Mission The Tomb of Vitra Kol

[Daxa Zuul]

Location: Vylmira, Vylmir System. Mid Rim
Objective: Navigate the treacherous ruins of the Tomb of Vitra Kol and discover its hidden secrets.

"How... beautiful," Daxa whispered, voice raspy with dark awe.

Vylmira was a massive graveyard.

Once a Force nexus, the planet was now a lifeless husk, its former lush jungles reduced to ash, its oceans turned to deserts. Cities lay crumbling, fading monuments to the dead peoples that had once called the planet home. Even its atmosphere was failing, its oxygen levels almost too low to survive on the surface. The planet was not dying- it was already dead. The only thing that remained was an ancient Sith Temple- the tomb of Vitra Kol, a legendary Sith Lord and daughter of a Dreadmaster.

It was good that the Seekers were already fitted with rebreathers, Daxa thought. It wouldn't do to have them suffocate from their exertions, considering the type of creatures that roamed the planet. While nothing living existed on Vylmira, the same could not be said of the undead. At some point in the planet's recent history, a gate into the depths of the Netherworld had been opened, and from that vile abyss had crawled an army of unholy beasts to haunt the ravaged planet like wrathful ghosts.

What was once a planet of Light now lay enshrouded in the Dark, mired by loss and suffering. The miasma wafting about Vylmira made her feel powerful, as if she could do anything.

But it was a false power, a lie, for the Darkside was ever-treacherous. The Dark would consume her if she let it, if she did not guard her heart and her soul with discipline and sheer wrathful will. She had long since embraced the Darkside, but she would never bow to it. It would bow to her.

From her quarters aboard the Falcata she spread her mind across the planet like a net of feelers and tendrils, her powers amplified by the meditation chair she was reclining in. In the Force, the tomb of Vitra Kol was as a towering flame wrought of winding shadow, shrouded in noxious smog, marred by roving blights that felt like packs of living wounds.

The orbital scans, however, had showed the tomb as only a tomb, mostly subterranean, and infested with undead creatures from the Netherworld. It would be fitting test, she thought, for the Seekers and Alina's little apprentice. She received word from the pilots then- the Falcata would be planetside within a few short minutes. Daxa stood from her chair and activated the integrated commlink in her armor.

"Little brother?" she lilted, hailing Kyrilu Storm-wracked , her voice sweet like poisoned wine. "Gather the seekers and prepare to disembark. Our ETA is three minutes." She donned her scarlet helmet and swept from the room, cloak billowing in her wake.

Open to all Inquisitors, or anyone else seeking to brave the Tomb of Vitra Kol. Just shoot me a message!​

 

[Kyrilu Storm-wracked]

The Tomb of Vitra Kol.

What little information he could find regarding it gave little away, but the promise of such powerful relics as belonged to a dangerous Sith Lord descendant of a Dreadmaster was enough temptation. Kyrilu's knowledge of Sith history was still something he was working on every day, but what he had read of those immensely powerful beings was both terrifying and invigorating. Much like this planet itself, which oozed dark side energy like a gaping wound that would not stop bleeding. It was intoxicating, threatening to throw Kyrilu's carefully balanced emotions so far one way he felt he would drown.

I will not be a slave to the force. Powerful or not, the Force will serve ME, Ky told himself as he sat in his chambers. He had been punished enough for letting the force overwhelm him back on Formos and disobeying his Master. He would not lose himself to that animalistic drive again, even if the draw was almost too much to resist.

"Little brother?"​

The comm-bead in Kyrilu's ear buzzed, breaking him from his reverie. He snarled at the tone. And the choice of words, for that matter.

"Gather the seekers and prepare to disembark. Our ETA is three minutes."​

Ky activated his comm-bead with a nudge of the force. "As you wish, Second Sister," he threw back, then clicked his bead off. He picked up his mask, engaged the magnetic seals and secured it to his face. He double checked his lightsaber and vibrosword were secure on his belt either side of his hip as he left his room, making for the debarkation bay where the Seekers were holed up. He found them milling about, playing cards or fiddling with their battle rifles or polishing their legionnaire combat helmets, the picture of bored well-trained soldiers with nothing to do but wait. He was unused to ordering anyone around, so where another Sith might have yelled, screamed or busted heads at finding them not prepped and ready to go immediately, he simply stood in the middle of the bay and stared. He graced each trooper with the impassive visage of his half mask, letting each feel the weight of his attention as they all quietened down and stood up at attention.

"Helmets on, last minute weapons check. We drop in less than three minutes," Ky ordered, then watched them all scramble to ready themselves and present an orderly picture of professionalism for the leader of this expedition arriving. He paused briefly then moved to a small viewport at the back of the bay, gazing out onto the dead planet.

Daxa Zuul

 

[Quintessa]

Location: Vylmira
Dialogue Legend: <<Ghoul-Speak>> │ “Imperial Basic” │ <”ur-Kittât”>
Tags: Daxa Zuul Kyrilu Storm-wracked

The speedster grunted.

Sprinting through the desolate landscape with the speed of a bolt loosed from a crossbow, Quintessa only looked back to ensure that the massive Nether-beast she had chanced upon didn’t chase after her. Even so, the tiny Asa’nyx didn’t stop moving until her legs began to feel sore, 30 seconds of running at full tilt which had put a little under two miles of distance between her and the hulking demon.

That was how much she doubted her ability to fight it.

Doubling over as she slid to a halt, her feet leaving deep grooves in the ground as she did, Quintessa looked back before taking a moment to catch her breath as sweat beaded across the pale skin of her forehead. The speedster thought that she had located a shortcut into the tomb, but the Nether-beast standing in the way had made that impossible. Now, she was back to square one, with less energy than she had started.

Downing a swig of water, Quintessa pulled out her OmniLink, going over a map of the area so that she could regain her bearings. With the shortcut option ruled out, she would have to take one of the main entrances inside the tomb, which were infested with Nether Ghouls and Shiftlings. Fighting such creatures or alternatively, attempting to sneak around them, would be dangerous, but it wasn’t beyond her ability. In attempting the shortcut, she had hoped to avoid the expenditure of energy and resources inherent to such an engagement, but had instead wasted them in the attempt. Fortunately, a quick injection of the energy-restoring potion into her arm solved the energy issue, but that potion was a resource which was now partially-depleted.

Suddenly, the Asa’nyx’s ears twitched as they registered the noise of ion engines in the distance, which seemed to be on approach to the tomb.

Now, it seemed that she might have competition.

 

[Kalzok]

By the Force, JC, A tomb, Part 1
Location: Aboard the Falcata, The Tomb of Vitra Kol, Vylmira
Tags: Daxa Zuul Kyrilu Storm-wracked Quintessa

The life support pod nestled inside the ship hissed softly as it cracked open. Wreathed in life-giving mist, the Thaumaturge exited his healing system and quietly joined the two Inquisitors, quietly noting their back-and-forth.

"Helmets on, last minute weapons check. We drop in less than three minutes," Ky ordered, then watched them all scramble to ready themselves and present an orderly picture of professionalism for the leader of this expedition arriving.

Leader they may be, but the Seekers knew exactly who trained them and gave them their knowledge. Kalzok floated past the two Inquisitors, seemingly not noticing them, and went to speak to the Seeker sergeants. Words were exchanged, blessings wrought and reminders given. The Seekers would not fail him on this mission.

The ship lurched as it approached its landing spot, slowing down and deploying landing gear, though Kalzok's levitation was unaffected by the change in momentum. The Loremaster looked at the ship's bay doors, seeming to stare through the ship and towards the heart of the Tomb far away. In his hand he produced a swinging lantern of incense, its contents seemingly lit suddenly by magic, or, if there were any here who knew, by thaumaturgy. It swung back and forth as the Falcata swayed, its chains clanging in an arrythmic chime.

Here I come.

The home of Kol where the grass grows not
Sounds a chime of the hollow sort.
Hungry lords and mad Sith-kin
Come to find their prize within.​

 

[Daxa Zuul]

Kalzok Quintessa

​

When the Second Sister arrived at the debarkation bay, Kyrilu Storm-wracked had assembled the eight Seekers as ordered. The man himself stood gazing out the viewport, and their guest, the Thaumaturge, hovered near the sergeants, sharing pleasantries and offering Dark blessings. The Spine Lord was an unsettling creature, half a part of the Netherworld himself, only bound to the mortal planes by Dark talismans, Sith magicks as of yet beyond her understanding. But he was a loremaster, the Loremaster, and his knowledge and insights might prove invaluable.

The Falcata landed atop a jutting fist of rock that overlooked the foreboding Tomb of Vitra Kol. The ship lurched as it landed, ruffling Daxa's cape, but she was otherwise unmoved. Already, she could feel the Nether ghouls and shiftlings coming for them, their unholy senses attuned to hunt the living. The great beast that she kept separate from herself, the Dark being that was Xanthis, purred darkly in anticipation. She hadn't been able to truly let loose since the Battle of Illyriaqum- the months since had been spent trying to form the defeated armies of Shiva IV into proper legions.

As the Thaumaturge lit his censer with a flare of strange, Dark power, Daxa wondered if, being of the Netherworld himself, the Spine Lord knew of some spell or cantrip to use against the beasts, but didn't bother to ask. She held a distaste for greater Sith magicks, for the price they claimed of their wielder.

And this was Kyrilu's test, not his.

"Spine Lord," she said by way of greeting. She looked to Kyrilu and her lips twisted in a vicious smirk beneath her mask, "Little Brother." He despised the moniker. She had heard it in his voice and felt in the Force. Her eyes fell back to the Seekers, resplendent in their black armor, armed to the teeth. Without even trying, she laced her voice with Power. "Venatores."

The eight-trooper unit had already snapped to attention, but they seemed to stand even taller and straighter when faced with her direct scrutiny.

From outside the ship, there came the sound of snarling growls and gnashing teeth.

"You have been debriefed. You know precisely why we are here." She smiled again, and they could hear it in her voice, a dark and almost playful delight. "Weapon's hot, Seekers. Kyrilu will clear a perimeter while you eight provide ranged support."

She stepped past the Seekers to the doors of the bay. "Don't lower the boarding ramp until I give the order," she said into her comms. It wouldn't do to have the inside of the ship swarmed by Nether beasts- too much work cleaning up all the ichor. 'Open the doors." With a groaning hiss, the doors opened and the once muted growls and screams grew deafening.

Before them was a veritable sea of mindless ur'Ghuul's and sickly yellow Varzigs, swarming around the mouth of the ship. There were a few dozen at least, all rotting flesh and fanged teeth. And in the distance, the Tomb of Vitra Kol awaited.

​

The Second Sister drew her lightsaber as the Seekers took position behind them, but didn't ignited it. Without the ramp deployed, there was about a twelve meter drop to the ground. As they stood, a gangly Varzig scrambled atop one of its brethren and launched itself at the open door.

Daxa thrust out her free hand and the shiftling halted in mid air as if it had struck a wall. It hovered there, shrieking madly, straining to reach them- she twisted her hand and the creature ruptured, bones rending from its neck, maw crushed, gaping and loose.

She released her hold and the limp shiftling dropped into the howling pack, where it was devoured by its brethren.

"Alright, Little Brother," said Daxa. "Show me your power."

 

[Kyrilu Storm-wracked]

Daxa Zuul // Kalzok // Quintessa

It was a curious choice, to stand by a porthole while his mind gazed out on the lifeless planet below. He was Miralukan, after all; he had no use for windows. However, Kyrilu had never breathed the stagnant, hostile atmosphere of a planet like this, and he wanted to remove himself from the soldiers' preparations while he sipped cautiously at the dormant volcanic power of Vylmira. He was lost in thought when...something entered the debarkation bay and began speaking to the Seekers and offering dark blessings to the soldiers. Their guest was....singular, to Ky's Sight. A swirling miasma of viscous shadow, dark, grasping tendrils drifting about his form like smoke and caressing the souls of the Seekers as he tended to them. Ky had known, as a scholar does, of the Force and its different manifestations during his years as a Jedi Padawan, but he was having to constantly re-evaluate his naive opinions since coming to serve Lady Tremiru every time he encountered something new. The Spine Lord was most certainly something new.

Kyrilu saw the demons before the muted noise reached their ears as the ship touched down, felt their hunger, their mindless, animalistic rage. Once the Second Sister ordered the doors opened and the baying cacophony split the air, Ky felt the lurch of power from the Inquisitor as she burst open one of the nether creatures. As strong as Ky felt, and he felt stronger every day, he couldn't deny that knot of fear around beings like the Second Sister, the Spine Lord and, of course, his Master. To his Sight, their strength was awesome, terrible and terrifying, but mostly it was seductive. The longer Ky spent in service to his Master, the deeper he felt the pull on his soul. It was with this in mind, his equilibrium teetering on the edge from the sheer power of the world and the bestial animosity from the hordes below, that the Second Sister's words reached his ears.

"Alright, Little Brother," said Daxa. "Show me your power."

Ky turned from the window to glare at the Inquisitor, as much as he could with his vestigial eye sockets hidden behind a half-face mask of plasteel. He said nothing, feeling the swell of his power vibrate within himself as his anger at her smirk - even behind her helmet, she knew Ky would still be able to See that - and his hatred of the diminutive fed that ethereal beast. He stalked towards the Second Sister from the back of the debarkation bay, his movements predatory, as the Seekers parted to allow him through.

We do not serve the Force.

His Master's words echoed in his head as he strode past the Inquisitor, close enough for her to feel the power radiating off him.

It will fall in line.

He drew his vibrosword and tossed it in front of him in one fluid motion, out over the slavering horde and held it suspended in the air, point down as he channelled his will, step by step towards the edge. At the threshold he leapt, high, and thrust his off-hand down with force and grinned at the power coursing from his palm, jumping to wreath the sword in lashing corposant mere moments before the voltaic missile shot for the ground. A tall, wretched ghoul was spitted through the chest as the sword cracked the flagstones beneath it before unleashing a burst of lightning, scorching a half dozen creatures surrounding the ghoul. Their howls reached his ears as he landed, the crimson blade of his saber sizzling as he swept it round in an arc, finishing off anything still clinging to life on this mortal plane. He swept up the vibrosword in his off-hand and laid into the beasts as, heedless of the fate of their fellow creatures, they rushed him in a frenzy.

Ky launched instinctively into Ataru once the press became too close for comfort, lopping off heads as he flipped over the crowd, his lightsaber parting limbs with ease, vibrosword humming in his hand as it sliced through necrotic flesh. He felt the stray claws and scratches that caught him despite his acrobatics, snarling in frustration as one cut just deep enough that he knew would leave a wound in his side. It was not that he valued his looks, the lightning scars covering half his torso and neck put paid to that decades ago, but against mindless wretches such as these he should be better. He landed with a spin, outstretched weapons sawing through the nearest monsters. The snarl reared in his throat, unable to be contained.

His scream ruptured the air.

 

[Quintessa]

Location: Vylmira
Dialogue Legend: <<Ghoul-Speak>> │ “Imperial Basic” │ <”ur-Kittât”>
Tags: Daxa Zuul Kyrilu Storm-wracked Kalzok

There was no way around it. She needed to be faster. Speed would be her salvation.

Quintessa pulled her chakrams from their place on her back before lowering herself into a priming stance, feet set wide apart, shoulders angled down, and a hand placed on the ground for balance. A deep breath escaped from her lips, before a burst of disturbed air and dirt was violently kicked up in her wake as she launched herself towards the nearby entrance with blistering speed. With the speed and bloodthirst of a missile shot from a bow, she struck at the swarming ur’Ghuul and ravenous Varzigs, bladed discs flying free from her hands one after the other to decapitate a pair of slavering Ghouls. Coming to a sliding halt, Quintessa called the weapons back into her hands before launching them back into the swarm, which had its attention divided between her and Kyrilu Storm-wracked . Nevertheless, there were more than enough of the creatures to demand her entire focus.

As such, it didn’t take long for one of the beasts to land a superficial strike on her while she was distracted. The Asa’nyx’s ears twitched as a Shiftling came at her from the side, its claws slashing with the intent to rip across her neck. Had she been any slower, the creature might have succeeded in doing so, but the tiny speedster managed to dance out of the way with an acrobatic somersault, escaping with a trio of slash marks torn across her side instead.

Immediately, Quintessa called her chakrams back into her hands, the blades soaked with blood and small chunks of viscera after ripping through four Ghouls and three Shiftlings, severing heads from bodies and limbs from joints in the process. In spite of the cuts down her side, the Asa’nyx threw herself back into the swarm with her typical preternatural speed, chakrams launched ahead of her trajectory in order to soften up the beasts, successfully decapitating three more Ghouls before their momentum ceased against a wall. As soon as the bladed discs were out of her hands, she swapped them out for a pair of Whipblades, which manifested as if from thin air out of a special module in the hilts. Uncoiling the one in her left hand to use in the manner of a deadly, bladed whip, Quintessa used it to slash at the creatures ahead, while the Whipblade in her right was kept in its sword configuration to cut down any who survived the whip.

Her intention was to cut a bloody path through what she had judged to be the thinnest and weakest part of the horde, leading directly to the tomb!

 

[Kalzok]

By the Force, JC, A tomb, Part 2
Location: Aboard the Falcata, The Tomb of Vitra Kol, Vylmira
Tags: Daxa Zuul Kyrilu Storm-wracked Quintessa

While the Inquisitors went to work, Kalzok stayed on the ramp for a few moments more with the Seekers, the latter already deploying their specialised weaponry. Exotic matter rifles ripped the Varzigs apart even as the gibbering hordes tried to shift past the particle beams, the beams seeming to pull apart and dissipate their unnatural bodies. Rapid fire blasters tore through the ur'Ghuul nearest to the entrance, with close range thermal weapons literally evaporating those that strayed too close.

"Teach them fear." Kalzok intoned, before raising his censer to his eye level. He concentrated, letting his spirit be and not-be with the environment, dangerously unravelling his form, shining in the vision of the Netherworld monsters. Some tried to scramble past the trio already on the ground only to be cut down, so drawn were they to the Thaumaturge's new act. And act it was, for the first art of Thaumaturgy is appearance.

The second, of course, is movement, And Kalzok shifted his gaze at the monsters just under the ramp. He pushed outward with his breath, the censer incense seeming to belch forth suddenly in an enveloping inferno-haze of searing heat felt in the soul. A dozen of the monsters were caught in it and fled, several completely destroyed in the blast.

"Teach them to regret standing in our way." And with that, Kalzok floated off the ramp onto the ground, Warblade in hand, slicing and dicing with the best of them.

 

[Daxa Zuul]

​

As beams of exotic particle energy snarled passed her, Daxa watched Kyrilu Storm-wracked carve his way through the horde. His Jar'kai was raw and unrefined, and she couldn't help but scoff when he employed an Ataru-inspired somersault to escape the pressing mob- Shii-Cho was the better bet against multiple opponents- but she could see his potential in the Force, like the thrumming buzz of gathering clouds just before a lightning strike. And then the man howled, his rage and hate raw like a wound, burning like a flame.

Yes, there was potential there. He simply needed refinement.

!
​

She sensed a disturbance in the Force. Someone was coming in fast. The disturbance coalesced into a tiny being that wielded a pair of chakrams, moving across the battlefield like a blur. Now what have we here? As Daxa observed, the little creature- an Asa'nyx, she realized- traded out the chakrams for a pair of whip blades, one of them in blade configuration, and leveraged the greater reach and adaptability of her new weapons to cut her way towards the entrance. Daxa frowned beneath her helmet, curiosity and indignation warring in her mind.

Oh no, that just won't do.

She crouched, one hand pressed to the floor, wrenched from the Darkside a well of pure, unfiltered power, and launched herself from the ship, knifing through the air in a soaring arc. In mid-air she tucked, spun, and landed in the tiny speedster's path, cape flaring as her booted feet crunching against the dead soil. She felt more than saw Kalzok 's dark magicks, the blistering wash of nether flames briefly lighting the barren field. There was a pause, a brief moment of something like stillness when the nether creatures she had landed among realized that there was prey in the midst. They turned, almost as one, a press of slavering mouths and gangly limbs and rotten flesh.

And they died as one, in a swirling flash of searing red light.

She spun about on one foot, as if a ballerina, saber fully extended in front of her, twirling faster and faster until her blade seemed a solid disc of burning red. Everything around her died until there was nothing left, only a circular mound of headless corpses which she swept away with a negligent wave of her hand. Quintessa 's path into the temple was clear...save for the Daxa herself, a sleek figure in brilliant carmine, like blood given form and shape.

Her voice, when she spoke, was saccharine sweet and sharp as a monomolecular blade. "And just where you think you're going, little one? Surely you don't intend to explore the tomb alone? It's much too dangerous. There are more than just mindless Varzigs and shiftlings that haunt its depths. Join us." It was not a suggestion.

 

[Quintessa]

Location: Vylmira
Dialogue Legend: <<Ghoul-Speak>> │ “Imperial Basic” │ <”ur-Kittât”>
Tags: Daxa Zuul Kyrilu Storm-wracked Kalzok

The Whipblades cut a swathe through the swarm of mindless, ravenous Netherbeasts, but the creatures were nothing if not persistent. Six Ghouls and a dozen Varzigs were felled in a series of arcing slashes launched by her Whipblades, the weapons thick with blood of various colors, from red to black. And yet, more came, compelling the speedster to slide to a halt in order to assess her way forward. Only then did she notice that she had acquired another wound, a quartet of superficial claw marks ripped across her stomach which had torn away a part of her bodysuit’s armorweave around that region. The Asa’nyx had turned off her bodysuit’s miniaturized shield projectors in order to save energy. While the lacerations were superficial, the speedster was now paying the price for that decision.

However, of greater concern was the fact that her presence had been noticed. Moreover, her competition was not mere treasure hunters, armed archaeologists, or overconfident explorers…

They were Sith.

Heretic Sith, no doubt. The speedster could sniff them out in the roiling currents of the Force, even with the chaotic ebbs and flows of the Netherworld in the area. As if on cue, one of the Sith—a feminine figure clad in a carmine suit marked with the symbol of the Inquisitorius—landed in front of her, before ripping through the hapless Nether-beasts with the fury of a sorcery-induced tornado. The woman moved fast, yet with an elegance that Quintessa admired, for the Asa’nyx was a ballerina herself.

Her voice, when she spoke, was saccharine sweet and sharp as a monomolecular blade. "And just where you think you're going, little one? Surely you don't intend to explore the tomb alone? It's much too dangerous. There are more than just mindless Varzigs and shiftlings that haunt its depths. Join us." It was not a suggestion.

“You’re right.” Quintessa conceded, albeit with an icy glare in her cyan eyes. The Asa’nyx was keenly aware of the fact that she needed to project strength, even if this Sith might prove stronger than she was. However, she didn’t sense that the woman intended to kill her, yet.

“I’ve already seen them. They’re big, bad, and dangerous.” She continued. “I couldn’t kill them alone.” The Asa’nyx sighed, exaggerating the action and pouting as she did. However, even as she spoke, the speedster lowered herself into a cat-like stance, the Dark Side charging up her muscles as she did.

“But I could kill you!” She cried out. And with that, Quintessa launched herself past the Inquisitor with the speed of a missile, before bouncing off of a nearby wall, using it as leverage to initiate a vicious, aggressive assault on the woman. Her Whipblade cracked and slashed with supersonic fury, initially probing at the Inquisitor’s defenses, before quickly ramping up, striking at her legs and hips in the attempt to take her off-balance!

 

[Daxa Zuul]

Kyrilu Storm-wracked Kalzok Quintessa ​

"You? Kill me?" Daxa laughed, her cackles choked of humanity by her helmet, the sound mechanized and buzzing. The little one put on a burst of speed to launch herself past Daxa- the inquisitor turned with her, following the blurring form with the tip of her blade.

Too obvious, she thought.

The litte Sith used a wall as a springboard to rush Daxa with even more speed, sacrificing subtlety for raw velocity. Her first attacks were tentative, probing Daxa's defenses for holes and weaknesses.

Mistake, thought the Second Sister. If Daxa had meant to kill her, those first weak strikes would've meant her death at worst, or a crushing defeat at best. Their sabers met once, twice, a third time, blades crackling from the contact like static explosions. Then the Asa'nyx went low, coiled whip blades striking like snakes.

I'll hand it to her, she's certainly bold. Impressive speed and agility, decent instincts… but poor tactics.

A quick step backward and to the side put her just out of the little one's reach. She dodged again and again, employing footwork rather than bladework, twisting and juking, dancing around the field, sometimes little more than a few centimeters away from being cut through.

Then she lashed out, caught the whip with her blade, and as the whip wrapped itself around the saber, she snatched it back to yank the little one off balance.

Daxa gestured with her free hand and a rotting ur'ghuul corpse went careening into the little one's path to force her to dodge or plow through- and then another corpse, and another, and another still, on and on and on, the lifeless ghouls like bullets of flesh, until there was a mountain of corpses.

When the barrage was done, Daxa spoke in a lilting voice, her tone made sweet by faux concern. "Are you finished, my dear? We've a tomb to explore."

​

 

[Kyrilu Storm-wracked]

Daxa Zuul // Kalzok // Quintessa

Kyrilu's scream had flattened the creatures that surrounded him, affording enough respite to take stock of the situation. The Seekers pounded away at the remaining beasts with their rifles while the Second Sister did battle with the interloper, but it was the Spine Lord's conflagration that seized Ky's attention. The heat from the flames buffeted Ky just as much as the waves of power did so.

Ky cut a swathe through the horde towards his superior, watching idly as the tiny being, Quintessa if he recalled correctly from his previous underwater mission, used her whip blades with impressive skill. He wondered idly if the Inquisitor would be slain, noting how little he cared either way. If she could not handle herself, she deserved neither her place in the Inquisitorius nor the right to be called Sith.

Neither combatant lost their life as Ky finally cut down the last ghoul near them.

"Are you finished, my dear? We've a tomb to explore."

"Yes, it would be rude to turn down an offer so graciously extended. Let's not waste any more time," Ky said, letting his anger at her intrusion on their mission fuel his power, sending a cascade of lightning arcing down the length of his vibrosword to emphasise his point.

 

[Quintessa]

Location: Vylmira
Dialogue Legend: <<Ghoul-Speak>> │ “Imperial Basic” │ <”ur-Kittât”>
Tags: Daxa Zuul Kyrilu Storm-wracked Kalzok

No matter what, Quintessa knew that she couldn’t admit defeat.

She was a Kainate Sith, conditioned to shed toxic ambition and arrogance in favor of an Eclipsing Mission that went beyond what she could ever achieve on her own. However, in these Sith, the speedster sensed that the lack of such individualistic traits might lead them to the conclusion that she was weak. Ultimately, it was about projecting a veneer of strength, which might shield her from those who might seek to challenge her.

The Asa’nyx could only hope that it would work. She couldn’t fight three other Sith—much less their leader—on her own.

Quintessa managed to dodge the first corpse Daxa threw at her, then the second, the third, the fourth, and the fifth. However, the woman’s speed and fluidity with her powers made dodging everything a nigh-impossible task. After somersaulting out of the path of the fifth, the next corpse struck the diminutive speedster directly in the face as she landed from the acrobatic maneuver, knocking her onto her feet as the crimson-clad Inquisitor held her lightsaber at her throat.

When the barrage was done, Daxa spoke in a lilting voice, her tone made sweet by faux concern. "Are you finished, my dear? We've a tomb to explore."

The speedster groaned, alabaster features twisted in humiliation at her defeat, but she also felt a sensation of relief at the realization that the Inquisitor had decided not to kill her.

“Fine…” Quintessa pouted, pushing herself up from the ground as she did, before crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes, it would be rude to turn down an offer so graciously extended. Let's not waste any more time," Ky said, letting his anger at her intrusion on their mission fuel his power, sending a cascade of lightning arcing down the length of his vibrosword to emphasise his point.

It was only then that her ears twitched as Kyrilu Storm-wracked spoke, his comments setting the Asa’nyx’s anger alight with a renewed intensity, especially considering the fact that he was more in her class than the Inquisitor was.

“That’s a cute little light show with that sword.” The tiny speedster hissed at the towering Miraluka, baring her teeth in the process. Undaunted by his stature, the Asa’nyx didn’t relent in countering his remarks. “Hopefully you can use it better than you can swim.” She added, exploiting the fact that he had opted against swimming to the underwater facility during their previous mission to Mon Cala.

 

[Kalzok]

By the Force, JC, A tomb, Part 3
Location: Aboard the Falcata, The Tomb of Vitra Kol, Vylmira
Tags: Daxa Zuul Kyrilu Storm-wracked Quintessa

"Enough"

Kalzok's voice did not seem to boom so much as swirl and echo out from under his robes, all while he continued to float away from the group. With the Varzigs and ur'Ghuul cleared for the moment, the Seekers hopped off the transport in full, filing in behind the Inquisitors. Kalzok dismissed the altercation between the Sith from his mind, though he made a mental note to raise concerns to Alina herself. Though he was pledged to the Tsis'Kal, it was not to the interests of the Dark Lady for the Inquisition to be chipped away by internal squabbling.

Kalzok lifted a single arm, towards the horizon. The death-fog of Vylmira obscured the near distance, but the vague shape of a landmark loomed.

"Let's make haste."

 

[Daxa Zuul]

​

The Asa’nyx was a feisty little creature, bristling at what she perceived as disrespect from Kyrilu Storm-wracked .

“That’s a cute little light show with that sword.” The tiny speedster hissed at the towering Miraluka, baring her teeth in the process. Undaunted by his stature, the Asa’nyx didn’t relent in countering his remarks. “Hopefully you can use it better than you can swim.”

Before they could begin squabbling in earnest, Kalzok made his presence known.

“Enough,” said the Spine Lord, his voice like creeping death. “Let’s make haste.”

Had Daxa been younger, she might’ve rolled her eyes. Trust the old lord to speak up after the matter had already been decided. But she wasn’t young, not anymore, so she said nothing.

Daxa gave the Asa’nyx one last, long look, not for any more reason than to mess with her head, then turned away to stalk towards the tomb. “Seekers,” she called out, voice laced with power, “take point. Wedge formation.”

The walk across the dead, corpse riddled field was quiet. Almost peaceful, if not for the stench and the distant howls and grunts of the evolved nether ghouls and Varzigs lurking in the corridors and hidden depths of the tomb.

The courtyard was a sprawl of half buried sun bleached bone and shadowy arcades that ran the length of the walls. The yawning maw of the tomb loomed ahead, a gaping chasm of deepest, darkest black. There were smaller side rooms off the main path, their purpose long forgotten, for now they lay bereft and empty.

“Lead the way, Little Brother.” She turned to Quintessa . “Stick close, dear. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, now would we?”

​

 

[Kyrilu Storm-wracked]

Daxa Zuul // Kalzok // Quintessa

“That’s a cute little light show with that sword.” The tiny speedster hissed at the towering Miraluka, baring her teeth in the process. Undaunted by his stature, the Asa’nyx didn’t relent in countering his remarks. “Hopefully you can use it better than you can swim.”

Kyrilu laughed at Quintessa's remarks. As quick as she was quick-witted.

"Glad you remember me, Quin," Ky winked, moving to follow Daxa as she lead the way towards the tomb entrance. "We can test our blade skills some other time, hmm?" He said, adroitly flourishing his blades.

“Lead the way, Little Brother.”

Ky nodded in response as the groupstrode through the desolate courtyard. He would accept the taunts, the barbs - they would only fuel his anger for the coming mission. If the welcome party they had received was anything to go by, what awaited them inside would require his full strength.

As he approached the tomb's entrance, the backwash of darkside energy seemed, to his Sight, to roar from the mouth of stone. Whether it was from the artefacts within or from the sheer mass of hungry nether beasts, he couldn't be sure, but whatever it was, was powerful indeed.

Into the tomb he walked, his stride confident, down a short flight of wide, cracked steps and through a tall archway only to pause once the vista appeared before him. A massive underground lake stretched out in front, its far end lost in dappled shadow. The water itself was dark, impenetrable to normal sight but Ky's Sight showed him its impossible depth. Black stone concourses floated on the water's surface, spanning the width and breadth of the lake, offering access to the countless dark archways on either side of the water. Dim glowglobes on the walls, in the ceiling and, sparsely, on the concourses would afford little help to the group's members who relied on normal sight.

Ky whistled.

"Anyone have a map?"

 

[Kyyrk]

Deep in the depths, the darkness stirred. The Temple had a guest. The nest within writhed and hungered. And yet through the darkness a single figure strode. The Grand Temple, it had once been called. Built to honor the sacrifice of the Light, and its fallen heroes. Kyyrk still remembered in the depths of his mind. The day that his father had overseen the opening of such a grand structure. The largest on Vylmira at the time. But now it lay dark. Corrupted by rot and ruin. The enemy had won.

But within its victory may lie the key to its defeat. Or so Kyyrk prayed. But prayer and faith could not win a war alone. And so he found himself within the halls once again, seeking the heart of the legend surrounding the temple. The Sith Lord, Vitra Kol. That was what they had called it, at least. Kyyrk remembered bits and pieces of the ancient poem about the dark lord. About the tomb the Temple was built to hide. Some five thousand years ago, the people of Vylmira had decided the legend of Vitra Kol was too dangerous, and so they concealed it from the galaxy.

Kyyrk only wished it was that easy. As he drew near to the heart of the temple, he paused, humming part of the poem to himself. It was a shame he couldn't remember more of it. He'd helped write it after all. A Sith Tomb in the midst of the Grand Temple, on a largely neutral world? It was a wonder that few people ever questioned it. But Kyyrk didn't complain. The illusion had done its job well enough. And maker willing, after today it would be nothing more than a tale for children.

But the itch at the back of Kyyrk's mind suggested otherwise. The Sith that had landed mere moments ago were making excellent headway into the temple. They would be upon him soon, even with his intimate knowledge of the temple's every twist, turn, and pitfall. Kyyrk turned to look back down the hallway the Sith would soon pursue him down, whether they knew it or not. He frowned under his helmet. If there was anything left here for him to find, he'd best find it. And fast...​

Kyrilu Storm-wracked || Daxa Zuul || Quintessa || Kalzok

 

[Quintessa]

Location: Vylmira
Dialogue Legend: <<Ghoul-Speak>> │ “Imperial Basic” │ <”ur-Kittât”>
Tags: Daxa Zuul Kyrilu Storm-wracked Kalzok Kyyrk

The squabbling ended with the echoing directive of the large, floating figure who seemed to be accompanying the group of Inquisitors. Quintessa returned the glare of Daxa Zuul , but otherwise said nothing more before tending to the trio of slash marks which had been torn across her side by one of the Nether-beasts, quickly irrigating the wounds, before applying a spray-bandage. Not long after, Quintessa caught back up with the group as they came up on the entrance to the tomb itself, with Kyrilu Storm-wracked leading the way inside.

Upon entering the tomb, the first thing she noticed was that it was Dark.

With a mental command, Quintessa switched to her helmet’s low-light visibility setting, but it could do nothing for the deluge of Dark Side energy that assailed her Sense. While it didn’t make her uncomfortable, the sheer density of it was blinding, unlike anything she had ever felt. To compensate, Quintessa focused more on her Sense, not wanting to be caught off-guard by any of the Inquisitors or anything that lurked inside of the tomb. Unfortunately, the speedster’s talent in that area was no match for the Miraluka’s inherent ability, which gave him a frustrating advantage over her, for the time being.

Ky whistled.

"Anyone have a map?"

Quintessa didn’t answer, instead pouting in silence as her anger simmered at the Miraluka’s casual arrogance.

 

[Kalzok]

By the Force, JC, A tomb, Part 4
Location: The Tomb of Vitra Kol, Vylmira
Tags: Daxa Zuul Kyrilu Storm-wracked Quintessa Kyyrk

A massive underground lake stretched out in front, its far end lost in dappled shadow. The water itself was dark, impenetrable to normal sight but Ky's Sight showed him its impossible depth. Black stone concourses floated on the water's surface, spanning the width and breadth of the lake, offering access to the countless dark archways on either side of the water. Dim glowglobes on the walls, in the ceiling and, sparsely, on the concourses would afford little help to the group's members who relied on normal sight.

Ky whistled.

"Anyone have a map?"

Kalzok was silent for a few moments, almost motionless.

"The globes hold meaning. A star pattern, inverted, much as this tomb inverts the meaning of the Temple built around it."

Kalzok drifted across the water, not bothering to step on the concourses. The water rippled away from him in irregular patterns. The Seekers followed don't he concourses, carefully stepping forwards to keep abreast of Kalzok.

"Be on guard. We are not alone."

Kalzok did not only mean the ghouls and Varzigs that prowled the dark corners of the tomb; he could sense another presence deep in the ruin. There was an unusual... sensation to the pattern.

"Inquisitor Zuul, are we expecting others?"

 

[Daxa Zuul]

Kyrilu Storm-wracked Quintessa Kalzok Kyyrk​

A miasma of darkness and despair settled thick in the air over the black lake. In the Force, the temple was like an infected wound, rancid and insidious. She drank deeply from the heedy brew, and fed it to the devouring flame that burned at the core of her soul. The Darkside whispered of past events, of unholy violations that had seen the tomb perverted from its original purpose. The echoes were etched in the walls, in the air, even the ground beneath her feet.

And in the dark, there came a flicker. Ah. What have we here?

The Spine Lord had noticed as well. “Be on guard,” he said in his eerie voice. “We are not alone. Inquisitor Zuul, are we expecting others?”

She swept past Kyrilu, tilting her ear towards one particular archway as if she was listening to a sound only she could hear. There was something ahead. A presence, or the impression of one, fleeting and ephemeral. Not an evolved ghoul or Varzing, though she sensed them as well, lurking in the deep shadows.

“We are not,” she answered finally, turning to look upon the group. Let the Spine Lord take from that what he would. “No maps, Little Brother. The Darkside will guide you, if your faith is strong enough.” That she doubted his faith was apparent, if yet unspoken.

She turned away, stalking down the concourse towards that arch that had drawn her attention, boots clicking on the hard stone. “Kyrilu, take the Seekers and search the other corridors." A test. Would he follow orders, or follow his instincts? "Quin, darling? You’re with me.”

She wouldn’t presume to give orders to the Lorekeeper. For all that she disdained the dark magicks he held so dear, the man was a Sith Lord, and she was no fool.

Into the darkness they went.

​