The Monster Under The Bed

[Anastasia Rade]

Tera Lush

A light sigh escaped Anastasia's lips as she looked over the grassy tundra to the mountains that lie ahead. They were her destination as Ana had put the notion of climbing them in her mind. She had gone up such things before but with a lift. This time she was going to do it on her own accord.

Ana had done her research and had packed well for this trip. She may still be native when it came to much of the galaxy but she wasn't stupid. The young woman did her research before on any trip especially alone. This planet seemed relatively safe which was why she had chosen it and as an added bonus she had never been here before.

Pulling a bottle of water out from her satchel she took a sip before placing it back and continuing her trek across the grass. She wasn't far now from the base of the mountain.

It was peaceful and relaxing out here and her guard was somewhat lax. There were no shadows to lurk around in so if someone or something was coming she would see them. Azrael had taught her well, she knew how to protect herself and she had a few other things up her sleeve.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

((Sorry for my tardiness! I was preoccupied for the last few days with some family shizzle, but now I have returned!))

The New Empire was beginning to expand at a rapid rate, with more and more nearby star systems either flocking to the Imperial cause or being forced into compliance by the seemingly endless legions of faceless soldiers ready to live and die at the behest of the Imperial vision for a united galaxy. One of the driving individuals behind the Empire's war machine was the despotic Sith Lord, Darth Vornskr, Voice of the Dark Lord and Hound of the One Sith, who had personally thrown much of his own personal strength into the Empire to bolster it's already considerably growing ranks. However; he was not actively leading some charge through a breech in the walls of some Republic fortress, nor was he sitting behind a holo-table alongside his fellow brothers and sisters in the One Sith plotting out the Empire's various conflicts against the Republic. Rather he was just now touching down on the vibrant world of Tera Lush with an expeditionary team comprised of his finest trackers and hunters.

He had come to this world to determine whether this world would serve as a suitable staging ground for future incursions into the Republic-controlled areas of Chiss Space, and perhaps organize a possible raid on the Republic-controlled world of Thexoll. The shuttle that was carrying both the Sith Lord and his retinue was a standard Imperial shuttle of relative plainness that skirted across the treetops as it's scanners scoured for a suitable place to momentarily land to deploy it's cargo. Quickly enough the vessel came across a relatively clear opening in the thick rank of trees, and idled for a moment while the cargo bay hatch was opened, and several large crates were dropped down to the ground below with several heavy thuds. Following shortly behind were the soldiers and the Sith Lord Vornskr himself, and with a roar the shuttle that had brought them down to the planet rocketed away from the treeline and made it's ascent through the atmosphere and into space.

The soldiers would quickly begin to unload the contents of the cargo that had been dropped, which consisted of various prefabricated structures and defensive emplacements. It would only take a few scant hours to fully assemble a functioning base camp from which to organize expeditions into the surrounding forest to fully scout out the world and it's inhabitants. Intel gathered prior to their deployment described a race similar to the Energy Vampires occupying the planet, and thus all of his soldiers were outfitted with equipment specifically made to counter the strengths of the native inhabitants. Soon, at the break of dawn to be exact, the scouting party would begin to delve into the surrounding forest and foothills, scouring high and low to gather more information than an orbital scan could recover. Most of them, including the Sith Lord himself, would begin their trek into the nearby hills bordering the mountain ranges in the distance.

Soon his path would intertwine with one from his distant past.

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

There were times in ones life in which they just needed peace and time alone. This was one of those times for Ana. She needed to take a step back away from the hustle and bustle of her everyday life and regroup herself. Things had happened which had rocked her world. She spent weeks crying herself to sleep. The young woman didn't know what she had done wrong to make him leave. The way he did it didn't help any either. There was to never be any closer and she needed to accept that. If she were to move forward.

Ana sighed as a burst of cold wind flew past her. What bothered the young woman the most was taking up her brother's time with a boy whom never cared for her anyway. She wouldn't tell him what happened, not yet anyway. Shaking her head she continued onward to the base of the mountain.

Getting to the bottom she placed both of her hands and looked up. It was much taller than she realized which she knew sounded stupid. This however would not deter her from climbing up it. Ana was determined to get to the summit.

Before beginning her climb she looked around her to ensure she was alone. She had this feeling that she was being watched but shrugged it off until she heard rustling in the bushes and what she that to be voices. There was a part of her which thought she was hearing things but she was curious enough to head in that direction. The direction in which the Sith Lord was coming from.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The foothills bordering the mountains were not unlike the expansive foothills of Panatha, the Sith Lord's native homeworld deep in the Outer Rim systems, and he and his soldiers had no difficulty traversing them in a swift and timely manner. They did, however; encounter resistance of another sort during their travels in the form of feral Lush Vampirs that had descended upon the group near a system of caves in the lower foothills. The soldiers had expertly dispatched all of their assailants, but suffered some casualties in the initial surprise of the attack, but overall they emerged out of that conflict unscathed. A bunch of feral cretins hardly ranked as a dangerous enemy in their minds, as they had battled more vicious and worthier foes across the galaxy in their service to their Lord and Master. They were the Blackblade Guard, and they had built up an infamous reputation as Jedi and Mandalorian slayers, and those veterans who were skilled enough to survive multiple encounters had taken trophies off of their slain foes.

Although they were not expecting to fight anything other than the local fauna and perhaps the occasional native, so their guards were relatively relaxed as they followed their Lord across the expansive countryside. Vornskr, however; was coiled like a venomous viper, his senses ever probing the nearby surroundings for anything that could prove useful or be considered a threat to his operation. His senses could only go so far, and he had his soldiers stop at the banks of a nearby river to deploy an aerial drone that would circle the nearby for about a mile in each direction, and would scan the landscape with infra-red sensors to see if there was any life forms nearby. It would also map out a geographical map of the region, which would be uploaded to each soldier's internal HUD so that they could navigate the area easier.

Suddenly, the prone would begin to pickup the heat signatures of a humanoid creature somewhere further up the slopes, which would cause Vornskr to assign two of his soldiers to scout further up ahead and assess the situation. They would be armed with only a single blaster rifle each, but would also carry a maximum of two explosive grenades on their hips. They were not given explicit orders to kill what was being detected by the probe, so they set each of their weapons to stun. They both had read up on the specifications of the native inhabitants of this world, and had the memories of their encounter with the ferals fresh in their minds, so they had a general idea of what to expect.

What they didn't expect was a blonde Mandalorian woman.

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

A high majority of Ana's life had been spent as a slave of the Graug priests. They did as they saw fit with her as they had any other slave that they had. She had been taught as the others had to cook, clean, and mine. It wasn't until she became a teen did they notice that she was different, special. She held the gift of the Force and they wanted it but more importantly they were after her abilities as a seer.

In order to craft her into their weapon Ana was shuffled around to various Sith Lords in hopes of brainwashing and training her. She had been offered a life of luxury, pretty dress, the chance to be queen. Ana rebelled against them all and fought tooth and nail to keep them away from her. She would rather die than work with them. What they did to her had been worse than death.

A few of the Sith had been kind to her and taught her to read and write. They showed her places she wished to go but at the end of the day it was all the same toon they wanted her gift. More so than not, they tortured her worse than the Graug ever had.

Such events made her more likely to jump at the rustling of a bush than others. She knew better than most monsters lurked everyday. As she continued walking with her rifle raised she saw nothing which did relax her somewhat.

Upon hearing voices however she stopped and hid the best she could behind a tree but not before she could see the solider radio his boss. Ana cursed to herself slightly as she has heard the words "my lord" come out of his mouth. Unfortunately she didn't get the name. Jumping out from behind the tree she shot in between the two soldiers trying to scare them off. Ana certainly didn't want to kill them if she didn't have to. That she was absolute certain would only serve for more to come. Hopefully they would leave her alone as she meant no harm and wanted no trouble.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Initially the two soldiers were surprised by the sudden attack from ahead of them, both of them rolling to either side and ducking behind whatever cover they could find as the two shots exploded a tree somewhere behind them. Remembering that their Lord wanted this individual taken alive, they re-checked their weapon's settings, and then returned fire with quick and concentrated stun blasts aimed towards the area where the shots came from. They didn't have a general idea on who it was that was attacking them, but thanks to the drone circling above they had a basic idea of where she was at all times so long as the drone remained in the skies above. One of the soldiers quipped out an order in Epicant, which prompted the other soldier to momentarily leave his cover and scramble over to another tree, where he began to lay down a thick wave of suppressing fire towards where the mystery opponent was while the other attempted to circle around and ambush them from behind.

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

Ana had experience fighting in wars within a group setting but alone? She had never been in a situation where the enemy had outnumbered her and she didn't have backup. Granted there were only two of them but still it was more than what she had. Her focus never did shift from the tree the shots were being fired at as she continued her wave of shots at it. One would have to run out of bullets at some point.

Rustling in the bushes could be heard behind her which caused her to turn her head slightly to the left however Ana wasn't very alarmed. She was assured it was a rabbit or something. Instead of going with her feeling of being watched she shrugged it off as she got up from her crouched position to head to a different tree which would give her a better angle. What she didn't know that there was a solider coming in from behind which made her easy picking.

The young woman's past made it hard for her to trust her surroundings or her gut feeling. Ana always felt as if she was being watched by the big bad or her masters. Every time she had turned around in the past it had been nothing more than a butterfly which was why this time she didn't and was just going with what was in front of her.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]