We Have Rodents In Our Backyard

[Grima Volitu]

For the past four days reports were coming out of Lothal about a possible Sith enclave having taken up residence in one of the planet's mountain ranges. With so much bad blood between the Sith and the Black Rose - the Council could not afford to discard such reports. Lothal was far from their governed worlds but the planet was essentially close enough to their backyard. The Council needed to react quickly and wasting no time - they appointed Grima Volitu to investigate.

With the task given to her - she wasted no time in preparing to root out the Sith and remove them by any means necessary. Her first order of business was to contact the Supreme Admiral to get him to use some of the warships to blockade the planet. The Black Rose wasn't coming to Lothal to claim it but rather protect it from the influence of the Sith. So the fleet would maintain orbit around the planet to prevent further incursions of the Sith from tainting the world with their presence - while allowing those unaffiliated with the Sith to pass through without issue.

Next she had asked the Council to contact what passed as the ruling government on Lothal to notify them that the Black Rose was coming here to rid their planet of the Sith. It was to be highly stressed to the Lothal government that they were acting in the best interest of the Lothal citizens and this was not a pretense of a masked invasion. Lothal would be assured of the Black Rose's intentions from start to finish. Once the situation of removing the threat had concluded all personnel that waved the banner of the Black Rose would leave at once.

Grima Volitu had been around long enough to know that anything less than a small strike team would be viewed with skepticism by the Lothal government. To prevent any misconceptions by the citizens or the government - no military personnel would tread on Lothal's surface. She also knew that if the Sith interlopers caught wind of a army landing on the planet - they would tuck tails and run. Grima chose a small group to join her from the glorious ranks of the Black Rose.

After some small consideration from the Lothal government - they conceded to the Black Rose's intentions - accepting everything they were told by the Black Rose Council. With all the preparation work done - Grima led her small team to the planet of Lothal to hunt down these unwanted guests.


[member="Darth Veles"] [member="Zarack Arkaos"] [member="Xhexania"] [member="Elensa Jari"]

 

[Via Dolorosa]

The idea of Sith trying to get a foothold in their little part of the galaxy would simply not do. She, nor the Outer Rim, needed their stench around here. So when the Council was debating on who to appoint to investigate these reports, the name Grima Volitu came to mind. But she wanted to be a part of the Witch Elder's strike team, so she had volunteered her services to the cause before she was even asked. There was a history between the Sith and her, and she wanted to ensure the Sith that she hadn't forgotten about them; just as she suspected they hadn't forgotten about her.​

​

Xhexania sat in the shuttle that was heading toward the planet, thinking of all the harmful ways she could bestow upon these Sith. Killing them would send a clear message, but she had other ideas in store for them. Her love was seeking test subjects to perform her magick on, and what better test subject to use than a Sith. They preached how strong they where, but the moment the first test conducted on them took place; they would scream and cry for mercy. And Xhexania would never grant mercy to any Sith that followed the Dark Lord to the ends of the galaxy.​

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[member="Grima Volitu"] l [member="Darth Veles"] l [member="Zarack Arkaos"] l [member="Elensa Jari"]​

 

[Elensa Jari]

The emotions that swirled within the small shuttle were as mixed a bag as any that she could ever recall feeling: burning, patient anger, held restrained but ready to be unleashed; a colder, more focused determination that seemed very...mission-oriented; a small touch of anticipation that was tainted by the satisfaction of the hunt. Her own feelings were far more mixed than these, she knew, but it made for an interesting mix, when viewed objectively. There's no fear here, no sense of despair or sorrow. Nothing but that reckless abandon when you have a target in your sights and you just want to get to the kill. It was a very heady mix.

Truth be told, she couldn't quite work out why she was here. Leaving the Sith had been hard, but essential for her own sanity - Elensa knew well enough that she would not long survive the mindless sadism that characterised so many among their number. They only seek to inflict pain as a means of proving their superiority. She had experienced this herself on countless occasions: the persistent will to dominate, to humiliate, to demean. And that was merely what they did to play with your emotions. The reality, of course, was far worse: the scars that marred her body were testament to that much. What choice did they give me?

She knew what she was now, of course: she thought of herself as Sith in some ways, but the Jedi had a name for those that passed beyond the auspices of either group. She was a Dark Jedi. The thought of it made her shudder, knowing well the reputation that such beings had. Uncontrollable, undisciplined, raging infernos of emotion just waiting to be unleashed on some unsuspecting target for no true purpose. To have truly fallen so far...

The others had found her, even as she had sought to simply find a hole to crawl into and hide for a while. They had sensed her, known what she was, offered her an alternative. And now here she was: accepted by neither Jedi nor Sith, but taken in by those who rejected both in their turn. A strange thing, to find acceptance among those who are rejected themselves. They had given her time to sort through her thoughts, space to compromise with herself, but that time was at an end now: she had a job to do.

There hadn't been much explanation: only that the Sith were poking their noses in where they weren't wanted, and the others wanted them gone, one way or the other. To face them again so soon...the thought made her sick to her stomach, provoking feelings that she had thought herself over, whispers of past torments and sorrow storming through her, threatening to overwhelm her. But not alone, never that. No, there was anger stoked there, too, a driving need to put everything right. In blood, if it comes to that. The Sith taught that some wrongs simply cried out for revenge: perhaps it was they who would now have to experience this firsthand.

The Dark Jedi she travelled with had offered her that opportunity, and for that, she would follow.

[member="Xhexania"] | [member="Grima Volitu"] | [member="Darth Veles"] | [member="Zarack Arkaos"]​

 

[WolfMortum]

[member="Elensa Jari"] | [member="Xhexania"] | [member="Grima Volitu"]

Lothal, this planet didn't seem so bad for one so far in the outer-rim territories. Blurs of green, blue and what could only be considered uncovered or hardened dirt pastures flew by beneath that of the Baccara as Zarack handled the controls now with a bit more grace than he had done back within the space-station. 'Politics...' He thought to himself as the freighter coursed through out a canyon a bit to dangerously narrow for his size of vessel, 'There's always someone trying to walk over someone else isn't there'.
Zarack was still the new blood within their little Order so he'd tried not to look to far into the workings of the Black Rose yet as he'd been traveling passed the Hydian Way well out of the Black Rose's jurisdiction, he'd received an order to investigate Lothal by one of his superiors, apparently not alone; it was said that a rather dangerous group known as the Sith were broaching a little to far into the Outer-Rim and the Black Rose was to oust them in order to maintain their quadrant of the Galaxy.

Leaving the canyon, the freighter arced around in a one-eighty degree turn, the landing gear extending as Zarack brought the Baccara down to touch with Lothal's ground floor, void of sirens and damages, he soon powered down the durasteel giant and unstrapped himself from his seat, his right hand reaching for his SBP-200 holstered within the leather sleeve and ammo belt meant for the boys waist, pulling it away from the dash and wrapping it around his midsection, clipping it firmly on his left side. His appearance had changed, having found some of Muso's old clothes aboard the Freighter, none of them had fit though had fetched a small price, enough to purchase a new getup for himself back on Kesh, no longer looking like the homeless kid that he was when he left Eriadu. His torso bore a white long sleeved top beneath the black leather jacket that clung comfortably to his chest; his pants a lighter grey tone and meant for harsh terrain, they were the like of a typical wanderers make, pockets and impressions meant for small trinkets as well as an extra holster wrapped around his left tibia housing a second hand hunters vibro-knife. Black clad boots locked tight with four secured straps met the landing ramp as it lowered and Zarack began his descent down unto the world, the wind breaching the freighters entrance and whipping up around his face caused his eyes to narrow slightly yet it came as a small pleasure given how long he'd been traversing the southern end of the galaxy.

Pulling a small datapad from the interior of his jacket, Zarack tapped the screen and flicked his finger off to the left unlocking the device and glancing over the known display, it read his current co-ordinates and soon raised a three dimensional map that he could follow to the rendezvous. Taking heart in the fact he wasn't in this on his own, he knew the others would come rather better equipped than he was as of now, Zarack turned half way to glance back to the YT-1300, commanding the landing ramp to rise and close behind him with a small input from his datapad, soon deactivating the hand-held as well and beginning to set off in the direction he'd been given.

 

[Darth Veles]

A group of supposed ‘Sith’ wanted to make a mess close to the Covenant’s playground. The provided reports concerning the situation on Lothal were quite troubling – Avreet and other councillors knew the potential One Sith hatchery had to be dealt with as soon as possible, before the problem grew into a foothold of the One Sith invasion force. Such task required a reliable and experienced leader, one able to form a team to both investigate and terminate the thread. Obviously, it was Grima Volitu’s former apprentice who first dropped the Togruta’s name, who continued to push for her. Truly, Darth Veles knew the red-skinned beauty better than anyone – selecting her was a safe bet given the witch’s extensive knowledge of all concerning the Sith, her career as a Sith, her wisdom and great insight alike. The problem’s been practically solved the moment the council agreed on her name, but Veles was not satisfied yet. Eternally her student, the Mon Calamari Sith Lord volunteered to join his former teacher in her mission; the opportunity to learn from the Togruta again, to observe and study her ways shaped by years and years of experience was too good to pass.

And so he became her apprentice once more, temporarily abandoning the position of her lover in order to avoid distractions. Whatever Grima asked of him, Darth Veles provided her with. The fleet, the assistance of the planet’s government and their agreement to the blockade – Avreet followed through everything without questioning the witch’s plan once. Her plans for the trouble makers remained shrouded in shadows of secrecy still though; and so the Sith Lord could only imagine what Zarrah and another councillor in the strike team, Darth Venefica, wished to do with these supposed Sith, leaving the amphibious Sith to his own plans. Personally, he wanted to approach the situation with caution. The Covenant of the Black Rose was filled with Sith and traitors of the One Sith, after all – and ever the opportunist, Veles simply had to consider the idea of recruiting this lone cell into the group he partially controlled. Of course, if the ‘Sith’ or Dark Jedi – he didn’t really know how to categorize them yet – proved to be agents of the bloodthirsty OS or simply rogues hellbent on destruction, he’d ensure every single one of them ended in a bag.

Soon enough, the Mon Cal found himself sitting in a shuttle, right next to the red-skinned woman he adored so much, his cybernetic eye humming almost inaudibly when it observed the small and discreet vessel’s insides, yet not paying any attention to the grey plates of durasteel at all. Currently occupied by thoughts concerning the mission more than anything, his mind processed various scenarios. Only the shaking of the shuttle when it finally penetrated Lothal’s atmosphere tore the amphibious being from the labyrinth of infinite possibilities and brought him back to reality. Frowning, the Sith loaded the landing area’s map into his bionic orb, studying the terrain one last time while also breaking the silence and muffled roar of the engines.

“Lady Volitu,” he addressed the woman not as a lover, but a follower, with his typical Imperial accent further colouring the words with firmness, “Let us go over the plan once more. ETA ten minutes.”

Three veterans of many wars, three Sith Lords – albeit Veles considered only two to be actual Sith – did not go alone; two acolytes have also been added to the mix to learn from the older trio. Given the difference from the One Sith where most Acolytes suffered from insanity, Veles actually looked forward to seeing the future of the Black Rose in action, see them deal with whatever obstacle the Force placed in their way. This promised to be an interesting day.

[member="Zarack Arkaos"] [member="Elensa Jari"] [member="Xhexania"] [member="Grima Volitu"]

 

[Grima Volitu]

The Black Rose Naval fleet had begun it's blockade of the planet - and by her explicit orders began patrolling the surrounding sectors where Lothal was positioned. With the full support of the Lothal government - each incoming vessel was subject to inspection. It might not be the proper way to do things - disrupting innocent merchants from earning credits from trading and selling their wares - but it was a necessary one. Per her orders to the fleet - any vessel refusing to be inspected was to be escorted away from the planet politely. The fleet was not to engage in any hostilities with merchant ships - if they refused inspection - unless they were fired upon first. Judging by the size of the fleet protecting Lothal - any ideas of hostile actions from vessel captains would be quickly squashed. Only the foolish would dare challenge the fleet.

In the event a vessel had to be turned away after the completion of the inspection due to harbouring illegal goods - the serviceable goods aboard the vessel would be cataloged and the Black Rose themselves would ensure the citizens of Lothal received them promptly from their own reserves. The citizens should not be made to suffer because of the appearance of Sith fanatics. Her last standing order to the fleet was that any vessel leaving Lothal was to go unchecked - but they were to create a manifest of each departing ship's designation code. Smugglers and pirates had ways to change their ship's codes - but if they returned they would be inspected. Grima suspected that any vessels captained by smugglers or pirates that left Lothal would not be returning anytime soon.

The shuttle slowly made it's final descent to the planet of Lothal - and with it came the champions of Lothal. Judging by the reports sent to the Black Rose - there was a mix of possible locations for the enclave. Either these Sith were moving about in an attempt to mask their existence or there was more than one settled enclave on Lothal. Whatever the truth was - by the end of the mission there would be zero Sith enclaves on the planet.

"First and foremost - we do not split up into groups. We do not know their exact numbers and it would suit us best to come in as one strong cohesive force," Grima said letting her words hang in the air for all to understand - including the Acolyte that was present in holoform. "According to the reports forwarded to us - there is at least five known sightings of this enclave. Sadly - they are in different locations. So we do what all exterminators do. We smoke them out one enclave at a time."

"Our first location is here," Grima said pointing a spot on the hovering holomap that showed a mountain range. "The Lothal government wants them gone by any means necessary. The Black Rose Council - from my understanding," she paused looking at Lord Veles and Xhexania, "would like some prisoners for interrogation purposes. I don't know how probable that is. Once they know we've come for them - most would fight until death. Personally that's what I'm counting on. Refrain from taking chances and try to stay close to one another. The last part is for the two acolytes. Any questions?"

[member="Darth Veles"] [member="Zarack Arkaos"] [member="Elensa Jari"] [member="Xhexania"]

 

[Darth Veles]

Casting a brief glance towards the ghostly blue holographic projection of one of the Acolytes, the young man not physically present with the remainder of the group, Veles intently listened to his old teacher’s words and shifted his amber gaze her direction. Explaining the basics of their task, the wise old woman earned herself a thoughtful nod from the Mon Cal, who did note the plan’s been presented in a way strongly suggesting an unavoidable, violent confrontation. The Sith Lord did not oppose violence if necessary – in fact, should the targeted group prove to be sent by the One Sith or a similar batch of bloodthirsty madmen, Darth Veles would not hesitate to exterminate them all. People using the Sith name without having a bit of understanding of what it meant irritated him quite greatly, but his voice was just one against the vongformed horde abusing the Sith flag and forcing Avreet to explain the difference between Sith who are Dark Jedi and actual Sith whenever he encountered a Jedi. On the other hand, the Mon Cal did not completely approve of the idea of wiping out this newly discovered group without learning more about them, always preferring to control a potential asset over its destruction.

“I do have a few questions, lady Volitu,” the Mon Cal said carefully, politely, in a similar fashion when he used to be the woman’s young apprentice, “What is known about this enclave? What makes us believe these are Sith and not one of the many rogue Dark Jedi groups roaming the galaxy, using the war to wander around undisturbed? And if they are Sith, what are they doing on Lothal? Given how far away they are from the One Sith territory, it is entirely possible they are in hiding from their wrath, just as ourselves – or spying on us. Unless it is the latter case, we should work on recruiting them into our ranks. We will grow in strength and influence alike – the Lothal government won’t have any Sith on Lothal to worry about.”

Finished with his questions and suggestions, the amphibious Sith Lord fell silent and let his accented voice die in the sound of engines. Truth to be told, he fully understood the chances of meeting an actual Sith group were mercilessly low, yet with the One Sith raping the very meaning of Sith and molding all new Force users in their image, Darth Veles needed to be certain before following lady Volitu’s plan, unwilling to take the risk of unknowingly stabbing his own order in the back and doing the work of the vongformed pretenders.

As the shuttle approached the mountains, the amphibious Sith lost himself in thought once more, blankly staring at the holographic map revealing the shuttle’s landing zone – a small place suitable for the task, where trees and rocks moved out of the way instead of being an obstacle. A perfect spot for an ambush, too, provided the ‘Sith’ enclave knew of the small team’s arrival and intentions, but they definitely had no idea of the Sith Assassin's mastery over bending light and shadow - and his speed with the twin, silver cylinders hanging on his belt.

[member="Grima Volitu"] [member="Zarack Arkaos"] [member="Elensa Jari"] [member="Xhexania"]

 

[WolfMortum]

[member="Darth Veles"] | [member="Grima Volitu"] | [member="Elensa Jari"] | [member="Xhexania"]

He'd put some distance between his landing and the location of their supposed enemy, the flight had been fine and it was good to know he wasn't going to get shot out of the air inbound for his landing yet now that Zarack moved across the land doing his best to use whatever he could for cover in order to remain undetected as best he possibly could, he quietly damned the arduous trek that he'd given himself. 'Still...-I'm all for the quiet approach' he mused inwardly as he sought to part his way through the wild underbrush, the green planet pleasant in it's natural habitat, void of sentient disturbances of yet.

Pressing his thumb against the left side of the SBP-200 light blaster pistol, Zarack triggered the power cell charge, effectively arming the firearm with an initial charged shot intent on a fatal blow should he be forced to use it before reaching his target. 'Keep my foes at bay and the price on my head out of prying hands' he offered the weapon a brief moment of silent plea, only to turn his attention back out infront of him as something sounded off in the distance. The shuffling of feet, the movement of the foliage of Lothal; Zarack quickly yet carefully dropped to a knee, hidden within the environment, his dark clothes helping to keep him blended in with the bark of the trees around him, his eyes narrowed and desperate; dangerous.

There were two of them. They were difficult to spot at first but as they moved, there were small differences in the way they held themselves within the natural world that told Zarack better. They bore an attire that held natural colors, possibly in attempt to conceal themselves the same as Zarack hoped he was doing now, camouflage though failing as it seemed they had not been expecting eyes to be on them; one male, one female. The pair stopped a moment and turned to talk to one another, their backs to Zarack as his blaster slowly lifted.

"There's nothing out here..." the man grunted in what sounded like frustration as he turned back to his female companion, "Cylis is blasted paranoid, he thinks everyone's out to kill him".

Zarack froze in the moment, not out of fear but intentionally as he listened to the two a moment. 'Keep quiet, don't make a sound...' he thought as his eyes darted from one to the other, 'Learn something, kill only when required to'.

"It can't be helped, Jak" The woman responded, she sounded younger than her partner, possibly closer to Zarack's age which struck him off guard somewhat. "Rumor is we're at risk on this sink-hole regardless of how crazy Cill' is. Someone's leaked intel, the Black Rose or some slua of a group seems interested from what I understood. Kark knows who they are and what they're after but it don't sit too well with me...-As long as they're not on Lothal, we're good right? Let's just get this over with, this is the last patrol I'm running for a couple days. Zander can take my next shift".

'They're heading back...' Zarack remained poised yet this peaked his interest a good deal. Following a scouting party meant that they might offer him the quickest route back to their hideaway. Reaching for the back of his belt, he felt around his commlink (communication device) and pressed a quick sequence of buttons intent for the Black Rose to be able to pinpoint his location, he wouldn't however call to them as he was so close to the enemy, he hoped not to be discovered; rather a tracking beacon on himself meant the others would be able to follow should they decide to. For all intensive purposes, Zarack was however, on his own as far as he knew and watching the pair, he slowly began to crawl back into a silent pursuit, tailing them with as much distance he could manage without actually losing sight of the two scouts.

 

[WolfMortum]

Time had moved on and still Zarack had been able to remain unseen and silent. He'd made it closer in towards the encampment where these reported enemies of the Black Rose had been and yet still after so long he'd seen nothing of the others. Catching sight of the small and well armed militia that moved about the camp below the ridge he clung to, he couldn't help feeling as though he'd been sent on a suicide errand rather than been offered a mission that would further support the cause of the Order his Master was loyal to. Zarack, still young and preferring the prospect of living, shook his head briefly to himself in silent protect, 'Kark this, I'm out...'.

Carefully, he receeded back in a very slow crawl before climbing to his feet only when it was clear that he wouldn't be noticed. Uncertain of what the cost would be of his failure, he none the less felt certain that for whatever reason he had been sent here, he was more use to his Master alive than dead, if not only for her amusement most often to his degradation.

Tugging his datapad free from his belt, he slid a finger left across the screen to unlock the hand held device before uploading a feed of the encampment to through to the Order's known channel. As if to offer something as opposed to showing up with nothing to give, he hoped that it would aid whoever did seek to eventually turn up and eradicate the threat, knowing the layout of the camp from a birds eye view (almost). With the holo-projection transferred through the broad-range factions communications channel, it was there that Zarack began to make his move back towards the Baccara.

The Frieghter still left unharmed and unnoticed came to life with his affectionate handling of the controls, his pilots seat swiveling left and right as he triggered the repulsorlift thrusters and sought to guide the massive craft up through the atmosphere, his intended destination to once again rendezvous with his Master.

~Exit thread - Zarack Arkaos~​