We All Thaw This Coming | ORC Invasion of Rhen Var

[Darth Voracitos]

Enemies: [member="Argis Volmir"] (Food), [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Zak Amroth"], [member=Racket], [Trash Family: [member="Yula Perl"], [member="Zef Halo"], [member="Mav Vohaloveer"]]
Allies: [member="Kyrel Ren"], [member="Taeli Raaf"], [member="Adenn Kyramud"], [member="Romi Jade"], [member="Vereshin"], [member="Darth Ledgermayne"]
Followers: The Coven of Gluttony, including the Lady Envy, and the Savant Wrath

The only pitiful thing here, is your grave lack of understanding. The voice of Voracitos echoed in but a moment without moving his lips, a telepathic message dripping with malice. The sabers flung true through the air, and as the Sith Lord pelted the Jedi with waves of hungering electric energy, the sabers cut clean through the bottom of his throne. Sparks flung as they bisected the bottom of its insect like legs, and destroyed the repulsors supposedly hoisting his weight up from gravity, it even dismembered a portion of his pudgy slightly alchemical foot. The whole Throne fell to the frozen earth with a clattering crash... but its occupant, save a few spare toes, did not.

You have made a transaction not so easily repaid. The voice continued, again taking only the space of a moment, the dripping malice turning into grating stones on the mind. Voracitos seemed to float in the air, with pieces of rubble held aloft in the air, like tiny satellites surrounding a putrid planet. The green glow of his energy illuminated his form like a makeshift sun, cackling with knowing laughter. In but a moment it was extinguished, leaving behind a brief after glow, with the ghost of its path connecting the pair of adversaries like an umbilical cord attached to a blimp.

I will extract the necessary toll... The voice now more like a deafening continuous clap of thunder roared telepathically. Suddenly, the mouth of the enraged glutton became more like a maw, stretching unnaturally more open than any mouth a human could possibly survive. Like a wound bisecting the Sith Lord, the bottom of his mouth reached farther down his neck until it situated somewhere in the center of his chest, all the while shrieking with psychic fury before the explosive roar of his consuming desires crawled out of his gullet like some eldritch abomination of lashing tongues. Simultaneously, all the tongues of gluttony reached for Argis, seeking to consume his essence up until the point of death, but more importantly: attempt to extract his soul from his still living body and bind it to Voracitos.


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The Lady Envy and the Savant Wrath crawled from the rubble, but the came up as worms, empty handed and worse for ware, waiting to be picked off by a malicious bird. The Lady Envy pawed at the artifact practically burning her chest with dread. It was an item not to be trifled with, and she did not wish to be bonded with it, but how could she deny her master and survive? It was clear why it was bonded to her, someone so self-center and absorbed in herself would not so lightly activate it. She was the voice of reason for the Coven's most destructive artifact, because it extracted a heavy toll on all who surrounded it, particularly the one who must open it. It was to invite certain death not only to the enemies of the Coven, but by damning the one who opened it. If a truly loyal servant like the Savant Wrath were given authority over such an artifact, surely at the earliest sign of failure he would sacrifice himself to spite the enemy. He likened himself a warrior, but the warrior types could just as easily be converted to that of the sacrificial lamb if it meant the destruction of the Coven's enemies.

No, this was not he moment to unleash the fury of the Iris of Ligier. The Fell Star was powerful, surely, but to use the Iris was to invite her own doom for no guarantee it would be of any use. It would also mean whoever eventually won the planet would have access to both, and with no guarantee that it was going to be the Sith who claim victory, handing both over to the Coalition for a senseless death would be worse than eternity in Chaos. Thus, despite the hunt still ongoing for the Fell Star, the Lady Envy advised she and the Savant Wrath return to the Den of Decadence, to flee to their Master for transportation. The Savant Wrath wavered on this advise, he did not want to return without the artifact, he wanted to destroy the enemy. How could he face the master without these tasks done? He suggests the use of the artifact, and this enrages the Lady Envy.

"May I remind you the price of opening the Iris?! It shall consume allies as well as enemies, and who should be the one to reclaim it if all our allies are dead? This is not the time!" She shrieked, "So long as we posses the Iris, the Fell Star will not matter! However powerful they may become, Chaos shall consume them all the same!" With that, the Savant was begrudgingly convinced, and thus the pair fled. Before fleeing entirely, the Savant Wrath angrily revoked the spirits of his own servants in the Lost City, allowing them to parish so that he may recover his strength and allow for a swift escape to his master...

As for the Smoke Demon? It attempted to make [member="Vereshin"] its victim in its final moments, and paralyze him so that it may consume him, but whether or not it succeeded in paralyzing him it was swiftly consumed by the singularity the dark sider made.

 

[Dax Perl]

Location: Rhen Var, Orbit
Objective: Bring down the beast
Allies: ORC, [member="Kimiko Taiyo"], [member="Jerec Asyr"]
Enemies: TSE, [member="Vanessa Vantai"]

Opponent: [member="Vanessa Vantai"]
The green glow of the Heresiarch's main gun lit up the Marshal's vision just as the beast was about to fire it's terrifying weapon.

"Brace for impact!"

The Verdict shook violently as the vessel's upper decks were struck by the full force of the Heresiarch. Klaxons began to scream, and several shouts could be heard echoing through the bridge as some were knocked off their feet. "Damage report?"

"Shields absorbed the impact sir, starboard shield integrity at 34%, we're in the red there, green everywhere else."

"Turn us towards the Heresiarch, start hitting them with the 804s, I want 'talking guns' with those and the turbolasers. Focus all fire on their main gun, and redirect all power to the forward shields." Another officer began to bark a report at Dax as multiple little machines began to buzz around the Heresiarch, heading in the same direction as the fighter detachments that the Akarans had sent to assist the Marshal's forces. "We have multiple anti-fighter craft entering the field. Counting vessels somewhere in the twenties."

"Feth..." Dax muttered to himself. Those things were fighter-killers, no doubt about that. But there was little else Dax could do about them right now, facing down a five kilometer behemoth. The man didn't want to lose his daughter for a second time...but the lives of all those aboard the Verdict outnumbered those in the fighters right now. "Let the Bastion system handle those, limit its use to the quad lasers, auto turrets and anti-missile defenses. Our focus needs to be on the Heresiarch."

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The Rigor was not faring as well as the Verdict, the smaller ship suddenly finding itself under the bombardment of the Heresiarch's starboard guns. The smaller vessel, dwarfed by the Heresiarch, sputtered pitifully, the damage it had taken far too sever. And yet, the Rigor had not given up yet. The Rigor began to return fire, with its heavy turbolasers, attempting to help drain the ship's shields. As the first barrage of heavy turbolasers began to die down, the heavy ion cannons came alive, preparing to fire as soon as they were ready. It was unlikely they'd get away anyways. Might as well dump in as much damage as they could.

Luckily for the Rigor, its compatriots, the Erso and Azalea were fast approaching they're targets, with the Erso preparing to unleash its heavy turbolaser batteries, and the Azalea prepping her ion cannons.

The ships could only hope that the sheer volume of fire would be enough to bring down the giant in their presence.

Taskforce Umbra
Class | Name | Length | Shields | Hull | Action
Modified Dar Itah-class Grand Battlecruiser | Verdict | 3000 m | 78% | 100% | Turning nose to nose with the Heresiarch, alternating fire with ACS-804s and SORCE Turbolaser batteries, Bastion targeting system firing at smaller craft with quad lasers, auto-turrets and using anti-missile defenses (Long range with Heresiarch)
Modified Razer-class Frigate | Azalea | 186 m | 100% | 100% | Closing distance, prepping ion cannons (Mid range)
MC70 Ackbar-class Star Cruiser | Rigor | 950 m | 0% [Recharging]| 10% | Firing heavy turbolasers, prepping heavy ion cannons (Mid-Long range)
Arendal-class Heavy Cruiser | Erso | 800 m | 100% | 100% | Closing distance, prepping heavy turbolasers (Mid range)

 

[Argis Volmir]

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Objective: Retrieve Fell Star
Enemies: Sith, [member="Darth Voracitos"] (Meatlump), [member="Romi Jade"], [member="Taeli Raaf"]
Allies: [member="Mav Vohaloveer"], [member="Yula Perl"], [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Zak Amroth"], [member="Zef Halo"]
Equipment: Armor, Temperance & Serenity, Coyonite Rifle, Firewall Grenades


That got a response out of him. Argis thought, slightly joyous that he’d managed to do something to get beneath the Sith Lord’s skin at the very least. Voracitos’s voice echoing throughout his mind as he went on floating as though he did not feel the pain of most of his foot being sliced off. True rage radiated off of the Sith as now finally he started to monologue slightly. It was only a matter of time before one could push a Sith to such an extreme, even one as collected as Voracitos.

Argis stood transfixed horror, confusion, disgust all apparent on his face as the Sith Lord’s jaw opened and continued to widen, the sound of muscle and sinew snapping could be heard as the jaws went far beyond that of a humanoid. It was like watching an Anakkona on Kashyyyk unhinging its jaw. This Sith truly wasn’t human, nor was it mortal. It had transcended the material plane and had become a monster for his efforts. Was this the depths of what the darkside could do to one's body? Could the corruption really go so far?

You have defiled the natural order! Argis shot back across the telepathic line the Sith had opened up between them. He did not hate Voracitos for this, but pitied the man. He’d let himself become twisted, corrupted and continually sought out more power in the dark. He was too far gone for any to truly offer him a chance at redemption.

The tongues appeared more like tentacles that radiated power as they approached easily snagging and wrapping themselves around Argis’ right arm. Head looking to the sky Argis bellowed, as it felt like his arm had been dipped into the lava streams of Mustafar. When his head turned back to the limb he saw that a deep decay was creeping up his arm to his shoulder. Flesh had turned raw and stank like a corpse, streams of pus retreated down the limb filling the gauntlet. Energy fled the Dashade’s body unable to do anything to stop it. With a thought he activated the ultracrome shield within his gauntlet.

The compression technology made by the Echani may be what saved Argis as the vibroshield would come to life, buzzing as it cut through the tongues grasping onto Argis’ arm freeing him where it fell limply to his side. Strands of flesh all that kept the limb attached. Left hand clenching into a fist Argis pushed it forward.

Before Argis reality fractured, him stared directly at Voracitos, there was no rage, no anger, there was only the force. Pouring the force into a point in Voracitos’ core, Argis let it all go. The power which he’d absorbed from Voracitos’ lightning, putting his own power into it and rupturing the point from within, letting it bubble forth in an explosion within that wouldn't kill Voracitos but would hopefully greatly injure the monstrosity.

 

[Janick Beauchamp]

Objective: Penetrate the Sith network
Location: Lower level network access facility
Equipment: Scramble key, datapad, data spike, armor, lightsabers
Allies: ORC [member="Ladro"] [member="Sol Stazi"] [member="Kyle Farnes"]
Enemies: Sith [member="Sebastian Thel"]

Phew: these voracious dark presences were actually going for someone else on a different level. But having someone else for cover is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it's helpful because that someone else can take the flak, but on the other hand, that someone else is much more brute-force than I am, and may compromise my work down there, she thought, while sensing that dark presence going on a route that differed from possible routes that may have led to her. She could also sense that someone else was, in fact, covering for her and already began making backup copies of the data, and was much more brute-force in doing so, but she needed to make sure her own permissions allowed her to access the folders containing the files of interest before she could actually get started doing her own emergency backup copies. In her mind, the alternative meant doing a complete emergency backup of all the data. Which she knew she didn't have the time for. Nothing out of the ordinary because not only the data could be compromised, but the entire base may as well be compromised, too.

Once that was done, once she made sure that she had all the required permissions for the desired folders, then she was made to look, to the eyes of anyone else on the network, as if she was just a system administrator doing an emergency backup of the most sensitive data. In fact, it was the more sensible thing to do because she could feel the other intruder (Ladro) could compromise what she wants out of it without wanting it. So the backup operation began in earnest, which saw sensitive folders being downloaded into the datapad's memory. In the meantime, Janick got to work to write, on the datapad, using the Force through that mind-machine Force-powered interface because it's faster to write code for her than using NFU methods, a polymorphic, multipartite rootkit disguised into some update to the password management system - which she could also feel managed the users' permissions. A trojan that contained backdoors, logic bombs and a whole host of other malicious features in the making. But she'd rather hold off on deploying it until something goes awry while the so-called "emergency backup" is underway.

 

[Yula Perl]

Location: Jedi City Tunnels
Objective: Make things even worse
Allies: [member="Zef Halo"] [Yee] | [member="Mav Vohaloveer"] [Haw]
Enemies: [member="Darth Ledgermayne"] | [member="Darth Voracitos"] | [member="Vereshin"]
Also: [member="Darth Morbus"]

Yula hadn’t intended to bring the tunnel down—only part of it, as per Mav’s suggestion. Would that have even been possible? Precision was never her forte, and the high stakes confrontation made it difficult to focus. All she knew was that she’d brought ice, rock and snow down upon them, and the trio of smugglers was currently caught in game of catch between two Force entities. Sith, most likely, from the way the dark side shifted and groaned around them.

Next thing she knew, Uncle Mav had grabbed her by the shoulder and unceremoniously ushered her along, heading for the portion of tunnel that hadn’t collapsed yet. Sometimes, running was a smuggler’s best weapon.

“Okay, okay, gotcha.” She was out of breath for some reason, face reddened from being sprayed with snow and pieces of gravel in her hair. Briefly, she was reminded of her time on Midvinter. Except she wasn’t, because this planet was frozen Sith ghost hell. “Wait, what about grandpa--!” Yula turned to search for the old smuggler, her heart skipping beats here and there. As odd as the relationship was between the grouchy smuggler and sassy granddaughter, Yula had always held a sort of idolization of Zef. Since childhood, she too wanted to be a dashing smuggler, even going so far as to sneak aboard his ship when she was nine. She’d remained undetected for two whole days during the trip to Coruscant, at which point the ship had promptly been turned around.

“We can’t leave without him, he’s family. And he was our ride here.” And mom would get mad. Real mom, not ghost mom. That was still something to address. “Also, this was his idea, I think.” Mav shoved her along into a side tunnel, urging her to keep karking running before tossing some sort of grenade over his shoulder towards the man who’d called her Joza. Said man was currently in control of…some sort of sphere that was sucking up all of the snow and debris in the area. Ghost mom didn’t look too happy about that, and on reflex Yula almost called out for her mother to avoid the sphere lest she be sucked into it’s depths.

“No, no.” She muttered to herself, cringing at the thought of just how much this was confusing her. Her view of the dueling Sith disappeared as she moved further along the side tunnel, but the ominous crackling beneath her feet made her heart lurch. Yula looked down to see cracks spiraling through the ice, likely triggered from the earlier explosion. She had about half a second before the cracks gave way, and the ice bottomed out.

Fortunately, she only fell several meters before coming to rest in what appeared to be yet another icy cavern. This room was somehow less frigid, and a pattern of tiling could be made out beneath the ice. The Force stirred more heavily in this area, that much Yula could tell as she tried to put herself back together.

“Urrrghhh….” The Zeltron hybrid grimaced and groaned, joints aching from the impact of the fall into a heave of snow. Her armor was light, moreso to serve against the elements but it offered a minor degree of protection. Still, that wouldn’t negate the bruises she could already feel the forming, especially on her torso, maybe on one or two of her ribs. Something was poking her in the back though, and she reached behind her to remove whatever was irritating her. Something metallic, with one, two three, four, five, six…seven points. Frantically, she ripped the “Fell Star” out from between her back and the pile of snow to find the artifact bent and misshapen. A look of abject horror spread across her face.

“Oh, no…” She swallowed thickly, hoping that this wouldn’t sour her relations with her family or the Coalition. Or hell, even the Sith that were out to get them. Her head craned upward, shouting towards the hole she had made earlier. “GUYS, I BROKE THE FELL STAR!”

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Jedi City​

Objective: Bring da noise​

Allies: ORC [member="Zak Amroth"] [member="Racket"] [member="Argis Volmir"] [member="Yula Perl"] [member="Zef Halo"] [member="Mav Vohaloveer"]​

Enemies: Sith [member="Taeli Raaf"] [member="Kyrel Ren"] [member="Romi Jade"] [member="Darth Voracitos"]​

​

He had Zak ahead of him, and his team behind him. The man was making his way through the ruins, he was more on the hunt for the dark side, now the Fell Star. Trash family seemed to be in on that path well enough. It meant he could do what he did best, and ruin a Sith’s day, or two. But today, he was on the path to hopefully see if he could find Taeli. He knew that he was in the wrong place to find [member="Darth Carnifex"], the other constant in the galaxy, the foil of Coren, but Taeli was the greater target still.

Destroying the Alliance being among the worst of it. But he wasn’t certain that he could outmatch Taeli.

He could try, and was training himself, but his style of combat was more akin to beating Carnifex into the sand, than removing the sorceress. Another would need to help on that. Still, he could feel the Sith, even Raaf ahead. But there were more.

And that was when he heard the commotion, echoing and off, from Trash Family LLC. Great. Just great. The increase in the tide here, Coren was calling on the Force, he was wrapping himself in the embrace of the warmth of the light. He need the protection now, his lightsaber would do the striking. Another step.

"Come out, you Sith."

 

[Strider Garon]

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Objective: Defend Dreypa's Peak
Allies: TSE & Allies
Opposition: [member="Ardasz Verd"] [member="Veiere Arenais"] ORC & Allies
Inventory: Basilisk War Droid | Beskar'gam | Mandalorian Vambraces | Crushgaunts | Beskad | EE-3 Carbine Rifle | Sacros K-11 pistol | 2x Force Breaker Grenades | 2x thermal Det Grenades | Z-6 Jetpack |

The Art of war was simple, find your enemy, hit him hard, hit him fast, keep moving. The legendary mandalorian warrior had found his enemy, he had hit them hard and fast with enough force that devastated the troop of mixed soldiers. His barrage exposed a powerful opponent within their ranks. A being able to shield himself and others from the Basilisk's attack. "Kriffing Space Wizards" The old man hissed at the sight of the force shield. He new he had to commit fast if he was going to take on such an opponent. Many non force users would run at the mere sight of a powerful force wielder. Not Mandalorians, Jedi and Sith were ancient enemies of theirs that was hard to pass up a chance to test one's mettle against. No greater trophy in the galaxy bigger than tagging a space wizard and the old man was licking his lips at the very thought of it.

The basilisk hit the ground hard yet gracefully, a shroud of snow plumed where it had landed and it's rider swiftly unmounted himself. The very moment Strider had cleared himself from his droid, the mechanical beast thrusted off to continue engaging the military personal in the direct vicinity. The droid had left it's master grounded to face off with the Jedi on his own.

Garon drew his rancor bone hilted beskad from its sheath and pointed it towards the Jedi warrior in the distance in what could only be interpreted as a challenge of single combat. That was when Strider caught the sight of the other mandalorian, his rifle trained on him while he took cover in the recently breached blast doors. Was not one of his mandalorians, his IFF tracker would of coded him instantly on his HUD. No this had to be one of Darth Metus's brood. Those that hide under the skirt of a foreign power and thralls to a Sith Lord. And they have the balls to call Yasha the pretender. Strider moved with purpose towards the Jedi and his mandalorian ally. He had no fear of death and was quiet confidant in his own skills and abilities to take on both Mandalorian and Jedi if he had too. For the warrior long in tooth, win or lose, glory will be his even if death took him. Would be a battlefield death he had long waited for. If he was victorious, be a another force wizard notch under his belt and a outcast mando sent to the manda with the knowledge of what a real mandalorian looked like.

He kept moving forward, his blade gripped in his right hand. Waiting to See if the Jedi will drop the shield and engage. If it would be one on one, or two vs one. Mattered not, the grizzled veteran wanted a fight worthy of his attention. And both would due.

 

[Kyle Farnes]

Battlements
Objective: Fight the Mando
Allies: [member="Sol Stazi"]
Enemies: [member="Kaine Australis"]

The Mandalorian was knocked aside when the incoming took a few moments to see that the target that Stazi had pointed out to him. Switching his rifle to fully auto he took aim, but the other Mando was much more trained for the combat that was to come and was going to be avoiding the shots. It happened when your reaction time was more situation for piloting and using sonic weapons to stun the enemy. This though, it was using the full power of his blaster. The shots were going wide, but the Mandalorian started speaking, back to Sol.

“He’s a different one than me.” And that was coming from Kyle. He was proud of his heritage, but even his armor was not traditional. Gold and bronze painted, but with its fair share of pockmarks, Farnes’s armor was lighter, chest plate, back plate, bracers, but a modified helmet, and the bodyglove making it more appropriate for the situation and environment. Seeing Stazi charge, Kyle moved, his jetpack throwing him forward as the other Mandalorian pushed Stazi back.

Tucking a shoulder down, Kyle was intending to knock Australis in the helmet, and get back to his feet. From there, it would be hand to hand, and as a Warden, he knew that he could move quick, even in beskar’gam, hopefully use speed to his advantage. Or at least keep him occupied for Sol.

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

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Location: Climbing the slope headed for her way into the Peak
Objective: Find ORC Forces and provide support
Equipment - Merr-Sonn Blasters | Taozin amulet | paint ball rifle with balls
Allies: ORC - [member="Kingsley"] | [member="Andan Solo"] | [member="Cyran Vaas"] |[member="Arcanus Sunstrider"] | [member="Ladro"]
Enemies: Sith

In the air headed towards the Fortress. Rekha was trying to figure out what to do with the paint balls as ridiculous as it was that a ship would only have this type of weapon on board amazed and defied logic to her. She however was becoming the Queen of 'when all else fails punt'. She was watching out the view to see the area where the ORC allies were fighting.

From the side of the mountain suddenly a large gray...."holy feth...that's no little base in the pass that's....a fething fortress." There had to be a few thousand people in there at any given time and that didn't count transients. She caught the sight of walkers, speeders, hangar bays...feth...feth...feth... she kept repeating in her head. This was not what she was expecting, what she remembered was more like a base in a cave where they stored weapons. It would be a lie if she said her heart didn't sink just a little.

The noobs were staring too, "whoa"

Simon was the first to recover from the amazement, "You're going in there?"

Rekha for a moment almost said oh kark no...but then she remembered something she was a Warden someone who always did the right thing, course Wardens were pilots but in her mind it applied to wherever she was.

This place was a monster how many were waiting to take on anyone who had the luck to get in.

Morin's voice came over the comms, "They probably see us."

Yeah...they probably did...it was perfectly positioned for line of sight.

"Drop me at the bottom, don't land just get high enough off the deck that I can jump." Without breaking something she knew she should have added. But like any good building, first there would be patrols and second there would be ventilation or other type of vent or if her luck was holding maintenance door. She would need to figure out all of it...as soon as she got confirmation on what frequency the ORC allies were operating on so that she could make her way to them.

Melanie grabbed her arm, "Captain.." Concern in her eyes the girl was concerned for her. "It's ok, I got this." She would always say she had it even if she didn't have it. Simon stood with his arms crossed, "we could go with you."

Rekha shook her head and laughed had to give it to him the kid was tenacious. "No. This kind of infiltration takes one. One person who might go unseen, a group would surely draw attention just like this ship."

"Get ready" came Morin's voice the seal on the ship was breaking the cold air was rushing in, just then Andres brought her a cloth bag, "For the paintballs you can tie it to your waist." He shrugged hoping for what he just didn't know.

"Remember what I said..evacuate the wounded, and get anyone off you can get to that's your mission"

In unison the three responded, "Yes mam"

"Back up" Rekha pulled the parka on made sure her weapons were secure, opened the frequency on her comm links hopfully everyone was cycling through the band to keep from being tracked and she'd hit someone at the right time.

The gangplank was down as far as they dared Rekha darted out and dove through the air what little there was hoping to land in snow...and sure enough.....probably about five foot of powder. The wind was wicked cold still at this elevation it was ten times worse than on the plains.

She landed doing a belly flop the snow flew up and covered her as it floated back down. Rekha had to lay there for a few moments getting her breath back and making sure she heard the whine of the engines that the ship was away.

So far no shots, no sound that said she wasn't alone. Slowly she picked up her head looking around waiting for the smarting on her body to stop just enough. She pushed herself to her feet and looked up at the fortress.

"Who needs help" She sent a message to anyone from ORC on the Peak. Maybe they needed a diversion to get out, maybe they needed something else entirely either way she was here it was go time for her. There were not foot paths, so no foot patrols that left speeders. She kept moving looking for melted ice, a door, an opportunity.

There it was higher up on the slope but there, a ladder metal rungs covered in ice it would at least get her to the next level.

 

[Matt the Radar Tech]

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Operation: Deal with a stand-off​

Allies: [member="Kingsley"], ORC by association​

Enemies: Everything else...​

​

Andan slowly got to his feet, blaster still aimed at the lifeless form of the Sith official across the way. He wondered if the outcome might have been different if the sound blast hadn't of sounded when it did, and felt that yes it would have. For one, Andan would probably be Force splattered across the wall. That seemed about right. And yet, here they were, having overcome a very tense and dangerous situation...

"I killed a Sith," Andan repeated to his companion, blinking. Said Sith was definitely dead. "I mean, yeah, I killed a Sith. I don't mess around when I'm threatened."

The repercussions would probably be tolerable considering it had been a secret meeting, so the likelihood of being hunted down was less. Still, there was absolutely no reason to tempt fate by sticking around a crime scene to be caught red handed. Speaking of hands, the Corellian was reminded of the crate mentioned prior, to which he raised eyebrows at seeing it half-destroyed by what appeared to be scattergun fire... and there had only been one individual using a weapon like that.

"Kingsley... what did you do to the crate? Ya know what, it doesn't matter. We need to be quick."

Joining in the search, Andan began looking for anything that seemed to be of value. There wasn't much, really, beyond small bits and pieces. Most of it seemed to be restock for whatever the Sith did on the planet. Not so much ancient or rare artifacts. Probably meant the Sith planned on betraying the smugglers anyway, considering. Nonetheless, it took several moments to give a somewhat decent search, before Andan walked over to the dead Sith and began going through the human's pockets.

"I'm going to try and find a keycard or something, just in case," The smuggler muttered, before he looked over to Kingsley. "How's the search? Anything?"

They really needed to move.

Soon.

 

[Romi Jade]

Rhen Var​

ALLIES: [member="Taeli Raaf"] [member="Ahani Zambrano"]​

ENEMIES: [member="Coren Starchaser"]​

OBJECTIVE: Retrieve Fell Star​

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Spoiler

[youtube]

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/kJHpmSIZjNk[/youtube]

"Come out, you Sith."

She stopped.

A subtle twist in her waist brought her figure around. Stopping midway, her head hovered just over right shoulder and she had full view of their pursuer; the lone figure she spied breaking away from his group, then trailing them down through what could have been some sort of public-ish square - it was surrounded on all sides by quaked-damaged structures.

Coren had never been one for subtlety...

She wanted to say his name...more so she wanted to scream till his ears bled and the entire structure collapsed on them all.

"Well...well" She bit down, her cheeks became creased by the length of her cheekbone protruding from her face - the tension in her bite.

"I have to say your timing is still great." She emphasized her tone with a loud display of a nod, wanting to make sure the attitude was coming across. The fighting on her side had not been fierce at all, she was asked to stay near, possibly for an encounter like this. Much of her indoctrination was fused with inundated messages about how everyone close to her abandoned her in her time of need...and that the pain she felt would be something she could formulate into a weapon...

Taeli destroyed her sense of hope awhile ago, and Romi became a puppet full of rage...waiting to be directed at anyone and anything. Coren became a trigger for her in that time...

He took another step. So, she followed through this time, fulling turning around and facing him. Leaning into this stance most of her weight shifted onto her right leg while her left hand sat casually upon her waist.

"I don't have time to waste..."

Mmhnnn

She gripped the cylindrical device into her hand, and she could feel the rage boiling inside her. But it was evident by her suddenly clawing at her skull that the pain was coming back. In fact, ever sense her encounter with [member="Veiere Arenais"] on Yavin...the powers making her a complete thrall were in a weird flux.

Unmmm

"GET OVER HERE!" She roared, fighting through the cold sweat.

Romi jabbed her lightsaber toward Coren. It was a challenge.

 

[Zak Amroth]

Location: Lost Jedi City
Equipment: Expeditionary Suit, Hand Cannon, Lightsaber, Backup Piece, Extra Sabers
Allies: [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Argis Volmir"], [member="Racket"], Trash Family ([member="Yula Perl"], [member="Zef Halo"], [member="Mav Vohaloveer"])
Enemies: [member="Kyrel Ren"] (engaging), [member="Taeli Raaf"], [member="Adenn Kyramud"], [member="Romi Jade"], [member="Darth Voracitos"]

---

Zak was used to riding the snake.

The more they came at him, the more he began to suspect there was something wrong with this picture. The Sheriff of Terminus had a long enough track record of intoxication to know when something was affecting his senses. He stopped firing, and let the shadow army crash against him. As the half-kiffar suspected, they faded into nothing when his hallucination collapsed in on itself. Physical exertion had sweated some of the booze out of him by now, and he could touch the Force just enough to get a sense of his immediate surroundings.

He was not alone.

Sheriff Amroth was certain of it. He may have been imagining the horde of tomb creatures, but something real out there was stalking him. Coren hadn't been wrong, when he could speak in complete sentences Zak was one of the best trackers they had. Probably the only reason he had been allowed to come along in the first place. He knew what it felt like to be hunted, to be watched. And there was something almost familiar about it, a connection he felt which he could not explain or even fully comprehend. Moments after the sensation passed, he witnessed an array of burnt orange sabers spring to life in the shadows. Their leader's obsidian armor was bathed in the energy blades' reflection.

"Stand aside," Zak grinned in the face of dread itself, adjusting his wide brimmed hat and squaring his stance, "Or I'll break your toys."

Not that he expected the Sith or whatever the hell it was to comply, but Marshal Fyre had once told him that it was important to give people warnings before you shot them. It seemed counter-intuitive, but Dax said it was something he'd just have to get used to if he put on the badge. As soon as the battle droids advanced, he wasted no time in going to work. In most cases, trying to gun down a skilled saber wielder was a fool's errand, but Zak wasn't just a good shot. He was a very good shot.

The Sheriff started shooting with his blaster, not at the droids but at their surroundings, using the Force to guide the ricochets towards his targets from any angle but straight on. He raised his bio-disruptor, and sent an arc of electricity hurtling forward aimed at Kyrel's center mass.

 

[WolfMortum]

​

​

Objective: Operation Bangarang.​

Allies: Outer-Rim Coalition, [member="Ardasz Verd"] & The Jedi Alliance.​

Opposition: The Sith Empire, [member="Strider Garon"] & Friends.​

Inventory: Jedi Commander Battle-Armor, Lightsabers of Svivren, Defender of the Light, Promissium Annulos.​

​

​

​

"It's got a neural link with the rider. Keep that in mind. You sure you're alright?".​

​

Veiere listened to [member="Ardasz Verd"] seeking reassurance that the Jedi Master would not require his skills for the coming fight, though his focus followed that of Strider as he dismounted from the Basilisk War Droid and the mechanical walker seemed to move to redirect it's fire upon any remaining targets nearby. "On second thought, best we tackle this problem as quickly as we can, then move to hit the shield generator. Two blades are better than one, right" the Jedi replied, glancing back over his shoulder to offer his new-found Confederate friend a firm nod of appreciation and respect.

It would've been foolish to not expect a fight with some form of mercenary, yet Mandalorian's were something of a controversial subject among the Silver Jedi Order. The present relationship between the Order and the Mandalorian Empire had been rather on and off, more off than anything else. Conflict had flared between the two on many occasions, but it had also faltered after a time and it was difficult for Veiere who had close ties to their kind, to ascertain their present political stance with one another. Especially after Umbara.

The Force Shield that had been protecting he and Ardasz receded as Veiere's hand dropped to his side, [member="Strider Garon"] walking towards them with an eager pace. "I would rethink your decision" Veiere offered the Mandalorian a chance to turn away and avoid the fight altogether; "I am here for the Sith Emperor, none of your people". [member="Yasha Cadera"] was his niece through marriage to [member="Kay Arenais"], while Veiere had no issue defending himself, he would only engage if the fight was to be forced upon him.

[member="Darth Carnifex"] on the other hand had enslaved Commenor for the duration of a year, killed and tortured his people and nearly ended his family, not to mention Veiere's would-be execution to intimidate a peace treaty into being. If [member="Strider Garon"] wished to stand in their way from proceeding further into the facility, then he'd be shown the entirety of Veiere's strength by consequence.

 

[Darth Ledgermayne]

​

Location: Jedi City - Going low.
Objective: Find the artifact and fix it now?
Equipment: Dual-phase Lightsaber, x2 Creeping Lignan crystals, rest in sig

NPC's: x12 Oblitus Bellatoria armed with Bowcasters,

Enemies: Here comes trouble now.
[member="Yula Perl"]
[member="Zef Halo"]
[member="Mav Vohaloveer"]
Allies: [member="Taeli Raaf"] [member="Romi Jade"] [member="Ahani Zambrano"] [member="Darth Voracitos"] [member="Vereshin"]


A singularity. Growing ever more in power and size.

Remarkable, the darkside was. Beholding its sheer beauty were eyes of slight terror but primarily awe and wonder. A spectrum of thoughts and ponders came to Ledgermayne. Such a power of ability could be useful to learn for the future ahead. The passing of his own legacy was of paramount importance to the Sith Lord. To add this to his arsenal would be heavily considered. There would come a day, like all things. Ledgermayne would die. Today was not that pre-destined day. Time seemed to dull through the Sith lords perception as his fixed gaze on the singularity was broken like glass over it its master and owner. Anomaly, foreign and alien to his knowledge. Somehow this man or being had halted the incoming avalache of ice, snow and debris of stone and formed it into... a arduous dark delight of misuse. An awesome display of power, in its own right but born from sheer prodigality. Poor in taste.

" Impudence." A mutter.

Ledgermayne was no fool. To become a competitor in further acts of darkside power was not the objective. This instance of darkside power was no doubt strenous for the mind and will. The darkside was very often found to be more than abundant in this area but equally so in destructive power. Halting his body to a dead stop Ledgermayne watched as some of his lesser alchemical creations mindlessly ran toward the void. His more intelligent monstrosities had just arrived behind their master. Gravity pulling with gaining intensity. Raising both arms into the air the Gutretee opened his hand and slammed them into the ground. There was a pause before the ground beneth began its process of collapsing from under him. Further in the distance a high pitched blast of sound rang echoing within the icy walls of the jedi city and rusted metal beams. A sonic grenade or device? Such a device of that intensity and power output had little effect on the likes of those without ears and internal organs. Ledgermayne and his Oblitus Bellatoria without retreat would of been fine. That was something that could not be said for [member="Vereshin"] and his mortal vessel. For a instant the Sith lord gave thought to the idea or action of submerging the sonic device and sparring Vereshin of its tiresome effects. It was well within the Gutretees power, but considering the other mans negligent use of destructive energy... No such intervening action was taken. The ground below the crystalline sithlord came to life swallowing whole the dark master and his squad of crystal monsters like a Sarlacc devouring a gathering of Worrts. The sounds, power and effects from the surface dampened by shifting stone, earth, ice and dirt. As of yet they had been planted eight feet in depth. Darkness muffled eyes of crystal and stone.

But it could not muffle the Force. Force Sight.
Scanning the Jedi City once more the now submerged sith tilted his head at a strange sight.

The light... that was the power of the Fell star reduced to a faint glow in an instant. All underneath the backside of a Zeltron smugglers rear? Oh no. This had to be an illusion. A complex fantasia of the mind. Blinking hard and looking again Ledgermayne felt his non existent internal guts clench. It seemed the Fell star of all objects was not strong enough to take such an impact.

" No no no...Whaa-" he said to himself.

 

[Zef Halo]

​

Location: Jedi City
Objective: Get my retirement plan sorted i.e snatch the Fell Star
With: Trash Fam [[member="Yula Perl"] & [member="Mav Vohaloveer"]]
Allies: [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Argis Volmir"] [member="Zak Amroth"] [member="Racket"]
Enemies: [member="Kyrel Ren"] [member="Taeli Raaf"] [member="Darth Voracitos"] [member="Adenn Kyramud"] [member="Romi Jade"] [member="Ahani Zambrano"] [member="Darth Ledgermayne"]

​

​

​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls_nDYHEZcw​

​

​

Running away from responsibility was usually considered a bad trait but at this moment Zef Halo was glad as kark that his special gene of running was passed down the family tree to both Mav and Joza. Being as quick in running as in drawing a gun was equally, if not more, important to a smuggler enjoying a long career.

So the three fled from the mess Yula and the two Sith had created. Old bones creaking but still intact saved him from the paws of death once more. Slower than the other two Vohaloveers, for sure, but still got in time in the side tunnel. Slightly limping as debris of the rocks the more 'sophisticated' Sith had tossed at them had hit him. It was one of those times Zef really missed his beskar'gam.

Speaking of the more sophisticated Sith, the smuggler couldn't help but notice in his run that the man had actually saved the three from death for all the wrong reasons, though. The ol' scoundrel wouldn't stay behind to thank him, that was for sure. Not with the mambo jambo sorcery the man seemed to wield with ease. What bothered him, though, was the sight of Joza. Was it something more than a hallucination? He hoped not but the thought bit at his mind constantly and probably wouldn't leave him till he knew Joza was all good and well.

"I am here, kid." The smuggler calmed his granddaughter trying not to seem panting as best as he could but the damn age was catching up. "Keep moving." Zef ordered to the rest as he approvingly nodded at Mav's grenade being tossed right back at the powerful karkers behind them.

Ain't these karkers got Jedi to kill? Leave a good ol' smuggler alone. Sheesh.

"The idea ain't bad, kid, we're still alive." He smirked at Mav before adding sarcastically. "You've got the Mandalorian blood in ya and the language too, it looks like. Lesson from your dad though: Don't join 'em."

He had a lot of reasons to back that lesson either but that was not here nor there.

When the ground fell beneath Yula's feet, Zef almost grabbed her but his reflexes were no longer as sharp as they were once upon a time. The thought of her falling down into the nether itself startled him but he saw her just crashing onto her butt without any serious harm he eased up.

He peeked over the hole to see the Fell Star not looking right beneath Yula's rear.

"Eh, who'll notice?" He shrugged helplessly with that idiotic scoundrel's optimism he and [member="Daro Tarsi"] shared before offering a dull advice. "Can't ya just, y'know, bend it back into how it used to be?" Zef stole a glance at Mav for some support here with another helpless shrug.

"Who the hell makes these Force artifact chit so unreliable? Atrisia?"

 

[Ardasz Verd]

"Don't bother, bur'cya," Ardasz warned. "He's got his orders. You're the enemy." He watched the foreign Mandalorian in his HUD and took stock of his weaponry. Not the bare bones kit he had brought along for this ride- no, this man ([member="Strider Garon"] ) had come ready for war, to wipe out an enemy. So, it seemed the Sith wanted to send a message.

"Go left," was all the Verd clansman said as he exploded into motion. Taking the right hand side split the other Mando's attention, and while he had a HUD to compensate for that, a Jedi on the other end complicated things. Not to mention, Ardasz brought his own kind of heat to the table.

Ol' Faithful barked once, at about ten feet out. Instead of aiming for Strider, Ardasz shot at the loose snow seated atop the gates themselves. The ground shifted under the weight of the impact, and the powder churned. After a pump, he threw himself along the ground and slid, timed just right to avoid the small avalanche that ripped downward toward where he had been moments before.

He didn't discount the skill of any warrior, regardless of who they followed. That was a good way to end up dead. So, despite any disagreements he may have had with this Mando, he'd let his weapons do the philosophical debating.

[member="Veiere Arenais"]

 

[Vereshin]

​

Recommended Listening

Objective: Get mad
Allies: [member="Taeli Raaf"], [member="Kyrel Ren"], [member="Adenn Kyramud"], [member="Romi Jade"], [member="Darth Voracitos"], [member="Darth Ledgermayne"]
Enemies: [member="Yula Perl"], [member="Zef Halo"], [member="Mav Vohaloveer"], [member="Argis Volmir"], [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Zak Amroth"], [member="Racket"]

The hole in space spun around beneath Vereshin's grasp, sucking up the debris which Darth Ledgermayne threw. When the smoke demon lunged towards him, it too, was consumed by it's pull, but not before emitting a final, enraged shriek as it was torn from reality. With a thrust, Vereshin sent it hurling towards the three smugglers, who made their escape as it shredded the walls of the cavern. One of them threw a grenade, which landed by the wall and exploded, releasing a sonic blast which split Vereshin's ears. The sound was excruciating and caused the sorcerer to keel over on his knees, gripping the sides of his head in pain.

With his concentration broken, so was his hold over the singularity, causing the spell to break and cancel it out. The mass dissipated and faded into nothing, dragging the last remnants of ice and debris into it's maw with a whimper. Clasping his ears, Vereshin knelt in the snow and shook his head around, cursing and sputtering, throwing around a diverse range of profanities as he waited for the noise to stop. Rock fell around him, bringing the cavern down with every blast which rocketed his edges, the range of the grenade assaulting his ears. His knees were wet from the snow and as the Sithspawn closed in, Vereshin continued to shake his head and wail.

"Reee!" He screeched. Lunging a hand forward, he grabbed the wall of the cavern, tearing it from it's foundation and collecting the grenade as well. With the round object in his grasp, Vereshin clenched his fist and crushed it, shutting off the infernal noise.

Vereshin leaped to his feet just in time to feel the ground shake beneath them. In front of him, Ledgermayne was leveling the ground with his hands outstretched, swallowing the ice and snow on which they stood. Throwing up his hands, Vereshin dissipated the particles making up his form and apparated into a cloud of black smoke. When the ground gave way, he simply flew down and reformed, landing safely on the ground of the cavern below. The three smugglers fell down with him, along with the fake Fell Star that was currently in the hands of the woman who looked like Joza. As she fell, she dropped the star and it landed right underneath her backside.

Reaching out, Vereshin motioned to grab the star before Joza landed straight on top of it, but it was too late. She landed on the star, butt first and bent it out of shape, breaking the spell which was imbued within the mass. Little wisps of energy flew out of it as the properties were expelled, rendering it useless. Vereshin's features dropped and the hand he had outstretched went limp as he watched Joza break his creation. Now he was mad, he could no longer follow the puzzle that was inside and had no way of knowing where the real Fell Star was. He clenched his fists, his eyes widening with a brilliant, lime glow.

"My shiny!" Vereshin shouted, his voice rocketing off the walls of the cavern. "You broke it, you clumsy queen!" He cursed aloud, his force signature seething with rage.

His attention now on Joza, or rather, the woman he thought to be her, the time traveling sorcerer stood up straight and lunged a hand forward. Extending his reach through the Force, he wrapped it around Joza and inserted himself into her frame of reference, gaining access to her position in time. As Vereshin pulled her forward, she would be assaulted by memories of her mother as she was slowly erased from time by the real Joza. Behind them, the apparition of her mother would fade away as the young woman took her form, her initial self ceasing to exist. While inside her frame of reference, Vereshin would experience memories of her own, which had no doubt changed since he had met her in the future.

"Frame of prior reference, discard the slide which came before." Vereshin said, cancelling out the frame of reference which Joza currently occupied. While she shifted into Joza's place in time, Yula would experience her mother's memory of Vereshin, as she had seen him when they had been in hospital together. For a moment, she would leave the cavern and sit where her mother had been all those years ago, talking to Vereshin, a shy and easily frightened Sith Knight who recoiled at the very suggestion of a fight. Retracting his fingers, Vereshin removed the frame and shifted her position in time forward, overlapping with her mother's.

"Occupy the space by which it leaves and cover it, bypass it's most recent point." Vereshin said, dragging Yula's frame forward, overlapping the space it had left from the deleted frame. As he attempted to shove her into the future, he felt a violent jolt shove him backwards, along with an assault of memories from Yula, each one playing back events in her life, all of which included Joza. Vereshin recoiled with the impact, the spell having cancelled out as Yula's frame of reference refused to move through time. She wasn't Joza and time it would seem, had fooled Vereshin. He staggered back, his hands on his head and lurched forward, dizzy with the invasion of memories.

"You're not Joza." He gasped. Looking up at Yula, he watched the confusion in her eyes amount, which was entirely logical given the madness of the situation. At least now, she had some idea of who he was.

 

[Griet van Vliet]

Objective: Scum and Villainy Jedi Rambo
Equipment: In signature
Allies: [member="Cyran Vaas"] [member="Vorhi Alestrani"]
Enemies: [member="Darth Carnifex"] (indirectly)
Music: More Dakka

It didn't quite achieve what Griet wanted, but, in carelessly throwing the Blackblade with the flamer behind him, the Dashade caused the flamer to be thrown with such force that the flamer's fuel tank, or its pipes, could have ruptured, cracked even, in slamming against the cold, hard floor, in which case the fuel would start leaking out of it. Luckily she was behind cover by the time the enemy fire would have reached her, albeit narrowly: even so, she was still some distance away from the patrol. Nevertheless, the crate she was hiding behind was hit dead center but the crate now looked like it was made of Emmental cheese. "Darth Toboggan" (Vorhi) believed the Dashades would somehow become more vulnerable if they were drunk, as she saw nearby Lord Toboggan flung a gourd filled with wine into another Dashade's mouth. Yet, the very Dashade that threw the flamer Blackblade around was instead charging at her, with their clawed arms holding a vibroblade. Poodoo: these Sith are way too reliant on melee to flush out Jedi, she thought, while drawing her massive gun to get ready to fire, Force-aided of course.

It was time to her to go in hit-and-run mode, but not without returning fire using what amounted to a man-portable point-defense gun. It was firing the very same Umbaran electromagnetic plasma rounds as fired out of a Ventooine heavy machinegun; she estimated that a nine-round burst would produce a thermal signature intense enough to suggest that location was about to catch fire. The potential danger that burst could cause to the enemy was considerable since such a burst killed TIE fighters on several occasions. But rapid-firing a heavy repeater would mean it would be firing in a cone: even if one could fire at the Dashade's vibroblade, with later shots, it would be entirely possible to narrowly miss the Dashade but hit targets on the hallway's edges further away. Or even cause fixtures to catch fire. Also, if any of the enemy soldiers at that location served on Thyferra or Kashyyyk on the ground (against the Alliance and the Silver Jedi respectively), or over Fondor in orbit, they would probably have recognized that it had both plasma and ion effects attached to that. Once the nine-shot volley was fired at the Dashade, she dashed for alternate corridors in this maze, in hopes of kiting the whole patrol and maintaining a distance between her and the enemy.

It was only after dashing for some distance with Force-aided agility that she realized recoil from a man-portable point-defense gun kicked her hard, with some pain to her shoulders due to the intense recoil of firing the volley. For that she could be grateful for the absence of a full-automatic firing mode: not even microrepulsors in the stock of this heavy repeater could make firing this man-portable point-defense gun an entirely painless proposition. I sure hope the medical bill upon return, if I get out of here alive, will be limited to over-the-counter painkillers. Yet, I'd rather have painkillers than have to undergo procedures to treat lacerations from melee weapons, she thought, hoping that "Darth Toboggan" actually rendered the other Dashades more vulnerable by making them drunk. And yet, in this mad dash away from the enemy, she still needed to ensure that she wasn't cornered, or that she'd at least have access to appropriate cover to fire the next volley from.

 

[Darth Voracitos]

Enemies: [member="Argis Volmir"] (Food), [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Zak Amroth"], [member=Racket], [Trash Family: [member="Yula Perl"], [member="Zef Halo"], [member="Mav Vohaloveer"]]
Allies: [member="Kyrel Ren"], [member="Taeli Raaf"], [member="Adenn Kyramud"], [member="Romi Jade"], [member="Vereshin"], [member="Darth Ledgermayne"]
Followers: The Coven of Gluttony, including the Lady Envy, and the Savant Wrath

The words of food did not matter to the Lord of Gluttony, he had proven himself worthy enough that a nonsense retort was not necessary. As was said before, the time for games and trickery was over, only obliteration followed. The essence of life and the force flowed into him like some perverse sieve without bottom, an object which could never be filled and thus could never be poured out. Naturally, like a closed circuit, the energy which he exerted upon devouring his food would find its way returning to him in excess. Though the Ultrachrome shield severed a direct path to his victim's exposed flesh from which the essence could be absorbed into him, not all the partially immaterial tongues were severed, still the force flowed into him.

Then the force flowed into him once more, of its own volition. The energy was volatile, explosive, but ultimately it came from a source which was weak. Not weak in the sense that the power itself was muted from what it could be, but weak in the willpower which formed it, weak in its intention, weak in its intended execution. He felt it in his gut, and he sensed the intention of his prey, attempting desperately to pry his death grip from the creature by any means it could... but it held no sense of lethality. There was no confidence of will that their death-throws could do anything but potentially injure their aggressor.

Well, he would put on a display then, to demonstrate the folly of the Jedi, the foolishness in lacking the conviction to do what is necessary.

In a truly gory fashion, meat, guts, blood, and light exploded from the morbidly obese man's protruding stomach. Fat and shredded internal organs were jettisoned from the Sith Lord across the battlefield, bathing the Jedi in his potent excess. Fire burned at the ends of entrails, and at the edges of his prodigious wound like a jagged smile carved into a gigantic fleshy vegetable one might find on an autumnal holiday. The lashing tongues of the monstrosity-who-was-supposedly-a-man-once recoiled from the Jedi, mocking the death-throws of some many-appendage animal, his overextended maw slowly closing and absorbing the partially immaterial mouth-tentacles. All the while the natural fire of his burning flesh flashed an eerie green, and became overzealous and ravenous.

Along the edge of his wound, the green flames burned through his flesh like wild fire, and in its wake... alchemical transformation. All across his body the many swathes of alchemical flesh flashed with green fire before suddenly growing. Sometimes as protrusions, like teeth or horns, other times simply spreading across his natural flesh. In but a swift moment what appeared to be death, became a renewed unholy perversion of life. Like a personification of gluttony itself, what was once a wound across his girth became a mouth with many teeth. The gaping hole in his stomach lacking organs became a gory black throat which lead no where. Horns which sometimes acted as flexible tentacles despite their nature grew from his head, shoulders, back, and elsewhere. His left eye which was cybernetic, was obliterated as a horn grew in its place, while his natural teeth grew and sharpened, poking out of his mouth. When finally the false scream of death fell into a low condescending laughter, the Master of Gluttony looked down upon the world and thought it small.

"I th͏a̵n̴k ̷y̕òu ̛f̷o͡ŗ ͢br̨ìn͏g͜i͘ng ̧o̢ut ̕t̵h̀at̢ whic̀h ̴l̀ie͝d ͜w͜i͠thín me,"​

​

The many voices of what few Sith spirits remained as his garments spoke in relative unison with their master, the pain of their obedience evident in the whispered words drowned out by the voice of a true abomination.

"S̵ub̵m͞it,̴ ́and͟ ̢you̶ sh̀all̶ be ǵi͝v̡en op͜po̶rt͢ùn͡it҉y to̸ r̶ećĺa͏im͡ you͡r͜ ̨śo҉ul i̷n ̴the futur͠e,͞ ͞when ̶I ́ha̢vè f̴in̴i̡s̢h͜e͟d ̧fe̴èd̕i͜n͠g̕."​

The Dark Lord of the Netherworld smiled devilishly.

 

[Zark San Tekka]

[member="Darth Prazutis"] | [member="Elani Zambrano"]​

The Lord of Lies' chaos bolt struck him, and Zark erupted in a shower of void energy.

"That is what your kind never understands," another brown robed figure stepped from the shadow into Prazutis' view. Again he was dispatched into oblivion with a flick of the Shadow Hand's wrist.

"As long as a single flame survives," a second copy appeared out of darkness, "The Light endures."

This was not a game he could keep up indefinitely. It required focus to confound a Sith Lord with his illusions, especially in this place. Braxus was right, he was standing on very dangerous ground metaphysically speaking. Soon enough his foe would figure out how to track his true self, and he would have to contend directly with a virtually limitless wellspring of tainted power. It was time to even the odds. A beam of pure light erupted in his hands the size and dimensions of a lightsaber, and the Jedi spirit plunged it into the center of Zambrano's meditation chamber.

He could feel his surroundings react violently to this lightside anchor, immediately they began to chip away at its cleansing aura. It would not last long, the power here was too overwhelming, but while Zark had a beacon he vowed to make the most of it. Bathed in pure light, the true visage of Darth Prazutis was an unspeakable sight to behold, and he realized only now that his diplomatic approach had been folly from the start. The Filth had nearly fully integrated with his physiology, all the Jedi Master could make out in place of a face was a maw of writhing tentacles and teeth. A pendant hung from the Sith's neck, and he could feel the souls of a dead world trapped within cry out piteously for the mercy of oblivion.

Narrowing his eyes, he summoned another shaft of Force light. This one, he hurled like a javelin straight at the amulet around the Shadow Hand's throat.

​

"He's talking about me," another Zark stepped from the shadows, this one visible only to Zambrano's recently arrived apprentice, "But just because I'm real doesn't mean he hasn't gone mad."

He could sense her instantly react to his presence, tensing imperceptibly in expectation of a possible attack. Prazutis had trained this one well, with his focus divided in this way it would be a challenge to contain her. Zark made no hostile move for now, merely circled the young sorceror as he drank in her presence. He appeared to be ignoring the ongoing duel of minds between Prazutis and his other self entirely, but the more one fight drew his focus the weaker his mirror image would become.

"I'm afraid its too late for Braxus. But for you, there is hope," he held up his hands defensively, "Relax, I'm not about to preach the way of the Jedi to you. But your master is meddling with forces beyond anyone's control. A darkness that cares nothing for ideology, only chaos."

Would she take his warning seriously? Probably not, but it was at least worth the attempt. He knew she would attack him either way, her master would expect nothing less. But at least she had the right to know what side she had chosen.

​

"Witness," Zark told her.

As if by his command, a pulse in the Force swept across Rhen Var, touching the minds of every sensitive on the planet and in orbit. The Jedi spirit had not been the cause, but he had predicted the Fell Star itself would react to this sudden surge of renewed interest. Anyone with a connection to the Force had just seen the same vision, an uncovered tomb surrounded by fresh bodies in the center of the lost city. It was calling out to them, as if it wanted to be found. Even up here, Zark felt that all he had to do was trust his feelings and the Force would lead him to that tomb.

"It's not just a relic," he explained to the Sith Knight, "It's a key. If he uses it to open the way, everything may be lost."