Private To the Highest Bidder goes the Spoils

[Darth Strosius]

"...And here we have a lovely, high quality, and completely original full set of standard issue Sith Knight armor! Completely untarnished and unused, bidding starts at 1,000 credits. Do I hear-we got one bidder for 1,000!" The infamous auction had begun in earnest. One of the many that had been hosted at the Nemesis Terminal Station, now simply dubbed Nemesis Station. Located along the Daragon Trail and having once been a resupply station for the fallen Sith Empire, the leftover supplies as well as the station itself had by now long since been claimed by more than one black-market smuggler group.

The position of the station and the supplies from the Sith Empire meant that Nemesis Station kept busy with shipping and receiving various goods, both illegal and somewhat legal, all along the Daragon Trail. In the past few months however the smugglers had agreed to start cutting out the middle men and had subsequently began hosting black market auctions from the station itself to rake in some extra credits. And given the ever present demand for weapons, armor, fuel, ammunition, and other Sith oddities, business was good.

Too good, in Alisteri's opinion.

Tonight in particular the auctioneers had paraded a new collection of various Sith artifacts and texts, everything from holocrons to literal tomes and even some ancient weaponry, as their new premier items for this auction. Selling off sacred artifacts would be the final straw for the Acolyte, something that he could not let go unpunished. As the auction went on, the artifacts in question being held until the finale, the masked Sith would skulk among the rafters and vents above the showroom.

Waiting for his chance to reclaim what rightfully belonged to his order.

Drakin K'latus Xolim

 

[Drakin K'latus Xolim]

Objective: Attend the auction
Location: Nemesis Station
Tag: Darth Strosius

Drakin sat there in silence as the bid went on, nothing he hadn't attended before. He wasn't here for some petty armour set, though it would be nice... no. He was here for something a bit more... ancient? To be honest he didn't know what was in stock, but he had a good eye for relics. His guards sat beside him as they scanned the surroundings.

The Falleen Underlord didn't like to make a public appearance, certainly not in a place like this. But alas, he couldn't argue with the opportunity to collect some relics of the fallen Sith Order. There were a lot of curious bidders here, he had to admit. Hopefully one of them would make it more interesting.

He signalled his guard to make the bid for 2000. The hate for Sith amongst the people was obvious, though too Drakin, it was a shame. The Sith were a power in the galaxy that were feared, he could respect it. Though his thoughts would never come to life, the Sith had fallen, that was the end of it.

His thoughts veered back to the bid as the bid for the armour finished. He raised an eyebrow at his guard. He hadn't recalled making another bid, he wasn't all too cruel to his personal detail, but he did not like people wasting his credits without his say. He sighed as he let it go, not bothering to inquire into it. At least he had something new to add to his collection. Nothing would spoil his mood.

He had heard news of the possibilities of holocrons being auctioned, hence why he was there. He knew some buyers would pay a sizeable price for it, so why not make some profit. He had only recently heard news of the spoils on the station, a shame he had heard so late though.

A mistake someone will certainly pay for, Drakin thought.

Disobedience was not something to be ignored in the Black Sun, certainly not if it cost him credits. He scanned the crowd again, but as he scanned his surroundings, he felt something wash over him. He knew the feeling all too well. He was eyed the stage, waiting for the next artefact.

"Maybe whatever comes next will actually be worth bidding for." He muttered.

​

 

[Darth Strosius]

Objective: Reclaim the artifacts
Location: Nemesis Station
Tag: Drakin K'latus Xolim
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"2,000! We've got a bid for 2,000 do I hear one for-and 2,500 sold to the gentleman in the back!" The Auctioneer drew a couple of glares at that, seemingly from some more interested collectors, but he had his orders. They did have the main event to get to after all, and 2,500 credits were more than enough for one suit of armor.

The lights dimmed, focusing all attention on the stage as the Auctioneer cleared his throat. "And now my friends and scoundrels, we move onto our crown jewels of this evening." Alisteri's gaze narrowed, watching as one of the assistants emerged from the storage and walked onto the showroom's stage with a crate.

The assistant set the crate down center stage and tapped a button to open it.

All at once the atmosphere of the auction seemed to grow quiet and cold, the red glow of a Sith Holocron drawing the eyes of every bidder in the room. "A genuine, untainted and unopened Sith Holocron. Perfect for any collector of dark and creepy artefacts!" The Auctioneer smirked as he walked over to the crate and reached down to lift the holocron out and display it for all to see. Alisteri moved quickly, seeing his opportunity, to the catwalks just above the stage. The only lights still on were the stage lights and the dim ones at the bidder tables, but it would be good enough.

"Now let's start the bidding at-" The Auctioneer paused as the lights on the stage flickered off one by one, the holocron seeming to glow brighter in response. "What? What is-Hey! Did someone turn off my-!" He was interrupted by a red cloaked figure landing behind him, but he didn't turn to see his attacker in time. Gasps and even a scream or two erupted from bidders and assistants alike as the red blade of a lightsaber pierced through the chest of the Auctioneer, a choked breath being his last.

"This auction is over." The body fell and Alisteri quickly grabbed the holocron as the auction's guards sprang into action.

 

[Drakin K'latus Xolim]

Objective: Get the holocron
Location: Nemesis Station
Tag: Darth Strosius

Drakin was still looking around when the auctioneer began speaking. Crown jewel? It certainly caught the attention of the room. but the question everyone was wondering was, what would it be? There was only one thing it could be, something valuable and difficult to attain. The Underlord would do anything to get it, anything.

It was as if the room held its breath as the box was placed, and the red glow of the holocorn revealed itself. It truly was beautiful, the hasty mutters of the crowd filled the room. It seemed like there would be some competition. Suddenly the lights flickered as the auctioneer began to announce the bid, then suddenly a figured dropped from the top of the room.

"Red blade..." He muttered in awe.

The crowd began fleeing the room as Drakin rose. "Guards! Get me that holocron!" His guard stumbled as they rushed to attack the foe, a Sith. The auctioneer fell limp on the floor. Taking one final sip from his glass, he threw it at the ground, shattering into dozens of pieces. He raised his hand into a finger gun, miming shooting the Sith. Then, doing it again, blaster bolts fired from his index and middle finger, no, not from them, from the rings.

As the blaster bolts made its way to the presumed Sith, he raised his hand to his comm. "Send additional guards to the auction, it just became much more interesting."

​

 

[Darth Strosius]

Objective: Escape the station
Location: Nemesis Station
Tag: Drakin K'latus Xolim
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The shock was over quick, and the action began even faster. Guards, both from the auction itself as well as some from the bidders, began moving towards the stage and firing at Alisteri as he stepped back from the body. He kept on the move, deflecting the incoming blaster bolts as he went and ducking down to avoid others.

A couple guards were downed by the bolts being deflected back at them, some even began infighting to reach the Sith quicker, but most were on the hunt after him.

He decapitated another guard that tried to get in his way as he made it off the stage, ducking and throwing up a table to block more incoming shots as he glanced around for an exit. Most of the crowd that had fled the room by now, but guards began pouring in to replace them. If the Acolyte didn't find a way out quick then he would be surrounded and gunned down.

And that simply wouldn't do at all.

With a grunt he threw the table back behind himself at the original group of guards, raising his lightsaber to deflect the incoming fire from the guards rushing in as he glanced up. The catwalks had gotten him inside, perhaps he could get back out that way.

Alisteri paid little heed to the other occupants of the room and instead leapt up and grabbed onto the edge of the catwalk above him, his other hand still busy with deflecting blaster fire as he struggled to pull himself up onto the catwalk.

 

[Drakin K'latus Xolim]

Objective: Get the holocron
Location: Nemesis Station
Tag: Darth Strosius

He watched with curiosity as the alleged Sith moved, curious. He had no time to appreciate the Sith in all his "glory" though, he had an artefact to retrieve, one that the Sith had stolen from him. Slowly from under his robe, he unsheathed one of many blades. "This ought to do it." He muttered as he took the tip of the blade between his fingers.

Slowly he took a deep breath, and launched the blade at the catwalk. The last he saw of it was a small red light at the base of the blades hilt suddenly turn green, with that he smiled. His smile widened as the blade hit the catwalk, barely 2 meters from the masked figure.

To his opponents, it would look like he missed, but to him, it was perfectly placed. The blade suddenly let out a shock of electricity, which spread throughout the catwalk, Drakin's smile lessened as his annoyance at the malfunction was displayed. A minor malfunction wouldn't hinder his success though.

The explosion which emitted from the blade engulfed the catwalk as Drakin slowly marched onwards towards the Sith's location. Hopefully, the Sith would come out unscathed, that would surely make this a much, much more interesting day. More of his guards entered the room, standing by the Underlords side as they made ready.

"Are you ready to give me back what is mine?"

​

 

[Darth Strosius]

Objective: Escape the station
Location: Nemesis Station
Tag: Drakin K'latus Xolim
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Fending off incoming fire from below and trying to get back onto the catwalk with only one hand was proving just as difficult a task as one might imagine. The occasional shot that made it past him and hit the catwalk itself or the roof above did little to help him focus on hauling himself over the railing either. Finally though he almost managed to pull himself up enough to get a foot onto the catwalk, but then a blade hit the catwalk above him.

He paid it no mind at first, it had missed him after all. That would prove to be a mistake however.

The electricity that it exuded was almost enough to make him lose his grip out of sheer surprise, almost more so than the pain it caused in his hand. When the catwalk itself was covered in fire as well as leftover electricity due to the resulting explosion however, letting go was merely the only viable course of action. And cursing all the way back down to the ground as well of course.

Alisteri somehow managed to land on his feet with little issue, although he did have to catch a piece of falling debris with his free hand before it crashed onto his head. The whole ordeal had him a bit winded but still aware, his eyes furiously glancing around until they landed on an approaching figure. His gaze narrowed immediately.

He nearly growled in response as he gritted his teeth and hefted up the debris higher above his head. "It was never yours to begin with." And with that he threw the debris like a spear at the crimelord, idly hoping to skewer the other for his insolence.

Then he could come up with a way out of this mess.