Private The Horror at Aaris III

[Laertia Io]

At: Aaris III

Wearing: Imperial Chitin

Armed With: Constant Gardener

With: Siren Corps (21)

House Io Mercenary (35)

House Io Stormtroopers (42)

War Knights (3)

Stealth Knights (3)

Black Knights of Io (3)

Ships

Sarka Class Frigate (2. 1 in orbit, one one ground, Knife of Barab, Knife of Honoghr)

IPV-2C Stealth Corvette (1, Pestilence of Juggernauts)



Earlier...

"What were you thinking?"

Darth Xiphos sighed. She had heard this question many times in the days since organizing that attack on the Silver Rest. Maple had asked it. Melissa had asked it. Now she was hearing it from Nine Lives .

She had been brought to Aaris III on the House's military surplus vessels, as scouting had reported the remains of a crashed battle cruiser.

Ordinarily, just the remains of a battle cruiser, in of itself, would have been enough to justify mass salvaging teams...the faction was ever in need of raw materials, and any power plant that could be salvaged was another plant for their city ships. But it was what that battleship had that had made it a priority to come here personally.

House scouts had secured the crash site deep in the jungles of long abandoned cities. It was an ancient Core Ship from a Lucrehulk, painted black, broken up across the landscape. Long ago, it had been converted by the Serpents of Ashla to use as a Praxeum.

It had contained many secrets when it had been shot down long ago, and one of those secrets was a Sith Wayfinder that would allow them to make a dangerous journey to yet another missing planet called Ankhanos. The Light Side Sith version of Korriban. It was a secret Darth Themis had forgotten about, being dead for so long.

The initial scout party had secured the wreckage, but all contact had been lost. This had necessitated Xiphos's personal intervention, as it was too sensitive to leave to chance. So they were here, trying to retrace the previous scouting party's movements in the crash site. Signs of the Lucrehulk ring were in orbit. No sign of what blasted it apart. Signs pointed to possible self destruct.

Even Xiphos couldn't ignore the fact this had all the makings of a horror film. She did NOT need this chit right now. A Stealth Corvette in orbit in stealth mode and Sarka Class Frigate in orbit with one on the ground, whose repulsorlift engines were also screwy. Something was causing multiple malfunctions.

"I was thinking I was fulfilling my House's sworn duty to punish the Jedi Order, Great Ancestor." Xiphos answered the holoprojection.

Nine scowled.

"So you lay waste to a temple?"

"I'm already torturing and stripping Jedi of their connection to the Force, I've killed plenty of them already. Might as well step it up."

"You've gone too far. Way too far."

Xiphos sighed.

"Why are you so concerned with what I do to the Jedi? It's not like you're one of them. Not anymore."

"That's not the point!" Nine shrieked. "Why don't you understand this!? The more vicious you behave the more the Jedi will double down. You will never break them in this way. You must change your course."

"THEN NO ONE PUNISHES THEM!" Xiphos yelled. "THEY GET AWAY WITH EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEIR MISTAKES WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES! AS USUAL!"

"You cannot win this fight. You are not some major faction, able to throw your weight around unless it's the most serious circumstances." Nine growled. "You have burned through any legitimacy you might have once held. And how could you retain it now, with such blood on your hands?" Nine asked before shaking her head in disgust.

"When I met you, you had such promise. I thought, surely, this was a woman capable of great things. And you are. But it's all sabotaged by your need to persecute Jedi. You hate them past the point of reason. You hate them with the ferocity of a sand panther. You blame them for getting in the way of being next to that monster under cover of a truce. And I have had enough of it."

Xiphos frowned.

"They don't deserve your sympathy."

"Neither do you." Nine retorted. "It was a mistake to teach you. I have informed the SJC of your current location via anonymous tip. Be thankful I have not sold out your entire House by telling them anything beyond that."

Xiphos clenched her fist.

"Is this how you want it, Great Ancestor. Selling me out for their sake? When they would kill you just as quickly once they learned what you are, and the role you played in my affairs?"

"I was willing to look the other way at a certain point. But no more. By the time I am done, the SJC ships will be present in orbit to arrest you. What happens after that will be your problem. If you will not stop your campaign against them, you will be made to stop. There is no honor in the path you have chosen, Julia. If you must pay with your life to rectify your crimes, so be it. You could have done this legitimately. You didn't have to fight them. But your massive ego wouldn't let you take no for an answer. Goodbye. Maybe your House can still achieve legitimacy without it's mad founder."

The projection cut and Xiphos was rushing out of the command tent set up.

"Everyone into the frigate, now! NOW!" Xiphos roared. "Prepare for immediate air and ground assault!"

The base camp turned on the salvaged deflector shield over the Frigate and the few General Purpose Nuetralizers present began immediately organizing the retreat into the Sarka Frigate, whose Repulsorlift engines were still malfunctioning. They needed to lift off as soon as possible. So until the engines were repaired, The Frigate would have to act as a small fortress. But Xiphos was under no illusion as to its ability to withstand a fearsome enough assault if the Deflector Shield protecting it was taken out. The Frigate had been somewhat under loaded, meaning it didn't have the full compliment of combat Droids.

House Io was still paying for Tython. Their most powerful and advanced ships were being put on an issued as necessary basis until they could make a full recovery financially.

The most note worthy units she had were a small number of Stormtrooper Units, fresh out of the academy and clad in their distinct white armor with a red ocular lens, armed with their particle beam blaster rifles and grenades who were deployed in the deep jungle, a smaller number of the lab grown sirens conducting perimeter defense patrols, the House Io Mercenary B1's, defending the small Deflector Shield Generator and a small retinue of some of her most powerful warriors. The rest were stock combat and assassin droids, and House Io Organic citizens.

They had a pretty effective defense base built around the Sarka Frigate, But it had been more to keep out any wildlife or surviving locals, not to resist what would likely be a heavily armed invasion force.

But House Io had proven themselves as fierce and as savage as any Mawite.

But even that might not be enough.

Xiphos was running, as everyone scrambled to get within the Deflector Shield barrier around the frigate. The shield was malfunctioning though. Also losing power. It had enough energy to protect that frigate maybe another three hours. No telling how much an orbital bombardment would cut that time in half...

She had very little time to prepare, as she was scrambling to think her way of what she knew would soon be a considerable problem...

Finley Dawson

 

[Finley Dawson]

​

Since Laertia's attack on the Silver Rest, the Silver Jedi and Concord at large had been relentless in purging the insurgents from their spaces. While their campaign was proving a success domestically, it was a much trickier task neutralizing the Io abroad. It was a big galaxy, and there could be hideouts and enclaves anywhere. Without a solid lead, the Concord depended on someone ratting out the Io to obtain the generous bounties placed on the Holonet.

Eventually, a bite came, right out of the Outer Rim.

Aaris III, Kathol Sector. A jungle planet near the edge of the galaxy in the southeastern quadrant. The tip, although anonymous, seemed credible enough, but the Silver Council was afraid it could be another trap to lure in more Jedi for Laertia.

Finley didn't care in the slightest, volunteering with a few other Jedi to check out the lead. They would man an old heavy cruiser with a light starfighter escort. The highly automated Kiribian vessel only required a skeleton crew for oversight, so if it was indeed a trap, not much would be lost on the scouting mission.

The Corellian was more than prepared to die if it meant stopping Leartia.

Now as a cyborg, he already felt like one foot was in the grave.

A Jedi Navigator among the team allowed task force to reach their destination in record time thanks to instinctive astrogation, allowing the Raiju and its slaved fighters to maneuver in hyperspace in realtime. Without such a navigator, travels through the ill plotted Kathol Sector could take days or even weeks, and Finley doubted Laertia would linger that long.

Not long after transit, the Raiju its escort would arrive already in a state of high readiness in high orbit over Aaris III, near the shadow of one of its moons. The distance placed them close enough to scan the planet without much trouble, but far enough to avoid immediate combat with any opposing forces parked lower in orbit.

"We're detected one vessel in orbit," the Raiju's Captain reported. "Frigate-class, its drive signature matches what we have on profile for the Io. A second vessel of the same type has been detected on the surface.* There's also this..."

The Captain brought up a holographic rendering of another frigate on the ground, near what looked like a wreckage site. Identified by analysis systems as the remains of Lucrehulk core variant with 88% certainty. Above, more of the ruined battlecarrier were scattered through space as junk.

Finley narrowed his crimson eyes as he studied the projection, feeling disturbance as he did. Just what are you doing picking through these scraps?

The former member of the Explorer Corps had never personally ventured to the Kathol Sector, but he knew that it was host to a lot of strange and deadly phenomena like the Charon. Whatever she was screwing with here, the traitor couldn't be allowed to succeed.

"Ping Kashyyyk with our metadata and request reinforcements. In the meantime, we're going to keep these ships pinned. Advance on the frigate in orbit - let's greet them with a few salvos of ion shells from our HVCs. Fighters, maintain formation for now. Prepare strike teams for orbital drop."

A rumble ran through the whole cruiser as the hypervelocity cannons spooled up and spit out streams of sabots filled with ion charges at the orbiting frigate, all while the Raiju advanced closer to the planet at combat speed.

"This is Knight Dawson of the Silver Jedi Order," Finley announced over open subspace channels. "Feel free to surrender at any time. Until then, enjoy the show."

He went silent after that, letting his big guns do the talking for now. In the past, Finley may have been much more charitable toward the Io, but everything had changed since Kashyyyk. There could be no mercy for what she had done. There would be justice for the innocent.

"Commander Betchel, you now have the bridge. I'll be heading to ground with the strike teams."

The broken Knight wouldn't be content to merely watch battle unfold from afar. He wanted to be in the thick of it, to personally confront Laertia for her crimes.

Sit tight.

*Assuming the stealth corvette is currently cloaked up, it hasn't been detected at this time.

Order of Battle

1x Okami Heavy Cruiser (Raiju)
1x Aquilian Gunship Squadron (4)
1x Talon Starfighter Squadron (12)

Summary of Actions

• Appear in system in high orbit and conduct a scan of area.
• Advance towards low orbit while attacking orbiting Frigate

Laertia Io

 

[Laertia Io]

The Captain of the Cruiser in orbit, a Model 1 named Freddie, stared grimly at the Raiju.
The Skeletal war Droid, a Veteran of a number of battles had a very grim assessment of the situation. It was an Okami. It was more than twice the length of his own vessel.

They'd been ratted out.

He quickly assessed his ship's odds of survival. That thing was built for destroying escort and support vessels like his.

Outrunning it was doubtful. They might make it to the moon if they turned and fled right now But the planet was closer.

He made his tactical assessment as it launched the HVC sabot rounds.

"Evasive Manuevers!" he ordered, even as the open comm was detected from Finley Dawson .

"Scramble all fighters! Do we have any boarding shuttles?!" Freddie asked.

"One sir! Refurbished! TIE boarding shuttle." a human officer at a tactical station answered.

"We can't have all the fighters used to actually attack the damned thing, need at least three to escort the boarding shuttle..." Freddie thought out loud.

Proximity Alerts went off. It's engines and ability to turn and weave were being used to their maximum to evade the deadly sabot shells. But they still lost one engine, and all the ion cannons on the side of the impacts. Power systems went out throughout the ship and the shields weakened severely, but it's manuevering had allowed them to evade the worst of the sabot barrage.

The Nuetralizer TIE units were launched at this point, three to guard a TIE Boarding shuttle stripped of all its weapons in an emergency procedure, the rest to help the first group fight their way to the Raiju to deploy the lethal Soldiers aboard it.

That it is, if it was even possible. Freddie knew how bad this situation was. They were NOT prepared to fight a larger, more well armed opponent for this low key operation.

Xiphos was at a severe disadvantage. Whoever had ratted them out had picked the perfect time to do it. Xiphos had been under equipped and under staffed, running on skeleton crews. Tython had been a costly victory.

But given the Situation, with the House struggling to recover financially as well as from the devastating losses in personnel they had sustained mainly in space warfare, losing almost an entire Battle Group, Freddie was starting to wonder whether or not Tython had been truly a victory...or a defeat that merely took longer to reveal itself.

They had to buy time for the ship on the ground to fix it's engine problems.

"Helmsman, turn to planet and prepare to descend."

"Sir, the Anomalies that have grounded the other vessel...what if they affect us?"

"We'll last longer against that than we will against that Okami..." Freddie answered, staggering as the impact of a sabot round rocked the ship. The lights on the bridge went dead for a moment then went back on and kept blinking on and off.

"Take us deeper. Don't even try and shoot at it!" Freddie ordered. "The SJC may have caught us with our pants down but we still won't make it easy for them."

At the maximum speed they would barely make it to the planet, but then they would be presented with a whole new set of problems. But anything was better than trying to take on that Okami. But their engines were under threat as they ran, however, he knew it didn't have many long range weapons, and he was also turning as he descended.

"Captain, minor engine malfunction being reported..." a tactical officer announced as they got closer to the atmosphere.

"It's getting more severe the closer we get. The Sabots hit some critical circuits. All Ion Cannons are now offline." he added.

"Divert all power from main weapons!" Freddie ordered. "Reinforce the shields as much as you dare to keep them up then save the rest for engines!"

Meanwhile...

Two hours earlier...

The War Apprentice of The Serpents of Ashla that had been deployed in the deep jungle had traded a lot of hats over the years. He still had his battered old Lightsaber, which emitted a dull all green blade even to the core. And he still wore his battered, dented dull gray Cortosis weave armor, scorched black by Maw Explosives, covered in the ancient letters of his now extinct people.

He had been tasked by Xiphos herself with this test. Today was the day he was to finally shed the last trappings of his old Jedi identity. An ancient Lightsaber forging chamber had been discovered during the securing of the crashed Lucrehulk. The two other war Knights here had already faced their test. It was his turn.

He'd spent hours cutting through the brush to reach it. It wasn't even that impressive a structure--a stone buildings, dome like, amidst the ruins in the deep jungle. The placement enough was unsettling...why build anything this deep in the jungle?

Regardless, his Lightsaber was out, and he was soon in front of the sealed door to the forging chamber, troublingly no how there were no webs, how no insects would come near it.

The most terrifying thing was how there didn't seem to be a lock. He'd have been less terrified if there had been a warning sign. Even a simple, keep out sign would have put a lot of his fears to ease.

Nothing. Pristine...

He slowly, hesitantly hit the switch and opened the sealed door, heading down the steps with nothing but his lit Lightsaber guiding him. It's green glow lighting up Ancient murals.

He can across a large stone chamber filled with trays of ancient Lightsaber parts and crystals, mostly synthetic.

He had once come to a chamber much like this with his younger cousin, during his days as a Jedi.

The sort of person Laertia would have blasted apart without thinking.

He didn't know what to think after Kashyyyk. Laertia's willingness to antagonize The Jedi, angered at the unmitigated slaughter they had allowed by focusing on the Sith instead of the Bryn'adul, had reached a fever pitch. He had realized Laertia would never let them move on from that choice. Would never stop trying to punish them for it. She would hound them to her last breath.

He had his own reasons for going along with that. He was sick of the Jedi's failures also.

He hesitantly approached, trying to feel out which Crystal felt right to install.

Deniak, I know the threat of the Bryn'adul is severe, but we are this close to shutting the book on The Sith Empire. Dividing our focus now, in spite of the damage, would prove utterly ruinous to us. You must trust in the will of the Force.

His arm flinched, and he drew back. The same logic his dead Master used. That familiar, calm and gentle voice.

He shut it out of his mind. He didn't want to hear it. That voice had nothing useful left to say to him.

His hand settled over a synthetic orange crystal.

Just as his fingers touched it the ground gave out from under him and he was falling into blackness. He landed, tumbling to a hard stone floor in the middle of a black void.

His Lightsaber activated as he pulled himself up.

"It's not too late, Deniak..." said the same voice of his Master, a Miralan woman in Brown robes who stepped from the Shadows.

"You can still turn away. You can still go back to your family."

Deniak faced her, features hidden under his scorched helm, it's visage that of a serpent.

"I have no family. They are all dead."

"That's not true. The Jedi have always been your family, Deniak."

"And what was that worth in the end?" he asked quietly. "My world is gone. Scorched clean by the Bryn'adul. Terraformed beyond recognition. My mother, father, and all my sisters save my cousin died. Only for the Maw to take him later because I listened to you..."

His Master's ghost looked ready to cry.

"It was a terrible miscalculation on my part, Deniak. I'm sorry. But please, there's no need to punish the whole Galaxy. There's no need to go to war with the Jedi Order over it."

"Yes, there is a need..." he said. "I put the will of the Force, the Jedi Code, before my blood. Before my own world. I fought the Sith, even as they got ever closer to my planet. You called me a great Jedi, even as they were about to strike..."

He went into a Strong Style Ready.

"I'm here, because I trusted you." he said quietly. "That is never going to happen again."

"So you would stand with that Mass Murderer instead? Spit on your oaths, you Cousin's memory?" his Master asked.

"My Oaths have too many shortcomings to continue keeping them. And you do not get to speak about my cousin. You died the same way he did. Burning and screaming as the Jedi Temple's walls buried the both of you." Deniak said flatly. "I want nothing more to do with you. Let us end this."

"You have chosen to oppose the will of The Force. Deniak, you're throwing away your whole life! All because you don't think you got a fair deal. You are not the only one who suffered. You're not the only one who lost a planet."

"But I am in a unique position from the others." he argued patiently, refusing to get angry. To hate.

"I did everything the Jedi asked me to do. And because I never thought to question, I lost everything..." Deniak hissed.

"You know your cousin wouldn't want this. Neither would the rest of your family..." his Master reminded him. "You're not walking this road to avenge them. You're doing it because you feel cheated and slighted by the Force, and now you think you're entitled to causing a little chaos of your own, no matter how much damage it causes in the long run."

"You understand nothing of my motivations."

The Force Ghost folded her arms.

"Your motivations are the very height of selfishness, poisoning your mind, Deniak. Xiphos is evil!

"From my point of view she's a necessary evil!"

"Evil is never necessary, Padawan. I have failed you..." she said somberly with a shake of her head.

"You've been so closed off since we both died. My voice couldn't reach you. You've been in too much pain for me to speak. The walls between life and death in this place are...thin. Thin enough for me to at last talk. I had hoped there was still time."

"I ran out of time at Coruscant." Deniak replied emptily. "But the truth is...my patience with you had started to wane long before that."

He angled his dull green blade at her.

"Depart, spectre, and trouble me no further. I will need no more of your lessons."

"If you will not hear the sound of my words, than you shall listen to the hum of my blade." his Master said, producing a Lightsaber blade.

"I am unable to give you any peace. Even if I were, you don't want peace. I cannot save a man who doesn't want to be saved. But I cannot let you become a threat to the Jedi Order. Better you were to die at the temple then become this...mockery of all that you once were..." she said flatly. "Please, my former student. Ple--"

She stopped, sensing the change. A willing change. A willing transition. A merge.

"You don't understand..." the person using Deniak's voice said.

"Deniak did die at the temple. He was just keeping the body warm for me. Didn't have a reason to embrace me until just now. Because he couldn't imagine a better way to flip you off than to let you watch as he willingly let me take over."

The Master of Deniak looked crestfallen.

"Oh Deniak...did I truly disappoint you so?" she whispered to herself.

"I'll say this much..." the man who had been Deniak said calmly, shifting his foot forward.

"We're both going to enjoy sending you back to the afterlife."

She fended off a thunderous series of hammerstrikes.

"We both choose this." The Light Sith replied. "Just like the Jedi Order chose the Sith Empire over the lives of those in the southern systems. Just like Deniak chose to listen to you rather than flee Coruscant after the Senate ordered the Jedi's confinement."

A thunderous strike swatted his master backward and she barely recovered.

"Just like he listened to you, all throughout the Bryn'adul conflict." The Light Sith replied firmly and patiently, catching the ghost of Deniak's master off guard. "Is it really that hard to cogitate? The idea that the Jedi Order might have been wrong?"

"How were we? The Empire was defeated. We freed entire systems that had known nothing but tyranny. The Bryn'adul threat would have been addressed by us in time. But Laertia sees as weakness what others see as patience. That is why she suffers. That is why the Jedi refuse to listen to her, not merely because she is needlessly cruel and brutal, but because she thinks all that makes the societies we defend strong, our compassion, our very moral fiber in standing for what we believe in...refusing to concede and work with evil--"

She fended off another series of brutal overhead chops. His power was increasing, she noted, and quickly. He was gaining confidence.

"She thinks all of that is what has allowed our enemies to slaughter so many. She thinks all of that must be tempered with unforgiving savagery, poisoned by hatred for those who wrong us and thirsts for revenge at a societal level, training, struggling every day to get that revenge. Xiphos is nothing but a sore loser who is lashing out. She's not doing it for justice! She's doing it because she cannot stand that we were right. That we didn't need to compromise who we are as she was willing to. As Deniak, sadly, turned out to be willing to..."

She barely deflected his stabs as they danced around the stone floor in the void, her disappointment in her apprentice's willing surrender just to spite her was far greater than her mixed contempt and pity at what had taken his place as a result.

"The Sith aren't gone. The Galaxy isn't safe, and the scar worlds are still scarred...." The Light Sith replied. "Your Order's choices result in nothing but more chaos. More death. Your societies suffer because they are indolent and coddled. Pacified. If the Jedi could think for themselves so many more would never have gone to that temple, even after the Senate ordered it. But Xiphos recognizes what the real problem is ..."

The Light Sith's heavy swings took all her will to dodge or deflect, and even then he still managed to scorch her shoulder and her entire spirit weakened slightly.

"The problem isn't that people are weak by nature...weakness can be overcome with will....with effort...just that Jedi like to keep them weak. Can you imagine what the Galaxy would look like, if the populace of every planet was so strong it didn't need Jedi to fight their battles? What need would there be for Jedi? I, personally, am curious..."

The ghost was brought to her knees by his next swing.

"The Order wants a captive customer base. That's why their societies get so weak they're all but helpless when real monsters show up. But you all try and pretend it's the era before the Clone Wars. As if drastic measures are not needed to safeguard society against animals like those who ravaged my world."

She was forced to a blade lock. Endless hours of sparring. He knew her every move.

"I'm not going to kill you. You're already dead. I don't want your afterlife. We'd both rather burn. But there is something my inevitable victory will show..."

To her surprise and shock, he tossed aside his blade and grabbed her wrists, forcing her own blade closer and closer to her face.

"... how eternally my faith in you is tarnished ..." The Light Sith finished, before forcing his boot into her chest and sending her tumbling away into the void.

The Light Sith looked at her spirit Lightsaber in his hand, the simple metal tube glittering.

He gripped it with both hands, and snapped it in half...

The blade shattered in a brilliant burst of Light.

He suddenly was on both knees in a quite different chamber, one of all green Crystal.

At the front of him stood Darth Themis , clad in a dark green toga, clutching a Lightsaber Spear.

"You are to be commended for passing the final test. Rather than destroy your master yourself. You destroyed what she symbolized in your mind. You have shed the last of your link to your old past.

"I pledge myself to the Serpents. To the House."

Themis nodded, activating the short green blade of her spear.

"So be it. Henceforth, you shall be known as Darth..." she trailed, closing her eyes, forcing the light to produce an answer.

"...Braal..." she whispered, touch the top of his brow, burning the symbol of The Serpents of Ashla into his forehead...

Darth Braal found himself staring at his new Lightsaber, his old one lying in two halves at his feet.

He stared at the black hilt, emitting an orange blade, and had no regrets.

Braal quickly searched the chamber for anything useful, finding the old duraplast shoulder pauldron of a Purge Trooper and affixing it to the clean side of his armor, leaving the scorched side uncovered. An old set of Strength Gauntlets was quickly integrated into his armor and he left the tomb, leaving his old, broken Lightsaber where it lay.

Darth Braal exited the forging chamber grasping his hilt still. That was when he sensed it. The danger.

The Jedi had come.

Braal went for his comlink, only to find that all transmissions were being jammed.

He knelt outside the chamber and called out to Xiphos quietly in the Force, who was looking to get every gun they could aiming into the sky. They had one artillery cannon, a few smart missile launchers, half a Squadron of Nuetralizer TIE's, which had already been deployed to harass incoming gunships. The Frigate's engines were messed up. But it's Ion Cannons were working just fine. If they were lucky, they might get one of the gunships.

But Braal knew they would need more than that. He took off through the jungle, using Force Speed, clearing large stretches in a matter of seconds....

Meanwhile...

The Stealth Corvette could do nothing but outright flee as the Okami approached.

The crew aboard wasn't stupid. No desperate attempts would be made to get a transmission out early. They would wait until they were well out of the system, jump to hyperspace, and THEN they would get reinforcements.

At least, that was the plan until the Hyperdrive shut down for unknown reasons.

The ship had been refurbished, and they had no idea what was wrong. But they also knew they could not remain in stealth forever, especially since more ships were on the way surely...