Prakith Ciphers

[Darth Ophidia]

The Eidolon stopped over Freisa, a planet not far from the Galactic Alliance's borders. One that had been entirely cleansed of populace in the days of the One Sith, then repopulated by a new order of Sith-serving loyalists. The mass sacrifice of life had lead to a great alchemical basin the size of a small lake and a temple to Sith Alchemy and Sorcery: The restored Temple of Pain. When the Sith Empire rose, Darth Ophidia had come back here and raided the goods from Fresia, yet the alchemy lake remained as a still bleeding wound in the landscape.

While the large Stealth Destroyer hung over Fresia, a smaller ship slipped out of one of its hangars. It was an old ship, but reliable: A Phasma-class Infiltrator, and like a ghost it shot off into Hyperspace. It was barely out of the hangar before it was gone, headed for the Galactic Alliance occupied world of Prakith, an ancient stronghold of the Sith in the Deep Core.

On board the Phasma was Sith Assassin, Darth Ophidia and one of her latest apprentices, [member="Jane Lilley"], plus one Piloting droid named Darling and a mouse who called herself Betterthanthou. it was a dangerous mission. They would be jumping deep into enemy territory and glide down to the surface under the cover of a stygium cloak, then search the planet for artefacts of the Sith to be salvaged. If all things went smoothly, they would never be noticed. That was a big "if".

As they carved through Hyperspace, the Droid took over the controls. His systems were advanced enough to steer them through any trouble short of the unexpected. Meanwhile the Sith Lord knocked on the door of her apprentices, more so as a warning than a request, because the door opened seconds after. There stood Darth Ophidia, a metal box balanced perfectly on her left palm.

"Apprentice." She gestured for Jane to kneel, then crouched down and set the box on the floor in front of the acolyte. With a quiet gesture she asked the acolyte to open it; inside was a cloak, neatly folded, and an amulet lain on top. "You will need these."

"We are deep in enemy territory. They will not hesitate to kill you." "Do not stand and fight, flee, hide, then strike." "Never let go of your advantages."

There was a hard authority in her voice and unusual clarity in her words. Where the master was often obtuse in meaning, this was all too clear. This was also advice on how to stay alive in enemy territory.

 

[Darth Morrow]

As they passed through space, Jane Lilley had come to occupy herself in the passing time. Sitting in the shared room with "betterthanthou", oh how she hated that name, the girl sat on the floor, emptying a pouch of small odd black stones and spreading them about. While doing this, she would slowly lift one with the simplest form of telekinesis, and trying to crush them with solely her mind. A rather difficult, and odd task.

It was then she heard the knock and shot up to her feet, motioning her hand across the floor and returning all of the rocks to the pouch on her side. As the door open the girl bowed slight before her master.

When she was gestured to, she did kneel as instructed, and opened the small box before her.

"Understood." Jane said the word quietly however with a crisp tone, meanwhile she slowly pulled the cloak and amulet from the box and started setting them on her own person.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Jane Lilley"]

"Prakith used to belong to the One Sith. This is where they began, and where they ended."

As Jane put on the cloak and amulet, Ophidia closed the box and set it aside. It was large enough to contain a number of things. Exactly what it would contain would be Jane's choice in time.

"Long before that, it belonged to the Sith Lord, Darth Andeddu"

She looked up at the upper bunk where Akito slept. More than half of it had been converted to a tiny laboratory where even now liquids were being distilled into tiny, tiny containers for Her Toxic Majesty.

"This world belongs to the Sith, no matter how firmly the Jedi try to hold on to it. They can never vanquish the dark side of the Force." "The more they fight us - the more they hate and fear and curse us - the stronger we become."

She turned halfway in the door, her shoulder facing Jane as she prepared to leave.

"We will be landing in a few minutes. Be ready."

The Sith Lord left, finalising her preparations for the journey ahead. As the Phasma exited hyperspace near the outer moon of Prakith, it cloaked its approach by jamming scanners first. Its proximity to the moon would make her difficult to detect as anything other than an anomaly. She then activated the stygium cloak and drifted down towards the surface. Smooth, quiet, as they had done a thousand times, on a hundred worlds.

The Phasma touched down on the cavernous and unstable surface of Prakith, and the ramp of the ship opened with a hiss. Out strode Darth Ophidia and her apprentice.

 

[Darth Morrow]

Stepping out behind her master, Jane Lilley kept a hand to her side, resting above the arsenal of weaponry strapped to her belt. Two sabers, her knives, and a small bag of pointed stones. Wearing her light traveling gear, along with the robe she was given and the amulet, Jane strolled calmly and confidently towards their destination.

"Now if I'm not mistaken, his tomb still resides here yes? Sith Lord Darth Andeddu that is. Though it has already been looted likely a hundred times over. Are we searching there for something they may have missed, or is there another object you had in mind?"

The girl questioned respectfully, curiously prodding Ophidia's mind while showing off a slight bit of knowledge. She wasn't entirely clueless, "Perhaps something else left behind during a later event?"

"I'm sure there must be something left behind from the sympathizers to the empire however I'm not sure how comfortable, or rather, risk worthy making a trek like that would be, as we are somewhat vulnerable here." Ophidia may have been surprised, considering this was the most the girl had ever spoken since they met.

Jane had been making a conscious effort to try and speak more with this new master of hers, whether it was well received or not, only time could tell if she was making the right decision.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Jane Lilley"]

Oh yes, the grave of Andeddu had been plundered and revisited, and used for many a purpose. His legend had made it infamous and in turn stripped it of its importance to the true path of the dark. None of Andeddu's treasures were now on Prakith.

"It does, and it has."

-And his greatest treasure was in her possession: The Holocron of Heresies.

"Andeddu's tomb is not our destination. There is nothing there worth taking"

As she spoke, and as the pair neared the end of a cliff-face overlooking a great, red canyon, lit with scarlet and ember from the setting sun. Darth Ophidia produced a small datapad from one of her pockets and held it out. With a click on its side, she produced a hologram. It was only a fragment, partial and seemingly in poor condition. However, it detailed the sealing and evacuation of a structure.

"The Citadel Inquisitorius." "Darth Sidious' Inquisitors stored artefacts of the Force here. Things found in the vaults of the Jedi"

A wicked smile spread over her purple lips, showing pearly lips in her blue gums.

"When the One Sith retreated from Prakith, we sealed it away as a capsule for the future."

She crouched down a little and held the hologram out in front of Jane and her. Suddenly, with the light of the setting sun and the contours of the landscape, the map made perfect sense. The distortions became clear and crisp, details never before seen suddenly jumped into the light. This map was not old or broken at all, just coded. It showed a path clinging to the shadow-cast side of the mountain, only truly visible thanks to the map. The path twisted and turned and coiled under itself, deeper and deeper into the canyon.

"For this future."

 

[Darth Morrow]

The girl observed the map for a short moment, looking to Ophidia for another before looking back.

"And we plan to take everything?" She inquired curiously, with a slight bit of deviousness.

The thoughts ran through her head of every possible object in that vault, from small sabers to irreplaceable holocrons, and that was likely just a bit of the stored treasure.

As Ophidia began to move, Jane followed behind with her, slowly creeping up the path with a hand constantly to her side.

Tap-Tap-Tap
Tap-Tap-Tap
Tap-Tap-Tap

Her fingers silently beated against the at her side. A subconscious action, now in patterns of three.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Jane Lilley"]

Tap-tap-tap tap-tap-tap tap-tap-tap

She might have reprimanded another for making sounds in such a setting. It could very well be what the Alliance caught on one of their scanners. But they were not yet near anything worth scanning, and Jane was beginning to make a pattern of this behaviour. This made Ophidia slightly curious. Could she infer something from the rhythm of Jane's fingers? Possibly, but she would need more data.

"We plan to take what we can, and what is useful to us. There may be items we must leave behind."

She did not like that, but it was an unfortunate truth. They could only carry so much, and some items were more valuable than others. If they were able to get a cargo shuttle down to the Citadel, then perhaps they would have been able to salvage it completely. This was why she had brought explosives. If they could not take it all, then they would bury it deep under the rubble.

The two of them climbed down into the shadow-side of the canyon and followed a hidden path along the rockside. It was precarious climbing, with the ground slick under their feet from the morning dew. Every now and then, there was a small symbol carved into a rock, hidden away. Every now and then, Ophidia held up the map to plot out their journey ahead.

They came to a place where there had been a rock-slide. It had not simply blocked the path, but torn it in two. Ophidia's face curled in displeasure as she stared at the chasm.

"Can you jump it?"

It was quite far. Several times the length of either Jane or Ophidia. The ledge on the opposite side looked to be crumbling and the wall was smooth and vertical.

 

[Darth Morrow]

Jane took a moment to observe the scene, the crumbling rubble to the side forming a wall, though using that would likely cause another slide. The path couldn't have been more then a few meters, though still more than the normal being could jump.

"Saying I couldn't would be an insult." The words came out in a quiet and almost monotone confidence.

Taking a few steps back, the girl pressed a palm to her chest, took a deep breathe, and the same determination Ophidia saw the day they met was in her glowing amber eyes. As she began running, Jane ripped a dagger from her side, leaping far into the air with a decent speed she came just a few inches short of a perfect landing, digging her dagger deep into the wall on the other side to catch herself.

Looking back, the glow faded slightly from her eye, and she took one last deep breathe before returning to normal. Smoothly she spun the dagger and clicked it back to her belt.

As she did so there was a moment of pause as she tilted her head slightly, hand still on the belt, within half a second she launched her dagger towards the ledge above, nailing itself into a small hovering droid of sorts. Leaping up she snatched it out of the air as it fell, grabbing it by the dagger.

"And so the games begin." A small twisted smile crept onto the girls lips.

Tap-Tap-RIP

She dragged her dagger through its center in one swift motion.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Jane Lilley"]

Jane's confidence could bring one out of two things: She could succeed and grow even more confident, or she could fail and die. Darth Ophidia did not allow banter without results. And as Jane jumped, Ophidia watched carefully. A smile grew on her lip as it looked as though Jane would not make it, but grew into a smirk when the dagger dug into the other side and she pulled herself up.

Impressed? Not yet, but mildly amused. Her face settled back into its usual neutrality while Jane climbed up.

Ophidia took a step back from the ledge, readying herself for her own crossing, when Jane threw the knife at the drone and pulled it down. She quickly scanned their surroundings. If there was one droid, then there would be more. Had they already infiltrated the Citadel? Curses. They would have to hurry.

Rather than jump, Ophida gave herself a few steps of running start before stepping on the sheer, vertical cliffside. Her feet barely made a sound as she ran across the vertical surface as though it was perfectly horisontal. Only specks of dust followed her footsteps, despite the precarious leftovers from the previous rock-slide. The Pale touched down on the other side and passed by Jane so quickly it looked almost as through she had passed through her.

"We must hurry."

The path curved around itself under the shadow of a peak in the distance. There, one could almost make out the artificial construction against the rock-sides. With the map, one could see its complete silhouette. Their path lead to its very base, where there would be a secret entrance meant to provide Sith with a means of escape should the citadel be under seige.

 

[Darth Morrow]

As Ophidia sped past, bringing a slight wind with her, the girl launched into pace behind her. If something made her worry and want to run this fast, it was worth taking seriously.

With the path curving and turning in every different direction there was a moment or two where Jane nearly slipped, however she kept up just barely. In the back of her mind she held to a small bit of distraction, what got her to this point, what decisions made this her reality, and more importantly, why were all of these things just sitting here, tucked away having been untouched for years.

Snapping back to reality she managed to see the entrance coming up ahead, a low tunnel in which scrap had tumbled around, it was a downward slope in, so the only option was a good slide.

Slamming herself down to follow the momentum, she grabbed a light saber off her side, preparing for a possible fight once they landed, who knew what could be present.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Jane Lilley"]

They slipped down into the deep, dark tunnels under the Citadel.

Their passage down twisted and turned so the light could not quite follow. Ahead of them, everything was plunged in darkness. The walls were rough hewn but soon transitioned into a narrow passage of square walls and a vaulted ceiling. Every few feet, at an even pace, there were supports strengthening the structure. It was cold inside, colder than even a cellar should be.

The passage seemed straight, though in reality it was winding side to side, and slightly down. Time passed just enough for one to consider lowering one's guard, and then there was a sensation in the air.

Behind Jane, Darth Ophidia smiled a wry smile. A growl rocked through the still air, something moved ahead. Something large and vicious with claws and teeth, venom. Darth Ophidia whispered into Jane's mind a single word:

"Terentatek"

And then the Pale Assassin's presence melted away even to the apprentice. She slipped into the shadows, and from the shadows watched what would happen as this beast sniffed its way towards Jane. Terentatek eat Force Users, and besides their great strength and ferocity, their venom was quite potent.

 

[Darth Morrow]

Jane listened as the beast approached, a single word popping into her own mind. Calm.

Taking a deep breath she focused on the short period of time she had attempted to learn beast control, pressing her hands to her chest she calmed her breathing, and her eyes turned a bright yet dark lit amber. Staring towards the creature approaching from the darkness, she began speaking words of the Sith language. If she was screwed, she might as well try something besides fighting, if she had to fight, shed be dead.

The hardness began to form in her mind as she stared down the Terentatek, a commanding anger to almost be feared, and might possibly at least make Ophidia notice some potential.

"I feel your anger, and it is my own. Follow me, and I will give you more than the blood of two force users."

Her eyes darkened more as she stepped forward, a hand extended as she said the next command, attempting with all of her power to take control. "Stand down."

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Jane Lilley"]

When Darth Ophidia had been a knight under another name - a name she had chosen for herself; a seed that, when planted in the fertile soil of the One Sith, grew into what she had become - she had been forced to face a nest of Terentateks on Korriban and slay its monstrous matron. The blood and venom, as well as the skin of her left arm, had gone into the creation of her first sithspawn: The Nagajj. That moment, that lesson, was defining to Saiah, to create Ophidia.

This was another scene, another soil, another seed entirely.

Jane was walking another path, wrestling another challenge. She faced the same kind of monster, or an off-breed of it. Some of these beasts had a resistance to the Force, some greater, some lesser. How that would affect Jane's attempt was entirely up to the Force - Well, the Force and Jane's willingness to seize power by her own hands. She had to be strong, fierce, tenacious. That was the nature of the dark side of the Force.

Ophidia moved to the side in the shadows, holding one of the lightsabre hilts in her hand. She raised it high and focused on the beast's neck. One sweep, that was all she needed really. If she wanted to. It was insurance. Or she could let the girl die - Unless she succeeded of course.

 

[Darth Morrow]

The beast stared down the girl as she stood with unwavering focus and calm. Her words wrapped around the creature as if coiling chains to hold it in place.

Continuing its approach the command she conveyed came as almost a deafening yell, yet somehow only heard to them in the area, in the back of their minds. STAND, DOWN! As these words were said, the beast slammed against the ground violently, a sudden surge of anger racing through Jane when her first attempt hadn't worked.

With a scream of pain, perhaps frustration? The creature remained still.

Slowly letting go of her hold, it rose slightly, remaining still now in the space before her, Jane's hand reached forward and placed itself on the chest of the Terentatek, her eyes glowing brightly, illuminating a bit of the darkness.

"You will obey."

As she said this, it would bow its head down slightly.

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Jane Lilley"]

There it was; she had been using the Force, but using merely the Force was not the same as using its' dark side. The first step was passion - Anger, hate, even fear was an ally to the Sith - stoking one's internal flame to a raging inferno and then exercising one's will upon reality: That was the true nature of the Force. All who shunned it shunned their own completion.

Now, just before her, she saw her disciple reach into those reserves of passion.

And the beast obeyed

Darth Ophidia lowered her weapon as a smile spread over her lips.

The shadows fell from her body as though she had dropped a shroud from her shoulders, revealing her presence at the beast's flank. She concealed the sabre-hilt in her hand as she allowed her hands to fold behind her back

"Very good." "Do not lose focus, or it will tear you to shreds."

She looked deeper into the caves, it was not much further. Her shoulders turned to the path ahead as she threw a final glance at Jane, gesturing for her to follow.

The cavernous path widened before it split into two paths and forked off to the sides. The Sith Lord stepped up right between them and set her stride up a flight of stairs hidden in the side of the split. As she stepped up the hidden path, the ceiling shifted, moving away from her and unravelling new steps that wound in a tight spiral upwards. A red light flooded in from above.