Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Stygium Expeditions

| @[member="Krag"] | @[member="Judas"] |

Vilox Pazela lifted his hands to his head and smoothed them through his grey spiked up hair to the back of his head and then back down the back of his neck and to his side. He had been active in recent months and sleep hadn't come easily to him. Leaning his head to the left, he turned away from the transparisteel screen ahead of him and towards the throne situated center to the observational deck. But he had no intentions of placing himself into it's confines, as he had found himself in only a few moments ago. His attention was on the console device erected next to it on it's left hand side. Stepping in front of the console, he lifted a hand forward and activated the device. A light blue illuminated his chalk white, degraded facial features as the holographic representation of the ship came up in front of him. It was still in the stages of being designed, but it's intentions were to be an exact replica of the Armed Star Courier Scimitar. Thus far, the Sith Infiltrator had been a rumor from centuries past. It was a unique, one of a kind model that was last throughout the years after the fall of Lord Sidious. He had only heard of it through the Sith archives in the Grand Temple on Korriban. They had told him that the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Maul, had utilized the Sith Infiltrator during the time of the Order of Sith Lords. Even then, the archives had not divulged much. Further research would be necessary to create an exact replica of the Scimitar.

He knew that the ship utilized a cloak to bypass star systems unnoticed. It had extensive, top of the range scanning and detection equipment as well. That was what made Vilox Pazela go about on a journey to discover more about this vessel and then recreate it. Indeed, the Obscurity was capable of fielding a cloak around itself to bypass a star system and it's security as well. But as proven recently on Vjun, the Star Destroyer and it's presence could still be detected through a number of ways. It was then that the Lord of the Sith had aspirations to create a smaller, more nimble vessel, that could provide the resources and maneuverability that the Attrition-class Star Destroyer could not.

Thus, the Obscurity was en route to the Aeten system. It's departure from the Dac system had went smoothly. He had personally invited the Dark Father or Judas as he known in this age along with him. Together, they would launch an expedition of sorts into the heart of Aeten II to find a deposit of stygium crystals for the Sith Infiltrator that would be constructed on Mon Calamari. First, they would get the stygium crystals necessary for it's cloak and then they would return to the Dac system to begin construction. It couldn't be more simple.
 

Judas

Lurking SWRP Sites Since 1998
He knelt in silence in the observation deck of the Obscurity. He rested his hands on his knees and wore a long black robe; a hood covering his head.

"You are awake but you are not you. Where is Dark Lord? Where is Darth Iscariot?"
"This is not the time."
"Time? How much more time do you need Lord Escariot? You can not keep me away forever. Release me."
"This is not the time."
"How much time do you have then, Master Judas?"
"Enough."

Silence.

The shi'ido opened his eyelids, sitting pensively. He closed them again and let his voice flow through the Force to wherever Pazela had stood.

"Estimate time of arrival to Aeten II, Master Pazela?"

@[member="Vilox Pazela"]
 

Gilamar Skirata

The most important step is always the next one
Aeten II, known to many among the Mandalorians to be a place of potential victory. With the remnants of the original planet strewn about in a sort of belt around the planet there was still a glimmer of hope that the mining operations would bear fruit worth the expense. Sitting on the bridge of one of the four Ara'novor-class Shokita stations that sat in orbit just outside of the belt. Taking a swig of the ne'tra gal in his flask he looked through the viewports as several crews drilled and mined away at the floating rocks. It felt like no matter how long they were at this desolate place that their labor was going to waste and their credits flushed down the tube. Thirty-three percent of the rare crystal as packaged and shipped off to the Omega Protectorate half a galaxy away, an old agreement made to stop the Sith and the splinter cell known as Death Watch from taking the capital of the then growing Mandalorian Empire. The deal now...well it was unneeded, frivolous, and a bleeding wound to the already suffering Mandalorian Economy and a boon, albeit a small one, to the Omega Protectorate.

Sucking his teeth, Gilamar stood and pulled on his bantha leather coat and walked towards the viewport. The deep expance of space lay out before him...Miners, not all of them Mandalorian, working hard to earn a decent pay. Tempus Ardet bulk freighters and decommissioned, re purposed Guardian-Class frigates towing heavy loads. Krickets and Warthogs buzzed about picking up material and workers and cutting away at rock. It was a busy, busy day...
 
| @[member="Judas"] |

He lowered his gaze to the chrono on his wrist, before lifting his gaze to the transpariseel screen ahead. "Only a matter of minutes, Master Judas. Let's go." He turned away from the purple light of hyperspace to the Dark Jedi Master that had accompanied him. He gestured to the flight of stairs center to the observational deck and begun his descent. Ahead, the Lord of the Sith led his Dark Jedi counterpart to the hangar bay. He checked his chrono as he stepped into the turbolift that descended from the bridge down to the hangar bay. He registered that the Obscurity had arrived in the Aeten system and thus a flight down to the planet surface was possible. "We'll be conducting the expedition ourselves, Dark Father," he said as he approached the Sigma-class transport ahead. "I have been to Aeten before, and I know of a deposit of stygium crystals. It was the same deposit that Circe Savan discovered for the Empire, shortly after the Aeten system was annexed. It was how the Obscurity was provided with the crystals for it's cloak."

Lifting his hand to the shuttle, he input a code and stepped back to allow the ramp to lower to the ground and for it's doors to slide into the walls to it's side. He turned back to Judas and gestured. "After you."
 

Judas

Lurking SWRP Sites Since 1998
He climbed up the ramp into the shuttle that was intended to provide transport planet side. He had a tendency to stay connected to the Force passively, feeling the surface of the planet and sensing its presence.

"We are not alone, Master Pazela. I sense confrontation. I pray you have made preparations when we arrive."

He said with a stoic look and an expression of indifference as he chose his seat on the starcraft.

@[member="Vilox Pazela"]
 
Preliat, assigned to protection duty to one Gilamar Skirata, was on edge. Something felt off. He held his helmet at his side, and his rifle was hung by it's strap across his chest, in the typical fashion for one expecting trouble. He tapped his foot on the ground, contemplating on his words."Sir. This feels, very, very, fishy. Like some nerf herder is about to going to kark this up for us."He bluntly said, failing to find a more appropriate thing to say.

@[member="Gilamar Skirata"]
 

Gilamar Skirata

The most important step is always the next one
With a grunt Gilamar turned to the young Mandalorian. Preliat had come a long way from being the green nosed soldier fresh out of his rite. Well...Physically at least, he was still the same old silly kid he had known during the Dark Harvest. "Nothing we can't handle." A simple answer for a simple statement. Nothing short of a fleet would be able to take this place from him, not while he still drew breath. Reaching into the pocket in his jacket he pulled out a flask and eyed the steel container for a moment before unscrewing the cap and tipping the flask into his mouth. The cool, black liquid flowed down and into his gullet, leaving behind a warm sensation in his throat.

With a sigh he looked over to Preliat again. "You play any instruments, boy?"
@[member="Preliat Mantis"]
 
Preliat shrugged, bouncing his helmet in his hands, and spoke after a moment."Momma always wanted me to learn Keybed better than I do, but...other than that, no. Didn't really have time for it...why, what about you, sir? Play anything fancy?"He said, smiling at him. Being an ex-Smashball star had turned him into nothing short of a thuggish physical appearance, and it showed in his movements as well.

@[member="Gilamar Skirata"]
 
The Sigma-class transport came to a stop in the forest clearing. The ramp lowered, allowing Darth Vazela and the accompanying probes that floated to his left and right to step down into the clearing and begin their journey into base ahead. During the Empire's dominion of Aeten II, he had personally led a contingent of Stormtroopers deployed by the Obscurity onto the planets surface, where they had all together removed the criminal elements that had taken up residence on the planet, using it as a hideout and seeking to utilize the stygium crystal deposits in the Aeten system for profit and other nefarious, criminal purposes. When the various smugglers and occasional bounty hunter or two had been removed, the Lord of the Sith had deployed a Prefabricated Garrison on the planets surface. It would be here that the Empire would have a permanent presence on Aeten II, where patrols of the Aeten system and the planet itself would be conducted from, prisons imprisoned, interrogated and then if necessary, executed. It would also be here that the Empire stockpiled the deposits of stygium crystals that it had accumulated from the Aeten system. Ships arriving from Empire space would then dock at the base, where said deposits would be loaded on for transport and stockpiled elsewhere, at shipyards such as the ones found at Mon Calamari or Yaga Minor, so ships similar to the Obscurity could be manufactured and also serviced, if needs be.

With the cowl of his dark robe lifted over his head, Vazela began to walk along the pathway towards the garrison ahead. It had been several months since the Empire had pulled out of Aeten II, for reasons that he did not fully comprehend or understand as of now. The world was theirs, why would they abandon it? Why would they go through with the dominion of the world, if they had no intentions to hold it? He briefly remembered bringing up those concerns during the reign of Tyrin Ardik, a month after Voracitos had been usurped by the enigmatic Umbaran for his position and being told that the Aeten system was being used as some negotiation tactic with the Mandalorian Empire. As far as he knew, the Empire hadn't gained anything from allowing the Mandalorian's to return to Aeten II and claim the world as their own. It only served to give the man more reason to continue his pursuit of the Third Great Schism, in which he would lead a following of Dark Masters who would be responsible for the enslavement of the Sith Empire. When the Empire was under his control as the Dark Lord of the Sith, the greatest Jedi purge in galactic history could begin in earnest. Alas, he did not think like a Sith and was aware that he would have to wait decades because he would instigate such an attack on the Jedi Order. Unlike men such as Voracitos, who had done everything in his power to find a short cut around bringing about the down fall of his enemies, such as the Mandalorians, Vazela was a patient man.

For now, he was only focused on his scheme to find and create such a following. To do this, he would require a vessel that could bypass a star system, much like the Obscurity, but with less tells to it's location and more maneuverability. That was why he was approaching a base in the middle of no where to see if the stygium crystals that the Empire had collected were still present. He did not know what else he would find in the base. The criminals that he had drove off world might have returned when the Empire had abandoned it or the Mandalorian's might have set up garrison, seeking to use the former Imperial base as their own. He did not sense life in the base currently, however. His senses were well attuned to the force to detect life presences. He was safe, for now.
 

Old Man

Guest
O
The writer of the old man lacking a significant amount of muse to describe his presence upon a vessel owned by @[member="Vilox Pazela"], wrote him in, in the most lazy of fashions. As "acquaintances" from the former Black Hand, the Old Man had taken a liking if it were called that, to the Dark Jedi. Well, it wasn't so much of a liking as much as an interest, the type of interest one gets when sitting at home suddenly finding themselves watching an intriguing documentary... very boring. So perhaps after a bit of dribbling dialogue he could transform this dull trip into an action adventure... much more exciting.

"You know what I find most strange in wandering the galaxy, Pazela?" He began as looked upon the scorched surface of Aeten II. "In our Golden Age, prior to the Age of Darkness, why did we rebuild worlds like these? This hunk of rock spiraling around that foreign star there, was an unstable ball just waiting to explode into a bunch of asteroids eight and half centuries ago. Or Alderaan, completely obliterated... and it's back again. Coruscant, completely Vonged up the arsehole and deprived of its metropolis... and once again it is the jewel of the galaxies city worlds. How did they do it? More importantly, why? There is nothing to gain from it at all, but yet here we are... standing upon the surface of a world essentially destroyed by a mad man's superweapon in years long past. Such a strange thing isn't it?" He asked him thoughtfully, as he walked forward unto the soil of yet another alien world the Old Man has yet to experience.

@[member="Vilox Pazela"]
 
| @[member="Old Man"] |

The Prefabricated Garrison was empty. Overturned stools, barrels and benches littered the corner of the base that the two Dark Jedi passed as they entered the abandoned complex. Bits of forest and forage had begun to grow over the ramparts of the garrison. Vazela turned his yellow predatory eyes away from the walls to the Old Man, listening to his musings. "It is to my knowledge that Aeten and the other worlds that were destroyed, such as Alderaan, were rebuilt by a Yuuzhan Vong effort. The reasons as to why those particular aliens would lead an effort to rebuild the planet surfaces or in the case of Alderaan and Aeten, the entire planet, do not appear on record. However, there was accurate historical references to a Yuuzhan Vong effort on Ossus, led by the Jedi Order. The operation was sabotaged, which led to anti Jedi sentiments at the time. Perhaps the Jedi Order that existed before the Gulag Virus brokered a deal with the Vong to rebuild the other planets as well? But that's just posturing. We'll never know."

He turned his gaze and pointed ahead to a flight of stairs. When he indicated to his accomplice that they should climb there, the Lord of the Sith was the first to reach the bottom and climb. He spoke as he ascended. "There might be several reasons. It was because Aeten was rebuilt that garrisons like this could be built for the Empire, allowing men such as you and I to stockpile stygium crystals, so as to cloak ships such as the Obscurity. In the case of Coruscant, returning it to a metropolis allows the Republic to return things back to normal. 'Yes we let this happen to your home, but now we have rebuilt it. We've more than made up for our mistake.' The usual Republic rubbish."

He lifted his palm forward and pushed the door open, heading inside. "Of course, worlds such as Almania could never be rebuilt by the Yuuzhan Vong. The planetary surface of Almania was not destroyed, nor was the entire planet reduced to an asteroid belt like Alderaan was. There is simply no life left on Almania. Everyone in the Almania system was killed by the Gulag Virus. This was partly due to an Warlord that ruled over Almania eight centuries ago. Kueller, a Dark Jedi much you and I, led a campaign on Almania to rid the ruling government of the time, called the Je'har, in retaliation for what the Je'har had done to him and his people. The war was short, but long enough to reduce the populations on Almania and it's three moons: Drewwa, Pydyr and Auyemesh to near extinction. Several centuries is a long time, but by the time the Gulag Virus hit, only a few hundred thousand had managed to grow in the relative short amount of time between the Almania Uprising and the Gulag Virus. They didn't stand a chance. The only way Almania and it's moons could be saved is if people started to repopulate them, by simply moving there. But nobody has in decades. Everyone believes it's a ghost system."

Arriving in the room, the Sith Lord came to a stop in the middle and turned to the man. "We didn't speak on Vjun, when we all met with Judas. I have heard others simply refer to you as the Old Man. Do you have a name?"
 

Old Man

Guest
O
@[member="Vilox Pazela"]

"Funny you should be the only one to ask such a question in my Tour of the Black Hand!" He chuckled a bit, "The answer is simple, of course. Have you ever heard of a person whose parents, orphanage, government, experimenters, overall-caretakers didn't give them a designation to which they would be called? Of course you haven't, that'd be absurd. Of course I suppose a child dropped off in a pen full of animals that some how survives and is raised by them might not have a name, but the chances of that are extremely slim." The Old Man wheezed just the tiniest bit after climbing the stairs, as he observed the room.

"What's this place for? It appears that we are alone here, unless of course, you sense something." He circled around himself, taking the room in.
 
| @[member="Old Man"] |

"This was a Prefabricated Base I set up during my tenure as a Sith Lord. I led ground forces from an Pellaeon class Star Destroyer to rid the smugglers and other criminal elements from Aeten, so that it could be placed under the rule of the Empire. It was part of my preparations for the construction of the Obscurity, so that when my flagship was assembled in the Mon Calamari shipyards, I could instantaneously move the Obscurity to this system, so that stygium crystals could be incorporated into it's Annihilator class generators to give it the ability to cloak itself."

Turning his gaze, he begun to move down the hallway, which from memory, led to the cargo holding area, where the stygium crystals were held until transports arrived to move them off worlds to others in the Empire, such as Mon Calamari or Yaga Minor. Now that Aeten II was under the control of the Mandalorians now, however, any stygium crystals that may have been accumulated into the Prefabricated Garrison was now coming with him for the upcoming Carnifex project that he was about to put into motion. Turning his gaze back towards the Old Man, he said, "Curious. I asked for your name and you gave me a riddle. Interesting, but still not an answer, Old Man."
 

Old Man

Guest
O
"Curious. You ask a question I avoid it yet you still remain transfixed upon it. A riddle is an answer if you are intelligent enough to answer it yourself. I give you no name in reference to me but the name you make for me yourself. You see, a name is an item of power believe it or not. It is to what our attention most immediately diverts to at its calling, and a name can be dangerous or garner unwanted attention. If I told you my name, told anyone my name, it would threaten the balance of power in my life. You would instantly have access to my ear, and use my name against me. Thus I go by no names, and anyone who did know my name is now long dead. I'd rather keep it that way, but call me what you will, for I am those and many more." He walked around a bit more clearly not sure what to do with himself.

"Now what is it you'd like me to do Vazela? This is your base as I understand it, why do you have me here other than to witness, "your majesty in the arts of the Dark side."" He mocked the sith in a funny voice.

@[member="Vilox Pazela"]
 
| @[member="Old Man"] |

"I brought you here to ascertain whether or not you were Force sensitive. I also required help with this expedition. Nothing more." He ignored further conversation, for it wasn't going anywhere with the Old Man. They finished walking down the hallway and turned to the right, where they stepped onto a balcony that overlooked the cargo bay area. Overturned crates, scorch marks and signs of a recent battle were evident. An console was situated center to the balcony railing. The Dark Master approached and put into his access codes. They were old, but then again, this was an old base. To his delight, the code worked and the console came to life. Instantly, a transmission of some sort appeared on the screen.

"This is Captain Rogers, star date 8-11-835. The Empire has abandoned Aeten II. We're going home. The stygium deposits that we have collected during our short time on this world has been accumulated and sent on transports to Mon Calamari, Yaga Minor and the other shipyards that the Empire currently has. It is to my understanding that they will be kept in storage for other stealth ships belonging to the Sith. Evacuation procedures..." Vazela shut the console down, hearing what he needed to hear. If Rogers was genuine then there were no stygium crystals in this facility. They had been shipped to other worlds in the Empire.

He turned to the Old Man and simply said, "It looks as if we will be heading to Mon Calamari." Without another word, he turned from the balcony and began heading back to his shuttle. "What a waste of time." He thought to himself.
 

Old Man

Guest
O
"Well it wasn't a complete waste; you learned three things about me. I don't believe time can ever be wasted, I will never tell you consciously my true name and there is none alive who could, and lastly, that I always speak in riddles. Tell me Vazela, can you not tell the difference between an untrained force sensitive and one deaf to it? Or maybe you would prefer the question of, if I were Force Sensitive, wouldn't you have known by now? I believe I know the reason as to why you might ask this question however, as though I appear and act as an inept to this mystic ability, I still yet have such a keen knowledge upon the subject pertaining to it. A straight answer is something you shall never receive from me." He smirked towards the Sith Lord.

"There is nothing here then? No magical monster to kill, no secret art to perform to unlock some obscure chest full of special minerals? Very well then, I will continue on with you upon this quest. Perhaps on the ship, you have better luck convincing me of my Force Special-ness." He began to walk from whence he came.

@[member="Vilox Pazela"]
 
| @[member="Old Man"] |

"Perhaps Old Man, perhaps..." With the knowledge that the stygium crystals had been delivered to the Mon Calamari shipyards, prior to the Empire's abandoning of Aeten II, the Lord of the Sith returned to his transport with his entourage accompanying him. When they were back aboard the Obscurity, he had the Attrition-class Star Destroyer set course for the Dac system.

Meanwhile, he selected his instruments and approached the Old Man. "I am going to take a sample of your blood, to test for your count in midi chlorians. We will know if you have the ability to utilize the force like I can by your count." He waited to see if the old croon would be compliant.
 

Old Man

Guest
O
@[member="Vilox Pazela"]

"You're going to sample my blood? You mean to say honestly are not capable of knowing simply through your connection to the force?" The Old Man stared wide eyed at the Dark Master, baffled.

"You mean to tell me that you of the force posses faults? Weaknesses? Well then how could I refuse!" He quickly jutted out his hand, with an enthusiasm not befitting of him. He grinned a devilish smile.

"So long have I refused any such operation. You should feel lucky, if I were something important that is, the amount of Jedi and others who tried to take me away never even got this far. I thought Jedi and the like were supposed to be perfect, some creature undoubtedly superior to anything else in the universe, once the practice was made. You will find I'm an amusingly difficult subject to understand." He allowed him to do his work to find the answer he wanted. He closed his eyes with a smile as the work was done.

"Now keep your mouth sealed, I want no part of knowing my own body. To know ones body is to know its faults, and that is the key to conscious mortality. I don't want to know how I die, Master." He said, eyes remained closed as the process finished, in a solemn tone at odds with his smile.
 
| @[member="Old Man"] |

Vazela lifted his eyebrow as he studied the Old Man in front of him, whilst the analysis of his blood went through. As they, or in this case, he waited for the results, as the Obscurity left the Aeten system for Mon Calamari, as the Dark Master had ordered. Vilox Pazela, despite the facade he had created with the image of Vazela, was eager for their expedition to end, in order to turn up results. With the Carnifex, he would have one of- if not the- best personal transport in the galaxy.

Turning away from the transparisteel screen of the Attrition-class Star Destroyer's observational deck to the bleeping sound, he took the results created by the machine that had analyzed the Old Man's blood. He responded to the subjects goading as he read. "I do have the ability to perceive the midi chlorians, the cells from which give individuals the sensitivity to the Force that surrounds us. But what might be interesting to you is that every person in the galaxy has midi chlorians inside of them. It is the count of these cells that determine where a man such as yourself is Force-sensitive or not, which these results have told me."

Indeed, this man was not a Force-sensitive. But that only made him an interesting case. What if it were possible to make someone Force-sensitive, through the manipulation of the midi chlorians inside of them? Was it not famed among the Sith that the ancient Dark Lords that came from the exiles, the Dark Jedi that founded the Sith Order, who had the ability to transfer themselves into other beings and other abilities that must come from the manipulation of midi chlorians? If one can possess another through these techniques, then surely one can create a Force-sensitive? Something for Vilox Pazela to contemplate during their voyage to Mon Calamari, to construct the Carnifex.
 

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