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As the Tuk'ata lunged for her, Grace's first instinct was to pull out her saber. But she hesitated for a split second before pulling the blaster. No need to show her guide that quite yet. She fired a pair of shots into one of the approaching beasts, before rolling to the side as one snapped at her. It caught the end of her scarf, and she turned, feeling the fabric tear as the beast tried to tear through it. Or maybe pull her closer. She wasn't sure.
Dropping into a croutch, she fired three shots into the thing's flank. The third beast roared, and slammed into the wall next to her, the final few blaster shots of the encounter killing it before it got close before she sidestepped the still-moving body. Impressive momentum. Turning to her guide, she smiled as she listened to him. "The best treasures are harder to get." With that, she delved deeper, pulling out a glowrod to help light the stairs going down.
With all the flair of a cocky Talith, Micah shot his hands up in the air at the far end of the room.
HAH!
The massive waves of gloating satisfaction would not be missed. Nope, Vexen felt them in spades, and she could only sigh and roll her eyes at that.
He's not going to shut up about it now, she probably mused, and indeed, she would be right.
Jumping to her feet, the Defel quickly and lightly followed the path that the Talith had journeyed through. She was far more graceful than he, and by the time she was once again at his side, there was no denying that Micah was on the road to gloating joy.
"See, told you that there was nothing to worry about!" he quipped, deciding that this fantastic moment of personal victory required a bit of music.
Oh yeah, it was time to HIT IT!
Vex would know what was coming. A soon as she heard the first beep bop beats and the Nananana nanaaa, she knew exactly what was coming.
The booty shake strut.
[ Here comes the hotstepper! ]
As expected, Micah did indeed begin his booty shake strut down the corridor. Honestly, he should have known better, but the man had his flaws. Instead of moving cautiously, he instead was too busy doing a half strut dance.
"Yous should be careful-- MICAH!" Vex warned, only to cry out too late. For just as Micah went over the first few steps, the foundation under him crumbled and he went down in a mass of debris and ... well, Hotstepping music.
[ I'm the lyrical ganster! ]
That free fall sensation sent his stomach right to his throat. In seconds, he was sliding and tumbling down in a tangle of arms, legs, and his cloak. Ow! Chit! OW! Feth! FETH! FETHHHH!
[ Still love you like thaaaat! ]
It was in these few precious, precious, painful moments... that Micah seriously considered his life choices. Note to self, do not let Nohei find out. Ever.
It took him a moment to figure out where the heck he was. His head was ringing a bit from the bumpy ride down, and hell, his arse was none too happy either. A grimace cut over his face, his HUD was adjusting for the new location. Okay, time to get stock on the situation. First thing he noticed was that he was on top of some random odd pile. Thankfully, he was already sticking to high heaven cause the amount of decomposing flesh and bones down here was enough to make anyone retch. Small miracles for a helm that had its own filter.
However, the massive Storm Beast currently using a thigh bone as a toothpick was not a miracle.
"Oh hell." Micah swore, hearing the scrambling of Vexen's paws coming down to reach him. Unfortunately, the crash combined with Vexen's approach did not bode well for the pair.
[ Touch them up and go Uh oh! Ch-ch-chang- chang!]the song taunted him then.
They had no chance to really prepare, now when the great lug of a twisted entity rose up onto his feet. With a massive drop of his jaws, he gave a massive roar of sonic energy, blowing a mass of debris, stone, and bones in the sudden burst. It struck Micah hard, flinging his body back against the wall. There was a distinctive crack as Micah felt like a ragdoll for a few moments, his ears ringing and the sensors going crazy on his HUD.
So no real pleasantries then. As the whipid moved methodically around the room she felt very under prepared, pursing her lips she itched to ask him the question dancing on her tongue.
Later perhaps, maybe when there want then overbearing sensation that opening the next door would bring a surprise that brought them a step closer to treasure or death.
"There is something certainly appealing about a cage. If Valik was half the man my mother claims he was it will be interesting to say the very least." She stepped up next to the whipid, feeling dwarfed by his size.
She offered a hand "Calina."
[member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Ostanes"] [member="Valik"]
The devaronian would smile and nod, and continue leading them forward. They'd deal with the occasional stray shyrak that was dealt with with a couple of blaster bolts. Simple stuff. The Devaronian would speak about how the staircase was farther ahead, until they came to a fork. Paths right, left, and forward. He'd keep going forward, saying the staircase was at the next right. As Grace passed through the intersection she'd find four men with blasters trained on her, two on the right and two on the left. Her guide would turn around as well, blaster raised.
"Let's go ahead and drop your valuables."
[member="Micah Talith"]
The Storm Beast was a merciless creature of a darker nature. One done throw the explorer with it's sonic blast it would charge forward, attempting to come at him with a meaty hook. Talith would have to move fast to avoid being cornered, or perhaps Vexen could distract it. While a very dangerous beast the creature wasn't known for it's intelligence.
[member="Ostanes"] [member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Velok the Younger"]
It appeared the trio decided to go towards Cage Three, and they would encounter little trouble as they traveled. Once arriving they'd find a primitive enclosure, some metal bars, likely Sith Alchemized, bound to the floor. What was inside though, was sort of crustaceous creature with an array of tentacles at it's back. Around three meters tall, many legs, chitonous plates covering it's legs, forearms and skull. Sinuous muscles in between, it looked a powerful beast. At the sight of the trio of Sith it would merely watch them, apparently discovering the futility of escape attempts long ago, or perhaps thinking a solution quietly. There were also an array of notes nearby, appearing to be measurements of the strength of the beast. Capable of digging in the sand, lightsaber resistant chitin plates, tentacles armed with poison and electricity that could be very lethal. It was referred to a "Sand Hydra" or "Sand Kraken" at various points in the notes, perhaps giving reference to it's creation or purpose.
Velok eyed the outstretched hand, then met her gaze and tilted his head. "Fishing," he said, and headed for the door to Cage Three.
Cage Three turned out to be the home of some kind of heavily restrained Sithspawn, of a type he didn't recognize. Velok scanned the notes and felt his eyes go wide. He turned to the other two Sith, gauging their reactions to the caged critter.
""Sand Kraken' or 'Sand Hydra.' Burrower. The tentacles are venomous and can deliver an electric shock. The chitin plates can stop a lightsabre. Obviously I want this; obviously I respect that one or both of you may want it too. But for the moment, my main question is how it's still alive. Warren Valik died years ago. Has someone been coming to feed it? If so, who? Or is it a Forcivore; can it hibernate and subsist on the Force for years like a tuk'ata?"
The door kept crashing into me, over and over again. Difficult situation- but there wasn't much else to do than grit your teeth and hope that the beasts would relent at some point. I dug my heels into the ground, at least the boots managed to find some kind of purchase, instead of making me slip all over the floor.
Gotta count your blessings.
After half a minute the Shyracks finally relented. Sweat was pouring down my back, muscles aching against the fatigue. Those things had been big, a few more minutes and they would have burst through, and instead of meeting them fit and ready... it would have been a slaughter, with only one particular victim on the menu.
I stretched out gently, feeling the bones crack and the muscles whine. The shoulder was giving me trouble again, but what else was new? A look was cast along the room- danky, dark, there were foul odors in the air courtesy of the chemicals. I took some time to sort through the papers, riffling through and giving some of them a more thorough view.
Most of it was about the Sithspawn in the temple- the one that caught my eye was the over-sized crab with the lightsaber-resistant... what was it called? Wasn't skin, crab armor? I shrugged and pocketed a few of the flimsi notes, the ones that seemed the most interesting, right before something else drew attention.
It was a bracelet of some kind, shiny and it looked expensive. I eyed it suspiciously, before carefully reaching out with the Force towards it... imbued with the Darkside.
The smell of alchemy was clear in the air.
Part of me thought it was stupid to just pick up an alchemy item in the lair of a notorious Alchemist. It could be a trap, there was the possibility that the moment I trie- well, that was the solution then, no? Unless some trap would be triggered the bracelet disappeared into a pocket, I wasn't going to put it on immediately. Once the danger was gone and I was in the clear, I'd run a few tests and see if there wasn't anything wrong with it. Controlled environment, the works.
Now then... Cages or Main. Cages... or Main. Main or cages? I shrugged, before picking option Main for now. If there wasn't anything interesting there, I could always go back to the cages later on. Before pushing the door open I cautiously stretched out with the Force towards the next door, to see if there wasn't anything murderous waiting- then step through, if all was well.
Silas continued on down towards main, wary of any and all sorts of traps up ahead, just as he had been careful and observant with the notes and the bracer. He stopped as he went, finding a series of holes in the walls halfway down. Perhaps they released arrows or shot lasers or something, but it was something to be cautious about. Looking at the floor he'd see tiles in a sandy brown, a steel gray, and an almost porcelain white. Up at the ceiling he'd spot what appeared to be some light panels that weren't activated. Perhaps with some telekinesis or some electrical manipulation he could get them on. Every few holes on the wall had a metallic ring around them, perhaps denoting an especially deadly or safe trap.
There was usually only one reason for a Sith to outfit their catacombs and facilities with traps, guardians and other security measures. To prevent looters from doing their job, to protect their toys one way or another and to kill any intruder.
But why would you tip off your intruder about the things in store for them?
This made me stop in my tracks. I studied the wall and the holes in them, then focused on the rings that seemed to signify... something, followed by the floor tiles which were distinctly marked as to present a choice of some sort. The disabled lights were almost an afterthought in the light of the realization slowly creeping up.
My instinct, all of them, told me to run. Again. To simply turn my back on this place and enjoy the spoils I had already gotten - the flimsi notes would probably fetch a good prize, people would pay good money to know what exactly they would be up against, and the bracelet was probably worth about half a Calrissian freighter.
But was there any really choice, besides moving forward? I could hardly go back - those winged, flying bats were still out there and I doubted I would manage to climb back through the hole I had made with the explosion's shockwave.
I frowned. The fact that this entire thing seemed to be some kind of test, with people being funneled one way or another didn't inspire confidence.
After another look at the light panels, I decided to move back a bit, staying clear from the proximity of the holes in the wall. Then I carefully manipulated the panels, trying to turn them on again. The most gifted of Ysanna could guide half a dozen flying projectiles at once.
I was neither as experienced or strong as they were, but if I was careful enough it probably wouldnt break on me.
Calina grinned as the whipid called her out, letting her hand drop to her side without any pride wounded. "Absolutely." She retorted, trailing after him, amusement playing on her face.
Stepping into the chamber containing the cage she felt amusement evaporate as awe spread across her face. It was beautiful, mottled gray it watched them approach with intelligent eyes. She felt a great wave of pity wash over her, such a creature should not be contained like this.
She approached the bars, fingers curling round them as she pressed herself against them like a child at a zoo as the whipid spoke though his words went straight over her head.
"So beautiful." She breathed, closing her eyes she reached out in the force for it, seeking to understand, to reach into its mind if she could.
It was almost as if she'd forgotten that [member="Ostanes"] and [member="Velok the Younger"] were even there.
The Ysanna's telekinetic manipulation might not have curved sniper bullets ninety degrees, but it was enough to get the lights to work. And no ordinary lights were these, instead revealing a specific path on the tiles that didn't pertain to any particular color other than the one revealed. The light would have also revealed any old blood stains lying around. Or perhaps that was marked the trail, old blood stains.
[member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Ostanes"]
The name "Sand Hydra" didn't necessarily mean the sithspawn was an amalgamation of creatures. Instead it meant it was modeled in a way after the old Battle Hydras made by Exar Kun long ago. Specifically they were built in such a way as to be influenced, carrying out their normal lives until someone came worthy of their command. When Calina reached out to the creature she'd find it easy to control, and even take a glimpse into it's memories. Somewhere in this facility held a collection of five spaarti cylinders, a holocron, and perhaps more.
[member="Valik"] [member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Silas of Ossus"] [member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Grace Darkson"]
Pain was a thing.
It ran down the length of the Talith’s body and heavily protested the sonic blast that had him crash against the wall earlier. With a thump, Micah fell onto his knees, still a bit discombobulated, his music playing in his HUD. Yeaah… He was going to hear about this.
The ground began to rumble. Twinkletoes Storm Beast was coming hard and fast for him. His meaty arm swung wide, ready to smack him for another painful hit when a dark shadow came darting up from the stairwell. It was Vex.
The Defel used her paws and her powerful hind legs to dash from one side of the stairwell to the next, using the additional momentum to burst out into the air and fly towards the Storm Beast’s back. A deep growl rumbled out of her throat, upper lip bared back to reveal sharp incisors. Vex used her claws to latch and dig right into the Storm Beast’s back, hoping to get it distracted enough to give Micah some time to get up.
Stumbling to his feet, Micah shook his head. His ears were still ringing, the left having been blown. A small trickle of blood was already flowing down his ear, but he still had his right.
Scrambling to his feet, Micah worked through the protesting of his body. One hand pulled the lightsaber from his hip, and instantly, an orange blade burst to life with a distinct swish-hiss. Moving alongside the Storm Beast, Micah did his best to try and slash at the creatures ankles.
Maybe he could get it to topple down.
Elsewhere in the catacombs, the ruckus that ensued MAY be heard by anyone else wandering in there...
The Storm Beast was a mighty creature, large and powerful, but it's size came with a price. Quickness was not it's strong suit. Though it was intelligent enough to know what the humming orange blade meant for it's life expectancy it was not swift enough to avoid the blow to it's ankles. It cut through one, topping the beast over as his second ankle rose above the coming blade. It landed to the floor with a great thud, some of the kinetic force being transferred to the defel pup on it's back. Between the saber-armed human and the invisible claws scratching at it's back the Storm Beast was somewhat confused on who to swing it's meaty arms at. Instead it settled for letting out another blast of sonic energy, aiming to disable it's two assailants before going in for the kill.
"Hmm," she hummed softly. Eyes closed. She could sense the field. Pricks of dark and light were coming closer to this location. Some presences stronger and one a little familiar. Surprise flickered across her brow before her emotions masked themselves again.
"Impose its will, even for the light my dear Warren?" As if force ghosts could now read minds. Soft eyes opened and settled on the deceased alchemist.
She ignored his other comment.
Her form was across the room and in the next instant it shimmered right in front of Valik. Movement was different from beyond the grave.
Valik scoffed. "The child will be a being of incomparable power. Can you imagine someone like that limiting themselves to the light? I sure can't." Valik responded, though his voice was a bit softer now. She was seeing through his bravado, and he knew it. He considered reinforcing the point by asking which of died first, but he knew the folly in the argument. Both of them had died protecting something they believed in. For Tahira it was her husband, for Valik it was his legacy, his midi-chlorian manipulation. In the end one of them succeeded and one failed, but Valik was not sure of his success when he made his deal. He just knew it was the best opportunity for him, especially with the ghost's sister watching his every move.
Valik turned away, the woman was close and the scientist was not one for proximity. Perhaps he needed personal space, perhaps the ghost intimidated him. Valik was never the strongest of Force Users, just one of the best builders. Eyeing the datacron once more a look of worry would cross his face.
"Many scavengers have come and gone, and many still reside in this place. I care little for most of them as they can do little harm, but there are three out there together. I can feel them. One is an old apprentice of mine, having grown much. The other two feel like remnants of the past." He said, not fully aware of who they were, just knowing they felt familiar.
"I worry they'll fear my creation. Try to destroy it before it can blossom into full force."
Unlike her sister, Tahira was the essence of patience. She was not offended by Valik's words. Perhaps only saddened. She knew why he lashed out and he only showed it more as the conversation waned.
Her ethereal-self popped right up on a dusty lab table. It didn't matter if it was a clear spot or not. An old experiment stuck right through her torso and out her shimmering shoulder as she sat and swung her legs like the living.
"Your creation?" She prodded quietly, brows scrunching as her eyes swept the room. "Your holocron?" It couldn't be the child. That was too far for anyone to know about, except maybe the deceased.
Was this version of Valik she saw, tied to the holocron? Was he wary of a second death or an eternal tether?
"No, the Holocron is fair game. A tool for the Sith of tomorrow to prepare themselves." Valik said, keeping eyes away from the datacron.
"When no one watched I'd transmit data. A personal log of my possession of a man named Flint, who I used to scope out potential candidates to host the child." He said, turning to face the incorporeal Tahira Solo.
"It won't confirm that I achieved midi-chlorian manipulation, but it will reveal my preferred targets for incubation. Your sister among them. It might be dismissed, but if one were to find your sister was pregnant? Conclusions would be made." He said, worry still evident in his voice. Perhaps it was scientific, or selfish, but he cared for the safety of Kitt. Of her child.
[member="Valik"] [member="Calina Ovmar"] [member="Silas of Ossus"] [member="Velok the Younger"] [member="Grace Darkson"]
Vexan gave slight whimper as the beast hit the deck, the kinetic force of it managing to knock her grip off. She began to slide off his back, prompting the hurried scratch of her claws to try and stay on top of him.
Yet the Storm Beast was already expanding out its lungs to let out another powerful sonic blast.
"VEX!" Micah cried, the saber deactivating as the Talith shot forward in a flying tackle. The pair went tumbling on the ground, with Micah attempting to protectively cover the Defel's diminutive form.
Feth, feth, FETH!
At a half knee, Micah barely had the chance to suddenly smash his bracers together in a cross in front of him. A massive sphere of energy erupted from the Bracers of Salee. They were imbued by the Force to protect Micah once from all forms of energy based and Force based attacks as long as the bracers were held together.
That shimmering solid field formed a shield around the pair, absorbing the bulk of the sonic energy. Micah gave a massive grimace as he struggled to maintain the connection to the bracers. He could only do it for so long, as the stored up energy in the bracers would only protect them so much.
"I.. ahh... a plan Besh would be great right about now huh?!" He tried to joke.
(Sorry, I'm a bit late to the party. Hope it's not too late?)
Tash-Taral was an intriguing planet to those who were aware of its certain similarities to Korriban. It was almost a junior version of the former Sith homeland, hosting many smaller tombs of Sith Lords lost in the sands of time. Still, interesting discoveries popped up there on occasion, causing the former Sith Lord Ajihad to set up a few contacts in several of its villages. In exchange for the installation of moisture farms in their homesteads, a small host of Tashai treasure hunters had promised to alert him of any interesting findings.
Over the years they had performed their jobs well, informing him of the occasional alchemy tome or forgotten gadget that had come to surface in the small villages. Now , just but a few hours ago, they had informed him of the discovery of a new tomb. The few hunters lucky enough to make it out alive had managed to get away with trinkets that radiated strange and powerful energies. Ajihad had to investigate.
Upon arrival to the surface, he had met his human contact at the spaceport. He had given him the coordinates of the of the only four known entrances across the neighboring deserts. The assassin had rewarded the man with an ample amount of gold, securing his loyalty once more. The hunter scampered away with his relatively small fortune, leaving the Sith to ponder what to do next. Tombs occasionally had guardian spirits, sometimes of those whom laid within. After a moment of thinking, Ajihad set off for a rental speeder.
A little less than an hour later, he arrived at a location that marked the exact center of the four entrances. Dismounting the speeder bike, he would take a long draft of water before continuing. Pulling a decrepit black stick from his travel bag, he draw a decent-sized circle in the sand. He then withdrew a pinch of sparkling green salt from a pouch at his waist, sprinkling it along the border of the circle. He then drew another stick, this one the color of dried blood. he etched a rune into the center of a circle. one found in languages written at the dawn of time itself. Finished with the circle of imprisonment, he stepped outside of it and began chanting.
He was performing the art of summoning a spirit, and a powerful one at that (@Valik). It was something he had learned on Dathomir, quite a difficult ritual to perform. It would summon the spirit that stood watch over the tomb, trapping them inside the sigil for a few minutes or until release. It could certainly pay off, or if performed incorrectly, it could open the door for the spirit to retaliate harshly and with dire consequences.
"Valik," she breathed and pinched the bridge of her glowing nose. There were three outcomes that could happen. One, no one would ever find the information. Two, they would find it but wouldn't care. And three, they would find it and they would care. Her posture straightened as her hands lowered. Ethereal fingers gripped the edge of the lab table.
Steady-eyes took in his fear. His caring - even if it was purely and simply selfish. She knew it wasn't really for Kitt. It was all for his creation. It had always been about work for Valik - his first love. That and the darkside.
"Warren," she began again, softly, though her voice seemed to carry strongly across the small space. "Why did you choose Kitt?"
Though the bracers could only hold for so long, the Storm Beast could only bellow for so long. Energy drained at least in the Force the sithspawn made it's way to the exploratory duo by way of awkward walk, but fell over after a few steps. It then crawled over, aiming to get in range to swing. If Micah could neutralize the beast without getting too close he'd probably be out of these woods.
[member="Tahira Solo"]
Valik sighed. "A multitude of reasons. She seems caring enough to ensure a child's safety and education. Strong enough to protect it, yet not public enough to incite attention." He said, thinking of some of the other candidates he pondered, such as Ashin Varanin, perhaps dead, and Anaya Fen. One incited much attention, the other probably wasn't caring enough for a child. Other then that he didn't really know a bunch of women, especially not adequately powerful enough for what he was looking for.
"She's also not a slave to the Force. Many are so enthralled by it they can't see other possibilities, the merits of other intelligences. They limit themselves with their blindness, but that's not your sister. She survives with her wit, her tenacity, and she loves a hydrospanner. She can teach it the ways of the Force but also how to use it's mind. She's an impressive woman." He said, adding in that last line without even thinking. He realized after he spoke what he had said, and felt slightly confused.
"Resourceful, low key, and yet powerful. What more could I want?" He said, before he began to feel something. Pulling him away. "I think someone is calling me collect. I'll be just a moment." He said, as his spirit was pulled into a rune above.
[member="Gray Raxis"]
The spirit of Valik appeared, seemingly displeased.
