(Avatar by Coffee)
Hidden from the holoprojector's view, Tion began laughing uproariously. “The Dark Side choose you?” he asked, his heavy Cathari accent quite audible. “You just puny little sword-waver! Come to me, I show you how true men fight! With claws! Ahahahahaha!”
While he was taunting the man who killed his employer, the Cathar thug was looking around, watching for any sign that one of the snivelling wusses that made up Lord Thiel's coterie was wavering and considering begging the sword-waver for their lives. Such cowardice, of course, must be punished.
The Maid
A sinking feeling... a extreme coldness invaded Naleera's heart as she saw the terrible image... the utmost betrayal, cowardice and unfairness that was the death of the man that was the center of her universe. Sadness, loss, despair... they all swirled in a dark void within her heart.
And soon enough, all those feelings became kindling for the flames of her rage. She could feel it... as if ice itself flowed down her veins. A cold fire raged within her mind, the Dark Side of the Force screaming in her mind, a beast swirling demanding swift retribution and vengeance. If Kane wasn't just an image screen she would be throwing herself at the wretched creature, chance or no chance of victory in sight. Thankfully, the distance did afford her some perspective... and allowed herself to remember the lessons of her Master. The Truth she knew in her heart.
She would not deny her emotions, would not suppress them. This was who she was... and her passion, her emotions, were what truly mattered. Were what set her free... were what made her, her. However, it was up to her mind, her cunning and her lessons to direct her anger into the most productive ways to bring about the end of this man.
And that, was not something they could accomplish by staying here "Pilot! Is the field still up? Get us all moving, as long as that coward hides in his lump of metal, we cannot fight him" says Naleera, holding one of her blades in hand, knuckles white from her grip on it... the bladed weapon practically crackling with the power of the Dark Side she was imbuing it with "And whoever wishes to die, the best way to accomplish that right now is to pledge themselves to this scum"
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
Full-Conversion Cyborg
T1-TN, the utility droid that served as the ship's copilot and navigator, whirred in the negative. Apparently Lord Thiel had bought them enough time for Kane's ship to burn too much power to maintain the interdiction field.
Regardless of her emotional state, the droid uttered a few more sounds directed at Artoria, essentially asking for her confirmation of Naleera's order.
edited 19th Sep '14 4:29:59 PM by StygianEmperor
Flesh is a design flaw.
Grozevgechit heard Kane's words, and then tilted his head and shoulders back in a loud and primal roar. Intense and deafening, they were growls in the traditional Thykarann of his people, growls pledging to exact vengeance on Kane. Only towards the end did he slip back into Shyriiwook. "RRRrrruurgh! Arrggg! There is no other way, Kane! You have betrayed us! You must pay!"
Then he punched the holoprojector and ripped it out of its socket. "Gu waagaa ahawag, Metal Man!" he said at Kane's image as it flicked out of view, and he dropped the device down near T1. Even in his rage he had been careful enough to avoid doing any permanent damage, and even someone without any repair training would be able to simply plug it back in, but the point had hopefully been clear.
A Eurasian man in marble grey robes observed the fight in silence. Though he wore a scarlet blindfold to conceal the ruined pits where there used to be eyes, he still saw what happened as clearly as any other member of the ship. The Force provided eyes where there were none.
His name was Kayip Bur.
He felt the death of Lord Thiel ripple through the ship, as his presence in The Force was drained as his life left his body.
Kayip had no love for Thiel, but he respected him because he was a reasonable man in an increasingly hostile galaxy. With Thiel gone, Kayip wondered whether his coterie may fall into a squabbling mess if a leader with Thiel's strength didn't rise to the challenge. I'm just an observer, he noted with a slight shrug.
This was no time for panic. Kayip set aside any misgivings he had for now, and instead focused more on the matter at hand. I'm a survivor. I've always been a survivor. And I'll survive this mire too. Kayip's thoughts drifted towards what he could do to escape Kane.
He left matters concerning ship technology to those who knew what they were doing.
Kayip cursed silently when Grozevgechit smashed the holoprojector. He couldn't speak with any of Kane's crew now. Nevertheless, Kayip was not deterred. He positioned himself into a lotus, and focused his sight beyond the walls of the Inheritance. Probing minds without being able to visualise the person he wanted to probe was difficult. After some effort, Kayip had reached through to Kane's crew... then he found the hostile ship's pilot. Kayip reached out through The Force towards the pilot and started poisoning his mind, conveying thoughts of unimaginable horror. Perhaps, in a paranoid fit, the pilot of the hostile ship may do something rash, therefore giving an opportunity for the Inheritance to escape.
edited 19th Sep '14 11:48:40 PM by JumpinJackFlash
Serving Crits
Contrariwise, Shii wasn't particularly devastated, whether due to her lesser attachment to the late Lord or because she considered the Force to be an advantage no less than a second, allowing the sense of distaste and panic to warred on the visible part of her face. Her compatriots emotional outburst was all well and good, but the reality was that they were in an even worse position than they started with.
A cursory glance revealed that any cries for diplomacy on her part would resulted in the imminent separation of her head and body. Her power is insufficient to ensue peace. Her option was made for her.
Her mechandrite reacting with the speed of thought, it moved to rest on Artoria's shoulder, her eyes probing the girl's face for sign of shock.
"Can you still fly?"
"The literal meaning of life is whatever you're doing that prevents you from killing yourself." Albert Camus
Sanity not included
From where she stood, Artoria watched in horror as her father was struck down by a treacherous blow.
"Father! No!" she shouted in anguish, collapsing to her knees as her world began collapsing around her.
Gray. Durasteel Gray. That was all she saw from her knees. The color of the floor panels. The world seemed to fade out, becoming blurry and indistinct as his familiar force presence, which she'd worn like a blanket for much of her life, faded.
"Pilot..." came a voice, one she could barely recognize. The beeps from the droid, the roars of rage...
Rage.
She felt it all around her. The anger, the hatred of those around her. The sadness and... loss? She forced herself to look up. One of them... did one of them also understand this? Did one of them share her pain?
Pain.
Pain.
She felt it, seized upon it. It meant she was still alive. She wouldn't die. Not here, not like this! Pain gave way to anger, to hate. Hate at her Master's stubbornness. Hate for the coward that had killed him, and the toady that had assisted him. She followed the current, letting it drag her back to reality and the land of the living.
Springing to her feet from the floor, she turned, shoving aside whomever was in her way as she raced to the pilot's seat.
"T1, get us the Kriff out of here!" she shouted, jerking the ship into motion. "Calculate a jump to hyperspace, anywhere we'll be relatively safe! Anyone with a spine, strap yourselves in! Anyone else, you know where the airlock is- I don't have time to kill you properly!"
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.
Zev nodded and growled as he looked at the pilot. He ran over to the hyperdrive, holding hard onto the metal frame of the ship and standing by in the off-chance the motivator overloaded at the wrong time.
There wasn't much more Kayip could do to induce paranoia in the pilot. Too many distractions, and the Inheritance was about to make a giddy jump into hyperspace. He rose and fastened himself to a seat at the table of the Inheritance's living room.
edited 19th Sep '14 11:57:43 PM by JumpinJackFlash
Serving Crits
Taking that as a yes, Shii fastened herself to a maintenance straps and readied herself.
"The literal meaning of life is whatever you're doing that prevents you from killing yourself." Albert Camus
Full-Conversion Cyborg
The Obelisk - Cockpit
Eacon, the pilot of The Obelisk, became suddenly nervous in his seat. Kane had promised this would be quick; a few bribes ensured the Czerka officials on Korriban would give them the planetary docking manifest, and this ship, The Sullied Inheritance, was on the list. Somehow this was one Darth Kane felt significant, and the trap was set.
But this was taking far too long. A bad feeling settled on Eacon; this was pushing their power reserves. The miniature interdiction field was a marvel of technology, but it had nearly drained them dry - an automatic shutoff had ensured they could make it back to Korriban, but any further might be impossible without taking the time to siphon fuel from one of the sister ships.
Then a dull tearing sound came from somewhere on the hull. Yellow lights began to flash in the cockpit, and his engineer shouted, "Docking bridge is down! They're shoving off!"
The Sullied Inheritance
Kayip couldn't get a good hold on the pilot from there. Too many obstructions and too much distance barely allowed for him to affect the man's mood at all.
Meanwhile, T1-TN was rapidly listing off a number of options at Artoria's command, the names of which seemed familiar to anyone who had listened to Thiel's travel plans for the near future:
Korriban, their destination before Lord Thiel had been killed. The place was full of ancient Sith tombs, which were now constantly being raided by treasure-seeking fragments of Revan's empire. Thiel had wanted to get there while there were still artifacts left to find, but with Darth Kane's apparent foreknowledge of their plans, it didn't seem like the best option to escape him.
Unon, the crime-ridden space station from where they had just traveled. They hadn't stayed there long enough to do much other than refuel, and it certainly was not the safest destination nor farthest retreat, but the place was highly populated and it might be a good place to get oneself lost.
Arcturus IV, a cold, mountainous planet known to hold one of the few remaining active Sith academies. Thiel had intended to claim another student there to add to his coterie. The planet would be a neutral zone, where Kane wouldn't dare to come after them, but only if they could negotiate their refuge with the presiding Sith Master.
X-131, a mysterious jungle-world, uninhabited by any sentient race, as far as Thiel had known. While still serving the Jedi order, he had discovered documents referring to the planet, including secretive "recovery missions" involving entire teams of Jedi Knights. Asking his superiors had revealed nothing, as they claimed ignorance of any such missions, or told Thiel to focus on his own tasks. What little the coterie could be sure of; the place was far distant, nearing the very edge of the galaxy, and obscure besides.
edited 20th Sep '14 12:37:11 AM by StygianEmperor
Flesh is a design flaw.
The Maid
Naleera sat close to Artoria, looking over the list of destinations, in her mind remembering what their Master had said of each of them... plus what she normally knew Focus... Focus on what must be done. Channel your passion into the best possible outcome
She analyzed every possible alternative and then gave her opinion "Korrinban is too obvious. Unon is too exposed, not worthwhile right now. Arcturus works if we want to raise other Sith against this Kane. However, getting them to hear and help on such a mission without having established ourselves will be hard..."
That left only one place... and Naleera had a hunch. If nothing else, it would give them time to organize themselves and grieve... think of a better path. However, if there was more to the place than just jungles... That may be what they need to go back to the other Sith as something more than Thiel's beaten pup.
"Set course to X-131" she finally said, eyes intense, resolution clear in them.
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
Full-Conversion Cyborg
T1-TN ignored Naleera and swiveled his head toward Artoria. It seemed the little droid held her as its new master after Lord Thiel's demise.
Flesh is a design flaw.
"The planet of numbers is not a planet that for those who are soft," Zev said. "Kane thinks he is a leader of Sith, but he is still a small human. A child of the Sith, but he is not a child of the trees."
He tilted his head back and growled. "Now he is not even that. He is something not natural anymore, he cannot survive against nature now. If he follows us into the jungles, then he will die because we will use it against him."
Kayip heard the debate from the living room. He removed the safety restraints and walked silently through the hallways of the ship to where T1-TN beeped and whirred away.
"Travelling to Korriban is suicide; it's in the thick of this war. We could go to Unon to conceal our presence there among the billions cramped together on its surface, and to re-supply. Though Kane may put a bounty on our coterie. I don't trust such an unknown planet as X-131. I'd prefer to know what we're dealing with."
Kayip paused for a while, as he was lost in thought.
"You mentioned... Arcturus IV. I'd like to know more about this."
edited 20th Sep '14 2:28:35 AM by JumpinJackFlash
Full-Conversion Cyborg
The Sullied Inheritance quaked as a turbolaser raked its hull. One of Kane's fleet had begun to fire on the retreating Herald-class. The coterie would need to enter hyperspace soon or they risked being crippled.
The droid began spouting practically useless information at Kayip in an effort to answer; the planet's gravity, the average temperature, the time it took to travel around its star. If T1-TN was aware of the academy that had held Lord Thiel's interest, he didn't mention it.
Flesh is a design flaw.
Sanity not included
Faced with the possibility of death, she made a snap decision. "T1, stop. Get us to to Arcturus. Now!" she ordered, bringing the vessel through evasive actions in an effort to minimize the damage.
edited 20th Sep '14 2:48:26 AM by Dragon573
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.
Kayip nodded, thinking Artoria had made the best decision with the knowledge she had at hand. He returned to the living room and fastened himself back in the seat near the table.
edited 20th Sep '14 2:50:01 AM by JumpinJackFlash
BWAH-HA-HA!
"Arcturus....."
It had been the first word to pass through Sindri's lips for some time, his retreat into his own mind having placed him firmly in the background of the current events. The passing of his tutor, and the corresponding wane in the force, had put so many of his plans on hold, and all too many options in front of him. All of it was muddled by a simmering rage that dug claws deep into his gut, a sensation that he was still learning to accept, rather than fight.
Overall, he was pleased at the decision that his peers had made, even if they were not entirely sure why that location was ideal. Perhaps this was was not the time to conceal any valuable information he'd attained.
"Arcturus is at least a neutral zone," Sindri spoke out, finally making himself known. "An academy located within one of the Sith's respected temples. It would do us well to become familiar with their structure, both acolyte and mentor; we will need their resources to stand any chance at long term survival, let alone retaliation."
To the law and for the good of man. All I need to live by.
Full-Conversion Cyborg
T1-TN plotted a course, and the hyperdrive fired up with an accelerating hum. A few smaller lasers zapped the ship, but in the next second it was gone.
Once the stars became steady white lines across their veiwports, the droid buzzed a few notes informing the coterie that it would take just over a Standard day to reach Arcturus at hyperspeed, give or take any drive fluxuations.
The Obelisk
"Damn them!" Kane yelled in frustration as he watched the Inheritence stretch into hyperspace and disappear. He wanted to kill someone else for this, but personell had become difficult to replace these days. He stomped the durasteel beneath him with a metallic hoof, leaving a clear imprint. He brushed past his armored apprentice as be headed toward the foreend of the ship, leaving Thiel's corpse behind.
"What happened to the field?" He demanded as he burst into the cockpit. Eacon was nervous before, and now he was absolutely terrified.
"We're out of power, Lord! The generators can't hold up that long," the pilot sniveled.
"And you declined to inform me? Then order the others to give chase!" Kane returned.
"Er, they can't, Lord. They could only guess where the Inheritence went by their last known vector - and that's without knowing their distance, or course corrections they may have made-"
"-Enough!" Kane interrupted, "We will just have to search for them then. We'll start with your 'vectors,' and put out a bounty, too. If they're still in Sith space they'll have every mercenary and warband out for their blood."
He began to walk back out. "If not, then I'll pursue them across the entire galaxy if I must. Nobody escapes Darth Kane."
edited 20th Sep '14 3:46:55 AM by StygianEmperor
Flesh is a design flaw.
Sanity not included
"If I need someone to tell me what I already know, I'll find a protocol droid!" Artoria snapped at her cohort. "T1, when will we arrive?"
edited 20th Sep '14 3:45:04 AM by Dragon573
It's kind of funny. Sufficiently advanced stupidity is like sufficiently advanced science; eventually, you find something you can't solve.
Full-Conversion Cyborg
The droid clicked a few times, replying that if they should land at the Sith temple Sindri mentioned, it should be about midday planetside. He continued beeping; they would need to supply some form of identification to do that, or the temple's anti-air turret would shoot them down.
Flesh is a design flaw.
BWAH-HA-HA!
Sindri chose not to return the noblewoman's repute in-kind, giving her only an innocuous glance and a wave of the hand. By his own judgment, shouting match with the newly grieving was an exercise in futility, even if he was sith. It would be an interesting spectacle, anyhow, to see what this woman would handle her spite in the future.
The more pressing concern, however, was was the fact that they might not even make it onto the surface of Arcturus in one piece. Perhaps...
"Is there any chance that our late Lord Thiel had composed any sort of information on our status as his apprentices?" Sindri asked. He spoke in a tone that itself suggested that the answer was clear, it was more of a statement of intent than anything else.
"Forwarding such information bares it's own risks, of course, but so does being disintegrated."
To the law and for the good of man. All I need to live by.
Full-Conversion Cyborg
T1-TN replied in a few drawn-out notes followed by many short ones, speculating that simply having a ship from the Sith fleet like the Herald-class could be enough to bypass the automatic targeting. If so, the temple would probably try to establish contact and verify that the crew was indeed Sith. As far as their status with Thiel, the droid had no knowledge of such connections ever having official documentation, nor was he aware of any sort of living will left by his late master.
Flesh is a design flaw.
Signup Thread
Discussion Thread
Aboard the Sullied Inheritance
It all happened so fast. One moment you were barreling through hyperspace toward Korriban from the space station Unon, the next you were completely still, a ship easily three times the size of yours filling your viewports. Your holoprojector came alive with a sneering face, a bald and goateed human man who immediately gave you a very bad feeling.
Introducing himself as "Darth Kane," he demanded you surrender the Sullied Inheritance to his fleet and join his warband - on pain of death. Two additional ships had come into view by this point, slowly circling to reinforce the threat. An interdiction field,
Thiel cursed as he realized what had happened. Those among you familiar with ship technology wondered how such a relatively small ship could be outfitted with something that drew that much power.
Lord Thiel bid you keep quiet as he attempted to negotiate a compromise with the man, but this would-be Sith Lord would have none of it - until Thiel suggested a duel to settle the dispute. Kane seemed bemused by the suggestion, though noting the cramped quarters of the Inheritance, the duel, he proposed, would be better held aboard his much more spacious craft.
Any reservations you might have vocalized met deaf ears; Thiel waved you off with assertions that he'd beaten better men in less favorable circumstances. His mind was made, and so he boarded the craft alone. As you watched on the holoprojector, one last attempt at negotiation was made by Thiel. You knew he was probing Kane's mind, simultaneously looking for weakness as he made Force suggestions. Perhaps this was his plan all along, meeting the man face-to-face in order to more easily exercise his mental dominance and convince the warlord to leave you alone.
It didn't work, however, and Kane drew his saber - a massive weapon, nearly six feet long from its blade tip to pommel of the extended handle. Throwing back his cloak, he revealed his legs to be strange mechanical hooves. They extended as he began advancing upon Thiel, becoming unnaturally long to make him stand at least seven feet. Next to this cybernetic titan, your master appeared humble as he reluctantly drew his own green saber, rendered transparent blue by the filter of the holoscreen.
The fight reminded you why you served the man, however; while each blow of Kane's greatsaber and every kick from his hooves promised to be devastating, Thiel would never be anywhere close to where they landed. He moved with grace and speed, sending bolts of electricity at the upstart Sith Lord from all angles, all the while insidiously undermining his confidence with careful words. Eventually, Kane's robotic legs became too damaged to support him any longer and he toppled like a fallen titan.
Thiel made to finish him off, but it would not be so. Desperate, Kane called out to someone standing outside boundaries of the holoscreen, who moved in with some show of reluctance. This armored figure - presumably the warlord's second - hesitated to draw his own weapon and join the fight, but Thiel's attention was nonetheless diverted. Kane's long blade lashed out at this critical moment, decapitating your master from behind.
A wave of horror rushed throughout the Sullied Inheritance, shock visible on the faces of everyone gathered around the holoprojector. A few seconds of silence passed after Thiel's body crumpled to the floor. With some effort, Kane managed to right himself, chuckling darkly as he turned to face your coterie on the screen.
"You see? The Dark Side has chosen me. Fall to your knees and you may yet live to serve Darth Kane, rightful Dark Lord of the Sith."
edited 19th Sep '14 3:10:00 PM by StygianEmperor
Flesh is a design flaw.