Faction The Hunt for the Dark Empress [Part I]

[Romi Jade]

The brunette then tapped the secured communications device on her wrist and tried to break through to the others on a secured channel. "We got some useful info to share, as well as a plan to hopefully catch our target. We need you all on the ship as soon as possible."

K O R R I B A N
Aboard the Uhl Valaviteco

She pulled up next to Valery, slinking behind her, before playfully nudging her shoulder up against hers. She initiated a convo on the side while the others worked towards gathering around the holotable -- she shook her head.

"Nothing." Referring to what her group found.

Her face screwed up in slightly mild disappointment. "Learning about a plant beast thing was about as far as we got.--not that I don't care to learn about scary monsters and such...was just hoping for something juicy-er ya know? I mean it's Korriban."

"The only thing that kept me somewhat entertained was Julius' ability to make his burps sound like tunes from a Max Rebo cover band."

She turned to the group, "So, how did it go guys?"

---

Valery Noble | Wyatt Morga | Coren Starchaser | Julius Sedaire | Allyson Locke

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

SVOLTAN
NIGHTHUNTER PORT

Ashin rummaged in her shoulder bag and produced one of today's bargains, a very fine alchemical chain that was much stronger than it should be. She handed it to Avalore .

"We should go," she said grimly, making eye contact with both Avalore and Valik . "The prognosticators on the ship say there's violence coming soon — Jedi, Drengir, or both. The Pomojema is a fortified position, and even if making it to orbit isn't an option, the repulsor repairs might be good enough to get her off the ground if necessary. We'll take my speeder. Warren, how long do you need to pack up?"

She wasn't going to insult him by suggesting he make as much distance as possible between himself and what was to come, but he certainly retained that option too.

 

[Valik]

Valik pulled out a two centimeter cube at Avalore 's question, but before he could shape the metal Ashin Cardé Varanin produced a chain. Valik's face lost a tiny sliver of luster. Ashin's words however, brought a sense of urgency. Valik took a pack of oddities and put the Devaronian horn inside, then put it over his shoulder.

"The materials here are replaceable." He replied. "My ship has a few more exotic supplies. I've a couple labor droid's that can transport them to your vessel, or rendezvous with us elsewhere if necessary" The alchemist continued. He tried to, as a rule, pack light but always seemed to carry a few more knick knacks than he intended.

"Let us take your speeder and begin preparations."

 

[Tydeus of Tion]

Svolten
Nighthunter Port

A man in brown robes moved through the crowd of the market, then came to a stop near an exotic food stall.

Beneath a hood, eyes the pallor of a summer storm swept the crowd, though for what he knew not.

He closed his eyes and opened himself up to the Force. It cascaded around him. Rushed through him. Surrounded him the way a river might, but when he slipped beneath its surface to submerge himself completely he felt only tranquility.

Over the years, he managed to quell the inner storm, that dark squall dwelling in his Vahla genetic code, which threatened to consume him. It still flashed with lightning, but his time away from the Order, away from the wars, hunting pirates in the deep outer rim with nothing but himself and an astromech had given him time to look inward.

Until he felt the call.

It was not anything certain, no shining light in the distance. It was just a feeling. A sense. The Force urging him, calling him.

Calling him here.

Why? He did not know. But he quested out with his senses to see if it might be unveiled, seeing not with his eyes but with the Force.

 

[Julius Sedaire]

Julius burped, and it almost sounded musical as he winked slyly at Romi. It had been tense, with so many dead ends and frustrations. While not exactly very Jedi like, it was able to make the moment rediculous and give focus and calm to the group. And if he looked a little silly doing it, so be it. Life had stripped him of everything over the years, including his pride. His friends and the current cause, whatever that may be, were all that matter to Julius these days.

"Not much information on our end. But something is coming. Multiple things. The Flow was too muddied to Walk properly on the planet. That means either I've gotten rustier than I thought, or something is happening which is too close to be seen by one of my skill. I lean towards the latter. We're on the right path. In the right place..."

Valery Noble | Wyatt Morga | Coren Starchaser | Romi Jade | Allyson Locke | Tydeus of Tion

 

[Wyatt Morga]

As the others strode onto the ship, Wyatt was busy looking over the holomap of Svolten. It was a harsh world full of harsh people - just as every planet in the Caldera; but somehow he hoped he could get an idea of what was to come. That by looking at the planet the Force might guide him on how precisely to approach to land their ship directly on Ashin Cardé Varanin head - but the Force rarely worked like that, and in this moment it chose to be normal.​

​

He sighed as the other's began to debrief - motioning with a spinning finger to begin take off procedures. They couldn't waste any time.​

​

"We got word of her location on Svolten - judging by the rumor, wasn't just a sighting. Apparently she's made a makeshift base on the planet with a clear defensive sight line for kilometers. Chances are, the ship is damaged - trying to repair from sort of attack. She's moving quick, so we need to move quicker.", he encouraged.​

​

"Word is she's trying to make a break for it - probably from Sith, if I were to make a guess. Best bet is to ambush her in the markets while she's looking for parts - assuming we can get the civilians away quick enough with a mind trick or something similar. Worst case, we need to find a way into her fortress."​

​

"Ideas?"​

​

Coren Starchaser // Romi Jade // Julius Sedaire // Allyson Locke // Valery Noble​

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

The ground shifted underfoot, and the market stilled. Ashin's heart caught in her chest.

"Too slow," she said, more to herself than to Valik or Avalore . She shook her head, trying to keep her sudden terror from her voice. "The dark side is background noise on an old Sith world like this, and the Drengir know the dark as well as the Sith ever did. They blended in. The Drengir are already here."

All throughout the broader area, Nighthunter Port and far beyond, thousands of tentacle-roots exploded from the ground. The Drengir dragged the feast indiscriminately into gigantic jaws, or drove rootlets into their mouths and eyes to assimilate them into the hive mind. The feast comprised black marketeers, rhyolite miners, any mechanics and sentries around the Pomojema who happened to be at ground level.

A pack of huge Drengir reared up, stunningly close and all around. Their focus rested on Ashin, their primary target, for her sins.

<YOU RUN AND FAIL AND RUN AND FAIL AGAIN.>

A Drengir charged, more eager than the other local elements of the hive mind or perhaps attached to a different progenitor. Khovesk pulped the first Drengir's head — a temporary solution, just like cutting a Drengir in half with a sword or a lightsaber. As many petty Sith and random cultists in the black market were discovering, a bisected Drengir simply re-formed into two smaller Drengir.

<YOUR SCORCHED PERIMETER WAS WORTHLESS. WE WENT UNDER IT.>

The alchemists back on the Pomojema had been working on blades that could cut Drengir in half and make them stay cut. Perhaps if any of them survived the day, those projects might come to something eventually.

None of that mattered at the moment. What mattered was that Spencer Varanin was on the Pomojema, and Drengir were feasting on the landed ship's security perimeter.

<YOUR LIFE'S WORK IS MEAT. YOUR MATE ON THE SHIP IS MEAT. YOU, ASHIN VARANIN, ARE MEAT.>

Ashin hefted the mace and looked around the circle of colossal Drengir.

Fear better lead to anger very, very soon.

---

OOC/ Hundreds of Drengir have attacked Nighthunter Port and the nearby Pomojema from underground. The Pomojema's security perimeter is down because Drengir are eating it. Enjoy.

Avalore Valik Tydeus of Tion Valery Noble Wyatt Morga Coren Starchaser Romi Jade Julius Sedaire

 

[Valik]

The Drengir were here. Valik was surrounded with Ashin Cardé Varanin . Valik pulled out his pouch a some glasswear filled with a transparent green substance, some skin samples, and the Devaronian horn. He began mixing them together in a vial, keeping a hand and coaxing his concoction. He doubted he could find a permanent solution to the Drengir problem on the go, but perhaps he could find a temporary one that bought them enough time to get out.

If Avalore was watching and had not escaped, she might conclude that Valik was the most cowardly sith she'd ever seen. He stayed around a meter behind Ashin as she thrashed about. Despite never looking up from his concoction he always seemed to be just a half step from danger. If she read him particularly well she'd realize he wasn't tracking the movements of the Drengir themselves, but where Ashin put her blindspot at any moment. It was, theoretically, the place least likely to be attacked. If Ashin's skill was to be trusted of course. Even if she didn't she would realize that Valik had an idea, hut he needed time.

 

[Cord]

Cord had left the underground market some time ago, and was heading to ship before the commotion began. By chance he happened to pass Tydeus of Tion .

What the nether was a 'Robe doing here?

The man was obviously a Jedi, and he was in a town that made it's business under the table selling supplies for sith alchemists. That didn't pass Cord's smell test. Immediately Cord scanned the environment, looking for more brown robes. If violent action was coming instead of sneaky action the man wouldn't be alone. He found nothing, but then everything changed.

Roots popped out of the ground. Hatred, no, hunger became a palpable feeling in the air to any with the Force. Cord quickly decided that the safest course might involve befriending the brown robe. Cord pulled out his guns and started firing at any Drengir that came after himself or Ryan More. As disruptors they were better than most at fighting the wood creatures, but still not as great as say, a flamethrower.

"You got any of that 'force light' heebeedee jeebeedee partner? I could sure use some right now."

Knowledge of the technique was well known to alchemists like Cord. It was after all, the best way to break their toys. He didn't expect the brown robe to be able to summon force light, but if he could it would solve a whole lot of problems.

 

[Avalore]

"Too slow,"

Avalore looked up from her hasty attempts to twist and knot the chain over the ball, the pile coming undone in her hands.

She paled in understanding.

The unsecured crystal rolled out of her fingertips as she reached for her blade. She drew it and dived for Ashin's side in one fluid motion. There was never a more dangerous place than inside Ashin's company, but the girl knew from hard-earned experience that it was inevitably the safest.

Well. For her.

The rumbling erupted into a familiar horror show of tentacles. Her stomach dropped with dread. "This is getting harder." She snapped at Ashin, forcing a perimeter of flames to erupt around them. It never held for long, she absolutely loathed conjuring it, but she wasn't ready to die today.

She flash-burned the front line, the act consuming a notable level of her energy.

Ashin Cardé Varanin Valik

 

[Tydeus of Tion]

And as he reached out with his senses…

He found only darkness.

He found only hunger.

Roots exploded from the ground as hideous manifestations of chaos arose, seeking only to consume.

A drengir hive of hundreds began to ravage everything.

Ryan had never fought Drengir, but he read about them in the archives. Terrible creatures of the dark side, who could absorb even Jedi into their hive mind with the power of their telepathic presence. Those they could not subsume into the collective… they ate.

All around him conundrum reigned.

Lightsabers snapped to life.

Drengir snarled, roots ripping into nostrils and eye sockets. Teeth tearing. Devouring.

Screaming. So much screaming.

And a voice banging at his mind like a fist upon a wall.

Join. JOIN. JOIN OR FEED. MEAT.

Korr clenched his teeth, eyes flaring open. The cold metal of a familiar hilt found its way to his hand. A bar of sky blue burst forth with a snap-hiss and began to whirl and flash in a blur, bisecting roots again and again and again until a stranger drew his attention.

Sparing a glance, Korr let out a snort.

Force light?

Yes.

Yes he could.

A beam of pure white burst from his palm in a searing ray that burned a Drengir away as if immolating it in the blink of an eye.

It did not reform.

“Hm.” Korr remarked.

Cord

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

He stayed around a meter behind Ashin as she thrashed about. Despite never looking up from his concoction he always seemed to be just a half step from danger. If she read him particularly well she'd realize he wasn't tracking the movements of the Drengir themselves, but where Ashin put her blindspot at any moment.

"This is getting harder." She snapped at Ashin, forcing a perimeter of flames to erupt around them. It never held for long, she absolutely loathed conjuring it, but she wasn't ready to die today.

She flash-burned the front line, the act consuming a notable level of her energy.

A beam of pure white burst from his palm in a searing ray that burned a Drengir away as if immolating it in the blink of an eye.

The Way of the Monolith offered competing solutions: let the Drengir break themselves against her like a storm on a lighthouse...or exercise thick skin and save the confrontation for another day.

But if the Drengir were already attacking the Pomojema like they attacked Nighthunter Port, and if the Jedi were already here, that meant a confrontation today was inevitable in the short term. Which meant that Ashin's best move was to draw Drengir and Jedi attention away from Spencer Varanin

In the moments of safety that Avalore 's ring of fire provided, Ashin reached out to connect with her wife's mind. Lacking the time and focus for a detailed message, not to mention the aptitude, she sent only an impression: an image of the shiny new cloaking-device-equipped limited-edition Incom U-Wing hidden in one of the Pomojema's side bays. The intent was obvious: please, please get on the cloaked boat BEFORE you start wrecking things. Love you. But get in the fething boat.

That dealt with, Ashin set her feet in a Monolith stance, and the Drengir closed in like a concentric tsunami.

Tentacle-root-vines probed at quick, efficient, casual Force shields that appeared and disappeared where Ashin needed them to be. In a normal fight she could control what Darron Wraith had called her sphere of responsibility, and today that sphere included both Avalore and Valik . The longer she could keep the Drengir occupied, the better their chances of weighing in decisively. And the better Spencer's chances of getting to safety.

---

Defender has used Mark on self.

 

[Valik]

Devaronian physiology was a bit different than the regular near-human milieu. Sulfur was a stimulant to them, providing a boost in physical and mental abilities. Unsurprisingly enough, the Devaronian who'd attempted to steal from him had been a user.

There was the slightest trace of sulfur in his horn, meaning he had been an addict for quite some time. Compounding the sulfur, some sith poison, and a few other agents Valik might be able to put together something useful.

The concoction bubbles. Valik wafted a scent of it, then loaded it into a wrist launcher he designed to dispense aerosol and liquid poisons. If he did this right he'd have four, maybe five doses. If not he'd be a dose down and have to doctor a better solution.

It was ready for testing by the time Avalore 's fire had dissipated. Valik took aim at a beast and sprayed the acid. The tree beast didn't shriek, but began to darken where the acid had landed. Valik pulled out and ignited a lightsaber, then threw it at the beast, pulling it back to him with the Force. The Dreginr's head fell to the ground. Neither the head or the body moved afterwards. A success then.

"I've got four shots, but the compound's unstable. It'll last ten, maybe fifteen minutes before losing efficacy. Tell me what you need shot." Valik said to Ashin Cardé Varanin . It was the best he could do on the go. Hopefully it was enough to get off world.

---

Alchemist used acid shot. +50 aggro.

 

[Cord]

"Sith's blood!" Cord cursed and jumped back. Cord had heard of the technique, but never seen it in action. Though he wasn't a target of Tydeus of Tion 's blaze, the waft of it's strength through the force cut to his core like the stench of kill half-rotted in the sun. Cord was thankful for the Robe's action, but it made him uneasy to say the least.

"I'll. I'll cover your flank." Cord said, firing at Drengir and calling any attackers that rushed to Korr. He tried to keep the Jedi in his peripherals, as he still didn't trust him.

"Where are you headed stranger?"

 

[Arcane Syn NPCs]

Crusader Observation Post, Athiss

Secure Report to the Lady of Secrets from Enigma Adept Korlen Vass'il

Receiving signals from the Svolton system of Drengir lifeforms. Distress calls coming from Nighthunter Port Pattern would seem consistent with the sporadic incursions in the region. Hypothesis they are hunting someone. Orders?

---

Response from Kesh theater

Dispatch an investigation and retrieval team of specimens. Find who they are hunting.

 

[Tydeus of Tion]

"Thanks. Headed?"

He bisected an incoming plant tentacle with a swipe of his saber.

"I don't -"

An outstretched hand, palm against bark, another blast of light, evaporating the drengir from the inside out.

" - know."

One thing was certain, they couldn't hold these creatures off indefinitely. Korr might be able to kill one at a time, with great effort and concentration, but there were hundreds here.

Now if he had a dozen Jedi Masters and three hours to meditate, they might be able to wipe all the Drengir out at once in a wall of Force Light, but Korr hadn't been around that many Jedi at once in years.

A burst of flame caught his eye and he watched Drengir go up in flames. They were crowding around a knot of defenders. Ryan couldn't make out the figures through the chaos.

He pointed, "Over there."

Then he started to move, covering the gunslinger as best he could, waving his saber and weaving in, around, and under outstretched vines and teeth with the limberness of the Hawkbat form.

Cord | Ashin Cardé Varanin | Avalore

 

[Avalore]

Avalore stood trapped, her long hunter's knife offering no assistance until they were too close for comfort. Vines fell sliced and shields blocked, their defenses holding... but not for long.

"I've got four shots,

Avalore called the crystal back to her, the air flexing and growing stale as it pulled at the force for a testing moment.

"I can burn us a path." She confirmed, but it would need to be at the right moment. "Draw them away?" She wondered how their systems would would fair if pulled into the burning flatlands beyond this temperate oasis.

If they could even get themselves that far.

Ashin Cardé Varanin Valik

 

[Ashin Cardé Varanin]

Eyes half-shut, Ashin lurched after Avalore with Valik in her wake. All around them, Drengir vines slithered and cracked against just-in-time whispers of shield. Doing it this way was very, very difficult, but conserved energy compared to the average shield dome.

As Tydeus of Tion and Cord came near, Ashin flinched and expanded her coverage to protect them. That put four people under her protection: her student, her old friend, her new business associate...and a Jedi Master. Not one she knew, but the days of cordial relationships with certain Jedi had passed with Darron Wraith and Kiskla Grayson.

Shavvit, that was thirty years ago, wasn't it.

"The speeder," she gritted out, knuckles white on Khovesk's grip. "Room for all of us. Forty meters north—" A direction characterized by ruined stalls and all-consuming Drengir. "Push."

 

[Avalore]

40 meters. Quarter mile. 30 seconds of borrowed strength.

Avalore braced and let herself fall like a drop ink into a well of black. The jedi master would be able to bare no false illusions to who it was that carved him a way out.

A corridor of fire shot north, engulfing drengir and smashed wares alike. A wall of protection lingered for seconds, before the flames flickered and left the back-end of the corridor vulnerable. You kept moving or you were exposed. Period.

Avalore pushed, the inferno moving with her.




20 seconds.

 

[Valik]

Forty meters hunh? With Ashin Cardé Varanin on defense the push had to come from Valik, Avalore and the newly arrive robe Tydeus of Tion and cowboy. As a supposed 'Sith Lord', Valik really should have been able to make the push himself, but he was glad for the assistance all the same.

Avalore pulled from the crystal and made a wall of flame in front of them. Valik took the space immediately, pushing forward before the flames had fully dissipated his robes and his face charred as he raised his wrist launcher, spraying the acid at another Drengir in front of them. He drew his blade to fell the beast but it's face was covered by two VT-ram disruptor shots from the gunslinger. The tree went down and Valik kept moving.