Public Secrets of the Sith (Sith Artifact Auction)

[Alastor Baxa]

Quiet Night, Quiet Life
Silent Night, Silent Life
​

He had arrived late, it was hard to make an excuse for it. Dropping one of the nearby individuals from around the console, he breathed in and sighed loudly. The Rattataki brushed the back of his head, grabbing the cloth behind it and pulled it over his bald head. It had been indeed, a strange few days. So much found out...so much forgotten, so much deemed unnecessary life. Walking down the barren halls, he carefully watched his step over the carnage of the previous few days.

A start comes from somewhere, as does how life can simply end. The starship was docking soon, an ancient beast of over a hundred years of age. The transponder seems currently busted for anyone attempting to scan it, aside from the visual image of the name on the side: Overload. Whatever ship design this was, it was much older than most current militaries were fielding. The starships docking tube extended and finally made a large SNAPPING noise, connecting to the black market starship.

Moving through the tube, he gathered from inside his robe the various credit chits he had acquired throughout the vessel. Sliding them back and forth, he started to consolidate the amount of credits he had..."acquired" in this recent endeavor. It was totaling up rather nicely, given the size of the vessels crew he had to...convince to let go of their hard earned wares. Exiting out of the tube, he walked into a rather lavish looking interior, having barely known about the black market except in rumors for over a few weeks.

The Rattataki wanted to attend...the Rattataki, was not going to be denied. Hence why the starships invitation inviter met an unfortunate, untimely end. Taking the place was simple, taking the place was easy. The main issue was...taking the new role. The name was nice even, the last part was mysterious...though he arrived near the front and introduced himself, having the hood up as a smooth voice rolled through, pulling on the gloves that was on his hands.

"Alastor...Alastor Baxa if you please. I have run quite late and still wish to attend."

Being handed a tablet, he was instructed on how to use it as the Rattataki checked the credit stick and nodded, giving a small thumbs up that seemed out of character for a person like him. Breathing in a bit deeply, he took in the Force around him, feeling the objects that could only be described as intoxicating. This...this was the place to help recollect what he may not have no longer. Moving through the few rows of chairs, he kept his head down briefly before settling on a chair near the middle and observing the sword before them. Made for a Sith, Writings and...worthless, this was not something he currently needed.

The Rattataki would wait till the next time would come up, remaining rather silent but observant of current items coming up.
Darth Kentarch Alina Tremiru Ashin Cardé Varanin Maldor Mecetti

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

There was a pause in the bidding as droids came forward to inspect the offered item. Their robotic eyes gleamed briefly as they considered the ring. Then, without a word being spoken, the auctioneer made an announcement.

"The ring has been granted a value of one-hundred-and-fifty thousand credits for the purposes of this auction. It may be worth more, but without the time to conduct proper research, this is the most value the auction house is prepared to assign. The top bid now belongs to bidder 031, at six-hundred-twenty-thousand credits."

Maldor's eyes went wide.

He'd expected fierce interest in the sword, but not so fierce as this. One could buy capital ships at these prices.

He himself could afford to bid, but at this rate the bidding might quickly get away from him and leave his reserves thin.

He debated, and then looked to bidder 072, the mysterious masked figure whose hand suggested the feminine.

"I'll buy the ring from you for a quarter-million if it will help you to stay in the game," he offered.

Such a ring, combined with an intriguing new acquaintance, might be worth more than just the sword.


Established bidders
Ashin 072
Alina 043
Kentarch 031

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Seven hundred thousand, then."

Maldor Mecetti | Ashin Cardé Varanin | Darth Kentarch

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

The simplest course of action seemed to accept Maldor Mecetti 's offer without stooping to a request for assurances or anything of that sort. Ashin nodded and reached over to hand the undisguised Senator the Ring of Cold Rites. She engaged her bidding device yet again.

"Seventy-Two bids seven hundred ten thousand credits," she said. Not that it would stand for long. She'd never been one for prophecy but she had the distinct feeling that neither of the interested bidders - both unknown to her - planned to give up easily on this. Both were beings who could afford to allocate six-figure sums to what was fundamentally a curio. But a unique one.

Darth Kentarch Alina Tremiru
Alastor Baxa

 

[Darth Kentarch]

​

The Midnight Treasure
In Orbit over planet THX-1138

Maldor Mecetti | Ashin Cardé Varanin | Alina Tremiru

His bid seemed to stir the pot. The masked individual and a man seemed to be making a side deal. The bids kept coming. Kentarch made another silent bid using his device for seven hundred fifty thousand credits.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

There was a statement to be made here. More than just buying the artifact. Alina once more put in another bid.

"Eight hundred thousand."

 

[Alastor Baxa]

Leaning forward, he listened in to the bids being placed in as it became more and more...chaotic it seemed. The people seem to be bidding in crazed amounts for a sword inscribed in the Sith Language. It made his eyes narrow as he placed the datapad on his lap and interlocked his fingers together.

This was...ridiculous.
Alina Tremiru Darth Kentarch Ashin Cardé Varanin Maldor Mecetti

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

@Maldor Malcetti Darth Kentarch

There was a statement to be made here.

And the statement was a sense of proportion is for followers.

"One million credits."

The price of a military-grade corvette, but one couldn't give a military-grade corvette a place of honor in a library or a weapons rack and then bequeath said library and said weapons rack to one's progeny. Not without seriously frustrating one's in-house architect.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina narrowed her eyes, just a little. This was pushing the limits of the free spending money she had.

One last bid. If it didn't work, she'd find her own way to reclaim her family's blade.

"One point two million."

Ashin Cardé Varanin | Maldor Mecetti | Darth Kentarch | Alastor Baxa

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

Droids did not usually overflow with emotion, but the auctioneer droid was clearly beside himself with excitement at the current state of bidding.

"The high bid currently stands at one-point-two million! Will we see One-Point-Five?"

Maldor meanwhile sent a private message to the masked figure he'd just purchased the ring from, who was in the process of bidding a titanic sum on the sword. Such a messaging apparatus was a private text to a given bidding number, to be retrieved and read at leisure.

"We should talk when this auction is over, so you can describe your preferred form of payment."

And so I can find out how useful it will be to know you, he added mentally.

This auction might be as valuable for the contacts he made here, as for the items being auctioned off. He was a politician, after all, never mind a student of dark and forbidden arts. Contacts were worth their weight in gold.

 

[Darth Kentarch]

​

The Midnight Treasure
In Orbit over planet THX-1138

Maldor Mecetti | Ashin Cardé Varanin | Alina Tremiru

The bidding had become a frenzy but Kentarch kept his cool. When the droid auctioneer asked for One-Point-Five million. Kentarch silently made a one-point-five million credit bid for the sword.

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

One point five million would have bought a very nice corvette and was well within range of what Ashin had seen paid for holocrons, spellbooks - the more serious kind at least. Out there in the display area she'd scrutinized the inscriptions on the one visible side of the blade. For many years now, short-term memory enhancement had been a trademark skill of hers; more than once she'd leafed through her enemies' prized books only to duplicate a few pages of them later. In this situation she could do that for only half the sword, and the blade itself was likely to be necessary for some of the Sith magic or related arts involved. There was no shortcut to owning that sword's secrets.

As a further wrinkle, what she'd read while the sword was on display was leading her her to grudgingly admit that those secrets were, in whole or in part, lineage-specific. Blood was the usual thing in such cases: inheritance, sacrifice, or both. Which meant that even if she won, she might not be fully able to unlock what there was to unlock, not without extreme measures or significant innovation.

A challenge, then. After ninety-something years of life, having kicked the asses of those who'd kicked the asses of those who ruled the universe, a decent challenge was certainly worth the price of a corvette.

She glanced down-

Such a messaging apparatus was a private text to a given bidding number, to be retrieved and read at leisure.

"We should talk when this auction is over, so you can describe your preferred form of payment."

She tsk-ed under her mask and tucked her datapad away. One thing at a time. The estimable Senator could wait.

"One point six million."

Maldor Mecetti Darth Kentarch Alina Tremiru Alastor Baxa

 

[Chessashai Umianai]

Spoiler

♧ Inventory: - Lots of credits... - Lipstick - Mini holoprojector - Gigglespice ♧
♧ Interactions: OPEN ♧
​

The singer hadn't quite expected to be invited to the Midnight Treasure, at least, not so soon. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant surprise for her and somewhat well timed since she hadn't spent all of her fortune away just yet... After moving to Nar Shadda she began to be much more protective and careful of her credits, obviously spice would be easier and sometimes cheaper to get on that shady moon. Besides spice, Chessa had quite a few hobbies such as betting but it wasn't to the extreme at all. One of her more honorable hobbies was collecting vibroblades and anything of the sort, as long as they were pretty and as long or shorter than her forearm she would want it for her collection. Chessas favorites were those that had some sort of rich and dramatic history attached to it, recently she had bought a vibroblade that was allegedly from the beginning of the Gulag Virus times in which a supposed powerful Sith lord created for his dying wife for she had a taste for blades just like Chessa did. The singer was quite wary of the purchase, the seller hesitated to give names and another buyer- a Sith- was present and became extremely distressed holding the blade. Due to the mysterious interaction and the fact she was on gigglespice Chessa went ahead and purchased it.

Now, she decided to bring the small vibroblade with her to the Midnight Treasure in hopes that she could meet a proper expert. The singer made her way to the grand auction room, curious of the treasures that would be displayed for all to see. Chessa felt somewhat put off by the strong presence of Siths in the room and the event in general. Obviously, there would be plenty of them since most of the items were Sith related but it wasn't like she ever got involved with Force users. The Light or the Dark, either was important to her.

Despite the elegant strides and charismatic expression, Chessa felt small being a singer amogst these Siths, political figures, the truly powerful. She kept quiet and watched the auction go on.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

In for a penny, they say. Alina sighed heavily. She doubted this auction in particular would end, not without something to stop it.

"Two million."

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

"Two million credits!"

The auctioneer droid seemed beside himself with joy- and now Maldor was not entirely sure that the emotion was a mere simulation. Could droids truly be happy? Was there some merit to the ludicrous recent laws that gave droids rights?

No... that was foolishness. That was just getting caught up in the well-programmed illusion of life.

Then the room shuddered.

It was not a room that should have ever shuddered.

The ship was huge, and well-built, and luxuriant. It was also far away from everything. No danger could touch it. No obstacle could stop it.

And yet... it shuddered.

And again.

"Sold, for two million credits to 043! Congratulations! This auction is closed!"

Wait... what? Closed? Maldor blinked at this sudden change of behavior. A glitch?

The room shuddered again.

"The sword will be loaded upon your ship at once. All participants are invited to depart at their earliest convenience!"

Maldor glanced back and forth across the chamber. What in the vastness of space was going on?

Then a klaxon sounded. An alarm.

Another shudder.

This ship was either experiencing a terrible engineering malfunction, or...

It was under attack!

 

[Zago Kint]

​

The 'Hornet' had no sooner jumped into the system than it began to disgorge a massive quantity of droid fighter craft. Its turbolasers and ion cannons opened up as well, streaking between the Hornet and the Midnight Treasure.

Zago Kint had been invited to this affair, just like the other participants. But he had elected to show up- not as a buyer- but as a raider.

The buyers at such auctions were often wealthy, but ill-equipped for fleet combat.

The auction ship itself was formidable, but Zago thought he could overcome it.

Then his droids would board the ship, take its precious artifacts, and steal them away. He'd only get a small fraction of their value at a black market dealer. But even that small fraction would be worth many millions of credits.

If he was fortunate, The Midnight Treasure herself might survive this in good enough condition to be salvaged.

And his reputation in the underworld would explode after this coup. He would become a legend.

Small ships began to depart the Midnight Treasure. Zago did not trouble with those. Perhaps they'd get away with a few of the valuable items. That was fine. The motherlode would be his.

The treasure would be his.

​

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

As the bidding — and the entire auction — closed off early, anger rushed through Ashin's heart like a flood down a well-worn arroyo. The klaxon snapped the situation into focus. She got up from her back-corner seat and stalked to the nearby exit. The Force wrapped around her in her usual way, a hazy distortion of beskar-hard forbiddance. Panicking bidders rebounded off her. She walked through them and the doorway without impediment.

The display area was even more chaotic. She looked around for those dar'manda guards, wondering if they'd be redeploying against an attack. Some of the lots were still on display and some very unwise people were trying to causally snatch this or that, taking advantage of the crisis. Though Ashin had no objection to theft or looting on general principle, in this situation it felt beneath her.

Instead she moved to the nearest window. It offered significant clarity: a view of an unfamiliar model of raider, plus starfighters. Ashin had options at scales like these, if circumstances truly demanded it. So far they didn't.

Alastor Baxa Chessashai Umianai Darth Kentarch Maldor Mecetti Alina Tremiru

 

[Darth Kentarch]

​

The Midnight Treasure
In Orbit over planet THX-1138

Maldor Mecetti | Ashin Cardé Varanin | Alina Tremiru | Chessashai Umianai

As the bidding for the sword reached its zenith, the opulent calm of "The Midnight Treasure" was shattered by an unexpected and uninvited presence. A droid battleship, massive and foreboding, emerged from the void of space, its intentions immediately clear as it positions itself with a menacing poise. The sudden appearance of such a formidable force sends a ripple of alarm through the auction hall. Bidders, once locked in fervent competition, now turn their gazes toward the viewports, their expressions shifting from avarice to apprehension.

"We shall offer them a surrender," Darth Kentarch spoke.
To the others, this may have seemed an act of desperation, but Kentarch knew they could not survive the fight. "We can't beat them unless someone has capital ship nearby, or a better idea."

Kentarch played out the scenarios, his thoughts untouched by doubt or fear. He was aware that by surrendering, they could avoid unnecessary bloodshed and preserve the artifacts, while simultaneously buying time to devise a more advantageous position. The surrender was a strategic feint, a momentary step back to secure a more favorable board to play upon.

 

[Alastor Baxa]

Chaos...that is what happened within a few minutes. A bid war that went completely out of control, millions were put on the line which made his eyes nearly bulge out of his sockets. People went insane for a simple sword....then the droid malfunctioned in hilarious fashion, which made Alastor laugh a bit to loud at the ridiculousness of the situation. Was it inappropriate? Yes, but the whole ordeal was so ridiculousness, it was hard not to laugh over the ending of this. Then the sounds of other Chaos happened, real chaos.

A ship entered system, alarms started to blare, entire groups of people were running off towards their smaller vessels. Raiders, of what type, he could not fully understand at this time. Walking to the viewport for a moment, he heard a voice from one of the dark robes figures. Something about...surrendering?! There was a bit of a stare from the Rattataki as he looked towards the area he came in from, shaking his head as he spoke out in his gritted voice loudly.

"Overload it is! If I can't blow it, I am ramming it!"

Making a rather fast jog, he past by other patrons that were undocking, loud shrieks of starships taking off with Alastor himself, running down a long tube back towards the capital ship he was on to begin with...along with all the bodies he left in its wake once he gotten fully onto it. To most that watched from the viewport, they would see Alastor running into the rather large, massive starship as one of the droids flashed by it in a hurry, revealing its type in white front letters of the Galactic Alliance.

Screamer Fast Assault Battle Cruiser. It was an old relic, over a hundred years old that at times, barely wants to function. It had to many weaknesses to count but it had one distinct advantage over the other ships of almost any era. It can fly...fly faster than most could ever dream of, dance to the tune of nearly any beat as if it was one of a kind. A dangerous flying killing machine but with one distinct problem as of currently.

Alastor was the Only Crew It Had.
​

The weapon systems were neutered at that point, almost nothing to create a sizable attack against even a Corvette, much less a Cruiser! It was a literal even fight but it would have to run on the premise of a surprise. Getting towards the bridge, there was multiple sensor beeps as it screamed out various voice commands, each one he just said yes to without thinking about it.

"Multiple Contacts in Area, Activate Combat Mode?"
"YES!"
"Reduced Lifesigns Detected, Activate Skeleton Crew Mode?"
"YES!"
"Activate the Human Augmented Organic Nanotech?"
"YES! YES TO ANYTHING COMBAT RELATED!"
"Activating...Stand By."

Tags: Darth Kentarch Ashin Cardé Varanin Zago Kint Alina Tremiru Maldor Mecetti

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"No need."

Alina reached out a hand. In a flash the blade disappeared from it's glass container to land squarely in her palm. The timing of the assault couldn't be better in her mind. She smiled, ever so faintly, as she looked over the runes. Let them all flare one by one as she let her influence fall over it. It was reacting as it should. Good. The only other time she'd seen it light up was when her eldest sister practiced with it so long ago.

"Surrender is foolish. In an auction like this, showing your belly means you're never going to be safe from raids again. This is an illegal operation after all." It'd be throwing gallons of blood into the already shark infested waters. There'd never be another auction like this, not without some heavy preparations and cost. Which she had no doubt they'd do, but that would only put her goals at a disadvantage.

"We just take their ship. Some raiders aren't truly a threat to the great Sith Lord, are they?"

Then she jumped. Not literally, but her form suddenly faded in a similar flash as the sword. Outside, well away from the ship and in the void of space. She didn't need atmosphere to survive, after all. A couple quick jumps would bring her close to the other ship, close enough that she could see the man at the helm through the glass. And she smiled. Take the ship, put the Midnight Treasure in her debt.

It truly couldn't have gone better for her.

She landed on the glass, calmly knocking. The force behind each knock of course crackled the glass itself as she let her inhuman strength flow free. Intimidation, and perhaps a bit of showmanship. She did love acting the part where she could until the glass shattered under her fist.

Darth Kentarch | Ashin Cardé Varanin | Zago Kint | Maldor Mecetti | Alastor Baxa