Dominion The Veil of Elrood | SO Dominion of Elrood

[Darth Empyrean]

Elrood​

Final Siege of the Elrood Sector​

876 ABY​

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The war effort into Elrood had gone extremely well, lead by the Eternalist military in conjunction with the Tsis'kaar agents and Kainite axillary forces. From Coyn, to Bodrin, to Osirrag and Berea - no planet had thus far put up more than a few days resistance to their overwhelming force. It was a perfect example of what the Galaxy was to face, and so the final siege of Elrood began to take place.​

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Ships of the Triumvirate sat in orbit, every few minutes firing an orbital bombardment down on selected targets. For all purposes, the Elroodian government had fallen. Confirmation of the leadership's death was expected in only a few minutes; the military parades announcing peace already taking place in numerous cities across the world. The main contingent of Sith Forces was in Elrood City, capital of the alliance that attempted poorly to stop their advance.​

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Blood ran heavy in the streets as loyalists were pulled from their home and executed. Anyone who had publicly disparaged the Sith rule was executed for treason, while Sith loyalists were already being prepared to be brought onto the planet to compensate for the loss in population. It was a brutal affair, and the Dark Side fed on it with totality - endless and ever present. Even in orbit, aboard the Acerbitas, Darth Empyrean could feel it.​

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He could feel how thin the Nether was becoming in lieu of it. Something was wrong.​

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As the Sith watched over the planet, the Nether's walls snapped and in a moment's notice a storm began to envelop the world. Great black clouds from ground to atmosphere formed from nothing, lightning sparking heavy from one hemisphere to another. The bridge crew aboard the Acerbitas slowly stood as radio communications with the planet ceased all at once, helpless as Star Destroyers in orbit were suddenly engulfed in its rolling tide.​

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Empyrean stood from his Captain's seat and clenched his fist with fury. He thought the speed of their conquest would offset the carnage but no - the Nether had broken at his conquest. Rage and annoyance flooded his features as he moved to collect the Sepulchral - they needed to seal this world now before his army was lost entirely.​

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Objective 1: Survive​

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The world had nearly fallen to the Sith's assault. Capital Plaza, the main administrative building, had long fallen to the First Legion and military convoys practically paraded around the streets as the last pockets of resistance were executed. Yet the Sith on the world would feel the darkness encroaching before even Empyrean from orbit - the snap of something metaphysical filling every Force Sensitive's head like lightning, a migraine slowly fading from blinding white to a dull ache.​

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A green haze overcame the world, clouds and fog overwhelmed sight lines, and radio communications have been cut off. Some in the know realize what has happened - the strength of the Sith so heavily concentrated on a world suffering had broken the Nether's already fragile walls. Those who didn't would only see the consequences - as soldiers began to turn feral on one another. Entire populations fell to their rabid nature, eyes glowing sulphuric as they created mobs with makeshift weapons to enact their revenge.​

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Even those in atmosphere didn't find sympathy. The 'Khan' Star Destroyer that overlooked the capital fell from sight as the clouds came, but those unlucky enough to be near it watched it fall as lightning struck it from across the planet. The Khan seemed to fall in slow motion before it slammed into Elood - killings thousands in only a moment as its reactors went critical and fire spread across the city.​

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Those far enough away from the Star Destroyers fall were stolen a quick death, as mobs of feral civilians armed with makeshift weapons began to surge into the streets to kill. Sith Lords were cut down with little more than swarmed kitchen knives, and the rest ran from the carnage. Those with great strength managed to hold themselves from the bleak insanity that threatened them, but they'd find their control over the Force had begun to wane as something larger, darker, loomed.​

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You are being watched by something in the Storm, and your control over the Dark Side wains in such overwhelming enviroments. Crowds are roaming the streets looking for you. You must survive until the storm can be cleared.​

 

[Cato Demora]

Location: Capital Plaza - Administrative Building​

Tag: Open​

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Cato's soldiers finished activating the holocuffs on the Governor and his cabinet. They'd be brought up on charges of sedition, treason, and some other random charges the Judicial Pillar could come up with. His job was to simply grab them, everything else was better left in the hands of egg head politicians. He stood and moved to radio back to the Acerbitas his mission was a success, but as he tried to make contact he recieved only radio static back.​

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"Acerbitas, do you copy? This is Crown Actual...", he began once again, but then he heard the screams rip out from the city.​

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His gaze tore from his squad to the open window, looking down as crazed maniac took knives and chopped into their fellow citizenry or worse - the Imperial Army. Cato swallowed hard, but his training kicked in as he motioned for the others to begin securing the room with furniture. His commands rang out heavy and quick, but there was a growing unease in his stomach.​

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"Reaper, Monarch, collect anyone in the building who hasn't gone insane. Bring them here, and bring any supplies you can. Prepare for a siege."​

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The others moved quick to his order, running off in pairs to collect supplies and survivors back to the central room. He heard something new now, the deep roar of crashing. It was a familiar noise, he had heard the same on Odessa during the fall of the Worm's Eternals. Once more he glanced to the green, cloudy horizon for a source of the racket - only to find his largest fear.​

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One of the Khan's above the city had been struck by unnatural lightning, and fell upon the city. He barely had time to cry out 'Get down!' before the explosion of the reactor hitting the earth spread a massive shockwave across the city. Fires would begin instantly, but for him, it took a moment to stand and recover from the explosion - having blown transparisteel and glass into the room in droves.​

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Others were already bleeding, the cabinet half unconcious. This was bad, made only worse as he heard the noise of a crowd approaching down the main street towards the complex. Vengeance heavy on their tongues as they screamed wordlessly into the sky - hoisting gardening tools and kitchen implements high above their heads. Hundreds, thousands came out from their homes to join them.​

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The crowd was only a few minutes away. They needed to move quick.​

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Objective 1: Survive

Malum fell to his knees onto the cold floors of the Administrative building, clutching his head, indeed, pulling on his hair for that pain distracted from the much darker pain in his mind. In his mind's eyes visions assaulted and plagued him, an inhuman world was his view, as it felt that his skull was to break and spill miasma and Greymatter across the ground. Darkness clouded his vision, fuzzied views of slime and water, of spindly legs, of growling creatures beyond mortal kin, beyond mortal comprehension. His hands gripped the cold floors, as his breathing failed him, huge, fast breaths expanding through his lungs, as he found copper on his tongue.

His nails broke as they gripped onto the floor, and though he would not know until far after the battle, as the Khan struck the planet, eviscerating millions in an instant, and then more millions, mere moments afterward, it increased the netherwordly pain striking his mind, as now not only his knees fell the floor, so to his head, as the icy cold embrace of the floors gave some vague relief from the continued mental strains, the attacks and stabbing sensations he felt striking at his mind over and over.

"Malum you need to fight this." The voice... his mind for a moment was given relief, normalcy, before being struck again, with visions that he could not understand, Malum saw a golden city turned to ash, saw a realm of green sickness, his eyes scrunched tight as a tick took over him, every limb losing control as the mind closed itself off, spasms, painful, unnatural took over him. Floating rocks, existing without gravity, portals towards unknown places, the miasma of sickness, of disgust, of death.

The voice that had not spoken to him since Fiviune had spoken again, and as then, he felt strength drawn from it. Yet it did not matter.

Malum gave out an unearthly shriek as the pain reached its penultimate surge, as the Khan's impact, the whiplash of its crash finally reached the walls of the Administrative building, all around him, surged the force, towards one direction, lightning spilled out in a storm, while in another convection created a wildfire without lumber as it danced in celebration, while finally in another cryokinesis whipped across the floor, freezing everything in its path.

His heart heaved, as he felt his eyes close. He was lost. Lost to some foe without a face, though perhaps the face would have been wholly unrecognisable by a human eye.

"Get up." The voice commanded, and for some reason, the pain in his mind dulled, as he found control over his limbs restored. The voice... he had heard it before had not he? Fiviune, he had forgotten that it had existed... that it had once then given him his second wind, it seemed such was the case again, as one hand came to rest by the amulet he wore, and then the rest of his body rose from the floor. His bleary wet eyes could make out the rampant destruction he had caused to the place around him.

A dulling headache provided him an answer for why he was here. The last of the governmental leadership was to be captured and made an example of. Yet by the time he had arrived, this place was already deserted. A pity, but the mission was far from an important one, the planet would fall regardless. His ears made out the sound of soldiers in the distance, and his eyes looking outside a broken window could make out the sight of dust rising, something, someone, was marching to the governmental building. Malum, looked at his hands, his bleeding hands, attempting to bring forth the Force to his fingers failed... that was... that was... very odd.

With the remnants of the Khan in the distance, Malum resolved to make a decision. Whatever was happening, whatever this strange feeling of apathetic ease that had taken him over was, he could find out later. Right now, he had to look for allies, for already the hairs on the back of his neck were perked up, he had a feeling that he would find many foes today.

Cato Demora

 

[Lirka Ka]

Hell on earth. The end of all things, to some, their greatest fear had been realized and apocalypse was upon them. But not to all.

This sort of carnage was routine to Lirka, drivel really: a being so devoted to the act of murder did not feel any different from one world to the next, but this…this was something special. She stood atop a building, helmet looking to the sky as she took in the storm. Around her a slew of bodies broken and dissected, every ounce of their meat she found useful tucked away into containers, some still haphazardly tossed around she Lirka became enraptured with the clouds above.

She saw her god in those clouds, in the pandemonium engulfing Elrood. The air was thick now, as if she could reach out and grab it, to pull this tainted air inside of her and feel the Dark surge through her broken body once again. But her god had become silent now, honeyed words encouraging her to slaughter no longer graced her mind.

She would awaken the Dark again, in this most unholy of places. A place where the Netherworld felt as if it snaked across the very ground, hungering to bring Lirka’s accursed soul back into its depths, to write the wrong of her very existence.

She relished every moment of the sensation, something so raw it seeped through her razor-sharp armored plates. More weaklings turned in on themselves in the carnage, maddened by the murder. And in the massacre she saw clarity of purpose, a reminder of the Dark’s primordial truth.

They were weak, she was strong. The blood of the weak would give vigor the strong. Her blade unlocked from her back as she looked down to the growing mass, a carnal urge to destroy surging through her body, heart pounding and head throbbing in anticipation.

With a click, the plasma filament burned to life, and Lirka saw her purpose once again.

To destroy. To maim. To be the Dark made manifest once again.

Darth Malum of House Marr Cato Demora

 

[Cato Demora]

Tag: Darth Malum of House Marr​

Location: Administrative Building​

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Reaper and Duke came around the corner, a slung pack full of supplies and ammo hanging from the latters shoulder. A few soldiers carried off ahead of them, shooed forward as they came to a stop outside the room Malum had ruined with his expunging power. Duke quickly pressed his fist into the pauldron of Reaper and spoke through the vocabulator, twisting his words into coded demonic speech;​

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"This one's yours. I'll see you back in the cabinet office."​

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Reaper nodded, moving into the room with Malum.​

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"Lord Sith.", Reaper said with a nod, resting his weapon nonthreateningly near his waist. What Malum probably couldn't tell was that it was a quick draw position for this exact situation.​

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"The rest of us are gathering up in the cabinet office with Captain Demora. Are you feeling well enough to join us?"​

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

"Yes, I would say I am quite well, let us proceed." The dull ache in his mind remained, as it felt as if something fundamentally was removed from his person. The fact that he was unable to call upon the Force had already implied that, certainly, but it was more than that. When now darkness fully surrounded him, when he should have felt home within that darkness, he rather felt more vulnerable than ever before, as if rather than the darkside having been his ally, his trusted friend, as it had always been since his birth... it was now his enemy. It was a terrifying feeling, to have the sensation of certainty that had clung to you all your life, now turn to uncertainty as it left your form and now surround you like a miasma of unease.

His legs thankfully worked as they were designed, as he followed behind the trooper toward his commanding officer.

"What do you know, soldier, about what is happening? I saw the remnants of a large ship out the window, alongside it seemed like a large rising of dust coming towards us." There was no point discussing that feeling that had brought him to his knees, the soldier in front of him seemed far too put together to have faced that. Had it only affected force sensitives? That was a bad sign for all those within the more populated segments of the city. Though, he supposed that the fires and wave of destruction that the starship had caused with its crash would probably be the first matter of concern.

Cato Demora

 

[Cato Demora]

Tag: Darth Malum of House Marr​

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Reaper shook his head as he replied;​

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"Captain Demora can inform you more, Sir. I'm just a soldier."​

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With that, he motioned for the Sith to follow, moving back through the halls towards the cabinet office. Malum could hear the mix of wind, storm, and a crowd growing closer outside the walls. Something was coming, and the dangers were becoming more obvious as fear set into the faces of those gathered around. Entering the council room, he'd see a single man in great black armor commanding others around.​

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"Captain Demora, this is uh...", Reaper glanced back to him.​

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"What's your name, Sir?"​

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

"Malum of House Marr, apprentice to Darth Ophidia." He said plainly, waving away the soldier that had escorted him, as he looked around the cabinet office, the assembled soldiery was putting up what seemed to be makeshift defenses, as by the ringing in Malum's ears, it seemed that something, something human, yet very much not, was coming towards them.

"Captain Demora, was it? Though it is not my assignment, it seems plainly evident that we shall not be surviving the night without each other's aid, you have my services for the defense." Malum said without emotion again, feeling still a vague emptiness inside, him, as still attempting to will the Force to his command, resulted in nothing, "Should you have need of me, you need only ask." He did not know who this Captain Demora was, nor who these forces of soldiers were, still, it would likely not be a bad guess to assume they were Eternalists, how would they react to the identity of his master then?

Seemed that within their battle of survival, they would also be fighting a battle of split loyalties as well, which could prove problematic, it was rather easier to fight without needing to glance at one's back.

Seeing the fear in the eyes of those assembled though, Malum felt that there was at least something he could do, to assuage that. Reaching for his belt, his hands palmed around the silvery grey handle of the lightsaber. Igniting it, the red plasma came alive, as it whirred against the air. Let them know that they fought with a Sith tonight.

Cato Demora

 

[Iasha Rha]

One moment, she was standing in a room full of corpses. A red blade thrummed in her hand, then extinguished as she exhaled and lowered her shoulders. The deed was done. They were dead.

She was vic-

The sound of shattering glass resounded through reality and darkness swallowed her. Even though she felt the ground underneath her feet, everything seemed to tumble and toss. There was no gravity, yet she was falling. There was no up, no down, and yet the abyss swallowed her up..

Iasha awakened with a gasp.

Her eyes darted around the room, but saw only shades of crumbled stone and dust. She tried to push herself up, but felt the crushing weight of the masonry pressing down on her. Suddenly, memories surged from battles long gone; memories of grenades and graug, and a rush of stone that threatened to bury the young twi'lek once and for all.

She gasped for air, yet she could not breathe.

 

[Warmaster Nyâsh]

The Warmaster was on the plaza in front of the administrative building when the Nether came to claim the world and it's carnage tainted population and invaders. The storms hitting the place were truly not natural, lightning striking multiple times at the same place, starting to increase the death toll already. Then they hit the destroyer hanging over the city and it descended onto the world as a fallen angel. Its impact was tremoring through the legs of coloss, he felt the hit. The kinetic wave hit him moments after together with dust and smoke.

Nyâsh felt how the mood turned, how the people went ravaging and lost their minds. It was beautiful. Of course there were the soldiers as well, imperials or Sith-Imperial, whatever nonsense they were called by their payers. The Sith resorted to extraordinary cruelty here for some reason and now the Force was leashing back at them.

Around him were many soldiers and those that were about to be executed. Most of them turned on each other in an instant and started massacring. The Warmaster was by all his judgement, alone. With a slow, calm movement he drew his sword to have as many weapons in his hands as possible. They were yet occupied with each other and bringing down the few soldiers and Sith who were unlucky enough to be cut down by nails and teeth. That's how the Fell works.

The Warmaster started walking towards the building, calmly, as much as he was aware of his strength, he was not an idiot and a position of strength like a narrowing passage like a building with entrances would help him against the masses.

Individuals started running up at him, frantically screaming, madness in their eyes and whatever they could their hands on as weapons.

This will prove to be an interesting trip ...

Cato Demora Darth Malum of House Marr Iasha Rha
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[Darth Strosius]

Objective: Survive
Location: Elrood, Three blocks from Capital Plaza
Equipment: Lightsaber, Dagger, Armor
Tags: Cato Demora / Darth Malum of House Marr / Lirka Ka / Iasha Rha / Warmaster Nyâsh

It had all gone according to plan thus far, Elrood was all but within the grasp of the Sith now. Alisteri himself had been absent from the usual frontline fighting, instead tasked with moving from command post to command post assassinating the leaders of the planet's military forces and disrupting their communications in order to bring the battle to a quicker conclusion. Other agents of the Tsis'Kaar had been tasked similarly but as usual the Knight had been on his own during the battle.

As the last of the holdouts were being either torn apart by the bombardments from orbit or breached by the forces that now paraded through Elrood's cities without fear of reprisal. He had opted to simply sit back and let the last of the defenders die in their holes while he perused some of the files and data left behind in the command post that he occupied now. It was his last target so for the moment he had no further orders anyway.

With a sigh he reclined in the chair that he had appropriated as he looked over the data streaming across the console before him. Another planet to add to the Sith Order, he supposed. And then something snapped. All at once he felt a tear, a crack, something that echoed through the Force and made his head ache as he sensed it.

His breathing grew heavy and labored as the full weight of something hit his senses and before he knew it he had tumbled out of his chair and onto the floor in an attempt to stand up. Growls of pain tore their way out of his throat as he reached up to hastily rip his mask from his head in an attempt to relieve the pressure and sensation now piercing his mind, nearly breaking it as he tossed it aside. Alisteri planted his hands on the floor and tried to push himself up but his muscles were tense and taught and refused to move the way that he desired.

The Knight's yellow eyes were wide as he coughed and hacked until a small puddle of blood had forced itself out of his mouth, still hyperventilating and quivering from whatever was assaulting his very being. He had no idea what was happening but he needed to figure it out and now. Alisteri eyed his mask, having thrown it a fair distance away, and he reached out to call it to his hand.

Nothing happened. Like some block or limit had been placed upon him the Force did not, or could not, be used by him at this moment. Even more panic set in as he crawled over to retrieve his mask and fit it back onto his face with shaking fingers. When it was finally back on he wasted no time in tapping on his commlink to broadcast across all Sith frequencies that he could access. :"T-This is Knight Strosius, what the feth is happening?!":

 

[Ishani Dinn]

"Oh great. Something's gone wrong out there. I can feel it."

Rhi turned away from the window, facing Arcturus. They had stumbled upon a tattoo parlor on Elrood, and with victory seemingly more or less secured, had stopped to get inked. The artist, while terrified, dared not refuse, even offering their services for free.

Alas, the feeling of wrongness put and end to their little excursion. "Well, at least this is finished," she said, pointing to Arc's new tattoo. "Perhaps we should go and see what's..."

She trailed off, a flare in the Force warning her of danger. Her gaze flicked toward the tattooist, who stood holding the tattoo pen in a clenched fist, their eyes having turned a sickly yellow. Before they could make a move, Rhi had summoned her blade from the Nether (was it just her imagination, or did the weapon arrive much faster and more easily than usual?) and plunged it into their chest without hesitation.

Rhi pulled the sword free, and the body slumped to the floor, leaving a smear of red blood on the wall. She frowned down at the corpse, her brow furrowed. "Normally I wouldn't blame them for trying to kill us, but this behavior strikes me as a little odd..."

Arcturus Dinn + Open​

 

[Adeline Noctua]

Equipment | In Bio
Location | Elrood: Capital plaza
Tag | Cato Demora Darth Malum of House Marr

It had been conquest after conquest, victory after victory. The might of the Sith made it easy to win over the minds of the weak, in the hopes that they would become strong themselves. Adeline being the devout little follower of Eternalism that she was, had converted a building into a makeshift church. Masses of eager minds listened to her preach about the ideals and strengths of Eternalism, to them she and the rest of the Sith seemed like they were almighty beings... And Adeline was sure to run with this idea, her pale figure looked the part of a holy angel as she held mass.

Using her shapeshifting ability to give herself white feathery wings akin to a divine messenger, and depending on who you asked... The woman was indeed a messenger of a god. Her soft voice and face winning over the crowds as the lecture and converting began, why would they need anything else if the Sith had proven themselves to be powerful?

Yet, her teachings would soon come to a halt as chaos itself was beginning to stir. Her congregation cowered in fear, hid behind pews as the woman who they all considered their saviour went to take a peek at what was going on. Her eyes see a dark, hellish storm that was blanketing the planet. Something was very wrong, she could feel it.. And yet her mind wanted to study the hellish energies that started to crowd the place, a strong gust of the chaotic energy forcing itself into the building... Everyone around her screamed in pain, death was all around.

As she turns, Adeline sees that her mass had glowing eyes as if they had gained some sort of dark side corruption. Knowing better, she goes to end them all with lightning.. Yet nothing happened.

It clicked, this strange phenomena was either crippling the their ability to use the force, or just outright cutting it off.

Her mind had little time to ponder and examine as the people who once thought of her to be a divine being, now crowded around her, trying to swarm and beat her to death in a craze. Thankfully unlike most Sith she was a danger even without her magic, soon transforming into her demonic warform. Roaring out at the crowd as her transformation had pushed them all back. Dread wings sprawl out and cloak the creature and the group in darkness, she was to be a goddess, such was destiny.

Her raw strength as a highblooded Sangnir would only cement the fact that she deserved such, for in times of weakness such as this... She could still shine.

It only took mere moments for the room to become a bloodsoaked mess, a final mercy given to those who fell to the madness. She had felt this before, back when she was called Jackal. The madness only lightly effecting her steel mind of course...

After the large explosion had happened, it had shaken the whole building, starting a fire... Making the creature burst through the wall of the place. The air was filled with strange smells, along with death. She smells out living beings within the administrative building, soon taking flight before landing on the roof of the place, a beastly eye peeking through a shattered window to see troopers... And a familiar face, that of Darth Malum of House Marr .

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

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OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE
WEARING: xxx
TAG: Srina Talon

The Sith war machine had moved with precision and fury. Gerwald had watched it with his own eyes as the warriors ravaged those that would dare stand against the might and power of Darth Empyrean. His lightsabers had cut through all that stood before him, and just as his new master had deemed, Gerwald would see the task complete.

An echo filled the halls of the capital building as Gerwald marched down its halls. All that remained was the execution of the planet’s leader, a simple task, but important. With his life taken, those who still resisted would surrender quickly. Enough blood had been shed, the population of the main city nearly obliterated. Genocide might serve its purpose in some cases, but here it would not do. Their enemy was proud, but they needed to be broken, not eliminated.

Gerwald and his mistress Srina Talon had been sent to ensure that outcome.

They would not make it to the main chamber before the mist settled. Where others would be afraid or question what was happening, the wolf grinned. During his time with the Confederacy he had seen similar circumstances on several occasions. All of them meant one thing.

“The veil is thin here.”

Five simple words with an implied meaning. Srina would know what Gerwald meant. It was not as much a statement of fact than it was an observation of opportunity. Whatever Srina’s response, there was little time as the mist brought with it the unmistakable clamor of whatever the Nether spilled out in response. The veil was not thin. It had been broken.

The wolf breathed in the darkness. His blades ignited once more as he prepared for the attack. They did not need to remain or wait for the onslaught to come to them. No, the corridor was a kill box, one that they would be hard pressed to survive even with their combined might. Gerwald moved further down the hall until he located a stairwell.

“We must take the high ground.”

It was the tactical solution, and for the moment the best. Whatever the storm was they would have to weather it, and survive whatever horrors that came with it. He would kill as they climbed, vaguely reminded of the last time they had fought together. The battle had ended with Gerwald on his knees, though he had not been able to fully recall why. Srina had given him information to fill in the gaps, but something still felt off.

Gerwald had missed something. Rather… something had been taken from his mind.

It mattered little. The battle had seen Srina agree to grant him his request. Naedira would soon be free, and his oath fulfilled. Whatever the price demanded of him to secure that agreement, it would be worth it. His honor would be satisfied.​

 

[Pravus Zambrano]

OBJECTIVE IA: SURVIVE THRIVE​

"Did...did I go too far?"

The Grand Sorcerer stood in contemplation with a boney finger curled into a ring, pressed over a thoughtful expression. Bulbous eyes of umber darted, like an electron, from one ribbon of flesh to the next. Had Darron gone too far? No, he was certain that such a thing was beneath them. The journey to self adulation was exactly that. A path tread along cobble and mud alike.

"Nooooooo...no no no Darling, fretting isn't something we care for...is it?" Pravus turned to look at the man, if he could have been considered such a thing. He was something more now, something beyond the former image of bone and grafted metal. The antics of a zombie, formed by flesh and mundane objects, like a particularly hardy broom handle, were a thing of the past. Darron, by the hand of something great and terrible, had become a remarkable vision of perfection. Sinew, muscle, and depravity. A work of art!

Bringing his boney fingers to his lips. Pravus licked the tips of his finger with an unnaturally long tongue before plucking a quill from his pauldron. Approaching the corpse of someone who had been uplifted to the heavens through moments of perfect agony, he poked the still supple skin and extracted the required ink. Pulling out the grimoire of expressions, stretched over the bindings in those last moments of elevation, Pravus opened up the book and began to scribble.

"Alright Darron, now tell me how that made you feel." The monster looked over and scratched his own neck so hard, it bled. Pravus' expression tilted as he swayed forward with unnatural speed and slapped the ghouls hand away. "Cut it out Darron! Every time we do this, I swear to the Goddess." His expression softened as he smiled genuinely and pressed the quill into the parchment. "Now, stop fidgeting and describe it!"

"Loneliness. Anger. Regret. Pain."
"Yes yes, good. Is that because your friend left too soon?"

Darron nodded and breathed deeply, his scarred chest lifting to reveal the striations of muscle. "Hmm, well they can't be all as resilient as you, now can..."

The chair shook and Pravus' attention snapped to the corpse. "Could it...could it be? Is there still life in there?" Green energy cut through the hallway, slamming the door open to let the air of the city into the small apartment. The sounds of commotion could be heard as a gathering began at the threshold. There was fire, weapons of steel, and eldritch expressions. Pravus' mouth opened wide as he lifted his hands to the ceiling, nearly touching it, revealing the self carved runes along his arms. "Oh my Goddess, a blessing bestowed upon us! Darron, you have friends now!" The chair shook again as the corpse took on an animalistic expression, trying to reach its wrist bindings with its teeth. Pravus slapped it on top of the head with the grimoire. "Bad! No! Bad corpse!" Looking over his shoulder, he gestured towards the approaching mob. "Darron, please. I can't work with all this noise."

The zombie turned, energy pouring out from him, as he withdrew two bone weapons from the small of his back. ​

 

[Calligenia Io]

Location: Tattoo Parlor, Elrood City - Elrood
Objective: Survive - Uncover the Affliction
Tags: Ishani Dinn Arcturus Dinn

“Why did you kill him?!”

A vibrantly-featured HRD exclaimed as made her way into the tattoo parlor from a rear entrance, her mismatched eyes wide with annoyance after having been chased almost halfway across the city by a horde of ravenous pseudo-zombies afflicted by a plague that she had yet to uncover the nature of. In her mind, it would have been all too easy for a winged, katana-wielding Sith Lady to stun the man considering the fact that he was alone, but she supposed that was asking too much out of these types of Sith.

At least the Brain Demon Cultists drew the process out!

“I’ve been halfway across the city trying to isolate just one of these afflicted for study and here comes the perfect opportunity to do just that and now he’s just…” Calligenia pulled out her medisensor to verify her eye test, inhuman features forming into a frown as the device returned its scan.

“Dead.” She grumbled. “As a doornail.” The Nuetralizer added, before giving a facsimile of an enervated sigh as she put the device back into her bag.

“Also, we should probably reinforce this place. There’s like…a horde of zombies outside. You two wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

Spoiler: Loadout

• Armorweave Medical Dress
  
  • Energy Shield
    
    • Phase III “Force Avenger” Energy Shield
  • Droid
    
    • Sorenn-Syrush Medical Remote Mark I
  • Utility
    
    • Galen-series Medisensor
    • Series II Military Aid Kit
• Healing Blaster Type A
• Dashade Sonic Disruptor
• Bacta Grenade (4)
  
  • Loaded with Bacta-H

 

[Cato Demora]

Tag: Darth Malum of House Marr | Warmaster Nyâsh | Adeline Noctua​

Location: Administrative Building - Council Room​

​

Reaper took a second glance at the mention of his master, but didn't comment - instead moving to set his supplies down. His weapon went on a sling and he helped the other soldiers in the room set up makeshift fortifications. Malum would notice that the Death Troopers stood taller than the average soldier, carried more, and even in the harsh sensory enviroment of the Force - these soldiers were deadened to it. Entirely unaffected.​

​

Cato moved up to Malum before removing his helmet, resting it beneath his arm. His other hand shot out to shake his hand - but as they met, he'd pull him a bit closer and whispered something;​

​

"For tonight, kid, don't mention who you're loyal to. Got it? Loyalties won't matter if we die to some scissors and kitchen knives."​

​

He held him close there, and Malum would feel the unnatural strength the soldier carried - and the sternness of his jaw working beneath the skin. The intensity of his gaze broke as he offered a smile, patting Malum on the shoulder before motioning him to follow. He met another of the soldiers, younger faced man with a radio in hand as he glanced over some random make shift notes.​

​

"Situation report, Duke?"​

​

"Not good, Captain...", he man seemed to sweat, as his focus broke into another part.​

​

"We've got a few Sith Lords around the plaza - but I've lost contact with all of them. Orbital communications are out. For all I know, we're in the Nether already."​

​

Before he could speak up again, the radio in his off hand sprang to life with the dullest ache of static - and a few words. Like lightning the man sharply whistled for the room to silence, raising the volume before looking up to the Captain. Over it the soft static of Darth Strosius broke through -​

​

"What the feth is happening?", his voice came through, barely audible amidst the interference.​

​

Cato grabbed the radio and turned from both of them.​

​

"Knight Strosius, this is Captain Cato Demora. We've lost contact with Fleet Command and the local population is suffering a force affliction. Some advice - get your ass to the administrative building. Report to all channels this is the hold out until further notice."​

​

The radio went to static again, and he passed it back with a sigh.​

​

"The more Sith the better.", he said with a frown back to Malum.​

​

"You got experience with crowds, Sir?"​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Lips moving in silent recitation, and a steady stream of blood flowing from a cut from his palm into the air around him, Arcturus' long put off plans were finally coming to fruition. It hadn't been an intended tangent in their tasks on world, but with the planet seeming more or less secured he wondered where the harm was. Now that he was back in Realspace, and more committed than ever to various individuals here, the Nether would no longer be his permanent abode. But that didn't mean he wanted to stray too far from it.​

​

It always called to him, after all. It was... Inevitable.​

​

The black form of an hourglass had been inked upon his bicep. It wasn't huge, pretty small in the grand scheme of things, but its power was built upon by the band of runes which wrapped from it around his arm like an armlet. They matched runes he'd etched around one of the archways of The Hourglass, and with the Force and his vitae mixing throughout both he found himself forming a bridge. ​

​

Soon it was finished, and the humming of the tattoo gun cascaded into silence. Arcturus wasn't quite finished though, he continued to focus with his eyes closed, a dark veil swirling over his form as the last dregs of the incantation were uttered, and the misted blood seeped through the droplets of ink bubbling up across the open wound which had formed.​

​

There was no aftercare. No cleaning or wrapping. Nope, one minute he was focused and slowly easing back to reality, and the next there was a splatter of blood staining his brand new shirt. Well, suffice to say his eyes opened fast then, and as he stared over the infected state of his tattoo artist he couldn't help but smirk. "Guess I can keep my tip" he hummed, before shaking his head and looking toward Rhiannon. Clearly he'd missed something.​

​

"You'd think he'd have tried to kill us before inking me..."​

​

As he rose up from his chair, Arcturus reached for some antiseptic wipes and carefully cleaned down his arm with a wince. Then he rolled his sleeve down, he could cover it properly later. They were fast interrupted by the arrival of a bright stranger, who quickly earned a once over from Arcturus. He hummed for a moment, looking between her and the body, then blinked his sights toward the doorway.​

​

"There are more of them?" he asked incredulously, "Damn, how long was I out?" Focusing on such a ritual required the kind of attention that he could only commit when in a meditative state. Beholder would have been the best place to conduct it, but their artist hadn't been the most willing so here had to do. Stepping over the slumped body, and ignoring the question posed by the android, Arcturus pulled open the blinds and peered out over the madness which had befallen the city.​

​

A storm had fallen, and one that he'd seen before. The kind which tore at and shifted reality. The kind which was not belonging to Realspace. Arcturus almost laughed at the sight of it, not daring to believe what his eyes told him. "I didn't do it. honest," he said, turning to Rhiannon, "I wanted to bond it to me, not the planet!"​

​

Okay, so then he did laugh. What timing. "Well, love... It seems I may have returned from the Nether, but it wasn't quite ready to let me go..." His gaze flicked back to the droid. "You want a live specimen?" He looked to Rhi, and grinned, "What say we fetch her a specimen?"​

​

Ishani Dinn Calligenia Io ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Rhi had watched Arc imbue his tattoo with rapt attention up until the tattooist became a pressing problem. Now her focus was back on him, as she gingerly touched his arm, admiring the mark. Here it was at last. His way back to her.

Meeting his gaze, she held up a bit of gauze for him to see before she began to carefully bandage the tattoo. He might not care much about tending to his wounds, but she did.

That was when the android burst into the parlor. Rhi glanced up at her, did a double-take at her mismatched eyes and hair, then replied, "It was self-defense. He would've attacked us, and I wasn't about to get stabbed with a tattoo pen." Or let Arc be stabbed, for that matter.

Something fishy was definitely going on, however. Rhi looked out the window again, observing the storm.

“Also, we should probably reinforce this place. There’s like…a horde of zombies outside. You two wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

"A horde of zombies?" Rhi echoed incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me..."

"Well, love... It seems I may have returned from the Nether, but it wasn't quite ready to let me go..."

His laughter got Rhi to smirk, though she didn't much like the idea of the Nether coming after him. "I think this may be bigger than just you, babe. Not that you aren't worth wrecking an entire planet for." She turned to Calligenia. "All right, we'll get you a live specimen. I take it you want to try and cure them?" It was understandable that the android was unaffected, but why weren't Rhi and Arc infected?

She headed for the door, sword in hand. But no sooner had she opened it, she was hit by a wave of intensity in the Force that stopped her dead in her tracks. It was a "bad feeling", all right. Maybe one of the worst feelings she'd ever had in her life. She leaned against the doorway, trying to recover from it—but soon forced herself to straighten up again. An infected woman had spotted her from across the street, and was now running toward them with homicidal intent.

Arcturus Dinn Calligenia Io​

 

[Calligenia Io]

Location: Tattoo Parlor, Elrood City - Elrood
Objective: Survive - Uncover the Affliction
Tags: Ishani Dinn Arcturus Dinn

"Well, love... It seems I may have returned from the Nether, but it wasn't quite ready to let me go..."

"I think this may be bigger than just you, babe. Not that you aren't worth wrecking an entire planet for."

For a moment, Calligenia felt like a side character in a zombie movie with a romance plot!

"All right, we'll get you a live specimen. I take it you want to try and cure them?"

“Yes, please! And of course!” Calligenia answered after a short pause. “But I also need to understand what exactly is afflicting them.” She added. “It has to have something to do with the storm, I’m sure, but I have no way to verify that theory or take any readings.” The Nuetralizer finished. It was only then that she realized how lucky she was to have encountered a pair of Sith, who could in theory, take readings for her, albeit extremely subjective ones based from an inherently biased perspective. Regardless, that was better than nothing and it would at least give her something to start with.

“I’m Doctor Calligenia Io, by the way.” The HRD said. “You can call me Callie, if you want.”

Suddenly, a terrible, throaty scream sounded out from across the street. Within the span of a heartbeat, Calligenia had her sonic disruptor pistol out, set to stun, and pointed towards the afflicted woman. However, the HRD didn’t fire until…

“I’ll shoot! Can one of you use your powers to make sure she doesn’t get injured when she falls?” Without waiting for an answer, Calligenia squeezed the trigger, casting forth a low-powered sonic pulse aimed for the zombified woman’s head!

Spoiler: Loadout

• Armorweave Medical Dress
  
  • Energy Shield
    
    • Phase III “Force Avenger” Energy Shield
  • Droid
    
    • Sorenn-Syrush Medical Remote Mark I
  • Utility
    
    • Galen-series Medisensor
    • Series II Military Aid Kit
• Healing Blaster Type A
• Dashade Sonic Disruptor
• Bacta Grenade (4)
  
  • Loaded with Bacta-H