Ellac Conrat vs. Savant Elaine Conrat

Umbara, the "Shadow World", stands apart from the galaxy, cut off within the Ghost Nebula. This did not stop its native population from advancing their technology beyond the galactic standards and becoming a major exporter of doonium.

No sunlight reaches the surface of Umbara, leaving it and its denizens to adapt to a never-ending darkness. Thick clouds hang in the upper atmosphere while fog crawls along the ground, adding to the shroud of the planet and making even technological light sources limited in effectiveness. However, Umbara is not devoid of all natural light. Bioluminescent flora grows like tentacles reaching up from the ground and forming a jungle presence outside the populated cities. In lieu of grass, the ground is pockmarked by coiling plants that rise before turning in upon themselves.

Within this jungle expanse, there are two threats of note that have adapted to the climate of Umbara. Anyone treading upon this territory must be vigilant, lest they fall prey to the flying, predatory Banshee or worse, the Vixus.

It is not for the locale that members of the Brotherhood are drawn to Umbara. Having been members of the Republic—even Separatists—and later rebels under the heel of the Galactic Empire, some Umbarans have taken to living for themselves. These pirates are not above selling some of Umbara's more notable technological advancements. A group, calling themselves the "Shadow Cabal" and led by Wyss Teneb, have taken to exporting a gas capable of stimulating combatants to fight longer and harder.

It is this trade deal that brings you to such a dangerous place. Intel has been passed back and forth, leaving the trade itself in a state of confusion. No one is quite sure exactly who the buyer is. That leaves an opportunity. Some may try to discreetly slip into place and claim the trade for themselves, while others may genuinely be the buyer. The only constant is the chaos that could result from competing interests. An advantage—no matter the source—is beneficial to any force, be they Collective or Brotherhood in origin.

You step into the Shadow World with the future as shrouded as the planet itself.

“I hate this planet…”

Miles from the capital city, deep within the cover of Umbara's bio-luminescent jungles, Elaine Conrat waded trough thick, tentacle-like vines and towering bulbous plants to the coordinates of a cryptic meeting that she had been invited to by a group known only as the "Shadow Cabal"; The message mentioned a sale of one of Umbara's many advanced weapons, but withheld the details of the deal until meeting face-to-face, so here she was, ducking under branches with her Nexu by her side.

"Where is he?" Elaine grumbled, looking down at Callé. "The message said that this is where he wanted to meet."

The Nexu snarled as she moved to take another step, using its tails to pull her backwards.

“What are you-?” She started, stumbling backwards. “Callé? What is it?”

Still snarling, Callé had positioned himself between his owner and something deep within the fog.

“That beast has good instincts,” an accented male voice called from the shadows before her.

Elaine strained her eyes to see through the curtain of mist that shrouded the speaker. “Can’t say the same for you; Sneaking up on a Nexu is a good way to get yourself killed.”

The disembodied voice chuckled, the sound coming from her left now. “I’ll take my chances.”

Through the Force, Elaine’s mind dialed in on the man’s movements as he slowly circled her. “I assume you’re Teneb?”

“Well, you see, that depends…”

“On what?” she asked dryly, suddenly getting tired of talking to a faceless voice in the mist.

“On you,” Wyss replied from her right side. “See, you aren’t who you said you are, Ellac…”

“Ellac?” Elaine’s face darkened, every ounce of tolerance she had left instantly replaced by anger. “How do you know that name?”

Sensing his master’s emotions shift, Callé circled around Elaine protectively, flicking his tail in agitation.

“It’s the name you gave me,” Wyss said, stepping out of the shadows in front of her, the end of his dark grey duster trailing behind him. Pulling his scarf down to uncover his ghoulish face, his piercing white eyes narrowed at the young Sith. “You are Ellac Conrat, are you not?”

“No… She’s not.” Metal footsteps pounded against the jungle floor as Ellac emerged from the cover of the night, followed closely by a blood-red HK unit. “I am.”

Wyss cursed under his breath as he glared back into the fog. “Well, this is awkward,” he said, turning back to the pair of Sith. “It seems there’s been a bit of a mix up here, but I’m sure we can still come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

“Ellac doesn’t do ‘mutually beneficial’,” Elaine spat out his name as she leveled a glare on her older brother, her Nexu snarling at her feet. “Isn’t that right, brother?”

Ignoring his sister’s provocations, Ellac stepped past her, approaching Wyss.

“I wouldn’t,” the Umbaran warned plainly, raising a hand to stop him. “Get too close to me and my men will open fire; They’re the protective sort, you see.”

“Your men?” Elaine echoed, peering into the shadows and mist that seemed to only grow more dense with time.

Ellac looked back to the Savant in contempt. “You couldn’t sense them?”

Callé gnashed his fangs at the cyborg, sharing in Elaine’s distaste for him.

“Okay, well, it seems like you both have some unresolved business to take care of, so I’ll be going,” Wyss said, pressing his hands flat together as pointed them at the Sith siblings.

“You’re not going anywhere until I get what I came for,” Ellac said, turning back to the pirate. “Show it to me.”

Wyss Teneb glanced between Ellac and Elaine in a moment of consideration. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

With a nod from Ellac, HK-98 stepped forward, tossing a lightsaber into the dirt at Teneb’s feet.

“Well, well, well,” Wyss said, barely attempting to mask his excitement as he scooped up the weapon. His thumb tentatively stroked the activation switch as he examined the hilt, pale eyes wide with greed as its purple blade flashed to life in his hands. “I suppose a deal is a deal.” Reaching a hand into his coat, he pulled a small canister from his pocket. “Umbaran trade secret: One dose can enhance a soldier’s physical capabilities and stamina. With this gas, you can create your very own super soldiers… And now, it’s yours,” he said tossing the canister.

Just as the canister was leaving his fingers, an invisible Force summoned it to Elaine’s outstretched hand. “I don’t think so.”

Still facing a stunned-silent Wyss, Ellac leaned his head back, tuning his focus in the Force to Elaine and the items on her person. “That was a mistake.”

“No! I’m done losing things to you…” Pocketing the capsule, Elaine’s hand reached for the hilt of her double-bladed lightsaber, but her fingers found nothing but empty air. “Wha-?!”

“Lose something again, little sister?” Lifting a metal hand out from under his cloak, Ellac held up her missing saber. “You weren’t the only one who learned from Sykes.”

Elaine growled in perfect unison with her Nexu, widening her stance. “I’ll kill you, Ellac, I swear I will!,” she hissed, drawing and igniting her secondary, single-blade lightsaber.

“Wyss,” Ellac said, tossing the stolen saber to the Umbaran. “Consider this an advance; I want a full shipment of the gas delivered directly to Titius Osseus.”

Before Wyss could respond, Elaine whistled sharply, signalling Callé to attack. The Nexu lunged directly for Ellac, but a swift kick to the face knocked him back as HK-98 retaliated.

“Statement: Master, I have tolerated this disgusting creature long enough, and can do so no longer.”

“Leave,” Ellac said, dismissing Wyss as he finally turned to face his sister. Casting off his cloak, the Juggernaut slipped his own double-bladed lightsaber from its place on his back. His adrenaline surged as he settled into the all-too-familiar feeling of combat. Rolling his shoulders, the ribbed plates in his surgically grafted Stalker Armor pulled at his skin, the bite of it fueling his connection to the Dark Side of the Force.

Drawing her blaster, Elaine fired a shot directly at HK’s head, but the plasma bolt dissipated instantly against the droid’s energy shield. In total synchrony with his master, Callé darted forward, zig-zagging as it slashed at HK’s chassis, but the droid had already drawn his electro-sword, and the two companions traded deadly blows; Callé’s claws left deep but non-inhibiting trails in HK’s torso, and the droid had managed to twist his blade underneath the Nexu’s exposed arm, leaving a shallow but still bleeding slice in the feline’s armpit.

Reeling her arm back, Elaine hurled her lightsaber at HK-98 as he stumbled back from her pet, but Ellac stepped in its path, batting the blade away with his own.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this,” Elaine said, summoning her lightsaber back to her hand with the Force. “Finally, after all these years… You’re going to get what you deserve.”

With the two Siths and their companions standing face to face, Elaine waited. She knew she couldn't beat Ellac with sheer strength; she would have to try alternative methods with him. She listened and watched.

"Exclamation: Oh, what fun, Master! How my circuits buzz finally being given the opportunity to desecrate this atrocious excuse of an animal." A blood curdling sequence of sounds came from the HK unit. It almost sounded as if he were trying to laugh.

A screech was heard overhead as something flew above the ever-thickening mist. Elaine had an idea. She signaled her Nexu and the two of them took a few short leaps backward into the fog, out of sight of her older brother and his sadistic companion.

Ellac stayed planted where he was as he searched out in the Force with little effort. Elaine looked down at her Nexu as he looked up to her. She placed her hand on the beast's cheek and smiled at him then they both ran in opposite directions. Elaine climbed used the flora as a launchpad of sorts, weaving through the vines and trees to get a better angle on her brother. Meanwhile, Calle, more slowly than usual, wove through the flora on the ground, looking to get past Ellac and HK-98 and follow the scent of the Umabraian.

"Statement: You have really outdone yourself this time, Master. The fleabag and his Master have escaped," HK said.

"Silence," Ellac commanded as he waited. 'What will you do this time, sister,' he thought. 'How will you get yourself out of this?'

Finding a moment of cover within the fog and plants, Elaine focused part of her attention to the creatures overhead. They circled like birds over a carcass for a few moments before diving in a loosely structured formation towards Ellac and HK. In a fluid motion, Ellac spun his double-bladed lightsaber behind him in a flourish and cleanly sliced one of the Banshee's into two pieces, continuing with the same ease regarding the rest of the oncoming creatures. HK fired blaster bolt after blaster bolt, dropping the creatures out of the sky ever few bolts.

With Ellac and HK distracted, Calle slipped past them in the fog in pursuit of the broker. Wyss' men, noticing the creature attempt to follow their leader, began to fire targeted blaster bolts at the Nexu. Elaine could sense the danger of her closest companion.

'Calle... please be careful...' the female Equite thought. Her Nexu was her greatest strength but also her most vulnerable weakness. Distracted by the battle with the Banshees and with the imminent danger of her companion, she was not as aware of her surroundings as she should have been. A slimy tentacle found its way of twisting around her calf. It pulled her leg and dragged her from the thick, vine-like plant she was kneeling on. Without Elaine's direction, the Banshees became far more erratic in their endeavors against Ellac and HK-98

'Blast!' Elaine thought as she was now hanging upside down by one of her legs. 'If I wanted a sarlacc-' her train of thought paused as she drew her Sapphire Blade as to be effective but quiet and slashed at the Vixus' tentacle, creating a wound halfway through its limb '-I'd go to Tatooine!' The beast screeched in agony as it released Elaine from its grasp and swiped at her with another tentacle. The female Sith did a backflip with aid of the Force and landed on another thick, vine-like plant, facing the Vixus.

The damp air filled with the stench of seared flesh as pieces of the Banshees fell to the ground at Ellac’s feet; With each beast he killed, another one appeared to take its place.

“Statement: I think we may only be angering the creatures, master,” HK-98 said, stepping back-to-back with the Sith. Cycling the energy cell on his rifle, the droid resumed firing.

Twirling his lightsaber overhead, Ellac struck another one down. The Banshees shrieked above them as the swarm began to thin, and he could sense something about the beasts had shifted. Another one dove for his head, but a triple-shot burst of blaster fire from HK’s rifle sent the Banshee crashing into the dirt. Another shriek rang through the air as the others circled above the pair.

“Query: What are they doing?”

“I don’t know, I don’t speak ‘flying death machine’,” Ellac said, looking up through the mist. “...but I know who does.” Reaching out with the Force, Ellac stretched his senses beyond the immediate area: On one side, following after Wyss, Calle weaved through the trees as he dodged blaster fire from the hidden members of the Shadow Cabal. Pulling at his attention from the other side of the clearing, Ellac’s mind honed in on his sister’s presence, drawn to her rising anger. “The Nexu is after Teneb; You get the cat, I’ll deal with Elaine,” he said, turning back to HK-98.

The Banshees screeched again before one decided to dive for Ellac, but another round of blaster bolts burned through its face. “That is if you don’t get eaten first, Master,” HK said, lowering his still smoking rifle.

Deactivating his lightsaber, the Sith extended both of his metal arms to the sky, using the Force to pull the last few Banshees toward him. The animals wailed as they found themselves yanked from the air, struggling in vain against the invisible pull before Ellac’s reignited double-blade burned through them.

“Commentary: Show off.”

“If you lose that cat, I’ll trade you off next time instead of a lightsaber,” Ellac warned, wasting no time to bicker with the droid as he ran off into the jungle after his sister.

“Mockery: It is not as if I am an assassin droid, master; I couldn’t possibly be trusted to hunt down and eliminate a target of your choosing with ease,” HK-98 muttered to himself, spinning around to pursue the distant sounds of blaster fire.

Deep in the fog, Elaine flipped over another tentacle as the Vixus reached for her leg, severing the limb as she twirled past it. “Just die already!”

The Vixus roared in response as its other arms flailed toward her. Reaching a hand to her side, the young Sith pulled the thermal detonator from her belt, priming the thumb switch as she rolled back from the shifting web of tentacles. Channeling the Force into her body, Elaine crouched low before leaping up and over the creature, tossing the grenade into its toothy mouth as she passed. Dirt plumed up around her as she landed with roll, quickly diving behind a nearby rock as the Vixus exploded from the inside, a flash of white light burning bright against the fog as it atomized everything within its reach.

As the area fell silent, Elaine carefully peeked around her cover to see the crater where the beast used to be. “Now then,” she sighed, pushing herself back to her feet as she brushed the dirt from her robes. Looking around to make sure the coast was clear, Elaine slipped the gas canister from her pocket to examine it. “How do I open you?”

As she turned the canister in her hand, the hair on her neck stood tall as a chill shot down her spine; By pure reflex, she ducked to the side, barely dodging the double-bladed lightsaber as it spun past her.

Extending his hand, the blade returned to Ellac’s grip as he stood at the top of a towering, tentacle-like tree. “You have something I want.”

Drawing her own lightsaber, Elaine glowered up at her older brother, clutching the canister tight with her free hand. “What are you gonna do, Ellac? You gonna kill me, too? Like you killed Mom and Dad?!”

Leaping from the branch, Ellac landed with a heavy thump that shook the ground around him, the servos in his mechanical legs whining as they released the pressure from the impact. Stepping up from the small crater beneath him, the combat skirt of his Stalker armor billowed at his feet as he silently walked toward his sister, drinking in the fear and rage that radiated from her through the Force.

Blinking back the beginnings of a tear, Elaine steeled herself for the fight approaching her.

“No Nexu… No tricks… Just you and me, little sister.”

Once again, face to face with her brother...

'This time... This time I will win.!' Elaine thought.

Elaine carefully and slowly put the vile into a pouch attached to her tool belt and buttoned it closed all with her gaze fixed on her mechanical brother. She flipped her lightsaber around to now hold it with the blade pointing behind her, simultaneously crouching into a battle stance, ready to lunge. Ellac stood in waiting, ignited double-blade in hand while sensing the hatred boiling within his little sister. It briefly reminded him of when they were children, playing with the fallen branches from the tree in their backyard as makeshift swords. He and Elaine would spend afternoons at a time practicing their made-up maneuvers. Elaine was always quick to anger when her brother would best her, often trying to quit but Ellac wouldn't let her, despite her tears.

---

"Get up," Ellac said, grabbing his sister by the wrist and pulling her to her feet with effort. At the time, they she was only a little shorter than he was and as she aged, she was catching up to him quick.

"No! I don't want to play anymore," Elaine said with her face flushed pink and tears streaming down her cheeks. "You always win... It's not fair!" Elaine threw her stick on the ground and slumped back down to the grass, pulling at the blades, ripping them apart.

Ellac sighed. "Look, the only way you're going to beat me is if you practice. You'll get there someday, but you have to keep practicing," he said looking down at her.

"I'll never beat you... you're too strong..." Elaine said. She used the back of her hand to angrily wipe her cheeks of the tears as she glared down at the plant life beneath and blurrily watched her tears drip one by one down onto the grass.

Ellac crouched down and looked at his sister wistfully as she cried. ".........." He opened his mouth to speak but he couldn't find the right words. He let the silence hang in the air for a moment as she cried.

He grabbed her 'sword' and offered it back to her. "I believe in you, Elaine," he said endearingly, "And if you can beat me, you can beat anyone who challenges you!" he continued with hope in his voice even though he knew it was a lie to protect her. It was better to give her hope and teach her how to defend herself than for her to depend on others to save her. That was a lesson he learned the hard way and he hoped he could spare her from that path.

She lifted her gaze and starred at the stick he was offering her then lifted her teary eyes to meet his gaze. Ellac swallowed down any semblance of rising tears within his own eyes to save face.

"You really think I can do it?" the young girl asked.

"I do," her brother replied.

Elaine took the branch in her hand and stood up with him. She wiped her eyes one more time and took a deep breath then assumed a 'battle-ready' stance as her brother showed her a small smile and assumed his own stance.

---

The memories flashed through Ellac's mind as quickly as Elaine assumed her position of attack.

'Come on, Elaine... take the leap' He thought.

While Elaine had improved significantly in technique from her training with Sykes, she remained hasty which left room for error. Elaine lunged forward with the aid of the Force, leaping over the crater, heading straight for her brother. She landed in front of him with enough space to take a few steps while running. She flipped her lightsaber right side around and used the ongoing momentum of the blade to strike at Ellac.

Ellac effortlessly blocked the incoming attack from Elaine with his own blade. Their blades locked and he pushed her back with such force, she tumbled into the crater.

"Sloppy," Ellac said condescendingly.

Elaine regained her stance and used the Force to draw her lightsaber to her hand before lunging at her brother once more.

..........

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest; Calle chased after Wyss while dodging the oncoming blaster bolts from the hidden figures within the fog. HK-98 remained in pursuit of the feline. The droid attentively followed the trail left behind from the Nexu and as he continued moving forward, he noticed the scorch marks left behind in the wake of the continuous fire towards the moving animal.

Just as Calle could make out Wyss' infrared signature amongst the dull fog and foliage, the Nexu's movement began to slow as an unnatural pain slowly developed within his entire body as he remained steadfast in his pursuit.