Alien Shores

[Helios]

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

The sky was dressed in a gown of flame as dusk came to ravish her, the tails of her petticoats settling against the blackening skyline of the city. Sinking down towards the depths and streets, the neon signs burst into life like denizens of the inky deep, highlighting the rain dampened streets that reflected the fluorescent lights skywards once more. Helios' hatred for the Light and it's followers had intensified these days. The Jedi and their numerous attempts to thwart the One Sith had failed, yet the war was far from over. Helios' bulwark of darkness seemed impenetrable for the moment, but he could feel the creep; the slow growth of the weakness in the galaxy. Even in his loneliness Helios could feel it's presence under the city. Filtering it's way down the streets, under grates of wrought metal to test the Eldorai's faith as he tried to keep the ever worsening avidity of the Jedi from his mind. But still it came. Why wouldn't they parish for good?

Sweat trickled against ghostly skin as a beam of scarlet cut through the gloom, the barely audible hum of a lightsaber as air parted in it’s wake, moving in unerring agility as the Eldorai turned and twisted, as though locked within some deadly and precise dance. His feet barely sounded as they struck the rain-washed cobbles as the water trickled down dank walls and through the festering manhole yards above, until finally, body aching from exertion and chest heaving for breath, he stopped. Helios edged towards the hearth, setting his lightsaber down upon the coal warmed stone as he pressed his hand against the soot darkened mantel, golden eyes staring towards the abyss of the flames, unseeing. For he had much to consider. Much to plan.

He had found it.

It had taken countless centuries and endless sleepless nights, leaving Helios' mind riddled with doubt and disbelief in his own cause, questioning if the Force would ever be whole again as the Jedi twisted it carelessly with their teachings. Darkness was the true nature of the Force, or so Helios believed. The Sith tapped into the Force to unlock it's true potential, while the Jedi altered it into something else. Something unnatural.

Reluctantly the Hand of the Dark Lord dragged himself from his thoughts, snatching for the remainder of his clothes as he drew his tunics over his head before tightening the obi and sash around his wait, carefully straightening the Eldorai crest attached before his armor was dawned, carved, skeletal, like an undead harbinger of the Dark. Yet Helios breathed and was very much alive. Once his weapons adorned his lean frame he was moving, edging past the crumbling stonework and through the grime of the tunnels, making his way towards the surface without falter, booted feet soundless against the stagnant puddles and detritus of old. The noise was the first to greet him, the chatter and cacophony of thousands of civilians, mostly humans; fools, so close, then the scents, the acrid tang of tightly packed bodies, the amalgamation of foods and spices and the pungent and throat restricting sting of alcohol - All the more mephtic for the small space they occupied. Helios scowled at that, edging slowly forwards as he wound through the mass of creatures with unparalleled grace, making his way towards the less traversed pathways, the darker and impossibly more decrepit area in search of answers that would only stow themselves in such places.

Helios...

Came a single whisper, before his name was called once more, this time much louder.

"Helios!"

Banging followed, overbearing noises that threatened to send Helios to his knees.

Wake up!

Wha?

Opening, his eyes, dazed and confused Helios saw a uniformed individual banging on the glass of his sleep pod with his fist. Helios needed the chamber to dispense sleeping gases, otherwise he found it impossible to get sleep during expeditions. He and Kaine were on route to Coruscant from a mission in the Unknown Regions. What could have went wrong?

"Helios!"

Shaking himself of the confusion being pressed onto him, Helios flexed his right hand, violently force pushing the door of the sleeping pod off of it's hinges as the glass shattered and sent the piece of metal across the room into the wall. The cadet straightened as the skeletal Sith Lord climbed out of the chamber and stood before him.

"Sir!-"

Helios grabbed onto the adjacent sleeping pod as the Alndys-class Patrol courier tilted and rocked, sending the cadet to the floor.

"Sir we're experiencing an hyperspace anomaly!"

"Has Darth Vornskr been notified?"

"Yes m'lord!"

Helios took off, moving towards the bridge of the ship. Red lights flashed throughout the ship as crew members ran to and fro, panic apparent on most of their faces. Arriving at the bridge, Helios looked out of the view port to see the usual smear of streaked stars, but it wasn't until his vision focused on what was in front of the ship that worry began to creep into his mind.

"What...is that?"

Sitting at the end of the Hyperspace Route.

"Reports claim...they claim that it's a wormhole, m'lord." A moment of silenced passed between the two before he finished his statement.

"We cannot escape it's pull."

Spoiler

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The master of the ship was deep in a meditative trance within the secure confines of his own quarters, braziers of incense burning darkly as the air within his chamber before thick with choking smoke, although none of it bothered the Epicanthix Sith Lord in the slightest. Such nuances were inconsequential to a being as elevated and enlightened as he was, but he enjoyed them nonetheless. He was dressed in nothing, and his bare body had been slathered with ceremonial oils that were part of an ancient ritual that was utilized by Epicanthix warriors on the eve of a battle. It was said that such rituals would please the primitive war-gods the ancient Epicanthix had worshiped, and would make them invincible in battle. Of course, Kaine did not believe in such nonsense as deities, but with his reconnection with his heritage he had favored to indulge in the ritual on the eve of every battle or incursion.

It was also said that the burning incense was to enable the performer of the ritual to slip into a deep, coma-like trance to commune with the deities they revered. However; such things had been proven false, but nonetheless Kaine let them burn as he meditated on not Gods, but on the future that awaited him. His precognitive senses were not as finely tuned or acute as those of Isolda, and he had not yet been able to conjure forth a lucid vision of things to come, but that did not deter him from trying. His brow was knit in concentration, his eyes glued shut as his mouth muttered a few words under his breath. He was perhaps just on the brink of glorious success when his trance was interrupted by an insistent, loud rapping at his chamber door.

"Milord! Milord!!"

Sighing in annoyance, Kaine's eyes popped open and a deep sigh slithered past his lips.

"What is it, Warrant Officer?"

"Milord, we've encountered a hyperspace anomaly that's interfering with our voyage. Your presence has been requested on the bridge, milord."

One of Kaine's eyebrows perked up in curiosity and slight surprise, and it was a great feat to surprise the Sith Lord.

"Very well, I shall be there shortly. Notify Lord Helios of this development as well."

"Yes milord! Right away, milord!"

Rising to his feet, Kaine went about to dress himself in his standard military garb consisting of a thick black tunic with several silver buttons, and a pendant of the Panathan Empire affixed to the fabric over his left breast. Kaine slide a pair of forearm length leather gloves over each hand, making sure both were pull tight over his corpse-like skin, and flexing them afterwards. The Sith Lord chose a pair of dark gray military trousers and slide them on one leg at a time, of course after he slide on a piece of leather undergarment that covered his groin and buttocks. He fastened the waist of his pants with a belt made of maroon leather affixed with a silver belt buckle. A pair of leather combat boots would cover both feet and shins, and a knee-length ebony cape with a scarlet underside would complete his ensemble.

Wasting no more time, Kaine departed from his quarters and made a beeline towards the vessel's bridge, and was pleased to see that Helios had already made it. But when Kaine was about to greet the Eldorai Sith Lord, his eyes fell upon what was troubling their current journey, and for a moment he was at a loss for words at the gaping maw in space that was about to devour their ship whole.

[member="Darth Helios"]

 

[Helios]

Banging ensued after Vornskr arrived at the bridge. Rocks and meteors began to sear holes throughout the ship, tallying more damage to the already extensive list. An overwhelming sound gripped the ship afterwards, one similar to that of an airplane falling from the sky, yet much more dense and terrifying. The ship tilted forward as the gravitational pull of the wormhole became much more obvious than before. Helios stood at the middle of the bridge, his golden eyes wide as he took in the beauty of the swirling space anomaly.

He looked to his left and right to see crewman running, panicking, screaming, as the lights around them continued to flicker on and off, on and off; the beeping unceasing. Buttons were smashed, levers were pulled, screens were slapped, yet nothing worked. Under normal circumstances the ship would be strong enough to resist the pull, but after being hit with all the debris, the ship had lost too much power. Helios was surprised it was still functioning at all.

"Retrieve emergency masks and tanks! Retrieve emergency masks and tanks!"

Came a controlled voice over the comm of the ship. Compartments popped open but few people moved to put them on. Everyone seemed determined to prove their worth until the very last breath. With what little power was left the engineers used it to disperse distress signals to nearby One Sith headquarters.

"Mayday, mayday! This is Commander Solo...."

Helios tuned the man out along with all the other commotion of the bridge. It was all a waste. Nature itself was an indestructible beauty. One which could devastate yet never receive it. The ship rocked heavily from side to side, threatening the Eldorai's posture as he regained balance. The ship lost power completely as the cosmic swirl around them flashed throughout the dark ship. The vessel shook violently once more, something Helios anticipated as he leaned back to counter the forward tilt the ship adopted. Pale hands found themselves clasped behind his back as he split his mouth, exposing a creshire smile behind pitch lips. Illuminated against the glow of the wormhole, Helios looked truly mad. As if he looked forward to reaching the wormhole. A raspy voice called out to Kaine.

"Do you feel that the end is nigh, brother?"

Because, Helios surely did not as the nose of the ship reached the wormhole and was pulled through.

Silence followed.

The beeping of the ship died. No lights, no scurried movements on the floor. Just silence.

Helios took a step forward, moving his eyes to what everyone was looking at. It was a planet that Helios had never seen before.

"Status?"

"All power is lost past the power deck and the shield is down. Oxygen levels are decreasing. Multiple injuries. No deaths."

"Yet-" Interjected another voice. "We're already on a descent. By my calculations, we're going to crash land on that planet."

Helios resisted the urge to lash out at captain obvious. "Line us up. Leave the ship in one piece."

The captain nodded and tilted the controls, allowing for a faster descent towards the planet. A fiery veil of heat quickly enveloped the nose of the ship as they descended towards the planet. For those viewing from the surface it may have looked like a shooting star, although up close those aboard the vessel, both men and women were simply waiting. The inevitable had been accepted among the masses and now the only thing left to do was to survive. Survive, and live where others would die.

"Land approaching!" The comm came alive once more. "Impact in 10, 9, 8..."

The rocky landscape of the planet became bigger and bigger as the ship drew closer to the surface. A sigh escaped charcoal lips as the tip of the Alndys-class Patrol craft rolled onto the ground, bringing with it the rest of the ship.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]