Private Risings on Kinooine

[Kaden Tarnem]

It was a simple enough mission, one suitable for a new Acolyte such as Kaden. Investigate and put a stop to the resistance on Kinooine. Resistance to Sith ruling was natural, and almost expected, on planets along the edge of Sith territory, but unacceptable. The Sith Lord assigning Kaden the mission was generous enough to provide him a means of transportation, and so Kaden departed.

As excited as he was for a mission, nerves brewed in the Acolytes stomach. He was struggling to think of an approach to this mission that didn't force his hand. Kinooine was a relatively barren planet, and the coordinates he had been provided suggested that the uprisings base of operations would be underground. How could he sneak into an underground base? He hadn't the skill in the force quite yet, and he was very obviously not a local, so he didn't think infiltration was likely. He'd have to take the uprising by force, and force alone.

The ship landed a short distance away from the coordinates, providing Kaden with enough distance to observe for some time, rather than making any instant moves. He lifted binocolours to his eyes, and watched. And watched. He watched for a whole day, taking few breaks, but providing himself time to establish somewhat of a plan. As he had expected, the base was underground, built into a natural cave, with basic fortifications around the caves mouth. This entrance was guarded by only four men, who alternated in pairs every six hours. From what he could tell, it would always just be four guards in a day, and often there would be a short window where all four guards would be present at the gates as they swapped positions. That was when he would strike. Otherwise, the only traffic in and out of the base was the occasional returning group, presumably fresh recruits, and individuals leaving, presumably scouting for recruits.

Eventually, when the next guard pass over occurred, Kaden made his move. He was quick as he charged the four guards, moving with an urgency that was entirely uncharacteristic of him, muttering angrily the whole time he charged over. As much as he hated it, he had to capitalise on this one moment, otherwise he would be left waiting for another six hours. All four were dispatched quickly enough, Kaden showing no real form or technique in his fighting, purely following his instincts. He lifted one of the nagai guards up to a scanner, using their face to open the gates, and allow himself access into the caves. Despite his rather unrefined methods to getting access, he had many more options now that he was inside, and he could attempt a more stealthy method. After all, the leader was really the only true target. An uprising without a leader would fall apart very quickly.

Darth Strosius ​

 

[Darth Strosius]

The duty of the Inquisition was truly never done. Every time that Darth Strosius thought he could his attention and his forces to more personal matters, a new request for assistance came across his desk. He had long since banished any faith that planetary governors were actually able to handle their own affairs. This time the call for aid had come from Kinooine, with reports of the local resistance against Sith rule starting to prove themselves to be a noteworthy threat to the world. And to trade with other systems as well, which was the main reason that the Inquisition's help was requested.

But there were other duties that had to go in tandem with rooting out the rebels amongst the citizenry, and that was training future Sith for such a task.

"An Acolyte? As in only one?" The masked man cocked his head to the side as he regarded the footage with a mixture of interest and frustration. Both himself and the handful of forces that he could spare for this assignment sat just above the underground base, in low orbit and monitoring the Acolyte and his mission via the shuttle's surveillance system. A droid would also be dispatched to follow him into the base, hopefully to find some easily accessible cameras so that the Acolyte wouldn't have a droid following him the whole time.

:"One Acolyte was deemed enough to handle a bunch of rabble.": The grating voice of the Overseer idly made the masked man's hand clench into a fist. Despite not even being amongst the young Sith that were under the Overseer's jurisdiction, he despised the other Sith. A craven wretch whose only purpose was to infuriate and torment Acolytes until they proved themselves worthy enough to gain a master.

A strategy that, while admittedly somewhat effective, was nonetheless just as tormenting for the Sith that had to deal with the Overseer. :"With the coming conflicts the new generation of Sith must be capable and deadly. Allowing them to rely on one another would only incite weakness.": Darth Strosius rolled his eyes and shifted in his seat, drumming his fingers on the console as he watched the Acolyte's progress from the droid's view. Despite some clear sloppiness and untrained movements, Kaden was nonetheless able to fell four Nagai rather quickly and quietly. Picking off patrols wasn't the worst strategy but it was boring to observe, thankfully the Acolyte was clever enough to use one of the fallen guards to get access into the base.

"I simply worry about wasting potential by throwing Acolytes at a wall and hoping that they get back up afterwards. Now if you'll excuse me." He clicked off the call with the Overseer before the other Sith could utter anything else in that awful voice, relieved to have some blissful silence for a few moments before his attention returned back to the feed. The Acolyte may have managed to get into the base but it wouldn't be long before his slaying of the guards was discovered and the patrols became a lot more purposeful. For now it seemed as though he found himself in some sort of storage area, probably up front so that any possible movements of supplies or vehicles was quick. "Work quickly young one, you don't have all day..."

Kaden Tarnem

 

[Kaden Tarnem]

"Fancy that." He murmured to himself, glancing around at the storage area. He likely had a few moments still before anyone even raised a brow at the lack of returning patrol, and in that moment, he could cause quite a few issues. So very easily too. Damaging the few speeders that sat prepared in the storage room would likely ruin any chance of a pursuit, should he fail at his more stealth plans, and so he once again reignited his light saber and set about his tinkering. He'd make small slashes through repulsor lifts, slice off break, and make a number of small damages that wouldn't be noticed until there was an attempt at moving. Then they'd immediately notice how messed up they'd became.

Once satisfied, he left the storage room, following one of the hall ways, presumably deeper into the base. He walked fairly slowly, keenly listening out for any footsteps, or activity, which seemed to still evade him. That was until, seemingly, all hell broke loose. Alarms were sounded all around him, and lights along the hallways flared to full brightness, ruining any chance of him hiding in the shadows. He'd wasted too much time with his meddling, allowing the bodies to be noticed by a returning patrol before he could truly accomplish anything.

"Damn."

Was all that was said by the Acolyte, before he was forced to make his move. He heard the thundering of foot steps, getting louder and louder as they approached, and he had no possible reference for this groups numbers. It could be six, it could be sixty. Who would know? Well, him, in a few seconds, but he had to make his play before he would even know. That play? To run through them. As soon as the group of six rounded the corner, Kaden cut through the middle two. Whilst sure, the surrounding opponents swung back on him, landing hits with pipes, or slashing open holes in his coat, he was through and continuing his charge, deeper, and deeper into the cave. The saving grace to these rebellions is that they were so wildly under geared, most the heavy weaponry being in the hands of the deceased gate guards, or the patrol groups out and about, that as long as he moved fast, and he was fast, he was under very little threat beyond some nasty bruises the next day, and potentially a couple of cuts along his sides and shoulders. He'd run through any small dispatch put infant of him, potentially avoiding them entirely, or having to cut through the middle man to get through, often taking a few whacks and slashes as he did so, saved mainly by his thick clothing, and his momentum making it hard for any blow to connect solidly.

Eventually, as he continued his sprint, he rounded out into a larger room, with a few men huddled over a table, all of them looking rather disgruntled as Kadens appearance, which outwardly appeared to still be rather composed. However, beneath his mask, his breathes were notably more laboured, and it was taking his best effort to not react to the pain all over his body

"Which one of you is in charge?" He demanded, pointing his light saber at each of them. "Tell me, right now."

Darth Strosius ​

 

[Darth Strosius]

Darth Strosius found himself sitting forward in his seat as he watched the feed of the Acolyte sabotaging some of the speeders, the little droid quietly following as it scanned for an access port. Not only would having access to cameras make his observation easier but it would also potentially grant access to even more sensitive systems like the defensive and security networks. Just in case there were any turrets or traps that would get in the way of the Acolyte completing his mission.

The sabotage could prove to be a vital tactical decision if the resistance fighters attempted to escape, or pursue the Acolyte after his own escape, in order to ensure that none of them could get very far. The exact nature of the sabotages was also something to be appreciated, subtle wounds that would cause dire malfunctions without being spotted at first or even second glance. Far more admirable than simply carving off engines or steering controls if nothing else.

While the Acolyte finished up his work and began moving on, the droid finally detected a nearby access terminal. More than likely one mainly used for logistics and inventory management, but it would work for his purposes all the same. The droid plugged itself into the terminal and soon enough managed to gain access to a few systems but most notably the camera network. Right as the feed flickered to the hallway that the Acolyte was traversing in his search though, alarms rang out. It was difficult to tell if they were the result of the Acolyte's earlier elimination of the patrol or if his own tampering had been noticed but regardless the resistance was on alert now. "Well...damn."

Thankfully the Acolyte was quick to realize that his cover had been blown and toss aside any further attempts at stealth and subterfuge, instead making a mad dash through the incoming resistance fighters with his lightsaber in hand. He kept up his rush deeper into the rebel base without much heed paid to the fighters that attempted to stop him. To go from a silent and subtle killer to a seemingly unstoppable spearhead was an impressive and unexpected shift in behavior.

Despite all the odds he even made it to what was assumedly a hurried, or potentially interrupted, meeting of what seemed to be the resistance's higher command. With the survivors of his charge soon to be upon him however, no doubt eager to fell the Sith that had slain their comrades and was currently holding his lightsaber at the throats of their leadership. Hopefully the Acolyte's boldness would see him through, it'd be such a shame to lose an asset like him.

While the initial shock of the Acolyte's arrival kept most of the men glancing amongst themselves, with one even raising his hands as the lightsaber was pointed at him, the most grizzled and aged among them sneered in disgust. "Sith trash!" The man pulled a blaster pistol from his waist and raised it to fire at the Acolyte, his fellow resistance leaders ducking for cover or throwing themselves aside in order to avoid the coming conflict. Some of them also began reaching for their weapons, slung around their backs or tucked away on their hips.

Kaden Tarnem

 

[Kaden Tarnem]

The shift in approach increasingly unsettled Kaden, the longer he stood without acting. It was almost scary to know that he only had potentially a matter of moments to decide his course of action, before his pursuers could catch back up with him. He idly turned the light saber over in his hand, his eyes scanning around the room, as he waited for one of them to finally speak up, announcing them selves as the leader.

When the grizzled veteran eventually opened his mouth, declaring Kaden to be Sith trash, the Acolyte made his move. Make shift melee weapons, he could handle those, but blasters? Blasters were fast, fast enough to hurt him, and that worried Kaden greatly. Especially if he gave the other resistance members a moment to compose themself, and take shots at him, from any kind of make shift cover they could make for themselves, be that turn over tables, or whatever.

So, Kaden made his move. Quickly darting forwards towards the leader, his saber held, prepared to deflect any oncoming shots from from the resistances leader. A combination of quick action, catching the leader off guard, and dumb luck were Kadens saving grace, as most of the blaster shots were not particularly accurate, many flying towards the lower portion of Kadens stomach, or his shoulders, which were easy enough for the Acolyte to flick his saber around to deflect them, or duck down beneath. Despite seeming like an efficiently trained killer to many of the resistance members eyes, anyone who had seen a true Sith in action, would recognise the panic in Kadens moves, the nervousness in his shoulders, and the.. Generally novice approach he had in his charge.

"STAND DOWN.' The Acolytes voice boomed, echoing around the hallway, as he buried his saber deep into the stomach of the Resistance leader. It was plainly, an intimidation approach, praying that the defeat of the leader would stun the resistance into not opening fire onto the relatively defenceless acolyte.

Darth Strosius

OOC Note - Sorry about the long reply time, I got busy with a couple of deadlines/exams and forgot to let people know. ​