Pleasure and Pain - Expedition to Pax Insul

[Ellie Mors]

Pax Insul - Year: 844 ABY​

It has been ten thousand,two hundred and ninety-four long years. The lives that have been born and lost from then to now seem like mere ants in the grand scheme of things, and even smaller to the woman that dwelt in slumber deep within the confines of this once-lost world. Yet even as she sleeps, undisturbed for nearly eleven millennia, an exploratory team has charted a path straight to the island planet, determined not only on charting the world and perhaps colonizing its uninhabited land but also to unearth whatever it was that caused the population of the planet to so suddenly vanish, and to discover what ancient civilizations might have lived even before that. For the 'Hidden Isle', hidden from view above the clouds, the forecast for the day was a perpetual rainfall, today being directly in the middle of the rainy season, that would last for several days on end. The 'Bay of Secrets', as it was called, was - for now - cloudless and warm with most of its aquatic population of small and large fish, sharks, and other species thriving while its avian population boomed. Insects thrived in both areas, mostly due to the warm and humid environment. The 'Lonely Lights' remained untouched, still lit by the far-reaching rays of the sun that managed to pierce even those dark depths. Every part of this world just screamed civilization, yet not a soul occupied the planet for over five thousand years - and even on the day that marked their disappearance, it was as if they all simply vanished. But even with its emptiness it had garnered the attention of the Primeval, if not simply to explore the small ruins and search for signs of past life.

But on a world where such peace reigned supreme, where civilization had been rid of, there lurked a darker secret, something ancient, slumbering within the depths of the caves within one of its many islands.

---

Year: 9,450 BBY​

Her fingers constricted around the cold steel shaft that formed her spear, anger almost boiling in her blood. She was trapped within the confines of her own 'temple', a cave that had been hollowed out for her worship, and standing at the only exit was the woman she had thought to be her friend, the woman whom they called Bathia and her Raven. A shimmering staff was in her hand and it illuminated the previously darkened hall, almost blinding the goddess of the night with its bright glare. But she didn't fear the light, never had she ever felt that feeling - not but once. "You are a threat to every life on this planet, Braith, I cannot allow you to live." The illuminated woman said, her expression stern but her voice wavering with doubt. Fingers clenched tighter, knuckled white, as the deity looked towards the Elders who were slowly walking in from either side of Bathia. It quickly dawned on her that this was a facade, a charade, with the so-called bringer of peace being nothing more than a tool, a pawn, to manipulate her. "You are a fool and a coward." Braith hissed, moving away from the closing proximity of light that seemed to leech her stamina from her and burn her from the inside - much unlike sunlight, which would have literally been burning her alive by now. The staff had been a gift, a cooperative creation between the two deities, but now it was apparent that she had been betrayed. Her right shoulder pulled back, hand raised up by her head with eyes closed tightly shut. "Die a mortal death, Bathia." She screamed, throwing the spear like a javelin directly into the heart of her betrayer, even as the elders converged on her with incantations to bind her and paralyze her, ripping her from the floor and spiritually chaining her within the oubliette that shut tightly once she fell.

In the mere passing of a minute two of the most well-known deities had passed from history on Pax Insul's sixth largest island, one dying a mortal death while the other was trapped in eternal slumber. The spear and the staff were laid out over the oubliette and her temple became her tomb, lost to time over the centuries as the religious society faded and was replaced by the technologically advanced civilization of the two largest island nation-states.

 

[Brooke Waters]

She had heard of the trip that was going on to Pax Insul. A new world where people were going to begin exploring some newly rediscovered world. It was reminiscent of her time in the Levantine Sanctum and was part of her minor at the Astronautical Academy of the same name. Yeah, [member="Boo Chiyo"], you weren’t they only one who went there from the Primeval. Though Token joined the Primeval second. Complexity in the galaxy was good. If you showed up having all the answers and were set up to do everything right, then it got really boring, real fast.

Token Waters had taken her Innesco-class shuttle, and her friend Pell, who had decided to join her, and began making her way to the world. There were a few spots she wanted to check out for… research purposes. And she knew Pell would probably be wandering around on her own anyhow. The ship was in orbit as she was looking for a place to land.

“I still don’t really know why you came, Pell. I don’t think there is too much in the way of night-life…” The blonde stuck her tongue out at her Zeltron friend.

“Listen, Tokes, I’m not only out for a place I can grab a lay and some spice. Besides, this world, it seems like it could be fun.” She shrugged softly, looking out the view ports. “An' ‘sides, I’m not going to turn down an invite.”

Token smiled and nodded, turning back to her ship's controls. Sure, she was only half Starchaser, but she still loved to fly. #Corellian. "Lets find us a landing zone."

 

[Darth Vaildra]

A One Sith shipped was making it's way through the endless sea of stars heading straight for Pax Insul. On the bridge stood a man in black robes white hair that was beginning to gray and a cane he held for support. He watched the weird strips of stars that moves by as they were in hyberspace.

"My Lord, our ETA is 3 minutes, shall I have your ship prepared?"

Lord Sabastian, inquisitor of the One Sith turned towards his quartermaster, "Indeed. Prepare also for any resistance for our arrival, one can never be too careful. He was no member of the Primeval, in fact, they were not even on his radar and served no purpose to know who they were. He was here on personal business, to find artifacts of a time long since forgotten, but artifacts that held great power. What interested Sabastian was that no living, intelligent thing was on this planet and it all happened at once with no warning and thus something powerful must be on this planet or at the very least something to lead him to such power. His large ship exited hyperspace and Pax Insul was now visiable through the bridge windows.

He merely stood there taking it in and sensing what he could from where he was. He then turned and left the bridge with a rushed aura about him. Of course he had no come here alone, his apprentice [member="T'Zanith Zebron] had been brought on this adventure. It was now time his training to become more real and thus he would learn away from the temples and safety of the Sith homeworld and more in the heart of conflict.

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Braith"]

Jaster and his Conglomerate Security Force along with a large select group of Conglomerate Scientist were camping outside the ruins of an old temple. With permission from the Primeval Goverment, or whatever they really were, they constructed a base camp for the rest of the Primeval to arrive on the planet. Jaster had sent out scouts to secure the area, if for any other reason then to give them a mission to do. The security force was just until Primeval Force could arrive and then Jaster would be forced to hand over their weapons and give the base to the Primeval. He didn't mind, the outpost was too far from Conglomerate Territory to be of any real use, he just wished to improve his relations with the Leading Goverment.

Radar was still being set up, and he would need to finish it before the outpost was truely complete, though they could only rely on what was seen and detected on hand held scanners. He sent troops to the Temple to make sure no wildlife would injure the scientist who would be sent there to check for archaeological findings. He had yet to hear back from them and continued to wait. That was when Jaster received a call from one of his observation post that a vessel was approaching it seemed to have Primeval Marking on it, but was still to distant to make out.

Jaster sighed as he was sure that the ship was primeval, after all, only they and the Trade Conglomerate knew if it's exsitance, or at least he thought. It would turn out to be the ship of, [member="Token Waters"], sure that she didn't know that Jaster and his ground team had already set up a base for the Primeval to store their findings.

He moved to the radio, were the operator stated that the antenna was not yet completed, and they needed a little more time. Hopefully the pilots would notice the small outpost/campsite and land in the safe zone.

 

[Onrai]

[member="Braith"]

Treasure.

Officially, that was the reason the archaeologist known as Vitor Imperieuse was here on the world of Pax Insul. Rumors had reached his ears of a grand treasure, sealed away within an archaic chest and guarded by some of the most dangerous booby traps ever devised by a sentient being. The traps were nothing - fantastical rumors long twisted and made corrupt by the people who spoke of them. The treasure, however, intrigued him. It was rumored to be a large, almost man-sized box, engraved with ancient inscriptions and writings long lost to the galaxy.

An Oubliette.

Very few individuals knew what the appearance of such a stasis casket looked like, but Vitor had held first-hand experience. After the incident, he had been locked away within one before slaughtering the pirates who acquired and opened the 'treasure box,' bringing him from stasis. If whatever was within ended up being acquired by the wrong individual, the galaxy could suffer all the more for it - such devices were never used lightly.

The rumors of the cache's presence placed it within the area Vitor had now entered, a speeder bike allowing him to more easily traverse the tangled trees and scan for any abnormal structures or ruins shrouded within. Soon, he would find what he was looking for.

 

[Shaddi]

T'zanith was in the hangar of the large ship, training his lightsaber forms to pass the time away as the ship hurtled through hyperspace. He had been studying the holocron his master, [member="Lord Sabastian"], gave him pertaining to Juyo but now his fears were cemented to gain proficiency further than an adept he'd have to learn four other Lightsaber forms and gain some proficiency with them. With a swift change in stance he turned his training towards Djem so and began to practice the styles forms and attacks.
While he was doing this he was also training his use of telekinesis and focus. He had read about a sith called Vader who could use telekinesis without even moving and even while in a Lightsaber duel with an opponent and this was a skill T'zanith wanted to learn. Orbiting around T'zanith as he trained were small rivets, screws and even a few tools, much to the dismay of the hangar crew, but all of those items didn't require that much focus to lift with the force in the first place but with so many it would be strenuous to split one's focus like the Miralukan half breed was doing, and that was the point of it all.

Seeing a few of the hangar crew run and make his masters ship ready he stopped and put all the items back to were he had found them. Wiping away swear from his body he then got dressed in his robes and clipped his cross guarded lightsaber to his belt, just in time for his master to arrive in the hanger. Moving up next to him T'zanith bowed his head lightly as a sign of respectful acknowledgement before he'd speak. "Have we arrived to this mystery planet of yours master?" He asked as he hadn't been so sure it wasn't a wild goose chase but came along to learn as that was what he had done ever since coming to the sith temple on Coruscant, he devoured knowledge in any shape or form that was put in front of him.

[member="Braith"] [member="Token Waters"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus returned from Dxun, left her ship and almost ran to the library. She hastily completed the necessary forms detailing her time supporting the Silver Jedi in their defence of Ziost and then ensured any necessary paperwork was completed before emptying her schedule - for the foreseeable future.

At which point she grabbed one of the private rooms in the Library and the clock started. She couldn’t think straight and decided that, if her search were to be successful, she’d have to eschew the nagging but almost reassuring pain she was feeling — and so closed down her emotions and allowed her logical brain free reign to undertake whatever research was necessary.

If there was a perk of the job in being the Grand Master of the Order, it was her access to information. White, Amber and Red level artefacts were restricted - with the latter being for almost her exclusive sight. And in truth she and only one other person knew where they were located.

So she utilised all of them in her quest. She had but one name to go on — [member="Braith"]. There were no other clues.

And logically she searched the obvious ones first. The Great Holocron, Tionne’s Holocron, The Codex of Tython, various
Noetikons, and even the Belia Darzu Holocron, a Sith artefact that she hoped would shed light where the Jedi ones would not. Then she quizzed the Dray Holocron, the King Nakgru Holocron, wondering if the name was liked to Dathomiri magic and the Chu’unthor. Then a datacron on the Sorcerers of Tund

Finally she searched assorted Sith texts taken from the Korriban Temple.

But to no avail…

Corvus was a Jedi and she knew if she had a weakness, it was to look at things in terms of the Force — be it Light-side or Dark-side. Yet there were millennia of history in the archives that had nothing to do with Jedi. Which is where she went next.

Almost two days without sleep had passed and Corvus searched in vain. Silara was clearly being controlled by someone - or at least that’s what the Grand Master believed, so she now searched all known current databases for mentions of Braith. Someone that powerful shouldn’t be invisible. Yet every search, every planet’s records she searched brought up precisely nothing.

Other than the Librarian’s regular supply of stim-caf and sandwiches, Corvus remained in the room and spoke to and saw nobody. The Jedi affairs were in safe hands - and given she’d never taken a day off in over two decades, it was unlikely anyone would complain about her lack of interaction.

She checked the chronometer. Had she really been working that long? She rubbed her face and realised she was still sitting in the blood-stained white robes she’d left Ziost in.

So she afforded herself a shower and the opportunity to put fresh robes on — but denied herself what she saw as the luxury of sleep.

When all logical options were exhausted, there was only one thing for it. Whatever was left, however illogical, had to be the truth. Over three days had now elapsed. So Corvus started at the beginning. And without the luxury of datacrons, searching was done the old-fashioned way — by poring over manuscripts and footnotes.

So she went back to records that dated prior to the Great Hyperspace War and found a small reference. Not Braith but Brathia. Corvus wondered, given ancient records and their translation if this could be the same person. But the research said they weren’t and this woman died eons ago of a simple spear wound.

And Corvus continued, a little disheartened and an hour or so later groaned audibly. If there was one thing that researchers and historians were taught, it was that there was no such thing as a coincidence. And in her sleep-deprived state she’d missed something.

So she meditated and therefore rested, allowing the Force to refresh her for the briefest of time. And then she went back. In reading about Brathia, she’d remembered a reference about her being called a raven. Given Corvus’ own name, she wondered about the link and so found the page in question. The planet was not known to her but by checking what she could find out about it and cross-referencing she was sure she’d identified it — Pax Insul.

Excitedly she checked known Jedi records about the movement of Silara — Darth Atrophia. And she found it, an entry that showed the Sith Lord had visited the planet.

Now Corvus was on fire and so started her focus on this planet and found enough references to be sure she’d found her woman. Or rather…her goddess.

It seemed she was raised as a living goddess of a tribe on the planet. There were mentions of her being able to alter the weather and defeat terrible creatures single-handedly.

Corvus checked the time elapsed since she started.

She was sure she had enough to be sure it was the right person and had enough to go on to identify a rough location. Of course, the records suggest the woman was dead — so there was no guarantee she would be where she’d allegedly been buried — but it was a start.

She had a name — Braith Achlys. And she had a place — Kalosis.

And an image from an old parchment.

There was only one complication as far as Corvus saw it. The planet was currently swarming with the Primeval. But she had a journey to a distant planet in which to come up with a plan. For nothing was going to stop her finding the woman, or goddess, responsible for the death of Silara.

 

[Ellie Mors]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-h5wT3Rf4w[/media]​

Rage. It was an emotion that was supposed to be foreign to her - not Braith, but another who, even now, would be seeking her to exact vengeance for the death of a lifeless puppet. She had felt the darker emotion during the last several moments of her thrall, the anger of meaningless death, the anguish of a broken promise, regret perhaps - perhaps not. Knowing the woman involved, it was very likely that she was unaware just what that tightening was - what rage felt like - but she had felt it very clearly that day. Although that emotion was only fleeting, but she knew it was directed at her - at Braith. If she could have sighed at the irony, at knowing that the person she'd tried to bring to her but failed was now seeking her out for the death of someone whom they thought they loved - who never would have dared to have even returned to the Sith if not for Braith's egging, wanting to have had nothing more than to return to her family, with her husband and twins - there would have been no hesitation in doing so. But she remained trapped, stuck in her oubliette with no perception of the passage of time and no clue as to whom would find her. The next few days would be the days of her discovery, of her freedom, she had made certain of it by having that thrall of hers spread a small piece of information on the planet throughout various historical documents prior to the invasion of Ord Mirit. It would be a pity if she was freed only to find a Jedi standing over her blind and vastly weakened form to burn a hole through her heart as [member="Valiens Nantaris"] had done to Silara, but even though it would mean not having what she wanted it would be an acceptable escape from this unending torture.

Luckily for the supposed deity the creation of the oubliette had been done hastily by a rather impatient council of elders. Judging by her retained conscious, for example, it was clear that they knew very little of what they were doing - or had been doing, judging by the thousands of years that passed between then and now. This retention of consciousness - or at least conscious thought - was a double-edged sword, however, as it meant there was never a moment that passed without active thought. Time flew by, centuries ran to the ground, and still Braith existed in a strange limbo between sleep and consciousness, like a waking dream. At first it was maddening, to be locked inside of her own head without eyes to see, ears to hear, or a mouth to speak. Her screams were imaginary, no fists flung to unseen walls, but after so long she learned to build her own little internal world - like a daydream that never seemed to end, a vivid dream that was all but real to the stasis-induced goddess. But still she craved release, to escape from this prison - even if it meant to be scorned by those who had yet to meet her, to be hated and hunted by those who thought they knew her. She could fix her problems once freedom was attained, and at this point in time that was the most important thing of all. The planet she was on was largely uninhabited, besides the few large creatures that roamed the wilds, the birds that flew through the skies, and perhaps the terentatek or two that she had bested in physical contest of superiority whom might have gone into hibernation or died after such a long period of time. All she knew was there was at least one person coming for her, and with the weakened seal of this pathetic sarcophagi it was only a mildly difficult feat to leak out an aura of welcoming, one which would undoubtedly be noticed by the more proficient force users that were near the Hidden Isle.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Lord Sabastian"] [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] [member=T'zanith Zebron] [member="Token Waters"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Braith"]

The bike soon slowed upon the fringe of the isle - the forest he had ridden through soon led to the edge of a cliff. He looked down, noticing holes in the walls - likely deposits of limestone or another soluble rock that had become natural cave formations. A perfect place to hide treasure - but which was the correct cave? A presence seemed to permeate the entirety of the ridge, its potency swelling each second with a level of permeating energy that rippled throughout his mind.

He winced a bit at its initial touch, slowly but surely maneuvering several rocks in place to support a reel of cable - a reel that would carry his weight. A set of claws slipped onto his hands would allow him to maneuver in both planes safely as he slid slowly over the edge, heading towards the first cave.

He doubted it would be the correct one, but narrowing down possibilities couldn't possibly hurt.

[member="Braith"]

 

[Darth Vaildra]

Lord Sebastian did not slow or haste as his apprentice showed and joined him. It was needless to mention that this was their next planet in a long line of planets searching for powerful artifacts. Sabastian was becoming more and more frustrated with the situation and reaping nothing, but he was confident on this one. "History has told us that there was once a thriving society here and they all just disappeared with no explanation at all. Something is on that planet, I can feel it. Bring your A game, this will be a test like no other." He smiled, the closer they got he could feel the warm embrace of the Dark Side and knew something was there.

He boarded his ship where a small crew was in place. "Sargent, take us down and put us down here." He said pointing at a holomap upon joining them. He took his place at the Captain's helm where a small throne laid. The Sargent began giving orders and soon they were off and heading for the planet leaving his reinforcements on stand by in case things got blick. He had brought a small army with him made of One Sith;s finest, but preferred not to bring them to the planet unless he absolutely needed them.


[member="T'zanith Zebron"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qlCC1GOwFw

As she reached the planet in her Jedi-Class Stealth Starfighter, she still hadn’t slept but the benefit of the Force was that deep meditation did the same job.

Since she’d exited hyperspace and was now in stealth mode, she’d reflected on what she knew in terms of location and her quarry. The woman’s name meant black and white apparently and her gift with what Corvus assumed was something akin to the Force manifested itself at birth. In fact, much of what she read suggested Sith Alchemy – yet the records pre-dated the Sith Order.

If she was a goddess, Corvus was less sure. Perhaps someone strong with the Force may appear so to those not familiar with it? Corvus shook her head. It was pure speculation. But she had all of the available information at her fingertips – she’d scanned and uploaded every record on [member="Braith"] and Brathia and Pax Insul she could find. She couldn’t legislate for pure luck, but if research was going to be a factor, she’d done all she could.

So she set her ship down in a secluded spot and in her standard Jedi robes clambered down onto the planet’s surface. She immediately entered White Current. Unless one was similarly trained, she would be invisible to the naked eye, the Force and even scanners. She could walk amongst a group undetected – not that she had any intention of doing so. But what were the odds that she would be effectively summoned here at the same time as the Primeval landed to explore their world?

Recently, if it wasn’t for bad luck, she’d have no luck at all.

And as was customary now, she closed her eyes and opened her mind to emotions. That reassuring dull ache was still there. Its pain was almost addictive but she forced herself to close it down. And there was a new emotion there too. Like anger but multiplied a thousand times. But she knew she needed a clear head if she were to find Braith. She had many names as a deity, but Corvus knew her by just one.

Braith the killer.

Even with her emotions under lock and key, Corvus knew the path she was walking. A Jedi will not take revenge, she’d told so many Younglings that – but here she was. This was not about the greater good. In truth it was about the death of a Sith. Many people expected her to be rejoicing – or at the very least pleased. But they were not in her shoes.

And she knew she could not cling to the past and tried many times to justify to herself how what she was doing was for peace, for the Republic. It was a pointless exercise. She was here because she had to be. There could be no explanation – because Corvus had none.

She was simply here and would find out the truth. Even if it killed her.

 

[Ellie Mors]

Spoiler

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16ptWIZ36F4[/media]

There was no certainty in what would come to her, the whispering aura of welcome only one of many - Braith having easily forgotten about the tens of hundreds of wild force shards that contained the sealed life forces of living sacrifices that had once been given up to her at her alter so many thousands of years ago. Time - it was no longer an object to her, she'd developed a mental maturity that had long since been melted together after the initial thousand years that had passed her by and fractured her psyche - was now merely a buffer, an empty wall void that blocked her foresight, her thoughts, expectations, from coming to fruition until the moment of her freedom, but who would be the one to do the deed? Who would be so foolish as to unleash the calamity of a thousand suns on this peaceful planet, to wake the sleeping beast that was caged only by the combined efforts of an entire nation in secret. Did these peons that walked the crust of Pax Insul know the darkness that would soak up the light the moment they lifted the lid off of her container, were they aware that there was ten thousand years of yearning for freedom bottled up inside, more than a millennia of pent up frustration? No. Ignorance was bliss for the unknowing few that sought her out, not knowing the benefit to their own safety by simply leaving the tormented deity be. How could they? Had she not attracted their attention through Silara, had she not called out her own name, had she not orchestrated this day almost for the last hundred years? These few would be spared the rage of a pressured storm, the raw ferocity of nature itself that was soon to be released, for Braith still had control - she still wanted one woman to find her, to know what and why, how and when, and who she was.

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"] was on the right trail, so close to the darkness that shrouded the incarnation of night wherever she went, but he had stopped at the cavern which bore an offering crystal, one which had been left on an abandoned makeshift shrine - one which bore illustrations of unending rain, of a woman in the sky, a sun - or a star - blotted out by clouds that threatened to drown the world. Could this be a clue to whom he sought out, to the horrors that would await, to the destruction that would be guaranteed with freedom - or was it simply a negligible shrine of no importance, merely one that contained a notable artifact that carried a heavy weight in the force, one not clearly of neither the dark nor the light but a muddled band of emotions not unlike a finality of grief, of knowing defeat - the final moments of a live sacrifice, a young woman, that had her heart gutted from her heaving chest even as she screamed, and her life poured out from her body into the bright blue crystal that took its place. Every ounce of that young girl's life ebbed and flowed like the chaotic maelstrom of a nebula within the confines of the crystal, one which was clearly holding a presence in the force - amplifying, enhancing even, the force abilities of those nearby. Even a mere apprentice, a mere padawan, would be aware of their heightened state of awareness, one which was not quite a full step up, but much greater than witnessed before. The crystal itself, and the small area around it, were the only portion of the entire cave - small in size - that was not covered in some sort of growth, fungal or plant in nature. It was as if the very planet itself fled from its touch, as was the case in many places around the planet - small crystals which were dotted along the islands, lost at sea, or thrown into lakes and ponds during the final moment of some great cataclysm. Just what had happened to this planet that everyone simply vanished - the goddess had been locked away prior to this moment, was she not?

And yet there were others, an Echani Sith traveling with his apprentice - mere shades of the great man known as [member="Disciple"] that had once visited the child named Braith in her youth, neither holding a flame to the raging inferno that had been he. The man had not perhaps needed to bring such a skilled force of fighters from a government not of the Primeval, but perhaps it was best if these two - [member="Lord Sabastian"] and [member=T'zanith Zebron] - had been prepared, for if things blew south, spoiled, and went wrong it would be one more chance at survival. And though they had yet to so much as travel more than a footstep onto the world they would find their worry unnecessary, being that there were no inhabitants besides a few species of birds, a few hundred kinds of fish, and two hibernating Terentatek that had long-since migrated to sleep as close to the source of the darkness they could find - within Braith's tomb, which had long since been lost to history, the once-clear path that led up to it overgrown with trees and undergrowth, the entrance to which was covered with vines and various plants and animals that dared not wake the beasts within. Yet these two were not the ones whom Braith awaited - [member="Corvus Raaf"] bearing that honor. But while locked within the oubliette there was no method for the slumbering deity to call for her specifically - or even to know she had arrived. All that remained for her was the hope that she would arrive soon enough, and she hoped it would be her who awakened her - knowing full-well the Jedi would be far more merciful if she was at a disadvantage rather than prepared and ready.

 

[Shaddi]

T'zanith didn't show emotion as his master spoke to him and instead simply nodded as much of a bad feeling he had for this particular planet he would't voice it, well at least not yet. Once on the ship he took his place as standing behind the captain's throne that [member="Lord Sabastian"] had sat in, his posture one of an officer with his hands behind his back, As per usual he had a new acolyte ropes on his person, as most of his robes kept getting destroyed in his masters training sessions or in the various little trips he took with his fellow acolytes. His hood was over his head obscuring most of his face but his blindfold was also visible along with his white hair as a few locks left through his hood and cascaded down his upper chest just a little.

As they took off and were approaching the planet itself he had to speak. "Master will you tell now why we are here? or do you intend to keep me in the dark a little longer?" He asked as he hadn't really been told of the reason he had been brought along other than a training mission with Sabastian. His face was emotionless and his tone was calm and cold almost as he stared through his eyes in the force at the planet that was fast approaching. It didn't feel right at all.

[member="Braith"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Braith"]

A sense of darkness would begin to flow throughout his senses. A darkness he knew far too well, one that, to an extent, still resided in a fragment of his soul. A torchlight would ignite further within the cave, further illuminating the cavern within. Drips of water trickled from the height of the ceiling down upon his head, even as he grasped the crystal, storing it away in a pocket of his belt. He swore for the moment that a terrible scream rang across the cave as he clutched it, but quickly shook such knowledge off.

Stepping through the cavern, he noticed that it took a turn to the right, light coming in from a large hole in the right wall - a hole he had seen previously. Tool marks indicated that yes, this had once been artificially artificed - likely attaching separate shallow caverns to one another. The third hole in the wall lay apart from a tunnel whose end he could not see - and so he would proceed down. Down into the lightless abyss with only a torchlight to provide him illumination. In due time, he prayed, he would reach the end of the tunnel - an exposure to whatever treasure lay here, flesh or metal.

Unliving or undead.

 

[Darth Vaildra]

Lord Sabastian kept his view ahead and into space as the planet grew larger. His apprentice, T'Zanith Zebron had now fully become Sabastian's apprentice now that he survived the Acolyte trails. His questions though, lacked the respect that Sabastian demanded. His questions were justified in what he was seeking, but to question any command of a Master was defiance in Sabastian's eyes. He still did not turn towards him upon speaking, his attention more on the planet that was drawing evermore closer, "Silence your tongue, if I wanted you to know more I would offer it, remember your place."

He could sense his student's uneasiness about this situation, Sabastian would share in it as well if he wasn't more excited about this. In reality, he was not seeking anything in particular, merely investigating a rumor that the Dark Side slept here. It was written in old texts that gods and goddess were worshiped here long ago, but He did not put much weight into folklore. Instead he sought what power could be seen as more than mortal.

As his ship touched down, Lord Sabastian could not help, but notice his Sargent had missed his landing zone that he had ordered. Oh, not by much, but enough to irritate Sabastian. He decided to pull a page out of Darth Sideous' book as his Sargent approached to apologize and give an excuse for his poor performance. Unlike Darth Vader, Sabastian could not use telekinesis without using his hands, hands provided more control and to be honest they made choking more satisfying. His right hand barely lifted from his arm rest and gripped the Sargent with the Force and slowly choking him, "Your performance is unsatisfactory, I have no use for things that do not follow my orders with the utmost perfection." As the life left the Sargent and he fell to the floor, Sabastian looked to the next in charge, "Congratulations, a promotion just opened, make sure you do not repeat such failures and clean him up. T'Zanith, prepare yourself, this is the last I warn you."

He stood from his chair and grabbed his cane as he headed for the planet's surface. As his feet met the soil he felt it, emptiness. The planet felt void, this was a feeling saved for planets that were wounds in the force or great death had transpired. He moved away from the ship to a large gathering of trees and knelt there. He may have been a Sith now, but meditation was still the best way for him to maximize his Force Sense. He closed his eyes and unlike a Sith meditation where you meditate on the Dark Side, he began to clear his mind.

As his mind cleared he became intune with the world around him. Aside from his apprintice all he felt near by were small animals, normal animals that had no hint of ill intentions. Usually he'd sense predators, but he was not picking any up. He did not, however, come to view the wildlife. He reached out father seeking more and more as he became more intune with the Force. It was odd how little he was sensing, usually he'd pick up things by now. Then, there was something, something on the corner of his current range. It had a familiar essence about it, fear, death, unimaginable sadness. As he tuned his range to it's location he found more of them, they were small, almost undetectable except for their high concentration in the Dark Side, their were hundreds of them, maybe more. Some were grouped up and some were scattered, but as he senced more and more he noticed a pattern, they revolved.

They weren't moving, but were surrounding something, like a target.

He Honed his senses even more and found it, a core of the Dark Side unlike any he had sensed before. In his physical form he would now grow a smile at the feeling. He began to poke and prod trying to penetrate the Dark Core. The smile went away as the Darkness was quite diffcult to break into, but he managed to get in and found his senses in an overgrown temple. He searched it, going deeper and deeper into the darkness until he found what appeared to be a box, tomb, something it was radiating the Dark Side like nothing he had ever felt except when he met the Dark Lord. Could this be a former Dark Lord? He slowly moved his senses to it and inside when all the sudden he was lashed back to his own mind like a cannon and fell over wreathing in pain.

His body shook and moved like a man on fire as he was now fully out of his meditation. He used his powers to slowly calm himself and bring himself back to sanity. He straighten himself up, but did not stand as he began to breathe heavily, there was someone here, someone of great and terrible power. He did not know it was possible, but like a distant memory he felt fear once more. He had long killed off fear, but this was something far more terrible than he could imagine, yet... yet a smile came to his face. What or whoever was in that temple held the power Sabastian thought, there person's mere presence even in what appeared as death promoted fear and he was perusing to become the Harbinger of Fear. He slowly stood using the aid of his cane to stand and looked towards the Darkness he felt. "It is over, our search is finally over. Come boy, we must not delay."


[member="T'zanith Zebron"] [member="Braith"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Shaddi]

T'zanith held in a scoff at [member="Lord Sabastian"] when he told him to get ready, he had already gotten ready as they entered the ship but instead he simply bowed and took a few steps back and then followed Sabastian out of the ship itself. His eyes moved around the area, it was unatural to him. Most worlds pulsed and seethed with life but this one seemed to hold only adequate amounts of flora and fauna to say the world was alive, but not thriving. It felt severely off.

As his Master sat down to meditate, T'zanith saw that as his focus moved away from his body, his master was quite vulnerable in such a state. A lesser minded acolyte might take the chance to end his master and assume the title for himself but T'zanith wasn't like that. If he would be forced to discard his master he'd make sure the man had nothing further to teach him, or at least have another ready to teach him if the worst case arouse. However T'zanith saw a small trail in the force leading away from Sabastians head and outwards into the jungle of the planet. 'What is he looking for?' He thought as he decided to try and go into the stream a little but he instinctively recoiled as Sabastian found the entity.

T'zantih took a few steps back and held one hand over the left side of his face. 'What in the nine hells was that?!' He thought as his expression was one of fear, worry and distrust to whatever his master had seen. He composed himself a little as he saw his master was getting up and looked towards him. "Are you all right master?" He asked but he felt that whatever he saw he seemed a little like a man obsessed in his eyes.

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"] [member="Braith"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus paused for a moment and reflected. What she was doing was — without a doubt — a bad idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-Ox1ue0n5w

The…creature she was looking for may not be a deity, but her powers were reputedly god-like. And here she was, a mere Jedi, looking to do what? Gain revenge for Silara? Understand what she meant to this goddess?

As she made her way towards the locations she figured were most likely to house the woman’s resting place, she sensed others. Jedi? Sith? Fools more like. If they thought they could face her or worse, steal from her, they were sadly misguided.

So what was Corvus doing here?

She was here because…? She stood and wondered. Why was she here? She’d tried to discount revenge. Was she here for justice? No, that didn’t fit at all. She was here for two reasons she decided — at least ones she would admit to.

Firstly she was here because she had to. It was as simple as that. She was compelled to be here for her own sanity, her ability to access and control her emotions going forward depended on it, and for Silara. She owed it to her.

And she was here for [member="Braith"] and Corvus. For when she accessed her emotions — which had become something of an addiction to her, the craving worse than the withdrawal of death-sticks — part of her wondered...why Corvus? Of all the people in the galaxy, why did this Braith have a fascination with her? She stopped short of using the ‘L’ word. It was…well, when Corvus fought the anger and rage and bitterness aside…oddly flattering. Which simply compounded the guilt she felt.

So she resumed walking, ignoring false auras that would not doubt have been laid to throw searchers off the scent. Instead, for once, she didn’t necessarily trust in the Force. She relied on facts and her own ability to research. A few false locations did not dampen her spirit and instead, as she closed in on the next option, she mused that ‘X’ rarely marked the spot.

So why were the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end? She shivered involuntarily, as if someone had walked on her grave. The Force? Intuition? The work of a goddess? Corvus didn’t know and didn’t care.

Her brain told her to walk away now. This was a bad idea. A very, very, very bad idea. But her heart wouldn’t listen to her brain.

 

[Darth Vaildra]

When it came to preparing oneself it did not only mean that he needed to get his weapons ready. The one thing his apprentice was not seeing from the former training was he was never training his body, that was merely a consequence of training his mind and he could feel the unease of his Apprentice's mind and from what he felt in that temple he would need to be focused.

There were moments where Sabastian got careless and let his guard down, but this wasn't one of those moments. Meditation in this form opened his mind and sensed everything. Even though he was focusing on finding something he was still open to everything around him and if his apprentice tried something he would end him there. The key to the Rule of Two was knowing you could do it, that you were ready to end your master. Another key factor was the One Sith did not practice the Rule of Two so this was highly looked down on. The best point to kill Sabastian was when he was being lashed with pain by what lived in the temple.

As he headed into the forest he shrugged off his question, being his apprentice's buddy was over, soon he would be on his own and he needed to learn to stand on that and to harden himself. "There is a temple that holds the power I seek, keep your eyes sharp." His cane dug slightly into the ground as they moved through the woods. He was keeping his mind open and searching among the woods, first he wanted to know what surrounded the temple hidden in the woods. He followed the one that held the most fear. As they walked through the voided woods he came upon an alter. A very clean alter, but on it sat a few crystals. What he felt from them.....fear. [member="Braith"]




[member="T'zanith Zebron"]

 

[Shaddi]

T'zanith walked after his master. There was a reason he didn't want to be on the planet, or rather two in fact. For one thing he would rather be back on Coruscant pouring over the books he had obtained on Belgaroth, devouring the knowledge he could find in the sith archives or practicing his forms with in it's training halls. The other reason was simple, he felt his skin crawl with each step he took, this planet might well be his death or if he wanted to be a very hard learning experience at the very least. Walking through the forest however he noticed the very few creatures around them, usually they tried to hide but would be seen through his eyes of the force, but now... nothing in truth they were just extremely scarce.
His robes moved and billowed around him as he looked around, his hand ready on his Lightsaber, he extended his sight and senses around him. Though his master was much more proficient with his senses than T'zanith. He could however sense the being [member="Lord Sabastian"] began to follow deeper into the woods.
Without a word he followed, he would stay quiet and listen, learn as much as he could from Sebastion while he still could. His training might end up killing T'zanith if he didn't step up his learning speed at least. After a while of silent walking T'zanith finally couldn't take it anymore. "Master If I may ask a question? Could you perhaps teach me more in Force sense as well as Precognition? I only ask this of you master as I've seen how useful these abilities and would like to train in them as well." He asked and then explained his reasoning to why he wanted to learn those skills. In his experience it was easiest to just be frank with his master if he wanted to learn something from his master.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] [member="Braith"] [member="Token Waters"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Braith"]

Jaster was beginning to get irritated, his outpost was barely being set up and already a second shuttle of some sort was already landed, it was too far from the temple Jaster was currently sending patrols to, but if that was the Primeval, his troops would be picked off. He would have to radio his men to make sure they were notified, only one of his scouts noticed the craft ( @T'zanith Zebron [member="Lord Sabastian"]) enter the planets atmosphere.

He looked to his radio operator who was struggling to get the long range radio operational, "You better tell me the short band intercom are working?"

The operator stopped what he was doing and looked over to the other radio, after clicking a few buttons handed Jaster the radio mic. Jaster took it and spoke into the radio, "All parols, this is command, please respond?"

[member="Corvus Raaf"]
At this point the Jedi master could hear a group of soldiers responding to the radio call around her, "Command this is Alpha 1-1, we are located near the Cave System where Bravo 3-5 was last located, we haven't heard a responce from them, we might need backup to explore, over."

The troops if she approached them were in a circular camp site, there were a total of 6 Conglomerate Security Officers wearing their Blue and Grey armor. They were just packing up their gear and one of them was taking a leak in the forest, but still close to the group. They didn't even notice the Jedi master and would wait for orders from command.

"Roger that Alpha 1-1, be awaire, two aircrafts have landed in the distance, make sure to identify yourself as Conglomerate Explorers and present needed documents to prevent death, remember, we are a neutral exploration outpost, be safe out there, Echo 2-2 will be moving to reinforce your rescue mission."

[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

As the young Jedi approached the area where he thought he heard a scream, he found what was left of Bravo 3-5, and next to a dead body, an intercom link was on, "Bravo 3-5, please respond, I repeat, Bravo 3-5 respond this is command calling to anyone still alive from Bravo 3-5."