Private That Doesn't Belong To You

[Darth Strosius]

Thule was many things. War-torn and old being chief among them, but mostly importantly Thule had been a home to Sith both ancient and recent. Having been one of the noteworthy worlds of the Sith Empire, it only made sense for Thule to have been used as a storage and archive for various Sith treasures and artifacts. Most had been moved offworld or claimed amidst the war, but many still lay hidden.

Too many to recover in their entirety. But that would not stop Alisteri from trying.

With the advance of the Ashlan Crusade and the Empire into old Sith-Imperial territory, valuable worlds and artifact were being lost and defiled by the day. He couldn't stop such a process of course, but he could try to minimize the damage and reclaim what little could be saved. That was why he had been dispatched to Thule once more after so long.

Holocrons were not in short supply on the Sith worlds but many had been put into safe places and hidden storehouses both in recent and ancient times. One such holocron was his target for today, one that his master had commanded him to retrieve and secure before it fell into whatever hands may claim it first. The Sith Knight brought his shuttle low over the surface of the planet and flew towards the supposed location of the holocron.

Retrieving data from archives had been easy, it being accurate was the hard part. His gaze searched the planet's surface out from his cockpit as he took in the sight of Thule after so long away. Thankfully, before he could reminisce too much, he spotted his target. A seemingly unassuming hill in the middle of one of the planet's many canyons. To most it was merely another part of the landscape, but Alisteri knew better.

His shuttle descended and soon the obelisk that stood atop the hill came into view, ominous and exuding a foreboding presence to any who neared it. He landed at the base of the hill and stepped out, making his way up to the monolithic structure. "Let's see what you have to offer..."

With an exhale he pressed his hand against the smooth surface and felt the runes that adorned it as he focused his mind and probed the obelisk with his will. After a moment it responded, the runes briefly lighting up with an unnatural pale glow. As the glow faded the surface of the hill shifted, splitting apart to reveal a dark staircase leading into the hidden holocron's resting place. Nothing too out of the ordinary given other such repositories and archives.

Xeno

 

[Xeno]

Thule
Tags: Darth Strosius ​

Thule. It was a planet with a complex history. Most were, but not all could claim the Sith legacy the planet had hosted over the long history of the Galaxy. It was dark. Simply being in the presence of the ruins of a Sith age long since past sent chills down Xeno’s spine. It reminded him of his youth, the time he spent under the thumb of the dark side. Now he sought to pluck that thumb from its roots.

The swordsman had caught wind of a holocron with particularly dangerous information stored within, sealed away in an ancient vault. Only a user of the dark side could enter, opening the door with their rage. Xeno, however, was not an ordinary individual. He didn’t need rage, not anymore. The half-Nagai already had the tools he needed to enter.

It had taken weeks of studying for Xeno to pinpoint the location of the artifact within the structure. He needed to find the perfect place to Phase through as to not lead to his untimely demise. No Sith ruin was ever free of danger. Now standing above the artifact, Xeno let himself fall through to the room at the structure’s heart, landing at the foot of the pedestal. The Holocron was there, drifting ominously above the alter.

“Alright,” Xeno muttered to himself. “Let’s find you a new home.”

 

[Darth Strosius]

Making his way down into the hidden ruin was relatively simple given his experience with other Sith temples and ruins over the years. Move forward without hesitation, mind the traps, keep an eye out for surprises, all easy to remember in order to survive. Thankfully this one in particular was not as grand or expansive as some of its peers were, so the obstacles were nothing fancy.

Aside from a pit trap and some careful stepping around and over what appeared to be trapped pressure pads, the journey through the ruin was surprisingly calm. Too calm and far too easy. Regardless the Sith soon found himself standing at the final door between himself and the holocron, a large set of stone doors to be exact.

With a sigh he cracked his knuckles before slamming himself against the heavy doors to make them budge. They shuddered under the sudden force and were soon slowly cracked open as he pushed against them. After this all he had to do was pluck the holocron from its resting place and then he could be on his way just as quickly as he had arrived.

Xeno

 

[Xeno]

Thule
Tags: Darth Strosius ​

As Xeno stood, he took a minute to take in the rest of the structure. It was standard for a Sith temple all things considered, complete with the red glow of inscriptions lining the walls and a pit into complete darkness surrounding the Holocron’s resting place. The swordsman was, unfortunately, very familiar with ruins such as these, but not by choice. His old master had abused the half-Nagai’s unique ability to hoard ancient knowledge from across the galaxy. He had raided structures such as these in a similar manner to what he was doing now, only then it was to keep himself alive. Things weren’t the same.

As Xeno picked up the Holocron, a cold chill ran down his spine. The databank was forged by rage, filled with knowledge intended to spread fear and suffering. He didn’t know what the relic held within. The swordsman dared not open it, lest he be tempted back into the fold of the darkness. It had taken everything to break even and free himself from its grasp. Xeno didn’t need that again.

There was a crack in the distance. The half-Nagai whipped around to see the massive door into the chamber begin to be pried apart. The darkness of the ruin had masked the presence of any individuals who might prove to be a threat, but Xeno could sense them now.

“It can’t ever be easy,” he sighed.

Xeno tucked the artifact into his pocket and stood ready, hand placed on the hilt of his blade. Things were about to escalate.

 

[Darth Strosius]

With one final push the doors gave way and were shoved open wide enough for the Sith enter the final chamber of the temple. He strode forward but soon stopped dead in his tracks as he was greeted by a sight that he did not expect. Rather than an awaiting holocron, there was another figure and an empty pedestal. "Oh these things can never be simple."

Alisteri muttered a curse under his breath as his lightsaber flew from his belt to his right hand and ignited, standing out amidst the dim lighting. "You, trespasser." The Knight pointed a finger at the only other living being within the temple.

"You have one chance to give me what you've stolen and walk out of here alive. Or you can die with your pride intact, make your choice." While he admittedly had no qualms about cutting down random treasure hunters just to reclaim rightful Sith property, this particular thief had somehow found a way inside that he hadn't. To his knowledge the only entrance and path to the holocron was the one had the had taken but that clearly wasn't the case.

That meant that there was possibly another entrance or exit that could be used to slip by him if he wasn't careful. Simply going in lightsaber at the ready may only lead to an escape attempt that he couldn't block or follow after easily. So a little ultimatum would do just fine.

For now.

Xeno

 

[Xeno]

Thule
Tags: Darth Strosius ​

"You have one chance to give me what you've stolen and walk out of here alive. Or you can die with your pride intact, make your choice."

This was a surprising response. Sith weren’t really talkers, at least as Xeno had known them to be. Not that it mattered, anyways. Even if he took the Sith’s offer, he would likely just be stabbed in the back. Of course, Xeno would rather die before taking such an offer, but he couldn’t help but imagine the hypothetical.

“Save me the lip service,” Xeno retorted, his composure remaining firm. “I wouldn’t be here if I was afraid of death. And frankly…” he paused to shrug before continuing, “…I don’t believe I’ve stolen anything. This ruin didn’t have a name on it. I doubt the previous tenants wrote up a will. They probably thought they were going to live forever…”

Such a foolish though, that of the Sith. One could not deny death forever. It was impossible. Even the strongest fell eventually, yet they always seemed to struggle against the clock in vain. Some would get a little bit more out of their lives, but the end result was always the same: A violent death in pain and agony.

Xeno stood ready, but did not draw his sword. Not yet. He wanted his opponent to make the first move. If the Sith was aware that the duelist was wielding cortosis, the dynamic would change entirely. He needed the lightsaber out of the equation as soon as possible.

“Well, if you want this blasted thing so bad,” Xeno continued, remaining in the Sith’s path, “You’ll have to pry it off my corpse.”

 

[Darth Strosius]

Unsurprisingly his generous offer was declined and thrown right back in his face. Of course he hadn't actually expected it to be that easy, but one could always hope. Perhaps there was a concern of betrayal, an understandable one admittedly. Perhaps the treasure hunter was confident that he could escape or otherwise disable the Sith before any damage could be done.

The reason mattered little, conflict was inevitable either way.

"Fine then, we'll do this the hard way." Alisteri spoke with a shrug and a sigh as he idly twirled the hilt of his weapon between his fingers. A brief thought of simply using the Force to choke or scorch the interloper with lightning passed through his mind but he dismissed it. No point in expending himself for nothing after all. He doubted this would be too much of a chore in the end. "But don't say that you didn't choose this."

The Sith slid into his usual combat pose and flexed the fingers of his free hand for a moment as he waited. His gaze ran over his opponent for a few moments as if to measure the challenge he would offer.

Seemingly he was satisfied by what he could gather, as he didn't take long to move. The masked man sprung forward and sprinted up to meet the other figure, moving surprisingly fast. He wrapped both hands around his lightsaber and went in for a swing right at his opponent's center in an attempt to just cleave the interloper in two.

Xeno

 

[Xeno]

Thule
Tags: Darth Strosius ​

"Fine then, we'll do this the hard way."

Xeno didn't flinch. He simply stood his ground, replying; "Fine by me."

The Sith was quick to make his first move, swinging his lightsaber to slice right through Xeno's torso. It was basic, but for one who thought they were dealing with a common thief the maneuver was satisfactory enough. Unfortunately, Xeno was no treasure hunter. He was a swordsman. The half-Nagai drew his blade with force-enhanced speed, moving his cortosis-woven sword effortlessly through his opponent's lightsaber. The Sith's red blade sputtered out, but the momentum of the swing did not. Xeno leapt to the side, allowing the Sith to stumble forward while he began to run towards the exit. Now that his cards were on the table, Xeno would be at a disadvantage if any further entanglement were to occur. It was within his best interests to lose the darksider as soon as he could.

"I'll take my chances," he muttered as he ran towards the exit.

 

[Darth Strosius]

There were a few things that Alisteri had expected his opponent to do in order to survive his first strike. Draw a weapon of some sort, dodge out of the way, brace and let some armor try to take the hit, things of that nature. And to an extent he had been right. Except that when his blade clashed with that of the interloper's his own sputtered out of life rather than clashing or cleaving through the one it went against.

His charge skidded to a halt as he furiously shook his lightsaber in an attempt to get it working again, allowing the swordsmen time to but some distance between them. He had only seen his lightsaber short out in a manner like that once before. Just like the last time it enraged him to no end.

The Sith would not allow the treasure hunter to go on unopposed for long, soon leaping from the pedestal in order to try and regain some measure of closeness with his opponent. "Neat trick! I think I'll take it off of you along with the holocron." Lightning crackled in his fingertips and he loosed a bolt of Force Lighting right ahead of the running swordsman in an attempt to slow him down or outright hit him.

Xeno

 

[Xeno]

Thule
Tags: Darth Strosius ​

"Neat trick! I think I'll take it off of you along with the holocron."

Still so cocky. Xeno understood why. Sith had a bad tendency of developing strong egos, and it was very easy for said egos to go unchecked. Realistically, who would be insane enough to lecture a Sith besides a Jedi of some kind? The Sith must still assume that he's working with a common criminal, Xeno deduced. This was good. What was less good was the incoming bolt of lighting that the man had sent his way. Xeno weaved out of the way of the bolt, keeping his momentum. Still, the Sith was catching up to him, slowly but surely. He needed something to slow the man down.

As Xeno ran down the corridor that his enemy had used to enter the temple, he noticed an un-level tile in the floor ahead. It was a pressure plate. Realistically, triggering such a trap would be stupendously idiotic, but the swordsman didn't have many other options, and he was pretty confident in his ability to keep himself alive.

"That'll work," he said to himself.

Xeno made it appear like he was leaping over the pressure plate, only for his heel to hit the trigger at the last minute. Hopefully, whatever this thing did would slow the Sith down, or stop his advance outright.

 

[Darth Strosius]

Despite his efforts, the Sith seemed to still be a good few paces behind the thief as the chase moved out into the temple's passageways. In his mind it was all just delaying the inevitable anyway. A little chase to properly earn the holocron was all that this was. Alisteri sprinted down the corridor after the swordsman, lightning dancing between his fingertips again as he prepared to loose another bolt. And then his opponent stepped on a pressure plate right before he had the chance to aim his arm.

Suddenly small yet deadly metal spikes shot out of the walls all across the corridor. The Sith barely managed to stop himself in time, a spike shooting out right in front of him and nearly taking off his head with the sheer speed of the trap. "That little!" A maze of spikes now separated the two treasure hunters from both eachother and from the rest of the temple.

He wasn't content to wait out the trap or navigate the maze. Without hesitation he raised his lightsaber and sliced the first spike clean in half with the red blade, soon continuing on and gradually carving himself a path through. He had to move quickly, his opponent was far closer to the end of the trap than he was.

Xeno