Private Black Flame

[Iandre Athlea]

Iandre wasn't too comfortable traveling too far from the area the Diarchy controlled. Just in case she came into trouble. At the insistence of Laphisto, she also brought along a handful of squadmates with her. She was rather dutiful and brought along five of the men she was most familiar with.

Moose, Childs, and Night were among them, along with Shifter and Crash. These men had trained and graduated with her. They had learned to work together and did that very well. Taking a transport shuttle, she was curious about a planet called Xo. It wasn't under the control of any government and was a neutral land. She didn't want to cause a diplomatic situation or any trouble.

Leaning back as Shifter piloted the shuttle, she knew her friends would be happy to have this extra adventure. Outside of Diarchy territory, they would also have to exercise additional cohesion that they didn't already have. Putting the finishing touches on cleaning her blaster, she holstered it as Crash indicated they would be landing soon.

Gazing out of the window, the red sky was something new, and there was a slight jolt as they landed next to the elevated temple. Probably one of the only major landmarks this planet has. Iandre wanted nothing more than to gain more knowledge, and a temple was a good place to start.

They gathered up their weapons and exited the transport as a unit. Hoping they didn't encounter any hostiles, they were still prepared, just in case.

Around them, it was silent, and she didn't sense any other people. Walking to the large doors, they opened soundlessly, and the small group stepped in.

Lucaant Vaneric

 

[Lucaant Vaneric]

Iandre wasn't too comfortable traveling too far from the area the Diarchy controlled. Just in case she came into trouble. At the insistence of Laphisto, she also brought along a handful of squadmates with her. She was rather dutiful and brought along five of the men she was most familiar with.

Moose, Childs, and Night were among them, along with Shifter and Crash. These men had trained and graduated with her. They had learned to work together and did that very well. Taking a transport shuttle, she was curious about a planet called Xo. It wasn't under the control of any government and was a neutral land. She didn't want to cause a diplomatic situation or any trouble.

Leaning back as Shifter piloted the shuttle, she knew her friends would be happy to have this extra adventure. Outside of Diarchy territory, they would also have to exercise additional cohesion that they didn't already have. Putting the finishing touches on cleaning her blaster, she holstered it as Crash indicated they would be landing soon.

Gazing out of the window, the red sky was something new, and there was a slight jolt as they landed next to the elevated temple. Probably one of the only major landmarks this planet has. Iandre wanted nothing more than to gain more knowledge, and a temple was a good place to start.

They gathered up their weapons and exited the transport as a unit. Hoping they didn't encounter any hostiles, they were still prepared, just in case.

Around them, it was silent, and she didn't sense any other people. Walking to the large doors, they opened soundlessly, and the small group stepped in.

Lucaant Vaneric

"Oh, my God will certainly forgive you... But unfortunately, I won't."

⏵ Play Theme
Location: Unkown Planet - Outer Rim(?)
Objective: Scavenge for money.
People involved: Iandre Athlea
--

The faint hum of the shuttle hadn’t gone unnoticed. Luccant, crouched near an ancient altar deep in the temple’s chamber, paused mid-loot, fingers brushing over an old relic. His instincts kicked in — years of training and survival flaring like a silent alarm. He didn't have time to conceal the presence, anyone could see he was there. 'Fuck me..'

Not locals. Too clean. Too coordinated. He could feel the shift in energy the moment the outer doors opened — the tension of trained soldiers entering unknown ground. Quiet, but not quiet enough. Lucaant felt the Force around him to make himself unknown, using intent over practiced technique.

He didn’t move. Not yet.

A calm exhale escaped him as he stood upright, pulling his damaged helmet back on with a practiced motion. The sharp click of metal locking in echoed faintly off the temple walls. 'Shit, to much sound.' Lucaant thought. His blaster slid easily into his hand, not raised, just ready. ​

​

 

[Iandre Athlea]

The six humans entered as one. Each of them was looking in all directions. Only Iandre could use the Force, though, and she led these men even if they were all equal within the Lilaste Order. While she hadn't sensed any life here earlier, she did not for just a moment. Then it was gone.

Bringing her eyebrows down and together, her forehead furrowed as she considered what just happened. So far, she didn't sense any danger, but she was certainly curious about what life she had just felt.

A long breath later, there was a distant click. They heard it and turned to face the direction it had come from. Allowing the temple doors to close behind them, they started heading to where that sound had come from. Weapons were out and ready. There was no subtlety here, and they approached openly.

When they got a little further into the temple, they all heard their blasters lose power. Something in here didn't want them active. Replacing them in their holsters, the six of them hoped there wasn't going to be any hostiles to deal with.

Lucaant Vaneric

 

[Lucaant Vaneric]

"Oh, my God will certainly forgive you... But unfortunately, I won't."

⏵ Play Theme
Location: Xo - Outer Rim
Objective: Scavenge for money.
People involved: Iandre Athlea
--

Luccant’s grey eyes darted, taking in the shadowed expanse of the temple. The air felt… wrong. It wasn't just the silence, but a subtle hum beneath it, an echo of power, ancient and unsettling and then, a sensation that shook Lucaant to his core, a flicker in the Force that was there, then gone, mirroring the instability he knew so well within himself. Something was here.

He drew his bladed weapon, the familiar weight a cold comfort in his hand. The click, when it came, was sharp, metallic – a warning to the persons that entered. Then the blasters died, a sudden, silent suck of power that made his jaw clench. Frustration, hot and quick, flared. He holstered his DC-17 silently, waiting for an opportunity

'Stay sharp,' Lucaant thought, he sighed, a breath devoid of warmth or unnecessary inflection. 'This place doesn't want me armed. I'm on my own.' His grip tightened on his blade, eyes narrowing as he scanned the darkness ahead. He was hypervigilant, every sense on edge, ready for whatever lurked in the temple's depths. At least three persons, Lucaant heard several footsteps but couldn't make them out. ​

They were closing in, and he wasn't going to leave these artifacts to whoever just entered.

Lucaant, silent as a predator, slid from behind the altar. A quick glance revealed six figures, weapons glinting, heading his way. Each footfall was measured, but even in the shadows, the scrape of his armor was harsh, revealing his position.​

​

​

 

[Iandre Athlea]

With their blasters rendered useless, they holstered them. Leaving their weapons alone now, the six of them continued to walk further into the temple. The original sound of him clicking his helmet on gave them a target to head for. His additional movement allowed them to hone in on him closely.

Iandre stepped in front of her men. Her helmet was removed and she held it in her arm.

"We're not here to hurt you or steal whatever it is you're here after. You have my word."

Her word was something ironclad. Once she gave it, she wouldn't break it. This man couldn't know that, but she hoped he would understand and come out of hiding. With a motion, her men were at her back and side. Just in case the situation turned hostile, they would be together.

Lucaant Vaneric

 

[Lucaant Vaneric]

"Oh, my God will certainly forgive you... But unfortunately, I won't."

⏵ Play Theme
Location: Xo - Outer Rim
Objective: Scavenge for money.
People involved: Iandre Athlea
---​

Luccant remained perfectly still in the shadows, his presence a near-absence, as the group approached. Their blasters were holstered, a pragmatic move given the temple's effect on their weapons. He heard them, felt their movements, picking up on the subtle shifts in their approach as they honed in on the sound he'd made.

When Iandre stepped forward, removing her helmet, Luccant's metallic grey eyes sharpened. He registered her posture, the way her men arrayed themselves behind her—defensive, but not overtly aggressive. Then came her voice.

"We're not here to hurt you or steal whatever it is you're here after. You have my word."

The words hung in the oppressive silence of the temple. Her word was something volatile. Luccant had no way of knowing that she'd hold her word. Words were often lies, promises broken, but there was a certain weight to her tone, a lack of overt deception in the Force signature she projected. It was a calculated gamble on her part, an attempt to bridge a gap with an unknown.

He did not immediately reveal himself. His thoughts, quick and ruthless, assessed the situation. Six armed individuals, disarmed but still dangerous, led by a Force-sensitive woman. His own purpose here, scavenging for whatever valuable tech or forgotten lore this silent temple might hold, was simple. Their stated purpose was... less clear. "Not here to hurt," "not here to steal." Such claims on Mek-Sha were usually preludes to betrayal.

He remained hidden for another beat, letting the silence stretch, forcing her to hold her position, to feel the lingering tension of the unknown. His fingers, calloused and quick, brushed against the hilt of his vibro-knife. His primary weapon still worked, its reliance on kinetic energy circumventing the temple's strange effect.

Finally, a low, rasping voice detached itself from the shadows.

"Your word means nothing here," Luccant stated, his voice flat, devoid of warmth or menace, merely stating a fact. "Only action does."

A beat of silence. Then, a dark shape detached itself from the deeper gloom of the temple's alcoves. Luccant stepped into a sliver of filtered light, his dark blue hair almost black against the dim stone. His metallic grey eyes swept over them, calculating, assessing. He held nothing in his hands. His blaster was holstered, like theirs. His blade remained out of sight, for now.

"I wasn't hiding. I was watching," he corrected, his tone a dry, dismissive comment on her assumption. He glanced briefly at Iandre's helmet held in her arm, then back to her eyes. "And I am not 'after' anything. I am merely... collecting. Like a scavenger in a forgotten tomb. Do you have a claim on what I find, or are you just here to talk about your 'word'?"​

 

[Iandre Athlea]

She was about to instruct her men to try and apprehend the stranger here, then he broke his silence. Iandre had not reached out with the Force to try to sense the man. The thought hadn't crossed her mind.

"And we have not acted."

They stayed where they were and waited for him to finish revealing himself. Her hands were also empty, but she had her lightsaber hilt at her side. She wasn't helpless if this came to blows. The former Jedi hoped it didn't come to that and stood with her men.

Listening to what he said, she nodded in appreciation of his truth. Even if he might be lying to her, she did accept what he said.

"We have no claim to anything here. Looking for knowledge. You can keep your trinkets if we can keep the knowledge. I will say no more about my word."

Feeling that this was an acceptable compromise, she had a funny feeling that their disabled weapons were just the start.

Lucaant Vaneric

 

[Lucaant Vaneric]

"Oh, my God will certainly forgive you... But unfortunately, I won't."

⏵ Play Theme
Location: Xo - Outer Rim
Objective: Scavenge for money | Survive
People involved: Iandre Athlea
---​

Lucaant didn’t answer right away.

He just stood there—still, unreadable, the dim glow of old ruins casting angular shadows across the bone-white phrik blade in his hand. No stance. No flash. Just a man who held steel like others held breath.

His voice came slow. Grounded. Clean of venom, but not soft.

“You speak of keeping your word.”

The phrik blade tilted ever so slightly in his hand—angled not at her, but downward, the edge catching dull reflections from the stone around them.

“Then understand mine.”

He stepped once, not advancing, not retreating—just realigning, placing himself between her and the deeper dark behind him. That subtle shift of weight said more than threat ever could. It was how wolves moved when they were drawing lines.

His eyes stayed on hers, grey and unblinking.

“I’ve seen what happens when people come for knowledge without knowing the cost. They bring soldiers. Safety nets. Exit plans. And still, they end up screaming.”

The phrik vibrated faintly in his hand—a low hum, like a heartbeat locked in metal.

“So let’s make this easy.” His tone was even now. Cooler. As if he’d said these words before. Maybe he had. “You take what you came for—the records, the scripts, the forgotten names etched into stone. And you do it with discipline. You don’t open doors that feel colder than the others. You don’t touch anything sealed in bone or bound in wire. You don’t send your men where you wouldn’t go alone.”

Another pause. That blade of his dipped just a little lower—less threat, more punctuation.

“I don’t care about your saber. I don’t care what flag you used to salute. But if I see one of your people cross a line I haven’t drawn for them…” He didn’t raise his voice. Didn’t need to. “...there won’t be a second conversation.”

The words weren’t cruel. They were clinical. Like stone explaining gravity.

Then finally—barely—his shoulders eased. Not fully, but enough to say he wasn’t eager for violence. Not tonight.

“You keep to the knowledge. I keep to my work. Everyone walks out breathing.” His phrik blade turned in his grip once, catching the light just long enough to remind them it had been used before—and would be again.

He nodded once. A simple gesture. A soldier’s offer of balance.

“We done here?”

Because if they weren’t… his blade already was.​

 

[Iandre Athlea]

She and her men kept their distance from Lucaant and watched them without showing emotion as much as he was doing to them. He moved with the same type of confidence they did, and Iandre noted that. He was directly threatening them, but held it in the air above them.

When he drew his lines, she nodded and didn't react to his statement about bringing men, other ideas, and supplies. This was her first expedition since she'd seen her Master breathe black flames out of his mouth. That was the reason she was here. Hoping this temple might have any information about him or his people.

His request was reasonable, and she would agree to it. Her men stood behind her and would follow her orders.

"We are agreed."

However, the Temple had other ideas. They weren't yet known to the small group, but it would soon be revealed. The Temple waited, bided its time. If the group was allowed to move past Lucaant, there was a sound behind them. The doors of the Temple locked by themselves.

They turned around as one and looked back at where they had come from.

"Things have changed, I think."

Had she brought this out by coming? Was she being punished for being here? Were they going to end up screaming as he had suggested they might? Time would tell.

Lucaant Vaneric

 

[Lucaant Vaneric]

"Oh, my God will certainly forgive you... But unfortunately, I won't."

⏵ Play Theme
Location: Xo - Outer Rim
Objective: Scavenge for money | Survive
People involved: Iandre Athlea
---[/FONT]​

Lucaant paused when the doors slammed shut. His shoulders tensed—not startled, but as if something ancient in him had flinched. He turned, slowly, his cloak shifting just slightly around his boots.

He looked not at Iandre, but at the doors.

Then at the Temple.

And then finally, at her.

“That’s not me.”​

A beat. His voice was low, clipped.
“I didn’t trigger that.”

His tone wasn’t defensive. It was factual. But his gaze narrowed with something colder. Something nearing frustration, anger.

“But I am still here.”

He stepped forward, just once, angled so that she and her men remained in his sightline.

“You said ‘we are agreed.’” He gave the words a slight curl of irony—he hadn’t missed her lack of reaction earlier.

“Good. Let’s see if that agreement holds when the Temple starts rearranging the rules.”

His eyes dragged from her face to the sealed entrance behind them. Then to the corridor ahead. Whatever patience he had left, it was starting to thin.

“Stay behind if you want to leave intact.”
A pause. His eyes locked with hers as he stepped away, gathering up the little artifacts he had found.
“And do not make any sound. I don't think whatever's in there likes sound..”​

 

[Iandre Athlea]

She hadn't suggested it was with her statement, but it could have been taken that way. Replacing her helmet, she clicked it into place and secured it to her armor. Listening to him, her expressionless mask nodded in acceptance. It seemed this man was more familiar with things like this. Who was she? A former Jedi from a previous time. The ghosts that haunted this temple might be hunting her and her men.

And that's when she heard it. A distant skittering noise. Like nails on a chalkboard. Not just one entity, though, but many. They didn't sound large, but numbers could overwhelm them easily, and Iandre placed a barrier around herself. Her first master had taught her that. Never go anywhere unfamiliar without it.

With his order to remain silent, she nodded and signaled her men to do the same. If he could have seen her face, it would have been tense but still calm. Iandre had seen war, and this was probably going to be another facet of that.

Lucaant Vaneric

 

[Lucaant Vaneric]

"Oh, my God will certainly forgive you... But unfortunately, I won't."

⏵ Play Theme
Location: Xo - Outer Rim
Objective: Scavenge for money | Survive
People involved: Iandre Athlea
---[/FONT]​

Lucaant didn’t look at her right away. His grey eyes had shifted, narrowing as they scanned the corridor beyond — watching for movement, listening for patterns in the scraping. His body moved with quiet precision, hand resting loosely near the hilt of his weapon but not drawing yet. That would come when it was time to kill, not before.

When she mirrored his silence, when she signaled her squad without a word, he glanced back to her—just briefly. The helmet hid her face, but it didn’t matter.

She understood. That was enough.

“You’ve walked through fire before.” It wasn’t a question. His voice was low, but audible — spoken like something between observation and quiet praise. “Good. Let it remind you that the pain only matters if you stop.”

Another soft scrape echoed through the corridor. Closer.

He stepped ahead, the way he moved cutting through the tension without asking permission. Controlled. Intentional. Like something bred in places worse than this, gripping his vibroblade in his right hand.

“When they come,” he said after a beat, “don’t waste your energy screaming.” There was no humor in the line — only the faint ghost of someone who’d seen it happen too many times.

A pause. His voice dropped lower, just for her.

“And if they get close… fall back toward me. I’ll clear the path.”

He didn’t explain further. He didn’t need to.

But his steps were slower now, measured, as though he was waiting for the Temple to make its move. And he smiled, just faintly — the kind of smile that didn’t belong on someone looking forward to a fight.​

 

[Iandre Athlea]

All of them listened to the skittering noise. He moved with precise movements, and they moved as a trained unit. They were taught how to fight, but only if they could see what they were fighting. Following behind him, one of her men clattered to the floor. Looking up, she saw several more of the creatures descending silently.

The noise in front of them grew into a subdued crescendo and then silence. None of them let out any noise, and she could tell the fallen man was still breathing. Letting out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, she advanced one step behind Lucaant.

Allowing him to take the lead, she hoped her men would agree with her decision.

"Some are above. They aren't killing. Just disabling."

All the people within her line of sight would get a boost to their senses and abilities. Iandre focused through the Force and connected all of them. Unless Lucaant resisted, this would also help him.

Lucaant Vaneric

 

[Lucaant Vaneric]

"Oh, my God will certainly forgive you... But unfortunately, I won't."

⏵ Play Theme
Location: Xo - Outer Rim
Objective: Scavenge for money | Survive
People involved: Iandre Athlea
---​

Lucaant didn’t flinch when the soldier dropped behind him. The skittering above pressed against his ears, sharp like metal on stone. His eyes narrowed. Something was testing them. His fingers tightened around the hilt of his vibroblade, already drawn, already hungry for something solid to carve into.

He didn’t speak for a moment. He just looked upward, head tilting as the faint movement caught his eye. Shapes. Fast. Too many.

When Iandre spoke, his jaw clenched, the muscle ticking once.

“Good. They’re not killing. That means they want something.”

The moment her presence brushed against his mind, he hesitated. Then he let it in. Just enough to feel the heightened senses kick in. The creatures around them became clearer. The air itself felt thinner, tighter.

He glanced toward her briefly, eyes cold but sharp.

“If they’re disabling, they’re herding. That makes us livestock.”

Turning back, he raised his blade slightly. The humming metal caught the dim light. His voice lowered, like a warning before a storm.

“Whatever’s ahead thinks we’ll entertain it. So let’s be entertaining.”

He stepped forward again, blade steady, pace even, gaze slicing through the dark. If they wanted a show, they’d get one.​

 

[Iandre Athlea]

What could this temple want? It seemed to be slowly herding them deeper. With the fallen man still alive, Iandre had hope they would all remain that way. She felt that it was being done intentionally and for a reason. Thinking it would be up to her and Lucaant to figure things out, another of her men clattered.

"Same as before. He lives. Guys, stay here. I know you want to come along, but I think you should stay. Guard those two and make sure we can get out of here. Check the door and windows. Any escape route, and I'll see you when we come back."

Brief and speaking as quietly as she could, she issued the orders. Her other men collected the two fallen and stayed behind. Iandre just hoped her plan would work, and they wouldn't join their comrades.

Moving up closer to Lucaant, she maintained the connection that enhanced their senses.

"Hopefully that'll keep whatever this is satisfied. I think it wants us."

Lucaant Vaneric