Private Frostbite

[Kyric]

Darth Virelia | Kyber | Delsin Shaw | Qyssiyana | Iskera Valest
Jand Talo | Kito | Rakaan Horne | Thea Nyko | Kyric

​

Weakened by the departure of many Jedi from within their ranks, the New Jedi Order has retreated to Ilum in an effort to regroup in answer to the growing darkness. The snowy world has served as a haven for the Jedi across the ages, and since its recovery by the Galactic Alliance years ago, has continued to provide safety since the fall of Coruscant to the Galactic Empire. Younglings and untested Padawan-learners continue their training in preparation to one day join the fight. With a near-constant need for Jedi intervention across the Core Worlds, the Temple is safeguarded by a small, rotating skeleton-crew of Jedi to ensure the development of the next generation.

In the wake of Kattada, a new menace has revealed itself. The Dark Court works within the deepest shadows of the galaxy, expanding its influence through guile, wit, and corruption. Their success at Kattada has emboldened their Dark Mistress, Darth Virelia, Tyrant Queen of Corruption. She has set her sights on the New Jedi Order with but a single goal: to break the servants of the Light and bend them to the whims of the Dark Side. Beside her, a strike team of her most loyal allies stand ready to deliver their Dark Lady victory in the form of ill-prepared Force Sensitivities pilfered from the Jedi sworn to protect them.

Ships descend upon Ilum under the cover of night, shielded by the profane power of the Dark Side. The winds blow thick under the effects of a great blizzard. What few denizens remain in the temple lay in a fitful rest, visited by frightful dreams as if in warning of the coming danger. Will the New Jedi Order stand firm against the might of the Dark Court? Or will this incursion spell the end of the struggling New Jedi in the beginnings of their rebirth?

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Breaking and Entering."

Tags - Kyber , Delsin Shaw , Qyssiyana , Iskera Valest , Jand Talo , Kito , Kyric , Thea Nyko , Valaine Valentine

The storm itself seemed to part for her.

Wreathed in shadow and violet fire, Tyrant's Embrace clung to her like a second skin—an armor forged of agony and reverence, each plate humming with stolen devotion. Its runes flared as her boots sank into the snow, leaving behind no trail, as though the world itself dared not hold her passing. The blizzard bent around her presence, not in defiance but in surrender, a storm cowed by something far older, far darker.

Behind her, the Dark Court emerged as silhouettes of corruption—assassins, alchemists, zealots, each sworn to her by oath, obsession, or chains unseen. Their weapons whispered of blasphemies yet to be written. Their eyes glittered with hunger, reflections of the mistress who guided them.

The Temple loomed ahead, its crystal walls glimmering faintly beneath the moonlight. Once a bastion of serenity, now it trembled like prey in the gaze of a predator. She could already taste the unease rippling through its sleeping inhabitants: the Padawans clutching their blankets tighter, the younglings whispering in their dreams, the sentries rousing with nameless dread.

Every step she took pressed inevitability deeper into the frozen soil. This was not conquest. It was seduction. A careful unraveling of bonds sworn to the Light, until they crumbled into ash and desire. She would not destroy the Jedi—she would remake them.

She paused at the threshold, the storm falling utterly silent around her, violet eyes burning with cruel promise. Her voice slid through the night like silk across a blade.

"Bring me their brightest dreams… and I will show them how sweetly they rot."

The temple doors did not yield at once. They resisted, as if the very sanctity of Ilum pressed back against her intrusion. But resistance only sweetened the moment. With a languid gesture, Virelia traced her clawed gauntlet along the ancient frame, sparks of violet licking into the grain of the wood and crystal. The wards shivered, then buckled—groaning like a dying animal before snapping wide.

The cold of the blizzard surged inside, extinguishing lanterns, scattering papers across the training halls. Shadows poured in with it, her Court flowing past her like a black tide. They moved in silence, blades and poisons gleaming in the torchlight's last gasps, their hunger sharpened to a fine edge.

Virelia lingered on the threshold, savoring the hush of panic blooming within. Her smile curved beneath her helm.

 

[Iskera Valest]

Iskera slipped in after her mistress, neither rushing nor hesitating, her steps precise against the temple floor. The snow and wind died the moment she crossed the threshold, and in that absence of sound every detail sharpened. She counted breaths. She marked the rhythm of flickering torches extinguished in sequence. She tracked the way papers still spun lazily through the air, settling in patterns she could read like a ledger.

Ilum was clean, by Jedi standards—crystalline walls gleaming faintly, halls uncluttered, sanctity measured in polished austerity. But to her eye, cleanliness could be corrupted as surely as blood in water. The neatness would fracture under pressure. Already she noted which alcoves might funnel panicked apprentices, which staircases promised bottlenecks, which fragile panes could splinter into blades with one well-placed touch.

Her respirator warmed against her lips as she drew a slow breath, catching the temple's air: wax, cold stone, faint iron. The scent of unease was chemical, sour, and growing. Good.

Iskera's gaze followed the Court as they scattered forward, but she did not chase momentum. She catalogued. Measured. Anticipated.

"Brightest dreams rot fastest," she murmured, not as prophecy, but as observation. And she moved on, scalpel-precise.

Tags - Darth Virelia , Kyber , Delsin Shaw , Qyssiyana , Jand Talo , Kito , Rakaan Horne , Thea Nyko , Kyric , Valaine Valentine

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia Kyber Delsin Shaw Qyssiyana Jand Talo Kito Rakaan Horne Thea Nyko Kyric Iskera Valest

The cold... How very much did Valaine despise the damned cold...

The young Sangnir wrapped her arms around herself, donned in her dark robes as she shivered. Her thin form felt the frozen air cut through her bones like she wasn't wearing anything at all as the wind threatened to take the hood off of her head. With slender fingers holding said hood down she trudged through the blizzard a little behind her fellow members of the Court, following in their steps as to be granted less resistance from the snow.

As the Court came to a pause in front of the great doors of the temple she waited patiently as her pale face was unveiled briefly while her hooded head tilted up to gaze at the structure, the crystal walls shining and flickering brilliantly in what passing light of the moon that managed to pierce the blizzard. Her hood and cloak billowed in the wind and just as the doors were thrown open the hood blew down from her head and dark raven hair was left to blow wildly in the wind.

She was swift to enter into the halls of the temple to get out of the worst of the storm, snow still flecked and falling off her dark robes as she reached between the folds of fabric to pull out her lightsaber. The blade ignited; a deep almost burning shade of orange that didn't belong to her. Its hum was steady, its glow lighting the way ahead. Not that she needed light as her pupils constricted and narrowed into slits as she saw in hues of heat; cold blues and purples where there was absence, and warm reds, oranges, and yellows where there was heat and life.

The Sangnir, this hunter in the dark, knew her task and so she shifted into an aimless direction to seek out her prey down one of the now darkened halls.

Her goal within this temple... It wasn't one she liked. Her Mistress had given her a simple task; go alone, prove yourself, stop relying on others. But stealing the young away, potentially turning them into something else against their will, it was something that once happened to her and changed her life for what she considered the worse. Conflict was within her as she made her way silently, guided by the light of someone else's weapon, but something gave her pause...

She glanced to the saber in her hands, its hum and orange glow reacting gently to something, to a presence... Was she here, of all places...? Was the saber's true owner present in such a place...?

 

[Qyssiyana]

Location: Jedi Temple - Ilum
Mission Objective: Capture Jedi Padawans.
Tag: Kyric Darth Virelia Iskera Valest Valaine Valentine

​

This was a far more ambitious undertaking than her last mission. Previously set on an assignment akin to advanced guard at the Crucible Ridge Refinery on Sevarcos, Qyssiyana had nevertheless encountered a pair of Jedi during the defense, forcing her to engage them directly. Now, perhaps on the merit of her performance in defending the refinery and her showing in the Trial of Ash, she had been chosen to accompany the Dark Lady in an infiltration of the isolated, yet undoubtedly well-guarded Jedi Temple on Ilum.

The very same Jedi Temple which the Order had used for millenia to conduct their sacred kyber crystal attunement rituals.

In that, Qyssiyana had initially believed it to be a task beyond her. After all, facing two Jedi who were far away from a Jedi temple of any kind had taxed her considerably; a direct assault on their most hallowed ground felt like a descent into madness.

Every part of her rational mind had screamed at her to refuse it.

And yet, by virtue of the simple fact that Virelia had saved her, here she was. The Dark Lady had given her purpose, power, and kinship. She was now more than a luxury pet in a menagerie meant to show off the wealth and taste of another.

She was a siren of synapses, seizures, and severed secrets. A silent seducer in the Court of Darkness.

Thus, Qyssiyana emerged from shadow in the Dark Lady’s wake, a specter slipping through the Temple’s doors the moment its ancient wards were dispelled. Her triocular gaze swept over her companions then, quietly assessing their dispositions. Valaine Valentine was a shy, silken shadow. And yet, her lightsaber—its blade a brilliant tangerine hue—bathed her pale features in a defiant light. Then, there was Iskera Valest , a chemist with the poise of a dancer, confident, calculated, and cool.

You need only point me where I can act, Dark Lady, Qyssiyana projected in silent thought-speak, a neuroelectric message which would also be felt by the other members of the small team. In order to facilitate such communication, the Elryssia had calibrated herself to each of their brainwaves prior to landing, ensuring that she retained a stable telepathic link even in the event that they were separated.

Qyssiyana silently acknowledged the power of dreams. Still, she also understood that preparation and discipline would be the keys to unlocking victory amidst such a sacred space.

Spoiler: Loadout

• Nullsong Veil
  
  • Arms
    
    • Modular Forearm Attachment Point (2)
      
      • FAE/M-02 Energized Forearm Vibroblade Mk. II - L
      • Repulsorlift Shockwave Projector - R
• Moonpetal Rings (4)
• Nox M-10 “Wraith”
  
  • Attachments
    
    • 1-5x FAE/S-08 Electro-Sight
  • Ammunition
    
    • FAE/AM-01-S1 Energy Weapon Cartridge - Tibanna Gas (4)
• FAE/MDE-01-S2 Semiautonomous Seeker Thermal Explosive (2)
• Infrared Smoke Grenade (2)

 

[Delsin Shaw]

|| Objective - Hide Yo Kids, Hide Yo Wife ||
|| Equipment - Fiber Armor | Mask | Ring | Forcesaber ||
|| In Ilum Airspace - Quinn's Passion [Stealth Ship for Evac] ||
|| Ally Tags - Qyssiyana | Valaine Valentine | Iskera Valest | Darth Virelia ||
|| Enemy Tags - Kyric | Kito | Rakaan Horne | Thea Nyko | Jand Talo ||
|| Current Target - None, Open ||
​

The infiltration was successful. The Stealth ship, The Quinn's Passion, brought all of the individuals needed here today. Allowing us to break through planetary defenses via infiltration and Stealth. Landing us down into the snow fields of Ilum where we would be seeking out Jedi. Namely, Acolytes and their ilk to take and capture. Any of them could be useful for a myriad of reasons. Information, turning them against their own, or even just to use for experiments. A smile hidden behind the mask of white and gold.

The other Acolytes with myself and Darth Virelia today, would be the ones to test themselves against the strength of Jedi. Proper fights and skills. Not scavengers and marauders of space. These people trained for their entire lives like they did. As such they would be a fight well worth respecting to a degree. The words of the Lady Tyrant spoke through the snow. To bring them to the Court.

Each speaking to one another, preparing for the fight that was to come. Each doing their own rituals to prepare themselves. I on the other hand, was more than ready for this. More than prepared for a fight against Jedi. It had been so long since I had a proper one. I hoped that someone would provide me that cure. Holding the Obsidian Shard within my hand, I walked after the group. Bringing up the back so that should anyone see that we were here and attack from behind, I would cover us.

"Keep your head on O'children. Jedi will not be easy. Enjoy the strength the have. Let them break against you. So that you might show them who you are."

 

[Thea Nyko]

Thea Nyko had been awake long before the wards groaned. Meditation had abandoned her hours ago, her thoughts restless against the crystalline hush of the temple. Something in the Force was… wrong. Not a ripple, not a fracture—an undertow. A slow, merciless pull, as though some abyss had set its gaze upon Ilum.

She sat cross-legged in the training hall, the faint blue light of the crystals shimmering over her features. Her saber lay disassembled before her, pieces aligned with perfect precision, yet untouched by her hand. The hum of meditation beads drifted faintly from the dormitories beyond. The younglings. The Padawans. Their presence was fragile threads in the tapestry of the Force, trembling now with fear they could not name.

Thea's eyes snapped open. Cold crept across the floor, not the natural chill of Ilum but something that hollowed the marrow. She inhaled sharply, as though the air itself recoiled in her lungs.

And then she felt it. A weight pressing upon the temple's heart. Ancient, hungry, deliberate. Not the wild fury of the dark side, but its seduction—silken, suffocating, inevitable. Shadows gnawed at the edges of her senses.

Her fingers moved instinctively, reassembling her lightsaber with a practiced ease. The emitter snapped into place, the crystal flared, and she drew the weapon into her lap, her hands steady despite the storm clawing at her resolve.

She rose to her feet as the wards cracked. The sound wasn't of stone breaking, but of sanctity surrendering. The cold rushed in, slamming into her like a wave. Lanterns guttered out. The temple seemed to exhale in fear.

For a moment, she closed her eyes. Not in surrender, but in preparation. She reached for the Force—not to smite, not to crush, but to anchor. To hold against the tide. Her eyes opened, bright with determination. The cold might seep into the temple, but it would not claim its heart without a fight.

She made her way to the entrance hall in order to intercept whoever the intruder was.

Darth Virelia | Kyber | Delsin Shaw | Qyssiyana | Iskera Valest | Jand Talo | Kito | Rakaan Horne | Kyric

 

[Jand Talo]

The Jedi Temple on Ilum had always felt like a place of quiet serenity. The cold planet wrapped around the temple like an ancient blanket, keeping the sacred place protected, despite all those that sought to infiltrate it. The same had happened when Jand had been a Padawan, within weeks of his arrival to the New Jedi Order, the Empire - another one, back then - had sought to strip mine the kyber; and that had been his introduction to the war, one that would continue for many, many years.

It felt like an age since then.

From where he sat, Jand's eyes were closed, his mind quiet. The crystalline walls of the meditation chamber had become a place for him to seek time, to reflect, to prepare. He had found difficulty in sleep after so long fighting across the Alliance and Sith borders. Sleep did not come easily to him, not anymore. The room was cast in a gentle glow, it was his own quarters from so many years past, and the space was familiar - it smelled faintly of ice and earth, both timeless and grounding.

Stillness.

Like the galaxy held its breath, waiting.

Perhaps it is. What is next for us? The New Jedi Order?

That was when Jand began to feel the pressure. At first, he thought it was in his mind, the weight of taking on leadership within the Jedi; a mentor in guidance, strength and wisdom, but tempered by combat and focus on defeating an enemy. Yet, Jand's thoughts continued to grow darker, doubtful, and for a moment, he considered if he truly felt such a melancholy...

No. This is different.

Jand's gray eyes opened. He felt it now, the swirling and approaching darkness that stirred beyond the horizon, beyond the edges of his perception. Like a faint tug at the edges of the Force, as it pulled at the mind’s eye, whispering against the calm. The temperature had dropped, the air without a storm. Within, the peaceful hum of the Temple’s energy had begun to vibrate, the soft, steady pulse of the Force now faintly erratic, as balance was disturbed. It had been nearly impossible to detect, such was the underlying seduction of its influence.

Jand stood in one fluid motion, as he reached out and pulled his weapons to him; The New Jedi Order were under attack.

"Deetoo, emergency transmission," Jand said to the R0-D2 droid in the corner of the room. "Alert all Jedi to avoid this temple. It is not safe."

The droid warbled in response and started to connect to the comm facilities, via the computer interface arm. Then Jand was on the move, as he exited the room and began sprinting toward the temple entry. There were Padawans, younglings, learners that were not prepared for what was to come - and it was now his responsibility to ensure they were protected.

As the hallways passed, the sense of dread increased, though Jand steeled himself. Movement, someone he was familiar with in the same passages--

"Fall in, Thea Nyko," he called, as he met the Knight at pace. "When we begin the fight, do not hold back."

Jand raced through several more corridors before he reached the large entry hall. He slowed and saw the danger - a group of dark siders, each menacing and intentions clear. This would be a difficult battle, but that was true of any of them; still, Jand had made a promise to his Master, and he would continue to uphold it.

"You have entered our Jedi Temple uninvited and with ill intent," Jand said as he pulled his lightsaber free, holding it in one hand. It was unlit. "I will give you this opportunity to leave without hostilities. If you do not, we will fight."

The Nagai slowed his breathing, his eyes focused and staring at the helmeted humanoid with the six glowing eyes. She was the storm:

"Your disruption is not welcome in this place. Leave."

Kyric | Kito | Rakaan Horne | Thea Nyko
Darth Virelia | Iskera Valest | Valaine Valentine | Qyssiyana | Delsin Shaw​

 

[Kito]

//: Valaine Valentine //:

They knew the Dark Court would come. Kito had studied, watched, and waited for their movements, but when the moment finally arrived, she found herself unprepared. She wished she had more information, more clarity — but distractions had gotten in the way of her mission. Distractions she could not bring herself to regret. Words whispered in the dark still clung to her skin, and she refused to wash them away. She wanted them to burn there forever.

The moment their ships pierced Ilum's orbit, Kito felt it. A hum across the Force, resonating against her like a heartbeat she could never forget. The energy of her saber lingered where it should not have been. That could only mean one thing. She was here.

Why now? Why here?

Kito's eyes opened, ember glow flickering faintly in the dim chamber. Before her floated the aura of the odachi, its weight more than steel, more than crystal — a physical mark of her penance. She raised her palm, summoning a flame bright enough to cut the dark, then closed her fist around it until it hissed away. There was no more time.

The Dark Court had made its move, and Kito should have anticipated it. She should have known.

Snatching the odachi and sheathing it, she moved swiftly through the Fortress. The sensation pulled her forward — her own Force signature tangled with another. Too close. Too familiar.

Doors slammed open as others of the Court spilled inside. Kito's gaze swept the crowd, but Valaine was not among them. Her heart tightened. Of course. She had already broken away. Already searching.
Or already searching for her.

Kito grit her teeth as the flicker of another presence whispered from the east corridors. Without hesitation, she ran. Boots struck stone, weaving between shadows and intruders alike. Her mind told her she should cut the Sangnir off, stop her before she compromised everything. But her chest, traitorous, told her something else entirely: don't let anyone else reach her first.

She refused to let herself believe that was the real reason.

The passage stretched out before her, narrow and dark, but sight had never been her weakness. Like the vampire, she needed no light. Her eyes locked on the lone figure moving toward her, the shadow that drew her in with every step.

Valaine.

She let her come closer, the ochre glow of her own blade marking her place in the dark. Then Kito drew its sibling — the younger twin that Valaine still carried. The scabbard clicked, the blade extending, its bright ion hum filling the hallway in challenge.

Her throat felt tight when she finally spoke.

"Valaine…" Steady, she tried, though the strain betrayed her.

"Why are you here?"

---

//: Kyric //: Darth Virelia //: Iskera Valest //: Qyssiyana //: Rakaan Horne //: Thea Nyko //: Delsin Shaw //:​

 

[Kyber]

Objective: Search for targets and lightsaber crystals
Equipment: Cloaking Device, 3 lightsabers

It had been a long time since Kyber was last at Ilum. He had great joy when he heard it was destroyed centuries ago, a reminder of his past once again gone. Kyber had even once visited the micro-star it had turned into long ago but despite his hopes it seemed the groups that took on the insane task of rebuilding the lost worlds of the galaxy had somehow restored to planet to its former glory or at least made a really good replica that even the force resonated the same on the planet as it did in the past.


Kyber retrained his focus on the mission at hand. He was to attempt to gather new recruits for the court by the way of corruption and if they refused put them out of their misery. He did not plan to actually try to corrupt any padawans or younglings as that was far from his specialty instead he would most likely do a half assed attempt and then kill them. No instead Kyber had came here for himself to search for more suitable Kyber crystals.


For now Kyber activated his cloaking device and entered the temple behind the Dark Lady. Rather then using the powers of force stealth to hide his presences Kyber instead started reaching out with force, hatred and despair would flow out of him searching for both the crystals he seeked and for victims to slaughter.


Allied Tags: Darth Virelia Iskera Valest Valaine Valentine Qyssiyana Delsin Shaw
Enemy Tags: Kyric Thea Nyko Jand Talo Kito