Strike Back

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

Vrak worked as quickly as he could.

A lightsaber could cut through almost anything, but the problem was with the thickness of the material. Blast doors, like the one in front of them, were made with an alloy of durasteel and half a dozen other elements, they were also almost half a meter thick. That alone made carving through them intensely difficult, and doing it actually required one to let their blade stay within the metal for longer. he grit his teeth as he slowly began to carve an entrance-way, slicing through the metal with as much force as he could muster.

He glanced back for a moment, watching Seraphina fight two of the still cloaked assassins. His jaw tightened slightly, and then the pressure of his palm increased. The lightsaber cut a bit faster, and eventually the two halves of the circle connected. There was a sudden jolt, and then a press of the force as Vrak pushed the metal inside.

The instant he created the entryway within the door Vrak turned, pulling his lightsaber free and igniting the other end. He swept the blades towards the assassin on Seraphina's left, catching the man off guard and slicing through his leg. A scream echoed in the hall, though surprisingly the man was not yet done. A hand, still half cloaked in that odd field erupted forward, a spark running along his fingertips that burst forward and jumped onto Vrak.

The Pureblood half stumbled, his jaw setting as electricity ravaged through him.

His grip tightened, and the end of his saber-staff went plunging into the downed assassins chest, stopping the crackle of force lightning.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The loud thump of the heavy chunk of durasteel falling to the floor let Sera know that the door had been breached. No sooner did the door fall in was Vrak there to finally even the numbers. With their combined strength Vrak was able to overwhelm the one to her left, though she quickly jumped off to the side when she heard the crackle of electricity, fearful that she might be the target of the man's wrath.

With both blades in hand and able to focus solely on the one assassin the act of overwhelming the apprentice was of little burden. One sailed high and the other plunged forward. There was nowhere for him to maneuver and no way to entirely dodge or parry the blows. The man's weapon rose high, catching her horizontal cut mid-way through, though his chest caught her forward blade in his stomach.

A loud hiss pierced the air before he fell back.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

Smoke wisped from his body, small trails that filled the air with a scent of burnt flesh and cloth. His fingers tightened a bit around his lightsaber, his teeth grit together, and his eyes closed for just a moment as he attempted to press some of the pain away. A heavy breath left him.

"Shut down the console." He told her as they stepped into the room. "I'm going to check old communications."

He doubted that there was something of significance, but they were here to dismantle Berilins cadre of Assassins and figure out wherever else anyone he trusted was hiding. Vrak already knew that the man himself was back on Telos, but if he had agents on Athiss, Ziost, or any of the other Empire's newly acquired worlds then he wanted to know. Quickly Vrak began to flick through the terminal, scrounging through the message and briefly glancing at each of them.

Vrak frowned slightly as he read one mission in particular. "He's working with Aril."

Another one of the Councilors, one that Vrak knew had always hated him.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The woman stepped over to the terminal, looking at the screen for several moments before pink fingers set atop the keys and began to lightly tap. A number of safe guards displayed, requesting confirmation or override, most of which she simply forced through. Finally the terminal began the shutdown procedure, a single minute displaying on the screen before she backed away and turned to Vrak.

"One minute." She said, wandering over next to him. "Whose Aril?" The woman asked, looking at the communication Vrak was reading.

The woman reverted her vision back to her eyes, looking the Sith over as he observed the screen. "Are you okay?" Referring to the electrical burns he had incurred. The robes he wore were a bit frayed and tattered, skin beneath a bit burned from the attack.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"He's the Councilor of Education." The man was exceptionally powerful, both personally and in the influence he held on Athiss. Nearly every Pureblood who had been raised within the last two centuries had learned from Aril in one way or another, and his skill as a Sith Sorcerer were unmatched throughout the entire galaxy. Or that was what he thought anyway. Vrak frowned for a moment as he glanced at Seraphina, seeing the odd concern in her eyes.

"I'll be fine." His fingers brushed lightly against her cheek in reassurance. "Aril has always despised me."

There were a multitude of reasons for that, though the greatest was simply that Vrak was something of a failure to the old man. He was powerful in the force, stronger than most other Sith Purebloods, but Sorcery had been denied to him. Whether some cruel twist of fate or a simple mental block Vrak was unable to utilize Sith Sorcery. It was that inability that spurned Aril's hatred, the other Pureblood considering Vrak to be a complete and utter failure.

"I'm not surprised he's helping Berilin." Unlike with the Councilor of War however, they couldn't easily kill Aril.

"We'll use this Alliance to distract them." He told her. "Draw Berilin's forces away from Telos."

Make it easier for them to strike.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The Twi'lek could sense a light thumping coming from the hallway outside, as if it were drawing nearer, though the sensation came from not her ears, as she typically expected, but the rings attached to the twin head tails behind her. Slowly they curled, the sound shifting until she finally understood what exactly it was that she was sensing.

Before the assassin had even a moment to answer Vrak her hand reached for the lightsaber by her hip, activating the blade in one quick motion as she thrust the blade forward towards the opening in the door the Pureblood had made earlier. The weapon hummed violently through the air in a rotational pattern until just as the robed figure of the last assassin turned inside, the plasma blade plunged itself deep into his chest. A single breath was all that came before the body fell forward, crashing to the floor.

With a scoff Sera turned her attention back to Vrak for the time being. "I see."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He gave an amused chuckle.

The odds weren't with these apprentices. They were ill-trained to begin with and were now facing two Sith Lords. Worse than that though they used little to no actual strategy, thinking that their cloaking devices would protect them enough. They came trickling in one by one and died. Perhaps if they all came together they would have a chance, but slowly they were dropping in number. The Pureblood glanced back at the Terminal for a moment, then drew away.

"There are eighteen of them total. Including the instructors." Those would be more difficult than the apprentices, though they had yet to make an appearance. There was also one only apprentice left with a cloaking device, that would make it easier for him and Sera.

"Lets finish this." He told her. "We need to return to Athiss to prepare my distraction."

Then they would come for Berilin.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Stepping over to the body and kneeling down, Sera rolled the Sith over part way to retrieve her hilt before releasing the lifeless man. A nod was given to Vrak as the two stepped back out through the hole in the durasteel door and into the hallway. Vrak lead the way for the most part, able to distinguish the Sith markings and more easily navigate through the building.

It wasn't until they got to the rather large training room that they found the majority of students, with teachers, together. Many wielded lightsabers, others held training pikes or Sith swords of various quality. It seemed that those they had encountered earlier were simply the most eager to engage Sera and Vrak, while the others decided that a group defense was the better approach.

Clearly they weren't wrong. There, in the doorway, stood Vrak and Seraphina.

The assassin's fingertips slid over both lightsabers, sparking them to life in a vibrant display of anticipated bloodshed.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

His hand slipped along the hilt of his lightsaber, the cylinder falling slightly until he loosely held the end of it. The blades snapped into life, a small smile creeping onto his face as he watched one of the apprentices slowly back up. Another students hand pressed against the boys shoulder, holding him steady. The Pureblood stood tall for a moment, then spoke.

"You know who I am." There was a slight echo to his voice, his words booming through the training hall. Two of the instructors seemed to tense slightly, as if his words came crashing down on them as hard as a landslide. "Lay down your weapons."

He took a single step forward.

"Join me, and you will receive proper instruction." Several of the apprentices glanced at each other, the instructors held firm, but the students wavered at his words. For a moment Vrak did nothing, he simply lingered, waited, and then one of them lowered his blade.

The instant Vrak saw it he burst forward. His Saber-staff flicked forward in that moment, catching the wayward apprentice by surprise as he sliced into his torso. The ranks of the apprentices instantly broke, their carefully planned defenses torn asunder by one simple trick.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

One by one they would fall to either Vrak or Seraphina, cut down by lack of training or over ambition. Like defenseless children really, though their mentors and trainers did their best to stave away the bloodshed of the students there was simply no denying their fate. When all was said and done, the lifeless bodies of all but one master and one apprentice remained. The cowering one tucked behind the mentor like a frightened newborn.

The Twi'lek silenced her twin blades, cracking her neck as she watched the other man shift his posture back and forth between she and Vrak, anticipating an attack from either one. It seemed he knew their fate already, but would not go quietly into death. Sera was more than confident that Vrak could handle the both of them with little trouble, and so she simply hung back and observed.

After all, this was his desire.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

Vrak smiled, watching the two.

"Shall I offer you the same?" He mused to them. "Peace? Or just a simple and quick death?"

Vrak had never really been one for torture, but these two didn't know that. The deaths he handed out were usually fast anyway, but he wanted to revel in his victory. He wanted to stand in front of these two and let them know that they were less than nothing. His saber-staff filled the room with that loud thrumming noise, buzzing over and over again as he began to circle the two like a hawk over its prey. They watched him carefully, eyeing him.

"No." His hand stuck out.

The man in front immediately raised his lightsaber to block what he thought was lightning, but such was not Vrak's intent. Instead he yanked his palm back, closing his first and tearing the man from his feet. In an instant he flipped back, falling to his back.

The moment he did Vrak dashed forward.

His saber-staff swung low, the bottom blade instantly slicing through the fall man and the top cutting through the boy behind him. It happened instantly, the two bodies going limp within just a second. Vrak stood tall, smiling as he glanced at Sera.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"Wretched amateurs." She commented as Vrak silenced his lightsaber. The roll of her shoulders indicating her disinterest in them. The woman's nose flared, as if repulsed by the scent of potent death lingering in the air around the two of them. Turning back towards the corridor, entirely content on leaving the bodies right where they were, Sera made for the exit. If Vrak wanted to loot the corpses that was his prerogative. The faster this business was concluded the better, in her point of view.

"I had imagined that the man responsible for overseeing your people's navy would also employ a few better Force masters. Instead this trash is all he gives?"

If Berilin didn't have an army surrounding his compound before Sera reached Tellos, he would be in serious danger.

"Did they get a message out to Berilin do you know?"

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Perhaps." Vrak said as he followed her.

The Pureblood wasn't a corpse robber, so he wasn't about to go digging around a bunch of dead bodies. If he seemed concerned about Berilin possibly knowing he didn't make a show of it, instead catching up to Seraphina so that he could walk besides her. From his pocket he pulled a small communicator, calling the pilot of their shuttle so they wouldn't have to venture out onto the surface of Korriz again.

"Most of the powerful ones who serve him have their own agenda." He explained to her. "Or they're off leading the armies."

The Empire was stretching it's muscles for the first time in centuries after all. "Some are likely on Telos as well."

Hence why they would need to be drawn away.

"We'll need to pull them towards Korriban." He said simply as they entered the shielded courtyard.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"And what is your plan for drawing them to Korriban?" She asked, green eyes passing a glance to her left towards Vrak. "The promise of something nonexistent?"

So long as the majority of the trained killers were not present on Telos when they arrived the matter should be trivial. The problem came when there were one too many lingering about. The Twi'lek was hardly an incapable fighter, quite the opposite in fact, but defeating a small army of trained Force masters, particularly those trained in Sith ways, such as Sorcery, were problematic. Sera was no Sith Sorcerer, she was a telepath and a blade dancer. Alchemy and all that fancy ancient stuff was far over her lekku.

"If they got a message to Berilin I wouldn't count on a diversion working. He'll be on to whatever it is you are thinking of doing."

Eliminating figureheads of governments was nothing new for her, but potentially shifting the entire balance of a people on the rise of their own empire? That was unique.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He smiled in amusement as the two of them wandered across the courtyard. "A Kaggath."

Vrak said the word just as their shuttle appeared on the horizon, his gaze following the vessel for a few moments as it landed right before the now shut-down automated turrets outside of the shield. The Pureblood lingered for a moment, knowing that Seraphina would have questions.

"Whomever declares the Kaggath gets to choose the battleground." He told her. "Berilin would have chosen Athiss on the pretext of it being our ancient homeworld, though of course it would have been a flimsy excuse to destroy my holdings."

That would have been unfortunate. "I'll declare the battleground as being the Empire itself."

It would give him more ground to work with.

"I'll send my fleets to Korriban." Vrak had nothing matching Berilin, but he did have some forces himself. "Aril will demand that Berilin protects such sacred grounds, drawing his fleet from Telos."

Which was the only opening he and Seraphina needed.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

There he went again, another plan equally as confusing as the language used to describe it.

Vrak didn't want a Kaggath, unless it was his Kaggath to use as a diversion. "But wont your people all die when their fleet reaches Korriban?"

Not that she cared especially about their lives, but they were his loyal fleet. Losing them would mean he had an even smaller pool of resources to work with in that regard.

Berilin was unlikely to be the last adversary, or even the last one with a sizable force.

"That will leave you open to others, won't it?"

As the two made it to the shuttle waiting for them the woman waited for Vrak to step up first, turning back to ensure they weren't followed by any stragglers before stepping aboard as well.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He stepped up onto the ramp, half turning as he watched Seraphina expectantly. It was a mark between the two of them that she looked back to watch for stragglers while Vrak hadn't even had the thought. Perhaps she was simply more thorough than him, or perhaps power had made him more careless than he would like to admit. Stifling the thought Vrak simply answered her question.

"No." The Pureblood would hardly expect her to understand. Seraphina wasn't really indoctrinated in Sith Traditions as he was. She hadn't grown up on Athiss and she wasn't a Pureblood. Theirlaws and how they conducted their business were known to precious few. Even those Sith that claimed to hold to the ancient ways didn't even know the half of what his people did. It was part of the reason why Vrak despised them so.

They followed traditions they didn't understand.

"During a Kaggath no one may interfere." He explained. "And after, once you and I kill Berilin on Telos, his holdings will become mine."

He smiled. "The losses I incur on Korriban will be nothing compared to what I'll gain."

It was callous, perhaps even evil. He was throwing away thousands of lives like they were nothing, but in the end it would gain him everything.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

No-one may interfere? But yet you may utilize assassins such as myself and all other resources including fleets of men and women?

These customs make no sense.

The Twi'lek shrugged. She was tired of trying to decipher these ridiculous Sith practices. There was no rhyme or reason to almost anything they did, short of padding their own ego or pride, or flaunting their strength.

"And what will you do with this newfound military power? Advance on the Silver Jedi like you promised to that Mandalorian?"

That was a rather poignant term of their deal back aboard The Tyrant. She wondered just how he planned on going about that little promise.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

As they moved back onto the ship Vrak nodded.

"I will move on Dromund Kaas." It was something that he had greatly desired for more than half of his life. Vrak of course didn't particularly care about the promise he'd made to the Mand'alor. He wanted the man to be loyal, a bulwark against his enemies, but The Pureblood wasn't overly concerned with keeping his promise. Attacking the Silver Jedi had simply been a part of the bargain he already planned to fulfill in the first place.

It had been an easy thing to accept.

"That world above many others is precious." He said as he slowly guided her back to the bedroom, his words a lower whisper. He became almost secretive as they moved, not speaking until they were once again sealed in privacy. "One of the Kissai and I discovered Vitiate's Library there."

He had no idea if Seraphina even knew who Vitiate was, never-mind what he meant to Vrak.

She knew he craved power and had a larger plan, and they had talked of the Sith Emperor before, but never in great detail.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"I see." She said as the door closed behind them once again, returning to the familiar place Vrak liked to take her after his victories, be they large or small. The assassin pulled free the rebreather, setting it down beside a small table within the room before turning back to the Sith. "And what, exactly, did you hope to find within this library that others would not have already looted by the eons since passed?"

Surely others had made similar discoveries in the past.

"Some great weapon to use against your enemies? Knowledge of ancient Force techniques? The key to life itself? Immortality?"

The woman rattled off a series of musing as she slowly stepped closer and closer to Vrak, her hands gently placed on his chest as she lifted up on the tips of pink toes to lightly kiss his cheek. Her head turned, ever so slightly, and whispered into his ear.

"Power?"

[member="Vrak Nashar"]