Antithesis Campaign - Homeworld (Domination of the Aing Tii Hex)

[Thane Drexel]

Post 3

As darkness fell across the ruins, Thane's eyes only needed a moments time to adjust as the ruins themselves became a light. Following the call he felt inside, he came upon the dancing Twi'leks. Some caught his eye visually, but his attempts were redirected towards the temple before him. A gulp of fear fell into his stomach as he summoned the courage to enter the temple.

Ducking into the first doorway he could see, Benefactor kept one hand resting on the grip of his pistol. Not knowing who or what to expect beyond what he could see, Thane pressed on. He'd faced far worse than a dark temple and strangely attractive dancing, chanting aliens. The feeling in the back of his mind told him that he wasn't alone, but the other presences were indeterminate and unforeseeable.

[member="Loto Afu"] [member="AD-Iqatar.13"] [member="Boethiah"] [member="Vaylin"] [member="Aria Vale"] [member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] [member="Dax Fyre"] [member="Chip"] [member="Iron Giant"] [member="The Slave"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

After innumerable first contacts, Jorus rarely went anywhere without a portable translation matrix. The machine failed utterly. He tried Wild Space trade languages like Minnisiat, Sy Bisti, and Huttese: nothing. The tattooed Twi'leks only ushered him and Saggy toward the dark entrance. He cast a final look around at the glowing stonework and the evening mist, then headed inside.

The moment seemed to demand a.sort of reverence, or at least restraint. He slung his blaster rifle over his shoulder, beside his backpack. With Saggy wheepling behind him, he proceeded deeper into the temple. Ahead, he caught a glimpse of Zabrak horns - another visitor.

[member="Bryce Bantam"] [member="Thane Drexel"]

 

[Poe]

​Location: Jungles
Personal Objective: Unravel The Mystery Of The Calling
​Posts: 3.20





​Walking through the jungles of Aing Tii, the lone cyborg walked in slow, calculated steps. To her knowledge, and according to the stored information from the holonet databanks, there were no predators that called these jungles home; whether if that was truth or by whether there were no survivors to bring back tales of wild beasts and flesh-eating plants. Regardless, she was on the defensive while moving through the lush landscape, unwilling to take unnecessary risks. Looking up through the broken canopies of the trees, she noticed she was losing day light fast. Soon she would need to find shelter.

​Calling forth her arm-saw, she began cutting a swath through the more denser regions of the jungle; trailblazing a path that she could utilize on her return trip back to her ship. When the saw cut through a thorny set of bushes, an abandoned village revealed itself to her. Upon first observations, the village seemed to have been robbed of activity for some time. The huts, in varying states of wood decomposition and structural damage had been reclaimed by the thick, green vines of the jungle. Venturing into the village, ancient statues that once stood erect demanding praise and worship had now been covered in slimy, brown moss; while several chips, cracks, and other missing stone pieces turned these once majestic statues in to concrete monstrosities.

​While examining one particular statue, she felt curious eyes doing the same to her. ​"I shall bring you no harm less you reward me with the same respect," ​she called out never taking her eyes off the stone god. When no reply came, she stretched her senses out through the Force; feeling nothing but darkness and coldness surrounding her mind. As she began to discard the notion of being watched, chalking it up to anxious discovery, she felt a pull on her mind; the same pull she felt back on the orbiting ship.

A gentle breeze caressed her face and bald head, bringing a ghostly voice in it's wake.


[member="Thane Drexel"] l [member="Boethiah"] l [member="Vaylin"] l [member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Darth Empyrean]

Location: South of the City - .5km
Post: 2/20

Silence lay heavy on the trees around The Slave, a canopy of nothing that seemed far more loud than a cry ever could be. It unsettled him, oddly enough; leaving nothing to him but his imagination. That was the very last thing he wanted, to be subject to the will of a passively wandering mind. It’d do far more damage than any predator in the bushes could.

In boredom, The Slave pulled the sword he had from its sheathe, letting a low and harsh tone ring out. Birds scattered at the noise, but it only forced a careless smile beneath his mask. In one, two step intervals, he offered the creatures of the forest a slow and somber song that picked up in tempo as he traversed towards the city. Each swing of the blade sent ripples through the air, not only due to the careless speed of his swings, but something else…

The blade was whispering with the force in mind, manipulating its energy to create a literal symphony. A cacophony of crescendoing hymns that seemed to haunt the lone forest, surging outwards for a distance as he hopped around in a jubilant behavior.

An odd one, truly, but whatever it was to be. Force forbid someone actually try and stop his malignant song.

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza wasn’t sure why she was here. Some days you just went with the flow and didn’t bother to question it—but the ancient, decrepit city was peaceful and it played to whatever mood she was in. She enjoyed the dilapidated aesthetic.

Perched on a decaying outcrop of stone covered in moss, the Zeltron was content reading the book stored on her datapad. She’d, ah, borrowed from her pilot, finding it in one of the storage compartments along the side of the bridge and figured that it was a spare device, only to find that it was loaded with the cheesiest romance novels the galaxy had to offer. This wasn’t the first occurrence either; she could have sworn that she saw the surly Corellian pilot engrossed in something titled ‘How to Lose an Extraterrestrial in 10 Days’ while he thought she’d fallen asleep in the co-pilot’s chair.

Which, to be fair, she did a lot. And with all of the embarrassing things that he knew about her, Joza wasn’t about to go exposing Ivan’s terrible literary addiction. Everyone had their vices.

Right when she was about to delve into the time-hump between Edwina and Admiral Rodcocker, a voice wove its way into her mind.

"You are protected, the light will not burn you..."

The Zeltron’s head lifted, her face reflecting mild surprise as her head turned this way and that to find the source of the voice. “Uh, yeah. Whatever.” Mumbling, she tilted her head back down to the screen and continued to read.

[member="Zef Halo"]

 

[Chip]

Chip continued to observe the dark-haired human and his companion as they approached some sort of primitive city occupied by poorly-dressed female Twi'leks in the middle of... Some sort of social event. Chip had seen it before. Female organics like to twist and shake their fleshy bodies while wearing very little clothing.

He had no idea why they did it, but Chip was unsurprised by the sight. Nor was he surprised by the glowing stones. Many organic cities had means of illuminating their streets at night, with systems automatically activating at dusk. What confused him was how the stones were achieving their glow. His sensors were detecting no metal or electrical activity from the cityscape, though he did feel a... Thickness of force energy that seemed to roll over the city like a fog.

Curious.

Chip drifted closer to [member="Jorus Merrill"], following him deeper into the city and into the large stone building at it's center. Still cloaked, Chip passively scanned the environment as he followed the human into the.... Temple? Chip found little to no metal, electricity, or electronics within the building itself, though he did detect small pockets of metal moving about, most likely the property of the individual organics that Chip absently tracked as they moved about the temple. Currently, he was analysing the composition of the rocks that the building was made of. His sensors told him their composition, but they were a form of rock Chip was unfamiliar with. They felt thick with the force, holding energy like few organics could.

Very curious.

Chip resisted the urge to actively scan the temple walls with his more specialized sensors and instead focused his attention on the male organic that his human was approaching. Chip had always found organic interactions interesting...

 

[Zef Halo]

Apparently, there was easy work for good money in the Kathol sector. At least, that's what the infochant led him to believe.

The good ol' smuggler had been roaming the local cantinas lately eager to hear some leads for jobs but there seemed to be nothing of the sorts the broker had told him about. Just simple, low paid freighting across the system.

He wondered if the infochant had sent him here to retire. Was Zef getting too old for risky jobs? Maybe.

The silver lining of this whole fiasco were the talks of a pretty Zeltron roaming around recently the city. Now, there's plenty of Zeltrons around the Galaxy but he had heard of his daughter's adventures with a rag tag group in the Kathol sector. It'd been some time since she had last seen her. Actually, a long time.

So when his eyes fell upon the reading pink skinned spawn of his, Zef smiled inside.

"Hey, kid. Long time no see."

[member="Joza Perl"]​

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax sat up violently and quickly turned over, planted both hands on the ground and heaved. The rancid odor of vomit filled the man's eyes and made them water as he leaned back on, and wiped stray tears from his eyes with the back of his hands. Thankfully no one had been around to see that...he'd never hear the end of it...the time the Reaper of Won Shasot sat on all-fours upchucking his lunch...

Suddenly another thought struck Dax. 'Where the feth am I?' Looking around he saw that he was surrounded by lush green jungle, and further off, the ruins of an old city..."When the hell did I get here?" he muttered to himself as he stood and kicked dirt over the unpleasant bodily fluids. The last thing the Rogue could remember was standing on the bridge telling [member="Jorus Merrill"] to watch his six and then after that, nothing...

The Rogue checked his belt to find his two sabers. Well he still had those at least...Looking over to the ruined stone structures, Dax took a deep breath. Alright then, onwards and upwards.

[member="Bryce Bantam"], [member="Joza Perl"], [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"], [member="Zef Halo"], [member="Chip"], [member="The Slave"], [member="Boethiah"], [member="Aria Vale"], @everyone-else-cuz-my-memory-is-chit...

 

[Thane Drexel]

Hearing a scuff of bootfall, Thane whipped around to identify the noise and his eyes fell upon an old friend. A new friend really, but old still.

"Jorus, the feth are you doing here?" Thane squinted his eyes and saw a little flutter on electronics behind him.

Pointing it out, "Seems like you've got a little birdie on your shoulder." He was pointing to @Chip. A tiny droid that fluttered about like it was sentient.

"What the kark is this place? I jump into my ship and end up here without remembering how I got her. I was leaving to rendezvous with the Fleet, then my wingmen tell me we're here."

He had a tingle run up his spine, this place wasn't normal, Thane liked normal.

[member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Dax Fyre"] [member="The Slave"] [member="Zef Halo"] [member="Joza Perl"] and others

 

[Chip]

<Birdie?> Chip wondered as he turned to look in the direction the organic was pointing. Seeing nothing behind him, Chip suddenly realized that he was what the organic was pointing at. And that his active camouflage had somehow been deactivated upon entering the temple.

<Kark.>

 

[Joza Perl]

Post #2

The voice called out to her again, and the scowling Zeltron raised her head once more—only to find the last person she’d expected.

“Dad!” She exclaimed, giving the datapad a half-hearted jerky toss over her shoulder. Zef probably wouldn’t care that she was reading smut, but Joza was caught entirely off guard and was unsure of how to react. There were few people she had trouble finding words for, and the man who’d sired her was one of them. They’d only met a handful of times anyhow.

The datapad landed against the jagged stone wall behind her, a large crack spiraling across the screen but she didn’t even turn to look—Ivan would be pissed unless she managed to salvage the raw data and transfer it to another device. The last thing she wanted was for the pilot to know she was snooping lest she get stuck on this damned rock for good. But wait, wasn’t Zef good at flying?

Standing suddenly, the Zeltron awkwardly smoothed out her clothing before clearing her throat. “It has been a long time. What brings you here? And…were you talking to me about the light or something?”

[member="Zef Halo"] [member="Thane Drexel"] [member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Nate Phantoms]

Location: Not so far West of the city,
Post: #2

No longer hobbling along, he had made pretty decent time. However, there were plenty of unfamiliar presences around, all seemingly aimed at the same place he was. Pushing through the underbrush, his flaming eyes scanned the treeline, catching glimpse of something. Someone would be the correct term, but he wouldn't know that at that certain point in time.

Freeing his pistol from its holster, he stepped silently, long strides bringing him closer and closer. Stopping behind a tree, he spun on his heel, arm outstretched, finger on the trigger. Only to find...

No one.

"Hm, freaky."

Continuing on his path, he whistled to himself, a liked military cadence quickening his stride.

"Here we go....On the move... In the grove..."

[member="Loto Afu"], [member="AD-Iqatar.13"], [member="Boethiah"], [member="Vaylin"], [member="Aria Vale"], [member="Jorus Merrill"], [member="Thane Drexel"], [member="Dax Fyre"], [member="Bryce Bantam"], [member="Joza Perl"], @anyone else?

Spoiler

Courtesy to the U.S Army Airborne. <3

Rangers lead the way.

 

[Zef Halo]

#2

Zef blinked twice at the apparent overreaction of Joza before regaining his soft smile and fixing his eyes on his daughter. He wondered what in the universe was she doing in this shithole but he could easily ask himself that question and hardly find an answer. Perhaps, she had a better reason than he did.

"You bet it has been a long time. Work brings me here." He frowned for a moment. "Light? No, that wasn't me."

Was she...was she taking drugs? There used to be a time when scoundrels and rag tag bands' opium was alcohol and tobacco but certainly not sticks and spice.

Now his own questions couldn't wait. "You've got folks talking 'bout you all over the cantinas, kid. How have you been? What brings you to this chithole?"

It better not be drugs.

Old timers weren't really fond of them.

[member="Joza Perl"]​

 

[Boethiah]

The girl and her beast follow the natural road all the way to the outskirts of the ruined city.

Broken walls and other structures which plant and animal alike have began to reclaim are now more visible to the naked eye. Boethiah climbs up a set of boulders found just off the beaten path, taking a higher vantage overlooking the ruins themselves. From here she sits with her feet dangling over the ledge. The beast paces impatiently at the bottom, looking up to her every now and then.

The witch's powers have influenced its mind, her affinity and connection with the creature turned the once opponent into a staunch friend and ally. Should she find herself in danger, the beast will be quick to the call and defend her with its own life if need be. Boethiah stares across the horizon, scanning from left to right before eventually glancing over her shoulder

From the rear everything remained hidden. The thick foliage and tall trees were not accommodating even to the best of eyes, but she spotted no one and nothing peculiar.

Perhaps if there was anything then it remained well hidden amongst the underbrush, protected from watchful eyes such as hers or even those belonging to beasts not too dissimilar to her companion.

[member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="Dax Fyre"] | [member="The Slave"] | [member="Thane Drexel"] | [member="AD-Iqatar.13"] | [member="Chip"] | [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] | [member="Aria Vale"] | [member="Vaylin"] | [member="Bryce Bantam"]

 

[Arage Bao]

Location: Pitann
Allies: Corporate greed & [member="Wraithguard"]
Post: 1/20

Two days away from the nearest agriculture world in the Kathol Outback Pitann was a planet of dust, sand and stone.

Its people were hardy and proud, believing fully in their own superiority over all the other Kathol sentients. But beneath the ground, if you dug far enough into the sandstone and mountains you could find auridium on the world - not the literal element - but so many raw material that could be shifted and molten down into resources that were crucial for the creation of starships and other things.

It was too expensive though.

Czerka had run the numbers and run them again, but every single time the same conclusion rose up. It was very difficult to counter the costs of transporting the raw material from the world to the markets that needed them most.

Vaine knew this, because the three Rodians who took care of the garbage bins around the administrative floor knew it. Right now there were about half a dozen mercenaries walking around outside of the Czerka compound on Pitann - Wraithguard, they were called and apparently they were to act as security personnel, because Czerka was planning something big.

Something that would drive down the costs.

But Dalan was just a Trandoshan at sanitation. His entire job here had been making sure that the toilets and all the other crap would flush down good, couldn't go wrong with some healthy sanitation.

Studying his datapad he accidentally walked into one of the Wraithguards - smoker, the ash still burning in the air.

"My apologizziez, zirrah!" Vaine would immediately say, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. "Clumzy me. Are you okay?"

 

[Joza Perl]

#3

Her lips angled upwards, blowing out a short puff of air that ruffled her bangs before focusing on Zef and looking him over with a critical eye. He seemed to be well—older than she’d remembered—but the last time they’d seen each other was when she was still in her first trimester with Alan. Considering that her son was edging onto his second birthday, it had been a good two and a half years since they’d seen each other.

Pursing her lips, Joza walked a few paces behind where she’d been sitting and retrieved the datapad. It wasn’t entirely busted, but the screen had a monster crack in it and parts of it were flickering on and off. Yep, she’d definitely have to replace Ivan’s terrible smut.

“Oh. Must’ve been my imagination, then.” Tucking the datapad under her arm, she waved it off as if she hadn’t just said something moderately crazy. “People are talking about me?” The Zeltron perked up at that, not one to shy away from attention and gossip. “What are they saying?” Her tone demanded details.

Back to more personal matters. “I’ve been alright. Busy with work and Alan—came here because I heard some of the other Coalition kids were headed out this way and this city seemed like the best place to start.” Start what, she wasn’t sure. She’d lied a little bit to Zef to make the explanation sound less weird. Pausing, she fixed him with that same critical gaze, not to make him squirm, moreso being in thought than anything else. “I’d like for you to meet the kid sometime, dad.” Dad. That still sounded so weird. “Gotta know the…Corellian side of his family, right?” She flashed him a smile that came surprisingly easily.

[member="Zef Halo"]

 

[Zef Halo]

Pitann
#3
[member="Dalan Vaine"]

POV: Pvt. Maseo Hath

He had been off duty when a hunched walking lizard bumped into him and almost made him fell. The soldier stumbled back and dropped his own datapad on the ground. The Alunrovaan was on the brink of rebuking the Trandoshan when he realized that maybe the damn janitor could be his pazaak partner.

The rest of the squad had gone looking for girls and Hath wasn't feeling like it.

"I'm fine." Maseo washed off some dust of his camo off duty attire before turning his eyes on the janitor. "You play pazaak?"

 

[Zef Halo]

#4

He lightly chuckled at her inquisitive question. "Just the usual. Cantina talk." Zef would not satisfy her with more details, neither did he want to reply in his mind some of the more alpha comments regarding her that he had heard on the planet.

At the mention of his grandson, the smuggler staggered for a moment before regaining his composure. Two years flew by since the last he had seen her and the revelation she made. Great, now he was not only the worst dad in the galaxy but also the worst granddad.

Absolute record breaker.

"Well, two years is by far better than two decades and a half, I guess." Zef said dryly, finding some odd way to humor at his own expense. "Are you finally settling? Here?" The scoundrel was surprised. Yet, after giving it a second thought perhaps this place was not really bad at all to settle down. It certainly didn't seem a place for golden careers but it had some special mundane atmosphere to it. As if time had stopped. Far away from all the troubles of the galaxy. "Where's the little guy?

Maybe the infochant was right. Maybe this place was perfect for retirement.

[member="Joza Perl"]​

 

[Joza Perl]

Joza would have pouted if there weren’t other things to talk about that were admittedly more important. She assumed that the majority of the comments had to do with her booty, which she was proud of.

Anyway.

“Aha, yeah…” Trying to seem normal, Joza let out a little laugh at Zef’s self-depreciating joke. While she did hold a certain degree of love for Zef, it was almost muted. Blunted and blurred at the edges, out of focus. A part of Joza never left that day at The Spice ‘n Dice where she’d first met her father. Sure, she’d gotten to punch and yell, but it was still something she hadn’t fully come to terms with. Like most bumps in her life, she did her best to smooth things over and deal with it in her own way.

“Yeah, uh. No no, not here.” Her face crinkled in momentary disgust. “Look at this place—it’s filthy! Covered in moss, dusty, no healthcare…I’m not raising a child here.” Her head shook firmly, holding back a comical retch before sighing. “The truth is that I’m busy, Zef. Heartbeat is really taking off and I have to be in a lot of places at once.” Unfortunately that often meant babysitters tucking Alan in at night, but the older he got the better he traveled. “You don’t have to worry about him having a good home. I have apartments on Lianna, Shaddaa and Coruscant for business, but I recently bought a house on Zeltros. Not in the city, either—near the beach in a more remote area. It’s nothing big or fancy, but it’s got enough room for us both and then some.” She paused. Would he care?

Success was dependent on connections, effort and skill. While Joza’s business was growing, she had to work constantly to ensure that it stayed that way—for her, for her kin. Alan wouldn’t know what it would be like to have the electricity shut off because you had to choose between food for the month or paying the power bill. He’d go to a good school, maybe a private school, and then university. He’d be a doctor or a lawyer or something safe.

“He’s—he’s in the ship. With Ivan. I don’t think they left yet if umm…” She jerked her wrist up, tapping the datapad mounted there. “If you wanna meet him. It’s about half a mile outside the city.”

[member="Zef Halo"]

 

[Leos Palle]

Kal'Shebbal, South of the City

Ages.

It had been ages since she'd seen anyone. Ages of wandering in the vast wilderness.

It was, of course, self-imposed exile. She hadn't even told the other members of Underground Revival where she was going. It had been a necessity. After her encounter with the dying one, the one fleeing the galaxy and life itself, she had found herself becoming increasingly dark. The monster she'd thought had been eradicated by the light of Taeli and the others on Brokellia was not so much gone as it was forced into dormancy. She'd no longer felt it, but it was assuredly still there. And after that encounter, it had come back. She'd felt it, drawing on her, wanting her to kill again as she had back at her home. It begged her for it; screamed at her even. Because of this, she'd had to leave.

But there was wrong, now. Wrong all over. Wrong in her, but wrong around her. It grabbed at her mind, spun it about, and forced her to walk again. It forced her back towards the civilization that she had been hiding from. And in the distance? Darkness. Faint, but dark. Somewhere to her east, she could feel one such pull, and the monster inside of her was screaming at her to kill it as she had killed before. Oh, how she wanted to do so!

Also in the distance, familiar presences. [member="Dax Fyre"], a man she'd fought alongside. [member="Jorus Merrill"], the general. Why? Why had they come here of all places? Couldn't they just stay away? Can't they just leave me alone? She stopped for a moment and grabbed her head in her hands. Around her, scattered, the bodies of hundreds of dead animals. Blood smeared her face, her clothing. No, she'd not eaten them, but she'd fought them, slaughtered them, trying anything to sate the bloodthirst of the monster within her. Some days it worked. Some days it didn't. Today, now, with darkness so close, it would only be sated by death of the sapient.

[member="The Slave"] | [member="Aria Vale"] | [member="Vaylin"]
[Post 1]