Faron is one of the twin cities on Nancora alongside Axio, breaking up the planet's scarred surface with their presence. Originally existing in the form of underground shelters, the city was built up slowly—layer by layer—until it became a metropolis so large that it can be clearly seen from orbit. In order to maintain an organized infrastructure, the city itself is separated into districts based on the disc-like, concentric blocks that make up its design.

The outer district is the largest of these. Here, the buildings form alleys and streets that criss-cross as they either run straight towards the center of Faron or curve along its circumference. The complexes found here are almost mathematical in design. Towers built upon towers, they all link together like geometric puzzle pieces with harsh lines and angles in lieu of softer edges. Having to deal with the elements, the durasteel constructs appear weathered and worn, but maintain a bright coloring to reflect as much light as possible and reduce its thermal conversion.

Industry thrives in Faron, and its districts embody this. In the outer district, shops meet with living centers and the lines between them blur. An apartment cluster appears much the same as a grand complex containing a myriad of speeders or other such technological constructions. Power relays, the key to keeping the city functioning in its entirely, are staggered along the streets and each level. Through redundancy, the system prevents the loss of a single relay from crippling it. The citizens flood the district at ground level, marching with haste towards their destinations while the skylanes flicker with activity high above.

In Faron's outer district, the thriving metropolis can be seen in all its many facets, but also at its most vulnerable.

Andrelious didn’t think he’d ever need to return to Nancora. The planet had seen a large conflict against the Collective, and after the Brotherhood was victorious, the clans had quickly withdrawn and mostly forgotten about the rather barren world.

However, rumours that the Technocractic Guild were once again operating on Nancora drew enough concern for the Dark Council to require an investigation. For reasons that hadn’t been explained, Andrelious was the agent chosen.

Faron City was still clearly damaged from the battle, but the repair operation seemed to be in full swing. Dozens of repair crews were flitting about the area as they attempted to bring the city’s massive industrial capacity back to the strength it had once shown in the not too distant past.

Well. They’re definitely working on it. But I’ll need to head a little deeper to see exactly who is behind all this, the Seeker thought to himself.

Andrelious began to walk towards the city. Nancora’s ageing red sun was slowly climbing into the sky, bringing with it an unpleasantly warm breeze. Small flecks of sand blew about the Sith’s feet as he wandered along the cratered remains of a road. As he approached Faron City, he began to sense a strong presence in the Force. The sheer coldness that Andrelious could feel suggested that he had come across another dark side user.

Sure enough, a large Human male dressed entirely in black came into view. He was carrying some kind of weapon that was unfamiliar to the Archanis Quaestor.

Andrelious started to approach the bigger man carefully. It didn’t take much thought to realise that the Taldryanite didn’t have physicality on his side, but the subtle approach was not the former Imperial’s strong suit either. As he began to close in, Andrelious spotted a small black probe droid hovering nearby.

Perhaps I’m best just avoiding this man.

Before the Seeker could consider the situation further, the probe droid turned, its visual receptor noticing the hesistant Andrelious. The single glimpse was enough for the droid to alert its master, who also turned to face the Taldryanite.

“And what brings you to this ruined hellhole? For that matter, who are you?” the taller man asked.

“I could ask you the same question. I am here on official Inquisitorius business,” Andrelious responded, suspecting his fellow Force user was familiar with the Brotherhood.

“My name is Takagari. But most call me DarkHawk. Are you going to tell me who YOU are?” DarkHawk demanded. “I’ll make you a deal. Best me, and I’ll give you my name and leave you to whatever it is you’re doing here,” Andrelious sneered, activating his silver-hilted lightsaber.

DarkHawk cursed under his breath. Had he known that Andrelious was to turn out hostile, he’d have been able to try to pick him off from a distance with his lightbow. As things were, the Sadowan had allowed the short Human into melee range.

Takagari armed his own lightsaber just in time to fend off Andrelious’ opening blow. The Seeker didn’t seem remotely interested in playing fair; he was going for a quick and easy kill but DarkHawk was not about to oblige.

Grasping the extra-long hilt of his lightsaber as tightly as he could, the Shadow started attempting to use his sheer strength to force a way past Andrelious’ defences, but the Taldryanite’s blade remained stubbornly solid.

“I will not yield to you, stranger!” DarkHawk snarled.

The cobalt hue from the Sadowan’s saber echoed off his helm, enough for Andrelious to view his mirrored image starring deathly calm back at himself. The two Dark Jedi moved almost in unison together as they parried each other's attacks. The Warlord moved from right-to-left, crossing his left foot behind his right, and settled into a back stance. DarkHawk countered the move by shifting his stance from closed to open, moving left-to-right to narrow the gap even further.

DRK-1 had already postured itself into a pre-programmed sequence of flanking movements before the two combatants began to trade blows. Movements which mimicked the hunting patterns of a big Onyx Stalker closing in on its prey. The droid then shot skyward and began hovering about two meters above the surface, circling the two combatants. DRK-1 began a course of imaging scans, completing a facial recognition sweep of its Master’s assailant. A series of long drawn out beeps and whizzes burst through Takagari’s COMM unit. “You have got to be kidding me…” DarkHawk thought to himself.

The Warlord’s saber parries were by far, more than practiced. They were precise, controlled and without flaw. He moved almost as if by rote, his body moving and working without his concentration, much to DarkHawk's chagrin. He was toying with him. His weapon, an extension of his body. DarkHawk kept the Warlord at his twelve o’clock position, the cobalt and crimson blades cracked and sparked as they hammered against one another. Andrelious easily blocked a high slash of Takagari’s saber, which was intended to remove the Warlord’s head from his shoulders. As the Warlord crashed his saber against his adversary’s blade, he dropped his center of balance to spin around under the Sadowan’s arm, carrying his momentum counter-clockwise, garnering an opening to stab at the Sadowan’s head.

DarkHawk barely had enough time to repel the blow, simultaneously executing a switch step technique, reversing his open stance as he dispatched the blow. His foe's crimson blade seethed short. Takagari baked in reaction, his blade battering the blow away played poorly, drawing the tip of his foe's blade into the meat of his shoulder as the man lunged forward. A small trickle of blood trailed down the front of the Battlelord’s chest from the wound. The Sadowan snarled through gritted teeth as the shock wave of pain raced down his left arm. Andrelious surely expected that to be a killing stroke. Though the small subtle movement of repositioning his feet, not only spared his life, but by closing his stance allowed DarkHawk to make the Warlord overextend himself ever so slightly.

Takagari relinquished his left hand from his saber and seized Andrelious’s saber hand, pivoting his body closer into the Warlord’s. The Shaevalian dropped his weight slightly, letting his long arm serve as a lever to wrench the diminutive Andrelious's elbow forward, drawing the man further into his own lunge, off balance and staggering. There it was, the opening that Takagari was looking for. In one fluid motion, the Wraith carried the Warlord’s momentum over executing a hip toss sending him crashing to the ground. The air exited his lungs as the Equite felt the impact resonate through his entire body.

Surprisingly to Andrelious, DarkHawk did not follow up with any killing blow of his own. Flexing his diaphragm repeatedly to replenish essential air back into his lungs, the Dark Jedi kipped up to his feet once again, saber at the ready, spinning around to parry any incoming blow. Instead, DarkHawk had shuffled back a few feet and extended a salute with his saber. Takagari took to one knee in proper genuflection towards a ranking member of the Brotherhood.

“Warlord Andrelious J. Mimosa-Inahj, Quaestor of House Archanis, of Clan Taldryan…” DarkHawk said with a intonation of respect.

Andrelious held his saber high, ready for another assault. The Warlord made a quick mental note of the last exchange and would not repeat the same mistake. Though he was oddly intrigued by the gesture he was just given, the Warlord stood ready to strike. DarkHawk remained motionless to substantiate his respect towards his senior.

“How do you know me Sith?” the Warlord growled. The Battlelord slowly raised his left hand and gestured to his droid.

“I believe our paths have been brought together under the same circumstances...” DarkHawk replied stoically.

Andrelious brought his saber down to center and quickly glanced over to the small DRK-1 droid hovering to his right. At that very moment, an overwhelming rush of adrenaline raced through both Dark Jedi. The Warlord shifted his attention back to the Battlelord, only to find a throwing knife cutting a wave through the air. Andrelious could feel the assistance of the Force guiding the blade on its trajectory. The Warlord drank from the Force fueling himself, he brought his saber up to deflect this new incursion. Midway through his blocking movement, the seasoned Equite realized the offense was not intended for him. The Quaestor watched as the knife hurdled past him and found its target sinking deep into the skull of an oncoming Technocratic Guild member.