The Soul of the Blade

[Dax Perl]

Location: Cloud City, Bespin

The world seemed to be caught in a perpetual, never ending pink sunset, the gas giant's atmosphere responsible for the eternal pink glow that surrounded the floating city. The Revenant Dawn's landing gear hissed as they supported the full weight of corvette, the Rogue Master stepping out of his ship only moments later. Lately, the man had made a habit of visiting First Order planets...probably not the smartest idea, but something of interest was on the floating city. Casinos.

Dax himself was not much a gambler. But, the rest of the galaxy's population? That was quite a different story. And the more of them there were, the more there'd be to swindle. A need for credits had arisen, a few new mouths to feed. Normally, the Rogue would've just jumped right into the first mission he could've found. Unfortunately, his responsibilities were no longer for himself. No use in helping someone if you died and left them with nothing after all.

As the Rogue's boots touched the platform, an electrifying feeling coursed through his body. He could feel a presence...one as familiar to him as his reflection in the mirror. But it couldn't be...could it?

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

Apparently the Sith Lord's attention was wanted on Cloud City where his mining operation was located, or at least, its headquarters. It was private, or rather, as private as things got within the First Order anyway. The Epicant-Hybrid wasn't impressed with the production of his mining facility, and so he had come, deciding to keep his presence relatively unknown, preferring the guise of mystery and surprise over that of actually having his presence announced.

Though, even as his Daisya Infiltrator came in for the landing the Pad, he could sense the apprehension as the realization kicked in that it was indeed their Lord come to visit.

The mining continued on the planet far below, but A'sharad wasn't of the mind to go down there.

That would require exiting his suit of armour.

The last time he had come to this place he was attacked. Ambush me once, shame on me. Ambush me twice? Shame on you. The Sith Lord doubted he'd be ambushed again, but his confidence reigned supreme in the way of things going his way.

The ramp came down, and the Sith Lord came out, a squad of Sith Warriors garbed in the armour of House Graush surrounding him as he entered his facility.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

It had to be. Dax was sure of it. He'd never mistake that feeling for any other. Moreth's saber was here on Bespin. Maybe even closer, on Cloud City. But what was here on the city other than mining operations and gambling? Only one way to find out.

Time for some good ol' B & E.

'But which to investigate first?' Dax wondered as he re-entered his ship. There were multiple gambling operations on the city, he though as he retrieved his light armor. He retrieved his two sabers, clipping them onto his belt. Then a slugthrower. Then three unmarked grenades, only recently obtained. Mining operations on the other hand? Just one...that's what he'd hit first.

The Master stepped out into the platform once more, hood over his head, mask in hand. Issue one, getting into the mining operations without bring noticed. Dax doubted that the floating city saw many cloaked Jedi or Sith...not that the man was either.

Even as the Rogue walked through and out of the spaceport, heads turned to watched him, some even taking several steps back, either the skull-like mask or the murderous look on his face illicting fear.. Great start. Feth it, as long as he didn't get caught breakig into the mining headquarters who cared if anyone else saw him...time to get moving.

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

Suppose even if the man wasn't causing an actual disturbance, he'd still be noted by the ever alert Imperial security forces. At least, that's how A'sharad would've imagined it if there was a 'threatening' looking person wandering around. Not that he would've otherwise cared. His own establishment on Cloud City was sectioned off, bought and paid for, thus allowing him the privacy of employing his Pureblood and hybrid brethren. There were only a few on this day, the cortosis mine on the surface seeing less and less use as the days went on.

"My Lord," he heard as he strode in with his team of 'experts.'

"Foreman." He greeted in his typically cold voice.

"We were- uh, pleasantly surprised to see you landing today."

"Pleasantly, isn't how you're sounding, Foreman."

"Your presence is surely unnerv-"

"Enough," he didn't even bother to raise a hand. The Foreman's throat constricted as the Force choke took hold. He had risen hastily as the Lord Graush had entered the room, but as they spoke, he had seemingly backed himself into a corner - literally as well as figuratively as he experienced his throat slowly closing due to the pressure. When he saw the human's eyes beginning to roll into his head, he tossed him into a corner, crumpled as if he were descended from lawn chairs.

He looked to the other personnel in the room.

"Report."

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax had found the entered the closet building he could find and made straight for the roof. From there he'd leaped from roof top to roof top searching for his distant target. The various mining platforms could be seen in the distance, but the headquarters would be stationed here, on the city itself. And there it was. Maybe a block or two away. The towering building notable only by its communication array at the top. They needed some way to communicate with the hundreds of mining platforms.

The man elected to avoid the front entrance. A man dressed for war would probably not go over well with security. Instead he dropped down from the high roof and landed in the back alley, miraculously empty. He approach the door, only a few meter away, silently. And then it hissed open, a guard stepping out for a smoke break. The Rogue rushed forward, and the guard took a step backward, startled reaching for his stun blaster and comm unit. Before he could speak, Dax grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into his knee, driving the air from his lungs. Forcefully he threw the man toward the opposite wall of the alley, headfirst a resounding crack as the two collided. The man's body thudded to the floor, a hiss following, the door sliding behind the Rogue Master...

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

The room remained quiet as they watched the Epicant-Hybrid hold the room in silence. No one wanted to speak. There were mining experts in there, communications technicians, even security technicians that monitored the surveillance cameras. A'sharad's amber orbs swept across the entire room as he waited, seemingly patiently.

"The Foreman didn't think to increase production until you transmitted orders, My Lord. We cautioned him to have a stock ready at all times."

There was a slow nod from A'sharad in understanding. At least the man was honest, he could sense that much from the Force. Shame he took too much time to speak.

The man bore crimson flesh, though no face tendrils. He had a tainted bloodline, just like A'sharad himself. He collapsed out of the chair as the Sith Lord crushed his kneecap with the simple telekinetic ability of Force Crush. He cried out in pain, but Graush was already tuning him out. He turned on his heel, but caught sight of surveillance camera showcasing the back alley that [member="Dax Fyre"] sought to sneak through. A'sharad however didn't have a notable reaction as he turned and strode out the room, Massassi bodyguards following him out.

"Stay alert," he said when they exited the communications room. "We have an intruder," he said drily, as if it were just another thing that happened on the daily.

A'sharad had thought to merely leave the facility, let his overt amount of Sith Warriors to handle the intruder, but he was curious. Was it Darth Abyss? He doubted it. He strode through the halls of the structure until he found his own office which occasionally doubled as a conference room. The Massassi lined the walls leading up to him, and the Epicant-Hybrid took a seat at the head of the table which would give him vision of the entire room.

And so, he waited.

 

[Dax Perl]

No sooner had Dax taken more than two steps within the building did he feel another Force presence. A familiar one from months before. One that made the Rogue's blood boil and his mind seethe rage. Dax had chosen correctly for his incursion. Indeed, Moreth's Saber was here, alongside the Sith who had stolen it. Two birds with one stone, why not?

There was no use scouting out the facility for points of interest now. There was only one that interested the Rogue Master. And that lay somewhere above his head. Slowly and quietly the man crept his way through the sterile halls, searching for a turbo lift. Or even a staircase...whatever could carry him up to the higher levels. After searching for several minutes the Rogue finally came across staircase, the label on the door reading 'For Use in Emergency'. An image pasted to the metal door depicted flames chasing a being down the staircase. The door slide smoothly open, despite the seldom use it saw, and Dax began the slow hike up the infinite tower.

No longer was Dax concerned about being seen or caught, at least not so much by anyone who wasn't armed. Chances were that the Sith could feel Dax's own presence, just as he could feel the Sith's. If that were true, it was not beyond the realm of possibility that he had warned his protection detail or the building security. Slugthrower in hand, silencer affixed, his only goal at the moment was to not involve non-combatants. And if he could reach his target unmolested...then he'd raise hell.

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

When [member="Dax Fyre"] travelled through the building, he would've found that the halls were surprisingly empty, though there was the sense of life being present, they were just not in the halls themselves, happening to be caught up in their work, or perhaps A'sharad had spread the word silently and the disciplined order of Purebloods had continued their work.

It would be handled.

However, when he would've gotten to the level that A'sharad's office was on, he'd be able to figure that the only thing he could sense was his lightsabre. No signs of life could be detected on the level. Whether that was due to some form of technology or if the Sith on the level were concealing their presence, it'd be unknown to the intruder.

 

[Dax Perl]

The door slid open on the level at which Dax felt the saber. And yet, everything felt...wrong. No noises came, nothing moved, all was silent and motionless. Even stepping onto the floors, the echoing of his footfalls, which should've been a comfort was unsettling. Normally, a lack of people to sneak around or fight was a blessing. Except this stank of a trap. Still, the one thing he could still sense was his saber. The blind hunger drove Dax on.

Both the Rogue's sabers were in his hands, and his eyes darted from door way to doorway, expecting something to rush out at him and attack. Yet nothing came so far. Every step felt like the steps of a ghost, lost on its way to the otherworld. The sense of uneasiness could not be shaken. Reaching the door from which the other side Moreth's saber could be felt Dax stopped. A deep breath, he readied himself for whatever may be on the other side.

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

On the other side of the door, the intruder would've found the scene laid out perfectly for him as described earlier. A'sharad sat at the head of the table, cybernetic arm resting atop the table while his left rested below on his lap. Lining the walls however were four Massassi, two on each side of the door, but they didn't seem to be alive either. In fact, when the door opened they didn't even bat an eye.

Practically statues.

"Come in."

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

The Rogue entered the room, looking at the red skinned Warriors at his sides. Stoic statues, painted red and given breath. Approaching the table at which the Sith sat at the head of the Master spoke. "I believe we've met only briefly. And it was not as amicable as this." he said, voice slightly muffled by the metal mask which covered his face. Reaching up, Dax pulled back his hood and lifted the warped skeletal mask from his head, placing it with a dull thud upon the table. "My name is Dax Fyre. And I believe you have something of mine."

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

A'sharad huffed.

Just someone else who sought revenge from him - for whatever reason. Not like he even remembered what he did to wrong these people.That's how inconsequential this man was. When he took his mask off of his face, A'sharad had no clue who he was, and his face remained as impassive as ever as he even snorted at the introduction that he was given.

"Why are you giving me your name?" A'sharad chuckled. "Do you think this is some kind of interview?"

The metallic cybernetic hand's fingers rose up off of the table and then dropped upon them, one at a time in a sort of annoying rhythm.

"There is nothing in here that belongs to you." And it was true, in a way. "Go home, 'fore I send you back as a collapsible chair."

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax couldn't help but smirk. Yeah...this was about what he expected from a Sith. "A collapsible chair? I think you'll have to come up with a better threat than that." Silence followed the man's words, only the repetitive clicks of the man's cybernetic arm upon the table. It suddenly struck Dax that the man's arm must've been the result of [member="Joza Perl"]'s handy work. "I was there when your arm was injured. I was there on Kaeshana." the man said, "You took my saber that day. The one that hangs from your belt now. I'm not going to leave without it."

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

Frowned at the words of [member="Dax Fyre"]. He was there when his arm was injured, when he fought the Zeltron Master? Curious. If what he spoke was true, then he was the man that he had killed on the battlefield - or had at least thought he killed. It was unlikely that he had actually witnessed his wrist being chopped in that devastating downwards thrust, but he offered a nonchalant shrug all the same. What was done was done.

If anything, in defeat A'sharad became a stronger, more evolved version of himself.

Gone was the self-destructive Sith Acolyte from the days of the failing One Sith, and here sat the pragmatic Sith Lord.

"Your saber suggests that there are... Others, attached to it." A brow was raised in question. "I find it hard to believe you constructed it." He said in a soft voice. "Therefore I claimed it in the same way as you did - through combat." His amber orbs swept across the room, taking in everything but, the apparent intruder. "That means, you've come to take something of mine." The Sith Lord explained and he nodded his head slowly. "Understandable.

Futile. But understandable."

He rose from the chair, cybernetic hand catching what was once Darth Moreth's lightsabre and he ignited the now crimson blade. Plenty of studying was done upon the blade, and although he hadn't changed the actual composition and make of the blade, the Dark Side of the Force was an excellent tool to create aesthetics, especially after he had corrupted it.

 

[Dax Perl]

"Were others." The Rogue clarified, "But that one is dead. But it took more than killing that saber's master to make it bend to me. I don't think you've quite managed to figure out how to feed her yet have you?" The two saber's in the Rogue's hands screamed to life, orange and yellow. "Well let me show you." Dax turned and struck at one of the first of the Massassi Warriors, burying the orange blade deep in the being's chest. The battle had begun.

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Dax Perl]

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Dax Perl]

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

The Massassi were silent warriors, dependent on orders else they returned to their own primal ways.

In this case, A'sharad never gave the order to defend themselves

The first warrior, struck down, killed immediately.

Though the same wouldn't come to pass as the Dark Lord of the Sith looked down to the DataPad on his table and said, "Kill him." And the remaining trio of Massassi extended their hulking arms, and as one, their force pushes combined to create a wall of the Force that headed directly for the offender [member="Dax Fyre"].

May as well make plans for dinner while the intruder was dealt with.

 

[Dax Perl]

If it had just been one, or even maybe two of the Massassi, the Master would've been able to defend against the Massassi Force Push, but three? Well all he could hope to do was mitigate their attack. Bringing his hands up, the Master pushed back against the invisible wall. When it struck him only half a moment later, the Rogue slammed into the wall next to him. Instead of popping up to his feet, he rolled beneath the table out of sight of the Guard. A flame would burst out from beneath the table, blooming outwards aiming to engulf the three warriors, the flames that struck the wall rebounding so that fire lay on all sides of them.

[member="Asharad Graush"]

 

[Asharad Graush]

The three Massassi Warriors died and became black husks.

The end.

With [member="Dax Fyre"] beneath the table, one of the durasteel chairs running along the length of the long of the long conference table was bent out of shape, contorted, and it lurched underneath the table with a flick of the Dark Lord's wrist, aiming to strike the Human underneath the table.

The faint smell of his kinsmen corpses disappointed him, but the Epicant-Hybrid wasn't too bothered.

There were more where they came from.