Typhojem's Steel: The Left Hand's Blade

[Yusana Fenni]

Once inside the tomb, Yusana looked around, initially scanning for potential hostiles, but upon finding none lowered her blade. The main chamber of Ajunta Pall's tomb was wide and dimly illuminated by what remaining radiation was left in the ceiling lights hanging high above. The air smelled of limestone, made thick as it passed through the nostrils thanks to the dust the duo had brushed up by punching a hole through the door behind them.
The Echani said nothing, her eyes only scouring the tomb for anything that might pose an immediate threat. About half a minute later, Yusana finally allowed herself to let out a sigh of relief. She took a few steps forward, letting the tip of her vibro draw against the dry, earthen floor, producing a soft, scratching sound as the the Echani Brand's vibrator cell hummed with kinetic energy, discharging it into the floor.

As Yusana moved away from the door's arch and stepped into the pale light, in front of her lay a colossal sarcophagus that lay mounted at an angle against a low, rock pedestal. "That must be it", Yusana said, with barely a whisper as she slowly approached it. Her eyes remained peeled and alert, cautiously approaching with almost humble deference until she stood fight at the base of the large sarcophagus. On its lid with glyphs and markings in a language long lost, from an age long gone. The Echani offered her Togruta a quick look, as if to say "It's really it", before turning back to push some of the rocks off the lid so they could open it up here.

One last, rather large piece of rock lay in the way, and the Echani was having some difficulty dislodging it from atop the sarcophagus' lid. Centuries of non-movement had almost stuck the rock there due.

"Give me a hand here, Sha."

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

Shamira didn’t know what she had been expected going into a sith tomb on Korriban. She had never been tomb raiding before, so she had no prior experience. Nor were there many picutres of the insides of the tombs floating around on the holoweb. And there was no way to the know if those were doctored at all.
But the togruta did suppose that the inside that they walked into did look like she thought it would. Dim lighting that still worked after a few hundred years made the tomb hall look eerie in the dim light. The smell of limestone wafted to her nose, and her boots made imprints in the sand that hadn’t seen anyone traverse its large hall in centuries.
The pair continued up through the hall up to a raised pedestal, where a large sarcophagus sat upon it in all its glory. Shamira’s gloved hand ran over the markings of the coffin, trying to discern any of it. It was written in some sort of old sith language, one certainly lost to her. The Togruta reached into the back of her belt, pulling out a small camera, and began to take pictures of various markings on the stone slab. Perhaps she could take time later on the ride home and begin to decipher some of the markings to try and figure what it all meant.
Her little photography escapade was quickly put away when the Echani asked for her help moving the lid off. Putting the camera back on her belt, Shamira placed both her hands on the lid and began to push, digging her feet into the stone to get more traction in pushing the lid off. Slowly, with their combined strength, the Togruta felt the lid beginning to slowly slid off.

| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |

 

[Yusana Fenni]

With a soft, rumbling sound the sarcophagus' lid slowly gave way. A loud thud echoed throughout the tomb as it finally fell over to the side, barely missing the Echani's feet. A small cloud of dust rose from inside, prompting Yusana to cover her mouth with her sleeve as she fanned the particles away with her hand. After a while the dust cleared, and Yusana gave Sha one last look of excitement before leaning forward to peer inside.

This is fun, her eyes told to Togruta silently as she peered through the thin, remaining cloud of dust, into the sarcophagus.

Inside, robed and swaddled in clothes marked with more of the strange glyphs, was the skeleton of a human, or at least what was left of a human after such a corrosive life led, tainted with the Dark Side of the Force and subjected to the constant, relentless abuse of battle. The bones were blackened, by age most probably but a certain decaying quality about them could be observed. The hands were about the mid-torso, the fingers closed in around something the corpse was buried with.

The Echani's eyes then widened, and her hands reached down, brushing the fabrics aside as if she was looking for something.

"Where's the sword?"

"Looking for something, intruders?"

It was as if all other sound had been snuffed out by that third voice - an eery, deathly calm that seemed to sap energy from all around it. The Echani felt her chest grow heavy, and for a second said nothing as she first turned to her companion - her hand slowly reaching for her tremor sword. And then in less time than it would have taken to blink an eye, Yusana spun on her heels, pointing her sword directly behind the two as her other hand reached for her waist to activate a little device that toggled her Echani dueling shield.

Initially there was nothing behind them, but a moments later a deathly visage appeared, clothed in the black robes of the Sith and brandishing a double-bladed, steel-notched sword. As the phantom materialized by the doorway, blocking their way out, his skin was noticeably pale, and his eyes a sickening yellow as they smiled under the shade of his robe's hood. A re-breather mask covered the bottom half of his face, leaving to hypothesis the rest of the man's expression.

"We may be in for a fight", Yusana whispered under her breath as she let out a sigh, blowing one of her white strands of her against her breath.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before someone attempted to take it. To take, this", the phantom said as it held up its double-bladed sword, almost mocking Yusana and Shamira as it then flourished it with a spin, held it upright, and then pointed it downward to the side as it assumed a combat stance. "Needless to say, neither of you will be walking out of her with it. Or with your lives, for that matter."

That salute, Yusana thought to herself, then turning to Sha.

"Makashi."

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

The whole tomb echoed with the soft thud of coffin lid hitting the ground, with Yusana quickly moving her feet out of the way. Shamira shot her an apologetic look, before standing on her toes to peer into the coffin with her friend. She brought her hand up to cover her nose and mouth, the dust still attempting to settle after being moved for the first time in thousands of years, as she looked into the coffin.
Inside laid a skeleton. The skeleton. The clothing seemed to be marked more with the strange glyphs that completely covered up the coffin. Frowning lightly, Shamira brought her camera back out and began to take pictures of the clothing it wore. Perhaps they were some sort of ancient sith burial ritual, one that would allow the person an easier path to the afterlife.
Or worse, yet, keep them here.
Shamira’s camera was positioned over the center of the corpse when the Echani’s hands began to shift through the clothing, obviously looking for something, prompting a questioning look from Shamira as she put the camera in the back of her belt once more. Her head tilted in curiosity, and she was about to ask what the woman was looking for before an unknown voice echoed throughout the chamber, causing the padawan to seize up.
Slowly, the Togruta began to turn around, and standing in the center of the chamber was a ghostly apparition, holding a gleaming double edged sword, something that looked like it had just come out of an armory the hour before. It didn’t look like some relic.
Her grey-blue eyes slowly squinted into the slits as her partner’s words washed over her. A gloved hand slowly reached down onto to her belt and pulled off the silver, gleaming hilt of her lightsaber. The next words out of the ghost was all that Shamira needed to prompted her next action. With a flick of her thumb, the blue blade illuminating the area around the pair of tomb raiders.
Shamira’s eyes didn’t leave the ghostly figure as her feet shifted, Yusana telling her the name of their new opponent. The Togruta’s head just shook as she assumed the proper stance, form Ataru, ready to cut down the opponent. “I don’t know that name, nor do I really care all that much. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems like he would like to kill us.” Even with the harsh-ish words, a small smirk peaked at the corners of her mouth. She was ready for this fight, especially knowing that she could trust the fighter by her side to have her back.

| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |

 

[Yusana Fenni]

"It's not his name", Yusana hissed under her breath as she lowered her own stance; resting the blade of her tremor sword horizontally on her outstretched elbow on her other arm. "It's a dueling form. Form II, was it?" The phantom then raised one end of his sword at the Togruta, his eyes pulsing with that sickening, yellow glare. On the whole the figure seemed real enough, but it was also as though one could just see right through him. He was there, but he also wasn't.

"Alien."

Yusana's eyes then widened as she quickly looked at her friend, taking a half-sidestep closer to the Togruta and then looking back ahead.

"You carry the weapon of our order, and of the Great Enemy's. And yet.. you do not recognize me?" The visage then laughed, and then without warning reached his arm out ahead of them. Almost immediately a huge arc of lightning shot out of his fingertips, colliding with one of the lights hanging overhead, causing the whole room to short out for a second. As the lights came back on and stabilized once more, the figure continued to speak.

"I will forgive you for failing to recognize power incarnate, alien. But do not expect much else." He broke into almost maniacal laughter again. "Am I not magnanimous?"

"I, am Ajunta Pall, grave robber. First Dark Lord of the Sith and of the Old Ones who rebelled against the Jedi."

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

“Oh. Right.” Shamira’s face fell lightly when she realized her admittedly, quite dumb mistake, before shaking it off and watching as the ghost readied himself to fight the pair of tomb raiders slash warriors. The Echani to her side readied herself, prompting the Togruta to double down on her readiness, sliding her feet so that they represented the form Ataru, as well as bringing her blade to a readied position.
Eyes searched out in the dimly lit room, finding places to use the more athletic form to her advantage. Some of the pillars were broken, which would allow her to use them to her advantage in springing down on the ghost. She could only hope that this ghost wouldn’t be able to fly. That would quickly negate any advantage her atheism offered her.
These thoughts were interrupted, and Shamira wouldn’t be surprised if from her mouth came a impulse gasp when the ghost addressed her directly. Her eyes flicked to her lightsaber, mouth pulling into a thin line, as it sounded like the thing was practically mocking her.
When he finally revealed his name, though the padawan had no doubt in her mind that Yusana already knew exactly who the figure was long before he had to spell it out for the less knowledgeable alien, Shamira could only nod, knowing now she was facing one of the greatest duelists the galaxy had ever known. She doubted that even death could put a damper on that, and suddenly she felt less confident in her own abilities for this fight.
But then she felt the presence of the white haired woman next to her, which she only just now realized was standing closer to her than before. Something about Yusana being there, close, calming, kept the padawan from losing her concentration in those moments, so that she was able to respond in a clear, calm, and collected voice back to the apparition. “Fancy little trick you have, with the lightning.” Slowly, the Togruta’s off hand lifted away from her lightsaber, pointing towards the ghost. “Too bad I can do it too.” A few strands, nothing nearly as powerful as the blast Pall had shot, suddenly blasted towards the ghost. Shamira knew it would do little, if anything, but was more a show of power than anything else.

​| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |

 

[Yusana Fenni]

With a small step forward, the phantom reached out its hand and caught Sha's own Force Lighting attack. The blue streaks shot straight at Pall's open hand until it was all absorbed into a small, bright blue orb around which Pall closed his fist. The Sith laughed and shook his head as he began slowly taking steps towards the two. "Something the Jedi won't teach you - I wonder if you're hiding anything else, alien? Or are you just another cheap conjurer of parlor tricks?"

Yusana hissed as she then began to step away from Sha, side-stepping her way around Ajunta's right side with vibro still raised at a middle-guard stance. "How do we know you're not some cheap impostor yourself?"

The phantom simply laughed; the deathly visage on its face seemed to smile behind its re-breather mask. "You doubt, Echani. An admirable trait, but misguided in this case." He then raised his hand at her, his fingers slowly closing to form a clenched first as Yusana slowly began to reach for her throat. Initially she just looked like she was loosening her collar, but eventually she began to grab at her throat as her breathing grew heavier; eventually it was evident that she could barely breathe. "I am Ajunta Pall. First Dark Lord of the Sith. Heed these words, Echani, for you will only find consolation greater than having found me in your own death." His outstretched hand then raised a little, also propping Yusana off her feet, prompting her to drop her sword and hold her neck with both her hands as she struggled to breathe.

"Force take you now, for I have willed it." He then pointed his fingers outward at her; releasing another storm of bright- blue lightning which slammed straight into Yusana, causing her to convulse as she cried out in pain for a second before knocking her back and slamming her into the earthen wall behind her. The force of the impact shook the room, and in certain places dust trickled downward from the ceiling. The ancient lamps that illuminated the tomb also flickered, their own energies buckling under the feedback of the Sith Lord's powerful Force Lighting attack.

And then, without wasting little more than a single breathe, Pall turned to his side to face Sha, and with an unbelievably vitalic Force Jump leaped at her as he launched himself into the air in a corkscrew; his dual-bladed steel-notch sword whistling as it cut through the air and barreled down on the Togruta.

[member="Shamira Karuto"]

 

[Shamira Karuto]

It wasn’t often you received compliments, snarky and sarcastically given or not, from years dead sith lords, and the little Togruta couldn’t help the smirk that punctuated on her face at the comment and question. “I could be hiding many, many more tricks, dead man. Though, I doubt that you will give good enough of a show to even have me pull out half of them.” Her smirk turned wide, knowing the gravity of the dangerous game she was playing at this point. This thing could probably kill her within a few moments, but the padawan hoped that ticking off him might prompt a mistake or two.
Her attention turned to her friend as she proposed a question to the apparition, and it was obvious she had the same plan in mind that Shamira did. Interesting. They worked well together in battle tactics even after only knowing each other for a few days. She could make an extremely useful and interesting companion to have. If they survived this place, of course.
The ghost talking brought her attention only back to him momentarily, before the burst of lightning shot past her and caught her white haired friend directly in the body. Her attention tore to the woman, eyes shooting wide as her voice was caught in her throat as the Echani was thrown against the wall.
If Shamira hadn’t snapped back to Pall in anger, hatred towards the ghost for hurting her friend, the Togruta would’ve surely been bisected by the sword. Instead, she was just able to bring up her own blade in a blocking motion. Because of the suddenness of the move, she wasn’t able to bring both hands up to the hilt to make it a stronger block, so when the blades collided, the padawan was knocked back several feet.
Shamira shook her head to clear it of weariness of being knocked back so far, then brought her blue blade up into it’s ready position. Calling out over her shoulder, but her eyes never leaving the apparition, she pleaded lightly with her friend to stand once again. “Don’t you dare die on me, Yusa. You got me into this mess, you better get up and help get us out of it.” Shamira slowly shifted her feet, putting her lithe body in between Ajunta and her friend, determined to protect her if the Echani was knocked out or seriously hurt.

​| [member="Yusana Fenni"] |