Tython has a Darkside

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael sat within the cockpit of his small blackbird the blue lines of hyperspace streaking by him. He had his eyes closed, the orange orbs in his skull hidden behind his eyelids. The cockpit of this reconnaissance craft was small, almost tiny. Soliael had been stuck inside it for nearly a day and a half now with no chance to stretch his legs and no chance to move about. Thankfully it had some small amenities that one needed for living, but other than that the ship was rather bare bones.

Suddenly a small beep erupted from the panel in front of him. Soliael immediately snapped his eyes open. At the exact same time the Blackbird tumbled out of hyperspace. The stealth ships matte black paint matched the stars around it almost exactly, its black engine drives pushing it forward as momentum carried it even faster.

The Blackbird cut through space quickly, like a lightsaber through flesh. Soliael let out a small sigh of relief as he spotted the blue terrestrial world before him. The Planet was Tython, notoriously difficult to get to. Soliael had found the hyperlanes he needed to get here through his fathers records. Moridin had once trained here as a child, and as always he had kept meticulous notes on where everything was. With his fathers help Soliael had found Tython, and with it the key to a question he had been plagued with for some months now.

Tython unlike many Jedi worlds had a darker side. Eons ago the world had been occupied by a Sith, one who was well versed in alchemy and Sith Sorcery, one who was now long dead. Of course any trace of the Sith herself had been long wiped away, her holocron taken to the Sith Empire Archives, her body completely destroyed, and her work likely destroyed. One thing however remained, her fortress itself.

The deep black citadel that had been erected on Tython so long ago. The Citadel was no little more than dust itself. The tower gone and its bigger buildings fallen into ruin. Below it however was a different story. More often than not Sith worked underground, and Soliael was willing to bet that this one was much the same.

So with a purpose Soliael pushed the throttle on his Blackbird forward, pressing the ship into the atmosphere of Tython and towards the southern pole.

 

[Alan]

Tracyn moved the hammer above his head, and then crashed it down on the door to the warehouse. He stepped inside, after smashing the remaining doorhinges. Contrary to popular belief, the three most popular points to break down a door, especially a strong door, were the hinges and the lock. Tracyn freed the door from it's confines of uprightness and stepped inside, glancing around as he rubbed his face with his crushgaunted hand. The wildcards with him grunted as he came back, weapons at the ready. Tracyn came out and shrugged."Set a charge, this place is ugly. I think we can turn it into a Jedi waterpark or something when we're done with this place."Tracyn said, stretching out his arms.

"Are we allowed to do this sir?"

Tracyn turned back to the inquisitive soldier, and gave a small shrug."I mean...probably. You're getting explosives training, there's an eyesore going away...plus we get to take a munchkin out of the house for a bit."The six Wildcards turned to look at @[member="Ronnie Vexis"], who was along for the ride. Tracyn motioned to another set of doors, making them stack up."Alright Ronnie, clear this room. Anything funky-dunky, we kill it, and then we set a charge if it's clear. Or not. Look for anything Sithy, we don't want any dark sideness around our little house, now do we?"Tracyn said, slapping him on the back and gesturing to the small building's door.
@[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Marcus Itera]

Ronnie gave a heaving sigh. Some people just didn't understand the finer points of living, much less combat. The young Padawan preferred to use the Force and take others' thoughts into account when participating on missions. Yet, he hadn't been on very many missions and had "volunteered" for this tainted expedition into the shadows. @[member="Tracyn Ordo"] was the particular Knight who he'd just recently met. At the start, he seemed the fine man, a warrior-seeming kind of guy. And now, this observation was one of the most accurate Ronnie had ever made.

His eyebrows raised with solemn boredom as Tracyn regarded him with the term "munchkin" and introduced him to the soldiers accompanying them. Ronnie didn't very much like soldiers, even though they were there to protect people. They were forced to kill on many occasions and that wasn't what any sensible being should do. Peace and understanding go a long way. The Padawan opened his mouth to offer a retort on just knocking on the door, but held himself for a moment to reword his sentence. "Alright." He gave a two finger salute, planting a hand upon his lightsaber. "Sounds like a plan."

@[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Alan]

Tracyn stared at the kid for a long while, blinking at him. He patted the door, gesturing him again."You know, opening the door typically helps. Breach the door properly or I'll make you run laps tied to the front of my speeder."He said, tapping his foot and stepping back. He crossed his arms, waiting for @[member="Ronnie Vexis"] to properly open the door, like he was instructed to.

 

[Marcus Itera]

The young man couldn't help but frown at the intense stare @[member="Tracyn Ordo"] gave him. It felt uncomfortable. Weird. Oh well, one more person to add to his weirdo list. He sure hoped a fellow like this wouldn't find the link to his Galactic e-Match account. The Padawan gave Ordo a slight shrug of the shoulders, not exactly knowing what a proper breach was. Ronnie wasn't trained at all in the military aspect, he merely had a very limited knowledge of saber dueling and some training in Teras-Kasi.

Ronnie huffed out air, bored with the current situation. He strode forward, locking his fingers around the aged handle of the charcoal black door. A moment passed before he set his weight upon it, yanking the handle downwards to unlock the mechanism within the door. With a heave, he pulled back with all of his might to open the door to a wide angle. Before he knew it, he was inside, merely strolling around with green eyes observing anything for importance.

@[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Kiyron]

Kiyron shook his head in despair, "Well done. Well done. Just got yourself blown to pieces in a crossfire." He scuffed the ground with his boot, carbine held ready, but pointing towards the ground to prevent friendly fire accidents. To be honest, he wouldn't have known how to do it a while back either. But he did now, and that made all the difference. Plus he wasn't too fond of the thought of letting someone not know it when it might save their life.
Not much he could do though. Jedi, even Padawans, were outside his chain of command in most occurrences. He paused, considering. "Are Jedi not taught tactics? Even with the Sith Empire growing?" He unconsciously scans the sky and horizon, checking for anything that might be approaching. Looked clear for the moment, at least. Could be anything approaching though.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael dropped the Blackbird into Tythons atmosphere with carefully practiced movements. The ship cut through the atmosphere like a knife, its flat profile making it easy to go through the air. Quickly he passed into the night time zone of the planet and towards the black citadel. He knew that he had to be careful, so until he reached a few miles away from the citadel he remained within the upper reaches of the atmosphere.

Finally after a few minutes Soliael dropped the blackbird into a low descent, and flew towards the surface of the world. Within another few minutes Soliael swooped in several miles away from where the citadel supposedly was. He had come in almost impossibly, almost dangerously so, but it had been wroth it to remain hopefully undetected. The False god landed his starship in a low forest clearing. The Blackbird touched down within the tree's and as soon as it did Soliael jumped form the cockpit.

“Right. Stay here for now, ill call if I need the help.” He said to his companion as he pulled something from a compartment in the blackbird and immediately threw it over the black ship. The Camouflage net covered the ship entirely, hiding it well from not looking too closely.

He frowned slightly, adjusting his gauntlets and making his way out of the clearing. The citadel was three miles to the north, a relatively short jaunt for him. “I'll be back.”

Soliael said, and then suddenly he was gone. The force flowing through him as he began to run.

 

[Alan]

The entire area froze around him, as Tracyn slowly raised his lightsaber hilt. He turned to Ronnie, glaring at him."Breach the door, don't just open it...but now. There's something naughty in the neighborhood." He said, twirling his lightsaber hilt. He turned towards Ronnie, then directed the soldiers around him."Forget clearing this place. Blow it all. Someone's coming. Someone naughty. And...kind of powerful. So..lessons over, Ronnie."Tracyn's massive shoulders flexed as he marched forward, coming to the head of the temple. His icy gray eyes peered over the landscape, as his body started to tense up. Fingers trembled for a moment, his heart started to race, and his body reacted. He was anticipating a fight. He was probably right.

@Soliael Devin Talith @[member="Ronnie Vexis"] @Kiyron

 

[Kiyron]

Kiyron snapped to attention at the words, paying much closer attention to things around, scanning terrain for anything out of the ordinary. He let the carbine slip to his side, hanging by the shoulder strap and knelt down in the grass, disconnecting a case from his pack and flipping it open. He gave the rifle parts a cursory glance before pulling them out and smoothly assembling them. He gave the final piece a quick check, and then gave a curt nod, and gestured to some of the other WIldcards around.
"Plant the charges, hurry!" He lifted the sniper rifle, and wheeled slowly about, checking the terrain again. He turned to the Jedi, "Have a location on this person? Or distance?"
@[member="Tracyn Ordo"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael moved through the forest like a flash of lightning. He passed by tree's, boulders, and a few destroyed buildings like it was nothing. This was a gift he had inherited from his father. Moridin had always been a master of Force Speed, a god when it came to out moving his family. While Soliael was not quite as fast as his now dead father, he was still a blur when moving most of the time. After a few solid minutes of running Soliael ended up on a small outlying tower of the former citadel.

He looked down into the valley below, unsurprisingly finding movement down in the Citadel below. He frowned slightly, staring at what he guessed were Jedi.

Soliael scowled, he had no idea what they were doing here. There was no way they could have known of his coming. The Blackbird was entirely based around stealth, detecting the ship was next to impossible and detecting himself even more so. No, they must have been here from the beginning, getting rid of the ancient Sith ruins of their own volition. He let out an exasperated sigh. It seemed like they hadn't found the underground tunnels yet, something Soliael was thankful for.

Slowly Soliael shook his head. From now on the best bet was to wait until nightfall to continue. The Jedi could clown around on the surface all they wanted, they could destroy the remaining buildings and entrances but deep below the earth would be a massive tunnel network. Soliael knew this, and so he decided to wait.

 

[Alan]

Tracyn slowly stopped, signalling everyone to fall still. He looked around, sensing the presence getting closer. He stopped, glancing around."My sithey senses are tingling..."He said with a snarl, grasping at his lightsaber hilt. He bounced it between his hands."Ronnie, stay or go. Make a choice. The rest of you, beat it. I'll radio you if I fail, and if I do, blow this place to kingdom come. Whatever he or she or it came for, it'll be underground. So we're gonna find out what they want. And then kill them. Right Ronnie? You know. Kill. Slice. Dice. End 'em."He made a cutting motion at his neck, grinning in a borderline sociopathic way.

@[member="Ronnie Vexis"] @Kiyron

 

[Marcus Itera]

The Padawan cocked his gaze downwards as Tracyn and another soldier lectured him on proper breaching and clearing. It wasn't that he cared, it was that he wasn't meant to be a soldier. Jedi weren't meant to be soldiers in the first place. They were peacekeepers, only fighting for self-defense or to protect the innocent. However, Ronnie could pick up the looming darkness as well. It wasn't a massive blip the destroyed the light, but still a powerful force closing in from afar. With another sigh upon his lips, he replied meekly. "I'll go."
@[member="Tracyn Ordo"] @[member="Soliael Devin Talith"] @Kiyron

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael stood quietly next to a tall tree, waiting for the sun to set. He was only a few hundred meters away from the citadel now, in fact he was within its grounds. There was a light lulling smirk on his face and his eyes were closed as he waited. There would be time enough to complete his mission, and if the Jedi found him...well a couple of dead Jedi on the southern pole of Tython would go unnoticed for quite a bit.

Suddenly his eyes snapped open. He sensed something draw closer. A blip. There was no other way to describe it. His smirk dropped into a frown, and that frown became a scowl as he realized that the “blip” was.

The Jedi had apparently found him and were moving towards him. He had no idea how many Jedi there were, or how fast they would get here but the force pricked him in the back of his head. They were coming, that much he knew.

 

[Kiyron]

Kiyron nodded, lifting the sniper rifle and indicating the other Wildcards should plant explosives with their hand signs.
"Set them on all remaining buildings. Enough to level them," He scanned the surrounding ridgelines. Not a threat he could see. Given it was a Sith, he could be staring straight at one and not notice. He checked his wrist display. "Set the explosives in squads, assume hostile territory. Exfil and rendezvous at this point," He marked a location on the display, "At 2000, assume surveillance." He looked around, and gave a nod. "Good luck. No need to remind you we may be the only defense here against a Sith invasion." He motioned to his squad. "We'll head to the ridge-line and provide cover fire if necessary."
This wasn't good. It was always a bad sign when Jedi didn't communicate details. Although, given this particular Jedi, it might actually be normal. He started loping up the hill side, scanning the area ahead, with his team falling in behind. He glanced back. "Someone give @[member="Kei Amadis"] a call. Tell him we may need reinforcements."

 

[Darth Kentarch]

Arcturus could not fly a spaceship. The easy part was bribing the talented smuggler to get him through the hyperspace route, and believe it or not there was more information in old databanks lying around on routes to Tython. The hard part was getting the credits and ensuring the smuggler would return to pick him up. Arcturus had only given him a quarter of his payment, if he wanted the rest the smuggler would need to return.

With the efforts of the smuggler, and concealing his presence in the force, Arcturus had already been on the planet for more than a day and had gone completely unnoticed. Despite being an apprentice, Arcturus made every effort to get his hands on items of antiquity which brought him here in the first place. His point of interest was that of the an ancient citadel built during the New Sith Wars. However Arcturus was not so quick to approach the place, as unlike others he knew the ancient dangers that likely still lurked within the fortresses corridors, and did not posses the power to face it alone.

The sun would soon set and now Arcturus made his final approach staying in cover and moving discreetly as possible, yet as he closed on his objective he felt something in the force. He turned away for a moment, then cringed in frustration, some one else was coming. He could not turn back now, the citadel was only minutes away.

@Soliael Devin Talith

 

[Alan]

Tracyn stood, several meters away from his target. The funny thing was, that the dark side was a corruptible essence in a light-sided area. Ashlan and Bogan were very different feelings, and contrary to popular belief, it was very difficult to pinpoint a specific location. In a sense, it was like walking into a fog. He twirled his lightsaber hilt in his hand, sniffing a bit. There were other things besides the force, that Tracyn knew how to use to hunt down people. Specifically, bad people. Tracyn curled his crushgaunted hands, the inscriptions on them freshly soldered on. He tapped his hilt against his armored leg, glancing around.

"If I were a Sith hiding behind a tree, I'd want me to be a sweet honey bee, and if I were a simple little man, I'd want to be a man with a plan. Oh, yeah. What's at the citadel, Sith?"He said, glancing around the clearing. The air was tense, and very, very, very, dangerous. Whoever was out there, was about as menacing as they come. And, in fairness, Tracyn was very, very, very mean. And, so was this person, whomever they may be. He was clouded in his force senses, but otherwise, he was sharp as anything. Tracyn was good, very good, even when he couldn't use the force entirely.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael watched from the shadows within the forest, standing on a branch a few dozen feet away from the Jedi Knight. A low fog ran over the forest floor as night settled upon Tython. The Sith looked at the Jedi, studying him for a few minutes. The man seemed to be wearing full armor, Mandalorian armor in fact. Soliael raised an eyebrow as he began to speak, his orange eyes peering through the mist. The Jedi seemed to expect him to answer, to give away his position, an odd thing that.

For a few more moments the Sith Lord simply stood in silence, watching the Jedi Knight from his hidden vantage point.

It was important to note that the two of them were within the ground of the old Citadel. A piece of the black tower lay felled just a dozen yards away from them, tree's and plants grew over and above it providing great cover for soldiers and snipers. Soliael remained aware of this, though he was not worried about it due to the time of day and the heavy mist that was settling on the valley.

Suddenly Soliael's right eye snapped open, black specs floating across it as the force filled him for a brief few seconds.

“Jedi apparently.” His voice resounded throughout the forest, seemingly coming from no point in particular. He had used the force to keep himself hidden, to make his voice bounce, this way the Jedi could not find him. Soliael was an expert in the old magics of the Sith, and he would need to use all his tricks here.

 

[Alan]

"Most days, yeah. People call me a Jedi. Not many usually stick around to talk to me, so you're one of the special ones. Unless you wanna come out behind the tree or whatever you're hiding behind, to come talk to me. I may not even be in a fighting mood, I may be in a propositioning mood. See, you're probably here for whatever is in, or beneath, those freaky deeky ruins over there. What I may be interested in, is getting that the kark off my planet, depending on what it is. Or..."He paused in his words for slight dramatic effect and to think them over, and began to bounce his lightsaber between his hands idly whilst doing so, before speaking once more."You could just come out and start swinging, and I don't know how that'll go for you, cutey pie."He said sarcastically, hoping someone with a little more firepower would arrive soon. But, Tracyn wasn't exactly a...newcomer to combat, or fighting Sith. He'd done it a lot.

A whole lot.

And bad guys.

And mailmen.

And small business owners.

And a large, interstellar corporation that may or may not have gotten his order wrong.

And the people that did his laundry that one time.

And his wife.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael simply stood in place on the tree branch, watching the Jedi as he paced through the woods. He said nothing for a time, simply observing the man. He carried lightsabers, that was of course to be expected, it was however the armor that interested Soliael. It was Mandalorian in origin, something that was obvious to him. So a Mandalorian jedi apparently wanted him dead, that was not something that he saw every day of the week. A frown settled on his face, and finally his voice answered again.

“Interesting. I don't believe i've ever met such an aggressive Jedi before.” Soliaels voice resounded throughout the forest. It bounced off tree's and rocks, seemingly assailing the Jedi Knight from every corner. “Other Jedi would ask to arrest me. To tell me of my evils and convert me back to the faith of the light.”

He smirked slightly “But not you. You just want to get straight to the killing don't you?”

Soliael closed his eyes, taking in the smell and sounds of the forest. The fog was thick now, so thick that he could only barely make out the Jedi a few meters below him. He smiled slightly, wondering what the Jedi would do.

 

[Alan]

Tracyn gave off a shrug and a sniff, wiping his lip with his gauntleted hand."The amount of...meh. Agitation. I have with you Sith, kind of supercedes my desire to really want to try and convince you of that crap. Besides, you assholes never listen, so I just kinda stopped saying it. It's gotten, really, really, really boring to say...so I think you and I appreciate the fact that I'm skipping the option. However, the original deal still stands. Besides, one little call to my buddies, and your little...escapade, will be swarming with Jedi that can do the 'crush a planet by lifting their pinky' thing. The real nice kind.."Tracyn said, bouncing his lightsaber back and forth. His eyes began to focus, focus on every detail. First, he started to sort. Sort out of everything. The vegetation. What was and wasn't there. He moved onto the lighting. What shadows were cast, what light was let through. And then he looked for things out of the ordinary, all in a manner of seconds.

Despite what people may think, Tracyn's fantastic combat ability also came from the fact that Tracyn was so...surgical. Whilst his body acted like a sledgehammer, his mind was like a razor. He could only cause so much devastation and destruction and death simply because he always had a plan. Maybe, at times, they weren't very good ones, but Tracyn always moved with a certain purpose, he always acted with a certain viciousness as well. And that viciousness is what made him so good at...well, being him. Few Jedi were able to even stand to be near him, and many people actually. He was a violent, borderline sociopathic, hypocritical anti-hero with a possible drug addiction and a habit to do general naughty things. But nobody called him on it, so nobody really did anything."Besides, I wonder what my sniper buddy thinks of you. He's real good, I hear."Tracyn said, recalling the man from earlier. He wondered if he actually did zoom in on him."And I'm surprised you don't remember me, come on...Metalorn..?"Tracyn said, his eyes fixating on a small, bright orange against a dark and green background, and he smiled. He put his arms out, and dropped his lightsaber. He was playing on a gamble. He wondered if he knew that he knew Teras Kasi...probably not.

Or he did.

Either way, it was only at his feet.