolan's head.