The Riches of Our Ancestor

[Vrak Nashar]

Dromund Kaas
[member="Yidhra"]

He had always wondered about this world.

Dromund Kaas had an odd place in Pureblood history. It wasn't like Korriban or Athiss or even Ziost. This world had not been a part of the ancient Empire wrought by Sadow or Ragnos. It had not been a conquest of Adas. It had been a later edition to the Empire, something that had been taken by Horde in his prime. Yet it was here that Vitiate had made his Capital, here where he had lived for centuries.

Here were he had broken so many Jedi.

The histories did not explain why, they did not give a rhyme or reason, they simply stated.

It was an odd fact that had always bothered him. Why had Vitiate chosen this place? Why not Korriban? Why not the most well known and largest of all Sith worlds. It would have made more sense. It had been used as an academy within those times, dozens, if not hundreds of Sith acolytes pouring from the Ancient Throne World. So why not Korriban? Why this jungle infested ball of rot?

Perhaps Vitiate had seen something here, or perhaps he had made something here.

Vrak frowned slightly as the Hssiss-class shuttle ducked towards the planets surface for a landing.

"Get ready." He told the human servant behind him. "We move quickly."

The woman bowed her head. "And quietly."

They could hardly afford to do much else.

 

[Yidhra]

Yidhra was in the back, sporting a frown that would make [member="Vrak Nashar"] proud. She’d spent the last twenty Force-forsaken minutes fastening her armor, failing, cursing the ever-loving-Force out of it, and trying again. It was a neverending cycle of love and hat— okay, let’s be honest, it was one solid streak of pure, continuous loathing.

The physical aspects of Sithdom had always eluded her. Part of it was her natural proclivities – or, rather, the lack thereof – and part of it were her interests, which had about as much in common with punching people in the face as humans with intelligence. The crossover was infinitesimal, and did little more than prove the general rule as an exception.

By the time the other Pureblood rejoined her, Yidhra had finally managed to stuff herself into the despicable garment. Rage was still pounding in her veins, and she looked unusually dishevelled compared to her otherwise composed and sterile mode of dress.

Their ship went quiet around them as they slithered into atmosphere, beelining towards the surface. There was a patch of dry land in the marsh-riddled outback of the old capital just large enough for a shuttle of this size to land.

At least that’s what the map said.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Yidhra"]

"Kaas is illusive." He stated flatly as the two Pureblood stepped into the cargo hold, half a dozen servants filing in after them. Most of them were dressed as common soldiers, some armor, blaster rifle, and of course emergency packs in order to brace against whatever they would encounter within the jungles.

"This place was our capital once." He spoke to Yidhra, though really was more musing for himself. "Even the Sith Empire held it as sacred."[/color[

He said the words with disdain.

"Yet they let it fall." That was, in Vrak's opinion, the greatest travesty of Humanity. So many Sith had simply abandoned this world, not to mention Korriban. They had allowed themselves to fall to The Republic, The Mandalorians, and they had run from their homeworld. It was disgusting really, the fact that they not only ran, but allowed for the desecration of Dromund Kaas. He scowled slightly then slowly shook his head as the shuttle came in for a landing.

Out of the viewport he caught a glimpse of the jungle, his lips thinning as drops of rain began to pound onto the top of the ship.

A moment later a loud hiss rang out as the ramp began to open.

 

[Yidhra]

Yidhra laughed, tendrils twitching. “If there’s one thing you learn studying history, it’s that everything crumbles.” Purebloods were conceited and arrogant and so full of themselves they could be considered cannibals – but they weren’t stupid. “We will make our Empire great. We will bleed and sweat for it, and we will kill for it until we all kick the bucket. And the generations after us will do the same— unless they don’t. Unless they lose sight of our goal and start cutting each other’s throats.”

The sorceress shook her head. “Somewhere down the line, some Pureblood disgrace will repeat those same mistakes.”

Heavy rain was coming down in thick, warm sheets, soaking the servants down to the bone the second they stepped outside. Yidhra, with pursed lips, wrapped her body in a shimmering bubble of Force, glaring at the inhospitable environment with a healthy amount of suspicion.

As she carefully sidestepped a deep puddle of mud and found safe harbor on a patch of solid ground, the sith glanced at [member="Vrak Nashar"]. “We just have to make sure it’s not us.”

Producing her datapad out of her robes, Yidhra compared it to their surroundings for a few critical moments before jutting out a finger pointing right through the thick of the jungle. “Should be somewhere up along that cliff,” she spoke as she caught step with the other Pureblood.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Yidhra"]

Deep down Vrak knew she was right of course. There had been dozens of Purebloods that had failed in some way. Ragnos, Nadd, even Horde. All of them had eventually fallen, but all of them had brought an reign of absolute terror to the galaxy. Their legacies were as mixed as one could really ever hope to ask for. Even Vitiate had apparently fallen in time, yet what exactly that meant...Vrak didn't really know. He frowned for a moment, his gaze drifting over the jungles.

His master had once told him that the force was like a wheel.

Every few years it would turn. At any given time either the light or dark would rise and be at the top of the wheel. Eventually it would grow too heavy, and slowly the wheel would turn again so that the other side would rise. That was how it was, a cycle. For the Sith it was an everlasting web of plots and schemes, always attempting to rise, always attempting to be the most powerful. For the Jedi it had always been about equilibrium, bringing back what they saw as balance.

Of course, Vrak had long figured out there was no balance.

So was the idea of Purebloods to bring about another spin of the wheel? Or would they eventually break it?

Perhaps Vitiate had thought he would break it. Vrak certainly did. "There."

He pointed towards a small indent within the rocks.

 

[Yidhra]

“I see it.”

Even as the words left her mouth, Yidhra was already snapping her fingers at her servants. A trio of heavily armed men quickened their pace, shoulders drawn up and heads tucked low to protect from the unforgiving downpour.

As the main group hung back, the three trudged on through the vines and the slippery slop that passed for soil on this mess of a planet. What exactly their ancestors had seen in this place, Yidhra wasn’t exactly sure. Alright, so someone like herself, who had a passion for disease that bordered on febrile, could find plenty of interest in a tropical hell like this. But looking at the whole, with its overgrown jungles and putrid swamps and swarms of insects and packs of ravenous beasts… well, suffice to say that the sith remained rather reserved.

Except for the illnesses angle. That was great.

Brandishing her datapad, Yidhra kept careful watch of the first man as he ducked into the crack, immediately swallowed by the darkness beyond. His two companions teetered at the lip for a breath, then followed him one by one. When they disappeared from sight, the Pureblood turned her gaze to the screen, tracking their progress via the video feed built into their helmets.

The IR wasn’t particularly generous with details, but so far, the cave looked to be completely natural. Stalactites offered plenty of opportunity for twisted ankles and broken wrists, but the soldiers proceeded with care, lighting their way forward with rifle-mounted torchlights.

“So far so good,” Yidhra murmured to herself.

Which was, of course, the exact moment when one of the lights disappeared.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Yidhra"]

His head snapped to the side as he heard a loud crunch, echo throughout the cavern.

Sith had a habit of being rather private. Even in their deaths they tended to keep things to themselves. Spirits, traps, and of course monstrosities of all sorts guarded the Tombs of SIth. At times these beasts could range form Tuk'ata to mutated Rancor.

Vrak could sense the creature almost as soon as it bit into the soldier, having scooped him off the ground and consumed it in one fell swoop. His lips turned to a snarl, fingers wrapping around the hilt of hislightsaber and drawing the weapon in an instant. The blade sprang to life at one end, bursting into a bright crimson light that illuminated the cavern. The remaining soldiers immediately swung their rifles around, pointing the beams of their flashlight straight towards the lumbering hulk of a creature.

"Terentatek." He scowled.

It made sense.

There were few things in this galaxy that could survive devastation on the scale of what Dromund Kaas had endured. Little life could survive or even hope to regrow, but a Terentatek? They had been known to endure the cold of open space.

The creature roared, then lunged forward.

 

[Yidhra]

Oh, she did not like that sound.

Hackles raised and tendrils taut, Yidhra hurried to stuff the datapad back into her robes even as she pushed her bubble outwards. The monster’s presence was as obvious and overbearing to the Pureblood as the stink of rotting flesh to a dog. She shuddered, drawing back on sheer instinct even as [member="Vrak Nashar"] readied his blade beside her.

Yidhra stumbled backwards on the slippery cave floor, catching herself against a stalactite. With a sweeping, rushed gesture of her arm, the sorceress yanked one of the slaves in front of her.

She’d studied. She’d studied, and learned about Terentateks among a myriad other things. Thus she was acutely aware of two unfortunate facts. One, all their spiky bits were venomous as all hell and two, they had a palate exclusively restricted to Force sensitives.

Which made her and the other sith in the cave the only attractive targets of the bunch.

Unpleasant.

Yidhra panted a breath of exertion as she repositioned along with her meatshield, frantically palming the slick wall behind her for some kind of nook to slip into. In an open fight, exposed, she was as useless as tits on a fish. But is he could hide for a breath, collect her thoughts…

A fierce grin split her face when she hit gold, claws wrapping around the jagged edge of a cranny. Good thing, then, that she’d never bothered to work out and kept forgetting to eat with her nose buried in books. She slipped inside with ease and shoved the slave forward to create a distraction.

One perk of working with bound and resisting subjects; she was used to concentrating with screams in the background.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Yidhra"]

Vrak took a simple step back out of simple reaction.

Terentateks were Force Killers. Quite literally they had been created eons ago by his ancestors to kill Jedi. They were powerful, dangerous, and extremely hungry for anything that even looked like a force user. Were he better versed in the skill he would have attempted to take control of the beast, but he knew such a task was futile. His knowledge of Sith Battle Coordination did not extend to the minds of beasts, and this thing...would be especially resistant.
They had been created to kill and counter force users, trying to guide it into doing much of anything would be near impossible.

"Yidhra." He took another step back. Watching as the beast stepped forward and consumed one of the slaves. The Other Pureblood had run off, coward as she was, though Vrak intended to do no such thing. He scowled slightly and then glanced towards one of the soldiers. "It's back."

That was generally where they were the most vulnerable. "Between the spines."

The Pureblood stepped forward, then charged.

The act was foolish in a way, at least if he expected to kill the creature, though that was hardly his intent. He just had to keep it busy until one of the underlings managed to do as he had instructed.

 

[Yidhra]

Well of course, the back, it was obvious, wasn’t it?

Frak, Vrak, what do you think I’m doing?!

She forced herself to take a breath, swallow her thundering heart, and focus. Yidhra was perfectly aware of the Terentatek’s theoretical weak spots. It was the praxis that was giving her some trouble. Namely, getting an angle that would allow her to attack the raging bastard from behind.

And not just in any way, no. Throwing the Force at a Terentatek was akin to poking a Krayt dragon with a stick, and about as likely to end with your limbs crushed and entrails strewn across the floor. Since that was a future Yidhra didn’t see herself entertaining, other solutions had to be conjured.

Preferably quickly, because feth, Nashar had just charged the monster.

Yidhra welcomed the distraction, dashing out of her alcove with arms poised in front of her like a beast ready to strike.

And strike she did. Dromund Kaas had flown freely to her spirit when she had called, ancient streams of Dark side bursting through the soil like oily founts. Yidhra had drank her fill from those blackened waters. Her body was buzzing, every nerve ending alive and on fire.

With a scream of delighted malice, she channeled the crackling energy all the way down to her fingertips and released it with a great—

CRACK

She stumbled back from the Force as the bolt of lightning sizzled and bore into the creature’s back. Her knee gave out and Yidhra went down with a hiss, falling on top of a cooling corpse whose head was grinning at her a foot farther down the corridor.

Lovely.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Yidhra"]

The creature opened it's great maw in a roar that echoed throughout the entire cave. It screeched in pain as Yidhra's lightning coursed through it's spine, surging power causing it to convulse and let out a guttural cry of pain.

Vrak saw the opportunity, and he took it.

He snarled, and then bounded forward. The force surged through him, his grip tightening on the hilt of his lightsaber. Vrak had never been particularly gifted in the arts of Sith Sorcery or Alchemy, he could not create creatures like the Terentatek or bring it to heel, but he was fast. The force was with him, every muscle in his body, every ligament and tendon flooded with raw strength. He moved as fast as he could, jumping towards the creatures mouth.

Vrak's lightsaber flicked forward, first slashing across the roof of the creatures mouth and then twisting the blade around.

The other end of his lightsaber ignited with a loud snap-hiss, it's heated end immediately pressing through the scar tissue of the cut that had landed just a moment before. It took only an ounce of pressure to bury the heated plasma through the Terentateks skull.

For a second the creature didn't seem to register it's own death, then suddenly it growled, swiped it's claws forward, and then slowly began to fall backward. It tumbled under the heavy weight of it's spikes, threatening to crush whatever was beneath it.

 

[Yidhra]

She heard it before she saw it, but here the Dark side was ever with her.

Yidhra snapped her head up, eyes wide as the jagged shadow of the Terentatek fell over her. With a desperate cry she rolled to the side, folding the Force around her in a jutting, near-crystalline shield.

A vein throbbed violently in her neck as the weight of the beast pressed on the edge of her defense, arms trembling with the effort. She bit clean through her lip as she crawled away and let go of the bubble.

Gravity sank its greedy claws into the corpse with glee and sent it crashing down the rest of the way. The dead slave went splat under its weight, and Yidhra felt dizzy just imagining the reality where she was in its place.

One hand braced against the cave wall, the sorceress found her shaky legs once more. With a careless gesture she swept a sweat-slick strand from her face. A careful venture of the tongue revealed the extent of her injury, iron and salt. She sucked up the blood and spat on the Terentatek with wild yellow eyes, teeth slick with red.

“One hell of a security system, huh?”

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Yidhra"]

Vrak slowly drew himself up, his lightsaber shutting off and pulling away from the Terentateks skull as he stood upon it's corpse. He frowned for a moment, glancing around to see what they had left for soldiers when Yidhra approached him. "There will be more."

The Pureblood said simply.

"At least one." He internally agreed with her statement of course. Terentateks were utterly unique in their capacity for killing. The creatures would likely have taken out an entire squad of troopers with no issue and Yidhra on top of that. The two of them together however had been enough to fell the beast, though if he'd been here six months ago the whole scenario might have gone different. He frowned for a second, preferring not to think of 'what ifs'. "Perhaps more."

They were living beings after all, and that meant they liked to breed.

It was a good sign though, these creatures meant they were on the right track.

 

[Yidhra]

“I know there will,” Yidhra quipped back, fast as a viper.

Out of immediate danger, her focus shifted in an instant. With greedy yellow eyes she limped towards the bulk of the fallen beast. Careful and precise, an alchemized knife cut through one of the smaller spines of the Terentatek. She lifted it into an insulated pouch – always kept a few on her, just in case – and repeated the process until the pouch was chock-full of the deadly poison.

Dusting off her robes, Yidhra turned back to [member="Vrak Nashar"] and steeled herself for what lay ahead.

They forged on in the low light of a tiny sphere that the Pureblood had called into existence in the open palm of her hand. It was akin to infra-red in both hue and intensity, which was useful for many reasons. Most notably, though, it would reflect off the tapetum lucidum much further away.

Hunting Force-resistant creatures with the Force seemed counter intuitive, but Yidhra was there to supplement its failings with science.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Yidhra"]

Vrak would never admit it, but Terentateks made him uneasy. The creatures were something that he could not control, having neither the ability nor the practice in taming them. They were powerful, and most annoying they were out for his blood. A Terentatek was more than just a wild beast, more than a Rancor or a Nexu, they were created to kill Jedi.

That thought ran in the back of his mind as they wandered forward.

He didn't fear the creatures of course, but he was weary. There were few things in the Galaxy that could threaten a Sith Lord, and a full-grown Terentatek was one of them, by himself slaying one would be near enough impossible. The Pureblood frowned for a moment at Yidhra, then glanced towards the remaining soldiers. They would do well enough, but if they were fallen upon by a pack of the creatures it would present a major issue. He signaled for one of the soldiers.

"Scout head." The soldier nodded and immediately rushed forward.

Of course, Vrak knew that 'scouting' was foolish.

The soldier was bait.

 

[Yidhra]

Certain lives were worth more than others. It was as basic a tenet of Pureblood culture as non-aggression and peace for all were of others. When you grew up believing it, this innate superiority over all other creatures in the universe seemed completely natural.

Yidhra didn’t even bat an eye when [member="Vrak Nashar"] sent the soldier forward. Just another piece sacrificed on the Dejarik board so that the stronger figures could advance. Simple math.

Force gathered around the sorceress, both her valiant ally and her loyal tool. There wasn’t a day alive that she hadn’t used it, called on it to do her bidding when her hands and intellect couldn’t suffice.

When the wet sounds of tearing flesh filled the caverns, she was neither disgusted nor surprised.

She was ready.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Yidhra"]

There was really no telling exactly how many of the creatures lurked within the dark. They were naturally cloaked within the force and that made detecting them nearly impossible. One could feel small pangs of their malice, but the creatures themselves? No.

His fingers tightened around the lightsaber.

The loud snap-hiss of the blade rang out once again, this time both ends of the Saber-staff springing to life. The Pureblood took a cautious few steps forward, moving until the light cast towards where the beasts had torn apart the soldiers. There two of them stood, both smaller than the previous creature they had encountered near the entrance. That likely meant these were children, off-spring of the original whose blood had been muddied by centuries.

"Take the one on the left." He told Yidhra, his own attention drawing to the right most beast.

His grip tightened, and then he dashed forward.

 

[Yidhra]

Yidhra didn’t exactly like taking orders. Then again, she liked Terentatek claws in her viscera even less.

She wasn’t surprisingly spry for a woman her age, or, indeed, a woman any age. She wasn’t strong either, nor was she talented in any other physical venue.

The universe had bestowed gifts of another kind upon birth. A keen intellect, sharper than any alchemized blade; an unending thirst for knowledge; the memory to retain it; and finally, a fierce bond with the Force, and the creativity to apply her full potential to its use.

Thus the Pureblood backed up even as [member="Vrak Nashar"] charged forward. She shoved her open palms upwards, as if she were praying to some forgotten god. And then, just as the left Terentatek had begun to turn its beady little eyes to the Force-morsel without a wavy glowstick—

With a resounding rumble, stalactites began to fall.

No – not fall, they began to plummet. When the adult Terentatek had crumbled before, great echoes had travelled down the halls of the cave, upsetting structures that had gone untouched for millennia. It was into these cracks that Yidhra burrowed like a worm, prying them apart with foul intention.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Yidhra"]

Once again Vrak went for more of a direct approach.

The creatures were dangerous, and the toxins within their hide was equally so, but The Pureblood had never held any real talent for Magics or Sorcery. That really only left him with one option, and luckily for him the beasts were younger and less intelligent. The creatures he charged swiped at him, it's great claw crashing down towards the earth and slashing through the ground.

The Pureblood twisted, his lightsaber slashing down towards the monsters arm.

A hiss escaped the Terentateks maw, though the lightsaber didn't cut through it's armor skin. The Pureblood shifted, his feet quickly shuffling back as the other end of his lightsaber came up and below the monsters Jaw. Once again he stabbed through the roof of the creatures mouth.

The heated plasma pierced through the softer skin in an instant, burning through the creatures mind and killing it.

 

[Yidhra]

[member="Vrak Nashar"] had made short work of the Terentatek youngling with his saber, but Yidhra wasn’t quite so quick to kill.

As always, her attack had involved thought over instinct; deliberation over impulse. Much like with the first beast, she could’ve called upon lightning to burn its weaker offspring, but the sorceress had other plans.

The monster, now buried and baying beneath the sharp rubble, would be hers. Not to command – one day, perhaps, but she wasn’t yet powerful enough – but to harvest. It was extraordinary enough to loot a dead Terentatek, but a live one? Despite the danger inherently involved, Yidhra was more than willing to take the risk. The rewards were simply too great.

With the Force at her fingertips, the Pureblood approached the crushed beast, careful of its death throes. One of the fallen shards of rock had impaled its leg, pinning it to the ground. It was bleeding from multiple lacerations, the heavy stone enough to pierce even its toughened hide. As it smelled her power, the creature stirred, but the black pools beneath it were growing too quickly now for it to do much more than growl with menace.

Once again her bloodletting dagger was brought to light, cutting into the meat while the monster still bucked. She gathered its steaming blood into a handful of vials, sealed tight for transport. A cut of hide came next, still dripping when she shoved it into another pouch.

Finally done, Yidhra pulled back to her full height. Smiled.

“Our goal, I believe, lies on ahead.”