Combat Master’s Note: Because you are matched against a member of your Clan, this battle takes on a unique format. You will be encountering Darth Necren with an ally. Treat Necren as you would any other ACC opponent. In addition, note that your character, unless he or she has a specific reason for not knowing, should recognize the name and likely the unique weapon of Necren, as she is a rogue Dark Jedi frequently in service to a variety of Dark Councilors. She has made a reputation for herself for her brutal efficiency in fulfilling her missions. Darth Necren is aligned strongly with the Brotherhood and to the Dark Council. You WILL be judged using the ACC rubric, so the person posting the best story will move on to subsequent rounds. If you wish to fight your Clanmate as well, you may, but this is not in any way a requirement.

Begeren. Once a prosperous Sith world, it has been the site of numerous battles throughout the millennia. Grand halls and monuments were torn down and re-purposed by looting Republic forces thousands of years ago, before they were driven from the planet. Isolated settlements still dot the planet's surface, but the inhospitable, craggy, and desert-like terrain, along with the beasts common to many desert and Sith worlds, have kept most humanoids from colonizing. The One Sith’s hold on Begeren is all but broken, though a few small pockets of resistance remain. The Clans and Houses of the Brotherhood now swarm the planet to defeat them, but attention has returned to plunder. Roaming bands of Jedi, adherents to light and dark alike, claim—or destroy—priceless artifacts at every turn. One of the few remaining untouched areas on the entire planet is the Valley of Monuments, so named for its glorious architecture.

The area is impossibly quiet, the air itself seemingly dead. Though you have taken different routes, you find yourself now with an ally from your Clan approaching a massive monument. Both of your perilous treks have lead you to the heart of the Valley of Monuments and to the foot of a massive obsidian obelisk, rising maybe a hundred meters into the sky, each side perhaps ten meters wide. The obelisk is bound by ancient Sith symbols rising more than half way up the ancient monument. Not too far in the distance sits an ancient palace, impressive towers and terraces rising high into the sky. Weapons bristle from the superstructure of the palace far in the distance, large turbolaser batteries easily visible. Yet here, in the courtyard at the foot of this massive monument, the One Sith are nowhere to be seen. To either side of you, a ways in the distance, are impressive cliff walls, faces of long-gone Sith warlords and heretics alike etched into the canyon, preserved in near-pristine condition.

Beneath your feet, the ever-present sands have gradually given way to fine polished granite blocks, some up to a meter in length and width. These blocks form a large pathway leading towards and around the obelisk, then to the palace proper. Both you and your ally are drawn towards the obelisk, your gazes briefly locked on the monument.

The symbols on the obelisk periodically pulse a faint red, all but invisible against the obsidian stone. As they do, power washes out from the obelisk, bathing any nearby with the dark side. You know that on the other side of the obelisk in front of you is a small chamber holding an impressive six inch red crystal, and if intelligence reports are correct, that crystal is likely the source of the energy bound within the obelisk. Some within the Dark Council are desperate for the artifact. It was once a prized possession of Lord Tytonus, though what purpose the crystal held to her is unknown; it was recovered from her fallen corpse after the Sith Empire put her rebellion to rest ages ago.

Before you can even reach the crystal, footsteps upon granite stone tell you that you two are not alone, and you realize that whatever you two were going to do with the crystal, it would have to wait. Someone else has come for the precious artifact.

You turn towards the origin of the sounds and notice a hooded figure wielding a long-handled lightsaber several meters in the distance. Both you and your companion can feel the weight of the her power through the Force, and know you both now stand between her and her likely objective.

Selika sat cross-legged atop a slightly raised granite stone that edged the path leading to the obelisk as Aidan Kincaid made his way towards her. Both Obelisk and Krath had sensed one another long before they had been able to see the other, and Selika had merely waited patiently for the master's arrival.

"So, you were the one sent to stop me?" Kincaid said. "I would have thought your so called Dread Lord would have more sense than that."

Selika smiled conspiratorially. "Kavon is no more my Dread Lord than he is yours, but I'll forgive you for not being up on current events. My allegiance is to the Regent of Kr'Tal and my new Clan."

Kincaid's eyes narrowed with obvious suspicion. "Why should I believe you? What proof do your offer?"

Selika rose to her feet and stepped down from her stone seat. "Halcyon hasn't yet shared the Taldryan secret handshake with me," Selika replied with amusement, "But he did tell me that today's code word was 'bending'."

Kincaid dismissed her jovial answer with a snort.

"No words will convince you," she continued, "Only your own senses will convince you. Here, I'll open my mind to you, let you poke around."

Beneath his hood, Selika could see that Kincaid was taken aback by the suggestion. It obviously wasn't what he was expecting.

"Go on, I won't bite," Selika said with another smile.

With her mental defenses relaxed, Kincaid's probe lashed into her like a sharp blade. She fought down her reflex to respond with a mental blow of her own, knowing she needed to let the slightly built man see what he needed to find. His approach revealed much of the man conducting the search. He was unconcerned with pleasantries or etiquette, a single minded pursuit of his goal his only thought. The man's touch on her mind was more akin to an iron fist than a velvet glove. Then, with a suddenness that nearly rocked Selika back on her heels, the pressure of his mental probe was gone.

"You, on the other hand, I bet you bite," Selika murmured, rubbing her right temple.

If Kincaid heard her, he gave no outward sign. "You are what you purport to be, Roh. As much as my curiosity about your shifting allegiances will, at some point, require more answers, now we have more pressing concerns."

"Like retrieving the artifact for Taldrayn," Selika said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the stone obelisk.

"That, too. Though I was talking about her first and foremost," Kincaid said, stepping to his side and readying his weapons.

His movement revealed a female form sheathed in black cloth. The form beneath, however, seemed to seethe with dark energy at levels Selika had rarely felt. Even as focused as she had been on her new ally, she wondered how she had missed this new player. Selika silently rebuked herself, feeling stupid for allowing herself to get so locked into tunnel vision.

"The One Sith make their presence felt on the battlefield," Selika observed. "I don't recognize this one, though."

"There is no reason you should," Kincaid said. "This one serves the Iron Throne."

A harsh, hissing intake of breath accompanied Selika's recognition of the one facing her now. The long saber that hung at her hip, the hint of protruding horns beneath her cowl. Darth Necren, Dark Prophet and assassin of the Dark Council. Selika had heard stories amongst the One Sith before she had left them, tales of an unrelenting hunter that had cut down an untold number of their ranks. The Ikotchi assassin had much in common with Cognus, apprentice of both Bane and Zannah; it was likely that she had cultivated the parallels.

Selika decided it was probably a good thing she had shifted her loyalties, as facing a killer like Necren while standing beside a man like Aidan Kincaid was better than most alternatives.

"Stand aside, I have come to retrieve this artifact for the Grand Master," Necren ordered, her tone that of one used to having her instructions followed.

"And I am here to collect this for my Grand Master," Kincaid responded.

Both of them raised their weapons and ignited their blades. That was all that needed to be said, apparently, between the two elders. No wasted talk, no negotiation. Simply two opposing objectives that would be settled with blood. Selika stepped back unconsciously before belatedly readying her own weapon.

The Sith and Obelisk rushed towards one another with force-enhanced speed nearly faster than Selika could follow. Crimson met sapphire and amber as their blades crashed together with a sound that echoed off the stone of the valley walls. As she watched, Selika saw two mirror images locked together, their skill in their shared saber form as evenly matched as their speed and agility. As much as she normally shunned the idea of getting in and "mixing it up" in a duel, Selika did not merely choose to eschew direct involvement in their combat. She actively feared it.

Channeling her fear, using it to stoke her anger, she called the Force to her. Focusing her energy on some of the loose stone, she moved to fling them at her foe. Before she could propel the stone missiles at her intended target, Necren shifted her grip on her saber to free her left hand. A torrent of electricity leapt from her newly unencumbered palm to cross the tens of meters that separated the two women. Unable to shift the Force from her telekinetic grip into a defensive barrier quickly enough, the unhampered bolt slammed into Selika's chest. The electricity knocked her to the ground as it arced through her, pain burning across her nerves while her muscles involuntarily contracted. The scream that had been ripped from her throat subsided into moans of pain now accompanied by smoke rising from her clothing.

Seemingly unconcerned, Necren and Kincaid fought on.

Darth Necren—the Dark Council's pet assassin. With each exchange of blows, Kincaid tried to take measure of her skills, analyzing the information to counter her and go on the offensive. Her cloak had fallen off during the fight, revealing a small frame covered in Sith tattoos. She was tiny, but quick, and wielded her long-handled lightsaber with exceptional skill. She would use a wide grip to spin her weapon in short, sweeping motions, while other times fisting the end of the hilt to strike with incredible reach and power. She was in constant motion, attacking from up close and from range. It was obvious why she was used for the Council's dirty work.

And that was just her martial talent… She was just as deadly with the Force.

More forking bolts of lightning surged from Necren's left hand, forcing Kincaid to leap back. He crossed his blades in midair to defend against the attack. Power crashed into him, throwing him back even farther, but his lightsabers deflected the arcing bolts of energy. The lightning struck one of the stone arches encircling the edge of the courtyard and it exploded. Debris began to fall—right on top of Selika. Kincaid quickly reached out with the Force and threw her out of the way, sending her tumbling across the smooth granite.

His defenses lowered, Necren pressed the attack. She swept forward at blinding speed, spinning her blade for a lightning-fast strike. Kincaid twisted awkwardly and narrowly deflected the attack, but the move left him overextended. Necren reversed her strike with a short backswing. Kincaid couldn't parry it in time, and the spiked end of her hilt slashed across his chest.

Blood gushed from the wound. He had instinctively moved and managed to avoid a killing stroke, but the burning pain still seared against his nerves. With sheer willpower, Kincaid called upon the Force to numb the sensation so he could launch a counterattack. He struck with a flurry of short, aggressive strokes that forced Necren to jump back.

"Foolish," Necren berated him. Her head shook from side-to-side, but her vermillion gaze never left his. "Lowering your defenses to protect an ally? Clearly you do not live up to your reputation."

"And you clearly live up to yours," Kincaid countered. Necren's eyes narrowed at his condescending tone. "Quick, brutal, and single-minded. Not very subtle for an assassin."

"Bastard, you—" Necren stiffened. She instantly spun towards the obelisk and snarled. Selika Roh was back on her feet, and moving steadily towards the far side where the crystal chamber was located.

"You should have done a little more research on me, Necren." Kincaid's voice was cold—detached. "Succumbing to an emotional response is pointless. However," he continued, "allies do serve some strategic purpose."

Necren screamed out a curse of rage and turned away from Kincaid, her sights now set on Selika. She crouched low, like a nexu stalking its prey, and leapt forward at blinding speed. Kincaid was moving a half-second later, kicking off the ground with tremendous force to race after her. He wasn't going to make it in time. Necren crossed the distance in an instant and struck with her lightsaber. The blade sliced straight through Selika from head to toe, then crashed into the granite path with an explosion of sparks.

Her expression of sadistic joy shattered at the same time as the illusion of Selika exploded into fragments of light. Surprise shocked her into stillness for only a moment, but it was all Kincaid needed. He was already behind her. He thrust the tip of his amber blade forward, impaling Necren's right side as she twisted out of the way. Kincaid channeled the Force through his left hand and unleashed a concussive blast of kinetic energy that smashed into Necren and slammed her into the obelisk.

Kincaid's mouth twitched in what might have been disappointment. She had managed to avoid his killing blow. Still, she lay unmoving for the moment. Keeping his senses locked on her, he turned towards the real Selika, who had re-appeared, still lying in a crumpled heap where he had thrown her earlier. Her hand was on the ground, still extended towards where she had wrought her illusion. It had been an exceptional deception that had even managed to trick him. The girl was surprisingly adept with illusions… Kincaid filed that information away for later.

He turned back towards the monument. It truly was massive. Pulsating with its strange power, the symbols on the obelisk continued to glow red, alternating between faint and bright. His eyes narrowed. Earlier, the light had been all but invisible, and the energy flowing from it had been weaker… less intense. Not good. A sense of dread washed against Kincaid's thoughts and he realized they were quickly running out of time.

"Get up," he ordered Selika, not taking his eyes from the obelisk. "We need to get that crystal now."

He felt her annoyance at his commanding tone, but ignored it. At least she was finally back on her feet. They followed the granite path around the obelisk to the small chamber, which held the crystal. It pulsed violently with light, but seemed otherwise defenseless, just suspended in the air. A soft groan stopped them in their tracks and Kincaid turned. Necren was behind them, her gnarled hand clutching at the wound at her side.

"Walking into this place knowing nothing at all," Necren muttered. "Fools. Do you have any idea what that crystal is? What this power is for?!"

Kincaid raised his lightsaber and stepped towards her. "Grab it," he called quietly over his shoulder. "I'll keep her busy."

Before he could leap forward, a violent burst of light exploded from the obelisk and the ground shook violently before their feet. Kincaid flicked his eyes towards the monument. The symbols etched onto its surface were emitting near-blinding light.

"It's too late now, the ritual has almost begun." A fatalistic smile crept onto Necren's face. "But first, you're both going to die."

The air crackled as bolts of energy burst forth from the crystal. Selika reached out for the crystal, but an invisible grip on her wrist stopped her before she could grasp it. Thinking it was Necren, Selika turned back to face the other two combatants. It was clear as she sensed both of them through the Force, however, that it was Kincaid who had stopped her.

"It's too late," he shouted back to her over the growing howl filling the valley. "You cannot touch it now, not until it has fed!"

Unsure what he meant by "fed", Selika deferred to the Elder's judgement. Suddenly, just as the others raised their weapons, a telekinetic blow leapt from Necren and tossed Selika backwards to the ground. Regaining her senses, Selika saw that Kincaid and Necren were once again engaged with one another, the sound of their clashing sabers lost in the cacophony. The female Iktotchi looked like a dynamo, complementing her saber work with blasts of lightning. Kinkaid, in contrast, worked confidently with his sabers alone, catching blade and bolt with his own weapons.

Selika once more called the Force to her, this time not bothering to wield stones as weapons. She launched her telekinetic blows in between Kincaid's strikes and parries, weaving them within the Elder's own movement. Most of her strikes failed to find their mark, the prophet moving to avoid them or deflecting them with her Force defenses. Yet, even with Necren's skill, a few of Selika's blows found flesh. One even brought a smile to Selika's face as she felt a pair of Necren's ribs crack.

That smile would be short lived. Selika felt Necren's attention shift its focus to her, and then the shorter woman vanished. Selika saw Kincaid move with blinding quickness, an indistinct blur of motion. As the air rippled before her to reveal Necren and her now-striking blade, Kincaid was already there to deflect it. Apparently Kincaid's senses had been powerful enough to penetrate their enemy's cloak.

While Necren's blade had been denied, Selika could not avoid her opponent's weapon entirely. Mirroring her earlier strike against Kincaid, Necren once again reversed her swing. Selika was able to twist away and avoid the spiked hilt end that stabbed toward her face, but even as she did so Necren altered her weapon's path. Unable to drive its point through Selika's skull, Necren was still able to smash the long handle of the hilt upside Selika's head. The blow dropping Selika to the ground in a momentary daze.

Kincaid's weapons lashed out once again, this time slashing across Necren's chest. The Sith was already moving to avoid her enemies strike, but their twin tips left burned flesh in their wake.

"I would have thought one with your reputation would not fall into predictable patterns," Kincaid said, his shouted statement more matter-of-fact than scornful.

Necren's response was a snarl, more seen than heard as the howl in the valley reached its crescendo. She closed once more with Kincaid, but this time sidestepped his blades and moved for Selika. Just regaining her senses, Selika saw Necren's weapon sweeping down at her. Rolling out of the way, Selika avoided the strike. Then, as her enemy brought her weapon back to try again, Selika lashed out with her own blade for the first time.

Selika's blow was aimed at her enemy's hands. Striking awkwardly from her position lying prone on the ground, however, her blade missed its intended target. Necren saw it differently. Selika seized on her opponents mind, and projected an illusion tinged with debilitating fear. Necren's training had focused on her physical abilities and their augmentation through the Force, leaving her mental defenses mediocre at best. The illusion Selika fed to her was that of her saber blade slashing through Necren's wrists, removing both of the woman's hands. The terror that accompanied the vision left the other woman disoriented, and Necren's own saber dropped from her momentarily slack, lifeless hands.

Selika could not maintain her illusion for long. Imposing her illusions into the mind of one as powerful in the Force as Necren was taxing, no matter how underdeveloped the prophet's own defenses were. Kincaid, however, needed only the momentary opening his clanmate had provided. He threw the weapon from his right hand, directing it's spinning blade to slash through the hilt of his enemy's own weapon. As he did so, the Obelisk moved to Necren and grabbed the back of her robe. His muscles enhanced through the Force, Kincaid pulled Necren past him and launched her head first into the obelisk, her flight accelerated by the wave of telekinetic energy he added to his throw.

Selika pushed herself shakily to her feet and saw that Necren's impact with the stone left the woman dazed, her left horn cracked from where it had taken the brunt of the impact. Kincaid moved to the Iktotchi, pulling her to her feet and holding her against the stone obelisk just below the crystal. Kincaid called Selika to aid him, using the Force as opposed to speech because of the deafening howl that filled the valley. Selika joined Kincaid, holding Necren by her left arm as the other woman began to struggle. Now Selika could feel the crystal's pull. It wasn't physical; instead it seemed to claw at her essence.

Then Selika saw a ghostly form being ripped out of Necren's body, something that looked much like the Force ghost she had encountered with Aabsdu on Bosthirda. It had Necren's face, and, from the tortured look twisting her features, she was screaming. The woman's life force was being ripped from her, drawn into the glowing crystal. Then, suddenly, as the last of Necren's essence disappeared into the artifact, the howl ceased as the glow vanished.

"Now that it has fed," Kincaid spoke quietly in the stillness, "I can return the Shard of Nihilus to my master."

Selika shuddered slightly, in awe of what she had just witnessed.

Kincaid moved first.

With Force-enhanced speed, he kicked off the smooth granite. The distance between him and Necren disappeared in an instant and her blade met his in a furious explosion of sparks. She fell back against the strength of his lunge, but instead of engaging him, she deftly leapt high into the air, flipping over his head to land before the crystal's chamber. She stood there, defiantly, a harsh glint in her orange eyes. She favored her right side, where he had managed to strike her before, but she seemed capable of fighting despite the wound. Given the acrobatics, he wasn't sure she was even feeling the pain.

Kincaid rushed forward. Selika had already crouched into a defensive posture, not willing to try going another round head-to-head with the Dark Council's assassin. She might prove useful later but, for the moment, Kincaid was on his own. Warning klaxons blared within his mind as the blinding light etched into the obelisk began to gather within the crystal. Something terrible was about to happen.

The sudden explosion stopped him in his tracks. The obelisk was completely awash with brilliant, crimson light. The raw energy coming from the monument was almost suffocating to his overly attuned senses. Then, just like that, the light shifted. Red became blue and the excess power seemed to disappear, as if gathered in purpose. With a violent burst of sound, the light rushed back out of the crystal and upwards to the peak of the obelisk nearly a hundred meters above them, and then shot forth into the sky.

"What the hell was that?" Kincaid demanded.

Necren turned her eyes from the obelisk back to him. A twisted smile stretched across her face. "Supernova."

With that single word, understanding washed over Kincaid. Supernova was an ancient and deadly Sith magic used to harness the power of the stars to cause impossible devastation. It should have been lost millennia ago. If the One Sith had discovered a ritual to unleash the power, they must be planning to wipe out the Brotherhood armada above Begeren.

"The crystal?" Selika asked, a gleam in her eyes.

"It must be amplifying the power of the One Sith's ritual," Kincaid deduced. "We need to destroy it before it's too late."

Before he could move, a blast of bluish-white bolts of lightning came flying towards his chest. Instantly, he raised his lightsaber and deflected the attack. Kincaid's eyes locked onto Necren's. Her hand was still stretched towards him, electricity flickering between her fingertips.

"My master wishes to possess that crystal. I won't let you destroy it."

Kincaid cursed. "Then what?" he demanded. "You'll let the One Sith destroy our fleet above Begeren?"

"An insignificant price." Necren's smile became feral… bloodthirsty. "The Brotherhood will avenge this petty loss a hundredfold over with the power of Supernova!"

Sithspit. Even if the Brotherhood could control the power of the crystal, there was no guarantee it wouldn't backfire. Or worse, be used against the Clans. He needed to stop her.

"You want to lower your weapon."

Kincaid sensed the minute shift in the Force before the words were spoken. A mental attack… Selika had turned on him. Having seen a new path to power before her, one her new allegiance couldn't compete with, she had dashed recklessly towards it. Kincaid had known the betrayal was coming, though, having seen the type of person she was when he had probed her mind. She probably hadn't even realized how deeply he had delved in such a short time. It was fortunate. With the knowledge she had given him, he had managed to prepare a defense in time.

The fact that he hadn't succumbed to the surprise mental assault obviously shocked her. Quickly, he leapt towards her and slashed with his lightsaber, but she jumped out of reach. Now, the two of them were standing against him.

"Amusing," Necren muttered, wholly ignoring Selika's change of allegiance. "Now, I feel it's time I repay you for earlier." With a scream of rage and joy, she dashed forward.

Gathering all the strength he could muster, Kincaid pulled heavily on the Force to increase his speed and reflexes, barely managing to keep even with Necren as she attacked relentlessly with her swift, spinning strikes. Kincaid's amber blade was a blur as he traded strike for strike, blow for blow. Still, in the back of his mind he kept track of Selika's movements, as she seemed to be biding time for her chance to strike. She wasn't going to get it.

Kincaid whirled his lightsaber before him, forcing Necren back a step, and then kicked off the ground. He moved with impossible speed, appearing right beside Selika before she realized it. Without letting her react, he reached out with his left hand and slammed it into her chest. A wave of power crashed into her from point-blank range. The telekinetic blast sent her flying, a scream of surprise and pain escaping from her lips, as she rocketed into Necren who was running at them.

The fell together, but it was barely a second before Necren was back up and charging at him. It didn't matter. Kincaid had a clear line to his target. Flexing his wrist, he whipped his lightsaber through the air. Guided by the Force, the amber blade homed in on the crystal and sliced it clean in half. As the pieces collapsed, a thunderous boom sounded from within the obelisk. The ritual had been interrupted and the energy was withdrawing back into the monument… but now it had nowhere to go.

The built up power exploded outwards and the obelisk splintered into massive fragments. A concussive blast swept all three Dark Jedi towards the outer edge of the courtyard and the stone walls collapsed from the sheer magnitude of the explosion. In seconds, debris filled the entire courtyard. Kincaid had no strength left and could only watch helplessly as he and the other two were entombed in the Valley of Monuments.