Darkest Darkness

[Menoetius]

Wild Space​

Kinooine​

​

The far reaches of known space and the far reaching void that was Menoetius had one terrifying substance in abundance... Darkness. The starless depths of the galaxy was something the wretched and malevolent form of Darth Erebos echoed... Mimicked in its entirety. Not on purpose, oh no, the walking void embodied the desolate wasteland of deep space naturally, which made it all the more terrifying. This is why, perhaps, the wandering and nomadic Anzati Sith was drawn to the edges of the galactic cluster, drawn to the only location known to civilization that resonated perfectly with his black heart.

Through a nearly primal curiosity, Menoetius had been diverted from the grand galactic stage for months on end... Exploring that which had not been explored. His foray into the unknown was only halted when the Anzati hit the hyperspace barrier, a frustrating blockade that acted as a boundary between this galaxy and the next logical step on the ever-hungry Anzati's voyage. For the only thing darker than the decaying and dying outskirts of a galaxy - was no galaxy.

With narrowed eyes and clenched fists, Menoetius made a small vow and pointed the nose of his personal starship back to known space. The hunger he had staved off for months had grown to nearly unimaginable levels of intensity, driving him to make a stop at the closest planet home to sentient life: Kinooine. As his starship pierced the atmosphere and descended through the fiery heat of re-entry, anyone in tune with the force located on the planet's surface would perhaps detect an anomaly. A sweeping void that sucked in the force surrounding it, peppered with outbursts of the darkside.

Darth Erebos made his descent in a timely fashion, choosing to land right at the edge of a moderately-sized Firerreo settlement. They'd suddenly feel the hairs on their neck stand on end as the morbid feeling of impending doom flooded their brains. Abrupt hissing and dull grating signaled the hydraulic mechanisms of a ship's boarding ramp being activated. Dust billowed as a slight difference of pressure within the ship caused air to be blown outwards, making the descent of the boarding ramp even more dramatic.

A few Firerreo people stopped what they were doing to gaze upon the ever widening opening that was the boarding ramp of Menoetius' starship. A dull thud rang out as the durasteel ramp hit the dirt and then followed ear piercing silence. Silence ramped up the tension, which was thickening exponentially. An elderly Firerreo male boldly took a step towards the ship, curiosity the embodiment of his facial features.

Suddenly, the snap-hiss of a lightsaber flaring to life echoed from the dark opening of the boarding ramp. It wasn't so dark now, no, it was bathed in a crimson glow that highlighted the figure of a tall humanoid who stood confidently at the top of the ramp. The old man who dared to take a step towards the ramp flinched and took a step back, facial features now reflecting shock. The Firerreo bystanders, who could see in a multitude of different visual spectrums, would still not be able to perceive what lay under the hood of the lightsaber-wielding trespasser as he descended the ramp slowly.

Menoetius gazed at each of the bystanders individually, sizing them up one-by-one, judging which one would be adequate to break his multi-month-long fast. He picked out a young woman, full of life and energy, nearly radiating it. In fact, she was force-sensitive, making the decision an easy one. Extending his arm, he commanded the force to wrap around the woman and bring her towards him. It happened in an instant, one moment she was standing, the next she was a foot off the ground and squirming before Darth Erebos.

His hunger was so strong, so intense, that the purple and orange tendrils of his force drain nearly exploded between his form and the woman's. The life was sucked out of her nearly instantaneously, with Menoetius absorbing her life energies and assimilating them into his own. The fear emanating from the crowd of onlookers skyrocketed and the Anzati bathed in it, reveling in the moment that he had missed out on for months on end. A small smile formed on his cracked lips as a single thought popped into his head.

I've missed this.

 

[Blackthorne]

"Priestess, a ship has breached the atmosphere."

Weeks before the dominion of Kinooine was to be launched, a scouting party had arrived to inspect the planet and its holdings. A veritable hive of activity, the team had been surprised, nigh impressed at the vast number of Pirates that called this place home. Firerreo settlements be damned, they were after the old base of Darth Lumiya - a location that had been commandeered by the space faring heretics. This was the building that now lay in her sights as she rested, prone, on a rise of stone that cut across the horizon. Her robes caught in a sharp crosswind, saffron eyes peering through lenses counting the bodies as they came and went. Gun turrets. Sniper posts.

Then streaking through the sky trailed by a plume of steam, a single unmarked ship heading for the settlement to the east. Loxa watched this with quiet interest.

"It's not a noted pirate ship. Could it be Firerreo?"

"I don't think so," the Priestess answered into her comm and began carefully putting her things away, stowing them in sidebags on her speeder. Firerreo had a fair amount of force sensitives amongst their populace, something she'd assumed was what kept the pirates at bay from completely ravaging their towns, but none had presented her with a presence as to be felt at such a distance. This was a new being. Something dark and strangely...empty? The Gods would want to know more. "Moving to investigate anomaly. Standby."

The engines of the speeder roared to life, its noise taken far and away by the heavy winds. Giving the Pirate HQ a wide berth, Loxa streaked across the expanse of Kinooine drylands, racing against the likelihood that the Pirates had seen the ship, too. No telling how long it would take them to dispatch their numbers. As she'd noted, they were rather territorial of their little home base.

That darkness grew stronger the closer she drew, and upon nearing the outskirts of the settlement it was all she could do to keep its fog from her mind. Reminded vaguely of the power of her Nightsister clan mother and all the training received by her, Loxa steeled her resolve, cutting the engines of her speeder at a distance and disembarking to walk the rest of the way. What met her eyes was nothing short of heinous. These people were under the protection of the Moross Crusade, they just didn't know it yet.

"Ready a drop ship of warriors to my location. Target is hostile, preparing to engage. Confrontation imminent, conversion...plausible."

"Copy that. Drop ship ETA five minutes."

Through a rise of billowing dust the robed woman known as Loxa Visl approached. She paused as she entered the scene, looking around at the gathered people and sensing the coil of the Force in the immediate area. Moreso she was sensing that of death and fear and, of course, the smog of darkside produced by the man like an obscene amount of pollution. The woman sniffed and inclined her head towards him, golden eyes falling upon the horrified faces of the people standing before him. Fury was building within a few that would make Ithari proud, but she raised a hand to stave off their retribution. There was nothing for it, this man was far too powerful for them to survive.

"Peace, stranger," she began, her eyes watching him from beneath her own hood, "leave the innocents to their lives. There are greater quarries to overcome and grander feasts to indulge in. The Moross Crusade would see you dine upon the heretics of this planet. What say you?"

@[member="Menoetius"]

 

[Darth Vazela]

| @[member="Loxa Visl"] | @[member="Menoetius"] |

It was rumored by the same space pirates that held residence in the base that Loxa Visl had set her eyes upon that a barge, floating wondrously among the unknown, blackened void that existed on the fringes of the galaxy was in control of probes that were said to be too small to be targeted or followed and from which had the ability to scan a vessel and it's occupants, judging by the rare data they had managed to accumulate in their many freighters and starships. The individual behind these probes and consequentially the owner of said colossal vessel was a deceased Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Voracitos, colloquially known as the Shadow Emperor to those privy to such information.

Vilox Pazela had taken a similar approach, although the probes that he had were tied into the Obscurity, not the Girth of Gluttony. Also, unlike the former Sith Emperor, the Dark Master was keeping his probes in the Unknown Regions. Registering the coming and going traffic in this vast and unknown quadrant of the galaxy was a necessity. He had been stood on the observational deck of his flagship when one of the probes picked up the passing by of a vessel, set for Kinooine. Said probe scanned Menoetius's vessel as he had passed by and the data recorded was sent back to the Star Destroyer. It was when records on board the former Empire vessel flashed did it stir the attention of Vilox Pazela.

After learning that it was the same ship that had belonged to Menoetius, from which records had been kept from Metalorn, did the Dark Master leave his flagship for Kinooine. He was an interesting individual and he wanted to see if a Sith, like he used to be, could be tempted into a different perspective and approach to the dark side of the Force. For the moment, however, the Dark Jedi was satisfied in watching his one time ally during the Battle of Metalorn and the woman whom had emerged from the crowd to stop him.

 

[Menoetius]

@[member="Loxa Visl"] | @[member="Vilox Pazela"]

The slow march towards the gathered crowd that Menoetius had embarked on following the death of his first victim was halted, stopped abruptly by the tingling sensation of another powerful force user approaching. The Anzati rolled his shoulders, adopted a more rigid posture and swiveled his hooded-head to face the direction a woman's voice echoed from. It was apparent that the owner of the voice was the powerful force user he had detected moments before and this widened his hidden, crooked, smile.

The same crowd that was backpedaling for dear life and sweating fear from every pore moments before stopped the retreat almost as soon as they knew someone had confronted Menoetius. They were far too curious for their own good, with gaping jaws and widened eyes gazing upon the scene. A few murmured to each other, perhaps discussing what the outcome of such a confrontation would be. Fear had been replaced with anxiety, something that Menoetius vowed to change when he got the chance.

Since being adressed, Darth Erebos had not moved. Not even the rise and fall caused by his breathing was detectable to the human eye. Like a statue he stood, pondering a great many things within his vast mind. Although Menoetius faced the woman square on, nobody could know where his gaze was planted. The dark folds of his hood provided that secrecy and only added to the mystery and building tension. Oh, how the Anzati loved tension. And how he loved breaking it.

"'Peace' is a word uttered by losers and cowards. Attempting to help so-called 'innocents' is a move only foolhardy do-gooders choose. Finally, trying to persuade a Sith to join whatever pitiful force agenda you consider yourself a part of is something only the desperate do..." His voice was harsh and deep, booming throughout the surrounding area with the practiced projection only Menoetius could pull off.

"You must be a Jedi," he finished. The tone of his voice was sarcastic, indicating that he knew the woman standing before him wasn't part of a lightside collective of lightsaber-waving paladins. It was formulated as a shallow insult and a dark joke that would more than likely only make Menoetius chuckle if he were a bystander.

"The Sith Empire is entitled to the galaxy and everything this collection of stars has to offer... Stand aside or join my feast as an appetizer. The decision is yours.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Feast?

FEAST.

This was one of the few words of Basic that every nuna understood implicitly, with mingled fear and loathing, to borrow a phrase. All ironies and conversational niceties escaped the nuna, went right over its shin-high head.

It bolted from cover, gribbling and gonking counterproductively in an attempt to get away from the area. Panic was panic. Nunas knew monsters.

Nunas knew monsters liked soup.

 

[Blackthorne]

Loxa's eyes narrowed just slightly at the sensation of the man's voice reverberating through the air. Unnatural as it was, like thunder. She inhaled slowly, pressing one foot back and planting it firmly, "I am not a Jedi," the woman returned, lantern-like eyes now glowing somberly within the shade of her cowl. She twisted her hands before her, pulling upon threads and currents of the Force, intertwining them through her fingers she spun an invisible thread of energy.

"And The Sith Empire," her hands flashed in an arch, leveling a matching line of force that shot through open air. It skewered the space between Menoetius and his next victims, then with a twitch of her wrist exploded outwards towards the Ferreri. The lot of them flew bodily through the air several dozen yards, "is no more."

At the back of her mind she felt the inkling of something on the move. Danger approaching. Something a bit more pressing then the man before her. There wasn't much time to spare.

 

[Menoetius]

@Loxa Visl | @Vilox Pazela

For the first time in months, Menoetius' eyebrow arched. That was as close to shock as it got these days and it wasn't in response to a couple dozen Ferreri being blown away by the woman's skilled use of the force, it was in response to her closing statement.

What? He asked himself. He detected nothing but the truth from this woman, who just told him so bluntly that the organization he had affiliated with for the past year was nothing more than history in a turbulent and ever-changing galaxy. Suddenly, so many thoughts and ideas and fantasies broke down the barriers of thought and flooded the Anzat's mind. He could collect the remnants, build his own empire. Steal the resources left behind, sell them, get rich. Manipulate the lost Sith into following him blindly as servants.

Menoetius actually had to tell his mind to silence itself. A brief second later and it was cleared, already pondering the woman's presence before him. He gripped the still lit lightsaber tightly, shifting into a slightly more defensive stance. He would not taken off guard today, no. Always prepared, always ready. In his mind, a duel was about to take place, considering that the woman had just blown away anything that may pose an obstacle. She had also blown away Menoetius' feast, and that really made him angry.

His fat nose wrinkled momentarily as he felt the anger bubble away inside him, providing him with a heightened connection that allowed him to sense something vaguely familiar in the back of his mind. A faint force signature that was steadily becoming more detectable. Who else was coming? Someone Menoetius had encountered before, his instincts told him.

"Stand aside," he begun once more, voice rougher than before and distorted slightly by anger. "If I can not devour this settlement, I will devour you instead." At the mention of devouring, the emptiness within the Darth seemed to grow, sending supernatural hunger pangs to his brain that made him severely uncomfortable and impatient. He needed to consume sentients and he needed to consume them now.

 

[Blackthorne]

Distinct, sharp focus was what fueled the growing power of the Priestess. She made no effort to expose it, she simply let it store. A monolithic powerhouse ready for an outlet at a moment's notice. The woman set her jaw and with a short flourish of her right hand felt the cold metal of her own lightsaber hilt jump to her palm - a rod of brilliant golden light sprang to life in an instant, sizzling with promise.

"There is but one Devourer that I will stand aside for, and you are not him," Loxa's voice sounded, oddly clear through the sudden quiet air. Somehow the winds had stopped ... or perhaps had been redirected. The latter was true - the Priestess had begun to funnel the energy, channeling it through her web, and with every passing second those unseen tendrils drew further taught until fully loaded.

She released them with explosive force, directing the wave not towards her foe, but towards his ship. The wave of energy surged forward and with minor mental inflection dipped down just before reaching its target then rushed upwards from beneath. The ship bucked forward on its nose, and like a bird catching the tide of an updraft its wings caught on the released energy of the wind before tumbling forwards towards its black-cloaked Captain. Shards and metal plating few in every direction. Amidst the tumult Loxa made her move, every motion driven with focus, she chased after the wayward ship, yellow eyes honing in on Menoetius, intending to meet him saber to saber.

 

[Menoetius]

"Then you are a fool," Menoetius uttered through closed teeth, acutely aware of the current trajectory of his possessed starship and its intended target.

Shards of metal and uprooted rock flew past the Anzat as he assumed a quick march towards Loxa, some pieces tearing holes in his pitch black cloak, others pinging off his metal breastplate and some embedding themselves within his corrupted flesh. The pain only sharpened his mind and allowed him more control over the dark energies that followed Menoetius like a black cloud. His sickening and twisted aura filled the atmosphere surrounding the two, bathing the air in an almost palpable array of awful emotions.

He didn't make any effort to dodge the starship, as Loxa was coming straight to him as well. She would not crush herself, would she? It was a prediction Menoetius put faith in as both Loxa and the starship neared him. With an almost inaudible growl, the Anzat raised his electrum-plated saber defensively, its brilliant crimson light mingling with the gold of Loxa's saber. A fizzling snap sounded out as the sabers collided, the soft hum they produced combining to rival the noise the dilapidated starship made as it slid across the ground towards them.

Despite the sparkling light created by the sabers, Menoetius' face remained hidden by shadows, a supernatural defiance of physics perpetrated by his hood which also managed to cling to the Anzat's skull despite his quick movements and the strong wind. It made for quite the scary spectacle, for gazing at his head would be like staring into the void of empty space. From this empty space, his voice boomed once more, issuing one last statement to the woman who sought to do battle with him.

"None have bested me, not even the Grandmaster of the Jedi. You are unwise to battle with Darth Erebos, worm."

With that, Menoetius began to channel his wretched emotions outwards, calling upon his dark aura to penetrate the very being of Loxa and draw out that which gave her power, kept her alive. Purple and golden tendrils of pure evil unraveled from Menoetius' form, flashing forth through the air and attempting to latch onto Loxa. If successful, they'd drain her energy and transfer it to Menoetius over a period of time.

@[member="Loxa Visl"] | @[member="Vilox Pazela"]

 

[Darth Vazela]

| @[member="Menoetius"] | @[member="Loxa Visl"] |

Emerging from the shadow from which he had laid, Vilox moved out into the open, lowering the cowl of his darkened robes to reveal his facial features and jet black, spiked hair that raised from his scalp. When he came to a stop, he lowered his arms to the side, eyes focused not on Menoetius but on Loxa Visl. "Good evening," he said, but his mouth did not move. He was utilizing his powers of telepathy via the Force to communicate with her. "I know of the individual you're dueling with and I can help you stop his monstrous appetite, for a price." He did not continue from that point. He wanted to gauge a response.

 

[Blackthorne]

"Curious name, stranger," Loxa uttered through a tight jaw, maintaining her hold in the stalemate against his saber. Saffron eyes ever alert, constantly seeking out the minutiae of her opponent, did land for the briefest of moments upon the hollow of his hood. Giving rise to a faint, fleeting smirk. It was not unusual to come across those that had named themselves, their children, and even their pets after the mighty Aesirs. Was he aware of this connection? The Priestess thought to enlighten, perhaps even entertain him with the news, but his next assault gave her no chance to disengage.

The zabrak knew that power he sought to use upon her, she'd experienced it numerous times at the hands of her Shadow Mother Inhix. She also knew just how to counter it, drive it off, and in instances of necessity, severe its power completely. The glowing golden lightsaber held fast and true, its blade the unyeilding manifestation of her connection to the Force. Empowered by a Qixoni crystal and white Krayt Dragon pearl, it channeled her will without restraint. Through it Loxa focused her riposte in a sudden surge of both a physical push and intangible power. The golden blade's illumination flared in a nigh blinding spectacle of Force Light.

Then, suddenly, his ship was upon them, though its shadow loomed it was veritably drowned out by the all-encompassing flash of Loxa's power.

@[member="Vilox Pazela"] would have no luck in communicating with the woman in his unspoken manner, such was fortification of her mind.