The Book of Habat (Prazutis)

[Ashin Varanin]

OUTSKIRTS OF NEW HABAT
VARUNDA IX

Varundana cities mingled elegant two- and three-story structures with trees, vines, flowers and fauna, a gradual progression from urban centre to deep jungle. Anywhere in New Habat, a bustling but carefully planned metropolis, you could climb a tree and pick fruit in season.

That was a lot of wood to burn, and even though the so-called New Sith Empire had withdrawn, smoke hung thick in the air. Ajira wore a suit of anonymous, generic Mandalorian armour -- she wasn't here as herself -- and the seals kept the smoke from her lungs and eyes. Otherwise she'd have been crying, and she likely wouldn't have been able to stop.

She'd defended this planet once, and the rest of the Jade Worlds. She'd been a lieutenant commander in their sector navy, helped train their Forcewielders in combat -- she'd married Spencer here, going on a long time ago. Insofar as she had the right to call any world home, Varunda IX was right up there with New Cov, Naboo, Korriban, and Trevel'ka. It still held a piece of her heart.

She stopped in front of a low stone building, overlooked by the Sith attackers. She'd come here to collect security camera footage and identify the perpetrators, and she'd already beamed that information offworld. But this unassuming stone house held something of more worth than just revenge. The Force was strong here, though she had no doubt the Ithorian Priests had kept its presence silent during the attack. Now the Priests were exhausted, the protection fading, and she could feel that the House of the Outside Path -- a subtle oxymoron, unamusing to anyone but an Ithorian -- still held its treasure.

The Book of Habat. The ancient Ithorian art that countered Force-severing.

Slowly, pondering, she headed for the door.

[member="Darth Prazutis"]

 

[Darth Prazutis]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKzrzJxc8Jo[/media]​

Outskirts of New Habat...

The carefully placed cities of Varunda were articulate things among deep jungles, nature beautifully on display for all to see. But no today for the cloud of the dark side descended hungrily on the carnage that unfolded in the recent past. Two sides collided together in a brutal war for dominance slaughtering one another with reckless abandon, eagerly feeding the helpless souls of the slain to the abyss of the Netherworld. The New Sith Empire pulled out, the battle might have been over but the harm it caused was certainly still raging, especially with all the wood left to burn. Powerful fires raged everywhere illuminating the landscape in an orange hue, the once bright skies choked by clouds of thick black smoke billowing ever upward. The nauseating smoke was everywhere on every street corner in major cities, and even spilling into the outskirts of New Habat, as if a dam had broken letting loose the flood.

Prazutis wore his own set of dark armor equipped with a concealed retractable blade in his left wrist, except his helmet was modified to have the appearance of a black skull, and the gauntlets were modified so it was combined it with his cortosis gauntlets. The armor was sealed and the helmets state-of-the-art oxygen filtration system kept smoke from billowing into his face, purifying it and bringing cleaner air in fresh to breath. The helmets advanced HUD was activated and Prazutis took the time to upload all of the latest and most up to date maps and layouts of the area he stood in. He was no fool and especially trying to acquire an artifact, he would be prepared for any encounter.

The Dark Titan wasn't exactly moving very stealthily, he wore a ring on his hand one that generated a powerful aura of uneasiness around his person, and heavily secured, hidden and out of sight on his person was Valthris. While the force crystals powerful radiation of dark side energy essentially ensured that those with the force would be able to feel his presence. Prazutis carried items steeped in the dark side, he alone was powerful in the dark, and it pumped through his veins due to the empowerment of @Soeht. There was no need for him to hide especially now anyone getting in his way would meet his fury, the careful teachings of [member="Darth Vornskr"] the Black-Iron Tyrant driven into his psyche he certainly would not hide.

Prazutis came to this planet for one thing and one thing only: The Book of Habat. The force in the area was powerful, almost pulsing with energy. The priests who lived at the House of the Outside Path skillfully kept the force aura hidden during battle but it had gone on far longer than they had anticipated. They were tired, worn, beaten from the taxing power they had to constantly maintain and now the energies billowed out freely. Prazutis moved towards the building quickly as he was only a few houses down, but he suddenly felt a powerful life essence nearby, gifted with the Anzati traits allowed him to sense what no being could hide and that was their own life essence. It was far different from using the force to detect another force user. He switched on thermal vision and immediately the smoke disappeared from view, the figure ahead was now visible he could see their bodyheat through his optics. However if his opponents tried the same thing on him they would find that he would have no pulse, and no bodyheat, and therefore did not show up on thermal sensor imaging. He slid the hilts of both his lightsabers into his hands and began to approach.

[member="Ajira Cardei"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Darth Prazutis"]

The Force, by and large, didn't work like radar, at least not when it came to becoming aware of another's presence. So while she felt the aura of a Dark Master of one kind or another, directionality wasn't a thing. Her helmet sensors provided contradictory insight: motion detected, but nothing on infrared.

Ajira paused in the open gate, at the base of the sacred building's steps, and gestured peremptorily in a way she'd first learned not far from here. The smoke cleared between them, revealing the familiar armour of a Blackblade Guardsman. But she knew Kaine Zambrano's Force presence intimately, and this was not Darth Vornskr.

She found that ideal. Though she fully intended to meet him again, it would be on her terms. Until then, she had no desire for him to know she was alive again after her death at Lujo. Her Force presence was protected from recognition, but such protections could wear away in battle.

So: a Sith Lord, probably one of Kaine's uncountable spawn. That meant Epicanthix, not that Ajira relied on mental attacks much anyway.

"New Sith Empire, One Sith, or both?" she said.