Private Along Came A Spider

[Darth Solipsis]

Epoch. A paradise world nestled in the Erebus System of the Deep Core. It was a planet of luxury and industry, a planet who’s surface was half covered in cityscape yet managed to maintain it’s serene beaches and mystical prairies. It was beautiful, it was peaceful, and it was steeped deep in the Dark Side of the Force.

The average onlooker or visitor to the paradise world would never know, hell, even the average Epochian knew little of the dark heritage their world passed on. First discovered by the Dark Jedi during the Hundred Years Darkness and utilized by the very same alchemists. An outpost was erected, one that stood the test of time and distorted the region it rested in from their experiments.

Gravitational anomalies, highly dangerous and unnatural Force Storms carrying ionized howling gales from the high peaks of the snow covered mountains. The Atlas Region was a disaster and forbidden area to all those who had not resigned themselves to death, all but the strongest willed pilgrims perished. Those who attempted to fly were smashed by floating rock, snatched from the sky by impossibly powerful winds, or simply disabled by the powerful ionized strikes from the unending storm that haunted the region.

The outpost, the temple left behind had sat abandoned for so long at the region’s center. The eye of the storm. Left alone until the time of the One Sith and the Dark Lord’s dominion over the Core Worlds. His presence had been felt here, a place he could delve into the secrets of the Dark Side undisturbed by his growing empire. When he suffered final defeat and his empire crumbled, it sat again alone, abandoned.

Until now.

The coordinates flashed before the stranger as he came into the storm, navigational coordinates and routes mapped through the dangerous maelstrom over the Atlas Region. The Epochian Sith Wayfinder flashed brightly with the bled Kyber Crystal glowing ominously within. The localized route was laid before him, his path was clear.

As he cleared the vast storm, he entered a calm clearing, a valley before him. There is was the temple he sought, this was where he would find his answers. Or die trying.

Darth Veradun​

 

[Darth Veradun]

DARTH VERADUN

{ { { Objective: Seeking Answers } } }
{ { { Location: Deep Core, Erebus System, Epoch, Atlas Mountains} } }
{ { { Gear & Assets: Armour, Lightsaber, Holotransmitter, Com-link } } }
{ { { Tag(s): Darth Solipsis } } }

{ { { THEME } } }​

Cold. It was an irony that cold and freezing temperatures were burning on his skin and he would have died by now or at least his head being nothing but ice. But he did not. The winds were wipping through his cloak, tearing at his armour with every step he made. But the pathfinder was very clear and his steps sunk several centimeters into the frozen ground, cracking the ice open. If it would not have been for the pain, he would have been dead. Pain was just a source, a feeling he could light with the fire of passion and keep himself warm.

Darth Veradun stepped out of the blizzard, into the eye of the storm and stopped for a moment. Snow was still falling and a soft wind was humming, but the coldness was gone, it was still chill, but it did not require his attention anymore. The tall man could see the structure in front, miles ahead and through the snow it 'stood'. His target according to the wayfinder.

He did not look back or concerned himself with what he would find, he just marched on, large and confident steps brought him to the structure in less than an hour and it was indeed not standing, but floating. Fascinating, but it right away escaped his attention again as he could feel the Dark side all around. The planet itself was already tainted, but this place was pulsating with pure energy. A knowing smile formed under his respirator as he went to enter the temple . . . .​

 

[Darth Solipsis]

The entryway stretched along the length of the massive temple, a ‘floating’ behemoth who’s underbelly led deep within. The snow lessened as the Sith Lord passed the large drifts by, his imposing form entering a vast empty area littered with rune-covered obelisks taken from various worlds throughout Sith Space. At the center of it all stood a massive spire jolting from the earth beneath his feet to the very floating monument above him. It was obvious where he need go to find his answers.

The call of the Dark Side was strong here, but it was the call of the dead. Whispers in the dark fluttered with the screeching gale that echoed from the outside. Whether it was his mind playing tricks or truly was disembodied spirits from a bygone age made little difference in the end. The path was clear, and he was so very close now.

The path lit before him in a sudden wave of illumination as thousands of candles ignited on approach toward the lift ahead. The outlining edgings of ur-Kittât ignited in a crimson hue, glowing in the dark as an ominous voice echoed out above the piercing winds.

​

The phantom voice was not like the others. Where the whispers were weak and feeble, holding on by a sliver to the plane material this presence was alive, and strong. A source of power radiating from deeper within like a dark heartbeat through the Force.

The distorting words of the Elder fluttered forth once more, this time inside the skull of the Sith Lord as all else grew quiet around him.

“You made it here.. came all this way.”

The voice trailed off echoing out from behind him now, “Another fly into the spider’s web?”

A bellowing laugh chuckled to the right, followed by the same voice once more this time to the left of the Sith Lord as the stranger’s senses were assaulted by the Dark Voice’s words.

“Or perhaps something more?”

The lift doors opened, revealing the inside of the spire’s contents as Darth Veradun approached.

“We shall see.”

 

[Darth Veradun]

DARTH VERADUN

{ { { Objective: Seeking Answers } } }
{ { { Location: Deep Core, Erebus System, Epoch, Atlas Mountains} } }
{ { { Gear & Assets: Armour, Lightsaber, Holotransmitter, Com-link } } }
{ { { Tag(s): Darth Solipsis } } }

{ { { THEME } } }​

A chill went down his spine as he stepped further. Veradun felt ... good. The Dark Side was flowing through him, it was rejuvinating his limbs, strengthening his mind. It was easy to get lost at this place, to swim forever in its embrace, but that would inherentely lead to stagnation and there can be no peace, only passion. Therefore he moved on.

Veradun did not stop as the voice was trying to mock him, he did not even turn his head to the different directions as he made his way into the elevator. He scoffs a single chuckle as he continues his way unhindered, with no less resolve and no slower pace. Not an inch of doubt was in his mind, he did not came here to experience some tricks and trinkets or be scared by darkness and voices. Yet arrogance was the fools grave and he extended his senses for his further walk, trying to sense any traps or similar obstacles, mechanical or organical.

Once in the elevator, he removes the hood, revealing his bald head, violet veines running under his pale skin. He was preparing, preparing to face what- or whoever resided here and either claim his place or die trying. There was no turning back and no alternative, not to him, not to any who thought himself worthy of being called a Sith. ​

 

[Darth Solipsis]

The lift groaned and elevated, a duracrete hexagon slab sleeved within a hollow spire. The long ride up sparked with life as the shaft, once blanketed in shadow, ignited in crimson hue. The ascent was dotted in hundreds of red lights that resonated warmth as the Sith Lord mentally prepared himself for what laid ahead.

The crawling pace of the duracrete lift halted upon reaching the summit of the long hollow spire. One could only assume he was now within the belly of the beast as he entered a massive chamber filled with modern equipment, trails of cables overlapping monumental statues long broken under the stress of time. The center of the chamber was open, wide, and carved into the form of a gigantic ritual circle. At it’s core stood a lone figure draped in black robes, waiting.

Two yellow orbs of contempt stared back from the shadowed form of the Elder as candle light ignited around him in blue sparks. Illumination now flooding in around him as he reached forth and beckoned to the Sith.

“You’ve arrived.”


Darth Veradun

 

[Darth Veradun]

DARTH VERADUN

{ { { Objective: Seeking answers} } }
{ { { Location: Deep Core, Erebus System, Epoch, Atlas Mountains} } }
{ { { Gear & Assets: Armour, Lightsaber, Holotransmitter, Com-link} } }
{ { { Tag(s): Darth Solipsis } } }

{ { { THEME } } }​

Darth Veradun stepped on, approaching the cloaked figure in the center of the ring. His glowing eyes meeting the pair which stared back at him. He could feel the Dark side pulsations from his counterpart, he was strong in the Force and very strong in the Dark side. The words echoed solemnly through the dark halls, finding the ears of the pale man just to confirm that this individual had sent the wayfinder.

"The path was laid clear in front of me, only a fool would not able to find it with this."

Veradun marginally raised the wayfinder in his hand to support his statement.

"Looking around I notice that I was either the only one to receive it or the only one who made it here. Either fact beckons the answer for the reason. How did you select and who are you."

The voice of the Sith was firm, he did not offer an inch of doubt or let any weakness appear in his mind or even awareness. Veradun was skill keeping some focus up for searching the surroundings for any signs of life, traps, weapons or explosives. Even if he had another Sith in front of him, in these times that was far from an assurance that they were friends.​

 

[Darth Solipsis]

The Elder remained motionless, carrying himself with a stone stature and an empty glare. There was no person staring back from behind those eyes, only hatred and contempt burning as bright as the fires of Mustafar. A faint chuckle escaped his lips as the Sith Lord approached brandishing the Epochian Sith Wayfinder. He did not speak, he merely observed and allowed the stranger to ask the real question that sat at the tip of his tongue.

"Looking around I notice that I was either the only one to receive it or the only one who made it here. Either fact beckons the answer for the reason. How did you select and who are you."

“There it is. The question that has plagued you since finding the Wayfinder.”

The Sith Master shifted his hand and let it drift away in gesture, “You are not the first to come here, nor will you be the last.” His piercing eye washed over him with a terrible gaze, the palpable aura of beating darkness radiated forth as his lip curled in a sinister grin.

The Dark Lord cooed, “You’ve grown strong in the Force, strong with the Dark Side. I can feel it inside of you.”

The Sith Master took a step forward and began pacing around Darth Veradun like a predator ready to pounce. His eyes remained fixated on the Sith Lord, hands at his sides with each locked in a wicked rigor mortis claw.

“The Sith are dying. The Dark Side is spread too thin amongst the rabble, it needs... concentrated.”

His left hand rose and a taloned finger stretched forth, pointing toward the Sith Lord with intent. “It is time we returned to the shadow, it is time we became few once more.”

His hand motioned away as a loud groan gave way to the creaking echo of a massive stone set of double doors that began to open as if willed so. “Inside is your test, inside you will find only what you’ve been too weak to bury. We will speak more if you succeed.”



Darth Veradun

 

[Darth Veradun]

DARTH VERADUN

{ { { Objective: Seeking answers} } }
{ { { Location: Deep Core, Erebus System, Epoch, Atlas Mountains} } }
{ { { Gear & Assets: Armour, Lightsaber, Holotransmitter, Com-link} } }
{ { { Tag(s): Darth Solipsis } } }

{ { { THEME } } }​

Darth Veradun just stood still as the man approached and started to circle him. His eyes were following him, but he would not turn to face the man, whoever he was. He could feel the Dark side sticking to the man like a cape, always around, folding, shadowing. The pale warrior listened and silently agreed, but did not utter a word in response. This man was clearly his 'host' but he would not waste any time with questioning him.

It was obvious that the man would challenge him to another test and there it was. Doors opened into the dark and he was meant to step through. But why would he do so? Because he made it so far and the waste of time and potential would scorn? Yes. Because that spoke some words which met with the ideology Veradun shared? Yes. He did not need to convince himself, nor the other man to make this journey useful, he just had to move on. Never stop, never hold back.

Without responding to the man, the tall Sith marched on, passing the threshold of the gates and stepping into the Darkness, his hands clenched to fists.​

 

[Darth Solipsis]

INTO THE LION'S DEN​

Good. The Dark Lord watched with dark glee as the Sith Lord marched on without a word, moving beyond the threshold and into the shadow enveloping the chamber. The massive stone doors that had parted before him now slowly groaned to a close behind him as all light was cut away. Sealed away from the world in a disorientating chamber blanketed in darkness, all he could feel would be the cold embrace of the Dark Side of the Force and the empyrean energies moving around him. Darkness faded. Bleak flashes of lightning and sparks of flame ignited throughout the chamber.

"What do you see?"

A disembodied voice resounded around the room, echoing and distorting as everything slowly shifted from the bowels of Veradun's memory. A corridor was revealed before him, one long abandoned leading somewhere. Somewhere familiar.

"Only what you've been too weak to bury... bury.. "

The Dark Voice echoed forth again, this time easily identifiable as the Old Man's. The one that had led him here, yet the voice was from moments ago and repeated itself as the corridor blew a icy gale forth from it's depths.

He did not know what to expect from within but whatever it was came from memory.

He would bury whatever demons he had this day.

Darth Veradun​

 

[Darth Veradun]

DARTH VERADUN

{ { { Objective: Found the answer} } }
{ { { Location: Deep Core, Erebus System, Epoch, Atlas Mountains} } }
{ { { Gear & Assets: Armour, Lightsaber, Holotransmitter, Com-link} } }
{ { { Tag(s): Darth Solipsis } } }

{ { { THEME } } }​

Darth Veradun silently stepped into the darkness, his boots slightly echoing on the stone floor as he moved on. As he heard the stone gates closing, he regarded them over his shoulder with a glimpse of a look before looking ahead again. The tides of the Dark side were flowing around him, like if he could stretch out a finger and touch them. Of course he did not do it, it would have been a fools sillyness to do so.

Then the voice echoed again together with sparks of lightning. The display of superiority was a tad annoying, but he could play as well. He knew what this place would ultimately achieve and what the old man aimed for, so instead of slipping control to the Nexus, he seeked to establish a connection and work in conjunction. Slowly Veradun sat down, entering a meditative stance and closing his eyes, regulating his breathing and opened up to the Dark side.

The powers were flowing into him, passion oozing from each and every of his pores as he became a vessel of the Dark side, racing through the darkness of his mind. There was a light fighting the shadow though, it has always been there, looming far beyond the edge of visualisation and even further away to grab it. The energies of him and the nexus raced at it now though, his eye twitching once because it was a part of his mind, long ago shelved and locked.

Another child, dead, I look down on it and then around. A mine shaft, only one glow rod. I look at my hand, the bloody rock was still there. My look goes to the hole at temple of the other child, shattered bone, flesh and brain mass. I haven´t eaten in fifteen days, the stomach screamed. I have to eat . . . .

The vision continued to its inevitable end and Veradun lived through it, again and again. The regret and shame turning into what it was, on a much more barbarian scale. The strong rule the weak, the strong prosper and the weak suffer. Strength comes through passion, passions leads to power, with power I gain victory and through victory I break my chains. The Sith Code, the epitome of nature. Only through conflict the galaxy can develop, only on the anvil of emotions a new age can be forged.

The cage of his last regret broken, his spirit opened further up to the Dark side, the Nexus know in full embracement of both their powers, the energies streaming through the chamber actually leave sounds of thunder due to their intensity and ferocity.
The Jedi must die, the Sith must be reborn, the meaning of victory is not just defeat and submission, it is their complete and utter annihilation. To eradicate them from all living memory, leaving no remnant of their endeavours, to crush all their achievement and remove all record of their existence.
The vision was as clear as it could get, Coruscant a pile of ash, Kashyyyk burning, on Korriban only dust remains. The bones of both Jedi and Sith alike align as a parade for the victors. No, the victor.

Darth Veradun opens his eyes . . . .​

 

[Darth Solipsis]

INTO THE LION'S DEN​

The cage of his last regret broken, his spirit opened further up to the Dark side, the Nexus know in full embracement of both their powers, the energies streaming through the chamber actually leave sounds of thunder due to their intensity and ferocity.
The Jedi must die, the Sith must be reborn, the meaning of victory is not just defeat and submission, it is their complete and utter annihilation. To eradicate them from all living memory, leaving no remnant of their endeavours, to crush all their achievement and remove all record of their existence.
The vision was as clear as it could get, Coruscant a pile of ash, Kashyyyk burning, on Korriban only dust remains. The bones of both Jedi and Sith alike align as a parade for the victors. No, the victor.

Darth Veradun opens his eyes . . . .

The curtain had been lifted, the veil cast aside..

A bright crimson light pierced the chamber from opposite side as a thick mist folled forth in it’s wake under a large duracrete door rising. The chamber was bathed in a bright luminescent glow as sparks leapt about in the backdrop. The lone silhouette of a hooded figure stood before him, a face from his past long corrupted by the twisted energies of the Dark Side. A face long dead yet here before him, an impossibility made manifest as the figure approached Darth Veradun with dark grimace hidden beneath a warm veneer.

“Pain.”

The disembodied voice of Solipsis echoes forth, the figure before him clasped his hands in the wake of the echo with eyes filled with hate cast directly upon the Sith Lord.

“Fear.”

The sounds of suffering cries crawled in from the darkest corners of the chamber. Familiar and unfamiliar voices alike crying out in terror as the male figure from his past clapped once more.

“Anger.”

The hooded male seethed in anger, biting his lip as he drew blood. Veradun’s opponent clasped one final time before drawing a metallic weapon of his own. With swift action the lightsaber sprung to life as the crimson plasma leapt forth with a hiss.

“Power.”

The male rushed into action, throwing himself into a bloodcurdling rage as he tossed his body weight toward the hulking Sith Lord with all his strength put behind his blade.