Onderon

[Emerald]

A comm blasted into Delta's comlink like the bolts that had ended the lives of his nine-year-old adopted sons.

 

 

You have our attention. How many do you want?

 

[Darth Nyrys]

After the assault group had escorted Ailbasí to Sheog’s ship (At which point she may or may not have exclaimed “Carry me daddy!” when she was physically lifted onto the ramp by a confused Sith guard). The interim between departure and arrival was filled with an ecstatic dervish of reading and browsing the Sith archives. While there certainly were records of reavers and sadists, having access to the full archives painted a fuller picture of a proud race of conquerors, united by an ancient system of beliefs, and oddly accepting of foreigners who showed talents in their mystical bailiwick. A ruthless meritocracy, but a meritocracy nonetheless. For someone who had already found the bureaucracy of academia tiresome, such simple honesty had its appeal. A brief fantasy of Ailbasí standing atop a mound of tenured jerk professors and morons who knew how to work the system to hide their own severe failings, her own claws and teeth bared and bloodied frolicked through her head.

 

It was followed by the kind of thought that always led to disappointment, but felt good to dream about anyway. Like thinking that the hot guy was looking at you and not the frozen confectionary stand you were next to, or hoping to hear your name at a prize drawing. This was a fragile flight of fancy that felt like it would shatter if Ailbasí spoke it out loud. What if they were letting her have access to the archives because she was one of these star touched individuals? How odd it must have seemed for slaves and rulers alike to be approached by these demigods, seemingly at random, and told that a hidden greatness resided within themselves.

 

Ailbasí kept this quiet fantasy to herself, if she was wrong the Sith might take offense to her desire to be like one of them and rebuke her for the insult. After all, she was not what you would call extraordinary. Maybe a fast learner and a lover of cultures and languages, but certainly not a great warrior or sorceress. She didn’t own anywhere near enough black leather clothing items for such occupations.

 

Lost in thought, she heard or felt Sheog speak to her, she wasn’t sure which, saying to reach out with her mind and join his, unleashing an internal squeeing that may have unleashed a shockwave that could be felt six star systems away. It was cut short by feeling Sheog’s presence. The force of it made Ailbasí involuntarily take a step back, as a wet wave of heat and air hit her like a cresting ocean wave and made her stumble. The room seemed different, like being in a lucid dream, and small flashing objects seemed to float through the air like lightning bugs, but their paths were too controlled to be insects. After a moment of contemplation, Ailbasí realized that these were the fighters and ships of the Sith fleet, and for a moment there was another group that seemed arrayed to challenge the SIth. In Sheog’s mind two individuals were illuminated amongst the teeming masses, which oddly had a large number of Cathar among them. Ailbasí pressed in closer like a formless phantom, driven by curiosity, and found two presences, like silhouettes in colored light. One shown brightly and seemed to be the leader, the other felt like a young female, a light blue that was bright but unfocused. Ailbasí’s phantom self reached out to touch the girl, and her hand was inches away when the sound of her datapad receiving a priority message brought her crashing back to reality.

 

Ailbasí was surprised by the timeliness of the message, but with Sheog’s approval, she accepted the offer of service. When she returned to the mental communion, the Jedi ships were gone, along with their peculiar passengers.

[Exodus]

A curious silence steepened inside of the Lightbreaker cockpit, betraying the intensity of the events that now carved themselves out below. The Dark Lord remained withdrawn to his mind as he delicately metabolised the information that poured in, thread by thread. The compound hivemind persisted with instruction and intentions that were executed with supernatural precision, but more than that, Exodus could feed on it. The collective of voices and emotions sang an arcane euphony of power, one that was wholly harvestable by only the most powerful of creatures. The Spider was the deadliest of them all, and the nefarious expression he held on his face was a telltale testament.

 

The powerful Sith host that now plagued the planet of Onderon, had assumed intricate formations to both defend and acclimatize to the predictable nature of their oppositions. It was particularly unnecessary for Exodus to even so much as bat an eye to the open-ended state of affairs; the Sith now flourished with masterful individuals that would act out his absolute decree without hesitation, but could also intelligently operate towards his agenda in their own design. The Era of Exodus would reign across the galaxy, as this unity began to bear fruit that could never taste as sweet in their outdated timeline of infighting. His enemies would envy his unique ability to harmonize the gathering of these powerful monstrosities, and realign them to true purpose. Shoulder to shoulder, and with one stern voice, they would adamantly remove all infectious parasites still entangled in their selfish ways. The phenomena of the Sith Code and the Sith as a whole, had to become the wellspring to nourish all minds, and there would be none to stand in the way of that.

 

The unusual F8 Lightning model powered forward and trailed the Honor Guard, as well as a medley of other vessels. Exodus spared a glance towards the familiarity that was Dxun, and suppressed a flash of savage imagery in his life that no other was privy too. A dark and challenging time for the young Malacoda Syn, but his home nonetheless. “Phase one is complete,” the fiendish voice rumbled inside the minds of his armies alone, absent to the actual comm-waves. “.. Phase two begins now." As he mentally drove the words, the hivemind would now unravel with a fresh mandate, and previously unheralded directives to be executed. The Dark Lord kept a few paces to the fore as he watched the events unfold with poise, and would realign his people accordingly, but never give too much too soon. This was essential when dealing with the encumbrance of many given elements at one time.

 

The walled capital of Iziz was now drenched with Sith forces to keep the peaceful conduct and enforce order in the event of unrest. The commissioners’ request of structural repair would be honored, and the forces would draw closer in that request. Lord Kain, Hunter Delta, and Master Sheog would respectively have their instructions before them, and by extension, the people and units that followed them closely. Simultaneously, the feet of the Lightbreaker would soon rest upon the Square, and Exodus would draw himself from the stifling cockpit at last to come to terms with this devilish extraction. A hand played against the mask across his face, a conceal that hid an unsettling smile..

[Sheog the Mad]

The currents of fear flowed in eddies about the assembled Sith Fleet, radiating from the planet, and the Onderon Defense Fleet, each Sith pilot acting in tandem together without a single word being exchanged. The tide of fear fed the streams of power to each pilot, each Sith Lord, a powerful updraft from a planet of beauty, aflame with terror. Each Sith individually exemplified their code, and it was woven into the battlemind’s currents, as a dark undertone, a well without end. Alibasi would have her first lesson, as Sheog began to weave the feast before them into the currents of darkness.

 

Peace is a lie…

 

The citizens of Iziz were caught in the flow, their fear feeding itself to terror, swelling as it was overwhelmed with the darkened power. The Hutt began to consume, allowing the feast to form for each member of the Sith. The slipstream of terror fed each in their turn, driving a boundless hunger. A black hole was never satisfied, hidden behind the light. The brightest casts the darkest shadows, and when its energy is spent it all falls into an endless night.

 

There is only passion...

 

The hearts of the Sith swelled as the pall of dread wove them all together. Drinking deep of their emotions, reveling in their appetites and desires, all bound to the current. Expounding the fear, driving it like spears before them into the hearts of those that stood against them.

Through Passion, we gain strength…

 

Emotions were welcome, even at their extremes. The currents of fear filled the cup to overflowing, filling each with the full breathless pull of the darkened embrace. A ravenous and controlled horde, working as one beast, and at its heart were the Lords of the Sith. A whirlwind of immeasurable magnitude, a grasping current pulling all hearts towards the void. An unbounded darkness

 

Through Strength, we gain Power…

 

The potency of the shadow was overwhelming, a deepset and primal strength from which all dark things abounded. The fleet was only a minute expression of the monstrous darkness that was unfolding its wings in the skies above Iziz.

 

Through Power, we gain Victory…

 

Into the battlemind a roar of esurient power passed across each circuit that connected them in Kain, through each tendril of darkness The Shadow Spinner passed, and the gathering storm of insatiable voracity which centered around the Lord of Madness. The Jedi’s precious light was extinguished in cowardice. A candle snuffed out, leaving only the monsters who fed on the fear of those left abandoned. The light was a gift from the darkness, concealing its power until the light falls, and all hopes are dashed.

 

Through Victory, our Chains are Broken…

 

The apprentice would find the unbound passions swelling, in a controlled frenzy of Sith power. The beguiling nature of the darkness, the wildness untapped, the bestial power of Sith strength. An all consuming storm, feasting upon Iziz, twisting fears into nightmares, nightmares into reality.

 

The Force shall Free Us…

 

The darkness had been graced with a taste of the fear, a delicious meal to itself, its currents strong, but the hunger was for far greater things. An unbinding of the soul, a consummation of all life.

 

A flicker in the Force, and a shuttle found its way into the heart of the horde. (Xae) Into the Battlemind the Lambda Shuttle alight with attention. Thousands of eyes, as if the entire ocean had focused upon one fish. It was caught in the eye of a hurricane of fear, a fly fighting against the winds of a hurricane. Corrupted Transponder read to ancient codes of the Sith, and the tempest focused its gales upon the hidden presence. The Lord of Madness reached out within the web, like a spider sensing a fly entwined with its silk. He brought a cyclone across the stars, an invitation to the storm of ravenous terror. The darkness brought a gift, another ally called from the ancient heavens to unify the power of the Sith. The currents of fear directed themselves to the newcomer, to caress or to drown.

 

...Drink from the river, embrace the beauty of their terror…

[Lysander0301]

As the The Hand of Malcore dropped out of hyperspace, Lysander couldn't help himself but feel a little joy and excitement. It had been a long time since he had a stable gig,as the last few months had been a bunch of one and done deals. Lysander's pool of credits were slowly drying up and he needed something big. He ordered HN-NH to hail The Demented Maddness informing they that we have business with Alibasi and will meet with them planet side. After receiving confirmation, the ship began to decend to the planet. As Lysander readyed his equipment, he figures a first impression is always important and selects his "cleanest" set of armor. While getting ready Lysander outstretched his hand to a cup across the room in a vain effort to lift the cup with "the force". Nothing, it did not budge even a little. With a sigh he lowered his hand. He had never been force sensitive and knew he never would be, a skill that would never be mastered . Then with one swift movement he shot the cup up into the air with his pistol, now with a blaster and stave his abilities were unquestioned. The cup landed breaking into pieces and with several annoyed beeps EM-3Y began to clean up the mess.

 

A sith guard on The Demented Maddness then answered the hail and asked what Lysander's business was in contacting them. Lysander responded with he was a bounty hunter that was contacted by Alibasi for his services. The guard than informed Lysander the newcomer and their master were in a mental communion, He would have to wait till they were done to speak to her. Lysander agreed to wait and instructed HN-NH to fly around the planet and to avoid any other ships if possible. He then proceeded to pull out his data pad to do research into the background of Sheog and recent events in the system while he waited.

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

Sith Shuttle, what is your business on Onderon, please follow current trajectory and join the Fleet over Iziz or you will be shot down. Please state your business, intention, and identity. Immediately.

 

“Well, I knew my luck with dealing with the Sith had to run out sooner or later,” Xae-Lin sighed as the scanner registered the incoming fighters. “These guys aren’t playing around.”

 

Almost on top of the demand for identification, the response from ground control came in clearing her for landing and directions on where to go once planetside.

 

“They’d have found out sooner or later anyway,” she remarked to no one in particular before she ramped up her Force Signature and reigniting the bright flare of the Light Side of the Force with the purity borne from an Exorcist. She was one with the light and it was one with her.

 

“Patience is often prudent, Ally of the Sith,” she remarked coolly as the ship’s scanners had returned the identification of the ship as The Marie. “My business of the Jedi. My intention is one of aid to a call that was given. As a Jedi Knight, one Xae-Lin Ardel by the way, it would be remiss of me to keep you in the dark about the fact I am expected planetside, welcomed by Onderon’s defense forces themselves. I trust you and your friends are not here to start a galactic incident?”

 

In truth, the Jedi had no knowledge as to what had brought what appeared to be the Sith fleet itself to Onderon, but it didn’t take much to hear the echoes of truth that rang within the Force when her suspicion that their appearance had something to do with Faust’s presence on the planet below. They were here for the same purpose she was, to lend aid to an ally. To what end it would play out she had no way of knowing, but she would do her duty to the Order and do all she could to protect the people of Onderon if it came to it.

 

Just in case, she pre-programed several maneuvers into the flight computer and keyed on the rest of the scanners, ensuring whatever transpired next would be recorded and sent back to the Jedi Council as a warning that the Sith were alive and active within the galaxy once more.

[Tenebris]

The cobalt gaze of the white-robed Hunter disappeared in a blaze of smoke, but in the distance, Tenebris could make out the outline of a woman's form lying on the ground. Cursing, he yanked the headset off and darted out of the Mobile Command Unit, leaving it to dangle by its attached cord as he rushed to the site of Faust's ascension. His agents had already surrounded the prone form, but as he shouldered his way through, they quickly made room for him to kneel at her side.

 

"Master Organa? Skye, can you hear me?" He snapped his fingers at one of the hovering CoreSec agents. "Get a medic on site, now."

 

After quickly scanning to ensure nothing was injured or broken, and that her heartbeat and breathing were steady, Tenebris scooped up her body and hoisted her in his arms back to the command unit.

 

"Someone, find out where that crazy son of a Hutt went to, and how he broke through our nets," he commanded his officers. A pair of medics had a stretcher laid out, and as he set her down gently, the telltale whine of engines grew louder from overhead. He pointed a sharp finger at Lux.

 

"Keep an eye on her," he ordered the Thyrsian as he walked away from the bustling medical personnel. "She doesn't leave your sight."

 

Growling at the comm officer to open a channel, Tenebris kept half an eye on the still form of the Jedi Master as the channel to the skies opened once more.

 

"Ambassador Cook, I assume you have taken your quarry into your possession since he has evaded mine," he said irritably, "and I neither have the interest nor the manpower to mount a hunt for Vladimir Faust across the entirety of Iziz."

 

Sincerely, he hoped that the inbound Lambda-class shuttle did, in fact, hold a Jedi, and not an imposter. An ally of Skye Organa's would be a welcome asset on this rather dangerous ground. If not, he would address that when it came to it, but he had no intention of allowing the Healer's departure on any ship but the Raisonneur, which remained just above the square, working in tandem with the Onderon guard to bring in the ships from the Sith envoy.

[Lux]

Lux smiled a little at Tenebris when she entered the Mobile Command Unit. It was a conflicted expression, but most of her mind was focused on other things and could not process multiple traumas at the same time. Not much came to mind when it was time to explain her actions, nor did she feel particularly chipper about the altercation. But, she knew that Skye was alright; for now at least. It wasn't an amazing consolation, but at least it didn't leave a sour taste in her mouth. Tenebris didn't reprimand her though, which helped.

 

When provisional agent Lux made it safely into the sphere of CoreSec influence, she sat with sunken shoulders in a chair off to the side.

 

Her luminous white eyes rested on the metal cylinder atop her lap. Regret and shame hung like dingy clouds over her head and threatened to swallow her whole as she recollected the recent past. But she denied purchase to any malevolence. Even as the weight of emotion started to increase exponentially, elusive puppeteers pushing potent catalysts from the sky, she remained persistent. Externally, she barely moved, save for adjusting the sleeves of her blouse every five seconds. Internally, it was a constant vigil.

 

Tenebris’ sharp finger pierced the veil of her introspection. And when the Thyrsian’s eyes fell to the Jedi master sprawled across the square, her muscles were galvanized to action. Tenebris’ words were barely issued before the fleeting form of Lux shot past him. Barely held mental defenses, hanging off the small hairs on her arms, bolstered at the Jedi Master’s acquisition. She was still unconscious, but it was a trifle. Her life signs were normal and she was in - relatively - good condition.

 

The Thyrsian’s hand tightened around the hilt of the Amethyst blade still in her possession and she nodded when Tenebris’ order finally caught up with her.

 

“I will guard her with my life.”

[Skye Organa]

In this dream-like state in which she was in, Skye listened to the being beside her. She found herself nodding her head as her suspicions were confirmed. So that seemed to be why Faust wanted her. To ‘fix’ the problem with his clone so that he could be revived to his “former glory”. Well if she had anything to do with that, it wouldn’t happen. She had drawn a quick intake of breath when she heard that two beings were stopping him, knowing that Darex and Onderin were still trying to save the galaxy from beyond.

 

As the wraith told her that she was fighting the Hunter’s malice, her thoughts shifted to Kirana since her friend always referred to their enemy as ‘malice’, wondering where the silver-haired Jedi guardian was… if the Healer could find her and ‘compare notes’ since Kira had fought Faust just as many times as she had. As the spirit of the wraith disappeared into a wispy cloud her thoughts went over everything that it had told her. The vision faded and the Healer slowly became aware of her surroundings, unaware that her words were spoken aloud, not just in her mind to the faded spirit. “... and now I have my mission… to find the Eyes of the Hunter...” The Force swirled around her as her eyes fluttered open to see Lux close by.

[Delta73]

Delta laughed at the typical Jedi self righteous arrogance that came flooding through his comm speakers. As he and his fighters swung around to form a guard around and behind the hulking Lambda, he toggled the comm again, his voice the heavy accent of a clone trooper that would be instantly recognizable for anyone that had watched enough old republic era holodramas. Holodramas that usually ended in the swift deaths of the Jedi celebrities when old Palpy triggered his death order. Delta had seen plenty and lived through enough of the real thing.

 

“I need no lecture from you Jedi Ardel, you are to be escorted to Iziz and you are not to make landfall until negotiations are finished. Solid copy Jedi?”

 

There was no hesitation in his voice as his ARC settled in a half kilometer on the shuttle's tail. The sensors in the shuttle would be chirping away as the fighters maintained target locks. Delta himself letting the reticle for the two medium laser cannons settle on the rear compartment engines of the Lambda and the red halo of the missile lock turn an ominous green. It would be all too easy to push the trigger and send another Jedi cartwheeling into the atmosphere. Sadly, he and the other pilots in the rear guard did not trigger their weapons, but kept the lock as they slowly began to follow the shuttle in a vector towards Iziz proper. The rest of the non assigned bombers maintained a slow approach vector towards the city and the Onderon Space Defense forces in low atmospheric orbit.

[Lusef Aryan]

Faust slunk down an alleyway, a huddled form with a brown cloak wrapped around him, looking like a decrepit beggar even as the robe looked like something more akin to a Jedi Knight. His white cloak, burned and singed around the edges after his escape from the square, floated free in the wind several streets over, a phantasmal mark of his passing. Cradled close this chest was the Givin's severed head, neatly extracted, his brain intact save for the damage to the stem which impeded none of the higher functions. Once revived... if revived, this would be a sore lesson. Downloading and recreating Geister's neural network would be difficult, but doable, as would recloning him. Though turning him a brain in a jar like a B'omarr monk might be less conspicuous, assuming he could put the brain on ice quickly enough to stop further cellular degeneration.

 

As Faust moved on, slinking along with no apparent hurry, he could pick up the scent of burning flesh, a faint odor in the alleyway's stagnant flow. He was insistent that any droid vessels he had allowed him smell with finely honed olfactory sensors. He often forsook helmets, knowing how often a faint sound or smell had been the difference between life and death, between survival and utter failure. That sixth sense, the flow and ebb of the accursed puppet-master that was the Dark Side of the Force, was sorely missed in this situation. Even so, where there was blindness, there was a sense of liberation as death had cut some of those strings. Strings he promised he would one day refashion into a noose for the puppet-master and its warring twin. Even so, Faust never hesitated to use his enemy's strengths against him.

 

He moved on, head down, just another wretched beggar clutching his only worldly possessions close. He moved on towards the spaceport, finally reaching it, passing right by Iziz's guards. They did stop him, asking to look at his face, seeing a blank stare of a Givin looking right back at them from under the cowl of his hood. Waved past, he removed the head in quiet and finally boarded the Morning Star,

 

Luciferian Alpha knelt at once, followed by Faust's followers. The affair had been a mess and his lord's posture was a subtle indication of that. "Patch me through to the Sith," Faust ordered shortly. "Secure channels, and put this on ice. Use a carbonite rifle if you have one," he added in a terse voice, passing a severed head to Alpha, who gasped in shock. Alpha watched as Gamma, still at the shuttle's main console, patched Faust through to the Sith fleet above. Some of what Faust communicated showed how out of touch he was with recent developments, but as best Alpha could tell, it was laid out straight.

 

 

Darth Luciferian reporting in. The extraction is... appreciated, though a bit excessive. I fear word of this may spread and militarize our enemies, unless that is the Dark Lord's intention. I hoped to draw out the Cult of Morthos, which might have aided Lord Quietus in his endeavors as I have business with them, as well as retrieve some powerful personal effects for the Sith Order, but the Jedi showed up. A gambit to gain a Jedi hostage out of their interference, preferably to exchange for the member of our Order the Empire captured, fell through as I've released Skye back to CoreSec per the agreement. We may need to find another way to seek the hostage's release at the Empire's expense. I've obtained intel on a new padawan Skye is training. An excitable spitfire, I think this padawan can be turned... with the right motivation. I'll send a full dossier later. If it's safe to leave, I'll be taking off. There is another... project... that I wish to see to, that I believe has the Dark Lord's full support.

 

[Lux]

The night was cold and biting. Whispers of winter chill pulled at the fragile Onderonian fibers that clung to Lux’s body. Her charcoal mop of hair blew in the breeze like frail ribbons. The strands of silver that normally sat obscured in her ponytail, were allowed to shoot outward and glisten in the twinkling starlight. The skin of her tear beaten face was matted with half-wet and half-dry tears. Lack of rest and worry marred the corners and creases of her expression. And, as she sat, keeping a watchful eye over the Jedi Master. The deep lines of worry that defined parts of her face, darkened. Her mouth was hard and her eyes portrayed a stony evocation that broached no argument.

 

It wasn’t until Skye’s eyes started to flutter, that a warm smile pierced the hard granite of the Thyrsian’s countenance. Lux’s eyes swelled with water once more. This time, however, joy was the catalyst. Impulsively, Lux embraced the Jedi Master and let out an immense sigh of relief.

 

“Master Skye! You have no idea how glad I am to see that you’re alive.” Lux exclaimed almost breathlessly. Too late the Thyrsian realized how hard she was squeezing the woman and let go of the Jedi after taking a moment to enjoy their minor success. She bowed her head out of respect and found herself suddenly nervous to begin. The strain of events that wove across her recent past impacted the nerves that floated through her brain. Conclusions and impulses fought to maintain control over her mind, but peaceful clarity pierced it all with Skye’s crystal clear presence.

 

Timid hands wrestled with nervous excitement as the warm metal cylinder, held in her right hand, came to her mind. In a shaky and hastened gesture, Lux clumsily offered the cylinder to the master with a quirky half-smile. “Sorry… You-uhh… might want this back. And, uh… Welcome back.”

 

Lux was suddenly at a loss for words and internally griped to herself about the verbal folly.

Edited August 17, 2017 by Guest

[AVATAR Kain]

((Making a few assumptions here for the sake of getting this show on the road. If anything isn't kosher with assuming Xae landed safely in the square, let me know, I can delete.))

 

'Ambassador Lane Cook' stepped forth from his TIE Punisher, the Sith fleet having finally safely escorted the shuttle to the ground. A small landing pod of Sith troops followed in close behind, mainly to serve as honor guard and escort for the Dark Lord. Eagerly, but timidly, the man sought out the nearest CoreSec agent, identifying himself as the ambassador and requested to speak with the local authority on scene. Silently, he also found a wireless network and began tapping into global networks, trying to find critical junctures and looking for weaknesses. It wouldn't hurt to have an ace up the sleeve if things didn't go peacefully.

 

Meanwhile, in the space above Onderon, a construction fleet pulled out of hyperspace, continuing towards Onderon. One of the ships rendezvoued with the St. Cathryne, delivering supplies, while the rest proceeded to Iziz, waiting for clearance.

 

As soon as the Ambassador found Tenebris, he began gushing with enthusiasm.

 

"Commissioner! It is good to finally meet you face-to-face. Firstly, yes, Faust submitted himself willingly into our custody. We will deal with him as is Sith tradition. At this moment, that doesn't mean execution, as he has proven able to bypass the headsman's axe, as it were, but we will ensure justice is enforced. I cannot express how relieved I am that your forces didn't suffer severe casualties. Now, I believe we were to discuss collateral while repairs were made? This collective fleet and assembled forces will serve as collateral. Onderon will be protected by the might of the Sith, and will be rebuilt stronger than she was."

[Tenebris]

Standing in the center of the square to meet the incoming delegation with a half-dozen of his men surrounding him, his silver hair glistening in the floodlights posted atop the mobile command center some two hundred yards away, the CoreSec Commissioner extended his hand to the Sith liaison.

 

"Ambassador," Tenebris said firmly, his features betraying no hint of emotion. In truth, he was irritated in no small amount by the arrangement they had come to, feeling that although he had established the terms of the arrangement, he was getting the short end of the deal. There was no room for a display of weakness, nor second-guessing, however, so he continued. "I am disquieted by the fact that Faust was able to slip our nets, though I am relieved to hear that he has entered your custody. I don't suppose there will be an opportunity for me to speak with him."

 

He let the questioning tone of his statement hang in the air for a moment. "Your fleet is not required to remain here. The Minister of Finance has informed me that payment in the amount of one million credits has already been transferred into government accounts, tagged for the reconstruction project. The damage is not so severe as to require such drastic measures."

 

He looked toward the Lambda-class shuttle, where another half-dozen men were gathered around the base, and back to Ambassador Cook. "Assuming that your purpose is fulfilled here, then, I see no reason for you to remain. You have your prize, I have mine, we can both now be on our way and leave these good people to their ordinary lives."

 

There was a polite warning hidden in his tone, a suggestion that bore heavy implication. He would not go so far as to abandon niceties at this juncture, but assuming the Sith fleet did not pull out nigh immediately, he would return with a fleet from the Galactic Alliance if the Onderon government deemed it necessary.

[AVATAR Kain]

The ambassador hesitated before replying to Tenebris, mostly for show. Kain knew what needed to be said, even how to craft the words, but to play the part well was the touch of a master. As he continued, self replicating encrypted computer worms based on blockchain encoding began spreading across networked computer systems in Iziz, and even around the planet, bit by bit. The growth rate would be small at first, but it would quickly grow, mutating the sequencing with every hop so as to remain as innocuous as regular data traffic as possible.

 

"You see, Commissioner, I will try and grant you a controlled audience with Faust as soon as I can, but the truth is he is hard for even us to contain. Even recently we had to purge our own ranks from his loyal spies and agents, and that still may not have contained the threat he represents. One thing you had called him previously - a terrorist - is a very apt descriptor, and unfortunately he is very skilled in what he does."

 

Ambassador Cook took a few steps away, surveying what he could of the palace, noticing already there was still smoke rising from it as a construction ship hovered on repulsive power above, long craning mechanical arms drooping down to begin to pluck away at the rubble.

 

"As for our fleet, well...we rather disagree for the time being. We feel there may be more threats that Faust has left behind, as he is rather notorious for doing. From booby traps to sleeper cells, the man is rather insidious, and we'd prefer to be thorough when it comes to the matter of cleanup and containment. He even had access at one point to biochemical weapons the likes of which would turn the most hardened chemist pale, let me assure you. We're, uh...not exactly proud of those times anymore."

 

Cook turned again back to the ambassador, smiling warmly.

 

"And we intend to do more than rebuild, we intend to reinforce the planet, especially Iziz and similar sized cities, from this ever happening again. After all, it's the least we can do. The GA has gone this whole time without strengthening those it subjugates, demanding taxes and fealty but providing minimal benefits...I mean, if a lone albeit skilled madman did this much damage, imagine what a small crew of highly determined people could do? I've heard Nar Shaddaa is getting bolder in the attacks its criminals carry out, going so far as to raid smaller population, less defended worlds. So we can build weapon emplacements to ward off starfighter assaults, as well as a few armories and starfighters for the Onderonian guard. While we're on the subject, you don't happen to have a particular weapon or set of armor you've been wanting lately? I hear CorSec's expense accounts had to be reduced recently to pay for GA fleet costs and upkeep."

 

The smile on Cook's face was wide and genuine. After all, friendliness and first impressions were important to him.

[Tenebris]

While never having had any actual experience with the Sith Empire or its affiliates, the nature of the Sith as evil, menacing, supernaturally powerful terrorists had been reinforced time and time again throughout Tenebris' training. Ambassador Cook was a welcome change from the stereotype and seemed genuinely eager to assist, so much so that he began to wonder if he had not misjudged them as he had misjudged Skye.

 

Then the Ambassador made a mistake.

 

It was as though a steadily pulsating rhythm in his ear had dropped a beat, the 3/4 measure breaking the illusion. Jolted out of what he could now see had been a silver-tongued painting of the situation, Tenebris's lips pursed in a thin smile. His childhood had been steeped in politics, impotent men spewing lies and smiles while brandishing daggers behind their backs. He had joined CoreSec to avoid that world, and here once again he had been plunged into it headfirst. Lies, daggers, and smiles.

 

Luckily for him, as distasteful as it was, he knew how to play that game.

 

"Perhaps, Ambassador, we can work together to extract what we need from Faust. I know something of his booby traps, having been privy to them myself," he said hollowly, mind hearkening back to the RAGE toxin that had filled his mind back in Van Isel's office. "As for cleanup and containment, I have it on good authority that Faust's indirect holdings among the University will be given a thorough investigation. Being that Iziz is the only city on the planet, I hardly see where reinforcing its boundaries will become a significant project. The people here have had to defend themselves from some of the most vicious beasts in the galaxy for millennia. They have allowed me to conduct an investigation, given the standing agreement they have with the GA, but they are not beholden to your... assistance."

 

His eyes flashed as he reached his final point. "And thank you for reminding me why I'm here in the first place. Yes, CoreSec's tight on money, but that has nothing to do with the Galactic Alliance fleet, and everything to do with the madman now in your custody. He is responsible for the destruction of the CoreSec outpost in Coronet City and the loss of life that was incurred there. I don't doubt that he probably had his hands in the destruction of the Coruscant Headquarters as well. I tracked him here from Corellia, and I intend to hold him accountable for his crimes. Do not think the galaxy has so quickly forgotten Carida. Whatever you say that the Sith are, the galaxy has no great love for you. As it stands, you and your men are free to go; do so before I reconsider our arrangement."

 

Tenebris signaled to the lieutenant on his left, who immediately broke into a sprint in the direction of the command center, before pausing to address the liaison once more to reveal his single greatest mistake, steely eyes set in stone, though his genial smile never faltered.

 

"Oh, and Ambassador? I am Echani. Weapons and armor, bells and whistles, these do not a warrior make."

 

-----

 

A comm went out from the mobile command center all the way to Coruscant, bearing the signature of CoreSec's Commissioner, its missive clear.

 

 

Sith present in force. Attempting negotiations. Standby.

 

[Exodus]

Exodus found the choice of words that Faust spoke with to be rather, revealing.

 

 

“You presume to understand why I am here, Luciferian. I do not deal in excessives, yet your questionable lack of vision believes this to be true. You are smarter than this. Your fear, as you say, for the mobilization of our enemies also concerns me. These enemies you speak of have mobilized to the drum of their fears long before I returned. They sought to eradicate my people and hunt us like simple vermin. Long before Onderon, our enemies made their intentions perfectly clear, and this should not be news to the likes of you. I do not see the Cult of Morthos, I do not see a captured Jedi and the release of an incompetent hostage, and I can not feel the powerful effects you say you have come to grant me. Your report is wanting, Lord Faust. You will meet me at the Square, and debrief me on this.. project. The people yearn to see your face, and dissect you with their sterile line of questionings. We will give them their show.”

 

 

The talons of his dark starcraft clawed the surface of the square and hummed to a halt, not resting on ground level but suspended just above it. The frontal husk of the Lightbreaker hoisted backwards and revealed an individual mantled in absolute black. The Dark Lord himself had arrived. He furrowed mostly with frustrations on his face, a line of emotion that did not falter his sharpened abilities, but empowered them. The lower half of his face however, was veiled with a steely cover, a combination of automaton and runic design. He pushed from the cabin of his vessel and landed tastefully on his feet. His blackened tapestry of robes sunk slow in monarchical form, and like wings to a raven, fell to join at his side once more. King of the Sith, standing before simple creatures that played at the game of fear. The length of his hood slumped low and buried the majestic nature of his wild eyes, but he was watching everything in an interesting vista privy to him alone. The nearness of his home, the coloring of the skies, and the vicious beasts that soared high above what any normal being could see.

 

The cool temperature condoned his reverie, but the lick of the soft wind was disturbed by the scent of nervous emotion, they all reeked of it. There was a tension that swelled all over Iziz, and the men and women here were responsible for the thick of it all. Exodus advanced forward with measured pace, entering the company of Ambassador Cook, while the hoarded militia kept tail. Catching the second half of what the Echani had to say, and then watching the ordinary man run awkwardly in the opposite direction did little to ease the embryonic tethers of anger that weighed down on him. Did these people truly understand the fire that they played with, or were they so blinded by ignorance that they believed they could strike a deal and then double back whenever they saw fit. "Hunter Delta. Can you see what I see?" The voice of his mind struck a cold timbre that would echo into the powerful hive-mind, showing the illustrious Bounty Hunter specifically the acquisition of new targets. "They are in my way. Could you move them for me?" The Force beckoned another with the same crawling vocals that seeped into the mind. "Lord Sheog, I would like to meet a particular family. Convince them of our vision, would you?" Exodus stared deep into the eyes of the Echani, with the sickening nature of the Dark Side spilling in heaps all over the Square, not a word being passed as he watched him close. "Bridge Officer Rhuun. Let your Admiral know that I'd like some peace and quiet. A storm is coming." Exodus was dangerously still, analyzing the speed of the wind and feeling the heat of the Lightbreaker adjust in the distance as it alternated into a warded position above. He took one last step forward, and the mechanical cover on his jawline loosened a bit.

 

 

• "..No great love for the Sith? You wound me, Commissioner."

[AVATAR Kain]

The lieutenant running off was what Kain silently paid close attention to, relaying a message up to the St. Cathryne to monitor for comm traffic. Even if encrypted, Kain wanted to be apprised if that was indeed what was going on. Pieces were in motion. Moments later, he was rewarded with the intercepted unencrypted comm, complete with the signature of a CoreSec Commissioner. By now, his viruses had permeated Iziz, and were spreading rapidly through the planetary infrastructure, piggybacking on normal data streams passing through heavily used servers. They would come to play their part. Which was when he also received the other message from the St. Cathryne relayed from Exodus. A storm is coming. That could only mean one thing.

 

As the Dark Lord approached, Kain, as Cook, bowed, excusing himself. With the Dark Lord present, there was no need to act as his voice. He merely returned to his ship, and once out of sight, quickly scrambled down the manhole he had intentionally landed his craft on, ensuring to secure the lid behind him. Time was of the essence, now. Quickly, Kain commed a hastily written program up to the St. Cathryne, to be loaded into a comm beacon and fired out well away from the planet. The beacon would send a message once it was at range, and await for further replies on the same comm channel. Meanwhile, the Marie was commanded to stand by for a specific set of instructions.

 

It took a few moments to locate an electronics junction box in the tunnels underground, the city schematics he'd managed to find in the walk to his ship were years out of date. But it wasn't too far away from its original marked location, and thankfully allowed him to hard wire himself into the city networks. As Kain began integrating into the system, his appearance shifted again, ditching the pleasant face of Ambassador Cook for one of a dirty and grizzled utilities worker, just in case anyone were to happen upon him, however unlikely it was. After the second or so it took to spoof a vast network of addresses to bounce his digital location from, he began by ensuring the main populace would be deterred from the area. Traffic advisories, weather alerts, crime warnings...Kain triggered them all in rapid succession and in multiple ways, encouraging people to stay in their homes and avoid certain areas of Iziz at all costs. Contrary to popular belief, the Sith actually did value a thriving society, albeit a controlled and guided one.

 

And then, like a jigsaw puzzle finally falling into place, Kain sent the final commands, and the Marie began broadcasting comm jamming to cover a large area that spanned well beyond Iziz. The St. Cathryne was ordered to fire on the X4 gunship if it attempted to leave Iziz airspace or attacked Sith assets. To this end, its weapons spun up, readying a salvo of heavy proton torpedoes and a flurry of medium turbolaser fire. Meanwhile, a comm was sent to Coruscant from the comm beacon that was zooming away from Onderon and well outside the jamming field, mimicking closely the one sent by CoreSec moments earlier, to include the credentials of the Commissioner. If a reply was received on the same channel, the program on the beacon was designed to also respond.

 

 

Disregard. Negotiations went quicker than expected, Sith no longer a problem. Stand down.

 

 

Kain began immersing himself into the city's street cameras and lighting grid, tapping into certain lights he could strobe extremely fast, much faster than a carbon based eye could normally detect. Soon, he would breathe and the city would breathe with him.

[Raynuk Montar]

(Time to bring in the local muscle; This is not a "GRR MOD RULING" this is flavorful story response on behalf of Onderon)

 

The Sith had made a mistake.

 

Since their arrival over Onderon, and the stand-off with the now departed self-identified Jedi Fleet, the Onderon Military had effectively remained on high-alert. Hostilities had not broken out in the skies for the most part, and the orders had come down that they would reluctantly give the Sith a chance to prove their words to be true. But so much of their focus remained on Onderon and Iziz, they seemed to have neglected the planet’s four moons, Dxun chief among them.

 

It was from Dxun that Lt- Colonel Deakin had remained vigilant in the main headquarters of the battalion that has been stationed on the moon. Initially prepared for the firefight that everyone seemed to expect between the two massive fleets that had appeared over Onderon, Deakin and his men had been sitting idle for far too long at this point. The Jedi Fleet had fled, and the Sith had continued to pour more and more presence into Iziz. But until he heard an order to stand his men down from Iziz, it was Deakin’s job to stay on guard. The Galactic Alliance had not send a shining golden fleet to Onderon, but Deakin had been informed that CoreSec leadership was in Iziz representing both organizations as well.

 

Nearly bored out of his mind, a junior communications officer suddenly jolted upright at his station, as though someone had suddenly put an electrical current through his seat. The officer didn’t even wait to be acknowledged by Deakin before reporting a multitude of serious warnings that had just pinged all over the area around Iziz; severe weather warnings, heavy traffic advisories, police reports of serious crime and riots. Taken individually none of those alerts would have merited much of a reaction. But take them all together when the entire city is under the shadow of a Sith Fleet, and it was suspicious.

 

Deakin ordered his command officers to look into the reports; last he had known, the weather was supposed to be fairly decent in Iziz for the next few days at least, and everyone had seen the fleet over their heads, so to have a heavy traffic warning within the city seemed off as well.

 

A junior officer was reporting back those same concerns when the communications officer jolted again. Deakin felt the air in the room chill as the man reported that the entire city of Iziz and its surrounding area was now a black hole in terms of communications. The city was being jammed. Deakin turned to issue a command to his senior staff to find out what the hell was happening, when another officer, this time one of three monitoring the orbital sensors and observation platforms around Dxun, reported that the Sith MC30 that was sitting in orbit over Onderon was spinning up its weapons. Deakin muttered a curse, and returned to issuing orders.

 

“Orders be damned. Deploy the fighters and the Paladin! We’re not going to sit here while the Sith blind us. And send word to the Dagri, Evas and Suthre garrisons, inform them of the situation; have them recall the Steela and join us. NOW PEOPLE!”

 

The command center erupted in all the movement, action and adrenaline that had been pent up since this entire fiasco began.

 

The Sith had made a mistake. They showed hostility and given the Onderon Military something to react to.

 

=================

 

A scant ten minutes after the orders went out, three squadrons of Nimbus-class V-wings rose from Dxun in formation, rendezvousing with the IPV-1 patrol vessel Paladin, and began a steady approach towards the Sith fleet. Their movements and approach showed haste and presence; a subtle reminder that though the Jedi Fleet may have turned and fled, the Onderon Military was still here, and would defend their planet.

 

St. Cathryne, this is Lieutenant McGarvey of the Onderon Military. Your actions have not gone unnoticed; you are respectfully requested to power down your weapons; there is no need for hostility here, but if you are determined to incite hostilities, know that Onderon will not sit idly by.

 

So currently, the Onderon Military is currently deploying the following:

 

1x IPV System Patrol Craft - The Paladin

36 Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing Starfighters, making up 3 squadrons; Booma, Cannok and Crasna.

-Crasna squadron is also equipped with flak guns to be used against torpedo and missile salvos.

 

[Sheog the Mad]

The force is a mirror in which all the failures of the light can be seen. The deaths on Kuat, countless dead in the name of the light. The dark reflection twisted by the failing of the ight as a slave to the bondage of morality. It was that failing light that sprang up across the horizon of death that was rising over Iziz, brought by a familiar presence. The Mad Hutt had felt her before, watched her be defeated upon during his own invasion of Gala. Exorcists, their light only held strength when supported by a mind and philosophy as rugged as the mountains of Vespa, and as unyielding as the ravenous hunger he possessed.

 

...I have studied you and found nothing but weakness…

 

The battlemind hardened, focusing the fear to consume the pitiful flames that sprang from that broken mind.

 

...I felt the fires as they consumed your friends, consumed your will to fight as all you loved died around you…

 

The vortex of terror rose to consume all light, grasping at it with hands withered and greedy. Sucking upon the light to feed it with false hope, easy dashed with the revelation already springing from the Force. She had been broken before, a shattered cistern no longer able to hold the hopes of the light. False purity, a facade easily crumbled to dust. A frontage of false fire, the combined broken promises to a thousand worlds left to rot by the Jedi. There would be no solace here, it was a black furnace of passion, of emotion, of fear that would burn away the false fires of the Exorcist, scar their pitiful Code that left the galaxy to die with its shallow teachings.

 

...Leave lest you be lost in the dark or consumed by its power, take your friends and flee to your impotent Council of infighting fragility…

 

The Hutt twisted the images from Cardia into the storm that buffeted the Exorcist, the recordings of the temple. Of an apprentice striking down innocents, at the head of columns of skull-faced soldiers. Bringing forth collations with the fall of the Jedi in the decades prior.

 

...Your apprentice, the broken thing you abandoned in her time of need now falls to passion, to the call of our power, its promise of even greater strength…

 

Dark tendrils tore into the light, ripping at the flames and devouring them, as it did the fear of the falling world

 

...How long until she falls? How long until she becomes yet another failure of yours? How long until she bows to the the dark and accepts it builds the strong and kills the weak?

 

The Sith Battlemind turned towards an emerging threat, casting aside the Lambda shuttle as a useless distraction, compared to more challenging prey. As The Paladin joined with the V-wings, a simultaneous rush of primal lust ran along the Sith fleet, they had missed out on a slaughter earlier, now they had the opportunity for another. To dance in the ashes of consumed lives, devoured by their hunger for war. The Mad Hutt dispatched his apprentice on the ship of the newcoming bounty hunter, she had her own mission, to follow the tendrils of hope which kept Iziz from falling into chaos and devour them. The Demented Madness would follow The Clone into battle, still under the cover of sensorscreens. It's weapons were ready to intercept any threat.

 

The Lord of the Krath began to weave the fears of Iziz, of the OSC, spurned by the abandonment of the Jedi. The foreboding that bore the Paladin and its fighters on their intercept course was folly, and it would drive them to their own destruction. He had a deep-rooted anitpathy for blind loyalty, for the misplaced hope which drove these Onderonians towards their doom. They were flying into a trap, and into the Force, the Masters of the Sith began to spin the shadows of doom into reality.

 

Whispers of uneasiness would crawl through their skulls, turning boldness into panic, a cold sweat that drove the warmth of heroism into the neurosis of hunted prey. They would gaze into the eyes of a beast as it devoured them. From the shadows of space formed a rush of starships, warped in their form, glittering hulks scarred from war, a fleet of the dead. Blackened hulls crushed by fire and the pull of centuries. It was a tapestry woven from the fear of them all, plaited by the combined terror of millions, and to those of the Paladin, it would be all too real.

 

The hulks were the tip of a spear that would be driven into the heart of the Paladin, and in their death they would join destruction’s parade. All they would need to do was fire. An overwhelming foreboding entwined the hearts of Onderon’s heroes, and to that, one answer was fed. The taste of heroism turned sour. Of Onderon’s past. Of the beastriders, and for their monarchs. They could change nothing. They could do nothing to save them. They could only run. Run to the ends of the galaxy where the darkness could not consume them.

[Lusef Aryan]

Gamma expected the comm sent back to come back from some underling or even one of the other Sith Lords of Masters. The response came back from the Dark Lord himself, and Gamma was unable to recall the last time he'd ever heard any rebuke Lord Faust like that, ever. He felt something build up in the pit of his stomach, a cold chill that still compelled him to turn around and look up at his lord. To his surprise Faust chuckled, a very hard, almost bitter laugh, and yet there was genuine humor in there.

 

"Ahh, Gamma, it seems I've underestimated our dear Dark Lord. I see now his plan... and what is expected." He chuckles, then turns to the others. "I will present what I need to him, perhaps not in the way he expects, but I shall want to make some... contingencies..." He gathered the trio of former troopers to him and the trio of pureblood Sith. His orders were simple, harsh, and unequivocal. They were to wait until the all clear and to meet up at a pre-determined rendezvous point. Beta was given directions to wait it out on Onderon itself, to go underground, just in case something happened to the ship.

 

Before taking off, Faust dispersed most of his personal effects in the end taking only the pack full of relics he wanted, and a single disruptor pistol which he concealed up his sleeve with a quick draw mechanism. He quickly outlined the relics he had retrieved, explaining them to Gamma and the others. They were shaped after various creatures and masks. They were mere baubles compared to his sword and the focus points embedded into his armor, both destroyed with his death in the Memorial. Even so, the artifacts he needed were potent, and could help serve to draw out the ones he really needed to revive himself fully. He noted the missing rancor artifact, a locus of rage and anger, one that enabled powerful destructive bursts and could also aid in the creation the RAGE drug and venom. Had Geister failed to retrieve it in the crypts? He especially held care one shaped into the Mask of Darth Revan. This powerful artifact aided others by enhancing precognition on a broader scale, pulling in threads of the future. He left all those in the pack, along with a datapad containing some of the information he'd promised.

 

The last one he gave to Beta, making sure she was wearing one of the ysalamir they'd picked up on Myrkr. "This one," he said, his voice very quite, "must never fall into the hands of any other Force user, Sith or Jedi. You have a back up of this vessel's memories until now as well. Guard them both with your life and then meet up with the others once this goes down." The quiet tone sent chills down the assembled, though the others recognized the figure whose mask, or arguable even face, was on the amulet: Sith Lord Darth Nihilus.

 

Gamma watched Beta don a heavy cloak and take off, vanishing off the ship. She would be mindful of cameras and the like, knowing Iziz's authorities would be watching. She quickly vanished into the city's sewers, going underground. Gamma then turned to his Lord. Faust was changing, donning a fresh white cloak and adjusting his mask to better conceal his face. He could tell he was taking efforts to purge his body of data and metadata as well from how his left arm was jacked into the ship's computer.

 

The disruptor pistol concealed up his sleeve, the pack of artifacts in the other, Faust departed.

 

******

 

A soft, nonchalant whistling announced his presence before there were any visuals, picking up in volume and intensity. It was a tune likely familiar to some, the opening aria to one of Coruscant's most famous and tragic operas. It was one of a powerful lord whose hubris was his undoing, secure in his conquests. In the end, his pride cost him his lover and empire, undone by a treacherous and abused lieutenant. Faust chose that with care, whistling the melody of the chorus as he became visible, cloaked in white, head bowed, his cloak bellowing behind him in the wind, giving the brief image of angel wings for a split second. Unconcerned by the various defenders of Iziz, the CoreSec agents, the Jedi, or even the other Sith Masters and their slaves, Faust didn't break off from his whistling, his hands seemingly tucked into his pants pockets, though something was concealed under his left arm, a familiar looking pack. He walked past all of them, not even giving eye contact or a nod of acknowledgement, crossing the square and the assembled crowd to walk right up to the Dark Lord himself, boldly stepping into the center of the web that Exodus spun around himself wherever he walked. His whistling broke off into sung verse as he closed those last few meters, a hushed, harsh voice giving the aria's concluding lines in a haunting melody that rose above the square, timed perfectly to conclude just as he stood a mere two meters apart from the Dark Lord.

 

"Dark Lord," he said in a cool, even tone, the only hint of arguable deference a nod of his head.

[Skye Organa]

The Jedi let the light healing energies swirl around herself, letting it soothe and mend her ears and wash over her body to heal where it was needed. With that complete, Skye smiled at the response she got from Lux. She sat up, soon finding herself in a tight embrace. The Healer embraced her in return then placed a gentle hand upon Lux’s when her nervousness came to the fore and radiated a soothing presence as her saber hilt was returned, absolving the young woman of any guilt she might have felt from what had happened. “Thank you Lux. So… it seems I missed a bit while I was having that unscheduled nap. I’ll need a report on everything that’s happened.” Her comment was spoken to one of the CoreSec Officers as she got to her feet, feeling the heavy darkside influence surrounding them. It seemed that Faust had brought friends. She clipped her saber back onto her belt of her white armor far enough back to seem as if she didn’t have it there then smoothing her matching outer robes so that her hilt was hidden within it’s folds. Her Healer’s emblem remained visible under the looser robes and she had her customary first aid kit strapped across her shoulders. Skye reached into a utility pocket and pulled out a crystal, handing it to Lux. “If you need to, use this crystal to help you focus. She was beginning to think that her own sos had gone unnoticed when she felt Xae’s familiar presence. She reached out to the Exorcist with a touch that thanked her for answering.

 

She had just done this when a spear of pain lashed out through the Force. Skye stumbled backwards, sitting down once more as she searched the living energies for a brilliant presence though not finding it. Taking a number of slow breaths with tears pricking her eyes, her voice stated the news, “GrandMaster Kirlocca has become one with the Force. He’s gone… I don’t know how… I will have to contact the other Council members as soon as possible.” Skye let herself feel the sadness, process it and let it go. Hot on the heels of this however, a very bright spark lit a candle in the surrounding darkness, a brilliant light in the form of her first Padawan. Again she gasped and a few tears of joy this time, trickled down her face. “Jedi Master Darex Trevelian has returned to us! He is alive!” You’ve got to take the bad with the good… when one door closes, another one opens. Her gaze shifted around the command center, “Where is Tenebris?” she asked.

 

“The Commissioner is outside speaking with the Sith Ambassador, Master Jedi,” one of the men stated. While she was still within the confines of the mobile command centre and unseen by those outside in the square she turned to Lux, “I think it’s high time we go stand by the Commissioner’s side and give him some much needed backup.”

[Xae-Lin Ardel]

“You can take it up with Onderon command. I’m here for the Jedi involved. It’s not my intention to interfere in local politics,” she responded before cutting off the comm.

 

She continued to guide the shuttle toward the square as she’d been directed, as she felt a wave of darkness crash over her, breaking over the unyielding light she carried within herself.

...I have studied you and found nothing but weakness…

 

A wry grin of amusement twisted her lips as she felt the message carried to her within the Force and felt the considerable efforts this Sith was focusing on her in an effort to create doubt and cloud her mind. He was free to think what he wished.

...I felt the fires as they consumed your friends, consumed your will to fight as all you loved died around you…

 

So he knew her, and there had only been one real engagement during the war that had brought Sith to the door of a temple she’d stood to defend - Gala. It was on Gala that she’d first crossed paths with both Dahar and Tobias, the former having drawn his weapon against the latter. It was on Gala that she’d trained Kyrie.

 

Gala where Il-Andon had chosen her where she’d lain dying, bringing her into some unknown pocket of the universe where she was constantly tested and reforged into something far greater than she’d been before. Let this Sith think her weak. Let this Sith underestimate her. It only takes one candle to push back the darkness.

 

Her grin spread into a full smile as she thought of some of the early lessons she’d learned in the jungles of Dathomir - sometimes in order to create something greater, a little destruction is needed.

...Leave lest you be lost in the dark or consumed by its power, take your friends and flee to your impotent Council of infighting fragility…

 

The smile became a frown. The Sith wasn’t wrong about the council, especially in light of what she knew concerning Tobias’s appointment to Master, as well as her own.

 

She carefully opened herself up just enough to what the Sith seemed so eager to show her, though she was extremely careful to only let him so far. She let the images wash over her, but what she saw in them likely wasn’t what this mysterious Sith master wanted her to witness.

 

Sure there was lots of death and destruction, but that wasn’t what drew Xae’s attention as the auto-landing sequence kicked in. It was the brilliant light of Kyrie and her valiant efforts against insurmountable odds to defeat the darkness.

 

...Your apprentice, the broken thing you abandoned in her time of need now falls to passion, to the call of our power, its promise of even greater strength…

 

As though he’d detected her hope and optimism, the darkness tore into Kyrie and consumed all of her light and those that had stood with her against the destruction.

 

...How long until she falls? How long until she becomes yet another failure of yours? How long until she bows to the the dark and accepts it builds the strong and kills the weak?

 

Xae’s faith in her former Padawan and the fact the girl had continued along the Jedi path long after Il-Andon had pulled Xae into his temporal training ground, was all Xae needed to draw on to push the Sith back out of her mind. For one who claimed to see so much, the Sith was certainly blind when it came to truly understanding the strength of the light and the woman he’d attempted and failed to shake.

I will take that under advisement, Master Sith. You’ve certainly given me much to think on. As the ship touched Onderonian soil, she terminated the connection with the Sith and brought forth her mental barriers against any further incursions to her psyche.

 

As the ramp lowered, Xae checked the two lightsabers that hung from her brown leather belt and strode down the ramp to the waiting contingent of troops. “Am I too late? Where is Master Organa?”

[Delta73]

As the mindmeld became aware of the OSC forces gathering from the jungle moon of Dxun, Grey and Green wings spun in unison towards them. The ARCs about a kilometer in front of the rest of the wings. With expert, trained precision, augmented heavily by the mindmeld, Delta’s ARCs activated their heavy sensor jammers and accelerated at half speed towards the IPV and the V-Wings. The silent irony of old model V-Wings squaring off against their upgraded brethren from the clone wars was not lost on Delta. The sensor jammers pulled a great deal of power from the cores of the ARCs, pulling them to half speed so the wings advanced in slow meticulous array towards the OSC fleet. As the sensor jammers hammered away at the enemies targeting scopes, the OSC forces would not be able to acquire lock on any of the fighters or bombers within the jamming sphere, preventing long range locks from any of the V-Wing squadrons or turbolaser batteries. Any gunners who fired at the Sith forces would have to do so without the guidance of their computer systems, missile systems, or guided warfare sensors, their systems overloaded with the clouds of jammers coming from the ARCs. This conflict would occur in the atmosphere between the two worlds if at all, which would be exceptionally dangerous to the Onderonian civilians below.

 

Delta and his pilots activated the homing and heat sensors on their launched weapons to enable once outside the sensor jamming field, the idea being that they could fire from range at the OSC forces without having to trouble themselves with the reverse. Once the missiles left the allied jamming, they would easily be able to acquire lock on the enemy signatures and drop them from the sky like so many meteors. Meteors filled with screaming, burning, human beings. The Sith and Black Sun pilots knew their jobs, and were unflinching in the face of a firefight over a civilian city, when the OSC fleet entered the optimal killzone, it would begin. Delta asked for orders again through the mind meld, he and his pilots ready to fire at the given command, their lust for combat and blood palpable through the force. If the OSC forces decided to engage it would be a dance of death. The question was…

 

Would the OSC blink in the face of destruction? Their IPV would get shredded, their pilots trapped in their old model V-wings blotted out of the sky in black oily blotches of fire, smoke, and viscera. If they managed to go EV after getting shot down they would be sky jumping into a sky filled with death. The pilots would know it, the IPV crew would know it. And most importantly of all, the Sith fleet knew it. The pilots in the mindmeld begged the Onderonians to face them in slaughter. They begged their Dark Lord to begin the decimation.

[Lux]

Lux clasped the crystal close to her chest and felt a wave of cold roll over her wearied mind. The throes of anxiety struggled to keep her, but the cold weariness of fatigue fought harder. And the peace that flowed through the pads of her fingers was a strong note amidst the torrential symphony of dread and despair that surrounded them all. A thick quagmire of putrescence hung overhead and threatened to swallow the square, clouding the stage with thick obscurity. But the light of Skye’s will, glittered like so many stars in the sky. It was breathtaking. And now that the Thyrsian could see the healer, standing on the stage, without the fetters of life’s cruelty bearing down on them, the Thyrsian could truly understand why Jedi valued the force as much as they did; why it meant so much to them and the galaxy as a whole. A small smile lifted her fragile ebony lips as a familiar shadow crept overhead.

 

That ship…

She felt the cold steel of the impromptu deck plating wrestling all the heat from her skin. The little color she had, blew out. And her whole world stopped spinning for a few seconds. Silent as space, and still as death, Lux sat for what seemed like an eternity. The crystal granted focus, Skye granted peace, but the galaxy was still cruel. Bare moments from Skye’s saving grace, Lux was thrust back into the spoiled depths of depravity that consumed a great deal of her childhood. The Marie… What drove anyone to do those terrible things?

Lucinda…

 

The motes of dust and debris that floated aimlessly in the bright command center floodlights, separated. Something worked its way through the emptiness and brushed a tear from Lux’s cold cheek.

 

Peace gave it shape, focus gave it clarity, and despair gave it depth.

 

• 
  Lux, you must remember…
   
  The Galaxy will be cruel. You can do little to stop the cruelty of people from affecting you. But, you can affect you. You can be your own light. You can be a light to others. Ultimately, my strong little girl, you need to push on. This world won’t do you any favors…
  

The Thyrsian coughed for a moment and looked around, fruitlessly trying to find the phantom that just spoke. But when she shook her head, the vision ceased and she saw Skye standing, looking out toward the square.

 

Whatever misgivings she had about the commissioner; whatever anxieties she felt in the pit of her stomach and the fitful beating of her heart; whatever terrible pressure consumed her, Lux clasped anew on the crystal in her hand and stood. She refastened the strap that held her sword in place but did not draw it. “Yes, let’s.” Was all Lux said before she and the Jedi Master proceeded out to the square.

 

The CoreSec agents attempted to stop them, but Skye and Lux pushed until they gained access. No weapons were drawn, no rude words were exchanged. We all got into this mess together, we’ll get out of it together too.

 

Lux and Skye crossed the distance with little difficulty. They didn’t want to start a fight or stir the pot. Tenebris was their ally; simple as that. Foolish as it may have been, Lux was ready to stand by his side and help remedy whatever she could.

 

Lux nodded to the Sith as she approached and nodded to Tenebris as well. She took up a non-aggressive posture on one side of the Echani and Skye did the same on the other.

 

“Evening Commissioner.”

[Tenebris]

"Master Organa is in the command center," replied the lieutenant that met Xae-Lin Ardel at the base of the ramp. "The Commissioner wants to see you. Come this way, please."

 

-----

 

Unsurprisingly, the Sith ambassador skulked away without rebuttal to Tenebris' accusations, and just as he was about to demand satisfaction, the smooth voice of a newcomer met his ears. The man that had materialized out of the darkness, however, stood with the easy grace of a relaxed predator. He was not to be trifled with, that much was apparent. He was no politician or equivocator, yet his bearing warned of a hidden danger that you might never see before it had utterly destroyed you. Unintentionally, Tenebris' posture straightened in response, senses now on alert.

 

Then Faust's greeting met his ears.

 

It was a title utterly unsurprising except for its context; just as he had never dreamed to stumble upon a reborn Vladimir Faust in a routine investigation, neither did he expect to be entreating with the Dark Lord of the Sith in the darkened Palace Square of Iziz. Extending a hand to this man seemed out of place, but respect flooded his bearing. He was carrying a match in a room full of gunpowder, and the circumstance before him must be handled with utmost delicacy.

 

"I should be so lucky as to wound the Dark Lord of the Sith with mere words," he acknowledged the newcomer, settling on a grave bow of his head before turning to the white-robed form of the jakrab who had evaded his trap and nodding once more. "Darth Luciferian. How good of you to join us again; I was afraid you had gone on your merry way."

 

Several others joined the delegation behind him as he spoke: at their head, a diminutive auburn-haired woman in traditional robes who must have been the Jedi Ardel. A murmured greeting at his elbow signified the arrival of Lux and Skye as well.

 

A fiery irritation spiked as he regarded the latter pair; Lux had been told explicitly to remain in the command center, and while it was likely that the Jedi Master had taken it upon herself to re-engage the Sith parties present, he had entrusted the Thyrsian with the Jedi Master's safety. She was altogether too headstrong for her own good, and while her initiative was admirable, her casual inability to take orders was not. But he would not chastise her here and now in front of the assembled, not when so many lives were at stake.

 

In any case, now it was a party.

 

"Introductions, one and all," he said, holding his hands palms-up as if to signify the collected delegation of negotiators. "I am Commissioner E'lann of CoreSec. Master Skye Organa you know. My associate Lux, Master Xae-Lin Ardel, and the rest are my men."

 

Blue-white eyes stared into the shadows of the unreadable face before him. "This man must answer for his crimes, Dark Lord. Your ambassador tells me you plan to carry out justice, but I confess myself skeptical."

[Darth Nyrys]

As Ailbasí felt Sheog whisper into her mind, a disquieting sense of unease creeped into her thoughts. The gluttonous sorcerer wasn’t just drawing upon his own power, he was feeding on the people like a parasite. A bloated tick, nestled over Iziz and chewing greedily on its populace. Is this what drove the Sith to evil, the constant need to feed on others to power their abilities? Timidly, like a kitten, Ailbasí felt out Sheog’s own presence, and felt a gaping lack there. No fear, no suffering, no real justifiable form of hatred, just the hunger for power, and for a moment the corpulent being appeared to her as a gaunt and winter starved beast, numb save for what it could take from others. It was the total opposite of what the hutt presented in reality. How could such a deprived soul have any sense of self or purpose outside of its next meal?

 

It’s okay to be scared or angry, or to accept how something has wounded you. It’s in those moments that a darker shade of courage can be found, something all your own forged by your life’s trials. It is unique to you and nobody will ever be able to take it away from you unless you try to replace it with someone else’s fear, or hate, or pain. Be true to yourself, or you will only ever achieve the goals of others. Remember who you are, and hold onto it tightly, because the easiest thing to lose out there is yourself. Character over power, Perseverance over fitting in. You’re my daughter and I wouldn’t trade who you are for anyone in the galaxy.

 

The words of Ailbasí’s father echoed in her mind. They had been said over another matter, but were equally apt for the situation at hand.

 

“No, I think I’ll find my own way.”

 

Ailbasí flinched as she almost certainly expected Sheog to eat her, like some kind of fairytale monster, but instead a strange thing happened. A hearty laugh escaped Sheog’s lips, and she could feel his pride in her finding her own way. Armed with further insight into who she was, Sheog dispatched her to Iziz to attempt an alternate course of action. Along with her came a handful of Sheog’s men as an honor guard, Lysander as her personal protector, some relevant historical scrolls, and documents identifying her as a Sith envoy to the monarchy. In the back of her mind, Sheog’s watchful gaze lingered through the spider’s web of the Force.

 

The first thing that Ailbasí noticed upon meeting Lysander face to face was his armor, a specter from a bygone time. She had seen it before in person, and knew what it meant. She instantly felt safer, and a plan began to form as the ship headed to its destination. While the Galactic Alliance did what galactic governments do and continued to make a mess of the situation, Ailbasí would speak to the local authorities in an attempt to resolve the matter without bloodshed. Ailbasí had heard the Sith offering safe passage for the Coresec agents and Jedi to depart the planet, and they had ignored it over a matter of pride.

 

Perhaps under different circumstances the meeting would have been more difficult to arrange, but with Coresec completely sidelining the monarchy, they must have been desperate to enact some measure of control over the situation, to be the authority they were meant to be. On the shuttle ride down, Ailbasí had briefed her honor guard on court procedure. She had applied for research permits on Onderon a few months ago, and had studied up on the issue in case she had to address the court in an official capacity. At the time, she had hoped to do a study on the Onderonian beast riders. The group was quickly rushed into the throne room for an audience with King Jarvok. Ailbasí curtsied smartly before addressing the monarch.

 

“Your grace, I am Ailbasí Zirtani, speaking on behalf of the Sith in the hope that an agreement can be reached through which all may prosper.”

[Lux]

Another face was there to greet Ailbasi when she arrived. The palatial guards that were positioned outside the throne room, moved into the throne room to secure all of the Royal Family's assets. The Royal Family had been evacuated earlier in the afternoon when the threat of Sith incursion - ala Faust - was threatened and the CoreSec Commissioner requested a lockdown of the palace. After acknowledging the Commissioner's request and passing it to his guardsmen, Jarvok and his family left the palace to his guards. It was a contingency set up since one of the last monarchs was slaughtered by an unruly campaign of Mandalorians that waged war through the streets.

 

The stand-in that was standing near the throne, was a grizzled middle aged man. Corporal Darius Lavok peered at the woman with cold blue eyes. There was no malice there; there was no hate. He simply had no patience left for much of anything. So, he cut right to the chase. This Cathar clearly had reason to be here, but he was sad to say she would not see what she wanted to see. For now, at least.

 

"Apologies Miss Zirtani. The Royal Family evacuated some time ago due to the Faust threat. Darth Luciferian was in this very room not that long ago, so we are just now recovering the area and securing all the Royal Family's effects, to make sure he didn't steal anything. I do not believe that I am allowed such permissions, being in the position I am. But I can forward your questions and concerns to Jarvok if you so wish it."

 

The palatial guardsmen eyed her warily. They wondered what happened to the perimeter guard around the palace, but chose to keep silent about it. They would watch her closely. But unless directly ordered to do so, there would be no bloodshed. Not in his Grace's room.

__________________

 

Lux could feel the tension growing as she approached the growing group of people meeting in the square. And when she finally stood adjacent to them all, she could feel the palpability of it all, swirling around her. The conflicting feelings boiled together like a riotous soup that stank with an acrid foulness. Yet, Lux was extremely calm. The crystal clenched in her left hand helped clarify everything. Her mind was open to looking at everything with ease. And all the while, she broached each mental complexity in the depths of her consciousness with almost titanic indifference.

 

Tenebris seemed to sneer inaudibly at her when she approached, but she didn't see it. She didn't look at him. The fear and pain that lingered there had not been properly dealt with, and now was definitely not the time to investigate that incident further. Any weakness or show for these people would give CoreSec a disadvantage; more than they already had. Instead, Lux stood and watched the altercation. The artistic side of her enjoyed the Operatic tune that Faust casually spoiled with his venomous tongue, but the curious and inquisitive side of her, watched the 'Dark Lord.'

 

Although not fully trained, Lux could still feel a terrible power behind the man. But, unlike Faust, he didn't flaunt it. Even with all of his power, he didn't brandish or posture with it. It was a strange thing to see someone with power stand so close to breaking something, but be big enough to ignore the impulse. There was something eerie about it. But Lux could stand to respect it. The darkness that welled up beyond those green eyes was not something that she would wish upon herself. But the respect that he paid to them by remaining composed in the face of conflict, was admirable.

 

When introduced, Lux bowed her head politely and offered her right hand to the Dark Lord as a token of good will.

 

"Nice to meet you," Lux said, a small but genuine small crossing her features.

[Exodus]

As the words Dark Lord was slipped from tongue, the center of wherever Exodus laid his attention became the most uncomfortable place to be in. The manner in which he stood unparalleled to any other before him, dauntingly regal and unyielding against the cool winds, harmonized with the deceptive piece that Vladimir Faust caroled. Exodus inclined his neck and looked up towards the skies, as his hand, overlaid in exquisite metal, rose slowly and drew the black hood from his head. The Sovereign of the Sith appeared as any other ordinary human, more magnanimous than most by far, but more importantly unscathed by the horrors of the Dark Side. There were no telling scars of war poorly drawn across his face, absent were the craters and blotches of eaten skin that manifested when one drew from the well of the Darkness beyond their means. Exodus was truly one-of-one, and as the luster of the skies bathed him entirely, everyone that watched could feel the sickening danger that shed from him like snakeskin.

 

 

• “Ladies and Gentlemen,”

 

His natural voice brokered with the half-mask that was structured from his jawline to his nose, and produced a low and bottomless voice that was heavily fermented in the allure of the Dark Side. The sound was both sinister and smooth, simultaneously. “..Lord Luciferian.” He addressed all parties in reception, but the last name separate, for he was no lady and he was no gentle man. Faust was outwardly in the vein of what Exodus was inwardly; both more than several tiers above the commonplace when it came to the power of the mind and the savagery it took to maintain it. Astonishingly, there was one who dared to alter the perception Exodus originally had of her, but the Sith Troopers that flanked him in defensive formation immediately readied their aim to prevent this. That same metal hand leveled out casually and warned them all to hold their fire, which they did in regards to both Faust and the lady of question.

 

Exodus took a neutral step to the left, and towards Lux as she stretched out her hand. His right-hand metal clamped onto the top of her shoulder, while his left hand swept under her right hand in cavalier fashion. With his right, he could grind her very bones to powder and with his left hand he could lift her right to his covered mouth and place a kiss. This was the nature of the Spider; they never knew which side they would experience, an icon of mercy or a merciless butcher. His body was a vessel of terminal power, and through this welcoming touch, she would feel a rapture of her senses heavier than she could ever imagine. The impalpable sensation was harmless, because he deemed it so, but he would lean in closer now. His face nearly brushed hers as he carefully reeled her in, many strands of his wolfish mane sweeping against her dark skin. “The pleasure is mine, Thrysian.” The words carried loud across the wind for all to hear, but as her frame was pinned between himself and the others, he whispered more. “..I can set you free. You know nothing of the danger you are in.” The words would become parasitic, their meaning and their depth revealed nothing to her at present moment, but it would eat at her soul every moment that she questioned herself and her destiny.

 

Exodus released his hold and straightened himself as his gaze lazily fell over the Square once more, his flesh and bones preemptively searching for a stance in which to set himself in the course that any immediate danger presented itself. Shien was determined, and his posture mimicked that in transition. In his mind, every single person he had ever come across was an enemy, and he would exist in a state of subtle paranoia because of it.

 

 

"Your skepticism does not concern me, Commissioner. Your inability to suppress the threat, has become a danger to the people of this planet. It is the Sith that you fear, that staves off the destruction of this planet." Exodus kept an eye towards the Puppeteer, as he referenced him. Exodus knew they would fail in his capture, and his people would be proven right in that regard. "I have brought him before you as a final show of grace, succeeding where you have failed, but my patience wears extremely thin. If you and your people continue to try my calm, the blood will be on your hands alone." Exodus paused, brushing his hair from his face before his hands fell free. "..As for this justice you speak of," Exodus turned with knowing measure towards his kinfolk, Darth Luciferian. Staring, he searched beyond the here-and-now, through the strings of the invincible Force, simply staring.

 

 

His words were low this time, with Faust and him alone in earshot of what he spoke, leaving the others to guess. "Have you wasted my time, brother?"

[AVATAR Kain]

It took little more than a moment to establish a solid landline connection to a suitable comm relay far enough away from Iziz that it extended suitably past the jamming. A few firewalls were annoying, but little more than that for a being comprised of electronic code. A few moments more, and the St. Cathryne had appraised him of the situation. The ship had warmed up its remaining weapons and had them trained on the approaching Onderonian ships. Relaying a comm through the MC-30, Kain addressed the fleet, his voice mimicking the one he'd used mere minutes earlier, that of Ambassador Lane Cook.

 

"Lieutenant McGarvey, this is Sith Ambassador Lane Cook. Please, there is no need for alarm. There is a jurisdictional dispute on the planet below between the Sith and CoreSec, and a petition has been submitted to the royal palace through another ambassador to allow neutral arbitration to occur without Onderonian interference. The situation is being handled diplomatically, but it is very tense. Recommend you stand by if you wish until we are ordered to release our jamming field, but the dispute is solely with CoreSec and the Galactic Alliance. We can also relay transmissions to your government in the meantime. Also, the citizenry of Onderon are at minimal risk. As a gesture of goodwill-"

 

Kain sent the order for the St. Cathryne to power the weapons systems targeting the Onderon militia ships down, which was carried out immediately, but the ARC fighters still swarmed nearby to cover the ship, and the weapons trained on the X4 gunship remained active. Of course, the shields still remained up as well.

 

"As you can see, we are here to defend our interests. We have no desire to initiate a war, but realize that if fired upon, we are more than capable of defending ourselves. Please help us avoid an intergalactic incident here."

 

If they did fire, however, things would get interesting very quickly. Political posturing was always a fragile thing.