When a thousand souls descend upon you.

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Czernon Zambrano"] │ [member="Ignis Imura"] │ [member="Vi Grir"] │ [member="Kurenai Yumi"] │ [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Cecilia Wissen"]

What a silly question that was.

Their relationship was based around a lot of things, but trust was certainly not one of them. This realization seemed to hit Ophidia only a moment after speaking because the correction came only a moment later. That last bit drew a smile from Cerbera, she stepped up to the Pale and calmly palmed the edge of her jaw, letting those graceful fingers brush a pleasant line with a nail that was usually poisonous.

But not for Ophidia... not now anyway.

"Darling, your ability is only surpassed by your grace. In this I have trust." This seemed to be enough for Ophidia, who grabbed her by the wrist and together they launched themselves towards the door.

Oh, dear.

Cerbera did nothing to limit their momentum. Instead she simply followed the advice brushing against her mind. It was rather easy to only keep herself in mind.... more often than not the Sith forgot anyone other than herself was a breathing, living sentient. That was the trouble with intelligence that was corrupted and enhanced by the Darkside of the Force.

There was a large chance of increased detachment.

They passed through the door, their molecules shifting and within that moment Cerbera felt a lurch through her stomach. Like everything turned upside down, her teeth grinding hard against one another.

Pain searing through her mind.

Then they were on the other side... but it still remained. She breathed, in and out, leaning her hands against her knees with her eyes closed. "I. Am quite thankful I only had a light dinner before this." Otherwise this surely would have looked far less agreeable to the other side. Rising with Ophidia became easier after a few seconds of breathing, then the cloak was back up and Cerbera could take a look around.

Hm.

This definitely looked more like it. "I wonder if we have the time to pilfer their research, while we are at it." Cerbera murmured softly, while they moved through their inner sanctum. There were shapes behind veils, working, in silence and it fascinated her.

The tugging continued and it pulled them into a particular corridor.

Darker than the others... there was blood sprayed here, the odor thick with copper, madness was here. Strange how they seemed to co-exist like that.

Purity and corruption in equal measures.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Cerbera"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Czernon Zambrano"] | [member="Ignis Imura"] | [member="Vi Grir"] | [member="Kurenai Yumi"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Cecilia Wissen"]

It was never a pleasant experience, and she would rather not do it one more time - Especially with a passenger in her arms. Darth Ophidia forced the nausea to retreat and her eyes to focus as they made their way down through the inner encampment. Yuuzhan Vong technology was indeed fascinating, however, they only had so much time. Ophidia could sense others closing in upon their location, drawn to the artefact. She doubted they would have much time to pilfer, but she would try her best to let Cerbera capture one of the eggs that fascinated her so.

After all, Cerbera had come all this way to aid, she would want something in the return and leaving such a debt unpaid was more dangerous than profitable.

They snuck silently down the corridor, eyes sharp, ears tuned, every sense on alert. An icy sensation ran down Ophidia's back as she set her eyes upon the closed curtains at the end. They looked frayed in ways, but as though the thin, thin layers of hide had been cut that way. It was skin, from what? Or from whom? The other side was dense with purpose and with madness, with reverence and hate.

She reached out to the curtain, fingers pulling the hides aside so they could slip through, so so quiet.

The floor was slick and red over a refurbished mosaic. Bodies knelt, backs turned to the assassin and the alchemist, attention focused forward to the altar at the centre. The stench of copper and madness rose from the far side, where hunks of meat were thrown in giant kettles until they lost all consistency and the bare bones floated up to the surface.

There, at its centre, the core of the madness: Four Yuuzhan Vong praetors kneeling, awaiting the blessing of the priests in the form of pain, kneeling in the sight of the artefact of their worship. It was placed on the altar; a distinct bundle with shining metal protruding out of its protective shroud.

Two of the priests gripped one of the kettles and started to lift it, preparing to ceremoniously pour the boiling liquid on the would-be chiefs to test their strength.

Ophidia's hand shot forward, her fingers curving like talons as she wrapped a telekinetic grip around one side of the kettle and pushed it up, lopsided. The boiling mass of flesh poured over the edge and into one of the priests, drawing momentary attention to its anguish. Her other hand went for the knife at her hip, making ready to throw.

This was the make or break moment.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

Pain was good.

It purified and advanced and motivated to move past the struggle.

This Cerbera knew and the priests did too- otherwise those howls of pain wouldn't have twisted into joy in the middle of it all. "Mm. I like them." Cerbera mused as she silently pulled her sword out of its sheath. It was fine and sharp and it oozed darkness the moment it wrapped itself out of that sheath. Liking someone had never truly contained the alchemist, this much Ophidia would know. They split up, one going left and the other right, causing their own personal brands of destruction.

Graceful fingers shaped and hooked in the air, it caused the immediate area around the Praetors' heads to shift in its substance.

Tiring.

But oh so gratifying to hear their screams as they began to fight against one another instead. The same type of poison she had used just a while ago. Her blade dashed aside one amphistaff and all of a sudden the alchemist found herself locked in battle against a Shaper. This was... good, because in truth Cerbera didn't much enjoy swordplay for an extended period of time. She ducked and avoided the acid that burned the wall behind her.

It was boring.

She scored a nick against the Shaper's arm and received one in her shoulder in return.

Oh, this was already growing tedious.

 

[Ignatius]

Objective: Discover what is going on.
Location: Headed there
Allies:[member="Cecilia Wissen"],
Nearby: [member="Vi Grir"], [member="Kurenai Yumi"], [member="Kyrel Ren"], [member="Darth Ophidia"], [member="Cerbera"],
Gear: Sword, Dagger, Gun, Armor,

The woman scanned over to the side in which she thought I was indicating at. Something told me that there was more. Even as she pointed out the individual, I shook my head.

"No. I feel like a small relic. Yet see nothing to indicate where it is. Almost like it's hidden from view."

I tried to think of why it felt weird. Off. Something in my gut told me that there were more people here than we thought. Slowly breathing, I delved deep within the force. Drawing upon it heavily as I reached out. Feeling for the center of the epicenter that was the dark side of the force. As I drew in, I started to feel sick. I felt my stomach lurch. Barely keeping myself from not throwing up the contents of my stomach, I could then suddenly feel power. The absence of the force within the vong, started to fade and it was as if, rocks in a stream were slowly being removed. I could then feel emotions radiating from the center. Fear of death. Eagerness, and the will to perish for whatever it was. Then all of a sudden, those emotions blew up.

There was a fight going on, and it was taking place right now. My face turned into a snarl as I collected the rest of my energy.

"We need to get to the epicenter. NOW."

The Matukai were well known for their ability to strengthen their bodies to super human levels. Using a combination of Matukai, and force Speed, My feet pounded hard upon the blackened ground. Each step seemed to thunder down as I ran. I jumped across the distances of two rather small hils with ease. Rolling to prevent damage to my body as I landed, rolling up to my feet to continue. Charging past Vong at such a speed, that I slammed into one of them to send him flying into the wall of one of his homes.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Cerbera"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Czernon Zambrano"] | [member="Ignis Imura"] | [member="Kurenai Yumi"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Cecilia Wissen"]

Her hand turned over as the initial scream of surprised pain turned closer to religious delight, forcing the kettle to entirely empty over the priest. It would perhaps not kill it, but it certainly made a mess, and it put the priest out of play for long enough. For the most part, Yuuzhan Vong were easier to put out of play than slay outright.

Drawing the tainted knife Cerbera had gifted her earlier that day, Darth Ophidia took three bounding steps before making a force-assisted leap that carried her over heads and right to the altar. She turned sharply as her feet hit the floor, kicking up the hot slime and slick red as she did. The knife flew from her fingers with the momentum of her movement, and the black blade buried itself near hilt-deep in the chest of one of the three kneeling figures at the front.

This would turn very hairy, very soon.

The Pale's head turned, eyes fixing on the bundle on the altar. Quickly, her left hand darted inside and grabbed the metal within. The black cylinder with the ornate dragon ornamentation slid out from its place of hiding as the ink-black fingers of Ophidia pulled it into action. A sensation shot up her arm the moment she touched it; fire rushed through her veins while ice cascaded down her spine. Her mind was quickly overwhelmed by the surge of dark energy the Soulsaber emitted, but it did not rebuke her. Her heart was long since seduced by the dark side of the Force, and the soulsaber could feel her tainted presence as well as she could feel it.

Her grip solidified around the hilt as the deep violet blade burst from the dragon's waiting jaws, black core, sanguine-specked.

She had stood inside a dark nexus before, and she had wielded great powers granted by dark rituals in such places of power, but never had she held such power in her hand and felt it bend to her will: A blade that sought destruction, dominance, unlimited power. Before her, she saw only cattle awaiting her wanton slaughter.

The praetor rose in front of her, knife sticking out of its chest, black blood tricking down from the wound.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Czernon Zambrano"] │ [member="Ignis Imura"] │ [member="Kurenai Yumi"] │ [member="Kyrel Ren"]

Somewhere the amphistaff had taken a bite of her shoulder, she repaid it by crushing its head under her alchemized heel. This shaper was far more experienced than the others and it was shown clearly by the way she refused to fall for the usual tricks. Pity. Cerbera dropped to ground, avoiding a burst of acid and jabbed the tip of her sword clean through the shaper's ankle.

Two seconds later her head was chopped off neatly and Cerbera could take a breath.

Or maybe two breaths.

That had been annoying to say the least. She looked up and noticed Ophidia cradling a new lightsaber in her hands. A frown came up, even to her it felt wrong. Whispers... "I see you got your toy, darling." She declared with a nod while looking at her.

Not keeping her eyes off of her.

It was... the look that warned her. "Oh dear. You are going to make this unpleasant, aren't you." Ugh, why did people bite off more than can chew?

Her blade pushed up and Cerbera waited for the coming storm.

 

[Cecilia Wissen]

Objective: Investigate/Not die
Location: Following Ignis
Allies: [member="Ignis Imura"] [member="Kurenai Yumi"] (IC presumed)
Enemies: None yet

Cecilia had removed her hands from her sabers once she had realized that "Crimson" was not any sort of attacker. As Ignis talked to her, she started to become more and more odd. After a point, Cecilia became reasonably sure that she wasn't aware that there was such a thing as a question that was not rhetorical. No, that wasn't it. Either way it was rather odd.

Nevertheless, "Crimson" scanned the area upon Ignis's request, finding some hiding in nearby patrols of Vong. However, Ignis seemed displeased with this information, saying something about a relic. Cecilia had no idea what he meant by this. Whatever he was talking about, she could not sense. She didn't have long to think about this though; a few seconds later, Ignis yelled that there was a fight going on, and started running towards the center of the darkness. Cecilia had felt the odd sense of unease and known it had been caused by the force, but to her it was no where near as strong a feeling, and she had no idea what the feeling meant.

Either way, in the short time it took her to get to her speeder bike, Ignis was already half a kilometer away.

Before taking off, she looked towards "Crimson," and said "You can use Ignis's bike if you're planning on helping. Either way, I got to go!" With these words, Cecilia sped off after Ignis.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Cerbera"]

With a sudden movement, Darth Ophidia raised the sabre over her head as though to strike the Praetor from brow to buttock, but as he raised his defence to meet her, she used the two handed grip to quickly change direction, bringing the weapon in a swift vertical slice followed by a rising cut. The movements were a blur, accented by the black and violet afterlight of the Soulsabre's rapid movements. The Praetor fell, body rended half in twain twice over.

Each cut filled her with a dread excitement that she could barely contain. She felt invincible.

Her eyes surveyed the room, ignoring the meek and highlighting the strong. She saw Cerbera as she had never seen the alchemist before, and there was something that said "tick" in her mind.

The speed at which the pale moved next was inhuman as she moved to intercept her, feinting left, going right, blade brought up and falling down in a diagonal arc at the beautifull curve of Cerbera's neck. There was indeed something wrong with Ophidia's eyes. Their cool fire was fervent, too fervent. She was far from a beast, no, closer to some vengeful spirit bound on destruction of all she could reach.

In that moment, the Pale was buried deep within the dark rage of the Soulsabre's nexus.

 

[Kurenai Yumi]

Objective: Investigate
Location: Over Looking the village
Allies: [member="Cecilia Wissen"] Nearby [member="Ignis Imura"]
Opposition: [member="Kyrel Ren"] (possible Nearby [member="Czernon Zambrano"] [member="Darth Ophidia"])

Kurenai gave the, what she assumed to be Je'daii a small raised eye brow at the disinterest in the information she had given, was not that what he asked? What else did he want? her scanners were not able to pick up on force signatures of other ethereal powers like the one's emanating from below, most notable that small just barely managing to detect feel, a relic from what the man had said, before shooting off towards the village.

Turning towards his female acquaintance, Kurenai managed to catch what she said before they two shot down the side of the hill face, charging in a rather blatant manner towards the shrouded village. "A speeder, why would I need one of those"? Once again, utilizing force speed the veteran solider began to hurtle down the hill side, with each step the sound of combat becoming louder and louder, sabre clashing, snarls and yells of anger.

Would there be a fight, hopefully, it had been far too long since Kurenai had faced a worthy opponent, and Vong or Sith alike often provided that challenge, though the presence of the two Grey Jedi did add an interesting mix to the whole event. Those said individuals being a few meters in front of the Energy Vampire as they neared closer to the village, herself unknowing exactly what type of enemies would be present.

 

[Ignatius]

Objective: Fight to the Soulsaber
Location: Headed to the location of "Someone" using the "relic"
Allies: [member="Cecilia Wissen"], [member="Kurenai Yumi"],
Nearby: [member="Kyrel Ren"], [member="Darth Ophidia"], [member="Cerbera"],
Gear: Sword, Dagger, Gun, Armor,

The vong I had hit slammed into the structure. HIs body seemed to almost crumple against the wall. I took a few steps forward before looking back to see that the other two were behind me. I didn't speed myself up as much as I did just a second ago, but I still ran much faster than any normal or even athletic human should be able to. Having a body that was built and worked at much higher levels than peek physical condition, I could easily outpace anyone without the force. Should someone use the force, then I may have some trouble though. Even as I drew nearer to the center of this aura, I could feel the power radiating in waves.

A sickness, this disease was so corrupting. I could feel myself growing more angry. Anger at myself for not rushing in here earlier, or trying to sneak in. These people had gotten in somehow under our radar. I was pissed with myself on that as well. Pissed at the "Crimson" lady who didn't see the relic. She had the force, so why couldn't she also feel the small prick of a light from Sith Artifacts? I balled up my fists as I ran. Slamming one of them hard into another vong. Hitting him or her hard enough to impact the ground with a mighty thud. I knew I killed them with the crunching of bone underneath their skull. Drawing my sword, I could start to hear the humming of a lightsaber. Not loud enough as though I were very close by, but enough to know that one was active and being used.

They were close. I could feel them now. I could feel the emotions of... pride? Pure joy? Excitement? Dread? I felt it all in the pit of my stomach. Having learned to feel and control my own, and other's emotions, I was trying to stave off the sickness that was in this aura by the emotions that were so powerful and being thrown out like candy. It worked somewhat, but barely.

A vong walked into my path. Completely pissed at him for doing so, I sidestepped as the snake around his wrist was thrown at me. I reached out to slam it down with my hand, but reacted too fast and got it's teeth clenching down upon the armor and through the cloth of my bracer. I attempted to shake it off while the vong closed the distance. Slamming his fist into my face. I could feel brusing on my face already when I took my sword and with massive force shoved it through his knee. His scream came out loud while I used my off hand to create an open palm, and chopped at his neck. I heard loud snaps as it connected. I stabbed my sword into the ground after pulling it out and then reached over to the amphistaff still attempting to bite me through the leathers. I could slowly feel it trying to dig deeper into the armor.

Clenching my fist around it's head, I crushed down. Suffocating it and yanking it off of my arm before taking a old of it's tail with the other hand. Placing the center of its body under my boot, and pulled up on it with both hands. Ripping it in half. I yelled out loud with a growl that could have matched any fierce beast of the wild. Ripping the snake like creature in pieces.

I drew my sword quickly, and walked further into the darkness that was coming from whatever relic was being used.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Cecilia Wissen"] | [member="Darth Ophidia"] │ [member="Ignis Imura"] │ [member="Kurenai Yumi"] │ [member="Kyrel Ren"]

Oh, bother.

The only reason why Cerbera's head wasn't rolling on the floor was because of that look in Ophidia's eye.

Two seconds later and she would have been dead.

Such was the consequence of earning the Pale's attention, but Cerbera was not a novice herself. She took two steps back and then did something she hadn't ever done before against the assassin. Alchemy, her presence in the Force shrinking to a pin-point, as she manipulated the joint of Ophidia's armored elbow. Where first it was relaxed, easy to bend, suddenly it would find itself rigid and unyielding.

"We don't have time for this." Cerbera hissed in Ophidia's face as she side-stepped, but still had to accept a burn on her shoulder. The alchemized metal hissed and her shoulder burned beneath it, but she Force pushed at the Pale's knees to push her back.

Then applied alchemy to the armor's knee joints as well.

Send her stumbling.

Hopefully.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Cerbera"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Czernon Zambrano"] | [member="Ignis Imura"] | [member="Kurenai Yumi"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Cecilia Wissen"]

Ophidia herself had delved into many aspects of the dark arts of Sith Alchemy, but she had never performed it on the fly in this way. Then again, Cerbera was at another level than her when it came to altering the fabric of reality.

First her arm stuck. She thought it was a trick of the mind, perhaps holding her with the Force? No, it was her own clothes that restricted her. Yet, she heard the hiss of the blade carving, burning, destroying something. Her legs moved involuntarily, pushed back and then frozen in place. The Rattataki shifted from her hips, trying to catch her fall, but as she did, she neglected an object in the arc of her fall. Her head bashed against the side of the dais on which the altar still stood. The blade in her hand extinguished.

Through the pain, she blinked. "We don't have time for this."

Ophidia looked around her quickly, understanding what was happening, what she had done. She felt no guilt, not a shred for any of it. She did, however, see that this blade was more powerful than she had anticipated. It would overpower her if she was careless.

Her attuned ears heard the commotion some way away.

"We have to go."

She threw herself up on her feet and held the soulsabre firmly in her hand. swiftly she called the corrupted dagger to her other hand and sheathed it. One look at Cerbera would tell her all she needed to know about what happened.

The Pale Assassin threw a new cloak of shadows over her form as the two of them ran out of the room. They needed to get out of the camp now, right now. Doors were blasted off hinges rather than opened gingerly, the two Sith Lords working in tandem to clear the path before them.

 

[Cecilia Wissen]

Objective: Not die
Location: Following Ignis
Allies: [member="Ignis Imura"] [member="Kurenai Yumi"] (IC presumed)
Nearby: @Cerbera @Darth Ophidia

As Cecilia pursued Ignis, she slowed down and looked over her shoulder to see if "Crimson" had indeed followed her. She was running very quickly behind Cecilia. And then passed her.

"I hate you all," Cecilia muttered. She accelerated the bike again, then moved onto the front of the bike, keeping it moving straight with the Force. After balancing for a second, she shifted her focus and, using the force, leaped off it, using the inertia to boost her much slower Force run speed. Despite this, the woman, "Crimson," was still faster than her. Someone her apparent age should not be this adept. Perhaps she was actually not human.

Cecilia slowed down where Ignis' trail of destruction began. Well tried to slow down. It didn't really work, so she kept going, taking her lightsaber into her right hand and hiding the other one up her left sleeve. Ironically she didn't know how to use two sabers yet, but she figured it might work as a surprise attack. More importantly though, Ignis. He had slowed down considerably, both in his actual velocity and because of the fight he had gotten in. And because he stopped to rip up a snake thingy. Cecilia remembered that he had apparently been a Sith at one point. From the look of things, he was rapidly regressing towards that point again, the insidious combination of fighting and whatever dark aura this was probably being the culprits.

She continued to run until she finally caught up to him. At least he had started walking. She put her hand on his shoulder, stopping his walking for a moment so she could talk to him. She felt the massive influence of the dark side here, and she was certain he felt it to an even greater extent. Which is exactly why she needed him to not follow it.

"Ignis,"she said, "please don't do anything that will make Sahna cry."

 

[Kurenai Yumi]

Objective: Investigate
Location: At the village
Allies: [member="Cecilia Wissen"] Nearby [member="Ignis Imura"]
Opposition: (possible Nearby [member="Czernon Zambrano"] [member="Darth Ophidia"])
Gear: Armor, Lightsaber Yari, Pistol, Knife

Kurenai could feel the power of the artifact grow as the distance between herself and the village decreased, said item having similar feeling to a item she recovered from a Sith temple not long ago, but this, this was much stronger, darker then that small glove hidden away on the Wookie home world. That was not the only dark feeling that came to mind, emanating from the male Je'daii she could sense frustration, anger, emotion that seemed to make him seem more of a Sith then the so called people who sought to balance the force.

Keeping her speed up she soon passed the female Je'dii, said woman voicing a slightly childish response to her current lack of speed, "hate is not the Je'dii way child, best keep up with your elder, maybe you will learn something". She would tell the girl was young and had much to learn about the force as well as combat, it would be interesting to see how thy both handled the Vong and possible Sith threat once reaching the village, once getting inside the borders slowing down in her run. As it turned out the man was quite the brutal fighter, Kurenai bearing witness his splatter spree and short fight with another Vong snake like weapon which had been used again him, but also provided a distraction for her advance.

As some Vong turned attention to the man what had just killed on of their comrade's and new woman holding two sabers they failed to notice the very well built mercenary changing a towards them. Kurenai's shoulder slamming with the force of a small truck into the closest enemy, having used force leap at the last moment to propel herself forward with incredible speed, sending said Vong flying into his friend, temporally giving the trio a respite. "I am unsure of what you past is boy, but id you have family or loved one it would be best you do not fall to the dark powers that infest this place, myself being a mother know far to well the pain it can bring"'.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Czernon Zambrano"] | [member="Ignis Imura"] | [member="Kurenai Yumi"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Cecilia Wissen"]

Two steps in Cerbera grabbed the Pale by the shoulder and pulled her short.

A risk, certainly, with that 'saber in her hand, but that was the entire problem.

"Don't be foolish." She hissed before soft alchemy trickled in around the Ophidia's clothed wrist. Then a quick yank, before the saber left Ophidia's hand. The moment her own skin touched the casing of the dragons she felt that power more. It hissed and it bit her, trying to persuade her to let its forked tongue out. Let it kill and rip and tear, until there was nothing left but corpses and her blackened hand. "That's quite enough out of you." The alchemist murmured indignantly before dropping the Soulsaber into a... bag.

Two breaths.

Then the Soulsaber's presence was rudely ripped out of existence. "Even the most powerful artifact of the dark... is nothing when presented with a thin layer of velokite." The thin sheet of metal was lining the heavy fabric of the bag.

Before Ophidia could get a bloody nose from frowning so hard she passed the bag over to her.

"Now let them try to track us." They went stealth after her alchemical hold over Ophidia's clothes was lifted.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Cerbera"] | [member="Ignis Imura"] | [member="Kurenai Yumi"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Cecilia Wissen"]

Oh the anger around Ophidia was palpable when Cerbera took the soulsaber from her. She understood entirely, but she was angry. Were it anyone else, then they would be skewered on the spot, and for a moment she considered it before seeing the bag unfurl.

She snatched the bagged and muffled soulsaber back with a huff.

"Thank you dear, should have brought that out earlier."

Once more, using the cloak to mask her presence in the Force and aid her in covering herself in force fade. It was an ability she had practiced for over a decade, close to fifteen years in fact. While certainly taxing, it was nothing she couldn't endure. She was not the Pale Assassin for her complexion alone, nor called the Queen of Shadows simply because she threw shade.

They moved with haste, out through the corridors from whence they came. The doors to the inner ring were now open as a troop of Yuuzhan Vong fighters came to reinforce it against the Je'daii attackers. Before the doors closed again, amidst the chaos of stampeding feet, the two Sith Lords slipped out into the main camp.

Ophidia placed the blade of her hand on Cerbera's shoulder and turned it to signal for her to look to the right. There, one of massive Yuuzhan Vong ships was unloading one of the massive egg-like contraptions they had seen earlier.

"I am willing to bet it has a Yammosk"

She whispered before pulling Cerbera with her.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Czernon Zambrano"] | [member="Ignis Imura"] | [member="Kurenai Yumi"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Cecilia Wissen"]

A pleasant smile followed next.

Oh, Cerbera felt her annoyance, but in truth her darling had been rude and that had been rather annoying. This was the least she could do to settle that particular score for the moment. There would be more later, but it would have to wait until they were in the clear. They glided through the corridors, until they managed to slip out with the coming tide of the Yuuzhan Vong warriors. They couldn't see them, because force deadness was only effective when you were actively trying to interfere with them.

But neither of their force cloaks relied on that.

Luckily.

Cerbera shifted her attention towards that large ship... and the egg it was depositing. There were several workers there, helping unload the contraption, seemingly disinterested in the commotion deeper in the Inner Sanctum.

"Mm, I have always wanted to play with one of those." Following along easily as they quietly approached the unloading process. Sadly this would be an unlucky day for one Neiin Anar, he had gone through his first escalation only six months ago and then made a transfer away from the warrior caste. Stay closer to the budding family, the little embrace of pain circlet in his flesh sac was burning a metaphorical hole in the translucent skin as it was.

A new oddity shaped by the priests.

Tokens of commitment, push it up her finger, let their pain mix and add together until death swallowed them both.

"I want the egg too, darling." Cerbera murmured softly against her, as they approached the few workers.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Cerbera"] | [member="Ignis Imura"] | [member="Kurenai Yumi"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Cecilia Wissen"]

The work ethic of the Yuuzhan Vong was quite extraordinary. Even in the face of combat, their working caste made every effort to complete their orders, despite hellfire and high winds. Their craft and creativity was admirable, and the only thing holding them back, in Ophidia's own opinion, was their severance from the Force. Well, that and their insistence on remaining filthy extra-galactic citizens. There was much -if only- wen concerning the Yuuzhan Vong.

But at least their toys were fun.

"We will see."

The two of them set off towards the ship, it loomed higher and higher in the sky as the busy hands worked. It was the union of their effort that made the Pale think it was guided by a Yammosk.

As Neiin Anar was about to pull the last lever sending the egg-shaped weapon of mass destruction out of the hull and down on the planet, he heard the sharp whistle of the deck commander who waved him over with a stern look on his face.

Deck commander Rahk was not a bad yuuzhan vong, he was devout, stern, hated the locals as much as any. However, there was one thing Rahk had a small soft spot for. He sighed to himself as the stern mask faded. His daughter's long term mate, Neiin came running over. Rahk knew about the ring in his flesh sack, thanks to a good friend in the shaper caste who owed him a favour.

"Neiin, it is my most adequate spawn, your mate's, shape-day next week, and I know about that thing in your flesh sack." "It's a nice piece." He turned to the promising, young Neiin. "And I want to give the two of you a gift for your special day."

----​

Ophidia helped Cerbera on board the ship and looked inside, then quickly ran to what looked like a series of levers connected to the system holding the egg in place.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Ophidia"] | [member="Ignis Imura"] | [member="Kurenai Yumi"] | [member="Kyrel Ren"] | [member="Cecilia Wissen"]

Cerbera studied the levers alongside Ophidia.

Luckily it wasn't all secretive and nonsensical to her. Not when Rave had had her own phase of fascination for the Yuuzhan Vong and had integrated herself somewhat in their studies.

This didn't mean the alchemist was some sort of specialist. It did mean that when her fingers wrapped around some organic piece of tissue that served as the 'lever', that she picked the right one to pull. This... caused a soft hum and vibration through the organic mass. It didn't take long for it to shudder and starting one process after the other, unknown to either Neiin and Rahk the egg started to pull back.

They were too busy with their conversation to notice it slowly being moved back into the hangar.

The same couldn't be said about others within the ship- already a commotion deeper in the ship was sounding as the Vong there noticed things were moving against procedure. "Once the... egg is inside, close the ramp." Cerbera murmured before smiling.

"I will keep the ones inside busy."

This would be easier as far as Cerbera was concerned.

The goal was clear and as she disappeared out of view again with bloody sword in tow there was a promise of death in the air.

 

[Kurenai Yumi]

Objective: Investigate
Location: At the village
Allies: [member="Cecilia Wissen"] Nearby [member="Ignis Imura"]
Opposition: (possible Nearby [member="Czernon Zambrano"] [member="Darth Ophidia"])
Gear: Armor, Lightsaber Yari, Pistol, Knife

Kurenai slammed the back of her hand into another Vong as it charged from behind intent on slashing its blade along the woman's back, the creatures neck snapped almost instantly as the heavy arm smashed into its face, the fight beginning to heat up. Though despite this her mind continued to linger on the feeling of that strong force aura emanating from some sort of object, one that suddenly vanished, 'that must have been the others I sensed, nice move but now I know someone has it'.

Her head glanced to the main door, probably the place they would exit, the problem how to get away from the Vong, the force would not work, well not work on them, but the ground, that was still usable. Grappling with another one of the forceless creates Kurenai lifted its body, almost throwing it in the air, before grasping it leg, binging it down with great force, upon hitting the ground kicking up a large cloud of dust around the woman, herself wasting no time heading over to the main entrance.

Unfortunately, whoever had come was nowhere to be seen, only the door swinging slightly ajar, no sigh around, no force signature, but be dammed if Kurenai relied on the force all the time, there was always more then on way to track someone down. As the battle raged behind she inspected the sight, anything that would be left behind, foot prints, hair fibres, the smell of blood... yes blood, she could smell it, some small disturbances in the ground seeming to lead towards the Vong ships, 'nice plan, but don't think you are going to get away that easily'.

Kurenai herself knew the basics of force cloak, but was unable to use it to its full capability, but she was a master of force stealth, the sudden dark area around the woman vanishing from other people’s senses. It was something difficult to do, cloaking one’s signature to the point of seeming to not be force sensitive, but she had 800 years of running from Sith to perfect it, the woman slowly stalking towards the smell of blood, coming closer and closer to the Vong ship. Keeping to the shadow's Kurenai boarded the vessel, unknowing to the two Sith on broad stalking it long hallways, 'seems some things never change, you'd think after a few centuries the ship architect would change'.

The real problem would be finding these people and trying to recover the item, no doubt such people master's in their own right, herself having a gut feeling said people were much stronger in the force then herself.