Private A Lead

[Cadere]

Somewhere in Wild Space...

The shuttle descended from the clouds, its engine's quieting the closer it got to touching the grass the repulsors repelled. Once it had docked, the shuttle went entirely silent. Only the sounds of nature could be heard within the surrounding area. The Dark Jedi exited the pilot's chair, although he now had subordinates to fly him to and from places, Cadere still preferred being at the helm of any space fairing vehicle. Making his way over to the descending docking ramp, two figures were close in tow, a 'gift' from Darth Insatious, they stopped when the Dark Jedi's arm shot up to halt them. "Wait." he ordered in a cold tone, without further elaboration Cadere took his steps down the docking ramp and exited the shuttle.

Cadere wandered toward the base of a mountain top, raising his head he took in the scale of the large elevation of earth before catching a glimpse of the temple that rest above it. Cadere felt the Dark side radiating from the temple like a beacon, Cas Tynen would have rejected its power, feared it, but now he embraced it, allowing its dark energy to energise him. The reason as to why Cadere had come to this unmarked planet was for knowledge, power. The Dark Jedi had engaged in various sources of research, looking for answers to get stronger, strong enough to kill his 'Master'. His research had brought to his attention of an ancient temple built upon a dark vergence in the Force, ancient natives, now long extinct, would worship their god there, now all that remains of their civilisation was this temple.

Rumors believed that something inside the temple would grant the finder unimaginable power. Cadere knew it was merely a fantasy, but he did hold the belief that finding something of worth there was entirely possible. The hooded figure remained still, and reached out with the Force, sending invisible nodes as far as the Dark side would allow him, sensing for any unique or unusual presence in the vicinity. Unexpectedly, but not surprisingly, he could sense another... something dark, like him. Whatever it was, its chances of surviving wouldn't decrease as long as they stayed out of his way.

Tiya Ayres

 

[Tiya Ayres]

Below, she could see a figure look curiously up at the large structure that towered above her. She was already halfway up the mountain but meeting the newcomer seemed much more interesting. Idly, she wandered towards the edge and dove off, grabbing a vine attached to a tree as she freefell towards the ground.

A moment later, she appeared before the stranger, hanging upside down from the vine. "What do we have here?" She inquired in a non-threatening tone as she eyed him up, mere inches from his helmet. If he did move to attack then she was prepared to take evasive measures but with any luck the lightsaber hilt hanging from her waist would serve as a deterrent of sorts.

She released her ankle from the grip of the vine that she had been using to support herself and gracefully flipped, dropping down onto the ground. Her amber eyes traced his figure as she wandered around him, barefoot. "You're looking particularly edgy. Dare I say you're a Sith?" She asked before stopping in front of him, her eyes searching for the tell-tale sign of a lightsaber.

Moving from topic to topic quickly, she soon moved onto another question. "So who are you? I'm intrigued." She barely gave him a chance to answer before she began speculating. "Were you dropped on your head as a child and you wear the helmet to hide your dog-ugly face? Or ooh are you concealing your identity? It can't be for protection, surely. You could get a lightsaber or blaster bolt right through that." She raised a fist to knock on the side of his helmet.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Upon further inspection, his own eyes confirmed what his intuition had already been warning him of. Cadere discovered a lavender skinned individual high atop the mountain, a bit of a stand off occured before this stranger would make their way to the Dark Jedi. He remained unmoving and simply watched as the figure descended, halting her descent and hanging from a vine before him.

The Death Troopers under his command were antsy, raising their weapons with an eagerness to come to their master's aid. Hearing the electricity cackle off of their electrostaffs from outside the shuttle, Cadere simply raised a hand for them to stand down as he stared down the, apparently Sephi, Dark side adept in front of him. Remaining motionless as the talkative Sephi wandered around him, while she studied him, he did the same through the Force. She was unstable, very, but she was nonetheless quite powerful in the Dark side - maybe more so than Cadere due to his lack of experience within the Force's darker nature. "No." he answered bluntly.

She continued to prod him, inquiring why he wore the mask - her second guess was correct but he didn't feel the need to answer. Her talkative nature reminded Cadere a lot of Cas and, ironically, now the shoe was on the other foot - at least he knew his attempts at riling up his enemies were successful if the Sephi's talkative nature was anything like Tynen's was. Cadere unclipped his lightsaber before igniting its crimson blade, its hum cutting through any idle chatter the Sephi girl attempted "I'm guessing we're both after the same thing. Am I going to have to kill you for it?" the Dark Jedi asked rhetorically.

The lightsaber's hum droned on as he turned to face the Sephi "Or are you going to stay out of my way." he threatened. Part of him was hoping she'd fight for it, the masked Kiffar was itching for some kind of work out this day.

Tiya Ayres

 

[Tiya Ayres]

"No?" She asked after she had finished circling him like a vulture circling its prey, though her hands remained placed against her lower back, casually, non-threatening. She wasn't arrogant by any means, nor did she have a death wish, but she had nothing to lose and even if the stranger attempted to strike her down then she was confident she could at least evade him. She didn't need to win any fights. Her pride did not demand it.

"Then what? Are you from some other Dark side cult?" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully before gasping. "Or ohh are you one of those fallen Jedi?" It quickly became apparent that he wouldn't give her a satisfactory answer so she would have to content herself with speculation. "Hmm..." She cocked her head to the side and prodded his Force signature for hints before he unsheathed his weapon.

"Kill me?" She repeated with a laugh. In an instant, she disappeared from in front of him and appeared sitting on the branch of a tree behind him, eating an apple. "That's a juicy threat right there." She commented, mid-bite. "Do those guys actually do anything? Or are they just there to make you look cooler?" She asked, indicating towards the two Death Troopers.

A moment later, she appeared in her original place on the ground, seemingly unbothered by his weapon and making no effort to ignite her own. "As a compromise... Why don't we both go and you don't try and kill me and I don't stay out of your way?"

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

This was becoming irritating, the Sephi continued to poke and prod at Cadere, trying to discern whatever she could about him. Of course, he continued to remain non-cooperative and opted to not answer the questions she posed, however, again, the Sephi managed to make an accurate guess on his loyalties and where he stood within the landscape of the Force.

Naturally, she responded how someone of her... apparent mental state would to the threat of his lightsaber. Non-threatened. Suddenly she disappeared from in front of him, though Cadere remained motionless and showed no signs of reaction or surprise, hearing her voice from behind him Cadere merely turned his head to face her as he cast the Sephi a sideways glance. "Try something and find out." Cadere answered, a hint of annoyance present in his monotone.

Cadere's eyebrow raised behind his helmet, to his surprise the Sephi proposed an allegiance... a temporary one at least. The Dark Jedi said nothing, deliberating for some seconds as his lightsaber's hum cut through the silence between the Kiffar and Sephi. Extinguishing the crimson blade, the Sephi would find her answer "Fine. Let's go." he agreed before sheathing the hilt of his blade to his belt. Cadere fully expected some sort of betrayal at some point, as was the way of the Dark side, thus refusing to let his guard down at any point during their cooperation.

Uncaring as to whether she was following him or not, Cadere strolled closer to the mountain's base before following along the long winding path which led its way up to the mountain. Cadere remained silent for the journey up to the ancient temple, entering deep thought as he pondered what could be inside the temple and whether or not the knowledge or artifacts inside would help him toward his journey to power, to defeating Darth Insatious. Stealing a quick glance from the Sephi, he grew curious about her, to what order or cult she belonged to, how powerful she was and, what she was doing here. Were they after the same thing?

Then he thought of Sakadi, a Sephi that was important to Cas Tynen - was this some sort of cruel joke designed by the Force and the universe? Tynen encountered a Sephi in his early days as a Jedi, now Cadere encounters another Sephi in his early days as a Dark Jedi though he refused to let anything between him and this new Sephi to formulate following today's events. The Kiffar couldn't help but smirk to himself, the irony of it all was slightly amusing however.

Tiya Ayres

 

[Tiya Ayres]

Remaining unthreatened by his words, weapon and the lackeys that accompanied him, she showed no sign of apprehension. With a glance towards his companions of sorts, she cocked her head to the side as if considering her next move. While it would be entertaining for all present if she poked fun at the Death Troopers, she decided against it. Perhaps her encounter with this enigmatic stranger would prove to be more fruitful if she didn't kill his men or get herself killed at their hand... either way.

"Hm." She chirped before placing her hands behind her back, casually. "How kind, good sir." She told him playfully before falling into step beside him, figuring he wouldn't take too kindly to her falling far behind. After all, that was the best place to backstab someone. It soon became apparent that she was unconcerned with being betrayed herself, that or she was confident she could handle him if he did turn on her suddenly as she strode ahead, casually cartwheeling before jumping to grab a branch overhead and nimbly backflipping back to the ground, a clumsy elegance in her step.

She didn't ponder too much over his affiliations and loyalties. It wasn't something she concerned herself with. There were several shades of dark and the lines between them could be too warrant her caring. Even if he was a Jedi, she wouldn't have cared, at least not until she got bored of him. There was a certain thrill associated with utilising the Dark side and she craved that more than any political victory.

"You're not a talker, are you?" She called out to him, turning to face him while continuing to walk backwards. "What's your name?" She asked. "I don't bite." She paused for a moment. "Well... Most of the time." She chuckled, her talkative nature getting the better of her and distracting her for long enough to catch her heel on an exposed root, tripping her up. While many would be humiliated to be unceremoniously dumped on the floor, Tiya instead lay flat on her back for an extra few seconds, laughing. While looking up at the sky, she remained there even longer, distracted.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

The Sephi surprised him, strolling ahead and taking the league. Allowing him to be at her rear meant one of three things, she was either confident, stupid or simply didn't care. From what little he'd seen of her, through her actions and behaviour - Cadere was confident the Sephi didn't care. He remained silent, periodically watching the Sephi perform stupid acts, and glancing over the side of the mountain trail.

The view was... pleasant, filled with trees that stretched as far as the eye could see with more mountains situated behind the field of trees. Although Cadere had forsaken his past identity, old distinctions would slip through, in this case it was Cas Tynen's appreciation of nature. Her grating voice proceeded to invade his ears, although she couldn't see, she'd be able to determine Cadere shot her an annoyed glare through his mask.

"What gave you that idea." he snarkily answered, albeit in a monotoned voice. Her talkative nature only fed into his growing annoyance, which ebbed through his signature in the Force. "Cadere." he answered bluntly, ignoring the comment that came after the Sephi's second question. The Dark Jedi watched as an exposed root forced the Sephi to fall onto her back, earning her trip a sadistic smirk from the fallen Knight.

"Idiot." Cadere stated as he strolled passed the Sephi as she remained on the floor, ignoring her laughter. The woman's amusement at her own fall completely sapped any joy Cadere had previously felt from seeing her drop. The Kiffar continued for what seemed like five more minutes and to his surprise, he, and maybe the Sephi depending on how far she was, were now at the mountain's peak. Face-to-face with the fabled temple at its summit.

It already looked colossal in scale from the base of the mountain, but to now be stood in front of it, its size reminded him a lot of Silver Rest. Still unaware of what he was searching for, the strength of the Dark side centred at this temple, that much was certain. The temple's Dark sided nature served as a beacon - if it brought this Sephi here, Cadere couldn't help but wonder what or who else could be lurking within the temple. Thankfully, it was day, the planet's sun would serve as a suitable light source for the time being.

Not bothering to check if the Sephi was with him, the fallen Knight continued toward the entrance.

Tiya Ayres