Man on a Mission

[Laira Darkhold]

Iktotch.

Without having a solid idea of where his quest would go, knowing his beloved was safe and on the mend, Draco took his ship to Iktotch. Alderaan's queen had sent the Mandalorian Fleet home, Draco left Clan Vereen's fleet above Taris, waiting for the next inevitable strike. It would happen. Some Mandalorian Warlord would rise up and decide to take the fight to the Republic again, and he would, in all likelihood help, in one way or another. He also knew the Republic was still stumbling around dying after being knifed at Contruum by the One Sith. There would be a few more battles to be had. His hopes of leading Mandalore from Alderaan to Byss however, were gone for now. All that was left was to solidify his holdings and build a life for his family.

It was that quest that brought him to Iktotch now, his ship drifting quietly through space, touching down at the coordinates the horned seer had given him. Draco was also currently in a very good mood, having discovered he was to be a father, however he was wary of the seer. So far, she had been correct with her predictions, and that could be dangerous. She might be the real deal, she might be getting lucky with only very minor glimpses of his future. He suspected the later, but was certainly prepared for the former.

Today he wore his stereotypical Mandalorian armor, but wore his helmet on his belt, letting his grey eyes survey the planet. The arid planet's wind blew across his face, sand and dust filled the air and the rocky terrain was uneven, shale rock slipping underneath his feet as he made his way from the ship's ramp towards the village in his view.

The Force had been tricky for him as of late. Ever since he meditated at the Temple of the Mystics, he had not felt Vulkan's presence, and he hoped that he would not again. Draco had finally drifted out of the Darkness. Granted he was not in the light, he stood in the middile, willing and able to do whatever the situation called for. It was just the way of things for him. He was capable of being a terrifying hellkite in battle, and capable of being a gentle dragon around his family. It was a balancing act, but it wasn't that difficult for him yet. So far there had only been easy times. Even the confrontations with Arianna and the Duke hadn't really been difficult, because at the end of each of those discussions, Faith would hold him close and reassure him of her devotion and love for him. She was good for him, she kept him steady while he tried to balance being a Father, Warlord, Mandalorian, and Force User all at the same time.

After a few minutes walk from the ship, Draco found his way into the village, and while he didn't know his way around, it wasn't difficult to see the religious setting he found himself in. These Caprine were very religious it seemed, and thus the shrines and temples to their goddess were near the center of their village.

Slowly the outsider made his way to the temple and entered, escaping the sand and dust from the arid world of Iktotch. "Is Briga here?" He asked the first caprine he saw inside the structure, his voice calm and even, if boisterous and difficult to miss, probably disturbing some of those at worship.

[member="Briga Tiin"]

 

[Ax'no]

Briga had returned to Iktotch for a short visit before she went back to training as a Sith Acolyte with Braxus Zambrano, otherwise known as Darth Prazutis. With donations from her disciples, she had embarked on a new building project to erect a new temple – The Temple of Ax’no - on one of the highest mountains in Caprine territory. Inside the jagged ridge however, would be a fortress with state of the art technology, surveillance and defense so she and her Master could conduct secret operations away from the prying eyes of the Iktotchi and the nearby Galactic Republic.

Once she realized everything was satisfactory on the building site, she traveled to the nearby village to meet Draco Vereen, a Mandalorian Force user she’d met on Voss. Their fates would be intricately linked somehow – she knew that from one of her precognitive visions – but she wasn’t completely sure how or what exactly they were going to encounter. Only that it involved the planet of the Living Force, which, according to Briga, had originated with the goddess Ax’no. So with much anticipation, she’d made plans to find the mysterious world and assist Draco with his personal journey, something about banishing a spirit named Vulkan.

But a couple things would make this journey much more unpredictable. Briga happened to be the reincarnation of Ax’no. And she also had no intention of banishing Darth Vulkan as he seemed like, the darker persona of Draco, would fit perfectly within her little hybrid cult of Sith/Ax’no.

When Draco arrived, he would notice the petite nymph, Saira again, but this time her brunette hair was severely pulled back. Her horns were mere stubs not as if someone had taken a vibrosaw to them and cut them off haphazardly. Eyes cast downward, the maiden answered in a hoarse voice: “Priestess Tiin is inside the temple. Right this way.” It was clear she remembered the large man, but she did not greet him warmly or with the same musical laugh. She passively led him to the Elysian Room of the temple which was lined with torches and fragrant with the smell of incense and other herbs.

He would hear Briga’s voice before he saw her. The Caprine’s mystic’s voice was much firmer to her hornless servant this time around. “You may leave us, Saira.” She nearly floated in on a long, gown similar to the one that she wore on Voss with long sleeves and a high collar. “How do you find our village, Draco? I hope we have been hospitable so far.”

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco nodded, a polite smile on his face. "Its a fine little settlement. Certainly unassuming and I wouldn't use the word grandiose to describe it." He chuckled a little bit, remembering the Palaces on Alderaan, the fortress on Concordia he called his own. Compared to them, it was hardly a ghost town, but then again, Iktotch wasn't known for sprawling city scapes and massive towers looming over its deserts. These people, the Caprine, were known for their seers and soothsayers, not their technological advancement.

Draco glanced at her aura, noting it wasn't the same as before. Briga was a pompous, self-important, arrogant cur of a female, with no rights to her claims of power or importance. That he knew. But she was, at the very least, an accurate seer, something he had need of. And when he no longer had need of her, she would likely not hear from him again. For now, Draco carried his beskad on his hip, and the sword, the blade wielded by Ashin Varanin right before she died, across his back. Some research into the blade had made him uneasy, and beyond discovering some of its properties and abilities, he had not delved into its power. The weapon frightened him to a degree, one of the reasons he brought it with him for this trip. If it frightened him, it might be right to leave it on the Planet of the Force, or it might come in handy in keeping the horned seer in line. No doubt she could feel its twisting, blackening presence as she came close to it. The subtle decrease, or dampening of the the Force in its immediate vicinity.

Draco found a seat in the room, leaning back comfortably in the chair and looking at the horned mystic. "Well, if you have discovered the location of the planet we seek, we can be on our way. However, it will be you and me. No other. I do not have room for a third in the ship we will be taking." While he had brought his ship and a small crew to Iktotch, he had no desire to take the vessel to the Planet of the Force. It was much too dangerous, and a little sacred in his mind, not to be tarnished by dozens of boots on the ground. The Force, while only a tool, it would be a tool that could help guide the unlikely pair along.

He sighed, seemingly relaxed in her presence. "You may also want to change into something a bit less regal, a bit more survival in terms of style. We don't know what we are getting into, do we?" He said, pretty sure that if she had any knowledge about dangers and hazzards to their health, knowing it would be just the two of them would bring out those little tidbits of information. There was no interrogation technique like making the subject's own life depend on being open and honest. "And what has you in a mood? Figured you would be pretty pleased with yourself." Last time they had spoken, she had been much kinder. Perhaps it was the fact she wasn't at his mercy at the moment, perhaps it was a visible change representing the alteration of her aura. Either way, the pretty little horned woman was different, and he wasn't exactly pleased with the new attitude.

[member="Briga Tiin"]

 

[Ax'no]

Briga knew the village was primitive and not at all technologically advanced. Only one building was wired for any type of electronic surveillance and data collection. In a way, the Caprine species had not advanced to the standards of the rest of the galaxy and honestly, they didn't care to. They enjoyed simple pleasures and hedonistic revelry most of all. They were just another tribal species which made its way through the universe with no lofty goals or extreme ambitions.

Unlike Briga.

As she glanced out of the window, as if on cue, a brushy, thorny tumbleweed rambled through the Caprine village. Snorting derisively at what Draco could see - the very unglamorous, dusty and unsophisticated community she came from - she would tend to agree with him.

About not only that but his assessment of her... except for lacking the right to power. Briga would have to disagree quite vehemently about this. But all in due time.
Yet there was something disturbing upon Draco's presence. At first she thought it might be a shadow of Darth Vulkan making a slithery apperance. But that wasn't it.

"I will survive in what I am wearing just fine," said Briga. She believed herself to be slightly invincible after all.

"I'm not in a mood," she protested. The Caprine approached a ritual wash basin and splashed water on her face, toweling off as she spoke to the warrior. "I am training to become a Sith. Darth Prazutis is my Master. Do you know him?"

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco, raised an eyebrow. He didn't know the name Darth Prazutis, but he was sure it was an up and comer with the One Sith much like Briga was. A good pair for each other following the path of the Sith. It confused him, Briga, given her attitude, would willingly submit to a Sith and agree she was currently inferior, but perhaps she was playing the long game. It hardly mattered much to Draco, her being a sith only reduced the trust he had in her a small degree.

"I got to say, I didn't peg you for a Sith Acolyte. But, to each their own. I'm afraid I don't know Darth Prazutis. The One Sith haven't contacted me about work since Lujo, and I don't remember hearing that name back then." It wasn't seriously important. He didn't know many Sith even when he was running around with the One Sith regularly. Vrag and Reverance spent the most time with him, Darth Carach, now gone and unheard from the next.

He looked her over. She would probably be alright, but he wasn't going to be unprepared for their journey. He already had a Rekali-class loaded with his gear and equipment, just waiting for her and whatever she was planning on carrying. "Well, if you have coordinates for us, I have a ship ready, and I can load your stuff up and we can be going." He was willing to do that much, load up her gear for her. She was helping him find the planet after all. "Just know, that anything you take, you will probably have to carry once we find the planet." He certainly had no plans to carry her purse around on the Planet of the Force in addition to his own kit.

Draco was actually rather anxious to be on his way, to be done with this journey and his struggles. He was so close to being done with this journey, to being able to sleep comfortably, with no shadow of doubt or worry about who he would wake up as. "I've got rations and water for both of us, so don't worry about that." Ration Bars, water, and one canteen of brandy were already stowed away in the ship. All the unlikely pair needed was the location of their destination, and the real journey could begin.

[member="Briga Tiin"]

 

[Ax'no]

“The Sith hold most of the power in the galaxy. So will Ax’no someday if my visions are correct,” Briga said, and that’s all she would elaborate. She knew that Draco probably thought she was a hackneyed magician, no better than a back-alley Nar Shadda tarot card reader, but being underestimated fit into her plans right now. The Caprine mystic had much to learn about the darkside of the Force; her journey had only begun.

“I’m used to traveling with my handmaidens,” Briga said, motioning to the downtrodden Saira. “But I fear they will only get in the way. Another servant is taking a change of clothing to your ship, but that’s all I will need I suppose.”

If he expected her to carry her four-poster bed - or other fancy accoutrements - with her, he was mistaken. The mystic could travel incredibly light if she had to. She had wealth and status now on Iktotch, but as a lamb, she’d grown up with very little to her name, but her reputation as the incarnate goddess.

She began walking with Draco towards his cruiser. “I have seen the Force planet to be in the deep core,” the Caprine continued. “But we’ll have to get closer for me to make out the exact coordinates. But it’s likely to be in either Sith or Republic space.” Briga was almost sure it was in Sith space as it would seem that the Force had brought her and Draco together to explore the mysterious planet; they would have different quests but were united by their desire to seek answers and resolution.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco nodded. All ambitious men and women sought power through the most powerful they could perceive. While the One Sith were strong, without their Dark Lord, they weren't as strong as before. Draco knew that much, having met and worked for the Dark Lord, and served alongside his Hands and Wrath once or twice. Even still, the Empire was the largest in the galaxy by a long shot, and it was worth using to their own ends. Draco was and would continue to as long as he needed or wanted to.

"Well, unless someone is sitting in someone else's lap, there just isn't room for her. The ship is a two seater since I had to install the upgraded Navicomputer and Astromech Droid." The Rekali-class fighter had been modified for their needs as a long range exploration craft. With any luck it would serve the pair well enough and would get them to the Force Planet. The servants that loaded her change of cloths could note a decent amount of rations and water stored away, and a single backpack in the cargo compartment. There was a submachine gun in the cockpit, and a few magazines, but beyond that, there were no other weapons that what the Mandalorian carried on his person.

"Well, it is a good thing the both of us can travel freely through Sith space. As for the Republc, well, we should be able to avoid them as best we can. One small ship shouldn't draw too much attention." Deep Core. He suspected deep core. Even now, after all these years there were thousands of uncharted planetoids within the dense clusters of space in the Deep Core, and given his own vision of bright light all around the planet, it made the most sense that the planet be surrounded by dense stars. What the dark heart of the planet from his vision meant, he didn't know, not at this time at least.

The cockpit of the fighter had the seats in tandem, one in front and too the left, one in back and to the right, allowing the pair to maneuver around each other with rather the spacious cockpit. Even with her long equine legs she would have plenty of leg room in the cockpit. Behind that there was a single bunk tucked in the side of a wall, with turret controls at the back of the small corridor. The interior wasn't built up nice or anything, and the astromech that sat plugged into the rear turret wasn't exactly idle, but wasn't doing anything at the moment. Part of Draco wished he could have brought Netra on this trip, the giant beskar tiger droid having been designed to fight terentateks, rancors, and smaller leviathans would have made a nice addition to the crew, but, he was simply too big to stuff into the cargo hold.

"Make yourself comfortable, we could be at this for a couple days before you lock down where we are going, and one of us needs to be awake at all times." He didn't trust Briga that much, but he would need the bunk occasionally, and during that time, she would have to find somewhere else to relax. The astromech could handle the flying, and would alert him to any shenanigans she may try to incite. She seemed harmless enough for now, besides she had a vested interest in this trip. Locked away in a drawer coated in nullifying resin sat the Dark Holocron, her prize if she behaved well, like a good little girl. He would make it known to her that she had a reward waiting if she behaved.

[member="Briga Tiin"]

 

[Ax'no]

While Briga did travel light, she assumed they were going to The Core on a bigger ship. Side by side with the former-Sith Lord for that entire journey… well, the Caprine was worried about the boredom of the long trip mixed with her healthy sexual appetite. Although recently, Prazutis had been able to keep that at bay by keeping her in his bedchambers at night. She was slowly learning to control her desire, but it would be a long road ahead in that respect.

Once they entered the vessel and got settled in, Briga pulled out a datapad and began to plot their course as well. She scanned the map, with her clawed fingertips, tapping into her precognition to see if anything jumped out at her. But it didn’t. They would need to get closer.

Sighing she adjusted her gown and crossed her legs. She wore some type of religious-looking sandals and had normal human-like feet. The horns, a tail and a light covering of fur were all that was really shared with her caprinean ancestors and the Iktotchi, but otherwise she was a normal female.

Maybe not normal.

“How long did you serve the OS, Darth Vulkan?” she asked, smiling at him with a mischievous grin, trying to gage his response to calling him his former Sith name.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco raised an eyebrow, settling into the pilots seat. Briga didn't know this but Draco wouldn't be doing hardly any of the flying, that would probably have only gotten the pair killed. There were a pair of Astromech Droids, one on the crew deck, one in the socket, to handle ninety percent of the flying. He was just here to man the guns, and try and use his own Force Senses to help guide them in once she gave them better coordinates. "I guess we will start at Empress Teta." He keyed in coordinates into the computer and it began plotting the course as he let the astromech take the ship up and out through the atmosphere.

"Well, you see, since you asked it like that, you get a couple answers. Vulkan never served them. He was well paid in ancient knowledge, boons, and favors from the Dark Lord and his hands. A favored mercenary, for about... oh... two months. They respected his independence, he fought when he felt like it and they could entice him with good pay." Those weren't good times, she obviously had no idea that she under any circumstances didn't want to be the only thing on a ship with Vulkan. No witnesses, no one else for the Sith Lord to vent on. He wasn't foolish enough not to notice what she was trying, but, even in his agitation, he felt not event he slightest glimmer of Vulkan's presence.

She wasn't the wisest, but it would be a fun journey with the Caprine mystic. She would either fawn over him in an attempt to lure out his darker alter ego, or she would turn on him once she got bored with that. But either way, she needed to be alive to make it all the way to the Force Planet. "You may not like Vulkan if you are unfortunate to see him. He won't be grateful to have been released." No, he would only want to make sure his needs were fulfilled, and then he would most likely try and murder the mystic. Draco had protected those he cared about within Vulkan's mind as best he could, and it had still been a very difficult task. He doubted he would make the attempt for Briga.

"How about you wait to try your schemes about meeting him until after we get there. At least then, when I can take back control from him, I won't have to mop you out of the cockpit." If only she knew what the Sith Lord had done on Roche, or on Onderon, chambers filled with body parts and blood the Sith Lord cackling as he sat on his knees, blood pooling around him. She thought she wanted to be with that, only because she didn't know what it was like for Draco to be completely suppressed.

"Besides," He turned, putting an arm over the chair to look at her while the ship took to the stars. "Why can't me and you just be friends? I'm much better company, and I am the one willing to repay debts that are owed. I'm the one you can trust," Draco was a man of his word. Vulkan had two modes, 'gain everything I can from you and be done with you' and 'kill everything in the vicinity because its fun'. He didn't always recognize friend from foe. Lujo could attest to that as he had lashed out at an acolyte, and on Roche he had killed a hallway full of Republic and Mandalorian troops. Some from his own employ, his own clan. She really, really didn't actually want that.

[member="Briga Tiin"]

 

[Ax'no]

"But Darth Vulkan sounds infinitely more interesting to me than the man before me," said the mystic with a tilt of her chin. "But I respect your decision to keep him hidden. Perhaps he will show himself later when we get closer to the Living Planet."

Briga was intrigued by this warrior. He had a bit of the mystic in him as well with the duel personality. But she yawned, licking her lips and resting against the cockpit chair, weary from the day. It was clear that the horned goddess was not going to suffer the trip in boredom. Either she would sleep or withdraw into her own head, reading visions like tea leaves.

She saw nothing but the dark curtain of sleep. As Draco's arm lay on the back of her chair, the Caprine curled up, her soft breathing indicating heavy slumber.

Once they reached Empress Teta, she would awaken and their real journey would begin.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The mystic drifted off to sleep, and Draco turned his attention to the long flight ahead. In all his travels he had never met anyone like the Caprine currently sitting just behind him, and he couldn’t exactly decide whether he disliked her or not. She seemed dead set on coaxing out the Sith Lord persona his alter ego had adopted during its time as the primary personality. That had been a much darker time for him, before he had hope again, and love. He hadn’t felt love in a very long time during Vulkan’s reign.

The blue swirling tunnel of hyperspace faded, and the ship reoriented, turning to make the next jump to Coruscant before the final leg of this first part of their journey, while Draco simply plugged in numbers to the Navi-Computer, wisely leaving the flying to the Droids on the ship.

Draco turned his own attention inward, becoming introspective about the journey before him. Perhaps with some vision of his own he could move forward, but as for now, all he knew was he needed to go to the Planet of the Force, where the Living Force originated. Beyond that, he still relied on the Caprine Mystic, and that wasn’t something he rightly wanted to do once he arrived in the deepest depths of the Force and faced his demons.

Draco closed his eyes, and for a time was restless before drifting off, leaving the pair of astromechs hooked to the ship to look after it as he sat motionless in the chair.

Eyes.

Pitch black eyes, devoid of pupils, irises, or whites, looked back at him from the shadows of his mind. <Not gone.> Sweat built up on Draco’s brow and he turned his head sharply, jerking, trying to pull away from the penance stare of the eyes that glared at him. He couldn’t break eye contact, he couldn’t see a face, only the eyes. The voice that he heard though, that he recognized.

<Not gone. Just separate. Just biding time.> The eyes closed and Draco acted as though he was reaching for something, trying to reach out and grab where a body should be but found no purchase. The eyes had already retreated back from whence they came, no place Draco could sense, no matter how thoroughly he combed the recesses of his mind.

As he slept, restless now, on guard to be confronted again within the depths of his mind he saw something different, bright tendrils of light emanating from a planetoid surrounded in light and gaseous clouds. A jungle beneath the earth, floating in the sky. And a single massive tree surrounded in storms. The Eyes opened to either side of the tree for only a second, a heart beat, and then was gone.

<You must face your demons, where one will triumph over the other completely, and the lost be washed away.>

The several voices confused him, but he understood. Guidance, and a warning. He didn’t know from whom, or from where, but he knew what he was doing. Valuable information it would probably be best to keep to himself for the time being.

He stirred and rose from sleep, the blue tunnel of hyperspace disappearing yet again, the city planet of Coruscant before him in the cockpit. Slowly Draco checked on the sleeping Caprine. She was still peacefully at rest in her chair, no dark thoughts or evil intentions emanating from her presence as he studied her thoroughly through the Force. He made a note that he should study her intently when she spoke to him, his keen sense in the Force would make it difficult for her to lie without notice, and perhaps this way she could earn his trust. He remembered the carrot on the stick in the locked drawer but thought better of it. She would probably think Vulkan would give it to her as well, and seeing as he was going to kill the Sith Lord for once and for all there was no reason to add to the list of why shouldn’t help him do so.

Coordinates plugged in, and the ship made the last jump, re-entering the swirling blue tunnel of hyperspace.

Draco spent the time contemplating his visions. Obviously the first was Vulkan, probably well aware of what was happening and what was at stake. It was possible he had the same vision, or a more accurate one already and was waiting, holding back his strength and will for when the time was right.

The other vision, it was more cryptic. A jungle beneath the earth, floating in the sky, surrounded by light, with dark clouds hanging over a single massive tree. The eyes that had silhouetted it must mean that would be where he needed to go to face his demons. But that was the best he could muster. Part of him wanted to ask the Mystic to help translate his dream, but he held back. Maybe later, maybe after she realized she preferred Draco, not Vulkan.

Hours later, when the tunnel of Hyperspace vanished and Empress Teta loomed before the cockpit, Draco stood quietly, moving beside the Caprine, keeping at a comfortable distance. Softly he spoke as he touched her shoulder, giving her a soft shake. “Briga, wake up, we are here.”

[member="Briga Tiin"]

 

[Ax'no]

Yawning and stretching, Briga awoke to the sound of Draco’s voice, his hand tapping her shoulder. “I had no dreams at all,” she said to him, rubbing the side of her face. “Isn’t that strange? They are normally so vivid.” Perhaps it was the white noise of the ship, and the motion of hyperspace that had lulled her into such a deep sleep, but it had been odd.

The Caprine rose and stretched, flattening the wrinkles in her gown. She also checked the vessel’s coordinates. Like Draco had said, they were in the Deep Core.

Briga closed her eyes in order to begin the process of finding the Living Force planet. She could see it but how to translate her vision into coordinates had her stumped. And strangely the planet was much darker than she would have thought, but… was that? Darth Vulkan. She saw very clearly and precisely that Draco’s Sith side was going to emerge at their destination. And just like that the vision was gone.

But she’d also seen another planet nearby.

Glancing over at Draco, Briga said, “I think it’s close to Kuat. I could see the Kuat Drive Yards encircling the world.” She would let him program the coordinates and even though she was a little famished, she felt a nervous anticipation at what they were going to find.

“I trust what Ax’no has in store for us,” she said to the dark-haired warrior, even though her worried amber eyes betrayed that statement.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco wasn’t sure why the Caprine hadn’t had any dreams or visions, but he suspected it was something to do with the Planet of the Force or Vulkan. If it was Vulkan, that brought a whole new level of worries into the fold. If Vulkan was able to remain hidden and disrupt the visions and powers of a mystic, it indicated that Draco was in for a lot more than he had thought. Luckily the sword on his back was quite the equalizer, hopefully it would help him overcome Vulkan the way he wanted.

“Kuat, huh? Back out to the Core I guess.” The well explored, highly developed Core worlds weren’t going to be hiding the Planet of the Force, but it was very likely the Planet was simply closer to Kuat than Empress Teta, lingering on the edges of the poorly explored Deep Core. Draco was however untrusting of the Caprine. She could very well be leading him in circles, buying time, trying to frustrate him with backtracking, but, then again, it was very difficult to ascertain the coordinates to a hidden, forgotten planet that very very few living beings had ever stepped foot on.

Draco plugged the coordinates back into the navicomputer, and stood up with a yawn. “Alright, I’m going to grab some sleep. Behave yourself, and don’t mess with the controls, let the droids handle it.” Draco didn’t spend a lot of time taking off his armor, leaving the plates stacked neatly beside the bed, keeping the jumpsuit on as he slid into the single bunk tucked into the wall of the corridor. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, conserving his strength for the struggles ahead.

[member="Briga Tiin"]

 

[Ax'no]

Did he really expect her to watch the ship like some common first mate? She was a Priestess, not a pilot! But no matter, Briga would try to tap into her precognitive power to assess the danger that lay at their destination, the mysterious Force Planet. Breathing deeply she blocked out the soft snore of the warrior in the bunk not too far away and concentrated, retreating into her horned head. She saw clouds of white with streaks of silver and ethereal figures that resembled Diathim. Did that particular angel-like alien species live there? Or were they visitors like the Caprine and the Mandalorian? Eyes still closed she rolled them around, stretching her ocular muscles and then resettled her position, vision focusing on the blackness. She saw blood and fire now. Danger awaited them, but it also felt nearby.

Briga was positive the danger was Darth Vulkan. And on one level she sought to tempt the Sith Lord doppelganger out, but on the other….?

What she saw was so chilling she didn’t dare tell Draco or he might turn the ship around then and there.

Am I being selfish for continuing this journey, knowing how much peril both of us might face, she thought? It was incredibly greedy to want to keep going. But Briga needed to see this planet, to touch it and kiss the soil of the Force Planet. In her mind, Ax’no controlled the Living Force, therefore there would be some kind of trace of the goddess… some kind of sign for the Caprine Priestess. She only needed an augury to steer her in the right direction… to indicate her life was worth something and she wasn’t just living a lie.

I am Ax’no, am I not?

It was all she knew after all. To find out that she wasn’t a goddess, that her life had been one long, painful charade –
Her amber eyes snapped open. Briga was not sure how long she’d been meditating, but it felt like awhile. She glanced over at the coordinates and they were close to Kuat now. She thought about having the droids wake up the warrior, but she didn’t want to distract them from the controls. Briga rose and gently with her clawed hand, tapped his shoulder as he slept in the bunk.

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco didn’t stir or move, he just laid there, eyes closed as she reached down and tapped his shoulder. He breathed in deep before he spoke, a deep timber in his voice. “I’m guessing we made it to Kuat?” He asked quietly before opening his eyes and glancing around the cabin. As far as he could see there wasn’t anything off or misplaced at first glance. The locked compartment was still very locked, the droids weren’t malfunctioning and were still milling around, completing their assigned tasks.

Before he could get up and settled with a cup of caf the ship reverted back to realspace, exiting the blue tunnel of hyperspace. “Do you want a cup of caf while I’m making it?” Might as well be polite since they were going to be spending the next several days alone together, and it was easier to make two cups than one.

Draco glanced through the starship’s canopy at the world with its rings of drydocks and manufacturing complexes. It was a beautiful world, with a rich history and culture, an excellent place to live or visit, and despite being under the One Sith’s influence, it was largely left unmolested by the crazed Dark Side zealots. Without the Dark Lord’s influence, the One Sith were commanded by a Dark Council, and Draco wasn’t sure how much they would honor the Dark Lord’s edicts, but for now, they were more easily dealt with than the deceased Voss Sith. But, he did recognize a few of those names, Vornskr was always a wild card, Pyyrhus, Baelor.
“Why don’t you tell me the next set of coordinates.” Draco wondered about the Caprine. She was an interesting specimen for certain, but her motives beyond gaining personal power weren’t clear. Service with the One Sith was interesting for someone who was high and mighty like the arrogant Caprine. “And we can get moving, and working. This isn’t even the hard part yet girlie.” Draco knew at least some of what was up ahead, and none of it he knew was good or easy.

[member="Briga Tiin"]

 

[Ax'no]

“No, I don’t need stimulants,” said Briga at the offer of a caf. This wasn’t wholly the truth, but it wasn’t a lie either. The Caprine didn’t need stimulants, but she enjoyed the occasional snort of giggledust. “I prefer if you call me Priestess,” she huffed, but the mystic went to work locating the next set of coordinates just the same. Sitting in a lotus flower position in the roomy, cock-pit chair, she began to concentrate on her visions, retreating inward until, in a trance-like state, all the warrior would be able to hear was her soft breathing. And the occasional murmur in Caprinean.

In her mind’s eye, what she saw again terrified her. And for the second time, she did not alert Draco to it. He seemed to know, after all, what enmity lay in store.

Her eyelids fluttered open and this time, Briga put in the coordinates herself. In the vision, a silver, snowy-haired Diathim had given her the numbers and she recited them aloud as she punched them into the controls.

“That’s the next leg,” she said. “After that we should be at the planet.”

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Draco rolled his shoulders, flexing his muscles and stretching a little bit after the cup of caf. He liked having some kind of caffeine in the mornings to be functional quickly enough, though he didn't necessarily need it. Slowly he popped all of his knuckles and stretched, breathing deeply before donning his armor and weapons once again. As a Mandalorian, he was never far from his armor, and it was often worn when it might not otherwise be appropriate. For now, flying with the mystic on the last leg of their journey to the planet he liked having it on.

The ship sailed through hyperspace, diving back into the Deep Core, the dense cluster of celestial objects and obscure hyperspace routes. It wouldn't be long now, even without an extremely fast hyperdrive, the precision computer was able to shorten the trip considerably, and what should be the safest part of their journey. "I'm sorry Briga, but you are gonna have to get used to the familiarity. I rarely address people by titles, and when I do, I either do it condescendingly as an insult, or I'm flirting. But if you insist, you can refer to me by one of mine. Commander, perhaps. Your Great and Powerfulness works good too. Or, I can call you Briga and you can call me Draco, we can both get a long and be friends." Draco smiled to himself. He knew the priestess was uptight, but he had never been one to use titles often, certainly not to simply address someone in private.

He slid into the co pilots chair behind her and to her left, smiling still as he made himself comfortable in the chair, glancing through the controls. Not long now from the looks of things. If the woman was right they would be there shortly and he could begin his own journey. Hours of Meditation and mental preparation for the battle to come. He wasn't sure what kind of battle it would be, but he knew it would be difficult, if it was possible at all for him to obtain victory. Part of him felt guilty bringing Briga along. If he didn't need her to get to the planet, Draco would have left her on Kuat for her own good. She was already stupid enough to be trying to coax out Vulkan, and the memory of the black eyes flashed through his thoughts. Vulkan wasn't bound anymore. In the past Draco's remnants had shackled the domineering, psychopathic Sith. Even on Voss, Vulkan hadn't been free. Roche and Lujo had been the only times Vulkan had been truly free of Draco's influence.

Roche had ended with a corridor of fallen, butchered by Vulkan's axes and red lightning, and Lujo had suffered from the Sith creating a Death Field tearing all life from the surrounding area and absorbing it into himself. She didn't want that, not really. Draco didn't want that, and those had been two of the more impressive displays of power in his life time. But they had come at a great cost, a cost he was no longer willing to pay. Draco remembered the fall, when he broke and Vulkan took over.

<Vulkan Lives.>

The rasp in the voice he heard in his head was familiar, and Draco knew who it was. But there was something odd about it. It was not coming from within, it seemed to be telepathic, which was impossible.

Draco yawned, and waited in his chair behind the caprine, clearing his mind, putting up the extensive Mental Barriers he had master long ago, sealing his mind like a fortress from all things without. No stray thought, no emotion, no intentions could be sensed past the barriers he steeled and reinforced with his will. "We are getting close," his smile false and lying. He was happy it was coming to an end, but he was scared, worried it would not end like he wanted.

The blue tunnel of hyperspace disappeared and in the canopy of the cockpit, the Planet of the Force sat, looming before the pair. The surface was an arid desert devoid of all life, only sand and dirt as Draco took the controls in his hand, some tingling in the back of his mind, his danger sense warning him to be prepared. The droids tootled something, sensor data becoming scrambled as the ship slipped closer and closer to the planet. "Its beautiful isn't it?" Draco asked his companion, seeing the bright lights emanating from beneath the surface, the golden nebula surrounding and illuminating the planet.

Slowly the Droids guided the ship into the planets atmosphere, and then the ship bucked, heaving as all the screens scrambled and became nothing but static, lights and switches on the control board flickering. The droid plugged into the exterior socket went quiet as warning klaxons sounded throughout the cockpit. "Oh, dammit. Hang on." He wasn't taking control of the ship, he was standing behind her, pulling the crash webbing around her, calling instructions to Briga. "Its a five point harness, slip your arms through, buckle the sides, then pull the one between your legs into place, let me get you a helmet." The crash helmet under the seat wasn't made for a horned being, but hopefully it would fit. "Get it on to protect your neck. I'm gonna use a Protection bubble to keep debris out, okay. You are gonna be fine, I promise."

With her taken care of as best he could Draco dropped back into his chair, pulling his on crash webbing and the t-visor Mandalorian helmet he had made himself. As soon as it slipped on and braced, time began to slow and shift, sinking slower, and slower as Draco filled himself with the Force, pulling it to him as he took the controls, trying to manually guide the ship down.

[member="Briga Tiin"]

 

[Ax'no]

“I’ll stick with Draco then,” Briga said smirking. She sat idly watching the view-screen, the mysterious Deep Core lighting up and then going dark, then light again, with a faint greenish glow like an aurora borealis. She did not hear the telepathic voice of Darth Vulkan, but when the warrior did, the Caprine froze like a startled deer. She sensed something was wrong. It was only a vague and foreboding feeling, but it served to reinforce the fact that they were about to embark on a dangerous quest.

Briga’s visions weren’t always correct, especially far away from Iktotch. This time, she hoped that she had been given false divinations, knowing that what she’d seen in her mind’s eye was terrifying.

“It is beautiful,” said the mystic as she gazed upon the Force Planet, relieved to be distracted from her apprehension. What type of arcane knowledge do you have in store for me, Ax’no, she asked herself?

She was lost in thought when the ship began to lurch. Briga didn’t travel often through space and her primitive bovidae senses kicked into high gear at the freefall, her stomach dropping like the ship. She was a creature of the rocks, the field and the land. She was not a Sky Goddess. Draco bolted out of his seat to help her. With alarmed eyes she did as she was told, strapping in and placing the helmet on her head. The horns uncomfortably scraped against the inside of the helmet but it was better than her temple splitting open from a crash landing.

Whoooooooshhhhhh. Crunnnkkkkkkk. Thud. Thud. Thud.

They bumped across the sand-covered landscape of the Force Planet. Briga finally realized that the entire time they were dropping, she’d been screaming at the top of her lungs. “Sorry for all of the noise,” said the superstitious Caprine to Draco sheepishly. “I am not a fan of space travel, and that’s exactly why. We as beings of the galaxy are not meant to be in the heavens that long.”

[member="Draco Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

After the crash, and the dust settled Draco stirred, having projected the protection bubble around the pair just in case things got bad in order to protect them from making direct contact with the ground. Draco looked through static at the dash and checked on his compatriot. "Well, you're alright and that's what matters." He smiled from behind his visor. Personally he didn't care about her safety, but she was in his care, and she trusted him, trusted him enough to travel off into the galaxy alone with him. It wasn't about her safety he realized, it was about his pride. That would do fine for her for now, but he was here to help swallow his pride, to humble himself in the Force, and re-emerge something new. Something pure.

Draco's gauntlet covered fingers tapped the astromech slouched in the corner and it bleeped alive, but barely. "Well, the droids, and the ship, are stuck on the surface of this rock. Hey you," he tapped the droid again, "Can you fix it?" The droid tootled something in response and unlocked itself from its crash settings. The conversation took a moment, longer than a simple one word response should. "Well, get to it if its gonna be that long." He sighed and turned to face Briga, pulling his helmet off in the process, "The planet's electromagnetic field is jamming comms and sensors, and there is an EMP wave we hit on the way in we will need to time in order to leave without getting nailed by it again. Electronics are being disrupted, but aren't unusable. The ship is spaceworthy, but needs repairs. He thinks he can manage it in forty eight hours, so we are stuck here for at least two days." The cockpit popped open with the click of a button and the big Mandalorian hopped out onto the ships hull.

"We should use that time well and find what we are here for before then. I have a feeling we don't want to leave the ship once its space worthy." It was an aching feeling, something that told him that he was no on a time limit. Forty eight hours to defeat Vulkan once and for all or die or be left by the Sith Lord. We he felt the Sith Lord would abandon him he could not say, he just felt as though it was a possibility which was odd. Extremely odd.

Armor covering his body, back pack over his shoulder filled with a number of survival tools, medpac, full survival kit, analytics kit, fire paste, subsonic field emitter, and thermal blanket all tucked away in the back, along with a knife and hold out blaster. The Mandalorian scanned the horizon, seeing the spout of light and particles rising from the planet in the distance, only a short walk away for the pair. His instincts told him that was where he needed to go. He was drawn in that direction by the Force. Draco turned to look down at the caprine and held his hand out for her to take so he could lift her out of the cockpit and carry her to the ground. "Come on. We only get to play on this planet for two days, might as well make the most of them."

[member="Briga Tiin"]

 

[Ax'no]

Briga shot Draco an angry look as though he was at fault for the crash, like he purposefully drove the ship down onto the surface of the planet. The Caprine made sure all of her fingers and toes were there. Even though she was bounced around in her seat, she seemed to be okay. And if not, the ship had a medikit for any surface wounds.

“Wait, you mean we’re stuck here?” she asked incredulously. Traveling to the Force Planet was one thing, but an impromptu camping trip on the small trip was not what Briga had in mind.

“Forty-eight hours isn’t so bad. But if we leave the ship what will we do for food and water.” As if on cue, the Caprine’s stomach growled. She couldn’t remember when she had last eaten.

“I’m an herbivore as well so hopefully something grows on this planet,” she said more to herself than Draco. He looked like a man who would tear into a slab of meat at any opportunity.

All packed up like a Sherpa, Draco took the mystic’s hand and they emerged from the ship. Briga knew from her visions that The Force Planet had deserts and jungles, but she couldn’t see anything, it was that bright on the surface. As she shielded her eyes and walked off of the ramp, she said to Draco: “I think we should name this planet don’t you? How about Ax’no. The Planet of Ax’no. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

[member="Draco Vereen"]